my life…in text format

Hello all!!

I appreciate the comments and prayers for our camp. We got home from camp yesterday late afternoon and it was an amazing experience!

God really touched lives in both the campers and the staff.

I am downloading some pictures to the computer right now and will be posting highlights/pictures/stories and get back to blogging like normal very soon.

Keep checking back. Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll see you guys soon

For the first part of this story, check my previous post.

We left off with a woman who had back into my truck without regard to my part Ford Ranger’s bumper. Apparently, she also was more concerned with what in the world I was doing behind her than she was whether or not I was ok.

Her reaction when she got out of her van after crashing into me. “What were doing back there!?”

I should’ve said, “Um……let me think, DRIVING! LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! What were YOU doing??!”

But I didn’t I politely asked her if she was ok, assured her that I was fine and that we should pull off the side of the road so we could exchange insurance information. We pull off a side road, both get out of our respective vehicles to exchange info.

She comes around the passenger side of her van and proceeds to tell me that she is unsure of her insurance information.

This is not 100% accurate, but the conversation went something like this.

Me: “Do you have an insurance card with a policy number?”

Her: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know it.”

Me: “Do you have know who you have insurance through?”

Her: “I don’t know, just give me a second, I’m really medicated, I just came from the doctor.”

At this point, I began to think, “What am I in the middle of right now?” I probably should’ve started looking for candid cameras or Ashton Kutcher to come out screaming “YOU JUST GOT PUNK’D!” But…no such luck.

She then tells me to hang on while she gets the number of her insurance company. Then she opens up her sliding passenger door to the van to reveal…..

A mattress.

Yep, you read that correctly. A mattress laying in the back of the van. No seats, just a mattress.

Surrounding the mattress…several plastic totes for storage. Inside those totes, clothes and books.

She pulls out the tote closest to her and whips out a phone book. I am now completely blown away. I am starting to think this woman has some serious issues and I want to just get away from the situation.

Because of all the craziness that’s going on, I realize it’s probably a good idea to get her license plate number, just in case. So, in my best private eye, investigator sort of way, I have my pen and a slip of paper and step back and jot down her number. I know, I know…brilliant. Thank you very much.

She opens the yellow pages to an All State page and points to an agent and says, “That’s her, that’s my agent.”

So…trying my best to handle this situation correctly  (And also not wanting to have to pay for an accident that wasn’t even CLOSE to my fault) I call the number in phone book….

(Again, not 100% accurate, but it’s close)

Me: “I was just in an accident with a woman that says she has insurance with you…”

Agent: “What’s her policy number.”

Me: “She doesn’t know.”

Agent: “Oh, what’s her name.”

Me: (i tell her)

Agent: “Ok, let me check” (takes a moment)

About this time, the woman starts to panic and tells me not to call the cops because she shouldn’t be driving!

The agent comes back:

Agent: “No one by that name carries insurance with us.”

I’ve hit the wall. I have no choice but to call the cops because I have to file a report or I am going to have to pay for everything.

The woman looks at me and says, “I have to go, I can’t stay here, I have a doctor’s appointment to get to!”

Didn’t she just come from a doctor’s appointment?

I tell her that she can do what she has to do, but I have to call the cops and file a report.

I go through the whole process: police station, ride with cop to scene, he gets statements from the gentleman in the parking lot that the woman started waving to, files report…la dee da dee da.

Thankfully, somehow, the cost of the repair is covered and I don’t have to pay a deductible and my insurance rate didn’t go up. I have no idea how that actually happened because we still have no idea what insurance she has.

The police officer keeps in touch with me over the next few days and informs the following: (you’re not gonna believe this)

Cop: “Yeah, we found out who it was…she lied about her name.”

Andy: “Oh yeah?”

Cop: “Yeah, also, I want to encourage you to stay away from her. She’s slightly crazy and has a very long rap sheet. She’s known by all the cops.”

Andy: “Oh…thank you.”

Cop: “D’you get everything figured out with your truck.”

Andy: “Yeah, thanks for everything.”

Cop: “Do me a favor and if you ever see her again, give us a call and let us know when and where.”

Andy: “Will do.”

So there you go. That’s my story. I got backed into on the main street, by a crazy woman apparently spending some time living in her van, who happens to have a rather long rap sheet and is infamous in our area with the local police officers.

Oddly enough, I saw the same blue van at a corner store about a week later…and *dun dun dun* there she was.

She didn’t recognize me. It might have been that her pupils were dilated.

…a blank page.

I really like to flip open my computer, open firefox, type the wordpress address into my address bar, typing in my username and password and getting ready to write something.

Today I have a story: This is a true story. And it actually happened to me.

I was driving home from the campus of Youngstown State University (back when I was a lowly college undergrad) and in front of me was a large blue van. Like one of those conversation vans you see old people driving, that have swivel chairs and tv’s and horns that when you honk them sound like a boat is pulling into your driveway. It was like that, but not fancy. It was a little beat up.

I’m behind her crusin’ along at about 35-40 miles an hour when I see the driver, a woman, wave to somebody out of her driver side window. She then looks to want to turn left, but passes the road she wants to turn onto. It’s like she saw someone she knew in a parking lot, waved and then decided to turn in and see them, but had missed the road. So what does she do?

Of course, she does what every normal driver would do, she continues to the nearest parking lot, side street and/or driveway, pulls in and turns around…..

NO! She doesn’t.

She slams on her breaks. So I stop. Thinking, ok, she needs to take the turn slower, she missed it, she may need to back up a bit to get, so I’ll just wait.

Then I see the little white lights the indicate the vehicle is now in the gear “reverse”. Which of course means, when she hits the gas, she will be going backwards.

She starts inching toward me and she keeps inching towards me, a little faster now…still faster.

I start to see this ginormous blue van begin to fill my windshield and I’m thinking, “she is not going to stop!”

So the firs thing that goes through my mind is to kick my poor little rust colored orange ford ranger into reverse and just back up out of the way…so i check my rearview mirror…all clear.

I try to get it into reverse and it’s just too late this woman is on the gas like she is purposely driving a race car in reverse. I start honking my horn…

CRASH!!!

She smashes right into the front of my truck. Had no idea I was behind her.

She puts her van in drive, pulls off to the side of the road that she intended to turn on to begin with, I’m assuming. I pull up behind her ready to hear a wave of apologies and “you oks?” I’m very merciful and ready to ask her, “are you ok?”

What do I hear when I get out of my truck?

Lady - “WHAT WERE YOU DOING BACK THERE!?”

Me - “Are you ok?”

Her answer was that she had just come from the doctor’s office and was medicated had her pupils dilated.

Um…I don’t know about you, but isn’t there something about operation heavy machinery or vehicle use…

Anyway…this story is just getting good…wait till you hear what happened next…

Which will come later.

I really hate that I’ve allowed almost two full weeks to go by since my last post. I really want to blog more frequently. It’s Sunday, Mother’s day. Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! Thanks for what you do, raising us crazy, rotten, spoiled, snot nosed kids. You’re great and we love you for it!

Currently, my computer clock reads 11:25, which is interesting because it’s only 11:20 (my computer clock is five minutes fast)…weird. My dad is currently preaching a killer message about bringing God home and making our relationship with Him PERSONAL. It seriously is a fantastic message. I’m considering taking notes on my blog and just post the notes from the sermon. Maybe I’ll start doing that in the next few weeks. Live blogging dad’s sermons. I like it.

Thanks to all you guys who come by and read this, my small corner of the internet, I would love to see this little community we have here continue to grow.

Got a question for you:

If you are in a relationship with God…what are some ways we can make that relationship more personal?

If you’re not in a relationship with God…I hope someone that’s in a relationship with God hasn’t ruined it for you. And if they have…I’m sorry.

Love.

I am a talker. If you know me at all, you know that I like to talk a lot. I also love to listen to people. To me, the most important part of communication is the part where my mouth stays closed and my ears stay open. As the saying goes, we have two ears and one mouth, we should do twice as much listening as we do talking.

This is interesting to me because I usually do more talking when I am praying. I try and pray so hard and so well that God will have to hear my prayer. At times I think God simply must be in Heaven calling on the Angels over saying, “HEY! Everybody be quiet and listen as my child prays. Listen to his brilliance as he eloquently seeks my forgiveness and asks desperately for passion. I MUST answer this prayer because I am floored by its brilliance!”

Yeah right.

I have recently been put through a learning process that I am basing God’s ability to answer my prayer on how well I pray. That sound ridiculous doesn’t it? Think about it.

I am trying to earn God’s favor by praying well. I am more worried about clearing dictating every word so that God can clearly hear what I’m saying than I am about the condition of my heart as I seek my Creator’s face.

I am praying…to prayer. I am not praying to God. I am praying to the thing that I use to communicate to God, hoping that I can reach God through powerful words.

Jesus calls people to come to Himself and get their drink from Him. Jesus tells us that what we need is found in HIM. Not in our words, not in our ability to say profound things. Jesus wants to do something in our hearts. He wants to break through the walls we’ve built up and tear down the words we’ve surrounded ourselves with and speak in our lives.

Are you listening?

How much time do you spend being quiet when you are praying?

Do you spend more time talking or more time listening?

I am a broken, sad, sinful human being struggling with bad habits and sinful nature. I have things in my life that I can clearly see are ripping me away from God and I desperately want to rid myself of it. I am slowly realizing that if I go to Christ, instead of attempting to convince God through elaborate prayers, I will get exactly what it is I need and be able to rid myself of exactly what it is that is destroying me.

I think it’s interesting that Jesus Christ is the One person we are so afraid to run to when we have in our lives and yet He is the Only Person we can run to in order to rid ourselves of it.

Maybe God is trying to say something to you. Are you listening?

Turn down the “you” volume and turn up the “God” volume.

We are but dust and earth, yet we get our life from the very breath of God. When we breathe, we are breathing God. When we speak we are exhaling the very being of our Creator.

When He breathes, life forms. When we breathe we speak a testimony of praise to God’s awesomeness.

Keep breathing. Keep listening. Stop talking.

Start…

I’m sitting, looking at a blank page waiting for me to write something down. I’ve just written something down, it’s not blank anymore, it now has the words I continue to type and I just keep typing hoping to find a good transition into the reason of this post. This post does have a reason, this post is important to me because it has to do with some of my favorite things.

God.

Jesus.

Leadership.

I have the incredible privilege to work in environments that allow me to exercise gifts and talents that God has given me and there are moments when I sit back or breath an exhale of amazement that I actually get paid to do what I do.

Whenever I can experience something that allows me to grow, learn, live and lead better, I get excited because I can literally feel how I am getting closer and closer to God with each baby step I take. Some may call that wishful thinking, I simply call it the faithfulness of a Father that loves unconditionally.

Recently, God has decided to remind me of something that I had lost sight of. It’s a simple phrase with profound meaning and packed full of life changing power that has really caused me to evaluate how I do things.

It’s a principle that I’ve known for almost all of my life and certainly for the majority of my leadership life. Seven words. One sentence. Spoken by one of the first New Testament preachers ever.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

I don’t know why that has been echoing in my head so loudly over the past few days.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The word that really stands out to me is that word, “must.”

I just feel such an urgency when I read that. Like it’s so absolutely necessary for me to decrease and God to increase, that’s insane to consider the possibility of it being any other way.

It’s almost like both things need to happen in order for it to work right…

Is it possible for God to increase and you NOT to decrease?

Is there room for both you and God, or does one automatically become smaller as the other one takes precedent. I can easily use the excuse that if I follow God and I increase, than more people will see that I follow God and may come to God, so maybe I can increase and than, by default God will increase because I am getting bigger.

That’s a lie.

It’s simply not true. That phrase, “He must increase, but I must decrease” comes from the New International Version and it has the second “must” in italics which just adds to the urgency.

It’s like, “He really needs to increase, but if anything is really going to happen, you just have to all-out, without-a-doubt, can’t be any other way, HAVE TO decrease.”

It’s almost like the focus isn’t even on God at that point, but more on what WE need to do. Which makes me think that God, just by being God, will fill the gap left as we get smaller and smaller.

We don’t need to worry about God being big, He’s already big. I have to remember that I have the ability to miniaturize God by allowing myself to be big.

I love the idea that as I get smaller, God automatically gets made bigger, because there is no pressure on me to do anything. I don’t have to worry about being successful, I don’t have to worry about what other people think, the only thing I have to really concern myself with when entering into any situation is simply, “How can I allow God to be increase in this situation?”

God has given human beings an amazing amount of responsibility. And what are we to do with that responsibility?

Well, the responsible thing to do is to give it right back to Him.

I’ve met a lot of people who never consider their own soul when they make a choice and it breaks my heart to see so many people with broken souls in need of a healer, a miracle, a Savior. I get in there with what I may consider good advice or wise counsel when in reality, I absolutely must decrease, so that He can increase.

There’s too much at risk for me to worry about being big.

I want to be small.

Very small.

I like being little.

iamnot. He is I AM.

There are always moments in my life where I am given a glimpse of what God might see when He looks down at me. Here on this little ball of dirt we humans call Earth, in the midst of a solar system housed in a galaxy that we will probably never fully understand, we live our lives and go through our days and never really stop to consider what God might see when He looks at us.

I am a very visual person, if I see it I can comprehend it better. I can understand something that is shown to me much more quickly than if it were explained. Just two nights ago, I was sitting in a living room with two wonderful friends of mine just chatting, laughing, talking, about nothing and everything at the same.

You ever that experience? Where you aren’t working, you aren’t trying to do anything really, just engaging in the company of another human being. Laughing, living. Doing life…together. It’s a beautiful thing.

At one point, a guitar was brought out and my friend starting playing a song she had written. I’ve heard the song several times before on a recording and when she started to play it there in the kitchen, somehow it was new. I was sitting there, having just finished my microwavable buffalo hot wings (which, by the way, are actually way more delicious than I anticipated) and she started playing and singing this song that she had written and it was like the first time I had heard the song. That may sound cheesy and a little dramatic, but as I’ve written in previous posts, there is something about music that speaks a language no other art form can speak. So I have no problem saying that when she started singing, I was blown away.

Later on that same night, she still had the guitar, and the conversation between myself and the other person in the room had faded into a steady, quite comfortable silence. I think it was comfortable because as our voices faded, the sounds of guitar strings being picked took precedence over all other sound in the room. We both looked at our guitar playing friend and I noticed something small yet exciting. Her eyes were closed.

Which could mean one of two things…she was either too exhausted to keep them open, or she was so engaged in the music that she closed her eyes to engage even further. It could’ve been that plus exhaustion, but either way…the point is the two of us in the room stopped and looked at her and listened.

What do you think God does when you say His name?

What do you think happens when you whisper a cry out to God when you’re in need?

Or a word of thanks or worship when you are reminded of His character?

What do you think happens when you even attempt to communicate with God?

I think it’s a lot like what happened just two nights ago sitting in a living room.

He notices. He listens. He looks.

He is proud.

There are a lot of things I’ve done in the past that, if given the chance, I would not do again. Because it was so wrong, so sinful, so selfish that I don’t even like to think about it. But when I think about what happens when I cry out to God and when I seek after God….

I can’t help but close my eyes and concentrate on HIS music. The story of my soul.

Over the past month or so, I’ve met some absolutely amazing people and have made some lifelong friends in the process and I can’t help but think that this is just a glimpse of God. Just another thing that He’s allowed me to experience to point ultimately to His unfailing love and amazing sacrifice on my behalf.

It’s Easter time. We celebrate the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Celebrate loud.

Celebrate well.

Celebrate with friends.

Shake the walls of hell with your celebration.

We have a lamppost on our street that looks kinda like the lamppost featured at the entrance to the magical land of Narnia and with how much it was snowing today, I seriously wonder if we entered into that land.

I’m waiting on a half man, faun creature to walk through my backyard and invite me to his underground home for tea and music that puts me to sleep.

In case I don’t post anything for a while, find a wardrobe and send a search party.

If you live anywhere where the sun is shining, could you send some our way please?

I’ve lived in Ohio all my life and this weather is starting to make even me think Spring will never get here.

I was at Target today and the cashier said, “I think we should find Punxsutawney Phil, shoot him and eat him.”

Apparently she is tired of this weather too.

Don’t worry fair groundhog, Aslan will save you.

I got a haircut today.

I know you’re excited…calm down. It’s late. I’m bored. I don’t have the brain power to attempt to write anything profound right now. But I wanted to post something. So, I posted a picture of my hair.

I know I know…it’s lame and my forehead looks oddly large. But you also get a great look at my sliding glass door, so don’t complain please.

If you can do me a favor…if you read this blog, drop me a comment. I’d love to know who you are. I have a goal in this year of 2008 to become more than just another blogger, but have a site that people enjoy coming to and reading. So please, drop me a line, leave a comment.

And while you’re at it, tell me how nice you think my hair looks

Love.

Andy ::

Every now and then, I’ll walk downstairs and my dad will be watching one of those shows on the Discovery or Learning Channel about how those crazy tall skyscrapers are built. The process, the technology, the equipment…it’s all very fascinating. One thing you don’t see a lot of on those shows, in the midst of the monstrous cranes and beans heavy enough to crush a man like a rotten tomato, if you notice, they don’t spend a lot of time on the foundation and how it’s built.

Why not? The foundation is one of THE most crucial components of the entire building. A faulty foundation, even off by inches will create thousands of dollars worth of setbacks and potentially risk the lives of thousands of people.

So why not talk about it? If I’m a person who works or resides in that building, I want to know that the foundation is solid. Sure, I would love the unique design and great view of a fancy skyscraper, but if it’s sitting on a faulty foundation, I’d rather live in a two story, crappy-view-of-the-building-right-next-door apartment that has a good foundation.

We need to remember the foundation. It’s what everything else is based on. Literally. I constantly need to be reminded about trusting in Christ as my Savior.

Why? I’m a Christian. I’ve prayed the prayer. I’m a pastor. I know the verses.

But

I

still

make

mistakes.

I still sin. I know I do, and there are times when I really think it would be a good idea to just bang my head against a wall because of it. I need to be reminded of my foundation.

Jesus Christ is my salvation. I need to remember that my foundation is not my knowledge of scripture, my ability to communicate the Word of God or even a series of good deeds. My foundation is not how long I read scripture each day or how much I pray.

My foundation is the most important thing to the house Christ is building.

Christ died for me.

Christ died because I screwed up.

Because

I

sin.

Christ died.

Then…completed the process by raising again from the dead.

If nothing else good ever happens in my life again, I still owe God everything I have had or will ever have because of that one act of selfless love.

When we pray and we say “In Jesus’ Name” at the end of our prayers, what we are really saying is that because of Jesus’ death and because of Christ’s sacrifice, the sin that separates us from God and the sin that makes it so we cannot be in the presence of God is paid for, atoned, and we are justified through Christ. In the Name of Jesus we pray because in any other way, by any other name we wouldn’t be able to come before God.

It’s all because of Jesus I’m alive.

Just remember the foundation. Your house is built on one and unless you are a contractor or construction worker, I bet you rarely ever think about your foundation. Not because we don’t care or because we’re bad people, but because it’s always been there.

It will always be there.

If you’re a Christian, you may or may not know how easy it is to forget the foundation of our faith.

Jesus Christ.

If you’re not a Christian, maybe you were burned by somebody who did, in fact, forget the foundation and did something outside the character of Christ.

I am being reminded of my desperate need for Christ and His blood atoning my sins. It’s a humbling and freeing realization and I pray you experience it too.

Because to remember your foundation is to be reminded of our need of a foundation. And when you remember you need a foundation, realize you have a foundation…a solid one, a sure one, you are freed to build a skyscraper and know that it will withstand the harshest of storms.

Believe that the price has been paid. Believe that God’s anger at our sin has been pacified by Christ’s death. Believe that the foundation has been laid and you are free to…

Build.

Remember.

Look up.

Believe.