Growin' Up Gregory

  Is your marriage like a cookie?  Maybe it's sweet.  Maybe it's comforting.  Maybe it's round (symbolic of the continuity of the rings).  Whatever cookie you feel your marriage may most resemble, and the possibilities are endless, they all require some of the same ingredients to be tasty and successful. If we were to examine several cookie recipes, we would see just how many variations there are.  You have numerous chocolate chip, chocolate oatmeal, peanut butter, sugar, and many many more that we could name off. But what makes a cookie a cookie?  Most cookie recipes call for some combination of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs.  This where it gets fun.  From here, you can add the flavor(s) that you and your family enjoy!  Do you want to add fruit, candy, chocolate?  Again, the possibilities are endless. The same is true in our marriages.  There are some core "ingredients" that we all need - love, trust, compassion, faithfulness...

Today, September 1st, marks fifteen years for me at Arthur State Bank. It's crazy to think about how much has changed in my personal and professional life over that time span. I've gone from a single guy whose start date was chosen because some friends and I were going to Vegas after my interview to a married man with 3 kids - none of which came from the Vegas trip LOL. I have to be honest in saying that I truly had no idea what I was getting into even when I applied for a position at Arthur State Bank, and I told them as much. When asked why I wanted to get into banking, I literally answered, "I don't know, I just heard it's a good career to get into." Looking back, I have to ask myself, "How in the world did you get this job? Why did they hire you? What were they thinking?" A year or so ago, our bank President did make the comment in jest (at least I hope he was joking) that once I said that he knew that I was a blank slate that he could work on. B...

If I've ever had a lesson that the timing of it seemed perfect for the circumstances we're facing, this may be the one.  Here is a quote from this week's Sunday school lesson: "It is hard to know what to believe anymore.  The internet is filled with 'news' on topics that range from politics to medicine to conspiracies, and all the writers tout their stores as truth - even thought the 'facts' they present contradict each other." And to make matters more complicated, if someone doesn't have the facts to back up their story, they encourage us to simply 'take it on faith.'  Really? For Christians, faith in God is not jumping blindly into something we want to be true - like the latest and greatest business deal, or some near testing non FDA approved vaccine.  Faith is more than that.  It's grounded in a faithful God who can be fully trusted and is summed up very well in Hebrews 11. What is Faith? V1 - "Now faith is the real...

There's an old saying that you're either in a storm, going into a storm, or coming out of a storm.  Depending on which phase you're in changes your perspective of things.  Our Sunday school lessons over the past few weeks have focused on suffering and attempting to understand it from a godly perspective. One of the most difficult moments of my life made no sense at the time.  However, as time has passed, my perspective has changed and I can better understand how God really was at work in a challenging time. Sunday, June 5, 2011 started out like many other Sundays before it.  However, it's a day that would change our family forever.  That morning, I got up and went to church like I did most Sundays.  Near the start of preaching, I was asked to go check on Mama (my grandma) since she was supposed to pick a friend up for church and hadn't shown up and didn't answer her phone.  Old people are slow and if you didn't let the phone ring 15 times, she may ...

I recently finished reading "Praying Circles Around Your Marriage" by Joel & Nina Schmidgall.  I heard them on a podcast talking about the book and knew that my marriage was something I wanted to focus on improving in 2020 and years to come so I did exactly what I ask my wife not to do - I got online and made an impulse buy.  Wait, it gets even better - I got two books for the price of two because they had a bundle special!  I probably would have fussed at her (see the reason for needing the book) for buying something on a whim like this but I'm trusting that the return on investment will be worth it...and I saved by doing the bundle LOL! Anyway, before I bore everyone, let me share a little about the book so you can decide for yourself if you should go get you a copy.  They offer seven 'circles' you can surround your marriage with to make you a better spouse, couple, and family (if that happens too).   P.S. - If you're dating, engaged, married, o...

I get it, really I do.  We all want to spend time with our loved ones at Christmas.  We want to slow down to enjoy the moments without whirling haphazardly from one destination to the next.  We all know we should be more concerned with presence than presents.  But for some of us, it's hard.  And in my case - it's not you, it's me. With a recent tragedy in our family, I took time to reflect and several memories that came to mind were Christmas and other family gatherings.  This concept really sank in the other day when someone asked me if I still had my grandparents.  When I had to respond to their question with, "I don't," it got me a little deeper than I anticipated. Actually, I never had many grandparents at all.  My dad's parents passed away before I was born.  My grandpa died when I was 6.  I remember being sad.  I remember crying.  But I didn't fully understand death and luckily I was spared from it for many years....

No, I didn't let one of the kids title this post.  That's "Happy Thanksgiving!" backwards, unless I made a mistake that obviously spellcheck couldn't pick up on.  If you grew up in church, and possibly even if you didn't, you have likely heard these few verses numerous times throughout the year and especially around Thanksgiving: "Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 While I truly believe that our actions (outside) come from our heart (inside), sometimes we have to train our heart how to feel and subsequently act.  If we simply turn these verses around and work from 18 to 16, would that have a different impact?  Let's see... Give thanks in everything . This does not mean that we are thankful for everything, rather that we are thankful in everything.  As children (immature beings), most of us were taught to express thanks for items we...

As a young child - well, really as an older kid, a teenager, a young adult, a middle-aged adult, or even a senior citizen - there are a few things like the joy of feeling that tug on the line when you're reeling in a good fish. Any time we're at the lake (or any other body of water) my son and nephews always say that they want to fish. But based on my observations, they truly aren't very interested in fishing - what they really want to do is reel fish in, that's it. But you see, there's a lot more to fishing than merely catching fish. Before you ever wet a hook, someone has to purchase the right equipment - rods, reels, hooks, bait, etc. and then do the part that no child seems to comprehend and probably the reason some grownups require adult beverages while fishing - setting up the rods and reels with the necessary equipment. Once you've got a hook tied on, now things get messy - bait! If you're using live bait, the mud and dirt from worms, cricket juice, f...

Bigger What would make you consider yourself successful? Is it a bigger house, newer car, nicer clothes, higher income? Several problems arise when we consider these units the measure of success. Each of these contain those deadly letters "ER" for comparison. Whose house do you want yours bigger than? Whose car are you trying to outdo? Who are you trying to out-dress or out-earn? I'm not saying don't pursue bigger and better. I'm just saying that these items and pursuits come with a cost. Ask the people who have these things what it costs them to attain them? How many of their child's school functions did they miss? How much was their marriage strained from working overtime? How much interest did they pay borrowing money? Eventually, many of us learn that it's the quality of life that matters, not the quantity of stuff in it. The vacation homes, the boat, the cars, the money - it all means much less if we don't have people we care...

I've been thinking a lot lately about rebranding my blog (or creating a new one) and working on more video sharing and possibly creating a YouTube channel, podcast, or using more videos via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to find ways to share and add value to others.  But one of the first questions they ask when you're starting a blog or channel is what do you want to name it or what will your topic be.  So I began asking myself these questions: What do I like to talk about?   What do I like to take pictures of?   What do I want to share with people?  How can I help or inspire people? What could I teach someone? Basically, what do I like and what am I good at? It was these simple questions that led me deeper to who is John Gregory? Sometimes we discover who we are by marking off the things we're not.  I'm not a highly educated man with a Masters, PhD or MBA.  I'm not filthy rich.  I'm not a politician.  I'm no...

I'm not a person who is huge on being away from home for long, even on vacation. But coming home after a week at the beach has given me some perspective.  As a child, an overnight stay at a grandparent's house can be a mini-vacation and requires only a pair of PJs and clean underwear. As a childless adult, a weekend getaway requires a change or two of clothes, a cooler, and a little cash. As a parent with multiple kids, a vacation requires doing 4 loads of laundry BEFORE you leave, 5+ color coordinating outfits, 4 sleep sets, diapers, pack & play, strollers, vitamins, and a lot of cash. It's no wonder it takes a week to truly enjoy vacation. The first day is often so tiring from the drive/travel and packing. The last night and that final day are also filled with thoughts of packing and then more travel home. So you truly only get those few days in the middle to vacate everything else and refresh. If your job allows, take a week off sometime. Refresh, re...

Before kids, vacations involved an unsaid game of beating everyone else to the destination. But now, I've learned that if I compete with the GPS, their bladders or bellies will win. I feel a patience lesson coming on. I certainly had a dose of it when we were checking in Sunday. Our scheduled time was 4 PM. We got here shortly after that and figured we were good. Wrong. One room was ready but the other wasn't. It was hot, kids were rambunctious, and the adults were getting ill. Finally, around 5:30, we received a call that the other room was ready. I volunteered to go pick up the keys (partly out of chivalry, partly to get away from the chaos). The office was absolutely packed with people checking in and complaining.  I finally made it to the front of the long line. The lady was stressed, yet apologetic & kind. I could have been rude (part of me wanted to). But you know what, I've been there before. I've been overwhelmed by work, customers, or circumsta...