Tag: Opinion

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Hunting for Treasure

treasure-map

I’ve been hunting for treasure lately. It’s amazing how much I’ve already found, its only been small amounts here or there, but the amazing thing is…the more smaller ‘pots of gold’ that I find the  the hungrier I get to find the big treasure chest!

This is where I have been lately…

My child, listen to what I say,  and treasure my commands.  2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.  3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.  4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.  6 For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.  8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.  9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,  and you will find the right way to go.  10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.  11 Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. 12 Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those those words are twisted… 16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman. Proverbs 2:1-11 (NLT)

I love this scripture, it challenges me everytime I read it…”Search for Wisdom, understanding, and insight like I would for silver or for hidden treasure.” I don’t do that…I have been lately, but I don’t want it to be a lately thing, I need it to be an everyday thing! The older I am getting (and yes it is happening…I found 3 grey hairs Saturday) the more I am realizing I need God’s wisdom, his understanding, and his insight. As a husband, a father, a Christ Follower, an employee, a church member, a citizen…you name it and I need wisdom to accomplish it or to lead in it. So I am on a treasure hunt for what I believe Solomon thought was the most valuable possession, Wisdom!

I love what scripture promises if we search for wisdom, my thought is, what if we searched for it like it was hidden treasure? I mean passionately, whole heartedly, recklessly sought after wisdom? That’s what I need to do!

[Wisdom] “I love all who love me.  Those who search will surely find me…For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 8:17, 35 (NLT)

Join the Conversation: If you’ve learned one nugget of wisdom in your life that would benefit someone else, what would it be?

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Am I a Bad Parent?

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Ok, I want you to be honest here today! I want you to answer the question, am I a bad parent? Of course it is impossible for you to tell if I am a bad parent based on this one situation, but you can answer, was this a bad parenting decision…or a good one?

The Situation: Gavin loves the Christmas tree. If the lights are off, he plugs it up, he is the watcher of the ornaments, as Tristan, his 2 year old brother likes to take them off the tree. So, we made Gavin “responsible for the Christmas tree.” His duties involved 2 simple things #1 Unplug the lights when he goes to school (there is no need for them to be on during the day when he is not there) and #2 Turn off the lights when he goes to bed (they can’t stay on all night).

What Happened: Last night Gavin went to bed and did not turn off the lights on the Christmas Tree. I was busy working on some stuff and did not notice until he had been asleep for about 30 minutes. Nicki told me to let him sleep, I wanted to wake him up, after all it is his responsibility. I woke him up…it took me about 5 minutes, but he got up, walked in the living room and unplugged the tree. He didn’t remember even having to do it this morning.

My Reasons: I believe that children learn a lot of valuable lessons at an early age (Like in this Post) and because of what  Proverbs 22:6 say’s. Gavin is becoming more and more aware of people who are in need, because we are teaching him and he prays for them everyday. I had a very traditional upbringing that taught things like, “Do it right the first time.” “Be a man of your word, if you say you are going to do something, do it, no matter the time or the cost.” Etc…So, since turning the lights off is Gavin’s “responsibility” which he accepted, I decided to wake him up to do his job. Sure, I could have simply unplugged the lights, but what would lesson would Gavin learn from that? That dad will always finish the job if he forgets or just doesn’t want to do it?

Join the Conversation: Am I a bad parent for waking Gavin up to unplug the Christmas tree? What would you have done differently if you think I am to teach responsibility to your child?

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Conversations with a 2 Year Old

tristan-with-bow

…about “Onalds” (Translated: McDonald’s)

Everyday Nicki has to drive by McDonald’s to take Gavin to school…everyday Tristan begs to go to McDonald’s. McDonald is Tristan’s hero, he can be asleep and if we come within 3 miles of a McDonald’s his special radar goes off and he starts calling out for “Onald’s!!!” “Onald’s!!!”

The typical conversation goes like this…

Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”
Mommy: “No Tristan, we don’t have the money for McDonald’s”
(Repeat 10-20 times)

Today, this is how the conversation went at home…

Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”
Me: “What Tristan?”
Tristan: “Onald’s!!!”

As I looked down, Tristan was holding up a penny, asking to go to McDonald’s. Tristan always amazes us with his memory. If we tell him something, at two years old, it is seared into his brain…that’s why we make very little promises to him…he will hold our feet to the fire. Unfortunately, he does not have a perception of money, because a penny doesn’t buy anything, but he doesn’t care, for all he knows, it’s money and mommy never has enough to go to “Onald’s” – Today she is taking the boys for ice cream at Onald’s with Tristan’s penny. It truly was the most adorable thing I’ve seen in a long time! 🙂

Join the Conversation: What is the most adorable thing you have seen, besides my profile picture, lately? 🙂

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Drew Hall: Man of the Millennium As Voted By the Ladies

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I would like to introduce my friend, the Man of the Millennium (as voted by the ladies), and my most rabid, I mean avid nickcarnes.com reader, Drew Hall. Drew is a student at (Updated) Kennesaw State Augusta State University (emphasis on the University) and is one deliciously sexy man. In his spare time from taking long romantic walks on the moonlit beaches, he strums the guitar in heavenly melodies and loves to watch the television series made about his personal life, Entourage.

Drew spends his days thinking up solutions to world hunger, extreme poverty, and bringing about world peace; in his spare time, Drew writes poetry, enjoys painting and purchasing the fine arts, and reading romance novels to better relate to his one day wife.

Ladies, I know you are dying to hear Drew’s deep soothing voice on the other end of a telephone conversation, but due to his high volume of fans that voted him in as the Man of the Millennium, we must ask that you email him first, with a full personal profile to:
Drewisthesexiestmanaliveonthefaceoftheearthhotsohothesizzlesohmywhataman@yahoo.com – We’ll respond as soon as possible, and please, Drew is very open to the women in his life, but he has come to a decision that he cannot date anyone over the age of 97. His grandma is 98 and it would be a little weird.

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One Year Ago Today

47

On Thanksgiving exactly 1 year ago today, I began a journey that has changed my life, hopefully forever. It took a lot of pain and sickness to begin this journey, but now as I look back, I can say I am glad I endured it.

Since last year I have lost 47lbs. I was 193 lbs the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and as of Monday (the day I am scheduling this post) I am 146 lbs. I told my wife I was going to try and lose 3 more pounds so I could round it up to 50, but no luck so far! 🙂

For those who do not know the story, I was extremely sick and in a lot of pain the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year. I drove myself to the Emergency prompt care where I was diagnosed with an ulcer. I was given some medicine and sent home. The pain increased the next day and moved to the lower right side of my abdomen and eventually let me dad talk me into going to the ER. Once I arrived and saw a doctor, I was almost sent home without even being checked. The doctor read the chart and the diagnosis from the prompt care doctor and didn’t even walk in the door, before he turned to leave, I asked him a couple of questions that prompted him to do his job, and he skeptically decided to do a CT Scan on my Abdomen, he still stated he doubted I had anything wrong other than an ulcer. When the test results came back, they decided they needed to do an Emergency Appendectomy, and the rest is history…except the fact that the surgeon said my Appendix looked very sick, so I could have been sent home and it burst giving me gangrene or killing me. So, in my week of recovery I lost 6 lbs and determined to keep it up, I worked hard to lose the additional 41 lbs. My original goal was 165 lbs and I have overshot that by 19!

The positives: I feel great! I don’t dislike looking at myself in the mirror or having my picture taken. I’m in a whole lot better shape, I’m healthier, and I can encourage and empathize with people who are on a journey to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle. Looking at old photos and seeing success!

The negatives: I’ve been criticized more since I lost weight than when I was 40 + lbs overweight. I guess some people don’t like to see others actually be successful at something they set out to accomplish. Along with losing 7 years of weight I lost as many years worth of clothes, so it has been challenging to replace them, especially with the changing season. Looking at old photos and regretting I let myself get so overweight.

The humorous side: Having people ask me, “So what did you do to lose all of your weight?” and then upon hearing my answer having them reply, “Oh, I could never do that!” – I guess some people want it the easy way!?

By the way…I missed Thanksgiving dinner last year and will be making up for it this year! 🙂

The Journey – Starts HERE – 6 lbsHERE – 10 lbs HERE – 179 lbs HERE – 172 HERE (Changing my Goal) – 167 HERE – A Meal of Pills & 159 lbs – I feel like Amway – 2 months finally lost 1 pound – 3-D Plan to eating healthy part 1 – 3-D plan to eating healthy part 2