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!

Happy New Year!

I was planning on going and playing some tackle football with the Dortignac's (they have 14 kids) this morning, but it sounded like not many people were planning to show up, so I decided to play basketball instead. I think we won about three games and lost one. I had an appointment concerning my coming jaw surgery this afternoon. I must admit, it is a bit crazy. Basically, they will cut my jaw vertically in half, then slide the outer half forward to fix my over-bite. Then they will secure it with two titanium plates screwed into my jaw. If all goes as planned, I'll have my wisdom teeth taken out at the same time. We met this guy that had the surgery done six weeks ago, and he basically said that I would lose a lot of weight. He said he is just starting to chew on soft foods. He gave us all the real information. He said that I wouldn't even feel my wisdom teeth removal afterwards. I guess that means that the jaw surgery is just that much more. The oral surgeon said that I would be on a liquid (or nearly liquid) diet for six weeks. Not my idea of fun. The good news is that they don't like wire my jaw closed or anything. Also, he said that when they do that, the nerve is cut and so I won't feel my jaw for like 3 months. He said that this is actually a really good thing because that means that it doesn't hurt. I'm not sure if I like that or not. As much as I don't want it to hurt, I don't exactly like the thought of drooling for 3 months (haha). I guess it won't be the end of the world... just almost. This will probably take place in June sometime after I am out of school. After the appointment, we went over to the Dortinac's house and played some tackle football. It was a ton of fun! I haven't played tackle football in forever! There were a couple really funny plays. One of the guys was calling for the ball, but the quarterback was looking into the sun. He fired it toward the silhouette of the guy that was calling and hit him in the back of the head. haha There was another play where I was tackling a guy and I tried to strip him (create a fumble). Well, dad decided to help... and tackled both of us. I was expecting dad to grab the fumble... not take me down! I ended up getting out of that pile and running for a touchdown. :) I won't mention that I threw way too many interceptions. I did get quite a few interceptions and touchdowns though, so I guess it balances out to some degree. We visited my grandparents for a couple hours tonight. We watched this young man on TV that was attempting to break the world record for the longest jump on a dirt bike. He did break the record (322 ft and 7.5 in). As the reporter asked him what he thought, He said that He was a bit disappointed that he didn't go further (there was a head wind). Then he told everyone to clear off the landing because he was going to do it again. I couldn't believe it! How could he be so passionate about this, that he would risk his life a second time just because he thought he could go further than he did? Then I was thinking of my life. If this young man was willing to risk his life for this world record, I should be all the more passionate about Christ and what He has done for me. That is infinitely more important than being famous for a world record. He has a discontentment for not meeting up to what he thought his potential was. I want this same attitude toward my relationship with Christ. I don't ever want to get to the point where I am satisfied with my relationship with Christ. I want to grow daily. I was thinking about what I would like to read in the Word as we enter 2008. I had to go back to the theme that I have set for myself in Philippians 3.

Verses 7-14
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Verses 20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

This is my desire for 2008... that I would count worthless things as worthless so that I would see the infinite worth of Christ, that I would remember that my citizenship is in heaven, that my heart would be filled with a passion for pressing on toward the goal for the prize because of these amazing truths.

Pursuing righteousness, holiness, and purity

Church was really good this morning. Music went pretty well except for the fact that no one plugged in the pulpit mic. It all worked out though. Recently, I've found myself unexcited about things that I wish that I was excited about in God's Word. One of my friend's described it as "desert moments." I was actually thinking about this when I was driving yesterday. I said to God, "I am so sick and tired of sin!" Well, Pastor Tim talked about this exact thing today. The message was on 1 John 2:28-3:3.

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

I love when God speaks through people like that! On earth, our calling is to abide in Him. This comes by pursuing righteousness, holiness, and purity. The reality is that these are not always fun things to pursue. So how can we keep that passion burning? We do it by meditating on who Christ is, the amazing reality of the gospel, the fact that we are His children, the indescribable love that He has poured on us, the reality that we will have a perfect body when we see Him face to face. We need to have a godly discontentment for sin. If we are not in awe at what God has done, we really need to be filled again with the knowledge of God through His Word.

The mustang lives again

The good news is that the car did get fixed. The bad news is that it wasn't what we expected. The intake manifold had a crack in it. For those of you that are like myself and don't know exactly what an intake manifold is, it is the network of passages that direct air or air-fuel mixture from the throttle body to the intake ports in the cylinder head. The flow typically proceeds from the throttle body into a chamber called the plenum, which in turn feeds individual tubes, called runners, leading to each intake port. Engine breathing is enhanced if the intake manifold is configured to optimize the pressure pulses in the intake system. Basically, it is the main thing that everything connects to. Here is a picture of what one looks like. It ended up coming out to $960--ouch! There are some good things though! I called up the dealership to see what they would charge, they said $1400. This makes me very happy with $960! My grandpa called and offered to pay $500 of it. That is a huge blessing! I was able to go to the batting cages today with Jeff from church (and his dad). It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, Mr. Babb suggested that we go to a field and do some fielding practice. That was very good for me as I have not really fielded like that in a couple years. We might do it again sometime this next week. I didn't get much out of Jeremiah 19 today. God is basically telling Jeremiah to warn Judah (the Southern kingdom) that they are going to be totally demolished. Let us be obedient to what He has called us to do so that we do not receive similar messages.

Car is back in the shop

I didn't get as much done at work today, but what I did get done was important. It involved a good bit of research to figure it out. On the way home, I was stopped at a signal about three cars back when I saw smoke coming out of my hood. I decided this wasn't a good thing. I instantly turned off my car, set the parking break, turned on my emergency flashers and got out of the car. The smoke stopped, so I popped the hood to see what was happening. I am still not sure what it was, but I am definitely leaking a good amount of engine coolant. After looking for several minutes, I decided it would be okay to drive the two hundred yards to the gas station. There were several blessings in this though. I talked with my grandpa about it, and he said that it shouldn't be too expensive to fix, so that is a major blessing. Another huge blessing is that the smoke came when it did. If I was going at a high speed, I probably wouldn't have seen it since it was on the passenger side. It was also a blessing that I wasn't on the side of a freeway or something, I was able to whip a u-turn and park on the side of the road. A young guy that was walking on the sidewalk stopped to look at it. He used a lot of words that are in the four letter variety, but it was nice of him to offer his help anyway. Another blessing is that I got paid today. I wasn't expecting to be paid until the end of next week, but my boss wrote me a check today. It is a bit of a bummer that I'm having to put out more money on the car, but there were big blessings as well. As I sat in my car, I started reading some more in Jeremiah. I was reminded again to trust in the Lord. As I continued reading in chapter 18, verses 4-6 really caught my attention.

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

I think of how I like to see my plans work, when God's plans are best--always! When I put my plans before God's, my heart is hardened to the work that He is trying to do in my heart. I want with all my heart to be soft and changeable by God for His glory.