Taking the road less traveled

The pic is of a road I take every day on my way to school, and as I was driving it today, it got me thinking so I stopped for a little while. Just like the road bends and you can't see the rest of the path b/c the trees hinder your view, so is our life as God leads us. Though we can't see exactly where He's leading, we continue to trust and follow. Not only is our dependance growing, but also as we turn the bend, we can see His will opening up, and it is good and pleasing and all-glorifying to Him. So as this less traveled road is traversed, we...I can't forget that its all for Him and it might not make sense now to follow, I've got to continue.

"Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!"
Psalm 119:35-40 (ESV)

Reflections on the journey to 23

I know I'm a day late, but I thought it would be better to give a day for the realities of getting older to sink in. As I consider another year past, I can't help but think about what God has accomplished through me this year...I pray that I have in the past year loved more, encouraged more, prayed more, genuinely worshipped more, given more of myself, shared Jesus more, spent more true quality time with family and friends, laughed more, reflected more, studied more, meditated on God's word more, listened more, and truly savored the sovereignty of God in every situation. I've been reading about Augustine recently...not only for class, but also in my free time, and even though he had his flaws (who doesn't), he came away with a glimpse of God that I can't help but sit in awe of.

Augustine speaks first of the way he loves his God:

"But what do I love when I love my God?...Not the sweet melody of harmony and song; not the fragrance of flowers, perfumes, and spices; not manna or honey; not limbs such as the body delights to embrace. It is not these that I love when I love my God. And yet, when I love him, it is true that I love a light of a certain kind, a voice, a perfume, a food, an embrace; but they are of the kind that I love in my inner self, when my soul is bathed in light that is not bound by space; when it listens to sound that never dies away; when it breathes fragrance that is not borne away on the wind; when it tastes food that is never consumed by the eating; when it clings to an embrace from which it is not severed by fulfillment of desire. This is what I love when I love my God."

Next, and I know I'm going long, but its so worth it...he continues with a reflection on God:

"You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need...You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and yet serene. Your works are varied, but your purpose is one and the same...You welcome those who come to you, though you never lost them. You are never in need yet are glad to gain, never covetous yet you exact a return for your gifts....You release us from our debts, but you l.ose nothing thereby. You are my God, my Life, my holy Delight, but is this enough to say to you>? Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe betide those who are silent about you!"

Who can be silent about God and the all-satisfying pleasures at His right hand? My prayer in this next year and following as I consider God's direction for me (whatever that entails) may be to never be silent about Him, to not quench the Spirit's beckoning, to continually be drawing from the effervescent source of eternal joy, to vomit up grace as it pours out of my heart, mouth, and life, to lay prostrate in awe of his magnificence and beat my chest in repentance for how utterly inadequate and despicable I am, to relish every moment as heaven-breathed and as a token of his grace to exude gratefulness and service to Him.

To all who may be reading, I ask you to be my accountability...I need it more than you know. I need your prayers as I lift you up in mine. If I am to be a vessel worthy of Him, then I must be usable and pliable....willing to learn from mistakes as I allow him to pick me back up and brush me off. May my life be an avenue of God's glory to be reciprocated from this tarnished vessel back to Him so He is seen above all else and His fame and reknown is spread to those He sovereignly chooses to place in my path.

And soon it begins....the 2006-07 season

This pic I took the other day reminded me of how busy my life is about to get in a couple weeks. Basketball season is starting up at the end of October until the end of March...crazy, but I love it. I hope to be updating as the season & school year continues. We've got a good core group of guys from last year, and we even added a little depth as well with a couple new students. I'm excited truly to see what God is going to do through them not only athletically, but in refining their character as men. They have great potential and an earnest desire to play which is good, but they lack that killer instinct at times in finishing strong. Coach is instituting a sheet for parents & athletes to sign that would keep them accountable for things such as showing respect to coaches and officials, showing up on time, dressing well, not commenting on lack of playing time, etc. An awesome idea, and one I wish we would have had last year because it would have curbed some headaches. So, as we look at this new basketball season 2006-2007, as I draw up plans for our full-court & 3/4 court presses...I remember those nice long afternoons at home like today which I will not see for about 5 months and gladly part with them.

Investment Activity

This afternoon we had our annual investment activity for the youth group at Calvary. Basically, the activity runs this way...teens come w/two dollars a piece and a good idea. They form groups usually broken up guy/girl w/4-6 in each group. They meet at church then break up w/sponsors to go to their houses for lunch and a brainstorming session. Then, the groups go out for a few hours putting their ideas and two dollars together to make a reasonable profit. The resulting money is then pooled together at the end by all the groups & given to a missionary (which is usually determined by who is coming to missions conference a couple weeks afterward).

Well, Dave Gee and I were given a group of 5 guys (7th-9th grade) to work with. We split up into two groups & went our separate ways with these basic prodigious ideas: cleaning inside (possibly outside) of cars & if that fails, buy candy at a low price then resell for 2-3x its value. I took Adam, Zach, & Dustin and did just that. We were successful in washing only 3 total cars & cleaning inside one. After many rejections on the car idea, we decided to move to candy which worked well for us as well. As you can see in the pics, they took great pride in their work...often getting themselves more wet than the cars but they enjoyed it. We had an awesome time & ended up raising $75 from our group of 3 guys alone (a 700% profit...pretty awesome). The teens collectively were able to raise over $1,100 for missionary Jim Hayes in Thailand...so, all in all a great activity w/an awesome Biblical principle to back it up which is seen in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, so let verse 29 sum it up for ya'.

29 "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away."

Homecoming!

This week was homecoming...from Monday's "Seeing Double Day" to Thursday's "Class Theme (Pirates for Sophomores)" it was a blast. Which I will add, my homeroom, THE SOPHOMORES, almost won the spirit award this year...From 1st in Class Banner (shown in the pic) to Most Proficient (in my opinion) in Class Cheer, these guys (& girls) really banded together and tore it up this week. And on Friday, our soccer/vball teams tore it up by sweeping High Point.

Second time around..

Well, this is my second official blog....but the first to actually be of any consequence. I started one when I did my student teaching a year and a half ago, but haven't touched it since...so, its time to start afresh. Hopefully this will give an update to those desiring to know what I'm up to...if you're finding this for the first time, I'll fill you in. I am a second year JH/HS teacher at Calvary Baptist School in Lansdale, PA (Southeastern PA). Well, time is precious & I'm busy soon...so I'll go ahead and spend time later working on this blog of mine! To all those reading & enjoying, may you not only receive some joy from the ramblings & reminiscings but by viewing this blog gravitate toward truth and further a relationship with the only source of truth...the infallible scriptures breath by an immutable Creator.