I saw blood and a bit of it was mine.

All we want out of life is to be happy. What brings us "happiness" varies from person to person.  It seems kind of useless to me to say that I'm just looking for "happiness". More importantly, I'm looking for what will bring me that happiness.  

Stepping back a bit, what is happiness, in the broadest, most Webster sense of the word?

Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological,religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.                                                                      Okay. What is it that will bring me to the sources of happiness?Biologically...good health. This is something I've been really kind of taking for granted.  I am in great shape. Seriously, I'm physically in my prime.  I haven't done much working out since my senior year of high school...I haven't gained unnecessary weight... and I haven't lost much muscle tone.  I don't get sick, and I've never had a major injury that affects me in any way. 

I realized the other day, that so many people would give anything to be in this good of shape, to be able to physically handle the rigors of the life I live.  The other day, I went with some friends to climb the rock wall at the local YMCA... I went up one of the more difficult walls in probably thirty seconds, and I'd never really done much climbing before. I discovered that it was something I'm really good at, and something that I want to cultivate and improve on .  

Psychologically...I have an overactive mind.  I have to be constantly challenged, or else I get bored. When I get bored, I do stupid [stuff]. When I do stupid [stuff], I become unhappy. I am a workaholic for that reason. It keeps my mind busy, and keeps me from getting into trouble.  

Religiously...let's talk about why it's not easy to find happiness.  We ask ourselves "why is life so hard? Why is it so hard to find a measure of grace and joy, and a lasting peace and happiness?

I'm gonna turn it over to my friend Jeffrey R. Holland for this one-

You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that [we all] have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. [Everyone, at some point] will have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that [we], in order to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.

For that reason I don’t believe [life] has ever been easy.  I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.

If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” ¹⁶ then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.

The Atonement will carry us. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I testify that the living God is our Eternal Father and that Jesus Christ is His living and Only Begotten Son in the flesh. I testify that this Jesus, who was slain and hanged on a tree, ¹⁷ was the chief Apostle then and is the chief Apostle now, the Great High Priest, the chief cornerstone of His Church in this last and greatest of all dispensations. I testify that He lives, that the whole triumph of the gospel is that He lives, and because He does, so will we.

On that first Resurrection Sunday, Mary Magdalene first thought she saw a gardener. Well, she did—the Gardener who cultivated Eden and who endured Gethsemane. The Gardener who gave us the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the cedars of Lebanon, the tree of life.

I declare Him to be the Savior of the world, the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, the Bright and Morning Star. I know that our garments can be washed white only in the blood of that Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. I know that we are lifted up unto life because He was lifted up unto death, that He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, and with His stripes we are healed. I bear witness that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, that He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief because upon Him were laid the transgressions of us all. ¹⁸

I bear witness that He came from God as a God to bind up the brokenhearted, to dry the tears from every eye, to proclaim liberty to the captive and open the prison doors to them that are bound. ¹⁹ I promise that because of your faithful response to the call to spread the gospel, He will bind up your broken hearts, dry your tears, and set you and your families free. That is my missionary promise to you and your missionary message to the world.   

Okay, thanks Jeff.

I was walking far from home... I saw blood, and a bit of it was mine. The rest belonged to Christ.

I've never intended to get very religious in my blog, but tonight is the exception. I'm really quite proud of my faith, and I respect the faith of others.

Attitude is everything.  Learn to appreciate what you have, and all the beautiful things that are already in your life.

That's what I'm working on. Loving my life for what it is already, but always striving to make it even better.  -This is a picture of me at work ->

My life's greatest ambition?  To be a great husband and father, and to support my family by doing something I love.  While I don't have a wife or kids, I can at least do something I love (and get paid for it).

Boom.

The Oilfield Romantic