Come as You Are

The title of this was almost "Come Strong"

Then I realized that I couldn't come if that was the case.

So I'm coming as I am to this blog- eating frito lay BBQ sunflower seeds and drinking a vanilla coke, while my wife drives us home from Lake Charles in the Tahoe.  Mellowed out in "Desert Song" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

And if it wasn't for the fact that I know Josh Garmon, Daniel Shaw, Stephanie Dugard, and a FEW others; I would say that there is nothing good in central Louisiana. 

Back to my title. 

As much as I want my wife and the people close to me to think that I am a strong person, if I'm honest with myself- I can't think of myself as strong.

Fears, responsibilities, relationships, and the future are just a few things on a long list of things that make me feel weak just thinking about them.

I believe that we all have things that make weaklings out of us, and I also believe that the things that potentially make us weak are the things that drive us for most of our lives.

I think that I would be able to live a much more meaningful life if I ran to God in prayer and praise as soon as I start to feel weakened by stressors.

Comfort and renewed strength are things that I've felt when I've run to God in the weakest moments of my life. However, I always try to be strong myself before I take my weakness to God.

He tells us to come to Him as we are. I am certainly glad for that because I usually come to Him weak, arrogant, stubborn, and close-minded.

A friend recently challenged me to not ask God for anything in prayer, but to instead only thank God for what he has already done for me and what He will do for me.

This has revolutionized the way I spend time with God. Sometimes I can't even say anything to God because I'm so used to only asking Him for things - even things like wisdom, open doors, and to see His will. Now I thank Him for what wisdom He has given me, the opportunities that each day holds, and that He cares about what I do with my life.

I've become much more aware and thankful for where I am in life. I've also realized how ungrateful I actually am and our culture is.

I encourage you to try this.
AND
I hope that when you are weak, tired, arrogant, selfish, or whatever else you are; you will come to God just like that. Because the only requirement He has is that you Come and Believe.

He's waiting to scoop you up out of whatever it is that has your soul in a bind. 

Regrets and Other Thoughts

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of transitions in this blog. This is the result of some reflecting I did on Sunday afternoon. I really just wrote what I was thinking, so it's more of a stream of consciousness than most of my other posts. Even though I do think that many of my posts have some of that feel to them.

I don't buy into the whole, "I have no regrets" idea.  I do wish that I hadn't done a lot of things that I've done.  Yes, the case can be made that I wouldn't be who I am today without those things.  To that I say, I'd rather be someone who hasn't hurt people in the ways that I have and lead people to do things they had no business doing.  I also would rather not have to live with the memories of these things.  
I am thankful that Jesus stepped in to take God's punishment for me. Talk about unfair though.  God erases evil without erasing people. All because of what Jesus did for humankind.  The day that Jesus Christ died is the most important day in human history.

At times when I think about the way I am, my thoughts float between how I don't like the way I am and that God made me like this so there must be a reason I'm like this. 

There are also sometimes when memories that I don't often think about invade my thoughts. Random things that I will not forget, but I don't necessarily know what the memories of those experiences mean.  Like today in church I started thinking about Sigma Nu pledge retreat.  "I will cling to the old rugged cross" made me think of clinging to the tree in the middle of the rocky island in Lake Ouachita, and how I would have rather that trip never happened.  I appreciate the active member being nice to me and offering me a sip of whiskey and coke while I was being hazed, but I wish that he would have instead told me that I didn't have to do all that nonsense and it would be a lot easier if I just told the people hazing me to go drown themselves.    
 

MAN, God really scooped me up out of that stuff.

Back like Tiger?

I haven't blogged in quite awhile.

I'm sorry

because a lot of yall told me to keep blogging.

I've been busy, and I've been lazy. I do not aim for either of those to be a habit, but I have a feeling that busy will be habitual.

Oh well.

So what's been on my mind?

Well, awhile back I was wanting to blog about pop music. So I'll give you a brief run-down of what I was thinking:

J-Lo's song "on the floor" sounds like her best attempt at her version of a Ke$ha song.
Katy Perry is crazy popular right now but she won't be remembered for long because she has zero songs that are actually about something. She just sings words, no meanings. Yes, I know all pop music can be described this way, but it seems like the artists that are remembered are the ones who had at least one song that was about something.

I started reminiscing about pop a little, and I decided that I miss the days that the charts were always full of Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot, Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado, No Doubt, Mariah Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, and Ludacris. (may all of your radio smashes be happy in their retirement)

I know some of those artists are still found in the charts these days but not like they used to be.

Oh yeah, and Usher used to be so much better than he is now.


(random theory- the train that goes thru Ruston is the Hogwart's Express)


My wife and I went down to Mexico for our Honeymoon a week or two ago. I highly recommend all-inclusive resorts. - especially Excellence Playa Mujeres. Forgive me if I do not go into details of our honeymoon, as those are quite private.

I'll just say that my wife looked so sexy in the two new bikinis that I bought her, that I thought a few times that some people were acting like they were taking pictures of the resort's lush scenery so that they could secretly take pictures of the super-model that was laying next to the guy reading Harry Potter.

Tiger Woods played well yesterday. So people(me) actually cared about golf for a moment. The great debate of whether or not Tiger will win another Major tournament continues to rage on. People keep saying that Tiger is back, or Tiger will never be back. I don't know if he's back, but I do know that I like golf if he does well. If he's stinking it up, I'm about as interested in golf as I am following celebs on Twitter, or watching Cake Boss, or drinking motor oil.

that all for now