Sunday, June 22, 2008

Time

Time is going way to fast. I had 7 days off this last week and it felt like 3. I have been here on location in Arkansas for 4 days and it feels like 2. This is getting ridiculous.

Right now, I get a break here. It is not good, but I don’t have to worry about anything. Our tool is out of the hole, but we are stuck. Right now they are trying to jar the pipe loose, without much luck. We could be waiting another couple of days. What a job.

I am currently on a new rig here in Arkansas, in the east part. A new group of guys to work with as well. I think it is going to be good. I think I needed a change of scenery. I hope this works out, so we can follow this rig. Bad start for this hole unfortunately, but not a lot we can do about it.

Let’s see, not a whole lot new going on. I so enjoy my time in B/CS. No work to worry about, plenty of friends to hang out with. Now if I could just be there for longer periods of time, and still maintain the income, that would be great. We must work to eat I have read somewhere though.

There are some ideas going through my head right now, I will let out sometime in the future. Part of that problem though is they stay in my head, and rarely come to fruition. Please be praying that God will reveal His will for what is next. I have some ideas of what I would like, and hope that goes along with what He wants, but I need to know for sure. I need it to be clear like the no-debt thing.

Well, so much for now. It is morning, so I get to go to bed. I also get to try and find a new church this morning.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Finishing Strong

Another one down! I paid off another credit card today. What a great feeling! That leaves two. And I cannot wait until I get those paid. I am putting a firm date of August 1, as to when I will be out of credit card debt. All of this is due to God. And I cannot thank Him enough.

To be honest, I have been lax the last several months. I have gotten fat and lazy. I am on track to get out of debt, so I have just been sitting back letting it happen, instead of being proactive, and staying strong. I have noticed particularly my weight (thus the diets on and off), being out of shape, and spending more than I should on little things.

God has been gently reminding me to finish strong. This is an exciting new period quickly approaching, and I must be ready for it. I have a very strong natural tendency to just sit back and let life happen, but I cannot let that happen. Too much is at stake. So please be praying with me about this next period of time. There are so many options, it is a little overwhelming. Kind of like coming out of prison. The debtor truly is servant to the lender. It is an exciting, and still a little scary time. I am looking forward to it.

To finish strong I need to:

  1. Stay in the Bible every day.
  2. At least look at my expenses/budget everyday, record, balance checkbook, etc.
  3. Get in shape – exercise somehow every day and lose 12-17 lbs to be 175-180.

Thank you all for this kind of accountability. It does help.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I'm Back!!

I am finally back in Bryan. I have been in Arkansas for the past 3 weeks straight, and am so glad to be back home. I have started a few entries over the past several weeks, but just have not gotten around to finishing and posting them.

I just got in late last night, and have spent the last hour just going through my mail. Fun, fun. A few things I have been up to besides work is completing our week long trip to Ohio, further researching genealogy, and taking brief side trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas, where I had some grandparents live in the 1890’s. Now that I look at the list, it has been pretty much all I have done, besides work.

History and genealogy are completely fascinating, and it appears I may have a few other members of the family hooked. I will have to give an update on how that continues to go.

So here are some updates:

Chloe – She still has to have the tube in her nose so she can be drop fed special formula. She has pulled it out twice, so it looks like they will have to surgically input it into her stomach for now. She is maintaining weight and getting bigger, so she is healthy. She just cannot digest food/milk normally right now. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

(Me, Mom, and Dad at Lake Erie in Cleveland)

Ohio trip – We were traveling for right on 7 days. Long drives, but a good time. Dad has not been out of the state for awhile, so it was good for him to get out and away from work. After visiting with my great-aunt Dot, who was wonderful, and so knowledgeable, we left Cleveland and went to the small town of Pomeroy on the Ohio river, where my dad’s dad lived. Very interesting little town. I thought it was cool. And here is the story of our Pomeroy adventure:

(Small town Pomeroy, on the river)

We got there mid-morning and needed to leave by 5:00 or so that evening. We didn’t have any contact with any relatives in the town. Known relatives had already passed away, and we didn’t know if any children were there or not. Dad had an idea of what his Grandmother’s house looked like, and it was a small town, so why not just walk up and down the street looking for it? Our goal was to find the house, and also Dad’s dad’s gravesite.

That morning I had a feeling like something big, or unusual, or miracle was going to take place. But the day started out poorly. Me and dad got out and walked the river front looking for the house, and he just could not remember. There were a couple of possibilities, and we asked neighbors, but didn’t find anything concrete. So we went and had a late lunch. After lunch, I was getting tired, and with no prospects, and a deadline approaching, I was discouraged and expecting nothing to come of this trip. Well, mom had the idea to go to the Veterans office and see if they had anything on dad’s dad, since we knew he had medical help from them. The guy at the office was very helpful, made some calls, and gave us the last listed address he had. We went down on the river and found the address, which was indeed Dad’s Grandmother’s house. It was one of the ones he thought it was, he just wasn’t sure.

This is the fun part: As we went up to the house, dad being dad, saw a couple mowing the neighbor’s yard next door, and went up to talk to them. He mentioned what we were doing and that was his Grandmother’s house, and the guy said that he knew them, and played with the son that lived there, Dad’s cousin Jerry, when they were kids. In fact, he knew Jerry’s son and wife, and knew where she worked! They were just packing up and heading that way, and would take us over there. So they took us by there, and we got to meet with the wife. The crazy thing is, is that they wanted to keep the grandmother’s house in the family, so they bought it, and it was sitting there empty. So she took us inside, and she also knew where the family cemetery was and gave us directions.

Turns out that Jerry had two sons, when dad thought he had only had one. The one that dad knew died, so we got to talk with the one dad didn’t even know about, Mike. And Mike was really close with his uncle, my dad’s dad!

So we got to go out to the cemetery where my dad’s dad was buried, and there were all the children, all in a row, next to their parents. We had no clue they were all right there, and it just did something for dad to see them all there. Pretty cool stuff.

So from knowing next to nothing going in, we not only got to find the grandmother’s house, we got to go into it, and not only finding one gravesite, we found the whole family’s, and from not knowing anyone there, we made contact with long lost cousins, we didn’t even know existed! Miracles do happen.

Well, that is all I have for now. I have a couple of days off, so I plan on enjoying them.