Flash From the Past

I like online sermons

It's pretty dang cool how just listening to some people preach encourages you. I love to listen to Mark Driscoll and the video I posted here is quite amazing. Mark is by far one of the best all around teachers I have found. He has a gift of speaking very passionately combined with using scripture and application.

I struggle and get off track so often in my focus on ministry. Listening to some of these guys, just gets your heart back and excited again. I'm going to speak at a college fca in a few days and listening to these guys makes me think about a bazillion different things to speak about, downside of listening to them!

On another note, I haven't bought anything in a long time. Well, other than a recent car. I love gadgets. I have never had a key to my own house. I now do :) I installed a keyless entry system on the front door. It is so awesome, I just type in a key and bam, unlocks :) If you come visit, I can give you a temporary "key" for the weekend :)

Mary Addison Edwards says...

Mary Addison is Ed and Julie's new baby girl. Mary Addison sent me an email the other day and asked that I send out a message to my blog readers and I will quote her..."uncle justin, I ask that you please post a picture of me and I promise people will see how cute I am and go vote for me so my mommy and frugal daddy can get free pictures of me, I am attaching a picture of me to post." I told her I would do it, so go vote now! It takes 20 seconds and you don't have to register for anything.



Click here to vote.

Okay, so every once in a while I think of names for kids. You can take my man card if you want, but at some point you might have a kid and it's good to have some names. I've been listening to a new artist and I absolutely love her music and I love her name, so if I have a girl, I'm naming her this. Check out the music also, Colbie Caillat.

A little fast paced

You prob. hear me talk all the time about being so fast paced. My body and life has just become accustomed to being so fast paced and I have to force myself to slow down, which generally is easy to do :) I just finished a huge huge project in Houston and for the most part will be finished there for at least a few weeks, a lot to be still determined. All and all, it feels good to walk away from something knowing that you worked hard and did your very best. It's not easy to walk away from things where you 2nd guess yourself and wonder if you did give it your best.

I have been without a car for a while and finally found one! Long story short, I've been looking at HUNDREDS of everything you can imagine. I found a car Wednesday night and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the right one. I checked my email Thursday morning and saw that the car was still available and I purchased it on Ebay :) Yes, this is my 2nd car from ebay, the first was a Wrangler that I picked up near Omaha, NE. Everything worked out so perfectly and the woman I bought it from had taken such great car of it. This thing is in awesome shape and is almost like a new car. It has more buttons than I can press and I got an amazing deal. All and all, I was a happy camper yesterday. Flew into Charleston, met a friend at the airport, met a guy that sold me the car, and within 30 minutes, I was driving away in it. What a good way to end a week.

Tonight was Sandy and Andrea's rehearsal and dinner. Man what a cool time to be around good people. I drove back from Charleston this morning, came home, picked up dry cleaning, and headed up to meet them. The rehearsal went smoothly, the dinner was awesome, and afterwards all the guys went out to the Falls Park to hang out with Sandy. We all just sat around on the ground and wall and just encouraged him. It was so good to see all of the guys talk about how Sandy had encouraged them or taught them something in their life, it really was so encouraging to hear. The other cool part was to hear married guys talk about their lives and their marriages. It's so freakin neat how marriage is a picture of what we are to Christ. I like to hear about all of the imagery and how earthly marriage teaches these guys more about Jesus, grace, love, and all sorts of other things.

Tomorrow is their wedding and we are gettin crunk. Well not "crunk" by definition, but fun shall be had. :)

A lil Plan

The sign said "dog" so I assumed it was okay for me. Okay, that was not funny. Maybe a lil :)


So I did a little something sporadic today. I've been without a car for going on over a month. I pretty much fly everywhere so it really has not mattered. I don't say that snobbishly, I'm being serious. I've spent more time in airplanes and hotels than my own car and own room in the past 6 months. My time is coming to a close here in Houston and I'll be coming home for at least a week! You have no idea how good it will feel to hang out at my house and just chill out for a week!

So not really much has gone to my own plan lately, I've been seeing first hand that maybe God's timing and plan is much better than any of my own. I've always considered myself a super patient person but it seems that lately so many things in my life have been a little up in the air. My personality allows for most of this, ha, but sometimes I do want some clarity.

I have looked through about every car on the internet, seriously. I research everything until I am blue in the face. I rarely jump into anything w/o really knowing everything. I am very slow to commit, but once I do, I'm in and running strong. I found a car! The sad thing is, I am in Houston and it is in Charleston. Well I emailed the owner and told them I wanted to buy it. I still have not heard back, but I went ahead on a lil faith and booked my flight to Charleston, SC tomorrow afternoon, ha. So I'll be there about 5 o'clock and hopefully the car will be there. The airline worked out well, they actually gave me a credit back for changing my flight, and while I was typing this, Fergie cussed on Itunes, I guess I downloaded the wrong "glamorous."

Hopefully I will be pimpin a new ride tomorrow and it can settle at least one unsettled thing in my life tomorrow! I'm excited. Worst case, I've got some friends I can hang out with down there for a lil while :)

The pictures are from things I saw today in Houston, including the "Jesus Car." This guy had a bad experience somewhere in his religious movements in this world.

Tick Tock

So a really relaxed day for the first time in a while. Work has been so absolutely crazy, it's good to have a somewhat relaxed day. By relaxed, I mean I only sweat about 1 gallon instead of 3 :)After two wrecked cars, I am surprised that Avis is being so generous with the upgrades they give me. The latest is a Chrysler 300M which goes well in the ghetto. I drive through and now I am definitely the drug dealer of the neighborhood. Everyone stares at me, some even stopping to take a glance. I want to just to put a sign on the side that says, "sorry, not a drug dealer, see the next white guy in a gangster car."

Please note the sign above, these are the type of conditions I work in and people wonder why I carry a gun everywhere I go. Say whatever you want, but I know who you will run to when something goes down, you are going to hide behind the man with the gun! I was driving down an alley today and got out to work, this sign was the first thing I saw, nice.

I haven't really had the best timing lately or maybe God is just trying to teach me something, who knows. On that same alley, I was driving out and this Asian girl zooms right by on a bike. Had there been two seconds difference, she would have hit my car in the side and probably really hurt herself. She zoomed right on by and didn't even realize I was there. I just took a deep breathe and said "wow."

I actually left work at 5 which is not normal, it's usually 7 or after. I went to the gym here in Houston. There is something I think we guys should note about gyms. First of all, this gym is unreal HUGE. There are so many people up in that piece. God sovereignly had my elliptical right in front of the window where they teach all the classes. Guys, I think I need to bring something to your attention. First of all, did u know that everyday in the US and world, there are THOUSANDS of women "exercising" but I think this is just a cover. I watched them today. They are not exercising, they are training for something. It really does look like they are planning a mass take over of something. You have about 50 women in funny clothes punching and kicking in all sorts of directions. Listen, they are doing this all in perfect harmony. The scary part is when they turned around, I had 50 women looking at me and punching and kicking and hopping, I'm telling you, they are planning something. That is not exercising, they are soldiers. Their outfits are a disguise.

I ended my day with a table full of sushi in my hotel room. I layed it out perfectly and the nice lady at the Sushi place apparently thought I was ordering for two, because she gave me two sets of chopsticks, sorry I'm just a hog. This sushi is the only sushi that you are allowed to eat in two bites. It's HUGE. You have to eat the top off and then eat the roll.

I get to be home next week, I am excited.

A lil note

So after coming back from a cruise and a very relaxing one, I started back at normal life again today. Had a conference call at 1:00, stayed at home all day sick, well which was because a friend suggested taking Epsom salt. Never do this if you have any agenda for the day :) I am writing this at 1AM and I have to be up about 3:30 to fly out for hopefully one more week in Houston and then be back at home for a while. It's good what a vacation can do for you. It gives you a chance to clear your head and catch up.

Tonight in small group we talked about the things that happen in this life to humble you and bring you closer to the Lord. We discussed evil and how the Lord can use it to bring people to Him, it was a good conversation. I was a little out of it most of the time and was really thinking about things in my own life that I needed to give to the Lord. Have you ever felt like you could manage something better than He can? Of course, nobody really believes that but our actions sometimes reveal that we want to control our lives instead of letting the Lord do what He will. Tonight was a good night and I let a lot of thoughts and feelings go to Him and felt so good. It's so freakin tough to let go. These are the times you really learn to trust the Lord does care about you and does want good things for your life. The woman who gave a penny in the Bible. She gave out of faith and was poor, where rich people were giving out of their wealth. The woman gave because she had faith and knew the Lord would take care of her. I think sometimes we act in faith, but we have doubt in the back of our mind, "Is He really going to take care of me?" ...."Does He really, really love me that much?" I think those are pretty common thoughts. I've learned that I don't trust the Lord enough and give Him everything in my life. I stood outside tonight and acknowledged to Him that he was a much better manager of my life than I am, I am His, and I was bought with a price.

I drag my feet sometimes to what I know I should do, and once it is done, the Lord always confirms in my life that I did the right thing. I also know that the Lord uses people around you to teach you and be a guide for your life. I've been reading through Proverbs and it's full of wise counsel. Anything I do in this life, I want to have people around me that encourage it and the Lord uses to grow me. This is comforting and I am glad I am a Christian because I don't really know how people do this life without the Holy Spirit and an eternal Father that will always love, even when it is a disciplining love. I like that everyday as a Christian can be a new one and you don't have to be the person that you were yesterday.

I've never really watched Grey's Anatomy but one of my favorite singer/songwriters has just written a song for it, Mat Kearney, check him out. I've listened to his cd for a month straight, pretty awesome.

So in 2.5 hours I will wake up and hopefully not curse the day :)

An awesome Cruise and Long Drive

So we are driving back from a cruise right now and we are on about hour 8 of 10. A super relaxing week was had an well well needed. It was so relaxed and I was so looking forward to it that apparently somewhere I missed the fact that we would be returning Saturday instead of Friday, which was pretty funny to find out in the middle of the ocean. None of us had any plans, so another day of hanging out is good for a brotha. Pictures to follow soon :)

Please not T-Brock in the background lookin like Usher.

He has been so nice and driven about 18 hours so far and I get to sit in the back and listen to music and play on the computer. We occasionally talk about our feelings on this long drive :)

Sunday Sunday Sunday

It's about, well way too late and I am still packing up. It's amazing how fast a day can go and then it's gone. I think I say it all the time now and lately everything seems like a blur. I actually have to write things down and keep somewhat of a schedule to keep up. I'm tired. I believe the Lord is the giver of strength, Jesus promises rest from the worries of this world. I really haven't taken any time in the last few months to just digest. I've worked now for a few years and never really taken a straight week of vacation to sit and do nothing. This week is going to be it. Me and a few buddies are going on a cruise and I plan on doing absolutely nothing, well maybe driving a dune buggy, 4 wheeler, or possibly a segway to find some mayan ruins, but other than that, I'm resting. It's really neat the ways the Lord will bring us to a place to rest. He will use anything and everything to get us back closer to Him. Sometimes I struggle with being a performer and striving to do certain things to make Him love me. I am probably not the only one guilty of this, at least that makes me feel better to say that. He loves us despite what we do and wants good for our lives. Our lives are not our own and the Bible says we were bought at a price, a great price. Jesus sat in the Garden of Gethsemane and thought about what would come of His life. He knew as God in the flesh that He would hang on a cross, but as a man, He knew He would have to suffer more than any man ever. Jesus was in perfect union with His father and for a time would have to endure the crappy sin that all of us have done and will do. He still went there and paid that price for us so that we can be with the God of the Universe. I really don't know why I am typing out the gospel but it's good and I like to remind myself. He did all of that so we won't have to be performers and we can work because of His love for us and not work FOR His love and acceptance.

I have also learned lately that words are powerful and just as proverb 18 says, "death and life are in the power of the tongue, those who love it eat its fruit." We have the power to encourage or discourage this world. I've heard stories in my travels lately of how people have been discouraged by people in this world. When I hear these stories, it gives me a nice kick in the rump to be even nicer to people even when they don't deserve it. I enjoy smiling at the ticket counters when people are just rude, there is something to that, I think Jesus would. People can't understand that type of love and it's neat to see their faces.

I've never been this real big, take your sabbath on Sunday type of guy. I do believe that the Bible teaches we should take a day and rest, find your day and rest. I am going to try and do better about digesting my life and waking up different than the man who went to sleep the night before. I get so tired of being me and getting comfortable in this life. I'm not trying to be homeless but sometimes it's good to be encouraged and pushed along in your walk with the Lord.

In the past few weeks I have also learned to appreciate people that encourage you. I am guilty of doing everything on my own, being prideful, rarely asking for prayer. I just don't want to feel like I am a burden to anyone and I know that I can pray for myself. BUT, it feels good to get things out and have people encourage you and say nice things. Everyone needs someone to cheer in their corner sometimes in this life. There is no doubt that this life is hard and everyday has troubles of its own. We should take each day at a time and enjoy it.

I weigh less right now than I have weighed in about 6 or 7 years.

This cruise is probably about to change that.

Bam

So another lil accident here in Houston, I love the old saying, "When it rains, it pours." ha.  Avis is going to hate me. 

Word of advice for anyone driving in Houston, nobody really drives well here. 

JT