John 8:9-11

9. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

10. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11. "No one, sir," she replied.


"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Toby, Trip, and a New One

TobyMac's new CD came out tonight, and I've spent the last few minutes listening to it. The little that I've heard is very good, and I would highly recommend it. Especially this song called "Hold On". It's really good. Oh and this one too!

I've also been listening to Lecrae's prodigy, Trip Lee, the last couple of days. In his song, "Who He Is," Trip Lee sings:

If I'm worth dying for, yes this God is worth living for.

I've never thought of it quite like that. Never really put it together that I'm worth it.

Awesome...

Here's a new one for everyone. I recently found this again, and after a few minor touches, here it is for your enjoyment:

Tell Of His Power
Oh praise the One who hung the stars
Stringing up Orion's belt
Who sees the heavens darkest part
And strokes Ursa's starry pelt

Sing power to the Name who flings
Bright comets across the way
Who listens as the sunrise sings
And smears clouds across the day

Tremble before He who holds the Moon
On high with silvery dignified grace
Who shakes the mountains into dunes
And breathes the breeze across your face

Sing, my soul, with awestruck wonder
To Him who pours out time
He knows each storm; each peal of thunder
And every tear you cry

How high, how wide is His tender love
Deeper than the ocean floor
More gentle than the purest dove
More terrible than the storm

Cry mercy, oh my withered soul
Though you are worthy of none
And He will speak and make you whole
Proudly proclaiming you His son

The angels stand and cower before Him
Adoring but terrified
Draw near, my spirit, to His loving power
Come closer and be purified.

Haiti, Waterslides, Life and Matthew

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't really followed the crisis down in Haiti. I have no excuse really. I'd see the little blurbs and hear the stories and for whatever reason, I would tune it out; ignore it. It never really cracked this callous shell that I built up to isolate myself from all of it. And tonight was the first time that I ever really looked at anything about it. I don't know where that came from, but I don't like it.

Which got me thinking about some things...

Over the last few days, my co-workers and I have been working on the waterslides at Sky Ranch. Using handheld paint scrapers, we've been slowly scraping the top layers away, trying to get to the fiberglass underneath. This in turn will allow those that know about such things to replace the plastic coating with a new coating that will allow kids to slide better. It has been hand-crampingly slow work, but as my friend, Kate, would readily attest, there are some things to gain from such work.

Primarily, if you can manage, you can find yourself working all by yourself. Just you, a scraper, and a stubborn piece of plastic coating. This in turn led me to let my mind wander as my fingers worked on auto-pilot. Scrape, scrape, scrape. So many life analogies.

Imagine you were the slide with the stubborn piece of plastic coating (it's a tan color to help you visualize). That plastic coating is your shield, put there to protect you from life's troubles. And you're happy with that shield. But then the scraper comes along and starts slowly and carefully chipping away at everything you were using to protect yourself. Everything you were holding on to is slowly, but deliberately, being removed. Fiberglass shards start flying. Large chunks are falling away. But it doesn't go smoothly.

It doesn't go smoothly....

It hurts....

And to me (and some others) this is Life. We have a tendency to make ourselves comfortable with this little life as we know it, content to hide behind all kinds of things to fool ourselves into thinking we're happy. And for the most part we succeed.

And then God comes along.

And He slowly starts chipping away at us. And it hurts.

But God is always right there next us, whispering, "I know it hurts. But I have something so much better for you. Please just trust Me."

Most of the time I think that we can't hear Him because we're too focused on the sounds of our own shattered kingdoms to notice.

Because it hurts.... because it isn't what we want.... because we don't understand it....

I don't understand the magnitude of earthquake in Haiti. I don't think anyone does. What came to mind when I tried to understand it all was Matthew 24:6-7:

6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see that you are not alarmed. Such things MUST happen, but the end is still to come.

7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

There is a certain level of comfort in knowing that Jesus said all of this had to happen. It helps me to know that He is sovereign in all of this. I don't have to understand why it happened. Jesus knows why.

And He's in control...

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!"

-Matthew 8:27

Wii Fit

So last Friday I bought Katie a Wii Fit Plus for our 2 year anniversary. It's safe to say that I am NOT in shape at all. First time a video game literally kicked my butt...

Been a long time...

My apologies for my extended absence from this place. I've fallen victim to laziness and the oft-used excuse of "I've got so much going on right now..." So we'll just skip the awkwardness and pretend that I've been here all along... And now at the urgent request of Katie and my friends at Growing Freely and Just a Little Mishap....

On with the show...

For those who didn't hear (or see the video), I'm engaged now! Katie said yes! We're going to be married on July 17th, 2010! And then it's a long, fun week in Walt Disney World staying in the Animal Kingdom Lodge! It's going to be so much fun!

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm standing on Times Square waiting in line to go into ESPN Zone! Figured I'd try this blog app out while I was waiting! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ahh...fall...

Here it is again. Fall. Gotta love it....the air; the colder temperatures; the falling leaves... As I've mentioned before, I love this time of year. Now, if we could just get all this without all the rain then we'd be set.

I was looking through a bunch of old Facebook pictures the other day, which, naturally, got me thinking about the past (something that I probably do too much of), and how strange it is that people are in your life for a season before moving on with their lives. It's happened to me before, but it's still pretty weird when I realize it. For instance, there's this guy I'm friends with on Facebook that I haven't seen in years. I mean, years. Like I was 5 the last time I saw him. And apparently, he and I were best friends way back then. Now he's married, and I know next to nothing about him.

A more recent example is the Perry family. Cody and Christian were two of my best friends growing up. I remember playing Ninja Turtles with them, hanging out at church, and having sleep-overs all the time either in Ragley or Moss Bluff. We went to the same church; Cody and I had a crush on the same girl there. Mr. Ed and Mrs. Cathy were almost like second parents. I remember crying and crying when I found out that they were leaving to go to a different church in the same town. Now, all was not as I feared, of course. We kept in touch, and I was even in Mr. Ed's Sunday School class.

*Sidenote* - Mr. Ed, if you ever read this, thank you so much for that class and for all the times you let Jared and I invade your home. You challenged us, and cared about each one of us individually. You always wanted the best for all of us; even when you might have thought we were being morons. You gave and gave and gave; never asking for anything in return. You truly were an awesome man of God.

I'm starting to feel that way about high school and college friends as well. I know that some of them will always be there if I need them, no matter the length of time that passes like the Perry's, Kade, Ken, Ryne, Bill, Jimmy, Lyndsey, and David. I'm incredibly thankful for that. There's no way I deserve one friend of this caliber, yet I've just named 7 plus a family of 4.

And I can't help wondering if I've had as good of an impact on them as they have on me. Have I done as Mr. Ed did and cared, challenged, and gave of myself without asking for anything back? For the ones that I don't really talk to anymore...is there anything that I could have done to change who they are now? I realize that I can't take responsibility for anyone's life but mine, yet it's still something that I think about every now and then....

Ahh well.....

I'm very excited for Friday! The OE group has decided that we're all going to dress up as Harry Potter characters! I'm going to be the one, the only.....SEVERUS SNAPE!!!


I have the cape, outfit, hair, and wand! It's going to be awesome!

Quote of the Post:
Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words. -Edgar Allen Poe