Bhsahaaa.... kl

See that up there? That's how I feel right now. I hate being sick. I blame Walmart for this one. I was fine until yesterday with all that working they made me do. How dare they...

So make sure to pray for me (if you even see this). In the mean time, here's an awesome picture of Audrey and Garrett from the doctors office this morning. Enjoy!

Booze Cruise!

One day last week this guy came to my door. I wasn't expecting anyone, so it took me by surprise, especially since I had Garrett by myself and he was screaming his head off. "Maybe it the mailman" I thought, or "Maybe I've been selected as a sweepstakes winner" or "Maybe it’s future Garrett traveling backwards in time to tell himself to be quiet for Dad". But it was none of these.

It was just this guy. He seemed to be around my age, but I'm not really sure. He greeted me in a friendly manner and told me his name (which I have forgotten) and I introduced myself all the while thinking "Is this my future son?" He then proceeded to state that he wasn't "one of those crazy Mormons or anything like that". What a relief. He asked me if I had gotten any pins from "the really hot chicks" that were on my street earlier in the week. I told him I hadn't gotten anything from anyone, to which he replied, "That's too bad. Those chicks were really hot."

So I asked him if he needed something, since present Garrett was crying and potential future Garrett wasn't doing anything about it. He gets a card out that shows he's certified to sell magazine subscriptions so he can save up for a trip. Not just any trip though. No, this is a booze cruise trip so that he can go party down in Cancun or wherever it was. I'm not just guessing this though. The guy flat-out told me. At this point I told him I wasn't interested and I needed to get back to my screaming baby. He thanked me for my time, and I told him be safe while he walks around. Then he left.

I tell you this to make a point. I am lousy when it comes to sharing my faith with others. Sure, I preach it on Wednesdays and Sundays at church, but when do I do it any other time? This great news, this life-changing news that has rescued me from my sin and can save others isn't going anywhere because of me. But this guy? He would gladly go door to door just so he can get a little closer to being on that booze cruise. What a wretched man I am...

The fact is, we're all lousy with our faith in Christ. We all fall short of the expectations God has for us, and we all fail Him, yet He forgives us and restores us. He gives us the strength to be lights in the world. I pray that God will grant you and me the strength to boldly preach His saving news.

It comes back from the grave...

Oh my word, I haven't been on this thing in awhile. Just thought I'd note that.

Anyway, We've been going through Galatians at Elvins. It's an awesome book if you've never studied it in depth. I recommend it. Anyway, there's a constant theme through Galatians: Are you following the true Gospel?


I admit to you right now that I don't always do this. I get fearful of what others think. I justify my thoughts and actions. I do whatever it takes to get away from the fact that a Holy God died for a miserable sinner (ie me). But the truth is the true Gospel takes your pride, your jealously, your hate, your very life, and turns it into something awesome, something more Christ-like. This is after all the "good news", the thing everyone needs to hear and partake of, and sometimes my life just doesn't reflect it.

I pray my life can be more Christ-like...

And there was one... more to the family

Wow. Garrett is upon us. What turned into a kinda routine, kinda not routine check-up is now a full-fledged baby snatching extravaganza. I've always know a baby would be coming, but today is the first time it feels real, and it scares me.

I know everything will be fine, but part of me thinks something will happen to him too. I mean, I'm stupid clumsy. I know I'm going to drop him, or hit his head on something, or accidentally let him listen to Katy Perry. You know, bad stuff.

I know God will provide the knowledge to raise him. It's just hard to imagine that when I've never had a kid before. Anyway, I want some birthday cake for him too. Hopefully I can get some so when you come to see him, you get cake too!

What's the difference between me and a baby?

So Garrett will be here shortly. Like, anytime now shortly. It's crazy to think that just a year ago I was still trying to figure out how to own a house (I'm still doing that. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know). Now, another human being will be dependent on me to live. This got me thinking though. Do I live I like I have to depend on God? Do I cry out to Christ at every need so that He will hear me? Do I take comfort in His presence? Would I die without Him?

The answer is sadly no. My life goes on as if nothing about me has changed, like my sins weren't nailed to the cross and my life isn't hidden in Christ. Why is it that the one thing that I claim will change your life isn't changing mine?

There are two paths that lay before me. One is the current path. I try to make Christ known through doing the same thing everyone else is doing. I try to worship God by just singing some songs and nothing more. Or I take the other path. I stop caring about my earthly job and focus on those who need more than I do. I stop caring about my own income and start caring about the sick, the hungry, those in prison. I stop trying to live for Jesus and I start living in Jesus. I stop, He starts.

It's hard, it really is. Especially when I think about Audrey and Garrett. I don;t want anything to happen to them, but I want Christ to have everything about me. i want to live like a newborn, completely dependent on my Holy Father. I guess that's why Jesus said our faith is to be like children's. Not full of worry, not full of greed and envy, but totally consumed in Christ's love and totally in need of Him. May God start to make me give more, speak more, share more, love more.

I’m terrible soil.

 

I’ve been going through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan over the last week or so. I've had the book for a while now but for some reason put it down and didn’t pick it back up. Well, I’ve picked it back up, and the Spirit’s been speaking through Mr. Chan.

He uses the parable of the farmer, the seeds, and the soil to make a point about our lives. Read Luke 8:1-15. It’s clear that there’s different kinds of people who claim to follow Christ. There’s those that ignore the truth and are never saved as well as those who receive the News and reproduce a crop through perseverance.

It’s the other two seeds that I want to mention. Those who believe for awhile and fall away and those who believe but are choked out by life’s worries. The challenge Francis gives us is that we can’t assume we’re good soil all the time, and I have to admit, I’m not,

I worry too much about what’s going to happen next. I let things like stuff ruin me. I’m prideful and think of myself better than others. I don’t love like I should. Yet God’s grace covers me. He loves me. He died for me… and all I can bring Him is my anger, jealousy, and hate to offer?

I’m a wretched sinner, undeserving of the penalty of my selfishness, but God’s grace is better, His mercy is better, His life is better. Let me rely on Him alone and give up myself for the gift He’s freely given.

Where's my life?

Man, it's been a while since I did anything with this site. I've been uber busy this last week, so let me recap what's happened so far. I'm now the Director of Student Ministries at Elvins Baptist Church. I'm pretty excited to see what God's going to do there, so be in prayer for me and the students. It's also closer to baby time. I'm ready to play with Garrett even though he'll just sit there and not do that much.

I've been convicted the last few weeks about how much time I really spend with God. Sure, I read my Bible everyday, but my prayer life stinks. The thing that's hit me the most is that I can preach the name of Christ to anyone and I can give an answer to any objection, but I live like a selfish american that only thinks about himself. I mean, Christ gave me life and I can't spend time telling Him my struggles, my heartaches, my desires, and my needs? It seems like a pretty one-sided relationship if you ask me.

I agree with C. S. Lewis that the greatest sin is pride. I think that my time is more valuable to me than it is to God, so I give Him 10 minutes out of a 24 hour period. That's silly. He should have the whole thing. When I wake up I should be praising Him for the day. When I go to work I should be asking for strength to deal with crabby people. When any possible number of situations happen, I should give Him everything. After all, "you are not your own; you were bought at a price" (1 Cor 6:19-20). But my life looks like I returned the gift to the store...

I pray that my life can't be found anymore because it's hidden in Christ (Col 3:3), and that I spend time with God like someone I love.

A New Way To Approach It

I've been praying about how to "use" this blog, and I think the best way would be to simply express what's going on in my heart. I feel like I don't share my struggles enough so that others may hold me accountable, so maybe this will be the way to do it? I'm not sure, but for right now I'm not going to focus so much on writing Observations. I think I'll focus on writing one great article once a month instead of several OK ones throughout a week.

Anyway, that's where I'm at right now, and I've decided I want a vuvuzela just because.

New phone!

I'm posting this from my new phone. its pretty nifty, but I'm still getting used to it. Audrey got a new phone too. Anyway, I don't have anything else to say...

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A Money Observed, Part 2

I want stuff all the time. Like a lot of stuff. I've noticed something though. The more stuff I get the more I have to take care of it. I had no problem hooking up my old TV and just taking it wherever I needed it, but my new TV can’t be handled roughly. I make sure it stays in one spot and that when I have to move it, it’s moved very delicately. I even dust my new TV, making sure there's nothing wrong with it. I like my new TV, but the old one was simpler. It got by, and truth be told, I didn't really need a new TV (although I really like my TV now...). And when I bought a new computer, I didn't just replace it with another one that was the same. I got one with more bells and whistles that led to more maintenance and more headaches (I'm looking at you Sony). 

More stuff leads to more, well, problems. The more we have the more time we have to have to take care of it. 

I knew I forgot something.

Hmmm... well, I forgot to post the article I was working on. Oh well. It'll be up next week.

I'm thinking about taking a different approach to the blog though. I'm not sure what I would do, but maybe spending time writing like once a week instead of every other day like I wanted before.

Anyway, the post will be up. Promise.

A Year Observed

In the last year, I've:

-bought a house
-worked a different job
-got a dog
-started a blog
-lost the dog
-was told my grass was too high
-taught the dog to give high-fives
-found out I was a dad

and I did it all with my best friend...

Boom

This week's been nuts. I made a girl cry, got yelled at, and waived at a complete stranger like a dork, and that was just yesterday at work...

Truth be told, I feel like I'm in a dry spell as far as writing stuff for the blog. I have another post about money coming up, but I haven't got anything after that. I'll see what I can come up with.

A Money Observed, Part 1

The relationship between money and us is a strange one. Money can be used for good, but it can also be used for not-so-good. It can be fun to have or a burden to maintain. It can get you stuff or make you lose it all. Money is just... strange.

Uh oh....

So Audrey and I went to the Apple store today and played with an iPad. It's a lot smaller than I expected, and despite what I thought in my mind, it was easy to handle and looked really good.

So now I want one...

I've even started trying to trying to come up with reasons why I needed. Some are dumb, but others are legitimate. Oh well.... A girl can dream.

On a more serious note, I've been struggling with my thought-life. I have the worst road-rage and in general just have a hateful attitude towards people. Pray that I can find my strength in Christ and that I have a better attitude. I guess I'm still having some overflow from the last post.

I hope your week has been a blessing to you, others, and Christ. Shout out to Justin who's in Colombia right now.

A Man Observed

Gather round! It’s story time!

A few months ago I waited on this man at work. It was the day I first saw Garrett. Anyway, this guy was picking up his prescriptions for his mother or something like that, and the price came to like 90 bucks. So I asked the man if this was the price the prescription was supposed to be, and he said he didn’t know. I decided to look the prescription up in the computer to see why it cost so much, but I needed the bag to read the numbers to know what prescription I was looking at. The man then starting telling me to (and I’m really cleaning this up) “don’t touch the bag or I’ll hurt you”. He had his fist up like he was going to punch me at any moment and kept yelling to let go of the bag. Great way to start off the day you get to see your son for the first time…

New Stuff!

I've got some new posts coming up soon. A few of them are on random subjects, but some of them are actually going to be part of a study on money. Every Monday for the next couple of weeks I'll talk about what the Bible has to say about money. Anyway, check them out!

You've a graduated

Go Shane! I know he graduated like 2 weeks ago, but his party was today. It was fun, although the best part for me was throwing a bunch of rolls at my other cousin Kendall's head. She said I would get AIDS if I ate the roles since they touched the chair. Awesome...

On a side note, Audrey is out of town and I miss her, but she and Garrett will be back shortly!

The Greatest Walmart Cake Ever

Today is the last day for my boss at Walmart, Kay Anne. So I decided to bake her a cake. I thought I would walk you through the steps I took to not only bake the cake, but draw Sam Walton giving Kay Anne a thumbs up for all her hard work. A few notes about this cake are in order. First, the pens I used were terrible. Worst $4 I think I've spent in a long time. Second, I don't bake, like ever, which means there like a 65% chance this things isn't edible. Now that we have that out of the way, on to the picture!

Go click some links!

I added a "Links" page. It's over here  ---->

Anyway, it's got websites I like to visit often and different resources. So if you're bored, go click some links!

A Will Observed

So much of our lives as Christians deal with what God's will is for our lives. From the moment you encounter the "language" of Christianity, the words "will" and "calling" always come up no matter what stage you're in. Don't know Christ? It's His will that you know Him. Want to do something? It's your calling that you do it. While it's true that Christ desires a relationship and that He has instilled in you gifts and abilities to work for Christ, it's always puzzled me that we are you and I are to supposed to know what God wants for us. After all, if God is all-knowing, if He is all-loving, and if He has the best things lined out for me, why do I have to figure it out?

Internet!

So we haven't had the internet at my house since last Friday, and we got it back yesterday. Needless to say, I haven't been able to update or check this thing. I have a lot of topics I want to write about so I'll be working on those in the next week or so.

Be in prayer for Audrey and I as well. We may be undergoing a huge step in our faith together soon. Anyway, check back for more!

A Yard Observed

I got a letter this week. Not just any letter, but an official notice from the city of Festus. You see, when you live in the city of Festus, they expect that the grass in your yard should be cut. So much so that they have a law that says your grass can't be more than 10 inches tall. Now, truth be told, my grass was probably longer than 10 inches, and it needed to be cut really bad. But with all the rain we had before it was hard for me to cut it. The letter, I guess, was the nudge that I needed to cut my grass.

Well....

I haven't been writing for this thing for the past few days, so I don't have anything new to put up just yet. But I've got a few different things I'm writing about now, so I'll have stuff posted in the next few days. Promise!

LOST!

I still don't get the Smoke Monster. I mean, I know he's not Jacob's brother, but why does he act like him? So confusing...

My week is going pretty well. This is the last week of school for the summer. It'll be nice to have the time off of not worrying about classes and stuff.

Stay strong in Christ!

A Father Observed

I always underline passages that pop out at me at the time. For example, the fact that Christ is "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb 1:3) just blows my mind. I mean, how awesome is it that Christ is exactly like God, even though He's a dude like us "tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Heb 4:15). Needless to say, I've underlined both of these passages.

A Fairness Observed

I've been reading a lot of naturalist and atheist stuff in the last couple of days and the one thing that keeps coming up is "Why would a loving God do/allow something to something else. That doesn't seem fair". A god who allows things that are un-fair either is (a) evil, so don't have anything to do with him or (b) doesn't exist, so don't worry about it. I'll admit, it is a good question until you really look at what you're asking.

Hey, I've got jumper cables!

I helped a guy jump-start his car today. He was grateful, I let him know that Jesus loves him and didn't take the money he was offering. Made my day and my lunch.

Lost is new tonight. Oh yeah!

A Bird Observed

I was driving around the other day just taking in the beautiful weather. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and overall it was a nice day. I happened to look up in the sky and notice one single bird hovering in the sky. I'll admit it wasn't the safest of driving maneuvers to be staring up in the sky while driving down the road, but this single bird somehow fascinated me. This bird gracefully stayed adrift in the afternoon sun, defining gravity against the brightly lit yet scarcely clouded backdrop to let me know of its powerful yet quite presence. Given all that this bird could communicate to me in less than 10 seconds, the single thought that this bird had plagued me was something I just couldn't get over. Over and over again in my mind the question rang: Why do birds exist?

Sign of things to come

I just started this blog. I'm going to be working on it so it's something that is able to be used for ministry and for people to keep tabs on me. This is the first post!