Tag / Friends

by Greg

Blessed Are Those…

But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God.
Psalms 146:5 (NLT)

At our home school group yesterday, a friend of ours spoke of the people he had met and is currently helping in Sierra Leone, one of whom is a 10-year-old boy named Joseph that he and his wife (rather miraculously) financially support.

When speaking of that boy and his amazing smile, he reminded the group of 9 and 10 year olds in the room of the verse quoted at the top of this post from Psalm 146. While some translations use the word “blessed” in place of the word happy, the meaning of the word in the original language is more akin to our words for “happy”. The happiness that he saw in the faces of the people there—including and especially in the face of Joseph—is definitely a result of where their help and hope comes from.

You may have favorable circumstances in life at the moment. You may not. Circumstances can and do—and will—change. They just will. But God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t change. If at our core, He is our source of life, help, hope… our bread of life and living water … then happy will we be.

by Greg

Suggested Reading: Between Two Kingdoms

Joe Boyd is a friend of ours from college, and today he announced that his book, Between Two Kingdoms is available for pre-order, and I thought I might spread the word for him here at GregsHead.net as well. Joe is currently employed as a teaching pastor at the Vineyard church in Cincinnati. But he also produces movies, and is an actor, and now a published author. (Also, he was the one who inspired this website! I thought I had that written somewhere, but all I found was this.) 🙂

Joe is, under all of that, a great lover and teller of stories. So I’m sure his written story will be more of the same! Click the book to the right to pre-order a copy of his book at Amazon.com, and while you’re at it, click his name at the top of this post to visit his blog and subscribe to his RSS feed, too. 🙂

[NOTE: If you’re reading this on Facebook, rather than on GregsHead.net, click here to get his book at Amazon.com.]

by Greg

Perhaps You Could Help?

Was talking with some friends of ours yesterday about the very recent death of their son-in-law. He was only 33 years old, and has a wife and two boys (12 and 13) who are now without their dad, who was also the one who brought in nearly all of the household income. I also found out they did not have life insurance, so their family is trying to help, but a fund has also been set up for them, and I thought I would pass that along here, in case you might be able to help them out.

To help, send donations here:

Michael and Tyler Stringer
Scholarship Fund
Five Star Bank
2425 Rochester Road
Canandaigua, NY 14424

More information available from Channel 10’s website here.

by Greg

Santa Claus to the Rescue!

SantaWe went out tonight to a cool old, historic house (Sonnenberg Gardens) to hear our friends Steph and Robert perform some Christmas music. Met up with some other friends there, too. Was a very nice night.

But the best part was definitely when a poor concert goer got stuck in the bathroom. The door was a bit tricky. You had to lift it up as you pushed on the handle, or it just wouldn’t open. The lady inside did not know that, nor did anyone on the outside trying to help her.

After a few minutes, a most unlikely rescuer finally came to her aid. Was it the janitor? Was it a locksmith? Was it another member of the staff?

Nope. It was Santa!!

(Santa was there in full costume tonight, and he was the one who knew the door trick!)

by Greg

Who You Know

I was thinking tonight about how things have happened in my life. I got to chat briefly with a long-time, good friend – Adam – whom I do not get to really share life with any more. He and his family live in another area of the country, and aside from the occasional conversation over electronic mediums, and the even more occasional (meaning, almost never) in-person conversations, our friendship is mostly something from our past.

We can always pick it up again, whenever we strike up those conversations. But with such distance geographically, and chronologically, our friendship is definitely different than it was “back in the day”. (When I would say he was probably my closest friend.)

What is so interesting though – perhaps only because I’m thinking these things after two in the morning? – is how when you look back on life, it’s so cool to see how all things do work together for good. God crosses paths at just the right times. Somehow, reminiscing about the good ol’ days with my friend Adam reminded me that his friendship with Jen (and the words he spoke when he introduced the two of us) eventually brought five super-awesome people into the world.

Not directly, of course. Not even intentionally. But it happened. Adam knew Jen, and thought she was awesome. He said, “Jen’s the kind of girl you could marry,” meaning the general you, but … truer words he never spake. 🙂 Now eighteen and a half years later… I can’t imagine my life without Jen, and God has given us five tiny people to love and to be Dad & Mom to. Crazy.

That’s the other thing. Thanks to my friendship with Adam, I met Jen. Many years later, we married, and God added to our family… and not just “some people” but specifically, Ian, Alex, Kirsten, Julia, and Emma. Those are the specific people that God created – from me and Jen – and he wanted us to be the ones who were Mom & Dad to them. Sometimes that blows me away. Other times it just makes me smile. How cool that God set it up that way. He is the giver of life, and he has given these specific lives to our care, and us to them. So cool.

So just remember tonight (or, likely, this morning or later) that you are who you are supposed to be. All your strengths, and all your weaknesses. You are also in the right place, and in the right relationships, and perhaps you are even the Mom or Dad you are supposed to be. That doesn’t mean complacency about destructive behavior or relationships. It does mean that when you start to doubt your worth, or your impact… it’s time to remember that YOU are the perfect you.

Who knows what will be credited to you eighteen and a half years from now?

by Greg

Foreigners

I’ve been thinking about “home” a little bit recently. We were visiting family this weekend who live about an hour and a half from our home. I was thinking about how if we lived there, it wouldn’t ever quite feel like home. At least, to me. It would feel like we were always visiting. Never home.

A friend of ours is a native of Argentina, but also a citizen of Italy (and lived there for several years) and now resides here in New York. (Married to a US citizen.) So she has many homes, and in a way, often feels like she’s “not home”.

Home is interesting. It’s definitely a location, but it’s also a state of mind. The Bible says we who follow Jesus are foreigners. That we are never quite home. We read about the first disciples of Jesus today (the boys and I) who left everything at Jesus’ simple invitation to, “Come follow me.” He had no home, they had no home. They were travelers. Foreigners. Strangers.

Jen & I have also noticed recently how different we are. We are not like most of the people we know. Our priorities, what we want our family to live like, be like, look like. We’re different. We feel, quite often, like foreigners.

So, how do you endure that? I guess the way you do is to know that no matter where we are in this life we are always foreigners. We are never home. We belong somewhere else, and until we leave this life or Jesus comes back for us, we’ll always feel a little homesick.

With all the burdens of this foreign place that I am bearing lately, I am definitely “longing for home”. For peace. Rest. But, that time has not come yet.

For now, I enjoy the “home” that God has given me. My beautiful wife, and five amazing kids. And our little yellow house. 🙂 Oh that life were only that simple.

Perhaps it can be.

by Greg

Food Fest II

Food Fest II
As promised, Food Fest II took place this weekend, and the following is a brief recap of the day’s events.

The first eaters arrived around 11:00am, and much of the food was on the table, ready to be eaten! We had chips and salsa, chips and homemade Celery Seed Dip (a hit!), fresh sliced watermelon, deviled eggs, our favorite recipe potato salad, and Skyline was simmering in the crock pot! There was a big pitcher of fresh-brewed sweet tea, and some chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and I’m pretty sure there were a few other things I am forgetting!

We realized we were a tad low on the Frank’s Red Hot, so after a quick trip to the store by the Chis, the next bunch of eaters arrived and we were ready to go! I threw some burgers and hot dogs (including some Zweigles!) on the grill and we started to eating! And it really never stopped!

Shortly after the burgers and dogs were done, the deep fryer arrived (borrowed from a friend) and we got ready to cook up the wings. We did take a slight break after the first food barrage, but that was filled by snacking on all of the above, including the additions of a fun apple salad and brownies cooked in a cast-iron skillet by the second group of eaters.

We played some board games, video games, and mostly hung out and talked (all while eating of course!) There was some napping, too! 🙂 More eaters came throughout the day, including our next door neighbors. I think I counted a total of twenty peoples coming through and joining Food Fest II.

No ice cream this year, but National Ice Cream Month officially starts tomorrow. So, get ready! Thirty-one straight days of ice cream! Food Fest never stops!

Plans for Food Fest III are already underway. Check back here at GregsHead.net for details! 🙂

by Greg

A-Social, or Hyper-Social?

FacebookI have been spending a lot of time using Facebook of late.

Whether just playing word games with friends, or making use of their live, instant message chat feature, or just keeping in touch with friends however possible – I’ve been there.

I am a people person (as I have said before) and so it would make sense to find me at a “people” site. But is connecting with people on Facebook really a social activity?

We were talking with our friends about social networking sites, and how in a strange way they are almost a-social. It’s almost a way to keep from seeing people, and really interacting with them. By leaving a message here or there, or even using the real-time chat, some may consider that they are enjoying a relationship with another human being, and in a way they may be, but in reality, they are staying home and spending time on the computer instead of being with people.

My take on that was that I use Facebook to stay in touch with people I couldn’t otherwise, and to just add to the other communication I have with friends who are local. It’s another way to communicate.

What I noticed recently was that my time is spent very differently these days. I don’t do a lot of things I used to do. I was talking with Jen about that… what has changed? And the only thing I could figure was Facebook. I’ve been using it a lot, and that corresponds with the time I have not been doing other fun stuff I used to do. And that’s been fantastic. I have totally enjoyed keeping in touch with people I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to talk to.

And that’s what I think Facebook does for me. It actually is too social. 🙂 Maybe instead of a-social, Facebook is really hyper-social? You see, maybe we were only meant to relate to the people we could actually visit with in a given day? But now with electronic means of connecting – and Facebook makes that even easier! – I can have daily conversations with many folks I have met along the way in life.

That can fill up your time!

So, we’re feeling a bit busy lately, and maybe that is why. We’re hyper-social! Well, at least I am.

I may try a week or so without Facebook soon, and see what happens to my time. Could be an interesting experience.

But then, would that be a-social, or even anti-social? Would definitely be some sorta “social”. 🙂

by Greg

Update from Greg’s Head

I must say this poor blog has been quite neglected for the past couple weeks. It seems that my writing certainly goes in cycles. Sometimes I have lots to say and just can’t help myself, so this blog is full of things to read. Sometimes I am so full of things to do that even though I do have things to say, I am not able to sit down and write them out. Other times, it’s simply time for intake rather than output. I’d say we’re definitely in a cycle involving a little of both of the last two.

So, instead of writing lots of detailed blogs (which I could certainly do, but must tend to other things) I will try and cover a lot of the stuff I’d like to chronicle here in bullet-point fashion.

  • Work
    I have been very busy with web and graphic design, so much so that I am considering expanding. It feels as though the work load has grown too much for one person to handle. (At least, and still have family/free time.) I’m not certain how to work that out just yet, but the influx of clients continues, as well as a regular stream of work orders from satisfied current customers. A week or so ago I felt as though I was cresting the seemingly insurmountable hill of open projects, but then the hill just got a bit taller. So, I press on… Have made a few cool additions to my site (linked above) in the middle of the various projects I have been working on. I seriously need to update my “samples” page though as several of those clients have closed up shop and are no longer on the internet! 🙂
  • Music
    Oh, I finally did take our “Christmas decorations” down at our basicmm.com website, too. 🙂 I forget what motivated me to do it, since it was already late April or May when I did, but … anyway, it’s done. Also on the music front, our trip to Virginia in June may be in jeopardy because our family is too large to house! 🙂 We’ll see what happens there…
  • Fun
    Jen & I both have been enjoying Facebook and the many fun things therein. They added a live chat feature recently which has been extra cool. Realtime re-connecting with people you haven’t spoken with in many years, or perhaps barely even know. Fun! (At least, for me that’s fun!) Also, definitely loving playing the various word games there. I do love word games…
  • Brennan Manning
    Jen cleaned out the attic recently and found a bunch of old cassette tapes. In one of the boxes was a set of teaching tapes we had purchased. It was “Healing Our Image of God… and Ourselves” by Brennan Manning. Manning’s background as a catholic priest (and a monk, I believe) gives him an interesting perspective on the Gospel. But the heart of what he says is so great. It’s the simple truth of the incredible love that our Father – Abba – has for us. We heard Brennan at a retreat over 10 years ago, and got his tapes there. He’s been saying the same thing for decades – and I believe God has been re-emphasizing this basic point to me and Jen in recent years again – because it’s the core of the Gospel/Good News. God loves us more than we can ask or imagine, and invites us to live life side by side with him, as his kids. Great stuff… on tape 4 of 5 right now. More on this to be sure…
  • Friends
    Our closest friends – who are more like family – are moving. Their last day in town is next Wednesday. We have lived in the same town as them since we met in our college years. I moved up here to Rochester area with them right after college. Our kids have grown up together, sharing most of the fun/special days together. We’ve known of the move for a couple months now. That’s kinda nice. Been a nice long goodbye. But it’s still a goodbye, and life will definitely change. Very exciting for them, and I’m sure God will blow us away with the way(s) he fills what we can only see now as a void. But it’s pretty sad at the same time. We’re sure there will be tears next week. In the mean time, been helping with packing and moving as much as we can, and also just visiting as much as we can, while they’re still here. We’ll certainly see them again, but 15 minutes is a lot closer than 6 hours driving time. 🙂
  • Family
    We’ve also been visiting family a lot this month. We got to see my sister’s new house in the Buffalo area. Then went over the next weekend for a big garage sale, and I made a nice mother’s day lunch for my mother-in-law. 🙂 We’re going over again this weekend, and then the next for various family events, too! It’s nice that they are close, but it’s also certainly an expense with gas being near $4.00/gallon!! Yikes!
  • New Friends
    Jen has been going to the community center on Thursday mornings to join (mostly) moms with their pre-schoolers for a couple hours of playtime/funtime. This has been a cool way to meet people we have seen around town (at other similar events) and get to know them better. We obviously have the common link of having tiny kids 🙂 Looking forward to getting to know all of these new friends – who mostly live right around the corner(s) from us – over the summer.
  • Lilacs!
    Whether you pronounce it “lie-lock” or, the proper, phonetic way (li-lac)… 🙂 I am just loving these flowers again this year. Been a neat spring in general. The flowering trees have been beautiful. Our neighbor has several lilac bushes and has generously allowed me to snap of some blooms whenever I’d like. And so, I’ve had beautiful, fragrant lilacs on my desk for the past week or two! Love it!
  • Entertainment
    Almost forgot… been watching the NHL playoffs mostly these days. TiVo has been very helpful as we are usually out for evenings, but then watch the game in fast-forward once we are home! As close as the season was, it was surprising to see Pittsburgh and Detroit each take 3-0 series leads. The other teams both won their game fours, but should be a fantastic Stanley Cup Final between Pittsburgh and Detroit! They’re both amazing.

    And, we’ve rediscovered our fondness for the 80s TV show, The Knight Rider. Our friends, the Vs, enjoy it as well (we loaned them our iPod to watch Season One in its entirety) and Season Two is now coming to our mailbox via Netflix. 🙂 Pretty corny at times, but also pretty fun. Ah, the good ol’ days…

There have been lots of other fun events the past several days/weeks. Really can’t share them all here. As I said, it’s been a time of doing and intake more than a time of output 🙂 Suffice it to say, all of these social events have reminded me again that I am (or have become) a people person. I am not sure why I am doing an office-related job, then… 🙂 But am still super thankful for the provision we see from God in that.

More to come on the stuff I have been thinking through from the Brennan Manning tapes, as well as some good conversations with the church (friends who are fellow followers of Jesus), and just the stuff God has been placing on my heart and mind. So fun to share every bit of life with someone who loves me so much. Hope you know that, and you’re experiencing that, too.