Last Tuesday afternoon, I was heading up Hwy 183 towards Greenville with just one delivery left when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like a flat tire. I was on a two-lane country road with no place to pull off. I hadn’t gone a quarter of a mile when  gas station/ convenience store came in view, and I quickly pulled in. Trucks this size do not carry spares, so I tried to call my boss, then James, the guy who trained me. My boss finally called me back and had me go in the conveniece store to purchase fix-a-flat to see if that would work. I had to buy two cans, as one is for a car, a truck takes two. That did not work, so James had to come to my rescue. He was almost to the NC state line as he lives in NC, so it took him awhile to get there. We were able to get the tire off and take it down the road to a tire place to get a “new” used tire. The next day, Wednesday, we had Post Offices, and a busy day, and it was raining.  I was glad that I had had that flat tire on Tuesday afternoon, when we were slower and it was not raining. God is so good, even in the timing of our flat tires.  Also where we have them, as He provided a gas station right there for me to pull into.  I had driven for miles and miles with no gas station, before the tire went flat. God truly is good.

Tim

Speaking of workouts I started P90X, which is an extreme workout for 90 days that tones and shapes your body. It is not to get you in shape. You have to be in shape to start the program. My former roommate, Luke had P90X when I was rooming with him. I looked it over and they have a physical test to take to see if you are in shape enough to start the program. I could not pass it last year, but have been getting in shape for a year, and just passed the test. I bought these DVD’s off craigslist a couple of weeks ago and have been getting ready to start it this week. Last June I bought two thirty use passes to the Freemont Fitness Center on BJU, but in July I started working up in Richmond so I did not use them too much. The last two months I have been using them a lot and I just used them up on Saturday. God’s timing is perfect, as I started P90X on Monday. It’s about an hour workout six days a week, and its pretty intense. I am pretty sore right now. After a month, they change things up so your body does not plateau, but continues to get stronger. They do that for three months, each month changing things up, just when your body is getting used to things. I am also doing their nutrition plan. I have been eating healthy for the last five years, but not a balanced diet. So now I have a balanced, healthy diet.

God is good.

Tim

Wednesday I could not believe the decision that the Supreme Court handed down. They ruled in favor of the church that has been protesting at the military funerals, because the country is allowing gays to serve in the military. It is definitely one of the worst decisions that they have ever made. Like the man who had filed the case said, “They don’t have the sense that God gave a goat!” The first amendment was never meant to apply to situations like this. If these justices were attending a funeral I am sure they would not appreciate it if these protestors showed up. Wednesday night in our small group meeting as we were praying, I felt lead to bring my burden about this to the Lord. As I did, it was like a dam busting loose, and could not help it as I burst into tears. My heart was filled with so much emotion, as I have many relatives who are, or were in the military. (My nephew is in the army, my cousin has been in the Seals for over 20 years, my uncle served in Viet Nam as a Green Beret, my late grandfather served in all five branches of the military, [army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard] and his two brothers, my great-uncles, one served in the Korean War, and one made the ultimate sacrifice in WW II.) So it is easy for me to picture myself attending their funeral especially after I have already been a pall bearer at two veterans funerals. I can hear taps being played on the trumpet, and see the multiple gun salute as we honor those heroes for their brave service to our country. They served to protect our freedom, including the freedom of speech, that this church is now using against them. They deserve nothing but our respect but are getting just the opposite from this group. They hold signs that say “Thou shalt not kill.” The ESV translates that verse better, “Thou shalt not murder.” The note in my ESV Study bible says “this verb is never used in the OT of killing in war.” I wonder how this group explains verses like Ecc. 3:3 “There is a time to kill”. They also hold signs that say “Thank God for dead soldiers”. I wonder if they have read Ezek. 18: 32  “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God.” Then they curse themselves when they hold signs that say “God hates America.” My bible says God loves the world, and the last I checked, America is still part of the world. Yes, God hates the sin of homosexuality, but he loves the homosexual and hopes that they turn from their sin to Him. Even if this group would target only gay soldiers funerals, which they are not, it still would be wrong. Ecc. 3 says there is a time and a place for everything. A funeral is not the time nor the place to hold a protest against homosexual sin. Again, they would not be targeting the right person, because the friends and family of that gay soldier may very well be against that wickedness also. Forty-four states have set boundaries where they can protest, but they can still stand on public streets lining the route to the cemetery. This so-called church is doing more harm to the cause of Christ than good. God in his providence had me read Psalm 64 this morning. I will leave you with this Psalm without further comments on this subjuct except that I have added the bracketed words in black and the italics .

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;  preserve my life [and the men and women in the military] from dread of the enemy. Hide me [and the men and women in the military] from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, “Who can see them?”  They search out injustice, saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.” For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!

But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads. Then all mankind fears they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!           Ps. 64

God is still on the throne!

Tim

The guy that trained me is taking Monday off to go look for another job. They really need to put another route in the Upstate. They have only three people covering the whole Upstate Region. I cover Greer, Taylors, Greenville, Easley, Pickens, Clemson, Seneca, and everything in-between! That’s ten post offices (Greenville has four), that I cover. There are other post offices in this region, but those are the only ones that handle UPS, Fed-Ex, and Velocity. If the owner does not do something to make our routes do-able he is going to be losing his employees. In this economy he could easily find someone else, but then he has to train them, and all.

I would appreciate your prayers concerning this.

Wednesdays our church meets in our small groups called “Grace Groups”. We meet in different members homes. On the first and third Wednesdays, we all meet together, the second Wednesday the women meet, and the fourth the men. This was our first men’s meeting as we just all met together in January. It was a good bonding time as we went around and all shared about ourselves. We had two married men, and three singles, one married man did not make it. I’m really looking forward to meeting with them every month. With smaller groups you can get to know a person better and have more accountability, than big groups where everyone puts on a mask and you may not get to know what their struggles are. On the fifth Wednesday of the month, like in March, we have a special meeting at the church. We are having a dinner followed by a meeting in March.

The Lord is doing great things whereof I am glad.

Tim

Thursday afternoon, as I was driving I was getting so many phone calls from my cohorts, that I just put my phone in my lap instead of back in my pocket. At my next stop I jumped out of the truck, forgetting about my phone, and it fell in the parking lot at my drop in Pickens, SC. When I got to Greenville, about an hour or so later I could not find my phone. Since all my work numbers were in my phone I could not contact them. I just did my deliveries until 6 pm then went home. The next morning I went to the spot we had met the last two days. We had met a different place on Tuesday morning. When I got there, no one was there. If they had changed the meeting place I would have no idea where to go. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw my co-worker pulling in behind me. I told him I had lost my phone and he said they all thought I had quit since I was not answering any of their calls. I told him I would not do them like that. The first two days I was thinking of quitting, (I actually had another job interview), but I would give them notice if I did quit, and would not quit without having another job. They had picked up the guy who used to do my route, thinking I had quit, and were going to drive down to my place to pick up the truck.

That afternoon, I found my phone in the same place where I had dropped it near the loading dock at one of my stops. It had not been run-over, stolen, or anything, and still had a full charge. I was so grateful to the Lord for answering my prayer. (I do have insurance on my phone, and can get another one the next day for $50, but it would not have all the info that I have stored in it.)

Monday being a holiday will be lighter, since the post offices will be closed. So I should be able to get all of my deliveries off the truck that day, which will be a first. I have Tuesday also with no PO’s so if I don’t happen to get them all off on Monday, I have Tuesday. I have been doing the best I can, but learning this new system takes time. I am doing better on the system every day, as I learn new things about it.

Although this job has been stressful, I am thankful to have a full-time job. I am so thankful that in the midst of all the turmoil and stress, God gives us peace.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”                                                                 John 16:33

Tim

My job with JGR is now over as the Lord has provided a full time job for me. I start on Monday, February 14. It was exactly two years ago, Valentines Day that I last worked for my former boss at DHL. Feb 14 was on a Saturday that year and we finished with DHL on Friday, but our boss paid a number of us to ride down to Augusta, GA on Saturday to drive back the few remaining cargo vans that he had down there. My boss had bought the Augusta contract for DHL a couple of years earier and brought the vans up here with all his other vehicles to sell them off.

I will be working for Velocity Express, a delivery company delivering office products, clothes, etc., to businesses and homes, and also make stops at post offices on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. At DHL we had deliveries and pickup at the post office, so I am familiar with that. In fact the post offices have the scanners that we had at DHL. DHL must have sold them to the PO because they did not have those scanners two years ago. The contractor that I will work for used to be a contractor for DHL up in NC, and has the contract for Velocity Express in Western, NC, the metro Charlotte area, and the Upstate of SC. Most of his employees are former DHL employees that worked for him in NC. Three of us will cover all of the Upstate of SC, and I will have the Greenville and surrounding area. I will find out by Monday exactly what areas I will cover as they are rearranging the areas. I will have a 14′ box truck (most of the employees have cargo vans) that I will deliver in and will drive the vehicle home at night. When we finish delivering we just drive home at night, we don’t have to go get our pickups off the truck. The only pickups we do are at the post offices on MWF and we just leave them on our trucks overnight and in the morning when we pick up our freight we take them off. We will probably pick up our freight in Spartanburg in the mornings. I will have a black uniform (polo shirt and coat) and a gas card. This job will be Monday through Friday 8 to 5. It’s been two years since I had a full-time job and twenty years since I’ve worked an 8 – 5  job! If I finish delivering at 3 then I’m off the rest of the day. We get paid salary, not hourly, every other week. I am really looking forward to this job. It will be a lot like the DHL job for those of us who worked on Saturdays. On Saturdays at DHL we did not have “service”, that is times when the parcels had to be delivered. M – F we had service times of 10:30, 12:00, 3:00 and 5:00. So that will take a lot of stress off of this job as we can just run our route straight through. With DHL we had to first run the route getting the 10:30′s off, then the 12:00′s then the 3′s and 5′s. We could get afternoon pieces off early (in the morning), but we had to avoid getting anything off late, as we would hear about it from our boss. So this should be less stressful, but still be challenging. The three days that I trained this week we were struggling to get all the freight in the cargo van. At the post offices we deliver parcels, but we also pick up packages, and we deliver big boxes to Peebles, but we have to pick up their empty totes (big plastic boxes that they return to their warehouse to reuse).

The Lord has been so wonderful in supplying all my needs these two years. Although there have been some stressful times when I wondered how I was going to make it, He always came through. He used many of you to help me in many ways: provide meals, work, gifts, money and prayers to help keep me alive these two years. I’m in tears as I blog this as I so grateful for all the support that all of you have done for me. A simple thank you seems so inadequate. I will forever be indebted to you for helping me in my time of need. This has made me more sensitive to others going through tough times. I will definitely pay it forward (help others with needs). If I can ever do anything to help any of you out please let me know. I’m not just saying that. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I love these words by David:

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously,and his children become a blessing. Ps. 37:23-36

Tim

Monday and Tuesday I had runs to Four Oaks, and then headed home as that job has finished up.

Thursday I had a run to Durham, and  am scheduled to have a run to Raleigh on Monday.

On Friday I took my car to a shop to get the timing belt replaced. It ended up also needing a new water pump, thermostat and a pulley. I bought the extra parts and they got the car running but then I did not have enough to cover all the labor. So I cannot  pick the car up until next week, when I get extra money. My parents gave me money to cover the car repairs and are sending the extra also. It will be nice to get my car back.

It is very hard to be struggling with this situation for two years now. Especially when I hear local government employees who got paid to sit home during the snow days. I just wish I could get paid to work full-time. I continue to trust the Lord to meet my needs.

Tim

A funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago, that I just figured out this week. In mid December, when we started working again, I tried to put my flags in the flag holders on my truck, but they would not go down all the way. I thought someone had stuck a rock in the bottom of each one. If I had used them like that, the flags would have blown out. So I went without them for a couple of weeks. This last Wednesday, when we had that really wide load (14′ 7″), I tried the flags again and they went all they way down and when they did they displaced some rain water. Then it hit me. It had been real cold before and that rain water had frozen in the bottom of my flag holders preventing my flags from going down all they way! It is good to know that no one was trying to sabotage my truck!

I asked my boss and he is letting me use my company vehicle this weekend for my personal use, as my vehicle still needs to be repaired. Leonard had let me use his spare vehicle for a number of weeks, until the starter went out on that car. I would appreciate your prayers for me that I would get my vehicle fixed. I’ve been without it since the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

When I was at the Engroos’ for Christmas dinner, one of their daughters and son-in-laws gave me a Christmas card with a $30 gift card from Wal-Mart. When I told her thank you, she said it wasn’t much, but to me that was huge, as I am trying to make ends meet!  The Lord continues to supply my every need.

We have such a great God.

Tim

 Tuesday I met my load in Charlotte at Metromont and took him to Four Oaks, then went south on I-95 to SC where I picked up another load and took him up to Four Oaks.

After spending the night in SC near our staging area on I-95 I took one load up to Four Oaks on Wednesday. But I soon found out this was to be one of those days. When I came back down, I had to wait a couple of hours for my next run. When the driver arrived, he was going in to use the restroom, so I decided to also. I locked my truck, then realized my keys were still inside my truck! I called AAA, but they were going to charge me $40 since I have used up all my free service trips (and I still have 10 months till my card expires!) I called my boss and he called the maintenance manager who called me to have someone come out. About forty minutes later, after he got my truck opened, I went to pay him with the company credit card. Then he told me he only takes cash! So I had to call JGR to get a com-check. (That’s an electonic check your company sends to a truck stop).  So I did that and cashed it to give the man the money. So that whole thing took over an hour. I gave up my run to another escort, since I had to wait anyways. On my way back from my second run, an accident backed up traffic on the I-95, and it took me 30 minutes to go 7 miles.

When I finally got back to my exit in SC, a fire truck went by with sirens and lights flashing. He pulled across the road, blocking traffic with a lot of police cars. A semi-truck trying to pull into our motel caught the power lines on his rig and brought down two power poles. One fell on a pickup. Only two businesses lost power: the restaurant next to my motel and my motel. I could not even drive to my motel; I had to park in back of a gas station overnight (with their permission). The motel gave us four small candles to see in our rooms, but we spent the night with no power or heat. The lack of heat did not bother me as I like a cold room, but I bring an extra blanket.   When I finally got in my room after such a hectic day a verse came to mind. “ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV) I’ve been reading through John 14-17. It’s nice to know that amid  all the turmoil of our lives we can still find peace.

Another year has come to a close. This has been a good year in many ways. I worked more than I did the year before. In 2009 I was out of work for five months, but was collecting unemployment during that time. This year, even though I was employed all year, I did not work for over three months, and did not collect unemployment during that time. Yet in spite of that, I still made about a third more than I did last year!

Many of you have helped to support me in various ways throughout the year and I am truly thankful for your generosity. I spent four months up in the Richmond area, and got reconnected with friends in the Newport News Area. I chauffered a wedding and a party.  I found a different chiropractor who got me in good physical condition. I climbed the highest mountain in SC and  I ran a 5K. Our family got together in early December and had a good family time. This has been a blessed year!

God is truly good!

Tim

Monday night I got a call from Leonard that he and his wife and I are invited to eat Christmas dinner at Charles and Ann Engroos’ house. Until then I wasn’t feeling any Christmas joy as I did not have any plans for Christmas day. That really has put me in the Christmas spirit.

I received another exciting call that day also! A deacon from my church called me to let me know that the church would be able to give me some help with my rent. He also wants to go out to breakfast with me in the near future to see what other needs the church can help me with. I’m speechless.

I must admit before I got those two calls I was feeling down. Now  I have the money to pay my rent and am making enough money to be able to pay next month’s rent on time. This is such a blessing. Also knowing that people care enough to minister to my needs both monetarily and socially is such a huge blessing. Now I am actually looking forward to Christmas. It’s not the gifts that count so much as it is having people to fellowship with around a good meal. I’ve been waiting on the Lord for so long and He has come through for me in a tremendous way. Sometimes it is hard to trust in Him day after day when you see no hope on the horizon, yet He comes through as only He can.

Glory to God, and on earth, Peace, Goodwill to men!

Tim