Resolutions Smesaloutions

You make New Years resolutions?  You keep them?  Good for you... I don't.  I became sick and tired of making the same old resolutions year after year only to break them quicker and quicker with every year.  However, last year I made a resolution that I kept to myself.  I didn't even tell my wife about this resolution.  Now on the eve of 2012 I can say that I successfully kept my 2011 resolution.  My resolution 364 days ago was not to have a bad day in 2011.  2011 was not the greatest year, in fact, a lot of bad things happened to me in 2011.  But, in the whole year not once did I say "I'm having a bad day". 

Did I have frustrating days where things didn't go my way?  Of course.  Were there periods of time in the past year where my family and I were struggling?  Absolutely.  But, everyday is a day that God has created and planned specifically  for us so how can it be bad day? 

I plan on doing this again in 2012.  I will not have a bad day in 2012, no matter what comes my way. 

No matter what stress, frustration, and struggles I will encounter in 2012 I will thank God for what he is doing in my life. 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
                                                                                                              Gal 2:20

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 
                                        Gal. 5:1

Playin' in the Rain!

How do I react?

I wasn't sleeping particularly well Sunday night.  I would catch a few winks here and there but mostly I just rolled around the bed to find just the right position in which I would fall into a deep slumber.  That never happened.  In the middle of my tossing and turning my phone lit-up and that's when I saw the CNN app on my phone alert me that Osama (or Usama depending on which network you watch) Bin Laden had been discovered and killed.  Knowing that there was no way I would be getting sleep at this point, I turned on the news. 

I have to be honest, my first reaction was pleasure.  I was glad that such a horrible man was dead.  This man's death somehow made me feel a little safer.  This man's death brought me pleasure.  Apparently I wasn't the only one with this reaction.  I watched as thousands of Americans flooded Time Square, ground zero, The White House, West Point, etc.  The celebration that went on for hours resembled that of a city in which it's football team had won the Super Bowl.  They were mostly young people with plenty of beers in hands (way to go America).  I was watching the party in the streets for about 15 minuets when I started getting a feeling that something was not right. Something didn't feel right about celebrating a man's death the way that we were.  I immediately regretted my initial reaction and began to wonder, "How am I supposed to react?" 

Later the next day I got my answer.  I wish I could tell you that I immediately got out my Bible, got on my knees and began to seek God.  I didn't.  My answer came via a tweet from Rick Warren: "I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.  I only want them to turn from wicked ways so they may live" Ezekiel 33:11".  This is in the Bible, these are literally God's words!

 So, as I think back to those thousands of people praising bin Laden's death, I think to myself "those are thousands of people who don't get it."  If you recall my initial reaction, I would be included with those who don't get it.  It is now that I am realizing that there is more to life on this earth than selfish gratifications.

I am blessed to be unemployed right now.  Go ahead, you can re-read that if you like.  I said I am blessed to be unemployed right now.  What good does it do me to worry?  My God is bigger than that.  Somehow (which is no doubt God) my bills are paid and I have money in the bank.  Yet I have not worked in over a month.  And when I did work it was for only 4 weeks.  Before that, I have been unemployed since Oct. 2010.  So why do I consider it a blessing to be unemployed?  I was sitting on the couch this afternoon watching TV when I had a God moment.  "What am I doing?  I know I will be getting a job soon" (this is not just confidence, there is something in the works with an engineering firm in Atlanta).  "Why don't I take this time to do something to advance His kingdom?"  So I did.  I feel like I get it again.  We are not on this earth to sit around and watch TV while others never experience the love of Jesus Christ. 

If you pay attention to the words of many old gospel hymns, it's all about getting into heaven.  I think somewhere along the lines the message was lost.  Don't get me wrong, getting into heaven is a big deal.  But really...that's the easy part.  The hard part is living like Jesus.  Loving like Jesus.  Telling others about Jesus.  I think many Christians will accept Christ, get their ticket, then sit in the terminal until they are called to board the plane. But I also see a new generation of Christians.  Those who accept Christ and continue to pursue his heart...I love that.  I want to be a part of that generation of Christians. 

SafeHouse

Last night I had the privilege of  serving at Safe House in Atlanta.  It is a ministry our church is involved in where on the 4th Tuesday of every month we feed about 300 homeless men and women.  When I say feed, yes we provide sandwich's, chips, a soda, and a candy bar.  But more importantly, we feed them the Word.  I don't say this to brag on myself.  The truth is, I always get more out of going down there then what I'm giving. 

Lately I have needed a lesson in love.  It is so easy to pass by a homeless person (or any person) and think to yourself how the situation they are in is their own fault and they should have made better decisions in life. I'm gonna be completely transparent here.  I would thank God that I was not like those people.  That's not the Jesus way.  Humbling is not the word to describe how I feel when I serve homeless people.  When I say privileged, I truly mean it.  Serving those men and women bring me closer to God every time.  It reminds me that we are not here to accumulate stuff, achievements, titles, etc.  We are here to share the love of Jesus.  Plain and simple. 

Experience Safe House on a Tuesday night, and I guarantee you will find a stronger presence of God there than wherever it is you are on Sunday morning.  Not to put down my church or anyone else's, but this is how Jesus did church.  Unplanned, unscripted, and un-produced.  

One of my favorite parts about Safe House is after the worship, the word, and passing out the food , we get to go out into the parking lot and love on those who came to hear God's word.  Most of the time they share their stories with us and ask for more food.  Last night something different happened though.  One of our Pastor's, Keith, was there with his son Blake who is about 10 years old.  Blake has many allergies and has a severe eczema condition that affects his entire body.  As we were about to load-up and head home a gentleman stopped us and wanted us to all hold hands and join him in prayer.  Just as I thought we were about to get his story, he asked Blake to stand in the middle of our circle.  This man prayed for Blake's healing and delivered a word with such intensity that I was convinced we were about to see a miracle right before our eyes.  We came to serve him, a 53 year old homeless man but in the end, he ended up blessing everyone of us.  This guy was oozing Jesus, I LOVED it! 

It's 2011 People!

Recently I had something happen to me that made me think, "why does this always happen?"  It's 2011 for crying out loud!  With technology as advanced as it is, why do we have to endure so many unfortunate inconveniences?  What am I talking about, you ask. Have you seen that Coca-Cola Commercial (<----Click the link to see the commercial) where the guy asks;" It's 2010, shouldn't we have a time machine now?"  THAT's what I'm talking about.  I have created a list of things that, I think, should be a thing of the past.   Here is my list:

It's 2011:
1) Why has no one invented squeeze bottles that DON'T fart when you near the end. 
     It's always nice to be the new boyfriend/girlfriend at a family cook-out.  You're already as nervous as you
     can be.  Then the ketchup bottle your squeezing rips a big one.  You know you just squeezed the
     ketchup, but everyone else is thinking you cut the mustard. 
2)  Why is Tyler Perry still making TV shows and Movies?  Does anyone think this guy is funny? Yeah,
      I know he's a great humanitarian.  But maybe that's what he should be known for, not Madea or The
      Brown's.  I cringe when I see commercials for that stuff.
3)  Why can't gas tanks be on the same side of all cars?  Have you ever had to fill up a new car or a
       friends car for the first time and after you finally find a vacant pump you realize the tank is on
       the opposite side?  Ugh!! 
4)  Why do we still need mailbox's?  Does anyone reading this not do on-line billing.  Heck, we can even
       send electronic greeting cards.  The only service a mailbox serves is receiving unsolicited advertisement. 
       Who needs that?
5)  Why do public restrooms continue to remain disgusting?  Shouldn't there be self-cleaning toilets by
       now?
6)  Why do movie theater's still exist?  It's not just the cost of going to the movies that get me.  It's the
       inconvenience.  Annoying teenagers, constant coughing and snorting, sharing an armrest with a stranger,
       who needs it.  Hollywood should start streaming new releases so that people can enjoy movies in the
       comfort of their own home (also avoiding #5 on the list).   
7)  Why are we still using gasoline?  Seriously, why are we not driving cars that run off of water now?   
8)  Why do we still use voicemail?  Don't make me check voice mail, send me a text.  So much
       easier. (also, why is there an option on voice mail to "send a page"?)
9)  Why is there no actual "chill pill" yet?
10)  Why are we still physically turning off lights?  How about a voice activated Clapper.
11)  Why is there still one-ply toilet paper?  No additional comment. 
12)  Why are physicals still done in the intrusive way they are?  Is there not a better way to "examine"
       me by now?
13)  Why can't we have one type of screw and screw driver?  It seems whenever I have my phillips head I need my flat head and whenever I need my flathead I need my phillips head.  Annoying!

I know 13 is kind of an odd number for a list, but there you have it. 

What would you add to the list?

Ya Get it?

Hoof Hearted?  That's kind of a weird name for a blog isn't it?  Well maybe you're still a little confused.  Say it out loud (maybe 2 or 3 times), go ahead...I'll give you a minute.  Get it now?  Good.  I hope you got a laugh, and I hope every time you come back you get a little chuckle.  Let's be honest here, no matter your age or level of sophistication...fart jokes are still, and always will be, funny.

Ok, now that I've got that out of my system...Welcome to my blog!  I don't really know what I'm doing here; I have no theme to my blog, I don't have anything specific to blog about (at this point).  I guess it's just something to do to keep me busy.  You see, I have had a little bit of time on my hands lately being unemployed.  Maybe deep down, I think some random someone will stumble upon here and discover that I would be a perfect fit as a writer for SNL (Lord knows they need one).  I recently deactivated my facebook account. So maybe this is some way of still having a social networking activity (although I do have a twitter account that I am trying to learn....follow me, @adamemmett).  Maybe my wife will read this from time to time and think, "Hmmm, he's still a pretty funny guy." 

I don't think, though, I want this to be all about humor.   Although, I do have some pretty random thoughts that might make for a good laugh.  I hope that maybe through this blog that I will work out some creative bug inside me and that I will learn something about myself through writing that otherwise I never would have known. 

What kind of topics can you expect to see here?  Well, now that Alaina (my 20 month old) is talking quite a bit, I may have a 'What did Alaina say now?' segment.  Sarah (my wife) may be featured as a subject matter from time to time.  I may decide to get a little "churchy" sometimes (if you're going to follow my blog regularly, I would recommend reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson.  That's probably where my "churchy" side will come from).  Rants; music rants, celebrity rants, media rants, (don't worry if Glen Beck just came to mind.  It won't be like that). 

Again, I really don't know what this  blog will hold.  If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear.

Ok, pretend it has been 20 minutes since you read that last sentence.  Because, that's how long I have been thinking about publishing this or not.  I'm just gonna do it.  For some reason I was under the impression that your first blog should be some eloquent piece of literature that would be worthy of a Pulitzer nomination.  Well, this ain't no Pulitzer Prize winning piece.  This is me just slapping down some thoughts and observations that come my way.  I hope at least someone is either entertained, enlightened or intrigued.  There...I got my first one out of the way.  It can only get better from here, right?