Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 364

Fourth Quarter

[image error]

For me, September marks the beginning of my favorite quarter of the year. It’s more than the holidays, although you all know how much I love them. It’s also the welcome of fall and winter, and the end to the summer heat. It’s a time of cooler conditions mentally, and physically.

People pay more attention to the relationships in their lives. To quote the wisdom of Mayberry, we ask ourselves, “What’s your hurry?” We take a coffee with a friend, have dinner with loved ones. Spend a day together, with no other purpose.

May the last quarter of your 2017, as hard as it is to believe it’s here, be the best. This has been a truly great year, and I can’t imagine what will be next, but I’m excited to see it arrive.

Eddington Don’t Make A Caffeinated Man Angry

[image error]

It was good to be back inside the coffee shop. Even if the new building wasn’t the old one, it represented a never quit attitude. We Stefaniak run towards a battle, not from it.

I sipped a latte as I read a text from Michael. “Gardener won’t crack. I think the Professor has promised him more. Sam’s putting his other plan into action.”

The rest of the day was uneventful. I relished in the boredom, which is highly underrated. It was also a false sense of security. The fun started when I closed.

I offered to help a little lady help to cross the street, and a pistol peeked out at me from her handbag. “Remember me?” It was Grandma Assassin. She motioned, and I unlocked the store.

“Can you not burn down this one?” I said, my anger ebbing out my fear. “I just had it built. If you’re going to shoot me again, get it over with. I’m a little tired of seeing your face.”

“Well, you are more vocal than before. Usually people I shoot are more respectful afterwards. Sadly I’ve been instructed not to kill you. Only to bring you a message from my superior.”

“He’s tired of your family’s interference. Either stop it, or lose them. It’s that simple.”

I snapped, and I didn’t care if she did shoot. “You tell the Professor that no one, not you, not the entire army of a small nation, would get by with threatening them.”

“In our family, there’s a spy, a marine, and a wily old man. Out of them all, as dangerous as Otecko can be, I’m the one he needs to worry about.” I grabbed the gun out of her hand, resisted the urge to hit a woman, and ordered her to set down.

I called 911, told them to come get her, and didn’t say another word until the cruiser pulled up. I locked the door, went home, and hugged my family. No one was going to hurt them, but now the Professor had went to far. You don’t make a man who drinks as much caffeine as I do angry!

Friends? Of Jesus

Mark 3:21

21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

We don’t meet them, and we don’t get to know their names. He knew them, and they thought they knew Him. The friends of Jesus, or some say relatives, but since it mentions His Mother and brethren a few verses after, let’s go with friends.

They loved Him enough to check on Him, but they didn’t understand. What do you do when the people who love you, don’t believe in you? It wasn’t only Jesus’ friends from the thirty years of obscurity. His own stepbrothers, the sons of Mary and Joseph, didn’t believe, until after the resurrection!

We get discouraged when we don’t feel we get any support from our circle, but neither did He. I realize that He was, and is God Incarnate, but He was also a man. An the men who He grew up around, those He called friends, didn’t understand Him.

I find it ironic, and fitting, that the last person mentioned in verse nineteen, Judas, would also call Him friend. Some friends will love you, but not understand. Others will care about you, but not believe in you. A few will act like friends, until something or someone more valuable is between the two of you. Guess which one they’ll choose, and what they’ll do to you to get it.

Support systems are important, and friends and loved ones are precious. Still, the absence of them, does not prevent you from being successful. I’m not saying to go it alone, merely follow the path of Jesus.

To everything He did, because He was both God and man, Jesus applied prayer. He did this for two reasons. One, because as both, He knew the value of it. Prayer keeps flesh in subjection, and provides direction. Second, it was for our example.

If Jesus prayed, even before Calvary, how can we take any significant step without bowing our heads first? The morning The Lord Jesus walked to the river Jordan to be baptized, He knew something. First, He knew it was God’s will, and second, that He was walking to one thing, and away from another.

He was leaving security, literally trading life for death. The majority of His circle would look at Him like He was wrong. Then eventually, a lot of them would stop caring. We don’t read of another reference of His friends ever trying again after this.

The Lord had weighed the cost of His calling, before He walked into it, on the scales of prayer. This was what He was supposed to do. He knew it, and He didn’t allow, even loving voices to stop Him. Notice, He did not stop listening. Another place, His brothers, who He knew didn’t believe, tried to influence Him. Jesus was kind, but unswayed.

Don’t allow those who do not believe in you, to discourage you. Listen, pray about their words, counsel with your Pastor, and then do what’s right. Jesus did not allow their lack of confidence, to shake His. He also surrounded Himself, not with yes men, but good men. These friends show up, after He had selected the twelve.

In life, you will be part of groups. Some groups will always be connected to you, but you will no longer be a part of them. Other groups will be with you for the rest of your life. Don’t get caught up by the fact you don’t always know which is which. Jesus knew, and still endured the pain associated with it.

Instead, know this. Know you have prayed, that the Man Of God in your life is on board, and that you are doing God’s will. If you know this, then keep walking. He will replace the old group with the new one. It will have men like Simon, James, and John in it.

Yes, there may also be a Judas in it, but the road of purpose will have a few crooks who try to snatch you away from it, or try to kill you on it. Keep walking, keep listening to the right voices first, and continue to love those who do not understand. One day, just as some did post Calvary, they may see what you saw first, and follow too.

iPainting Eagle At Midnight

[image error]We hope you enjoy this iPainting of "Eagle At Midnight".

iPainting View Of Home

[image error]

One of the most beautiful sights of all, is a “View Of Home”.

iPainting Brownstone Stroll

[image error]

Eddington Mocha Espresso

[image error]

“The question is, was the gardener double crossed, or did he know it was going to happen? If he did, what was he promised? What was good enough to go to jail for?”

Sam was outlining the line of thinking he was going to approach the gardener with. “I have a Grandfather’s face now, so I’ll take the good cop approach. Your grandson can be the not so nice guy that I control.”

Michael smiled. “Meaning I have to act like I would tear him apart without touching him. I can do that very well. Just ask my cousin here about the time he dented my truck.”

“I was 17, and it was dark, and…”. Like always I don’t get to finish, the laughter is too loud. I hit the grocery cart holder in an empty parking lot because I hit the gas when I thought I was hitting the brake. I had worked several hours, and was trying to go home, and it wasn’t a fun night.

They were still smiling when they laughed, though they had stopped laughing. Otecko mended my broken pride the same way he had that next day, some espresso and a story. Only this story held more than a smile at the end, and it wasn’t ancient history either.

Everyday

[image error]

This reminds me today. We should the cross, and The One who endured it, conquered it, and turned it into an invitation everyday of our lives. Jesus should be more than our soon coming King, and personal Savior. He must be Our everyday confidante, counsel, and Lord.

Art Supplies

Two of the greatest enjoyments of my life, after God, my family, and friends, is writing and painting. Now, as I write and paint, I have the added blessing of knowing the art supplies I use are gifts from the people I love.

From my Pastor to my Parents, my Wife, and all my loved ones, they have given me the items I use to practice writing and painting, and it brings me even closer to them in the process. It’s truly been a great year, and an incredible birthday!

Unfinished Landscape

[image error]

I love the unfinished look at the bottom of a watercolor landscape. It reminds us that, like it, The Lord is still building, and growing us. Today is my forty first birthday, and I’m so thankful that God has more in store ahead of me.

Whatever you’re facing today, know that there is a mountain just beyond your valley, a path just across your river, and a hope just ahead of your despair. You may not see it yet, but it is there in the mind of God, and He will bring you to it, because He never leaves anything unfinished. It is in the nature, and nurturing heart of God, to complete what He began, and He started you and I.

So don’t worry about the parts that aren’t filled in yet, they will be. Everything is going to turn out beautiful. He just hasn’t revealed them yet, the paint isn’t dry!