We Need Talking Cars

The Car Horn

As much as you would like to think your car horn is a great way to communicate on the road, it really isnt. It has a very limited vocabulary. Not only that, its so hard to use the horn to communicate correctly. Think about it. You hold the horm down just a split second too long and you've gone from "Hello" to "HEY YOU! MOVE!"

So let's fix that. I found this system on how to properly use your car horn. Its similar to Morse code, in which the frequency and duration of beeps convey specific meanings. This will enable us to communicate with each other more clearly.

Here's the code:

• In a parking lot

Short honk: I seek your attention.
Medium honk: I seek your courtesy.
Long honk: I seek your doom for stealing my parking spot.

• On the freeway

Short honk: Caution! Your maneuver was unwise.
Short honk plus medium honk: Your maneuver was unwise, and I am carrying a grudge.
Two short honks and a long blast: Your maneuver was unwise, and all that keeps me from exacting revenge is the prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Three long blasts: Call a lawyer (I would add, PRAY! So you don't get here. I'd hate to see a listener of mine go to prison.)

• At a traffic light

Short tap: Perhaps you haven't noticed, but the light is green.
Two short taps: Perhaps if you weren't trying to drive, text and eat a takeout order of fettuccine Alfredo at the same time, you would have noticed that the light is green.
Two medium beeps: Perhaps if your parents had raised you to have consideration for someone besides your selfish, unintelligent self, you would have noticed that the light is green.
One prolonged blast: Perhaps you have fallen asleep, here let me help you. I will not stop the horn until you move.

• For other occasions

Short beep: Lighthearted salutation. It can be used to acknowledge passing neighbors or inform other people in your car pool that you have arrived to pick them up.
Short beep, medium beep: Punctuated signal of annoyance toward cyclists. The short beep warns; the medium beep adds emphasis. Similar to saying, "Hey you, MOVE!"
Medium beep, long beep: Excitement! It can be used to celebrate Buccaneers victories, support world-peace demonstrators or express appreciation for attractive pedestrians.

I found this list and thought it would help us all communicate just a little bit better. After the day that I had yesterday driving around Tampa. I need to make copies of this and start handing them out on a daily basis. Drive safe, take a deep breath and PRAY! Good luck on the roads.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

Going Through The Fire

The Refiners Fire

We had an interesting Thought for the Day today on the morning show. Its not often that one sticks with me throughout the day. But I haven't been able to get this one out of my head. All day its just been on replay in my head. So I figured I would write something on it. If not for your benefit, then mine.

This is the line that been running through my head: For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, and they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness” Malachi 3:1-3

The actual process of purifying silver is a tedious job. I've seen discovery channel enough to know that. The silver goes into the fire, then out of the fire, into the fire, then back out of the fire. Over and over and over and over again...until all the impurities are removed. Leave the silver in the fire too long, the silver is destroyed. Not enough and what's the point, nothing changes. Sounds vaguely familiar huh? It did for me.

As I go through life's "fires" or trials in my life I realize that once I come out the other side I come out of it a slightly different person. If I had done things God's way and learned to trust in Him, lean on His wisdom and just basically do what I was supposed to have done, I come out of that fire a lot like that piece of silver. A little better, a little shinier, a little more pure.

The most amazing part of the silver purification process is the test to see if it is its purest form or not. This metal is perfect only when the ‘refiner’ is able to see His reflection in the silver. Jesus is looking for our lives to reflect His glory.

That's a pretty neat thought huh...I thought so. I wish I could claim it, but I can't.

Count it all joy when you face life's fires because its an opportunity for God to refine the work he is doing in you. Yes, I know it stinks when your in it. The fire can be hot and I've lived in Florida long enough to know that heat can be brutal. Makes me happy I'm going to heaven. If I can barely handle a Florida summer, a lake of fire forever is something I'm going to pass on. But its the going through that refining process that Gods majesty begins to reflect in our lives, in our speech and in our actions. Trust me I know the process isn't always fun, but you come out the other side a better person, a stronger person and with a faith that was deeper than before you went in.

My hope for me is that I continue to let the refiner work on me from the inside out. Each time becoming more and more the man he created me to be and if it gets too hot, Jesus Christ is our escape. We can run into His arms and feel His love and grace surround us. He is looking for His face to shine in our lives. I also pray he give me a little warning next time. If I'm going back in I'd like to put on my board shorts and sunglasses and maybe even a little SPF 45 on my nose.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

Feeling Under The Weather

Yes, I'm Sick...

For me, being sick is a lot like a three year old throwing a week long tantrum. I’m cranky, require constant attention and no matter how great something is, it’s never good enough. Ah yes, the joy that is Carlos…sick. Really, the only benefit to being sick is that I can get away with almost anything.

I can beg for a remote control that’s juuuuuuust out of arms reach.

I can ask for my favorite meal and ‘poof’ it just magically appears. Campbell’s Chicken and Stars if you’re wondering.

I can even throw all desire for personal hygiene out the window. (True story, as a teen I had the flu and didn’t shower for 3 days, my mom literally brought a hose in the house and sprayed me in bed so I would get up and take a shower. Sadly, I think I am proud of the fact that I made it three days)

The thing is…when I am sick, even though I am physically miserable, I almost enjoy it to a certain extent. Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be 100% healthy and know that having a head cold is nothing compared to something truly horrible that could befall me. But who wouldn’t love a few days of being pampered and waited on hand and foot.

Well today as I was basking in the glow of feeling under the weather and the smell of Campbell’s soup wafting in the air I realized that at times my prayer life can become a bit “spiritually” sick.

Think about how you act when something bad happens in your life. Maybe you didn’t get that promotion you wanted or a bonus you thought you would be getting doesn’t happen or worse. When bad things happen, we can fall into a “Sick Carlos” kind of prayer life. We find our favorite spot and have a pity party with God. Now there is nothing wrong with asking God why something happens or to fix the problems in our lives. Just don’t let that be the only reason you fall to your knees before the throne and don’t let that become the only way you pray. If its all about you, you, you and fix, fix, fix then you may be missing a real chance for God to do something truly great in your life.

Before I became full-time staff at Spirit FM. I thought I was ready for radio stardom. I thought my talents were not being recognized and that the world was missing out on ME! Carlos the next big radio star! I really did think that way for a time. And trust me, I would pray, God why is this happening? Why am I not working in radio yet? Lord, help me find a place in radio. Please God point me in the right direction to do radio. On and on and on…I’m actually surprised God didn’t zap me from heaven. My prayer life was all focused on me not getting what I thought I deserved. When we become so engulfed by what we don’t have, we miss out on what we do.

So you miss out on a promotion, happened to a friend of mine. He had the chance of a lifetime to become a very important person at a major financial firm. Everything seemed like the job was his. BUT, he didn’t get it. He did the pity party to God thing only to realize later that God had his best interest in mind. That financial firm had serious job cuts when the recession struck. That position he wanted was eliminated and the person who was promoted let go, while his job was held safe. Had he been promoted, he would have lost his job.

What I mean by this rant is one thing. Its not our place to understand everything that happens to us in life. God is not up in heaven with puppet master strings, casting lightning bolts down on us to see how we dance. When bad things happen. Look to God for direction and HIS will in our lives. Let Him guide our footsteps. He holds your best interest in His hands and wants to bless your life. Trust me. I know. The day I switched my attitude was the day I began to make the most of my part time status at Spirit FM. I began to take my time there more seriously, to practice my craft, to get better and then, when I was really ready. God opened the door. A BIG DOOR. I went from the night jock to morning show host in less than a year. Why? I don’t know. Only God does. So let Him guide your footsteps, turn your life over to His mighty hands and just hang on and enjoy the ride.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

I'm Back / Fringe

Hello Again / Lessons from Sci-fi

So...I'm back...did you miss me? I missed the blog more than you know, I just took a little time to recharge my sarcasm, fine tune my antenna to God and make a little sense of a few things. So...hello again.

I love my DVR. Odd segue but its the best I could come up with.

I really do love that little guy. Sits there ever so quietly on my shelf just doing what its been told to do. I never have to check it, never have to remind it, only say to it, "SHOW ME" and out comes everything I ever wanted to see and hear in the 50 inch glory of my HDTV. (Insert angelic church choir here)

I was playing catch up on my DVR listings and made it a "Fringe" night. If your not familiar with the show its basically X-Files 2.0, only better and no David Duchovny constantly looking sad eyed even when he is trying to look happy.

This episode was all based around a tiny town called Edina where the inhabitants had been experimented on in the late 1970's by the U.S. government and been rendered horribly disfigured. One of the scientists at the time realizes what has happened and creates a giant transmitter that has the ability to conceals their true identity within the city limits of Edina. Meaning, if you were to wonder into Edina, you wouldn't see the people as they truly were, horribly disfigured, you would see them as looking as normal as you or I. Catch one outside the city limits and 'poof' the veil is lifted and the truth revealed.

How I made the jump to my faith I still dont know, but this made perfect sense to me...

As people, we are all little mad scientists in our own right. On the outside, you may see this perfect radio DJ, with the perfect life, always in the will of God. But you truly have no idea what is on the inside. What things I struggle with, where I fall short, or how. (Not that its any of your business) Romans 3:23 is all you need to know "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and yes that means your pastor or priest and yes, even the Pope. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble.

Be it through our speech or our actions, we have all created our own little transmitters that hide who we really art to the rest of the world. Horribly disfigured people who dont deserve the grace of God.

The good news is that God sees right to the heart of the matter. He can see past all the fluff of our Christian walk, see through the facade of our daily actions and get right to the heart or it. Right to the heart of us. That dark little corner we try so desperately to hide. In the episode of Fringe, some residents even resort to murder to hide the truth.

Thankfully, our ever loving God already knows who we are and is ready to forgive. He sees me as I am and loves me regardless. He knew me before he made me, knew my strengths and knew my weaknesses, knew how I would rise and how I would fall and still loves me. Paul tells us, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of Christ our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit or our God"

So today, PRAY, let God get to work on the inside of your heart. In those deep, dark little nooks and crannies where we hide the hideous from the rest of the world. To be honest, I don't need to know, nor want to know what you struggle with. Find an accountability partner to help your walk and then give the rest to God. In the episode the town gets to keep their transmitter and keep their little secret; after the truth came out and the "sin" was removed. So let God work on you, I don't need to know how or when. Just don't try and hide it, hoping nobody ever finds out because someone already know...Eccl 12:14 "For God shall bring every work to judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Be Blessed.

Carlos

Random Thoughts

A while back my husband forwarded this email to me and I passed it around the office. It had us rolling. I came across it the other day and I thought I'd share. These are just a few of the random thoughts from 25-35 year olds:

- Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out.

-How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don'twant to have to restart my collection.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

Hope this made you chuckle!

-Abby