This Weekend

What can I say, any day that the Cowboys emerge victorious, is a great day.

But to have them emerge atop the BUCS makes for an even better day!

The important thing for people to remember in situations like these, where they get beat by a far superior team, is not how you play the game, but whether you win or lose.

I had a great weekend with my family, real low key and just some quality time with my wonderful son and beautiful wife. Saturday morning, we went and hung out at a craft fair at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Brandon, it was pretty awesome, and Micah and I found some puddles to splash in, some hills to run up and down, and a chocolate cupcake to devour while Mom shopped. It was super fun.

Then, Micah began asking to go to Cracker Barrel for lunch, and since we thought it was awesome that he knew what Cracker Barrel was and that he could ask to go there we granted his request, and I tore up the vegetable platter, with some awesome Lima Beans! We also spoiled him a little more and bought him "a pincher" one of those toys that you squeeze the handle and it has a claw that grabs whatever you are near. He thinks it is awesome and pretends there are sharks around and pinches them.

We went home, took naps (or did homework) and then just hung out at home and played and went for a walk, and enjoyed the cool weather. An absolutely fabulous Saturday.

Sunday, we got up, played baseball outside for a little while before going to church, and then we had a planning meeting at our house, thank you Lora, Sara, Jen, Brittney, Micah and my lovely wife for helping direct and lead our students, you guys are awesome!

While the meeting was going on, the Cowboys were illustrating their superiority over the BUCS, and I turned the game on in time to see most of the 2nd half, and watch as we steamrolled over them, it was awesome!

Sunday night, our small group, which has been getting smaller, had a great discussion about 1 Peter 1, and really what it means to focus on God and not our circumstances. I am challenged and encouraged every week by our group, and even though we have been less, numerically, I feel like the quality of discussion in our group is getting better.

All in all, except for the Rays facing elimination, a great weekend.

Sometimes, life is muddy...

So, this morning I was reading in Jeremiah, how Jeremiah, a prophet sent by God to warn His people, is rejected and sent to spend some time in a pit, and the way my version of the Bible reads is: "And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud."

To me, this presented a feeling of hopelessness and despair, but we read in the next few verses that God raises up an Ethiopian eunuch, to rescue Jeremiah where he was surely going to starve to death. Jeremiah then goes back into the king's presence and repeats the same message he has said before, only this time the king trusts Jeremiah, and protects his life.

How many times in my life have I felt like I should be spared some horrible tragedy, or that uncomfortable things should not happen to me, because I belong to God? The truth is, sometimes I suffer because of my walk with Jesus, sometimes, the world is truly a foreign place, and my spirit knows that it does not belong here and the world will refuse to accept my message. I read stories like this one, and find courage, that if a man like Jeremiah had to spend some time in the mud, while following the heart and call of God, my time in the mud will hopefully be profitable too.

As long as I stay true to my message and Savior...

We are NOT FOR SALE

So, here it is, Thursday night, I am in my living room alone, watching the Rays pound the Red Sox, and setting up this blog, and my thoughts inevitably turn to hope.

My eyes have been opened recently to a HUGE problem in the world. A lack of hope in women and a lack of RESPECT in our world for the younger generation.

Some may wonder what the heck I am talking about, and that would be the issue of human slavery and trafficking, which until recently, I figured was something that died out around the time of the Civil War. Apparently, I am more niave then I realized, and it is not only alive and thriving today in our world, but somewhere around 45,000 - 50,000 people in AMERICA, are slaves today!

It is time for us to get active and find ways to stop this! We need to get involved, as a man who desires to be like Jesus, and have my life and will transformed into His, I feel an urgency to help and see these girls freed. There is an organization called NOT FOR SALE, that is leading a movement to get involved and make a difference. I would urge any and all to check out their website http://www.notforsalecampaign.com/ and check out ways to get involved. One easy way, is wear orange, this is the color of freedom and shows that you are against this demonic practice.

Please, lets restore hope and lead a resurgence of true love for these young people who have a broken and shattered view of love and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness because of the abuse they have suffered.

Don't settle for mediocrity, get involved, and fight against mediocrity to strive for something great, something meaningful, something everlasting...