Tag: life

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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*

James HoganLeave a comment

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!!!!!

James HoganLeave a comment

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.

James HoganLeave a comment

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!

James HoganLeave a comment

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!!

James HoganLeave a comment

It’s a lovely Sunday afternoon – one of my favorite times of the week!! As I enjoy my coffee(sweetened with chocolate-raspberry creamer, mmm…) on this beautiful day, I can’t help but marvel at the goodness of the LORD!

And even though I wanted to write a proper update here(it’s been a while, has it not?), I for some reason don’t feel in a writing mood. Alas. I feel like I’m more in a nap mood!! And that’s mostly because I just have not been getting my sleep lately…late night on Friday, and then the Redeemer’s men breakfast was early Saturday morning. And it was awesome. But it kept me from sleeping in…and then I went and got a haircut and after that saw Julie for lunch. Excellent time catching up and eating good burger and imbibing far too much coffee…anyway, eventually made it back to my place to make brownies! I made them because Melissa had a birthday party last night and I wanted to bring SOMETHING. So I made brownies while watching Roman Holiday(yes, I was in a nostalgic mood – and I totally forgot how hilarious that movie is. Highly recommended). Anyways, I took out the brownies too early so they were really not-quite-done. Not necessarily a bad thing. But still. I then drove the Houstonesque(my new word for really long drives) distance to Melissa’s house. Great times there just relaxing with people and talking and laughing…from trying to share Monty Python jokes with the uninitiated to debating male figure skating…good times indeed. But good times almost always equal little sleep and thus I woke up exhausted this morning for church. Nothing a little coffee couldn’t cure though! Sweet time at church(starting a new Sunday school – Bill Christen teaching through James…it’s going to be epic) and now I’m home just enjoying the loving-kindnesses of my Savior.

And wow, I guess I was in more of a writing mood than I thought!! Anyways, I really am going now – I might catch a wink or two of sleep before I make a sweet dinner(spaghetti with yummy Italian sausage and spinach salad on the side). So farewell to all!!

Oh and USA is playing Canada in Olympics hockey today(prelim round, but still). Go USA!!!

James HoganLeave a comment

Today was pretty sweet. Just saying.

And why, you may ask?? Well, first of all it was a gloriously crisp day, full of that early February chill and yet the sun still shone. And church was magnificently encouraging. And this afternoon was pretty much the most refreshing and uplifting afternoon of all time!! (Going through old notebooks of favorite Scripture = awesomeness)

And then this evening, went to a Super Bowl party at the Field’s house. The Saints beat the Colts(sadness…I wanted Peyton to get the win…oh well) but the best part wasn’t the game, but just hanging out with everyone!!! Lots of people from church were there(Alex, Joseph, Adam, Marci, Claire, and lots of others…would take too long to list everyone!!) At halftime, a bunch of us played a few games of round-the-world ping-pong. Epic awesomeness. After the game, we probably played another twenty games of that. No, that’s NOT hyperbole. So trust me when I say I’m exhausted now!!! My shower felt VERY well deserved. Anyways, after a thoroughly amazing day, I feel like bed is calling my name…so g’night all and may God bless you in this coming week!!

Worthy are You to take the book
and to break its seals; for You
were slain, and purchased for
God with Your blood men from
every tribe and tongue and people
and nation.
You have made them to be a
kingdom and priests to our God;
and they will reign upon the
earth.
-Revelation 5:9

James HoganLeave a comment

I’ve had a pretty awesome Christmas, what! Cinnamon rolls, bacon, giving and receiving presents, relaxing and reading in my room with Maryanne and Laura, playing epic Monopoly(of which I was the champion!!), playing brutal Spades games(of which me and Katharyn SHOULD have been the champions), best-meal-ever-lasagna, more goofing off with sisters, enjoying the company of the best family EVER, and relaxing in the goodness of the LORD Almighty. ‘nough said? Yes.

James HoganLeave a comment

Don’t have time for a long entry now…just wanted to say that being back in Florida with the fam is pretty awesome!!!! Been eating sumptuous meals, relaxing on the couch with the sisters, playing cards(and winning – me and Maryanne dominate at Spades, just sayin’), watching crazy movies(Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart…awesomeness), playing mini-golf all day long, proof-reading my little sisters’ stories they’re writing…yep, pretty much just good times. And now about to go to Panera for lunch with Katharyn…YES. Hope everyone is having as relaxing and sweet a Christmas break as me!!!! Alright, signing off.

James HoganLeave a comment

GUESS WHAT.

It is cold here. Like…in the 40s!!! It was great walking to the gym and feeling the wintry air blowing around me!! And driving home was simply marvelous…the clouds hung heavy in the sky, so still they seemed to be painted onto the roof of the world, and yet the deep purple swirls and dark grey tendrils and light blue dapples were more beautiful than a painting could ever be. And as I drove over the highway the sun appeared and light dropped from the reaches of the heavens and dripped onto the clouds like butter on popcorn, bathing the sky in a heavenly golden glow and dwarfing all the nearby buildings of concrete and steel in the magnificence of the setting of the sun.

Oh, what a beautiful day.