Home. . . chat. . . missing

So, home in Fresno for Mom's Day.  Awesome day, hung out with friends, spent time with my Grandmother and spent evening with parents, sister and her boyfriend. 

AS IF that wasn't enough, one of my great friends from Advanced Leadership connected via instant messaging through facebook.  I didn't even KNOW that you could do that.  It was amazing, just like hanging out together.  Very cool.

Finally, I haven't missed church at my new home in some time . . . . . . I am so grateful for my church, my pastors and my new friends there.  But you all knew that.

Why Twitter? To get out of jail of course!

Student "Twitters" his way out of Egyptian jail

What better reason. . . this is one you have to read.

Enjoy.  And good night.

More MAC. . .

More things to love on a MAC. . . 

7.  PREVIEW - see any or all files in a preview mode and actually turn the pages to see everything, without ever opening the file.

8.  iPhoto - yes it is part of iLife.  But worthy of separate mention are "events" and the ability to scroll across an event and see every picture - pure genius. . . 

9.  Expose´- I'm lost, can't wade through all my open windows, no trouble, Expose´to the rescue.  Instantly, I see everything and navigate quickly where I want to go.

10.  Backlit keyboard - whenever my room is dark, MAC backlights the keyboard so I can see the letters.

Did I mention that its fun to use a computer again??

I think I hear an alarm sounding. . . yep, definitely a wake up call. . . it might be time for you to buy a MAC.

More from Numbers 14

Hey, new readers every day.  Glad your aboard, both of you!

If you read the post from yesterday.  .  . and the verses, did you notice God's response after the Israelites whined and complained.  Wow.  God says he will just strike them all down seeing as how they treat Him with contempt and don't believe.  Moses actually petitions God on behalf of the Israelites.  And God grants His request with a bit of compromise.

I am struck by the fact that God did not leave us without someone who would petition Him on our behalf.  Here is what the Bible says: 

Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Romans 8:34b (NIV)

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  1 John 2:1 (NIV)

Today (and ever other day for that matter), 

I am thankful for the One who petitions God on my behalf. . . Thank you Jesus.

Grumble no more. . .

So last Tuesday morning, I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and out of control at work.  There are lots of "good" reasons for this, but on this morning, I chose to be outwardly frustrated.  I realized in the middle of it, that I could make a better choice than to be frustrated and I began re-choosing right away.  However, God wasn't done teaching me this day.

My "Advanced Leadership" Growth Group was Tuesday night and the verses were from Numbers 13 - 14 (see verses here).  You probably know the story well enough.  Moses and Aaron send 12 men into the Promised Land to investigate and all but Joshua and Caleb come back saying "Beautiful place, too dangerous".  Joshua and Caleb basically say, "If the Lord is pleased with us He will surely give us the land", sort of a "LET'S DO IT IN THE NAME OF THE LORD"  To which the Israelites desire to stone them.

But the part that JUMPED off the page at me on this particular day is Numbers 14:1-4. . . the Israelites are grumbling profusely, and in the end, whining that they should pick a leader and go back to Egypt. . . and slavery.  And my heart sank.  Is this what I sound like??  

God had done miracles for the Israelites and they doubted Him.  

Grumbling = Doubting God . . . 

honestly, no part of me EVER saw it that way. . . but I do now.  

If I believe God is with me, then I believe God is in the details of my life.  

SO WHY would I chose to grumble?  

Ouch.  I won't be grumbling anymore. . . what about you?

Twitter. . . now you will know.

So, what's a "twitter". . . my friend, Steve, found this video, and it saves me a lot of time and typing.  You click on the arrow above, and you learn about "twittering".  Cool and unique, the question I can't answer is "How does twitter.com pay for itself with no advertising. . . ??"

Thanks Steve!

BTW, this is my first "You Tube" insertion into my blog, so hopefully it works.

MAC??!! really? . . . yep.

There is no one more surprised that I bought a mac than me.  I just can't tell you how much fun I'm having.  When I get home, I jump on the mac and its like being on vacation!  You know, fun, different, exciting, fun, interesting, fast, fun.  So, you get the point. 

Last Saturday a friend of mine was having trouble with her computer.  Well, I wanted to help, but it was a Vista machine.  Though I have used Windows for almost 20 years, I have been on Vista for about 10 minutes.  Would you believe they even changed the way you turn off the machine?? I literally put the machine in hibernate thinking I was turning it off. . . which brings me one of the main reason I changed to mac. . . if I have to find everything I want to do in a new operating system, it may as well be a TRULY new operating system.

Some of the things I like about my mac:

1.  FAST booting up, restarting and shutting down.  Really fast.  Boots up in about 20 seconds.

2.  Widgets. . . yes, I know you can get them with Google desktop, but after you load G-desktop in Windows, well then Outlook doesn't work right.

3.  Safari. . . yes, I know you can now get Safari for Windows, and you should try it, but I first found it on the mac.

4.  iLife - now that is a REAL media center.  Everything is integrated, need a photo on your email template?  just drag it over.

5.  Time Machine - what backup for computers should be.

6.  iTunes / iPod - yep, just bought an iPod too and iTunes screams on the mac. . . simply put, its the way it was meant to be.

So, there's 6 reasons.  I'll give you more later.  Did I mention I am having FUN again using my computer?

Giving. . . part 1

Here's a short one for you. . . that has been on my mind for a few weeks. . . How can it be possible for people in our valley to be without food?! It breaks my heart every time I think about it. I'm thankful that CVC has a food pantry ministry because it gives me an outlet to help. . .

65 and counting . . . down. . .

65 lbs. . . left behind. . . um. . .and counting.

Minor set back as I have been jogging three times per week, my back decided it was a lot.  So my lower back is out (yes, OUCH) but I will not be deterred.  There are many ways to get out and move and I intend to go through them ALL if necessary.  

Target. . . 70 more to go. . .

Thanks for your support!

Growth Group for Advanced Leadership . . .

Wow, yep, that's it, wow.

4 friends that have attended Advanced (plus me) are meeting two or three times a month to encourage each other and utilize a Leadership based bible study to continue our growth.  It is simply amazing - tonight I reflected on how far we have come since October Quickening and I am blown away.  God is changing each one of us and it is an honor to be included with these awesome people.

Don't know what I'm talking about? . . . check out www.klemmer.com/personal

The first book we chose to go through? . . . John Maxwell's The 21 most powerful minutes in a Leaders day.

Tax day. . .

My tax guy says I am either one of the first in. . . or one of the last.  This year he is probably really confused because I did them online.  And I am proud to say I filed with more than 24 hours to spare. . . ok, so one of the last.  Goofy too because I knew I was getting a big refund.  Still have some work to do on being a good steward with money. . . 

Blessed again and again

Met a business associate for dinner tonight.  He has lost a bunch of weight and I have lost a bunch of weight. . . so we had a great sensible dinner tonight and talked about the experience of it.  We also talked alot about what God was doing in our lives. . . everytime I talk about it, I get a little more realization of how blessed I am.   Incredible.

Had some serious back pain going on today, but not as bad as yesterday.  Dr. Miner in Gardnerville fixed me up. . . and for clarification, it was Dr. Miner's son, Dr. Miner who fixed me up.  You shouldn't be surprised that they are both incredible at what they do.  

Anyway, learned that jogging is no longer an option for me.  That isn't a disaster because I can do other things of course.  I am going to start P90X - basically boot camp on DVD - guessing that will give me lots to post about.

Tomorrow, new phone install at work. . . oh boy. . . that should be fun.

Oh oh. . . a reader?!

It finally happened, a friend found my blog. . . and naturally, its been four months since I last posted. So I guess I am not just writing to myself. . . time to get serious.

Things I have "discovered" in the last few weeks:

a. I am officially a MAC owner. . and proud of it. I have not had this much fun using a computer since 1985. . .I was only 5 years old. . . not. Did I mention I also got an iPod? What a blast.

b. Facebook. . Really!. . . its like myspace for adults. . . of course, having my leadership classmates to connect with there helps alot. Still I am finding friends and family there as well. Neat!

c. Twitter. . . really???? . . . very interesting. . . I like it but I don't blog enough. . . never the less, I'm trying it.

So, the computer and the web is still growing and developing. Those who said there was nothing new on the web, well, you would be plain wrong. BUT it could be I am missing alot as well.

So tell me, what have you found on the web that's fun?

Snow Graffiti

How amazing is this? My friends in Denmark sent me this greeting last winter. I call it Snow Graffiti! Incredible how an email from thousands of miles away can warm you up on a cold day! Thanks Henrik, Nina and Malena. . . you made my day!

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Speaking of cold days, we are in a cold week. Highs in the mid 30's and lows in the teens!! For me, this is cold but I am glad for a bit of snow. Pictures of that later.

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I promised an update this weekend but I slipped a little. Suffice to say that I had a great weekend at church and then with friends at "Evita" and ZoZo's in Reno,NV. I had so much fun, I didn't update the blog at all. . . notably, I didn't work either. How did that happen?

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Now I really need to go to bed but I want you to see my Pastors' blogs about the show last Friday night. First, the stage, http://stevewilson.typepad.com/resourcing/2007/12/imagine-christm.html - it was awesome to be a small part helping out on it. I worked with a great group of folks - REALLY great folks.

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And then what happened on Friday night at the performance: http://pastorpreneur.typepad.com/pastorpreneur/2007/12/imagine-christm.html.

good night!

Too many things to say . . .

Yep, I know you're not surprised about that. I have alot to say tonight - 1/2 tonight and the rest this weekend.

Tonight I am grateful for a few things. Are you grateful for things everyday, all year long?? or is it just during the holidays?? I try really hard to be grateful for all of the blessings in my life everyday. Today, I am so grateful that it spills over here.

Grateful for friends. . . man, do I ever have great friends. Have you ever noticed that when you haven't talked to a real friend for some time, that when you finally do, it seems as though no time has passed??

I have a group of guys that I only see once a year for a camping trip, and when we get together you wouldn't believe we only see each other once a year.

I have a couple of friends in Denmark and I get excited every time I get an email from them . . . . and they have great kids too. . . who want to try out their English skills. . . so maybe we will get to help them. NOTE TO M - remember, your English is ALOT better than my Danish - don't worry about making mistakes!

I have close friends in Fresno/Clovis and AZ that are supporting me right this minute. They have watched me make this move to Nevada and prayed for me and listened to me gripe when it isn't fun.

And I am glad to say that my family are some of my best friends too.

So, tonight I am grateful for friends. What are you grateful for? Here is a short list of other things I am grateful for, maybe it will help you get started. . . Jesus, my family, my church, my pastors, my job, my home, music (nope, not gonna start singing), and Starbuck's (sorry, but you knew it was in there somewhere!!). I could go on and on, but now it's your turn, what are you grateful for??

Yes, there is a hidden message in the picture above but only one family in Denmark knows who it is for. . . .