Friday, Melissa and I decided on the spur of the moment to meet my family for the fourth. We just spent some time hanging out and relaxing. We were at the park and decided to go for a walk. Melissa noticed these signs directing visitors where to go. Now, I believe in directing people where to go so that they won’t be lost, but this is kind of ridiculous…don’t you think?
click on photos to enlarge
I just wanted to write a blog post and let everyone know how special my fiancee and future bride is to me. Some people might call this sucking up, but I call it some well deserved appreciation (that sounded like sucking up too didn’t it?).
Melissa is the most amazing person that I have ever known and she gets nothing but better the more time I spend with her. I always said that one of the ways that I would know when I found the right woman is that I would never get tired of her (it’s been that way in the past) and I don’t. We can do absolutely nothing at all and have a great time doing it.
I’ve been so proud of her as I’ve watched her blossom into the person that God wants her to be. She’s really worked hard on refining the qualities she knows she’ll have to have to be the wife of a minister. She is never satisfied with good enough and keeps trying to get better.
She is an amazing spiritual example to everyone she comes in contact with. She is the always the one to keep me in check and hold me accountable. She continues to grow in her relationship with Christ and inspire others to do the same along the way.
God’s given me a great vision for our ministry, and there is no one that I would rather share it with!
I came across this earlier today. I’ve always wondered when the church became the place to celebrate holidays that have nothing to do with Christ. Now grant it, most of us love our fathers, but is “Faith Of Our Fathers” every year really necessary? Do we really have to sing “My Country Tis Of Thee” every July? See what you think:
I am a very patriotic guy. I am almost to my goal of reading a biography on every American president. I tear up when they play the national anthem at a sporting event. I weep when an Olympian pulls of some dramatic feat for Ol’ Glory. I have been to other countries without freedom and greatly appreciate our freedom to worship and live. However, every year I receive complaints that we didn’t sing any “America songs” in our worship service around July 4th. I’ll take the complaints yet still won’t slot them, why?
So slot them if you must, but I won’t be even though I will be crying one short month from now every time an American wins in Beijing. I guess this is one area my perspective is less reformed and more Baptist. I believe in the separation of Church and State, even in terms of bars and measures.
Keep in mind, I didn’t write this, you can read the original post here.
Upcoming things that I’m really excited about:
July 6th: I get another opportunity to preach at Mt. Carmel. I finished the sermon up yesterday, so I’ll let you know what I talked about next week.
July 13th-18th: Melissa’s week of vacation. We’ll spend a little of the week in Charleston and the rest in my home town in the upstate. She definitely deserves a break!
July 18th: Melissa and I are going to a Braves game. She’s never been, so it should be a lot of fun.
July 27th: I get the priviledge of filling the pulpit at Northwood (my home church). I’ve never gotten the opportunity during a morning service, so it’s exciting. I have some big shoes to fill, but I’m going to do my best.
August 1st: I’m moving into an apartment with my original roomates from CSU. I was planning on living with Melissa’s parents for the last semester at CSU, but I figured out I could live in the apartment much cheaper than I did last year. It’s my last semester of college, so I’m living with the guys for another semester.
December 20th: I’m getting married! I know that it isn’t in the near future, but I am really excited about it!!
Today marks the first day of July. It is also when the year is half over. That means, it’s time to evaluate where we are. To see if those goals and resolutions that we made in January have been accomplished, are on their way to being accomplished, or are a distant thought. Here are some questions that I’m asking myself half way into 2008:
Have I grown closer to God during the first 6 months of the year? What can I do to see this improved?
Who have I been able to impact this year?
Have I been successful on the goals that I made for myself?
What can I do to see that the last 6 months of the year are a success?
In view of where my life is now, can I make any minor adjustments to make it better and be more effective?
*By the way, these next 6 months will probably crawl by as I prepare to graduate and marry the woman of my dreams. I hate to wish part of my life away, but I’m really excited!
I’ve always been really into new, high tech cell phones. Right now, I have an HTC Touch, but I heard about this the other day. This is definitely…probably going to be the next cell phone on my belt. It isn’t going to be released until 2009, but don’t hop on the iPhone bandwagon yet. It is going to do everything. Check it out:
A lot of people today seem to think that they are the most wonderful thing on the planet. Some men think that they are God’s gift to women, while some women think they are the same to men. Some think that they are perfect in every way. Others think that they are nothing. They think that they aren’t important to anyone and that their presence on earth may be a mistake.
No matter who we think we are, God has His opinion as well. God’s opinion of us doesn’t change person to person. It doesn’t divide itself by how much money we make, what color our skin is, or where we live. God’s opinion of all of us is the same…we are His children.
God sees us not as a number, but as a precious creation made in the image of Himself. He loves us. He cares for us. He has mercy on us. He takes care of us. He wants to be united with all of us forever through His son. God loves us all, even with our flaws.
Who do you think you are? Do you see yourself as God’s creation, or an absolute accident? Do you think that you have earned perfection, or do you think your worth is predicated on God’s opinion of you? Who do you think the people around you are? Do you think they matter? Do you think they deserve grace, love, and second chances?
For those of you that haven’t seen me and Melissa’s engagement pictures, here are the ones that the photographer uploaded on her blog a few days ago. Enjoy:
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