"Take Hold, Take Heart, Take Hope"

...read something you wrote in the past and.. received encouragement? me too. I jumped on here to post something kind of upsetting, just not an exciting post. Instead, I read my last post. God's just too good. This life is tough, but shouldn't it be that way? Would we really value what we value if there was nothing to give it the value it has? THAT made sense.. psych. Today in the caf, I saw the advertisement for whatever their little "Spice" thing is? Who knows.. what I DO know is that I had a small realization. Small. This shouldn't be news to you, but something to... think about. What do you think about when you think of the word spice? or spicy? I think of something flavorful. or spirited. or hot. I think of fire.. or jalapenos. Something not cold. well.. sp-ice. you CAN'T spell spice without ice. You don't know fire if you don't know ice. You can't value heat if you don't know cold. What is light without darkness? This is directly reflected to EVERYTHING. Think of Christ. How can we celebrate and find joy in His life, freedom, love, kindness, and favor if we don't know death, bondage, hate, bitterness, and lack. We can't know "mountain tops" without "valleys". In marriage. Passion, liveliness, and fun would have no value without the rough times. right? oh, wait.. none of us are married. cool. But, honestly, i think we can have a little foreknowledge here and see this is the truth. A perfect marriage isn't a marriage that has no problems. A "perfect" marriage is one that gets through problems without losing step. Without slowing down. Jamie Lash said fail forward, right? (don't hate) Well, learn from your mistakes. ps... i SUCK. just a thought. Without struggles and hardships, my wife and I won't be taken to a new level and depth in our relationship. God has to prune us and refine us through fire, so why wouldn't the same happen in marriage? We ARE married to Christ, after all.. duh. satan's a punk. he's a liar. he's a pretender. he's a hater. he's a loser. he's scared of his future so he does everything he can to ruin God's plan. but he can't. it's great, right? just think... the Bible is CONSTANTLY talking about how Christ is Truth and the Spirit leads to all truth and God is loving.. on the flip side.. satan can't possess any trait that a holy God does. He's the father of ALL lies.. there is NO truth in him. he CAN'T love. ever. SO.. he HATES us. hates. despises. abhors. We are the Father's workmanship and creation. He is PLEASED by us. so why would satan just let us be? let it beeee, let it BE! ahem.. sorry.. satan wants us to suffer the same eternal punishment he will. Why would we ever want to participate in that? honestly. does that sound pleasant? um.. no. So lets smile through the ice and be patient for God's passion to be brought back to us but at a whole new level. James said, "count it all joy when you face trials of various kinds," because God is constantly at work in us to shape us exactly how He wants us. Something else to think about. Think of how powerful God's Name is. The OT Jews never even said His name really.. why? well.. research it because there's a lot there BUT we aren't worthy. Imagine this.. when you say JESUS, satan and all his little punk friends MUST FLEE and the gates of hell TREMBLE. Moreover, God said that He places His Word above His own Name. WHAT?! soo.. we're looking at that power being MAGNIFIED in His Book. Why don't we pick it up more? read it more? apply it more? then maybe we would magnify His Name more. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work". Well.. let's eat, huh? this has gone on for too long but God is super mysterious and super great. Psalm 34. toods.

"We're perfect because we're best friends."

...had a REALLY good day. Before you say yes, it was valentines day. BEFORE you say yes, you MUST be single and.. sitting around doing absolutely nothing. Well, what'll it be? mine is YES. i can't imagine a day being any better than today. ever. well.. there are a few things but... yeah, whatever. I watched such happy people, sad and bitter people, and then STRAIGHT. UP. AWKWARD folks do their things today. it was great. FUNFACT: i've started to play the piano. by that i mean i've played a week. by that i mean i may never know how to play but i watched a video and i can kinda play some of boyce avenue's cover of teenage dream. and sing it. that's another thing i haven't talked about. sooo.. God said.. hey, man, do me a favor. sing. so.. what do i do? i sing. well. why? not because i can sing, but LITERALLY because He spoke it through someone for me to sing within the first three weeks of being at college. my voice has progressively gotten better and i'm so thankful because music is SUCH a passion of mine and being able to.. i dunno.. be apart of that? is just really cool. ps.. life looks good. um.. flowers are awesome and so are notes and letters and stuff. i think today is my favorite college holiday. i can't wait to watch folks again next year, and if i'm participating in the festivities then, something tells me, i'll be doing much of the same.. but with a little charm added in. who knows. He does. He's good, eh? want to have your mind blown? meet Jesus Christ. then serve Him. daily. His plans really are better than anything imaginable. He's ON. POINT. for reals. this was never intended to be a long post. this isn't my favorite favorite.. but it might be one of my favorites. I had the best weekend of my life followed by one of the best days. and tomorrow has all the potential in the world to keep the streak alive... if i can overlook the outcome of my history test. well.. i'll survive. i just want to vent on here.. about SO MUCH. in due time, i guess. If you're still reading or if i'm even preaching to myself, take this small bit of advice. Be. Patient. God operates on a sundial while we operate on a stopwatch. He isn't slow, He's smart. He won't give us something until He knows we can handle it. ps... He knows when we'll be able to handle it before we get there.. He's something else, eh? He's actually SO broad that He created over 10,000 different types of grass, but so narrow that He created Winter Rye that grows GREEN during the winter season. DBU has green grass, supposedly, all year round because of it. either way, that's crunk. Isaiah 55:11. His word doesn't go out and come back empty. It ACCOMPLISHES it's purpose in the perfect timing. He's constantly shaping us like.. i think it's ephesians 2:10 or five 10 says? something like that.. we're Homeboy's workmanship? or craftmanship? either way, He's always disciplining us for our GOOD, that we may share HIS HOLINESS like hebrews 12 says. ps i did a word study on sanctification. TOO CRUNK. He's too big. Yahweh, His real name.. or whatev, means the God that is. He's worthy of praise because He is. boom. "All of my life, in every season, you are still God; I have a reason to sing; I have a reason to worship." Can we please be patient and wait on His timing, guys? He just wants us to focus on today. not tomorrow. not next week, month, or year.. but today. right now.. right now is all you have.. what are you doing with it for Him? LET"S GOOOOOOOOO. as ready as i am for all the plans He's revealed to me to come to fruition, i know that they will be that much sweeter because of the wait. AND He's not done with me, and PRAISE THE LORD for that. i'm NOTHING.. i'll always be nothing.. but i'll be happy to see what happens when He's ready for me to just.. explode or something.. okay.. this is getting weird and has been WAAAAAY too sloppy aka personal and not professional. oh, well. i love you all more than you could know, even if it's just one or two. He loves you greater still. if that didn't make sense then.. He loves you. yup. Have you ever had a fan base grow? that sounded "conceded" (you know who you are and you better have laughed at this). conceited*. well.. it's beautiful to watch, and that's beautiful to me. oh, the favorite favorite. well.. i guess i'll look over these note cards once more.. goodnight, world. God is love, and love is real. Tell someone about Jesus today. He's too cool not to share. that's all.