1st Post - exactly why am I blogging?

I've been thinking about blogging for more than five years, but have always thought that I had little to share. And, there's so much stuff out there on the web - who needs more from me?

But, this last week has been a game-changer for me. I lost my job, which really should be completely awful. But then had the most amazing weekend ever, complete with spiritual awakening, and a very different perspective on life, all in 3 days. Net result, a real WOW...

So, because this is almost completely a God thing, I believe it will be a real and valuable exercise to share these and the inevitable continuing blessings, simply because they are amazing. And, worth writing down as a record, if only to me - as I may be the only reader ;-)

> 1st Miracle: 

• Getting downsized last Friday!

Yup, a truly awful event, and not one I would have chosen for myself. And sealed with the life-affirming words "This is just business." (seriously). No matter that I'd been there, faithfully driving hard for five years, doing great things, making contributions outside the box, pushing revenue. Suddenly, their business was not my business.
So, having packed my boxes, driven home, stared at the ceiling for awhile, it hit me:

I'm so relieved to be out of there!

Stifled, taken for granted, ignored, underutilized, overutilized, just plain stale - well, you get the picture. Crazy thing is, due to the good money, great memories, and some very good people, and the very weak economy, this is NOT something I would have done myself. For a while. Probably a great while. I mean, who quits their job when it's more or less OK? And, oh, did I mention that I'm loyal - really loyal.     So, I'd likely be the very last one off a sinking ship, turning out the lights as I go.

I'm not a complete fool, so I know the money is going to be a bear, as in @%$%R&(*&*^*^&()*&. And I will truly miss some very good people. But my office was way too small, I could barely get out of my chair, and pacing while on the phone was not an option. (pacing while on the phone or brainstorming is what I do). And more importantly, there was no way to grow, as the company has been steadily downsizing and shedding products for the past 3 years.

> 2nd Miracle:

• My wife and I are best friends again!

I means this in all the most important ways. The instant I told Lisa about it (miracle #1 above, not exactly a wonderful/positive thing to her at the time), she knew exactly what I needed, and what WE needed. And, as each miracle unfolded, she just got it, right from the get-go. So cool. So meant to be! So, we've been praying, working, cooking, cleaning, folding together, and it feels so perfectly right. And i can't wait for tomorrow to do more.
How many 17 year couples can say that with a straight face?

> 3rd Miracle:

• My family!

-My (younger) kids cried and were a bit freaked out by Miracle #1 at first, but after we (thats Lisa and me) explained how Miracles come after challenges, they took an hour or to to make sure, then just went with it. Let me just say it here; I have the BEST kids - period.
-My (older) kids also cried and were a bit freaked out by Miracle #1 at first, but after we explained how Miracles come after challenges, they took some time to make sure, then just went with it. Let me just say it here; I have the BEST kids - younger and older - period.
- And all my family has been wonderful. Supportive, helpful, just awesome. I can't tell you how great this is, to be wrapped in a blanket of real love, just when you're down. I'm telling you, you can't pay for this...

> 4rth Miracle:

• Realizing God is doing this as an incredible gift!

So, I got asked to help out with a church skit to be performed at both services this last Sunday. For various reasons, the first and only practice was Saturday, and my role was the incredibly successful businessman who is going out to conquer the world. Interesting.
Needless to say, I didn't tell anyone that I had just lost my job. You think it would have put a damper on the practice? You bet. But it didn't, cuz I didn't. And the moral of the skit was (I'm not kidding):
How God has greater things for us to do than we know, and he will show us if we just listen.

   So as we do the skit on Sunday, I'm the last act, and St Peter is telling me in person, how he has much greater things in store for me. I'm telling you, the guy who played St. Peter was utterly convincing, as if it were completely personal, and he was who he was, and I was who I was. Not a skit, but real.

Then the choir sings, and yes, I'm in the choir. The song is "One Step He Leads" (and One Step I'll Follow).
Now, I'd practiced the song probably a dozen times before, but I never got the words as a message until, up on the stage, I'm singing, and the words leaped off the page into my heart. HE was singing to me! Now the song might have been sung completely off tune and out of kilter, perhaps even in old baylonian. But, to me, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. Every word was perfect, right on, absolutely appropriate for where I was, right at that moment.
It might seem like an anticlimax to say that the rest of the service, every word from the pastor, was addressed to me personally, even though no one there knew I had just lost my job.

I'm not making this up - this all happened!

And so it was: a total slam-dunk, Christ's resounding chorus of support, affirmation, and guidance:


Trust in me and you will be just where I want you.


Well, faithful reader, if you are indeed there, I will not keep you any longer on this post. But, it is my sincere prayer that you too will find comfort in this, my witness of His great kindness and love. Because, in this time when I should be despondent, angry, and fearful, I am exactly the opposite. Thanks be to God!

And, more Miracles to come - guaranteed. Stay tuned!