photo found @ katc.com

For those of you who haven’t heard, we finally got a date of departure.  We will leave Germany January 5, 2011.

That brings a rush of excitement and a bit of sadness as well.

As I have mentioned in a few other posts, there are lots of things I will miss about Germany…..people more than things really.

I wanted to take this opportunity, and I’ll take a few more because I can’t cover them all in one post, to thank a few people personally.  Well, as personal as you can get on a blog I suppose .

Very few of them have blogs and I’m not positive they’d want me linking to their Facebook pages, so names is all ya get .

Dave/David/Mac/DMac/Republican (HA!)  Whatever you wanna be called bro, I’ll miss ya.  Dave has been around for 2 of the 3 years we’ve been here and I consider him a good friend.  He’s a godly man and is a constant source of inspiration, motivation and is always good for a laugh.  Aside from that, the man can SANG!  It has been a pleasure to call him friend and to be able to sing with someone who possesses the talent that he does.  I’m not gonna get all mushy here, but again, I’ll miss ya.  Take care of that family and keep taking pics!

Cindi–I don’t think I have another name for you .  See, Cindi will make me cry on my last Sunday at church.  So, READ THIS NOW CINDI….you MUST wait at the end of the line to say goodbye so I can avoid the embarrassment of everyone else seeing me weep .  Cindi, another good, Christian woman, is also someone I call friend.  Why she’s not making millions somewhere with her voice is beyond me, but I’m glad God placed us in the same place.  She was here when we got here and was almost instantly (I say almost cuz I wasn’t sure I liked her at first ) connected with.  From the rumors that we had a “thing” to the endless times she SANG MY NOTE, to her bringing her awesome cooking to us when Chaya was in the hospital, I’ve enjoyed her being a part of our life here.  Cindi, I’ll miss ya!  I don’t say it a bunch, I know, but you inspire me to be better than I am.  Thank you!

Jan–Honestly, I was positive that I didn’t like you when we first got here…LOL.  Really though, I’ve grown a lot in being here and whether I’ve said it or not, you played a big role in that.  I’ve went from not thinking much of you at all to feeling pretty secure in the fact that you are a great inspiration to many and one of the better communicators I have heard.  Your passion for the Word has motivated me to grow closer in my walk and your unwavering support and drive to serve the youth of Christ should inspire many as it does me.  Along side of that, I’m glad I can call you friend.  You’re one of the first faces I seen at the hospital when Chaya fell and those are things I will never forget.  It’s one thing to be friends with people when all is good, but when the chips are down and devastation is all around, the true character and light of Christ shines.  Your light shines bright and I appreciate you.  Jan, you’ll definitely be missed.

See, I told ya this could go on forever…..

More another day.

Some random thoughts cuz I’m just not in a good place right now.

• I have an addictive personality.  I struggle to call it ‘addictive’ cuz I don’t feel like I “need”, but I have a hard time cutting things loose once I start something.
• The line above is, pretty much, the basis of this entire post.
• The first thing I read in the morning, when the kids are off and Elijah is settled, is Twitter.
• I’m usually in a good mood until I sit down and read.
• I’ve tried unfollowing those I find irritating….doesn’t work…..someone will always irritate me….cuz I’m irritable.
• I see the things, in other people, that I hate within myself.
• I see fakes
• I’m a fake!
• I write posts telling you how fake I am, partly, in hopes that the other “fakers” will read and be impacted.  Doesn’t happen….That’s part of what makes em fake…..totally unaffected by anything that doesn’t come from THEIR mouths.
• I am angry—-the wife calls me an angry old man.
• Ya’all have seen my videos….that’s not who I am.  I am generally a happy-go-lucky kinda guy.  Usually in a good mood…..I usually can find the good in all things….I usually can see the bright side…..I usually can turn the negative into something positive.
• Can’t seem to do it anymore and the more negative I see, that I’m unable to fight off, complicates my relationship with God.
• Living in a negative world should drive a Christian to the Word, to dig deep and seek His guidance.
• Doesn’t work like that for me.  I let it drive me away…..which brings me back to the first line up there.
• I have a hard time convincing myself it may be time to let go.
• I try to convince myself that I have made meaningful, lasting relationships via Twitter.
• Twitter will make you believe that, but it’s not true.
• There are 600+ people that twitter says “follow” me.  LOL  I’m guessing 500 of them I have never typed a word to or read a word from.
• Don’t get me wrong…..I HAVE met a few peeps via that network, but the relationships built there are solid ones that I know will continue with or without twitter.

What’s the bottom line?  Where am I going? I wish that I had the answers, but I don’t.  I hate to say “never” and I don’t intend to now, but for the time being tweetdeck and twittelator are gone.  The blogs stay….facebook stays and I’m not going to delete the twitter account.  Nor will I remove the twitter feeds, so should I get back into blogging on a regular basis, my posts will auto feed to twitter.  So, you say, you’re not cutting loose at all???  Well, it may seem that way, but let’s just say the output from twitter will stop.  If you’d like to reach me, there are many ways for you to do that and I trust you know how to make that happen.  There is a big ole “contact me” page up top .  I’ve wasted too much time there and it’s time to get back to bidness.  Wanna see lil Eli, Chaya and Gabe videos?  Come here for that .

I started this blog as a way to reach people in the name of Christ and as a way to stay connected with friends and family while we’re an ocean apart.  I believe reaching people for Christ is a calling and it doesn’t fade away.  My family obviously doesn’t fade away.  I would like to get back to where I started and like I said in a sermon I preached awhile back….”Eliminate the Distractions”.  There are many steps in eliminating all of the distractions in life.

This is a lil update…..disregard the part where I said I wasn’t gonna delete my account.  Doing this half way, solves nothing.  The account has been deleted.  See ya here or on FB .

This is step one.

I have taken lots of pictures and edited lots of video over the last 10 months and you all have been along for the ride.  This video is made to take you “behind the scenes” of the past month.

I say it in the video, but a HUGE thank you to each and every one of your prayers.  God has truly blessed our family with a great group of people surrounding us and I’m glad to consider you all, whether we have met or not, friends.

As we sat down for dinner tonight, brought to us by the Williams family, we thanked God for awesome friends.  Then Ria said something that really hits home for me.  She said, “so this is what a church family is like.”  We have done this childbirth thing a couple of times, but were not involved in a church at the time.  I’m in awe at the greatness that is in and around the Church that our Savior created.  People have brought us meals enough to feed us for weeks, gifts for Elijah and Ria, stopped by just to say hi…….Why?  Love, that’s why.  That’s what it’s all about folks…..Spread the Love of God to each and every one.  And then there are friends from Twitter and Facebook…..I haven’t even got a chance to read all of the messages yet and that says it all!  You guys and gals own a tremendous part of our hearts!  Thank you!

One last time (who am I kidding…I’ll say it again and again)….THANK YOU!  You have touched our hearts in ways I cannot explain with mere words.

Enjoy the video and thanks for taking this journey with us!!  If you’re like me, go full screen, crank it up and get out the tissues….

Elijah’s Story from Toby Keathley on Vimeo.

It’s uploaded to YouTube if that works better for ya, but the quality is much better with Vimeo.

Much more to come….Stay tuned!!

Do you ever worry about the friends that your children are making?  I do.  I often wonder, Will they be good influences on my children?  Will they hurt my children?  Do they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior?  Will they be lifelong, trustworthy friends?

While I don’t know the answers to all of these questions, I do know one thing–Jesus will be their lifelong friend.  They will always be able to count on Him.  He will come through for them time and time again.  He will stand by them no matter what.  How do I know these things?  Because He’s been there for me when nobody else was.

I discovered early in life that friends sometimes let you down–even your best friends–because they’re human.  If you put hope in friends, disappointment and hurt are inevitable.  But God is a sure thing.

I realize that I can’t pick my children’s friends, and I know that I can’t protect them from the hurt that comes from broken friendships and disloyalty.  but there are two things I can do–I can teach them about Jesus, and I can pray that the Lord sends them Godly friends.  You can do the same thing for your kids.  You can start today!

Lord, please send my children good friends.  I’m thankful that You’re their best friends and mine.  Amen

Aside from that sadness , the kids are still cute!!

Sun, Water and Paul Simon from Toby Keathley on Vimeo.

Life is full of ups and downs.  We managed to have fun and say goodbye at the same time.  We’ll have these memories of him forever!!