ragamuffin ramblings...

brothers

2005-04-22T00:44:00.000-05:00

my friend daniel is in town for a few days. he came to one of our weekly homegroup meetings tonight and shared many things that God has been teaching him while he's been in Portland. It was very encouraging to hear his new perspectives. It's amazing to see how God truly changes a person's life.

I really enjoyed the fellowship we had together tonight, and it got me thinking...if you're reading this and you don't know what it is to be a believer in Jesus then you're missing out. Believing in Jesus is more than just knowing about him. It's a relationship that is intimate and real. It's not some feeling that people conjure up or convince themselves of. My life has been radically changed by Jesus and especially by the Holy Spirit that is given when true faith is placed in him. So if you don't know this type of life, then I encourage you to seek it out. Don't go through life just existing for all the temporary highs to get you through another week. Ask Jesus to come into your life, and join in this awesome ride for eternity.

post

2005-04-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

nobody is probably checking this anymore, but I finally felt like posting again.

so there are many big decisions to make in my life...i'm leaving the country once again for 10 weeks this summer to serve overseas for my Lord Jesus Christ. i've been extremely pumped about this summer, and have really enjoyed brushing up on the language. i've felt a strong impression on my heart over the past few weeks that God may be calling me to something full-time over there. i'm not sure, but i can't stop thinking about it.

i talked with my bosses at work recently and told them that i would like to go full-time when i get back this summer. God has been so good to me by letting me work for this company. i have really enjoyed the work and the people. i hope to go full-time when i get back and save some money for a while. if i am to move overseas i would probably need a little nest egg for the move and getting settled. anyway, these are just ramblings so if you're family and are getting concerned just pray and trust the Almighty God. God the Son told us himself to not worry because it does no good.

another thing going on in my life is that darlys and i have been together a year as of yesterday. it's crazy to think about that. we had a nice dinner together last night and much prayer and word's from the Lord is needed in this arena. i desire God's plan and not mine.

and on a last note, God has given much grace over the past few months and has enabled me to lead two student groups of about 15-20 people each. it has been a trying semester and super crazy at times, but Jesus has been with me. he has been standing beside me, going before me, cleaning up my messes, fighting for me, interceding to God the Father, and showing me his faithfulness when i am unfaithful.

all glory be to my God. the God who made himself known to us by taking the form of a human so that we could observe his every action and hear his words; so that he could demonstrate his vast love for us. all honor and praise be to Jesus, the one true God in the flesh. praise be the Holy Spirit that makes its dwelling place our bodies and guides us into all truth.

2005-03-05T15:26:00.000-06:00

here's a pic from the last time i went to portland. this is stacey and i almost 3 years ago!

going to Portland

2005-03-04T11:44:00.000-06:00

yeah, the title is correct.

a week from tommorrow i'll be heading to portland to visit my friend daniel along with my aunt sheryl? (sheryl or susan, if you are reading this, i'd like to come see ya'll while i'm there) there is a group of about six of us taking the journey up to the midwest for about 4 days. i'm excited because we are probably gonna go check out the columbian river valley for a day which is beautiful. i went there when i graduated from college a few years ago.

ok then, i saw that my cousin stacey told me i should post more so i thought i'd do it.

east asia pic

2005-02-24T23:19:00.000-06:00

i thought this pic was cool...if you click on it and look closely you can see that the guy is hauling a huge load of baby chickens.

updates

2005-02-21T22:40:00.000-06:00

so yeah, it's been a while again since i posted. i know i am probably losing readers by not posting so this is for the faithful that have been checking the blog regularly.

well, some cool things have been happening recently...God has really been moving here on our campus and there have been many people experiencing the freedom of knowing Jesus Christ. a group of friends and i have been praying on campus for almost a year now every sunday night and we are really seeing God answer our prayers; it is so encouraging.

something else new is that i applied for the East Asia Project again for this summer. i'm excited about all the planning that is going into it this year. last year i was the project leader for the whole summer which was awesome but challenging. the cool thing though is that this year we will have a leadership team instead of just one main leader...yay...i'm really excited because i've been asked to serve on this team and the other two on the team are a couple of my best friends. i'm also excited about learning more of the language and have been trying to practice. it's amazing because i have been able to remember almost everything i learned last year.

well, that's all for now...i'll try to post a good pic from my trip last summer pretty soon.

2005-02-21T22:37:00.000-06:00

here's a pic of me and my crazy Asian friend daniel. this was just before he moved up to beaverton, oregon for an internship with Intel....i know i look ridiculously huge and massive next to him and that is only because i am ridiculously huge and massive. i try to stay out of the weight room but it doesn't help.

2005-02-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

here's a pic of me and some friends...we went out to Snook, Texas for the night and built us a huge bonfire and cooked. it was a cool time to get out in the country for a while.

Check this out

2005-02-08T01:18:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from birthday party that my friends had for me on Sunday night.

my crazy roomate jeremiah

2005-02-08T01:14:00.000-06:00

chris and me...he had was one of the masterminds behind the gift

2005-02-08T00:18:00.000-06:00

this pic is quite funny because it's a pic of me on halloween dressed as a pregnant lady. actually showed up at a halloween party with no costume and some girls took me and dressed me up...everyone signed the poster for my bday.

2005-02-08T00:15:00.000-06:00

me opening my gift

lead of love

2005-02-07T23:10:00.000-06:00

this has been a favorite song of mine for a while now. i was listening to it tonight and it hit me once again. i first heard this song when i was in Qatar last year even though it's an old song. i had been through some hard times but i this song helped me see how God's hand was in it all....so here it is.

Lead of Love
by Caedmon's Call

Looking back at the road so far
The journey's left its share of scars
mostly from leaving the narrow and straight

Looking back it is clear to me
That a man is more than the sum of his deeds
and how you've made good of this mess I've made
is a profound mystery

Looking back you know you had to bring me through
All that I was so afraid of
Though I questioned the sky, now I see why
Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view
Looking back I see the lead of love

Looking back I can finally see
How failures bring humility
Brings me to my knees
Helps me see my need for thee

been a while

2005-02-07T19:32:00.000-06:00

so i started a blog and invited people to check it out and then didn't post anything for a while. what use is that?

well...my excuse is that i was nasty sick with some funky virus and then i left for the weekend. there ya go.

i had a nice weekend making sausage with my family in hallettsville. we took 235 lbs of deer and pork meat and mixed it together to make 200 links (actually it turned out to be 199, but 200 sounds better). we had a good assembly line goin with my dad, cousin tyler and i stuffing the links while my aunt carol cut the links to size. next in line were jimmy and joey tying the links so that they could be hung in the smokehouse. the smokehouse is really cool because my great great grandfather built it and it smells awesome!

sunday night was cool when i got back to college station....my friends through a party for me and put all kinds of cool pics and letters in a album for me to read and look at. it was cool to see all the people in my life and what they had to say. i stayed up until 3a.m. reading them all. thanks everyone!

well, i guess that's all for now...i'll try to put up some more pics soon. oh, and thanks to everyone who posted a message!

sickness!

2005-01-31T18:54:00.000-06:00

ok, so i just typed this entry and then it didn't show up. glad it wasn't too long....

anyway, i've been sick for a few days with all the good ole stuff like coughing, fever, spit, and no sleep. wuh, and my room really stinks too! the cool thing is that i've had several friends call, e-mail or come by. one guy, mark, was really encouraging today. he has such a zeal and passion for God that it rubs off on me everytime i'm around him. also yesterday dar brought some things by that are like treasures when your sick...toilet paper, tissue (both with aloe), soup, an orange, and cough drops. thanks dar!

ok...enough about my sickness, i just thought i'd blog it.

2005-01-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

sucked in

2005-01-29T15:17:00.000-06:00

well...i started a blog today.
not sure why; maybe its because of the melancholic mood i've been in for a while now. anyway, i'm not sure how much i'll ramble on this site but felt like writing and maybe sooner or later letting others know about it. maybe friends & family can understand me better and see more of who i am. i have really missed my family lately and wished i had more time to be with them. all my time is consumed by the busyness of leading 2 student groups in the church. it's not that i don't like doin it but when many other important things get put on the back burner over and over again, i wish things were different.

so i know God is good and he takes care of me, but i've been having the feeling lately that i'm trying to do more than he wants me to do. joy seems to be a rare thing, while depression is always lirking.

ok, i did it...i blogged.