Worry

_____________________________

Matthew 13:22 "The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life."

Colossians 3:2 "Let Heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth."

  Worry is like thorny plants--both crowd out what is good. Our worry over the concerns of life becomes sin when it prevents the Word of God from taking root in our life.

  Why do I worry so much? How can I worry less?

God Remembers, God delivers, God restores

  In preparing my message on Zechariah for tonight at 3D I thought to myself, how can I make this book relevant to these junior highers. Are they even going to understand what I'm talking about? More so, what does God wants them to hear and understand? I outlined what I was going to talk about and prayed asking the Lord that whatever He wanted me to say, I would, and whatever He didn't want me to say, I wouldn't. Just enough so that the kids could hear and get what His point is. That we should repent, and follow the call He has given to us. Not to waste time on things that we think are good for us, when in reality the Lord wants to give us sooo much more. Here is small bit of what I posted to the 3D blog below:

Thankful

  I'm sitting here reflecting on the day's events, and I really don't have much to say except that I am thankful. Thankful for who God is, thankful for what He's done for me, and thankful that I can talk to Him whenever I please. I'm just simply... thankful =]

I love you Lord!

Processing...

  Just got in from Jacmel, Haiti last night and what an experience it was. I couldn't even begin to describe in detail everything that went on. It was great getting to make connections with the children there, play games and soccer, just being a part of their world. Building a house and a school, helping with the feeding program, washing kids hands and serving as Jesus did with His disciples.
  Worshiping in their church, hearing the songs being sung in creole and realizing that a lot of the songs they sang, are songs we sing in the church. Knowing that although there are definite cultural differences between us and the Haitians as well as the language, and seeing how we still praise the very same Jesus was amazing.

  I pray that I won't ever forget this trip

Jacmel, Haiti

  I was supposed to update this yesterday, I'm getting the feeling that I can't seem to remain consistent in updating every 10 days =P However; I decided to go ahead and write considering that I won't be able to update on the 20th.

  I will be leaving in four days for Jacmel, Haiti and I am sooo excited to see what the Lord is going to do while I'm there with my team [some members from my church]. We are partnering with forward edge international and I just pray that the Lord will have His way and that we would all be open to His will to serve the haitian people and show them the love of Christ. Amen.

I'll try and write when I get back =]

Feel free to keep tabs on us at www.tcchaiti.com I'm not sure about internet access out there but if so, some of us will be trying to update from there on what we are doing so that you can be a part of our journey and mission.

Blessings~

Ahh, What a Good Feeling

  I'd like to say that I've been pretty consistent in writing every ten days but then that wouldn't be true, I've missed a few in between and when I have something great to write I'm not anywhere near my laptop, so... I'm writing now just because it's the tenth day =P I won't go on a rant though.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know all about You

  I was just thinking of that song from the King and I, not sure why... but either way, I thought of how I want to get to know Christ and know all about Him. Truth may be though that none of us will ever understand or know God, He is too mysterious for us to comprehend. However, getting to the real reason of writing this,

Motivated

  It's been two days since my baptism and I still can't believe it happened and that I actually did it. I had been wanting to do this for years but never really got the opportunity or other things seemed to be more important [which looking back on it now is quite a ridiculous statement].

  Now that I've begun to set my roots here in Illinois and am involved in a wonderful church that the Lord has shown me the areas I could plug in, I decided, this is my time to just go for it! And I did!

  Maybe for some they don't feel the effects of their baptism right away, and I'm not really sure if your supposed to feel any different haha. A friend who also got baptized that day asked if I felt any different and I just sorta shrugged and he kinda laughed and mentioned that was his answer too. Well, now that I've had time to reflect on it I can say that I do feel different,

Patience Is A Virtue

"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." 1 Thessalonians 5:14

  I've felt like I've been truly tested this week. My patience has been waning if you will and I've noticed how hard it is just to keep my peace, even at work when dealing with some unruly customers who in my opinion, shouldn't feel frustrated with me if I haven't done anything but try to help them and speaking kindly.

  Granted, I never know what the person might have been going through in just that one day that I had no idea of, so it could be a bad day for them, at the same time, they don't know what I may be going through and sometimes when dealing with someone who has an attitude it just sparks flames of frustration on both ends.

Laziness vs. Diligence

"The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." -Proverbs 13:4

  We've all done it before right? Thought to ourselves how much we'd like to have this or that, or do that or this but never do it... we desire a lot of things but don't make an effort to work towards them. Hence we are left with nothing and wonder why it would seem like others have what we've been setting our eyes on.

Fellowship

  In true spirit of fellowship I thought I'd share on how I was able to do that during family camp 2010 this past weekend.

  It was really nice first of all to be able to take Friday and Saturday off of work to be with my family up in Wisconsin at Wesley Woods Camp. We had the opportunity to get to know more of the families from the church and just have a lot of fun.

  I think one of my favorite moments was when we sang worship songs around the campfire. There's nothing like having a very simplistic approach to the throne of God and sharing s'mores with good friends and family ^_^.

  I thank God for blessing all of those who went and were able to partake in all of the fun activities, which has definitely exhausted my entire family. Lots of laughs and hopefully lots of good shots.

  Last but not least, to all the dads out there, Happy Father's Day and may the Lord bless and keep you as you continue to strive to become more and more like Christ and being the godly man and high priest of your home.

Erasing the Blackboard

"Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!" -Psalm 27:14

"Let not the foot of pride come against me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away." -Psalm 36:11

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." -Psalm 51:10

  Ever drawn a picture so big on a blackboard that what you wanted to draw next just wouldn't fit?

A Lesson In Prayer

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." -Colossians 4:2

  I've realized that although it's great to pray for others when they need it, It won't do me much good to serve others if I'm not taking care of myself. I'd like to take my prayer life more seriously and be able to really present all my needs before the throne of God. When I read that verse today it was a reminder that I should pray earnestly, and with thanksgiving. It's not about going on and on complaining to God about all the things that are wrong in life, although it's ok to tell Him everything, it's important to reflect on all the blessings He's given us in between those difficult times that we need to be thankful for and pray about.

  I'm grateful to have the Lord's Word to confirm things that have been brought up recently or just throughout the days. It reminds me that the Lord really does care about me and everything that happens in my life, and wants to be involved. I shall let Him.

*Gasp*

  So it's the last day of April and I'm wondering where in the world the time has gone. Yes I have been anxiously awaiting warmer weather for volleyball but now it's like woah... we're practically in May! Which would mean June is coming up quick and everything that I had written down on my list of things to be accomplished by then don't look too good.

Venting...

  As I'm sitting here reflecting and contemplating on the day's events I'm in between feeling fine and just outright frustrated. I know that I have no control over what happens in the day but I know that I can control how I react to it. However... I just seem to have a hard time dealing with things that aggravate me,

Capable Of Seeing the Invisible

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

  Knowing that even though I have rough times or when I'm having to deal with my anger in the moment... when I shift my focus to Christ and think of what He is to me and what He's done for me, it helps to realize that the real reward isn't something I can physically see. It's spiritual, eternal. Learning to train myself to view things in this way is sometimes a challenge but it is very good practice. Material things are just temporary so I shouldn't lose heart when it comes to something like that. There's something better.

Reflections

  In my moments of complete solitude I am able to really take some time to spend in God's Word and in prayer. Sometimes I get so caught up in everything else going on around me and even though I read my bible daily, it becomes routine. When those times with the Lord become monotonous then I know that something is off and not right. Getting those chances to refocus and examine my heart provide me with opportunities to really reflect on where I am, where I want to be as a person and where I want my walk with Christ to be and look like.

Pennies, Dandelions, Butterflies and Eyelash Wishes

  If you find a penny with your birth year on it, make a wish.

  If you close your eyes, make a wish and then blow with all your might on a dandelion [if your lucky enough to get a good breath and blow all the little seeds off] your wish is to come true.

  They say if a butterfly lands on you, someone was thinking about you.

  If you have a fallen eyelash it's said that you can make a wish on it and then blow it away.

  I've made plenty of wishes on countless pennies with my birth year on it, I've blown on many a dandelion, only one successfully, in hopes that a wish would come true. I have even blown on eyelashes. I can't say that a butterfly has ever landed on me, but if one does I think just the idea that someone was thinking about me would be really neat.

  It's a nice thought though right? That something maybe you've dreamed about would actually happen,

Serve God With Your Gifts

  So in keeping with my theme on Romans, I've decided to share something else I found to be pretty cool.

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." -Romans 12:6-8

  The verse that really stood out to me though, is 7. "or ministry, let us use it in our ministry; he who teaches, in teaching;"

  I know that I've felt led in the area of ministry and seeing that verse there is a reminder of what the Lord has called me to do. For a long time I've tried to get away from that calling.

Justified by Faith

  You know what I found interesting? As much as I love the Psalms and Proverbs, I'm starting to realize how much I'm starting to really like Romans. Here's something I found as yet another lesson for me, just as "take a leap of faith" was.

Take A Leap Of Faith

What does that actually mean? To some of us it could be that you're trying something new and hoping that something at the very least works out right. I think I've struggled with this definition quite a bit and maybe for a while, however I'd like to share what I think about it.