Surviving Wayne: February 2006

Confusing Times

Well my gout is finally starting to subside. I think our upstairs neihbors may be moving out soon. There are a lot of good things going on, but shadows of confusion surround me.

Paula and I both want to be found in the will of God. We live by the truth that with God's will comes his peace. I find that I am hard to get going. It may be age, it may be emotional. I don't feel sad or at loss with life. I just feel content. Is that the peace we are promised?

There are so many things I want out of life. One of the main things is fulfilling God's call on my life. Again, there is fear in that. Not the fear of trusting God, but the fear of what surrounds my... our calling. I know that is the essence of faithLESSness.

Some things I have recently learned have torn my heart. These things are deliberate attempts to hold me and Paula down. I want to share those things with the world for the sake of justice. I am reminded that justice belongs to God. The irony regarding these unspoken things is that I predicted it a few years ago, but thought I was wrong. I guess I wasn't.

I am excited. Chad, Jessica, and the kids are coming to visit during the first week in April. I thing that there are only a few people that really understand me, understand what I am about. Chad and Jessica are two of those people. There are only a few others.

I am enjoying some chicken noodly soup for lunch. It is quite good. I apologize for not posting more. I will make an effort to do so. Also, I hope people keep up with my thoughts on American Idol on my right side bar.

Talk to you soon!

I survived.

Wayne @ 1:10 PM v Comments (1) v

Forward Thinker

Last week, a great man of God came face to face with Jesus. This man I speak of was one of those pioneers of modern day Christianity. Some consider him a "founding father" of my alma mater, Portland Christian School. I don't think he was quite that old, however he was an important part of what that school has become.

Not only was this man an important part of PCS, but he was also the grandfather of a good friend. Earl C. Mullins, Sr impressed me so much. One of my first encounters with him did not make me very happy because I was a goofy 6th grader whom he called down for chewing gum in chapel. Anyway, as I grew a little more mature and was able to here him preach and minister to so many, I grew to respect him as someone who is a forward thinker in a closed minded world.

Another friend, Patrick, wrote a very moving article about Bro. Mullins (as we called him). You can see it on Patrick's web site, 50 by 30.

Wayne @ 8:15 AM v Comments (0) v

The Gospel

Last night, Paula and I went to dinner with Katrina and Stephen. We went to a place in Ballentine called "The Flat Rock Grille." It was great.

Over dinner, they told us they rented this movie called "The Gospel." Paula said we had seen previews for it and wanted to see it. I couldn't remember (go figure). Anyway, we rented it today.

Let me set this up appropriately. Stephen said it made him cry. I thought there is no way it would make me cry. I cry pretty easy, but most tear jerkers don't jerk me. Well the movie's ending was nothing what I expected. Paula and I just sat and watched the credits as tears flowed down our faces. Yep, I cried.

What did I cry about, you ask? Go rent the movie and find out.

I survived.

Wayne @ 9:31 PM v Comments (0) v

The Day of Love (translation)

Today is Valentine's Day. Since it is the day of romance, I thought that it would be appropriate that I write in the language of the love, which is French.

Paula and I had a romantic dinner at home. We called in take out from The Olive Garden. When I picked up our dinner, the restaurant was very crowded. There was hardly standing room. I was guilty of procrastination. I did not go shopping for a gift until today. I went shopping on my lunch break. I hardly had time to even eat lunch. I had Bojangles for the lunch. I would not have chosen this restaurant normally.

I learned that my friend's grandfather will probably not live through the night. Why does this day often have the scent of death? This day is suppose to be about love. Perhaps God is trying to teach us something and perhaps we just cannot understand what.

I also see so many unhappy people. So many people want to find love, but never find it. This day is often terrible for them. Perhaps we should not concentrate on the love between a man and a woman and instead concentrate on the love between any human and another. Perhaps God tries to teach us something about that also. I do not know. Do you know?

Anyway, I survived.

Wayne @ 1:28 PM v Comments (1) v

Le Jour de l'Amour

Aujourd'hui est le jour de Valentine. Puisque c'est le jour de roman, j'ai pensé qu'il serait approprié que j'écrive dans la langue de l'amour, qui est Français.

Paula et moi avons dîné romantique à la maison. Nous avons passé commande réellement sortons du jardin olive. Quand j'ai pris notre dîner, le restaurant a été très serré. Il y avait à peine pièce de se tenir. J'étais coupable de la temporisation. Je ne suis pas allé faire des emplettes pour un cadeau jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Je suis allé faire des emplettes sur ma pause de midi. J'ai à peine eu le temps pour manger le déjeuner. J'ai eu Bojangles pour le déjeuner. Je n'aurais pas choisi ce restaurant normalement.

J'ai appris que le grand-père de mon ami peut ne pas vivre par la nuit. Pourquoi ce jour a-t-il souvent le parfum de la mort? Ce jour est supposent pour être au sujet de l'amour. Peut-être Dieu essaye de nous enseigner que quelque chose et peut-être nous juste ne pouvons pas comprendre ce qu'il essaye de nous enseigner.

Je vois également tant de personnes malheureuses. Tant de personnes veulent trouver l'amour, mais ne le trouvent jamais. Ce jour est souvent terrible pour elles. Peut-être nous ne devrions pas nous concentrer sur l'amour entre un homme et des womans et nous concentrer à la place sur l'amour entre toute personne et une autre. Peut-être c'est que quelque chose Dieu essaye de nous enseigner environ également. Je ne sais pas. Savez-vous?

Sans se soucier, j'ai survécu.

Wayne @ 10:26 PM v Comments (1) v

A Few Funny Signs

A friend that I work with sent me these pictures of signs. I thought others might enjoy the humor in them so I thought I would share.

I survived.

Wayne @ 5:42 PM v Comments (1) v

Attack Of The Killer Gout, Part 2!

Ok, so I have another gout attack. Just for reference, I shared my last gout experience on June 9, 2005. Ok here is my sad, sad story:

Last Monday, 1/30/06, I woke up and my big toe hurt. Back in August, I thought my gout was flaring up and called my doctor. She called me in a prescription for a prednisone pack. It actually did not flare up so I saved the prednisone for a rainy day. I started the prednisone pack on that Monday. Throughout the week, the pain went down quite a bit.

Well, the pack ended on Saturday. On Sunday, the gout showed its ugly face. The pain was practically unbearable on Monday (2/6/06). I went to work anyway, crying all the way because the toe that is hurting is my right big toe. I held back tears all day. On the drive home, there was a lot of stop and go traffic on Park Road due to an accident... I was not only crying, but blubbering at the pain. It felt like someone was drilling into the side of my big toe. When I got home, I could barely walk to the apartment. I almost collapsed.

I am a man that is not afraid to cry. I don't usually cry at physical pain, however. This should show you how intense the pain was.

I did not go to work on Tuesday. I went to the doctor. Last time I had gout, they gave me that medication that gave me diarrhea. I have learned that medicine is called "colchicine." I told the doctor up front that I would not be willing to take colchicine. He gave me some more prednisone and a medication to take next time it starts to flare up that will not make me sick. Cool!

They also did some blood work to see the uric acid levels in my blood. That would tell them if I needed a prevenative drug. Well the lady from the lab came in and I told her up front that I was horrifically petrified of needles. I also told her that no lab person has ever had trouble drawing blood from me. I told her, "Therefore, you only get one shot to get it right." She took me at my word because the first time she stuck me, my vein rolled and instead of pulling it out and resticking me, she dug the needle around trying to catch it. YES INDEED!

She finally stuck me on my other arm and got blood. Please shed a tear for me!

All this and i survived.

Wayne @ 1:10 PM v Comments (0) v

Good Day

So far, today has been a good day. I don't know if it is because I had my review or that it is Friday. Regardless, it has been a good day.

Tomorrow, we are hosting a baby shower that Kristy is throwing for Kathy. I am excited about it because I love having guests. I will exile myself to our bedroom and spend time with my Jedi friends. I don't do showers. I am totallly cool and excited about it happening, but my momma raised me teaching that men do not belong at showers. So... as a way to honor my mother, I will be in with Yoda and Darth Sidius.

Yes indeed! I love Star Wars. Is that wierd?

Chad, Jessica, and the kids are coming to visit the first part of April. I am excited about that. I always look forward to spending time with them.

I think I am making homemade sausage gravy and biscuits for brunch tomorrow. I love me some sausage gravy and biscuits, especially when the gravy is made with Neese's sausage and bacon grease.

I survived today so far.

Wayne @ 1:07 PM v Comments (1) v

Guess where we went!

Hollywood!

Actually this is Martinsville, VA. This is on the hilltop next to the local Walmart. Isn't that awesome! Paula and I went with her family to minister in Martinsville at the beginning of January. The cool thing about this trip is that Melvin & Diane Welch are the corps officers there.

Paula and I were in training with Melvin and Diane. So they are friends of ours. We had a great time. Paula convinced me to sing a solo and I nailed it. "Big deal," you may be saying. Yes I am trained in music. Early on, the more I learned about voice, the more I realized I am better suited as an ensemble vocalist... not a soloist.

I sang "Word Of God Speak" and simply nailed it. I guess I kinda regained a confidence in my ability to 1) sing a solo and 2) sing and play piano at the same time. Paula and I are thinking of scheduling ourselves out to corps (without her family) as our own ministry. Paula and I are both preachers in our own right.

Maybe I am just missing the old "glory" days of officership. I don't know. All I know is that Paula and I are finding new directions. We are following.

I have survived.

Wayne @ 12:55 PM v Comments (0) v