Washington DC

I am visiting some friends in the DC area this week, but today they both had to work so I had the opportunity to go and explore. I rode the metro and started doing some people watching and discovered that no matter where you are people have needs that are not that different where ever you happen to be standing. They all have baggage and some know how to deal with it and other people need someone to help with figuring out what to do with their baggage. But back to the real reason that I decided to write this post. I was walking the National Mall seeing all the memorials and monuments. Every time I see them it takes my breath away. Today I went and sat at the World War II memorial today and just watched all the school age children running around having a good ole time and filling out their packets of information (because it is a school trip you have to learn something). It was nice to see that our country despite all the stupid thing that our Government has done over the past few years we are still a united people from many different backgrounds.

Also, word of advice: DO NOT TRIP AND FALL BY THE REFLECTING POOL. I did this and there were some awesome people who stopped and helped me mend up my bloody knee, but there was one lady that I thought was going to have a nervous break down. She was pacing back and forth and almost crying over a little blood. I look back (about 2 hours ago) and find this kind of funny now.

If someone was that upset and worried over me having a little blood on my knee it makes me think how serious should we take the act of obedience that Christ did for us when he poured out his blood for all of the world's sins. That means he took care of all my sins that I have committed and will commit.

OK so I have been processing through some tough issues over the past 4 days and I have come up with an answer that to some people it will not shock them others it may. Men are sinful and prideful. That is the great re-revelation from the past few days. I saw a close friend burned by people who claim to be Godly men but have allowed their pride to step in and cloud their decision making abilities. I have run through the gamut of emotions and now I am drained. The hardest one for me to deal with was anger. I was angry that there was nothing that I could not say because I was asked not to say anything. Then after I dealt with my anger I had the overwhelming feeling of courage and compassion. I do not understand how God works but he does and I love him for it. The next step is for me to try my best to support those who are in the thick of the mess and encourage them to stay strong. I still have love for those who have wronged my friend because God commands that we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar.
For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,
cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:20

After reading this and really letting this scripture set in I was ashamed that my first thought was not to love those who have done wrong but to turn on them and make them my enemy.


Love is our proof of identity that we live in Christ and I must keep my checking my heart and mind.

We As a Generation are in Big Trouble!

So over the past few months I have noticed a trend among people my age! That is to say those of the college ranks. This trend makes me become really sad and extremely angry. I have noticed that we are really excited and willing to commit to something, that is the easy part. The part that makes me mad is that when it comes time to actually follow through on our promise we seem to flake out. I do not know what our deal is but we as a generation are starting to develop and identity that is not very flattering. I wish we would live up to a higher standard like we are called. I know that some people are reading this and are calling me a hypocrite but I am including myself in this. If you go back and read I used the words "we" and "us". So this is a plea from me to my generation to step up and let our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no". That means if you know that you are not going to be able to complete a task that someone asks you to do then tell them no so they can find someone else. Now I understand that things come up but I feel that we are double booking ourselves and when that happens people get short changed and hurt. Especially in ministry this is true. I know more people who have had ministry events fail because they do not have people that have bought into their overall vision and allow God to work is way in the situation.

A short reflection!

Talk about an up and down time in my! I am about to depart from a chapter in my life where I have had more personal growth then I could ever have imagined. I walked on to the campus of WKU in the fall of 2005 and had an idea of where I was going and who I was. Well that all changed and I ended with a better understanding of who I am in Christ and where my calling in life leads. The process that I went through was not always an easy one and I am not proud of the way I handled some of the situations but I learned one thing that will carry me throughout the rest of my life and is God will work everything out no matter what has happened for his glory. I have people who I know God placed in my life to be beacons of light to help me along the way and to them I cannot tell you how much that means. You all were there for me in the good and specially through the bad. You saw me at my low and picked me up and told me it will be ok and to not give up.

This thought process came about from sitting and reflecting back on the past 5 years and realizing all who have invested and encouraged me through some of the toughest times of my life so far.

It is official! I will be the Youth Intern for First Baptist Church Tifton, GA starting Sunday August 1st! I am really excited about all opportunities that God has placed in front of me over the past several years that has led me to this point. It was not an easy journey but one with a great reward in the end. If you have been reading my past blogs you know some of what I am talking about. The best part is that my family is really excited for me which makes this whole transition a lot easier! It just goes to show that HE has everything under control and it will happen in His timing which is sometimes hard to wait on, but that is why you have to have faith.

New Stage of Life!

So the last three months have been really hard for me. I have been walking closer to God then I have ever been but God chose to keep me out of the loop on what was exactly going to happen when I graduate in May. I went from planning on going to Seminary to putting seminary on hold and start working. This was a tough decision for me to let the Lord take control of but I knew I had to. I applied to several jobs but only interviewed with one. It was with the church in GA for their youth internship. I got a call today to come down and meet with the youth committee. I am really excited about where this opportunity could lead. Over the last few days God has brought me back to the same passage of scripture and it funny how he has done this. The scripture is Isaiah 40: 27-31. It really has a strong message.

Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God"?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

My Hope!

Ok so I have not written hardly anything about the fact that I am interviewing for an intern youth ministry position in Georgia. Well that is on Thursday and I am really excited. This would be my first full-time job ever. But it is funny how God used this situation to stop me dead in my tracks. I was seeking the advice of several ministers for some pointers on the interviewing process. My aunt asked if I wanted to talk to her pastor. I said I would love the opportunity. He could not meet up with me because he just found out that he has cancer. Now that in of itself would have stopped me in my tracks but that is not what did. Her pastor in the midst of his own storm took the time to send me words of encouragement and advice.

I hope that one day I am as strong as he is in his storm when God send them my way, that I am not sitting there in my own self-pity and miss a golden opportunity to make an impact on someone's life.

After thinking about this situation for several days I am finally able to write something to how it has affected me but I do it with reservation because it is a gut check for me from God. But then I found the verse James 1:2-4 and it gave me confidence that it will all work out for HIS glory in the end.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4