stuff

I was listening to a podcast of "The Story". It was talking about homeless people. It moved me because it highlighted how little they have, and it highlighted a woman who, with her church, gave 20 homeless men a place to sleep, in the woman's church, for a month or so. It showed them that somebody cared. It helped them, some of them, get their feet under them. One man bought a house at auction for three hundred dollars. He had been working for another man at the time, and his boss, when he found out what the homeless man was interested in, bought the place for him. Real fixer-upper. But the homeless guy told how great it is to be able to put a key in a lock and open the door to your own home. And he made the three hundred dollar house sound like a great place. It is. It's a roof over his head, a roof that doesn't leak. He's off the street now. He has a home. Because somebody cared and brought others with her, this man has his own home now.

God bless people like that. I want to be people like that. To be able to provide a break for somebody, whether by myself or joined with others or just funding such efforts.

That woman and those with her made a difference.

Isn't that why we're here?

Today, I thank God for plenty.

p.s. If you want to listen to this program, go here .

good day

So I've had a good day. I got to get some work done, including a great chest workout and some work on a script, and somebody from my main job called wanting to know how to do something, and I was able to walk them through it. Praise God for all of that! :) Also, God's been showing his favor in the work mentioned plus in the acting--I sent an e-mail to a local acting school of great repute, and while they're not holding classes right now, they are willing to look at a scene of 2-3 minutes if I can get with another actor and work it out and present it. I think we could both benefit greatly from the critique of the teachers involved.

Really, though, it was so satisfying to be able to walk my co-worker through his problem. That was pretty cool.

I notice, also, that I don't have much for material wants these days. I kind of have all the stuff I'd really been wanting, so I'm good. I don't go to Best Buy that much anymore. I have the stereo and speakers, and I'm enjoying them until God tells me to sell them, sow them or give them away. The computer's working great--oh, that's another thing--one of the buttons on my iPod Touch had gotten smushed, and the iPod was replaced under warrranty. Here's the kicker, though: I knew most of my information could be replaced through iTunes, but it turns out iTunes made a copy of all the information, so all I had to do was set it up using the backup iTunes had made this morning. Awhile later, I was running a new iPod with the same settings as the older one, right down to the notes and the picture on the screen saver thingy. Apple's so thoughtful. :)

And, God's been speaking to me through the prayer journal, which I find pretty cool. He's usually got something to say--and it's usually encouraging even if he has to bring a little correction into my life. Hey, the Lord chastises those whom he loves, right? If he didn't care, why say anything? But, no, he wants me to improve, so it behooves him to correct me and me to listen and obey.

Also, I "discovered" a pretty good additional coffee joint, this time in my area. Great environment, free wi-fi (they just ask that you buy something first, which is only polite), so-so chairs, and accessible power outlets. I'll be back.

And now, the capper--I get to watch "Smackdown!" before, wait for it, I get to also watch a couple of WWE DVDs I've rented through Netflix while I eat eggs, pork chops and frozen yogurt (not all together--blech). Sweeeeet!

You might try this sometime--get some frozen yogurt or ice cream and pour your favorite coffee over it. Be generous. Then snarf it up. Yummy. Another thing I used to do is take ice cream and whip it until it was pretty soft, then mix in some Grape Nuts. Also yummy--in fact, yummilicious.

Check out http://www.tackfu.com and also do a Google search for a band called "Bad Fathers", formerly of Iowa, now in L.A.. Good stuff.

Peace, glory to God and God bless you all (or both, or you singular)

Stargate and Netflix

So I wasn't able to find the Stargate DVD, but I'm sure I mailed it back off to Netflix...in the wrong envelope. So I called them and let them know what was up, and I'm grateful to God that they gave me the benefit of the doubt--apparently, this isn't the first time somebody's returned a movie in the wrong sleeve, and there's no way for Netflix to track the DVD without the sleeve, which has a UPC code on it identifying the disc inside. Anyway, thank God I don't owe them anything and we're all good. This, along with the work stuff I talked about in the previous post, is all evidence of the favor of God. Thanks, God!

day

So I had a pretty good day--I got to work about 15 hours at my primary job, then over to the secondary job, where I go to work an hour beyond what I had been scheduled to work. I thank God for extra dough--which is what the extra hour at the secondary job amounted to.

Now, if I can just find that missing Stargate DVD...

time

We only have so much time here on Earth. About 87000 seconds per day. That's it. Once it's gone, it's gone. So I was listening to Joel Osteen, and he reminded me how important it is to use our time wisely, and one of the things that hit home for me was the importance of not wasting time trying to reconcile with those who don't want to. Just release them and let God take care of them. There's peace in that.

Thanks for the reminder, God.

amazing grace

So I keep a prayer journal, as most of you probably know by now--it's something where I write down what I think God's saying to me at that moment in time. It may be accurate or not, but at the basest level, it's a good exercise, at least in listening and letting God say what he wants. So this morning, God just dealt with me like such a loving father, bringing correction but also such encouragement that I knew that I was being corrected _and_ encouraged, and he did it in such a loving way. I'm just amazed at the depth of God's grace...I'm so glad I know him. :)

Thanks for the correction, God, and the encouragement.

God's grace

I'm grateful to God today that he said he was proud of me as I wrote in my prayer journal at the same time as he said he was disappointed. Sometimes, we start down a wrong path, which is where he gets disappointed, but then we listen to him and get set right and accept correction, and then he's proud of us. Kinda like a dad, huh? Thanks for grace and understanding and kudos, God. :)

another one bites the dust--part II

Well, it's official: I've paid off, cancelled and cut up (literally) a credit card. One more account taken care of, another step taken on the road out of credit card debt. Thanks and glory to God!

I'm also grateful for being able to offer something very valuable of mine to somebody I love very much and who can really use said thing. God willing, I'll be giving this thing that I'm talking about over to them in the next few months. :)

another one bites the dust

Today, I made arrangements for a long-standing debt to be paid off. Thank God. Somebody showed confidence in me, and, thanks to God's favor, it will soon be taken care-of. Really, from a long time ago, I saw God's favor in this, through all the major stages of the debt (nothing weird or nefarious--just debt) and the paying back of it. Soon, I can allocate that money toward paying other things off, giving and saving more. I thank God for this happening. Thanks again, God, for the favor and for the education.

-love, Sean

Saturday Night Fever

So I was just thinking within the last 24-48 hours or so that I really wanted to see "Saturday Night Fever" again. It's something that I normally keep in my small stable of movies--small, because while there are many movies I like, there are few that I consider worth buying. "Saturday Night Fever" is one of them. Anyway, I was in a grocery store today and next to the check-out line was a copy of that movie along with it sequel, "Staying Alive" for $9.00. Nine bucks. Widescreen. Y'all better believe I picked that one up. Just another "thanks, God" moment. So thanks, God. :) Again.

today

Today, I'm grateful to God for some surprises--like a lower car insurance bill than I expected. Truly a blessing manifestation, that one. Also, I'm grateful for realization. Let me explain: I've held against my late father a conversation we'd had when he'd had a little too much wine. Not that it was a bad conversation but that it was perhaps the only real, adult-to-adult conversation we'd ever had. I resented that it was when he was drunk, like he couldn't talk to me like that when sober. However, as I understand it and as God's reminded me, people say what they really mean when they're drunk. So that tells me that he felt more warmly and more respectful (?) of me than he let on. I think when he was sober, the dad role dominated, but he let that guard down that one time. I treasure that, actually. The lesson I learn from that is to be real with people--don't let it take drunkenness to let one's guard down and communicate honestly with somebody. Thanks, God.

I so love that as time goes on, God brings things new light to situations from the past, and He shows me that it's okay, especially when I see it more from His point of view as opposed to my own natural one. Thanks for that, too, God. :)

Stargate: Atlantis

Today, I'm grateful to God for Stargate: Atlantis and the quality of that show. Stop rolling your eyes. It's reminded me that a show can be entertaining and still have nuggets of stuff to take away, like all good science fiction. And it's God who gives us our creative ability, whether or not we use it for Him. So thanks for the creative ability, God, of myself and of so many others. I choose to use mine for You. :)

phil collins blog

Today I'm grateful to God for my remembering Phil Collins, one of my absolute favorites from the 1980s. I'd downloaded from iTunes the song "Two Hearts", a song I'd remembered fondly, then forgot I'd downloaded it. I just found it again, and it's like finding a treasure. It's reminding me why I liked Phil Collins so much. Everything's so well-done from the vocals to the bass and, of course, the drums, the song's pretty peppy. I need to catch up and see what Phil's up to these days. Phil Collins. I don't know whether he's a Christian or not, but I consider him and his music a gift from God. :) Perhaps most telling is how I feel listening to this song: I feel good. Optimistic. Happy.

-Sean

possibility

Today, I'm grateful for wise advice from my pastor and for...possibility (knowing wink)...If this goes, it's huge. Thanks, God!

-Sean