Saturday, August 28, 2004

good morning

Hi all

it is 5:30 am on Saturday. I am in the tower. It is raining to beat the band. Being here is awesome. The lighting and thunder are huge. And the rainfall is deafening. Pretty darn cool. The emergency power came on and everything lit up like a Christmas tree.

I am working the late shift. Our shifts rotate around so no one person has to do the "graveyard" shift. I am ok with that as I would be the one harnested to this shift. Low person on the totem pole syndrome.

As I sit here, I wonder how big God is. Big enough to control everything in every time all the time. And yet small enough to have a personal relationship with me. How is that? I guess I will need to banter that one around with people smarter than me like Deur, Thompson, Kiwi or even my daughter.

Tomorrow is one of my nephew's birthdays. The theme for the party is pirates. I called him and asked if we needed to like or talk like pirates. He humored me and laughed. It will be a good time of meeting with family. I cannot wait.

Well that's all for now.

C

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

great thoughts

Check out Quiet Riders thoughts for today.

Made me think....twice.

Out.
Carter

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

It is a strange feeling...

Getting ready to start another job. There is the weird couple weeks from the time you give notice until the departure date. Then there is the cleaning out of the office. That is weird too. Someone once told me - make your hellos long and your goodbyes short. There is some truth in that.

Needless to say, God is in control. How much control??? That is the eternal question. I have a habit of taking charge and running with the "ball". How out of control is that? Yet, He remains there; loving me and bringing back to the center point - where I am happiest and know I need to be.

Spent some time with the Johnson's last night. It is always good to touch base and be. Last nights conversation revolved around what's next? the job; the new place; new school year; new parenting schedule; finances; etc. Oy!

Had a great programming meeting with Gooch and Pot. I love Monday afternoons. It is a great talk of vision and creativity. I really enjoy that contribution. We have some really cool gathering times coming up.

Did you hear Watermark is launching a new service? Excitement abounds as news gets out. God just keeps reinventing Watermark; reshaping; reimagining. I love it. Can we all keep up that is the question?

One last question...where has the summer went? I cannot believe that Becca starts school VERY, VERY soon. She is growing up to fast. I was talking to Becca's mom the other day and reflecting on the last 10 years and how quickly it has gone. Unbelievable.

Well, that's my thoughts for the day.

Out,
Carter

Monday, August 23, 2004

New Books

Hi all

Great Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

I have added a couple new books. One is the Making Room For Life from Randy Frazee. Both Deurty and Gooch and Gooch's wife recommend read it. With that high powered recommendation, how can I go wrong?

The second is the One Year Chronological Bible. It is the bible laid out how it happened with time as the filter. Pretty interesting. For my accountibility guys, we decided to read and hold each other to the task. It is difficult because of the discipline thing. I always struggle with discipline. Yuck!

More later,
C

Friday, August 20, 2004

I have a new job

Yes it is with some regret I gave notice today at my current employer. I have been struggling with some issues for a while and I believe God has brought another job along for a purpose.

Before you all get really curious, I am going to be working as a bridge operator. Not just any bridge, but the bridge that spans the Grand River on US31 in Grand Haven. Yes, it is true. I have been already titled the Bridge Troll. Which also makes me low man on the troll pole. I trained for it and am now a certified bridge operator. I was speaking with a friend who commented that I am fulfilling a dream that most people have had since they were 9 years old. I am operating the bridge.

Pray for me. The bridge has a huge feeling of power to it. I stop traffic. I let boats thru. I could leave it open. It is a feeling of control I have never felt before. In all seriousness, it does provide some things that are lacking in my life. Like an opportunity to study or read. The time is not always that demanding while there. So there is some down time. That is good.

I am looking for another place to live. That is the next hurdle.

Nothing too much else at this point.

Out for now.
The Troll

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Enough

Hi all. Sorry for the delay in transmissions.

The Weekend. There are several items I think were great about the summit. Most all the speakers were great to hear. I wished I could have heard TD Jakes. I had to leave early and missed him, but I heard he had a lot to say.

My take away was on the practical sides of things. These were issues I have heard before in other applications. So there was nothing new to me. But good solid reminds about things. Like for example you are what you read. There is only so much time. Red the good books. Another was take a minimum of 30minutes a day to read. 10 minutes with periodicals. 20 minutes for good solid books. Excellent. I do not do enough of that. One other was motivation of people. The psychology of how people are wired. What buttons to push?

The best part to me was the time I spent with the team. Catching up and discussing the summit and how it was impacting our lives. There was a session where we got together and hammered somethings out. It was awesome to see how God was moving among us.

More later,
C

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Willow Conference

I am sooooo excited. The leadership summit is tomorrow and I am going. I have been praying that God will bless this time in a unique way. I am looking forward to some great things.

More on that later.
Carter

Is this blog worthy?

I don't know. But thought I would post it anyway.

GENDER OF OBJECTS

1) Ziploc Bags: They are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.

2) Copiers: They are Female, because once turned off it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.

3) Tires: Male, because they go bald and are often over-inflated.

4) Hot Air Balloon: Male, because to get it to go anywhere you have to light a fire under it, and, of course there's the hot air.

5) Sponges: Female, because they're soft, squeezable and retain water.

6) Web Page: Female, because it's always getting hit on.

7) Subway: Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.

8) Hourglass: Female, because over time the weight shifts to the bottom.

9) Hammer: Male, because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000 years, but its handy to have around.

10) Remote Control: Female. Ha! You thought it'd be Male. But consider this - it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying.

Keep laughing,
C

Monday, August 09, 2004

New site to check out

Yes, mike Morgan - worship leading madman - has his own website. Look right under must see website. Share it with everyone you know!

Good weekend. Pretty good monday happening. Leaving soon to visit with the fellas and do some programming.

No new revelations.

C

Friday, August 06, 2004

Well, the weekend is here

Howdy,

it is Friday afternoon and I am wrapping it up for the weekend. Pretty good day. I spent it mostly with the Quiet Rider going to a job site wrapping up details. He is going on vacation next week. Slacker!

Needless to say, Saturday plans are set and in motion. Parade and fireworks and lots of grill action. Sunday will be the gathering. I am not sure what is happening as we did not do much planning. I am SURE the fellas have put the plan in motion and I think Deur is bringing the thunder. It will be great the hear how the Chicago trip went.

Nothing more than that.

until later,
C

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Coast Guard week is upon us

The time of the year where the city of Grand Haven is overrun by tourists. I understand that tourism is an important part of the economy here in the Haven, but it does not mean I like it.

What is does do is make me think. Think about all the individuals that are traveling here for rest and relaxation. People spending time with family and friends and enjoying our city & beaches. That is awesome.

I had an opportunity to spend some time with a friend last night. We were talking about things. I had mentioned some revelations that have recently hit me. Like what our speaker was talking about Sunday morning. He is so right on. We are so used to the experience of being at church. We are almost addicted to the worship experience. The early church was not addicted to church. They were believers because the tomb was empty.

I think there is real truth and revelation there. Our society is so "me" driven. We do most everything with "me" in mind. Yet, we do not deserve what God has offered us freely.

This came up because we were praying over our meal and I said, "Thank you, Lord, that the tomb is empty."

C

Monday, August 02, 2004

It has been a while

Good afternoon.

It is raining here in downtown GH. This is Coast Guard festival week. The week where all true GHist run and hide. The town usually grows to several times the normal size. So there are several people around. They will close off the main street soon and set up the carnival.

So I am suppose to be doing programming for Watermark now. The Gooch and I are hanging this afternoon as the rest of the fellas are either in Chicago or on vacation. We are at the Coffee Grounds watching traffic and solving the worlds problems. But it is overcast and looks like it is going to rain.

So it was a good weekend. Friday was laid back. Saturday was laid back. We went to the children's parade and met the Thompson clan. It was great to see Becca and the Thompson boys watch the parade. They see the world completely differently. After the parade, we had lunch and chilled with some movies from Blockbuster.

Later that night we were hanging at the Johnsons. We had dinner when Roach and Judy showed up. The conversation flew as Roach was ranting and raving. Becca and I hide in the basement until the conversation died down.

The gathering on Sunday was awesome. GET THE RECORDING. I cannot explain the freedom I felt after.

All this to say, I am glad I am here.

gotta go for now.
C