Not that guy on tv

I have been learning a lot lately.

Through methods I would have deemed unnecessary.

But God has a way of doing things that surprise me.

Know what I am talking about?

Of course you do.

So here is what I have been learning:

“I am me”

Weird thought right?

But let me unpack it for a second.

I a

m graduating college in May, and that is crazy.

I always am comparing my life to others that have gone before me.

Like, “Oh, this happened to this guy, so that must be whats in store for me.”

Or, “This person got my degree, and this is what they are doing… so why not me?”

Its almost as if I am waiting for all the right things to happen

That I may be like _______ or do _______.

Its weird right?

But we all do it.

This constant comparison of ourselves to what others have gone through.

It can even carry deeper than that, to the level of lets say… mistakes.

For instance, “My parents did that, I have no hope…

if they can’t stand up under the pressure, I won’t be able to…

if they can’t have a good marriage why would I be able to…

If they can’t hold down a job why should I be able to…

If they can’t break the alcoholism I won’t be able to resist alcohol…

Or even

I will never be able to live up to what they have accomplished…

He has done so much...

She has raised an amazing family…

I’ll never be able to do that…

Am I hitting home here?

Here is the thing I want you to take away.

These comparisons always result in fear.

Fear cripples.

Fear hinders.

Fear destroys.

Fear prevents good things.

Really good things.

This is a very elementary thought

But we all forget it.

You are not your parents

You are not your brother

You are not your friends parents

You are not that guy on tv

that girl on tv

You are not the character from the movie you saw last night

Last month

You are simply you.

“For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mothers womb”

-Psalm 139:13

I love the language David uses here in this Psalm.

Knitting us together

Now, God is not an old lady in a yarn shop with knitting needles…

however I think the point here I think

Is that there is an intricacy.

A purpose here.

God knit you together with a distinct purpose.

Not your mothers purpose

Your purpose

We are all called to walk the path to God,

The narrow path as Matthew 7:3 suggests

(to read a great blog on this passage by my good friend Cory click here)

Same path.

Different travelers.

I think our purpose is found when we realize th

at we are ourselves.

My purpose is found in being Collin.

God has given me specific giftings, abilities, and passions that are for me.

Not you.

And you have specific giftings, abilities, and passions that are for you.

Not me.

God has put you where you are for a distinct reason.

You are not to be held captive by your fears.

If only we understood the damage fear does to us.

Because really we make the decisions that shape our future.

If you are scared of ending up in a dead boring job that you hate

Well then don’t decide to work there.

And if you are in a place you are hating

Quit.

Don’t be held back because of fear.

Fear will prevent you from so many good things

.

That I will promise you.

Fear is the enemy of the Gospel

Fear is the enemy of us becoming who God made us to be

Fear is the enemy of our generation

Fear is the enemy

Fear

is

the

enemy

“No, in all these things

we are

more than conquerors

through him who loved us”

-Romans 8:37

Heart and Soul

So here I am in Charleston, SC. Its dark, we arrived around 9 ish to Stephen and Laurie's place. There is just something about arriving at night to a place you have never been to before, and when you wake up its just an awesome feeling, maybe I'm just weird...

There are 8 of us that went.

A pretty stinking awesome group! We are up here to help out a church called River Church.

For those of you who don't know Stephen and Laurie, you really are missing out! They are some of the coolest people I have ever met. Not to mention Stephen by far has the manliest beard I have ever seen.

It just reeks of manhood.

They have four little girls, Charity, Sarah, Chloe, and Hosannah.

Joseph and I spent about forty five minutes on their trampoline tonight with them, they kept talking as if they were my brain. Telling me to do all kinds of things. We also spent about 15 minutes coming up with different alien names. Some of them were...

Fungus Face

Hookie goohoka

Protoevangelion (this is what happens when you are a theology geek's child...)

Yo Momma

Leafakiki

and many more...

Their names changed about... every 6 seconds.

It was one time where I just zoom out and take a google earth perspective on life, and think

Man, life is good.

Although, I have a lot of homework to do this weekend I still came.

While they are out changing the world, I will be writing a paper in a coffee shop down the street.

Awesome.

Tomorrow is gonna be a good day though. I love the people I am with.

Something I have been learning lately is friends really change everything.

Life is never meant to be lived alone, it is best when shared (thanks Chris McCandless).

The guys I have spent the past 2-4 years of my life with are probably some of my best friends in the world. I am reminded of 1st Samuel 14 where Jonathan's armor bearer says to Jonathan

"I am with you heart and soul"

Thats the essence of brotherhood.

And I have been blessed beyond belief throughout my life with men that have been with me heart and soul, and for that I am eternally grateful.

We have walked through a lot of stuff together, I would not have made it through this past season if it wasn't for the men around me. I know they would say the same.

Reminds me of the mini series Band of Brothers. Those guys fought together, laughed together, died together.

Something about that just makes me wanna...

Yea... its good.

So here we are in Charleston, sitting in the living room its 12:28 AM saying the stories we have all heard and experienced a gajillion times laughing harder each time, when we should be sleeping since we are getting up in 7 hours. Yet, God is here. God rejoices in this, I know He does.

Friends.

Brothers.

Sisters.

Heart and Soul.

Yea.

God's Mistake

So, it seems to be as of late that my life has been chock full of relationship stuff. A little bit in my own life, but more in other people’s lives.

I love it.

God has called us to be in relationship with each other, and its through that which God’s love is fully expressed. Although I could go on and on about this, I do not want to, I want to focus on something else in this blog.

I want to focus on a “pre-Eve” or “pre-woman” time in the history of this world as we know it.

I am withholding all jokes.

I want to focus on “the hunt” the hunt for a perfect helper. And here’s the question:

“Why did God place Adam in the garden alone to begin with?”

Since God is all knowing wouldn’t it make sense that He would know that it is bad for man to be alone?

Maybe He just forgot that man needed woman?

Or.

Maybe, just maybe he wanted to teach Adam something that could only be taught in solitude…

God placed Adam in the garden in solitude, with the responsibility of maintaining the Garden (Genesis 2:15). He placed Him alone. There is something about being alone that teaches us about relating to God that nothing else can compare to.

When you are alone.

You really find out what you are made of.

You find out what you believe in.

What you trust in.

Who you trust in.

Its in solitude where God forms the inner parts of your being.

Your character.

Emotions.

Thoughts.

Are refined.

But then there is this. Adam is alone. Always has been. He has never seen another human being, let alone a woman. All he sees is animals. Being together.

Dogs

Giraffes

Elephants

Squirrels

Moose

Encouraging.

So why create the animals before the best created being of all time? God says this, “It is not good for man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18)

He then brings the animals in front of Adam so Adam could name them.

But why?

Is this a representation of God’s “accident” of not creating a helper for Adam? And Him trying to cover for that accident?

“Here Adam, here’s a zebra.”

“….oh, that doesn’t work does it?”

“… a camel…?

“…no”

NO! Thats not it. I don’t think God is trying to match Adam with an animal to be his helper.

God knew what it was like to be in perfect community because He is part of the Trinity. He knows that a panther is not a good fit for a helper for Adam. God is refining Adam.

The animals were brought to be named, yes. But they were also brought before him to bring a yearning inside of Him for Eve. A helper. Adam had to realize that the future Eve would be a perfect fit. He had to realize that it is not good for Him to be alone.

Its different for God to know something about us. Then it is for us to know the same truth about us.

God knew that it wasn’t good for man to be alone, but Adam did not know that yet.

The delay in Eve’s arrival shows Adam the perfectness of Eve for Adam. Because he knew the importance of a helper.

I love how God takes from Adam to build what is missing.

His wholeness.

So, for those of you in solitude. Keep pressing in. Keep going. God is doing an unseen work inside of you that will only be able to be seen in hindsight. Go forward in light of this. He is forming who you are.

For those of you who are married. What a blessing!

Men.

You have a wife.

That perfect helper.

Love her with everything you got. In fact, I challenge you.

Pick up the phone.

Call her.

Tell her you love her.

Thank her for being who she is.

Sure, there are troubles in marriage. Being a single dude, I can’t speak of those with much authority if at all. But, I know God has ordained marriage. Its worth dying for to make it work.

Do not give up on each other.

Ever.

“Ascentus mentis ad Deum”

Sloppy Knots

Gosh, life is hard.

Life requires a fight.

Let me rephrase that:

If you want to get anywhere in life, you have to fight.

Being lazy is easy

It is

At first

You see let me walk you through something here:

As some of you know lately I have been training on a volunteer Search and Rescue team here in Toccoa. Its a lot of fun. To do a typical rescue requires a lot of work. Let me lay down some basics.

You first have to carry all the equipment to the site and being that we are SAR its not an ideal location for lugging 60-80 lbs of rope, too many carabiners to count, a basket, and many other things that are really heavy.

Then, you have to pick the best spot to tie the ropes, then you have to tie the ropes, with the right knots, using the right type of rope and so on. You then have to attach the gear, in the right way, and the right order.

You then do the rescue.

Put the person in the basket, who is usually hurt, unconscious, not responding.

Pull the person up the rock face in the basket.

Carry the person back to safety in the basket. All the while the person is writhing in pain, vomiting over me.

There is NO room for error.

Sure, I could sloppily tie the knots to make it easy on me. It would be quicker. I could not rappel down and pick up a 180 lb. man and put him in the basket, I mean, thats heavy. I could just tie him to the rope right?

Ok

Enough, are you getting the point?

Being lazy is always harder than doing the hard work upfront. To not tie the rope right affects other people.

“The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing…”

There is no room for lazy people in the Kingdom of God.

Period.

So, to you suffering in the midst of trial, in the midst of difficulty.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

Keep your head up, keep fighting.

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” - 2^nd Corinthians 4:17

Do not give up.

I promise, He sees you.

There is a work going on inside of you that is unseen now,

but it will come to light,

and when it does,

the troubles you have faced will be worth it.

It doesn’t seem like it

The light at the end of the tunnel has been snuffed out, you are burned out.

I know what you're thinking

"I'm walking through hell,"

You are.

I tell you though, keep fighting.

There is a light.

Each new day brings you closer.

I promise

2^nd Corinthians 6:4-10

“We put no stumbling block in anyone's path,

so that our ministry will not be discredited.

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:

in great endurance;

in troubles,

hardships and distresses;

in beatings, imprisonments and riots;

in hard work,

sleepless nights and hunger;

in purity, understanding,

patience and kindness;

in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

in truthful speech and in the power of God;

with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

through glory and dishonor,

bad report and good report;

genuine,

yet regarded as impostors;

known,

yet regarded as unknown;

dying, and yet we live on;

beaten,

and yet not killed;

sorrowful,

yet always rejoicing;

poor,

yet making many rich;

having nothing,

and yet possessing everything.”

Do not give up.

Don’t sloppily tie knots

Its not worth it.

Its worth it to fight.

So fight.

Forcefully advance the Kingdom.

So, tonight I went road biking. It was by far one of the hardest rides I have gone on. Maybe thats because I am not in the shape I used to be in. The point of this story is not how bad I am at road biking. But rather what happened afterwards. I went over to some friends house to hang out. Not everyone was there, but there were some good friends there and we were talking.

Life

Growing up

Friends

What were gonna do when we graduate (9 mos. and counting)

Illnesses

Family

Homeschooling or not homeschooling our future children. haha

Ministry

I was driving home and thinking. This is the way it was supposed to be. Im actually reminded of the show Friends where they just sat down in Central Perk, "their coffee shop" and just talked, laughed, and cried. It kinda felt like that.

You see life was never meant to be absent of friends. Life is supposed to have friends.

This next year is going to be one for the record books. It really will be. I can not wait to see what happens this year. Its gonna be good.

stay tuned.

God's Will or bust?

Yesterday, the beginning of one of my dreams since I was little started to come to life. Its not there yet, but it is in the process of it.

I started training for a volunteer Search and Rescue team in Habersham County.

Its not important how I got to do this, if you really want to know, then let me know and I can tell you. But, what the neat thing is, is the fact that this has always been kind of one of my dreams to do. I love being outside, climbing, and helping people and I have always thought to combine these would be so stinkin awesome.

And, I have come to find out that it is.

What's neat, is I am still able to be committed to all my ministry and school endeavors while doing this, which is primetime awesomeness.

When the opportunity presented itself, I was kinda hesitant, because I was not sure whether or not I should do it, because I am not that great of a climber, and I am not a very strong kind of person, so to be honest, I was bit intimidated and almost did not do it. I am so glad that I did. The moment came, I saw it, and I seized it, despite my nervousness or uncertainty of my ability to do it well.

I have got quite a bit of training ahead of me, but I am so stoked about that future training. I can not wait for it.

This summer has been one of reaping fruit from seized moments. Some fun and awesome, others not so fun and awesome, but rather difficult and tough.

Sometimes seizing a moment isn't always what you want it to be but rather, something you know is right. That you know is for the good. Ya know? You see it is so easy to seize a moment when it is good for you and of course its God's will. But the moment that you need to seize a moment and its not so fun, it makes you uncomfortable, and you question it, it can't be God's will. Right? I mean I think that all the time. Basically what I am saying is this:

It is easy to pray for God's will when you want his will, but when you dont want his will for that time in your life, its not so easy to pray for it.

Its a tough thing to live out.

God's will or bust.

Its so easy to pray for God's will, but when it comes time to live out His will for my life, its sooo stinking hard. Sometimes, so hard that I convince myself that it is not God's will.

Difficulty does not equal an absence of God.

But, there is sweet times ahead. For instance, I am trying to get a college ministry going up in Toccoa, GA at this awesome church Foothills Community Church. Its so weird to be away from 12Stone but I know that I am growing SO much as a result. I really miss home, but being away from home has a way of teaching me that I can not describe. I am learning through the hard, fun, and sad.

This college ministry excites me so much. God has his hand over it, some of the things that are happening already are just indicators of God's favor of this. He is putting together a team of people that are just incredible.

No one is doing this well in Toccoa.

No one.

We hope to change that.

Again, ministry has always been my number one dream in life, and whether I am just here for the summer to get this thing launched or what, I do not regret this summer one bit. Hopefully God will do something through this, and I alread know he has done a ton in my own life as a result of it.

So, in the midst of seizing moments we find God's heart for our lives.

Keep Trekking

Little Boy Running

I was running again today. Something really neat happened.
I was running at a park where there is a 2.2 mile loop and I was just starting on the second loop. I had run past this dad and his son fishing on the first loop and as I was on the second loop I was passing them because I was running, and the son had to be no older than four. As I ran past them, I heard these little footsteps quicken and I realized that this little boy was running behind me, trying to keep up. He was so cute.
I am not gonna lie. It was an awesome moment.
I slowed down and let him run with me for a bit.
All I could do was just smile.
He eventually slowed down
smiled
and went back to his dad.
I am not going to try to come up with some spiritual metaphor for this.
I could try though.
All I want to say. Is this:
Don’t forget to enjoy life every once in a while.
Don’t be afraid to run after something even if you can not keep up.
Thats all.