"Against the grain should be a way of life.." -is today your last day?

(First published Tuesday May 19, 2009)

I was just convicted tonight to share something with you guys that God impressed upon me when I was reading in Daniel. I promise I'll try to keep it short and thanks for reading... I just feel it's really important.

"...the hands of time are never on your side"

First, the lyrics that are in the title are from Nickelback's song called "If today was your last day" And...honestly I am not a huge nickelback fan but this is the most thought provoking song I've heard in a really long time... I'll post the lyrics below and then get to my main point...so you can either read them or just skip down.
________________________________________________

"My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?

What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?
And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
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I was just very convicted about how much of our lives we spend wasting or not investing in others. I don't know if it's just me but I don't go about my life as if I might die tomorrow. And I just wonder how do we expect to impact people with our lives and give them a reason to say "Now _____ was really a person that cared about people... and I felt drawn closer to God by being around him/her." I guess I especially think of those of us who are not in school right now and have free time...what are we going to do with it? I am challenging myself as well as anyone who reads this to make use of this time so when you get to the end of the summer you'll be able to see lives changed because of the love you showed, the kind word you spoke, or the unseen help you gave to someone hurting.



God further impressed this upon me in my reading in Daniel tonight. I have always admired Daniel because of two main things. First, he survived 4 DIFFERENT KINGS. In that time that was unheard of but it was because Daniel chose to follow God and live every day of his life with excellence. All his conduct was above reproach. Are our lives like that? Because I can tell you mine has far to go before I will get there. The last thing that I will say about this is how incredible it is that when Daniel's enemies wanted to accuse him....they couldn't find anything. At all. They had to make up something because after watching the way he lived... there wasn't anything they could do.



Am I living that way? Are you? It's something to think about and I thought it really was amazing how God used that song and then His word to fit together... thanks for reading...

"Three things which are too wonderful for me...yes four..." -Thoughts on Proverbs 30

(First published March 30, 2009)

So I love reading through proverbs and it's nice because it has 31 chapters so it works out well to read in a month. And I think Proverbs 30 is one of my favorite chapters. It has a lot of symbolism and poetry in it which really makes it memorable. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter but I am going to just put a few verses that stood out to me below.


There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four never say, “Enough!”:
16 The grave,[a]

The barren womb,

The earth that is not satisfied with water—

And the fire never says, “Enough!”

17 The eye that mocks his father,
And scorns obedience to his mother,

The ravens of the valley will pick it out,

And the young eagles will eat it.
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a woman.

First, I know these verses are true. And you do too. If anyone has ever just watched people interact with each other (which I love doing), or watched the wind blowing the water, or any other of a 1,000 things in life that are incredible, you know there are things that don't make sense. But why is this?

These verses I've always liked, yet really didn't understand until looking at them today. I loved the poetry in them. Not that I understand them completely, but it makes more sense now. I didn't understand if the writer meant he didn't understand 3 things, or 4, or if he just couldn’t make up his mind! It bothered me. However after studying some commentaries on Proverbs I found that a way of writing, and of saying a list was incomplete back when Proverbs was written was to say: "3 things.... yes, 4..... " . This type of writing was used to show that there were things that are hard, or impossible to understand and that there are more of these things being found all the time. Therefore where should this point us? Well, if you look at the first few verses in this chapter, I believe you can find at least a partial answer. The first few verses say :

4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?
5 Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

"Who has bound the waters in a garment?"

Again, this is great poetic writing but more importantly I think it helps to answer the other questions in this chapter. There are things about God that we don't understand because of our own imperfect minds. It's just the way it is. I think that there are things in this world we don't understand and it should cause us to search for answers.... but ultimately realize that God has made some things in nature to point us to Him and how great he is. "Who has gathered the winds in His fists...." These types of phrases show us how great the God we serve is and is why I think verse 5 is so comforting. "Every word of God is pure, He is a shield to those who trust in Him." The thought that the God of the world, who holds the winds in His hands, cares about us and is willing to be our shield if we'll let Him is really humbling. So I guess that is my challenge and the thing that challenged me this morning. Will you be willing to trust Him when you encounter those things in life you don't understand?

Thoughts on Valentines Day

(Published originally on Feb11, 2010)

Hey Everyone,


So over the last few days I've been hearing lots about the big day that is coming up this weekend...meaning of course Valentines Day. From people at CSU, to Facebook, to hearing friends talk about it....it seems that everyone has it on their minds. Now... this might be just me, but I have seen a lot of negative comments about the day from people that are single. And in the past, I would have definitely fallen into this category of people who don't really like the holiday because essentially it proves to everyone that you are indeed still single. And, like many, I have complained in the past about it. However, this year I was praying about it and I really felt the need to say some things to those of us that are single this Valentines Day. So here it goes...

First- I know it is hard but BE HAPPY for those that have someone special (in this case I am thinking bf, gf, husband, wife). And one way to do this is see if you can do anything to make the holiday special for them. For example, maybe swap days at work with that guy who wants to take his girl out and drew the short straw for Sunday evening's shift... trust me....he'll think the world of you if you will do that for him. Or, (this one is one that I need to do) offer to watch your siblings so that your parents can go out and have a nice evening if they'd like to spend some time together. In my case, I was struck with how amazingly blessed I am to have parents that love each other and have given me a great example to follow. So I should be excited to be able to give back to them a little. Another option that I have seen some people do (which is something I hadn't thought of until recently) is....take out a sibling or a friend that is going through a rough time and might really enjoy someone caring enough about them to spend that time with them. I know that it meant the world to me when the people I respected in my life took the time to notice me when I was younger.

Second- Be thankful for the time God has given you right now...even if you are single. Tonight I was listening to a Steven Curtis Chapman song "Miracle of the Moment" and there is a part in there that goes:



"...It’s time for letting go
All of our "if only’s"
Because we don’t have a time machine.
And even if we did
Would we really want to use it?
Would we really want to go change everything?
Because we are who... and where... and what we are for now
And this is the only moment we can do anything about
So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment..."

I am sure many of you know, but shortly after he wrote this song, Chapman's little girl was killed in a tragic accident. I am probably a little off on this but I think she was only 6 or 7 years old. He didn't have too many more moments with her. And....it just struck me... how many moments do we waste wishing for something or someone else and miss the time God has given us with those we have RIGHT NOW? And since we really never know how long we're going to have with anyone, I just thougt that this Valentines Day maybe we should try to look outside ourselves a little and see all the blessings God has given us right now. I know it is still a hard day.... but God has really taught me (and I am still trying to learn) that if we look outside instead of focusing on our own needs, He will take a lot of that pain away. :)

There is more I could say... but I really do want to try to keep this short. I know I am probably forgetting some important things or ideas that would be a help but, as one of my friends says, please credit it to my head and not my heart. Thank for reading…

"Even the very wise cannot see all ends..."

So this will be my first post on an official blog… and already I find myself at a loss for words. Hmm… hopefully this feeling passes or this blog might be as short lived as my aspirations to be a pro football player. It’s not that I am not really new to writing, I love it in fact. But, I am very new to sharing anything I have written with others. I am a careful person by nature and though I have become far more outgoing and now love trying new things in many areas (traveling, sports, challenges, etc.) I have become more and more guarded with my words and especially what I write for others to see. I am reminded of the verse in Proverbs: “…life and death are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits”. I think these words were never more felt then today in our age of technology where communication through texting, facebook, twitter, and blogs happens on an hourly basis. Words have become very easy to write and, I fear, have lost much of their importance. Because of this, I had always heavily questioned if what I wanted to post was even worth the time it takes to read it. However, I have decided that even if things that I write and think about are not 100% correct in every way, maybe they can be an encouragement to someone at some point in their journey or maybe be part of my growing process similar to the one that God takes us each on as we seek to pursue Him. I am reminded of Gandalf’s quote in Lord of the Rings: “Even the very wise cannot see all ends…” and my hope is that God will use things we say in ways that aren’t even known to us at this point in our lives. If I were to go back in ten years and look at these posts I am sure I would cringe at some of the things I have written and certainly write them differently but in all that is said or discussed my earnest prayer is that God would use something to bless the life of someone else. So thank you for reading this far and I look forward to talking about the great adventure that is life in future days. Now some things to know about my writing style:

1. I occasionally try to be funny… however, this doesn’t mean it IS funny. You have every right to groan as my family does with many of my attempted jokes.

2. I love quotes, lyrics, verses, and things said by far smarter people than me so these things will appear many times as titles or cleverly inserted at other points.

3. I am usually fairly blunt and honest with what I think.

I think that is all that comes to mind for now. Oh, my first few entries will be things that I have written in years past that I don’t shudder too much when I read. So that is how things will start, enjoy the journey everyone.