The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem, Almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class

And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again
If the jar was full... They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand

And poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded
With an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced Two cups of coffee from under the table
And poured the entire contents Into the jar, effectively
Filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, As the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life..
The golf balls are the important things - God, family,
children, health, friends, and favorite passions -

Things that if everything else was lost

And only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter Like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --
The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are
Important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things That are critical to your happiness.
Playwith your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time
To clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand
And inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Amazing

It's amazing. It has been a long time since I have posted on my blog and the last time I did that was when my wife made me. I have been so busy but haven't we all. I have been going to school, working full time and so much more it seems. I am preparing this weekend for my mid terms. It has been Very hard going back to school and working full time. I am taking about 12 hours this semester but plan on taking the summer off from school at least and then starting back again in the fall. I will be so proud of myself when I finally get my Associate of Arts degree. But that only be my first step. I have never written so many papers in my life. I know this is short but just wanted to keep you posted on what is going on. Michelle and the kids are doing wonderful. I am sure that Michelle will be glad when I am done with school. Bless her heart, she has been doing everything around the house (not that I ever helped before) I won't go into much detail because I am sure that Michelle will making a post on her blog shortly now that she might have a little more time on her hands.

One of the greatest highlights of 2008 was for me to have my Brother come in from Canada for Christmas. He had to go through a lot to get here but was able to make it here. After it was all said and done and time for him to head back home to Canada, he went through a lot to get back across the border. He is now safe, back at home. We Love you Buba. Tell Sandy and all we said we Love them too.

This is for My Wife

Your right Honey, I needed to update my blog. It has been a while. I would post pictures for folks to see but my Wife stole them all and posted them on "HER" Blog and Face book.
Here it is the New Year. New Years Day to be exact and I am not doing much of anything today. I slept very good last night or at least I feel much more rested. I picked up my CPAP machine yesterday afternoon and used it for the first time last night. It was different and will take some time to get used to it. I woke up a few times in the night because of the noise of it. Michelle said she heard it a few times in the night when it started blowing harder. The machine I have is called an Auto CPAP because it adjust to the pressure needed to open the airways. Hopefully the more I use it, the more better I will feel.
Well, who had new years resolutions out there? Not me, because it might just fail. But I do plan on getting closer to God and Family this year. A lot of things have changed over the past year. I pastored a Church for about 6 months, The economy has gone downhill and all of that. But I know that if we all keep our eyes on God, that he will take care of us. The key to that is making sure that we involve God in everything we do. That we let him guide us and direct us. That we pray and ask that he shows us what he wants us to do. But also we need to be more in his Word. We will all here many different things from many different people this year. But if it is not in God's Word, then it just ain't so. I get tired of the Preachers today that preach "the times". The Word is what needs to be preached today, more than ever. Folks get excited about hearing Prophets of today and what is being predicted for this year. In the past year, I have heard "Prophets" say that before the end of the year that the Christians will prosper financially, but I now have to ask what happened? I didn't get it! But now all of a sudden those same "Prophets" are saying "oh, but we first have to go through some things before we get it and that times might be tough. My reply to that is "How convenient"!. I am not worried about what might take place in this world. Yes, I will be watching along with everyone else, but I will not worry becasue I know who my Source is and that is the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Wolves attack

more Explorer Pictures

My Explorers

This picture was taken the day before Thanksgiving. As you can tell, We even took Lily along with us on the adventure. I will put some other pictures below. We had a really good Thanksgiving. We spent it at my Mom and Dad's. Just Michelle, I and the kids at Mom and Dad's. Ronda and Marshall were able to come spend Thanksgiving with us too. They ate with us. It was good to see them. Tomorow is "Black Friday". Michelle and I will get up early in the morning and go our seperate ways to hit the stores. It's kind of a rush but we don't get into the swinging elbows and stuff. We go and find what we have on our list and if it's gone, then so be it and we go to the next items. It's kind of fun. The next big thing for me is that My Older Brother, George will be coming in for Christmas from Canada. He was here a few years ago but it will be good to see him. Especially for Christmas. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have plenty to be Thankful for.

Day Off

Well, here is my boy. He sure is growing up. I will be glad though when he grows up to move out of our bed. He literally comes between Michelle and I. I know, I need to enjoy it while I can. I do enjoy it at times. He surely lets you love on him. He has that smell about him as well. You know, each person has a scent about them. I can still go into my parents house, who now live where my grandparents lived before they passed away, and can still smell my Grandmother. My Mother has a specific scent. My wife has a special scent. We all do.

OK, enough of that. I know that it has been a while since I have posted on my blog. My wife had started me on face book. She set herself up and urged me to do the same so that I could meet up with friends that maybe haven't seen in a while. Well, it is OK but not the same as blogging. On facebook, you just post quick little quirks or post pictures. That's good but not enough reading for me. Facebook can take up too much of your time.

I am off work today and thought that I would just relax a little for a change. I do plan on going up to the school today and picking Bradley up early to stay home with me. Michelle is having to sub today at the school. So this gives me some time today to just goof off. I really need to clean up the kitchen and put laundry away and all that stuff but I just want to laze around today. I go on vacation next week for Thanksgiving. I am excited. Michelle and I plan on doing lots of stuff during that week. Since my brother is coming home for the Holidays this year (Christmas) from Canada, we plan on helping Mom and Dad decorate for Christmas and I guess we will do the same at our house.

One last thing, My wife recently went back to her hometown where she went to school for the weekend. She visited with her folks and the kids went with her and had a good time with their cousins. I, of course had to stay home because of Church and work. Oh, did I mention that I resigned as pastor and this past Sunday was my last as Pastor. I start back to school in January so it would have been tough to Pastor a Church and work full time too. Anyway, I have decided that I am a little jealous of my wife. She gets to go back to her home town and visit with her girlfriends from school each year. They get together a few times each year but end up getting together every year during Christmas (or Thanksgiving) to visit. I don't get to do that. I don't have school friends where we get together from time to time. I wish. You know, being a guy, I think of football games where buddies get together and have a good time. Yea, right. I work, I come home and go to Church and that's it. I don't have any other activities. Don't get me wrong. Michelle doesn't have a lot of time either. She is always working. Working by taking care of the kids and cleaning house and laundry and did I say taking care of the kids? But what about me? Not really, I don't have a need for that but how nice it would be from time to time to go to a Coffee shop just to sit and visit with friends. That is just an awesome thing that My wife and her friends have.

I have to go for now. I will change out of my PJ's and go pick up Bradley and come back home to play. Maybe I won't get anything accomplished today.

Well, here is a small addition to our family. Yes, we now have a PET. My wife is a cat person and I am a dog person but the kids wanted a dog so I won. (haha). We all wanted a dog though I think. My wife is the one who picked Lilly out and bought her. Surprised us all.
Here it is May already and we are going on a field trip with Lexi. We are going to space camp in Huntsville Alabama. I took a week vacation to go. The trip is only 3 days long but I thought I might need the rest of the week to recover. I think I am getting old. maybe not old but start to feeling a little older. If you notice the fat belly I have in the picture above, I need to do some work.
I have also started a new path in my life. I have been preaching now for a few years on and off, but now have been called to Pastor a Church. I started full time this past Sunday and we are all so excited. The Church is Apt. A small community outside of our small town called Bay. Really I guess it's a small community outside of Jonesboro. It is a non denominational Church. It is really a cute and awesome place. Might be small but we all start somewhere. I guess that is about all I have for now. God Bless!!

The End of a Winter Day

What a beautiful picture that was taken outside our back door. My Wife took this and it turned out great. We are all doing fine here on the Farm. The Chickens are laying more eggs per day now and they are selling like hotcakes. Everyone wants Farm Fresh brown eggs from chickens that are fed grain and no antibiotics. Now I can't keep eggs it seems. My Brother is doing very well with the Pigs. He is selling them as well, just as fast. Here is a link to the web site he made telling about our little farm here. It's called Weir Bros. Farms. I have never really made a profit on the eggs but had to raise the price per dozen due to the cost of feed going up. Now that I have put a banner out front, everyone keeps coming back and that is wonderful.

The Kids are Back in School

We are all excited that the kids are back in school. We did have a wonderful summer. But routine is always good. It seems that the kids just burn up their energy at school before coming home and when they get home they just want to veg out. Not to mention not wanting to do their homework. But it is a joy to work with them on their homework. We finally got some rain but now the farmers are trying to harvest the fields. Someone mentioned that it rains on the just and unjust. Bradley is back at his second year at preschool. Just the normal two days out of the week. And with school back in session, Michelle is back to work too. Again, just the two days of the week. What a wonderful blessing to have her at home but I know she enjoys getting out the couple of days a week. Things are going wonderfully at Church. I am so excited about what the Lord is doing. I have to share a video that is just so funny. The girls were dressing up like me and I caught it with my camera. I hope it turns out. I have never uploaded a video on here before. The last part of the video is the view of Bradley's haircut. Nothing like a good home cut. God Bless and watch the show. I also want to add another video on here. It was so cool when I first saw it. It is a clip from the Presidential debate. Arkansas' past Governor Mike Huckabee made an awesome show I though. I just wanted it to be shown everywhere because I think it is so important for a Man of God to be in office such as President. It would be nice to know that our President is led by God. God Bless you all!!

Summer Days

I hope everyone is doing well. Summer is here and now almost gone. School will be starting back up again soon. The kids are really excited but I think Bradley just doesn't have a clue. What can you expect out of a 3 year old anyway. He is just enjoying his sisters being home all day. Busy and never ending for me at work though. I am sure Michelle feels the same way with the kids all day. She is probably looking forward to going back to work at the school and taking Bradley with her like before so she can get a break. I am not sure where to look for my break yet though. hehe. I know it has been a long time since my last post but summers are always the worst. We do have plenty of Farm fresh brown eggs for sale though if anyone needs any. We get about 2 dozen eggs a day from our Chickens and we will be getting much more the summer ends. God Bless all and hope to post later.

Spring Pictures

I know this is short but if you want to see some good pictures, click on the link above or click on the link that says "see my Pictures" on the left. Will try and say more later. God Bless All!!

Brothers and Sister

I know that it has been a long time. You know how it is. Always busy. Since finding work and all and then leaving that company because of ... long story but will go into that one later. Anyway, I am now working at a great place and enjoy it. Monday through Friday. It's great and can spend time with the family and all. I sure Love my kids and wonder daily how my Wife can keep up with all of us making messes. The picture above is of My brothers and Sister. From left to right it is Marsha, George, Me and Joe Ed. My Brother George had come home for a visit from Canada. He lives there and it had been over 10 years since I had seen him. It sure was good to see him. It was just too bad that his wife could not come with him. Well, As you can see, there is a lot of catching up to do. I hope I can fill everyone in on the happenings around my little farm. We have new chicks that have hatched and and more eggs in the incubator to hatch. We are building another chicken house and will post some of those pictures later.

Fall Already

Gosh, Has it been that long since my last posting? I don't even have time to add a picture with this as I normally would. It is getting cold outside. I even had to start a fire. Michelle and the girls have been out of town this weekend and so Bradley and I have had some good quality Father/Son time. It has really been great. With it being Sunday though, I have only one problem. Michelle and the girls are coming home this evening and I have some picking up and cleaning to do. Like the dishes and take out the trash. I still need to take Bradley to the "play Place" at the mall though. He really loves that and it is warmer there than outside. It is just the wind here I guess. Well, God bless you all and will blog again later.

Back Again

Hey Everyone,
Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted anything. I guess I have been busy. Doing what I can't remember though. I am back to Dayton for training again. This time though, I am only here for a few more days. I have been busy at work too though. I hope everyone is doing fine and has had a wonderful Summer. It is pretty much Fall now though. Keep me posted and I will try and do the same with more pictures and stuff. God Bless you all.

You can't tell me they ain't Beatiful

Here is Allison and Lexi. They sure are growing up fast. Lexi is the strong one who acts like nothing bothers her. These girls can't seem to be apart from each other but they love to fight. I guess it's a sibling thing. Lexi is going into the 3rd grade now and Allison is startng the big K. Looks like shcool will be starting soon and Michelle and Bradley will rule during the day. Bradley sure does love his Sisters. He can't seem to be apart from them. All in all, We make a great family. We need to get a family picture made.

That's My Boy

I have to admit that this guy is so Awesome. For those of you who do not know me, I am a family man. I love my wife and kids. I have two daughters, age 8 and 5 and then Bradley who is 2. I grew up in Bay, Arkansas and went to school there until I graduated. I went into the Navy for 7 years and then moved back home when I got out. Long story short, I moved to Russellville Arkansas and lived there for a while before just moving back home again. I now live back on the "farm". I grew up with wonderful parents who taught me well. Grandparents who lived down the road who I have very fond memories of. I grew up in Church and still go to Church. Not as often as I wish though due to work at times. Now it's my and my wife's turn. Time to bring up our children. Take them to Church and teach them as we were. I saw Ryan Vaughan's blog where he was reading a book with his son. Spending time with your family like that is awesome. That is a family man right there.
I haven't really messed with Blogs much but mine. I have read a few others here and there but since the other day, I have run across some interesting blogs and some nice folks out there. Some just so happens to be in my home town. I grew up in this small town where we all new each other. I moved back in the house I grew up with out in the country. I wouldn't change a thing. I look at my wife and Children and thank the Lord and wouldn't change a thing.