Lean on Me

The name Bill Withers may or may not mean a whole lot you who is reading this right now. I assure you that virtually everyone has heard his heart through his infamous song "Lean On Me". Mr. Withers captures what is to me the heart of what the gospel is about - knowing that life is not meant to be lived alone. When I say alone I do not neccessarily mean in the context of marriage, but rather, life is not meant for you or me to carry our burdens by ourselves. Unfortunately I, like so many others, has made the mistake of trying to carry my burdens by myself. The only reason why I think we try to do this is due to pride. It is ashame that our pride gets in the way of experiencing God at his greatest; working through other people. When we neglect people, we are neglecting to use Gods greatest tools, you and me.

I want to take the time to thank everyone who I have been able to "lean on" in life. I truely am forever greatful that I have friends in my life that are more than willing to help carry my burdens. Just like so many of you have helped me in recent months and years, I too am here to help you during your trying seasons in life. If there is one song that summarizes what my heart tries to express, it is the song "Lean On Me". If you never have before, I would encourage you to Google the lyrics to the song and listen to it once maybe twice. I know I have learned that life is too impossible to live by myself - I need you.....my friend. Peace be with all who is reading this.

clouds of uncertainty roll in

I want to express my thanks to everyone who gives me a hard time about not posting enough. The fact that you are the least bit interested in what I have to say, and what is on my heart does mean a lot to me. So much as happened since we have last gathered here on "somethingtomarinateon" that I haven't felt the need to provoke any other thoughts to occupy our time, we have had enough as is. Not that today is any different because there is still plenty to think about (when isn't there) but if anything else happens here hopefully perspective will be brought to the table. I am guessing that most the readers of this post have been effected by confusion, frustration, hurt, anger, happiness, joyfulness, etc. not to long ago. It seems more then appropriate for us to bring to question where may God be in the midst of all these trying times in our lives. I can only offer you one answer that I will not make me feel like I am misleading anyone, and that is simply, I don't know where He is. Even if we knew exactly where He is I don't know if that is really the comfort that we are truly seeking anyway. I have been challenged lately in my prayer life drastically. How often do I end up treating God like the genie in a lamp? When things come up then of course the first guy I call on is God to the rescue. To me it seems like I are really cheapening what it means to have a real relationship with God. I like way Larry Crabb thinks on this one. He gave the illustration of sitting in front of a fire place on a cold January night with his wife. At that moment asking his wife to do anything for him is the last thing he wants to do. Simply snuggling next to her and being with her is the best way of spending their time together. That leaves us with one question, when we are with God how much of that time is asking Him to do things for us? As hard has it may be, I hope that in the midst of all the confusion that we find ourselves in, we are able to sit next to God on the couch and realize how awesome it is to have a relationship with Him.

When it rains it pours.....

Is it just me or does it seem that when bad things happen then a lot of bad things happen. Doesn't make sense? Well just hold on and let me explain. As of late it just seems like a few hmm.....well, out of the ordinary things have happened. For starters, a close friend of mine is going through what I believe his first lost of a loved one. It has been hard seeing him go through all the emotions because they all seem all too familiar. Secondly, in one of the most unexpected turn of events that I have come across in a long time, a fellow classmate passed away in a motor vehicle accident. Very eye opening for me because this was the first classmate that I had that has passed away ( I think).
Events like these really make you stop whatever you are doing and make you slow down in life a little bit more. I observe a couple of things when tragedies like this happen. First, as you can imagine it makes us realize just how fragile life really is. My friend is watching someone how is very close to him in her early twenties die before his very eyes. Then just about a 10 days ago a fellow twenty six year old classmate of mine passed away. It hardly seems fair, but then again who are we to define what is fair and what isn't. Secondly, I can't help but to notice that we get way too caught up in everyday life. The only thing that is more sad then the fact that we live in a society that keeps up too busy and not able to appreciate life, is that we become slaves of that society. Think about your average day and I assume that most of them look pretty similar. There is nothing wrong with that but it is like life becomes more of a habit then a privilege.
I know that the last couple of weeks that I have been through has helped me slow down in life and appreciate it. As hard as it may be, I hope that you do not treat life as though it is your right. But rather, may we understand that we are promised nothing and that we should live that like.

NASCAR or bust...baby!!!!

So this weekend I am going camping. Not only am I going to go camping, but I am going camping in Brooklyn Michigan. And in case you are wondering, Brooklyn is home to the NASCAR event this weekend. That is right ladies and gents I am going to be attending NASCAR. I never thought I would be attending one of those events, but here I am just mere days away from enjoying the likes of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt,......and...and...and....well, I guess those are the only race drivers I know. But just like most other things in life it is about the experience and being with people that you enjoy being with. To answer a request that I believe my brother had asked. I do not have a digital camera so it makes it a little tricky to get new pics. Also, as anyone who is reading this is probably aware of I don't really well....mmmm....do the whole computer thing very well. So perhaps the assistance from maybe a brother that may have some more knowhow as to do something like that. Any hoot, I hope the Bowers' and Taylors' are having a great time in the great state of New Hampshire...I mean Vermont (I always get those two mixed up).

i got that out of the way

Just like anything else in life, the first time you do something tends to be the hardest. As I would of expected, I feel like I got a ton of bricks taken off my shoulders after getting that first comeback blog out of the way. I was grazing through some other blogs and when I came to the adoring wife and sister, err.....mis-understood woman which ever she prefers I came across a request. Possible recipes? Hmm, I would not hold my breath on that. You see I cook on instincts. Instincts can not be copied down on a sheet of paper, or in this case typed on a keyboard and posted on a blog. Either that or I don't have any recipes one or the other. Which brings me to a request. Tomorrow night I have having Jason and Kelly over (along with C. Von Cummings and Chadwick) and we are having steaks. Well most of us anyway, because I think Kelly elected to go with the very fine dish of hot dogs. And these steaks that Jason and I are having are huge and are great for stuffing, and I was wondering if anyone would have a good recipes for stuffing steaks? If so, feel free to drop me a recipe.


p.s. I wonder if Kelly wants her hot dogs done: rare, medium rare, medium, or well done?

I will try harder

As I mentioned on Bethany's blog, I am going to try and start blogging again. It has been almost a year since I last posted my last blog. I just got back from my trip out to Vermont. It was a great time out there. It is usually one of few weeks that I have to truly take a relaxing vacation. It is always nice visiting my sister and brother-in-law, and of course my very cute niece and nephew. I look forward to Bethany coming out here (and Jeff of course) because it is one of very few times that all three of us (Jason, Bethany, and myself) get to spend together. I cherish being with my family and I am glad that I could not of asked for better in-laws. In closing, I promise to make a better effort to post regularly and not keep you waiting in suspense for over a year.

alright...alright.....sorry it took so long

Once again I have to apologize for not updating. This time I really do have a reason though. See, my keyboard has not been working for the last few weeks so it would of taken forever to post a new blog. For the time being my keyboard is working just fine so I am going to take advantage of it.
First let me express my heartfelt gratitude towards all those that actually find some interest to what I have to say/think. I have spent that last week with my sister( a.k.a "the wife") which has been nice because I only get to see her a few times a year. My girlfriend who has been gone for the last 4 years errr...months is FINALLY coming back this Saturday. And also, one of my best friends is getting married this Saturday and I get to stand in his wedding. I guess now I think of it, things are going pretty good for me. I just realized how good things are going for me, I honestly didn't realize that before I just typed it out.
I hope that everyone out there is doing well. If you are not I am truly sorry to hear that and I hope that things start to turn around for you. Let me suggest something to you if you are having the blues. First, listen to some Leon Redbone (Leon just has a way of understanding what you may be going thru), second, take time to write out what is going well for you and what is not going well for you. Take time out to write the names of those who care and love you. Chances are that once you take the time to do these things you might realize that things aren't as bad as you might of thought. I hope that everyone holds the chins high because life will get better. One thing that I have learned being a Christian is that life will always get better. It has to. My thoughts and prayers with those who are experiencing the blues.