Blogobooms

Dear Uncle Ron,

2011-10-09T15:09:00.004-04:00

Dear Uncle Ron,

Do you remember the "Merry Christmas" golf tee? Do you remember we used to wrap multiple boxes using layers of duct tape? Boxes inside of boxes, each individually wrapped until the final box contained hundreds of packing peanuts, and a single golf tee inside the abyss that we would trade back and forth each Christmas. It was one of the highlights of the season to try and outdo the previous giver by making it harder than ever before. I've been thinking about that golf tee for a couple months now. I really wanted to give it to you this Christmas.

Do you remember how you used to bully us? We used to think you were mean old Uncle Ron, but all of our older cousins used to tell us that you used to bully them more. Speaking of Christmas, I remember multiple times getting coal from you.

Do you remember when you helped my parents dig a septic field? We were in awe of your excavating equipment, wishing we could use it. You did let us sit inside once, and that was the coolest thing. We were playing baseball in the backyard, until we got in trouble because we hit a ball into where the adults were working.

Do you remember the driving range in your backyard? We thought it was so cool that we didn't have to use wiffle balls. There were buckets of balls inside of that old semi cab, and you told us we could come over and hit balls any time. We felt so privileged.

Do you remember the first time we went to Tennessee? You picked us up really early in the morning, and we rode down in that pickup truck camper. We were able to talk to you through the sliding window. We had a power converter so we were able to play video games the whole way down. There was a bed up top so we could take turns sleeping. We thought it was the coolest thing to travel in.

Do you remember that same year when my bike broke and you helped me fix it? I needed an allen wrench, but you knew better; that we wouldn't be able to get it tight enough with that. I was older then, and I knew everything, but you showed me that I didn't, when you pulled out the vice grip pliers and got it tighter than it was when I bought the bike.

Do you remember when you got sick, and you had those spots tattooed on you for radiation? You were upset that the doctors blemished your golden Greek body. How dare they?!

Do you remember when you tried to use a Bic lighter on the back of a Sea Doo going 40 miles per hour? It was a story worth repeating multiple times.

Do you remember the way you used to pull us tubing? It was a unique style, I'm not sure that Child Protective Services would have approved. I'm no physicist, but I think the amount of G-force had the ability to pull someone's arm out of their socket. The best time though, was when the wave hit me just right, and I went sailing at least 12 feet in the air. You would just laugh at us while you shot us around the next turn.

Do you remember your white canvas slip on shoes that you wore with socks?

Do you remember how you would say "communist-socialist" as if it were one word?

Do you remember asking me to help you launch and trailer the boat? You trusted me, and it meant a lot, because I know you would have preferred to be able to do it all yourself.

Do you remember when we would put 45 gallons of gas in a hand cart and hook it on the truck hitch, and drive really slow to the dock? Well, until it came unhooked and hit that man's F150. In retrospect I think we could agree that that was pretty funny.

Do you remember how we knew how much you loved us? You never had to say it out loud, but we knew, because you showed us.

I remember, and I miss you very much.

Uncle John

2011-08-09T22:19:00.002-04:00

It wasn't until Uncle John got sick that I felt the urge to spend time with him. It was in good synchronization with a certain maturity factor that comes with age I suppose; the point in life that you begin to value the short time you have with people. John passed last night at 2 a.m. to brain cancer. At the short, but sharp, decline at the end, John wasn't always there, as the cancer started affecting his cognitive processes. During this last month in the few times that I was over there, I kept hoping that he would snap into it, and we could hang out again. Yet, I know, that I'll never have that, and I can't dwell on what I can't have, but instead reminisce on what happened.

I remember one night Haley and I were hanging out with John and Lorri, talking about marriage, and they said that had never gotten in a fight. I didn't believe them at first so I chuckled, but they both reassured me that they hadn't fought about anything in the 17 years they were married. Furthermore, they said that they slept in a twin size bed! I laughed so hard, I said "Guys, we can't even agree on how firm or soft our bed is, not to mention how to share the blankets all night!" We all had a good laugh.

John loved Lorri. Lorri loved John. They adored each other. It's inspiring. He was a good husband, and a good example to any husband, and that his how I will always remember him; along with his sense of humor, which was hilariously dry, and always present.

Cheers.

Brake Fluid

2010-08-03T20:28:00.002-04:00

I had to take time out of work today to work on the brakes on my truck. While I was crawling around on the ground looking for the spot where the fluid has been leaking from I thought of my relationship with God and how I constantly fail to do what he asks of me as one of his followers. I found the spot where it was leaking from after shuffling around to a few choice spots, and realized the reason the part was failing was because years and years of corrosion (in the form of rust) had caused the part not to perform as it should.

That's what happens when we hold onto sin.

See God sends the brake fluid, (or the gifts of the Holy Spirit) and when we allow sin to corrode at our hearts those gifts are wasted (much like the part on my truck). We're like vessels that use the gifts from God to carry out His work here on Earth, but then Anger, Hatred, Impurity, Bitterness, Greed...these things corrode at us, and eventually...eventually we become so corroded that we aren't even in tune with what God is asking us to do. God's up in the driver seat just pumping the brakes over and over, but the job He is desiring isn't being done because we aren't fulfilling our task in the way we were designed to.

God has a plan for every one of His people, but unless we fight against our sins we can't fully experience the life God wants us to have. Much like I can't fully experience the full stopping power of my truck at the moment. =)

Take off your mask!

2010-05-24T11:58:00.006-04:00

"Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus."

-From: What's So Amazing about Grace? by Philip Yancey

Can't help but agree with this statement. It's takes so much extra energy to get to know someone that is wearing a mask. You constantly have to question whether they are being genuine, or if they are pretending to be the person they want to be. There is no clear-cut way to decode the actions of a mask-wearer, but you can always tell when they have one on. It's a lot less energy to befriend someone without a mask, they have nothing to hide, they aren't embarrassed, they are in general less hypocritical, and you always know they are being real because they have no reason not to be. In the end isn't it about relationships?

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -Matthew 22:36-40

I think that many people think that in order love God we have to be perfect because Jesus was perfect. There is just one problem with that, HE WAS GOD! Jesus never wore a mask, he didn't have to, he was perfect. He doesn't want us to pretend to be perfect, that basically defeats the whole principle of his sacrifice for us. Of couse we should strive to be good people, but the change should come from within, the very definition of a mask implies that it is external. Galatians 2:6 says "...God does not judge by external appearance..." So in order to love God, we require no mask, and in order to love others, as the second part of the commandment commands, we CANNOT wear a mask. How can we say we love someone if we do not give them enough respect to show them our true selves? If they judge who we are without our masks, does it really matter? God is the only judge that matters, and he sees through our masks anyway.

Wearing masks causes us to be judgmental, hypocritical, political, insensitive, and out of touch with reality. This is not the type of person Jesus wants us to be. Currently I am reading a book called UnChristian : What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...And Why It Matters so far it's a good read, it mostly consists of research. The main point the book is trying to make is that the reason most 16-29 year olds don't accept Christianity is because of the behavior of Christians.

Another book on my summer reading list is No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. I am already excited about that one.

"Connect with God, Connect with others." That's a pretty good paraphrase of the Great Commandment, and I'm glad to be part of a church that prioritizes that, just as Jesus commanded us to. When we prioritize the way Jesus prioritized, there is a lot less mask-wearing going on.

Question:

2010-03-19T20:20:00.002-04:00

Yet another video has been introduced to me, and provoked a thought, a thought that has crossed my mind before while studying biblical texts. Why do we disregard other old testament law, but still hold on to this one? I've heard before that other old testament law was meant to set the jewish nation apart, but many of these "silly" laws were punishable by death. So how can we disregard these laws, but hold on to the laws against homosexuality? How are we so sure that we should condemn homosexual behavior?

Before you answer please consider:

1. Jesus never directly addressed homosexuality. It is simply "assumed" that Jesus "implied" and the assumptions are done by humans, that may have a possible bias.

2. Scholars say that while Paul's letters were being passed around someone added to them the few verses that talk about homosexuality. Those few verses were written in a different style than we are used to seeing from Paul in his letters. Not to mention he is Paul not Jesus. We can debate whether this happened, or not, but the fact is, the letters were passed around, and it is certainly plausible. So for this conversation, could we please disregard any Pauline verses.

3. I am not gay, nor am I considering it.

Wow, that does sound ridiculous!

2010-03-12T09:28:00.004-05:00

This video is a good reminder of how ridiculous the message we hold close to us can sound. I have a knife with "1 Corinthians 1:18" engraved on the blade, which is what sparked this post. 1 Cor. 1:18 says "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Can we really blame someone for saying "Hmm, Yeah I think your faith is stupid."

For me it is a choice between two ridiculous ideas, and one of them is less ridiculous, and therefore must be true if there are only two explanations.

The other ridiculous idea being that by random chance there was an explosion in a vacuum that started so small that it basically wasn't there, and then that that tiny speck's explosion created the whole universe which is unmeasurable. (By the way this tiny speck is not subject to the laws of physics.) Oh, and then, this explosion keeps going, and by random chance this planet was formed that somehow can support life, but if the orbit were even a few degrees off, it wouldn't be able to, and then this meteorite hit this planet by more random chance, and the sun (which is the perfect distance (by random chance) from this planet) hit the meteorite fragments and then they came to life. Oh how exciting! Then these organisms had mutations, and somehow these mutations were passed down through generations, and now there are humans. Kind of like how when a baby is born with six fingers all of its offspring will have six fingers, right? Wait that doesn't happen? Oh crap! Better go with the whole superior being thing then.

So anyway, that's what works for me. I don't really have a problem with some of that stuff happening, but sorry if I don't believe it happened by random coincidence.

How do you defend your faith?

Wild Goose Chase?

2010-02-25T12:56:00.003-05:00

Haven't posted in a while, but I guess I'm kind of desperate for answers. I hate not knowing if I'm doing the right thing. Basically, I've always thought student ministries is the most important part of the church. I'm sure someone could probably give good reasons why another ministry is more important, but you won't persuade me, sorry. When we joined the church plant for Life Point, I saw an excellent opportunity to start a youth group, (eventually) and recently decided (on my own accord) that now would be a good time to start one. So I came up with ideas, and got all excited, I was going to hand out flyers, and have this big event, etc. Then I was talking to an old youth pastor of mine, and I kind of got a reality check. He said "Is there a need for a youth group in your church right now?" I said no, because the fact is, there are no jr. high or high school students at Life Point. My defense was, "Well there is a need in the community." but I just kind of assumed that. There are TONS of churches in Portage, and all of them have youth groups. Why start another one? I mean Life Point kind of puts a new flavor on church, but how do you put a new flavor on student ministries? It's all basically the same.

So I prayed, and I told God that I'm ready for whatever his plan is, and I'm going to follow Him. Which by the way never really turns out the way you expect it to. I think I kind of expected a few kids to just show up at house church one day or something. Instead Mike got a job at Connections. So, of course, I said "Hey I would like to help out if you need help." Which is another one of the things you really have to think about what the implications could be before you say it. Although I truly meant it, I think I kind of thought Mike would say something like "Okay, well I'll keep you in mind." or "Well we really have more help than we need, so right at this moment I don't need you." Instead he said that he could really use our help.

I know, at least I think I know, I'm making the right choice to leave Life Point, at least for the time being. There isn't a need there, and this is something I've always thought I've been called to do. It just seems natural, I LOVE it, even that stalker kid that followed me around at the FCA lock-in, somehow, in some weird way, deep down, I like that. I guess it just feels good to think that that kid liked me so much that he wanted to follow me all night. Not so much from an ego boost perspective, but rather from the idea that I had the potential to be a good influence on that kid. I don't know, point is, I love it, even the crappy parts.

So, I guess the logic I am using is that it is better to serve, than to talk about serving, if you have to choose between two things that fill the same time slot. I feel like that's pretty solid logic, I feel like I'm making the right choice, but it's hard not to question your judgement when your wife starts crying.

the adventures of red the dog

2009-11-12T10:38:00.002-05:00

so, at our house red pretty much has laid claim to the study. he has a big brown rug that he thinks he owns. red will usually bring things on to the rug that he thinks he should own too. i stopped at home at about ten o'clock because i forgot to grab a pen on the way out the door. today red owns two of my running shoes, a sweatshirt of haley's, a blanket ron used two nights ago, and a pillowcase, a toy duck, a toy goose, and a tennis ball. he also decided the rug would go better 5 feet from where we like to keep it and halfway up the wall. silly dog. mind you he did all of this in less than an hour.

Wrist Tats?

2009-10-02T17:33:00.003-04:00

Thought: Alpha on right wrist, Omega on left wrist

Meaning: My hands are dedicated to God's work, He is the Alpha and the Omega, etc.

Any Feedback? Encouragement? Comments? Concerns?

work, wOrK, WORK!!!

2009-09-17T19:36:00.004-04:00

Im not gunna get fancy.

BUT

I GOTTA A JOB!! YAY!!

I started working on Monday at Biomat USA in downtown Kalamazoo. It is Kalamazoos local Plasma donation center. It is a pretty great job! Its a Health care facility, really fast paced and provides benefits for BOTH michael AND I... like I said... SO GREAT! I really enjoy it thus far! Like I said earlier, I just started on Monday so I havent gotten really into the nitty gritty but I like whats going on so far. My job or title is Donor Processor. I will be checking the donors in, answering phones, registering the donors, doing vital signs and generally just screening the donors before they go in and get hooked up on the machines and do the actual donating part. I really really enjoy it... YAY! I especially cant wait until I get my first check... we all know that michael and I could REALLY use the money!

well, like I said... not getting too fancy, so I think this is it for now!

Haley Hogoboom

ps. COME IN AND VISIT ME AT WORK!!! WE PAY YOU TO DONATE!!! I WOULD LOOOVE TO SEE A FAMILIAR FACE!

Mediocrity

2009-09-01T09:35:00.003-04:00

I've been feeling depressed lately. Generally dissatisfied with my day to day routine. I think that's the problem though, I don't want a routine. I get up in the morning dreading the day ahead, knowing that I will be working alone, with no one to talk to except a paint brush, or a mini-blind. Once in a while I'll get a phone call; those seem to be the highlight of my day lately. I usually pretend like I'm busy and don't have time to talk. I guess it's just wishful thinking. Then at the end of the day after making every attempt to make plans for the night with friends, only to find out they are all busy, inevitably I end up back at home. If you could call it that. I hate it. The broken blinds in front of the slider, the thought of bugs possibly being in our house. Every once in a while I'll help a cricket find it's way outside. I hate coming home and seeing people other that my wife standing by the front door, smoking a cigarette, expecting me to ask them if they need any help fixing something. Because that's all I am, a maintenance guy, why would anyone want to talk to me about anything besides that? Then I come inside to find my wife, dinner prepared, happy to see me. She tells me about our plans for the night, I usually have something negative to say about them. So then we fight about whether I'm being mean or she's over sensitive. Every once in a while I'll be in a good mood and Haley will mention it. I deny that I'm acting different that I normally act; if I admit that I'm in a good mood, I am also admitting that that isn't the norm, which is depressing in itself. Building up to the wedding I had something to look forward to, a set goal. Now I just exist. Just is existing is mediocre. I hate mediocrity.

Super Strong Crickets!

2009-07-21T20:49:00.003-04:00

I got home today and found this on our bathroom floor. Apparently Haley saw it when she got out of the shower, got scared, ran into the kitchen and put the tupperware over it. Then left it there until I got home. It must have been a super strong cricket though because it was necessary to put a candle on top just in case the cricket lifted the tupperware and walked out of it.

This is it!

2009-06-27T12:08:00.002-04:00

Michael and I are getting married today.

I am so excited!

Michael and I have been together for what seems like forever.. and this is it, today is the day we are crossing the line into wedded bliss. Im so happy for more then just that one reason right now...

Im ecstatic that all my family is around, it truly is a beautiful thing!

Im happy... and amazed, that I can just sit in my big comfy recliner and blog on the day of my wedding (thanks Mandi for making this possible for me... you are an AMAZING MOH!!)

Im glad that Angie is here to be with me to celebrate this time with me and keep me calm cool and collected.

I seem to be happy about alot of things...

yet,

I still managed, somehow to stress out enough about SOMETHING that I have hives.

yes, I Haley Elizabeth Elkins have hives on my wedding day...

I almost find it kind of funny... the only part thats not funny is that they itch like MAD!

I think this is it for now. Next time I will appear on here(which we know isnt too often...) I will no longer be Haley Elkins, I will be Haley Hogoboom.

weird....

xoxo - Haley

ps. Thank you too everyone who has helped michael and I this past nine months... you have been a true blessing and we are so happy to have all of you in our lives!!

Commitment

2009-06-22T21:51:00.003-04:00

Chris: "So, your wedding is coming up."

Mike: "Yup."

Chris: "You know, I think I know exactly how you feel."

Mike: "Oh really, Chris?"

Chris: "Yeah... Sprint just asked me to sign another two year contract."

I feel like this belongs in the funny pages.

What a slow morning.

2009-06-03T09:26:00.005-04:00

Well, Michael and I are getting married in 23 days! Whoa!

We are also renting a new apartment, together.. :o) Starting in mid july. We have a great opportunity to start moving our things in early(early as in now!) I really want to get in there and actually paint for once and get things rolling(haha no pun intended! ok... maybe) BUT with the wedding coming up so stinkin' quick I feel that I need to put more focus on that.... I feel like this whole apt thing is a distraction, but a really good distraction? I would like to get the majority of both mine and Michaels stuff moved in before the wedding... but that just seems impossible. If I look at my schedule of events starting with, well today then I see absolutely no free time to do any such apartment things.

I have lots of people asking me.. and "lots" is a HUGE understatement, "How are the wedding plans coming?" I hate being asked this, I feel like things are going really well... I know they cant be! I know I still have tons of things that need to be done... I need to get this stuff wrapped up. I just cant wait to be married and be on vacation!! oh my.... the thought of vacation... how great. I think I will end with that, vacation... vacation... vacation... *sigh*

I need to take a shower now.

Time with Dad

2009-05-17T23:12:00.004-04:00

Haley had one of her showers today. So I watched TV with my dad. One of my favorite things to do with my dad is make fun of things.

First, we flipped back and forth between the Tigers' game and CNN's coverage of Obama's speech at Notre Dame. So we made fun of the Liberal Media. That was fun.

After that, we watched the Red Wings and switched coverage to FOX for the speech. We did not want to get carried away with making fun and miss any of the game.

Then, we saw a UFC fight that lasted 36 seconds. We made fun of the fact that FS Detroit had to think of what to do with the other 29 minutes and 24 seconds of the allotted time slot. They showed a lot of commercials. Guess they expected the fight to last longer.

After that, we made fun of alien hunters. This was my favorite making fun of the day. It's just way to easy to make fun of someone using a psychic as a credible source, or using an author to tell a story that cannot name any of his sources or we would "never see him again." It was a good laugh.

Finally, we watch the History Channel's program "How Bruce Lee Changed the World" and there was no making fun. We sat in awe for two hours not really saying much.

Maybe a lot of people wouldn't see this as "good bonding time," but I enjoyed it. Someday I will make fun of things with my son, but not Bruce Lee, no one makes fun of Bruce Lee.

The Green Bastard Crapped Out!

2009-05-08T07:15:00.002-04:00

I haven't driven the GB in over a month, and Cal asked if he could use the truck so I cleared it out, and put all my tools in GB, and took it to the gym this morning.

I never got to the gym.

It got to a tow truck.

I hate that car.

If Satan was a car, and he wanted to ruin your life, and strike you when you were most vulnerable, he would be a '96 Dodge Neon.

I feel like for the last couple weeks there has been an ever-present battle of good things happening to me, and bad things happening. Except all of the good things are of spiritual growth, and all of the bad things are of the earth, mostly financial. It would be really nice to get out of this hole, and back into my comfort zone, but the best learning and growth always happens without distractions. I feel like I've learned a lot in the last couple months, but I still have this craving. Like a fire starving for fuel. I've always had it. I've always had this internal fire, and I've thrown a lot of things in it trying to build it up, and keep it going. The things and stuff I have thrown at this fire are sticks and twigs compared to what could be fed to it. I'm really getting into this now, I think I need a new paragraph for dramatic effect...

It starts with a match-stick. It is the parent's role to bring kindling to the flame, love on it, and eventually a log is set on fire, after that you are free to control your fire. I've brought many things to my fire, some more logs mostly. I got my TV log, my Internet log, my Nintendo log, my brand new furniture log, my laptop log. Generally a lot of expensive things that I've thought are very important. Over and over I've lied to myself thinking these logs would make my life more enjoyable, make my fire fuller, brighter. All the while keeping in contact with the one who started the fire, the all-knowing authority on fire building, God. The conversation would go like this.

"Hey, God I think that this brand new flat panel TV will keep my fire burning big and strong. What do you think?"

and God says, "Well you could do that, or you could..."

"Okay thanks God! Man am I a natural at fire-building or what?"

"Sure thing Mike, I'll be here when you have more questions."

So then what happens? Ha ha well let me tell you.

One day Mike says to God, "Hey God, I know I'm really awesome at fire building and all, but it seems like my fire is limited in size and I really want a HUGE fire."

"Well Mike, herein lies the problem, your fire is so big now that I really can't do much with it. So here's what we're going to do, we're going to let your fire burn down. We're going to let it get so small that we will be able to move it using a single log, and I'm going to put it in that there forest."

"Oh..."

I just have this great feeling that even though everything sucks right now, there is still hope, because I've entrusted my fire to the One who created fire.

Git 'R Done!

2009-05-05T17:27:00.004-04:00

Haley Here.

I guess I should give my input on this thing.. Hogey cant think he can just run the show! :o)

My hours are getting cut at work... which I guess is ok. Good thing I just got my certificate! I need to get on the ball about job hunting, I just really dont want to settle but I feel that in these bad economic times I just might, atleast I have a positive future to look forward too.

I can pretty much always get a job, which is a nice thing to think about.

Sooo... bottom line.

I cant WAIT to get married.

Only 53 MORE DAYS!!!!! CRRRRAZZZY!!

I cant believe it, Michel and I are so excited!

This road hasnt been easy tho.. Its harder then one might think, maybe not tho. Im sure you know. Not a day goes by that I think that this isnt right tho, this is it. This is our time, this is going to be our day.. the day that Ive spent 9mos. planning! All to celebrate Michael and I spending the rest of our lives together... whoa.

I CANT WAIIIITTTT!!!

::EDIT::

sooo.... Michael just called me and Combs Cleaners in TR is giving them a ton of problems... errggg. Michael took adam(one of his groomsmen) and I guess "the guy that measures for tuxes" isnt there today.. How hard is it to measure somebody!? Pray they get that worked out.. cause we cant take adam down again.

ps. adam doesnt have a car. hence us carting him around to get fitted for his tux!

School this Fall

2009-05-04T21:46:00.002-04:00

I just signed up for two classes, Precalculus/Trigonometry and History of Christianity. I'm planning on dropping one of them, hopefully the school doesn't make that decision to drop for me like they have in the past. After next school year I'm thinking about transferring to Western, maybe sooner.

Eric came up tonight it was fun.

I think I need to stop going to TPC.

I did a lot of curls this morning. SORE! I had to squat to put up a tailgate today. That was embarrassing.

Goodnight

HALEY IS CNA-IFIED!!!

2009-05-01T16:30:00.002-04:00

Haley is now a Certified Nursing Assistant! YAY HER!

Walking on Water (First blog entry!)

2009-05-01T08:51:00.013-04:00

Today my alarm failed to go off, so at 6:17 I woke up and decided to go to the post-workout Bible study. I got to the gym just in time for a 15 minute bike ride and about 5 minutes of stretching, so needless to say I didn't get much of a physical workout. One of the things we talked about was the story of Peter's attempt to walk on water.

I never really thought much of the story other than the life lesson of having faith in Jesus, and how Peter doubted. There's a whole lot more to it than that though. Peter didn't fall because he lost faith in the Lord. Peter always had faith, he saw Jesus, or rather he saw a figure, spoke to it, heard His voice, and realized it was Him. After that he realized Jesus was walking on top of water. Not only water, but a storm, and was unaffected by it. So Peter knew that it was possible through the power of the Lord to walk on water. The reason he fell was because he became distracted. He lost focus of what was really important and was frightened by the storm (Matthew 14:30) I mean let's be honest wouldn't you? Rumor has it that the other eleven were too afraid to even leave the boat. I can imagine them sitting there hugging their teddy bears and rocking in the fetal position. They were probably thinking "Here we are in the middle of a storm, our boat is going to sink, we're going to drown, and to make things worse here comes a ghost!" I mean I'm sure some of them were so scared they didn't even know Peter left the boat. So is Peter really the one that we should point fingers at when Jesus said "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31 (and change) NASB) What do you think Jesus said to the others?

This was an awesome lesson for me today. One I've been trying to work on lately too, so it was a great confirmation. We as Christ followers need to leave our Boat (our comfort zone), and go out into the Water (the world). Once in a while forces will appose us, but we need to stay focused and ignore the Storm (Lucifer, etc.), and stay focused on Walking on Water (what's really important).

One of the couples in the Core Group that Haley and I go to lives out at Miracle Camp and on Sunday they talked about how people look up to them because they live a Christ centered life and devote themselves to God. They explained how they felt a lot of times like they are taking the easy way out by surrounding themselves by other Christ followers who share common goals and they never have to feel uncomfortable.

I have another friend who works at Bair Lake Bible Camp, and one of the things they teach out there is that if you feel comfortable, you aren't learning anything.

So to anyone that is reading this I challenge you to go out and make yourself uncomfortable.

In the words of Daniel Radcliffe (I know, right?), "There's never enough time to do nothing."

Haley has her test today at 2 p.m., please pray for her.

HELLO....IS THIS THING ON?!?!?

2009-04-30T16:56:00.000-04:00

We made a blog. Yay us!