Stuffed With Turkey

So the awesome thing about being a teacher is that you continue to get the vacations that you had while you were in school! It was great to go back home for our Thanksgiving break and see some smiling faces!

For Thanksgiving dinner we had the normal crowd over at the Livingston house and it was fun to see them again and catch up on the past year. My Grandma (aka Grammy) on my mom’s side of the family was also in town and it is always great to see her because we joke, laugh and watch sports together! I personally love it when we are rooting against each other’s teams because it just makes things more interesting!

It was also a special trip home because I got to see my beautiful girlfriend, Caitlin. She is from The Woodlands and it is the first time since we have been dating that we got to spend time in our hometown together, so it was special to me! We got to spend time with one another’s families which was fun, we ran a 5 mile Thanksgiving morning Turkey-trot, went to The Woodlands High School football game and just got to spend some quality time together.

So all in all it was a good trip home and I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with my parents and my sister’s family. I am really looking forward to Christmas Break and an extended stay back home!

P.S. For all of those who are interested, my James lecture is now online if you want to listen! Here is the link to the page where you can see all of the lectures from this year. (http://www.esbsonline.org/audio-2011-12/). So please feel free to scroll down and listen!

Changing Perspective Isn't Always Bad

So I guess I haven't written on this thing in a while ... ya know ... life got in the way!

Its funny when you ask God to show you where you need to improve in life and what needs to change, and then he reveals it to you and starts breaking you down in order to build the pieces back up. That is what took place inside of me as I was preparing to teach the letter of James, which I taught today.

While I was doing all of my prep work and studying the content, I would go on runs and just ask God to show me what is going on in my life and what needs to change. Then throughout the weeks, as I prepared, God started showing me the heart behind the book of James and how we are to love our neighbors and we do that by living out the Gospel. We do that by not complaining about your job and continue to do it because that is where God has you. We do it by doing the act of service that will never be acknowledged. Or by speaking a kind word to someone that is down and needs encouragement.

The main idea of James – how we are called to love our neighbor as yourself, has had a great impact on me. It has shown me that my motivation shouldn’t be on getting the glory, but instead it should be on revealing the glory of my Savior through the way that I go about living life with those around me. My attitude shouldn’t be about going out everyday and receiving awards for the things that I do, but instead it should be one where I am hoping to be used by God today in order to make a greater impact for his kingdom.

I thoroughly enjoyed my studies and teaching the book of James and I think that it is a book that is very practical to the way that we live our life.

On a side note: The month of November is being celebrated in a great way here in North Carolina. They guys from school are going for the “No Shave November” look and I just want to say that we look good!

I have given my mustache the name “Mustacheo” and I see him as my Latin crime fighting alter ego!