Driving by braille

Wow, who would have thought that we would ever be back to the world of blogging. The plan is to try to upload pictures to make sure that people know what is going on in our lives. Of course, the drawback to that is that we have to know what is going on in our lives, which may not be so easy. Tonight we celebrated the start of our weekend with some pork chops given to us by our very sweet neighbors. They were out celebrating their birthdays and so were not going to use the pork chops, which meant that we were the beneficiaries of a tasty meal. Not to mention the fact that it gave me a chance to use the grill!

So, without further ado, I present a look at the food we ate:

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Now, it is time to get a bit of sleep!

I got the chance to visit the booming metropolis of Hooker, OK this past weekend. It was a whole lot of fun to spend time with Kelsey and her parents and to see the place where Kelsey grew up - it is quite the place! We stayed at the house where her grandmother used to live, walked around town to see places like her high school and places where her relatives had lived (or still live), grilled out on Saturday evening with Kelsey’s great aunt (we actually went to Hooker for her great aunt’s 80th birthday) and her family. So, I got to meet all kinds of people and they wanted to know about my trip this summer. I had a great time talking with them that evening - it is so fun to share about all of the things that God did this summer. On Sunday, it was the birthday party for Kelsey’s great aunt, so I got a chance to meet even MORE of the extended family, which was also a great time! I told Kelsey that I hoped that there wasn’t a quiz, because there was no way that I was going to possibly remember all of the names of the people who were there. That evening, we had a great time eating with some of the Scoggins’ family friends, which was a great time to eat pizza and learn more about the crazy antics of growing up in a small town. I would definitely suggest going to Hooker just for the Rex Chicken with jalapeños from Mr. Burger. Okay, maybe a five hour drive (one way) for food is a bit excessive, but it was amazing!

Greetings one and all! I am sorry that I haven’t posted in so long, maybe the initial glamour of blogging lost some of its lustre and sparkle, but do not worry, do not fret, I haven’t quit, I’m not done yet! I wanted to write a bit to let you know some of the new happenings around these parts. I am still working in the National Scholar’s office and am really enjoying what I am doing. I recently returned from an amazing trip overseas which was absolutely a great time to get a chance to see what God is doing and the ways that He is working in incredible ways in a land which has been dark for years. So, recently I have had a lot of crazy news - I found out two days ago that I am going to be a member of the Round Table at Trinity Baptist, which I am certainly totally excited about. It will be a challenging time, but I am excited to get to be around other men who are actively seeking God and I am thrilled to be able to learn more about the reasons behind the things that I believe.

Dating Kelsey continues to be a joy, there are certainly times of growing and stretching, but God is really using the relationship in both of our lives to not only draw us closer to each other, but to draw us closer to Him! What a joy it has been to be able to spend time with her speaking about our summers (we didn’t have a chance to contact each other during the month that I was overseas, which was really good, because it helped to draw us closer), enjoying walks in the evening, meals out, Frisbee, relaxing evenings just watching a movie, or just spending time talking together. God is good!

I don’t have a whole lot more news at this point in time. I am heading to Hooker, OK this weekend, so I am pretty excited to get to see the area where Kelsey grew up and get a chance to meet some of her extended family! I look forward to celebrating her aunt’s birthday, wandering around the town of Hooker (Kelsey told me that the tour of the town takes three minutes, so I had better be ready . . .), and enjoying some good quality time with my amazing girlfriend and her amazing family!

So, I have been trying to read three books at once here recently - it certainly keeps me on my toes. I am reading a commentary on Philippians for my seminary course, a book called Heaven (amazingly about what it is entitled), by Randy Alcorn, and Live Life on Purpose by Claude Hickman, the founder of . Reading through Live Life on Purpose has been challenging already and I have only read through the first two chapters. I am worried I might be more convicted as I read through the rest of the book! Yikes!

One of the ideas which was very challenging was the “compass” which God has given us for our lives. Hickman speaks of the compass being God’s ultimately fulfilled purpose, which we see in Revelation 7:9 - “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” God ultimately desires that this throng of worshipers will be with Him forever in heaven. This is our compass. I really enjoyed the distinction which he gave between a compass and a map. A map is what we often wish that we had for our lives - a very specific and detailed plan which lays out how we will get to the end goal. The compass, on the other hand, will help us to see if what we are doing lines up with the “North Star” that is God’s ultimate plan.

Another point that Hickman brought up in his writing was that we are often approvers of others. We do not want to rock the boat by telling someone that they are not living up to their God-given potential and are not living in light of the compass which we have been given. Instead, we allow these people to try and line God up with their decisions rather than lining their decisions up with God’s desire. Approvers are compared to Saul when he held the coats of the people who stoned Stephen. We are not the ones making the decision, but we stand passively by and let it happen.

A final point which really struck me also was his point that this generation’s worst fear is choosing the wrong path and missing their destiny. How true that can be. There are so many roads open to us that we think that taking one will ruin the rest of our life. Instead of doing something, we end up doing nothing, which is clearly not going to bring God glory! A quote which I think is challenging along with this idea is this, “Don’t be afraid of the unknown on the journey; be afraid of missing the life God has appointed you to live.” So many times I want to have everything mapped out so that I know exactly what I need to do. This is certainly not how I should be living.

One final quote (this one from Oswald Chambers - but in this book):

God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him, He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love for Him … When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God.

It is pretty incredible how God uses His word to encourage us. As I have been processing through a lot of things here recently: job choices, evaluating my relationship with Kelsey (which gets better and better all the time), figuring out how to get to know the team I am going overseas with this summer, figuring out how to write a support letter for my trip, really glorifying God where I am right now, figuring out where my ministry should be at the moment and other smaller things, I have felt a bit like the seed sown among the thorns in Matthew 13:7 - overwhelmed with “the worries of this life.” This morning before I left to go to work, I spent a bit of time reading through some Psalms and was so encouraged by the words of Psalm 130. I’ll let it speak for itself:

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
² O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

⁵ I wait for the LORD , my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Hey all! By “all” I mean no one, since I haven’t even let anyone know that I have a blog site set up! :~) Seriously though, I held off for the longest time on actually starting one of these blogs, because I thought they were kind of crazy. Now that I think about it more though, I realize that it could actually be pretty fun. Not only because people can see what I am doing, but so that I can remember what I am doing. So, what AM I doing on a day like today. Well, honestly, it has been a bit of a slow day. The big developments have been talking with a few prospective students while at work, writing some emails and asking for some time off for a ski trip with Impact. So, not a whole lot going on. Philip Braswell, my roommate of these past five months, left for Houston this morning, leaving our living room and our hearts a bit emptier (all of our couches in our living room belonged to him, so now all that is there is one lone recliner). That’s pretty much the extent of the news for now - I may think of more as I continue to mess with this site and get it up to par with the high standards that I set for myself!