iman serna

what to do?

So about 3-4 months ago I was giving Troyer his evening bath and he had a touch of diaper rash so I made sure that I was extra gentle washing his bottom and took my ring off. Toweled him off after the bath. Put some awesome diaper cream on his john brown hind parts called "Boudreaux's Butt Paste" (this thing is MAGICAL!) I highly recommend this product. Put him in his PJs and off to bed he went.

The following morning I went to work. I was in one of our creative meetings when I happen to look down on my left ring finger and...*GASP!...my wedding band wasn't there!

Long story short...I've looked everywhere in our house and I can't seem to find it!

There's this pit in my stomach that nags every time I remember that I've lost my wedding ring. Every time I see my left ring finger without my band I panic and feel like I'm never gonna see it again and I'm a bad husband!

The worst part about this whole thing is I feel like I've let Karen down.

She has treasured and kept the "symbol" of our love, her rings, and have guarded them well...and here I am, a stinkin' LOSER, who irresponsibly lost his.
Also, it just feels weird not having a ring on my ring finger...I almost feel naked or something. I feel somewhat incomplete. It's as if a limb or an appendage has been severed off and is now missing.

What do I do now?

I've asked Karen if I could buy a fairly cheap silver ring to use while I continue the search.
She's actually suggested for me to look for a "real" replacement.

She's been SO gracious through this whole thing by the way!

So, should I just get a new one? (I'm VERY sentimental and I really don't like this option)
Or...buy a fairly cheap substitute for now and continue looking for the original one?
Are there any other options out there?
Either way...I WILL continue to look for it.

Any thoughts?

Should I just get over it?

Which One?

I've been asking a lot of questions about character lately.
My strong views and what I thought I knew have been either strengthened or torn asunder.
What a person says...his words, or even who he appears or claims to be are no longer enough.

Talk is cheap.

Quoting scriptures is even cheaper.

I don't ever want the duality of having one hand raised high to praise God's name while the other hand brings Him dishonor and shame.
I don't want the arrogance of claiming exclusivity of God's preeminence in my life and at the same time wound and maim the body of Christ.

I want to live my life with less words and more actions...promise less and deliver more.
I want my every action to be engulfed in wisdom, truth and love.
I want God's love to be the ONLY way I love.

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right, persevering,
and steadfast spirit within me.

Arrogance vs. Confidence

Arrogance tears down
Confidence builds up

Arrogance = insecurity
Confidence = security

Arrogance is void of humility and humbleness
Confidence is void of haughtiness and ego

Arrogance is loud and obnoxious
Confidence is quiet and strong

Arrogance is selfish
Confidence is selfless

Arrogance is filled with guilt and shame
Confidence is open and unashamed

Arrogance is pretentious
Confidence is reserved

Arrogance is corrupt
Confidence is virtuous

Arrogance is full of lies
Confidence is based on truth

Arrogance revels in ignorance
Confidence is grounded in wisdom

Arrogance says "Everyone else is wrong and I'm the only one who's right"
Confidence says "Truth and Wisdom are my guides"

Arrogance is shunned by God
Confidence is the way to approach God

Arrogance is where God ends and you thrive
Confidence is where you come to the end of yourself and totally rely on God

ARROGANCE

1 Samuel 2:3
Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.

Isaiah 13:11
I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

Mark 7:20-23
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

CONFIDENCE

Isaiah 32:17
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

Proverbs 3:26
for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.

Ephesians 3:12
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

So, at the end of the day...when all is said and done...which one are you?

Which one will you choose to be?

Which one?

tired of it...

INTEGRITY, HONOR and HONESTY are all synonyms of each other if you check Merriam-Webster's online dictionary.

These are also words that are often used, misused and strewn about in the "Christian" vernacular.

The best I've heard the word "INTEGRITY" been described is this..."Integrity is one's character or how one acts when no one is watching".

Can integrity exist without Godly wisdom?

Can integrity exist outside of truth?

Can anyone truly call themselves a follower of Christ if integrity is grossly invisible from their character?

I ask these questions because I'm tired of the games WE play as Christ's followers. Tired of the facade that WE put on and yet the world easily sees through! Tired of not being able to be "all that we can be" as God's redeemed. Tired of seeing the body of Christ consistently fragmented by our lack of integrity.

We need to look to the root of this epidemic in order for us to find the cure. I believe that PRIDE and ARROGANCE are the 2 key factors that shuns integrity. Pride says "I AM a "christian" henceforth I HAVE integrity." Arrogance declares "I HAVE integrity and neither wisdom nor ANYONE can tell me otherwise!"

I believe INTEGRITY and WISDOM are inseparable!

Integrity is closely accompanied, guided, guarded and fueled by wisdom. Remove wisdom from this equation and all you have is foolish pride and wicked intent.

1. Proverbs 10:9
   The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
   
   
2. Proverbs 11:3
   The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
   
   
3. Proverbs 13:6
   Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

WE all are works in progress...WE all are in a journey...WE all are in desperate need of a loving, merciful and gracious Savior...WE all need to constantly and consistently examine our attitudes, our intentions and our hearts.

Psalm 139:23-24
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Scanners

My brain is about to quit on my body!

I feel like the dude from "Scanners" back in the 80s.

There's been so much stuff going on right now.

To all the bloggers out there...I got a question for you.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with all the things you want to blog about but don't know where to begin?

That's how i feel right now.

I know that if I can just sit, organize my thoughts and put all my ideas on a word/google doc it would be a monumental start.

I'm going to try and conquer this beast that's taken a life of it's own. It feeds off of my procrastination. The less I blog the bigger it gets.

I will overcome!

My fellow bloggers...any tips?

Road Trip Mix

So, if you guys were to go on a road trip what would you be bumpin' on your iPod?

I'm trying to put a mix together so I want to hear what you guys think.

I want it all!

Music from the 60s all the way to today. All kinds, all genres...just keep the country music down to a minimum please. =)

I'll even go as far as listen to podcasts...they HAVE to be REALLY good though.

It'd be cool if the list has a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20.

So, let's have it you brilliant musical folks you...let the commenting BEGIN!

click here for you RSS/reader folks.

Post-Rapture Services

I can't make this kinda stuff up! Go check out www.youvebeenleftbehind.com ...click on the image to view a bigger version...

"Rapture triggered email messaging service"

We have set up a system to send documents by the email, to the addresses you provide, 6 days after the "Rapture" of the Church. This occurs when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any false triggering of the system.

Preposterous or Genius?

Speaking the "Truth"

Why is it that people, myself included, have a hard time "saying what they mean and meaning what they say"? I'm the type of person that would try his hardest to be tactful whenever situations arise that requires sensitivity. But sometimes my "tactfulness" is just a lame excuse to peter out of an awkward circumstance that desperately needs the painful truth.

I DO understand the importance of civility, sensitivity, tactfulness, diplomacy, graciousness and love...but...more often than not the TRUTH gets lost within those layers and the message is not properly given nor received. Whatever happened to Proverbs 27:5-6? Why can't we all be "grown" and speak/accept the truth in love?

What REALLY bugs me is the frivolous "dance" that christians do when it comes to confronting issues and speaking the truth! They do a LOT of talking but for some reason nothing gets clearly communicated. Why do we wait and wait until the pot boils over and when it's time to really talk hurt and frustration speaks louder than love and truth?  Is it due to fear? Is it pride? Is it false humility? Is it insecurity?

I'm not trying to say that we just go around speaking whatever comes to our mind sans the grace and love filter. On the contrary, I believe that if there was a need to address an issue by stating the "truth" then prayer, wise counsel and love are key components.

I've been in situations where many "loving" words flowed back and forth and in the end nobody knew what exactly was said. I didn't know if resolution was achieved, if questions were answered. I was more confused about what the truth was afterwards!

So this is the challenge I'm issuing myself (maybe you'll do it to):

• I will be open and gracious to those that I give permission to speak the truth to my life. No matter how painful I may perceive it to be.
• I will prayerfully, graciously and lovingly practice speaking the truth to those I love and respect. And I will say it in a timely manner (so as not to let confusion and unrest fester then turns into strife).

Thoughts?

Why?

This has just been a resounding question in my heart these past couple of days.

"Why do we insist on having church, on doing church instead of being the church?"

Pastor Mark posted a blog that touched on this...go read it.

how can we stop doing church and just BE the church?

Upgrade

I'm ready to upgrade my mobile phone.

My current one has served me well with it's wonderful capabilities i.e. make phone calls, get phone calls, send text messages, receive text messages, take low res/grainy pictures and...well...that's pretty much it.

It's almost hilarious whenever I'm in a meeting with the pastors here at work. Everyone pulls their phones out of their pockets and you'll see a BlackBerry, a Dash, a Treo, etc. coupled with their Dell, HP, Vaio, MacBook Pro, etc. Then I bust out my high-tech Nokia 6103, a spiral notebook and pen. And yes, that is a picture of my phone...really.

Almost...hilarious.

Call it "Tech-Jealousy" or "Tech-Envy"...God forgive me but I DO have it!

I know that a LOT of you guys out there are sporting your fancy-schmancy iPhones...good for you!

Do I want one?...yes...

Do I need one?...no...

Can I afford one?...HECK NO! I can't afford to buy the unit much less pay for all the services it needs to optimally use it!

Let me break it down to you. My wife and I share 1000 minutes a month, a family plan for $69.99. We then added text messaging on my cell...for 400 messages a month I get to pay an additional $5.00 a month. So we're basically paying $75.00 a month plus taxes and fees. To be honest it's really not bad and T-Mobile has consistently been in the top 3 when it comes to customer satisfaction. For me...the PRICE is definitely right.

My questions:

Why is it that mobile phone companies practically "give" their phones away to NEW customers but rarely and barely reward their faithful customers when it comes to upgrades?

Is there a better mobile phone company out there that you know of that can serve me better with the same or better plan at the same or lower cost...and give me a BETTER phone for free?

If there's none better and I'm forced to renew my contract with t-mobile...I'm interested in upgrading my phone to t-mobile's "Shadow". Anyone out there know if this is any good at all?

Sigh...powerball winning ticket where art thou?

You think you can answer any of my questions?  Help a brotha out!

Synesthesia

I guess I'm not as creative as I thought I was...bummer.

63%

From Brody Harper's blog

What's your score?