I tweeted last night about snow. In fact, I was pondering it’s whereabouts. Well, I didn’t have to wait too long. As I backed out of my garage this morning, I saw the snow barreling toward the ground at breakneck speed. Ahhhh snow!!!...again.... But, it’s the good kind of snow. Light and fluffy. Big and flaky. Also the kind that does not stick. Yippee!


I couldn’t help but to think back to my travels. The many times that I stepped out of the hotel lobby, into snow, into a cab that barreled me towards my destination. Today though, I am the driver. And, I will not be barreling towards my destination with high speed. Instead, I think I’ll take it easy and watch those jumbo flakes descend from up high. Just a little something to make my heart smile. Enjoy your day today, and take the time to enjoy the view!

I met some ambassadors this past weekend. I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with the youth of Ambassadors for Jesus Christ in Fayetteville, NC. These youth were on fire for the Lord and had clearly been taught about the importance of God’s Word and its necessity for their lives.


My topic addressed following the leader. Of course, the leader that we are to follow is the Lord Jesus. I was impressed when I called four of the youth upfront so that we could begin to unravel the allegiance of our friends to either the world or the Lord Jesus. Non-surprisingly, we found out in the four areas discussed, swagger/reputation; riches/money; vanity/pride; and relationships, the allegiances were to the world and not to Jesus.


And while our friends may line up with worldly standards, we must remember to line up with what the Word of God says. We must follow the leader, Jesus Christ. And in so doing, we become His ambassadors in a lost and troubled world.


Again, I cannot speak enough good things about the conference. I’m just happy to have had an opportunity to be a part of it all. And there is one young person in particular, that I am especially praying for. She seemed to really absorb the message that God laid on my heart and I cannot wait to see what she will do with her life. One can only pray that she will always follow THE leader. One can pray that she will always, along with those many other youth, become effective and efficient ambassadors for Jesus Christ!

I cannot thank God enough for allowing me the priviledge to minister to these youth. And I cannot thank Pastor Green and Elder Deaver enough, for yielding to the will of God and inviting me to come and be a part of such a wonderful weekend of activities.

So, bloggyland readers, when you pray, please remember the awesome work going on at Ambassadors for Jesus Christ Church in Fayetteville. Call them out by name and ask the Lord to continually bless their efforts for the youth - for as I've heard it said, they are not our future - they are our right now!

I kinda feel like I'm on a treadmill. But, I am keeping my eyes on the prize - and no, it's not french fries or chicken or any of my other favorite snacks. Spiritual growth and living a life that pleases God - that's the prize. I mentioned last week that this week would keep me rolling - hence the treadmill thingy. I thought I would pop in tonight for just a minute to update you - and really, more than that, to let you know how awesome God is in the midst! 


The ref blew the start whistle on Monday. I ignored him until he kept blowing and blowing. (oh - the ref is my alarm clock). Anyhooooooo - after I satisfied the ref, I was up and rolling. I got so much accomplished Monday despite the fact that I felt D.R.A.I.N.E.D all day long. Did I mention ALL DAY?, cause I really mean all day. I was so drained that I thought something was wrong with me. So, I gave myself a bed time and failed to keep it. You knew that was coming, right? I don't know why I bothered with the time crunching...you know how we do - I need to get X,Y and Z done before X time so that I can get into bed. The plan was made and the plan was dropped just as quickly. But the wonderful thing about God is this - when I did finally crawl into bed, I slept like a champ. I woke up Tuesday refreshed as if I'd sleep 8 hours. Whoooa! Good times.


Tuesday was another testiment to the grace of God. For Tuesday, I woke up early and got to work late. I don't know what happened really. It had something to do with those pants I ironed I guess. Anyway, 15 minutes late, I'm on-fire for the job. I breeze through some of my workload until I see an email redirecting my efforts for a considerable part of the day...throwing my plan off schedule. But you know what? The wonderful thing about God is that even though I had a plan, His plan was better - even if it included a request that I had not accounted for. I missed my personal deadline yesterday, but I met my revamped deadline today. Awesome God! 


So, as you can tell, Wednesday is running pretty smooth. I've spent the evening studying for my class and preparing for my talk on Saturday in Fayetteville. Everything is looking good. And I'm rolling around with sheer joy in the realization that God is in every single detail. He's there. All we have to do is to acknowledge Him. Three more intense pressure days lay ahead of me, but with God, all things are possible. I know He won't let me fall. 


Hope you're having a great week. And if you get a chance, pray for somebody that you know is having a tough time - whether it be a tough day, week or season, lift that person up in prayer. I have personally experienced our God in an intimate way this week knowing that He is faithful to meet us in our every need. 


Cheers!

It’s Friday but I’m thinking about Monday.


I’m looking down the barrel of another hard week. This week, I’ve worked late most nights, I’ve taught my class, wrote a peer critique, dealt with a knee injury that would wake me up in the middle of the night and managed somehow to keep my sanity. I would rejoice that it’s Friday, but tonight, I’ll have to miss a fellowship that I had planned to attend in order to catch up on some other work.


Monday, I’ll press the reset button and do it again.

In the coming seven days, I will have taught three times, and have spoken at a Youth Conference an hour away from home; all four of these areas need individual preparation. As I am not independently wealthy, I will also work my job! With joy, too. I like my job. I need my job. Thank God for my job! O.K.A.Y!!!


I’m not complaining nor panicking, I’m trusting God. It’s a heavy load. My mind has jumped off track, so I might as well share – I had a flashback to Dreamgirls when they sang “heavy, heavy …you got so heavy on me…” Seriously. I don’t know why I went there…


Anyway, I’m not in a panic because I am clinging to a Scripture - Matthew 6:34 (NASB) "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


And the church said, “AMEN!”


That doesn’t mean that I bury my head in the sand and act like I don’t know what it means to look at a calendar. I look at my calendar to prepare. Everything on my plate right now is God-ordained. So, since He’s loading me up like this, I recognize it as purpose. And, if I am operating in His purpose, then I don’t have to worry.


Same applies to you too. If you are feeling the weight of a truckload of responsibility, know that God is in control and He can equip you to carry the load. It will require your dependence on Him. Get your lean on. If you lean on God, you won’t fall. But if you try to stand on your own, you may realize you’re standing in quicksand - if you know what I mean.

Anyone familiar with my utmost respect for the military (go Quantico!)  and my penchant for war movies and a good, clean love story knows that I wanted to be at the opening of Dear John - and I was.

It was a cold and rainy night on Friday, but I pressed my way to the movie theater thinking that no one with any sense would be out tonight. I considered the wisdom, or lack thereof, of my own activity planning...was it really that important to see the movie on opening day? I went anyway. Got a good park. Took my time getting to the theater. Got inside, strolled to the counter, asked for two tickets and was told that they had just sold out. 


Seriously?


The next showing was in an hour - but I was told to stay close because they would likely sell that one out too. Really? Why don't folks stay home? And, why is everyone wanting to see this movie? Could it be that the previews have been all over the TV and its author, Nicholas Sparks was at Fort Bragg with a pre-release showing? Yeah. I guess so. Good way to build demand. 






Anyway, I had read the book and enjoyed it - well, except for the ending. So, I just knew the movie would go beyond my expectations. Why, oh why did I read the book? The movie was different. Not in a bad way, but since the book's version was so fresh in my mind, I knew when things were different - which lead me to compare versions. 


The movie's ending changed too. Which, ultimately was good. But still.  I was struck by my expectation. I was struck by my involvement with fictional characters. And I was struck by my commitment to see this movie which at the end of the day, will do nothing, to further my growth with Christ. 


Sometimes, it takes something like this to help us evaluate what we decide to spend our time doing. Funny enough, time was the problem in the movie. Too much time apart - too much time spent living different lives. 


So now, I'm focusing on how I spend my time. What about you? Are you spending your time doing wise things? Is there anything you'd like to improve in any area? 

The thing about North Carolina snow is that it is rarely ever just snow. It's always mixed with something. My driveway would be evidence. I should have taken a picture.

The weathermen called for snow and sleet. We got both. In fact, I got 5 inches of snow but laid upon that was sleet - and then more snow. I went to shovel the driveway, as if I was really going somewhere - ha! Not! But I used the shoveling as an opportunity for exercise. It didn't take long to work up a sweat and a rhythm. Me and my handy shovel were moving snow and breaking up ice. Ice broke apart in pieces that I could pick up and hold - their jagged edges covered my chest. These were big chunks of ice - about 16 X 12 inches across and 3 inches thick. Made me feel really good to be able to break up the chunks like that. But I have to give most of the credit to my handy shovel.

The workout felt good - the reward felt even better. A clean driveway. I got tired of seeing all that snow from my window. I have to imagine that you feel that way too when you have finished a task that you exerted a lot of energy on. We sit back and applaud ourselves for a job well done. We can see where we started and where we ended. The progress makes us smile.

Our Christian journey should be much the same. We will all have to deal with something. And in most cases, that something will be mixed with something else. That's just the way it is. And as we make progress in clearing away the sin from our lives, we should be able to pull some chunks of that old life up and chuck it far away from us. We allow the SON to penetrate the hole we've left when the sin was plucked away and our lives become better. Before long, we can look back and recall each shovel, each scrape and each victory. It's a workout, but it's worth it.

I knew that Thomas J was going to die, but I bought the DVD and watched it anyway. And then I cried and cried when Thomas J died. It was ugly.