Wandering with Reckless Abandon

I found this on Reuters:

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German phone thief led police right to his front door when they called the stolen mobile to say he had won some free beer and he willingly gave his address.

“An officer called and said, ‘You’ve won a crate of beer’,” said a spokesman for police in the eastern town of Neustrelitz Friday.

“Then he asked where he lived so he could drop the beer off, and the guy told him. I think the man was drunk.”

Ok, let’s just say this up front.

I watched c-span the other night.

Not the momentary pause to give my finger a break from channel surfing type of watching (though it may have started that way), I actually watched c-span.

I was not compelled to do so.
I did so of my own free will.

Why?

I was flipping through channels, and I saw Sam Waterston, of Law and Order fame, on tv. Now, being a Law and Order junky I am conditioned to stop surfing whenever I see him or Vincent D’Onofrio on tv.

Normally when I see someone from Hollywood talking politics (whether it be from the right or the left) I pay no attention, since it normally is the same old stuff that everyone else is saying. But Waterston was talking about a movement called Unity08.
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Dan Snyder, if you are reading this, I was hoping that you and Joe would have gotten the Skins some defensive linemen in the draft this year. The safety from LSU looks like the real deal, but two linebackers and a quarterback in the later rounds is kinda dissapointing. Please help our d-line.

This has been an off month for all of us here. Our top salesman only has twelve cars out one has eight, and there are two of us tied at seven. With two more selling days to go there are a bunch of us a little nervous. Fortunately I have covered my draws, and am making a little more on top… but not much. I need a big Saturday and a strong Monday to finish well. I have a couple of customers that I have invested a good bit of time into this month, that are buyers, but keep pushing back when they are going to do the deal… that can be frustrating.

I have been a little irritable lately, and have found that I am getting a little worn down. A few too many 60 plus hour work weeks, and far too few days off are taking thier toll. Couple that with one of our sales managers who has turned up his condescension level, and I am a little weary right now.

Tomorrow morning I am going to do a little fishing before I work, hopefully that will change my attitude. Catch some trout, then come in and sell three or four cars.

I can handle that.

Ahhh, the Saturday morning sales meeting… there are few things is nothing that I despise about my job more…

In a rare break from the typical unprepared rambling that normally takes place in these meetings, a couple of sales guys were asked to tell us what they liked about working at our dealership. Both answers revolved around the money that we make.

I know that I have had this discussion before, but I can not help but come away from that without an inward cringe. If the money is all that it is about, if the money is what makes it a great place to work, then there is something wrong.

Money is fleeting, it rarely ever lasts… and yet all we hear about at work is making money…
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Last week a guy came through our dealership, offering to make hand made business card holders that had our names on them. I am pretty pleased with mine, and it looks cool, it is my name carved out of wood, and for $25 bucks, I think it was money well spent.

After paying for mine, I looked at the half dozen or so card holders that he had under his arm. Out of the seven of these things that he made, at least three (that I could see) were made for people who have been fired or quit in the last seven days.

Easy come, easy go…

This month has been tough for all of us here… I currently have three vehicles out, with my third going out today. It had been ten days since I had sold a car. It seems that no matter what I did in that span of ten days, I could not deliver a car. I sold plenty of them, my buyers just could not get financed… such is life.

So entering into the home stretch, I have to build some momentum, and move some metal, otherwise I am going to end up owing the company money.

What if a body of people in the Baltimore area had their hearts broken for the city, her families, and her children?

What if a body of people in the Baltimore area began to meet the needs of these families?

What if a body of people in the Baltimore area began to work towards restoring these families relationships with their God, and each other?

What if a body of people in the Baltimore area began to integrate faith and life… living a life based on the constant, consistant worship of their creator… reflecting the image of God to all that they come in contact with… What if these people gathered together regularly, prayed fervently, and sought to expand the Kingdom of God in the Baltimore area with everything that they had in them?

What if this body of people began to grow and multiply themselves, reproducing this desire to restore a city and gain momentum?

What would the city of Baltimore look like then?

So there are those that say my life is a non-stop roller-coaster… up and down, this way and that way…

There is probably good reason for this, since I have been all over the place of late, as to where I am going and what I am doing. Recently I announced to the world that I was planning on planting a church with a team of people. This church was to be in Eugene, Oregon.

I was half right on that.

For a while, I have sensed that I was being called to take part in creating something new…
Something that worked to expand the Kingdom of God and its’ impact on the world around us…

I mentioned this past weekend that I felt like God was beginning to birth a vision for something new within me, and I believe that he is.
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Swimming from the Shipwreck
by Charlie Hall

Cut the things that slow me down
‘Cause I’m tired of sinking down
Take the rope now off my neck
Swim away from this shipwreck

Simplify my life by letting go
I want to yield and burn with truths I know
I’m learning how to lose myself again
Swimming back to You (You)

We had followed Him for days
People walked when He turned to say
“Sink into My life, drink from My cup
Take no one over Me in love,” hey
You call me, come and die, oh
A life that’s crucified, in You

Where would I go, You’re the Christ, my life
My life, my life, You’re my life
Back to You, back to You
Away from me, yeah, away from me

This popped up on my Ipod this morning… good stuff…

Today was wonderful…

For the first time in quite a while I took some time to be, to soak, and to seek out what God is doing in my life… I did a bunch of walking all over the area, spending time at Harborplace, Fells Point, and other places that are slipping my mind right now… I stopped off at Whole Foods and got some lunch, and then spent some time in the afternoon brainstorming…

I think that I am coming to some clarity… and even better, I believe that God is beginning to birth a vision within me that is going to be huge.

I will discuss what I am thinking in the near future, but I am beginning to get excited about what God has in store for me, and the team that he is assembling, and going to assemble to serve alongside of me…

For now, it is five minutes before the premiere of the new episode of the Sopranos, I am going to get comfortable, have a slice of pizza, and see what Tony has been up to.