2016 in Review

So I haven't seen this page in almost a year. I have been busy.

I have made a couple of motorcycle trips this year. One out to Arkansas that was a blast. I have only 37,000 miles on the bike. I had originally hoped to have made a trip to a Alaska on it by now. Unfortunately it looks like the 24k maintenance will fall right in the middle of 2017's riding season. I finally found some road tires that last a good while. I have over 10 miles on this set. Previously, I had been putting on dual sport tires and only got about 8k on the front tire and 5k on the back tire. I could probably get 2 or 3 more out of the back tire and maybe 4k out of the front. They are Angel GTs. I was running a Avon Distanzias, but they are discontinued and so I had to try something else.

I am still working at a machine shop. Was hired on in April of 2015 and have been here since. I still do work for the counter top shop occasionally, but not much. Work has been slow since I hired on. Most weeks I only work 32 hours. Since November I have been getting 40 hour weeks thankfully. I was hired on as a Quality Control Technician. Back in July I obtained a class A CDL so that I could possibly get more hours and because my employer needed a CDL driver. It has been nice to get out of the office and shop and see different places and things. So now my job description is Quality Control, Manual Machinist, CNC Machinist, and driver. It is kind of fun to come in and not know what will be happening that day. I have enjoyed the driving aspect. I am considering going into Hot Shot driving. Been adding up what it would cost to buy a truck and keep it legal. I am thinking hot shot because then I could decide when maintenance should be done and be able to actually make the decisions on how to keep from getting tickets and make the vehicle last. I could also decide which loads to take and nother take. I considered Line Hailing for a local freight company, but they want 2 years experience driving a semi. Unfortunately, the best way to do that is work for a starter company and make nothing for 2 or 3 years and do it over the road for months at a time. Not interested. I would like to stay in East Texas. East Texas has oilfield,  medical, and grocery. Medical and oilfield are the two main providers of money for the area. When the oilfield tanked, most all the companies either closed or moved their equipment out of East Texas. So, until the oilfield comes back, I need to stay in my current position because hot shot in this area mainly does oilfield stuff.

Still single. I have taken a couple of lovely gals on dates this year. I don't know if I have my bar set too high or what, I can't seem to find anyone that believes the same things as I do. I have been looking for a 5 point Calvinist that is Presbyterian. Many of the folks I have run into don't know what they are. So dating has been more "missionary" dating than anything else. Many of the gals I have ran into just aren't interested in Christ (as in don't want to go to church and don't even claim to be Christian), but that doesn't stop me from trying to evangelize to them. They call this the Bible belt why? I guess I should have done something besides college so that I could pursue a gal before I got too old and fat.

I am still a member of my local PCA church. I have been trying to keep active in it.

I got into cooking when I moved back to the Tyler area the last round. Some of it was to try to impress a particular gal, but the main reason is because I enjoy it. I like to make stuff folks enjoy. I mainly make sweets. I found out last night it is not as fun to make the same thing over and over. I like to make new recipes. I have been getting better at picking out the the recipes and changing them to make what I want out of them. A couple of weeks ago I made several different pretzels. In the end, I joined a couple of them together to get what I wanted. Still not mall quality, but they were ok. I am going to have to step up my game this holiday season, so far I have only made 2 batches of fudge. Last night's batch is good, but, like I said, it was one I have made before. I hope to make more stuff when I get home tonight for the Christmas Party at work and then some for Christmas day.

Owning (paying the bank) for a house hasn't been too bad yet. Since buying the place 2 years ago I have put in an outside condenser, a hot water heater, replaced some paneling, and replaced a valve on the dishwasher. Utilities are a little higher than I would like, but the house is a good size. Roof needs to be replaced. I am not looking foward to that. Just putting shingles on or upgrading to a metal roof won't be too difficult but will be expensive. Outside of the cash required, I am concerned with what I will find under the shingles that will need attention. Before I bought the house, we had to rebuild about a 12 foot square section of roof decking. It is relatively easy to plan for shingles and the like, it is difficult to plan for what you can't see.

The Lord has really blessed me. Yes I have been through some thing that I would rather have not seen and done, but I would like to think that the Lord is leading me. I am not sure where, but I know it will be good. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sin

Lets start with happenings since last post.  Yes, things look like she is gone for good and I haven't found another young lady to pursue yet. I bought my house. I have gotten into motorcycles (specifically adventure bikes). I have lost my job. Seems to be a cycle of every 2 or 3 years in manufacturing. No worries though, I was blessed with a job that is almost making the bills, so I have that to be very thankful for.

I was looking at my previous posts and have decided that I have been a stupid kid that makes many stupid choices. I can only be grateful that they Lord has gotten me where I am at and that I may have learned a few things along the way. I am still a stupid kid full of sin though.

So what I wanted to post today was about some events that have been unfolding around me. I am tired of saying "I don't know". Someone asked me about a friend that is divorced and if that friend should be allowed back into the church. Of course my first answer was I don't know. That person left the church on their own accord and I have no clue what happened to them since they left. That basically has me asking on what basis should a person be left out of the church. Do I believe in divorce. No. I do not want to keep folks from hearing the word of God being taught either. I can see caution this day in age of what you would allow someone to do. For instance, I wouldn't want a convicted child molester to be allowed in the nursery with children without several other adults. Can I trust that person's statement that they are repentant of their sin? Yes, just about as well as anyone else's word. I will take measures to insure that the individual will be less tempted in the future. Kind of like putting a lock on a tool box in a machine shop, just keeping the honest people honest. Anyone in a machine shop that knows anything about machining will only be a drill bit away from getting in a tool box. So should a divorced person be allowed back into the church? The guidelines I see in the Bible talk about using excommunication because someone in the church was sinned against or to keep the dough clean of yeast (keep the sin from spreading). What if the person left the church for other reasons and is returning divorced or having committed sins but is repentant? Honestly, I don't see a problem with the person returning. Being an officer in the church might be an issue though. I say that because a officer is someone to be looked up to. It is a leader in the church. Someone that makes decisions. All of us are sinners. All sins are the same in the sight of God. Basically, I think this is a Session issue when it is all boiled down. They will have to decided if  the sin has been stopped or there was ever an issue to begin with. So, I am still left with a "I don't know".

Basically sin is the issue. The result is death. The only hope is in Christ. I think that if everyone (which will not happen) were to focus on Christ, none of this would be an issue. Seeing that God uses all these issues to mold and sculpt us into what He wants us to be, I am curious what to do with my church in general. What constitutes a good church? 1. Belief that the Bible is the Word of God. 2. The church wants to serve God. 3. Teaches the word of God. Does your church do those things? Do you know the Bible well enough to be able to say that your church does those things? I would hope that if your church does those things, that the leadership of the church would be able to make decisions about things that come up in the church. Unfortunately there still sin no matter how things happen. Because of Sin, things will be rocky at best. I don't believe in prosperity preaching. I don't think that if you are close to God that you will not die or that you will be a millionaire. I do believe that God will put you through trials that you will be able to handle to shape you into what He wants. So, if my church is doing those three things and I don't like the something, I guess I would have to understand what is not liked in relation to the Bible. Should I leave my church for something like the color of the blinds? No. Should I leave the church because they are playing a video during the Sunday School hour? Maybe. If the video is Christian based and teaches from the Bible, the answer is no. Should I leave the church if they start teaching about letting homosexuals into leadership? YES, very quickly. Should I leave the church because they will not let me talk about my fundraiser? No. There are some things that are and should be issues, but there are many things that are not issues. Just don't let the church you attend be a status symbol to you.

I have decided that because of sin that relationships are very difficult. Inherently, the sexes are different. They have different views, different likes, different dislikes, and much, much more. The Bible gives some instruction for each sex to do, but I think that because of sin that each one doesn't know how to properly do their job and often forgets to do their job. I am not excusing or asking for excuses for my wrongs. I am sure I have done more wrong than I will ever understand and I know I don't deserve to be forgiven for. Because of this split from God, getting long is so much more difficult. I wish things were as simple as an OLD Disney movie. There is one or two bad guys and from the start you know whom they are, They don't change. You may not know how to get around them at first, but you will always know. The girl is always interested in the main character and the main character knows how to make her happy. The biggest thing is that the main character knows which one he is supposed to pursue. That is the most tricky thing ever. Without sin, I think that everything in this post would be easier to answer.

East Texas

So far I have managed to stay here. I have since moved to night shift. It has been a huge blessing. I have moved to a better machine and have moved to a less stressful enviroment. I have really enjoyed all the different parts and materials this company machines. When I get a chance, I google the parts to see what they are actually used for. It is amazing what they do with these parts that far under the ground. 

I have been living with my brother for the last few months. It is great. Kind of miss seeing him though. We have oppposite schedules now that I have moved to nights. He does have a fun little puppy. Not sure if it is a good thing or not, but the puppy has already doubled in size. The puppy's name is Han Solo, but we normally call him Solo. He is a smart little guy. I have really enjoyed being back though. I have come back only to say some good byes. several families in my church are or have moved in the last month. One family in particular will be missed. The other families intend to make visits. I have become involved in two of the small groups. It has been fun getting to know the new people and getting to know the folks that have changed since high school. It has been great to actually attend services. My next goal is to become more involved. I am not sure how yet, but I am sure something will come up. 

 I have decided my next two goals will be to buy a house and pay off some debt. All I can say is that school is expensive. LeTU has locked me down for the next 10 years. A house can always be rened or sold. So anyome whom reads this, please consider how loans will cost you in the long run. Especially student loans. My Dodge was getting such that I was paying $300 a month to keep it going so I sold it and purchased a Nissan Titan. These vehies are something else. The motors are designed differently. To me, it sounds like a lifter is loose. I test drove new ones and used ones with 200,000 miles. They all sound the same. So far thw only major expenses have been tires and fuel. I hope those continue to be the major expenses for a long time. 

I have left a huge portion of my life out for the moment. I have been dating a young lady for the last year. I am not quite ready to say it is over, but it could very well be. I dont want to go into details because her family is fairly private.  I will divulge more when or if I am allowed or compelled to. 

I should get off of here. Message me if you want to know more. Have a good evening everyone. 

Back in East Texas

So, I managed to get back in East Texas for atleast a short period of time. I have no cluefor how long I have a side job running a 5 axis MAZAK. I cant wait to get off of it.The machine is way too light weight for what it was designed for. I am glad to be back in my home church again. I have missed it. If you need to get ahold of me,text me or email me.

Uncle Jay Explains: Year-end! 12-22-08

Good video

A friend sent this to me and I thought I would share it with everyone.

2008 so far

Wow, I am looking and I have not posted anything in so long that it pretty bad. Lets see, this spring I graduated from TSTC with an accociates in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, I got a job in Kilgore Tx, but found out quickly that they were not whom I wanted to stay with for any length of time. For example, I asked the boss about moving up in the company and his reply was that I was pretty much stuck where I was. After I asked around, I found out that I was one of the higher paid people, even higher paid than the folks that had been there for 10 plus years. So, after working there for several months, the Lord was gracious enough to put me back to work in Stephenville. I am still currently working there and have been doing a few odd jobs during the week in Tyler. I did make a trip to Carlesbad Caverns the week after I got an apartment in Stephenville. I am hoping between now and Thanksgiving I can spend several weeks in Stephenville without going anywhere so that I will be able to gather some spending money to make another trip. I still want to go back to school to finish my bachelors but need to wait till some of what I owe already is paid off. No, I haven't found a gf, but then again I am not financially stable enough to support anyone at the moment either, so it all works out. Anyway, I need to get to bed. I have stayed up entirely too late. Night.