Hosanna

Since we are surrounded
By such a great cloud of witnesses
Let us run
Let us run with perseverance
The race marked out
Let us make a way
For those who are to come
Those who are to come

Every generation
Every nation
Every tribe
Every tongue
They will sing
They will pray
That the world would sing...

Hosanna

Lazy Saturday

So the past week has been pretty decent. I am actually doing stuff at work, and I'm pretty sure the stuff I'm working on is going to be used pretty often, so that's pretty exciting I guess. It's nice to know that the work you are doing isn't pointless. 

I'm pretty sore right now. Played basketball on thursday for three hours. Then I went skiing last night at Perfect North for four hours(definitely fell flat on my face at one point, but it was cool since I don't think I had wrecked skiing in like 2 years, and it's good to realize that you can still fall). Hence, the lazy saturday to recover.

I started a new book a couple days ago, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I've had the book for quite some time now, I think maybe a year or so. I really like it though, and it's a better alternative to playing xbox 360 with my free time before bed. Not to say I'm boycotting xbox, but it's good to feel like I'm actually doing something productive with my time by reading. Hopefully I don't get lazy really quick and stop reading.

Smallgroup was really good on Tuesday. We talked about relationships in general, not just dating. It was a great discussion, and a lot of guys really opened up. It's really cool to see how the group is coming together and getting closer. I'm really excited for what God has planned for the rest of the year. 

Today should be good though. Probably gonna sit around and just chill, and hopefully read a bunch. It's funny how when you are actually interested in the book, it's fun to read. Oh yeah, there's a possibility that I will be starting to help out with video stuff at Crossroads this weekend. I am pretty pumped, it should be sweet.

All I know, is I find rest in You...

This is pretty much how I've been feeling lately, so the following might seem like rambling(which it might be). So if you don't care to read it, I understand, but if you relate at all to what I'm talking about, let me know!

So lately I've been having a hard time trusting Gods timing and will. I like to think that I'm doing what god wants for my life, and I feel like I am for a lot of it, but there are so many things that I seem to be very stubborn about. At church last week, they talked about how we like to bend the truth to our lives rather than bending our lives to the truth. And I think in a lot of ways I like to do that with Gods will. Why can't I just trust god with everything? Its so frustrating because when things go wrong I get so mad and question god about why something happened. I mean, that is just dumb, because usually it has to do with me making a selfish decision which leads to the situation crumbling down around me. Then there is the situation where something happens that is out of my control, and I get mad at God for letting it happen, but in the end its always for the best (hindsight is 20-20 huh?). The problem is that I like to try and change the situation because once again I am selfish and like things my way. Unfortunately that is where I usually get hurt because I put myself in situations where I am bound to get hurt. God has perfect timing and a reason for everything. I just wish that I would realize that more often before I go and get my hopes up about something and get myself hurt. I mean, I look at so many guys at navs and think," Man, they really have it together and they trust God with what's going on in their lives." Now I know that they all have different things going on in their lives and you can't judge a book by its cover, but I desperately want to be able to say," Yeah I'm single right now, and that's the way God wants it, and I'm cool with it. I know God has greater plans for me in school, and whatever he has planned for me, I'm ready for and willing to stretch myself for it." Now that's really easy to say, but the majority of the time, I don't think I could honestly say that. I think it's really easy to be aware of what's going on and to have a head knowledge of the situation, but not believe it or feel it in your heart.

I'm also really not a big fan of regret, because I feel like every mistake you make is something you are supposed to learn from rather than regret it. But man, there have been times (some recently) where I am just like "what the heck was I thinking?" I put myself in these situations where I am bound to fail/get myself hurt, and I end up regretting my decisions, but I really should just try and learn from my mistakes. 

At navs a couple weeks ago when Charly was speaking, he had this verse on the handout. I wrote down the reference because I really liked it, but kind of forgot about it until I stumbled upon it tonight. It is just a really comforting thought that no matter what is going on in your life, God is always there for you, because he loves you so much. This helps me out with all of the stuff I rambled about above, because I know whatever I do, God still desires to be with me. I'll leave you with the verse.

"But now, this is what the LORD says-

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

'Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your stead."

Isaiah 43:1-3

oooohhhh oooohhhh oooohhhh, *clap, clap, clap clap* U-C!

So my first week of co-op is officially over, and I must say, even though i didn't really do anything at all, I think I'm really going to like this place. The people are awesome, and it's really relaxed, and I can wear jeans to work! But really, I think that I'm going to learn a lot over the next quarter and that I'm going to be challenged because of all the new stuff I have to learn.  Should be cool.

Anyways, since wednesday, I have been developing a bad case of what I thought was strep, because my tonsils have grown to an enormous size, and because every year i either get strep-throat or a tonsil infection. So i went to the doctor yesterday, and it wasnt strep, but she still gave me a prescription. I have been taking between 6-8 ibuprofen every day since this started happening too, because of the ridiculous headaches i was getting. Also, I haven't been getting alot of sleep because of co-op this week, trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule, and i think that has been adding to my sickness. So pretty much, I needed sleep, so i went to bed last night at 9:30(i know.. on a friday???), and woke up this morning around 10, and I'm still feeling like crap. I pretty much hate being sick. I really hope this doesn't last much longer.

But there is good news. The Bearcats beat #17 Villanova tonight and that was AMAZING. best bearcats game i've seen probably so far in my college career(which isn't saying much because that is somewhat limited). but still, I was glad to see a good game for once. We're 3-1 in Big East play, and we only had 2 conference wins last year so we're already making improvement. Should be interesting to see how we perform the rest of the year. 

So I think I should probably get to bed, but I'm looking forward to next week. I get to start some projects at work, and then for the weekend, we're going skiing at Holiday Valley in New York, and staying with my grandparents! Should be fun.