I am having an extremely hard time getting in a thankful mood. Life kinda stinks right now. First I learn my parent's are forced to resign (today was their last sunday), then I learn my job (Shopko - they sold the building) is going bye-bye in January. I get sick and miss a couple of days of work, as well as working and feeling miserable. I don't get to spend Thanksgiving with my family because I had to work both thursday and Friday (still sick). My Grandma's cancer is back. Everything seems to be coming down on me at once.

Oh and my house is a mess 'cause I haven't had the energy to clean.

*takes a deep breath* Okay, that's out of my system.

Pastor talked about being thankful this morning, about looking at what we have and not complaining. It struck me, 'cause I've been moaning about being sick, groaning about situations, and just moping about everything. We had a prayer time at CCG tonight and I just had a hard time saying "I'm thankful for..."

Here's the thing though, I do have alot to be thankful for.

• My parents are following God no matter what happens job wise. God has provided in the past and He will provide now.


• I have a second job that I can fall back on. Which, by the way, was God just plopping it on my lap.


• I have really good friends who invited me to spend thanksgiving with them (four separate invitations! I was honored) and I had a great time at Jack and Lisa's.


• My Grandma knows the Lord and loves Him.


• I have an apartment in which to have a mess in.

and most of all...

• I have a God who loves me and provides for me. He died and rose to give me life.

Lord, I step back from my problems and I thank You that Your love covers me. Thank You for the things and the people in my life. Thank you that I live. Amen.

To Do this coming week.

Clean and reorganize my house. There's too much stuff that has built up over both of us being sick.

Read It's Still Greek to Me

Finish Surprised By Joy

Start a memorizing plan

Go food shopping

Put up tree

My pirate name is:

Mad John Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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I have got to find a way to get to Seattle in the next month. The Dead Sea Scrolls are on display and I have a feeling that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm wondering if my coworker, Kyle, would be willing to do a allnighter with me... Travel up after work on Saturday, stay with my friend's Matt and Mandy, go to the exhibit Sunday morning and then marathon it back down here... Or if not him, someone else. Any takers?

New Pictures

Pasture
Originally uploaded by jcforgod.

Some pictures from a couple weeks ago are up on flickr

I can see!! Very much an improvement over the last few days.

I have some interesting news. I walk into Shopko today, and almost immediately get called to a meeting. Turns out that they had announced yesterday that my store is shutting down. Kind of a shocker, but I wasn't too surprised. The company sold the building.

I have to make some choices now. They are offering a severance package, but it's not really that much more than I could be making at Wal-mart or at the Thrift Store. So I have some decisions to make. If the Thrift Store can offer me full time or close to full time, I'll quit effective the end of November and just work for them (which, honestly is what I'd prefer). If that doesn't work than I'll have to reconsider the severance package and the timing for gettin a job. January 29th would be Shopko's last day and that's a horrible time for finding a new job. Icould conceivably get a job at Wal-mart for the Holidays and that could last. We'll see what TC says.

*shrugs* Life is interesting...

Good morning world!

I just wanted to say that God is good! I got a call yesterday and my contact is in. I plan to pick it up after work today. *grins* I'm happy!

The event that I have been dreading has come to pass. Yes, I lost a contact. Now for some people this event wouldn't be that bad. They wear disposables and have another set in the cupboard. But for a young man who has cornea's the shape of cones, this is a big problem. See, I can't see well enough to drive and be productive without having both contacts in. I can function around the house or bum rides when I'm wear my glasses, but when it comes to being able to be industrious, I need to see. The contacts I wear are specially designed hard contacts that smash the cone down and allow me to see normally. That said, they are awfully expensive.

I have been extremely lucky in not losing my contacts. I've had a few close calls but that's been it. Until Saturday night. I went to take my contact out and instead of gently sliding out onto my finger, it popped out. I heard it land and immediately started to look for it. I wasn't too worried, because this has happened before and I found the contact. However, as I continued to look for it and was not finding it, I started to get a bit nervous, almost panicky. I searched the counter - not there. I searched my clothes - not there. I even went through the garbage - not there. I took the trap off the drain and ran water through into a container (had to empty something David had, proceeding to get cough syrup on the carpet) - not there. I put everything back together and gave up. My contact was gone for good.

Yesterday morning I called Rainbow optics. They wouldn't order a new contact because the prescription had expired. They wanted me to come in for a full exam. Yeah, I can't afford that plus the new contacts! I then called Shopko's optical and found out my insurance doesn't take effect until January. Plus they charge around the same for a full exam - which they wanted to do. No, that's not going to work. I was about ready to give in and go to an exam when I called Dad and talked to him. Funny how talking to your father can give you some backbone. *grins* I called Rainbow Optics, explained that I couldn't afford anything besides the contact. The girl put a note on the doctor's desk and then called back after an hour or so. Yes, it's fine, he extended the prescription and allowed them to order it. They'll call me when it's in.

The bill: $125

I solved the replacement problem, yet I still am one-eyed. Let me tell you, working with just my one eye being able to see really is weird. Some funny things happen when your depth perception is off. I'll be one-eyed for at least a week if not two. Depends on how long the lab takes.

Ah, my life is interesting...

I am getting the traveling bug. The first thing I'm thinking about is Regent's Preview Weekend in March. Since Virginia Beach is so close to Washington D.C. I really want to extend the trip and explore that area. Thing is, I don't want to do it by myself. So, anyone want to visit Regent and Washington DC in March?

The second trip is probably going to be to Africa. I'm feeling like I'm being led to do some sort of short term missions trip this summer. Since my uncle and family are in South Africa I have an opportunity to go there. Once I get an idea of how much the plane ticket will cost and get a set date for the trip I'll start fundraising.

I'll be having a great traveling year!