Remembering Like An Israelite.

This past week at the ESBS we went on our annual Wilderness Wandering Numbers Retreat to Ocean Isle Beach in NC. We go on this trip every year during the book of Numbers to give the students a break from the rigors of the school and an opportunity to have some quality fellowship with one another. This year was a blast!

During our time at the beach, we had the privilege of having Jerry Martin, former Camp Director and Executive Director of Camp Lurecrest, come and lead devotions for us. In these devotions Jerry reminded us of what the wilderness was supposed to be for the Israelites. It was to be a time of fellowship with God. It was to be a time of looking back on their history and seeing how God had revealed himself to them in their lives and the lives of their ancestors. It wasn’t supposed to be 40 years, just a couple of weeks (that’s a whole other story), but nevertheless it was to be time spent remembering who God is and the part he has played in their lives.

So while we were down at the beach I started to think back over my life and the moments where I know God stepped in and showed himself to me. I thought about the things I thought were small decisions and saw just how big those moments were in my life and relationship with God. One of those moments, and one that I feel has had one of the biggest impacts on my life, was joining the organization Youth Impact my senior year of college. Youth Impact, or YI, was an organization that reached out to the underprivileged youth in the Bryan/College Station community. We met once a week to play and have a small group. While the ministry done to the students was impactful; it isn’t close to the impact that the other leaders within that group have had on my life.

I was apart of the 3^rd to 5^th grade, or Big Littles, age group and within the leaders of that age group are some of the men that have changed my life forever. I joined Big Littles because my buddy Matt Callender was there, but during that time I also became friends with Chance Gray and Jeff Selby. These 3 guys along with others during that time were instrumental in pushing me closer to Jesus. I was at a point in my life where I was staring at the fork in the road and had to decide what my life was really going to be about. Was I going to follow God and serve him with my life or was I going to do life my way and live apart from Him?

Each of these guys played a huge part of pushing me towards God. Matt and I grew up together in The Woodlands and it was encouraging to see someone who I knew my whole life to follow Jesus without shame and I really looked up to him for that. Chance was relentless in the way that he challenged me with my actions, thoughts and motivations in everyday life. He really showed me that living for Jesus was an everyday thing and not just when we went to church or served on Thursdays. Jeff and I were prayer partners within YI and it was Jeff that really showed me what intentional gospel centered friendship looks like. He always wanted to get together to talk about life and what God was doing within our lives. He really displayed for me how to be intentional with those around me.

These 3 guys and the rest of the YI community really started my hunger to know God more and my thirst to be apart of a community that loves, serves and gives the glory to Jesus. I am so thankful for their friendships and they continue to encourage me in life and my ministry here at the ESBS.

I love you guys! You are all good men who show what living for Jesus is really like.

The Boys and Whitney Jones

Big Littles Boys (From Left to Right: Chance, Matt, Jeff, Myself, Micah and Robert)

Eating Crow.

So you know there are those things in life that you say you will never do, but then someday you end up doing it and actually enjoy it? You declare to everyone that you will never go skydiving or on a boat and then when you do you secretly love it; but you hesitate to tell everyone because you remember how you stated with fierceness that you would never do that and then gave reasons why … Ya that’s where I’m living these days and I am writing this so that I can publicly confess and eat some crow.

So to start off small, in high school I stated that I would NEVER become a teacher because I didn’t want to go back to school if I didn’t have to … We all know how that one ended up. Also in high school I declared that Texas was the only place for me … I think I have mountain withdraws when I stay inside for a day.

But the big confession is … I have a Twitter account … and an iPhone (say those last two statements in a rough whisper because that’s what I did when I typed them). Two years ago I deleted my Facebook account because I just felt (1) like God had asked me to focus on him while I was studying the Bible and to really press into getting to know him and (2) that it was a distraction from real life. So for that past two years I have stated, not so quietly stated in fact, that I didn’t really like social media. And while I haven’t missed it at all, I thought that it would be fun and it is quite entertaining.

I also vowed to never get an iPhone, but I was due for an upgrade and it was 99 cents. So I caved.

So this is me eating some crow and declaring that I am enjoying some things I said I would never do. The End. 

Playing Catch Up.

This is me playing catch up with my updates.

Christmas was really good. It was great to spend time with my family and to see friends who I dearly miss. I loved having time to see my parents, brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Christmas for me was a really joyful and relaxing time. I got to play golf with my dad a couple of times and hang out with my 2-year-old nephew a whole bunch. (Sorry family but as everyone knows, the baby gets the most publicity.)

My family also went out to the hill country to see our really good friends. The occasion was a tailgating wedding shower (that’s how we do it in Texas) for a family friend and it was so good to see friends that I haven’t seen in a while. We ate good food and laughed a whole lot.

I got back to North Carolina in time to spend New Year’s with friends from camp in Charlotte. I love spending time with the camp family.

The holidays were a rush and it was a struggle to get back into the grove of school. We started on the 2^nd and are moving our way through the Old Testament. I love this part of the year because the students are reading the Old Testament like they never have before. They are seeing the Character of God painted all over the pages of the OT, even in books like Leviticus and Numbers. It is truly a blessing from God that he has given us this time to study and see who He really is.

I loved being back in Texas, but being back here in North Carolina I really feel like this is where I am supposed to be and I want to make the most of it. 

The season has a reason.

This week we had the privilege of studying the book of Revelation. The students are finishing and turning in their assignment today, then we have a lecture on Proverbs Wednesday and a few things Thursday then it is Christmas Break! We are so close to being done for the semester and it’s the perfect time for a much needed vacation.

I love that we do Revelation right before Christmas because the story is all about Jesus. Revelation is a book that describes the revelation of Jesus Christ that God blessed John the apostle with. I feel like studying it in December reminds us of the purpose of the season we are in. We can get wrapped up in the presents and time with family or the college football bowl games on TV, but the thing we should get wrapped up in is Jesus. We are nothing and have nothing with out him. Our celebrating Christmas will be in vain, if we don’t lift Jesus up and celebrate the love, forgiveness and hope that he brought with him when he came to earth. And how he offers those things anyone who will call on his name and put their faith and trust into him.

I am writing this mostly for myself because I am one who doesn’t necessarily get “in the Christmas spirit.” I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas music or tinsel, however I do love the Christmas movies. I am writing this to remind myself to walk through this December with a purpose to remember that Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of my Savior. It’s a time where I need to be motivated to worship and praise Jesus for the salvation he brought, instead of retreating to watch Toledo and Utah State play a meaningless football game. I want to be more purposeful with how this Christmas is experienced and not get caught up in gifts and greed that can seep in.

Merry Christmas you filthy animals! (You can’t write a blog about Christmas without adding a Home Alone quote)

Novembeard.

Today is a sad day. It’s December 1^st, which means the great month of Novembeard has come to an end. Novembeard is the month where any and all facial hair is worn without condemnation. It is a time when men can dream about what could be and have the freedom to just go for it. It is a time where manliness is at an all time high and where mouths everywhere get a little bit warmer due to the growth of their lip blankets.

Over the past three years Novembeard has come a callin’ and I have faithfully answered (and I say three years because that is when I was able to really start sprouting the good stuff). This year has been one for the record books. Mustacheo was out with a vengeance this year. He came to fight crime and protect the integrity of facial hair.

There were four of us at the ESBS who took full advantage of the Novembeard freedom and I think that it brought us closer together as a unit. We laughed and celebrated the good times, but also consoled one another when the time came to say goodbye. Some of us struggled letting go more than others … I don’t know if I should admit this, but I had attachment issues to my flavor saver.

For me it was a process to let go. I had to watch an instructional video (How To Kill a Mustache). I had to be reminded that this was a good thing. This was an actual conversation I had with fellow staff member and Novembeard connoisseur:

(10:35 am) Me: I can’t do it … I can’t shave it off

(10:35 am) Caleb: Keep it

(10:36 am) Me: But I am ready to shave … I just don’t want to hurt him

(10:37 am) Caleb: He will not be dead … just sleeping awaiting the next call to the battlefront.

(10:37 am) Me: There are going to be tears

(10:38 am) Caleb: Yeah … but the ladies will get over it.

(10:47 am) Me: It gone

(10:48 am) Caleb: R.I.P.

It was fun while it lasted and I have returned to looking 17 again. I feel like I have lost respect in the mountain man community for letting a good man go, but the time will come to call Mustacheo back from the depths to return to greatness.

Here are pictures to remember the good times. 

Out looking for crime and solving cases