Overall, I'm underwhelmed.

So, I've been reading news about the economy, the mortgage "crisis," war in the middle east, globalization, and all this. People seem pretty alarmed about the future of the environment, money, a world government, and missiles in Iran.


Frankly, I'm not really that concerned.


So what if the economy collapses? What if Iran fires on Israel? What if a one world government begins to form? What if it is the end of the world?!?!


Listen, I'm only 28, but I've been around long enough to know that for thousands of years people have been blowing each other up and committing random acts of violence and anarchy. And people always freak out when things go south anywhere that is published on the news. Shoot, I remember during the first gulf war when people stood up in churches all over the place and said it could be the end times. Yep, the world may be coming to end, but things have been, and could still, get a lot worse.


I'm not afraid because I have a big family and a secure future. What I mean is, if America falls apart, me and my 200+ family, well, we'll stick together. I'll sell my last guitar or work to the bone before I let one of the family go hungry - and I know they'd do the same for me.


So bring it. My trust is not is not in the economy, Barack Obama's audacious hope, peace in the middle east, or which country own Budweiser.

Is there really too much to do?

Lately, I've been pretty sure there is too much to do - which, of course, stresses me out. I used to think that I don't handle stress well because when I get stressed I want to do what I want to do. I get bossy, insensitive to my wife, and I want to relax how I want to relax - no matter what anyone else wants.

But I've come to a revelation. I actually deal with stress really well because I serve a God who is all powerful. What I mean is, I don't easily stress out when I'm serving God - even if things get crazy all around me because He is a good father who is in control. However, when I take control of some part of my life (serve myself), I find that I don't have what it takes to be in control, which stresses me out. Then, I end up taking control of my whole life, which leads to being bossy, insensitive, and selfish with my time. If I am trying to control my life I end up looking to my own solutions to deal with my negative feelings, instead of looking to God's sufficient provision.

The really crazy thing is that I have this revelation on a regular basis - it just seems to come quicker each time around.

Murphy's Law, or, maybe I should be playing Sudoku instead of thinking about this.

Is there some kind of mystical switch or intensity dial for Murphy's Law? Because sometimes ole' Murph is really in the zone. Sometimes things just move through progressively difficult yet different situations. Things are changing, but not exactly getting better.

During a very emotionally difficult time in my life a really insensitive person said "well, there's always something, you know, if it's not one thing, it's another." Really, is life really about jumping from one seemingly horrible situation to another while we just throw up our hands and say, we'll that's the way it goes!

I think some things are just really hard. Sometimes you feel like Job and other times you feel like life is an ongoing celebration. Sometimes you want to cry because you can't take it, and sometimes you want to cry because you can't believe it.

Doctor Rogland said that the light at the end of the tunnel was really just an oncoming train. He was right, because I got that high school diploma and things changed way different than how I thought they would. But he never said anything about all the other trains. He also failed to mention the really nice scenery.

josh