First game of college baseball

I think my physics exam went okay this morning. I struggled with some of the problems, but I think I figured them out. It would have been nice to know the content better so that I wouldn't have had to even think twice about it, but oh well. We left school at 11 am for San Diego Christian College. We actually were given directions to the school rather than to the field, but my dad saved the day (since he teaches there, he knew where the field was). Anyway, our warm-ups were very much on the rushed end, but we got started at 2:30. I didn't really get to play. He put me in for our last half inning so that I would get to bat once. That was a lot of fun. I didn't do anything incredible, but I did put the ball in play and advance the runner at least (that was a nice way of saying that I grounded out to the third baseman). They got 4 runs early in the game, and then we came back with 3, so it was pretty close. Then they got 5 more runs over the next few innings making it 9-3. In their last at bat, they scored 15. Yes, I did say 15. It was not pretty. So the final score was 24-3. The game was actually a lot closer than the score sounds. I am hoping to play more than just one at bat per game, but I must leave that in God's hands, and do my best regardless of if I get to play or not. I talked with the coach about the possibility of me pitching some. He seemed very much in favor of the idea. I had kind of kept the fact that I pitched throughout high school a secret because I didn't think that I could throw hard enough to actually pitch. I have changed my opinion on that. I was expecting guys to be throwing in the 90's, and I'm sure some will, but high 70's and 80's is decent if I can throw strikes. We have practice tomorrow, so I am hoping that I'll get to throw some. Anyway, it wasn't the most ideal first college baseball game experience, but it was fun. I am looking forward to more games! I got to know another guy quite a bit better today. I was able to get to the point of asking him about his religious background, and I found out that he is Catholic (obviously not a practicing one though). Anyway, thanks for your prayers in that area. One thing I realized today is that I will definitely have times during this season that I will have to stand up against things that everyone else is in favor of. This will take a lot of courage, but it must be done. I was reminded in Jeremiah 37 that doing what is right is what needs to happen, no matter what the cost may be.

Getting busy

I think I can officially say that life is getting busy. On Monday, I had physics homework due, computer homework due, a quiz, and a paper due. On Tuesday, I had more physics homework due, a physics quiz, and computer homework due. Today, I just had lab and a quiz. Tomorrow I have a physics exam and physics homework due as well as a baseball game which I am completely stoked about! I don't think I have much of anything on Friday. On Sunday, I have two baseball games (they are Seventh Day Adventist, so they don't play on Saturdays). My coach is okay with me missing for church. I will probably be there for half of one game, and the whole 2nd game. Sunday night, I am planning on going to a Bonner Singers concert. I need to do four concert reports for my music class. Next Monday, I have an exam in my Religion class, and homework due in physics. I'm not looking forward to that exam for a few reasons... I don't like the content (Greek Mythology), the teacher goes so fast that we can't even copy down the notes (test is based only on the notes), and the teacher has some very weird views on things. Oh well... I shall live. Tuesday, I have a music exam. I am missing the review day tomorrow because of my baseball game, but it should be okay if I can find time to study. So, I guess you could say that life is getting busy. It's somewhat overwhelming to think about all these things at once, so I try to take it a day at a time. I know it would be better if I could be thinking ahead, but right now, I am just trying to stay on track. God has been very good to me thus far, and I have no doubt that He will continue to give me the strength that I need to do well for His glory. If you could pray for God to give me opportunities to talk with others (specifically those on the baseball team) about things that really matter, that would be awesome. I am really looking forward to Bible study on Friday, and my dad's (late) birthday celebration on Saturday. I was reminded in Jeremiah 36 that it is essential that we pay careful attention to what God says in His word. We can't just ignore things because they don't fit our idea of what we think it should be like. God knows everything, and we need to trust and obey!

Depending on Him

I am going to keep this very brief because it is late and I'm not feeling 100%. God has been doing massive amounts of work in my heart in regards to dependence on Him, and helping others depend on Him. God has revealed some areas in which I am prone to taking His rightful place. Taking God's rightful place always ends in a disaster. I am more thankful than ever for God's grace in working through my failures, and pressing on towards complete dependence on Him. I realize now that even husbands/fathers are to guide their wife and children to full dependence on Christ except for those things that are the the husband/father's God given responsibility. Even in those, they will be indirectly depending on God if he is depending on God in those areas. I want to have a God-dependent family someday.

Sacrificial love

Church was awesome today as usual. Music was a bit interesting because Adam & Kristi weren't there due to Kristi having a baby. Yay! We got to see pictures... really cute baby. My sister did her first major drive without mom or dad being with her today. She drove like an hour to where her choir concert was. Mom and I went over to Pastor Tim's for fellowship groups. It is such a blessing to be able to learn under his teaching. He does such a good job at presenting what God's word says! The sermon today was from 1 John 3:11-18. It was about Christ-like love. I can't even fathom what Christ did for us. He had all the rights to stay in heaven and be worshiped by the angels, but instead He not only came to earth as a man, but took our place in death. It is a love that doesn't even make sense! We are called to love like He did. Love chooses self sacrifice for another person regardless of if their response, their love for us, or if they deserve it. The only measure of how much love we should have is how much God loved each of us. One thing that really caught my attention today was when Pastor Tim said that growing in unconditional self sacrifice is a good indicator of our spiritual growth. We must put our desires behind us, and love others with all that we are.

Standing out

Christina and I went to Lake Forest area to see a friend (Andrew) get his Eagle Scout award. It was a lot of fun. Jonathan had a soccer game, so mom and dad were with him and were planning on joining us. The soccer game ended later than expected, but we were invited over to their house... or that is the understanding that I had. Then I handed the phone over to Mrs. Van Vlear to give my parents directions, and found out differently--slight miscommunication somewhere. She was extremely gracious, and made dinner for all of us which we were not expecting at all. I felt incredibly horrible, but they were all very kind. As we were driving over there, I was praying for God's wisdom in knowing when to leave. They didn't mind us staying for a while, so I almost forgot about that request, but God answered it anyway. It turns out that the highway closes at 8:30 pm due to construction stuff. Well, when I saw the sign for that, it was 8:17 pm and it said 11 miles ahead. I called mom and dad who were right behind me to see if they had seen the sign. I said... "I am going for it." I must confess, I did take the turns faster than the marked speed limit. It wasn't unsafe, but I shouldn't have done that. God was gracious, and we made it about 30 seconds before they closed it. If it would have been closed, we would have had to drive about 15 miles back to the freeway, and take a really long route to get home... like over 2 hrs. This doesn't excuse going faster than I should have, but I am very thankful that we made it. In Jeremiah 35, there is an example of a family that was committed to obedience. In this case, it was to not drink wine. They stood out from among the Israelites. It makes me think, what "little standards" do we have that are standing out to others as a godly example even though we may not realize it? We must remember that living for God in the small things is just as essential as the big things.

Fellowship

School went fairly well today. I did poorly on my exam the other day. I honestly thought that I did very well... but apparently not (I'm not the only one... that doesn't help me though). Anyway, I talked with the teacher about the possibility of making up points on the exam, and he said he would think about it. I got quite a bit of homework done, and then I went to get my sister a birthday gift (shhh, she doesn't know). While I'm on the topic of Christina, she and Jeff both passed their drivers tests! Congrats to them both. I grabbed some lunch on the way back, and was planning on eating it in the car... but I saw guys out on the field! It was like 2:05 pm, and practice wasn't supposed to be until 3 pm. I guess the coach changed the time and forgot to call me... so my chili fries rested in the car for 3 hrs until practice finished. I attempted to eat some of them afterwards because I was really hungry. Cold chili fries just aren't on my top ten list of favorite things to eat. Oh well, life goes on. Bible study ended up being worship, prayer, and fellowship time tonight. It was a definitely a blessing though. We had several good conversations about a bunch of different topics. One of these topics was concerning the Babb's good friend that just passed away. I was talking with Mrs. Babb about praying for her, and praying that God would be glorified. I was trying to convince God that He would be glorified greatly through a miraculous healing, but God had other plans. As I am reminded almost every morning by my computer alarm clock--God is God, and I am not, I can only see a part of the picture He is painting (God is God by Steven Curtis Chapman). Jeremiah 34 served as a good reminder to me that obedience isn't something that we do, and then go back to disobedience. We must continually be obedient to what God has commanded us to do. Remember that obedience comes from the heart. It isn't something that we can delay on. Delayed obedience isn't obedience!

New friends!

I was up past 3 am last night studying for my exam this morning. I think it went fairly well. After class ended at 10, I had the opportunity to spend the morning/afternoon with some fellow moderators on the Rebelution forums whom I had never met (Nicole, David, and his sister Christina). It was an absolute blast! I wish we could have spent more time together. It was a great time of fellowship. You can read a more detailed account here. Christina (my sister) and Jeff Babb both have their drivers test tomorrow, so if you would keep them both in your prayers, that would be awesome. I was really encouraged by Jeremiah 33:8-9 today.

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.

The forgiveness found in Christ is truly incredible! So often, we think of how we benefit from His forgiveness, but His forgiveness and cleansing is for His glory... so that we would praise Him! Let us never forget the incredible gift of forgiveness that He gives us each and every day.

Yay for exams

As stressful as exams can be, they can serve as a great relief too. Generally, when exams come, homework is less. Surprisingly, I haven't been overwhelmed with homework quite yet. I do have a lot of it, so I need to keep on top of it, but God has been good so far in giving me the energy needed to finish everything. Another great thing about my exam today was that I finished in about 30 minutes which meant that I got to go to baseball practice. :) We pretty much just worked on hitting today. I can't wait for games to start! The first game is only 8 days away now! I was reading in Jeremiah 32 today. There were a couple verses that caught my attention.

27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?

42 For thus says the LORD, Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

Verse 27 caught my attention because I have such a lack of faith. I guess you could say that I have the head knowledge. I know He is everywhere, and that He can do anything, but often times, I don't live in this reality. Verse 42 caught my attention because I was just talking with a friend about one of their close family friends that passed away. I realize that this promise was for the Israelites, but I know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have seen Him use some ugly circumstances for His glory, and for the best of those that experienced it. I don't think this situation is any exception to that. God is always good!

A day off!

It was nice to have a day off! I spent most of the day studying for my exams this week. I feel nearly ready for my music exam tomorrow. It shouldn't be too difficult. I am hoping to finish it quickly and be able to go to the majority of baseball practice tomorrow. The sermon yesterday was awesome! It was focused on envy and jealousy. I never really saw jealousy as the road to murder (jealousy to hatred to murder). If someone were to ask us if we were going to murder someone, we would probably respond with something like "I would never do something like that." The reality is that when we are envious, we are headed down that path! It is amazing how sin will take us farther than we want to go. This applies to all areas of sin. Think about lust... it can lead to adultery. No one says "I think I will go commit adultery today." We must get rid of every hint of sin in our lives! We must come up with Biblically based plans for resolving these issues. They don't just go away. We must attack the root issues. For example, if we love people like we should (wanting the best for them)... we would have no reason to be jealous! If we were thankful like we should be, we would be content with what God has given us. Jealousy is telling God that we know what is best for us. If something was best for me right now, I would already have it. God does not withhold His best from us! Do we really want to tell God that we know what is really best for us? I don't think so! Another aspect of jealous is humility. When it comes to being popular or whatever, we should rejoice with the successes of others while being humble enough to learn from their example. Let's be content with God's best!

The joys of fixing computer problems

I actually do enjoy fixing computer problems. This doesn't mean that I am not annoyed by them at times. Right now, I am at the annoyance point with my computer. I have no idea how it happened, but my file menu and toolbars in windows explorer (this is what you view your files in) are gone. I have done a lot of research on it, and have found a lot of solutions that don't work. I created a few messes for myself... for example, after running some utility, I couldn't really see anything on the screen, getting the blue screen of death at start up due to an edit that one of the utilities made in my boot loader, and other smaller things. I have finished backing up all of my files to my server, and I have fixed all of the problems that I created in trying to fix this. I am thinking about reformatting my hard drives, but that is a pain. Oh well, life goes on. Jonathan had a couple soccer games for All-stars today. They got pretty much worked over in both games, but they had fun. I had to ref a game as well. This was the first time that I was a ref for an All-star tournament. I was pleasantly surprised at the kindness of the coaches on both teams. One team actually prayed before the game. I was really glad to see them win. I was really encouraged by Jeremiah 31:14 today.

I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness," declares the LORD.

It is so easy to get worry about the material things of this world. Truth be told, complete satisfaction can only come through God. I am amazed that we know this, and yet we look to other things to make us happy. Let is be completely satisfied with all we have in Him.

Wow, life has been busy

I got about half way done with what I was posting yesterday, and I never got around to finishing it. Here is what it said. I was going to post last night, but decided against it since it was past 1 am by the time I finished preparing for my physics exam. I think I did well on the exam. We'll see when my grade comes back. It was a very profitable day today. Physics exam this morning, finished my VGA display controller, wrote a music paper, played guitar for extra credit in music class, did well on the quiz for music, and did my physics homework. Now onto today... classes went well. I finished my homework, but I have quite a bit of studying to do for exams and such. Baseball was a lot of fun--we had a little scrimmage in practice today. God was very good to me. I played very well (made several plays, and got 2 hits and a walk). I had a small opportunity to get to know a guy on the team a little better. We were both going over to the gym to get our arms iced after practice, and he didn't have a car there, so I was able to talk with him for a couple minutes. I am praying for more opportunities like this. It is very difficult to talk with people in group settings... at least in a profitable way. Bible study was very good tonight. I know that this will be very helpful for me. I tend to be naive, and it is essential that we are not deceived by the philosophies of the world. We must let God's word penetrate our hearts because it divides right from wrong.

Rest is on the way!

I didn't do as well on my physics quiz as I would have liked. I was rushed for time, and didn't understand what a couple things were asking me to do, so I did them incorrectly. On a more positive note, my VGA display controller wasn't working right and I was trying to figure out what was going on with it. Turns out that the new software doesn't work right, so it actually wasn't my fault (amazing). Another cool thing is that I get to play guitar in my music appreciation class on Thursday for extra credit! Also, I am pretty sure that I aced my quiz in music appreciation. I miss baseball practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of class, but I will have practice tomorrow at least. There is no lab tomorrow, so I don't have class until 1 pm!!! This makes me quite happy. :) I have a lot of work to do though. In Jeremiah 30, I was reminded of God's amazing work in correcting us and drawing us back toward Himself. I long for the day when we won't have the sin nature, but until then, we must remember that God has equipped us completely so that we can be obedient to Him all the time.

His plans are plans of hope

School went fairly well today. My religion teacher seems to cram everything in at the end. I don't like when he goes so fast that you can't even take notes on it. Oh well. I have to tutor 4th graders for one of my classes. It was really sad for me. I was tutoring this girl... and she could only get the right answer about half the time for addition problems (after drawing out a number line and all). Needless to say, it was more difficult that I expected. I'll be working with her once a week throughout this quarter. Prayers would be appreciated. There is very little teacher support. I honestly don't know how she got to 4th grade. That means that for 4 years, teachers have totally ignored the fact that she doesn't understand math. That is a bit upsetting to me. If you could pray that God would give me wisdom in teaching her math, that would be great. Jeremiah 29:10-14 had some great encouragement for me. We are so deserving of punishment, but even when we are punished by God, He has our best in mind. Take a look!

"For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

I love what God says here... "I will be found by you." This is a promise! May we turn whole-heartedly to Him without having to go through long trials to come to a point of full submission to His will.

Homework

It is one of those late nights of homework. It is due at 11 pm tomorrow night, so I think I am going to leave the remaining 5 problems until tomorrow. Church was good as usual. Christina had a choir concert tonight at her orthodontist's church. He is a really neat guy! This is rather short. I am headed to bed, but I should have more to say tomorrow. I was reminded today of the importance of waiting on the Lord during one of the songs that was sung tonight (Isaiah 40).

Baby Shower

My sisters baby shower was today, so we got up very early to finish preparing for that. I drove down and picked my sister up at the airport. It was fun getting to spend some time with her. I don't get to see her too often any more. It was quite funny... about half way home she says, "You drive a mad stick shift." I was like, "Is that a good thing?" Apparently, she didn't realize that it was stick shift that whole time, so I guess that is good. haha While she went out to lunch with her college roommates, we set up a bunch of tables in the gazebo at the lake. It was a beautiful day! We couldn't have asked for better weather. I did a lot of running back and forth to the house... giving rides to people, getting random things from the house, waiting for people that got stuck in traffic, etc. It was a good time though. She got a lot of neat gifts. I had a random urge at 10:46 tonight to run around the lake (about 2.4 miles including the distance from my house to the lake). It was definitely a challenge. If you know me well, you know that I don't like running just to run. As I was running, there were several times that I wanted to just give up and start walking, but I had determined to not stop. This reminded me of running the race that God has set before me. There are so many times where I feel like just giving up and taking the easy way, but we are called to press on! Never stop! It was a great time of encouragement for my heart. In Jeremiah 28, I read about some false prophecy. It fits very well with what we talked about last night in Bible study. One thing that is pretty much always true of false teaching is that they tell you what you want to hear. This is very dangerous! The Bible doesn't always tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear, so those that teach God's Word won't always tell us what we want to hear. We need to be constantly comparing things with scripture.

Back to Bible study!

School went well this morning. I worked on homework until like 2:30. I am designing a VGA display controller (basically an extremely limited video card). Deborah's baby shower is tomorrow, so we have been preparing for that. Bible study started up again tonight. It was really good for me. It was about how easily we can let false teaching slip into our minds. It is a bit scary! We must come humbly to God, knowing that we do not have wisdom on our own, and that we do not know truth except for by Him alone. We need to have our minds so saturated in God's Word that we instantly recognize false teachings. It is so easy to get tired of fighting for truth, but it is essential that we depend on God for strength to continue fighting that battle even when we don't feel like it. He gives strength to the weary! As I spend a lot of time with the guys on the baseball team, I need to be dependent on God for strength to stand up for truth. I cannot become complacent! I am looking forward to the opportunities I will have to talk about God with the guys, but if it comes down to my faith or baseball, baseball is gone. Keep me accountable to this! If you see me slipping in any way, I want to know!

Another act of God's grace

School went fairly well today. I actually got out of my music appreciation class early. It took forever to get home because of an accident, but I guess it is another opportunity to grow in patience. God spared me once again today. There was heavy traffic in the right lane as cars were merging onto the freeway, but the rest of the lanes were moving well. I was going somewhere between 65 and 70 mph in the lane 2nd from the right, and the cars were going about 35 mph in the right lane because of the merging. As I was passing a semi truck, the car in front of it decided to change lanes. The problem was that I was going almost 70 mph, and he was going about 35 mph. The other problem is that he did this about 2 feet from the front of my car without looking or signaling. I am still not sure how I managed to miss him. I knew the lane next to me was open, so I yanked the wheel over and ended up skidding sideways and making all kinds of lovely noises and tire marks... then straighted it out. It was really a display of God's grace on my life. I couldn't have missed him by more than 6 inches, and that would have been a messy one. God is good! I was reminded as I read Jeremiah 27 that there are always false teachers. We need to be comparing everything to scripture, because false teachers aren't going to tell us that they are teaching false doctrine! They will be from within the church. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

No lab?!?

Not having lab would usually be a nice thing, but it was slightly frustrating today. This wasn't something that just happened. They knew that there would be no lab, but failed to communicate that to us. I could have stayed home until noon! Oh well. I did get a lot of homework done during that time, so that was good. Baseball practice was a lot of fun again. We scrimmaged against ourselves. I got on base on fielders choice and hit a pop up. Not the best batting ever, but at least I put it in play. I did manage to steal a couple bases. I also made one play to get a guy out at first. We have tomorrow off which will be nice. Arm is a little sore after throwing a lot... takes a little while to get back into it. If you would start praying for good opportunities to talk about spiritual things amongst some of the guys, that would be great! There was a little more inappropriate language today. I could use wisdom in how to deal with that. I was reminded in Jeremiah 26 that God is faithful in taking care of those that are obedient to Him. He promises to give us the words that we need when facing persecution for His sake.

Baseball!

Classes went pretty well today. The homework has begun to pile up already, so I'll be doing a lot of that tomorrow before baseball practice tomorrow. I had practice this evening and absolutely loved it! Baseball teams tend to come with a lot of inappropriate language and discussion topics, but it really wasn't too bad. I was very pleased! I don't know what position I will be playing yet, but I played shortstop for most of today. They may already have a shortstop... I don't know. Regardless, I'm going to do my best at wherever he puts me. I got home just before 10 from practice, but once we move to our new field next week, the hours should be a lot more convenient. I was reminded in Jeremiah 25 that God deals with sin very seriously. We must not take His grace lightly.

First day of school

I left early this morning hoping to pick up my books and parking permit before classes start. Neither of them opened until after my first class started, but I was able to get them later in the day. I really like my physics teacher. It won't be an easy class by any means, but he is a fun teacher, and that makes a huge difference. My computer architecture class and religion in three cultures class look like they are going to be a lot of work, but God will provide the energy and endurance to do it. He always does! :) Baseball practices start tomorrow! I can't tell you how excited I am about this. It will be interesting meeting the team for the first time and all. I really don't know what I'm walking into, but I am still looking forward to it. Pastor Tim recommended that we meditate on the truths of 1 John 3 throughout this week, so I am going to try to do that each morning before school this week. I should have read Jeremiah 25, but due to being exhausted, I decided to just review Hebrews 12:1-2 which we read as part of our family devotions this evening.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There are so many distractions that come with the busy-ness of school. It is important that I remain focused on Christ. The phrase "fixing our eyes" reminds me of a couple things. The first thing that comes to mind is pitching. You focus your eyes on that glove and then throw straight at it with all that you've got. The second thing that comes to mind is when I watch the 100 meter dash. There is an incredible focus in their eyes... looking at that finish line. That is the intensity that I want to have in my pursuit of what God has called me to do.

School here we come

Today was a great last day before school. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Church was absolutely amazing today. I got my room clean for the most part. It wasn't bad, but it needed some straightening up. I went to the batting cages with Jeff again. That was a lot of fun. I tried the 80 mph cage for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised. I had no problem hitting it. After the batting cages, Mr. Babb hit us some balls for field practice. The grass was quite soggy, but it was a lot of fun. We had fellowship groups tonight. It is fun to get to talk to people for longer periods of time and get to know them better. We had a great study in 1 John 3:4-10 this morning. It was a great practical application of the passage. Four reasons not to sin: Sin is lawless opposition to God (verse 4), Jesus came to take away sins (verse 5), sin is the devil's work and plan (verses 8 and 10), because God's seed is in us (verse 9). The fact is that sin is satanic. It is not simply something that everyone does. That is not a good excuse. We are literally joining Satan's side when we sin. Seeing and knowing Him changes who we are and how we live.

Soccer Regionals!

God blessed in holding up the rain until after I finished reffing the soccer game this morning. It was my first game that I've reffed at the regional level. Usually, the games are a bit more physical (meaning much more calls and stuff), but the game that I reffed was very clean. I'm sure I made a couple calls that were un-liked, but definitely nothing that would change the outcome of the game, which I was very glad for. Jonathan had his first game right after I finished reffing. God blessed them with a win! Honestly, I didn't expect them to win, but the other team only had seven players, so it was 11 against 7. Their second game was pretty much the opposite. I think the score was something like 10-0. They got slaughtered. Jonathan kept his head in the game and played very well though. In Jeremiah 24:7, I read about those that God had chosen. This is an amazing promise!

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

I think that I try to do too much on my own. The reality is that everything that is good comes from God. I hate those times that I feel cold toward God, but the fact is that God is the One that gives me a heart for Himself. It is God who has the power to change my heart, I cannot change it by myself. I pray that He would give me a hear to know Him, and to be committed to Him with my whole heart.

One last weekend

It is the last weekend before school starts. Today was a pretty relaxing day. We had an orthodontist appointment this morning. Jonathan had one of his good friends over for most of the day. We had a great time of family worship this evening. I took my car back to the repair place because they wanted to check for leaks again. Everything seems to be working fine. :) I was reminded in Jeremiah 23:23-24 that God is everywhere, and sees everything.

"Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD.

At times, we may feel that He doesn't hear us, but we can be assured that He sees absolutely everything. His quietness often causes us to grow in faith, to draw near to Him, and to seek Him with our whole heart.

Help the helpless

I got out of jury duty right before lunch today. I was able to get a few hours in at work, so that was nice. Mom did me a huge favor today and went down to La Sierra to pick up my books. They only had one of my books in! :( Hopefully they will get the other ones in soon. I found the excuses a bit humorous. There was one gentleman that claimed that he has a big mouth and likes a good story, so he couldn't keep his mouth shut about the trial if he as on the jury. He did get dismissed, but pretty much everyone laughed him out the door. I met a guy a little bit younger than myself that also had jury duty for the first time. He struck me as being a Christian, but I didn't know for sure, so I did some fishing. We got to the topic of school, and he was mentioning that he wanted to transfer to a 4 year school soon. He listed a lot of public schools, so I asked him if he had considered any private schools... then I found out that he was indeed a Christian. That opened the door for talking about different Christian schools in the area, and what church he went to. It was really the highlight of my day. I read in Jeremiah 22:3-5 about God's commands to Judah, and the consequences for not being obedient.

Thus says the LORD, "Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David's place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself," declares the LORD, "that this house will become a desolation."

God places a pretty big emphasis on the helpless. We do need to stick up for those that can't stick up for themselves. I don't know about you, but I would not want to hear these words from God. God always follows through with His promises... the good promises, and the not so good promises. Let us live to please Him!

God shows no partiality

I went to jury duty this morning. It is definitely a unique experience. I would describe the first part as something like sitting in the emergency room. The called my name for the second group, so we had a break from 10:30 am - 1:30 pm. That was quite nice. Much thanks to Pastor Tim for being totally flexible and meeting with me today rather than on Friday. I really benefit from his insight and example. When I went back, we were sent up to the court room. I had never really been in a court room. I really liked the judge.... he was quite funny. For example, there were people sitting in the juror seats because we didn't have enough space for everyone to sit in the other seats, so he gave people the option of sitting on their laps when they were called to go up there (joking of course). It kind of feels like a waste of time since I will be dismissed tomorrow (Lord willing). He said that being a student is a good excuse to get out of jury duty, so it is just a matter of me getting the opportunity to state that I am a student. It would have been nice to be able to do that today, but that's okay. I guess it was a good learning experience. I think it would be kind of fun to serve on the jury, but it is very time consuming. The case is supposed to go until January 16th or so which makes it impossible for me to be part of it. I had the opportunity to read a few chapters in "Shadow of the Almighty." It was a great encouragement to me to read about the God-centered life that Jim Elliot lived. I read in Jeremiah 21 today. It definitely serves as a reminder that God doesn't show partiality. He even said that He would fight against Judah! When we sin, we have placed ourselves under God's wrath. All the more reason to praise Him for the grace that He pours on us each and every day!

One last day of relaxation

Honestly, I didn't do much of anything to day. Dad made us a wonderful breakfast this morning. We enjoyed spending the day together. We played some games together, had family devotions together, watched some of the USC game, etc. I actually found an online broadcast of the game that was free (not something we usually do). Anyway, it was great being able to relax and spend time with my family. I have jury duty in the morning and then work on Thursday and Friday; thus the reason for today being my last real day of relaxation. Honestly, I didn't get much out of Jeremiah 20. Jeremiah is an excellent example of doing what God calls him to do at any cost. I want to have that kind of commitment!