Gilbert Thurston

Random Thoughts About Life, Ministry and Whatever Else Happens to be on my Mind

NOOOOOO!!!!

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I had a new blog post all typed out and then hit the wrong button, thus wiping everything out…I’m not even going to try again…talk to you tomorrow :(

My Heart was in My Stomach

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About an hour ago I was the victim of one of the most believable April Fool’s jokes ever.  Unfortunately because of some confidentiality issues I can’t disclose exactly what it was.   Let’s just say though that it involved and issue I’ve been working on for months now and the “news” I received today via a phone call was devastating.  My heart was pounding…then it felt like my heart sank into my stomach.  “NOOOOO…why God, why?” 

The caller asked me how I felt about it.  I did my best to keep a clear head and explain that perhaps this was God’s will.  Then the caller asked, “How do you feel about April Fool’s Jokes.”  Wow the emotions were many…relief, laughter, anger )for having put me through that), jealousy (for not having thought of something that clever),  etc.  An hour later my heart rate is still increased from all the adrenaline.  Well played my friend, well played.

So the question is…what’s the greatest joke you’ve ever been victim of or played on someone else?  Use the comment button below.

Other Weekend Thoughts

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  • The more I think about it the more I was disappointed with yesterday’s Experience…again nothing terribly bad, just a lot of average stuff.
  • The rest of the weekend though was great!
  • Lisa’s brother, J, and his wife, Faith, were in town from NC.
  • They joined us Friday night over at the church for another awesome Coffeehouse.
  • I hate coffee, so Lisa asked the owner of Heavenly Grounds, the coffee house who caters our events, if she could make up some sort of chocolate drink just for me.
  • As I watched her make it, I realized that basically it was just a very rich glass of chocolate milk, with ice cubes in it and whipped cream on it.
  • Susan named it “The Gilbert”, gave it a special reduced price and it was quite the hit…I drank 2.
  • After getting everything cleaned up and put away, J & Faith followed us home to the new house.  On the way there, I noticed a cop following us.  After following us for a few miles he flipped his lights on. 
  • My first thought was, “Hmmm, I wonder why J is getting pulled over?”  But then after the cop passed him, I thought, “Hmmm, wonder why I’m getting pulled over?”
  • I pull over, the cops pulls over, then J, pulls in behind him.  Which of course causes the cop to have to call for back-up and so by the time it was all said and done, a total of 4 cops were on the scene.
  • Turns out one of the brake lights on Lisa’s car has a short in it and was going in and out. 
  • He didn’t give us a ticket though, so that was good.
  • Saturday I had 2 very productive meetings and then we got together with some friends of our who J also knew for dinner at Red Robin…can’t beat that!
  • Then we came back to the house and Bill and I shot pool.  We discovered a new game in the book called, Pool Golf.  I shot a 96…42 of those strokes came on 1 hole.  It got to be so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh.  Very challenging game though…I can’t wait to try it again.
  • Sunday morning we “made” J, stand outside Circuit City to buy us a Wii.  Normally Lisa and I wouldn’t be able to do this and since Sunday’s are the day they get them in, we thought we’d just be out of luck for awhile…but J came through and stood there for 2 hours on our behalf…thanks J!
  • After the Experience we treated J & Faith to TGI Friday’s…uhh I think he deserved it…and we were joined by Lisa’s sister, her husband and our 2 nephews, along with Andy and Gayle.  A good time was had by all.
  • Andy and I set-up the Wii, Gayle listened to music and Lisa napped the rest of the afternoon away.
  • Last night was CAYA and afterwards we all went to Applebee’s.  Gotta love the quesadilla burger!
  • Yes, if it sounds like I eat out a lot you’d be correct.
  • Yes, I did come home and play Wii.
  • Yes, my arm does hurt.
  • Hey on a serious note, keep Brian Miller’s (lead guitar player on the team) sister down in GA in your prayers.  She was involved in a really serious car accident on Friday night.  She has multiple serious injuries and will be laid up for quite a while.

    • Inside Today’s Experience

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  • What an awesome weekend!
  • I’ll catch you up on some of the other happenings tomorrow…trust me it was a full weekend.
  • Gotta say that even though nothing terrible went wrong today, it just didn’t feel like we were clicking on all cylinders.
  • Oh well, despite all that many people are excited about this series and expressed how much they’re looking forward to hearing more.
  • We had a new sound tech today that Andy was training and he did a great job.  Way to go Chris!
  • Since our board is digital and also wireless, Andy was able to monitor how Chris was doing and make changes if necessary via his Tablet PC. 
  • Sort of like the student driver cars that also have a brake pedal on the passenger side.
  • Now really a lot to report it was just a pretty typical Sunday morning getting ready other than the fact that I woke up at 5:30am instead of my normal 7:00.
  • I was joking afterwards that if I’m going to have to bring out my own stool and table, maybe I deserve a pay raise.  I thought it was weird that I didn’t see an usher backstage right before I went out…and then when I was praying I looked behind me to see if one was coming and then I thought “Oh well I’ll have 30 seconds during the intro video, I’ll just do it myself.”
  • I know who it was that forgot and the last time he made a mistake he beat himself up about it.  I know he reads the blog and so without naming who it was let me say, “______, sleep well, no biggie!”
  • Seriously all week long I was praying about not falling off the stage during the part where I was standing right on the edge.  I’ve never been so thankful to be done a part of the message in my life.
  • Ralph Pisle asked me after the Experience if I was still the same size I was in the 5th grade track story.   Funny guy that Ralph…funny guy!  :)
  • At lunch Andy and Gayle both had funny things to share…Andy thought I was saying margarine instead of margin…he asked if next week is about Parkay.  Gayle said, hey why is it that all the stuff you mentioned (dance, soccer, etc.) are things my kids are involved in?  My simple response…we don’t have kids…where do you think I get my kid stories from? 
  • This may not make sense to you, but Earl and I park in the spots that are as far from the building as possible.  Last week he parked in the spot I’ve been in every week since we moved to the new building.  Today I was back in my spot and all felt right in the universe.
  • Got CAYA tonight and then we’re going out as a group to eat…should be fun…check back tomorrow for the rest of the weekend highlights and um-not-so highlights.

    • Take It TO the Limit Series

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    It’s amazing how God works. All week long I’ve been hearing from people how stressed out they are and how they never have any free time. I’ve been responding each time the same way…”Hey I know of a pretty good sermon series that’s starting this week that you may be interested in.” And yes smart alecks you can save your comments, I mean at United.

    In any case, here’s a preview of what’s coming up so you can invite your friends in:

    • March 30th- “Less is More”- We’ll look at why always living at the limit emotionally, finanically, relationally, morally, etc. is a recipe for disaster.
    • April 6th- “Downtime”- Very practical steps in how to get your calendar under control.
    • April 13th- “The God Robbers”-  When we’re taking our money to the max, two people get robbed and neither one is happy about it.
    • April 20th- “”Achieving Financial Margin”- Practical steps on how to handle your money so you have more, not less.
    • April 27th- “A Time to Run”- Sexual temptation is one of the most powerful temptations we face and one of the most devastating if we fall.  This message will show how to create margin in your morality.
    • May 4th- “Margin from 9-5”- Creating margin in your job will make both you and your boss happier…find out how.