Sterling Griggs

Right now I am about as stressed as I can ever remember being. Now I'm not tearing my hair out or anything like that (not that I have any to rip) but I'm feeling it physically, mentally, and emotionally. Why am I stressed? Today I sent in the last of the information that the mortgage company would need in order for us to close on our new home on Wednesday. If that's not stressful enough, Kellie and I are now in the midst of trying to pack up a family of six in such a way that it doesn't disrupt the flow of daily life. Our basement is filled with things, many of which we won't take with us (can you say yard sale?) but we have to go through everything and there is quite honestly more trash than I know what to do with. Thankfully, we have some students from my youth group and the Forbush High School football team that will help us on Thursday and Friday, which means that once we finally get everything boxed up and ready to go the move itself should go pretty smoot...

Yeah, I've been a slacker with this blog. I could give you a myriad of excuses but I'll spare you. Instead, I'll fill you in with some things that have been going on in the life of me and my family these past couple of weeks. First, the house. We are scheduled to close on it this Wednesday, September 30. The amount of paperwork and information that we have had to submit have been almost overwhelming and at times puzzling, but it's coming together. I am prepared to give them a detailed list of what I had to eat last week because they will probably ask for that next. Last week Kellie and I purchased a new refrigerator and stove for the house as well as a 40 inch Sony Bravia 1080p LCD HDTV that absolutely rocks, so the new house will be well equipped to meet our many needs. We also went ahead and started Chandler and Reynolds at Meadowlark Elementary School in Winston-Salem this week. I was so proud of them on Monday as they marched right into their new school and...

I tell my students all the time that one carelessly spoken word can do more damage and undo all the good that 100 kind words can achieve. Words are such powerful things! I have witnessed first hand the demoralization on the faces and the anguish in the hearts of people who have been wounded by words that were reckless and harsh. James has a lot to say about the negative power of words, but words also serve as a conduit through which God chooses to draw us to salvation: There is no other name under heaven but the name of Jesus by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). It's no coincidence, then, that the written word of God maintains such authority in the life of the believer, for it is God's very word to us. John 17 and 18 demonstrate a cool example of just how powerful words are, especially when they come from the mouth of the Lord. In John 17:17, Jesus prays for His disciples that God would "Sanctify them by the truth; (for) Your word is truth." It is by the very ...

Al Gore helped put out a movie by that title a couple of years back that caused a stir in both the political and environmental world. It seems as if everyone has an opinion about global warming and these opinions typically run along the pendulum of current events. When there seems to be not so many issues to discuss on the national and international scene, global warming becomes a hot topic (pardon the pun). However, when things such as the economy or health care reform dominate the headlines, we don't hear much about global warming. In other words, we discuss it when it's most convenient to us. I will admit that I have not seen the movie nor do I plan to (although I heard at some point that legislators were trying to make it mandatory viewing in our schools...perhaps they should channel their time and energy into more worthwhile pursuits for the good of our country). This post isn't a commentary about the movie or about global warming for that matter. My understanding...

Right now, as I type, my 3 year old son Deacon is lounging around in a pair of big boy Diego underwear. This is a big deal in our house because it signals the official launch of potty training for him. Over the past couple of months we have been telling Deacon that he needs to potty train and have even dangled a few carrots here and there in front of him, promising him anything from a Super Man shirt that he really wants to a Wake Forest football. He responds well to these bribes, at least vocally. In theory, however, we haven't gotten all that fair. Pee pee has gone in the potty pretty consistently but that's about it. The Pull-ups are a safety net for him and as for the other kind of stuff that goes in the potty...let's just say he's not that interested in putting it there yet. So today, I start playing hardball. If he's gonna insist on using the bathroom the lazy way, then he'll have to wear it a lot closer to his skin that normal. So far so good. He h...

Here is the house that we hope to close on at the end of the month.

College football officially kicks of tonight. It doesn't really matter who's playing, the important thing to remember that the game is being played after a long break. And Wake Forest kicks of its season this Saturday vs. Baylor. Go Deacs!

Over the past couple of weeks I've let you in on the brief saga that Kellie and I have undertaken to become home owners. The house in Yadkinville that we were bidding on eventually fell through and the best way to describe how we feel about that is relieved. This past Saturday, as Kellie was perusing the MLS listings, she came across a home in Lewisville, NC, that looked like it had some real potential. It was built last year but has never been sold, just coming back on the market last week after the builder tried unsuccessfully to sell it on his own. We called our Realtor and set up a meeting to look at it and we knew within the first 30 minutes that it was a house that would be perfect for our family. As one who has never owned a home before (I have lived in a parsonage the past 8+ years) this whole experience is new for me, but we knew that we wanted to put in a bid that day. Turns out we were one of three bids that very day, which made us a little anxious since we know our...