The Prayer

One of my favorite movies is "The Book of Eli". I am sure all of you have seen it, but it is a movie about a man that is on a mission from God to deliver the Bible to a man that can print it and use it for good in a demolished world that has no other Bibles. At the end of his very difficult journey, Eli says a prayer, and it goes like this, "Dear Lord, Thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true with the many obstacles in my path and for keeping me resolute when all else seemed lost, and thank you for your protection and many signs along the way. Thank you for any good that I may have done; I'm so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I made. Please watch over her as you watched over me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I'm so very tired, but I go now to my rest, in peace, knowing that I have done right with my time on this earth. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith."-Denzel Washington, The Book of Eli. How different would our lives be if we lived, daily, like Eli did. This is a challenge that is constantly on my mind. He remained resolute when all else seemed lost. There are many other people in the Bible that did the same thing, and there are many people throughout history that remained resolute when all else seemed lost. What is my excuse?

The Greatest Commandment

Henry David Thoreau once said, "No lapse of time or distance of place can lessen the friendship of those who are truly persuaded of each other's worth." This may be a bit extreme, but have you ever thought about what would people say about you if you were gone? If you died today, would people come to your funeral to honor your life, or would it just be that another one bites the dust? Now, I do know that the end-all is not what man thinks about us but what God knows about us, but I believe whole-heartedly it should still be a big part of who we are. If you disagree, think about it this way. The Old testament is full of commandments and rituals that the Old Testament Christians had to fulfill in order to effectively worship God, but in the New Testament, there is the "Greatest Commandment". Throughout the entire New Testament, the one commandment that Jesus gave was to "love your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself". Did you catch that second part? By loving God, you are loving others! So if you were to step in-front of a mirror today and rate yourself on a scale from 1-10, where would you rate? Is it a strong desire of yours to serve others, or do you believe everyone on this earth exists to serve you? I have seen tremendous examples of what would seem to be both types of people.

As I partook in this challenge myself, I began to realize all of the ways in which I do get it wrong and how I do believe that people are here in this life to serve me. It is a strong desire of mine to serve God and serve people but many, many times I get it very wrong. It is our human nature to be selfish and to serve ourselves, but it is God's desire for our lives that we truly serve others with the time we spend on this earth. How do I as a sinner change into the person that God has called me to be? If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has certainly brought to your mind some facets of yourself that you need to change.

Over the last couple of weeks, Brentwood Church, in Lynchburg Virginia, has been going through a series titled "Grow Up". The theme of the series is "There are things in life we need to give up in order to grow up". What are the things in your life that you need to give up in order for you to grow up and love God and people more effectively. I have begun to go through the evaluation process myself, and I have found a number of things I need to give up in order for me to be able to grow up into the man God wants me to be. This situation reminds me a lot of a math equation. If you multiple 5 x 5, you are going to get 25. You can multiple these numbers today, tomorrow, or even five years from now, but guess what, you are always going to get 25. Until you change the numbers, you will always get the same result. So what obstacles or hindrances in your life do you always seem to run into? If there is a reoccurring event or sequence of events that won't go away then there is something(s) in your life that needs to change. If you you'd like to multiple to get 30, you probably shouldn't keep multiplying 5 x 5- change it up!.

Mark 1 is a great example of how Jesus' disciples dropped everything, their families, jobs, everything to go follow Him. It may not be as extreme for you, but what do you need to drop in your life in order to follow God's calling on your life more effectively? You can run, but you cannot hide. Just stop trying to run! Save your energy and time and see what in your life God wants you to change. In Philippians, Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained all of this or have been made perfect, but I press on toward the goal to win the prize." It is a process, and if you haven't started your process yet, now is as good a time as any. For a long time, I kept getting the same result in my life. I have made the decision to change some of the variables in the equation of my life, so that I can start getting a different result. Psalm 16:11 states, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." In Him, there is newness of life...

I am praying for you guys and girls out there in the world that are doing big things! "Not all who wander are lost." Have a blast!!

Thankful

At this point, I do not have anything extraordinary or exciting to post, and there is no particular reason for this post being named as it is. I just wanted to take a few moments and really thank God for what He is doing in my life. I really just want to thank Him for the little things in my life: family, friendships, learning and growing experiences. At this point in my life, a lot of things are changing, but one thing always remains the same, God is here and will continue to lead me. It seems like everyone else lives are changing, but mine is staying exactly the same. I'm living in the same town, doing the same exact things. To a certain extent, that is true, but to an even greater extent it is not, I have the greatest friends anyone could ask for! We are all roommates and get to have a blast every day! I'm so thankful that God brought them into my life and has allowed me to still be a part of their lives! Am I doing a lot of the same things? Yes, but God has allowed to be in the situation I am in, currently, to set up my future!

With this post, I really just want to thank God for everything that He has done for me in the past and for the things He will do in my future. I have no clue what will happen next week or next month, but as I look out over the skyline here in Ocean City, I can feel God's leading and his direction in my life. I am so thankful for it! There are so many question marks in my life right now, but as my one friend and coworker says, "God, I just wanna say, thanks". It doesn't need to be anything extraordinary or earth-shattering, it can be just a simple "thank you". Thank you for saving, delivering, sustaining, leading, guiding, providing, showing, promising, guaranteeing and blessing me!

Continuing to follow His lead...

The more things change, the more they stay the same

The more things change, the more they stay the same. What an interesting quote... At the end of your day, have you ever paused for a few moments and tried to sum-up your entire day in a quote or phrase? It may seem strange to you to think about in this way, but I guarantee if you thought about it, you would agree that we all do this without even thinking about it. A lot of times people will say, "my day was crazy" or "my day went by so slow." These are both examples of summarization. If I could sum-up, the last number of my days in a phrase, it would be "the more things change, the more they stay the same." As I reflect on my last number of days, I can't help but think further back than that- days, months, years. Possibly.

The common theme throughout many of my blog posts has been that "my life, today, is nothing like what I thought it would be at this point in time." If someone were to ask me, 5 or 6 years ago, where I thought I would be in 5 years, I would have had a totally different answer than what has actually taken place. Life has taken many twists and turns I did not expect it to, but I am thankful that God has delivered me and sustained me up to this point in time. Life, for me, over the last 5 years has been a roller coaster ride and at times has totally caught me by surprise and as a matter of fact, knocked me to my knees many times too. The constant theme in my life has been the grace of God. Throughout every situation, I have learned tremendous lessons about myself, others and God. So the question is, would I have done things differently if I would have known the results of my experiences before they actually happened? The short answer is definitely "yes", and the long answer is definitely, still, "yes". I want to continue this post by saying that I am thankful for the life lessons I have learned, but there are definitely things in life and different situations I would have approached differently if I would have known what was going to happen. Life is a network of events that is ever changing; the more things change the more they stay the same.

A common theme of my thoughts over the last number of months has been nostalgia. Where did the old days go?? I am honestly just blown away with what has happened over the last number of years. I've learned many lessons, some fairly easy and some very, very difficult. I can't go back and change anything; I have to trust God and believe that He has my best interests at heart. He has led me down the road I am on, regardless of what it may seem like at times. I am who I am by God's grace and will continue to learn and grow.

So what about the times where I wish I could go back and change some of the things that have happend?? Well, I have learned to accept those things and have learned to try to move on the best I can. Life is very difficult at times, but we must find strength to press on. Life is not what it seems, but by God's grace, it will all make sense one day very soon. So for now, I am continuing to trust God for every learning experience and am looking forward to the opportunities that God has given to me. I hope this post made sense to you! I'm not even sure if it makes sense to me.

Keep looking forward and trusting God, everyone! He will never let you down!

Blast from the past! It's Been THREE years!!

Well everyone, it has been a ridiculously long time since I have posted anything on this blog. I am, kind of, embarrassed to admit that. There are many reasons for that, one being that I got bored with it and lost interest and the main one being that I forgot the log-in and password information. I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to access this blog with no luck at all. For the life of me, I could not remember which email/password combination combo I used to create this blog, and for some reason, I could not unlock it through other means. Finally my ambition and stubbornness kicked-in full gear, and I didn't stop until I figured it out.

So here I am, three years later. I can remember life's situations, back then, like they were yesterday, but they also feel so very far away. Many things have happened since then, but in many ways, I have returned to my roots where, I believe, I truly "grew up". Even though my life back then feels like "a different life time" from now, I can definitely relate to where I was then and now. When I relate my life from now to then, it turns into a "tornado-like" sequence of events, but every once in a while a face, a friend, a relationship, a situation, an event, will pop-out and will present itself to me. It is a very crazy thing to think about, because I honestly do not know where the time has gone. God has lead me down a different path from what I thought my life would, but I honestly had no clue I would be where I am.......

I want to start this section off by saying that God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams! He has given me the best family and friends a guy could ask for. I cannot thank Him enough for the blessings He has bestowed upon my life. Realistically, have things been difficult at times, have some things not gone my way and have some developments taken longer than I expected? Absolutely! The two things that I always think about are that-- life will never be exactly how you thought it would be, and God will never give you more than you can handle. Haha, Life, for me, is 100% different from what I thought it would be a couple of years ago. I, absolutely, did not expect to be where I am today. I expected to have have all of my ducks in a row and be "living the dream" with a wife and experiencing new things, but God's ways are higher than my ways. I am truly blessed to have the life I have and am fully submitting to the plan that God has for my life in the future.

Do I think back to some of the past situations of life and think how I would do them differently? Absolutely! But God has brought me to where I am today to show me his immeasurable grace and will for my life. Everything in my life has been a learning experience up until this point and will continue to be. I thank God for everything that has happened to me, for better or worse. HE HAS REMAINED FAITHFUL TO ME THROUGH EVERYTHING, WHEN I HAVE BEEN SO UNFAITHFUL.

More to come...

Some good lyrics from a good song by The Avett Brothers- "If It's The Beaches"

Don't say it's over
Cause that's the worst news I
could hear I swear that I will
Do my best to be here
just the way you like it
Even though its hard to hide
Push my feelings all aside
I will rearrange my plans and
change for you

If I could go back
That's the first thing I would do
I swear that I would
Do my best to follow through
Come up with a master plan
A homerun hit, a winning stand
A gaurantee and not a promise
That I'll never let your love
slip from my hands

If it's the beaches
If it's the beaches' sands you want
Then you will have them
If it's the mountains' bending rivers
Then you will have them
If it's the wish to run away
Then I will grant it
Take whatever you think of
While I go gas up the truck
PACK THE OLD LOVE LETTERS UP
We will read them when
we forget why we left here.

Goodnight all.