If you have been in the Grand Bay, Irvington, BLB area for a while you know where Collins’ curve is.  The reason people call it Collins’ curve is because it is where the Collins family lived.  To this day there are still family members that live around the curve. 

A few years back there was a tremendous tradgedy that hit the Collins family.  Leslie Collins, daughter of Randy and Lillie Collins passed from this life in her home on Collins curve.  Her death was really hard on the family, but I believe that her passing inspired a lot of people in the family to change their life.  One example was her dad.  I cannot say when I am not around him, but every time I see him he is praising his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the blessings he has been given.  Her brother, Little Randy, was also impacted by her passing.  Little Randy now is a great man of God that follows Christ.  Others in the family that I know have also grown closer to Christ because of Leslie’s passing. 

Yesterday the Gillespie family, Sandra (Collins) Gillespie is the mom, lost a daughter from this life.  Britan Gillespie passed from this life yesterday evening at their home on Collins’ curve.  The family lives across the street from Leslie’s old house.  As of writing this post I am not sure of the extent of the passing, but I know that it has shaken the Collins family dramatically.  They need strong Christian people to surround them and pray for them.  This is the time when Jesus needs to be evident in their life more than ever.  The only way this can happen is if Jesus followers show the family love like Christ would. 

No one can know what they are going through except them, but as followers of Jesus we can pray without ceasing.  I pray that if you are reading this post that you know Jesus Christ as your Savior.  If you don’t then all you need to do is 3 things.  (ABC time) – Admit your a sinner.  Believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and lived, died, and rose again for you.  Confess that you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only one that can give you true comfort. 

Remember that Jesus Christ saves and always is there for you anytime.
Chris Taylor

I made a quick move on Thursday on the decision to purchase another vehicle.  Looking on Craigslist.org I found a 1982 Toyota Landcruiser priced at $2500.  Problem was that it was in Huntsville, AL.  Going into the Pawn Shop mentality I knew that this was a good deal even if I had to drive up and tow it home because of what the vehicle is worth.  Having a lot of great family and friends I started calling people trying to find a trailer and a truck to drive up there and get it.  Thanks to Larry Crawley I got an F-250 and thanks to Charlie Lyons I got a Flat Bed trailer.

After that was secured I called the guy and told him that I would come up that night to pick it up.  I knew I didn’t want to make the long trek myself so I contacted Daniel and Austin to see if they would want to come up there with me.  They said yes and we headed to Huntsville at about 8:00p Thursday night.  I called the guy around 9 and told him that we would not be able to make it until the morning so we stopped in Birmingham to sleep for a couple of hours.  Knowing how crazy Daniel can be sometimes, everyone did not get to sleep until about 2:00a and we had to get up at 5:00a to leave for Huntsville.

We left Huntsville and arrived at the Landcruiser about 7:00a Friday morning.  After paying for the Landcruiser and loading it up we left Huntsville around 8:00a and headed for a Cracker Barrel.  It does not matter where you go, the Cracker Barrel is always a good choice for breakfast.  The tow home was great and we arrived home around 4:00p.

Now the decision process has to be made.  I plan on keeping it if I can restore it with the little bit of cash I have.  If not, someone else will be a new owner of a 1982 Toyota Landcruiser and I will be on the vehicle hunt again.  It doesn’t really matter to me.  If I keep it, I get to make a lot of memories with it.  If I decide to sell it, I get to share the memories of a quick trip to Huntsville with a couple of friends.

Great trip with some great friends.  Who knows what is next?  Keep Jesus Christ your Lord,
Chris Taylor

Wow, I did not know that it was such hard work searching for another vehicle.  I guess it would be easier if price didn’t matter……but it does.  Nicole and I drove to Lucedale Monday night to look at an 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited.  The first look of the Jeep was very appealing and as we got a chance to look at the interior it really drew our attention into buying it.  Next came the test drive.  It has a 4.7L V8 under the hood so guess what we did when we test drove it, yep, drove it like we stole it.  The Jeep had lots of power and was very quick and we were almost 100% on purchasing it, but we took it back to the lady and said we would pray about it and let her know something early in the morning.

After leaving Lucedale we headed to Outback Steakhouse to meet Soy and Deidra for dinner.  I posted some stuff on Facebook and kinda left it be for the evening.  Nicole and I arrived home and we prayed about it briefly and just asked God to reveal to us if it was not a good buy.  When I got up the next morning I had some messages from Caleb Lindquist.  Caleb ownes a parts store in West Mobile called Heritage Auto Parts (www.heritageautoparts.com).  After messaging back and forth with him for a little while he told me that the 4.7L engine that was in the Jeep was the worst engine ever built and to run from that.  I also called the guy who works on my Jeep, Michael Jordan.  He said the same thing.  So I then called the lady and broke to her the news that I was not going to purchase the Jeep.

Since the call I have been searching for another vehicle.  I will probably keep on searching because I have too much of “George Taylor” in me.  Some people have called him cheap, but I just call him daddy. (not a good joke)  To my avail the 97 Jeep I have had since high-school has not left me on the side of the road again yet….key words YET.  Hopefully I will find something in our price range so I can drive on the interstate without worrying about breaking down.

All in all I am blessed to have a vehicle.  Don’t take this as complaining….just venting.  I think that is what girls do.

Make sure to keep Jesus the center of your life,
Chris Taylor

No, I am not going to blow up my phone.  What has been happening today is that my phone has been blowin up from calls about our rental house.  I probably had at least 20-25 calls in the past 24 hours about our rental house.  Out of all those only 1 actually wanted to see the inside.  I guess all the others got deterred when I told them that they will “have” to pay rent.

A 30 something lady was the 1 that wanted to look.  She came by the house earlier and said that she would be back in Grand Bay around 4:30 so I setup to meet her there then since I get off work at 4:30.  The showing went great with her and will possibly move in.  I told her to think about it overnight and call me tomorrow to give me a heads up whether she wants to move in or not.  Hopefully if she does not move in we can get someone because I don’t like paying two mortgages even though we can afford it.

With all the phone calls I did get a chance to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long while, download some Christian Music Videos.  One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to listen to Christian music whenever I want.  Today I started making a collection of Christian Music Videos so I can play them as the students walk into Bible Study on Wednesdays.  It will add a little get-up into their step when they walk in, and hopefully gain their attention (more so than just CD music) to some music they normally do not listen to.

Tomorrow is a new day and Christ will make it full of blessings.  Yep, I love Jesus Christ
- Chris Taylor