The Lighted Path

Once upon a time I started this blog, but yet again it has become dormant for quite a few (seven to be exact) months.  Please bear with me as I finish getting myself and the family settled in to our new house.  I have so much I want to share and discuss that it will be well worth the wait. Thank you all for your patience! God Bless!

Hello everyone and good afternoon. Just wanted to point out that I have added the ability to be able to receive new posts via email. To keep up on the latest from The Lighted Path enter your email address in the text box to the right. Thank you for the support, God Bless!

Truly our God is great and there is no other. When I look around at His creation and all of the blessings that He has given to me so far, even at age 33 I am still in amazement of how great our God truly is.

Okay okay so I am a month late to the party but it is still the new year! I thank God for blessing my family with another year and the opportunity to grow closer to His Word. I may not be perfect, heck I am a sinner, but I rejoice and take comfort in the sacrifice that God gave in His son Jesus Christ so that I may be released from the bondage of my sin. This year is my year to be thankful. I want to forget the things that I do not have and all of the trivial things, and just stay focused on all of the things that He has blessed me with. It is in His name ALWAYS! Brian

Good morning everyone and Happy Thanksgiving !  I told you last night that I was not making any promises about an additional post or even a YouTube video for that matter.  I did hook up and install the software for my good web cam , but that is a far as I got. Thanksgiving eve service was a very refreshing and renewing service.  The scripture lesson for the evening was 2 Kings 5 .  This is the story of Naaman's healing of leprosy.  The way that the preacher delivered his sermon was two-fold.  First he spoke on how Naaman almost missed out on this blessing and healing from God because he did not think that what he was instructed to do was fitting for a man of his stature but reluctantly he did what was instructed and was healed.  Next he spoke on the prophet Elisha's servant Gehazi who was not content with what he had and had been witness to and tried to get the gift that was offered to Elisha by Naaman and because Gehazi wanted "a little bit more,"...

Good morning everyone.  Just wanted to make a quick post to say hello and to also say thanks and praise the Lord that today is forty days since I have had a cigarette!  I have said it again and again and again, I could not have done this without God's help and guidance.  Constant prayer and reliance on the Lord have made this, by far, the best quit that I have had.  I am not trying to be cocky about it, but I feel that I do have the right to be happy about it. Time to go get ready for church and enjoy what is looking to be another beautiful day given to us by God.  Not that everyday He has given us isn't beautiful, I just like the sun...and the Son as well ;-)!  Take care everyone, may your day be filled with many blessings... GOD BLESS!

...well not completely new.  There is another " The Lighted Path " and I have this one hosted on tumblr .  For the most part, the two blogs will be and contain the same things.  I know that you may be thinking that I have a hard enough time keeping up on one, now I have another one to throw in the mix (actually this is the third ), but that is the beauty of ctrl+c / ctrl+v! You may be asking yourself why have the same thing in two places, well that answer is simple.  If you look to the right and see the lack of followers (if you are reading, follow why don't ya:)) I am hoping that maybe I can get some followers here.  I have had alright success with my other tumblr blog so I hope that these two will compliment each other well. So go now and check out the other " Lighted Path " and if you belong to tumblr as well follow me.  Thanks and GOD BLESS!

Not that I had really gone anywhere but the other day when I logged on to my blog it Google said that it found malicious content, or something along those lines, on my page and gave the "proceed anyway?" message so I stayed away to see if it became resolved.  I checked last night from my PC and got to view my blog fine, but this morning on my laptop it was the same thing.  I tried it from different browsers, I use Chrome, and it was fine.  Throughout the week I checked it from work using Chrome and it was fine so I was a bit confused.  Then this morning when I checked again from the laptop it gave me the message again.  So I decide to try clearing out all browser data and trying it again.  I typed in the blog address and wouldn't you know it, it worked message free.  You would think that since I work with PCs all day and I am a Help Desk Analyst by career that I would have tried this first!  So long story short, it feels good to be back!. I will...

Good morning everyone.  I can not believe that another weekend has come and gone and now it is back to the daily work grind.  I really wish that the work week would fly-by just as quickly as the weekends do! I am quite surprised that I am not that sore this morning after participating in the 2011 Quakertown CROP Hunger Walk .  I think we did a 3, maybe 3.5, mile route, and I would have to say that about a mile of it I had my son on my shoulder's!  The Lord blessed us with a truly beautiful day and our church had an excellent turnout this year.  My wife Holly is actually our church's coordinator.  She did an excellent job in the weeks leading up to by getting walkers and keeping everyone motivated and pumped up for the event. I leave you with a music video entitled "Raise Your Voice" by K.C. Clifford .  It gives a little insight into what CROP Hunger Walks are about and their cause.  Thanks, everyone and GOD BLESS! "Truly I tell you, ...

Yesterday was a day of a milestones for me.  The first milestone was finishing up day 40 of my 90 day reading plan for reading through the bible.  Each day you read between three and five chapters of three different books; one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end.  For instance yesterday's readings were from Joshua, Ecclesiastes, and Acts.  I can not believe the difference in myself an the impact on my life that has come from the reading the Word daily.  The past few weeks at work have been really trying and when I start to get upset I look at the Bible sitting on my desk, pray for those upsetting me and pray for calm and the frustrations leave me.  I then refocus and reflect on Colossians 3:23  and remember who my Boss really is. The second milestone of the day was reaching 28 days of being smoke-free!  Twenty-eight days ago I can honestly say that I did not think that I would see this many days of being smoke-free (wel...

Good morning everyone!  Guess what today is???  If you couldn't tell by my post yesterday and this big banner above, it is my BIRTHDAY!   I turn thirty-two today so it is not really a landmark birthday or anything like that.  I am looking forward to going to church and spending the day with my family.  I am going to try not to do any housework today, but I did promise my wife that I would do the bathrooms and kitchen (well I want to do kitchen) yesterday but that did not happen. We will see how that works out. For my birthday yesterday, I did treat myself to a few things, and they did not cost me a thing, at least not at the present.  Last week I decided that I wanted to get a new Nintendo 3DS .  I did not have the money and when I heard that trading in my Sony PSP ,   Sony PS2 , and Nintendo DSLite would not get me there I was bummed.  I didn't take into account games and accessories that I was able to trade-in, so once again yeste...

Good morning everyone!  Wow I can not believe that October is here already!  I guess it is time to wake up   and enjoy the fresh start that comes with each new month.  My 30 day challenge is over, and I must say that while I did not hit my goal af averaging a post a day, I am quite pleased with ending the month of September with a total of 24 posts.   I was only 6 off of the mark and that isn't too shabby considering the poor performance of posting the previous months.  While the challenge is closed I still plan on continuing to try and make a post a day and so far I am off to a good start ;-) The month of October is quite important to me as both my birthday and my wedding anniversary fall in this month.  October 2nd is my birthday, this year I turn the big 32 , and October 19th is my wedding anniversary.  This year my wife Holly and I celebrate our 9-year   Anniversary!   Where does time go?  I know through out the course of thes...

Good evening everyone.  Well, I don't quite think that I am going to make 30 posts in the 30 days but hey...I tried.  What I do have for you this evening is another song that is very inspirational.  Today's song is  Jason Gray's  "I Am New."  The song is right in-line with what I am and have been feeling/experiencing this past month.  I hope you enjoy this song and the video as much as I do and it has an equally powerful message for you too.  Enjoy, and GOD BLESS! "I am not who I was I am being remade I am new I am chosen and holy And I'm dearly loved I am new"

Good morning everyone and Happy Sunday!  I just wanted to post up a few quick updates before I start getting ready for church.  Yesterday I made a post talking about how I wanted to have a different name for this blog.  So after some careful consideration no longer is this The Cornucopia of Goodness  but welcome to The Lighted Path.   I figured that since this blog is more or less focused on my continuing faith journey and my constantly developing relationship with God, that  Psalm 119:105  pretty much hit the nail on the head.  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." I also updated the background to my blog.  Hopefully this freshens things up a bit.   GOD BLESS!

I do not know if I had mentioned previously that I was in the process of reading through the Bible in 90 days, but I have just completed day 30!  I would have to agree with the author of the blog  Giving it all up  who also is nearing the completion of a month into her Bible in a Year plan and said, "it seems that I have been reading for a lot longer than that!"   I feel the same way, but at the same time I realize what I have been missing out on.  When I first started the plan I feel behind a few days, and once I got back on track I made it a point to keep on it daily.  Reading my daily passages has become a staple for my mornings.  It is how I kick off each work day and on the weekends it is the first thing I do in the morning.  I think that if I were to even fall behind by one day, that I would feel off for that day.  I truly believe that this is why (and prayer too) my quitting smoking attempt has been so successful this time (18 days)! ...

Over the past few weeks it is hard to explain what has been happening within me. I know that this year so far has been rough on my family in terms of our financial situation.  All of our student loans have come in, a good portion of which are still in forbearance credit card debt, down a car, and the list goes on and on and on.  At first I was fearful of what was coming to come of this, how we would make it, really just at a complete loss.  A few months ago after seeing sign after sign I realized what the problem was, and it was that I was lacking my trust in God the Father and the promises of His Son Jesus that there was no need to worry. 31  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.   33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.   3...

Good evening everyone!  I know, I know, I am two days (posts) behind on my 30 day challenge, but give a fellow a break!  This is going to be just a short post, as I am about to head out to a church picnic.  I just wanted to write and say that I am really looking forward to seeing the movie  Courageous  when it comes out in theaters on September 30th.  Courageous is from the makers of the movie  Fireproof .  If you have not seen the movie  Fireproof  I highly recommend that you go and watch it.  It is such an inspirational film with such a powerful message behind it.   I am not a film critic, and I am not much for giving reviews/synopsis' on films, so I won't do so for  Courageous . What I can do is provide you with the trailer :)  Enjoy, and I will be back later.   GOD BLESS!!!

I know, I know...I have fallen behind on my 30 Day challenge. I am not too far behind so hopefully I can catch it up soon. I am past the point of feeling that I have let myself down. This month is the first month that I have had so many consecutive posts since I started this blog that I am quite pleased with myself actually. Just keep on bearing with me. Everyday I am trying to think of ways to makenhis blog a little bit better, a little less...blah. Don't get me wrong everything that I right is meaningful and true, but I need to incorporate more photos, videos, and even fonts. Again I say, just bear with me! If you happen to be reading this post an are trying to figure out what the title means, you are about to find out. When I say "One Week Down" I am just referring to my progress with becoming smoke-free. It has been one week since my last cigarette, and I am feeling really great! I can honestly tell you all that this time feels so much different. I know that the big...

I am really beginning to fall behind on my 30 Day Challenge! Ok so I am not that far behind, but my consistency is definitely falling off. If I am figuring this out correctly, I am still only one post off from hitting the 30 mark by month end. I really need to make sure that I make another post later on tonight. Yesterday was bit of an off day for the whole family. We had so many things that we were supposed to do yesterday, but we completely forgot about them. My wife and I had an argument yesterday early on in the morning which really set the tone for the whole day. The argument was, of course, over our finances. Not out how we are currently spending but rather our spending from the past. We both made some poor choices early on in our marriage but my wife still likes to beat herself up about it whereas I take the role of a forward thinker and not dwell on the past. It is no lie that money is the root of all evil, even when you do not have any! There was also mor to arguments than...

I am back and back on-track for my 30-Day Challenge.  Sure I missed two days, but after this post, I will be right on schedule.  I am well aware that it does not matter how many posts that I make, but it will be nice to see a total of 30 for the month of September.  I am not sure if I will see any additional traffic or gain any followers for this, but only time will tell. Today in my neck of the words we had a surprise return appearance by Mr. Sun!  After days of rain, rain, and even more rain I actually had the chance to...ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddsnenfefeff... Okay, it is 4:14am and if you look at that last line you will see what I just woke up to, only that is a small portion there was actually like 10 pages worth of that.  It is too funny not to leave in.  I actually fell asleep right in the middle of typing this blog.  Needless to say I am not back on track but still one behind!  I didn't even realize I was that tired!!!  ...