7-2-2009

There is something real nice about knowing you have no control over anything.
This past week or so several people who were considered larger than life died. One was Michael Jackson and the other was Billy Mays. Both of these men were very very successful and in a worldly sense and had everything at their finger tips; fame, extravagance, money, toys, etc. But, now they are dead...
I don't want to be cavalier...but, thousands of people die everyday, these 2 just happened to be famous. Their deaths have made me think about life...the good and the bad and the mundane. I know that often I do not live as if today was my last...I have this thing called pride that keeps me from thinking anything "bad" could happen to me. I often am consumed with trivial,self-gratifying lusts for things that satisfy momentarily. Think about it...what did today consist of: count the number of things you did for yourself and then count the number if things you did for others (without grumbling or rolling your eyes)...sad huh?
My point is simply this, and I am pretty sure I have said it before: if there is something you need to do, whatever it may be, DO IT!!! A trip, tell someone your sorry, tell someone the truth, clean your room, lay your heart out for someone, rebuke someone, discipline someone...DO IT, because tomorrow was never promised...

5-19-2009

Tonight we had our annual Texas Baptist Childrens Home Awards Ceremony. I MCed and it was SO Awesome!! It is so cool seeing kids smile. That may sound simple but it is so true. There is something intoxicating about a kids smile, especially the kids at the childrens home. These kids have been through so much junk...and most are under 12yrs old; so when you see them smile you know that they mean it.
I am writing to encourage you to be content. The older you get the more life can beat you down. I have been learning this lately. But I have also been learning that it is a choice. Life beatdown is a choice. With all the chasing of titles, raises, status, money, new nice stuff, bigger Tv's and all the other junk it is east to not be content.
Tonight I smiled more, felt satisfied and got my heart warmed by something as simple as an awards banquet. I would encourage you to take a timeout and think if you are content. Are you chasing things that keep leaving you empty, or are you chasing after the things that keep you full and satisfied forever?


-- Post From My iPhone

5-13-2009b

Right now I am sitting in my living room watching some basketball on TV. I have the volume down low because I really do not care about it...just have it on. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about life: all the good and all the bad, all the people I like and all the people that annoy me, all the people I know who do not seem to have common sense or concern for others. Jessi and I were laughing at all the.comical people on our lives at dinner tonight and it got me thinking about Jesus. I find him to be so perfect...which allows me to see how imperfect I am, which is actually a beautiful thing. Despite my flaws and the flaws I see in others we/I am/are loved. I often do not live a life that reflects Christs love...I, like many others, am usually wrapped up in my desires and feelings and wants...I wonder if I will ever live for less of me and more of Him?
Some of these thoughts are just off the top of my head...to wrap it up with something solid I would suggest you read Romans 8:32 and think about the price paid for all of us: the complainers, self-seekers, cheats, heart-hurters, back stabbers...look what was not spared for us! God is big and he reigns...always has...always will
-- Post From My iPhone

4-13-2009

Jessi and I went to a small group last night. It is a group of newly married couples who meet together every Tue night who listen to Mark Driscoll, one of my favorite pastors. It was a really good time. All of he couples were normal, which has been hard for us to find since we have been in Round Rock. Being in community is so nice. God has called us to live in community. If you are avoiding community stop avoiding it..and if you are in community be thankful that God in all his thoughtfulness created us for community. And be thankful for the people who are in your life that are pointing you towards Christ!


-- Post From My iPhone

4-15-2009

In James 3: 6 there is a verse that I cannot get out of my head:

"The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." 

It is a pretty sobering feeling to know that my words will set the entire course of my life. Matthew 12:36 adds to this by saying "people will give an account for every careless word they speak."

This is why I like Jessi. Most people think she is shy or quiet or both. I think she is wise. I took kid from TBCH to lunch yesterday (I took him out of school, haha) and he said that he thinks Jessi is cool because she does not talk too much, but every time she does he said that people listen. It is like everyone is just BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH all day and she is just blah. It is weird to get some good insight from a 15 yr old guy but I am definitely sure that I can learn something from Jessi, because if any of you know me then you know that I need to shut up sometimes.

I would ask everyone who is reading this to think back on life and see how the tongue has set on fire the entire course of your life, has it been good or has it been bad? 

4-13-2009

Easter...

I realized this weekend that I have never realized Easter. This is true of several other areas of my life as well...such as Spring...as in the season. I was telling Jessi the other day how I never remember enjoying all that spring offers (i.e. beautiful weather, re-birth, renewal of nature, sunrises...because I am never up early enough in the fall to see one). Also...time. Jessi and I have almost been married for 10 months...which is very close to a year! I still remember sitting on the roof at my old house as Cobb yelled at the cops...and meeting a guy named Mike...who is now Mike with a C. I also remember almost pledging IXA (good gosh) and white boys van burning down in the HPU Jesus parking lot. It all seems like yesterday...and as much as I have never truly understood that saying...it is very real to me now. 

But back to Easter. 

Jesus died on a cross... naked, torn to pieces, by people who one week prior welcomed him like a king...and who now mock him like a murderer. As he carried his cross to his death he fell and by most modern Dr's opinion he crushed his chest...which also is said to have caused his death. Many say that the water and blood that came out of his side from being pierced was due to a heart attack. A perfectly healthy man most likely died of a heart attack in less than one days time. He was so brutally beaten and had so much "weight" on his shoulders that it ruined his heart in the span of several hours.

He then was wrapped in over 100 pds of linen and protected by guards and a huge rock. No one was going to get in....and we all know the rest of the story.

This story, until this weekend, never took a place in my heart. I have always treated his death as just a part of his life's story...but now there is a new passion...and a new reverence for his death...his death for me. 

In America "Jesus day" may be over and done...but my celebration of it will not be done until I am.

3-15-2009

   I have not posted lately because I really have felt like I had nothing to say...which is you know me at all might seem odd. 

   Life has been really good lately. I have been learning a lot which is exactly what I need. I find that when I am not learning, my life is stagnant and predictable. Now by learning I am not talking about school, because I am done with school, and to be honest I felt that I did not learn all that much there. The learning I am talking about is just life learning. 

   One area that stands out right now is just learning to love people. 1 John 3:18 says "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" My job title often times makes me feel that I love because it is my job, not because I really want to. Also, as someone who speaks and teaches (2 times a week) I have found that my words do not always line up with my actions, and believe me that is not a fun realization. So, I have made it a new life goal to let my actions speak louder than my words, to not say it, but to show it. So far I feel more alive, confident and selfless; which I would think everyone is looking to feel...but often times looking elsewhere(not God) for those characteristics.

   So to wrap up...are you learning? Or are you stagnant and predictable? And, if you want to feel more alive, confident and selfless what are you doing to get there, and more importantly, who are you trusting to get you there?

2-24-2009

Here are some recent pictures I took...enjoy...