We So Excited

We are currently one week away from the start of Staff Training for the upcoming school year and I’m not gonna lie … I’m excited! (But I'm not as excited as this) I can’t wait to get into the grind of the school year and see what God has in store for our community up here. I think that thing that I am most pumped up for is to meet the students and to start building relationships with them. This past year, while I was a student, the teachers had a huge impact on my life and it was not only with their knowledge in the classroom; but it was more because of the way that they took time out of their own lives to invest in mine. I desire to make that same impact on the students this year!

As we approach August, I ask that you would please pray for the school. Pray that God will show up and that he will move within the community. That he will reveal his character to the students and that they will continue to fall more in love with him over the year as they work through the Bible. I ask that you please pray for me and that he will give me the confidence to stand up and present his word and truth to the students. That I would not be distracted by my own ambitions to be a good teacher, but that I will be more concerned with how he is going to use me to present his truths to the students. I want to be focused on what he has for them and what they are going to learn from the books that I teach; rather than how I look up there in front of the class.

I can’t wait for this year to start and to see what God is going to do in my life and in the lives of the students and other staff! Thank you so much for your prayers!

Texas Forever!

My favorite line from any movie or TV show has to come from the 1st episode from the TV series 'Friday Night Lights'. In the episode there is a scene where one of the main characters named Tim Riggins holds up a beer and toasts his best friend and the star of the football team and says "Texas Forever!" I felt like this was an appropriate statement because that is the current state of mind that I am in right now. On July 3^rd I flew back from the “Motherland” aka Texas back up to the cooler and less humid state of North Carolina. However even though it does feel good to be back what I guess I can now call “home” (feeling good both physically – its about 10-20 degrees cooler here – and emotionally – vacation stresses me out at times and I don’t know why) I can honestly say that I miss Texas.

I had a great trip home. I got to spend a lot of quality time with my nephew Lukas which was awesome because at 8 months he is fun to interact with and everything to him is interesting. I had the pleasure of babysitting him a couple of times while my sister went out and ran some errands and I felt like we had some quality bonding time. We did some real man stuff like work on his tool bench, play on his laptop and watch MTV (just kidding about that last one Tori … it was actually Top Gun) I was also able to go to my brother and sister-in-law’s new house and see what they have been up to. It was good to catch up and visit with them. I had a blast to hang out with the family and just spend some quality time together.

I also had the pleasure of being a counselor for the Woodlands United Methodist Student Ministry and their summer camp. I had a great group of 8^th grade going into 9^th grade guys. I had worked at the church as an intern last summer and so I knew all of the guys in my group and that made the week really fun because there weren’t any new friendships starting, but it was just a continuation of our relationship. I was really impressed with our small group time and just how much those guys truly wanted to seek the Lord and their questions about him. I do miss being with the people from the church from the staff to the students. They have a great thing going on there and I love hearing about all of the exciting stuff that God is doing in their lives.

Finally to round out the trip I spent a couple of days down at my family’s beach house. This part of the trip was amazing because I got to hang out with my friends from high school that I haven’t gotten to see in a while. Also, two of my good friends from college came down and surprised me with their presence. I a really good time staying up late playing cornhole and just catching up with them.

Even though I am happy and definitely feel like God has put me here in NC for a reason, I do miss Texas and the relationships that remain there. I just want everyone back there to know that I miss them and that I will always be a Texan at heart no matter where my head lays at night!

Texas Forever!

People

For the past 10 months I have lived in a community of about 20 people and my biggest problem that I faced with this was that there was always someone THERE! Wherever I went there was always someone there or the possibility for someone to walk in at any moment. This is aspect was great for accountability and confronting yourself not to do anything bad, but on the other hand I just really needed to get away!

I will openly admit that I love being around people, but there is nothing more in this world that I enjoy than my alone time. I truly need that time to just be by myself and unwind without distraction and sound. I never realized until this year how much I cherished and need my alone time.

So this brings us to today where for the past 12 days I have been alone in some aspect or another. This summer I am staying in the basement of the director of the school that I will be teaching at this year. His name is Tom and he has a wonderful wife named Julia and they have two kids:a daughter Anna who is two and insanely smart and energetic and a 5 week old son name Luke who at this point in his life is the complete opposite from his sister (hopefully he will be just as smart). But they have been gone on vacation and let me to manager the house and it has been QUIIIIIIIIIIIIITE ... a little too quite!

The first couple of days were amazing! I would wake up and wouldn't here a thing other than the cat meowing to go outside and then it was just complete me time. It was just what I needed after a long year of people all around. So I got recharged and energized and then I started to realize that I missed them and I didn't want to be alone anymore. I NEEDED PEOPLE! So I started going back up to camp (Camp Lurecrest that is) and was just begging to be back around people.

The past couple of days I have been thinking as to why this is and I realized this morning when I was reading Ephesians 2:11-22. In that passage, Paul is explaining how through Christ's sacrifice he has made the two groups of people (those that do not know Christ and those who do) into one through what Christ has done. In 2:15-18 it says, "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you where were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father." These few verses helped me realize that God has created a humanity where we all need each other; he has created a humanity where we are to live in community that is to bring worship to him by loving one another. I realized that I need and desire that community and I want to love and be loved by other people.

Thinking about this just makes me so excited to get back to the ESBS in August and to be back in a community where we are all learning and growing in that new humanity that God has created. It also makes me think of times when that wall of hostility Paul talks about has shown up in my own life and how I may have hurt others because of my prejudice and failure to love. My heart is truly broken because of this and I have vowed to go out and love those around me. I am not going to love because I feel guilty, but I am going to do it because that is what we are suppose to do as one family that is united by the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, so that it may bring glory to the Father.

So I guess in summary I can just say: Tom, Julia, Anna and Luke ... I am ready for you to comeback and make as much noise as possible!

Uppin' My Manness

I want to start this one by saying that I was great to have my parents up here a week ago and we got to do a lot of mountain activities. Here is one of the hikes that we went on and the view of Lake Lure!

So I guess that it’s a long time coming but all of this mountain man living and wild wilderness activities has finally caught up to me and I guess that I have to announce that my official “Man Level Status” has been bumped up a couple of bars. I suppose that I can now properly write on this blog because I have been … as the kids say “uppin’ my manness”! On this post I am just going to list the evidence and you decide for yourself … but please don’t bring me down whenever you compare your “man level” to mine and realize I may be out manning you.

Clue 1: I first noticed this change a week or two before my family (that is my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins) came up to Lake Lure for graduation. I would wake up and look in the mirror and see that my facial hair is starting to grow faster and faster. I ran this by my dad and he just said that it was because I was “getting older”, but I know that he is just in denial that my “manness game” had seriously been upped. I mean you can legitimately see stubble the morning after I shave … it use to take at least 2 or 3 days for even a hint of man coming out of my face.

Clue 2: This example not only upped my “man level”, but also one of my fellow Bible school classmates and it might have lower the level of another. After we had turned in our final assignment for school we went on a hike to a waterfall about 40 mins from camp. We planned ahead and wore swimsuits so that we could swim and enjoy the nice cool fresh water! Not only were we enjoying it, but when we got out and off the waterfall did we notice a friend who had no legs and slithers enjoying it as well. So Nathanael and I went and performed our best “Man vs. Wild” imitation and captured the snake so that we could survive our hike. This is where the lowering of a “man level” may come into play. As Nathanael and I were on the chase, my roommate (who shall remain nameless) was staying as far away as possible from the action. So we captured the snake and the next day we cooked it over a nice fiery fire and ate him for dessert.

(Here is a picture of Daniel, Nathanael and I atop the waterfall proving our "manness")

Clue 3: I hike in sandals …

Clue 4: I am working this summer on log homes in the mountains … what is more manly than that for a summer job? And no I do not wear flannel because I haven’t reached that level of “manness” yet.

Clue 5: I think I really noticed that my “man level” was really being elevated when I was able to see that I no longer wanted to fight for control over my life, but to hand everything over to God. When I was able to receive his love, expressed through other individuals, and not feel weirded out by it. I think that my “manness” transformation was elevated when I needed God to get through this life and that I had a desire to see his love, mercy, grace and power seen in the way that I live my life. I am man enough to say that I love Jesus and I don’t care who knows it!

** I would like to apologize for my continual use of the “ “ in this post … but it was necessary!

Operation Complete!

So I literally just turned in my last assignment as a student at the ESBS about 30 seconds ago. We finished up our studying of the Bible with the book of Ecclesiastes and I think that it was a great one to end on because it wrapped up the whole year. Throughout the book, the author talks how he tried to find meaning and all of these different things, but ends the book with the fact that the true meaning of life is knowing God and obeying his commands. I think that it really sums up what we have learned this year at the ESBS. This year really has showed me the importance of knowing God and living by his commands because it gave me a godly worldview and it showed me to consider the things of God in every aspect of life. The truth that trying to find the meaning of life in wisdom, pleasure and work is meaningless because it can only be found in God is one that really impacted me. This truth really just made me sit back and think about what life is really about and I came to the conclusion that true life is found in knowing God. I think that this is something more to this idea than just knowing his story and how Jesus died for us, but “knowing God” never really ends because we as humans will never be able to fully know him. I think that this is awesome because our meaning to life will never be done, but there will always be something more to seek after and desire. This is something that really encourages me as I move into the role as a staff member here because it shows me that even though I have gone through the school I still have much to learn. I want to make sure that I keep this attitude and desire to learn because that is really the only way that I will continue to grow.

I am so grateful that God has blessed me with this year to come and just learn his word. I feel like I have grown in so many ways, but I feel like that this school is just the tip of the iceberg. I am ready for a Summer break, but I can't wait to come back and August and walk through God's story again!