rest and reminders

Rest: Wednesday nights are always a much-needed pause in the heat of the oh-so-hectic life I stumble through (I've only been to the gym once in the last 7 days). And last night's could not have come soon enough. It's hard (maybe I'm just not disciplined enough) to just sit in stillness and listen to what HE is trying to get through. It's ironic that the busier we are, the more we need direction and focus, yet the busier we are, the more difficult it is to listen to the ONE that gives direction and focus.

Reminders: I've been reading Nehemiah lately, and something in chapter 8 struck a chord. As the people were rediscovering the law, they read that they were to live in booths made of branches during the feast of the seventh month. This was a time of celebration, but they were to go out from their new homes in the restored city of Jerusalem to live in shacks. And they did it without reservation or complaint. Why?
Because it was a reminder of where they had come from and where God delivered them from. The exiles had returned from out of the desert and had been richly rewarded for their obedience.
As Tim pointed out last night, we should each keep a record of answered prayers and the points in life when HIS presence was revealed. In good times and bad, we can look back and be reminded of what HE has done and what HE has delivered us from.

Amazing story worth reading...

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from
Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

Lessons in Wasting Time

I say all this with a light heart because while frustrating, when you are with a friend, even wasted time is a good time.

Goal for the day: remove old windows, frame and install replacement windows.
Time frame: 5 hours.

First task: Go to Lowe's to acquire lumber (must rent truck because 10' boards to not fit into the 3' deep trunk of a Toyota.
Note: Forgetting your wallet in the apartment requires an additional round trip, adding 35 minutes to your "short" trip to get materials.
Sub-note: Upon second attempt, forgetting your insurance card in the apartment will result in the inability to rent truck. If you do not bring a responsible associate with you that just so happens to have an extra insurance card in their wallet, you are in trouble.

Second task: Drive to house to get additional supplies for the apartment. Done.

Third task: Deliver lumber and supplies to apartment. Done. BUT, then after unloading, realize that lumber has to be cut to size and milled on equipment at house. Reload lumber and drive back to house and unload again.

Fourth task: Return truck. By some miracle of the god of fossil fuels, the truck had more gas in it when we returned it then when we got it (at least according to their paperwork).

Fifth task: Drive back to house and mill and cut lumber for installation.

Time's up. Goal achieved? Not even close.
But at least we laughed...through the tears.

Magazine Debut

The boar hunt pictures are in the lastest issue of "Adventure Sports Outdoors Magazine" on page 58. Pick it up at your nearest sporting goods store in the central Illinois region. Here's a link to the pdf. of the page:
http://www.asomagazine.com/magazinepdf/0907/058.pdf

done. almost.

1 Saturday, 12 temporary food inspections. two were busted for not submitting applications. shame, shame.

i'm too tired to be witty.

only one tomorrow. then sleep.

where have i been?

Wow. Where the heck does time go? On one hand, I'm glad things at work have FINALLY picked up. I've been busy almost the entire day-every day-for the past two weeks. I don't know what has sparked the change, but I welcome it. Too much cube time makes Justin go crazy! On the other hand, I have weekend duty this weekend. Thankfully, it's my last assignment for the year. I have EIGHT inspections on saturday so far, and they keep coming in. sheesh.

What else is new?...life groups are starting in Reality, which is exciting. I'm hoping for another year of growth and craziness with the high school guys. They rock.

I have once again attacked my thesis with a vengeance. Now that lab work has finally been completed, I'm working on data processing. If anyone has access to the stats programs, "Prism" or "SigmaPlot" I'd love it if I could borrow it.

Tommorrow night is the "Redneck Drive-in" at the Dean's. Meet at Northwoods at 7:30pm to caravan (with or without mules) to our makeshift movie extraveganza!

um...that's all. Leaving early again today to hit the gym...the joys of comp time.

this came in the mail yesterday:

Girlfriend Day

Happy BIRTHDAY to Gina!!!

This lovely young (yep) girl is celebrating the day of her birth today! Email, call, or send a singing telegram to her.

I love you!

work week recovery

I had an exhilarating, but exhausting weekend that I will be recovering from over the next few days. Where to begin...

Friday night I went to the gym (as usual), then went over to Molly and Ryan's new house to help with some renovation. I enjoy destroying things with blunt objects, so I spend the night demo'ing a ceramic tile entry way. Whoever installed the thing should work for the department of defense. The concrete board under the tile was glued, screwed, and nailed to the plywood. I left bloodied and battered, but not defeated.

Saturday I got up at 6 and headed to Pekin to run my first 5K. I've never run over 2 miles in my life, but wanted to see if I was capable of 3.1. It was brutal (especially the last hill) but I managed to finish in 22:19, which put me 25th out of 101 runners (including little girls). It was fun once the feeling of imminent hurling subsided after the race. I may just do another one sometime in the distant future.

After the race, I went back to the Hite's to work on the house again. With a HUGE team effort, the laminate floor was laid in the living room and nearly all the tile was put down in the kitchen by the end of the day. The ladies had almost all of the painting finished as well. What an awesome thing for friends to come together in community to help each other out. Charlie reiterated this in his message at Nexus saturday night. beautiful.

Sunday we celebrated Leslie's commitment to a new life, free from shadows of the past. You can read more on Charlie's blog (http://charliedean.wordpress.com/). It was a great reminder for me of why I made the same decision to follow Christ and leave the worldly life behind. Leslie, you are awesome! It takes a bold and courageous heart to step out and declare what you have.

Reality last night was uplifting as well. The room was packed with new students and new leaders. Eric called someone up on stage from each school represented. People from 14 different schools had come together (some drive nearly an hour each week together) to hear a crucial and dangerous message. THAT is awesome!

So despite the aches of the strains I put on this body this weekend, I am rejuvenated in what God is doing in Peoria and in the lives of my friends. I wish I had weekends like this all the time (minus the running)!

looking back

looking back over the past 5 months or so, life has changed.

it doesn't matter what hurdle i'm facing or how stressed i am because i now have someone who is here. someone who cares and really, honestly wants to know how my day was or what i'm thinking about.

when i think about Gina, i can't help but smile. her charm is infectious, her laughter contagious. she is everything i wanted and more than i knew i needed. i don't know how i will ever thank her or be as much for her as she is for me.

with others from the past there was always a glaring issue of self-confidence or weird family issues or baggage they wouldn't let me help carry. or all of the above. i am so thankful that Gina is the complete opposite.

i have also stepped away from the young adult "house group," which was fun, but lost a lot of its intimacy when it exanded from a small group of friends with bible study, discussion, and prayer into a social gathering for whoever wanted to attend each week. i now have two brothers, chris and joe, i meet with each week. i wouldn't trade that time for anything. the connection between two men who are strong enough to share their weaknesses, shortcomings, and desires with each other is a powerful thing. and the fact that both of them are insanely hilarious helps too. it has challenged me and grown me spiritually.

it's only been 5 months. i can't imagine where life will go from here. i am listening intently for what is in store. i only want to trust and obey, and live faithfully.

Josiah

In 2 Kings 22, Josiah, the king of Judah decides to repair the temple of the LORD after 100's of years of idol worship and kings that refused to submit to God. As construction is underway, a high priest finds the book of the law in the temple. He gives it to Josiah's secretary, who reads it to him. And he freaks out when he hears what God has commanded his people to do and realizes how far they have strayed. He says, "Great is the LORD's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us." He instantly sends for a prophet to inquire what God has in store for he and his people. While God condemns the nation to destruction, he allows it to stand while under Josiah's reign.

Josiah was ignorant of the law God sent down because his fathers had turned away from it and buried it within the temple they neglected. But when the truth was revealed, Josiah drops everything to make things right. What if the leaders of the nations of the world would listen to the laws we are all commanded to follow. Not the laws of men, but the laws of the creator of men. Will the world continue to worship itself and place idols in the high places, resulting in it's own destruction? We must all be more like Josiah and spread the word to those who have not yet heard it!

Labor Day in Review.

Wow, what a weekend. I need one of those more often (like today).
Saturday my lovely girl, Gina, slaved away cleaning the house while Shawn and I picked up the new 61" Samsung at Best Buy (I'm still sorry it took so long Gina). I still had time to mow and trim the lawn and finish cleaning though. Thanks to everyone who came to the cookout-it was fantastical.

Sunday afternoon was spent playing pool volleyball at the Dean's. More delicious eats! I think I ate my body weight in carbs this weekend. mmmm... Then we watched "Blades of Glory" with Gina's bro, Wes.

Yesterday we lounged. I washed the cars and we went for an evening jog (or maybe it's pronounced "yagging," it might be a soft "j"). In other news, I locked myself out of the house for the 2nd time in a week. Good thing I have the skills of a burglar. forget i said that...