Marriage challenges

As I listen to my XM radio pumping out the 90's hits, I have discovered that during the course of my marriage to my wonderful wife, that there are certain things that we shouldn't do together.

As I type she is up stairs ironing the curtains for one window. Yes I am hanging curtains, and if the amount of trauma I just endured to hang this one window is any indication of what's to come, I am in big trouble. So this leads me to my point. Obviously, at least to me, cooperative home decorating is something we should never ever try to do together again. It seems that there is missed communication all over the place, which is leading to frustration and high anxiety. Fortunately, I think we have worked it out to the point were we should be able to finish the family room without too much difficultly. Pray for me... and Helen. :)

Well she is back, so I must go.... But I must say she looks mighty cute standing on that ladder. Maybe all is not lost after all...... Do I hear the Olympic theme music in the background.... We shall see.

Change

It is late and I should be in bed fast asleep but instead I am sitting at this computer typing out this post. It may be a good thing because my allergies are acting up and it seems to be a good thing to give Helen a head start on sleeping before I join her and start sawing logs.

Things are always changing, aren't they? I mean sometimes it takes major life upheaval for us to notice, but change is a part of life. Just the other day I was looking through some old pictures of my children with amazement because it was difficult to remember them at those ages. Change is one of those parts of life that has a way of being exciting and feared at the same time. It is something that will happen whether we want it to or not, we can't control it, but we can control how we respond to it. It is simply my desire to be prepared the best I can for when those changes come, so that I will be able to take them with grace and humility whether they be good or bad. The one thing I find in an ever changing world is that my God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And that in Him there is no shadow of turning. He holds true every time.

MUSA Out!

WE MADE IT!!!!

OH BOY!!!! We have finally moved into the new house. We closed on Wednesday and while Helen was away at a teacher conference. I had some family over to help paint the downstairs. We moved in today and boy am I glad that is over. Special thanks to all my movers.... Pastor B a.k.a Gold Medal Spooner!, Super Don Printy, Mike Capace and his kids, Brett Ham, Christopher and Big Chris and of course Grandpa!

Job well done... Thanks for every thing. If you want pictures then Check out my wife's site, whenever she decides to post them!

To Honor or to ask?

I have decided today that I am going to try something new. I am going to try and honor God instead of asking Him for the things I may need. We have all gone to Him with a laundry list of needs, but just for today I am going to "try" to ask for nothing and instead I will give Him Honor and thanks and praise. I will let you know how it works out!


MUSA Out!

Kill'em with kindness

I don't know how long I have felt this leading but for the last week or so whenever I have been on the phone or dealing with someone as a customer, I have been pressed to be very polite. I know it sounds a bit kooky but consider this, treating someone else with kindness is a great way to show that you respect them and value what they are doing. I have also found that by showing some heart felt kindness and patience is one of the best ways to get people to give you discounts or wave certain charges and fees. Dealing with the Knots and her injuries has afforded me several opportunities to show some kindness and genuine respect for those people that I have come in contact with. So take the time to show some kindness and be polite. Follow the golden rule and see what develops.

MUSA Out!

8 Facts about me.... I guess

I was tagged by my Wife so here we go.

1. As a kid I use to bite my toe nails.... Very flexible as a lad I was
2. My mom used to steal the eggs off of my plate while at the breakfast table because I hated eggs and feed them to the dog. The cool part was that she was fast enough to do it with my dad sitting there and he never noticed.
3. Back in the 70's in Charlotte I was taken off the bus because the bus monitor thought I was on the wrong bus because I was black and that bus when to a "white" neighborhood that we lived in. My mom was waiting at home and when I didn't get off the bus she came looking for me and when she found me at school she let that teacher have it... Both barrels!!!
4. I kissed Kevin a.k.a Cubbie on a dare from Big Waxy. Whoa I needed to do something manly right after..... Christina (his wife) can have him! It was quick and painful! See what peer pressure can do!
5. As a kid I put my hands through 4 glass screen doors without cutting myself. Apparently I was in a hurry to get outside and hitting the handle was optional.
6. As a toddler my Nanny was German and she spoke to us often in German so when I got home I would also speak to my parents in German. I was a well rounded youth.
7. I once threw cinder blocks into my neighbors pool... just because. My dad was really mad, but I didn't get a spanking, in part because he might have killed me. I was grounded for several weeks though
8. The Log story.... More on that one later.

MUSA OUT!

G2

The ground plus gravity is and will always be UNDEFEATED!!! Courtney found out the hard way today by breaking both, yes both arms in a valiant attempt to master the art of swinging with no hands. Apparently she was high enough on her back swing for gravity to interject its dominance over her as she slid out of the swing and came crashing to the ground with her arms folded underneath her. We knew right off that the right one was broken but to our surprise we found out that after X-rays, the left one was broken also. Yeah.... Happy Happy Joy Joy! God is good because my little girl made it through like a champ. She even managed to give her dad a couple of her special "Courtney" looks when I was making jokes to lighten the mood.

So tomorrow is Friday and I wait in eager anticipation for what the day will bring. One thing for sure, what ever it is, it was already on God's calender and He has already made preparations for what is to come.

MUSA OUT!

Weeble Wooble Faith

What????

You would have had to been raised in the 70's to know what a Weeble Wooble is. The tag line for this toy used to be Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. That should be us. Helen as a great post today talking about Holy Spirit leading us into places to have our faith tested. But I want to look at this a little different. We are supposed to have faith like little children and considering that the Weeble Wobbles are toys I think it fits perfectly has an example of how we are to respond to adversity and trials that come our way. You can knock a Weeble down but has soon as you do it bounces back up straight again because it is weighted on the bottom. In other words it has a good foundation and it is because of this foundation that enables this "toy" to pop up again. Unfazed and standing tall. You can throw them across the room but they will always end up being upright. Well you could say this is silly because it is just a toy, and you would be correct. It is just a toy, but it is doing what it was created to do. God created us as well and He put much more effort into crafting us. Are we doing what we were created to do?

Ephesians tell us to stand:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

You can weeble and wobble and even fall, just make sure you are grounded enough to pop back up. A righteous man can fall 7 times but he had better get up 8.

Pick and Choose!

Which do you prefer???

1. Coke or Pepsi
2. Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts
3. Mcdonalds french fries or Hardee's or Burger King
4. For You Married Couples- Spooning or sleeping back to back
5. Chips Ahoy or Oreos
6. Domino's or Pizza Hut
7. 24 or Heroes (if it is not 24 then don't bother to answer)
8. CSI- Las Vegas or CSI- Miami
9. PC or Mac
10. Road Runner or DSL ( if you are still using dial-up, please turn in your computer now!)
11. Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry
12. Football ( that's it, you only get one choice)
13. NIV or NKJ or the Message bible or something else
14. Thanksgiving or Christmas
15. Pringles or Lay's
16. Hamburgers or Hotdogs
17. Night Owl or Morning Person
18. The mountains or the beach
19. Dogs or cats
20. Right handed or Left

Answer one, answer all or add your own!!!

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Stupid!!!

God spoke three things to me this week... In light of the fact that Father's Day is Sunday, I find this a good time to share this.

3 things:

1. Have a pure heart
2. Serve your wife
3. love your children

I can look at these points and say that these are the important ingredients to being a successful man, husband and father. I would elaborate on them but as you can plainly see, the title is all about keeping it simple.

Part 3

Great Inventions during the 70's and 80's

Reese peanut butter cups
Mello Yello
Kit Kat Bar
Sprite
Kool-Aid

Childhood Reflections Part 2

As requested.... Favorite T.V. Shows from the 70's and 80's


1. The A-team
2. The Dukes of Hazard... yeah black folks watch Bo and Luke do their thing!
3. Saturday Night Live
4. T.J. Hooker- For those who don't know, it is William Shatner as a Cop.
5. Hill Street Blues... My dad let me watch it with him
6. Magnum P.I.
7. Cosby Show
8. Happy Days
9. Love Boat
10. Airwolf


Don't feel like you have to abandon the toy post just yet...

Childhood reflections!

I decided to take a different turn with my latest post and it will require some help and insight from all who pass through here. I would like share with you some of my favorite toys from my childhood. Now remember I grew up during the 70's and 80's so nintendo and X-Boxes weren't an option. So it got me thinking about putting together a sort of top 10 list of toys that I played with. So here we go!!!

1. Micronauts- Don't know how I found them but they were my absolute fav.

2. G.I. Joes- Not the 12" tall ones with the Kung-Fu grip, but the 4" tall ones.

I would conduct football games on my couch with them and my Micronauts.

3. Star Wars Men- Not as much fun as the top 2. Not fully poseable, only draw back.

4. Fisher-Price adventure people- Great vehicles that I could use to play with the top 2 once again.

5. Classic army men- enough said

6. Hot wheels/matchbox cars- Tough to decide which was better, depends on what kind of cars they were producing.

7. Six-Million Dollar Man action figure. Just plain cool

8. Stretch Armstrong- Great toy until I poked a hole in him to see what made him so stretchy.

9. Evil Knevil Stunt set- Included motorcycle, ryder and launcher. Great for jumping stuff inside and out.

10. Legos/model airplanes and the like.