I'm Thankful For...

Hello, faithful readers! Well, if you're like me, you're probably still recovering from a self-induced food coma. And if you're a Titans fan like me, you definitely enjoyed watching the Titans open a can of kick-butt on the Lions!!!

Before I begin my traditional Thanksgiving speech, I have to make a confession. It is tradition for the Christmas holiday season to begin the day after Thanksgiving; however, I started celebrating during the first week of November. No, I am not talking about Christmas shopping (my wife has 95% of that done by Labor Day); I'm talking about the music! I'll go more into detail about this in my next entry, though.

Today is a day to give thanks for what we have. So what am I thankful for? Good question; I'm thankful for...

• My family, including my wonderful wife of 13 years, Danielle; my mom & step-dad, my dad & step-mom, and my mother- & father-in-law; my sisters and brother and their spouses; my wife's sister and brother & spouse; my delightful nieces and nephews; my grandfather, who today celebrated his 80th Thanksgiving; my aunts and uncles; and finally, my wife's family both near and far.
• The freedom to gather together; a freedom that was paid for by the blood of brave men and women, friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, proud Americans who chose to answer the call and make a stand for our great country. To all men and women currently serving in the Armed Forces, and to our veterans as well, thank you for all you have done!!!
• Finally, I am thankful for Jesus Christ, my Lord & Savior who died on a cross to give me new life. And I am thankful for Hilldale Baptist Church, with wonderful members that I have started to form friendships with and an extraordinary pastor, Dr. Larry Robertson, who is not only a knowledgeable preacher, but a terrific human being as well.

In closing, I'd like to remind you all of one thing: As special as Thanksgiving Day is, we should remember to give thanks everyday. Hope you had a great Turkey Day, and don't hurt anybody at the Black Friday sales tomorrow!

Love in Christ,
Tracy E. Lilly

Oh, and Bro. Larry, I take cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express; no checks! (Just kidding.) See you on Sunday!

"Don't blame me... I voted for McCain!"

First of all, I must apologize for the lengthy delay in posting my latest entry. My work schedule has been a bear, and I've been busy with other things on my days off.

Next, some updates:

• I got baptized (again) on Sunday, October 12 and finally joined a Sunday School class.
• Danielle (my wife) had a bone marrow biopsy performed on October 27. We'll get the results this coming Monday. We hope that she doesn't have leukemia, but something that is treatable and curable, so please pray for her.

Moving on... I am sad to see Philip Fulmer stepping down as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers at the end of the season. He was, and will always be in my mind, a great coach and human being. His first eight seasons were good (two SEC titles and a National Championship in '98), but his record since then had not been that great. I hate to see him go, but it was his time and he handled it like everything else: with class (and a $6M buyout!).

Now to the hot topic of the day: the Presidental election. The title says it all! (OK, so maybe I'm overdoing it.) The point is, the candidate I voted for didn't win. I know that my sister-in-law is probably freaking out because she believes that Obama is the Anti-Christ; I'm not sure I agree with all that.

Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I worried about the future of our nation? Not yet. After all, we as Americans need to stand behind our leaders. We don't have to like them, but they need our support.

As Obama said in closing of his acceptance speech, "May God bless the United States of America." Amen, Mr. President (-elect).

"I'm Tracy E. Lilly, and I approve this message."

Love in Christ,
Tracy E. Lilly

I'm Jonesin' For Jesus!!!

If you know me, you're probably reading the title and thinking, "What kind of Kool-Aid is he drinking, and where can I get some?!?" Because growing up, I was not the kind of person who was known as a follower of Christ. Not that I was a wild child, mind you, but I was certainly not a saint, either.

Before I go on, let me define "jonesin'": "Jonesin'" is simply a slang term that is defined as having a desire or craving for something, whether it be good or bad. For me, when I get a jonesin', it's usually for a particular food that I haven't had in a while. While that can be a good thing, it could turn into a bad thing later! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky...) But I digress; let's get back to my story.

As I kid, I never enjoyed going to church. To me it was three hours of complete boredom (except for Sunday school or whenever we had a potluck dinner; I love to eat!). But eventually, I knew that I needed Christ in my life; I was saved in the summer of 1987 and in November 1988 at the age of fourteen I was baptized at Gates Baptist Church in Gates, Tennessee. However, I stepped into the waters with a false assumption; I thought that baptism would guarantee my ticket into Heaven when I die. For the next twenty years, I lived life under the false assumption that I was living my life for Christ. After I left home, I occasionally went to church, but did not commit myself to a home church again until 1999, when I decided to move my membership to First Baptist Church in Halls, Tennessee where I had started attending regularly. Then in 2000, I moved to Clarksville with my wife and when I came here, finding a new home church was on my to-do list. Although I visited a few churches at first, I never did settle down; in fact, I once again stopped going, mainly because of my new work schedule.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law had been recently attending a local church here in town, not more than five or six minutes from my house, traffic depending. At first I resisted, but finally one Sunday morning not too long ago, I made the decision to go. Hilldale Baptist Church is very large and quite nice, and I really enjoyed the sermon. But it was on this day that, for the first time in quite a while, I truly felt God's presence upon me, and I knew that it was time to change my life for the better.

I started praying more often (though I still need to do better). I starting listening to contemporary Christian music again, and found myself enjoying it so much that, except for sports talk radio, it's all I've been listening to. I began to think before I spoke or acted. (For those of you who don't know me, I have a very bad case of potty mouth!) I couldn't wait for Sunday to come so I could go back to church again. I was embracing my Christianity in a way I never had before. In short, I found myself "jonesin' for Jesus".

Then yesterday, my spiritual life changed yet again. The senior pastor was away for a revival in Mississippi, so one of the other pastors gave the sermon. He talked about giving your burdens to God and that he had committed his life to Christ so many times he had lost count. At that moment, I knew God was speaking to me; I too had recommitted my life to Him over and over again. No longer was it enough for me to say it; I had to prove it. So I decided to recommit my life to Christ once more, but this time by entering the waters of baptism again. I now knew that baptism wasn't the end of the journey, but the beginning... and that I had found a home at Hilldale Baptist Church.

I don't know what date I'll actually be baptized, though I'm sure I'll find out in time. But for now, back to the task at hand. I'm jonesin' for Jesus... and a footlong tuna sub!

Love in Christ,
Tracy E. Lilly

Welcome!

So you've stumbled upon my new blog, eh? In that case, welcome!

As I was creating this, my mind was racing as I tried to figure out what the title should be. I was thinking really hard, really deep...and then, Divine Inspiration seized me. The "Deep Thoughts" part was easy, but I didn't want to use "From a Shallow Mind" because it's too "been there, done that". So I came up with the "Shallow End of the Pool" because that's where I prefer to hang out. Seriously. If I go into the deep end, I'll sink like a rock unless I'm on a float or tube.

What you'll see here is just random thoughts from the previous week; my plan is to add an entry every Monday morning. I could rant about my Tennessee Vols losing (again!), shout out about something exciting happening in my life, or provide my observations about current events or life in general. You never know what you'll see, but you can be sure it'll be as I see it; my point of view, and no one else's (that I know of). And you're welcome to sound off as well. Whether you agree or disagree with what I have to say, more power to you; everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. All I ask is that you keep it clean.

Well, I'll close for now. Wherever life takes you today, may it be a good journey.

Love in Christ,
Tracy E. Lilly