defeating the enemy

The title of this post has to do with what I have been reading in my Bible plan. I am in the midst of the book of Joshua. If you don't know, Joshua is all about the Israelites defeating their enemies that are inhabiting the promise land and finally moving into the land the Lord set aside for them. With the help of God Joshua and the Israelites just crushed their foes with no problem at all. They only ran into trouble when they leaned on themselves and not on God. I thought this concept was pretty cool and it has been weighing on my heart these past couple of days. I can not defeat my enemies by myself, I need to rely on the Lord and everything will work out. Now when I say enemies I do not mean other people. My enemies are school (specifically tests), stress, and myself. Yes I know these things seem small and trivial. However, when your job is to be a student, those things are enormous. But I am learning a little by little that I need to just take a deep breath and let life just go on. I know I will be OK. I have begun to realize that the Lord really does know where he needs me to be and I am trusting in him more and more every day. He is awesome!!!!! This weekend has been amazing and a big stress reliever. Spending good solid quality time with your friends is always a blessing. My girls are such a Godly influence in my life and I love sharing time with them. We made a little road trip Friday which was a blast, and then yesterday we were able to spend time together at dinner. Like I said, it was so much fun. I am now ready to tackle this upcoming week head on. It will be stressful but oh so worth it in the end. Please pray that I stay focused and God conscious this week. The more I stay focused, the more I can get accomplished!!! Also please pray for me as my journey to this summer creeps ever closer. I should be receiving my staff packet this week and I am over joyed!!!! I pray that everybody has an amazing week and that you get tons of stuff done. Remember that God is always on your side...and of course i hope that your journey is blessed!!!!

be strong and courageous...

I figured out how to post videos :) I thought I would share one with you since I now do not have to post a bunch of links. This video is a song by Casting Crowns entitled Glorious Day. I love Casting Crowns so much. I was blessed to be able to see them in concert this past year and I loved every single minute of it. This song really touches my heart, and I am sure it will touch yours. It is an old hymn revamped into something more modern. Its words are so simple yet so amazing and true. Please enjoy!!! On another subject, I am currently reading Joshua and boy is it cool so far. The Israelites are FINALLY crossing the Jordan and going into the Holy Land. Today while I was reading a phrase kept popping up in the passage and it really stuck out to me. God kept telling people to be strong and courageous because He would be with them wherever they went. It is so neat how God can just speak to your heart sometimes. This week and next week are super hectic for me, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is only school and the stress and worry will soon pass. Please pray for all of us college students as finals loom in the near future. I pray that everybody has a Glorious Day and that your journey is blessed :)

two more down and fourtune cookies :)

Yep that's right people, two more Bible books down. I finished Deuteronomy on Saturday and I finished the book of James today. I was becoming a little discouraged with Deuteronomy just because it was so long and tedious, however James was the perfect pick me up!!! We are studying this book in my college class this semester and so getting to read it on my own was so neat. God really tugged at my heart while reading James and pointed out all some stuff I need to be working on. Just by reading over James these past two days I have realized that I need to be more positive when talking about people, especially when I am frustrated, and I need to praise God in faith. Praising in faith means to give it all up to God and praise him for anything and everything no matter what. He is so good to me and I am not thanking him enough!!!! Tomorrow I am back in the Old Testament with the book of Joshua. It is not nearly as long or as complicated at Deuteronomy so I am happy with that.

Another note about Bible reading. I am no longer going to give day by day captions of what books and verses I have read. I found it kind of boring typing it all out so it sure must have been boring to read. However, I encourage you to check out the website where I got my Bible reading plan from. It is called Discipleship Journal and it is pretty awesome ( check it out at http://www.navpress.com/dj/). It has multiple types of reading plans, from the 365 day plan like mine, to book by book reading plans. You can find the perfect one that fits into your lifestyle.

One more really cool thing to share. At least I thought it was really cool. I went home over the weekend and my parents and I went out to eat Chinese food. After we were done we received our fortune cookies and we all picked the one we wanted to open. Mom and dad surprisingly got the exact same fortune. It was actually kind of funny. However, mine was ironically awesome. Check out the picture below. I really hope this fortune is right and it will one day come true. I am saving this and getting it laminated next time I go home. HOW COOL!!!!!

I hope that everybody's Monday is going swell and it is not too hectic like Mondays normally are. Just 4 more days until the weekend and relaxation. Speaking of numbers...only 60 days, that's 2 months, until PASSPORT. I am super stoked and have a countdown on my calendar. This summer is going to be so much fun and so exciting and I can not wait to see what the Lord has in store for me. Please pray that all will go well and that I can be a strong Christly example to all the kids and young adults that will be attending the camp. I pray that everybody stays safe and enjoys this wonderful warm and DRY weather we are having today. Stop and spend some time with God today, he is the one who will make your journey blessed :)

be still and know that I am God...

I recently got a little bored. I shouldn't have been bored because lord knows I have way too much school work to get done before this semester is over, but sometimes you just get tired of work. Well I went and facebook stalked myself. Yes I know I am weird, but still I had fun looking back at old pictures and memories. I came across this video while I was looking through stuff and when I watched it, it made me stop and be in awe of the awesome God we have. Sorry it is still in link form. I tried and tried to get it to be posted as a video but an error kept occuring. I am not the most talented when it comes to blogging, but hopefully it will get better!! It is from last year when we (the basketball team and I ) were coming back from Washington D.C. on Christmas Eve. We left at 5 in the morning so everybody could get to their homes at decent times in order to celebrate Christmas. I was so tired and cranky because we had to wake up at 3 in the morning and I knew a 3 hour drive was ahead of me when we got back to the city. However, when I looked out of my window in the airplane all of those feelings were just washed away. The Lord is so wonderful and uses the coolest things to show us that he is always with us and that we have nothing to worry about. So enjoy the video and be still and be in awe of the works of the Lord.... http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150104343913949

And of course I hope and pray that everybody's journey is blessed :)

looking back

Another school year is nearly over and wow has it gone by fast. I am finishing up final projects and papers, and starting to study for finals which are only 5 weeks away. The weird part is, I will be an upper class man in COLLEGE next year. It seems like not far back I was just becoming an upper class man in high school. Jeez I am growing up way to fast. However I would not trade one minute of it for anything and I have truly had an amazing life. I came upon this app on facebook recently called my year in photos 2010. I know its almost halfway through 2011 but I thought I would see what came out of it. I was surprised at the result and just had to share it with everybody. I love that this picture really does capture what the year 2010 was for me. It was filled with fun in the sun, football games, friends, and wonderful memories I will never ever forget. My personal favorite would have to be the one of my doing my homework in the laundry room of a hotel. That was during my basketball managing days when the uniforms had to get washed for the next day and my physics homework was due at the same time, but we only had one washer and one dryer. Needless to say we were all up pretty late that night. But it was tons of fun and that is a memory I will always cherish :)

I also wanted to catch everybody up on Bible reading. I am nearly done with Deuteronomy. I am learning a lot and I always look forward to my time with the Lord each day. On Friday I read Deuteronomy 14-16 and Psalm 44, Saturday I read Deuteronomy 17-19 and Psalm 45, and today I read Deuteronomy 20-22 and Psalm 46. James is my next book and I should be starting that next week. We are studying this book in my college class so I am looking forward to delving in a little deeper on my own time. It should be exciting.

Since today is Sunday I will wish everybody a day of relaxation and peace. I am sure taking advantage of all the rest I can get today before heading into another jam packed week. Please pray for me, as well as all the other college students as we roll on towards the end of this year. Believe me we will need all the help we can get. I pray that everybody stays safe this week and has a good Monday (well at least as good as Mondays can be) and that your journey is blessed :)

i am second...

I am involved in Campus Crusade for Christ at my college and I love it. Their weekly meetings are so encouraging and their speakers are so motivating and fun to listen to. Recently CCC shared with us a website. It is called I Am Second. You can check it out here: http://www.iamsecond.com/ . It is full of videos from well known people such as Sam Bradford, Tony Dungy, Jason Castro, and Mike Huckabee explaining how God has impacted their lives and how they are second and God is first. I encourage everybody to check out this website and watch some of the videos. One video that particularly touched me was Josh Hamilton's. He is a MLB player who really struggled with addiction for a while before turning to God. he is such a great example of how the Lord answers prayers. Check it out here : http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/ .


On another subject, I have been keeping up with my Bible reading. I am still in Deuteronomy and loving it. To catch everybody up... on Sunday I read Deuteronomy 1-4 and Psalm 40, I had Monday off, Tuesday I read Deuteronomy 5-7 and Psalm 41, Wed. was Deuteronomy 8-10 and Psalm 42, and today (Thursday) I read Deuteronomy 11-13 and Psalm 43.

Sorry that I had to put a bunch of links up. I am still new to the whole blogging process and I have yet to figure out how to post straight videos. But I will work on it and hopefully figure it out soon. until then you will just have to put up with my links :) I pray that this week has gone well for everybody and that you have enjoyed this wonderful weather. I also pray that your weekend is amazing and that rest and relaxation is in store. Stay safe and I hope that your journey is blessed!!!!

two more down, and a new pair of shoes :)

That's right!!!! Since Thursday I have finished Numbers and Galatians. Both were great and totally worth the time taken to read them. I have decided I like the new testament better though for some reason. I am not really sure why, I just do. To catch you up on my reading.... on Wed. I read Numbers 31-33 and Psalm 37:1-22, on Thurs. I finished up Numbers with chapters 34-36 and Psalm 37:23-40, Friday I started Galatians 1-3 and Psalm 38, and today I read Galatians 4-6 and Psalm 39. I really like Galatians. It is the book that contains my life verse which is, "I have been crucified by Christ. It is no longer I who loves, but Christ who lives in me." Such a powerful and wonderful verse and I LOVE it :)

I also wanted to announce that I bought myself a new pair of shoes recently. They are bright red TOMS (check out the picture below). The TOMS company is so great and you should really check out their website if you have not already. For every pair of shoes purchased, another pair of shoes is donated to a person living in a third world country. How amazing and fantastic is that!?!?!?! I have always wanted a pair of TOMS, but I have never really had the NEED for a pair. I am not the kind of person who buys what I want, instead I wait a little bit until I find the need for it. Well I bought a new dress for work this summer and I did not have ANY shoes that were dressy, but still casual at the same time and matched color wise. Ding ding ding, I finally had a reason to get my TOMS :) And they are totally worth the wait by the way. I love them and have been breaking them in. I can not wait to show them off this summer with my new dress and hopefully whoever gets the new pair of shoes from my purchase will be as excited as I am to wear them around!

I hope everybody is enjoying this beautiful weather this weekend. I know my body is loving all the vitamin D it had been receiving. Spring has sprung and that makes me just plain happy :) I pray that everybody has a very restful and peaceful Sunday and of course that your journey is blessed.