The Lighted Path

Here we go again. Where are we going, I am not quite sure. In order to get to our destination we have to start somewhere, right? Actually this is more like a restart . You see, since my last post on this blog, which happened to be January 1, 2016, ALOT has changed. In the almost nine years since that post, there has been a global pandemic, huge divisions in this country, and host of different things on the personal level that at times still has me saying, "what the heck is going on?"  I can't say exactly why I stopped updating this blog at that time but taking a stroll back down memory lane shows that I really wasn't all that consistent back then. So I guess you can say that that much hasn't changed. I always have and still do struggle with being consistent. When I started this blog all the way back in 2011, I treated it like I was making posts on social media, after I quit smoking in September of that year, this blog turned into more of a place to sha...

If have been around since the beginning of my blog, then you may remember that some of my early posts were made about my desire to, and the process of quitting smoking.  If you are new welcome!  I am just writing today to update, since it has been so long since I have updated on this topic, that today marks 28 months since I had my last cigarette!  In the grand scheme of things 2 years and some change isn't a long time but when you started smoking at the age of 13 it is, as Ron Burgundy would say, "kind of a big deal." The one question that I always get asked is how did you do it.  Most of the time this question comes from people who have known me for some time and were witness to numerous attempts and failures, and believe me there were many!  I tried cold turkey, smoking less each day, and the patch but they all attempts...FAIL!  So how was this time different?  How did I go from failure, after failure, after failure?  Simple really, I as...

I first want to say again, please excuse the mess around here. Since it is springtime again I have decided to do some "housework" around here. I plan on adding further customizations to this template but so far I like it. It is so simple and to the point. Thank you Amanda Kennedy of bloggerbuster . com for creating this awesome template! Now that that is out of the way, we just got back from our service project with our youth and I can not be any happier with them all and the outstanding job these kids did today. They took the whole thing very seriously from start to finish. They were eager to help out with everything from the preparation of the food, organizing clothes items for donations, and serving the actual meal. Everything went so smoothly it was truly a blessing. This was the first time that our youth have Dione something like this, but I can say with certainty that it will not be the last.

" 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ " I ask for prayers today and traveling mercies as we take our youth to the city to prepare breakfast for the homeless. I hope that they understand the importance of what they are doing and the impact that it could have on these people's lives. I thank you Heavenly Father for this d...

I apologize for the lack of updates around here recently. It seems like all myself and the family are doing is going, going, going. I think that we have been out and about more than we have been at home. I am not complaining, it is just that I get side tracked easily and when I have something to write about by the time sit down to write it, it's gone! I am going to try really hard to make notes throughout the day and force myself to set aside some time to make a post. Now that I got that out of the way, let's talk about some changes going on in my life right now that are awesome. I do not know if I had mentioned this at all before but my wife, myself, and another couple have take on the roles of youth advisors for our church's youth group. We have done so much more with this group since the beginning of the year than has been done with them in a long time. This has been such a great experience for all of us and we decided that they deserved their own youth room within t...

...I know who stands behind.  The God of angel armies' is always by my side. "Whom Shall I Fear (Live Passion 2013)" Chris Tomlin & Kari Jobe

Moment of #Truth 2.27.13 ...via Bible Gateway

I have had this blog since 2011 and from its inception it has undergone a few changes. My primary goal with this blog is to be a source of inspiration and encouragement, but also a place to share about my faith. The one thing that I realized OK have never done is shared my faith story...at least I don't think ;-) So here is my abridged, or Cliff's Notes style, story. I was born and raised Catholic. I am the youngest seven children who spent 12 years in private Catholic school. I attended mass (church) regularly on Sunday's during my youth so I knew Jesus but not as the center of my life. After graduating high school I went away to college and enjoyed that freedom that every kid dreams of having, of living the college life as depicted in many movies. Needless to say my faith took a back seat and church was attended only on holidays and breaks. While at college a met a girl named Holly, who would later become my wife, and we started to date. On the weekends we would go ...

As I was driving into work early this morning I was listening to WordFM , a local Christian radio station.  The song “The Motions” by Matthew West came on and it really hit me.  I have heard this song plenty of times before but today it really felt relevant. I had made the comment the other day that God has been working and moving so much in my life recently and that is just the point.  I need to not just be going through the motions but I need to put my faith in action.  My wife and I and another couple at church stepped into the roles of Youth Advisors this year.  This group of kids are, not only the future of the church but they are the leaders of tomorrow.  There is no time to go through the motions anymore rather there is the need to be 100% in Him and His word as He is 100% in me. 

Michael W Smith's song "Place In This World" is one of my favorite inspirational songs from my youth.  Many people, including myself, have days where it seems that we are not sure what our God given purpose is here on this earth.  No matter the challenges we face or the obstacles we have to overcome, just know His light will show the way as long as our trust and hope is placed in Him.

Moment of #Truth 2.13.13  ..via Lecrae on Facebook

For those of you who have been around since the beginnings of my humble blog, you may remember that back in September of 2011 I had made the decision to quit smoking.  I am pleased to announce that today marks my 17th month of being smoke-free! When I tell others how long it has been since I quit smoking I get asked two questions.  The first is always how did you do it and that is always followed by was it tough the first couple of days.  To both of those questions I answer with prayer and putting it in the hands of God. Prior to this quit I tried many times to quit and I failed...miserably.  I didn't know why.  I always assumed that I wasn't ready to quit or that I needed to do it in my own time.  After looking back on these past 17 months I have seen (actually since day one of this quit) that that was the problem, I was relying on myself to quit.  Once I took it to God in prayer and completely submitted myself Him, the quit was nothing but smooth...

It really has been a little bit since my last substantial post on here. Now it is funny because quite a few of the blogs that I have read on blogging suggest that you do not apologize for not updating frequently and just blog! Okay, I get that. I suppose that if you have followers who enjoy your blog they would probably prefer you blog about something of substance rather then wasting the five minutes reading an apology. Then you have someone like me. I have a whopping one follower (who I am grateful for) and it seems that I am making, barely, a post a month apologizing for not posting more. It seems a bit strange doesn't it? Well maybe that is just the thing. Maybe I am lacking followers because...well...my blog is lacking. I may have a few return readers, but they do not decide to follow me because there is no real consistency around here. Now I do not want to misconstrue my intentions here, I am not doing this to see how many followers I can get or how popular this blog can bec...

About a month or so ago while I was in the car with my family we were listening to Word FM  which we often do when we are in the car together.  The evening show was on and while I do not recall what the topic of discussion was but what the one DJ had said really hit home with me and opened my eyes even further than I they have already been opened.  I really wish I remembered which DJ it was because I would have left a nice message for them on their Facebook page.  Anyway what she had said was that Jesus does not want you to be fake with Him, He wants you to be real and true with Him.  Now it might not seem like that statement in and of itself is all that mind blowing and profound but it was the context in which she used it.  The point that she was making is that we all are human and we all fall short of the glory of the Cross.  Jesus does not want us to be untrue to ourselves or Him. We were all made to have different ideas, interests, and opinions. ...

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!  It has been a couple of days since my last post, and you better believe it has been a busy couple of days!  My wife has taken on an evening job strictly for extra money for our son at Christmas.  We are still only operating with one car so it is a constant run, run, run, and when we finally get home it is bedtime, and believe me my head welcomes the pillow.  Well at least it is Wednesday and all we have to do is make it over the hump and we'll be okay! Tonight we will be taking our Pioneer Clubs class at church to the Fields of Faith event at the high school tonight.  Fields of Faith is a student hosted and student run ministry where students can share their testimonies and share the Word of Christ with the community.  Now that is my interpretation of what Fields of Faith is all about, but if you are curious you can go here  and get the correct "what is!" I am going to wrap this up here as I started writing this at a...

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...