Beyond Imagination

God blesses. Sometimes beyond what you'd ever imagine. I've been blessed in such a way this week. I believe it's dangerous to believe that he does it to reward us for some good behavior we've done. Maybe He does, sometimes, but I'm doubtful. I've done enough bad things to offset the good things. There must be another reason why He blesses us. In Genesis 12:2, God makes this promise to Abram:

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

In some versions, the last line is translated "So that you shall be a blessing." This makes more sense to me. We are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others. God doesn't just give us things to waste away. This is evident in the story Jesus tells about the talents. He gives talents to these three guys, and expects them to invest it wisely. I think we should use everything God blesses us with, whether it be money, a special talent, or a highly respected position to be a blessing to the people around us and to further His kingdom.

Last weekend was my mentor's (from work) wedding and Sea World. The wedding was pretty cool....well it was pretty hot actually since it was outside, but I ended up having a good time. And Sea World was amazing. I didn't think it'd be as fun, but they had a lot of really good shows! This weekend brings new and exciting adventures. Tonight, I'll be driving up to the (hopefully) great city of Dallas/Ft.Worth with my buddy Tom. We are gonna meet a bunch of guys and girls up there tonight and go to the world's largest Honkey Tonk!! It is appropriately named Billy Bob's. I'm pretty excited because I think they have live bull riding with real cowboys and everything!! And of course, I'm sure there will be plenty of good country music and two stepping! Tomorrow there is a party in Denton (North Dallas) at my good friend Bobby Brown's house. Should be some good BBQ and good times.

I only have three weeks of work left, which is really crazy. I'll be back in Ohio before I know it. I'm really glad I came out here. I've met some truly great people out here and had some truly amazing experiences. I've learned a lot about life too, and feel a lot more independent. God has definitely taught me a lot, hopefully a lot I can bring back to school this year. I'm excited to be a Senior this year and to see what God plans to do at UC this year. It's gonna be HUGE!!

Summer In Austin

Summer is FINALLY here in Texas!! You don't understand, until this last week, it had rained almost every day before and after (that's 3 weeks) my trip home to Ohio. But it's been sunny every day this last week...it just makes life a lot more fun!!

It's really hard for me to believe that I've been down here for almost 5 months. I think back to March and all the things I did when I first got here, and it just seems so long ago. Kind of like when you think back to high school and say "Did that really happen?" It's weird how memories fade like that. Sometimes I want to go back and relive some of them. It's not like I want to get out of where I am....it's just some things were that good. If I could go back and relive any week again, it would probably be my week at YL camp at Rockbridge. It's so beautiful and peaceful and fun down there, and you can just feel God when you are there.

Texas is going well. Just five more weeks of work left. One of my best friends, Tom, is moving back to Austin in a week or so, which I'm pretty excited about. Hopefully we'll get to go back downtown and see some live music b/c I haven't done that in a while. I'm planning on going to Sea World with some friends this Friday, though, which should be pretty cool!

I have(get???) to go to a wedding this upcoming weekend. My mentor from work is getting married. It's not that I don't want to go....well maybe it is haha. I really wanna be there for him to help him celebrate and I'm glad he invited me...it's just that I'm not going to know anyone there and it's all the way down in San Antonio. I mean who wants to go to a wedding alone, and not even know anyone there. But I've gone to a ton of places these last months knowing no one and it always seems to turn out just fine :-D

I have to admit though, I am really excited about going back home soon. Not that I don't like it here, but home is home and always will be. Maybe someday Texas will be my new home, but not for awhile. I'm just about ready to get back into the swing of things at school. I'm so excited to get back involved in Navs and be around a ton of people again! I'm also starting to get Bengals fever!! WHODEYY!! I think I will get back to Cincy on the day the Bengals have their Monday Night home opener against the Ravens!! I was looking at tickets online but they are so expensive. Who woulda thought 5 years ago we'd be selling out every season?!? I remember getting upset b/c they would never put the home games on tv since they never sold out. I'm also getting pumped for Bearcat's football....I think we're going to be pretty decent. I'll definitely be going to as many games as I can!!

Well, it's about to be Saturday night, I better go find something to do!

Peace out.

Soon

Ahhh I haven't updated this think in weeks. I really want to but I also really want to go sleep on my comfortable air mattress. Hopefully soon I can find some time to really write something on here!