From a website called "Stuff White People Like"  - not gonna lie, I love my moleskin notebook, and some of my favorite time is spent at Panera with my Bible, Moleskin and Mac!  I think this article may have been written for me :)

#122 Moleskine Notebooks

February 24, 2009 by clander

Since all white people consider themselves to be “creative,” they are constantly in need of products and accessories that will allow them to capture their thoughts.  One of the more popular  products in recent years has been the Moleskine notebook.

This particular type of notebook is very expensive and was quite popular with writers and artists in the olden days.  Needless to say, these are two properties that are highly coveted in the white community.   In fact, it’s a good rule of thumb to know that white people like anything that old writers and artists liked:  typewriters, journals, suicide, heroin, and trains are just a few examples.

Much like virtually everything else that white people like, these notebooks are considerably more expensive yet provide no additional functionality over regular notebooks that cost a dollar.  Thankfully, since white people only keep their most original and creative ideas in the Moleskine, many of them will only be required to purchase one per lifetime.

But the the growing popularity of these little journals, is not without its own set of problems.  One of the strangest side effects has been the puzzling situation whereby a white person will sit in an independent coffee shop with a Moleskine notebook resting on top of a Apple laptop.  You might wonder why they need so many devices to write down thoughts?  Well, if a white person has a great idea, they write it by hand, if they have a good idea, it goes into the computer.

Not only does this help them keep their thoughts organized, but it serves as a signal to the other white people in the shop that the owner of both instruments is truly creative.  It screams: “I’m not using my computer to check email and read celebrity gossip, I’m using it to create art.  Please ask me about it.”

So when you see a white person with one of these notebooks, you should always ask them about what sort of projects they are working on their free time.  But you should never ask to actually see the notebook lest you ask the question “how are you going to make a novel out of five phone numbers and a grocery list?

In His presence

It has been an awesome last couple of days!  Tim is walking through an amazing book of the Bible, and for me - nothing gets better than when a pastor gets up and just brings the Word!  It has been great.  On top of that, our small group family on Sunday nights has begun to really dive into the heart of Jesus - we have incorporated some worship on Sunday nights, as well as segregated prayer, which I am praying will take us deeper as we are smaller and now gender separate so hopefully we will be able to be more open.  Yesterday, my son and I had a great time learning and playing and just kinda being daddy and son... which makes me think - how often do I just have good Daddy time?  I mean I read and pray a lot, and I am always thinking about God, and talking to him, but when was the last time, I was simply just hanging out with God, my Daddy?

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that He really is making me content in His presence.  I can honestly say that for the first time in my life, I am not waiting for whatever is next!  I seem to find myself always in a hurry to move on to the next thing.  This may be one of the reasons I don't like Disney World - I feel like you pay a bajillion dollars to stand in line and wait!  But, God is refining my character and showing me that to simply enjoy time in Him, is what matters most.  It is not about what I can DO next, it's about being in Him.  As I am learning this, I find myself - wait for it - HAPPY!  I find that my surly, negative, bitter disposition is gone.  While this may not be super apparent from the outside, I can tell you on the inside, I jump for joy all day long.  I tend to be less than animated in my emotions, which is cool that's how God made me, but inside - man, I am so madly in love with Jesus, so consumed with Him and His presence that nothing else matters.

And what is even funnier, is I am finding that as I release my need to DO stuff, God is bringing so much in my path for me to do!!!!!  He is taking me to China, He has raised me up to lead the small groups at South Bay (way unqualified for this, but that means God is gonna have to do it),  my wife and I took a room at the property and turned it into a quiet room, that will hopefully cultivate prayer and intimacy with the Savior.  We are taking people food, we are praying for people, helping build rooms, and really truly whatever God is putting in my path that I can help out with, I try.  God has removed my desire for position, pay, or praise and with that has come so many opportunities to serve the flock!  It is amazing.

One thing I will say, is that I have begun to notice in my life and in many conversations I find myself in, is the prevalence of gossip.  So I am asking for prayer for myself and offering a warning to those who read - watch the words that come out of your mouth.  Are they words that build up and encourage?  Our words have power, our words have meaning, our words reflect the inner nature of our heart.  What do your words and speech say about you?  I am beginning to notice gossip taking place a lot, and I would just encourage you, be slow to speak, weigh your words carefully - and if it is tearing someone down - refrain from saying it!  And I am the chief of sinners in this area, and working diligently to stop.

Praise Jesus for His beautiful bride, may we serve her, love her, and work to better her everyday!  Thank You Jesus, for your church, as imperfect as she is, you love her, cherish her, adore her, and gave your life up for her! 

May we never forget that

I am gonna try and be brief this morning - 

This has been an awesome week, and I can't believe that it is time to go and worship with my family at South Bay this morning!  Katie and I spent all day yesterday painting and setting up an empty room we had up at South Bay, we wanted to create a space where prayer would be cultivated.  It was funny, as I was painting, I kept praying that God would fill this room - that the people who would spend time on their faces, would meet and know God in a deeper way.  It was exciting to think about all the people who will use this room to cry out to Jesus.  There is nothing significant about the room, or about the paint on the walls, but to know that people will be in their petitioning and praising Jesus - was exciting.

There are a lot of cool things going on right now, I would ask that you pray for our family.  I am getting ready to go to China in 1 month.  Not just China, but Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam as well!  Also, my wife is helping with women's ministry stuff at South Bay, I am helping in the Small Group dept. (I guess I'm kinda running it),  my wife is starting a Bible Study here soon, and we are talking about starting another small group.  That's a lot of awesome Kingdom size things going on that Satan is gonna want to attack hard!  So please, keep us covered.  Our God is an awesome God, and He reigns from Heaven above - so the obstacles here below seem small and manageable for Him, even when they are to big for me!

Later

Catching y'all up

Well, 

Much has happened in my life since the last time I blogged.  

A few weeks ago we had a friend of mine come to share with the people at South Bay what God is doing around the world.  He is a missionary that travels all over, and while he was speaking, I felt a pinprick in my spirit that was very real, but very unfamiliar as well.

I felt like God was telling me to go on a trip!  Please don't miss the power in that statement, I am totally the guy who would have said that missions is great, but there are people who need love and Jesus here locally, why on earth would I waste money and time to go somewhere else?

Obviously, God had not yet stretched me to the point of understanding who He is and what He means when He says that we are to go to the uttermost ends of the earth!

So, I went up and talked with David, and he shared with me one of the trips coming up, was to China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.  It was going to be a pastor's training conference and a vision casting trip - and that I was welcome to come if I would like.

I spent a couple of days thinking about it, praying about it, and I attended one of the trips meetings, and all I can say is that God showed up in a powerful way.  He sent confirmation that this was what I was suppose to do, and that I needed to continue pursuing this trip.  

The next day, I woke up, went to the clerk of the courts office to try and get a passport, and didn't realize you are suppose to make appointments for those kinda things!!  But, the lady showed me favor, and blessed me with ignoring my lack of planning and rushed my passport paperwork, took my pictures (gave me extra pictures that I needed for FREE) and got me out of the office in less than 45 minutes! 

I sent out some support letters, and more will be going out soon - the trip is going to cost about $4000, which I don't really have right now (or ever), so I am believing and proclaiming that God is going to provide!  I am already praising Him and asking that He bless those who are faithful to respond to His prompting to give.

Katie and Micah and I then went on vacation for a week in the mountains of North Georgia (may blog on that later), but there was no internet, no cell phone service, just me and the family for 6 days!  Let me just say, that should be how it is all the time.  It was awesome.  And I will continue to ask the question "What are any of us doing living in Florida???"  It is so pretty in other parts of the country and we live in the freaking swamp?  Makes no sense to me.

But, it was a great time to get away, spend time in the Word, pray, be in His Creation, pray, praise, be alone, meditate, pray, worship, pray.  It was good.  As I was praying, God gave me some direction and ideas for some opportunities and different things He has placed before me, so I was excited about that.

We got back late Saturday night, to find my passport already delivered to the house (it only took 4 days to get here!!!) and all the paperwork I need to fill out my visa's for the countries we will be in, was ready to be filled out and mailed away.  

We woke up and went to worship on Sunday with our family at South Bay -and God rocked the house apart, it was great!  We then had small group on Sunday night and all I will say about that is, if you missed it - you missed out!

We had our first preseason softball scrimmage last night, and thanks to errors - I HIT AN INSIDE THE PARK HOMERUN!  Our team may have lost the game, but I consider it a moral victory (not sure why, but I do)

I woke up this morning, went for a run, came home, and I was checking my email really for the first time since we have been back and a friend of mine shared a really encouraging story of how something God blessed me with, blessed him!  It was awesome!

Jesus is awesome, He is powerful, He is mighty to save, He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Sustainer, the author and perfector of our faith - and I love being his bondslave!

Shadow of Your Wings...

This morning has been awesome!  

One thing I am a big fan of doing (and I would recommend everyone trying it) is praying through Scripture.  Our early Christian  parents practiced this discipline and had a name for it - calling it "lectio divina".  There is a great article about this practice at the following link 

http://prayerfoundation.org/lectio_divina.htm 

Anyway - while I believe it is possible to pray through any section of Scripture, I have found that the richest section of Scripture to practice this discipline is through the Wisdom Literature.  So, every morning, I open up to a random Psalm or Proverb and spend time praying through that section.  This morning I opened to Ps. 17 - and as I was praying God revealed some awesome truths to me that I wanted to share.

1.  We are the apple of God's eye!  Verse 8 was powerful as I prayed and I asked God to keep me as the apple of His eye, I realized that too often, I don't live or think of myself as the apple of His Eye!  God blessed me this morning by showing me that He truly does cherish me.  He came, lived, suffered and died, simply for love.  I can do, and have done nothing to earn His love.  He offers it out of the kindness, graciousness and genuine love He has for His Creation.  I am the apple of His eye, because I am.  What a blessing it was to hear that this morning.  

2.  As I prayed the next line in this verse, God went to work in me.  I prayed that God would hide me in the shadow of His wings... and the Rhema began!!!

- In His shadow - I am hidden from the things that seek to destroy my life

- In His shadow - I am ensuring that He is bigger than myself  I cannot be in His shadow if I have exalted myself above God

- In His Shadow - I am trusting Him to look out for me, protect me and keep me safe

- In His Shadow - I am close to Him

- In His Shadow - I am not able to follow my own shadow, or go my own way

- In His Shadow - I am able to rest and find comfort

I am so quick in life to do things my way, to rely on my understanding and to follow my ow shadow, but what if - I rested in the shadow of His Wings?  What if I let God be as big as He wants to be?  So big that I am consumed and unable to discern where I would go by myself because His shadow is everywhere I turn.  That's where I want to be, that's how I want to rest and that's how I want to run this race, in the shadow of His wings!

God also blew my mind in Numbers - but that would be a whole different post and maybe that will come later, but for now, I am content to rest in the Shadow of His Wings!

Are you???

Twice in One Day

So, lately I have been trying to blog once a day - and at least 3x's a week.  I have no idea if anyone is really reading this or not, but it helps me process what God is teaching me, if I put it down on "paper".

This morning, I had to go to Seffner to see a dr. that my family has been going to, and on the way there,  I wanted to listen to some music (not normal, I had to live six months without a radio and now prefer silence in the car) - so I busted out some old school Carmen music that I hadn't listened to in years!  I found the CD buried in a stack in our prayer room.

Well, let me just say that for some reason, God consumed my car, and in the middle of a commute to see a chiropractor - the Spirit fell.  I feel a little wussy saying this, but I spent most of the way to the appointment with a lump in my throat and tears falling down my face as the Spirit of God just ministered to me.  I wasn't sure if this was an experience I was suppose to share or not, but as I have been reflecting over it, I think God's point in this morning was simply that at any moment, I need to be ready for His presence.  Moses (whose life has been super meaningful to me lately) was wandering in the wilderness taking care of sheep - and God busted in.  David likewise, taking care of his day to day tasks when God intervenes and changes his life forever.  A young woman was eagerly awaiting marriage, and essentially the beginning of her life, when God shows up, interrupts her day and changes the course of history by asking her to carry His child!

My point is this, God is big enough to intervene at any moment, at any time, and I want to be ready to receive from Him all that He is willing to pour out on me.  Even if that means that I look like a red in the face, blubbering moron when I get to the Dr.'s office!  

Super Stoked about what Jesus is doing!

Normally, I like to try and let my blogs be a reflection of what God is teaching me through His Word.

Today, is gonna be a little bit different...

As I was running this morning something occurred to me.  At night, after my son goes to bed, a lot of times my wife and I turn on TV, she plays some computer game, or talks on Facebook with friends, and I watch West Wing, Studio 60, or Sports Night until I fall asleep.  This is pretty much our routine for our nights.  I sleep on the couch, until she wakes me up to go to bed!

This morning, God laid on my heart that my wife and I need to get out of this routine.  We need to challenge each other, we need to play with each other, I desperately need to beat her at cards!  There is so much more to life and being married than simply coexisiting.  Don't hear me say that we are having troubles, or anything.  I love my wife and I am crazy about her, and it is from that desire that this idea is birthed.  I want to experience more of her.  I am not content to simply be in the room with her, I want to talk with her, know her, play and have fun with her.  I want her to challenge my thoughts, I want her to hear what God is teaching me, I want to bounce crazy ideas off of her.  I want a relationship that goes deeper!  That involves effort and time.  That involves me doing something.  Getting involved. That means that effort on my part needs to be made to ask questions, listen to her answers, or simply be willing to do things that I wouldn't necessarily want to do late at night.

I believe that my marriage (which is already awesome and one for the record books!) is about to get a whole lot more awesomer (just made that word up).  I am excited for what God is going to do in my marriage.  God took me to Song of Solomon this morning, and it was cool to see a picture of a man and woman madly in love and desperate for each other, physically, mentally, and spiritually!  That is my desire - that God would take my wife and I deeper, in every aspect of our relationship.  It's gonna be fun :)