Pastor Jacob Fields: Blog challenge

Showing posts with label Blog challenge. Show all posts

Monday, August 19, 2013

Day 30 - Next 30 Days

Day 30 – Next 30 Days

I have taken a Blog Challenge to blog daily for 30 days mostly about myself so that you and others can get to know me a bit better. Tell a friend about www.jacobfields.org this month, or like and interact with me on my Facebook ministry page at Facebook.com/Jacobwfields

First let me start by saying that I completed the challenge list but not by posting daily for 30 days. I am so glad to be done. Hopefully you feel like you know me a bit better.

My goals for the next 30 days will definitely not include blogging daily.

Successfully get started with seminary classes
Launch fall programming and increase attendance for youth events over last year.
Continue my challenge of building an audience of 3,000 people in one year or less

Days into challenge: 23 Current Audience: 139

Days to go: 342

As Always thanks for your time and giving this a read. If you enjoyed it share it with friends, you can do so easily with one of the buttons below. I pray that you will embrace life in the Love and Grace offered to you through Jesus Christ, and that you will always remember Jeremiah 29:11. – For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Plans to Proper You and not for harm, Plans with Hope for the Future.

Day 29 - Dinner Party

Day 29 – 10 people throughout history over for dinner

Now, respecting the guests of this figurative dinner table I would have to have a ground rule that I controlled the topics and flow of conversation, not so that I could dominate it but simply to establish some form of order because they would all have so very much to say. (we will also assume that they are all miraculously speaking English for the evening)

Jesus – God himself
The Apostle Paul – Dude could preach
Saint Peter – Walked on water/ first bishop of Rome
John Wesley – Anglican Priest/ instigator of the Methodist movement
Martin Luther King Jr – Civil Rights Movement
King David - Great King of the bible
My Wife – I just love that girl and want her to be there
Ghandi - Lead peaceful resistance in India against British Empire
Sun Tsu – Author of “The Art of War”
Catherine II – Empress of Russia 1762-1796

Day 28 - Something I miss

Day 28 – Something I miss

I miss Abilene.

Not because of the town but because of my experiences during my time there. I miss the community that I had around McMurry University and FUMC Abilene. I miss getting to learn about from Tim Palmer on a regular basis. I miss going out dancing with Kim, so what if I can barely 2 step and get really confused on half step, I loved dancing with her. I miss going bowling with Stephanie and DJ. I miss playing worship music with Jason Owens, and the awesome experience of being paid for worshiping God.

But instead of looking back to what was I like to focus on what can be great about now, or the future. I like what God is doing around the Lake Cities. I look forward to being a part of the Perkins community as I start Seminary. I Love watching my son grow.

One thing I hope to never miss = Today

Day 27 - I have a problem

Day 27 – A problem I have

I have a lot of problems let’s be honest, and no I’m not in a math class. My problems are many and deep, but they are not the worst problems or the most of anyone. I do my best to not let my problems affect my life but at times they do, otherwise they would not be a problem. My primary problem is rooted in the abandonment issues from my biological father not being a part of my life and the man I called dad committing suicide when I was in second grade. This circumstance lead me constantly to tell myself that I had to be better than I was/am in order to be loved, and that if I let someone down that they would leave and I would be alone.

So because I am so afraid of letting people down, I am not good at saying no. I am also not good at asking a question that I think “no” is the likely answer. Basically I am a people pleaser to a fault. I will too often avoid conflict. I often give some things more attention than they deserve at the cost of attention to things that actually need more attention.

I am working on it. Pray for me.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Day 26 - If I Had A Million Dollars

Day 26 – If I had A Million Dollars

If I received $1,000,000 after tax how would I use it?

First and Very first I would tithe $100,000 to my current church.

I would use another $150,000 to pay off my house my car and the remainder of student loans and set the rest aside to pay for Seminary expenses.

So already after $250,000 spent so far I will have reduced my monthly living expenses by over $1,000 so I would really have no need to buy any cool little extras with the Million.

I would take the other $750,000 and set up a trust fund that would yield about 10% ($75,000/year) allowing my wife to never have to work again.

But what you’re interested in are the details of how it would change life, and the reality is that I would continue working and my wife would probably at least work part time once our children are in school.

So let’s look at life 10 years after this point assuming that I bring in $30k/year (I work for churches) and my wife only $15k/year part time. We bring in 45k and the trust is bringing in 75k so our total income is $120,000 or $10,000/month.

The monthly budget would look like this:

Housing (tax/insurance only) - $350

Utilities (electric, gas, water, trash) - $250

Transportation - $200

Food - $500

Entertainment (cable, movies, outings) - $200

Health (insurance, gym memberships, medicine/vitamins) - $1000

Tithe - $1,000

Miscellaneous - $250

Wait that’s only $3750, which is what 45k turns out to monthly. So I guess the rest is to be put either back to the principal of the trust so that it returns even more for future expenses or in savings toward things like building a nice deck, or remodeling our kitchen. While we are at it I might as well pay off my mom’s house with some of that extra.

*Some people have told me that expecting 10% return is unrealistic and not possible. I am aware of mutual funds that average greater than 10%yield, in fact I manage a faux mutual fund in a game and the fund I manage is up 15%.

Day 25 - Someone Who Fascinates Me

Day 25 – Someone Who Fascinates Me

George Wesley Fields – My Son

It is quite amazing to watch as this little human being, who is part me, discovers the world around him. Everything he finds fascinating I wonder why. Everything that makes him happy I want to give him. Everything that makes him sad I sympathize with. I never thought that I would hope for such small things as I do for him. I never thought that I would worry about such small things as I do for him. I want the absolute best for my son and I find his life extremely interesting.

I am so glad I get to watch you grow little man.

Day 24 - Favorite Movie

Day 24 – Favorite Movie

Cinderella Man – it is a movie set in the depression era that follows a boxer who is at the end of his career and struggling to get by and finds new motivation to rise to the top.

Day 22 - A lot has changed in 2 years

Day 22 – Change over past 2 years

There has been quite a bit of significant change in my life over the past two years and it has been an amazing ride. Here is a very simple explanation of all that has changed.

I worked at Preston Hollow UMC

I went to Russia for the first time.

While at Preston Hollow the Senior Pastor underwent quadruple bypass surgery so I got to fill in for him in the pulpit for 4 weeks, make hospital visits, and handle administrative responsibilities.

My wife and I got pregnant, but after 6 ½ weeks the baby’s heart stopped beating.

My wife and I got pregnant again.

My car got broken into while I was on a mission trip and my golf clubs were stolen.

I accepted the youth ministry position at Lake Cities UMC

I took a second job waiting tables to make up for a lower salary

My wife got her Physical Therapist Assistant License

My wife began working at Sandy Lake Rehab

We bought our first house

I officially declared as a candidate for ministry

I stopped working the second job.

We welcomed to this world a wonderful baby boy on January 3^rd George Wesley Fields

I became a Certified Candidate for ministry as an Elder in The United Methodist Church

We went to Disney World for the first time.

We got a new car

I applied to Perkins for Seminary, was accepted and have registered for classes.

I got my own website where you are now reading this J

I feel like I am leaving quite a bit of really cool stuff out even in a list this full. I trust that God will continue to shape my life in really great ways.

Day 23 - Five Celebrity Crushes

Day 23 – Five Celebrity Crushes

I really don’t know if I want to do this one. But for the sake of transparency and so that you can feel like you know even the little things about me here it goes.

Anna Kendrick
Jenifer Aniston
Rachel McAdams
Anne Hathaway
Jessica Alba

Day 21 - Favorite TV Show

Day 21 – Favorite TV Show

My favorite T.V. Show is Big Bang Theory. My wife cracks up when Sheldon laughs more so than almost anything else and anything that can make my wife laugh like that has a special place in my heart. We typically watch it on nights when we are both home for dinner at a reasonable hour, which unfortunately isn’t very often lately.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Day 20 – Importance of Education

Education is the single greatest factor that will determine your life’s income potential. Education is therefore of the utmost importance.

Don’t get me wrong, a 4-year education is not the right choice for all people. For many they would be better off with a trade certification or license that can be obtained through your local community college in a year or two with $0 in debt.

Always Educate – there is a basic level of knowledge that we all need and hopefully that is available through public school. Beyond that basic level it is up to you to choose what you learn and who you learn from, but all along the way take it upon yourself to pour out your new knowledge into others who also wish to learn. Learning and Teaching should be a natural process in life. Learn from everything and everyone around you.

We as a public and people need to be willing to fund a quality education for all. I am regularly upset that we regularly will vote to raise a tax to build a stadium but will not entertain the thought for the future of children across the country or even just our home town.

Day 19 – Biggest Regret

Je ne regret rien. That’s French for “I regret nothing.”

Life is difficult at times and life is glorious at times. Sometimes my actions are not the smartest choices but they happened and they have shaped my life and the lives of the people around me. I can’t hold things against myself and move in a forward direction. I focus on the cross of Christ not my sin. The God who redeemed my sins, is in the midst of redeeming all things and making them new. I would much rather watch and be a part of that beauty than to do anything else.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Day 18 – A book I won’t get tired of

There is only one book in the world that I could read over and over again and never get tired of. It is a book that is always applicable to life and transforms based on the situation in life I find myself. This book is life giving and full of wisdom. This book will help you understand the way the world works.

Are you ready for what it is?

The Holy Bible.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Day 17 – High and Low of the Year

My High point of the Year was becoming a dad. I am so in love with my son that it isn’t even funny. I became a dad on January 3^rd at 3:22 AM. There is nothing more peaceful than laying back in a recliner with your son asleep on your chest. I have also gained a better understanding of how God loves me. It changed my whole perspective on communication and why parents are the way they are. I love that it forced me to figure some things out that I mention in my low point.

My Low point of the year (in the last 12 months) was not being prepared for the emotions and deep seeded issues that becoming a dad would bring to the surface for me. When George would cry I would get angry, and I didn’t understand why. I did understand that it had to do with more than just being tired, that’s just got to be the new reality for a while. I took his cry as me being a failure as a dad, which sounds ridiculous but it is what was happening. When he would cry I would feel like I was not meeting his needs. And I would try my best and sometimes I just couldn’t get him to stop crying and that would make me frustrated. I would need to take a moment to collect myself but I would feel guilty and not take that moment for fear of being an absent father like my biological father Mark Wesley Thompson was. The crying would continue and so would my frustration. No one told me that my relationship or lack thereof with my father would show up in my relationship with my son. Since becoming aware of that things have gotten significantly better. I do have to keep reminding myself though that I am not the perfect dad nor will I be. I have to accept that he has needs that I cannot meet. I have to accept and be grateful for all the help I can get in raising my son from his mom, from his family, from the church, and most of all from God.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Day 16 – Mainstream Music

I personally like to listen to all kinds of music. I encourage responsible music listening to all people yet I think most people do not realize the message that is in many of the songs they sing along with in the car. I think parents should take caution with what their kids listen to, however if they don’t they should not be at all surprised by words or topics that come out of the child’s mouth.

Getting to know me - 15 Facts About Me on Day 15

Day 15 – 15 Facts About Me

I Live with my wonderful wife Kim, our son George (6 months old) and our dog Daxton in Lake Dallas Texas.
I work as a Youth Director at Lake Cities UMC
I play Bass Guitar, I learned it by playing in praise band as a youth and during college. (I have a regular guitar too but I am not so good at it)
I have a Bachelors Degree in Business from McMurry University in Abilene with a Minor in Religion
I started my first business when I was 8 years old and have started at least 4 different little businesses, all of which became profitable and none of which I cared to continue doing after a bit.
I married my second girlfriend ever.
I have an awesome sense of direction and can usually get somewhere without a map.
I began the habit of tithing at the age of 16 when I got my first job.
I am too busy to be the friend that I would like to be or have, but they know if they need me I am willing to drop everything to help them, and I have.
I am a people pleaser to a fault and I am constantly worried I am letting people down.
I don't like reading because I am slow at it, so when I do read it is always for information and not to enjoy a story, that's what movies are for.
I visited Auschwitz with my wife on our honeymoon
I had a Pole Vaulting accident on Ash Wednesday of my Sr. Year of high school, and wanted to go to the hospital after church.
I tell a lot of jokes, they aren't funny
My birthday is June 5th 1987

Getting To Know Me - Earliest Memory Day 14

Day 14 – My Earliest Memory

I have been told that it is impossible to have memories before a certain age and that any memory before that is a manipulation of a story that I have been told about myself that my mind forgets the source and so will it takes ownership as if the memory comes from my own perception.

I’m not a neuroscientist or a psychologist so I will just go ahead and assume they are right but for this purpose lets go with the story of how I got a knot in my head when I was about 4.

It was in our apartment in Auburn Washington around 1991. My brother Josh and I were hanging out in our room shortly after we had finished bathing. We had some really cool stuffed animals; we had our favorites and others that we played a little rougher with. On this day we were particularly excited about our stuffed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their awesome ninja skills. So we began throwing them in the air and soon discovered that we could actually, if we threw hard enough, make them hit the ceiling. So here we are tossing our TMNT stuffed animals all the way to the ceiling as if they made it there because of who they were and not because of the force we were putting behind them.

It just so happens that a 4 and 5 year old boys (at least my brother and I at the time) do not notice simple things that can be broken, for example the light fixtures. Well it turns out that you don’t have to be aware you can break something to really do damage to it. My little Michelangelo head butted that light fixture just right to break off a corner of it and here comes the slow motion cinematics.

I am looking straight up as this piece of glass is coming straight down at me. I notice my brother quickly jump out of the way and onto our bunk beds, so I have figured out that something bad just happened and something worse is could happen at any moment. From what I am seeing at the moment my guess is it has to do with the glass piece and my head. Now I don’t remember exactly what happened next and it’s probably a good thing. I don’t know if mom n dad came running because of the scream or if Josh went and got them. I don’t remember how I got in the bathroom but I think my dad carried me. The next thing I remember is my mom dad and brother with me in the bathroom, and I am crying. They keep telling me to hold still so they can help me. I turn to face the mirror and see a significant piece of glass from the light fixture wedged into my forehead like an upside down triangle. I don’t remember much after that either but I know they got it out and I didn’t even have to go to the hospital.

For years I could always feel the spot on my forehead that had healed; now it takes some searching but you can still feel it. I have many great memories from my childhood and I look forward to sharing more in the futre.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Getting to Know me - A place I'd Like to Visit Day 13

Day 13 – A Place I’d Like to Visit

I have been so blessed so far that I have been to a lot of places in the United States and around the world. I have been to 7 different countries and 23 States. My favorite country as a whole so far is definitely Russia with Germany and France rounding out the top 3. My favorite state is Texas with my second favorite being Colorado.

If I could only go on one more vacation the rest of my life and price were no object I would go to:

Italy, I love Italian food and that has been one of my favorite parts of world travel so far is the food and how it fits within the culture. I would love to visit some of the sights in Rome but for culture sake I would want to visit Tuscany, Sicily, Verona, Florence, and Genoa. This trip would definitely give Olive Garden’s “Tour of Italy” a completely different meaning. Of course if price were no object I'm sure that I don't need to specify that my wife would be with me and that we would have flown first class and taken first class trains from town to town.

Getting to Know me - Day 12 Bullet Point your day

Day 12 – Bullet Point Your Day

Well I started off trying to time stamp my day instead of just bullet points so I shifted about half way through.

6:15 woke up because George was awake and Kim was sick
6:30 went to get Kim a Sprite from Sonic
7:19 failed to get myself or George back to sleep so I make him a bottle
7:25 fed George multigrain cereal then bottle
7:48 George finished bottle and fell asleep… so did I
9:30 Kim wakes George and I up saying “its 9:30!! And I say “that means there is still an hour till he eats and I have a lock in tonight.
9:45 George wakes up anyways
10AM I start preparing myself for the day
Ate lunch and listened to a couple of podcasts, only had time for two on public speaking this morning
Took Kim to get her bag from the gym
Texted my brother
Went to do some work in the office around 2PM
Students started showing up for the Lock-in at 5:30
We went to Main Event and I played a lot of games and bowled.
Played Laser tag
Then it was midnight and the day was over… but the lock in isn’t

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Getting To Know Me - Day 11 iShuffled my iPod

Day 11 – iShuffled my iPod

Blog Challenge day 11

Put iPod on Shuffle and list the first 10 songs that play.

1. My Word – Trip Lee

2. Hit The Floor – Linkin Park

3. Lithium – Nirvana

4. Apathy – Trip Lee

5. Walking Thru Barbed Wire – Papa Roach

6. Machinehead – Bush

7. My Enemies Are Men Like Me – Derek Webb

8. Next To Nothing – String Quartet Tribute to Breaking Benjamin

9. Dark Jazz – Dilettante

10.Sorrow – Box Car Racer