It has been way too long...

We have not written in our blog is way too long. It is something we will have to get back into. Zach and I have been able to travel a lot this summer. We spent a wonderful time in the West with my in-laws, Zach's mom and dad, his sister Chloe and her husband Bobby. It was refreshing. We also got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin Sabrina. I love spending time with family. It means so much to me. When I think about Zach and my future I wonder where God is going to lead us to. I struggle with the fact that He may call us to do work far away from my family, from my home. I know I have to let go and let Him lead but sometimes I don't understand how I could be away from them and be happy. If only I could see God's entire plan for my life...I know he has it worked out in such a way that I would not even be able to imagine. I read Jeremiah 29:11 where it says "For I know the Plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future". I believe the words in the Bible. They hold so much truth. I believe that God knows what He is doing. He is much wiser than me, He can see the whole picture, when all I can see is where I am at, and where I have been, and where I hope to be. And most of that is messed up with emotions. I sometimes wonder if I put my trust and my comfort in the wrong places. I should place it in God, and not in people. As much as I love my family, I know I have to allow God to show me what His plan is, and He promises His plan is to give me hope. He wants us to prosper through Him. I don't want to hold back. I just have to constantly refocus, and remember it isn't about me...I chose to live my life sacrificially. Now I am managing my choice each and every moment. And it's the best choice that I have ever made.

Marriage

Amanda is laying here beside me on the couch, and I am thinking about how in love with her I am. I tell her all the time that I am the luckiest person in the world to be married her, and I mean it with all of my heart. Right now, with her, it seems like there could never be a worry in the world.

The fact of the matter, however, is that there could very easily be immense pain and suffering at the drop of a hat if we are not careful. The Enemy is looking for every foothold, and every chance he can get to destroy our marriage. It is easy to see that this is Satin’s plan for every marriage, and he is doing a great job succeeding in the world around us. Because of this, I am so glad that Celebration Church is doing the series “With This Ring.” I hope and pray that God will use this series to save marriages and future marriages. They can be so wonderful, or torn apart and terrible, but God’s plan is for the former.

Church Job?

We had submitted our resumes on the ARC website, and we were all hoping to catch the eye of a pastor who needed a position filled. While all of us interns were at the ARC conference, a few of the interns were brought in for interviews by pastors of different churches.

A few days into the ARC conference, Brandon and Josh had interviews, but by that time I figured God just didn’t want me to get an interview. And I was right, I never did get an interview; but during the last day of the conference, a man who I had never met before came up to me while Pr. Ed Young was preaching, gave me his card, and told me to call him later. Odd. He walked off, and then reappeared a couple hours later and very briefly introduced himself and asked me to email him because the Holy Spirit put it on his heart to talk to me. He then ran off to catch a flight.

No interview, but…
After contacting him, and researching the information on the card, I found out that the man who gave me the card was Pr. Wayne Hanson, lead pastor of Summit Church in Colorado. He is interested in having me come to the church and help grow their youth ministry, and maximize on any other talents that they see in me. Amanda and I are praying about it, and are excited about possibly pursuing this offer.

Finish the Condo

For the past week, I have been trying my hardest to finish remodeling our condo. This process has been going on for the past five months, but we are now getting very close to the finish. The funny thing is, that the closer we get to the end of this large project, the more stressful and tedious it gets. I think that it is this way with everything that we do right. After all, the Bible says that we WILL have trials, and it seems that when things are getting their hardest, the best is about to come. Well I guess that our condo is about to be its best!

Dad's Update

I want to give everyone an update on my dad, Enrique (some call him Richard). I have not said too much about him in a long time. As you may know, my dad was diagnosed with melanoma caner about a year ago. It was hard for me for about a month after I found out, but after the rest of his results came up clean, I put the cancer in the back of my mind.

Just recently, the melanoma has reappeared in 6 tumors in my dad’s torso. Needless to say, what was in the back of my mind is now once again regularly in my prayers and thoughts. I am praying for his healing and recovery. (When you read this, please send up a prayer for him too.)

The good news, however is that he looks and feels great. He is still taking great care of his body, working out almost every day, and eating like a champ. Also, he has just started a promising treatment in Tampa.

Please pray for him and my family, they mean the world to me.

Work

This week I have been trying to figure out what I should do about a job for after the internship. I feel like the Lord has told me to study foreign language, but I can study anywhere I am. I think it would be a good idea to submit my resume at the ARC conference this year, so today that is going to get done; but I am also considering doing either tile work or carpentry. It seems a little ironic that I would go through 2 years or Christian College and internship and then do manual labor, but doing things with my hands is very enjoyable for me. Well whatever I end up doing, I know that God will work it all out.

All Angles

I have had a little bit of a rough past couple of days. Friday afternoon, I found out that my dad’s most recent biopsy was cancerous. I understand for the most part why bad things happen to good people, but it still hurts to see it happen. He is in tip-top shape, and eats all his veggies; it just doesn’t seem like he would be a likely candidate for cancer. The bright side, however, is that he is a strong Christian, and so is my mom. They are comforted by God’s Word, and know that God has His plan in the works even though we cannot see all angles of it.

Costa Rica College Life

Last night, Amanda and I got to drive College Life Costa Rica Missions Team down to Orlando. It will be the first mission trip for nearly everyone on the team. All of them were excited, some nervous and everyone had different expectations. Amanda and I had expectations of our own. Amanda went on the College Life Costa Rica trip last year and she got to experience and see every ones lives touched during the trip. During the time she was their, everyone would have their individual time where everything seemed to just click. I like to describe this "click" as a moment of vision through Gods eyes. Once that happens lives are changed forever. We are excited for the College life team and can not wait to hear about their experiences and see how their lives were affected. We are anticipating Saturday were we will be picking them up from the Orlando airport.

Bored?

I don’t want to ever be bored. Since my schedule is so packed right now, I find that I have to schedule time to spend focused on my wife, time spent resting, and time to do anything else. I know that there is nothing wrong with rest, or enjoying some R & R, but during these times, I want the time to be maximized.

We have so little time in the day, and so little time before we die. We don’t have time to waist time. We need to be connecting into the plan that God promised to us in Jeremiah 29:11, and focusing our energy into making the most of what He has put in lap. When we do this, there is no chance that we will ever be bored.

The Love Dare

Zach and I have recently begun going through the Love Dare, and I absolutely love it. It is just what we need to be able to spend the time we need to through our crazy schedules. It keeps me thinking about him during the day, and making sure that I am fulfilling the "dare" of the day. We are day three today. Our dare is
"whatever you put your time, energy and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. along from restraining from negative comments buy your spouse something that says "I was thinking of you today."
If you haven't seen the movie fireproof, I encourage you to watch it. Once you get past the fact that all the actors are not from Hollywood, it turns out to be a really good movie.

Cool Connections

About a week ago, I was taking a run with Mini Wheats, our new dog. We left our neighborhood, and took a left on Southside. There were a few people that I greeted in passing who were sharing the sidewalk with me. One man stopped me and asked if I could help him get down town. I normally don’t give money to strangers, and my pockets were empty, so I continued my run.

Two days ago, I was with Pr. Wade doing an EG at Gateway Detox Center in Jacksonville. We had a good service, with a message on grace. Once it was finished, a man started talking to me, and asked if he had seen me walking my dog the other day. It was the same guy who talked to me on my run! I remembered him by name (that was all God!), which surprised him. I then got to talk to him and pray for him.

I love it when God sets up cool connections like that.

God Defense

John Bevere did an awesome job this weekend at Celebration Church. He always seems to blow me away when I hear him speak. After I heard him speak the two messages, I felt like, "What if I had gone through life without hearing that? That's life changing!"

His second message had to do with allowing God to take the defense. It is so tempting for me at times to want to stand up for myself, and state my right intentions, but I need to let the judging be up to God. When I make a defense, I am placing my accuser as my judge. When I submit the situation to God, I am placing God as the judge.

The coolest part about not making our own defense, is what God is doing through the situation. In 1 Peter 3:9, it says that you will inherit a blessing if you return blessing for evil.

Amanda's Birthday Dog

Yesterday, Amanda got a puppy for her birthday. It is so sweet and small and everything good, but she is not efficient. She generously helped me get three and a half hours of sleep last night! She has two major issues: she doesn’t know where to “go,” and she wines and barks all night. I am glad I can laugh about it, but it does drive me crazy at night. Maybe the Lord is just getting us ready for the babies that are somewhere down the road. Whatever it’s for, I am praying that our new little dog would learn quickly.