(no subject)
Last week was my first week back in the bay departmet. It seems we were bought up by Pepsico so they've started moving people around and laying off and firing as many people as they can. They got rid of all the new people and all the floaters. I was a floater in the bulk department so they moved me back over to bay and actually got my old route back. They ramped up drug testing too. I guess they're just trying to fire as many people as they can without having to lay them off. The way I look at it is that I wouldn't have been given my old route back if they planned on firing me so I'll just stay here for the time being and be thankful that I have a job.
As a result Jenni and I have decided to put the house up for sale by October. Since we've been seeing many houses going up for sale in our neighborhood for a very decent price and actually selling within a month or two I think it would be the wisest thing to do right now. We'll be able to get a substantial profit with which to pay off all our debts in full and have alot of money left over. This way, if anything happens with my job it won't be any problem to deal with. We plan on renting some place closer to Nashville for a few years while we stockpile money and within about five years we should be able to pay cash for a house. That's our plan anyway. But selling this house will put us exactly where we want to be instantly and we'll have more security financially should anything happen with the current job. If I were to get laid off now it would be a devistating blow. So we plan on preventing that from happening by moving into financial freedom.
All of my customers from my old route are very happy to see me back. I've gotten lots of hugs and praises and sighs of relief that I'm back handling their stores again. I guess I was missed quite a bit which makes me feel good. They know that I service their store the way they want it done and they don't have to keep checking on me to make sure I'm doing my job. It's the attention to details and not being lazy that they all seem to like and had missed dearly while I was away. So it's good to have my old route back even though it is lots of driving and long hours.
I got the pictures from my old schoolmate, Tiffany last week so I've begun one of the paintings that she is commissioning me to do for her. Nothing nude or anything like that. Just two poses of her laying on her bed and one of her standing outside by a fence. I'm about a quarter of the way finished with the first one and it's coming out very nicely so far. She should be pleased. She and her husband are having a light Christmas this year and they are only giving each other two gifts. One is a personal tattoo and the other is just something else that should have deep personal meaning. So she wanted three sexy paintings of her done by me for her husband. Plus she has said she wants to buy a couple of my other paintings too.
Last Wednesday I had a run in with a Jehovah's Witness while out on my route. It was hot out, I was in the middle of unloading product from my truck and this arrogant woman came up to me wearing the typical Witness dress and carrying the typical bookbag with the typical magazine in hand. I spotted her and saw her for what she was instantly. She walked up to me and said, "I know you're busy but I wanted to share our message of God's Kingdom with you. Are you familiar with our magazine, The Watchtower?"
I said, "Uh, yes I am and I'm not interested."
"Oh, you're not interested in God's Kingdom?" she replied in an arrogant and indignant tone.
So I replied in like manner, "No. I'm not interested in YOU or YOUR message of God's Kingdom. I was trying to be polite. Let's just say that I find your message flawed and I'm not interested in it."
"So do you consider yourself to be Christian?"
I really can't stand it when total strangers demand explanations or excuses from me, especially of my personal beliefs or ways of thinking. So I replied, "I don't consider myself to be a Christian. I AM a Christian."
"Are you sure?"
This really pissed me off. "Honey, listen. You are not the End-All-Be-All of the Kingdom of God. I don't know who you are and I don't care who you are. But who the hell do you THINK you are? I don't feel the need to defend or explain myself or my faith to you whatsoever. And as you pointed out I am busy and I don't have to time to argue or debate with you. So piss off."
She looked like I just slapped her in the face, had a brief look like she was going to try to pursue this a little more but decided against it (wise choice on her part), turned her nose and walked away. Man I love dealing with the arrogant ones. The polite ones that I've run into in the past I've just told I wasnt interested and they politely left. But I've run into a few arrogant ones and had LOTS of fun arguing back at them. It helps knowing what their tactics are and having a firm foundation of your own. They pray on the weak and confussed so if you don't know what you believe or why then they pounce on you. And most of them will respond with an attack on your spirit when confronted or denied in an attempt to make you question yourself. Kind of like how a demon might do. Attack the foundation and the house might crumble. They like to attack the core of your beliefs so by asking me if I was sure I was a Christian, if I wasn't firm in my faith, I might waver and lose ground. I'm sure she walked away with the usual thoughts running through their minds when they are turned away. Indignant thoughts of how much above me she is because she believes she's in the only correct religion and that anyone who doesn't agree with them will die. Thoughts of "Oh well. I tried to save him. I guess I'll just watch him die with arrogant satisfaction while God spares me." Oh how mistaken they are.
I just felt bad for her because I know the mindset. I could see the doubt in her when she asked me if I was sure I was a Christian. If she was asking me that she must be asking herself that on a continual basis. "Am I good enough? Am I doing enough? Have I earned my salvation?" They constantly question themselves because they are always full of guilt over every stray thought, every weakness that comes with being a sinful person and they feel like they aren't doing enough to be considered saved. What they don't realize is that you can not earn your salvation. If you could then Jesus would not have needed to die for your sins. The one thing that opened my eyes to the REAL truth was realizing that the two criminals that were hanging next to Jesus on the cross had done nothing good their entire lives. The only thing one of them did was recognize Jesus for who he was and professed his belief and acceptance of him. And Jesus said, "Truely I say to you. Today you will be with me in paradise." That was it. He didn't preach. He didn't convert. He didn't do anything good up to that point. And yet he was still saved. When I realized that it was like a slap in the face. What the hell am I so worried about!? And then Paul had said that Christ's sacrifice was a gift given freely, least there be no boasting because if you earned it the praise would go to YOU and not to God. Sure, the Witnesses will always counter with, "The Bible says that faith without works is dead." Yes. But who's to say what those works are? The Bible does not say that those works are going to meetings five times a week, going door to door bugging people and acting like you're better than everyone else because you feel your message is superior. It just says Works. Those Works could be anything, including behaving in a manner befitting a Christian.
There can be no amount of good works or deeds that can ever earn you your salvation. It's already been given to you. You just have to accept it.
As a result Jenni and I have decided to put the house up for sale by October. Since we've been seeing many houses going up for sale in our neighborhood for a very decent price and actually selling within a month or two I think it would be the wisest thing to do right now. We'll be able to get a substantial profit with which to pay off all our debts in full and have alot of money left over. This way, if anything happens with my job it won't be any problem to deal with. We plan on renting some place closer to Nashville for a few years while we stockpile money and within about five years we should be able to pay cash for a house. That's our plan anyway. But selling this house will put us exactly where we want to be instantly and we'll have more security financially should anything happen with the current job. If I were to get laid off now it would be a devistating blow. So we plan on preventing that from happening by moving into financial freedom.
All of my customers from my old route are very happy to see me back. I've gotten lots of hugs and praises and sighs of relief that I'm back handling their stores again. I guess I was missed quite a bit which makes me feel good. They know that I service their store the way they want it done and they don't have to keep checking on me to make sure I'm doing my job. It's the attention to details and not being lazy that they all seem to like and had missed dearly while I was away. So it's good to have my old route back even though it is lots of driving and long hours.
I got the pictures from my old schoolmate, Tiffany last week so I've begun one of the paintings that she is commissioning me to do for her. Nothing nude or anything like that. Just two poses of her laying on her bed and one of her standing outside by a fence. I'm about a quarter of the way finished with the first one and it's coming out very nicely so far. She should be pleased. She and her husband are having a light Christmas this year and they are only giving each other two gifts. One is a personal tattoo and the other is just something else that should have deep personal meaning. So she wanted three sexy paintings of her done by me for her husband. Plus she has said she wants to buy a couple of my other paintings too.
Last Wednesday I had a run in with a Jehovah's Witness while out on my route. It was hot out, I was in the middle of unloading product from my truck and this arrogant woman came up to me wearing the typical Witness dress and carrying the typical bookbag with the typical magazine in hand. I spotted her and saw her for what she was instantly. She walked up to me and said, "I know you're busy but I wanted to share our message of God's Kingdom with you. Are you familiar with our magazine, The Watchtower?"
I said, "Uh, yes I am and I'm not interested."
"Oh, you're not interested in God's Kingdom?" she replied in an arrogant and indignant tone.
So I replied in like manner, "No. I'm not interested in YOU or YOUR message of God's Kingdom. I was trying to be polite. Let's just say that I find your message flawed and I'm not interested in it."
"So do you consider yourself to be Christian?"
I really can't stand it when total strangers demand explanations or excuses from me, especially of my personal beliefs or ways of thinking. So I replied, "I don't consider myself to be a Christian. I AM a Christian."
"Are you sure?"
This really pissed me off. "Honey, listen. You are not the End-All-Be-All of the Kingdom of God. I don't know who you are and I don't care who you are. But who the hell do you THINK you are? I don't feel the need to defend or explain myself or my faith to you whatsoever. And as you pointed out I am busy and I don't have to time to argue or debate with you. So piss off."
She looked like I just slapped her in the face, had a brief look like she was going to try to pursue this a little more but decided against it (wise choice on her part), turned her nose and walked away. Man I love dealing with the arrogant ones. The polite ones that I've run into in the past I've just told I wasnt interested and they politely left. But I've run into a few arrogant ones and had LOTS of fun arguing back at them. It helps knowing what their tactics are and having a firm foundation of your own. They pray on the weak and confussed so if you don't know what you believe or why then they pounce on you. And most of them will respond with an attack on your spirit when confronted or denied in an attempt to make you question yourself. Kind of like how a demon might do. Attack the foundation and the house might crumble. They like to attack the core of your beliefs so by asking me if I was sure I was a Christian, if I wasn't firm in my faith, I might waver and lose ground. I'm sure she walked away with the usual thoughts running through their minds when they are turned away. Indignant thoughts of how much above me she is because she believes she's in the only correct religion and that anyone who doesn't agree with them will die. Thoughts of "Oh well. I tried to save him. I guess I'll just watch him die with arrogant satisfaction while God spares me." Oh how mistaken they are.
I just felt bad for her because I know the mindset. I could see the doubt in her when she asked me if I was sure I was a Christian. If she was asking me that she must be asking herself that on a continual basis. "Am I good enough? Am I doing enough? Have I earned my salvation?" They constantly question themselves because they are always full of guilt over every stray thought, every weakness that comes with being a sinful person and they feel like they aren't doing enough to be considered saved. What they don't realize is that you can not earn your salvation. If you could then Jesus would not have needed to die for your sins. The one thing that opened my eyes to the REAL truth was realizing that the two criminals that were hanging next to Jesus on the cross had done nothing good their entire lives. The only thing one of them did was recognize Jesus for who he was and professed his belief and acceptance of him. And Jesus said, "Truely I say to you. Today you will be with me in paradise." That was it. He didn't preach. He didn't convert. He didn't do anything good up to that point. And yet he was still saved. When I realized that it was like a slap in the face. What the hell am I so worried about!? And then Paul had said that Christ's sacrifice was a gift given freely, least there be no boasting because if you earned it the praise would go to YOU and not to God. Sure, the Witnesses will always counter with, "The Bible says that faith without works is dead." Yes. But who's to say what those works are? The Bible does not say that those works are going to meetings five times a week, going door to door bugging people and acting like you're better than everyone else because you feel your message is superior. It just says Works. Those Works could be anything, including behaving in a manner befitting a Christian.
There can be no amount of good works or deeds that can ever earn you your salvation. It's already been given to you. You just have to accept it.