Out of the Wilderness

The Reawakening: Part 12

The subtitle to this post is “Worth more than many sparrows,” because that’s exactly how God feels about each of us. Even in our most scary moments, maybe especially in our most scary moments, we can exhale knowing that He knows what we need and He will do it. He will. If he takes care of the birds, he’ll take care of me and you, because we’re much more valuable than birds!
You may be reading this with a skeptical or unbelieving heart. Maybe you’re a Christian and maybe you’re not. That’s OK. God’s concern includes everyone; you, me, them, us, her, him, even…that one. You know the one. That guy or girl who’s so unlikeable or annoying.
I’ve learned along the way that sometimes I’m that one.

But anyway, that’s another post for another time. Or just ask my siblings, they’ll tell you how annoying I can be! I like knowing that this one little human in Nashville is important to someone so big. A good comparison is a nationally-recognized, respected, winning coach looking over to his player sitting on the end of the bench, and giving him a nod that says, “Hey, I’m glad you’re on the team. We wouldn’t be the same without you and come Hell or high water, I will look out for you as a member of my team.” Feels good, right?

Well, moving right along, and tying this all together with my Reawakening series, I’m calling today Day 1 since my generous severance package from CMT ended yesterday. I should be nervous. I should panic a little. I should be losing sleep because I don’t have a full-time job. But I’m not. I won’t. And I haven’t. Because the more I read in the Bible, and as each day passes, I learn and see that I’m worth more than many sparrows. And I like that. So why would I worry? Why would I be nervous? This morning I came across the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.

“Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”

Having health insurance is important, taking care of myself and my dogs is important, finding work I can thrive doing is important. But it seems that what’s also important is trusting God to take care of me. I think I can do that today, on Day 1. Seems simple enough, and a great reason to sing like a bird.

-Out of the Wilderness

I met her at a thrift store

The her in this story is somewhat of a stretch. Let me explain, I found this mannequin at ThriftSmart yesterday. Unlike my dates with real girls, I took her home. She’s being awfully quiet but I guess I shouldn’t expect much. No girl that lives in my house has every said a single word.

-Out of the Wilderness

The XYZ Files

I woke up with this blog title in my head last night. Obviously, it’s related to The X Files, but then it gets goofy. These special agents love aliens and spelling. I was going to make a spoof video where Mulder would say, “I think I’ve found one. It looks like it’s from another galaxy. G-a-l-a-x-y. Galaxy.” Oh, those silly FBI agents!

-Out of the Wilderness

Instead of watching a movie… I did this

Do you ever have those days where you say to yourself, “I think it’s time we show ah face at the local theatah.” Obviously you’d have a British accent, right? Sunday was one of those days because my fantasy team was tanking. Plus, Sunday Night Football was the Cowboys versus the Saints #whodatwhocares.

But the more I thought about it, the idea of sitting in a theater for 2 hours had the appeal of throwing a Mary Kay party so I came up with a plan.

Instead of going to the theater, I made a list of all the things I could do in the time I would’ve been away from home. Without further explanation, here is what I accomplished in exactly 3 hours:

♦ Fed my dogs
♦ did 105 push ups
♦ 1 load of laundry
♦ Wrote and posted this blog
♦ 1 phone call to my friend Travis in Florida
♦ Fed 2 other dogs staying with me, thanks to Rover.com
♦ Worked on editing a documentary trailer
♦ Read more of Scary Close by Donald Miller
♦ Made 2 delicious vegetarian grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner

All in all, I’m very happy with my decision to not go to the movies. And I have nothing against Mary Kay… its just, no.

-Out of the Wilderness

6 Best “Can’t Feel My Face” Parodies or Performances

By now you’ve heard the hit song by The Weeknd(not a misspelling), it’s Can’t Feel My Face. But have you seen these clever renditions of the song?

My favorite is this one, featuring President Barack Obama:

Then there are a couple from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, first one features Tom Cruise:

and the next features Black Simon & Garfunkle:

Then, getting to actual parodies, there’s the one from the dentist’s office:

The next is a mom celebrating her son returning to school:

And then a literal take on the song: