No one has ever said that I am the easiest person to get along with. I think differently. I was raised by mostly a divorced mom and my grandparents. I will never trade that time with them, but I know my make up is a bit different than others. I had to do a lot by myself to include figuring out life.
I ask why a lot. And when I thought I was the person to ask more than anyone, I met my wife. Oh yeah, that makes a fun dynamic, but we have learned to love our differences.
Clarification is a big thing to me. I have always known that. I know I frustrate people that I need things clarified. You teach me how to do something one way so that I really know it, you better be prepared for me to ask for an explanation. I am sure it drives my boss batty sometimes, but he also knows that I have values, beliefs, and things I believe are right in my job and in my life.
I call it honorable. I call myself a loyalist. I stand by what I believe and am happy to share my opinions, sometimes that happens too freely.
“Don’t ask why, ask why not” is a quote by John F. Kennedy. Asking “Why?” or “Why not?” can lead us into having conversations that take us in the opposite direction to the one in which we wish to go. The biggest reason you should stop asking yourself why you do or don’t do something is that you probably don’t know the answer to that question.
As stated above, be prepared so that if I know something, I am going to stand by what I know, even if it’s only something I believe I know to be the truth. I know that people leave you in life and it took me a long time of arguments to realize that my wife Lyn’s love is something that I can count on. The good Lord works in mysterious ways, and I am thankful that He gave my wife patience and understanding to deal with me and to know how I really felt down deep the whole time.
I will also stand by you as a friend. I will do what I can to make the relationship closer. I believe we all need closer relationships, and I am not in touch enough with those I consider close. I am sure some of you feel the same way about your relationships. So go out there and reach out to friends, family, and those you may want to be closer.
Recently, I was deep into a role that I had, and it was taken away from me. I was hurt, heck I am still hurt by it. I don’t understand the decision. But as stated above, I am used to things leaving me I thought were close. God chooses to put me through these things because I believe He knows what I can handle and hopefully He is using me to work on those I was involved with in ways they may not even know. Heck, if I just made one person’s life better in the role I had, it was very worth it.
I hope that this recent experience has stirred my love of sharing my thoughts and opinions here. I have lots of things I hope to be writing about in the future. Be prepared for some slight adjustments to the subjects in Born Bleeding, but I hope you come along for the ride. I have no clue what comes next but hopefully if I can just help one person, it will all be worth it for me.
From the Rated R Blog, you might have learned that I am wrestling fan. I grew up watching wrestling, all the way back to the St. Louis local promotion of Wrestling at the Chase. Superstar Billy Graham was one of my early favorites before I discovered the WWE (then WWF) and the joy of Wrestlemania.
Wrestlemania has a history of being a huge spectacular. Artist from Aretha Franklin to Joan Jett have performed at Wrestlemania. From a bunch of football players over the years to this year, Bad Bunny, superstars have wanted to be a part of the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment.
Now let’s get to my Wrestlemania 37 preview! Night one starts Saturday. (Oh, by the way, Wrestlemania is a two-night event now.) I am going to start with the wrestler who is the reason for me wanting to write a Wrestlemania preview blog. This wrestler is the strongest, the fastest and the best. I have watched Bianca Belair for a long time, and I am extremely happy to watch a strong in her faith Christian wrestler fight for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. After Bianca won the Women’s Royal Rumble match, she went backstage and immediately asked her husband, fellow wrestler Montez Ford (former Marine), to hold her and pray with her. This is a story that should be shared. Bianca is in my opinion, the most athletic wrestler alive today. Bianca will be wrestling current Smackdown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks. Sasha is a big star in her own right including starring in The Mandalorian. I believe Bianca will win this match and Sasha will take a few months off in the summer before we see a Summerslam rematch.
Next up scheduled for night one is defending WWE Champion Bobby Lashley versus challenger and the former champion, Drew McIntyre. Lashley’s hurt lock finishing move is extremely devastating and I actually think he will retain his title. I believe there is no way he is going to lose the title one month after capturing it. There has been too much invested in the Hurt Business recently for him not to retain. I will be pulling for Drew personally, but I do not think he will win. That is one of those issues with watching wrestling for so long, you start to see how things may work and sometimes you are actually right.
The next match should be a fun one. Bad Bunny and Damien Priest versus The Miz and John Morrison. I saw this match coming a few weeks before it was announced as a tag match on Monday Night Raw this week. Miz and Morrison destroying Bad Bunny’s three-million-dollar Bugati, I see no way Bad Bunny does not win this match. Invite a huge celebrity into WWE who wins the 24/7 Championship, and he is winning at Wrestlemania. This will be a fun match and I am glad Damien Priest is getting a Wrestlemania match.
I am slowly getting excited for Seth Rollins versus Cesaro. I am happy Cesaro is starting to get more of a push. This angle with Seth has been swinging. (Ha!) I hope Cesaro wins this match, but I am not sure that he will. He has gotten the edge in most of the storyline up to now so I think they might give Seth the edge at Wrestlemania. Cesaro is one of the best wrestlers out there and I am rooting for him.
Next up is what I think is a ‘let’s get these guys on Wrestlemania match.’ That’s the Raw Tag Team Champions New Day members Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods against A. J. Styles and Omos. Omos is a huge man. He served as the bouncer when there was Raw Underground. This match is his debut in the ring. I think he will do some impressive things, but I think the New Day will somehow pin A.J. to get the win.
Every year it seems that Shane McMahon does something to get a Wrestlemania match and this year is no different. He is in a steel cage match against Braun Strowman. Braun should win this match, but if this goes according to storyline, Shane will find a way to outsmart the dumb Braun to win. Something spectacular will happen in this match.
Also, on the first night there is a women’s tag team eliminator match. No clue on this one but I am a mark of Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke so I hope they will win to get a Women’s Tag Team Title match on the second night but who knows. I am guessing Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler will retain their championship no matter who wins the eliminator match.
Let’s move on to Sunday, the second night. The first match I’d like to preview is Kevin Owens versus Sami Zayn. These Canadian long-time frenemies on screen will meet on the big stage. Kevin Owens stated last year he wanted to jump off the pirate ship in Raymond James Stadium, so we shall see where this goes. YouTube megastar Logan Paul will be accompanying Sami to the ring and I see a turn in his allegiance to happen at Wrestlemania to give Owens the win. This will further the conspiracy storyline Sami is currently so obsessed with. I, myself wish they would move on from it.
The United States Champion Riddle defends his title against Sheamus. I call this the “no first name” match. Riddle is a fun loving, scooter riding, sandal flipping guy who rubs a lot of people, especially long time veteran Sheamus, the wrong way. I see the Original Bro, Riddle, as a bigger part of the immediate future and maybe Sheamus will take some time off after Wrestlemania and Riddle will get the win. This match is dropped to mid card level for me, and I hope the U.S. Championship gets treated better in the future.
Another mid card level match it seems is the Intercontinental Championship Match between champion Big E and Apollo Crews. Apollo has taken a heel turn recently as he is returning to his Nigerian roots. I sure hope there is truth to this storyline, or someone is not going to be happy with his accent he has been using on television. I hope Big E squashes him quickly, but I could see Apollo getting a push if his gimmick is working.
Next up is the Fiend against Randy Orton. I am sure Alexa Bliss will not be too far away. I am a huge Alexa mark, and my wife is a huge Randy mark. Randy being from St. Louis is very cool. This storyline needs to end so I hope the Fiend wins the match in some rout where we do not see Orton around for a while. This match should be not for the weak at heart.
The main event is a Triple Threat for the Universal Championship. The Head of the Table Roman Reigns, accompanied by Paul Heyman defends his Championship against Men’s Royal Rumble winner Edge, and Daniel Bryan. This match has had the most build up and most controversy of any of the matches so far. I am all in on the return of Edge and the spunky veteran Daniel Bryan. I am sick of this Head of the Table crap they are doing with Roman. It is a great heel angle, but it might be better served with him as the chaser. This is why I see either Edge or Bryan winning this match by beating the other with Roman losing his championship. Triple threat rules suck. This way you can keep Roman and his unbeatable swagger. I am guessing he will win it back at some point in the near future.
While this is a long blog, there is a lot here I haven’t even mentioned. The 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame Ceremonies aired on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. I am also really looking forward to the NXT Takeover events on Wednesday and Thursday. The Monday Night Raw the night after Wrestlemania is usually a blast with all the roster changes and the fun fans. I doubt we will see fans there, but they will be at Raymond James Stadium on April 10th and 11th exclusively on Peacock.
You think you know me? Let me start by saying that this blog not might but will contain language that may not be suitable for children. Adults read as you wish because guess what, the internet is a wide-open space, and your kids may find this blog anyway. Ain’t freedom of speech a great thing? I am a former Marine and if you know anything about Marines it’s that our language may not always be the kind you’d want to bring home to your mother.
This is for all my peeps. This blog has a recent origin. On a recent Saturday, I chose to do a kitchen faucet and garbage disposal removal and installation. Let’s just say that fun was not the f word used most by me that day. Lyn would read the instructions, find an instructional video on YouTube, and I would attempt the work. Nope, it didn’t go as fucking planned. The fucking stupid wrench couldn’t turn the right damn way upside down under the sink. Let’s just say that I got mad at myself a few times and basically was a fucking idiot. Trust me, I am harder on myself than any of you could ever be on me.
Can I get a hell yeah? I am currently enjoying the Netflix series ‘History of Swear Words’. This series is hosted by Nicholas Cage and features comedians and linguistic specialists looking into the history of swear words. To me, swear words appeared the most in lyrics of songs in the 1980’s. Streetside Records in Creve Coeur, Missouri would never allow 16-year-old me an album with the ‘explicit lyric’ sticker, but my wife says Tower Records in California would let her. Well, that doesn’t seem fucking fair. Just so you know, swear words seem to matter most in context. For example, saying fuck you is not as positive as saying fuckin eh skippy. Also, gentlemen, never call your wife a bitch even if you mean beautiful intoxicating tantalizing corner of heaven. Ladies feel free to call other ladies your bitches though because apparently that is endearing.
It’s true, it’s damn true. Sometimes curse words can be a release, even something fun. I can hear certain songs and they just relax me in an intense situation. That’s how it is with ‘The Rodeo Song’ by Gary Lee and Showdown. Take a listen. How can you not smile when you hear ‘Well here comes Johnny with his pecker in his hand, he’s a one ball man and he’s off to the rodeo’? That is such a fun line and I find myself as a lyricist appreciating the simplicity of it, along with another one of my favorite lines in the song. ‘You piss me off, you fuckin jerk, you get on my nerves’. This line has relaxed me in so many instances. It has brought a chuckle to my mouth and a happy thought in my head in many stressful situations. And remember, all of us at one time or another have been fucking jerks. Just don’t take everything too serious, and you are good.
Excuse me! Have you paid attention to the lines throughout this blog that although work where they are, may seem out of place? Say hello to this bad guy. So, if you really think you know me, then you know I am a huge wrestling fan. Woooo! Edge is the Rated R Superstar so him coming back to main event Wrestlemania really started this blog concept. If you have felt offended by this blog, well you can shine your thoughts up real nice, turn that son of a bitch sideways, and stick it up your candy ass. Or you can just enjoy life a bit more and think positive.
Anybody miss me? Anyone want to read weird writings from my brain? Yeah, don’t answer that. My head is not a place I would recommend for anyone to explore. What you always see here is just a small part of what goes on up there. I am just happy I can get this focused enough to write some of this down for you all to maybe someday enjoy.
Thanks to a buddy I work with, the blog is now it’s own website. So you are now officially visiting bornbleeding.com. I actually had a chance to do this a few years ago and never went thru with it. I guess I am ready now to devote more time to writing and promoting and seeing where all of this will take me. Thanks Bill, for making this happen at the right time.
What else do you want to know? Hmm. Do you all know I am Type II Diabetic now? I am sure some of you did, it’s been two to three years. I ate a lot of crappy food while Josh was growing up and it all caught up to me mixed in with a few genetics. I remember my Aunt Shirley had always had it. She loved her Tab soda and really got me to like diet sodas at a young age. Anyway, I have tried a few additional meds during all this pandemic craziness that haven’t worked for me. Ozempic cleaned me out more than it was supposed to, same pretty much with Trulicity. Jardiance gave me a rash quick. Now I am almost done with a month of Rybelsus and that seems to be working well. The doctor started me on a smaller dosage and will boost me up in a week or so for another month then a month later, full dose. As I am taking it, my Metformin daily intake goes down. This is a good thing as I was getting sick of being ‘cleaned out’ every few days or so. It still happens now and then, but it’s so much better. Let’s continue to hope and pray that this all works.
I haven’t been in my office to work since March 11, 2020. Almost a year now. Shortly after we got quarantined, I got hearing aids. Josh and I thought Lyn needed them first because of all the times she said ‘huh’ to us. She was diagnosed with selective hearing, so I went in and I have been wearing them since last St. Patrick’s Day. I cannot say they work perfectly so adjustments are still ongoing. Let’s just say TVs in the house are on a little bit quieter now.
Life is not perfect thru all this quarantine life. Marriage is still hard. Lyn and I are still doing Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) although it’s via Zoom now. I have had the chance to even invite my buddy Todd to join us for a small five-week Jacob study now. Mandalorian was a great show to watch. Add to that WandaVision, which now has us watching all the X-Men Movies to catch up with the Marvel Universe. Josh is finishing up Senior year at Northwest Missouri State University and hopes to be teaching Special Education somewhere near home. Join us in praying for him as he makes the transition to a real job and maybe Jeep ownership.
I look forward to Cardinals baseball starting here soon. I miss baseball. I miss being around people who love the things I do. I am ecstatic that The Muppet Show is now on Disney Plus, but I wish I can spend more time with my friends and framily. I got my first COVID-19 vaccine shot because I want these things to happen. My extrovert self is not doing great going thru all of this. I am looking forward to Josh being home in May and we are planning to get out and playing golf and maybe some competitive cornhole. We both have great sets made by Inside Out Custom Designs. Josh got me some fancy bags for Christmas, and I will be throwing regularly once the snow melts and I have enough daylight on the days I don’t go to the gym.
I hope and pray you are all doing well. Thanks to all my friends that have been around via zoom, texts, or whatever way we have stayed weirdly connected thru all of this. I look forward to seeing you all again soon and I hope you look forward to reading more from me soon.
Hello all! I miss seeing all of your smiling faces. I hope you are doing well and you are filled with His spirit as we are getting ready to celebrate the glorious day of Jesus rising form the grave. I have had it on my heart to write again and I wanted to get back into it with writing about something I miss but is still with me and that is music. Recently I have had three songs, two of them new, remind me of the time we are in. I hope you enjoy me sharing a bit about them
Last Time I Say Sorry – Kane Brown & John Legend
If you haven’t heard this song yet, you are in for a treat. This song has touched me deep as Lyn and I are journeying through this thing we call marriage. We have had many friends praying for us as we continue to strengthen our bond to each other while life presents new challenges to us. Thank you to all for your prayer and thank you to those that have done more than prayer. We all need friends that are closer than family and we have those. Well, anyway, back to this wonderful song and lyric. This song was supposed to be performed live for the first time at last Sunday’s Academy of Country Music awards show. Instead, with the current circumstance, the ACM and CBS put together a special and they performed it together on the show via FaceTime. One part of the lyric in particular has stuck with me the most. It is the chorus and it says: I won’t say I’m sorry over and over. Can’t just say I’m sorry, I’ve gotta show you. I won’t do it again; I’ll prove my love is true. I hope the last time I said sorry is the last time I’ll say sorry to you. I want Lyn to be the last person I say sorry to. As you listen to it, I hope you have a person you want to be the last person you have to say I am sorry to.
It Is Well With My Soul – Austin Stone Worship Live
Well, if you know anything about my history, you know I sang in a choir for many years. At our old church, St. Paul’s Evangelical Free Church in Creve Coeur, Missouri, I was involved in Chancel Choir under the love and direction of Lois Percival. We were a close choir. I miss those days of Christian fellowship and when my life seemed much simpler when really it wasn’t. I hope I remember the story well but we were practicing an arrangement of this song to sing at church when one of our members became ill. She so loved the song and we kept working on it and praying for her as she was battling. The Lord decided to take Jackie and I believe the first time we sang this song as a choir was at her funeral. I do not know if one member of the choir made it through it without crying. The story of struggle and what the writer overcame is amazing. I could write a whole other blog on that.
On this past week during my current virtual church, Quest Evangelical Free Church, our worship leader and friend, Luke Sinak, presented the story of the song reminding us how we can overcome. Thank you, Luke, for making me cry again as you so eloquently told the story. The Austin Stone Worship Live version is the one he put in the worship, so it is the one I will be sharing with you. This is such a song of triumph and reminder that the Lord is coming again.
Now that I have possibly made you cry to, please know that I hope that you can also remember to have joy during these uncertain times. My job has been extremely stressful during this last month and I know that I can’t make it without a sense of humor.
The Epic Hand Washing Parody – Peter Hollens
So, you get I love music. Peter and his wife Evynne are extremely talented vocalists. I originally discovered Peter with a Pirates of the Caribbean video. And if you ever lost an hour or so searching YouTube videos and love vocals and fun, you can imagine what happened in my crazy head. So watch, smile laugh, and enjoy.
I hope you enjoyed my look at three songs that have touched me recently. I hope music touches you and I pray you have a Happy and Blessed Easter and please hug me when it is safe as I miss you all.
At 48, I have decided to do something that I have been meaning to do ever since I wrote a lyric. Ever since I learned Cat Scratch Fever. I bought a guitar. I thought I would write something out to explain why I did this even though I don’t need to, but I know I should be writing more. I also like to share my story because I know it is unique but others may enjoy it and who knows what good it can do and how God can work in you. I at least know I am a better writer than I am a guitar player.
Back when I was like four or five years old, my parents got divorced. I remember living in an apartment in St. Charles way across the river for a short bout before my mom found a house right behind my grandparents. That was also a pretty short stay and we ended up settling in a house a few doors down from that for a couple of years. These years were key in my life. My brother was around for a bit and then he joined the Air Force. You see my sister was already in the Marine Corps by this time so I don’t have any idea why Bobby chose the Air Force. Probably had something to do with him thinking he was smarter than her or some space program stuff. Anyway, that is for another story. When my brother was home, he had a guitar. Heck, it was the 70’s. Every teenage boy like my brother wanted nothing to do with disco and dancing, he wanted to listen to the rock music of the day and play guitar. I remember albums of artists like Kansas, Boston, Ted Nugent, and Carlos Santana. He would just lay there and listen to some songs over and over attempting to play them on a tennis racket until he bought a guitar. I don’t remember when he got one, I just remember him with one. Never would I be allowed to touch it. It would only be there when he was around so I honored his wishes. I don’t remember when but he showed me how to play a part of ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ by Ted Nugent. I can still play that to this day. He never showed me anything else besides his love for what now is called classic rock music of the 70’s and 80’s. He didn’t really care for my love of pop music and country.
A few years later I became more interested in girls. I had no clue what to do those interests as my dad was barely involved and my brother was barely around. I remember Bobby coming back to live in the basement at a few of our houses. I think he actually had a better set up there than mine at one house. Anyway, I was keeping to myself as I was an extrovert in a very chaotic family. This time alone got me to think about these girls in interesting ways. I really was a jerk of a kid as I made top 10 lists of girls. I do remember lots of those names but that was a different time. I might have been a blogger or something by middle school back then if that tech existed. Anyway, I started focusing this passion for girls on trying to put it into words because I knew I was never going to tell them in person. I wrote lyrics and poems that were mostly just for me. I doubt most people knew I wrote them because I never shared. My goal was to get some of this stuff put to music. Most of them sounded like crappy pop or country love songs. They have titles like ‘1+1 is 2’, ‘Miracles Only Happen Once’, and my own version of ‘Straight From the Heart.’ To this day I think I may actually have gotten something there but I never put any of them to real music because I never knew how to play the guitar.
My former brother-in-law Rick could play the guitar. He played it quite well. I looked up to him being the center of the party as he was strumming along. I wanted to be like him. I think he let me borrow my step-nephews guitar once or twice and tried to teach me but never had the patience.
After joining the Marine Corps, I kind of gave up my guitar playing goal until right before the Gulf War in July of 1990. For some reason I bought a Casio 220 keyboard because I knew I could at least play that some as I had piano lessons growing up. That keyboard went back in its box about a month for storage purposes while I went off to Bahrain. After I got back, it took a few months for me to even unpack it and probably a little while for me to play it again. Those dang girls started to really get in the way. Turning 21 didn’t help either. I am thinking that if I would have found a girl who liked a guy who played the guitar, I would of went for it then, but that never happened. I met Lyn when I was 22 and the dream of playing a guitar got buried. Oh, trust me, I was busy with life, love, and more of those two to worry about playing a guitar.
God has a funny way of working things in life. Never did that seed of playing a guitar go away. Through the years I remember admiring friends who could play hoping that someday I might give it another shot. A few years back at Northern Pines, God, with the help of Dean Jaderston, brought Lyn and I together with another couple by the name of Todd and Janelle Rau. We immediately connected with them because of our mutual loves to serve, of Disney, and something we knew would be around forever. You see I learned that Todd played guitar. Not only did he play guitar, he played guitar in a worship band. A few years later, I got to visit Todd’s house and I am convinced that if I lived anywhere closer to Todd, how different my life would be. Trust me, I am not moving 800 miles to be 40 degrees colder or to be that far away from Busch Stadium and Lion’s Choice, but you know what I mean. Todd has more patience than any friend I have had. He listens and understands that I can’t always say things what I mean but he knows what I mean. He would make me an outstanding guitar teacher.
God still has a reason for everything. Look at your paths. Realize all the little ways He is working in you. I will give you my other influence in loving guitar from afar. Several years ago, we started attending Quest Church. They have a worship band. I remember not caring for this lady who led them at one point but I was amazed when I saw the passion of a different young man leading worship. As Quest grew, I became part of the safety team and would frequently get to church early and hear the worship band practicing. Luke Sinak and his wife Beth became a friend from church quickly because of their families love for Christ, baseball, and music and arts. Beth has amazing gifts that are easy to see at church. I learned to see Luke’s gifts as I talked to him more and more.
Recently, with life being chaotic at home, others, with the help of God told me I need to really focus more time to myself. Writing like this will be one of those times. Documenting those experiences are something I really enjoy. I may go off on tangents in some of these stories but I hope you enjoy them. Anyway, back to the guitar. I knew with Northern Pines coming up I would have some free time and Todd told me we would get some time together so for some reason, I thought about a guitar. I looked online a bit and asked a friend of mine who told me she had a guitar I could borrow if I could borrow it. Well, bless her heart, it was a junior guitar and not what I needed to learn on. So, I went another route. Todd gave me some ideas of what he thought were some good starter guitars but they all seemed a bit out of my price range for something I was unsure of myself on.
Last Saturday I decided to go to Guitar Center and check them out. The South County one is much bigger on the inside. I walked back to the acoustic guitar room and looked in somewhat awe. Lyn wandered around the store doing who knows what. I looked at a few Todd had mentioned and they were all out of my desired price range. Eventually, a nice young man came in and asked if I needed anything. I told him my brief guitar history and told him I wanted a starter. He said he had a used Taylor in the back section. Yup, still way out of my price range and then he showed me a Yamaha he would recommend as a starter. Cool, told me there were two types of necks on them and said he would leave me to them to feel. Found one that would work but decided it wasn’t right for me. So, I headed off to another store not too far away Todd had mentioned called Music-Go-Round. They feature all used items and I admit their acoustic guitar section is about as big as Guitar Centers. Guy there talked to me about starter guitars and showed me a bunch over my price range and I asked about one I saw I liked. It was a nice Alvarez, but I knew it wasn’t my guitar.
The next day I was going to settle on not finding anything but our church had an ice cream truck present for National Ice Cream Day. I was done with mine and saw Luke had a second and went and told him what I was doing. Immediately, he was supportive and told me about the ones I looked at and I was on the right track. I also mentioned looking at Facebook Marketplace so he said to let him look at anything I found as a reference. I got home after lunch and took a bit of time to look on the Marketplace. I found two and I sent them both to Luke and Todd. One of them immediately stood out to me as it was an acoustic/electric guitar for an acoustic price. Luke agreed quickly and had me confirm the model number. I looked it up on reverb.com and I thought it was a good deal and Luke immediately confirmed saying you normally can’t get one with a built in EQ for that price. He also said that a Dean EFM-TRD would make a great first guitar. Todd came thru a few minutes later so I messaged the seller I would like to come see it. He said he would be home a bit later and it worked out that Lyn could come with me, so off we went thru Arnold. Knocked on the gentlemen’s house and he greeted us and invited us in. A very welcoming home and I soon noticed the Amazing Grace over the mantle. He showed me the guitar and explained to me that he had some other strings that sounded better on it but they don’t make them anymore. He was very forthright and honest. I told him I had a few friends that were giving me advice and one was my worship leader at church. He asked where then proceeded to tell me that the guitar I was interested in led worship at Oasis Church in Arnold for years. That sold it for me and after a deal and a handshake, I thanked him and we were on our way home. I messaged Todd and Luke on the way home to let them know my excitement.
So here I sit with my ‘Guitar For Dummies’ book and my hands that don’t know what they are doing hoping that I will be able to learn to play this guitar. She is a pretty one and has a story of her own. I am now just happy that God’s timing is good and I have myself a pretty red guitar.
‘The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of who I am the foremost. ‘ 1 Timothy 1:15 ESV
I have quoted very few scriptures in writing my blogs in the past. The fact that I have many types of friends and write a lot about baseball may have had something to do about it. I get inspired to write more about my faith. God has given me this talent to put words on paper that some people find interesting, so I might as well use it.
I am a sinner. You are a sinner. Your parents are sinners. Your kids are sinners. Your friends are sinners. Your pastor is a sinner. You get my point? We were created in the perfect image of God but, as being humans who are descendants of Adam and Eve, we are sinners. God sent his son, Jesus, who died to save us from our sins so that we may have eternal life. The ONLY way to God is thru Jesus.
Cool, ain’t it? We are humans. We suck. We are unintentionally mean to the ones we love, make more mistakes than we can count, yet we can get to heaven because Jesus died for our sins. Not because we go to church every week, because there are people who have no church. Not because we study our Bible, because there are people who cannot read. It’s because we believe in our heart that Jesus is the way to God and He came to save us from our sins.
Do what you gotta do if you want to be part of a church. I could care less if you are Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, or Evangelical. Just believe in Jesus and we can all be part of the family of God.
‘Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.’ Proverbs 14:21 ESV
What about the people that aren’t Christians and who don’t believe in Jesus being the way to God? Shouldn’t we do to them as we would want them to do to us? Hmm, I have heard that before. We should love them. Doesn’t seem too hard to me. Oh, but it is. But why? We already established that we are all sinners. Doesn’t matter what your sin is. I love my wife and family, my friends and my fellow Christians. I do my best to love everyone. Just because some people’s sin is more obvious than others, does that mean we should love them less? No no no, we should love them more.
‘And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”’ Luke 15:2 ESV
Jesus came to save the sinners. He spent more time with the non-believers than believers. He ate with them and performed miracles on them. So shouldn’t we do the same? Yes. Have dinner with your Christian friends to share the community and fellowship but also do the same with the non-believers. Show them community and fellowship. Share your faith thru the love you show them. Be a witness to them. Be the best dang sinner you can be. You are going to mess up. Know that you are going to be loved no matter what you do. We are all God’s children.
So, no matter if you are red, yellow, black or white. No matter what church you go to. No matter what, show your love to sinners and they will feel your love to them.
Pray for them. Pray that they are winning their battle over sin. Pray that they have accepted Jesus into their heart or that they will. Pray that someday you will see them forever in heaven.
Love me as a sinner, pray for me as a friend.
I need to pray more for someone who wants equal rights for all and gets upset when people opposed to them get something legally that doesn’t go their way.
I need to pray more for a person who proclaims themselves a Christian and posts on social media negative and derogatory comments.
I need to pray more for people who believe their social media accounts are part of their freedom of speech.
I need to pray more for people who willingly break the law and expect not to be punished.
I need to pray more for people under age that want to drink alcohol.
I need to pray more for those who don’t know my business and are afraid to ask me.
I need to pray more for teenagers who don’t realize how good they have it.
I need to pray more for parents who deal with their children way different then I do.
I need to pray more for people with a busy holiday schedule because they don’t realize those of us without one would love to have one.
I need to pray more for people who get cold easier than me.
I need to pray more for the men and women involved in cases of harassment and all the truth, lies, myths and misconceptions.
I need to pray more for the best thing that has ever happened to me. She knows who she is because she edits this blog.
I need to pray more for the second-best thing that has ever happened to me. He probably won’t read this.
I need to pray more for far away friends because telling them I miss them doesn’t seem enough.
I need to pray more for those far away from family and friends because I have been there.
I need to pray more for people who are negative towards their sports teams on social media. My Grandma taught me that if you can’t say anything nice, just don’t say it.
I need to pray more for the police and firefighters who go to work every day.
I need to pray more for our wonderful country and the politicians who think they run it.
I need to pray more for you. If you have anything you want me to pray for you know how to find me. I will add you to my Echo app.
Yeah. I haven’t written a blog in a while. Some of you might be thankful for that. LOL I decided I wanted to write down some of the things I have been thankful for this past year. This list will be in no particular order and I am sure will not include everything.
I am thankful I have received Jesus as my savior
I am thankful for being a husband
I am thankful for being a father
I am thankful for Quest Church
I am thankful for being 1 of ‘Party of Six’
I am thankful for being an American
I am thankful I have a house and I can look for another
I am thankful I have a job I most of the time enjoy
I am thankful for Pattonville High School
I am thankful for Northwest Missouri State University
I am thankful for the St. Louis Cardinals
I am thankful for the St. Louis Blues
I am thankful for MLB Network
I am thankful for Disney
I am thankful for being a Veteran
I am thankful for our military
I am thankful for the Police
I am thankful for the Fire Department
I am thankful for Framily
I am thankful for the Mountain Banshee Project
I am thankful for the Figment of my imagination
I am thankful for Northern Pines
I am thankful for long distance friends
I am thankful for disc golf
I am thankful for a Kansas wedding
I am thankful for an ice wedding Framily experience
I am thankful for baseball
I am thankful for movie theater popcorn and the movies that I go to see while eating it
I am thankful for Jeff the Moose
I am thankful for missionaries
I am thankful for shaving my head
I am thankful for my dogs
I am thankful for a good rare steak
I am thankful for dark chocolate
I am thankful for ice cream in many states
I am thankful for sweet tea
I am thankful for a good alcoholic drink
I would like to be thankful with you sometime. You know where to find me…
Normally I am not a hero. I am a Christian, husband, father, and friend.
For the past 15 years my family has gone to our dentist at Ladue Family Dental. We have referred friends to them because they make you feel welcome and comfortable. So when they got a new hygienist that fit my schedule we trusted them and said sure we’ll go see Paula. After chatting with Paula she told us about how her son would have been about Josh’s age. That’s when we learned about Dawson. Some years before Paula had lost her hockey loving son to a childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma. Then she told me about St Baldrick’s and how her husband and a group of friends raise money every year at a local bar called Helen Fitzgerald’s and it was coming up soon. How do they raise money to battle childhood cancer? Shave your head of course. I told her that Josh and I would love to help and shave our heads. So last March, Josh and I did. We joined many of Dawson’s family and friends and shaved our heads to help raise money to fight this ongoing battle. We also came together to support Paula & her family because that is what friends do.
So this year, Josh and I have let our hair grow for a lot longer period. There’s a bit of grey showing in mine and I need to use a comb. My hair hasn’t been this long since shortly after I was married. Even Josh’s hair is longer than he feels comfortable with.
This is the 12th year total for the St. Baldrick’s event and Josh and I’s second as we continue to be a part of a group called Dawson’s Hairless Heroes. The group will get wacky matching t-shirts and shave our heads on March 4th.
Since I am a hero for this event, I need your help. Pray for us. Pray for Josh and I as we prepare to go on stage to get our heads shaved. Pray for Paula and the whole Ivanowski family as they fight against cancer and remember losing Dawson. Pray for the whole event at Helen Fitzgerald’s as many people will be there doing their part to help fight childhood cancer. Childhood cancer research needs financial support. So if you find it in your heart to help us financially, please follow the link’s below to mine or Josh’s page to donate using your debit or credit card or see me between now and the event and I will take cash or check.
Before they turn 20, about 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will have cancer. Worldwide, a child is diagnosed every 2 minutes. More children are lost to cancer in the U.S. than any other disease—in fact, more than many other childhood diseases combined. Kids’ lives matter. In the 1950s, almost all kids diagnosed with cancer died. Because of research, today more than 85% of kids with the most common type of cancer will live. But there is work to be done. Kids like Dawson and others with countless types of childhood cancers have little hope for a cure.
The St Baldrick’s Foundation has funded research in 27 countries, including all institutions that treat kids with cancer in the U.S. So when you donate money and pray for us, you’ll know you’re making a big impact.
If you want to join in the fun, come join us on March 4th. As we get closer to the date I’ll know about what time our group will have their heads shaved too.
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