So it's been a month already!

Well so it has been over a month since I have lost my job and I have had 5,902 people ask me, "What are you going to do next?" Over the last 4 weeks I have been thinking and praying on what the next step is going to be for me. I had a little personal brainstorming session last week and pretty much came up with four passions that are driving my life right now. Below is my passion chart that I made up! It is quite simple to say the least, just like I like it!


The fact is, I went to school to follow a passion of mine and Students are still at the core of my heart. I love the fact that I am responsible for the IDK(7th Grage Jr high guys) bunch at Crossroads. I enjoy that with me losing my job it has opened up doors to where I can be apart of meetings that I wouldn't normally be apart of.

Another passion of mine that has bloomed over the last year has been gaining more knowledge, and bringing awareness to Justice Issues. This flame was brought to my heart when I was asked to participate in the Unbound Movement. This has hit me closer to home really, in the realization that the things that I buy on a daily basis might be supporting under paid labor in a separate country! If you have seen any of my posts of facebook or through my twitter account you have seen that I want everyone to know about these issues!

My third passion is Community. I love connecting with people and love the feeling when I meet knew people and hear their story. God has designed us to interact with one another so implementing more of that into my life is something that I have pushed for. Over the last couple of years I have done some extended reading on those that aren't involved in a local church community, and what extent they go to to find a local community! It is pretty impressive!

Of course I cannot forget about my family, even if I tried (HIOOOO). I have loved being able to spend so much time with my family over the past month. Being able to be more involved in their lives and schoolwork has been a huge blessing, even though I don't have a job right now! Jobs will come and go, but I only have one shot at being the best dd I can be to my kids! Combining the three above has allowed me to strengthen on being a better parent as well as a better Husband.

So why 4 passions? Who knows!!! My goal is to find my next career in one of those areas. I want to be excited about my next job and find purpose in my work week! Something I haven't had in a while! I am praying that I don't have to find another job just to have the benefit of a great paycheck! That is what I am praying for specifically...

Right now I am in the waiting period!

What are you going to do now?

That is the question that I keep getting! "Mike, what are you going to do now?" In all reality my only response so far is..."Well I'm not sure..."

It has officially been a week since I was let go from a place in all retrospect I was not happy for or suited for. The crazy thing is...when I was let go this huge amount of stress left my body. It was amazing. I remember calling Mandy on the way home to let her know that I was coming home early, and she was fine with it. She told me the other day that she is glad I don't work there anymore. So am I! I am not on edge about everything. I am spending some much quality time with my family that I am loving every second of it. Will I always get to do that? No, but I am taking advantage of the fact that I can pick up my girls from school and go share a smoothie.

So my answer I guess is this...Im not really sure what I will do now but I do know this...I am going to make the best of my time off and take hold of every opportunity I can to spend it with my family. You will not see me moping around in hopes that people will feel pity on me! You will see me at church getting my learn on as much as I can. You will not see me becoming lazy and never leaving the couch. You will however see me waiting in line at 2:45 to pick up Olivia from school.

Even though I am in dire need to find a job I am not going to be desperate! I will not seek after a job that will provide me with empty happiness through the means of a paycheck. I had that already. So what do I want? Well its simple...I want to be able to use my talents that God has blessed me with to make an impact! To work for a company that values who I am, and not only who I am but who my family is! I think I deserve that don't you? I will not settle for nothing short of the best on this next job b/c my family deserves me to be the best at what I can do!

Of course with all of that will come shameless plugs on me wanting employment and quite possibly you having to read them, and that's ok!

I have to go pick up Charleigh from preschool so we will finish this later!

I'm coming back

Lately I have been wanting to get back into posting. So in the next month this blog is going to be taking on a new design....a new motive...and hopefully a new outcome. Instead of just posting about stupid and pointless stuff about me (that is what facebook is for). I will be posting about topics that are dear to my heart.

So keep an eye out as I redesign this madness..

43 hits last week

So I noticed that I had received 43 hits last week on my blog even though I haven't posted anything since March.

So should I keep this updated more?

Developing their own faith!

Over the past couple months I have been helping out with the Junior High at Crossroads. If anyone knows anything about where my nitch is, it is with Jr High students. I mean where else can you have a conversation about farting, circumcision, and Jesus all in one sentence? And that was them leading the discussion. I asked them a question in our POD group this past Sunday and today is Monday and I am still thinking about it.

I asked them, "If you parents woke you up Sunday morning to tell you they were done going to church and you don't have to go anymore...would you still go?" Pretty simple question right? As most of them stated the great lengths they would go to make sure they were at church every Sunday there were a few that had no response. The point I was trying to make was the issue of making your relationship with Christ your own.

When I was in Ministry one of my values was that I had a short while to impact the rest of a students life. I just had a few years and then they were going to pack up, move out of their parents house, and venture out into what we called "the real world". I could never prepare them more than to show them that they needed to develop their own relationship with Christ.

There are 2 kids of students at church:Those that want to be there, and those that don't want to be there. The students that don't want to be there are in essence experiencing God through their parents, so of course when they move out of their parents place then they feel they don't need to take that relationship with them.

Of course the student that wants to be at church are not any different if they don't experience Christ on their own. If they just believe b/c their parents believe and never seek out their own relationship then once they get out into the "real world" they will more than likely fall away.

I guess what I have been pondering is-I am a parent now and what would I do when Olivia gets older and she decides that she just doesn't want to go to church anymore. Would I force her to go to church? I honestly don't know how I would ever answer that, but I can tell you this. I am allowing her...even though she is only 5...I am allowing her to already start to develop her own relationship with Christ. Of course I am not alone in this as dozens of people around here are doing the same thing. I want my daughter to question her faith, I want her to ask the Why's? And the What For's?

I don't want any of my children to worship God just b/c I worship God. I want my Children to worship God b/c they realize that He loves them more than their father ever could.

The diagram above is simple. The first represents all of those students that I know that are living their Christian life (if that is what you want to call it) through their parents or guardian. So pretty much they don't know God without their Parents, when they see God they see their Parents. The second, or bottom represents those that are actively seeking more and more in their relationship with Christ. Those are the students/individuals that are making a difference not only in their own lives, but in the lives around you.

One thing I have always done was not tell students exactly what they have to believe...b/c I wanted them to find it on their own. The last thing a teenager wants to hear is a bunch of rules...rules suck. God's love is not about rules and regulations, its about a relationship.

Is MOREfromtheHART.com done?

A question I have been pondering over the last month. Am I done with this blogging realm? With more and more friends connecting through the likes of Facebook it does seem irrelevant to blog! I mean it sure is a lot quicker to hop on facebook and say "Michael is-feeling like he wants a Snuggie" than to get on here and go into great detail as to why I think the Snuggie is one of the funniest things ever created. Especially in the Infomercial where the phone rings and the lady gets pissed and has to remove part of her blanket to answer the phone. That takes a lot of effort and a lot of body heat is lossed in that transition. But anyway...

Previously I would have time during my day to sit down for 15 minutes and post something witty or spiritual for my 3 readers but lately I just haven't had the time. They have tightened down at work and the last thing I wanted was for one of my many bosses to walk buy and see me on blogger rather than on the phone trying to sell the latest. Plus it was always easier to post first thing in the morning at the Coffeeshop in between customers. Now that I don't work there anymore I don't have that luxury.

I probably will never get rid of the domain name b/c if I ever wanted it again I would have to probably buy it from one of those companies that buy domain names that don't get renewed in hopes that they will buy it from them at a higher price. Wow, that was a long sentence! You get the idea.

As for posting, it has taken a backseat. I have broken off into sales and trying to generate business while being apart of the Economic Crisis. It has required me to arrive early to work, work through lunch sometimes, and to stay a little later in hopes of getting that customer that is looking to save in this recession. Percistance does pay off, so they say!

I'm still around and if you are reading this and not my friend on facebook, it would be wise to add me as I will be updating that more often.

My Passion is still there

This past Sunday at CSM(Crossroads Student Movement) I got to do what I love doing best...Teaching students. Mainly teaching students life lessons. It was great to connect with them again. Now I have been volunteering for about a year now but a lot of my time has been invested in meetings for an upcoming gathering, or just behind the scenes making sure everything goes as planned.

It was so awesome to just sit down with a group of 7th grades and read the book of James and to hear them actually tell me what they think James meant when he wrote:

"Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in the distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

I think a lot of adults don't give 7th graders enough credit and ability to think on their own, but their answers were terrific.

So what do you think he meant?