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.