T-minus 10 Days....

In 4 days I go back to Indiana to get my vaccinations, pack and spend some time with my family. In 10 days I report to what Royal Servants alumni lovingly refer to as "The Hay Field"..... mostly because that is exactly what it is. For one month I will be living in a tent on a hay field. Time on the field is amazingly special. Week one will be a time when the Reign Staff all come together and finalize plans and prepare for the summer. Week two is our Senior Staff week, our summer senior assistants will all be in where we do more preparation as well as training for specific staff rolls. Week three is our Staff Discipler week, the college age Disciplers come in and get to go through training and get a glimps of what their students will go through.... Week 4 is officially "Training Camp" or Student week. The students come in and we spend 7 intense days preparing them for the ministry to come. We do memorization, teachings, worship, time with the Lord, they learn their street ministry. We laugh, we cry, we sweat. It is an amazing amazing time of fellowship and team unity and growth. And then we head to our respective mission fields. Mine happens to be Sierra Leone, others will be Nepal, China, Israel, Costa Rica, Ireland, Eastern Europe and India.

Honoring the Honorable....

So i made the mistake last night of watching the last 15 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan"... fantastic movie... but it makes me cry (a lot). It wasn't so much tears over the horrible things that the young men saw and experienced in WWII, but more because it reminded me about what an honorable man my grandfather was. He parachuted in behind enemy lines as a medic, why? because it paid better and he could support my grandma back home.
By the time i knew my Papaw, his war days were a distant memory that he rarely (if ever) talked about, and even then it was only with my brother or my cousin. But he was so much more than just a soldier, he was a father, grandfather, friend, a mentor and a husband. To me, he was a hero. He was basically superman who could do no wrong. He was the healthiest sick man I've known, and when he died, our world lost an amazing man. He was a great man of faith, a humble leader by example. He loved his family, though often showed it in his own ways. I saw him shortly before he died and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and told me how proud he was of me, I'll never forget that moment.
The greatest comfort i have is that i won't have to live for eternity without him and Mamaw. One day, i will see them again and what a joyous reunion that will be (Mamaw will probably have some sort of prank ready for us)

Celebrating 26 full rotations around the sun.....

Today I have officially completed my trip around the sun 26 times, seeing the light of day 9497 times. It's interesting to look back and see just how much can be done in that time. I can't decide to feel young or old. Over a quarter of a century yet, God willing, plenty of years left to live. If you were to ask me 20 years ago where I thought I would be at the age of 26, I would have probably laughed at you, cause who asks that specific of a question to a six year old... but my answer would have probably been plain and simple... one word... RICH! I had a strange obsession with money, I liked hiding it around the house so that no one could find it, and I NEVER liked to spend it. I'm not sure what I thought it would get me to have money sitting around that I would never use.... but over the years as I grew I cared less and less about hiding change around the house, and more and more about people. Somewhere in the last 9497 days, I knew I would end up in a job where I could interact a lot with people... some time later, I realized it would be with younger people, then I realized it would be with teenagers, then on July 17,2002 I realized it would be in full time ministry. Finally, it was not just full time ministry, but full time missions. I couldn't be more happy with the direction in my life that God has taken me. I haven't always understood (and I won't pretend to understand now) what God is up to in my life.
But I know this now: I moved to Minneapolis to join a missions organization that I not only believe passionately in, but am a product of. I came here not knowing exactly how it would work out and finding each month that trusting God is how the bills get paid and how food shows up at meal times. I have found that my housing situation was unsure at best, only to now be set up with an amazing apartment, with an amazing sister in Christ, in an amazing location at a price that is completely do-able. You can't sit and tell me God has had nothing to do with it.
25 has been an amazing year. a HUGE time of growth, stretching, trust and faith. A time of tremendous victories and some painful failures. I don't pretend to be perfect, but I can honestly say that today, I am more like Jesus Christ than I was one year ago today, and that's the goal: to look more and more like him with each passing day.
Genesis 22:14b "On the mountain of the LORD, it will be provided." not just financially, not just pragmatically, but spiritually, emotionally, physically. God, the great provider, Jehovah-jireh.

Lessons along the way.

It is interesting to me as I look back at life so far and think about the things I’ve learned and the times that I see growth in my life. My greatest times of learning were never in the classroom (although I learned a ton in school and value my degree and encourage all who are able to graduate college). The times that I have learned and grown the most have been when I’m in the thick of something, seeing things happen around me. My experiences, more than anything, have made me who I am. Be it traveling abroad to learn patience and flexibility, leading to learn dependence on God, waiting on finances to learn faith and trust, or pain in my life to learn the value of true friends.


I feel like when we learn this way, we not only gain valuable knowledge, we also gain wisdom. I’m grateful for the lessons of life that God has taught me along the way, and I hope I don’t miss any of them.

True Beauty

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!
1 John 3:1a

whew. chew on that one for a few minutes.