100 Pounds in 50 Weeks

I know it's a bit late for "New Year's Resolutions," but maybe by making it a bit later I'll have a better chance of sticking to it. I have resolved to lose 100 lbs. over the next 50 weeks using a healthy living community called SparkPeople. I'm on day 2 and I have to say I'm feeling good about it so far. Just the simple fact of keeping a food journal to document everything I eat is helping to keep my portions under control. Please pray for me and cheer me on as I work toward this goal!

For updates on my progress and other items relating to this goal, please come visit me at my SparkPage.

Why is family so difficult?

Why is it that we find it more difficult to talk to family about religious matters than we do a complete stranger or other friend? Now, don't get me wrong, my family are all born-again believers that are assured of their salvation and final destination; but, some of their attitudes toward people that they call friends that belong to another Christian faith that doesn't have enough right to be as assured of salvation alarms me, yet I can't find it within myself (even with God's conviction and help) to say anything. Do they care so little about where these people whom they refer to as "friends" will be going that they are unwilling to share with them the correct beliefs that will point them in the right direction so they can be together in heaven? Doesn't sound like much of a friend to me.

Lord, please give me the strength to say something before it's too late. Amen!

Where does the time go?

Well, already a month of 2009 has come and gone and I still can't seem to find the time to regularly write an update here. In two more days, my son will be three months old and I'm finding that the trick to getting family to drive the 7.5 hours to come visit us was just to have a baby. In the last three months, we have had more visits from our family in Virginia than in the whole rest of the 7 years we've lived in Charleston, SC.

Well, today LJ is exactly one month old. It's hard to believe I've really been a father for an entire month already.

LJ is Here!

Well, the day has finally come. Our little gift from God has arrived. His name is James Madison Prevatt, III but we'll be calling him LJ (Little James) for short.

Stats:

• November 5, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
  
• 6 lbs., 10 oz.
• 20 inches long
  

Baby Shower for LJ

Our friends at church threw a baby shower for us and LJ. We were extremely overwhelmed at the generosity of everyone that attended and gave gifts.

LJ (Little James) at 28 weeks

Here is today's 3-D ultrasound of baby James taken at 28 week. You can see almost his whole face (he's nestled up against Mommy) and both of his hands.

Pregnancy Progressing

We just had a visit to the doctor and it appears that everything is going just fine in our pregnancy. We are currently at 24 weeks with mom and baby doing just fine. Hopefully, this will be the norm for the remaining 16 weeks and I'll be holding my boy at the beginning of November.

Is My Life So Boring?

Is my life so boring that I can't find something to write about at least once a week or am I just lazy? The dates on my blog entries go back to May 2007. This is only my 26th entry in over a year and most of the entries are short blurbs about what is going on.

So, here's my goal: at least one post (of any length) per week with at least one each month being of a substantial length. Let's see if I can follow through this time!

It's a Boy!

We just found out right this very second that we're having a boy. How exciting! Now we can start deciding how we're going to decorate the nursery. We're going to have him carry on my name and be the "III."

New Child and Job Search Continues

Well, it's finally happened! After 5+ years of trying, my wife and I are finally expecting our first child. This is most definitely a gift from God as my wife had just about all but given up hope of us having a child naturally, though I always had faith that He would make it happen when he thought it best for us.

That was the positive and this is the not-so-positive: my most recent assignment ended on Friday. I am sure God will provide me with a way to continue to support my (growing!) family so I am not afraid of what the future may hold. I did have an interview this morning for a position open at a restaurant downtown and I though it went well. I should hear something either this evening or tomorrow about whether I have been chosen for it. In the meantime, I will continue to apply for jobs and pray that God will provide as he always does.

Procrastination is Key

Well, I finally got around to update my business's website to reflect the fact that I am now a Certified Bookkeeper. At times I think my procrastination gets out of hand. I started writing this entry on Friday but didn't finish and publish it until now.

I've Been Certified

No, I haven't been certified crazy. I am now a Certified Bookkeeper! What is a "Certified Bookkeeper" you might ask? Well, according to the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers, through whom I received the certification, I have now proven I have "the level of knowledge and skill needed to carry out all key functions through the adjusted trial balance, including basic payroll, for firms of up to 100 employees." This is an important step for me since I have been unable to complete my degree in accounting as of yet. This now gives me verifiable proof that I have the knowledge that I say I do. Now the fun begins!

I've Gone Mainstream

Well, I've finally decided to go mainstream with my blog rather than continue to use my own website and software package because I'd like to be able to interface with other sites as well as use the mobile blogging feature here. I will be transferring all of the entries from my old blog to here as time permits. This move will also mean that updates should be almost daily but will not be any farther apart than a week.

Here Comes the Sun

Well, I was just called today to begin a new assignment. It was an assignment I was offered the day after my last one ended but I had to turn it down at that time due to commitments I had made knowing that I was ending an assignment. The person that had accepted it didn't work out so it was offered to me again. Then, as if working wasn't enough to get excited about, we received a small financial windfall from my grandmother's passing a couple months ago. Yay!

And Another One Bites the Dust

Well, another month has come and gone! I just can't figure out where time keeps going. I am going to attempting to make at least one entry each month, most likely at the end of the month, to summarize what has occurred in that month.

The main thing that has happened in my life this month is my wife and I moving into a house. While we are still only renting, the house is bigger than the apartment that we were in. This is also going to be the first time since moving out of my parents' house almost 9 years ago that I have had to worry about doing yard work since we've lived in apartments, condos, and townhomes ever since we were married.

I'm still on a job hunt and I'm only one test away from becoming a Certified Bookkeeper. I've had a few interviews since November but none of them have resulted in a job offer as of yet.

Things Are Looking Up

Things in my life are beginning to look positive again. I was laid off from my primary job 3 months ago and while I have not found a “permanent” job yet, I have had steady assignments from a temporary agency for the last 1.5 months. I have also been working toward my Certified Bookkeeper designation ever since I was laid off and should be finished with it by the end of February. Once that is done, I plan on trying to start my own bookkeeping practice: JP's Bookkeeping Services.

We're also moving from our cramped one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom house starting in the middle of February. We moved into the apartment almost two years ago when we were having financial troubles so we could catch up on everything. But, now it's time to move back into something larger so we can start to build our family.

Dating Your Spouse

One thing I am extremely proud of in my relationship with my wife is that, even though we have been married for coming up on 8 years next month, we have never stopped dating. Just last night, we went to the Highway 21 Drive In in Bluffton, one of two remaining drive-in theatres in South Carolina. We had dinner and watched Shrek the Third and Transformers. We had lots of fun and it was well worth the hour drive as there is of no other place where two people can get dinner and two movies for under $32.00! We will definitely be going again when they have two movies on the same screen that we want to see.

The Duck and the Devil

I'll tell you something: things happen strangely in my life. For example, Nicole and I will talk about something one day and the very next day, that exact thing that we were talking about will appear somewhere else. Well, after what I wrote yesterday, I happened upon this today:

The Duck & the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target.

Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved!

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes," but Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen."
Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.
Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Thought for the day and every day thereafter?
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done...and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)... whatever it is... You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

One of the many great things about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.

Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today. Share this with a friend and always remember: God is at the window!

When Jesus died on the cross, He was thinking of you!

Confession: Good for ... ?

People say that confession is good for the soul and the Bible tells us that God will forgive (and forget) our sins if we just confess them to him. Through Sunday morning's sermon, the Lord convicted me of a certain sin in my life that was preventing me from answering the call to a possible opportunity to serve Him and His Kingdom due to the fear of somebody finding out about it should I be chosen for this calling. You would simply not believe the amount of searching that I had done to find "justification" for this particular sin and had myself convinced that it was alright and not really a sin. The devil can be very sneaky in guiding you to any (mis)information that might help you think that a particular sin is right. Now that this sin is confessed and out of my life, I feel at peace with God once again and am free to serve him to the fullest of my ability.

Nicole and I also made a decision this weekend to begin getting into the Word and sincere prayer more often like we should. We have committed ourselves to two 15-minute (or longer) bible studies each day, one together and one individually. We both desire a closer walk with God and want increase our spiritual maturity.