Wow! What a wonderful ride 2012 was! I can safely say this was the year of the most growth, adventure, and love I have ever experienced. This was truly my year of first steps. I have never been more focused, and my resolve has never been greater than it is right now to do the work the Lord is calling me to. With that said, here are some highlights in my life that helped make that happen:
1. God revealed the ministry He has called me to: creating Christian Mission software and using the profits to fund the Gospel and start an orphanage in India someday.
2. I learned what it means to love someone deeply. I never knew that "falling" for someone was such a legitimate and quick descent into emotions and experiences never before known. I learned what it means to lose someone you care about and to be willing to let someone go in order to make them truly happy.
3. Learning two valuable lessons: learning how to be wise and learning how to be led by the Spirit of God.
4. Fasting from Dating: I took a break from dating anyone for a year starting last July. I realized that dating is such a serious endeavor that one must be spiritually ready before even attempting it. Before God gave Adam Eve, he gave him 1. A relationship with Himself and 2. A life task. The second half of 2012 was wholly devoted to letting God be my One True Love and setting about tirelessly and explosively to His calling on my life. I have never worked harder or been so much in love with the Lord!
5. Graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science from UAB!
6. Got hired on full time at my dream job for the past three years. I spent every day wanting and believing for this job and the Lord provided it!
7. Getting to be a Big Brother to someone. Big Brothers Big Sisters is such an amazing ministry! It is so amazing and humbling to get to be an impact into someone's life who would otherwise not have the same opportunities I took for granted growing up. Here's to my Little Brother!
8. Family Additions! There really must be something in Alabama water. My brother and his wife are having their third, and two of my cousins are having little ones! So excited to get to experience the love and joy of another generation!
9. Leading worship for our wonderful Youth and College and Career groups at church. I never knew I had it in me, but the Lord granted me the gift of music to fill in where needed at church. Since then, worship has never felt so alive. I am so humbled to get to minister to others through music and am so grateful for all those who sacrifice countless hours of their time to help me out with it.
10. Closer Friendships: I've learned how meaningful it is to have great friends. My resolution for 2013 is to be a good friend. I get so busy and caught up in working that I don't give them nearly enough attention or gratitude that they deserve. They mean the world to me, and am going to do better this year to show it.
11. Adventures! I got to go bike riding and hiking several times this year. I realized I really enjoy mountain biking! I got to visit Chattanooga! I rafted the entire Occoee River with three amazing friends. I went to DisneyWorld thanks to my amazing friend! I got to hang out with my dad on Thanksgiving and ride bicycles through downtown Birmingham!
12. Spiritual Growth: I have such an amazing group of pastors at my church. I have never loved the Word more or been filled with such knowledge and wisdom that I got every single Wednesday and Sunday this year. I LOVE my church!
Even with all of that, 2013 will still top it. I am convinced the Lord has set good things my way. I will work harder, with more excellence, more diligence, and more passion than ever before. We have a mission as Christians, and I am determined to spend every waking moment for God's kingdom. But I am also going to take the time to enjoy life by making new adventures, being a better son, brother, and friend to the people I care about. 2013, here I come!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Scenery: An Old Abandoned Building after a Rainstorm
The musty scent of rain on an old abondoned building,
It's repetituious rhythm rapping on the roof.
The world is at peace in this tiny abode,
Forsaken by all but my gentle napping.
Softly it settles my soul to sleep,
Its only child in many long years.
It's repetituious rhythm rapping on the roof.
The world is at peace in this tiny abode,
Forsaken by all but my gentle napping.
Softly it settles my soul to sleep,
Its only child in many long years.
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Clone
To my lovely I lost I made anew,
With a strand of your hair that I withdrew.
Your loveliness grew with each division,
Your image returned in the finest precision.
What wonder of science, what marvel indeed!
That the ones we’ve lost should return a seed!
Each imperfection, each blemish, each spot,
Every image of you again have I wrought!
As if that blackened water didst never steal,
Nor its choking waves against you feel,
But as Atlantis lost you’ve now arose
From a tiny ocean of four sacred codes.
The ascent, I reckon, has made you weak,
For your mouth is not so common in speech.
Very little you say, very little you do,
And what actions you take I never knew.
I wonder why, as each day does pass,
You are not so often to smile or laugh.
The town you loved to live and shop
Is now but for food and groceries to stock.
We’d often dance about this street,
Each person you loved to mingle and greet.
And though you know them, their names and address,
It is solitude and serenity you now love best.
Your garden your chapel, your diary your friend,
The cooking and art I never knew then.
You speak now through that which your hands create,
Your body you keep but your spirit forsake.
So I’ve learned to love you all over again,
As a poet, an artist, a lover, a friend.
The hair so blonde I’ve lost to the sea,
But the brown one I plucked lives evermore with me.
God doest make us from the dust of the earth,
For the breath he breathes in us come not at birth,
But the life we live, the chances we take,
That is the paint with which God creates.
With a strand of your hair that I withdrew.
Your loveliness grew with each division,
Your image returned in the finest precision.
What wonder of science, what marvel indeed!
That the ones we’ve lost should return a seed!
Each imperfection, each blemish, each spot,
Every image of you again have I wrought!
As if that blackened water didst never steal,
Nor its choking waves against you feel,
But as Atlantis lost you’ve now arose
From a tiny ocean of four sacred codes.
The ascent, I reckon, has made you weak,
For your mouth is not so common in speech.
Very little you say, very little you do,
And what actions you take I never knew.
I wonder why, as each day does pass,
You are not so often to smile or laugh.
The town you loved to live and shop
Is now but for food and groceries to stock.
We’d often dance about this street,
Each person you loved to mingle and greet.
And though you know them, their names and address,
It is solitude and serenity you now love best.
Your garden your chapel, your diary your friend,
The cooking and art I never knew then.
You speak now through that which your hands create,
Your body you keep but your spirit forsake.
So I’ve learned to love you all over again,
As a poet, an artist, a lover, a friend.
The hair so blonde I’ve lost to the sea,
But the brown one I plucked lives evermore with me.
God doest make us from the dust of the earth,
For the breath he breathes in us come not at birth,
But the life we live, the chances we take,
That is the paint with which God creates.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Psalm to the Lord: With Instruments Give You We Our Praise
Let the boldened brass proclaim His name!
The strings and woodwinds join along!
For His power and majesty reign supreme.
All our efforts should amount to nil,
If they were to pay Him for all He's done.
No amount could we pay for all He's done.
So instead we sing, instead we play,
Our notes to heaven, for those divine ears.
Those ears which hear all earth below,
And for a thousand ages have heard our cries.
Raise your voice! Resound the notes!
Let the instruments of joy join along.
For our Lord is good, and it pleases Him to hear
The hymns of praise unto His name.
The strings and woodwinds join along!
For His power and majesty reign supreme.
All our efforts should amount to nil,
If they were to pay Him for all He's done.
No amount could we pay for all He's done.
So instead we sing, instead we play,
Our notes to heaven, for those divine ears.
Those ears which hear all earth below,
And for a thousand ages have heard our cries.
Raise your voice! Resound the notes!
Let the instruments of joy join along.
For our Lord is good, and it pleases Him to hear
The hymns of praise unto His name.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Love Is...
I was thinking what it really means to love someone. True love, all four encapsulated into one single aspect? The love of God, of a friend, of another human, and of the opposite sex. I've decided this:
Love isn't about what you seek. It's not something that you can measure by how much pleasure it's giving you. Love is about finding someone whom you pursue endlessly, so that you might pursue their desires. Not only their physical presence, but their mental and spiritual presence. They root themselves in your mind when they are a thousand miles away or just in the next room. Your entire existence is built for pleasing them because they have invaded every aspect of you, and you are left in complete surrender to them. This is why true love lasts. It is why God never stops pursuing you. It is why the man and wife spend sixty years in the same place together. It is why the missionary devotes all he has to sharing the gospel in the poorest of lands with the most desperate of people. True love gives.
Love isn't about what you seek. It's not something that you can measure by how much pleasure it's giving you. Love is about finding someone whom you pursue endlessly, so that you might pursue their desires. Not only their physical presence, but their mental and spiritual presence. They root themselves in your mind when they are a thousand miles away or just in the next room. Your entire existence is built for pleasing them because they have invaded every aspect of you, and you are left in complete surrender to them. This is why true love lasts. It is why God never stops pursuing you. It is why the man and wife spend sixty years in the same place together. It is why the missionary devotes all he has to sharing the gospel in the poorest of lands with the most desperate of people. True love gives.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Purity in God's Sails
Purity you seek in me, O God,
A heart unblemished and without spot,
Driven divinely into your will,
A journey into your own heart.
"It can't be done," the many say,
For their minds are set on the things below.
Their hearts are ships with broken sails,
Driven whereover the wind will lead.
But you've built my ship, O Lord,
And set my compass to yourself.
And wither the wind should wander me weary,
The breath of your voice will drive my sails straight.
Purity you seek in me, O God,
Steer this ship towards a greater shore.
Bring me toward the land you've set out,
And set my feet upon your golden sand.
A heart unblemished and without spot,
Driven divinely into your will,
A journey into your own heart.
"It can't be done," the many say,
For their minds are set on the things below.
Their hearts are ships with broken sails,
Driven whereover the wind will lead.
But you've built my ship, O Lord,
And set my compass to yourself.
And wither the wind should wander me weary,
The breath of your voice will drive my sails straight.
Purity you seek in me, O God,
Steer this ship towards a greater shore.
Bring me toward the land you've set out,
And set my feet upon your golden sand.
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