Steam Team

I would like to introduce you to the Steam Team, a handy place that takes care of all your needs when when it is way too humid in your house. When thinking of house problems while living in Austin, Texas you have to concern the Steam Team as your top source. These guys do a great job on all types of surfaces and in taking care of all your air quality needs.

http://www.thesteamteam.com/austin-cleaning-services/ceramic-stone-tile.shtml

It is not just carpet they excel in. The Steam Team does excellent work with water damage wood floors austin. They are also experts in power washing Which is something I could definitely use with all this snow and ice. it is a good thing these guys are there for all my expert cleaning needs.

Canada

Everyone knows that Michael Scott had an exotic journey to Canada during season five of the Office. it was a great business trip, and one I would like to repeat soon. one of my closest friends is working in buffalo, so it means a trip to Niagara Falls is likely in my near future. If you take just a short jump across the boarder you are in the land of hockey, curling, and cheap over the counter drugs.

Canada drugs are great because their socialized healthcare system allows them to have drugs at much lower prices than here in the U.S. It is amazing how much lower prices can be on stuff you need when heartless insurance companies are not involved. For example, if you want to buy nexium it is much cheaper with our neighbors to the north. Just be careful going through customs.

Scrubs

When it comes to choir robes, they are much different than nursing scrubs. These nursing scrubs are often dusty in the back of the choir room, being worn only a few times a year. That is why medical scrubs are much more versatile because they come in assorted colors and are worn nearly every day by professionals that performt he duties that keep us healthy.

Most of these people are nurses and doctors, and they should need a uniforms. These products not only make them look official, they help them carry all the critical equipment needed for their profession. Like anything else, they are a critical tool for the job.

The Center

I draw inspiration this morning from the oddest of sources: professional wrestler Shawn Michaels. I was listening to him on a podcast with Sportswriter Bill Simmons on my way in to work. Michaels talked about how Job suffered enormously, yet he remained right in the center of God’s Will the entire time. That's why I am glad I visited www.compassion.com.

I have strayed from the center of God’s Will into a place where, well, I don’t know where I am. Sure, I am doing God’s Will in terms of my writing and the promise that gives. I am thankful for that. I am doing God’s Will in helping people through my current main job. I work on paperwork for a Mental Health Diversion program that helps people avoid jail if they have a serious mental illness. Where I have strayed from God’s Will is in my personal relationships and Christian ministries.

Shawn Michaels stated how it is more important to be in the center of God’s Will even through bad things then to pursue what we perceive is good if it is not in God’s Will. Right now, I am far from God’s Will, and I am not in a good place. My marriage appears to be little more than an arrangement with a roommate that I don’t mind living with. We share common interests, but there is very little love there anymore. I am ashamed to say there are more times when I am greatly annoyed by tiny little things to the point where they consume me. Since there is almost no connection anymore I find myself just longing for silence and solitude at home.

I know we got here because we have strayed from having God at the center of this marriage. Seeking any other answer, no matter how easy or how good we might think it would be, is wrong too. That is what Michaels was alluding to this morning. It may feel right to seek something else, but if we look in the long run it makes things much, much worse. We’re both guilty of this, and instead of seeking that reconnection there is only resentment. I must find my way back to the center of God’s Will.

Gone too long

My apologies, but I have been gone way too long. A lot has happened in the last three months. I have gained at least part-time employment. I have been writing more in an area that I want to write, though that has come at the sacrifice of this blog. I have also become more centered and calm in my life. It is refreshing.

I essentially had a complete mental breakdown on April 16th. Since then, I have been in therapy and officially on an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication for the first time in my life. I used to be wary of this because I felt like it was not trusting God if I went on those meds. Instead, I have seen that God has allowed mankind to advance to the point where we can get the help we need.

I have neglected this site because I haven't felt like I have been in a position to write properly here. I noticed that tons of spam has taken over some comments, but there have been a few genuine comments as well. For those, I thank you. I am hoping to come back here a little more regularly as God calls me to. It is not serving hte same role that it once did in my life, but there is a still a purpose there. The purpose is to tell my journey and my story.

Despite everything I have experienced in my life, God has blessed me with some genuine peace over the last three months. Now it is time to step back, enjoy that peace, and get back to my work of serving Him. All he asks is that we seek forgiveness because the penalty has been paid by the blood of His Son. It is in that forgiveness that we offer so much more of ourselves.

Serving

One of the greatest things we can do with our lives is serve others. As I have battled my anxiety and depression issues over the past few weeks I have found a modicum of relief on praying for others instead of myself. I am trying to learn the lesson God is trying to teach me as I wait for so many things to change in my life. At least if I am praying for others and trying to help them in my daily life I feel like I am doing something while I wait for my time to come. This is where patience and humility become virtues. I have written on patience and humility numerous times here in the past, but they are both lessons that we, as humans, struggle to learn fully.

Even though my prayer life has struggled of late, I have tried to keep others ahead of myself in my morning prayers. I have friends and family that are fighting serious illness, that need protection, and friends that are parents. I like to especially pray for the children of those close to me. I have seen the mistakes that I have made and that others have made and I pray constantly that these children will not repeat the same mistakes in their lives. I think maybe that is why I am struggling with the idea of me becoming a parent. I don’t know if I can handle the responsibility of potentially screwing up someone else's life when I haven’t made the best decisions for myself.

This si where my biggest deficiency comes in lately, and the one thing I have prayed most for myself. I am suffering from a severe lack of faith in God. It’s not that I question if He can provide, it is that I question if he even still exists. I feel I have had very little connection with the Father lately even in praying for others. As a result, I feel my life has very little purposes other than taking up consciousness during the day before I go to bed at night. It is a lonely, disquieting feeling.

But I am moving forward though. Lately, each day has felt like a small step forward. I am encouraged not because everything is fixed in my life, but I have hope that there will eventually be a day where I am okay. Eventually, everything will be solved and I will finally be able to move forward after such a long period of stagnation. In the meantime, I pray that God’s grace is with others and that he keeps them moving forward in their lives. That is more important to me right now. If he is not going to work in my life I pray that he is at least working in the lives of those around me.

About Love

Today I discovered the story of Eva Markvoort. She was a 25 year old woman with cystic fibrosis that recently passed away while awaiting a double lung transplant. She shared her experience and her battle online via blog, gaining worldwide support and attention. More importantly, however, she talked about the importance of love.

We are reminded of love multiple time in the Bible that God is love. Romans 8: 39 states this as much.

³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God sent his Son to die on the cross for us because He loved us. Therefore, one can argue that love is the greatest gift that has been given to mankind. It is our responsibility to spread that love around for as long as we are on this earth.

I was reminded of this because of Eva’s story. She made her mission to love as much as possible while she battled her disease. She easily could have folded and given up in the face of a daunting challenge. Instead, she not only fought, but she was a source of strength and love for others. I was blown away by her Wall of Love in her hospital room. This is a woman that I will never meet, but I can tell that she was bursting with love for anyone that touched her life. It is an example that we can all follow.

I have had trouble loving other lately. I have sadly retreated into my own shell and my own pain away from everyone else. I haven’t felt like I can be useful to others in my pain, even though many others are much worse off than I am. It is my goal to turn this around in the coming days and to spread love like Eva spread love.