Sleepy on my Motorcycle

Don't really know what the deal is, but for the past several months I've been worn out. I get tired at like 7pm. Not just like "Oh, I'm kind of worn out." But like "I feel like I've been awake for days. I will fall asleep instantly." On days when I get to sleep in it's a little better. But I still am ready to go to sleep way to early. Not so long ago I could be up until 2am with no problem.

The problem could be many things. I've been contemplating what it could be, and I have not discovered anything yet.

You might not think it's that terrible, but when I get up for work at 7, get ready for work and go to work, and get home about 6 or 7... you see it's one entire day of just work. I got no time for anything else. I'd be fine going to bed at 7 if I was done with work at like 2 so I could do other stuff. It's not that I hate work or that work completely wears me out.

I dunno. I'm tired right now. You can see this post is after 7pm. Far after 7pm. So I'm like a zombie right now.

Now for my motorcycle.

I purchased a motorcycle in the fall for 300 bux about. Haven't done any work on it until a few weeks ago. I knew it had a bad oil leak. Long story short, it was the clutch push rod oil seal that was bad and was a pain in the butt to figure out how to replace it. Finally got that in.

Missing a turn signal light. John Erwin had one that he gave me. All set there.

Battery was shot. Got a new one. Realized I had to put the fluid in the battery myself. Kind of an awkward experience filling a battery with acid for the first time. Got that charged and ready.

Then I just needed to change my oil. No big deal. Until I went to put the oil plug back in and I discovered that the oil plug itself is not stripped, but the oil pan is stripped out. So I ask around and get a few ideas. I snatched up a few universal oil plugs to try them out, find out which one works. Out of the 2 I got, neither worked. Frustration. Then I went to the store and snatched another style. Didn't work either. So I put some thread lock crap on the oil plug and screwed it in to whatever insignificant threads were in the hole and I'm letting it dry now. I'll throw some oil in it tomorrow and see what happens.

I think I'm going to end up just buying a new oil pan. I heard they're like 30 bux on ebay.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Zombie out.

Indianola

I'm out in Indianola, Iowa visiting the Dueys and Jeremy. But what exactly does a typical trip to Jon's house look like?

• Twizzlers
• Sparkling Grape Juice
• Sarah's Tacos (including Ice cream tacos)
• Disc Golf
• More Twizzlers
• More Sparkling Grape Juice
• Jimmy Johns
• Old Country Buffet or Texas Roadhouse
• More Sparkling Grape Juice

So pretty much we just eat like there's no tomorrow, drink sparkling grape juice like we haven't had anything to drink in weeks, and play disc golf all day long. One trip here for 4 days, Jon and I went through 18 bottles of Sparkling Grape Juice. So my vacation to Jon's is pretty much to gain as much weight as possible. We're doing great so far. Time to go eat some more food.

New Years Resolutions

Yes. I made a few.

• Drink something other than pop.
• Read my Bible everyday. At least one chapter.
• Do some exercise on a somewhat regular basis.

I would like to make it known that on Jan 1st, I failed to do all three. But that's no reason to give up! I'll do my best to make those happen.

Fancy things

I was just looking at how long I have had a blogger account. Since May of 2007. That's 5 years, 7 months. That's 60 months. Roughly 24,455 days. I was looking at how many blogs I have posted. 272 blogs posted. Break it down, it's about 1 blog every 90 days.

Just thought that was interesting.

Christmas

I sure do love Christmas.

Christmas Music.
Christmas Movies.
Christmas Carols.
Christmas Cookies.
Christmas Candy.

It gives me such a sense of joy. And peace.

Christmas is not like it used to be. Or maybe I am just viewing Christmas through different lenses than when I was a kid. The holiday has lost it's magical-ness. It was great because there was 100 feet of snow on the ground. I would get tons of candy and gifts for Christmas. We would get what seemed like a whole year off. We'd get to go have a great time visiting family in Iowa for what seemed like a month.

Now Christmas comes and goes. I dont get as excited about the gifts. Santa isn't real anymore. It seems like its rare to have snow on Christmas day. Christmas break gets shorter and shorter. The trip out to Iowa seems shorter and shorter.

From a a book I'm reading called "The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask" comes the quote:

"With the addition of years, most people begin to see through the empty promises and short-lived pleasures of the current order."

The promises of Christmas that I used to have faith in are fading. Not that those old parts of Christmas were bad, but I rarely took note of the root of the holiday. Maybe I can get joy and peace and happiness now from understanding what Christmas really is. A celebration for the birth of Christ.

That is what I'm going to cling to. My new joy and peace.

Summer Thus Far

It's June 16th. So I've officially been away for 17 days. It's one of those things where it feels like it's been longer, yet it feels like the summer is flying by. So what exactly have I been doing with my summer? I'm the video guy for Silver Birch Ranch. Two years ago I was the audio guy. So it's slightly familiar being back here in the tech department, but different because, well... obviously video is a little different than audio.

What kind of work does being the video guy entail? I am basically responsible for any video stuff that happens this summer. Filming, editing, burning DVDs, packaging DVDs. Each week my goal I'm working for is a 7-10 minute "Week in Review" DVD of footage of all of the events that take place at camp. The more events, the better. The more campers, the better. Just a few hours ago I just finished burning out the Master Copy of my first "Week in Review" DVD. It was for Junior Camp #1 and Middler Camp #1 (two camps combined into one week). It was on the longer side: about nine minutes and 40 seconds. I was told to aim for 8-9 minutes. But I think I did pretty awesome for my first video. It literally was my first real video. Before a week ago I had no experience at all with video editing. So I've really been thrown into a new world this week. It's funny... two years ago when I was the audio guy, I was also officially the tech director, which was a whole new world at that time. I knew basically how to run a soundboard, so its strange that they threw me in that role, plus the leader role. But it worked out alright.

So I've been here for nearly 3 weeks, but only have done one video. That's because the first week was a Family Camp. There are a total of four family camps this summer. We don't do "Week in Review" DVDs for them. I dont really know why, but I'm okay with that. During Family Camps I will be working on SBR Promo Videos.

Actually the whole time I've been here, I've kind of been a puppet of the Program Team. I don't mean that in a negative way. I just mean I've been working for them and helping them get the summer started. Oh, where would they be without me?!? They'd be lost!

May not sound like I'm doing that much, but I've had a lot of busy busy days. Been staying up late and getting up early. I'm exhausted! I am really worn out. I need a break already. Sad thing is, I'm sure there are people here who work harder and longer hours than I do. Mad props to them.

So I'm tired. But I'm serving. Having a good time. Learning. Growing. I miss family and friends. Don't miss school one bit. Don't miss spending money on gas. I miss having real food. So I guess that's that.

Church Notes

Gotta love it when you go to a church that hands out the little half sheet of white paper with a basic outline of the message with blanks to fill in!

I went to Great Lakes church in Kenosha, WI today and for some reason just feel like sharing my notes and my thoughts. Italics are my thoughts.

Title: Elephant in the Room... Greed
Speaker: Dave Nelson

Greed
-Greed says, "Life is about me!"
Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:4
-Greed is tamed by taking an interest in other people.
So encourage each other and build each other up... 1 Thes 5:11

Encouragement
-Encouragement brings change
Then he asked them "But who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Now i say to you that you are Peter (which means "rock"), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Matthew 16:15-17
-Encouragement creates confidence
Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29
-Encouragement is a constant "yes" in a world that says "no."
...What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45

How to encourage
-Proactively look for good in other people.
...bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. 2 Timothy 4:11
If we are unfaithful, God remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:13
-Find multiple and creative ways to communicate the good you see in other people.

o Starting point: Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.


The focus of the message was more on encouragement than greed. I really would have liked to hear more about greed. And my first thought (or second or third thought) is not to match greed and encouragement as opposites.

Anywho. One thing that stuck out to me was Philippians 2:4 which says "Don't look out ONLY for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." What happens if you take that "only" out? It becomes "Don't look out for your own interests..." Honestly, I think of Christianity as being something where your goal is to be as selfless as possible. Like watching out for numero uno is a no-no, a sin. But when I read this it was like a shock to my system. I was like "Wait... so we can care about ourselves?" I really honestly think one thing that holds me back is the thought that I am supposed to be selfless. That one word "only" changes things. God says to me, "You have much to learn, my young apprentice..." and He lifts that burden from me.