Friends

There's a whole lot going on in life right now that I may or may not eventually get around to blogging about. Right now, I just wanted to post about something I've been thinking about for a week or two.

I'm really thankful for the friends God has given me. They are nicer to me than I deserve and they constantly bless my life. Furthermore, they are all different and provide different perspectives that I need in my life. A lot of them are in different groups, so I've just mentioned them in their primary roles in my life. Here's the groups I have at the moment:

My old friends. These people grew up with and helped form me. We have all sorts of stories to share together. This was back at a time when life wasn't serious and the biggest worry was getting grounded if mom found out we jumped off the roof. These people made Jr. High and High school bearable fun. Most of them are married and away from home now, but I still care about them and they me. Aaron, Kyle, Taya, Kaity, Will, Jason, J.C, Jared, and Jake, thank you.

My older friends. These people have lived a lot longer (okay, that's probably a little bit of an exaggeration) and are much wiser than I am (this is definitely true; no hyperbole here). A lot of times, when I have problems, it is good to hang out with my friends and talk it out. However, most of my friends are in the same stage of life I am; we have a very limited perspective. My older friends have been in college, so they can empathize, but they have also been beyond. Some are married and have kids, others have struggled through relationships, just like I have. Their forward looking perspective is helpful when all I can do is get caught up in the moment. Jared, Candice, Nate, Shawna, and Jonathan, thanks for putting up with a youngster like me and sharing your wisdom, even when I don't want to hear it.

My guy friends. These guys are my core support. When I need help, I know they are there for me. We've laughed together a lot. We've mourned together. We've given advice, company, homework help, back rubs, and just about everything in between. My life would be bland without these people in my life. I am constantly challenged by the relationships they are in and their most important relationship with God. It's taken a while for me to open up with them, but I have never been disappointed by their reactions. Never have I felt any condemnation from them. At the same time, they are really good at telling me when I'm acting like an idiot. Kyle, Ben, Jake, Nick, Chris, Erik, Gabe, Andrew, Wes, and Will, you're all great and deeply appreciated.

My lady friends. It's good to talk about things with guys. However, that only provides me with half of the story. Whenever we talk about girl troubles (which has happened quite a bit lately), we tend to arrive at a place where one of us says, "Women." and the rest of us just nod our heads. Usually we are justified, but often we are just making unfair statements because we can't comprehend the fairer sex's motives. Ladies provide prospective into a world I know I will never understand. They are also really good listeners and tend to empathize better than my guy friends can. At least in most cases. And they are all pretty. That's a plus I suppose. Anne, Kyla, Bethany, Emily, Evelyn, Becca, Rachel, Jennifer, Jen, Brittany, Kayla, and Megan, thanks for putting up with me and teaching me about the other walk of life. I would be a very unbalanced individual without your influences.

So yeah. I'm sure there's more I've forgotten, but these people have just been at the forefront of my mind for a while. Thanks to everyone who's been in my life. God has used you in ways you (and probably I) will never know. You are all amazing.

Written Word

It's something I really appreciate. It's good to be able to go back and see your thoughts and intentions in a tangible form. I don't know about you guys, but oftentimes Satan likes to attack my intentions. When things fall through or don't go according to plan, the devil likes to tell me that I was pursuing it incorrectly. And all to often, I believe him.

This semester has seen a lot of wrestling back and forth for me. These past couple of weeks I've just really come under attack about my relationship with Emily. Before we started dating and even before we were friends, I was very intentional about seeking God's will. I had just gotten out of a relationship that I knew I wasn't ready for. Why should I have been ready then? I thought I liked someone else at the time. Was I sure this was from God?

I went forward with the friendship and relationship only after I was sure it was within God's will. However, when things fell through, it caused me to question if it really were God's plan or if I had interpreted it for my own desires. This train of though led to a lot of sadness and uncertainty. I was praying about it and trying to give it up to God, but it was hard.

A few days ago I was going through my Facebook clearing things out and I came across some emails I had sent to Kate Cook concerning my friendship and pursuit of Emily. It was really cool to see where I was coming from. God used those messages just to soothe my soul.

Even when we pursue something with Godly intentions, it doesn't always work out. Sometimes God just needs us to wait a little longer. Sometimes we need to be removed from the situation for a little while to fully appreciate God's gift to us. And other times, we're only meant to be in that situation for a time and then move on. It's hard not knowing which situation you're in, but it's definitely an exercise in faith.

I don't know God's plans. I wish I did, but I don't. I may never know what they are. But, I'm not meant to know. I'm meant to follow, obey, and give thanks in all circumstances. It's still been difficult, but my soul is more at ease.

I'm An Uncle

Six times actually. Soon to be seven. No, no. Don't applaud, I had nothing to do with it I assure you. I really like kids a lot and my nieces and nephews are no exceptions. It's kind of hard having them grow up without me, but there's not much I can do about it. Here are some videos my sister-in-law shared recently so I figured I would be a cheesy uncle and pass them on.

These are my four goober nieces. The lady at the far right is my mother:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkZepWcb0jw

(It won't let me embed it because it's a private video. You'll just have to click on the link the old-fashioned way).

This is my oldest nephew. Everyone says he reminds them of me. Not sure why...:

And that's all. Jealous yet?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - - NIV

Earlier this week I was reading the daily devo from My Utmost for His Highest. I didn't completely agree with the author's sentiments so I decided to check out the passage for myself. It was out of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 but I wanted context so I decided to read all of the book. When I finished, I stood justified that I think he used the verse out of context, but that was about it.

Last night, I was having a real rough night. I just had a lot weighing on my heart and mind. After praying for guidance and strength, I opened my bible. Whenever I don't know what I need, I just open to a random spot and start reading. When I opened, I opened to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I wanted to flip somewhere else because I had just read it days previous but, I decided to stick with it. I read and nothing popped out. After about another half an hour, I went to bed. Right before I did, I told God I was confused by what He wanted me to learn and ask for guidance and clarity.

This morning as I was teaching my 3rd-5th graders, I was cutting out our Bible verse memory cards. I hadn't really looked ahead so I didn't know what verse it was. Imagine my surprise to read down and find 1 Thessalonians 5:18. I had read the passage three times before I realized the verse was even there.

So today I am humbled. I thank God for His wisdom and pray for strength to be joyful. It's been rough lately, but it just shows me how much I need Him.

"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." - - The Message

I need to carry around a quote book.

Some of my friends do and I think it would be a great idea. I just keep forgetting to actually do it. One of the quotes that's been repeated a lot recently has been in small group. The quote is this, "God meets us where we are." It's been a little strange to me, but I'm beginning to grasp the concept.

It first came up in someone's testimony. They talked about their life before Christ. All sorts of stuff, drugs, sex, alcohol, cheating. When he got saved, he felt really convicted about a lot of things. However, he wasn't convicted of them all. He still continued to smoke and chew. This seemed strange to me. How could he call himself a Christian and hold these views? (A little small-minded, I know).

And that's where the quote comes in. He has since felt convicted and kicked both bad habits. However, if, at the time of his conversion, God had called him to give it up, he may have turned back. God doesn't (normally) convict us of all of the sins in our lives at once. He works on us little by little over time.

As I began to grasp this concept, another facet of the phrase was revealed. God meets us where we are... in our circumstances. He uses the things and people around us to minister to us. I've said before that I don't believe in coincidences and this just further boosts my resolve. It actually happened to me just the other day. I was watching an anime (Japanese cartoon... Go ahead, judge if you want...) and the situation was eerily similar to mine at the moment. I won't go into the details right now, just because it would take me revealing my entire semester over the internet. It's not that I mind, I just don't want to type that much. If you'd like to hear about it, just ask me sometime. Anyway, the scene spoke into my life in a way I needed to hear. How big is our God that He can use a cartoon (in a different language) to minister to us?

Suffering

This past weekend my staff went on retreat. It was a good time to escape the realities of life and school to enjoy hanging out with a bunch of really cool guys. We ate like kings. We played tons of sports. We made manly jokes. We hot tub-ed. It was great. On Saturday morning, Nate prepared a devo for us complete with questions to answer. The topic of the devotional was suffering.

There are lots of different types of suffering. Hunger. Thirst. Religious persecution. These are large problems we see on the news all the time. This devo, however, focused on the little sufferings in our lives. These things, while not on as large a scale as the aforementioned struggles, are still important to us in our daily lives. These struggles are the little things God uses to break and then grow us.

It was weird to think of my life experiences like that. I often tend to think, "Well, it's (whatever is going on in my life at the moment that I'm having a hard time with) not as bad as the starving kids in Africa or my resident who doesn't know where the money for school is going to come from. Therefore, I should just man up and get over it." While it's true that I shouldn't mope, it's not a good thing to belittle our daily circumstances.

One of the biggest hardships in my life recently has been breaking up. I was super confused for a long time. I still am to some extent. It is getting much better though. One of the coolest parts about our sufferings is that God uses them to His glory. Oftentimes, we don't get to see His work being done. This does not make our situations any less important.

I've been fortunate to have seen what God has done with my suffering. He's used this to grow me closer to Him. He used the break up to get me hooked up with some wonderful men for our small group. He's allow me to add to my testimony to minister to others. He gave me a chance to interact with some of my residents in ways I never could have before. Instead of sympathizing, I can now empathize.

So yeah, it's tough. It's called suffering for a reason. However, God will use our daily sufferings for His glory if we'll just let Him. What hardships are going on in you right now? How is God using them? Have you given Him control?

So behind...

in a lot of things actually. Mostly school work. That's a bummer. It's been really hard to do work lately. I think a lot of it is because I'm tired. Some of it is because I'm emotional. Whatever the case, I know most of it is because I can't get focused. And, I'm sure there are many reasons for that. However, one of the biggest reasons is because my mind is on other things. So, I'm hoping blogging them out will help me focus more.

I'm way behind on the daily posts. However, I've decided it's time to suspend that rule. First of all, I think you guys will appreciate not having your notifications blown up anymore. Secondly, it is time consuming. Most importantly of all is that I have achieved my goal. I wanted to blog a lot so I would think through things instead of shutting them away. And I have begun to do that. So, now I'm going to be processing things more before they wind up on here. It's a skill I picked up recently from a friend. I'll have a few more for tonight, but then it's off to homework.