Thanksgiving is Coming

Lately I have strayed away from this blogging deal, but I'm hoping to find more inspiration to write. I worded that wrong; I need to find the drive to write, the inspiration is there I just don't want to write about it. This week has had it's ups and downs, and I want to write about how thankful I am to have people who are mentors in my life. In case you didn't know my father passed away when I was 6 due to pneumonia. Before that my parents were divorced so I wasn't around a fatherly figure much, when I was younger it was actually my grandma who I spent the most time with because my mom was a single parent working to raise my sister and I. By the way I love grandmas because they are crazy and kooky and are somewhat like kids; somewhat carefree but the littlest things they worry about, like if you fall and start bleeding they act as if your dying. So as much as I miss my father I am thankful to have God and people that can fill that hole in my life. Today my car broke down, and my friend Aaron took the time to help me fix it, and we did, and I learned something new about cars, and I'm sure he missed some quality time with the family on his day off, but I'm extremely grateful for his time. This weekend I get to go to huntsville and do worship at a retreat with my cousin Blake Quimby, and he's helped shape me and realize God, and I owe him a lot, but I am also grateful for his time. There are a lot of other people I'm not mentioning, but I'm thankful for everyone. I am blessed and I hope that I can share this with others who share my situation.

Chalk It Up

Chalk It Up took place downtown today on Houston street downtown. 3 whole blocks of street shut down so people could come and draw everywhere with chalk. It was a great atmosphere to relax and somewhat relive your childhood spending time drawing pictures. I hardly take the time to draw anymore mostly because I'm not real good at it.

The amount of talent in this world amazes me. It's nice to go to an event like this and go home feeling smaller and the world feels bigger. I've heard some people say they see God mostly in the mundane things in life. I have to agree that something as mundane as a child drawing with chalk, or a group of kids breakdancing, or an old man drawing a mural of jazz music is how I saw God today. Hopefully I'll begin to look for Him more often.

Sax and Violence

Victors and Vanquished

If anyone keeps up with this blog you might remember a time were my number one thing about college was the chance to read a book about the Aztecs and Spain in Victors and Vanquished. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to buy the book to read it so I did my report with information that is accurate from a video game called Medieval Total War: Americas. Not only do you learn about the clashing cultures and battles, you actually get to experience it somewhat virtually. I played both sides the Spaniards and the Aztecs and during the load screens it plays random quotes from people of that era, so I incorporated some of those. As much as I dislike playing video games, they have taught me a lot. I swear when I was 12 I should have been able to fly a plane because I completed Flight Simulator. I have learned about global trade and different economies, the pros and cons. I know many different types of handguns and weapons. It was from Madden that I learned the rules of football. So here's a toast to video games, as bad as people say they are, and as much as I dislike them, video games have done some good this time.

When You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Yesterday, my friend Matt Low and I went to Austin to drop his little brother off at ACL. While there, we found out the Robbie Seay Band is playing in Austin at Jesus Christ the Nazarene church, so we got our tickets and it was a great concert.

Lately I have been reading Phillipians, and I usually don't focus on one book too much, but i'm trying to this time. The more I read it the more it seems to come "alive." This passage has been tossed around in my mind a bit, Phillipians 2.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross

I feel like I'm going nowhere. Everyone else in college has a goal of achieving some certain degree in some special field that interests them. However I do not have any goals. Lately I have been longing for God like never before. I have been extremely unsatisfied with everything else. I want to give more, I want to love more, and I want to care more about what's going on.

Thursday

The Importance of Hell

by Tim Keller

1. It is important because Jesus taught about it more than all other Biblical authors put together.

2. It is important because it shows how infinitely dependent we are on God for everything.

3. It is important because it unveils the seriousness and danger of living life for yourself.

4. The doctrine of hell is important because it is the only way to know how much Jesus loved us and how much he did for us.

full article here.

God is enough.

For the past couple of months I have been thinking and praying about this phrase "God is enough." I've just been thinking, what would be the effect if everything we do reflected the realization that God is enough.

While sitting in a freshman orientation class, we were in a computer lab and the librarian was showing the class how to use the internet and look for books and research. (how many times have you sat through one of those before?) At that moment I began to feel like my life was wasting away, this is pointless, I wanna just leave and eat. Then out of nowhere I stumble across this article about children being used as soldiers. It caught my attention and stumbled across a profound quote that really shook me and has been haunting me. It was by a boy named Salifu Kamara, it said, "I was not born a boy soldier; my captives forced me to become one. I had to obey them to stay alive today. When you have nothing left but God, that is the time you realize that God is enough." (here's the story)

I'm not sure the means or what it means to have nothing left but God. It's a phrase that at times scares me as a christian to say that God is enough because there is so much that I want, money, success, attention, girls, comfort, etc.. In my heart I know God is enough, but my head wants to doubt that and say that there is better satisfaction in other things. It just does all sorts of things to me thinking, what it would look like, if the way we lived reflected the realization that God is enough. I want my life to have purpose, and when I take away everything about life that is meaningless: selfishness, anger and concern over stupid small things, worry, unsatisfaction, overspending, desire to be accepted, I end up with nothing left but God.