Tim Boyd's Blog

I'm writing this blog because this picture pretty much sums up what I think you think when I invite you to church!  :) Obviously I can't speak for all of us.  But I do think I can speak for many of us.  You know us.  We go to church.  We don't secretly go to church.  But we also don't "loudly" go to church.  We aren't posting extreme messages on Facebook or "liking" all the Jesus pictures on Facebook either.  (Although we really like Jesus - like a lot.)  No, we just go to church because we like Jesus in real life. We aren't weak.  Seriously.  We are weak at times, but we don't go to church because we are weak.  We aren't inviting you to church because we think you are weak. We aren't broken.  Well, we are broken in some ways, but overall we are fairly together.  We don't go to church because we are broken.  We aren't inviting you to church because we think you are broken. We don't believe that we are right a

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you have a great day on Thursday.  I hope that great day turns into a great weekend.  Then I hope that great weekend turns into a great “Holidays.”  In turn, I hope that great holiday season turns into a great new year.  I hope that new year turns into a great year.  Then that year turns into an amazing life. I hope the same thing for myself too.  (I’m not quite as altruistic as I came across in that first paragraph). If I can give you just one thing to think about for a moment on this Thanksgiving Day it would be this - Don’t let fear ruin your day. Take the day off.  Take the day off of fear. If you had no fear - what would you say today? If you had no fear - who would you call today? If you had no fear - what would you quit today? If you had no fear - what would you start today? If only life were that simple, right?  It’s hard to not be ruled by the fear within our hearts.  It seems very unresponsible or un-adult to not allow fe

Last night most of the family was sitting in the living room just hanging out after finishing work, homework, chores, etc.  I was on the couch trying to keep my eyes open as I was going over some homework stuff with one of the kids.  I think it was multiplication flashcards. I looked down to the floor where Silas (my Kindergartner) was saying something to Wesley (the baby).  What he said didn't quite register at first. "Wesley what are you eating?"  Silas says. I looked over and thought nothing of it. "Wesley what are you eating?"  Silas says again. Uh oh!  I jumped off the couch and ran over to the baby.  I saw him chewing on something so I grabbed him and started digging around in his mouth.  I was shocked when I pulled out a full-size sticker!  He could have very easily choked on that sticker had he tried to swallow it.  The damage in that situation could have been major. I told Silas I was proud of him for saying something.  If it wasn't for

There I was standing in front of the dressing room at TJ Max on a Tuesday night holding a baby stroller.  I was tired.  I was TIRED. The day before was Halloween and our church did our Trunk or Treat.  I worked that day.  Then I had to get our trunk ready at the parking lot as I also helped others figure out where they should park.  I had two of my kids come early with me to “help.”  (I’m using that term loosely.) We did our church event until about 8pm and then we hopped into 2 vehicles to take our 5 kids (7 months - 13 years) and three of their friends trick or treating in another part of town.  On the way out there we had to stop and buy baby Wes a pacifier.  He was tired and upset.  We tricked or treated with about 800,000 of our closest friends in the dark surrounded by packs of unaccompanied minors (in my group were 4 girls 11-14 so I was already on edge.) We got home and sent everyone to bed.  We crawled into bed and the next thing I know my alarm went off at 4:45. 

Discouragement is a force in my life.  Most of the time I feel it hanging over me, making me slouch in my chair.  I can feel it in my stomach.  It warms the back of my neck.  It makes me feel so foolish.  It really makes me embarrassed to be me. Discouragement lies to me.  It lies so well.  It takes all of the things I’m good at and makes me ashamed of them.  If I’m great at meeting people - it makes me feel like a flake.  If I come up with an amazing idea - it makes me feel like a loser who could never actually pull it off. Discouragement yells at me to “shut up!”  I have nothing important to say.  Anything that I would say would just come across as dreams of a man with his head in the clouds or empty platitudes by a Pastor. Discouragement tells me that people can’t really change.  I am who I am and that’s all I will ever be.  That man over there will never be any better off than he is right now, no matter what I might say, do, or pray. I can never argue with him eith

I attended a Town Hall Meeting yesterday in Bradenton put on by some local government agencies.  The purpose was to discuss the overload of kid's in out-of-home care for various reasons, but mainly the local heroine epidemic.  I was very pleased to see about 200 people there.  I thought that was a good sign.  I was able to see many of the people that I have got to know because they are either parts of non-profits or work in government for the purpose of dealing with kids who need help.  I was also very pleased to see some local Pastors. I have been involved with the foster care epidemic in Manatee Country for just over 2 years.  So I understand that I'm a new-comer to the table.  Our family has gone through the process to adopt and I am on the board for Guardian Angels of Southwest Florida and serve in the 3 county area for the 1-1-1 Project .  The Guardian Angels is a group that builds large homes for families to move into and foster children.  It's an incredible group

We all hate changes that we don't instigate.  I am a HUGE fan of changes that I decide to make.  Sometimes I wonder why everyone else isn't.  I sometimes even think that I am just the kind of person who loves change.  Then someone changes something and I hate it.  It makes me mad.  I doubt why that person should even be able to make that sort of change.  "How dare that restaurant decide to change their menu!  I eat here at least twice a year.  Why didn't they consult me?" I think we all hate change.  Change is really hard.  We get comfortable when we know what's happening.  We like the rhythms that we live in.  We don't enjoy people messing it up. Unless we believe that the change that is made will lead to a greater place. I had lunch with an 80 year old guy that has been a part of our church for as long as I've been alive (36 years).  You could say that he has a heart of gold but the look of a curmudgeon.  He is a very giving person and yet

I needed some crossbars for my existing (factory) roof rack for my 2007 Chevy Uplander LT.  I went to the internet to buy some.  I had so much trouble finding any that were specifically made for my van.  So I decided to make my own.  The following are my pictures of how it all went down. I spent roughly $18 at Home Depot . 2 4ft lengths of electrical conduit 4 U-bolts 1 can black spray paint Strong drill bits The tools that I needed to have: Cordless drill Wrench (for the u-bolts) The rest is shown in the pictures.  It all looks pretty good, but I couldn't find any caps to put on the ends of the conduit.  I just grabbed some gorilla tape to seal them off.  When I was driving down the road with the ends not sealed I had a terrible whistling. Here is a link to the roof carrier that I purchased off of amazon for $50. Happy building!

So there we all were.  Well, we weren't all there.  We were all home.  Each child somewhere in the house doing something.  One on a phone.  One on a game.  One on the computer.  Occasionally they would interact.  They would rotate.  They would group up and go outside for some swimming, jumping on the trampoline, etc. And I sat there hoping we wouldn't lose this summer. Our Channel Our family will never again get a chance to live summer 2016.  The first summer with a teenager in our ranks.  The first summer with baby Wesley.  The last summer before middle school for one and the last summer before kindergarten for another.  It's a special summer.  Shouldn't we do something special? My wife and I talked about it for a few weeks.  Really, it's a conversation that is always ongoing though.  How do we "family?"  How do we create memories that will shape these kids?  How do we get everyone to build solid relationships with each other?  How do we use thi

So much tragedy in the news this week.  A lot of it centers around 3 very different, yet incredibly sad stories from Orlando.  Each one of the stories ends in death.  One ended in multiple deaths. Change needs to happen.  I'm sure we agree with that.  The problem with real change is that it takes a long time to come about and most of us just don't want to actually do anything helpful.  We want to get mad.  We want to use it as a platform for our own agenda or (just as bad) cash in on it either in cash, cause, or popularity.  We want to complain and blame.  I know that that is the temptation for me.  Complaining comes very naturally to me.  Helping does not.  Forgiving does not. Soon the news will find another story.  The politicians will find something else to talk about.  The world will have the Olympics and countless other stories.  If you follow the news in other countries and other continents you have already seen that there are terrible tragedies happening, lit

In his book, The Effective Father, Gordon MacDonald wrote: "It is said of Boswell, the famous biographer of Samuel Johnson, that he often referred to a special day in his childhood when his father took him fishing.  The day was fixed in his mind, and he often reflected upon many things his father had taught him in the course of their fishing experience together.  After having heard of that particular excursion so often, it occurred to someone much later to check the journal that Boswell's father kept and determine what had been said about the fishing trip form the parental perspective.  Turning to that date, the reader found only one sentence entered: 'Gone fishing today with my son; a day wasted.'" I'm currently on the downslope of the most busy season I've had in my life.  I have had the opportunity to see how much I can be involved in and just how severe my own limitations are.  I have noticed that, when push comes to shove, I will shove a person out

This is my sermon for the "older brother" in all of us. This sermon is the second sermon in the story of the Prodigal Son.  We saw the young man take his inheritance early, and disrespect his father.  We saw the pain of the father to let his son go.  We saw the foolishness of the boy to sell off his inheritance, go to a distant land, and squander it away.  We saw him hit the bottom in a feedlot, come to his senses, and go back to his father to plead with him to let him be a servant in his father’s house.  Well, when he was a long way off the father saw him coming and ran out to get him.  The boy started to ask for forgiveness and his father interupted him and gave him his best robe, a ring, and sandals.  He then killed the fatted calf and they had a celebration.  Our story ended with the father gladly proclaiming, “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” We understand that this is a parable that Jesus is telling them in order for th