Blog Repairs

I've said it before ~ and I'm sure I'll say it again: I have good intentions with this blog, but go through spurts when I just do not post as often as I should. I enjoy writing. I really do. But so many times it seems as though I'm merely posting a journal rather than writing with a solid purpose.

Have you ever felt that way? You enjoy doing something. You want to do it more often. But it seems that no one else benefits from it, so it doesn't get done as often as it probably should.

I've thought about giving this blog a complete overhaul. Even to the point of changing the name and address. Maybe the third time would be the charm. Some of you may remember the Seventh Inning Stretch that preceded Faison Focus.

Are there suggestions from those who read this? What would interest you? Leave a comment and let your thoughts be known!

Being Christlike in the 21st Century

Have you ever thought about being the hands and feet of Jesus? I know that's not an original idea, but sometimes we need to be reminded of just what our role as Christians in this 21st Century culture looks and acts like.

Join me in listing some ways we can be relevant Christ-followers where we are. How can we be intentional in our walk with Christ? What will we do today to impact and influence our world (those in our personal sphere) for the Kingdom?

So, What Did You Do This Summer?

For some, school has just started back. For others, school is just around the corner. Inevitably, teachers will assign a project within the first two days of school to either write an essay or give a verbal report (or both) of what the student did during the summer. This week, I've done a bit of reflecting about the summer around our house, and thought I'd share some of it with you.

There have been songs or sermon illustrations that I introduce by asking, "Have you ever had a bad day? Have you ever had a bad week or month? Have you ever had a bad week or month all in one day?" Well, most of the summer around our house has been one of those 'bad months'. On June 30, our Saturn VUE died. I mean, it bit the dust. Gone. Beyond repair. Forget about it, dead. It had been a good ride. After all, we bought it September 30, 2006. Three months shy of 8 years old isn't too bad. It had just over 58,000 miles on it when we drove it off the lot. As it sputtered and gave up the ghost on that hot June afternoon, it had in excess of 216,000 miles on it. 

I'll be honest. It had begun to have things wrong with it that I did not want to repair. I had wanted a new(er) car for the better part of a year. But I wasn't quite ready to bite that bullet just yet. Let's face it, we hadn't had working A/C for 3 years. In south Florida, friend, that's brutal. The driver's side window wouldn't roll down. That made going through any drive thru less than pleasant. It wasn't too easy to activate the gate at the entrance to our apartment complex, either. The back hatch wouldn't open any more, either. Nor would the horn work, and the turn signals were only part time. I'm sure you get the idea.

As circumstances would have it, we couldn't just run down to the local car dealership and pick up what we wanted. There's no need for details, just suffice it to say, that was impossible. I could add to the summer's drama, but I'll spare you the pain. Trust me when I say, it was not pretty. There were days that we really struggled to keep our sanity and our emotions in check.

On the heels of that, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we had family members and friends who stepped up to the plate to make sure our needs, and some of our wants, were met. Abigail, Randy, Diana, Sam, Betsy, Ken, Shirley, Ron, Pearl, Cora ~~ the list could go on and on and on. All of them went above and beyond in an effort to either help with our vehicle situation or just be an incredible encouragement when we were so down. Thanks doesn't come close to doing it justice to describe their help to us.

I'd love to say, "Fast forward to this weekend," but fast would be a gross misstatement. It seemed to drag on and on, but through God's amazing grace and mercy, we were able to make a purchase. Or at least we were able to sign and drive a car that we'll pay on for a while. A long while.

Tony at Route 60 Hyundai in Vero Beach has bent over backward to help us out. They were not the first dealership I visited, and we didn't make the purchase on our first visit. They were helpful and walked us through the steps we needed to take to resolve our situation. (And if you're in this area of Florida and are looking for a vehicle, please go see Tony and tell him I sent you!)

Our new car ~ just before it became ours

This is the result. A 2014 Hyundai Elantra. We are blessed beyond measure. Even through the pain and irritation of these past few weeks, God has seen fit to provide for us. Even though we (more so, I) was not handling the stress as well as I should have, God meets our every need.

So, what have I learned? I learned that I need to trust God and His plans and timing more. I've learned to give God my heart rather than merely lip service. It hasn't been easy, but God never promised it would be. And the path now isn't automatically easy. After all, I've still gotta pay for this new ride. Oh, and that's another story for another blog. Stay tuned for that one in a day or three! You might laugh a little bit like Robin and I did.

Thanks for sharing our summer and what we did. We learned a lot about God and about ourselves. What did you do and learn? Feel free to share it with me!