introduction

Is an introduction really necessary? Doesn't everyone who's reading this already know who I am?! Well on the off-chance that someone stumbled upon this site by clicking through from another blog, or from some suggestion from a friend of a friend, or from clicking the 'next blog' link... hello!

My name's Matt, I've recently moved my family to a town called Wadsworth, I'm a father to a girl and a boy, and the husband to a lovely wife. I work a full time job as a graphic designer for a health food store, and am a member at a Missionary Baptist Church. One of my primary activities is teaching the 'adult class Sunday School' (I get the parents/congregation as students while the children go back for their classes for an hour before we all convene for the worship service/sermon). I've spent the past year teaching lessons from J. M. Pendleton's "Christian Doctrines" book, and now am focusing on the broad subject of "Why do you believe the Bible?" spanning from lessons using apologetics (proofs), to "why the KJV", touching on history, science, fulfilled prophecies, etc... I'm enjoying learning every week as I prepare these lessons. I hardly consider myself an expert, but am indeed enjoying the experience!

Other activities are:
1) playing with/training up my kids (of course), inventing different ways to remind my wife that I am completely unashamedly in love with her, and reminding myself that as I am blessed with the stewardship of this family, and am to take a leadership role, I am not the 'most important' one in the family.
2) I've very recently been given a 1986 Honda vf500f interceptor (motorcycle). It has sat for 5 years, so there has been and will be quite some work put into getting this thing running, and I plan on accomplishing this before the end of summer 2010.
3) Playing in Adobe Photoshop / training my graphic design/HTML skills / learning by doing
4) First house: blank canvas, learning lots, new tools.
First motorcycle: blank canvas, learning lots, new tools.
lots of time spent on google/youtube learning how-to's
5) Guns: hand guns, long guns, gun rights, gun laws, self defense rights/tactics, etc...
6) Dogs: brindle english mastiff, frengle (french bulldog-beagle mutt... er, mix)

What's the most important thing about 'me'? I'm a graphic design student looking for a job and I was recently told "it's not really about who you are, but sometimes it's more importantly who you know." This, like a LOT of things, hit me with a smashing parallel to my relationship with Jesus. This brings me to 'the most important thing about me'. Six years ago on halloween night is when the Lord saved my soul, after which my life was turned 180 degrees. I'm no better a person than anyone who is lost. I'm simply a sinner who has been saved. I didn't do any works to 'earn' salvation. I didn't 'accept Christ'. He heard my diligent prayer, and he accepted me. Because of the Lord's salvation, I know the Lord and the Lord knows me; and ever since he saved my wretched soul, he's been blessing my life in ways I couldn't ever deserve, predict, or ever hope to repay. When I first heard this sentiment about 'who you know', I found it detestable; it pledges acceptance to nefatism and favoritism in the world of corporate ladder-climbing. But when I think of this sentiment in respect to my knowing God, I know I've got the right 'lifeline'.

I plan on future posts on this here blog to pertain to:
1) Things I learn about God
2) Things I learn about being a husband/dad
3) Things I learn about houses
4) Things I learn about motorcycles (and will document the restoration of mine)
5) Things I learn in photoshop (I might even make some tutorials!)
6) anything else that would be dumped into a 'miscellaneous' category

So having rambled off a suitably long introduction; thank you for visiting, and God bless.