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

Whether it’s something for the church, something for my house, or something for my wife, I think I am always planning something.  I guess that is the degree I was striving for in college because in 7 years I did a lot of plans.  Whether or not I followed out those plans are a different story, but I did make plans.

My newest plan is to get some of the junk out of my room and put it on eBay.  I have a whole shelf full of electronics that need to be outta my way.  Through my skills on eBay they may can make me a buck or two.  So here is my goal: Before I die I’m going to sell some of that junk off of the shelf and put it on eBay.  I believe you have to start with easy goals to get yourself gazelle intense for the next one, that is from Dave Ramsey.

Anyways, we will see what happens.  Keep the only Savior Jesus Christ your Lord,
- 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

This marks the first Saturday that I help slept in a long time.  It felt like college life all over again, except for the fact that I had 7 years of the “sleep-in Saturday.”  The news stated that it could be snowing this morning so I got up and looked outside and what do I see, RAIN.  Rain, Rain, Rain, it always rains.   If I was a depressed person I would have to leave the good ole South and go somewhere else.  I’ve heard that when it Rains people become more depressed as usual.

On to other subjects, yesterday was great in that I got to catch up on some paperwork in the office and round up some other stuff that I have been meaning to do.  The highlight of yesterday was my trip to Theodore.  Josh Woods posted status on his facebook that said this, “just got one of Mobile’s best Cheese Steaks for lunch. I support small business one sandwich at a time.”  When that popped up I was like, “I love Cheese Steaks.”  So after a few hours Josh finally posted where he ate the cheese steak it was about the time I needed to leave to go to the bank, around 3:45.

D’Michaels is the place and Cheese Steaks are their forte.  As soon as I walked in the “mom” on the store said, “Are you Charlie’s cousin?”  Assuming the fact that I had a cousin named Charlie I said, “Yes I am.”  Mom then started describing how great Charlie was to us, how she missed him, and how she wishing the Liquor Store next door could have kept going.  That was when I said, “I think you have me confused with someone else.”  Come to find out after a few minutes of conversation she thought I was his Filipino cousin.  I guess all the Asians look alike.

I then ordered one of the famous Cheese Steaks and the conversation began again.  We started talking about church, bus ministry, youth ministry and all that stuff.  They are heavily involved in Lighthouse Baptist Church in Theodore, which is across the street from Nan Gray Davis Elementary where Nicole teaches 1st grade.  The first thing she said about the business is that it is going ok, but could you pray for us.  She didn’t say anything about bringing us more business or trying to get me to buy something else but only to pray for us.  For someone that is in business (not for ministry but for their main income) that comes pretty shocking.

So this is my push: for anyone reading this to go to D’Michaels and buy the greatest Cheese Steak that I have ever eaten.  Wow! that thing was good.  They are down to earth Jesus following folks that will give you great service and a great cheese steak.  They cater also which is awesome…..on the low low

On the out as it starts to snow in good ole GB, keep Christ first always and God will bring you blessings,
Chris Taylor