Sweet Relief!

After what seems like a month of high 80's and 90's with one million percent humidity (it certainly ain't a dry heat) , we finally got a break!

Cool, breezy, partly sunny and 77 degrees... aaah!

Thank you God.

By the way, I wrote this one just for Nicole(see picture on the right). She still would have been cold while we were all sweating!

The Mushy Side of Me...

Do you know how weird you look when you are outside playing with your dog and tears start to roll down your cheek? I know, pretty weird, but if you know me at all, I like being weird - being me.

This morning I'm playing with our handsome little doggie, Bailey, and I decided to listen to some of the older stuff on the iPod. The other night I began a pilgrimage through everything Michael W. Smith, and on this day we came to the album, I'll Lead You Home (1995). On that album there is a song that always gets me. It's called, "The Other Side of Me." Even as I write the title, tears well up in my eyes.

I love being in love with my wife, Cheryl. In the infamous words of Jerry Maguire, she, "completes me." I can see people rolling their eyes and that's fine for them, but when you find a love like this it's hard to contain. I feel like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America as he walks home from his first date with the woman of his dreams. I want to shout out loud... I LOVE HER! People are yelling at me, telling me to shut up, but I can't do it.

There are many songs that Cheryl and I share a fondness for, for many different reasons. But the songs about true love always make us treasure what we have. My prayer is that everyone might be able to experience what we have. I mean that sincerely. I pray that God will bless others the way He has blessed us.

I could never share or experience this type of love if it weren't for Him. He loved me and now I in turn can love others. His love is the model. I am so thankful that He is alive in me so that I can truly love...

The Other Side of Me

If they were to write about
The story of my life
They would have to mention you
With every page they'd write
There's another side to every story told

If I were the ocean
You would be the shore
And one without the other one
Would be needing something more
We are the shadow and the light

Chorus:
Always love me
Never leave me now
Now you are the other side of me
Always love me
Never leave me now
Now you are the other side of me

I have known the emptiness
Of feeling out of touch
And living life without you here
Would be living half as much
Cause I've a need that only you can fill

If love was mathematical
You'd understand the sum
to the heart's equation
Where one and one makes one
And lonely equals me minus you

- Michael W. Smith

The Sunshine in my life...

Just a quick note to let the whole world know that the love of my life, Cheryl, finally bit the bullet and started Blogging! Did I mention she's a bit camera shy?

Not going to put any undue pressure on her, but she is a phenominal writer.

Did I mention how beautiful she is?

Cheryl and I have been together for 17 years... we started dating in high school at the ripe old age of 16 and now have been married for 12 of those years on August 14th. I couldn't have been blessed with a better friend and love than Cheryl.

God truly gave me someone special... Thanks.

The Royal Screw Job...

My brother, Matthew (guy in the pic to your right) , just got the screw job today and that got me thinking... why are so many people out to screw us?

This is one of those questions with many answers for sure.

Nobody wants to let someone get the best of them. Nobody wants to lose. Some people are just plain greedy. Others figure they should screw other people before they get screwed themselves. It's a horrible vicious cycle.

Sometimes there is no way not to get screwed... take the whole insurance industry. Take your pick; health insurance, car insurance, home insurance, life insurance. One way or another, if you have to use them, you will surely get screwed. Trust me, we used ours last winter for a broken window... they doubled our premiums for the year. Moral of the story, buy a new window and fix it yourself.

This is not paranoia. People really are out to take advantage of us. It makes you want to fight back doesn't it? I mean, there are times that I want to nothing but horrible things to happen to my credit card companies... fantasies of a some Tyler Durden action.

As much as my flesh begs me to get "even," I know what I have to do...

³⁸ "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' ^{[g] 39} But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:38 - 42 (TNIV)

"O.K. Scott, I'll just be a doormat. I'll let everyone take advantage of me and abuse me any way they choose."

First off, did I say that? Nope, to give credit to the right guy, Jesus spoke those words to a bunch of people on a mountain over 2000 years ago. They thought it was a wild idea too. I wanna' say that we shouldn't be a doormat, but I think maybe we just want to feel safe and cozy. Maybe Jesus really was saying, let them walk all over you, eventually it'll pay off. They'll see you are different. They will be attracted to your caring spirit. They will wonder how they can get what you have. Isn't that what its all about?

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ³¹ The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:30 - 31 (TNIV)

Just a thought...

God Bless.
-----------------------------

Not trying to be heavy every time I Blog, but when the Spirit moves, there is no stopping Him!

Panera Bread...

It's odd, but I think my brother, Matthew, has subconciously tricked me into liking Panera Bread.

Up to this point I always thought of Panera as one of those trendy places to eat "healthy food" (which it is), but suddenly I have been here to eat like 3 days in a row!!

I have to admit, half the reason that I enjoy the place is the free internet. You have to pay like $2 for a cup of coffee, but there are free refills... they don't say there are, but it's right out in the open for you to help yourself.

So as I sit in Panera typing away on my newly launched Blog, I have nothing really profound to speak of... but then I started thinking about how impacted I have been over the past few days about the love of God.

Let me explain...

You know, as Christians, we spend a lot of time looking for God's love. We long for it. We sing about how badly we want Him to pour it out on us. We pray that He will show Himself to us. We beg and plead for it... GOD!! SHOW US YOUR LOVE!!

This past Sunday, something that I am really starting to understand was taught on at my church, Relevant Church. Mike Beardslee, one of the dudes from our church community, talked about a passage in 1 John... God's Love and Ours (1 John 4:7 - 12).

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

The big idea that we talked about was something that I think we gloss over quite often and it's found in verse 12. "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." Now, the thing is, John, who wrote this book (hence the name), walked with Jesus on this earth. He had seen God's Son, Jesus Christ, do amazing things. He experienced Jesus' love for him. Which is where the "ah-ha!" comes in.

How can we experience God's love? How can others experience God's love? Really, truly experience God's authentic, amazingly awesome love? Listen up, this is big... if we love one another, God LIVES IN US and his love is MADE COMPLETE IN US...

Wow! All we have to do is look around us and love each other!! That is how we experience God's love... by loving each other. By helping one another. By caring about each other... Seems pretty simple when you say it, but we all know hard it can truly be.

I knew I had to write this down today, because Aaron and I were sitting here in Panera and God spoke these same words to him this weekend. Confirmation dear brothers and sisters! We are doing a weak job of loving each other. God wants to pour out his love on us, but we need to start looking around at each other to really experience it. We need to open ourselves to spreading his love and experiencing it through one another. We need to be willing to give out his love to those who need it. Those who are in need. Those who look like they have everything. Since we all need practice on loving, why not start with one another, the Church?

The Launch of the Ramblin' Scotzman

I've always wanted to blog...

I've wanted to do a lot of things, but since I am on this computer sooooo much, why not talk about some of the crazy things that run through my head?

Nothing crazy tonight, but trust me there will be in the future...

Sleep tight.

Scott