Centering

We are just about done with the construction on our home. Things are almost back to normal around here. It is such a relief to get this part of our lives behind us and to move on. This whole process has really taken a toll on my physically and emotionally. I am now working on putting the pieces back together with my family in San Diego. I have prayed for them a lot and forgiven them. I know the enemy was present and on the attack throughout this experience. I have come to understand that the emotional pain that I felt during the time I was dealing with the hurtful words and actions of my family were a result of the enemy getting inside me and attacking my heart.

I am reading this book called "Spritual Warfare" by Timothy Warner. Warner points out that the enemy uses two basis for attacking us. One is sin on our part, but Christ, through the Cross, has provided forgivness and cleansing for all our sin. If we agree with God about our sin and His remedy for it, Satan can no longer hold us in bondage through guilt. The other basis of attack is self. His aim is always to get us to be self-centered instead of God-centered. But self also goes to the Cross with Christ, and God's children do not "love thier lives so much as to shrink from death" (Rev 12:11). So if I have been crucified in Christ, if my self has gone to the Cross and I daily reckon my self dead to the demands of my old nature, then I am victorious. It's all up to me to attain this victory through faith.

It's so hard for me to be God-centered vs. self-centered and this is exactly what the enemy wants. It's all about turning things over to God and keeping Him in the forefront, no matter what is going on in my life. I have my good days and my bad days just like everybody else. When I take the time to sit back and talk to God about anything that has me worried or concerned, it always comes back to one message - He is in control and there is a reason for everything. God does not make mistakes....

World Vision

We took the kids to the AIDS/HIV Experience this past weekend. It was put on by World Vision. There were several different paths you could have taken to experience the story of one individuals life in Africa. You actually walk into the story as part of the experience. Tammy took Bobby and Rebecca down one path and Joey and I went down another. By the third part of the experience, I was holding back the tears. The story was so tragic. It was about this young boy named Emmanuel that lost both of his parents to AIDS/HIV. Emmanuel and his brother were abandoned by their relatives and left to die in the banana groves of the village that they lived in. We experienced the loss, the burial of their mother, and a life of desperation as these two young boys (ages 9 and 3) survived by themselves for 2 years before they were taken in by missionaries from World Vision. Near the end of the experience, you walk into this room filled with pictures of boys and girls that have been orphaned as a result of AIDS/HIV. You are asked to pick a picture and pray for that person. So, Joey and I picked pictures and prayed for these two little boys. Joey (5 years old) was so serious through the whole thing, especially when he was praying for the little boy that he had picked. I was so touched by seeing him pray that a snapped a quick photo with my iPhone. It is so tragic to see what happens to the children of the parents that are lost to HIV/AIDS - It is my prayer that God continue to keep his hand on these children and that they are given hope. I can not imagine how alone they must feel and how hard it must be to go on day after day in an environment that is filled with darkness. As part of our gifts to our children this year, we sponsored one child for each of our children and one child for Tammy and I. Our hope is that our children have a better appreciation for what they have and where they are. We also pray that our kids are humbled by the this experience and will truly embrace the sponsorship of their child. I was certainly humbled by the whole thing and look forward to traveling as part of a missionary team one day. Here is the pic that I took - God Bless him.

Blog Block

I have been experiencing blog block this past week.... Looking to be inspired, but have not found that nugget yet. Things are moving along nicely with the contractors - we are hoping to complete construction by the end of next week if all goes well. It will be nice to have our home back after a very eventful experience. I prayed tonight that God bless this home and my family. I prayed that God be with my family down in San Diego and help them come to know Him. God's grace is truly amazing :)

I love Jesus.

Ikea

My wife and I went to Ikea today to get some stuff to organize the toys in the playroom. I absolutely can not stand this store. If you have ever been to an Ikea, you know that you have to walk all the way through the store to get to the check out area - not a straight shot. There is a path that flows through the store like a maze that literally takes you through ever department. There are arrows on the floor that let you know you are going the right direction and every now and then, you will cross a special section of flooring that says "50,000 people walk across this per week" or something like that. Anyway, all the stuff we were there to get was at the end of the path in the warehouse. Along the way, we stopped and looked a bunch of junk and picked up a few odds and ends that I thought we needed at the house like those little scented candles. We ended up spending about an hour in Ikea and spent a total of about 10 minutes on the stuff we actually went there to buy. Basically it really hard to walk straight through Ikea to what you need and get out - lots of distractions along the way.

This evening my wife and I went out to dinner with our life group (a group of christians that do life together) and got a little worship in on the drive over. One of my favorite tunes was playing - "Jesus Paid it All". I worship daily and never get tired of listening to great songs with great messages. Among many things, this song really reminds me about the grace of Jesus Christ. It reminds me that there is a path paved in love that Jesus paid for. We all know that there is a path in front of us that will end at the entrance to the Kingdom of God. There are however distractions all along the way that the enemy will put in place to cause us to stray off of the path. Walking the path to everlasting life is not a simple straight shot, we have to walk through every department until we get to the end. "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" Ps 119:105 NIV. This verse is so important when it comes to navigating the maze. It has been very hard for me personally to get in the habit of reading my Bible everyday - I am getting better, but it is still a bit of a challenge. I will say that everytime I open it I find encouragement, wisdom, guidance, and ANSWERS.... It truly is a light unto my path and when I get distracted, I can always find my way back because that light is always there....

One of my favorites and for sure my favorite version of the song (if you have 5 minutes or so):

Lights

After our short trip down to Oregon this weekend, it was time for us to put the lights on the house. We started a little late today because Josh had to work until 3pm. It gets dark about 5pm or so which is a huge change from those long summer days of having light outside until about 10 o'clock at night. After replacing a few blown fuses and running a couple of power lines to handle the number of strands we had run, we finally finished. The lights look great!

We went in the house to have supper. After supper, my daughter Rebecca ran outside to inspect the job and see the pretty lights. After about 2 minutes, Becca came back and was very irritated. "I wanted to put up pink lights", she said. We just laughed and said that maybe next year we would put up multi-colored lights. This is definitely the last year we can use these clear lights - they have served their purpose.

I told my daughter that although God is the light of the world, it does not necessarily mean you will like the color of the light. God has a plan for each one of us and we may or may not like what that plan is - it is what it is.

As I am sitting here tonight thinking about that discussion (and smiling), I extended the analogy to everything that gone on the past several months with my family. There were many days that walked outside and was not happy with the color of the lights, but it is all part of God's plan. God has decorated all houses with a certain color of lights (His plan for us) and its up to us to find out how to get out of the house and see what color they are.

While we were out putting up the lights, one of the neighbors walked by with his children and said "We are enjoying the fruits of your labor, we really like your lights". So even though it may not have been the lights that Becca would have chosen to put on the house, somebody thought they were just right. God has a reason for everything that happens to us in life and whether we like it or not, we must accept it. Maybe next time we see the lights, they will be perfect - only God knows.....

You Can

I thought this was really cool.

My rock...

I went in to the Church today as part of my normal weekly opportunity to serve God. I set up all of the materials and such for the weekly Sunday Children's Ministry. Today was a little bit different. I have a couple of friends there that set up a prayer meeting with me for about an hour while I was there. Aurora and Elizabeth got together with me and we chatted for a bit about the all the things we needed to pray for, we read some scripture, and began to pray.

As one part of our prayer, I prayed in repentance for the anger I felt when dealing with the issues surrounding my family down in San Diego. It is so important to understand that we as Christians are to stand our ground against the enemy, covered in the blood of the lamb, and allow God to engage them. I read Psalm 18 several times this evening. The entire Psalm is inspiring and clearly demonstrates God's greatness in the deliverance of David from his mortal enemies. As we walk with God and turn away from sin, we will be blessed. "The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanliness of my hands in his sight" Ps 18:24 NIV. I can honestly stand before God at any time and know that my hands are clean - this brings me a lot of peace. When the enemy begins for close in on me, I will take refuge in my God. As my faith continues to strengthen, the enemy will continue to attempt to wound me but his arrows will be absorbed by the shield of righteousness that covers me and those arrows will not hurt me. "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge." Ps 18:2 NIV. This is now my life verse at this time in my life.

I can not begin to tell you how awesome it is to have people around me, like Aurora and Elizabeth, that provide so much encouragement and strength - what a blessing. For the past couple of weeks I have been filled with a lot of anxiety and stress with everything going on. Today at this very moment, I feel a peace that is very refreshing. I love Jesus!

The Advent Conspiracy

I grabbed this off of adventconspiracy.org...... amazing :) Very simple for us all to make a difference in the world! Blessings.

Football

As our normal Sunday ritual, my son and I try to watch as much football as we can fit in to a Sunday. I was watching a game today where a running back got absolutely creamed by the safety. I mean, this was a BIG hit. Immediately following the play, the running back stood up and gave the safety a firm "bonk" on the shoulder pads and nodded at him. I could only think that he said something like this, "that was a good hit" - without adding the "but I am still here" comment - I just add that in because I think it sounds cool.

Laying here getting ready for bed and thinking about that play, I thought about the spiritual battle that exists for me today. It feels like I am getting hit left and right. Here we stand as warriors in the Christian faith with Jesus Christ calling all the plays. Our steadfast and everpresent Quarterback. We line up against a defensive team that is in training 24/7 to keep us from achieving anything worth while. We continue to run plays and sometimes we gain a few yards and sometimes we get pushed back a little bit. Whats important is that everytime we get hit, we stand back up and give a firm "bonk" on the shoulderpads of the enemy and say "that was good hit, but I am still here". When the game is over, we can only hope that the quarterback looks at the players (warriors) and says "well done"........

Lots to Pray about

Lots of things to pray for this day......

One of the Elders in our church (http://www.occ.org/) is in a hospital in Thailand. He has a blockage in one of the valves in his heart and two blood clots in his arm. He is over there doing God's work and the enemy has attacked him for it. His name is Jeff and he is a really great guy. Jeff is involved in an organization called ipursuit ( http://www.ipursuit.org/ ) - Jeff needs your prayers for a supernatural recovery and safe travel home.

When I attended the Wednesday service this week, I was really surprised at the statistics associated with the tithes given. A study was done and the results were astounding. The church has gone through some really tough times over the past year and there has been a lot of changes made as a result. The church survives based on the tithes that the congregation provides. Given the importance of spiritual health and the fact that the church absolutely rocks, I pray that the folks that call our church their home will step up and tithe properly.

I have been struggling in this job market trying to find work. Its a difficult thing to let go knowing that God will provide in these very scary times. My wife and I talk about it all the time. A year ago, I was on cloud 9 with my business running in full swing and making a really good living. Now, I am doing everything I can to strengthen my faith and let God guide me through these rough waters. I know there is a calling somewhere in here for me to better serve God - I just wish He would reveal that to me like right now! I pray that God continues to give me (and my wife) the strength to continue to have faith that He is in control and will soon reveal his plan.

I have been praying quite a bit about my family down in San Diego and am sure that the enemy and his army of demons is still circling. I pray that they will all be able to see that the enemy is influencing their thoughts. The enemy is not at all happy with how my faith has strengthened and the steps I have taken to be a better warrior. Although I have not heard much at all from anybody in my family down there, I know the enemy is hard at work there. The fact that they are not communicating with me is a telling sign that the enemy is there. I will continue to be strong and not allow this turn of events to wound me. Jesus Christ lives within me and continues to protect me from the enemy. I am so lucky :)

Remember...... we are at WAR.

Pray.... and Vote

For those of you that might be interested in hearing a christian view on politics, the message at my church this past weekend was titled Politics...and Jesus. You can check it out at the following link: http://www.occfamily.org/resources/downloads/online2.asp

Pray...... and Vote :) Thats what I will be doing tomorrow.

Christmas

Christmas is going to be a little different this year at the Gilliam house. Tammy and I spoke to kids yesterday and will be buying less gifts for them this year and taking the money we would have spent on gifts and donating it to AIDS/HIV research. Our Church is sponsoring a program this year to allow folks like us to help people that are less fortunate than we are. We have also decided that instead of buying and sending gifts to family and friends this year, that we will make some cards by hand and put a note inside saying that we made a donation in thier name to this same cause. We know that our humble contirbution to this cause will make a difference in the lives of many. The worship pastor for our church posted the below video on YouTube... Enjoy. My hope is that this video will inspire you to do something different this year and make the world a little bit better yourself. Blessings to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ux2TAOEMiA

A New Room

We decided about a month ago to create a "football" room for my son, Bobby. With grandma coming to live here and all the change that was occuring in the house, we decided to make it somewhat exciting for Bobby. As we began to choose colors and put together multiple accents for his new room, the excitement came through big. He chose the Chargers as the main theme of course along with some Seahawks and Patriots stuff. We picked up a "FatHead" on eBay of LT and put that up this weekend - one word, AWESOME. It is life size and looks really cool. It just so happens that the light in his room compliments the placement of LT (i.e. shadows and such). We are just about done with the room and it looks really cool. The smile on Bobby's face when he walks in there makes it all worth it! What a blessing to be able to create such warmth in the hearts of our young ones. I am looking forward to getting done with the rest of the house now :) It will be nice to get back to normal.

Answered Prayers

Good news today. I have been praying quite a bit about everything going on in San Diego and God has finally answered those prayers. My grandmother is go ahead with the sale of her house and will be seaking a nursing facility in San Diego for long term care. Although this breaks her heart and mine, it is the right thing to do at this time in her life.

The only unkfortunate thing about all of this is the path of destruction that has been left behind. The enemy has driven a stake into my heart and fractured the already delicate relationship that existed with my family. I'm afraid certain thoughts and perceptions that Satan has placed in the minds of my kin will take a long time to repair. For this I can only pray.

I will not allow this turn of events to wound me though - I have become stronger in my faith and stronger in my walk with God. The enemy may have won this battle with regard to my realtionship with my family, but the war continues.

With Jesus Christ by my side, I will fear nothing...........

Daily time with God

I can not begin to describe how important this has become in my life. Prayer is more powerful and meaningful as I speak with God. Feeling his loving touch is one part of it that is truly amazing. I have always expected (or been trained) to feel really good when God speaks to me, to feel really loved and at peace. As I prayed this morning about everything going on in my life and with my family and with my job, God again spoke to me. It was a little bit of a different feeling this time though. Without direct quoting exactly what he said, I will say this - he was a little loud.

Satan is ALIVE and WELL and is going to be on the attack. Gary, you need to open your eyes and engage in the war. You can't blame anybody around you for the experiences you are having. The enemy will attack you were it cuts the deepest - your family today and something else tomorrow. Know that there are angels walking beside you always and that they are ready to enter battle at a moments notice. You do not walk alone.

The feeling of being spoken to by my Father in very loud and firm tone was very strong as I spent time there, but in the end I understand exactly what he saying. There is some sense of peace when my eyes are opened to the fact that I do not walk alone in the battle. I simply need to pull my sword out of its scabbord and engage.

Things Change

The short story is that my grandmother is not moving up here to live with us.

The long story is that Tammy and I are now made out to be the bad guys because our house is already torn apart and we need to have my grandmother pay to put it back together. The decision to stay in San Diego was based on the fact that my family down there told my grandmother they would take care of it and get her in home care and she would rather stay in her own house.

If they could have told me just a few days earlier, I would still have my house. It seems there are some trust issues between my family in San Diego and me. For some reason they do not trust anything that I am doing to prepare a place for my grandmother. So, I have sent all the evidence (proof) that was telling truth about everything that I was doing with the money that grandma sent me. I think in large part, the anger boils down to money. My family will need every penny they get back to help my grandmother. If I had the money to pay for all of this without going in to debt, I would gladly pay for it and walk away. But, since I am not working right now and do not want to go in to debt at all, I just can't do it. God bless them for taking care of grandmother, I pray that you help them see my intentions are good.

I attended a christian retreat this past weekend which was awesome and timed perfectly. While I was there, I did not pray about this at all - I was really there to strengthen my personal relationship with Jesus and to work on finding my heart.

Today, as we worked through a couple of other things down in San Diego with regard to the sale of grandmothers house (which was in escrow), I was feeling really stressed out. I also received an email from a company I was talking to about a job and found out that the position had been filled. So my wife sent me this verse from Hebrews 13:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

She is such a blessing to me. I love her so much! I can not tell you how lucky I am to be on this journey with her by my side.

What Courage

Wow! I just picked this up and thought I would add this to my blog. What courage it must take to spread God's word in this kind of environment.

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Motorbike gunmen killed a foreign aid worker in Kabul Monday, the Afghan Interior Ministry has said.

Aid worker Gayle Williams was one of 23 expatriates who worked for SERVE Afghanistan.

In a separate incident, two German soldiers and five Afghan children were killed when a suicide bomber struck an Afghan-German military convoy in northern Afghanistan, the provincial governor in Kunduz said.
Gayle Williams, 34, had dual British and South African nationality and worked for SERVE Afghanistan (Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprise), an inter-denominational Christian charity that helps the disabled, the organization's chairman said in a statement.
Williams was shot in the western part of the city, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said, while walking to work. She died shortly after the attack, SERVE Afghanistan chairman Mike Lyth said.
"She was a person who always loved the Afghans and was dedicated to serving those who are disabled," Lyth said. "Needless to say, we are all in shock." Williams was one of 23 expatriates who worked for SERVE Afghanistan, which also employs 450 Afghans in the country.
A statement on SERVE Afghanistan's Web site -- attributed only to "C and E" -- described Williams as "one of the inspiring people of the world who truly put others before herself."
"She was killed violently while caring for the most forgotten people in the world; the poor and the disabled," the statement said. "She herself would not regret taking the risk of working in Afghanistan. She was where she wanted to be -- holding out a helping hand to those in need."
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned her killing as well as the recent killings of two U.N. aid workers in Somalia.

"The secretary-general deplores these acts of deliberate violence against those who are making every effort to alleviate the dire suffering of Somali and Afghan citizens," Ban's spokeswoman Michele Montas said at Monday's daily briefing in New York.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site that it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country and adding that it had been following the woman for some time.

Thinking

Sometimes I think that I think too much. Thats what happens when you have too much time on your hands and you dont use that time wisely. God is definitely present in my life and was definitely there in Church today!

Our Church Home

I have been struggling with the question..... Is this the right Church for my family? The question has led me to think about a number of questions. I suppose it comes down to - are we getting everything we need from the Church? Do my children understand salvation? Are we able to serve in a spiritually fulfilling way? When in prayer does God tell us that this is the right place for us to be at this time in our lives? Balancing physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health is tricky.

I have also been thinking about the Church itself. Are they being completely transparent with regard to how they are stewarding the tithes that people make? Are they willing to let "outsiders" (like me) help out with the business challenges of running a Church this size? Is the Church doing everything it can to not only reach people in other places of the world, but reach the people in the community that we live in?

Tough questions running through my mind today. It adds a different level of complexity to what it means to provide for your family and thier spiritual well being.

ESL II

Its important to note that there are no dairy products used in the smoothies where my works.

ESL

So my son got his first job at age 17. He went to his first day of work today and the person training him was from a foreign country and told my son that if he messed up some of his English throughout the night, that my son should correct him.

A lady came in to the establishment and asked "do the smoothies have any dairy in them?". The "trainer" promptly answered "No, no dairy in the smoothies". The lady then purchased a smoothie and left.

After the lady had gone, the "trainer" asked my son, "what does dairy mean?".

Missing the Children

I was surfing through a few blogs tonight (or early this morning) and came across a story of a father that had been traveling quite a bit in the recent past and was excited to be going home because he missed his kids so much. He talked about hugging them and loving them and simply letting them know that he was there for them.

I then began thinking about how I use to feel the exact same way when I was on travel and out of the country about 85% of the time between 2006 and 2008. I would call every day (well, most days) and speak to my wife and kids just to say I love you and to see how the day went - this was sometimes very difficult depending on my geographical location (Australia and Japan were real challenges). I remember being homesick a lot, especially on the weekends. Thank God for the "Slingbox" and "Skype".

I then began to think about what it would feel like if nobody picked up the phone when I called or if I could only look at my children and love them without being able to lay a hand on them because they did not know I was there. I thought about what it would feel like to love your children enough to give your life for them, yet the children are unaware of that fact. What a tragedy....

I then began to think about how it would feel to help all of those children turn and see that their Father is there, that he has always been there and that it is their turn to come home and experience His love first hand. That feels pretty darn good....

Serving God

As I mention in a previous post, my wife and I serve at our Church. I was there yesterday setting up all of the supplies for Sunday School. As I was wrapping stuff up a friend of mine, Aurora, that works at the Church came in and we got to chatting about her "life group" (a smaller group of folks that do life together, worship, bible study, etc.) and how they were volunteering at a men's shelter in Seattle. I was aware of this because she sent out an email asking for donations (I donated to the cause :) - those men could definitely use the cloths more than me). As we talked, she asked me if my wife and I could serve in a different area of the Church as well, to help her out. This was not the first time we had talked about this. We spoke about it some time ago and she asked me to talk to Tammy (my wife) and pray about it. I told Aurora that I had prayed about it and that God was leading me to focus on getting my grandmother moved to Seattle (in a previous post, I explained we are moving my grandmother up here to live with us)and that with 4 children our plates were pretty full. I went on to say that as things settle down in the future, perhaps God will lead us to make a change and serve in a different capacity. She totally understood and simply smiled and said "I'll be waiting". It struck me in the conversation that I was standing in the middle of a very large Church with some 1500 members and the staff always seems to be struggling for people to step up and help. It made me think of all those people that may be missing out on an opportunity to serve God. My wife and I do not serve in the Church to "help the Church", we serve because God has commanded us to serve - helping the Church out is simply a nice perk. I can only hope and pray that those people that are not serving at the Church they call home are either serving in some other capacity somewhere in the world or will soon understand that it's not about making time to help out once in a while...... it's about understanding that God has commanded us to do so and we must to do it.

Preparing a place

So, my wife and I are making preparations to move my grandmother from San Diego, CA to Kirkland, WA to live with us. She is legally blind and wheelchair bound. She requires 24 hour a day care. She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing in my lifetime. I began thinking today about what makes my grandmother so special. I came up with quite a bit as I thought through the experiences she created for me growing up. My grandmother (and grandfather) was always there for my family no matter what challenges we were dealing with at the time. They always had and open door. My family lived with my grandparents in Oxnard, CA on and off as we were growing up. We also visited my grandparents often when we were not living there. My grandmother was always in a cheerful mood when us kids were around. No matter how she was feeling inside, how sick she might be, how much pain she might be experiencing from an accident or something, she was always cheerful. Prior to our visits, my grandmother would always have something prepared for us kids. I remember that she use to keep the Star Wars cards, that came in loaves of bread back then, aside for us and would set them out on the coffee table in the living room so that we would see them as soon as we arrived. There was always something special waiting for us when we visited my grandma's house. The entire time we were at my grandmothers house, whether just visiting or living there, she would get up early every morning and make breakfast special for each of the kids. Anything you wanted, she would prepare. Games were also something my grandmother enjoyed a lot and we spent hours upon hours playing "Pollyanna", Dominoes, and various other board games and card games. She simply loved to spend time with us. She has always been a beautiful person. my wife and I truly feel blessed to have her come and live with us. Although we know it will be challenging for us, we trust that God will guide us as we move down this path.

We live in a two-story home and all of the bedrooms are upstairs. We are converting our formal dining area and formal living room area into a suite for my grandmother. We are also taking out the existing "powder room" and expanding that space to include a shower with full handicap access. We never really used the formal dining and living room areas for their intended purpose. My wife uses the dining area for her scrapbooking stuff (and believe me, there is a ton of it!) and our kids use the living room area as a playroom. We are converting part of our garage into a space for these two activities to live in after my grandmother is here. We are preparing a place that we believe will be most comfortable for her and allow her to live out the rest of her many years with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren in peace.

In thinking through all of these experiences, I can help but turn to God. I have prayed quite a bit about this significant event in our lives and constantly feel God's blessing on me and my family. As my grandmother always prepared a special for us to go when we were younger, we now are preparing a special place for her to go. As my grandmother made many personal sacrifices in life to ensure her grandchildren were comfortable and happy, we will make sacrifices in our own lives to ensure she is comfortable and happy. Because of the life my grandmother lived and the love and grace she showered my family with, we feel blessed to have her as part of our household.

In all of this I know that God has prepared a special place for all of use to go when that time comes. Our heavenly father is setting aside all the Star Wars cards and making sure there are plenty of games for us to play when we step in to his kingdom. Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice in his life to ensure we were comfortable and happy. As we live our lives, its absolutely important for us to shower those in need with love, grace and kindness. To make our Father proud as he welcomes us in to his house.

The Beginning

I have been working on rekindling my relationship with Jesus Christ over the past year and decided to start this Blog to put my experiences out there for others to see. I have had a life full of experiences that have had me walking with Jesus Christ and venturing off that path and then back again. I have always had a relationship with Jesus, it has simply varied in levels over the years.

Since this is "the beginning", I thought I would share a few bits of my history to set the tone. I am married to an amazing woman and we have 4 children, 3 boys - ages 5, 11, and 17 and 1 girl - age 2. I grew up San Diego, CA with the exception of living in Virginia Beach, VA for 3 years. I can remember being introduced to "Church" when I was about 8 years old. My step-father was in the Navy and we were living in Virginia Beach, VA at the time. Although I may have attended Church at a younger age, I remember this as being my initial introduction. My parents began attending Hope Lutheran Church and we were very consistent in attending services and Sunday school on a weekly basis during the time we lived in Virginia. Thinking back, the area in general and neighborhood we lived in was very "religious" and if you did not go to Church you were looked down upon. This is probably a big reason that my family attended. I do not remember ever attending Church as family outside of the 3 years we lived in Virginia.

When I was 9 or 10 years old, I was baptized at Hope Lutheran Church. I remember this as being very significant from a "ceremonial" prospective. I have 2 brothers and a sister that were all baptized at the same time. We were all dressed up in our best cloths and walked down the center of the Church between the pews with everybody looking at us. Then the pastor said a few words, we all dipped our heads in a big shell and had water sprinkled on us. The congregation then clapped for us and we were on our way. Baptized and headed for heaven. We all had certificates to prove it. From a spiritual prospective, this event was not that significant in my life. The truth of the matter is, it really wasn't spritual for me at the time. Knowing what I know today about the significance of being baptized and the symbolism associated with baptism; these were not the things on my mind during this time in my life. I remember thinking that this was "the thing to do" and that was it.

When I was 10 years old and just out of the 5th grade, my family moved back to San Diego. Between the 6th grade and 8th grade I had no involvement in Church at all. When I was in the 8th grade, I met some friends that were involved in the youth group at the local Church in area we lived in. We lived in Murphy Canyon military housing and the services were held in the local recreation center with youth group meeting each Sunday afternoon. The youth pastor there was a guy named Ed Eby. Ed was a great guy and we really had a lot of fun in youth group and that led us to begin attending the Church services as well. The youth group became very involved in everything going on at the Church from setup on Sunday mornings to Christmas plays to the choir. I think half of the choir consisted of teenagers from the youth group. I met my would be wife, Tammy, there and began dating her at the ripe old age of 15.

When I was 16, my step-father retired from the Navy and we moved to Santee, CA (a suburb or San Diego) and I was forced to change schools in my junior year. I kept close ties with my friends in Murphy Canyon until I graduated in 1988 from Santana High School. I intended to become a pastor all the way through my graduating high school but as you will see, that did not really work out.

After a short stint of making chicken at KFC (my first job), I got a job at Chevron while in my senior year of high school. I did not attend Church after graduating high school. I continued working at Chevron and was engaged to Tammy when I was 18 years old. In order to provide more stability and BENEFITS for my soon to be family, I made a decision to join the Navy. I joined as a Submarine Sonar Technician. I served as "religious" petty officer for my company in boot camp and spent a lot of time praying with folks and providing spiritual support for the other recruits going through the program. The Lord certainly blessed me during this time, because the head Chaplain for the Recruit Training Command in San Diego was Chaplain Vanderbilt. Chaplain Vanderbilt was the Chaplain at Murphy Canyon Protestant Chapel back when I was active in that Church. He took good care of me during my time at boot camp and provided a lot of spiritual guidance for me throughout my time there. After boot camp, I went through training and then on to my first submarine and the rest is history. I spent 6 years in the Navy. I stopped attending Church after boot camp. I was really busy you know.....

When I got out of the Navy, I began working in manufacturing for various sized companies and today have my own consulting business specializing in management consulting and operational excellence. About a year ago while I was traveling on business in the United Kingdom, I began to feel God tugging on my heart.

Tammy and I had been searching for a Church for a while. We landed at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, WA. The timing was good because the second week we were there, they named a new Lead Pastor (Mike Howerton). Mike's teaching immediately began resonate with Tammy and I and we feel very blessed that God lead to Overlake. My relationship with Jesus Christ has continued to grow and is really changing my life.

I stopped traveling in March of 2008 and have really slowed down on the consulting business for 2 reasons - 1) I had been traveling about 85% of time the last 2 years and 2) the existing contracts I have with my clients are coming to an end. So, now I am really considering what to do next. I have prayed about it, but not nearly enough. God is still tugging on my heart, I am simply not sure what his plan is yet. My wife and I both serve at Overlake Christian Church in the children's ministry and feel very blessed to be able to do so. I have considered becoming a pastor and there are many experiences I have had over the past year that have steered me in this direction (to be shared in another blog, later). I will begin attending Northwest University this fall and going through a certificate program that covers the foundational knowledge associated with biblical and theological studies. Earlier this year, I applied for and was accepted in to the Northwest University Masters in Missional Leadership program, but was intimidated by my lack of general knowledge. As a result, I shifted to more a practical program that would give me more confidence. As I pursue the certificate program, I will continue to look to God for the next steps in my quest.

I really did not plan on being here typing this blog at 1:00am, but here I am. Hopefully there are not too many errors and you were able to get to this point in the blog before being bored out of your mind. Until next time...... blessings.