It's been a while since I've written anything to update everyone on how things are going. I shot out a could quick Facebook status updates as things were happening, but haven't really told the story for you guys to read. I haven't sat still in months, but I felt like I needed to share what's going on with my life right now.
My contract position ended on January 18th. The position had gone fairly well. I felt that I was doing a good job, and a couple employees had approached me and told me the same. The company was also very busy, so I knew that they needed as much help as they could get. A couple days before my contract ended I was invited into the conference room, and received a full-time offer as a Junior Mechanical Engineer. I took the position and I'm DWG Consulting's newest employee. It's been a great job, and I work with a ton of awesome people. Most of the people I'm working with are at similar places in life as myself. They're buying their first homes, having their first kids, getting married, paying off debt, and all the other fun things young people do. We put together a basketball team for a church league and we've been having a ton of fun getting our butts kicked every week! I've been putting in a ton of hours, usually 45-55 a week, but it isn't nearly as bad as it seems due to the people that I get to work with.
JOB DESCRIPTION
I'll just give a short description of the company and my job. Architecture firms design new buildings or renovate old ones, then send us a digital model of the space they've created. Everything you can see in a building is usually in their drawings. Then, once we get the model, we conduct calculations to determine the amount of air, lighting, electricity, and water needed for the building. Once the calculations are completed we can choose most of the equipment that we'll use: air handling units, water pumps, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and that type of thing. The final thing is to place the equipment and associated ducts, pipes, and light switch/ outlets into the model before sending it back to the architect for approval.
Personally, I've been conducting a lot of the calculations and doing a lot of the drawing. I have also been going on site visits to determine what the pre-existing conditions are for the buildings that we're renovating. We need to determine if we can re-use any equipment, and also have to develop demolition drawings at times. There are also some background tasks necessary such as writing narratives for what we plan to do with the space, and developing specifications, neither of which I've done very much of yet. I was recently approached about traveling to do site visits for one of our national clients, so some time in the near future I'll start flying around the country to look at renovating specific buildings to be plasma donation centers.
I do enjoy the job, and I hope to be at this company for a while, but I feel like I'm missing something. I have been trying to determine what else I can be doing during this time, but haven't made a concrete decision. I'll be moving into a new house sometime in March, and I'm hoping that once I get settled in it'll be much easier for me to make other decisions. I've been living out of boxes again for the last month waiting to find out where I was going to be living, so this will make it much more comfortable. Plus, I get to go back to Wisconsin and get some of my stuff and I get to move within walking distance of work! No more having to borrow things from other people all the time, and no more tourism traffic!
PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE
After moving, I hope to start A Helping Hand up in the Charleston area. I want to find a hard-working young adult with construction experience to look over things while I'm at work, so that I can continue to fully commit to my engineering job, being able to delegate certain things to that person and others every evening after work. I have a business plan in place that I am sure will be successful, but I'm waiting on God to provide the right person for the job.
I also hope to start a city-wide worship night that would bring all the churches together for a night of worship completely separate from any individual congregation. It's difficult for me to see so many people working toward a common goal, but ignoring each other's existence. I haven't made much headway, but I have some ideas that I would like to look into to see if this is something that I could possibly put together for the Charleston area. I know people would come, but I need to find the appropriate band and the appropriate venue.
REGULAR, PRAYER REQUESTS
Please be praying that God would direct me in how to serve Him most effectively during this time. I don't have much time outside of work, so I can't spread myself as wide as I had been. I need to determine one or two areas that I can concentrate my efforts.
Pray for a band and a venue for what I hope to call Praise Jam. Pray for open doors so that this thing can really happen.
Pray that if God wants A Helping Hand to happen that the right person would cross my path.
Pray that God would bring a couple close friends into my life, whether it's friends who are already close moving here or developing deeper friendships with some people here.
BIG PRAYER REQUESTS
Our pastor challenged us at the beginning of the year to pray for some big things, because God tells us that He'll give us above and beyond anything we can ask or imagine. So, please, if you're called to, join me in prayer for the following things in my life.
Please pray that God would restore my health and take away my diabetes. I have been having a lot of problems with my blood sugars lately. Please pray that whatever areas of my life have been affected by the diabetes would be restored as well. I know through Christ that full healing can happen, so please help by digging a hole in the roof and lowering me into the house. (Mark 2:1-5).
Along with good friends, I'd love to start a family. Mom and Dad want to be able to play with their grandkids before they get weak and frail, and if I'm blessed with children I'd like them to know two very mobile grandparents as well. Please pray that God would bring a companion to the well (Genesis 24:42-45).
Thank you guys. Love you all!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Changing Tides
Through the experiences I've had in life, I've realized that sometimes it's better to withhold information or thoughts from people for a certain amount of time. Sometimes a first impression can lead someone astray, and I think mine would've caused me to share some things that are no longer true. I finally feel comfortable sharing my experiences and thoughts about my new position and what's currently happening in my life! I'm excited about what God is doing and I'm glad I get to share it with all of you.
I've been working for three and a half weeks now, which is about half of the time I was hired for on my contract. I think you were probably able to sense from my last blog that I was a little hesitant about this position and how much I would enjoy it. It took a couple weeks to transition from the freedom of having my own schedule every day to working 10 hours on someone else's schedule every day, but it's been great! The hours get to be a little much at times, but I'm really enjoying the company. It feels good to work hard at something, knowing that it's going to serve a purpose. I've been mainly doing design work. An architect will send us a model that they've created of a building, then we'll size equipment and place the equipment in the building. Equipment includes ductwork, pipes, plumbing fixtures, air handling units, electrical sockets, and various other necessary instruments for a building. It's cool to know that I get to choose where something goes. I get to choose what happens in a project. I get to play a part in the design of buildings all over the US. Most that I haven't been in, and some that maybe you have been in!
The people I work with are really cool too. We just had a company Christmas party this last Friday where I got to know everyone a little better. It was fun joking around with the principals of the company and meeting everyone's families. Meeting wives and children really helps turn fellow employees into potential friends. I also got asked to be on a basketball team composed of members of the office. The team starts playing in mid-January, but we decided to get together and play a few games last week. I ended up dislocating my pinky toe, so I sat out the final game of 3. As I was sitting there, I realized how awesome it is to be in an office of young people. I never expected, in an engineering career, to be surrounded by a majority of people who were close to my age. Almost everyone in the office is between 25-35. They're all either freshly married, having a first child, or building their first house. It's also a huge blessing to be able to hang out with the people I'm working with, and even being able to play basketball with them!!
Originally they told me that if things went well, there may be an opportunity for a full-time position after my contract expires. Every day I feel more and more confident that I'm someone that the company could benefit by hiring on full-time. They seem to enjoy my presence in the office. I have surprised multiple employees with the background that I already had when I entered the office. One even looked at me in awe when I told him that I was fresh out of college. The office is also really busy, and I know that I'm offering a lot of help getting jobs done! As I was thinking about my potential future at this company, I questioned how I would treat an employee if they were temporary. I decided I would continually give them the same type of work, so that they would get really good at it, in order to help complete jobs as efficiently as possible. That's not what is happening with me though. I am continually learning new things and completing a variety of different tasks for my team. I'm very hopeful that this contract is going to turn into something full-time.
One of the biggest things that I continually see people getting held back by is the idea that "it's not a good time." I hear it so often. "It's not a good time for us to have a baby". "It's not a good time for me to change jobs". "It's not a good time to get married". I completely disagree in almost every circumstance. That's why, even though I'm not sure if I'm going to get a permanent engineering position, I'm still planning on things as if I'm going to be in Charleston permanently. I've been working on starting a company called A Helping Hand. My friends and family in Wisconsin have probably heard of it, because it's a company I started a couple summers ago. Well, I'm bringing it to South Carolina with the intent of hiring college students to do the labor. My hope is that I will be the one to market the company, communicate with customers, and bid on jobs either at night or on weekends, then I'll put together crews to complete the jobs and send them out during the week. I fully intend on being an engineer for at least 4 years, so I won't be doing very much labor, unless it's on Friday afternoons or Saturdays. I hope to get my PE license, but I have to work under another PE for four years before I can take the exam. I'm hoping that running A Helping Hand this way will allow me to make a little extra income while providing jobs to students in need. I hope to be receiving refrigerator magnets and flyers sometime this week that I will be able to have friends distribute around various neighborhoods in Charleston.
I looked at the last 6 months of my life from an outside perspective and my eyes were opened to how awesome and faithful God has been!
In my living situations- I moved to Charleston and lived in my car for 4 days, then upgraded to an apartment in historic downtown Charleston, and now I live in a beach house, on an island, a block away from the ocean!
In my job situation- I spent my summer on the beach, then started picking up some random jobs, then got a job doing some carpentry, and now I have an engineering contract while I'm working on starting a company that I believe will do very well in this area of the country.
In 6 months, I've fully established myself and I've seen God take me from absolutely nothing to having more than I ever thought was possible. One step of faith... to move where God directed me to move... and everything has come together in His timing, for my good!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray for both jobs. I really enjoy the company I'm working at and would love a full-time position there. I work with some Christian guys too, which is a huge blessing!
Also, pray for A Helping Hand. I want God to be the Boss. I want all the decisions to be Christ-centered, all the employees to represent a loving God, and all of our work to be done in a way that honors the Lord. Please also pray that I can provide jobs for a lot of people (I'm thinking like 10-15, but if God brings the work, He'll provide me with the means to figure it out!) and that I'll have the wisdom to lead them in an effective and servant-like way.
Love y'all!
(Ohhhh man, He's gon' Southern!)
I've been working for three and a half weeks now, which is about half of the time I was hired for on my contract. I think you were probably able to sense from my last blog that I was a little hesitant about this position and how much I would enjoy it. It took a couple weeks to transition from the freedom of having my own schedule every day to working 10 hours on someone else's schedule every day, but it's been great! The hours get to be a little much at times, but I'm really enjoying the company. It feels good to work hard at something, knowing that it's going to serve a purpose. I've been mainly doing design work. An architect will send us a model that they've created of a building, then we'll size equipment and place the equipment in the building. Equipment includes ductwork, pipes, plumbing fixtures, air handling units, electrical sockets, and various other necessary instruments for a building. It's cool to know that I get to choose where something goes. I get to choose what happens in a project. I get to play a part in the design of buildings all over the US. Most that I haven't been in, and some that maybe you have been in!
The people I work with are really cool too. We just had a company Christmas party this last Friday where I got to know everyone a little better. It was fun joking around with the principals of the company and meeting everyone's families. Meeting wives and children really helps turn fellow employees into potential friends. I also got asked to be on a basketball team composed of members of the office. The team starts playing in mid-January, but we decided to get together and play a few games last week. I ended up dislocating my pinky toe, so I sat out the final game of 3. As I was sitting there, I realized how awesome it is to be in an office of young people. I never expected, in an engineering career, to be surrounded by a majority of people who were close to my age. Almost everyone in the office is between 25-35. They're all either freshly married, having a first child, or building their first house. It's also a huge blessing to be able to hang out with the people I'm working with, and even being able to play basketball with them!!
Originally they told me that if things went well, there may be an opportunity for a full-time position after my contract expires. Every day I feel more and more confident that I'm someone that the company could benefit by hiring on full-time. They seem to enjoy my presence in the office. I have surprised multiple employees with the background that I already had when I entered the office. One even looked at me in awe when I told him that I was fresh out of college. The office is also really busy, and I know that I'm offering a lot of help getting jobs done! As I was thinking about my potential future at this company, I questioned how I would treat an employee if they were temporary. I decided I would continually give them the same type of work, so that they would get really good at it, in order to help complete jobs as efficiently as possible. That's not what is happening with me though. I am continually learning new things and completing a variety of different tasks for my team. I'm very hopeful that this contract is going to turn into something full-time.
One of the biggest things that I continually see people getting held back by is the idea that "it's not a good time." I hear it so often. "It's not a good time for us to have a baby". "It's not a good time for me to change jobs". "It's not a good time to get married". I completely disagree in almost every circumstance. That's why, even though I'm not sure if I'm going to get a permanent engineering position, I'm still planning on things as if I'm going to be in Charleston permanently. I've been working on starting a company called A Helping Hand. My friends and family in Wisconsin have probably heard of it, because it's a company I started a couple summers ago. Well, I'm bringing it to South Carolina with the intent of hiring college students to do the labor. My hope is that I will be the one to market the company, communicate with customers, and bid on jobs either at night or on weekends, then I'll put together crews to complete the jobs and send them out during the week. I fully intend on being an engineer for at least 4 years, so I won't be doing very much labor, unless it's on Friday afternoons or Saturdays. I hope to get my PE license, but I have to work under another PE for four years before I can take the exam. I'm hoping that running A Helping Hand this way will allow me to make a little extra income while providing jobs to students in need. I hope to be receiving refrigerator magnets and flyers sometime this week that I will be able to have friends distribute around various neighborhoods in Charleston.
I looked at the last 6 months of my life from an outside perspective and my eyes were opened to how awesome and faithful God has been!
In my living situations- I moved to Charleston and lived in my car for 4 days, then upgraded to an apartment in historic downtown Charleston, and now I live in a beach house, on an island, a block away from the ocean!
In my job situation- I spent my summer on the beach, then started picking up some random jobs, then got a job doing some carpentry, and now I have an engineering contract while I'm working on starting a company that I believe will do very well in this area of the country.
In 6 months, I've fully established myself and I've seen God take me from absolutely nothing to having more than I ever thought was possible. One step of faith... to move where God directed me to move... and everything has come together in His timing, for my good!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray for both jobs. I really enjoy the company I'm working at and would love a full-time position there. I work with some Christian guys too, which is a huge blessing!
Also, pray for A Helping Hand. I want God to be the Boss. I want all the decisions to be Christ-centered, all the employees to represent a loving God, and all of our work to be done in a way that honors the Lord. Please also pray that I can provide jobs for a lot of people (I'm thinking like 10-15, but if God brings the work, He'll provide me with the means to figure it out!) and that I'll have the wisdom to lead them in an effective and servant-like way.
Love y'all!
(Ohhhh man, He's gon' Southern!)
Sunday, November 18, 2012
New Job!
JOB! JOB! JOB!
I've been job searching so much lately. Every time I get a phone call from a number I don't know, I get really excited and pray for the best, but usually only talking to a job recruiter or a friend whose number has been lost through a series of broken phones. To my surprise, a call I got on Friday came from a company that I hadn't had communication with since August. I had originally sent my resume to this company in May, but ended up getting a rejection e-mail shortly after letting me know that I wasn't someone that they wanted to pursue. A month later, a principal of the same company added me on the social networking site LinkedIn. I had no idea what I had done to get his attention, but somehow it led to a phone interview a couple weeks later. The phone interview went well, so they brought me in for a second interview. I didn't feel as if it had gone very well, and I got a phone call from HR a week later letting me know that they weren't going to pursue me. That was what I was told in mid-August, right before Dylan called me to let me know he was coming.
Now, three months later, I received a call notifying me that there is a contract position available. The company is located only 15 minutes from where I'm living! I was asked to come in last Friday and discuss the position. They already had the contract written up and presented it to me, along with a list of company values and what they hope would happen with my 60 days of employment. Both principals mentioned to me that there would be potential for a full-time position if I am able to impress them during this period of time. I learned that they had received a large job that they needed to start on right away, and they didn't have the manpower to do it, so they called the next best candidate from the originally job search to come in for the job. The job pretty much entails using the program Revit MEP to draw building plans up for a bid package. There will probably be some calculations and sizing of equipment, but most of my work will be done in this program. At first I was kind of bummed. I knew I had to take the position, but it wasn't even close to what I was hoping to make financially, and I worry about how well I can work sitting in an office 50 hours a week. As I've thought about it and prayed about it, I've not only realized that God has a plan for this situation, but that 60 days on this job will give me experience and an ability to understand what kind of position I should search for in the future. It's possible that I love the position and hope to pursue a full-time position with this company in January. There are a lot of options, and I'm really excited to be given the opportunity to take a step forward and start moving toward my future career.
Due to the uncertainty of a job in January, I will continue searching in Charleston and nationally through the time in this contract position. I don't know the best route to my goal of doing technical marketing, so I've been applying for a variety of positions in design engineering, commissioning, energy and marketing. I trust that God will open the doors necessary to get me where He wants me, regardless of where I want to be.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers! I haven't made it to the finish line yet, but the next two months are going to feel a lot less stressful!
I've been job searching so much lately. Every time I get a phone call from a number I don't know, I get really excited and pray for the best, but usually only talking to a job recruiter or a friend whose number has been lost through a series of broken phones. To my surprise, a call I got on Friday came from a company that I hadn't had communication with since August. I had originally sent my resume to this company in May, but ended up getting a rejection e-mail shortly after letting me know that I wasn't someone that they wanted to pursue. A month later, a principal of the same company added me on the social networking site LinkedIn. I had no idea what I had done to get his attention, but somehow it led to a phone interview a couple weeks later. The phone interview went well, so they brought me in for a second interview. I didn't feel as if it had gone very well, and I got a phone call from HR a week later letting me know that they weren't going to pursue me. That was what I was told in mid-August, right before Dylan called me to let me know he was coming.
Now, three months later, I received a call notifying me that there is a contract position available. The company is located only 15 minutes from where I'm living! I was asked to come in last Friday and discuss the position. They already had the contract written up and presented it to me, along with a list of company values and what they hope would happen with my 60 days of employment. Both principals mentioned to me that there would be potential for a full-time position if I am able to impress them during this period of time. I learned that they had received a large job that they needed to start on right away, and they didn't have the manpower to do it, so they called the next best candidate from the originally job search to come in for the job. The job pretty much entails using the program Revit MEP to draw building plans up for a bid package. There will probably be some calculations and sizing of equipment, but most of my work will be done in this program. At first I was kind of bummed. I knew I had to take the position, but it wasn't even close to what I was hoping to make financially, and I worry about how well I can work sitting in an office 50 hours a week. As I've thought about it and prayed about it, I've not only realized that God has a plan for this situation, but that 60 days on this job will give me experience and an ability to understand what kind of position I should search for in the future. It's possible that I love the position and hope to pursue a full-time position with this company in January. There are a lot of options, and I'm really excited to be given the opportunity to take a step forward and start moving toward my future career.
Due to the uncertainty of a job in January, I will continue searching in Charleston and nationally through the time in this contract position. I don't know the best route to my goal of doing technical marketing, so I've been applying for a variety of positions in design engineering, commissioning, energy and marketing. I trust that God will open the doors necessary to get me where He wants me, regardless of where I want to be.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers! I haven't made it to the finish line yet, but the next two months are going to feel a lot less stressful!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Time is Short
I've been searching and applying for every position I've found over the last few weeks. Most of those companies have gotten back to me and told me that they aren't going to pursue me for those positions. After I had heard from a majority of these companies I ended up having dinner with my friend Mark, who I had met in Mexico last year. Mark has been great in helping me network in and around Charleston, and he has been helping me job search ever since we met. Mark is from the Raleigh, NC area, but he was actually in town last week for a conference so we were able to get together. We spent some time catching up on our various activities and all the things that I had been doing since I moved to South Carolina. As we talked he asked me what kind of job I'm looking for and if I was at all flexible with the kind of job I end up with. I thought about the question a little bit and told him that I think that I could also really enjoy a marketing position. I actually think my desire for my engineering degree would be to use it in conjunction with my communication degree in some sort of technical marketing position. So, Mark and I discussed the different options I have in marketing, and also that he knew of a woman who may have an opportunity in marketing for me. If not, she would at least be able to help me connect with people who may have job opportunities for me.
After my dinner with Mark I talked with some friends and family about what it would mean for my future in engineering to take a marketing job that didn't have anything to do with engineering. We discussed strategies for staying relevant in future engineering opportunities by continuing my education through reading publications from engineering organizations and taking courses on any new design programs that come out. As I thought about it and prayed about it, I started feeling much better about taking a job in marketing.
So, thanks to Mark, I had a meeting with the COO of a philanthropy company down here today. She told me about the marketing position, but let me know that it doesn't open up until January and that she didn't think it would be a good fit for me. She took some time to get to know me better, and she said she'd do everything she can to connect me to the right people in the Charleston area that could help me find a job. It is a little discouraging to go back to simple networking due to the way it worked out through the summer when every door would get shut shortly after opening, but I'm trusting that God has something great out there for me as long as I keep everything open and available.
I've been able to do a little work doing some carpentry, but it's nothing near what I need to sustain myself financially. I have about a month left before I'm going to be out of finances, so please pray that something is provided for me over the next month. The time is short.
Love you all.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Increase of Wisdom
I've been doing something wrong. A lot of things actually. Fortunately, a friend gave me a book to read that was really able to convict me and open my eyes to something new. I'm about to share a lot about what God has been doing in my life, what I thought it meant, and what I now realize was going on. If you read this and feel convicted, that's great, but it's not my intent. The book was written by James MacDonald and is titled "Way of Wisdom". My friend Mark had started reading it and realized it was something I needed to read so gave it to me as soon as he had the chance. I've needed wisdom, and I've known I need wisdom. Up until this point I thought I just needed patience, and I've been living with the idea that I just need to wait in mind, but I learned quickly that I needed a lot more than patience.
The book begins by breaking down the traditional view that God has one perfect plan for our lives and if we fall out of it we're left playing catch up for the rest of our lives. I never believed that I had to play catch up, but I always kind of had a feeling that I had to make the right decisions in every situation. I always thought one option in a decision would allow God's will to be played out much easier than any of the other options. Decisions like where to go to school, where to find a job, where to live, who to have as friends, whether to listen to this music or that music. I thought all those decisions had a clear answer that I could seek out and discover if I was in prayer and reading the Bible every day. What I learned from this book is that God's will for my life is a perfect will independent of those decisions, as long as I stay within the moral boundaries God has given us through the Bible.
I thought of myself on the road system in the United States. Originally, I thought that God wanted me to take one specific route when getting from my origin to my destination. Let's say I want to get to Dallas from Atlanta. What I believed is that I would have to take I-20 through Birmingham and Jackson. Maybe God had certain things for me to do in those cities, or those periods in my life and that's why I had to go that route. My mind was always so concerned on finding the "right" road or the "quickest" road that I never saw that there were other options that would get me to the same destination. I could just as easily go through Memphis and Little Rock and still eventually arrive in Dallas. Both routes would have choices along the way. Do I get off on a back roads around Little Rock and check out Popeye statues? Maybe there's a car accident between Birmingham and Memphis, so I change my route and head back down toward Jackson. God may use me to save a soul on a detour to Nashville. If I'm not on that route, God will still use someone to save that soul and may use me to encourage someone in Montgomery. God's free will allows us so many options as long as we stay on the roads He's laid out for us. If we get off the road, or outside God's moral will for our lives, we'll find ourselves struggling to get through the wilderness we encounter, whether it's forests, rivers, or swamps it is not God's will for our lives to get off the road. Originally I thought I was just waiting for traffic to start moving again so I could continue down I-20, but I've realized that God has given me options. I may be in God's perfect will staying on I-20, but I could also still be in God's perfect will if I decided to take any one of a number of other routes. So what are my other routes?
I still believe that God directed me to Charleston. Maybe it was just to transition me away from the comforts of home, or maybe for another purpose. The problem is that I've been sitting around waiting for a job in Charleston to come, as if this was the only route. I've been reading Exodus while reading the book, so I know that there are times where God has a specific will for us to go somewhere and do something. There's a chance that is what God is doing with me in Charleston, but I need to be open to other routes and know that God will close and open roads if He wants to direct me somewhere specific. My job search up until a few weeks ago had pretty much been focused on the Charleston area along with companies that could eventually lead me back here because of their national spread. Recently, I've started applying to jobs internationally.
Here's what I've found:
I keep talking about God's moral will. I asked myself, is there anyway I could end up outside God's moral will through the time I'm spending job searching. The only thing I could think of is if I were to not pay back my student loans in the time I promised the bank I would pay them back. God has asked me to be a man of my word and to not be a slave to anything of earth. So, I need to make sure in my decision that I find a job where I can pay back those loans in a timely manner. I also need to keep in mind that some things may benefit me more than others. If I get the choice between a traveling salesman and an engineer, and my future desire is to be in the construction field, then it would definitely be more beneficial to my future to take the engineering job. Both options are perfect in God's moral will, but one of them is better using the gifts I've been blessed with. Other than that, God will direct me if He wants me to go somewhere specific. If I'm blessed with options, God has given me the free will to choose from those options and remain in His perfect plan regardless of the option I choose.
I'm definitely ready to go wherever a job opens up. I have a little hesitation with going back home, because when I'm surrounded by so many mentors,parents, and family, it's difficult for me to fully seek out my own personal relationship with God. I'd definitely love to stay in Charleston because of the friendships I've been developing and the ministries I've been working in, but first I need to attack the ways I could possibly fall out of God's moral will. If I can do that in Charleston, that'd be great, otherwise, I need to find a place and a job that I can do it through.
PRAYER REQUESTS
A job.
A clear mind.
Continued wisdom.
Love you all.
The book begins by breaking down the traditional view that God has one perfect plan for our lives and if we fall out of it we're left playing catch up for the rest of our lives. I never believed that I had to play catch up, but I always kind of had a feeling that I had to make the right decisions in every situation. I always thought one option in a decision would allow God's will to be played out much easier than any of the other options. Decisions like where to go to school, where to find a job, where to live, who to have as friends, whether to listen to this music or that music. I thought all those decisions had a clear answer that I could seek out and discover if I was in prayer and reading the Bible every day. What I learned from this book is that God's will for my life is a perfect will independent of those decisions, as long as I stay within the moral boundaries God has given us through the Bible.
I thought of myself on the road system in the United States. Originally, I thought that God wanted me to take one specific route when getting from my origin to my destination. Let's say I want to get to Dallas from Atlanta. What I believed is that I would have to take I-20 through Birmingham and Jackson. Maybe God had certain things for me to do in those cities, or those periods in my life and that's why I had to go that route. My mind was always so concerned on finding the "right" road or the "quickest" road that I never saw that there were other options that would get me to the same destination. I could just as easily go through Memphis and Little Rock and still eventually arrive in Dallas. Both routes would have choices along the way. Do I get off on a back roads around Little Rock and check out Popeye statues? Maybe there's a car accident between Birmingham and Memphis, so I change my route and head back down toward Jackson. God may use me to save a soul on a detour to Nashville. If I'm not on that route, God will still use someone to save that soul and may use me to encourage someone in Montgomery. God's free will allows us so many options as long as we stay on the roads He's laid out for us. If we get off the road, or outside God's moral will for our lives, we'll find ourselves struggling to get through the wilderness we encounter, whether it's forests, rivers, or swamps it is not God's will for our lives to get off the road. Originally I thought I was just waiting for traffic to start moving again so I could continue down I-20, but I've realized that God has given me options. I may be in God's perfect will staying on I-20, but I could also still be in God's perfect will if I decided to take any one of a number of other routes. So what are my other routes?
I still believe that God directed me to Charleston. Maybe it was just to transition me away from the comforts of home, or maybe for another purpose. The problem is that I've been sitting around waiting for a job in Charleston to come, as if this was the only route. I've been reading Exodus while reading the book, so I know that there are times where God has a specific will for us to go somewhere and do something. There's a chance that is what God is doing with me in Charleston, but I need to be open to other routes and know that God will close and open roads if He wants to direct me somewhere specific. My job search up until a few weeks ago had pretty much been focused on the Charleston area along with companies that could eventually lead me back here because of their national spread. Recently, I've started applying to jobs internationally.
Here's what I've found:
I keep talking about God's moral will. I asked myself, is there anyway I could end up outside God's moral will through the time I'm spending job searching. The only thing I could think of is if I were to not pay back my student loans in the time I promised the bank I would pay them back. God has asked me to be a man of my word and to not be a slave to anything of earth. So, I need to make sure in my decision that I find a job where I can pay back those loans in a timely manner. I also need to keep in mind that some things may benefit me more than others. If I get the choice between a traveling salesman and an engineer, and my future desire is to be in the construction field, then it would definitely be more beneficial to my future to take the engineering job. Both options are perfect in God's moral will, but one of them is better using the gifts I've been blessed with. Other than that, God will direct me if He wants me to go somewhere specific. If I'm blessed with options, God has given me the free will to choose from those options and remain in His perfect plan regardless of the option I choose.
I'm definitely ready to go wherever a job opens up. I have a little hesitation with going back home, because when I'm surrounded by so many mentors,parents, and family, it's difficult for me to fully seek out my own personal relationship with God. I'd definitely love to stay in Charleston because of the friendships I've been developing and the ministries I've been working in, but first I need to attack the ways I could possibly fall out of God's moral will. If I can do that in Charleston, that'd be great, otherwise, I need to find a place and a job that I can do it through.
PRAYER REQUESTS
A job.
A clear mind.
Continued wisdom.
Love you all.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Trust, Patience, and the Adventure
It's been a while since I spent some time to blog. I've been spending a lot of time hanging out with Dylan and introducing him to all the people I've been so fortunate to meet in Charleston. I also had the opportunity recently to go back to Wisconsin for a week for a friend's wedding. It was great to see my parents, spend some time in the northwoods, and see a few friends. It was starting to get cold though!
HOMELESS MINISTRY
It's been difficult to meet new homeless people since we are living close to a half hour from downtown. Fortunately, Leroy and Leon stop by after our college aged group called "The Well" on Monday nights to see my friend Neil and I and in hopes of getting some food. We have food after the group every week and if they get there early enough, they are able to have some, or we usually have leftovers we can give them if they come after all the students have dispersed. Leroy always has something encouraging to say about his walk with the Lord and how encouraged he is by our love for God. Hopefully I will remember to bring my camera today or sometime soon so that you guys can put a face to his name. I believe that Leroy really knows and understand who God is and that his relationship with the Lord is growing daily.
Leon doesn't really understand it all. He was very confused the first time he walked by The Well. He thought that the building must've turned into a bar and that we were all getting drunk. I explained to him that we were worshiping God and that all the college students in there just hoped to grow deeper relationships with the Lord. He was still confused, so I hope that he continues to stop by. Maybe one of these weeks he'll be interested enough to come in and experience an hour of worship with us!
For the past month Dylan and I have been hoping to find an affordable place to live downtown. We had hoped to be in a location where we could go outside and find people to talk to within a short walk or longboard ride down the street, but the prices to rent downtown are outside of our budgets. While I was in the woods at home I spent a lot of time thinking about different living options, along with what I've been taught through God's Word about spending money and placing myself in useful situations. I decided that I could probably live outside of the downtown area and still have this ministry as long as I made it a point to frequently place myself in locations where there are people in need.
I want this ministry to be a lifestyle. Too often people separate their ministry from their life. People volunteer at a soup kitchen once a month, then ignore those same people when they pass them on the street. I want them to know me and recognize me as a Christian. I want them to know who I am and know why I am the way that I am. I want them to trust me, and trust, for these people, only comes through a lot of time spent together. I hope that I will have the opportunity to continue seeking out new relationships and growing in depth with the relationships that have already been initiated.
JOB SEARCH
Well.... Dylan got a job today! We stopped by Lowes and he bought some of the equipment he'll need to start a painting job tomorrow. He is feeling a lot of pressure to perform at top quality, so we'll be praying that he hasn't lost any of the skills he'd previously acquired and that he impresses the new crew.
I'm still searching daily. I recently came across a couple opportunities that I'll be following up on this week, but nothing looks promising yet. I also had time to think about my job search and what I really want to do for work while I was at home. I've decided that I really want to get into energy consultation. I would go into businesses or homes and talk to owners and occupants about different options for lowering their utility bills. This kind of position would utilize my engineering background while determining what changes could be made, but would also utilize my communication background by integrating marketing and sales of equipment to owners into the job. This type of job is something I may be able to start on my own through partnerships if the doors open, but I'm still learning about how it would work and the different options I would have through it. It's still in the early planning stage, therefore, still only an idea.
I was encouraged during multiple discussions while at home that I need to be more dauntless and approach companies with confidence that I have skills that can benefit them. I plan to walk into a couple companies this week and discuss potential opportunities with them, hopefully making an impression and allowing them to see who I am as a person and a potential employee before even applying for a specific job.
HOUSE SEARCH
Dylan and I found an awesome place to live today, but it was a 3 bedroom house. We're hoping that we can find someone who would be able to share it with us, but after contacting a few people about the opportunity there doesn't seem to be much hope. We trust God's plan in where He places us, so we will continue searching until we find the right match. Until then, hopefully we can continue to serve the women we are living with in appreciation for allowing us to bring our stinky, uncleanly, and unemotional masculinity into their home.
ADVENTURES
I haven't talked much about the adventures I've had since moving down here. Some people have suggested to me that if I'm having fun, I must not be trying very hard to find a job. I may be wrong, but I've learned that the best thing for me to do sometimes is completely separate myself from something in order to think about it. Having fun and meeting people also leads to opportunities that aren't found by sitting on a computer searching indeed.com and monster.com all day. Therefore, I try to keep going on as many adventures as possible!
Our current roommate, Kristen, has an amazing family, and a father that so often blesses us by taking us to places where we can experience God's awesomeness! A few weeks ago we were invited to go fishing offshore. The ocean was as flat as a table. It looked like a northern Wisconsin lake at sunrise. We spent some time fishing and saw a sea turtle a few times, then Kristen and her dad went scuba diving, while Dylan and I sat on the boat watching to make sure everything went safely. I had the fortune of getting the invite to go diving the next dive a couple hours later. I have snorkeled before, but never scuba dived. I got a quick crash course and was told to just hold onto Captain Bo's back in order to stay with him and for safety purposes. I think I made it a little difficult for him to swim, but I didn't want to get lost!
While we were diving we saw a ton of fish. There were large schools of Black Sea Bass and Spanish Mackerel. There were also a lot of cool reef fish. We were actually spear fishing while down there and ended up shooting a couple Flounder and Mackerel. I kept showing my air gauge to the Capt. so that he would know how well my air was doing. I wasn't concerned about anything other than running out of air. There were a few moments where I would start freaking out about the fact that I was breathing underwater, but I'd take a breath and by reminded that everything was okay.
We were about half an hour into our dive when I looked into the distance and saw a very large shark. I tapped on Captain Bo's shoulder and pointed it out to him. At first he didn't see it, but then turned back around and looked at me putting a hand above his head which indicates that there is a shark. Like I said, all I was concerned about under there were my oxygen levels, so I was still very calm after seeing the shark. It helped that I had seen a sand shark while snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. The shark we had just seen didn't seem to want much to do with us either, but we didn't take any chances. Captain Bo took the stringer of dead fish off my arm and started swimming toward the nearest anchor line. I didn't realize that he was concerned about the shark til after we had gotten out of the water. I was convinced everything was going to be alright, and thought we were only swimming back to the boat due to our oxygen levels. I guess we didn't want to be swimming around in the water with a huge shark and a bunch of dead fish hanging from our arms!
We did a little more fishing then decided that Captain Bo and Kristen were going to come back that night and go for a night dive. We headed back to shore and had dinner, got more supplies for the night, and caught some more bait, then headed back out to the same spot. By time we got back out it was dark so we had some lights on in the back of the boat that light up the water a little bit. After a short time anchored down in a spot Dylan started freaking out, "Yo, whoa, whoa, whoa!". We all turn around and see the shark swimming through the lights in the back of the boat. Captain Bo asks if we want to catch it, and Dylan responds with a "yes" without even hesitating. We end up tossing some bait out and waiting.
At 2:30 in the morning we're all sleeping and the shark hits our Amberjack tail that we had thrown out as bait. I stepped up to the plate first and fought the shark for about 10 minutes before it felt as if the shark was no longer on the line. I kept reeling and the bait was soon in view off the back of the boat. Right behind the bait was the shark chasing it down. We opened the bail and let the shark hit it again and take it for a little while before we tightened up the line again. We finally had the shark on good and took turns fighting until we got a look about an hour later! It was a Tiger Shark, the third most dangerous shark found in the ocean. In the water I would've called it 14 feet long. From in the boat it looked more like 11, but I'd say that looking into water from air leads to distortion, so I've decided to go with the more accurate measurement of 14 feet!
We ended up fighting the shark for about 2 and a half hours until the line eventually broke due to a mixture of stress and friction. The sharks tail would weaken the line as it pulled away from the boat. We weren't too upset about the shark getting off. We had all gotten fairly good looks, our muscles were spent from the fight, and we were going to have to cut the line eventually anyway. It was awesome! I was scuba diving with a 14 foot Tiger Shark!
ADVENTURE 2
We went offshore again yesterday. I was able to go on two more dives, so I'm feeling a lot more confident than I did the first dive. I learned that it's very important to know the difference between the button that puts air into my vest and the button that removes air from my vest. At one point I was hoping to sit on the bottom and pressed the wrong bottom which led to me floating toward the surface, almost to the point where Captain Bo was out of view. Fortunately, I figured out what I was doing right at that moment and I was able to get down to the bottom.
After we returned to the boat on one of the dives I was told there were Remora suctioning onto the bottom of the boat. I had already taken off all of my gear but I wanted to take a look, so I grabbed a mask and jumped back into the water. I was watching the fish and I was about to surface and get back into the boat but decided I wanted to keep watching for a little while longer and took a breath. At this moment, I also remembered something I was taught when I was very young- humans can't naturally breath under water. Hopefully I don't make that mistake again!
On the way back to Charleston we saw some things jumping out of the water in the distance. The first time I saw it, it had jumped so high that I thought it was a pelican diving into the water. Then, it happened again, and again! We realized that they were dolphins jumping at least 5 feet out of the water! We approached what ended up being a pod of 20-30 dolphins and watched as they surfaced and swam all around the boat. Fortunately we were still offshore far enough that the water was clear and we could see their every move. Dylan jumped into the water first, then I followed after taking a few pictures. With our heads under water we could hear the high pitched sound of the dolphins communicating with each other. We swam around for a while and had the dolphins swimming all around us. We watched them swim in formations to our left, to our right, and under us. I watched 6-8 dolphins go under me, then come straight up to the surface, flip upside down, swim back down, do flips, then come right back up, all synchronized together like I was at Sea World, except, I was in the wild!!
We swam back to the boat after the pod had gotten some distance from us and decided we would try to take the boat back toward the dolphins. As we approached them they came to the bow of the boat. As Captain Bo drove and I controlled a video camera, the 4 other members of the crew were able to lay on the bow of the boat, reaching down, coming within inches of touching the backs of the dolphins as they led our boat back toward shore. It was a glorious event!!!
I'll never forget either of these adventures, and I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such amazing opportunities.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Thanks for Dylan, his car, and his job!
Pray for a place that we can live, either the two of us or with roommates that the Lord has placed before us.
Pray for continued patience in my job search and that I would find a job where I can utilize my skills and knowledge, but more importantly, live for God and serve Him.
Love you all!!! Charleston is a great place for a vacation for those of you who need a break from the cold!
HOMELESS MINISTRY
It's been difficult to meet new homeless people since we are living close to a half hour from downtown. Fortunately, Leroy and Leon stop by after our college aged group called "The Well" on Monday nights to see my friend Neil and I and in hopes of getting some food. We have food after the group every week and if they get there early enough, they are able to have some, or we usually have leftovers we can give them if they come after all the students have dispersed. Leroy always has something encouraging to say about his walk with the Lord and how encouraged he is by our love for God. Hopefully I will remember to bring my camera today or sometime soon so that you guys can put a face to his name. I believe that Leroy really knows and understand who God is and that his relationship with the Lord is growing daily.
Leon doesn't really understand it all. He was very confused the first time he walked by The Well. He thought that the building must've turned into a bar and that we were all getting drunk. I explained to him that we were worshiping God and that all the college students in there just hoped to grow deeper relationships with the Lord. He was still confused, so I hope that he continues to stop by. Maybe one of these weeks he'll be interested enough to come in and experience an hour of worship with us!
For the past month Dylan and I have been hoping to find an affordable place to live downtown. We had hoped to be in a location where we could go outside and find people to talk to within a short walk or longboard ride down the street, but the prices to rent downtown are outside of our budgets. While I was in the woods at home I spent a lot of time thinking about different living options, along with what I've been taught through God's Word about spending money and placing myself in useful situations. I decided that I could probably live outside of the downtown area and still have this ministry as long as I made it a point to frequently place myself in locations where there are people in need.
I want this ministry to be a lifestyle. Too often people separate their ministry from their life. People volunteer at a soup kitchen once a month, then ignore those same people when they pass them on the street. I want them to know me and recognize me as a Christian. I want them to know who I am and know why I am the way that I am. I want them to trust me, and trust, for these people, only comes through a lot of time spent together. I hope that I will have the opportunity to continue seeking out new relationships and growing in depth with the relationships that have already been initiated.
JOB SEARCH
Well.... Dylan got a job today! We stopped by Lowes and he bought some of the equipment he'll need to start a painting job tomorrow. He is feeling a lot of pressure to perform at top quality, so we'll be praying that he hasn't lost any of the skills he'd previously acquired and that he impresses the new crew.
I'm still searching daily. I recently came across a couple opportunities that I'll be following up on this week, but nothing looks promising yet. I also had time to think about my job search and what I really want to do for work while I was at home. I've decided that I really want to get into energy consultation. I would go into businesses or homes and talk to owners and occupants about different options for lowering their utility bills. This kind of position would utilize my engineering background while determining what changes could be made, but would also utilize my communication background by integrating marketing and sales of equipment to owners into the job. This type of job is something I may be able to start on my own through partnerships if the doors open, but I'm still learning about how it would work and the different options I would have through it. It's still in the early planning stage, therefore, still only an idea.
I was encouraged during multiple discussions while at home that I need to be more dauntless and approach companies with confidence that I have skills that can benefit them. I plan to walk into a couple companies this week and discuss potential opportunities with them, hopefully making an impression and allowing them to see who I am as a person and a potential employee before even applying for a specific job.
HOUSE SEARCH
Dylan and I found an awesome place to live today, but it was a 3 bedroom house. We're hoping that we can find someone who would be able to share it with us, but after contacting a few people about the opportunity there doesn't seem to be much hope. We trust God's plan in where He places us, so we will continue searching until we find the right match. Until then, hopefully we can continue to serve the women we are living with in appreciation for allowing us to bring our stinky, uncleanly, and unemotional masculinity into their home.
ADVENTURES
I haven't talked much about the adventures I've had since moving down here. Some people have suggested to me that if I'm having fun, I must not be trying very hard to find a job. I may be wrong, but I've learned that the best thing for me to do sometimes is completely separate myself from something in order to think about it. Having fun and meeting people also leads to opportunities that aren't found by sitting on a computer searching indeed.com and monster.com all day. Therefore, I try to keep going on as many adventures as possible!
Our current roommate, Kristen, has an amazing family, and a father that so often blesses us by taking us to places where we can experience God's awesomeness! A few weeks ago we were invited to go fishing offshore. The ocean was as flat as a table. It looked like a northern Wisconsin lake at sunrise. We spent some time fishing and saw a sea turtle a few times, then Kristen and her dad went scuba diving, while Dylan and I sat on the boat watching to make sure everything went safely. I had the fortune of getting the invite to go diving the next dive a couple hours later. I have snorkeled before, but never scuba dived. I got a quick crash course and was told to just hold onto Captain Bo's back in order to stay with him and for safety purposes. I think I made it a little difficult for him to swim, but I didn't want to get lost!
While we were diving we saw a ton of fish. There were large schools of Black Sea Bass and Spanish Mackerel. There were also a lot of cool reef fish. We were actually spear fishing while down there and ended up shooting a couple Flounder and Mackerel. I kept showing my air gauge to the Capt. so that he would know how well my air was doing. I wasn't concerned about anything other than running out of air. There were a few moments where I would start freaking out about the fact that I was breathing underwater, but I'd take a breath and by reminded that everything was okay.
We were about half an hour into our dive when I looked into the distance and saw a very large shark. I tapped on Captain Bo's shoulder and pointed it out to him. At first he didn't see it, but then turned back around and looked at me putting a hand above his head which indicates that there is a shark. Like I said, all I was concerned about under there were my oxygen levels, so I was still very calm after seeing the shark. It helped that I had seen a sand shark while snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. The shark we had just seen didn't seem to want much to do with us either, but we didn't take any chances. Captain Bo took the stringer of dead fish off my arm and started swimming toward the nearest anchor line. I didn't realize that he was concerned about the shark til after we had gotten out of the water. I was convinced everything was going to be alright, and thought we were only swimming back to the boat due to our oxygen levels. I guess we didn't want to be swimming around in the water with a huge shark and a bunch of dead fish hanging from our arms!
We did a little more fishing then decided that Captain Bo and Kristen were going to come back that night and go for a night dive. We headed back to shore and had dinner, got more supplies for the night, and caught some more bait, then headed back out to the same spot. By time we got back out it was dark so we had some lights on in the back of the boat that light up the water a little bit. After a short time anchored down in a spot Dylan started freaking out, "Yo, whoa, whoa, whoa!". We all turn around and see the shark swimming through the lights in the back of the boat. Captain Bo asks if we want to catch it, and Dylan responds with a "yes" without even hesitating. We end up tossing some bait out and waiting.
At 2:30 in the morning we're all sleeping and the shark hits our Amberjack tail that we had thrown out as bait. I stepped up to the plate first and fought the shark for about 10 minutes before it felt as if the shark was no longer on the line. I kept reeling and the bait was soon in view off the back of the boat. Right behind the bait was the shark chasing it down. We opened the bail and let the shark hit it again and take it for a little while before we tightened up the line again. We finally had the shark on good and took turns fighting until we got a look about an hour later! It was a Tiger Shark, the third most dangerous shark found in the ocean. In the water I would've called it 14 feet long. From in the boat it looked more like 11, but I'd say that looking into water from air leads to distortion, so I've decided to go with the more accurate measurement of 14 feet!
We ended up fighting the shark for about 2 and a half hours until the line eventually broke due to a mixture of stress and friction. The sharks tail would weaken the line as it pulled away from the boat. We weren't too upset about the shark getting off. We had all gotten fairly good looks, our muscles were spent from the fight, and we were going to have to cut the line eventually anyway. It was awesome! I was scuba diving with a 14 foot Tiger Shark!
ADVENTURE 2
We went offshore again yesterday. I was able to go on two more dives, so I'm feeling a lot more confident than I did the first dive. I learned that it's very important to know the difference between the button that puts air into my vest and the button that removes air from my vest. At one point I was hoping to sit on the bottom and pressed the wrong bottom which led to me floating toward the surface, almost to the point where Captain Bo was out of view. Fortunately, I figured out what I was doing right at that moment and I was able to get down to the bottom.
After we returned to the boat on one of the dives I was told there were Remora suctioning onto the bottom of the boat. I had already taken off all of my gear but I wanted to take a look, so I grabbed a mask and jumped back into the water. I was watching the fish and I was about to surface and get back into the boat but decided I wanted to keep watching for a little while longer and took a breath. At this moment, I also remembered something I was taught when I was very young- humans can't naturally breath under water. Hopefully I don't make that mistake again!
On the way back to Charleston we saw some things jumping out of the water in the distance. The first time I saw it, it had jumped so high that I thought it was a pelican diving into the water. Then, it happened again, and again! We realized that they were dolphins jumping at least 5 feet out of the water! We approached what ended up being a pod of 20-30 dolphins and watched as they surfaced and swam all around the boat. Fortunately we were still offshore far enough that the water was clear and we could see their every move. Dylan jumped into the water first, then I followed after taking a few pictures. With our heads under water we could hear the high pitched sound of the dolphins communicating with each other. We swam around for a while and had the dolphins swimming all around us. We watched them swim in formations to our left, to our right, and under us. I watched 6-8 dolphins go under me, then come straight up to the surface, flip upside down, swim back down, do flips, then come right back up, all synchronized together like I was at Sea World, except, I was in the wild!!
We swam back to the boat after the pod had gotten some distance from us and decided we would try to take the boat back toward the dolphins. As we approached them they came to the bow of the boat. As Captain Bo drove and I controlled a video camera, the 4 other members of the crew were able to lay on the bow of the boat, reaching down, coming within inches of touching the backs of the dolphins as they led our boat back toward shore. It was a glorious event!!!
I'll never forget either of these adventures, and I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such amazing opportunities.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Thanks for Dylan, his car, and his job!
Pray for a place that we can live, either the two of us or with roommates that the Lord has placed before us.
Pray for continued patience in my job search and that I would find a job where I can utilize my skills and knowledge, but more importantly, live for God and serve Him.
Love you all!!! Charleston is a great place for a vacation for those of you who need a break from the cold!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Slapped Across the Head #1
I make a lot of mistakes. My mom would say that they're mainly physical, but she's a nurse, so she's very keen to my injuries. I would say a majority of my mistakes are done mentally. I forget things. I actually just remembered, as I have been typing this, that I was supposed to find a way to sell my books back to school a couple weeks ago. I'll have to follow-up with that as soon as I fill you guys in on the adventure. Lots of times as I remember things that were forgotten, I often feel the need to hit myself on the back of the head. I'm not sure that this ever happened to me as a child, so it's most likely not because of my upbringing, but I've seen it in a lot of movies.
I was recently convicted about something and I felt as if I had gotten hit over the back of the head by the Holy Spirit. A lot of my friends are joining staff with Cru, so I have a lot of conversations with people who are trying to raise financial support in order to go where they feel God is calling them. I often take some time to talk to these friends about not being so focused on the future of their ministry that they miss the opportunity to partake in ministry as they are raising support. I was reminded of that as I was listening to a sermon yesterday, and I started to feel a slight sting on the back of my head.
I wouldn't say that I've been missing opportunities for ministry, but I realized that I've been so focused on finding a job and a place to live that sometimes my heart isn't all in for what God is bringing to me today. Every day is supposed to be lived in and of that day, and I continually catch myself living for what God is bringing in the future. I appreciated a little reminder that God uses us every day. He doesn't just wait to use us in the good times. He doesn't wait til we're on some sort of pedestal, but He uses us all along the way.
HOUSE UPDATE
Dylan moved down last week. We've had some amazing and crazy adventures since he came down, including scuba diving with and catching a 11-14 foot Tiger Shark! I was very glad I made it out of the water. We're both currently residing in Kristen Machado's beach house. Emily, the girl with the heart of a champion, is living here as well, and Megan Green, she's a Texas girl. I never would've thought I would come down here, being blessed by the company of Dylan, and living with a bunch of women, but it's been great! They are all very wonderful and make sure we're fed and well taken care of, which I'm sure our mothers in Wisconsin will be happy to know.
We've been looking for a place to live downtown. Dylan doesn't have a vehicle and isn't sure he wants to get one, and I still feel called to be downtown in order to be closer to the homeless people and college students where I was feeling so many ministry opportunities. We have been following up with a few craigslist opportunities, so we're really hoping that one of them works out soon.
JOB UPDATE
I have still been networking and attempting to find an engineering job, but I still haven't found anything. With the arrival of Dylan and the hopeful opportunity to be living in a house together soon, I have decided it's time to start making a little bit of money, so I followed up with a few craigslist ads today that I'm waiting to hear back from.
I truly believe that God wants me here. I still don't know whether it's for ministry or for a career, but I will continue to walk forward so that I walk right along with His plan. Just as I told you about the vision I had where God was the size of the Hulk, I will continue to walk forward with my eyes on His back, knowing that I'm following the Man who knows the perfect plan for my life.
Dylan picked up a bunch of applications for restaurants a few days ago, and we returned them today. He is also following up with some craigslist ads, so I'm sure he'll find something soon.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Praise God for bring Dylan down and providing us with a home with two warm beds and air-conditioning!
We would love to have a place to live downtown. The girls are great and they have been a huge blessing, but we think it is time to give them their house back and get to serving the Lord downtown.
Jobs. I'm not sure where God wants us to be, but pray that He leads us to a place where we can serve Him the most.
Thanks! Love you all!!!
I was recently convicted about something and I felt as if I had gotten hit over the back of the head by the Holy Spirit. A lot of my friends are joining staff with Cru, so I have a lot of conversations with people who are trying to raise financial support in order to go where they feel God is calling them. I often take some time to talk to these friends about not being so focused on the future of their ministry that they miss the opportunity to partake in ministry as they are raising support. I was reminded of that as I was listening to a sermon yesterday, and I started to feel a slight sting on the back of my head.
I wouldn't say that I've been missing opportunities for ministry, but I realized that I've been so focused on finding a job and a place to live that sometimes my heart isn't all in for what God is bringing to me today. Every day is supposed to be lived in and of that day, and I continually catch myself living for what God is bringing in the future. I appreciated a little reminder that God uses us every day. He doesn't just wait to use us in the good times. He doesn't wait til we're on some sort of pedestal, but He uses us all along the way.
HOUSE UPDATE
Dylan moved down last week. We've had some amazing and crazy adventures since he came down, including scuba diving with and catching a 11-14 foot Tiger Shark! I was very glad I made it out of the water. We're both currently residing in Kristen Machado's beach house. Emily, the girl with the heart of a champion, is living here as well, and Megan Green, she's a Texas girl. I never would've thought I would come down here, being blessed by the company of Dylan, and living with a bunch of women, but it's been great! They are all very wonderful and make sure we're fed and well taken care of, which I'm sure our mothers in Wisconsin will be happy to know.
We've been looking for a place to live downtown. Dylan doesn't have a vehicle and isn't sure he wants to get one, and I still feel called to be downtown in order to be closer to the homeless people and college students where I was feeling so many ministry opportunities. We have been following up with a few craigslist opportunities, so we're really hoping that one of them works out soon.
JOB UPDATE
I have still been networking and attempting to find an engineering job, but I still haven't found anything. With the arrival of Dylan and the hopeful opportunity to be living in a house together soon, I have decided it's time to start making a little bit of money, so I followed up with a few craigslist ads today that I'm waiting to hear back from.
I truly believe that God wants me here. I still don't know whether it's for ministry or for a career, but I will continue to walk forward so that I walk right along with His plan. Just as I told you about the vision I had where God was the size of the Hulk, I will continue to walk forward with my eyes on His back, knowing that I'm following the Man who knows the perfect plan for my life.
Dylan picked up a bunch of applications for restaurants a few days ago, and we returned them today. He is also following up with some craigslist ads, so I'm sure he'll find something soon.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Praise God for bring Dylan down and providing us with a home with two warm beds and air-conditioning!
We would love to have a place to live downtown. The girls are great and they have been a huge blessing, but we think it is time to give them their house back and get to serving the Lord downtown.
Jobs. I'm not sure where God wants us to be, but pray that He leads us to a place where we can serve Him the most.
Thanks! Love you all!!!
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