Choose NOW

For as long as I can remember church has been an intrigal part of my life. However finding a church is a challenge, especially one where you connect with people. I'll admit I haven't found that traveling yet but its a goal for my next assignment. While I've been here in Louisville I've done some searching. Which has been an experience in and of itself.

I've ended up at Southeast Christian Church and well its a little bigger than I'm used to. Like 20,000 people a weekend bigger. Its pretty much like going to church in a stadium or a huge theater. Honestly it makes taking the switch from Whitestone (300 members) to FMBC (800-1200 people a weekend) look fairly insignificant. Although it doesn't really feel that different from First. Maybe its like going from 2 to 3 kids, so chaotic you don't notice the difference.

Recently the teaching pastor has been doing a sermon series on what happens after you die. Sunday's activity was to think about who you want to make reservations to hang out with in Heaven.

I'm going to have coffee (or hot chocolate) with my big sister, go for a ride on a dinosaur with my friend Conner, take a long walk with Randy, spend an afternoon with Mother Theresa and ask Queen Ester what is was like to be her and know that she was made for just a time as this.

Tonight I spent a snowy evening at church for an event, Gods at War. Apparently it will soon be available on webcast and I highly recommend it. Didn't hurt that for King and Country was there doing the music. Good Music, great enviornment and some really great questions.

Gods at War, is a book written by the teaching pastor at Southeast, Kyle Idleman. I haven't read any of his stuff yet but I love listening to him preach. The book (and the evening) is about identifying the idols in our lives and how we fight them.  Here's some of the questions he asked. Hope they catch you as off guard as they caught me... go with your first response.

1. I am most disappointed with...
2. What do I complain about the most?
3. I would do anything for...
4. I'm worried that one day...
5. To feel better I...
6. It makes me mad when...
7. When I need direction I go to?
8. I'm really passionate about...

Those things... those are most likely the place that you put your hope and trust... those are idols. Kyle makes a point to point out that these aren't neccessarily bad things but if we put them ahead of God... well you get the idea. 

So here's the challenge we got and I'm passing it on to you. Decide who you're going to follow, decide NOW and then tomorrow when you get blindsided by life decide again, and the day after that, and the day after that.

Sugar Rush

     I have to admit. Traveling isn't exactly like I expected it to be. I expected it too feel like more of a vacation. You know like I was only gone for a short period of time and then I'd be home hanging out with friends and family. Well it turns out that 3 months is long enough for a place to start feeling familiar and for you to feel like you're starting a new life. Which, for those of you who have moved before know, isn't always the easiest thing to do.
   Of course it didn't help that one of my main goals while traveling is to take a huge bite out of debts and therefore I had regulated myself down to a small spending budget, significantly effecting my exploring. However after a great talk with my parents about balancing experience and getting out of debt I went on an adventure today... to Indiana... More specifically the 22nd Annual Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival...

Compared to the frozen tundra of Kansas the weather in Kentucky is
gorgeous. Gorgeous equals about 40 by the way. :) Welcome to the
Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival where the air smells like smoke and sugar.



I've always been facinated by the way
things work (I blame it on my dad). This is
the evaporator that transforms sap to syrup.
100% powered by wood burning heat.

Finished syrup waiting for packaging.

For you Aunt Louise... apparently Canadians are the
leading authority in all things maple syrup including
evaporators.

Food... the best part of any festival. This would be
waffles covered in pure maple syrup, strawberries,
whipped cream and chocolate chips.



Pure Sugar... kinda my thing

A Little Out of Shape

Its no secret that i'm a little out of shape. Strenuous excercise has never been my priority. Last night at work I decided to run the stairs. (They're the longest flights of stairs I've found yet) I only made it to the fourth floor before my legs decided they were done. However when I realized I was eating peanut butter M&Ms while I was doing it I decided I shouldn't really be suprised.

Last weekend however I got some real exercise when I went hiking at a local state park with some friends from work. There's not a lot of great scenery in the middle of february but we had a great time.

I'm back

Well after a few technical difficulties and a little procrastination I have finally reset the blog... apparently blogs can get hacked just like email accounts. Who knew.

Back in January I took advantage of a 4 day weekend and drove the 7 (or 11 depending on the weather) hours to Harrisonburg and took advantage of the close(r) proximity. I was so looking forward to a relaxing weekend, apparently God had a few other ideas to go along with it.

Finances have never been my forte. This time the problem was that I started spending my traveling checks before I actually earned them. Unfortunatly I didn't realize how low my funding had gotten until I tried to get cash in West Virginia and couldn't...

Stressor #2 came in the form of an unexpected snow storm right in the middle of the West Virginia mountains... Suddenly a 7 hour trip became 11. Don't get me wrong it made for some stunning scenery but I don't recommend front wheel drive, moutain roads and 8 inches of snow in 2 hours.

20 minutes before I took this picture I had looked down and realized that
I had VERY LITTLE gas left. The roads were terrible, and I had no idea
where the nearest gas station was. So I pulled off and got stuck. God was
ready for that one too. How blessed am I that at the top o the off ramp was
a rescue crew that was cleaning up from a wreck, got me unstuck and pointed
me to the nearest station.

  

At that point I had a decision to make. I could either try to find (and make it
to) a hotel or try to keep going. I told myself if I could get back up the
on ramp I'd keep going... I did. And then sat behind a wreck for 1 1/2 hours!

Its interesting to see how God moves when you don't expect it. If I hadn't
pulled off the road when I did and gotten stuck I would have run out of gas
in the middle of a snow storm without cell service and maybe been in the
wreck I just had to wait out.

My family and friends knew that I was coming with the exception of my Grandmother. The look on her face made all the stress of the trip worth it. That and the fact that Charlotte and her sister Binti got to spend the weekend together for the first time since they were puppies.

Four dogs in the house at the same time...

 

Grandma and Keto's version of tug-of-war.

 



After her workout the day before Keto needed
some doggy massage and PT...

They say that things happen for a reason. Well I'm going out on a limb and saying God used this trip to get my attention. After a good conversation with my family about finances (after my paycheck deposited) Jonathan cut my credit card in half. Apparently freezing them in a block of ice wasn't as effective as it needed to be. So far the new budget is going good.