When God starts giving...

It has been a month since I sent out my support letters, and now, finally, I have gotten past the $1000 marker. I am not too far off from getting the plane tickets, SO EXCITING! With March right around the corner, I am anxiously looking forward to the end of the semester. There are tests and projects and an endless supply of reading assignments to get done. It's a little too nuts for me at times around here. With Tokyo being the only thing on my mind, I am looking to God for direction and guidance, since he is the giver of all knowledge. There needs to be times in our lives as believers where we cry out to God and ask him for help. If we don't we are as lost as a ship on a stormy sea. Remember that today!

The Theology of the Lion King

Okay. I want you to know that I haven't entirely lost my mind here. The Lion King is arguably one of the greatest movies I have ever seen in my life. It has such a powerful story about commitment to responsibilities and what happens when you try and run away from them. Simba is the prince of Pride Rock, who is so anxious to become the King like his father Mufasa. However, a family fued with his uncle Scar, turns his anxiety into fear. Scar tricks Simba into making him think he's the reason his father died. He lured Simba into the gorge and set the herd of Wildebeasts after him. When Mufasa tried to save Simba, he gave his life for his son in the process. Simba runs away after Scar makes him think its his fault. Scar tells everyone that Simba is dead, and he takes over as King, bringing the Lion's enemy the Hyenas into the Pridelands.

Simba encounters a new life in a far away place, and befriends Timon and Pumbaa, the people who make him forget who he is. "HAKUNA MATATA" is what they teach him, and he grows up with the idea of the Kingship in the back of his mind. Back at Pride Rock, without a true ruler, everything is dying. The Herds left pride rock, and no food was to be found anywhere.

Simba doesn't let Timon and Pumbaa know about who he was. It's not until Simba's best friend from childhood, Nala shows up and finds out he's alive. She tells him what happened to Pride Rock, and wants him to go back. Simba doesn't think its such a good idea, and he runs from Nala, angry that she's right, only saying to himself, "I can't go back. It won't change anything". Simba encounters Rafiki, a wise old Sage who was close with his father, and tells him about himself. Mufasa lives in you. Mufasa reveals himself to Simba and explains that he has forgotten him and must "remember who he is". Simba figures out that as the child of the king, he has responsibilities as a leader and runs back home to face his uncle and take his place.

I say all this because a lot of the time, we as believers encounter things in our past that we would rather run away from. We think that no one will ever know if we just get away and hide. By hiding, we are only covering up the truth, and we have to turn and face it. We must remember that we are children of the true King, and we have to stand and face the enemy who tries to pass off as the true king.

You can learn a lot from the movies, so whenever you have a chance, watch something good and see what you can learn from it.

God turning bad days into good ones!

These past couple of days, I haven't really had much I could say I was happy with in my life, but that all changed. I got myself out of bed and went to church. I was given some encouragement at church and that really helped me a great deal. I was able to take in the message and hear what was being taught in a real way that spoke wonders to me. I was encouraged by a story I heard about a girl in Florida who found the Lord after living in sin, and then had her life end so abruptly and wrongly only 3 months after that. I think that it tests us to hear how God is willing to use someone no matter who they are and where they come from, because after all that happened, this girl's story traveled around, and people heard about it. It was so cool. Just something to encourage you today. Peace!

Panera in Alabama

How I love cafes. I love to sit down and just be able to write on my computer, no matter the circumstances. I unfortunately came to the position of having to leave Louisville, Kentucky and head south to Huntsville, AL with some friends for the time being. With the ice storm hitting Louisville and the possibilitiy of more snow in the days ahead, being in Kentucky isn't the wisest of ideas right now, so here I am, blogging on a computer, and trying to get a paper finished for my J-term that's due a week from today. I am almost on my 5th page, and then I'll have about 6 more pages to finish. It's not as hard as it sounds, it's just a tedious amount of work. I'll write again soon. PEACE!

The Ice and Snow

It's wintertime up here in Kentucky, so what do you expect? Classes were cancelled today and now people are saying that we may not have classes tomorrow either. I am happy about that. I am trying to get myself caught up on things with myself. Japan is getting closer and closer and I am seeing how much God's love is helping me get through the day to day things. I would always think that I am not godo enough to be doing missions overseas, but this isn't something that happened by accident. Now I'm back at school, getting everything prepared for the summer. I am leaving in 3 months and 16 days for the greatest journey that I could ever think God would set before me.

Here's something I found in the book of Ecclessiastes, and I thought it fit into what God is preparing in Japan.

Generations come and Generations Go,
But the Earth Remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets and hurries back to where it rises
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north, round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun.

Eccl. 1:4-9 (NIV)

That's something I hope will sincerely encourage you. Always remember that the thoughts in the back of your head telling you that you can't do something because its too big is nonsense. God is bigger than anything you could possibly conceive. When you give into Satan's lies, it is how you are doubting God's goodness in your life. Trust me when I say this, God can conquer anything in your life and by trusting him, your life will turn for the better. It always does!

The Things that Matter Most…

When it all comes down to it, the only answer I really have to give anymore is my salvation in Jesus. It truly is the only thing that matters the most to me. My life has been getting more and more involved in my plans to go overseas this coming summer. I am preparing myself for what could be the absolute biggest thing in my life, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I am prepared for the challenges and all of the preparation and planning that goes into that endeavor in a way I can’t even begin to explain. Last week I had the chance to start a serious round of Rosetta Stone Lessons for Japanese. My internship to Japan is less than 6 months away. I have $4 saved towards the trip, which is nothing when you really think about it, but I am only $4496 away from reaching my goal of going to Japan. My letters will be out in the mail after Christmas (for obvious reasons), and then the real adventure of putting my trust in the God who provides will come to fruition. Right now I am in Orlando, Florida on vacation with my family. We were able to get a really great deal on a condo and now we are in the process of cooking dinner. We have been able to spend 2 days at Disney (well for me anyway) and now my parents, grandma, and nephews are down at the pool area while I have some time to myself to enjoy before heading back to reality tomorrow in West Palm Beach.

I am happy that Christmas is around the corner. I can’t wait for it to be over. The pressures of the holiday season are getting to me. It’s really hard when you don’t have a lot of money to your name. You are at a loss of what to do for gifts and money is tight, especially seeing how you are in College on a full-time basis. That basically means that life is incredibly hard. I had a really good birthday, and I took people’s advice and spent the money on myself and things that I wanted and needed. Whenever I am watching TV, I come across some commercials for gifts and such, and I get a sickening feeling in my stomach. I want to be able to buy gifts for people in my family and I can’t do it. It hurts me really bad. I wish I could be able to buy my mom some new perfume and gift cards to the movies for a date night for my parents. I know that they tell me “It’s okay, and that I don’t have to buy them anything”, but I wish I really could do it.
Me and my mom are going over to find a Christmas tree this Saturday. Having a real tree will be a first for us; we haven’t done that since 1992. I am so happy about that. Real trees make Christmas better and I would be happy doing that every year of my life once I have a family of my own. I don’t have a family of my own right now, but someday I will.

Why I'm going to Japan...

Tonight I had the chance to sit down and watch the 2008 Singing Christmas Tree. This made my 9th Tree I have seen since becoming a member of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach. This had to have been the absolute best tree I have ever seen since I started seeing them. I have come to accept the fact that I won't be experiencing a White Christmas anymore. Anyway, getting back to what I was talking about, why I am going to Japan. I sat down and started watching Act 2 of the Tree, and watched the story of Creation and how Jesus made a plan to save humanity. You watch him get crucified, and while I was hearing the nails get pounded into his arms over and over again, I could see the city of Tokyo, and all of the people I am going to eventually meet, and their need to accept Jesus, and then it hit me. This is why I am doing everything that I do. Why I am in ministry, why I go to Boyce, why I want to go to Japan, is because of Jesus. It's all about him.