...

Things are good. Its great having no reason to complain. I'm just really happy with where I am right. There's still a deep hunger within me for the things of God but in terms of life in general I'm excited. Its summer time here and the sun has been shining for the last week and a half, its great. I've nothing really profound to say which is kinda a regular occurrence for me so I'm basically rambling a blog post. Saw Spiderman 3...kinda depressing. The one thing I enjoyed was the redemption of the character Harry Osbourne. He was the one thing I enjoyed in the movie. Otherwise I found it frustrating. People just need to shut up and listen sometimes. We're often so inward focused that we view the rest of the world in relation to how everything suits us. We get caught up it ourselves, that's what happened to Peter Parker. Anyways, I also played mini golf this week which was fun. I'm now slowly becoming a bass player having played bass this past week at our Show me Your glory conference. It has been a real blast. Yeah, that's it really

Overwhelmed

I sometimes get moments, where I'm overcome with gratefulness and thankfulness. The things that I've done and seen are so amazing. Whether it be peeling oranges in New Jersey, jet skiing in Perth or playing football on a sunny summer evening in Ballincollig. All these things are moments in my life that I'll treasure. I so often get bogged down with situations and circumstance but its so good to just take time to reflect on the blessings we have received. I look out my window and its sunny, that's an answer to prayer. I'm slowly learning to life life to the full potential that God has given me. Its such a journey with many twists and turns. I've come to a point where I'm excited about the next turn because I don't know what to expect or what its going to look like. Sometimes its best for us to just not know.

Responsibility

This topic is something that has been on my heart recently. The question was put to me today "Where does my responsibility in situations stop and someone elses begins?" In my role here as a small group leader its sometimes hard to say "Ok I need to draw a line here and give it over to God". We often place false responsibility upon ourselves without even realising it. We feel like certain situations are ours to be responsible for and when a consequence or outcome isn't one we wanted or ever intended we often blame ourselves. Blame that should never have been ours.

This is one thing God has been really laying on my heart. He's been saying "Let me take responsibility". Its in his hands that situations, relationships, issues etc are safest. Even something as simple as praying out a situation and verbally giving it to God helps. He wants to take our burdens and those things that weigh on our minds. I'm now choosing to give the situations in my life to God. Sometimes we don't want to give these things up because we want to be in control of the things in our lives. I've found that as I'm more intimate with God and as I get to know him more its easier to give every aspect of my life to him. I trust him. We're often slow to give things to God because we don't know him well him enough to trust him with the things that are most important to us. So I encourage you to get more intimate with God. Work on your personal relationship with him, then release situations in your life to his will. Relationships, choices, the future, finances, family. He wants the responsibility and its safest in his hands

memoirs of a bogwatcher

I couldn't think of a title for this post so this was provided by my fearless leader the great gordini. Not only is he an amazing leader but also a jedi knight. Anyways I'm trying to blog more. I now have scheduled a half hour everyday for emailing blogging etc. So hopefully this will the last post about me meaning to blog more. I guess its just not high on my priority list. There's a load of other things i need to do before blogging but hopefully this scheduling of blogging etc will help the regularity of the blogging. So yeah. God bless

What's next

My apologies for lack of postage recently but lack of motivation and ill health have been a factor. Things have been really interesting over the last few weeks. The main thing going on with me now is what's next. I know I have 4 months left here and I'm really excited about that but my next step has been on my mind. I have a bunch of things open to me and I could do something completely new and different. The biggest thing for me is to do what I feel God is leading me to do and I'm not quite sure what that is right now. At this moment in time I'm truly up for anything and I mean anything because I now realise that god is bigger than what society thinks is "best". That often translates as playing it safe and whats accepted. I don't want to be "accepted" or do something for the sake of doing it. Is a college degree something that has to be done now, not necessarily. I'm just at a point in my life where I want everything God has for me. That could definitely be something regular, I have no problem with that but I'm just in the place where I'm open to what's irregular.

Krispy Kreme

Us small group leader guys are just sitting around our desk just discussing Krispy Kreme, the best doughnut place in the world so I said I'd capture the moment. Its just so good. Milk and doughnuts. I just want to cry because they're so good. Its my kinda hangout. 50's style decor, doughnuts and milk and good friends. Boston cream, raspberry, cheese cake. I'm learning to appreciate doughnuts a lot more. They're a really good thing.

Intimacy

God's been speaking to me a lot recently about this topic and I'm finally starting to hear him on the whole thing. I believe intimacy is the biggest key in our relationship with God. It is so much more than reading our bibles or worshipping. They are only part of the bigger picture of intimacy. Intimacy is about getting into the presence of God and staying in that place. Intimacy is communication. Talking with our Father. If you take the example of a marriage and contrast it with the relationship between us and God. In a marriage communication is so important. Sharing how our day is going, how we're feeling, our dreams, our desires, our frustrations. I believe our relationship with God should be the same. Honesty and vulnerability are so important. God wants us to be vulnerable with him. He wants us to want him. He created us for relationship and He's calling each of us by name back to him. I encourage and urge you to not forget why we were created, for relationship with our heavenly Daddy. He's waiting with open arms.

My apologies

Our wireless has been down since I got here so I haven't been able to post or email or anything but thankfully its now fixed so my posts will be more regular. All I really have to say now is stay in the presence of God, everyday. Its so key.

Peanut Butter...

isn't it a fantastic thing. Tonight I had peanut butter and toast with a glass of milk and I had the urge to blog. I've been eating peanut butter for as far back as I can remember. I don't remember my life without peanut butter. Its weird, having spent the last year in North America I realise they put peanut butter in everything. I have a huge fondness for peanut butter in a spread form but I'm not partial to the other varieties it comes in like chocolate, ice-cream etc. Its weird because its my favourite spread of all time but I'm not fond of it in other products. Maybe it could be due to the fact I've grown up with peanut butter in one format for my entire life and experiencing it in so many other varieties at once is just too much.

Then there is the age old dilemma of crunchy or smooth. It doesn't really bother me which I have, whatever is in the cupboard is fine. However, for some it must be one or the other. I found crunchy annoying when I had braces for most of my teenage years and smooth just goes down easy. There's pros and cons for both. For my North American friends there's a whole load of other varieties with the peanut butter spread range but that's for another day. This is just a toast to a wonderful food product that has impacted my life

Just some thoughts

I know I'm kinda turning into the kind of blogger I myself might find irritating but anyways I'll keep going. Sometimes we forget how privileged a position we are in as Christians or as people in general. We often let circumstance get in the way and consume us. We see whats right in front of us. A big issue or a problem. Sometimes we focus in on something so minuscule in terms of the big picture. In some cases the big issue is often something inside of us that the situation we face stirs up. How do we choose to react? Where do you put the blame? I think its time stop looking for somewhere to put the blame or for someone to blame. Lets not hide behind other peoples inadequacies or failings in order to cast a shadow over our own insecurities and fears. Its time to start examining our own hearts and asking God to reveal things to us. Don't live in the shadows any longer. We weren't designed or intended for that. We're meant to walk in the light and don't be scared that our failings or inadequacies will tarnish or dim that light. God loves us for who we are and HE is the one calling us out of the shadows into HIS light.