Re-Start

 *blows dust off proverbial keyboard*

I can't believe it's been over 2 years since my last post.  Time has certainly flown.  It seems almost foreign again to blog, so I guess we'll see how it goes. 

Why start again??
Good question.  One of my friends actually started up again, and after thinking, I decided it would be good for me since I did once love writing, and it'll force me to really reflect.  This summer is going to really be a reboot in my relationship w/ God, passion for teaching, and purpose in life, since I feel like I've really lost sight of those things over the years.

Sooo, what will you be posting?
It'll be a combination of things, really.  First will be thoughts and things I'm learning in devotions, along with general reflections.  Second, I have been wanting to compile a food blog that I can refer to on good restaurants in Austin so when we have a hard time figuring out a place to eat, a handy list is just a click away.  Lastly, this'll be a place where I'll be able to barf up things I've learned from my time teaching, and hopefully remember for the new school year.  *shrug*  We'll see what happens.

Sky Diving from months ago!

What's this you ask?  Yep, it IS a post.  Summer time means more time to blog!

Quickie

I really wish I had more time to really post, but I'm too tired/ busy/ preoccupied to really sit down and blog.  The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions: ups and downs at work and with ministry, but through it all, God has been steady.  That's the lesson I've really been learning through it all.  God is so faithful and wants us to really understand it.  I'm just too thick-headed to let that sink in.

Please keep our "Boot Camp" retreat in prayer, we're really praying for God to deposit His vision in the hearts of our members. 

Milestone Song

I love music. Finding that song that perfectly encapsulates everything you're feeling has got to be one of the best experiences.  It's like the essence of the song fuses in with your soul and things just seem right.

One of my favorite hobbies is to make playlists every season.  This started back in high school in my more emo days.  Oftentimes there would be a song that would stand apart from the rest of the list (usually because it resonated with my feelings of unrequited love).  To this day whenever I hear one of those "milestone songs", I get a rush of memories from that time of my life.  If you know me well, my memory sucks, so the fact that music helps me remember things makes it all the more important to me. 

This year, I've had the privilege of being on band (playing drums!).  Part of that responsibility is to try to find songs that we think would be appropriate for where our church is at.  Unfortunately, I'm still 0-4 in song suggestions making it into the band song list, but one of the new songs we're learning this semester really stands out to me.  It's still early, but I have a strong feeling that it will be one of those "milestone songs" for this semester.  The song lays out so simply God's power and majesty and the lyrics yearn for things that we are so desperate to see happen in our church. 

Every time I listen to this song, I am filled with excitement and wonder at what God has in store for us this year.  How awesome will it be to look back on this semester and hear all the stories of lives God has touched?

Why the Confucius facial hair?

Call it a late quarter life crisis or what you wish, it's just something I wanted to try. It was inspired by Movember, or No Shave November, where men grow out their facial hair during the month of November for prostate cancer awareness. Anyways, after surviving a month of negligible growth, it had grown to a point where it was definitely noticeable even from a distance. I figured, it's been a month, why not keep it going and see what happens? That's when people started w/ the comments. Haha, it's funny how when people say something negative about something, it really makes me want to keep doing it or keep it (ie. growing out long hair, getting corn rows, etc). After a week or so of mustache jokes, I decided to keep it for about half a year. I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking I want to try getting my mustache to about halfway down my chin. Get some pictures to document that it was that point, then trim up the facial hair. Who knows. haha Sooooo yup! I bought myself a mustache/beard trimmer yesterday so I'm excited to start playing with it later!