Category Archives: Pencil

Joustification

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Make today count.

– me

Today is pretty significant in my life. Besides being my birthday, it’s the one year anniversary of liberating myself from alcohol and tobacco. It’s not the exact date. I quit smoking before my birthday, but cheated a couple of times (no worries, I forgive myself freely) and I quit drinking some time after my birthday, but I will forever keep this day as the anniversary because it’s easier to remember.

If you ask me why I quit, the short answer is pretty simple…it got in the way.

When I would drink, I could draw for two, maybe three hours before I had to stop. When I took a “smoke” break, all I could think about was getting back to drawing, so I ended up sucking down a cigarette in about a minute. After a while, it didn’t make sense (Actually, smoking makes NO sense – period.)

So, I quit. No patches, no AA meetings. I just quit.

Anyway – happy anniversary to me and happy birthday as well.

 

Back to Work

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If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t posted in a few days. I really don’t want to get into the details, so I will just say I needed to direct all my attention to a very worthy cause.

Tonight, I helped my oldest son stage one of the most brilliant “scare” jobs on his brother ever concocted.

“concocted”…another bizarre sounding word.

Stephen had decided to take a shower in the master bath, as usual. There was a load of clean clothes on my bed. I had Caleb lay on the bed and I covered him up with the pile of clothes, exposing just one eye, so he could see his brother walk out of the bathroom. It went off without a hitch. Stephen let out a long, high pitched scream. I wouldn’t feel too bad for Stevie, he got in a couple of good shots on his brother before I pulled them apart. My thought process is we can talk about this for years at the dinner table…or therapy couch. Either way, it was fun.

Fool for Love

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I picked up my ten year old son this morning from his mother’s house. On the way back to Smyrna, we had several deep discussions regarding life, death and a lot of the other important stuff that happens in between.

The stand out conversation was about love.

He said;

“The heart has one function, and that is to pump blood through your body to supply it with oxygen, right? Well, then how can you say you “feel” love in your heart? You only think you’re in love and that is in your mind.”

My reply;

“…uh… wanna get some ice cream?”

Friend or Foe

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“The best way to destroy your enemy is to make them your friend.”

– Abraham Lincoln

We all struggle through this world together. We can choose to be greedy and have an every-man-for-himself attitude, or we can decide to be our brother’s keeper. Either way, we live and then we die. What we do in the middle is the important part. Here’s another good quote:

You are either part of the solution, or part of the problem.

– Eldridge Cleaver

I try my hardest to be a good person, because I know that’s what God wants me to do. However, I still have a tough time being a steward of God. People sometimes annoy me and I know that’s wrong.

For instance, I struggle with people who do not acknowledge when I open the door for them. This is a true test of faith. I know that God wants me to continue to do it, because I am doing his work at that moment. In fact, he wants me to smile and let them know I do it because I love them like he loves me (which – sorry, God – I can’t do it because I may be arrested). I know he’s happy with me just opening the door for now.

Light

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“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

– Winston Churchill

I am working with an amazing doctor who is currently writing a children’s book. His name is Dr.E. I am confident it will help some of those in need and I am proud to be a part of it. Some of the stories I hear are regarding young children. Most of which have known virtually no childhood to speak of. I could not imagine what it’s like going through this, or in Dr. E’s case, being the person who has made a career out of helping these individuals. God bless them all.