Just Do It

A little wisdom from my man William Carey...

"Attempt great things for God;
Expect great things from God."
-William Carey

Being Intentional

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction". -George Horace Lorimer

I try to be really intentional about living and life in general. But to be honest, I'm horrible at it. I'll be really motivated for a while and then I lose sight of the goal or forget to motivate myself for the day. Things don't just happened if you don't set out to do them. So, once again, I'm going to start today being intentional about life, ministry, work, exercise, attitude...basically everything I do. It is what you make it, so make sure you're intentional in taking advantage of the opportunities you've been given today.

Wet Streets?

So, how many people have noticed that there are always a few wet streets in NOLA, regardless of whether or not it has rained. The same parts of the same streets are ALWAYS wet, no matter what. What in the world?! Any explanations? It's our mission for the week to find out... :)

Sinking Ship

Our Pivot message this week was on worldliness, a topic that seems to be a constant struggle to many of us. We have lots of excuses and 'reasons' for being close to things of the world. But if we are brutally honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that part of the reason we are worldly is because we want to be.

Matt used an excellent illustration when confronting the excuse of becoming more like the world in order to minister to those in the world. He said we could imagine ourselves as a rescue boat sailing on the sea of worldliness and waiting to help those who have fallen into the "water" (or the world). And it might seem to make sense to want to add a few buckets of water to the boat just to lower ourselves a little so that we are closer to those we are trying to help. But eventually we stop realizing how much water we're adding and end up sinking the boat. We're no longer there to help others-we're just an immersed ship aquarium. What makes others curious about us and interested in what we do if we are exactly like them? Why would they want what believers have if our lives are exactly the same as theirs? What would be the point?

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Matt. 5:13

Remarkable Things

So, it has been an extremely crazy few months, but God has proven faithful as always. Just to give the HUGE praises (because there are way too many to list all of them lately), I'll give a few. In the past few months:

~ My grandmother (the center of our family) found out she had lung cancer but was not a candidate for surgery; after begging and giving a movie-quality speech, they agreed; she's now at home; her emphysema somehow contained the cancer, so she went from less than a year to live to possibly being in the clear;

~ My mom found out she had a pre-cancerous polyp & had half of her colon removed, as well as her gall bladder and a ton of lymph nodes; once removed, they realized the polyp was already cancerous but were able to get it all; so she's most likely in the clear;

~ My dad found out he had throat cancer (are you catching the theme?) and had his uvula removed; we found out this morning that it's clear and he doesn't need further treatment;

~ Our non-profit organization is almost fully up and running, including incorporation

~ I also finally feel some direction about jobs for next year, which is a huge relief

These are just a few among many. It is obvious that this semester has been very trying, to say the least. But as usual, God is proving faithful and continues to amaze me every day.

"Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'we have seen remarkable things today.'" Luke 5:26

i LOVE saturdays

Saturday is absolutely my favorite day of the week. It's the day of possibilities. And today was very productive yet relaxing, which also is my favorite :)

To sum it up:
brunch at Two Sisters + going to the Lake to study/lay out + successful trip to the store + laughing + marking things off the to-do list + friends + working out = a GREAT Saturday!

Hopefully, tomorrow will be equally great ... :D

Building Airplanes

The Super Bowl commercial linked below is muy funny. It's also a good reminder that sometimes you just have to figure it out as you go, even if it seems ridiculous at the time. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2zqTYgcpfg

Buenos Dias

Just a few fun quotes to start the day off right: :D

~ Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.

~ Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling.

~ Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die.

~ I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

~ He was hit by a Dodge ... which I found funny and ironic.

~ I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.