The Week/end

Amongst the ciaos of the semester, there is a bit of fun here and there. Last Thursday night some of the other RL's and I went over to the Deklavon's house to for some Chill time, food,...and March Madness! Dr. Deklavon and his wife are some of the most hospitable people I know and always have people coming over to their house! It was a great time!

The rest of the weekend was spent busting the homework, a Parents Night Out at church watching about 61 youngsters, and the second annual Apostolost & Found. It was a very busy weekend. This coming week will be one of the busiest of the semester for me, but the reward follows with Spring Break! I'll be heading to Georgia with my Sweetheart to see my family and friends. Can't wait!





Eric and Kristen Yeildel came over for a bit with Mary Grace...I couldn't help but snap a few shots! What a cute kid!

Taxes: Concluding Thoughts

I hate them!

Coffee and Taxes

So my morning is being spent at the local Java Brewing Co and amongst the many chores of the day is my Taxes. The consensus I have gotten is that its easier/more cost efficient to to them yourself online, at least for a single guy in my position. I have been fortunate enough, up to this point, to have my family do them, but its time to be a big boy and do them myself. This could prove to be a disaster, but hopefully not! After that there is plenty of studying to do! The semester is progressing down the funnel, narrowing each day; however, I think I'll make it to the end without any major disasters. God is faithful!

Alive

I'm alive, I promise! Just crazy busy...I promise to post again soon!

Pray for Jane

Some of you may know the Audia family. I have known them for quite some time and Dan Audia is one of my closest friends. If you don't know them, Dan's Mom, Jane Audia (the one on the couch in the middle in the picture below) has battled cancer for a while now and things have been very difficult for them lately. Despite the difficulty, I am continually encouraged by the faith, trust, and hope displayed by the Audia's throughout this whole ordeal. Please be in prayer for their family as they go through this time of trial. For updates, the family has put together a blog, (http://janeaudiasjourney.blogspot.com/) where they routinely update everyone on her progress. I know they greatly appreciate your prayers! Thanks to everyone!

First Day of Spring

Ok...its been a while, I know! Things are crazy busy right now. I have a feeling they will continue to be until into the summer...but it's good!

Today is the first day of Spring, PRAISE THE LORD! I am so ready for the spring and the warm! After two days of straight down pouring rain its nice to see the sun! It should be a decent 55 degrees to day but hopefully it will feel warmer than that with the sun. Hope you all are doing well. I hope to get out and capture some of the essence of the spring at some point so stick around and hopefully I'll get to post some!

Courageous Faith!

Not long ago, in one of my classes, I learned about a martyr for the faith named Polycarp. He was a disciple of the Apostle John and bishop in Smyrna around A.D. 156. When faced with death at the hands of Romans if he did not reject Christ, this was his response:

"Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?"

When told that he would be burned at the stake he replied:

"You threaten me with fire, which burns for an hour, and is soon extinguished; but the fire of the future judgment, and of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly, you are ignorant of. But why do you delay? Do whatever you please."

Oh to have a faith so sure as this!

-The Journey-

"This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are no yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified!"
-Martin Luther

Sledding, Bushdiving and A LOT of Snow!

In light of our "blizzard" some friends and I decided to have some fun in the mounds of snow! Fun including the age old tradition of bush diving, sledding on a hill with TONS of other people and of course some snowball fights. All in all we got about 13 inches, which is a ton more than Louisville usually gets!

I was able to snap some sequence shots of the festivities! This is Bobby taking an awesome dive in the park! Get ready for a LOT of pictures!





Jordan's Run!

Brian's Run!




Bobby's 2'nd go!





So...sadly, there are no still shots of my dives, those were only caught on video, maybe i'll post it at some point!

This is a shot of the park that is right next to campus...when it snows in Louisville, EVERYONE is out to play in it!

My lady came along as the videographer!

After a trip to Target to see what we could find to sled on, this is all they had left...the storage bins we bought didn't work, but these babies would fly!
All in all, great day!!!

Good Times!

So we got a LOT of snow today...at least for Louisville's standards. We were suppose to have our "Spring Retreat" this weekend but due to the "blizzard" it was definitely canceled. After a little studying and then relaxing, we had to get out and play a bit...tons of fun!!


We spent the majority of the time making this massive Snowman! It took quite a while and our hands were numb when we were done...it was well worth it though!

Ok so I lied, we had nothing to do with the snowman, these are the real architects of the beast! It was quite the masterpiece though...or at least it was until some really "cool" person decided to knock its head off shortly after its completion.

Quills

So we had our RL meeting at Quills today, which wasn't really a meeting, more of just a time to chill and chat. It was nice; a good chance just to take a break for a few. I had brought my camera along and just had to take a pic of the sweet "quill" design on the top of the White Mocha Latte I was drinking!

Thought I'd do something fun with some mug shots we took today! Great team!

Good Word...Something From Anyone

Read here.

72 Degrees!

The weather is AMAZING today! Although its about to get nasty later, for the moment it is so nice! I cannot wait for spring!

Thought I would put up an older picture I took of the spring, shortly after getting my DSLR.

The Cross

"How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross?"
-Carl Henry

What an amazing quote I read today from Humility! This is what it's about! What better way to disintegrate any desire or inclination of the heart towards pride; to consider the cross!

"Far from offering us flattery, the cross undermines our self-righteousness, and we can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit."
-John Stott

Who Controls You?

As I begin working my way through When People are Big and God is Small there are some questions that I have been faced with. Even in the first chapter Welch begins to describe different kinds of people who are seeminly controlled by the opinions of others; people who are constantly worried about what other people think of them, or will think if they make a particular decision. If you are so overcome with paranoia about what other people think about you rather than what God thinks about you there is a major disconnect. Something is not right.

This hits home with me. I struggle with being a people pleaser, always wanting to do whatever it is that will make other people pleased with me. This is not inherently wrong, but when I begin to compromise what I feel the Lord is showing me or leading me to do, it becomes sin and I've begun to make Idols out of those people in my life.

It is a delicate balance however; to listen to and accept advice and counsel from others yet stand on your own convictions. It is easy when scripture is directly opposed to a particular piece of advice but what about when it comes down to mere opinion; when scripture is not clear on an issue. This is when it becomes difficult for me. Learning to hear Gods voice for myself while remaining sensitive to the counsel of others. It is a delicate balance. I pray that I always keep them both in perspective!