Fall

I believe that fall may be turning into my favorite season. Summer has typically been my favorite, but the summer seems much different when you do not have a pool that you go to every single day. Having a job where dress pants and a dress shirt are required also changes my outlook on the summer, especially when you're car does not have air conditioning.

So fall makes for a perfect season to where sweatshirts, sweaters, and jeans. And you're not to hot and you're not too cold. It's as perfect as it gets.

Don't forget that football season resides in this pleasant season, which makes Saturdays and Sunday all that more enjoyable.

I walked out of my apartment this morning and was hit by a coolness in the air, which brightened my day. Before going outside I felt tired, drained, and primed to hop back into bed. Luckily I did not.

I am surprised over and over again at the beauty that God has provided us with here on earth. It is simply amazing how everything works and how something so simple as the temperature dropping a few degrees can have such a large affect on my outlook on the day. Imagine if I could just simply wake up and feel God's beauty with nothing more than the thought of God's love. This is where I want to be. God's love is abounding and endless; I know this to be true and it's a blessing to find it hidden in so many different ways.

intentionality

i read a small tidbit online today and it sparked a thought and a reflection into my life. this little tidbit had something to do with the title of this post. the thought that came after reading this literally was, "what am i doing to purposely grow in my relationship with GOD." i quickly realized that there's a disturbing answer to my question. i thought about on a daily basis, a weekly basis, a monthly basis, and etc. i continued to be disappointed with my answers. my natural reaction is to be defensive (even though the criticisms are coming from my own thoughts). excuses are a part of my life, but avoiding them here is necessary for the kind of reflection that i need. i know what i would like to come from all of this. the next step and the next step have to be intentional. my relationship has to be intentional. that's true even with friends and family members. a friendship is not going to last if there is not an intentional effort from both parties. i have many friends from college and high school that i have to intentionally stay in contact with because it's not part of my everyday routine. we no longer live in the same city, which makes it more difficult and is an easy excuse to use. so how does that fit with my relationship with GOD? if i don't take intentional steps to stay in contact, how is that relationship going to last?

i know there are some things that need to change. i know there are some things that i need to intentionally start doing because my relationship with GOD has suffered.

Me

So I have thinking quite a bit lately about how I interact with God and what my relationship with God really consists of. My thoughts and putting these thoughts here stem from reading James this morning. James 5:16 reads, "Therefore confess your sins to each other..." My relationship, or lack of relationship has been bothering me and this is an attempt to start the process of rebuilding and pursuing God.

This is what I wrote down this morning:

I am bad at this. This being a great multitude of things, in which I can only ask God's help and forgiveness. I rely too much on ME. I make almost zero effort to ask God for help and rarely do I strive to be closer to Him. Is this really what a Christian is supposed to look like? I know I am never going to be perfect, but I imagine that God is not pleased with my faith or my relationship with Him. My life, my body, my thoughts, my actions are not my own. I am sorry for this distance between us. I need your help.

God's Timing

God has a funny way of doing things. His timing is impeccable and completely daunting at the same. My faith is about to be completely tested in a lot of ways that I am not sure I am ready for. God has put on my heart and my wife's heart an oppertunity to go overseas to Zambia, Africa for a couple of weeks of work with AIDS orphans. The reason the timing of this is so daunting and exhilerating at the same time is because the oppertunity that has been presented is much much sooner than we expected. We are planning on leaving on May 9th. Now your first reaction, as well as my own, is that this date is too soon and it does not provide enough time to actually plan the trip or fund raise.

This is where God, for me especially, will stretch the boundaries that embody this situation. I am the type of person that likes to rely on myself to get most things done. This situation really does not allow me to do so. I can frantically plan all I want for this trip to happen, but in all reality, it is in God's hands. He put this on our hearts, he provided the oppertunity, he will provide adequate funds for this to happen. I am learning about myself and my God everyday.

This trip will also be one of great importance to Lindsay and I's future. The work that we will be doing and get to experience in Zambia will be exactly what we plan on doing full time in the future. I am extremely excited and scared all at the same time.

I would ask that anyone who actually reads this meager blog to pray for this entire situation. Pray for God's plans that Lindsay and I cannot see yet. Thank you.

Celebration

As I was driving home last night, I heard a song on the radio that caught my ear and made me think. I didn't even catch the name of the song or who it was, but here were the lyrics that caught my attention. "Open your eyes, open your eyes, and see that life is beautiful. Promise that at my funeral you won't cry." That's probably a really bad paraphrase actually, but it made me reflect on how great life can be if you really look at it. How many times do we take the time to appreciate things we have, relationships, our family, our friends, our jobs, our lives in general. I know this song wasn't a Christian song or anything, but it made me extremely grateful for the life I have. Yeserday, work was absolutely crazy. I remember text messaging Lindsay a few hours into the morning telling her that "today sucks". At the end of the day, looking back on it, it really wasn't that bad. And I can say that because I know that if I didn't have God in my life, my day probably would have sucked a whole lot more. The last part of that song really made me think about the end of my life. Wouldn't it be awesome, if when we passed away, we could celebrate life instead of mourn death. I mean, in all reality, don't you think when we get to Heaven we are going to be so thankful and celebrate the fact that we get to spend eternity in God's presence. I want that at my funeral. I know people will be sad, atleast hopefully, but I want people to know that I enjoyed my time with them on earth, but I am celebrating in God's presence in Heaven.

The First

I figure that my very first post can answer the question I am posing to any readers that make their way onto this site; what inspires you? I ask this question with the picture of my wife on a beach in the Dominican Republic in mind. This picture inspires me in several ways.

The first of which has to do with my creator. I really think that you can find some kind of beauty in almost anything. This picutre provides a small glimpse of God's artistic abilities in the creation of this earth. This picture simply reminds me of how great God is and provides me with another great example and reason to love Him.

The second reason this picture is because my wife is there in the picture. She is another great resemblance of God's love for me and His extraordinary beauty. She is also an inspiration in quite a few of my everyday tasks, such as the dishes (which I have come to dislike greatly), work, some of my reacreational avenues (not xbox), and probably a lot more. She spurs me on to be better.

Another reason this picutre is inspiring is because the photo was taken on our honeymoon. This points me directly back to my wife, it just reminds me of our marriage and what it means to me.

There may be more inspirtional themes that I could take from this picture, but the last one, and quite a bit less important then all of the previous ones is that I am fond of taking pictures and I took this picture. So it inspires me to continue doing so.

So this is my first post. I may continue to do something similar to this weekly, but I'm not exactly sure yet.