Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

Archive for September, 2006

This afternoon we met with our realtor for the first time to begin the process of getting our house on the market.  Our agent's name is Rob McGuirt and he works with ReMax.  We can already recommend him to anyone!  One of the most profound things he told us is that he and his wife prayed for us this morning!  How many times have you heard that?!  I'll properly refer to him as friend from now on.

He arrived right on time at noon and sat and chatted with us for a while before touring the house.  He had some great feedback and suggestions for us to prepare it for sale.  Rob's real estate knowledge impressed me, especially the detail he puts in to caring for his clients.  He is a very genuine person and I'm sure anyone who has worked with him can attest the same.  After the tour, we sat at the dining room table to talk about listing price, listing date, costs, etc.  We held the poor guy up so long his stomach started growling!  He asked us to forgive his rumble but neither Dana nor I can say we don't have audible calls of hunger from below.  We settled on a listing price of $185,000 for what has become our little refuge.  In review of Rob's market analysis, we're optimistic about the sale.  Please join us in praying about this whole process as our plates are overflowing with things to do.

Rob blessed us by praying for us before he left.  If you ever look to buy or sell a house in the Charlotte area, let us know and we'll put you in touch with our friend.

2.44pm – I’m sitting in the passenger seat of my Uncle David’s truck as we’re zooming up I-85 North with my new home attached to the rear end.  (So, if you end up reading this David, this is what I was, is, am over here typing) The past 24 hours have me to the point of wanting to take a nap but – OH MY GOODNESS! REGULAR UNLEADED IS $1.92 DOWN HERE IN SC!! Just had to get that out as we passed that – it is somewhat of an unspoken rule to stay awake with the driver, as if he has a choice, on trips that are challenging such as this.  After a full day with his family in Rockingham yesterday, David pulled out from his house shortly after 8pm, picked me up and drove all the way down to Newnan, GA, arriving at 2am.  A lot of sacrifice it is and our gratitude is immeasurable.

Neither of us are trailer-hauling experts, "but we did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night" in the very LAST 2 double bed room they had.  Another understood rule… no guys shacking-up together in the same bed on a road trip unless the alternative is sleeping in a bush outside in 23-degree weather and that is still pushing it.  Glory to God that He provided our room!

So, we fell out of our beds this morning around 7:45am to make the 3-mile drive down to Harvest Centers to pick up the RV.  Pastor Preston told me it would be a tight fit in getting it out from behind the building but the word tight in this context would make Spandex look baggy.  Long story short, if the church had been sitting 2 inches further back on the property, David wouldn’t have been able to make the turn out.  I ain’t even got to explain how much God was in that deal!

Pastor Preston and Willy, one of the local fellas, were there to help us get it out.  Preston is a very polite generous man who is in love with Jesus.  I asked him to pray for us before we left and he graciously obliged.  So, we hopped back into what David’s boys call “The Deez” and punched in the address for the hotel to go back and get cleaned up.  IHOP prepared us with French Toast and an omlette before we hit I-85 North.  So far, the trip has been extremely easy with no real issues at all or even worth mentioning… or even worth mentioning about worth mentioning… you get the picture… —-> God is Good!  This trip has been too easy for any explanation other than God so if you have the chance thank Him along with us!

The time is now at hand. We have to say goodbye to Sweetgum Lane and hello RV world! Our house payment is by far our largest expense, thus the one we are most looking forward to getting rid of.  So, God has implemented a plan.  Early last week, I got an e-mail through the 'Classifieds' e-mail list advertising a 1999 Jayco Eagle 302FK for sale at an amazing price.  To help you out, a 302FK is a 30' RV with a front kitchen. (see below picture)  Dana and I had first thought about selling our house and buying an RV way back in May at Training Camp.  Then, here came this opportunity being dropped right into our laps by God.  There are some other great things connected with this whole deal: the seller is allowing us to pay for the RV AFTER our house sells!; rent + ALL utilities where we are moving is only $225/month!; they accept pets!
Now, my uncle Dave and I are going to drive in his truck to Atlanta to pick it up (since our Civic has a slightly lower towing capability).  Hopefully, we will be in it this coming weekend and will have our house on the market come next Monday morning.  That also means mostly all of our belongings need to get sold as soon as possible.  Keep an eye on the 'For Sale' section to the left (on our main page) for us to increasingly post things for sale.  We also ask that you pray for us during this time as we still have our full-time training going on!
                                                                                          ~Jonathan

This morning in worship service, our associate pastor told us he is going to Malaysia for 10 days to head up a conference for local pastors.  The purpose of the conference is to train them in expository preaching.  As soon as we heard that, my wife and I shared the same question, "Will the style he teaches Malaysian pastors be culturally relevant to their local congregations?"Let me say that I believe in expository preaching no matter where on the planet the Word is being preached as long as it falls in this definition I got from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expository_preaching. “Expository preaching (also referred to as systematic exposition) is a form of preaching that expounds upon the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture.” 

There is no Scripture that has more than one meaning and it is that meaning that I feel has to be delivered in any preaching.  Where my possible objection(s) (still deciding) come in is equipping pastors to exposit Scripture and leading them to only deliver the discovered message in a 3-point ‘textbook’ sermon.  I do not see how that can be the most effective communication method for all societies in the world.  I’ve seen that very scenario here in the states when Dana and I attended White Oak AME Zion Church in Van Wyck, SC, for four Sundays during our Intercultural Communications Course.  Pastor Jones definitely did not deliver a 3-point sermon but he did deliver the Word of God in a way his congregation could grasp.  I think that if a 3-pointer would be brought in to White Oak, it would not make near as much impact in the lives of the people because it would be coming to them in a manner by which they were not used to. 

What I’d like to hear from you is your take on these things.  Do you think expository preaching is applicable in ALL sermons around the world?  What method are you used to?  Do you prefer topical preaching over expository or vice versa? Why?  At what point in the above Malaysian scenario do you think the equipping could/would turn to detriment due to cultural differences?

I wanted to give you a glimpse of the new taskbar and system tray in Vista. I split it into 2 parts above so it would fit on the blog. The battery meter has improved as it gradually lowers the lighter color you see in the graphic.  Windows XP only has the full, half, low and you're in trouble battery graphics.  I like the new one much better.  Also, the wireless network icon to its right now lights up the two computer screens when it transmits data on the network, but also shows the little earth on the bottom of it when it detects an internet connection.

I discovered the new feature User Account Control in Vista. It turns out what I thought was a software compatibility issue was simply a lack of learning on my part as to how Vista helps you control changes that happen to your computer.  Among these monitored ‘changes’ is defragmentation (I have a nice freeware called Auslogics Disk Defrag).  If you are logged in with administrator rights, you have to first right click on the icon of a program that will perform a ‘change’ and select ‘Run as administrator’.  Now that I know about this feature, I like it.  You can disable it in the Control Panel if you don’t like to have this extra security measure.  But, Vista does recommend that you have it enabled.

I originally posted this under the title Depression on our first website.

As the Dogwood bloomed outside our kitchen window, I sat with an empty stare wondering why this beautiful tree was another thing on my list that I really wasn’t able to enjoy.  All the things that had brought joy to my life had once again turned into motions and shallow activities merely to sustain existence.  This was my third bout with depression which paralleled the previous in many disturbing ways.  It had taken me months back then to admit to myself that I had a problem.  My never-ending battle with pride had carried me dangerously deep into the darkness and now its impact was severe.  I thought it was up to me and my will power to make it right and get myself out of the rut, but I was horribly wrong.  The admission is always the first step to recovery; the first step to getting you back.  It was the first step to getting me back.

So, there I sat at the breakfast table staring at such beauty in the blooms and appreciating none of it.  The depression had also distanced me from my wife in the same way.  Such beauty sitting right in front of me and I only had the inability to appreciate her.  I know Dana felt helpless and confused as she didn’t know how to help but her love and dedication never phased.  The further one falls into depression, the stouter the distancing defense mechanism of the mind gets.  I’ve compared it to the ‘snowball effect’ as once it is started it goes down a very long sloping hill.  But, it was Dana who God used to open my eyes and get me to the point of admission.  She was the one who didn’t back down or leave my side regardless of how much she struggled with what I was enduring.  She was the one who sat on the couch that day and got me to realize I needed help.  All of me was gone.  I had used up every last bit of my energy fighting off reality as long as I could but my foe was exponentially bigger than I ever could be. 

Dana helped us get to Dr. Robert Shive, a semi-retired Christian psychiatrist who knew quickly at our first appointment what the problem was inside of me.  I began seeing him once per week and started taking Welbutrin XL, the same anti-depressant that helped in bout number two.  Dr. Shive made me agree that once we found the right dosage and mixture of medication that I would continue taking it for at least 12 months.  We finally hit the right one two months later in May by augmenting the 300mg of Welbutrin with 30mg of Cymbalta.  It was a long summer last year that included some fierce battles within me.  By God using the medication He allowed some gifted scientists to discover, my ability to think a solid rational thought actually began to come back.  I really knew things were turning when the beauty of His creation once again took me in awe.  Sunsets grew more brilliant by the day.  The color of the trees exploded with their vibrancy.  The songs of the birds chimed loudly and perfectly on every single note.  I was getting me back.

I personally didn’t like the fact that it took daily medication to get me to a stable mental condition.  Since I was now better in my opinion, I anxiously looked forward to May 2006 when the commitment period came to its end and I could become independent of having to take drugs.  April came around and my appointments had dispersed to once per month for 30 minutes as a simple check-up.  One afternoon, Dr. Shive called me to tell me that his semi-retirement was now turning to full-retirement effective immediately, thus my therapy with him ended.  I didn’t mind and actually became excited because I figured it would allow me to stop the medication a month early.  Cymbalta was the first to succumb to its weaning end.  I remembered the side effects I had for about 10 days when I began to take it in 2005, so I expected some withdrawal symptoms in ending it.  There were definitely some effects but it wasn’t until almost one month later that I realized they weren’t just from withdrawal.  I noticed the ‘mind fog’ starting to show up again.  I noticed I was feeling down sometimes for no reason at all.  I noticed that one possibility Dr. Shive and I had discussed had become a reality.  The reality was and is that the chemical make-up of my brain needs a ‘balancer’ more-than-likely for the rest of my day.  That was 180 degrees from what I wanted.  I didn’t want to have a dependency on a drug for the rest of my life, but even more than that, I didn’t want to ever go back to where I was, anywhere close to the darkness again.  With all things measured, I realized it was a great trade-off.  I began taking the Cymbalta again.

So, here I sit, mid-summer 2006, still on my full dosage of Welbutrin XL and Cymbalta and the ‘mind fog’ rests in the far distance.  Do I think the medicine takes away from my sole dependency on God?  Definitely not.  I used to thing that way all the way up to my third bout, but I know the error in that thinking by unfortunate experience.  I had to step back and look at the big picture of God and His sovereignty.  He has blessed us with gifted scientists and doctors for thousands of years that continue to discover the intricacies of His handiwork.  Two discoveries He has helped mankind make are Welbutrin XL and Cymbalta.  They didn’t originate from the mind of man, but from the grace of God.  Clinical depression is a physical ailment that requires constant monitoring and medication just like diabetes or high blood pressure.  As a diabetic would not dare go a day without insulin, neither will I without my anti-depressants.  To do so would be foolish and make me a poor steward of what He has given us.

U.S. News & World Report Health Center (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hehome.htm) reports that “In any one-year period, 9.5 percent of the population, or about 18.8 million American adults, suffer from a depressive disorder. Depression can strike anyone regardless of age, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, or gender.”  My heart sinks in knowing there are that many people in America alone who suffer from the darkness.  Knowing the impact it has just on the quality of life hurts me to my core as millions in this country are trapped in this crippling condition.  I almost cry as I sit here and think of them and the battle in which they’re fighting.  Depression can be like floating in the middle of the ocean during a storm and struggling for your next breath.  Charting a course in life and getting to the next port-of-call is a far cry as the waves continually crash on your head.  But, there is hope.  Someone out there near you and He is there just for you. How do you get to Him?  You don’t.  He gets to you.  How does that happen?  He can hear your faintest whisper of a cry even in the crashing waves and the howling wind.  The only thing you have to do at this point is realize you’re in grave danger out there and that you need help.  Call out for help and it will come.  What you need to know is that the Maker has known and always will know exactly where you are and will ever be.  He awaits your whisper to ask for help and He will readily send it.  “Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’ (Matthew 8:25-27)  He is the Source of all life.  He is the Creator and the One who loves you in eternal ways.  He is the One who doesn’t need a ship to rescue you from the storm because He has infinite power over the raging wind and sea.  Power that has no beginning and will never have an end.  My healing began when I noticed I was treading water in a storm and needed help.  I called, He came and gave me life again.  “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This spring, the Dogwood in our backyard was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen.

So, we get home yesterday evening and I notice the yard needs mowed before we lose one of the dogs in it.  We go through our routine of checking the mailbox, backing into the garage, disarming the alarm and letting the dogs out.  Well, it seems as if Theo (aka ‘The Poodle’) had a lot of pent up energy.  Then, Dana comes up with a great idea, “Since you’re going to be outside, why don’t you put the poodle on a leash and walk him behind you while you mow the yard?”  I didn’t think she was serious but the poodle really did need to have some of his vibrancy worked out, so I tied a leash to one of my back belt loops, pulled it over his head and off we went.  It took us both a little getting used to the whole walk-a-dog mowing scheme, but we found our rhythm.  It wasn’t until I was about 2/3 done that I looked down and noticed Theo’s legs were disappearing.  Since he was following me, everywhere he went was freshly cut grass.  Knowing the effect it has on my shoes, I then realized what had happened to my 7-pound friend.  The picture tells it all.  In all honesty, it is quite humorous to watch a hyperactive stark white toy poodle with green feet run around in the yard.  I guess you had to have been there…

I have to say that the instructions on the Microsoft Vista installation page are a bit vague.  It tells you that after you download the 2.62GB .iso file (if you choose the download option) that you have to burn it to a DVD and install it that way.  I wasted 4 or 5 DVDs before I got online and tracked down a freeware DVD burner called DVD Decrypter.  It is quicker than my other burning software and it has all the necessary options for me to burn the disc the way it needed to be.  At 6.45pm this evening, I began the installation venture and it finally ended around 9.30pm.  I like the look of it so far.  I installed the 32-bit version per advice from my brother (Microsoft employee) because of less-likelihood of compatibility issues with all my existing software.  Vista reports a compatibility problem with my touchpad driver even though it still works fine. StopZILLA says it is now expired, but I haven't tried to solve that problem yet.  I had to get a new installation key for SwishMAX, but that was no problem at all.  I'll continue to update the blog as I use more of my programs.

P.S. Office 2007 Pro works fine… go figure…