Changes, Changes

Life is a changin' 'round the bend! Things at work are like a game of musical chairs-- and I've been transferred to my dream branch! I've wanted to work out in Carlsbad for, well, since I've been hired. But now it's finally available! Yay! No more 23 mile drives to work (1 way), no more getting off at 7:30 at night... I don't have to worry about when to get my shopping done, because all the stores I shop at are within 5 minutes of my work, and I am within minutes of my church and social sphere.

I was sad, however, to leave Escondido. There's something about working somewhere for over a year that makes it grow on you, even if you don't like every aspect of it. I will miss my old branch. But new things await me beyond the horizon. God is good, and He has blessed me greatly in this.

And the band is doing well too. We are co-starting a "faith-based" night at a local coffee shop in Encinitas with another pastor. I say "faith-based" in quotes because the coffee shop owner calls it that, though he asked 2 Christians to start it. So pretty much it will be a Christian night. You know how Christians love coffee shops! I don't know if that's a real stereotype, but I know I love coffee shops, and it seems to me that it's true. We are also regularly leading worship as guest-artists at another local church, besides being participants in our own church's worship team. I am glad to be used by the Lord!

We met with a recording guy (I'm sure they have some sort of more official-sounding title for people who record, but I don't know what his is) the other day. We got to watch a mastering/mixing session, play some of our songs, get advice-- and I even got to lay down a brief harmony track for one of the songs in the rock opera they were mixing! Cool. We may even get a chance to record a little with him in the future.

And, in addition to this fellow, we've met a couple guys who produce transe music and do shows. They totally dig our music, and we had a great time sharing with them and getting to bounce around some ideas. It seems God is really opening up some doors for us to get a good start. May we not lean to our own understanding though, and then get discouraged when our plans are not being realized-- but remember God's timing is perfect, and just "trust in the Lord with all our hearts", knowing He is directing our paths.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will direct your paths.
~Proverbs 3:5-6~

There's Always Room for Cello!

The Lord has blessed me much this day, though I do not in any way deserve it! (And I feel I know much better now how much I do not deserve His blessings than I have in the past...) He has blessed me with a cello!

James 1:16-17 says "Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." I used to think that verse said "Every good and perfect gift..." But no, it says "Every good gift and every perfect gift..." So the good things, like cellos, nice homes, good food-- as well as the perfect things such as eternal life in heaven, Jesus' sacrifice for our sins... These are all from Him. So we can enjoy the littler things as well as the most important thing, His love for us displayed ultimately when Jesus died on the cross to purchase our forgivenness!

So I found this cello on Craig's List for a very decent price (decent equalling affordability on my part), and it came with a stand and a gig bag as well-- so when I learn how to play it well enough to do in public (right now it sounds akin to caterwauling), I can carry it with me with great ease. I played cello in beginning band for one semester in high school, and took it home over the summer that year, but I think it takes a lot of practice to make it sound pretty. But I can play it relatively in tune... That's a good start. I enjoy plucking the strings and pretending it's a stand-up bass. That's fun. :)

The pictures are actual cello I bought-- I copied them off the ad (sneaky way to get pics! I don't have a good digital camera, so it was the only way to get nice pics of it).

Well, just wanted to share. Hope you are enjoying as well the blessings of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ-- Praise God for His wonderful works to the children of men, as the Psalmist says! --D

Wow, How Time Flies!

My oh my... I can't believe it's September already! Pretty soon it will be autumn. In SoCal, that means it will be 80 instead of 90-100, and a small percentage of trees may drop a couple leaves. My plants will no longer be frying out in the hot summer sun, and it will once again drop below 70 at night. :) I love autumn!

Autumn is actually my favorite season. I love winter too. Thanksgiving, Christmas... The cool weather, the layers of clothing. Scarves. Cool breezes, the warmth of hot coffee or tea, hot food, a snuggly blanket and the warm air blowing through the heating vents (this winter I will actually have a functional heater).

I have been SUPER blessed this summer-- it's my first summer ever where I've had air conditioning in my home. It is so absolutely wonderful. I hate hot. I can't sleep, I am sticky, it's muggy... The sun saps your energy and you're stuck being a blob of sweaty uselessness. Blech. But it all goes away with air conditioning... I can sleep through the night, eat my dinner in peace, even eat hot food and enjoy it. And it probably keeps me from gaining weight from overindulging in ice cream! Surely God is good.

But God is good for so many other, better, more important reasons. Dying for our sins, promising us forgiveness and heaven when we put our trust in Him, giving us His Spirit to direct us and mold us into His image. He is wonderful. 2 Peter 1 is good:

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Life has been busy lately, as it has been for the last couple months. This past Sunday we (the band) were guest worship leaders for Coastlands Calvary Chapel. They are a rad bunch of people, and I enjoyed the fellowship.

Work was ridiculously busy Saturday. The mall was packed out this weekend due to the disturbingly hot weather (105 at least). But today,though the mall was busy, my store was very, very slow-- which afforded me much opportunity to study for my real estate license. I just enrolled in a course to prepare to get my real estate sales license a few weeks ago. I'm not terrifically interested in real estate, but it seems possible enough and hey, it's not like I'm getting anywhere in retail, so I figured, might as well go for it! If I could sell 4 $500,000 houses a year at 1% commission, I would make about the same amount of money I make now. So at worst, I will have something to supplement my retail "career". :)

I must be off though, my pillow calls. So does the fridge. Hmm... food, or sleep? Can't really do both at the same time... (Might be messy...) God bless! --D