Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

I've got something that happened to me last night I'd like to share with everyone. It really didn't hit me until today. Last night I shared with the youth group some of my story. I will somewhat do that again here. About December 16 years ago I found out I was going to be a dad. I wasn't married for those who may not know. Talk about your shockers. To make a long story short, the main part of my talk last night was about how that decision to have sex changed my life forever. I talked about how I always wanted to be a teacher and a coach and all of a sudden that was put on hold. The things I thought I was suppose to do with my life were not happening that way. I talked about consequences for my sin. I talked about the guilt of letting so many people down, especially my family. The guilt of letting God down. I also mentioned how at the time God wasn't really a part of my life. I did the going to church thing, but there was no true active passion for Christ. It was really more a habit of going to church that I was in. A habit of acting like I had it together. (now that is a whole other topic, eh TK?) That was the main thing. God just wasn't at the focus of my life. As I reflected on what I told those kids it really kind of made me feel weird in the fact I hoped I didn't leave them thinking I was regretful and felt cheated for what happened because I am not doing what I dreamed of doing. It is a strange way to say it, and I am sorry for the way our life started, but to say I am regretful for the way things have turned out would not be true. That would be saying I am sorry I am married to a wonderful woman and sorry I have a beautiful child. I have come to realize in my old age, God always turns bad situations into good if you'll let him. Up to last night I have always had a feeling of am I doing what God put me on this earth to do. I have always felt like I was meant to do more than kill bugs. Almost felt like I was wasting my life away. Something today made me think, I am doing exactly what I am suppose to be doing. God isn't going to waste anyones talent if they want to use it. You just have to look how he will use you. I reflected on my past and the present. I have had a great opportunity to coach my daughter Emily for 3 years and hopefully for many more. What else could a guy ask for? A chance to share something you love with one of your own? The chance to spend time with her and teach her about life? My oldest daughter, we sang a duet together for her great-granddads funeral. How many guys get the chance for something so special as that? My little dude Cutter. My mind goes crazy thinking about the stuff we will get into together. My Wendy and I have done some cool things together as well. We started the Childrens Worship ministry together at church and ran that deal for 7 years. We are again involved with it. We share a love for children. We have been huddle leaders for high school, life group leaders and members. I say all these things to not sound like I'm bragging but to say this. If I hadn't married my wife and walked down the road God sent me on, all these things I mentioned (and believe me there are plenty more) would not have happened. My desire has always been to make an impact on peoples lives. To make a difference. Well.....I think I can most certainly say, I hope I have and believe God will put me into positions were I can be more of an impact player in his kingdom. Do I still wish I was a coach and teacher? I would have to say no. Why? Because I believe God has a better/different plan for me. And if I was coaching, I wouldn't have the chances to do what I do. If it is meant for me to some day finish college and pursue it...fine. If not, I'm o-kay with that too. I am on an incredible journey with my Lord, and feel totally peaceful were I am and what I do.

John 16:33 says "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Top 10 Things that make me Sick!

I might be getting sued. I'm almost certain this will go to court. It is unfortunately one of the risks you take doing termite inspections. Eventually, someone is going to get after you. I figure after 10 years and countless inspections the odds caught up to me. I'm not too upset about it. I feel I did everything correctly, so I feel God will honor that. God will take care of it. No worries. But, I still can't help but be ticked off at the same time. It has got me thinking about things I really can't stand. So....(drum roll) here are the top 10 things that make me sick!!! And for those who really know me, you know I am not a politically correct kind of guy. You know I will tell you what I think, no sugar coating. Some of them you might not agree with, but guess what? This is my blog, and if you don't like it, start your own!
#10. BADLY BEHAVED DOGS. There is nothing worse than trying to spray someones house and their dog is trying to bite you. Just happened Wednesday. Dadgum bulldog about took my lower leg off. All the people could say was, "She has never done that before." Guess what, there is a first time for everything. I finally had to ask if they could take that mean mutt dog somewhere else. Which leads me to ....
#9. STUPID PEOPLE. I wonder when they thought this might be a bad idea to leave a snarling, snapping dog in the same room with me. Ignorance is one thing, but just plain stupidity is another.
#8. ARROGANCE. This is one of those things I really hope I am not. To be around an arrogant person is like torture to me. I can pretty much guarantee you no-one cares about whatever it is you're bragging about.
#7. LAZINESS. My Dad instilled in me at an early age how to work. Believe me, my favorite past time is watching TV, but when it comes to work, I will. People who have things just handed down to them really miss out on the satisfaction of doing something on their own, or failing on their own also. Lots of good lessons to be learned there. Lazy people......wear me out.
#6. BAD DRIVERS. I will keep this as short as I can. I feel I have alot of experience in this area since I have been driving around this town for 16 years killing bugs. The number of knuckleheads is increasing by the hundreds. You can tell alot about peoples personalities by the way they drive. Teen girls are absolutely, without question, the worse creatures behind a wheel. Totally horrible. Followed closely by their cell phone talking, SUV driving, running late mothers. That's right, women!! Then of course you also got the 16-22 year old idiot males. Pay attention and you will see that I am pretty much right about this one.
#5. ARGUMENTS. This is really because I don't like confrontation, and it makes me feel bad. Aren't most arguments over something dumb anyway?
#4. NEGATIVE PEOPLE. Stick a fork in my forehead! Negative people can't love themselves. What fun is it living life always complaining about stuff. Always thinking something can't be done. Looking at the glass half empty would really suck.
#3. FAKE PEOPLE. I have learned their are two kinds of fake. The first is someone who is so afraid of rejection they put up a wall and it comes across as fake. Or they are so wounded, the hurt causes them to not trust and therefore they guard against everything. In those terms they come across as two-faced, and I feel sorry for them. Then there is the 'I'm better than you, stuck up, politician type.' You know the kind, makes me nuts. Can't stand em'.
#2. SATAN
#1. SATAN. Do I really need to expand on this? Nuff said.

Some of you have asked how do I reply or comment. You can either e-mail be back at my e-mail address jaxpest@cox.net or go to the blog using the link, and comment there. Later...

God's way of teaching lessons

I shouldn't be surprised or amazed at this. It is strange to me how God teaches us lessons. Sometimes they are plain as day. Others can be through adversity, not quite as clear. I've been taught life lessons that if it were not for my stupidity, I might not have needed to learn. I'm speaking of God turning something so bad into something good. Then, there are those times when a lesson is being taught, and you don't realize it until it hits you right in the face. Usually after the fact. That is what happened to me recently. It came from an unlikely source and unfortunate circumstance. I've always been taught to be friendly to others, don't make them feel bad, respect them. One of my grandfathers once told me, "Just keep a few close friends with in your circle, you'll be happier." I have recently come across a saying by George Washington that I have on my blog site. It says "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." The problem with me is this. If I didn't feel a person was in this area of friendship, I would basically be nice, but not (excuse me for using this overused word) real. I would remain very guarded. Just not being open and honest, but nice (sometimes). I've thought in the past to be open with someone meant having this deep friendship. Otherwise I felt I was just being fake, or someone was being fake with me. Well, due to some major life situations in the last couple of years, my attitude about that has changed. I have started discovering what it means to be 'real' about who I am. Sharing oneself with others, being open and honest is very much what being a follower of Christ is about. Like I said earlier, I was taught to respect your elders, peers, etc... But to actually be a friend of an older person, or even a kid was not something I really thought about. Sure, be nice and all, but their friend? I have enough friends my own age. My thought process was stay within your own age group. I am assuming everyone else has or had the same thought or something similar. In my lifetime I have learned a few things about people. Kids just want your attention, peers just want to see if they are similar to you or just weird, and older folks fall into two categories. One being they want to learn from you to stay current with the times of the day, in order to relate to younger crowds, or they are crusty and think their way is the only way. I prefer the young at heart. This brings me to my point, my latest life lesson. Wendy's grandfather, Hack Hackler, passed away January 18th. It was really quite a surprise considering he didn't have a terminal illness. Hack was always the life of the party, larger than life character. During the time he was in the hospital, he was unable to have many visitors, just family and close friends. I can't remember the number of times I had people from church ask what to do. They all wanted to respect the families wish and not visit, but it was hard for them because they wanted to see him and help somehow. Then at the funeral, the number of people there was a lot. Maybe 200? There was snow and ice all over the place. But the thing that got to me, the lesson I learned right there was this. As people were walking by the family to pay their last respects for Hack, they weren't all his age, not all his very close friends. I saw children who took the morning off school to come, people my age who took off work to be there, and of course his peers. What got me was these people, no matter what their age, were there for Hack. These people all had a memory, a friendship of some level with Hack. He had left some kind of mark on them. He had just been who he was to them, a man who understood what it looked like to be a friend to many. These people weren't all his best buddies, his prayer group pals, his selected few. We were people who were touched by his openness and honesty. I remember sitting there watching everyone walk by and thinking, Jesus Christ had his very close friends, but always was full of love for everyone around him. Hack was very much the same way. What a lesson for me to learn. How fortunate I am to have been able to see this modeled. I just hope as the future becomes the present I will be able to continue to do the same thing.

testing this thing out

I am still trying to get this system figured out. If you received this, then it means I did it. So please let me know. If I don't hear from you, then I can only assume two things. One...no-one gives a flip, or two, I am totally waisting my time typing this because I am the only one who will see this, which is really strange that I am still typing............