I've Been Remiss...

I'm a little under the gun here.

My brother-in-law wrote in his blog about his anniversary just a few days ago. My own anniversary was the next day. Needless to say, I've heard about it from the only lady who really counts - my wife ("Aaron blogged about Jenee, but you..."). Of course now it probably won't have the same impact as it would have - had I remembered to blog about our anniversary on our anniversary, especially since it was a big one. But, considering the fact that I do nearly all of my blogging during breaks at work, I can honestly say that at that point in time, I was completely and utterly swamped!

Back to the point at hand...on September 14, my wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage - to each other. That's quite an accomplishment these days. I'd call it wedded bliss, but if I did, I'd be lying. My wife knows it, too. It's been 15 years of surprises, mistakes, miserable failures, heartaches, bumps and bruises, not to mention financial troubles, employment problems, yadda, yadda, yadda. Had either of us known what we were getting into 15 years ago, we probably wouldn't have gone through with it.

Before I'm mistaken for being the biggest jerk on the planet, I should explain a little. From where I stand (or sit, in this case), I married very well. I'd stack my woman up against anybody. I've never met somebody who can do so much with so little, make any old place feel like a home and keep going - even after a mountain of setbacks have come her way. She doesn't give herself nearly enough credit. She says she's not creative at all, yet can pull some of the neatest surprises out of mid-air that anyone has ever seen.

We once lived in a house that shouldn't have been lived in - period. It was an old, dingy pier-and-beam job that had settled badly and had uneven floors throughout. It hadn't been lived in for years and the leaders of a church thought it would be a great place for their youth pastor and his family to live. Fortunately, we weren't the first of their youth pastors to live there. We heard stories (after we had already moved out) about rats running in the attic, thick dust on the floors, on and on. (Those folks had it rough). Still, we had a toddler and an infant to bring into that hole. We did have an incident of a mouse running around the kitchen and our dog catching a rat the size of a small cat. Still, she never batted an eye (that I saw) and was hard at work - from the time we arrived until we left 15 months later. She made that place a home for our family. She would later make our home in the same house with my parents. (We now look back on that time as one of the better times, believe it or not.)

I've made a LOT of bad decisions along the way, many of which have affected us directly, a few of them for a LONG period of time. These were the sort of things that most people don't come back from - not as a couple, nor as individuals. Somehow, we did and our family is still intact. I've tried an awful lot of things over the past 15 years. I've held several jobs - with only 1 lasting more than 5 years. The rest have been a year or two here or there - or less.

I've changed career paths quite a few times, as well. When she met me, I wanted to be a preacher, got my license to preach and took off only to crash and burn within 5 years. The 10 years since has been an attempt to recover from the wreckage early on. Now, after 10 years of wandering between various careers, I'm actually thinking it may be time to return to work in the church. Everybody run for your lives!

But, if I ever did anything right in these past 15 years, I picked a winner of a girl. I've told her a few times - but not nearly enough - that I'm a better man because of her. I truly wouldn't and couldn't be who I am today without her. I am truly thankful to God for her. I know for a fact that He was responsible for bringing us - and keeping us - together.

I'm looking forward to many, many more anniversaries with this same lady. Hopefully we'll both live a long, long time.

I Could Get Killed For This

The world is going crazy. Nobody knows what to do with Muslims.

Depending on where one gets their news and information, that statement may or may not have any meaning to you. If the major source is mainstream, network news - probably not. However, if one reads blogs and message boards - you're on board.

The Pope made a speech regarding Islam and now muslims everywhere are going nuts. According to another source, the muslims didn't start acting out until they had attended their Friday prayer services.

We've been misled about the "Religion of Peace." History records Islam as being a religion of the sword. In the address scientists on the role of faith and reason in human experience, the Pope recounts a debate between a Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an "educated Persian." Here I quote directly from his address :

Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he [the Byzantine emperor] says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...".

The attacks of 9/11 forced them to showed militant muslims for who they are - murderers. I understand that there are supposedly millions of muslims who are not militant. But, I echo the sentiments of others who say if Islam is really a peaceful religion, why don't the peaceful ones rise up and condemn the extremists? Why won't they? Because they know that the Koran says that those who do not convert to Islam are its enemy. That an infidel (anyone who is not a muslim) must die. That doesn't sound very peaceful to me.

So, at this rate, if anyone dares to say anything negative about the Islamic religion they could be putting their lives on the line. I guess I am now a target. Woo-hoo!

5 Years After 9/11

Five years ago, I was administrative assistant working for Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Company, listening to the radio while I was working on a sunny Tuesday morning. I wasn't really paying attention to the radio until I heard the host talking about a plane that had flown into one of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. "There was something like this during world war II, when a plane hit the Empire State Building, but it was a small, single-engine plane. We'll be monitoring this for you through out the morning." I went on about my business.

Barely a few minutes later, there was an urgent announcement "a second passenger plane has flown into the other World Trade Center tower." I don't remember hearing anything else. I got up and went to our conference room and turned on the television just in time to see the replay of the second crash. I then alerted my coworkers to the situation.

I was working in the Environmental Health and Safety Department and it was our responsibility to take in account the safety of our office complex in light of what we were seeing unfold. Several safety announcements within the first several hours spread even more fear and panic within our city. Eventually, our entire office was allowed to leave for the remainder of the day while our department worked out a safety plan for the coming days. Over the next 72 hours, with the restricitions enacted nation-wide in regard to air travel, our department would be responsible for getting some 200 employees back home, who had been stranded in various places across the country and around the world. This would be a process that would last for another week after 9/11.

Our complex was within 5 miles of the Houston Interncontinental Airport and the sound of air traffic was a daily part of life. I remember walking outside to my car late that afternoon and noticing the eerie quiet in the sky overhead. When air traffic finally resumed, there was such an infrequency of overhead flights for several weeks. It seemed everyone would look up to watch each plane go overhead during those first few days.

That night, when I was finally able to return home, I went in and hugged each of my children and kissed my wife. I told them all that I loved them. I knew full well that hundreds, possibly thousands would never get the opportunity to do the same with their loved ones ever again. In a day that started just like any other, we all were faced with the brutal and ultimate reality that the world had been changed forever - right before our eyes.

We must never forget what happened on September 11, 2001. It wasn't some horrible accident. We were attacked for being who we are: Americans.

What Has God Been Doing In Your Life?

That might be a strange question for some. "God? Doing something in MY life? " Actually, it may not be as strange or crazy as one might think.

Too often we dismiss good things that happen in our lives as being good luck, because of this or that - which was either part of our regular routine or a result of doing things a bit differently or just the upswing in association with the yin and yang. It also could be the work of God. Whatever the case, it's all fine. We're entitled to our opinions. But, what if we're discounting the possibility that such things happening to us is because God is wanting to work in us through such things?

In my experience, most people who deny the existence of God do so for a lot of reasons, but ultimately it comes down to their disappointment in God and/or the church. I know it's simplistic to say such a thing. Give it some thought though. It's usually one or the other.

In regard to the matter of disappointment with God, I've got to say that - if we're honest - we've all been there at least once in our lives. We pray and the answer we get isn't what we want. Whether it's for someone to be healed or to get something we really wanted. When it doesn't happen, it hurts and as a result God gets all the blame. It's sad, but God's big enough to take it. Many are unable to take it themselves and they walk away.

I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could do something about such a thing. Unfortunately, because someone decides to ignore God or begin to say He doesn't exist, He doesn't go away. But those people pass off those little miracles that God pulls off each and every day. One can only hope and pray that somehow God is able to somehow get through all the hurt and touch such a person where they are.

As for being hurt by the church, most of the time people are just people and they don't mean to offend. It doesn't change the fact that they do. It's just the fact that we're all pretty much ignorant. We don't realize that we did something that totally devastated somebody else. Sometimes we don't get the chance to make it right. Other times we just hope that the other person will be big enough to not be offended by our ignorance. Talk about irresponsible! The fact is we need to be a lot more sensitive to those who are new and young in the faith. Often we're bullies and just don't realize it.

So, I'm back to the original question: "What has God been doing in YOUR life?" Don't be in a hurry. Take some time. You just might suprise yourself.