It is the most beautiful evening out right now!! Dusk is upon us and night is coming, but as the last light fades from the sky, a thunderstorm approaches. The air tingles with cool scent of rain as the clouds pass swiftly overhead. The thunder rolls ominously as the sky flashes with lightning. An eerie green tinges the sky and the trees tremble in the passing of the wind heralding the coming of the storm. Looking up to the kaleidoscope of color in the sky and feeling the first drops of rain on my face, I exult in the Creator of heaven and earth! Ah Lord God, thou hast created the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm!! The beauty of the storm is almost overwhelming as I open my eyes to behold the glorious sky and see the light crash from one end of the sky to the other in a panorama of power! Oh what beauty! Oh what power! Oh what glory! Open your eyes!
It’s been a simply lovely Sunday here in Houston!!! And before anyone chides me, yes, it’s far too late for me to be up and writing. And I probably also shouldn’t be drinking coffee right now. But that’s all beside the point. It’s been far too long since I’ve written a proper update, and so I have decreed this as the entry to chronicle everything I’ve done in the past few months!! Ok, maybe not everything, but seeing as I’ve visited three different states in the last couple months and had some epic adventures, well it would be a crime for me to deprive you all of the tales of my adventures.
And thus ends my long-winded introduction. Here we go!!
Actually, I think I’ll just go backwards, starting with this weekend, which was sufficiently awesome to be recorded for posterity. Today was church, beautifully lovely as always. We’re almost done with Hosea(we did chapter 13 today – read it. Grim words. But despite the terrifying words of judgement contained therein, there is yet the hint of hope(O Death, where are your thorns? Oh Sheol where is your sting?). Death is swallowed up in victory indeed. The victory of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! And apart from the sermon, it was awesome hanging out with people and relaxing in the joys of fellowship! Following, I came home and promptly took a nice long nap…I was pretty exhausted, due to the night before(which I’ll be getting to in short order). I awoke feeling wonderfully refreshed, made a quick dinner and now am listening to the hauntingly beautiful music of Coldplay. Great bedtime music.
And now to yesterday! Yesterday was the men’s breakfast at church. As always, a hearty(and delicious!) breakfast followed up by oh-so-sweet talking and sharing of the goodness of the Lord!! We talked through John 4, which pleased me much, seeing as that’s pretty much one of the best Chapters ever. Again, read it. After that, I relaxed at home for a little while…and then went and saw Julie for lunch at Boston Market! It’s quite tragic – we only see each other every month or so, so it’s always great times catching up when we get the chance. She’s in Indonesia right now and is going to Calgary for a three year rotation, starting in a few months. Epic. Of course, I sort of prefer Scotland myself…
Yesterday evening, went to a benefit dinner for HaMoreh Ministries…a sweet ministry that teaches and provides for the education of pastors in Eastern Africa. Erin sponsored a table for a bunch of us(Travis, the Jacobs, Will, Alex, Joseph..) and it was good times indeed! I must confess, while I enjoyed hearing the African praise songs, my favorite part was singing “How Great Thou Art” at the end!!! Afterwards, me and Alex and Will hung out in the parking lot and talked for…a while. We were definitely the last to leave…I say, some of my best times of fellowship tend to be in parking lots…oh how thankful am I for such good brothers!!!
And Friday night was another sweet night!! We made plans to go see Iron Man 2 that night, and so after work, I drove to Josh(from work)’s house, where I had dinner with him and his family. We then went and picked up another of his friends and then drove to the theatre, where we met up with Clint and Rob. It was raining torrentially, so driving was very much not fun. The movie was pretty good(I thought it was better than the first one, but my memory of the first is admittedly poor), but the best part of the night was just being able to hang out with the guys!!
And alas, I had planned for this entry to be far longer, but I have decided that it is probably better if I start getting ready for bed now. I’m not on college time anymore, more’s the pity! So, my update of my adventures in the past few months will have to wait for a better time. Until then, friends. G’night!!
A good evening to you all! (Or a good “whatever” to those in different timezones…*tips hat to Deanna*) I’ve really wanted to do a proper update for quite some time…but no, don’t get your hopes up – this is not that time. It’s a Thursday night and Thursday nights do NOT make for good writing moods. I’m listening to some sweet MUSE currently, but sadly that does not translate into my literary muse. Ah well. I actually don’t even know why I’m writing an entry at all, but I felt I should pop in and reassure you, my dear readers, that I actually still exist. This weekend, hopefully, I’ll get a bit of time. We shall see. And my, but isn’t this post full of uncertainty!
Because I actually don’t know what I’m writing, I shall sign off. Oh but before I do, be assured that Houston is still pretty sweet. The weather was gorgeous today, with the breeze shyly dancing through the newly green trees, victoriously holding its own against the bald aggressions of summer heat. And oh, have I mentioned that I recently found out where I’ll be headed in a few months? Well, Cameron decided I needed a bit of…experience. Abroad. So I’m going to be working in Aberdeen the latter half of this year. Aberdeen, Scotland, that is. My Scottish blood sings at the notion! Of highlands and lochs and the sea breeze through my hair!! Houston’s been enough of an adventure. But it’s time for an even more epic one. YES. And if it wasn’t clear, I am quite excited. Quite.
And God is awesome. Just saying.
And I did NOT sign off earlier. Clearly I am a liar. Oops. Farewell. *clicks Post*
One thing
I have asked from the LORD,
That I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to meditate in His temple.
-Psalm 27:4
Cobblestones and willow trees,
Cavalcades of weeping girls,
Confluence of destinies,
Why do we cry?
Bondage of the desperate will,
Billing of the requiem,
Bonnie lake and window sill,
Why do we try?
Chimney sweeps and waterfalls,
Caravans of jealous eyes,
Cryogenic lovelorn calls,
Why do we sigh?
One last whisper, one last tear,
One last heart upon your spear,
One last wed of black and white
One last whimper, one last night.
No more anguish, no more pain,
No more crying in the rain,
No more living in the wrong,
No more dying, no false song.
Only truth and only love,
Only throne on skies above,
Only foot on holy ground,
Only life and only crowned.
Maple leaf and balcony,
Ministries of lovesick eyes,
Mirror of lucidity,
Glory we cry!
Well, I wanted to post a nice long entry, but alas, I am leaving for a camping trip in less than twenty minutes! I was enjoying my coffee and bacon and buried in reading and…well, sort of lost track of time. And now it’s past 12:30. Oops. Well, suffice it to say that this past week has been pretty ridiculous(and I really want to post an entry soon detailing my adventures in California with Katharyn!) and this weekend is set to be pretty spectacular! Because finally, I will be hiking in the wilds of Texas. When(if) I return, I’ll let you all know what the wilderness of Texas is like. And now, on to the meat of this post…I was going to post this in my other(theological/serious/one-I-never-post-in) blog, but thought that I may as well post it here.
And so today, on the day that we remember as the day that Christ died for us, what do we say? Can we say truly that as Christ died, so we died to sin? Can we say that as Christ lived, we live His life by His Holy Spirit? Sometimes it is so hard to live in this lost world – it yet spins, but groans with every revolution, awaiting with eagerness the return of the King. And as we live in this world, we remember that we are to live renouncing the things hidden because of shame(2 Cor 4:2) and to live by the grace so abundantly given to us by our God the Father! And now, for what do we wait? Our hope is in the LORD!(Psalm 39:7). Let us live with the passion of Christ, forsaking the beguiling pleasures of this world and cling to the feet of Jesus! Let us live with the sorrow of Christ, weeping over the desolation of those who know Him not!(Matt. 24:37-39) Let us live with Christ!! And indeed, we do, because Christ died that we may yet live. He, who knew no sin, died that we may know the righteousness of God. He, who committed no sin, died with the sins of the world upon his shoulders that we may be freed from the bondage of hell! He, who was the perfect and spotless Lamb, was slain by His Father that we may be priests forever, to our LORD and God! Christ alone is our righteousness! Christ alone is our passion! To Him be all the glory and all majesty and all power and authority, from now to the day of eternity! May we look to the heavens and see Him standing at the right Hand of the Almighty, robed in glory and power!! As we groan and falter in this bleeding world, let us look into the Holy of Holies and see the very Son of God! As the wrath of God was poured upon Jesus, so the treasuries of heaven were poured upon us! Our lives were bought with a price, the very blood of Christ. And so we love Him. Because He first loved us!!!!!
After eight days His disciples were
again inside, and Thomas with them.
Jesus came, the doors having been
shut, and stood in their midst and said,
“Peace be with you.” Then He said
to Thomas, “Reach here with your
finger, and see My hands; and reach
here your hand and put it into my side;
and do not be unbelieving, but
believing.” Thomas answered and
said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
-John 20:26-27
Aaaand, back by popular demand(and yes, one person constitutes popular) is early-morning-Saturday posting! And don’t think I would be up right now if I could be sleeping instead. Trust me. But alas, work has yet again called my number and I’ve been summoned to combat the forces of industrial evil and triumph victoriously over the demons of manufacturing. And yep, I realized that that description says absolutely nothing about what I actually do, but it’s a cool job description, neh?
And don’t worry, to relieve my pain of waking up dreadfully early this Saturday, I am indeed drinking my coffee right now. And crunching on bacon. Is anyone really surprised? This is terrible, I’ve become far too predictable. Well, it makes me happy. Soooo happy. And bonus points to whoever can tell me the movie the previous sentence came from. Oh and I just realized another question you may ask…why would I wake up insanely early just to make bacon and coffee when I could squeeze another hour of sleep out of the night and just go to work soon after waking up?? Many people think I’m ridiculous(and I tend to agree), but if I’m going to have work on a Saturday, I like to incentivize(apparently not a word – oh well) myself, convincing my aggravated soul that working on Saturday IS rewarded. And in a twisted kind of way, by waking up extra early and making myself breakfast, I reward myself!
And wow, I don’t think half of that previous paragraph makes sense, but there you go. I may come back at a more sensible hour and revise, so pardon my sleepy writing style. If you can call it a writing style. And speaking of writing, I have been terribly deficient in my literary output as of late. And no, you’re not allowed to question if my writing constitutes as literary. Nevertheless, I’ve tried to write lately, but my imagination has been incredibly lackluster. And my muse, fickle friend that she is, has been woefully absent. SO, if anyone has an idea for a story/poem/essay/epic novel(ok, maybe not that last), shoot it my way and I’ll write something for you! I would try to write something now, but quite frankly, I’m too frightened of how my mind works at this hour of the day to attempt writing anything more than this journal entry!
And I’ve scanned the last few paragraphs and realized how much of this update is actually an update and how much of this update is rambling. Oops. But, too bad for you all, I still want to read and relax a bit more away from the chains of my computer, so I must bid y’all adieu. So enjoy this for what it’s worth(2 pence? maybe??) and if you’ve survived this far, I congratulate your fortitude! And now it’s “Mmmm Coffee and Reading Time for James”. And one more thing…I love you guys. Just saying.
Well, Saturday morning here! But am I relaxing and sleeping in, luxuriating in the warmth of my bed??? The answer to that rhetorical question would be a resounding no, as I am quite clearly here typing away. And why would I forsake the peace of my dreams to be staring blankly at the cold light of my laptop? Well, I don’t really know why I’m on my laptop, actually…but the reason I’m awake is because I’m about to drive to work…alas for the curse of Adam and his thorns and thistles! (And oh gosh, I am SO going to use “thorns and thistles!” when I get upset now. Ok, maybe not really. But is it not apt??)
ANYWAYS, clearly I am even more insane early in the morning than late at night! But yes, this month at work is very crazy, busy enough that it’s not even the middle of the month yet, and we’re still scrambling to meet month-end deadlines. We had a meeting yesterday where we were basically told “All hands on deck”…so hello Saturdays at Cameron!
But of course, I don’t care if I’m going in to work, I will not let this stop me from having my Saturday breakfast of champions! So yes, I am eating bacon and drinking my coffee(Folgers Columbian, if you’re wondering) and still enjoying the freedom that Saturday offers, even if this time it got rudely yanked from under my feet.
Wow, it is the morning and I am STILL exhausted. And that may be due to me treating last night as a Friday night…which is exactly what it was. So I got minimal sleep. Ah well. It was a pretty sweet night – a bunch of us watched over the kids at church while their parents went out on date nights – I gotta say, playing 500 for hours is just awesome. Of course, having fun last night equals tiredness today. I am so going to take a nap when I get home. Hopefully it’s still light by then. And speaking of light, today is the last day that I get to enjoy the light of the dawn when driving to work…Daylight Savings will ensure that my whole drive to work will be dark for the next eternity of months. This is much sadness. I like light. I do not like darkness. At least not when I’m driving to work.
And seriously, why am I still writing?? My apologies for the weirdness of this post – clearly I should not post at this time of day. Clearly. And now I shall enjoy my bacon and coffee and reading…for a few more sweet minutes. Farewell friends!
Just got back from the gym and oh boy is it gorgeous outside!!! As I started driving home today, the sky was amazingly blue, unsmudged by smoke or clouds, and then the wind started picking up and I kept driving home and saw the western clouds begin to roll in, obscuring the setting sun but still the golden rays poured through the gaps in the heavens to shine down in liquid columns of light upon the earth below and then as I walked upon the sidewalk I felt the arctic air playfully tickle my skin and then the wind gusted and then the wind roared in the skies above as the palm trees danced the Charleston to the song of the dusk and then I tilted my head to the darkening sky and felt the first droplets of the spring rain touch my forehead and I spread my arms wide and welcomed the embrace of the wind and the last light of the day kissed my brow and I rejoiced. It is glorious!!
Something Weird 