I was just listening to my pastor pray for our church body and thanking God for the gifts given to all believers by Jesus. I agreed in my own prayer and asked God to reveal more of His gifts in me, then I was struck with this thought; the most important gift God has given us is his word, am I being a good steward of this incredible gift?
This was just a thought that quickly pierced my heart and made my conscience twinge a little. The Bible claims to be the very words of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and John 1:1 says The word IS God, if you believe this as I do, then we can access this God who we cannot see right now (physically) any time we want.
think about it.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Lesson Learned
So yesterday was the 7th anniversary of my 12 year old brothers death, his name was Alan and he died in a go kart accident. This year it’s being viewed with a little more emotional depth for me, you see my 23 year old cousin died in a motorcycle accident not even a month ago, boy were there some memories flooding back to me during that time of grief.
Alan would have been 19 years old right now had he survived that accident, which leads one to speculate as to what he would have been up to as a young man, what would he be like? I know that from what I knew of Alan there would have been struggles with anger, severe pride, and rebellion to discipline, hold on, this is starting to sound like me. In step with his weaknesses Alan excelled in people skills, and he was hailed during his funeral as a constant witness for Jesus Christ, something I never knew about him, and this grieved me terribly then and still to this day it is the driving force behind my interaction with my siblings, I mean how sad is it to be consumed with your own affairs to the point of not knowing about the greatest joy your brother has? It took his death and funeral to wake me up. And as I sat in a church in New Jersey a couple weeks ago watching my cousins weep over their missed brother, I wanted with all my heart to encourage them to use this tragic experience to spur them into a more selfless relationship with their family, not because I feel like they were doing a bad job, in fact they were already very close, but because if we do not guard against it, selfish living creeps in under the radar and we are just plain blind to it.
So if you are reading this, take it to heart and learn from my mistake, maybe I can save you some heartache. I don’t want anyone to find themselves sitting in a funeral of someone they loved and finding out for the first time what they were like.
-TJ Shropshire
Alan would have been 19 years old right now had he survived that accident, which leads one to speculate as to what he would have been up to as a young man, what would he be like? I know that from what I knew of Alan there would have been struggles with anger, severe pride, and rebellion to discipline, hold on, this is starting to sound like me. In step with his weaknesses Alan excelled in people skills, and he was hailed during his funeral as a constant witness for Jesus Christ, something I never knew about him, and this grieved me terribly then and still to this day it is the driving force behind my interaction with my siblings, I mean how sad is it to be consumed with your own affairs to the point of not knowing about the greatest joy your brother has? It took his death and funeral to wake me up. And as I sat in a church in New Jersey a couple weeks ago watching my cousins weep over their missed brother, I wanted with all my heart to encourage them to use this tragic experience to spur them into a more selfless relationship with their family, not because I feel like they were doing a bad job, in fact they were already very close, but because if we do not guard against it, selfish living creeps in under the radar and we are just plain blind to it.
So if you are reading this, take it to heart and learn from my mistake, maybe I can save you some heartache. I don’t want anyone to find themselves sitting in a funeral of someone they loved and finding out for the first time what they were like.
-TJ Shropshire
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Lily and I are out in California right now for a little over a week with Lily's family, and it's been a very nice couple of days so far. My feelings when I walked back into the Griffith's house were a mixture of love for this place and the things I've experienced here, and a sense of familiarity with the surroundings. I like it here.
Many times in my life I have wondered whether I was operating at full capacity in things I wish to attain, in other words, am I doing everything I could be doing to prepare myself? it doesn't really matter what that something is, just that I wish to be grasping onto life like Jacob grasped onto Esau's ankle coming out of the womb, a passionate approach to living. Any way, I think about that often, and I like being around people who challenge me in those regards, a sharpening force.
For a personal update. I am still living in cocoa FL with my beautiful wife Lily, our goals are to build relationships in our church family and gain experience with working with people in the church. I am working on Radio towers with my dads company, and Lily has just passed her PCT exam and is completely done with her medical training, and now she is going to be looking for a job that fits her.
More later(maybe much later, but I don't care)
-TJ
Many times in my life I have wondered whether I was operating at full capacity in things I wish to attain, in other words, am I doing everything I could be doing to prepare myself? it doesn't really matter what that something is, just that I wish to be grasping onto life like Jacob grasped onto Esau's ankle coming out of the womb, a passionate approach to living. Any way, I think about that often, and I like being around people who challenge me in those regards, a sharpening force.
For a personal update. I am still living in cocoa FL with my beautiful wife Lily, our goals are to build relationships in our church family and gain experience with working with people in the church. I am working on Radio towers with my dads company, and Lily has just passed her PCT exam and is completely done with her medical training, and now she is going to be looking for a job that fits her.
More later(maybe much later, but I don't care)
-TJ
Thursday, April 23, 2009
This is my new bike that I brought home and fixed (top picture) but is now broken again :(
I am replacing the timing chain right now which was the problem to begin with but I didn't know it, and should be back up and running again in the next week.
I bought the bike for cheep transportation to to and from work and general runabout duties, and though it doesn't look like it, it's completely street legal. on the downside, Lily doesn't laugh when we talk about the motor cycle, crack a grin or anything else lighthearted about the thing, so I am trying to be as safe as possible with the machine (though I think it's so awesome!).
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Well now, this is almost funny, I'm updating a blog pretty much no one even knows about, that doesn't motivate very well but I feel compelled regardless.
A lot has happened in my life since buying the Subaru, though that car has had an integral part in the happenings. For starters, it picked up Lily from the airport in Orlando late in August, very exciting for me. It faithfully transported the two of us around my home town and the outlying favorite places that I've wanted to take Lily to for so long, very fun for me. Next it relocated the two of us all the way to California, making stops along the way to stay with relatives and friends, a lot of relational growth for me. It then became a daily commute for me as I stayed across town at Lily's eldest brothers house, as well as being the run about vehicle for our wedding preparations, very exhausting for me.
At this point the Subaru takes a very quick turn, and of course it handles it with exceptional skill (because of the superior suspension design of course) as it becomes the vehicle to whisk away a very very happy two people how shared the ride together before, but now it's the getaway car for their wedding day, very awe inspiring for me. It takes them to their honeymoon spot in Santa Barbara where it feels like high class in the swank parking area of the private cottage, unbelievable for me. It once again sets it's course for the other side of the country, this time bearing the load of the wife's personal belongings, but it doesn't flinch, very long for me.
Here the Subaru rests, save for a four hour trip to Miami where it drops the newly married couple off at the cruise terminal relinquishing it's duties to a large ship bound for the western Caribbean, very relaxing for me. And now the Subaru continues to prove it's worth by driving me to work in the mornings and allowing Lily to figure out the new town she's living in, very rewarding for me.
So you see, this car has been in the thick of it so to speak, and all the while we haven't had as much as a whimper from it. I couldn't ask much more from a car, God has blessed us with reliable transportation that is hard to come by in the price bracket we were in at the time of the purchase, I believe He is the one deserving of the thanks for this, and for our safety through it all, all 11000 miles of it so far.
I wonder what this car will do for us in the future?
Till next time (which may be a while).
-TJ Shropshire
A lot has happened in my life since buying the Subaru, though that car has had an integral part in the happenings. For starters, it picked up Lily from the airport in Orlando late in August, very exciting for me. It faithfully transported the two of us around my home town and the outlying favorite places that I've wanted to take Lily to for so long, very fun for me. Next it relocated the two of us all the way to California, making stops along the way to stay with relatives and friends, a lot of relational growth for me. It then became a daily commute for me as I stayed across town at Lily's eldest brothers house, as well as being the run about vehicle for our wedding preparations, very exhausting for me.
At this point the Subaru takes a very quick turn, and of course it handles it with exceptional skill (because of the superior suspension design of course) as it becomes the vehicle to whisk away a very very happy two people how shared the ride together before, but now it's the getaway car for their wedding day, very awe inspiring for me. It takes them to their honeymoon spot in Santa Barbara where it feels like high class in the swank parking area of the private cottage, unbelievable for me. It once again sets it's course for the other side of the country, this time bearing the load of the wife's personal belongings, but it doesn't flinch, very long for me.
Here the Subaru rests, save for a four hour trip to Miami where it drops the newly married couple off at the cruise terminal relinquishing it's duties to a large ship bound for the western Caribbean, very relaxing for me. And now the Subaru continues to prove it's worth by driving me to work in the mornings and allowing Lily to figure out the new town she's living in, very rewarding for me.
So you see, this car has been in the thick of it so to speak, and all the while we haven't had as much as a whimper from it. I couldn't ask much more from a car, God has blessed us with reliable transportation that is hard to come by in the price bracket we were in at the time of the purchase, I believe He is the one deserving of the thanks for this, and for our safety through it all, all 11000 miles of it so far.
I wonder what this car will do for us in the future?
Till next time (which may be a while).
-TJ Shropshire
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I promised, here they are Part 3 (Final)
June 25th, 2008
Location: Beach house in Cayucose
Time: Late night
Personal Journal entry.
This was a very interesting day (and long). This morning I woke Lily up at 7:30and we went to a coffee shop in downtown Cayucose on the two bikes we have here. It gave us a chance to enjoy each others company while not having think about other people at the same time. We talked about good things and bad. The coffee shop featured art in it, but all of it stunk of death and despair, made me very uneasy.
After we ate breakfast back at the house we all piled into the car and drove to Morro Bay and did a little hike, then went out to Morro Rock, it was good fun for sure and I got a lot of good pictures.
After we gpt back and ate lunch Lois sparked a discussion around the table that was very emotionally charged, all concerning the apparent stealing their daughter away from them, but it was a good talk, and I was able to lay out my position on it so that I could be understood better. Robert said some things too,about wanting the best for his daughter and things like that.
After all that I took a nap and Lily, Del, Arielle, and Lois went to the beach. After waking up I talked with Robert a little, telling him my plan for proposing to Lily tomorrow, and I just really enjoyed the freedom I felt in talking with him.
Tonight I went out to call mom and let her know how I have been doing, and then called Barry up to see if I could use him as a decoy for going up to San Fransisco area, and that worked great because when I came back to the house he called me back and I played it off as if he was inviting Lily and I up there to visit, she wanted too, so that will work out great, but she's already being pushy with time stuff, but that also means she doesn't suspect I have a plan.
Well after all that Lily was holding my guitar and she looks at me and says " I looked for a pick, but then I stopped". The place where my picks might be is the place I hid her ring, so right away I knew had stumbled on to it, though she says she didn't see the box even, just felt it, shook it, and put it back quickly. I believer her, but I still feel like she discovered a secret that I've spent so so so much time and effort and money on...I felt deflated, but all I could do was laugh at her, and she was laughing too. It's just ironic I guess, the day before I give it to her. S
So tomorrow I hope to leave around 12:00pm for San Jose, maybe do some shopping for swing clothes, then go to the Japanese Friendship Garden and I'll propose under the weeping willow tree by the water, after that we'll get some dinner and then go to Barry and Helen's.
I'm pretty damn excited.
Location: Beach house in Cayucose
Time: Late night
Personal Journal entry.
This was a very interesting day (and long). This morning I woke Lily up at 7:30and we went to a coffee shop in downtown Cayucose on the two bikes we have here. It gave us a chance to enjoy each others company while not having think about other people at the same time. We talked about good things and bad. The coffee shop featured art in it, but all of it stunk of death and despair, made me very uneasy.
After we ate breakfast back at the house we all piled into the car and drove to Morro Bay and did a little hike, then went out to Morro Rock, it was good fun for sure and I got a lot of good pictures.
After we gpt back and ate lunch Lois sparked a discussion around the table that was very emotionally charged, all concerning the apparent stealing their daughter away from them, but it was a good talk, and I was able to lay out my position on it so that I could be understood better. Robert said some things too,about wanting the best for his daughter and things like that.
After all that I took a nap and Lily, Del, Arielle, and Lois went to the beach. After waking up I talked with Robert a little, telling him my plan for proposing to Lily tomorrow, and I just really enjoyed the freedom I felt in talking with him.
Tonight I went out to call mom and let her know how I have been doing, and then called Barry up to see if I could use him as a decoy for going up to San Fransisco area, and that worked great because when I came back to the house he called me back and I played it off as if he was inviting Lily and I up there to visit, she wanted too, so that will work out great, but she's already being pushy with time stuff, but that also means she doesn't suspect I have a plan.
Well after all that Lily was holding my guitar and she looks at me and says " I looked for a pick, but then I stopped". The place where my picks might be is the place I hid her ring, so right away I knew had stumbled on to it, though she says she didn't see the box even, just felt it, shook it, and put it back quickly. I believer her, but I still feel like she discovered a secret that I've spent so so so much time and effort and money on...I felt deflated, but all I could do was laugh at her, and she was laughing too. It's just ironic I guess, the day before I give it to her. S
So tomorrow I hope to leave around 12:00pm for San Jose, maybe do some shopping for swing clothes, then go to the Japanese Friendship Garden and I'll propose under the weeping willow tree by the water, after that we'll get some dinner and then go to Barry and Helen's.
I'm pretty damn excited.
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