A New Identity

I confess that the idea for this post was provided in part by my dear friend Sammy Rhodes. Today, I was listening to the first RUF podcast from this semester at Georgia Southern University. The theme of this talk was "Identity Crisis". The identity crisis dealt with here is the identity crisis experienced in college. So I am unabashedly borrowing this theme to share with you about my identity crisis and how it ties into the issue of manhood.
It is my observation that most high school teens are in a constant state of angst and drama. They worry about fitting in and being liked by their friends, while being bombarded from every form of media that they have to look a certain way, do certain things, and have a special personality type or they won't be "cool". Identity is something that teens spend their every waking moment being anxious about. I know personally, as an awkward kid in middle and high school, I was always worrying about others thought of me and tried to be one of the in-crowd.
Once senior year rolled around, my identity, was in my mind, cemented in a comfortable place. Only when I started college, did I realize that I was mistaken. My desire for approval came back, and this time, I understood that it was idolatry. My world changed. The idea that wanting others' approval was a form of idolatry was new to me.
College is an exciting time for anyone, but a time where you experience things that shape you for the rest of our life. Your identity shifts again as you grow and (hopefully) mature in an adult. They tell us that they are the most exciting times in our lives. In college, I never fully figured out who I was as a person, or what I wanted to do with my life. I felt directionless and frustrated, but was constantly being reminded that my identity was not in what I did for a living or if I was athletic or not. Once I was identified as a sinner justly deserving God's wrath and in desperate need of a Savior. Now that I have been saved by God's boundless grace, I have a new identity. My identity is in Jesus Christ. Because he is my identity, I don't have to worry what others think about me, or how cool I look simply for no other reason than Jesus views me as his son covered by his grace and free in him. I was reminded of these truths today while listening to "Identity Crisis". Thank you Sammy for the reminder!

Be Not Discouraged!

This week has already been interesting! On Monday, we had the annual slipn'slide extravaganza at Mark Ballard's home which was also the day that I sprained my foot. The slipn'slide was made from three large tarps that reached to about one hundred feet down a long hill in Mark's front lawn. Pretty epic! I made it down the slide three times without incident, but the fourth time, my foot got caught underneath me and somehow twisted as I made it to the halfway point. Turns out that I sprained my foot and sought medical attention soon thereafter.
Today, the pain is subsiding, but my foot still looks very black and blue, and swollen. As for the job situation, Bank of America turned me down, and it appears that I will be getting a job at Chick-fil -A. While this is not my ideal place to work, I am trying to trust that God knows what he is doing and be thankful that he has provided a source of income for me. Today also was a day of endless reflection on Statesboro and friends and family there who I miss fiercely.
Again, the Lord has provided me with a great community here who are encouraging and who are excited to walk with the Lord. In times like these, when discouragement gets me down, and threatens to weaken my faith in Jesus, I am reminded of Joshua 1:9 that says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." That is a rock solid promise!

On the Move...Again

Well, I am now officially moved into 667 Monticlair Drive here in Macon. I spent a restless night in my new home trying to fight off congestion, but I feel extremely blessed to be here with a believing family and to experience the community of believers in another area of the state. Tomorrow, orientation starts at First Presbyterian Church and then off for two days to an undisclosed location for our first retreat to kick off the Internship.
After a summer of living in Tennessee away from my church home, I feel better about moving off again and starting a new chapter in my life. My host family, the Bechtel's are extremely kind and generous. I already feel like a part of the family. Mr. Gary Bechtel is an avid reader and a history buff, so I feel that we will get along very well. The Bechtel's have a girl, Tarver in her Freshmen year at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, and a son, Sam 14 in highschool. Sam gave up his entertainment room downstairs for my room, which was very gracious.
Today, I tried to get familiar with the area and drove around Riverside. My favorite go-to place will probably be Barnes and Noble only 15 minutes from the house! I am excited to be here and eager to see what God does this year in my life!

Sacrificial Love

It has been some time since my last blog post, and I apologize, but I have been very busy. This week I have been out in the forests making benches and handrails, as well as clearing off trails in the Cherokee National Forest. The Lord has blessed me with some creative and talented groups to work with and I have been fortunate to pass on some wisdom to the kids who have been under my supervision. Just today I was able to share with some kids today about the fruits of their labors and how even when they are tired and hot, they can still have fun and enjoy being in
God's creation, working with their hands and enjoy the finished product. Even though the groups are here for only a week, we are given the oppurtunity to have fellowship with believers from all over the country and work and serve others together. I try to remind the kids that they are here to serve and demonstrate the love of Christ to others whether it be painting a house or cleaning someone's yard. Through my interactions with youth leaders and youth, God is teaching me patience, love, and kindness.

He is teaching me humble leadership and servanthood, whether it be with a group or with fellow coworkers. When I have projects with another coworker, my first inclination this week was to take co-command or to take charge myself, but the Lord humbled me, and made the opposite happen. My sinful nature doesn't want to take the back seat; it wants to be first, but I am reminded, that even if the other leader wants things done differently than how I want them done, I must be a peacemaker, and deal with my jealousy and pride, and die to myself.

I am truly thankful for the community of believers here at Eagle Ranch. We have recently finished the book of James in our staff devotional, and our goal each week is to hold each other accountable to the things we are learning each week in our study. Also, we take prayer requests and pray for each other throughout the week. One of the raft guides, Justin Boldt, worked with me this week in the forests and has also been my accountabilty partner. He is always there to confront me in sin, and to encourage me in my walk with the Lord. God has greatly used him to point out sin in my life. Justin has been a great example to me of one who sacrifices himself for others. This is the greatest thing that I have learned over the last three weeks. Every day, I learn just how selfish my heart can be, but everyday I learn how gto be selfless and to love others, even those "difficult" people around me.

The Blessing of Community

This is my first post in over a year! I think I finally found a purpose or direction to go in with my blog, so I am going to keep it updated every week or every other week from now on. Well, I have gotten a job working in Tennessee at a rafting company called Eagle Adventures for the summer, and I have been here for about two weeks. I spent this last week training, doing activities such as our climbing wall, indoor games, spending time with elderly, and interacting with mentally and physically challenged adults.
It has been a challenging week both mentally and emotionally. Being away from the things that I am accustomed to has been hard, but phone calls help alot! Also, working with mentally and physically handicapped people at a place called Industrial Opportunities Incorporated was heart breaking. We saw some adults with severe handicaps some of whom are told by their families that they cannot do anything, yet here they are being useful making medical supplies, bags, belts, and even car parts for the military.
So on Tuesday, we took a youth group from Pearl, Mississippi to work with the people at IOI and interacted with them, ate lunch with them, and we trainees supervised the youth as they interacted. Then the next day, IOI brought people to Eagle Ranch and they tried the climbing wall, ate lunch, and they kids put on a puppet show, which everyone from IOI loved. it was such a blessing to see the smiles on their faces.
On Thursday, we went to the community center nearby and danced to Bluegrass music with the elderly who come there every Thursday. That was fun and the kids really got into it! Then we ate lunch and interacted with them. One man I spoke with named Doug, was a WWII verteran and told me that he had been captured by the Germans who then burned his arms sdo that he could not use his weapon. He continued gto talk to me and I learned much aboiut his life.

Then on Friday and Saturday I had a chance to go whitewater rafting for the first time and it was awesome! I ended up going two more times on Saturday when the river was very high. Even though I'm not training to be a river guide, I am able gto spend alot of time with coworkers who are, and so far it has been a great experience getting to know people from all over the country. In fact, the guy that I room with is from Savannah and he know four people that I am friends with! Talk about small world... His name is Matt Holland, and we have had many good conversations not only about our Christian lives, but also about music we like, people we both know, etc.
The other guides that Iam becoming friends with are Joe Carroll, Sam Hovan, and Justin Boldt, all three of whom go to school in Texas, Virginia Brown from Arkansas(we call her Pepper, but that's another story), Steven from California, and Elizabeth Heck from Massachusetts. All of us but Steven are Christians and live on the ranch, but Steven is hoping to move onto the ranch this week and bunk with me and Matt. He is open to Christianity, but doesn't attend church or spend time around Christians, so it is our hope that we can get him involved in a bible study that us guides are starting on Wednesday. Please be in prayer for that!
It is through these simple interactions that our group is able to share the love of Christ to those we come in contact with and learn more about what it means to love others in a fallen, and broken world. It is a remendous blessing that there is a small Christian community with us guides here and we have already become friends. What a great start to the summer!

Etudes: Notes of a Musician Movement 1.

Recently, while being assigned my final project in Photojournalism, I really had to put my head in gear. Our assignment was to tell a story through pictures. My first pessimistic thought was that there would be nothing of interest to photograph in Statesboro. Boy was I wrong...

One day, after attending a concert with a friend at the Foy Fine Arts Building on campus, it dawned on me. See, I had a rather unique opportunity after the concert that night. My friend, Gabriel is a piano performance major at Georgia Southern, and we received special permission to use the stage and play on the piano there. all the elements that came together that night became my inspiration. The moment Gabriel began playing Fantasie Impromtu by Chopin on that stage, with the amazing sound and lighting, the idea hit me that I should tell the story of a musician's life. The following Monday, I began telling my story. I think I shot 75 pictures within the first 15 minutes!


Part of doing this story means covering any aspect of a musician's life. There are countless hours of practice and then there are times where rest must be taken.

A few days later, I was roaming about the second floor of Foy, where the practice rooms are located, and I happened to see another friend of mine, Josh Crowe, a violinist. I had never been able to hear him play before, so I thought that I should take the opportunity. As he began playing, I asked if I could take pictures for my project, and explained what I was trying to do. Josh enthusiastic about the idea began playing a somewhat mournful but beautiful piece by Tchaikovsky.

That afternoon, I took 150 more pictures that I hoped would contribute to my story. Then I received another surprise! I got a rare oppportunity to go with Josh to his lesson and record what a violin lesson looks like. I was so nervous, but excited!

Watching a violinist "in action" up close is a completely different experience from either listening to a violinist on a recording or from watching one on a stage. The violin commands attention even in somber pieces like the one Josh played for me. There is detail that goes into the music that one would never see unless you were there watching very closely. You would never know that an ostinato is played with more complicated fingering and more intense bow work than a sonata might be played. It can be mezmerizing to watch the talent it takes to be able to play such an instrument. The greatest part which brings me such joy is the ability to listen to two good Christian brothers playing music to God's glory, and me being blesed to be a part of their musical lives.

Wake Thy Slumbering Children

So I have not posted in quite a while, but I finally felt inspired by some very encouraging music by Indelible Grace. The new album Wake Thy Slumbering Children is the fifth Indelible Grace cd and has songs that deal with the theme of the Tempter's power that is Satan's power and the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The title refers to our cries to our Savior to revive the slumbering church. It is encouraging to know that when our souls are bereaved and lonely, we can take comfort in what the song "O Heart, Bereaved and Lonely" says: "O, watch and wait with patience, and question all you will; His arms of love and mercy are ‘round about thee still.” Even when we feel alone or feel like the church is sleeping and drifting, that the arms of our loving Savior are still wrapped around us and will never let us go.
Wake Thy Slumbering Children has songs like "Go to Dark Gethsamene" that reminds us of that saving work of Christ on our behalf and calls us to "Learn of Jesus Christ to die" as he did. In living as we are called, we may die to ourselves and our own selfishness for others and love them as Christ so loved us. My favorite stanza from this song is the third that reads:
"Calvary's mournful mountain climb;
there, adoring at His feet
Mark that miracle of time,
God's own sacrifice complete
"It is finished!" hear Him cry;
Learn of Jesus Christ to die
Learn of Jesus Christ to die
May we all remember that mournful day and yet rejoice in our risen Lord, trusting that He hears and knows all our fears and desires. When we feel the Tempter's power, we ought to dwell on the miracle of Christ's sacrifice and praise the one who can help us overcome the temptations we face every passing hour. Pray that the church will not falter in doing this, but will be alert to fight the Tempter's power. Wake Thy Slumbering Children!