Snow Day for Adults!

This morning at work, I was talking in a friend’s office when the most glorious email ever came into his inbox:

Due to inclement weather in the Dallas area, all employees can go home at noon…

Woohoo!! Snow day for the workingman! When I got home, I foolishly decided to run a line item report for all of 2009 on a large account, so I figured I might as well write something while I wait.

The last few weeks have been pretty busy for me, I feel like I haven’t had much time to sit and do nothing (which unfortunately is the only time I can write blogs). This past weekend was a very fulfilling yet energy consuming weekend. Our Bible study guys decided that we should be DNOW leaders over the weekend, and it turned out to be quite interesting. We spent the last month going through the book of Ecclesiastes, the material for the weekend. I find it interesting that PCBC chose this book. We were supposed to be teaching it to 7th-12th graders in two days, yet we argued back and forth over its application for a month. Talk about complicated stuff! Anyways, we did some minor surgery on the leader guide and everything went off without a hitch. My buddy Tim and I had 10th grade guys who knew a lot of stuff and were well intentioned, but man did I realize some things about kids this weekend!

1. No matter how hard they try, it is impossible for them not to get distracted.

2. They do not understand that language and attention are measures of respect.

3. They WILL outsmart you when it comes to having their technology.

The last one has a funny story attached to it. At the beginning of the weekend, we took their cell phones and ipods to avoid any distractions and bring the group together. This was a rule enforced by the DNOW staff because in the past someone actually got dumped via text message and it ruined the weekend, how awful! Anyways, so Sunday morning rolls around and we walk in to make sure they’ll be ready in time for church, and what do we find? An Xbox, a macbook, another laptop, and a converter that allowed them to play N64 games on their laptops! I guess I was just naïve to think that these kids (and their parents) wanted them to have a time separate from their usual distractions to enjoy fellowship and teaching. Oh well, I guess I should honestly recognize that when I was in high school I also had an insatiable desire for constant entertainment. It is just surprising to me what is available to kids these days!!

A lot of aspects of this weekend helped me to get a more profound respect for what my soon-to-be-bride does for a living. What patience, understanding, and love she has to be able to deal with these rascals all day every day! I am rather thankful that she has them, because they will forever make me look good!

Faith and Trust

This week has seen many lessons of faith and trust. First of all, I couldn’t be any prouder of Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorn football team for how they handled a devastating loss of the senior leader on Thursday night. I cannot even fathom what must have been going through Colt’s head. His entire football career to this point had lead up to that night. He finally made it to the big game, only to have to watch it from the sidelines. The way that Colt reacted, however, shows the strength of his faith in God’s plan. In 2 Timothy 2:8-9, Paul instructs Timothy to suffer for the gospel not because of anything that Timothy has done, but because of God’s own purpose and grace. The point is to entrust yourself to God and His plan, no matter what it is, and that is what Colt had to do on Thursday night. I couldn’t help but think (in that moment in my limited wisdom) that God would have received more glory by choosing a desperate follower of Christ to be the champion, but how often does the “wisdom” of the world turn out to be the exact opposite of God’s plan? The bottom line is, we are called to entrust our lives to God in all circumstances, and Colt McCoy will forever be a shining example to me and the rest of the Longhorn nation because of the life he chose to live, and Who he chose to put first.




So what is our response? Not only do we have to entrust ourselves to God, we also must take delicate care of what others have entrusted to us. My first thought, at the behest (thanks for the vocab Mr. Hill!) of the pastor at PCBC today, is to take measure of what Angela has entrusted to me: her heart, her emotions, her future. Trust takes so much more than telling the truth, being honest, and following the rules. For Angela to truly entrust herself to me, I have to take many steps further than those simple no-brainers. My relationship with her has been filled with lessons, some harder than others, that will no doubt continue for the rest of our lives. But I am convinced that if we put God first, each other second, and ourselves third, there is nothing that we can’t overcome. Angela’s mom, Sandy, wrote me a wonderful card thanking me for devoting my life to her daughter. I think she put it best when she said that our marriage “won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it.” That is exactly the same as following Christ and God’s purpose in our lives. I look forward to participating in our Christ-glorifying marriage, one of the highest honors and responsibilities that God can bestow on a man. And I will follow through with that honor until I breathe my last breath.