My Sharp Parts

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2009-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

You are loved and adored more than you can imagine!

Proverbs 31:28

Never Let Go!

2009-07-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Lord my position here within your grace
At times I'm speechless for the list of sins that I embrace
So undeserving of the love I feel when face to face
But sweeter still my heart is thrilled with how your mercy tastes
I'm thirsty Lord and hunger more for you my righteousness
And find I'm satisfied in Christ alone and nothing less
Oh Lord I must confess my life of nothingness
Not wondrous or wonderful cause truthfully your beautiful
Unique in all your loveliness
Your grace is heaven sent
And since every sin I've ever sinned has simply been forgiven by the Son you sent
I praise you Lord in reverence
And for the blood you shed to set me free I'll be loving you in every sense
So now I stand a leper cleansed
You paid whatever debt my efforts could have never met in all my wickedness
So in the present tense I pray the world is listening to witness this
This song of my deliverance.

Taken from the LIfechurch.tv South Oklahoma City Worship podcast dated 5.13.07
Intro to You Never Let Go by Matt Redman

I've officially 'gone country'...

2009-06-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

That's right, will has gone country. Hard to get your head around, well you're not the only one so don't feel lonely out there. I have taken over a new route at work and now I drive over 200 miles everyday through God's wonderfully magnificent creation. My day starts on the outskirts of Christiansburg. I leave from there fairly early on and head down into Pilot, followed by Riner and then I end my day in Floyd. I now see two to three times more cows everyday than I do people, and by the end of it all I smell a lot like one too. I see quite a lot o creatures actually. Over the past four days i've seen lots of deer, cows, horses, chickens, turkey, rabbits, squirlls, and chipmunks, snakes, racoons, llamas, buffallo, geese, and even the occasional dog or cat. I took some pictures today, you can see the rest @ http://picasaweb.google.com/williamewall/Floyd. I guess what I've learned so far is that more often than not the longest, bumpiest, curviest and most narrow roads lead you to the most beautiful places. I don't know about you but that sure applies to my life....take me home country roads, take me home.

No more arms length...

2009-06-08T19:47:00.001-07:00

I don't know what you're like when you are with your friends but I've never been one to open up and lay it all out. When I was younger I was really shy and introverted. I know...those of you who know me are thinking, "Yea right!" Really, I was. My sister was the extrovert. When we went anywhere, even to the play place at McDonalds she was the one who would run around and meet people and I was the one who sat by myself and played in the dirt. It wasn't until I got to high school that I decided to become more extroverted and that was more of a survival decision than a life change.
I say all that to help you understand that I never have been comfortable with letting people know who I really am. After all I haven't liked me most of my life so why would my friends if they really knew me, especially once I got older and started to be someone behind the scenes that no one else knew.
All that is changing now. I am no longer the person I was because I have a God whose grace is greater than all my sin and whose desire to redeem me is greater than my ability to mess it up. I have had the blessing of being introduced to a group of people I never tried to interact with before. The core of these folks are in my sunday school class, Potters Clay. I've decided to open up and see what happens and guess what, God is using all of these wonderful new friends to show me that He loves me more than I could ever imagine. Our God is so great!

All I have...

2009-06-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

I was listening to this song Tuesday night as I drove home from what seemed to be an endless stream of bad days at work. The world wasn't coming to an end but I have had to work quite a few long days the past couple of weeks and every one of them has had its own fair share of stress. Anyway, the song (yes one of my previous mentioned top ten) reminded me as I sailed home in my Grand Marquis that I know God is in control...and so...AND SO! And so I need to start acting like it. Contrary to any belief that I have been clinging to the past few weeks, God is in fact more powerful than UPS. He, not my supervisors, is in charge of what route I'm on and even how many boxes I have in my truck. He has a plan for each one of my days. When I start complaining am I complaining about my job or am I complaining about Him? I guess tomorrow I need to start delivering boxes like I KNOW that He is in control.

Father, thank you for giving me a job that provides for all the needs of my family. Thanks for keeping me safe at work every day. Help me work for your glory and live out what I know...You're in control!

All I Have by John Reuben

Are you disappointed?
Is this world a let down
With your head in the clouds it’s time to get down
Head on collision crushed by dreams
So we leave our hearts at the accident scene shattered pieces scattered
Who told us it was okay to allow our thoughts to be flattered
And entertained with ideas that can’t sustain
And our future once so confidently proclaimed
So where do you go from here when it all disappears
Apathy dries your tears until you don’t care or you live and die
Occupied with disclaimers and reasons as to why realize life isn’t lived in fantasies
No matter how much planning or strategy
Joy comes along with tragedy I own them all gladly

(chorus)
I’m alright I’m okay
I kind of like doing things this way
All I have is what God gives
And that’s all the life that I was meant to live
I’m alright I’m okay
I kind of like doing things this way
All I have it what God gives
And that’s all the life that I was meant to live

We’re not taught trial and error
We’re not taught nor are we prepared
So we fail against everyday opponents
All the while we’re still living for glorious moments
And the media feeds the youth a false reality of what it takes to make yourself happy
And since they’ve got about a one in a billion shot
Why try and make them think it’s something that it’s not
No this ain’t a movie this is real life
The spot light don’t shine quite as bright as some might like
But that’s alright cuz the starlight at night is more of a highlight than the highlife
The air I consume from the breath of creation renews my soul everyday I awake
Ah man tell me who knew that simply being content was the dream come true

My life as a music video...

2009-05-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love music. My iPod is practically an appendage...really. I may just be weird but I like to think about which songs I would put on my life soundtrack. What would the Big Willy soundtrack sound like right now. Martyrs and Thieves by Jennifer Knapp would definitely be track one. The lyrics seem to just capture the past year of my life in words that are just awesome. Next up would be Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns because although I like to think that I would have stepped out of the boat I think I would have probably tried to grab Peter thinking he was about to kill himself. It's a great reminder of whose voice I should be listening too. Track three has to be In The Light by DC Talk, 1 John 1:7 I wanna be in the light! I think I would slow it down a bit for track four and throw in Matthew West and Only Grace. The acoustic version on his Writers Room-EP is awesome. Some days you just have to cling to truth in this one, there is only grace and it's enough. Track five hands down would be Burn for You by Toby Mac. The last five would be; 6) All I Have by John Reuben, 7) Joy by Newsboys, 8) Two Hands by Jars of Clay, 9) Psalm 73 - My God's Enough by BarlowGirl, and 10) What Trouble Are Giants (Live) by Rich Mullins.

If my iPod is pumping there is a pretty good chance that one of these songs are thumpin my ear drums into itty bitty little pieces.

Those are my ten...what are yours?

My Old Truck...

2009-05-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning I woke up a little earlier than normal for a Saturday. I fired up my old red 1986 Dodge pickup and I drove to our old house to get started on a few projects. After a few hours of working it was time for a trip to the hardware store. Grab the keys, lock up the house, start the truck...start the truck...stink I left the lights on. I was going no where quick. In just two short hours my old reliable truck had turned into a useless heap. I had some time to think while I sat there waiting for my wife to come and help me out of a pretty routine mess. When she arrived I was ready with what I thought was a grand revelation..."I am just like my truck."
"What do you mean?" Mary asked.
I said, "I am just like this old heap; old, beat up, and unreliable. As a matter of fact I usually stop working right in the middle of something important. Sometimes though if you give me a good jump start I usually get myself moving and finish right before it's too late."
Mary laughed. She laughed in part because I continually joke about being old even though I'm not, and partly because there was truth to what I had said and like myself she was surprised that I was just putting these pieces together.
The question that I am asking myself now, over a week later, "does God want me to live my life as if I'm a red 1986 Dodge pickup." I don't think so...
I am called by God to love my wife just as Christ loves the church. I should be leading my family with love, vision. and the attitude of a servant. I should be striving every day to know more, live more and share more. The fact is none of these sound anything like an opportunity to be unreliable, but instead they seem like a responsibility to be quite the opposite. I have no business acting like my old pickup.
I know God had transformed me into a new creation, the old has gone. I know that I don't need to be jump started, I've been given the full resources of God's Holy Spirit. I know I'll never be left stranded because Jesus has promised to leave me nor forsake me. I know that I am not an old beat up 1986 Dodge pickup but a brand new 2009 Ford F150. I know what God has done for me and in me...and so...

Ever feel like a grasshoper?

2009-04-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

"We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." Numbers 13:33b

I fight with the grasshopper mid set ALOT. Much more than I would ever like to admit to anyone. I'm a pessimist at heart and I can find something wrong with any plan. When someone shares an idea with me, a dream or a passion, my first reaction is rarely one of excitement and encouragement. Usually The first thoughts in my head are, "Wow, I doubt that's ever going to work." What's the root cause of this constant battle? Why am I not the first to embolden and inspire my family and friends instead of being so tempted to dampen their spirits? Why when God asks me to obey him do I feel the need to mention how tall the obstacles are, how small my resources feel, and how slim the chance of success seems before I disobey?

I LACK FAITH!

There I said it. I didn't open my bible looking for this this morning. I totally didn't expect to be convicted about anything while I trudged through Numbers. It was waiting for me though, a mirror reflecting my disobedience and lack of faith. God's grace revealed to my heart in Numbers 13:33. The spies gave no credence to what God thought of them, how others looked at them. Their lack of faith had turned them into nothing in their own eyes, into grasshoppers. Any task was impossible because of their weakness and failures, and it most certainly was if their strength was all they had to depend on.

Today I wont see opportunities as roads to disappointment because I can do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13). I wont submit my mind to evil thoughts because through Jesus I can bring every thought into captivity (2 Cor. 10:5). I wont be condemned by yesterdays failures because I am forgiven (Col. 1:13-14), saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), and justified through Christ (Rom. 5:1). I wont disobey because of my lack of faith. I am taking my eyes off of Will and I am placing them firmly on my Father. My opinion of myself matters little because I am a child of God (Rom. 8:16). He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3) and has made me strong in the power of His might (Eph. 6:10). I live today walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) because I am a follower of Jesus (Eph. 5:1) and he has called me to be the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). Today I am refusing to live as a grasshopper because I am a child of the King.

Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen...

2009-02-23T04:15:00.000-08:00

I started reading that account of the Exodus this morning. The story never seems to get old or have any less power to grip my heart. This morning the Holy Spirit brought to my attention that one of the tools God used to harden Pharaoh's heart was the ability of his magicians to duplicate God's wonders. (Ex. 6:10-13; 7:20-24; 8:5-7)
It made me wonder how many of God's wonders to I pass by and harden to each day. As I try to walk in the Spirit and see my world through faith filled eyes I'm constantly shamed by my lack of faith. I slip into routine and regularity and as I process the events of the day through my eyes of flesh I miss the blessing of God's mighty wonders.
Father, help me to interact with your world today with eyes of faith. Please help me to see your wonders today. Thank you for your mighty power. Lord, increase my faith!

I couldn't say it better!

2009-02-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

If You Want Me...
Todd Agnew

I'll admit I'm glad we're not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
'Cause I'm afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night

If You wanted me to walk on water
Why'd You make this solid ground seem so right?

I'll admit I'm glad I'm not King David
Ruling over everything I see
'Cause I think I've fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation's a temptation for me

If You wanted me to love You only
Why'd you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I'll admit I'm glad I'm not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
'Cause at least down here I know what we're chasing
And it's hard to trust Your dreams are so much better than mine

If You wanted me to die to myself
Why'd You make me fall so deeply in love with life?

If You wanted me to surrender
Why'd You make these hands able to hold on so tight?

If You wanted me to be like You
Why'd You make me like me?