Merry Christmas

    It's been a while since my last post that's for sure. I guess starting my full time job at Lowe's has kept me busy. I still enjoy my job, but they have really cut back hours, and it has put more stress on the rest of the workers. We celebrated Christmas this past weekend with my family in Greenville. We had a lot of fun with my family and enjoyed our time with them. We spent the night with Jordyn's family and enjoyed the festivities this morning and this afternoon! 

    It's always nice to enjoy time with family during the holidays. It's also nice to remember the real reason for this season. Christ's birth marks the redemption of mankind. I'm very thankful for His sacrifice for my life, and I wish everyone could understand why. It's simple really, yet Satan and sin have marred everything so much to confuse everyone. We are ALL born as sinners, we ALL need redemption from our sin so that we can live eternally with our Creator, and that same Creator provided that redemption with the greatest gift of all, His only Son, Jesus. See how simple it really is?

   Now, all we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior, and let Him lead our lives for His glory. 

   Merry Christmas everyone and may we all remember the true reason we celebrate this day.

God's Funny Timing

      Well, my last post was full of truth and soul searching. I expressed my never ending trust in my God and the trust I have in His perfect timing. I've struggled learning this trust, but to finally express it publicly helped re-affirm it in my life. Many friends and family expressed their concern and promised to pray for patience and God's direction, that was Sunday. Monday morning I had my devotions, checked my e-mail, and searched for more job opportunities. I noticed on the Lowes Home Improvement website that they were hiring cashiers. Once more I applied to the position. Later that day while doing errands, I received a phone call from the resource manager asking me if I could come in for an interview. In short, I interviewed on Monday afternoon, and the Lord helped me make a good impression. They performed a background check and called me today, Wednesday, for a drug test. Now, pending the drug test, I was offered the job and will start training next week!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdccHt2y47U8-rPIJqgs50fpBw5I3AcA2AwoXDEy22qQ20ZZcs7gdzMjOi2z6aa0spn351-QeT4hGoH11Nhbv28CxZc0yNz5KB6P2PGc2xKw4MgTSa30tirjMklCoEalmtYmua-STpS8/s200/joy.jpg

     To all of you struggling with trusting God with your life, I just want to tell you that I am a living testimony of His love and provision! His timing is perfect, and if you ask Him to use you for His will, then He will provide for you! I thank God for this new opportunity, and I am glad I have the opportunity to share it with others that may need encouragement! Thank you for praying for me and encouraging me through everything. A special thanks to my wife who has encouraged me all the way!

Here's to a great God and a great new opportunity in my life!

Emotional Roller Coasters

     Males generally aren't emotional beings. We try to pride ourselves on not crying during touching films, not being emotionally attached in relationships, and being hard-knocks when it comes to any emotional situation. So it's funny how for the past couple months life has sent me on an emotional roller coaster. Recently moving to Winston-Salem has been a struggle. I have too much time on my hands, applied to over 30 jobs, and still have not found employment. My emotions have ranged from happiness spending time with my wife and her family to dismal depression about not having a job to help support my wife and I. Throughout these many tough days I've learned one thing and perhaps that is what God has intended for me.

     What I have learned is trust. I have learned to put my trust wholly in God who in the end has entire control over my life and everything that happens in it. Romans 4:4-5 has comforted me more and more, "Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." This is the definition of my life right now, and I've just found out! I may be jobless, but my trust is in my God who knows the very hairs on my head. He will provide, He will not let me fall, and I will always trust Him.

Here's to trusting God for provision!

Forever Faithful

     Lately I've been struggling with having faith that the Lord will provide for my wife and I. I want to know right now where we will live, and how we will provide for each other. I want a clear answer but feel so uncertain about what to do. As I read through Roman 4:18-21, I am beginning to realize that I need to be more like Abraham. He only strengthened in his faith when the odds seemed to stack up against him.
     I now understand that the more difficult and impossible a situation becomes, the more amazing it is when God provides. It's strange how the hardest thing for me to do right now is let go and let God have control. I find myself not wanting to let go because I don't like the feeling of losing control. However, now I realize I have the best pilot to fly me safely through any storms.

Here's to letting go of control, and letting God rule.

Romans 3

      More and more I am realizing my fallen state of being, and as I witness this sinful nature in me, I am more aware of just how deceitful the world is. Every part of life we humans partake in is coated with a layer of fake goodness and temporary joy. I see millions jumping from one celebration to the next. They devote their lives to living from event to event. Sadly, churchgoers have become the same way with God. We work all week looking forward to Sunday where we can see all our friends and get our "holy high" for the next week. Romans 3 states, "There is no one righteous, not even one... there is no one who does good, not even one." The world and believers (including me) have lost sight of what Paul is saying. Ironically, our fallen nature would like us to think we are good, because if we can convince ourselves that we are good, then sin has a foothold into all other areas of our life. Let's start by admitting that we are by nature sinful and evil creatures, and from there live our lives as sanctified followers of Jesus.

     Reading Romans 3 really opened my eyes, not just to the truth written above, but also to what the Lord has planned for my life. I now know and realize that there is nothing I love more than to read through Scripture and pull out truth for myself and others. I enjoy finding new refreshing things in God's Word and sharing them with other people. I do believe God is showing me that in my future somehow I need to be doing this more often with other believers. I do not know where, how, when, or on what scale, but I know God has placed this on my heart and I will follow wherever He leads.

   Here's to trusting God and following Him no matter what!

Done with College

On Saturday I will be graduating from college. Four years of hard work, studying like crazy for tests and finals, sleepless nights, and persevering through everything to reach this point. It's a little surreal as I think that I am about to graduate with a Bachelor's in Science, and yet I do not have a career set ahead of me or even graduate school set yet. I am now in at a crossroads in my life, and I don't know which direction I will go. So, why am I not freaking out right now, why am I not stressing about jobs, a place to live, and the future? Because I know that ultimately the purpose and direction of my life is in the Lord's hands. He knows all things, has control of all things, and he has the perfect plan for my wife and I.

There are a lot of things on my mind, but I won't bore you with every personal thing in my mind. I am going to enjoy graduating on Saturday and thank God for the abilities he has given to me. Here's to finishing college!

Sickness

       Everyone hates being sick. I have been sick for the past week, and it has certainly made life difficult. It started on Sunday night with a terrible fever that gave me chills one minute and had me sweating the next. It was an awful night, and I didn't go to classes Monday because of it. As the week progressed and classes dragged by, I slowly got better, but still had a nagging cough. My head hurt at time, sometimes I would have a stuffy nose, and by Saturday my voice was gone.

       However, Friday was a great day! Friday I had a really bad splitting headache, but when I drank some Gatorade and played some volleyball, I felt great! For dinner my wife and I went a place called Philly's with some friends. We had a great time and some great food. Our friends mentioned the Rave that was going on later that night. My wife and I weren't sure about going, but we said maybe we would. Later, my friend convinced me to go stating, "This is the last rave you will get to go to." I couldn't argue with that. So I went.The rave was so much fun! We danced until about 12:30 AM and had a great time. The next day was not so much fun though. I had to work from 12-7, and my voice was shot. I could barely talk with a scratchy smoker's voice. Working as a cashier at a grocery store requires a lot of talking, so that was fun. But the time passed quickly, and I survived.

        Church on Sunday was amazing! I had a big test in Microbiology on Monday to study for, but I realized that my wife and I need the support and refreshment of Sunday worship. Our pastor preached about how people know Christians by what we are against. How we are against drinking, smoking, adultery, and all these other things. He said that he is tired of Christians being known for stuff we are against, and we should strive to be known by what we are for. We as Christians are for love and joy in knowing that our Lord has set us free from the penalty of sin. We have a hope that we can share with the world, and we have a job to do that. His notes can be found on the church website: http://www.summitcharleston.com/#/home/sermon-notes.

Well, I do believe I have caught myself up on life for this past week. Here's to another day of life that God has blessed me with!

My Valentine

Well, here is a picture of how my Valentine's Day started yesterday! I got up before our classes and made my wife some lovely pancakes and bacon. We both thoroughly enjoyed this tasty breakfast, but that was only half of the surprise for my wife. The rest would come when she got off work.
I had purchased a delicious looking steak, some rolls, salad, and potatoes. I got off an hour early from my job as a tutor and went back to our apartment to make an unforgettable meal! I used recipes I looked up online for the mashed potatoes and to cook the steak. I had never cooked a steak before! To get to the point, everything turned out better than I could have imagined! The most surprising part was the steak. I heated the oven to broil and put a stainless steel pan on the stove top with high heat. I lathered the steak up with vegetable oil, salt, pepper, and meat tenderizer. When the mashed potatoes were done and my wife almost home, I put the steak on the pan for 30 seconds each side, then I put it in the oven for about 6 minutes. It smoked like crazy, but it tasted amazing! It was tender, warm red center, and no chewiness. It was probably the best steak I have ever had, and I loved the company even more! It was a simple, yet elegant night. We ate, relaxed, and watched the movie Pitch Perfect (great movie by the way).
Needless to say, this was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had in my life. It was not anything over the top or expensive, we didn't even get each other cards. However, it was the simple fact that we chose to show our love to each other through small gifts, serving each other, and spending quality time together as husband and wife.
Tonight is the Sadie Hawkins Dance. It is going to be a great night, and we'll be going out to eat, dancing the night away, and having a good time with some of our closest friends. Here's to a good night and another great day to be living and enjoying God's creation!

What happened to the power?

So, I work at a local grocery store here and today was different. We were pretty busy throughout the day with Valentine's Day being tomorrow, but something we didn't expect happened. I worked the closing shift and about an hour before closing time, OUR POWER WENT OUT!! It immediately came back on, but my register's computer was dead, and lines started to form at checkout. My manager was frantically running around trying to disconnect and reconnect the computers and trying to get an IT guy on the phone to figure out how to get the system back online. It was a hectic way to end the night at work, especially since I wasn't feeling well when I went into work, and I am extremely tired now. 

On the bright side, tomorrow is Valentine's Day! I have a special surprise for my wife. This is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, and I want it to be special and memorable. I will probably have a post tomorrow night about it if all goes well. Well, now I need to finish up some Physics homework for tomorrow and hopefully get a good night's rest. Here's to another day of my life.

Religion Class

Interesting note. Today, in my Life and Teachings of Jesus class our professor showed a video about what if Hollywood made the story of Jesus into a movie. Here is the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKJonM0fM54. Some of the people in the class really thought it was funny and enjoyed the comedy, others thought it was over the top and sacrilegious. I'm not sure what I think about it. At points it seems funny, but at other points it seems like it's making light of the impressiveness of Jesus' story. Sacrilegious means to grossly make irreverent something that is held sacred:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sacrilegious I hold the story of Jesus to be sacred. So when this video makes fun of His birth and death for the sins of mankind, then I see it as sacrilegious. Just my opinion.

Blogger

I've never been one to write a journal, but I figure the easiest way would be to start one online and share my thoughts, ideas, and beliefs where other people can see them. I probably won't ever post anything revolutionary on here, but I will seek to share some truth to those who seek it. If you are reading this and still feel interested, then you should know that I am God-fearing, Jesus following, and believe that He is the Son of God. If you have issues with my beliefs, I do not wish to insult you or for you to think that I discriminate against people. I believe God created this world, and that this world is fallen and that sin is prevalent throughout history and every society. I believe that Jesus died on a cross to rescue humans from their sins, and that all we as humans have to do is have faith that Jesus did die for our sins and we will receive eternal life free from sin when we die. I believe God loves all people, and it is my job to share that love with all people, but also to show them the truth about their sin and how to change.