Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, July 05, 2009
So little to say, so much to say . . .
Monday, May 25, 2009
Life On The Road
I was out on the road for seven days with my trainer, Needham Babb. He is 30 years old and has been with Werner for 2 years. He is the son of a son of a trucker. He's been driving big trucks since he was a little boy. Really. Some of his earliest memories are those of riding in the truck with his dad. Though he never really thought he'd be trucking for a living, having a family and being good at the job convinced him it was the right move to make.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Patience
On being nice . . .
Reassigned
Monday, May 11, 2009
"IF YOU PERSUADE YOURSELF . . .
Saturday, May 09, 2009
smile.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Catch 22
Sunday, May 03, 2009
We're on our way
This morning was a tearful goodbye to Heather and the boys. Later, my folks will take me to the Greyhound station where I will go to Atlanta, GA for orientation at Werner Enterprises. After two days I will connect with a Trainer and ride with them anywhere and everywhere in the US of A. I have a mixture of nervousness and excitement. And, I have sadness because I'll really miss Heather and the boys.
As much as possible, this blog will be an over-the-road blog which is particularly for my family to keep up with me and secondly for anyone else who happens to be interested in the life of a newbie OTR Truck Driver.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
There Will Be A Day
I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that trys to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew
But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always
I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone
Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting
I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
There will be a day, He’ll wipe away the stains, He’ll wipe away the tears, He’ll wipe away the tears…..there will be a day.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Jesus Is Praying for Me
It was snowing when I left the Hardees restaurant. The wind had kicked up and was blowing into my face. The people walking past me into the restaurant might have been wondering if my eyes were watering from the cold or because I was crying. If they had heard the General Manager telling me that they could not hire me and heard how desperate for a job I was they might have concluded that I was crying for this reason. But, they would have been wrong. But, neither was it the wind and snow.
It has not been an easy couple of months for us. If you know my story, then you know the story. If you don't, I'm sure you have your own story one way or another.
These days I am unemployed. I've never been unemployed in my entire working life. In 1988 I began working for Chick-Fil-A and since then I have always had a job earning money. I've never had a difficult time getting a job. I have quit jobs one day and been hired the very next day. It is a confidence I've never lacked.
Over the last few months I have sent out perhaps 200 copies of my resume and contacted dozens of people I know and others on my behalf have contacted dozens of others they know. I have been offered one job which paid too little to support my family. Otherwise, I have been insulted during interviews, laughed at regarding my qualifications and ignored by many others who have simply not bothered to return my attempts. I've had some criticize and say that perhaps I am not trying hard enough. But, I've had many, many who have assured me that I will certainly get a job and not to worry about it.
I've had many dark thoughts and hopeless feelings. Questions without answers. Prayers full of angst. I've wondered about God's purpose and plan. I've repented many times of a bitter heart. And, I've reminded myself many times that my problems are not as big as other peoples problems.
Heather quoted something from James MacDonald today that stayed in my mind all day
"I remember this quote from my college years: "If you could hear the Lord praying for you in the next room, you would not fear a thousand enemies."
It's a great quote. I knew it was when I heard it. It stuck in my brain. But, not my heart. That's been the most difficult thing lately. I had a dream a week ago and in it my older brother had just helped me pack my belongings into moving trucks, again! That is a bad dream in and of itself. But, in my dream my brother was holding my hand and saying to me, "God must have a really good reason for letting you go through this hard time." In my head I knew he was right. In my heart I was resisting. He wouldn't let go of my hand until he saw in my eye that I got it in my heart. So, in my dream I turned away from him and pulled my hand away and walked to the truck which I was driving with all my belongings. I knew I needed this to be true in my heart but I just couldn't muster it up on my own. Ironically, I woke from that dream really encouraged. I really appreciated God letting me have a dream like that. Then, the next day during an interview "the Employer" laughed at my qualifications and thought I was crazy to expect more pay than they were willing to offer. I felt like Charlie Brown. I got a rock.
Anyway, this quote Heather gave me today was still with me. On my way home from Chattanooga today I stopped at McDonald's. Not hiring. I stopped at Krystal's. Not hiring. I stopped at Long John Silver's. Not hiring.
I stopped at Hardees. Which is a very interesting place in the South because it is mainly a Southern experience. If you are from the South you understand Hardees. Tonight, there was a Gospel Quartet with mandolin, harmonica, guitar and stand-up bass. It was very old school.
After I finished speaking with the General Manager a woman came up to me and said, "Kelly? Aren't you Kelly Bridenstine?" She looked really familiar. She was smiling and so happy to see me and of course had gotten my name right, so I gave her a hug and said, "Yes, I'm Kelly but you'll have to help me with your name." She laughed and said, "I thought it was you. I remembered your eyes." I laughed at that. Her name was Joy. About 15 years ago I worked with her at the Dayton Wal-Mart when I was working 3rd shift putting together equipment for the Garden Center outside during the winter. One other winter I'll never forget.
She asked what I was up to. I held out the Hardees application. She said. "You still haven't found a job?" I shook my head. I felt the heat in my face. I could tell she felt sorry.
The next thing she said floored me, "Well, we've been praying for y'all. My church has been praying for you and your family." I couldn't believe it. How did she know? She mentioned how she'd found out and then the next thing she said stunned me again, "Kelly, there are several churches around here praying for you. A lot of us been gettin' folks to pray." I told her I didn't know so many people were aware. I was a little embarrassed and deeply touched. My eyes were beginning to moisten.
And then she said, "We all love you. But, most importantly Jesus loves y'all too. Don't you forget that. He loves you most of all." And then like a giant billboard my mind remembered the quote I'd struggled to work into my heart,
If you could hear the Lord praying for you in the next room, you would not fear a thousand enemies."
I was definitely getting teary at this point. Sad, happy and in a state of wonderment all at the same time. She tried to make small talk and hugged me when we both realized I just couldn't open my mouth without getting slobbery. She said they'd keep praying for us and to hang in there.
It was snowing when I left the Hardees restaurant. The wind had kicked up and was blowing into my face. The people walking past me into the restaurant might have been wondering if my eyes were watering from the cold or because I was crying. If they had heard the General Manager telling me that they could not hire me and heard how desperate for a job I was they might have concluded that I was crying for this reason. But, they would have been wrong. But, neither was it the wind and snow.
It was because Jesus loves me and is praying for me.
"25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself." Hebrews 7:25-27
Before the throne of God aboveI have a strong, a perfect plea:
Prayer Guide – Where is My Fear?
January 21, 2009”If I be a master, where is My fear? Saith the Lord” (Mal. 1:6, KJ).
Thursday, January 22 – Seek the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness for the irreverence and disrespect of God found in the North American church. Ask God to restore us to a holy fear of Him.
“. . . If then I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear due Me? Says the Lord of hosts . . .” (Mal. 1:6, AMP)
Friday, January 23 – Plead for God’s mercy and pardon for our sins of hating knowledge and not choosing the fear of the Lord. Ask God to grant us a fresh vision of Him in His holiness that would help us under all circumstances and at all times to be deeply conscious that He is present. Ask God to implant in us a wholesome dread of displeasing, disobeying, or dishonoring Him.
“Because I called and you refused . . . and no one paid attention . . . and did not want my reproof, I will also laugh at your calamity . . . Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Prov. 1:24-29, NASB).
Saturday, January 24 – Entreat God’s mercy and forgiveness for the way we have forsaken our duty to esteem and dread Him by explaining the fear of the Lord as being reverence and respect alone. Seek the Lord’s grace to help us understand what biblically it means to fear the Lord.
“Know therefore and recognize that this is an evil and bitter thing: [first,] you have forsaken the Lord your God; [second,] you are indifferent to Me and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord of hosts” (Jer. 2:19, AMP).
Sunday, January 25 – Ask the Lord to help us to understand that in all we do and say that we live under His scrutiny and to grant us a deep and reverential sense of our accountability before Him.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men . . .” (2 Cor. 5:10-11, NASB).
Monday, January 26 – Implore the Lord to inspire us to fear Him that we would have hearts that shun evil, fear sinning, and keep His commands.
“O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever” (Deut. 5:29, KJ).
Tuesday, January 27 – Seek the Lord’s grace to cause us to be willing to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to enable us to bring ourselves under His rule by obedience to His word.
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Eccl. 12:13, NASB).
Wednesday, January 28 – Beseech the Lord to grant His Spirit to rest upon us and to make the fear of the Lord our delight that we would make all our judgments with the awareness that we are standing in His holy presence.
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him–the Spirit of . . . the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord–and shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the . . . fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2-3, AMP).
Friday, January 09, 2009
A not so scholarly post
3 Brothers
My wife informs me that I should write something with this picture. I don't know what to say, really. She said, "People like to read something written with a picture." This picture was taken amidst great laughter and enjoyment at my mom and dad's house on Christmas Day (I snagged it from my brother Steven and his wife's website). This was definitely one of the highlights of my time during the holiday season. Being back "home" with family and friends is a huge blessing and encouragement these days.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
From Kierkegaard's Diary, ed. Peter P. Rohde, trans. Gerda M. Anderson (New York: Philosophical Library, 1960), 141 (1848)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a picture of Pastor Derik Durham of Mount Salem (on right) and his Deacon Kyle (on left) who spent all of their Saturday helping us get loaded. Thanks guys!
And, of course, thanks to both our families for all of the amazing support and encouragement; my dad and brother Lee helping unload. Mike and Wendell meeting me at 2 o'clock Saturday morning to unload the first load. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel was a blast!
I especially want to thank all the other brothers and sisters in the Lord who have prayed and reached out in very practical and substantial ways during this difficult time. Your outpouring of love and material support has been a reminder of God's love and concern. God places His Church, His People to be a visible and physical witness to the reality of God's grace in Christ Jesus --- All of you have been just that! May the Lord repay you for all of your kindness.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Crowded Path To Leadership
Traveling Mercies
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
A Right View of God --- Prayer Guide
Prayer Guide – A Right View Of God – December 10, 2008
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
“I have been so blessed to be here that at times I think I will burst!”
Kissing Retirement Goodbye
John Ensor is the Executive Director of Urban Initiatives forHeartbeat International and author of The Great Work of the Gospel.
* * *
I kissed retirement goodbye—at least the kind traditionally planned for in America. My mother has finally persuaded me that there are better things to do when I reach her age.
In August, I wrote about caring for family with end-of-life challenges. My mother, at 78, started to go blind while on a mission trip to Mongolia. Her sight was saved through high-dose steroids, which tripped other health concerns which were compounded by the discovery of breast cancer.
The subsequent surgery left her fragile. She fell and added injury to sickness and disease. We gathered with her in August to discuss how to care for her as she enters what I call “the frowning years.”
Ecclesiastes calls them plainly “the evil days” when
the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. (12:1-5)
The point of this description is to “remember your creator in the days of your youth” (12:1). I take this to mean:
Taste and see the goodness of God while all your senses are in full function, and your strength is still intact.
Savor him while you can—before your teeth fall out (the grinders cease) and your eyes fail (the windows are dimmed) and your bones ache with every move (the grasshopper drags itself along); before the fears of dying assail you and sap your strength and try your faith one last time before they are swallowed up in victory.
Evidently, at 78, my mother is still in the days of her youth. Since August, she has prayed and fought for her health.
Last week she left for Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. She joined a team of trainers for a Leadership Development Conference in which 90 teachers from around the country took their school vacation week to learn to study and teach the Bible through an inductive-study method. Seven more teachers planned on being there.
But my mother writes, “They did not get here because their charter bus was ambushed by robbers and the driver was killed.”
In spite of such things, she writes of the thrill of watching teachers learn to read out of the Bible its unsearchable riches rather than read into it preconceived notions.
She concludes, “I have been so blessed to be here that at times I think I will burst!” Evidently, she intends to die with her mission boots on as she faces down those “frowning years.”
© Desiring God
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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.orgSaturday, November 29, 2008
Satan's Stomping Ground
Friday, November 28, 2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Saturday, December 23, 2006
The Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the Pentateuch, Gary Schnittjer
This is a book every serious student of Scripture should own. Gary Schnittjer is a master teacher and a critical and engaging scholar. Everyone wanting to "hear" the Story of the Bible will benefit from this book while gaining skills necessary to think through and understand "the narrativity of biblical narrative."
From Amazon:
"Book Description
The Torah Story introduces the first five books of the Old Testament. A sophisticated study text written in an engaging and accessible voice, The Torah Story includes flexible study options that help students understand how these key books contribute to the ongoing story of salvation.
From the Back Cover
The first five books of the Bible begin the story of salvation. A working knowledge of these books of the Torah is essential for every serious student of the
Scriptures. The Torah Storyis a study text designed to guide the reader through the challenges of the biblical narration.
Written in an engaging and accessible voice, even while digging into difficult and complicated matters at a sophisticated level, The Torah Story moves beyond debating theories of authorship into understanding how these key books of the Bible help students understand the story of salvation. Created with flexible options for further study, each chapter includes the following:
• Questions that focus on key issues
• Key terms to watch for
• Outlines and summaries of the material
• An interactive workshop designed for students, individuals, or study groups
• Challenge questions for basic study
• Advanced questions for progressive study
• Research project suggestions
• Discussion activities using films to engage the biblical narrative (selected chapters)
• List of resources for continuing study "
Sunday, November 12, 2006
A Symphonic Life
As I write I am listening to Leo Kotke’s album, 6 and 12 String. It is a really wonderful album full of amazing guitar picking. Even as I write I am completely engaged and loving this sound…recorded and not truly present…by a man I do not really know…experiencing only an echo of an experience. In the background I hear my wife and son talking. My wife points out the features of person in a catalogue and suggests that it looks like someone we know. I disagree and quickly return to these words. The feet of my son have been pitter-pattering throughout the house…sometimes a loud drumming and other times soft and slight. Things bump around me, cabinets open and close and all of this with a rhythm and harmony unmistakable to family life. These sounds are so familiar and so natural to my existence and life I too often do not really hear them. They occur like the sound of my own breathing which sometimes I am surprised to hear…amazed that I am in fact breathing and this is what it sounds like to be alive. And this is what it sounds like to be alive and have a family. Leo Kotke is no longer the main piece of music but rather just one sound among many creating the symphony of a life…a musical piece that God writes and has written.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
FIRST THINGS: On the Square
Thinking back on my friends concern, I must say that I was affected by his passion and earnestness. I am one who lives in a constant tension of accepting that God has ordained the State, i.e. The Sword, and glad of it; that is, I am thankful that when common grace can no longer maintain peace and order, God has so designed that Rulers be in place to threaten and punish the wicked. However, I cannot argue with a clear conscience that Christians out to be the ones wielding the sword. So, I am happy that Tertullian articulated early on many agreeable things which make sense of what it means to live quietly and peacably with all men, suffering evil and waiting for God who will judge and reckon vengence.
That said, I have always voted Republican. And I have done so for usually only one reason: Pro-life/Anti-abortion convictions. That issue settles it for me. Yet, one must ask what difference that has made? Babies die daily in our country and no Republican has been able to change the law of the land regarding these murders.
Nonetheless, regardless of Roe v. Wade still holding sway over our laws, I cannot with a clear conscience vote for a Democrat who might make sense on other issues while maintaining the party plank of Pro-abortion.
Thanks to Justin Taylor over at Between Two Worlds for the heads up on a great article by Robert George. The agony of being a single issue voter is well felt and well said in this piece.
FIRST THINGS: On the Square
A quote:
""So, however much one might dislike Republican policies in other areas, it’s clear that the death toll under the Democrats would be so large as to make it unreasonable for Catholic citizens, or citizens of any faith who oppose the taking of innocent human life, to use their votes and influence to help bring the Democratic party into power."I find no cause for joy in this. I wish that it were possible for pro-life citizens legitimately to support Democratic candidates. I wish that the party of my parents and grandparents had not placed itself on the wrong side of the most profound human rights issue of our contemporary domestic politics. I wish that the killing of embryonic and fetal human beings by abortion and in biomedical research were resolutely opposed by both parties so that we could cast our votes based on our assessments of the candidates’ and parties’ competing positions on taxation, immigration, education, welfare, health-care reform, national security, and foreign policy. It is hardly satisfactory that pro-life citizens — representing a variety of views on the range of issues in economic, social, and foreign policy — find themselves bound to the Republicans because the only viable alternative is a party that has abandoned its commitment to the weakest and most vulnerable members of the human family by embracing abortion and embryo-destructive research."