Give a little bit...

I heard a song on the radio today and something was revealed to me.





I cannot ask God to do anything in my life if I'm not going to give Him everything. I can't just sit here and say, "Change me, God," and just give Him some sin problem that I have. I need to give Him my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my delights, my tasks, my work, my ideas, and my thoughts. EVERYTHING that I think, say, or do needs to brought to Him. Giving Him just one or two things and then asking Him to change me is like saying, "Here are two nails and a two-by-four. I want you to build me a house." Of course it's possible for God to do it anyways, but then do I really have free will if he changes me without me being totally willing to give myself up?

What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you see this?

I was looking for a Hot Rod or Road & Track at the local drugstore, but all they had were those stupid tuner magazines that feature some babe (and maybe a car). This did not make me happy. Then I saw this, and it made me sick. If you want to know what a loser at life looks like, here ya go.

I started reading the first chapter of Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy, and a thought occurred to me. God gave us the gift of thought, so we should worship Him with it. Sure, we have to keep our thoughts from straying. But what good is there in following a rule because it says, "thou shalt not"? Why not keep our thoughts from evil things and worship God with them instead.

Also, what is the one thing that man possesses that another man cannot truly control or discern? His thoughts. Our brain is practically the most private place on earth with God being the only other one able to tell what's going on, so why don't we at least worship Him there? If you think about it, you can come up with some more sweet conclusions.

Have you forgotten?

Or do you still remember?

I do. Like it was yesterday...


I was ten.

My mom was ironing. I was doing math homework in my room. It was a Tuesday, so we were going to leave for 4-H soon...I was hoping that it would get in the way of my homework and delay it for a little while. My door was open, so I heard the phone ring. It was a homeschool mom. She told us to turn on the TV and I heard the exclamation from my mom...

That summer we had visited the memorial to the Oklahoma City Bombing. When I saw the two towers on the screen smoking, I thought it was an explosion (mostly accidental). Then I saw my mom sit down and cry. I read the words and the screen, and they said something about The World Trade Center. I confused this with the stock exchange, and images of being homeless ran through my mind.

Shortly after that, the towers fell.

Then we heard about the Pentagon.

My uncle was supposed to be in the Pentagon on that morning. By the grace of God, he was somewhere else. With my parents being in the reserves, we had people calling the house all day to ask if they were being deployed. My brother was out in the middle of the Med. when it happened. We didn't hear from him for weeks. My great uncle, a Lt. Col. and police chief (both Ret.), had a nephew who was killed on the north tower.


That day was a nightmare for a ten year-old.


If you know me well enough, you can probably guess my views towards Islam and terrorism. I do not need to express them and might not even do it when asked. You can probably guess for yourself.

I just have one request: Don't ever forget.

Current events...

1) We finished the T-Bird today. I am still elated. We should be able to get a tag for it this coming week and by then I will have my license.



2) While working on the car, the stool that you see in the picture had a wheel break off of it. There was already one missing, so it made things interesting. It all started when I went to get the camera on the other side of the car.



*Sound of dad wrenching away at lower control arm ball joint*


KRUNCH


"Uhhhhh...(!)...what was that?"

"I broke another wheel!"

"Wh-whaaat?" (My wheels were sitting on the ground next to dad)

"On the stool."

"Ohhhh..."

"Check it out, the ball-bearings all came out."


For some reason the sight was hilarious.



"At least it wasn't on the other corner, then they would be off-set."

Mimics redneck: "Yeah, I wanted to do that! Now it won't move on me!"


Leave it to us to laugh at something like that.


3) For those of you who don't know, I am taking three classes at a local private school. This way I can also play on the soccer team. We always sit together during break, and game day is certainly no exception. Well, as it turns out, one of the guys wants to sit next to his girlfriend at another table. (I think it's the other way around.) Anyways, the first time he did it, one of the guys tried to get him back over with us, but it didn't work. We let it slip. The next day, which was game day, TWO of them decided to sit at the other table. Three of us would have none of that and we made sure that they sat with us for the rest of break. : )


4) My geekyness can sometimes come out of nowhere, and when it does powerful waves shoot out of my head and stun any poor people who happen to be in the immediate vicinity. For instance, the other night I was doing dishes...


Me: Isn't that cool?

Mom: What?

Me: Isn't it cool how the acceleration pulls the water towards the outside of the pot, leaving the middle devoid of any water?
*Stirs pot full of soapy water vigorously with wooden spoon*
Me: And another thing...Isn't it cool how it just keeps on moving after I stop stirring? I mean, how cool is that?
Mom: I have something cool for you.
Me: What?
*Hands me pile of laundry*

Life must go on...




4) I received a letter in the mail yesterday telling me that I had achieved candidate status for the Academy. This was totally unprecedented.


5) I was born again a few weeks ago. We were caving in West Virginia and were making our way back to the entrance (which was a steel culvert pipe twenty-seven feet long, complete with loose rebar for handles). Our guides asked if anyone wanted to get dirty. I naturally volunteered.

"What's it like?"
"Like going through the womb."

It was. You couldn't turn around, flip over onto your back, or even lift your head. It was awesome.