Do you dream?

Do you dream? No, I am not talking about “build it and they will come”, dream but the kind you have to be asleep for. I am a vivid dreamer. I have been in many tornadoes where I can’t find my children. I have been killed by someone at my doorstep. I have seen relatives die. I have the occasional classic where I am falling. I have many good dreams as well but last night falls under the category of nightmare. The mentioned dreams I have had have shook me a bit and often times wake me up. However, lasts nights shook me and gave me a newfound appreciation for what I have. For those of you that know me best I thought you might appreciate the inner workings of my mind. For those of you married maybe this will give you a new appreciation for you spouse.
I found myself in a classroom setting of some kind. Not a high school or college classroom but more like the inside of a pole building with chairs. I was laughing and carrying on with some friends when one of them said “I can’t believe you are getting married on Saturday”. “What?”, I said. He proceeded to point out the girl I was “marrying” on Saturday. It was not my wife. Now I felt like I was stepping into the twilight zone. “I already am married” I said. He proceeded to tell me my wife died but at least I am going to be a grandpa. I don’t know how I didn’t wake up yet but I hadn’t. To add to the dilemma apparently my new bride to be didn’t talk much or just didn’t like me. Did I have amnesia? What happened to my wife? How is my daughter pregnant? Why am I getting married to someone that doesn’t talk to me?

The dream moves quickly ahead to the wedding day. I am watching it in third person. I am seeing this all trying to get my own attention to stop this madness. Fast forward again to the hotel and no this is not rated R. I find Hope there. What? Now how do I explain this? What is going on here? I am so glad to see her I leave the hotel room and talk with Hope. Yet she gives me no clues as to what is going on. I just know that it sure is nice to have a wife that talks to me and loves me. However, I am married to this other person now. I feel depression setting in. So much so that I jumped in a car with my nephews. If you know my nephews then you know this must have been a suicide attempt. Of all things that wakes me up.
Upon awaking, I gave my wife the biggest hug and told her how much I appreciate her. I cannot imagine being in a marriage that does not include my best friend. I am truly blessed.
I think this may have stemmed from a recent tragedy. Last weekend a friend passed away. He has five kids and they are around the ages of my kids. He died suddenly on Saturday morning from what is believed to be a heart attack. It was a good reminder that our days are numbered. Enjoy the ones you have left. Love extravagantly those around you. And by all means don’t marry someone who doesn’t talk to you. 
I hope you enjoyed getting inside my brain for a moment. Have a great week. Kraig
PS-I got the book Fearless in the mail yesterday by Max Lucado. After being shaken from my dream, fear of losing my wife was definitely in my mind. I decided to start reading it before finishing the current book I was reading.

Spending my days

It is so easy for me to get caught up in day to day life. My world so easily becomes all that matters to me. I plan my day carefully. Scheduling each thing with the next thing butting up against it so I don't waste any time sitting around. While this makes for a busy day and gives me maximum free time later I miss some things along the way. For instance, I think very little about Haiti right now. I am too busy thinking about showing an apartment or fixing a window. Answering the phone or going to a game. All of these things are somewhat important but nowhere near life or death. My wife posted on facebook the other day, "What do you need right now? Not materially but how can I pray for you" It got me thinking, how many times during a day do I not ask that question? How often am I so busy to get to the next thing that I don't really talk to people? I do that way too often. I need to be efficient with my time. It is how God designed me but am I being efficient in my own eyes and not God's?

What's going on in the world today...

Do you ever find yourself wondering what in the world is going on? Why our government thinks dumping money into big business' that aren't working is a good idea. Why do we continue to tinker with the middle east instead of whipping them out. How GM can even dare say buy American anymore when most of the money going into the purchase of their vehicle leaves our country. And finally, why on earth are we borrowing money from China. And by borrow money I am being nice. The kind of money we owe them is just crazy. I bring up all these points because I think they are leading to something.
That something is a bit sketchy. It could just be that we are in the great recession and we have too many ignorant people making decisions for us in the political arena. It could be that fighting in the middle east will prove fruitful. It may be that we will pay China back in the next couple years. Maybe in a few years everything will be great in this country. Maybe though...just maybe this is the beginning. The beginning of what I, as a Christian, long for. The return of Jesus Christ. I don't like to speculate this as it seems there is some nut job on every street corner saying this but what if? I have just found it interesting over the past few years to see how much has changed. Let me make a list:
1. Taliban declare war on us with the events of 9/11. 2. Our economy takes a huge downturn. 3. More and more companies become global and not just from one country. (a huge shift over the past 20 years) 4. I can talk with someone living in a foreign country with no effort whatsoever. 5. Turkey, a long time friend of Israel has recently become hostile toward them leaving Israel without a friend in the middle east. 6. The Euro has been introduced. 7. Several natural disasters of massive proportions have taken place. 8. I haven't got a problem with Obama but since when is a president in this country treated like he is the savior. I got way too much of that impression and still do. Makes it easier to see how dumb we as people can be and how easy it could be to usher in one world leader. 9. The world has been at war somewhere in the world since 1948 with the exception of 3 weeks. 3 weeks of peace in over half a century. 10. Other religions are growing while Christianity continues to shrink.
Those are just ten things off the top of my head that I can come up with that have changed in my lifetime and most of which have happened in the past 10 years. I am sure the apostle Paul felt Jesus was coming at any moment then too. It just seems so much closer now with the world we live in. As Terrell Owens says before he plays the game of football, "get your popcorn ready". I think I'll go whip me up a batch just in case.

Evil at work

I find it interesting to think how few times I really take into consideration what is around me. Let me explain. Earlier this week I was cleaning out a house that I manage. Things were normal for the most part. Big mess, lots of junk to discard, the normal. I have been having trouble getting ahold of the tenant however and so I decided to put his things in the garage in case he wanting the left behind junk. I opened the garage door and found a pentagram made of what appeared to be ashes with a evil looking cup in the middle of it. It was filled with some kind of liquid. Instantly I became aware of what took place in this garage and instantly I began to pray out loud. I left that place later with a heavy heart. Probably due to the spiritual battle going on along with the sadness I felt for this young man. Hear is my question to me though: Why did it take a demonic sign to make me realize that there is a spiritual war going on? It is a daily thing and yet I am snoozing at the wheel so often. I need to get my head in the game.

Kids

Fall is always a busy time for me. On top of husband, dad and work responsiblities I coach 2 football teams. I love it and wouldn't change it. One thing I have observed over this past month is that kids think they run the world. For instance, one of my children, whom I will leave nameless, told me they couldn't do something the other day. Let me explain. Our family were all together one Sunday after church. We had to stop at Walmart to pick up a tire for my wife's van as it had developed a flat overnight. I had started to ask this particular child to put down what she was holding and go into Walmart to...they interrupted me with an I can't. I said ok stay there we didn't need that anyway. This person said need what? Lunch I said. We didn't need Subway anyway. Oh, I can go they said. No we can eat leftovers, I said. Now this may seem silly or even mean to you but how often do I let my kids get away with this crap? I need to be on top of it all the time. One of the kids on my football team was out of control for the first two practices. Yelling at other kids, cussing and being disrespectful to adults. After several attempts to get him to stop I finally pulled him aside and said, "I am not your dad, I'm not your mom. I am not going to put up with this behavior any more. If you don't knock it off I will have you doing up downs for the rest of practice. If you don't want to do up downs and still want to act this way you can go home but don't come back." He has been a perfect angel ever since. Why do we put up with kids acting this way? This isn't kids being kids. This is called parents and adults just tolerating bad behavior. It needs to stop and the great thing is that we have the intelligence to make it stop. I need to remember to always take the timeto do it right with my kids especially.

Go with your gut.

Have you ever felt that you should do something but it just seems plain crazy? Once in a while this happens to me. Sometimes it is just me being Kraig. However, many times it is God wanting me to do something outside my comfort zone. Sometimes it works out and sometimes I think God just wanted my faith to grow a bit. A couple of case and points. Several years ago while having my quiet time I felt God tell me to go to my local high school and meet up with a student there. Understand school had just started so my next question was, "What will I do when I get there? Stand in an empty hallway and talk to myself?" I heard God telling me to just go. So I went. This young man was walking out of his class as I entered the building. Just him...no others walking down the hall. I spoke with him that morning. Nothing important happened in his life that morning. (I asked him several years later) However, something huge happened to me that morning. I went there with the intentions of helping a fella out. Instead God taught me about His faithfulness. Since then I have done some pretty strange things at times but only because I felt His call. I just did something that I would deem as strange this morning because I felt called. I wonder what He has in mind this time?

The Family Man

Building off of my thoughts from yesterday I found myself very happy about some things. Have I given up on a few dreams? Sure....who hasn't. Should I revisit those dreams. Sure. But in doing so I also realized the dreams that have come true. I have always aspired to be a great dad and husband. I have been so fortunate in the way things in my life have unfolded. I have been given a great job by God which allows me to spend so much time with my wife and children. Not to say I don't work but I control my schedule for the most part. It has allowed me to continue to see that dream come true. Of all my dreams it has always been the most important to me. I am so glad that as a young man God put that dream in my heart. No matter what my dreams I missed out on have been without that dream all others would be futile. Thank you Jesus.