Thank you Lord for:
1. Loving me when no one else could
2. Leading me when I needed direction most
3. Giving me freedom, peace, and a true understanding of grace
4. Always being there
5. Giving me the ability to laugh at myself
6. Humility
7. My family, who you created especially for me, and me for them
8. 26 years of life
9. The promise of an eternal life without fear and pain
10. Praise and Worship music
11. Goofy dogs
12. Friends that encourage and push and love
13. Molton Chocolate Cake at Chili's
14. Using a broken vessel
15. Truth
16. Dads and Grandpas that have more wisdom in their pinky than you do in your whole body
17. Moms and Grandmas who love everything you have ever done good, bad, or ugly and never stop telling you about it!
18. Sisters who will always be there, and will ALWAYS take your side in any external argument
19. Brothers who you can love so much, and the hope of all the incredible things you know are going to be done through their life
20. The hurts and pains that you used to help me understand things that I never had a clue about
21. Encouragement at the moment of desperation
22. The twinkle in the eyes of those who have been spending time with you in deep, deep, ways
23. Giving me the understanding of the POWER in prayer (man, was this life changing!)
24. Teaching me to "lighten up" and "let go"
25. Long road trips where you point out random things that always bring curiosity to what you are telling me
26. Accepting me
27. Understanding me
28. Blessing me
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
"The Drive Home" or "What's the Deal with All the Cows?"
I can tell this blog will be reminiscent of the old days where I try to glean a morsel of truth out of a large amount of rambling and detail. The trip home was eventful to say the least, but as always the Lord worked in ways far beyond my imagination, and planted seeds that are at this point, in various stages of growth.
It all began.....on Thursday afternoon when I left work. I jump in "The Lincoln" and hit the road jack! Boy, it was agreat day too, (this is before the North Texas Easter Blizzard), which by the way managed to stretch it's long neck all the way down to the Gulf Coast! (I was not prepared to deal with 37 degree temperatures) (I packed flip flops!!). Anyway, back to that blessed Thursday! Oh man, was it great.....sun shining, Newsboys blarring on the radio, sunroof open, what more could a man want! Just me, the open road, praise and worship, and nothing but adventure awaiting just beyond the windshield! And then......it happened! First turn out of the gate,.....CONSTRUCTION!!!! TRAFFIC!!! sl...o...wly cr...ee...ping a...long....NOOOO, I was just minutes away from FREEDOM of traffic, freedom of congestion.....and now...I must wait!
Okay....that's cool....it's going to be one of "those" trips....where everything I had expectations for would pretty much not occur the way in which I had hoped.....I have seen these before...flying mattresses, dodge neons, and Sam Houston's grave site have all been adventures that were experienced in the midst of similar "unexpected" trips. So, this time I realized...Josh you better just let go of the expectations right now, as you have no idea where this is going!
So, after an hour long trip from Plano to I-30 in Dallas (no exaggeration here). I had pretty much wrestled through the shot expectations of "leaving Dallas in the dust" and flying home in record time.
And so the story begins.....
The Scene:
Josh, sunroof open, blue jeans, and a polo.....tennis shoes, Ireland hat, radio up, driving (the speed limit), down Hwy 75 towards Beaumont. I pop in some "good old days" Revival Preaching (Leonard Ravenhill, to those who have heard of the man), and proceed to try to "let go" of myself and listen for the Lord. After two hours I had come to the conclusion that the problem of this generation today is a lack of good ole fashion yelling and screaming preaching, and had pretty much decided that this was my missed calling....REVIVALIST PREACHER! Now, I will say, this was not a revelation from the Lord....more or less me, trying to solve problems which the Lord already has taken care of....but, needless to say, I was fired up internally to some extent, and luckily I was alone....or whoever was riding with me would probably have gotten a good dose of that "old time religion", circa Josh Smith style! But, being alone I just pondered my thoughts deeply and determined that yes, I had in fact missed my calling, and I had the answer to turn around this wicked generation of sinners! Now, that being said.....suddenly (the Lord this time), began pointing out to me....COWS! EVERYWHERE I LOOKED! Ranch here, farm there...cows! cows! cows! It seemed as though every time I broke myself out of my stupified state of thought, the first thing I noticed was.....cows! All shapes, sizes, and colors...So, me....not being one to miss details, began to ponder....what is the Lord showing me here! THERE IS DEFINETLY SOMETHING TO ALL THIS COW BUSINESS!......combine this with my two hours of constant revival messages..DO WE NEED TO GO BACK TO SACRIFICING THE FATTENED CALF!!! WHOA!! THAT IS WAY BACK!! haha, (this only lasted like 5 seconds), but it just gives you an idea of where my mind was....I never really got much farther than that, before I decided that the Lord would make the "cows" clear in his timing...if at all....my other thought was that maybe it was a simple way of getting me out of revival mode..needless to say...after stopping for some dinner at a cool out the way Mexican Food place in Huntsville (once again, I was looking for adventure, right?)....I get to Beaumont after a record breaking 7 hour journey....(I was going the speed limit).
Without going into thousands, upon thousands of details about the weekend....I do realize this much...1. the Lord was working in great ways 2. I have learned a little patience over the past few years 3. the Lord never ceases to amaze me 4. I still don't understand all the cows! (this is driving me crazy...I know there has to be some deep, pearl of wisdom that the cows will show me! I know it!! 5. The Lord is faithful 6. The Lord is answering prayers that I myself prayed, and although I don't really remember exactly what they were, and when i said them, He doesn't!
Anyway, that is part, of mostly, kind of sort of, the take aways from my small adventure back home...I supposed I could have written everything I remember, but for some reason I just feel we need to focus on cows right now!
It all began.....on Thursday afternoon when I left work. I jump in "The Lincoln" and hit the road jack! Boy, it was agreat day too, (this is before the North Texas Easter Blizzard), which by the way managed to stretch it's long neck all the way down to the Gulf Coast! (I was not prepared to deal with 37 degree temperatures) (I packed flip flops!!). Anyway, back to that blessed Thursday! Oh man, was it great.....sun shining, Newsboys blarring on the radio, sunroof open, what more could a man want! Just me, the open road, praise and worship, and nothing but adventure awaiting just beyond the windshield! And then......it happened! First turn out of the gate,.....CONSTRUCTION!!!! TRAFFIC!!! sl...o...wly cr...ee...ping a...long....NOOOO, I was just minutes away from FREEDOM of traffic, freedom of congestion.....and now...I must wait!
Okay....that's cool....it's going to be one of "those" trips....where everything I had expectations for would pretty much not occur the way in which I had hoped.....I have seen these before...flying mattresses, dodge neons, and Sam Houston's grave site have all been adventures that were experienced in the midst of similar "unexpected" trips. So, this time I realized...Josh you better just let go of the expectations right now, as you have no idea where this is going!
So, after an hour long trip from Plano to I-30 in Dallas (no exaggeration here). I had pretty much wrestled through the shot expectations of "leaving Dallas in the dust" and flying home in record time.
And so the story begins.....
The Scene:
Josh, sunroof open, blue jeans, and a polo.....tennis shoes, Ireland hat, radio up, driving (the speed limit), down Hwy 75 towards Beaumont. I pop in some "good old days" Revival Preaching (Leonard Ravenhill, to those who have heard of the man), and proceed to try to "let go" of myself and listen for the Lord. After two hours I had come to the conclusion that the problem of this generation today is a lack of good ole fashion yelling and screaming preaching, and had pretty much decided that this was my missed calling....REVIVALIST PREACHER! Now, I will say, this was not a revelation from the Lord....more or less me, trying to solve problems which the Lord already has taken care of....but, needless to say, I was fired up internally to some extent, and luckily I was alone....or whoever was riding with me would probably have gotten a good dose of that "old time religion", circa Josh Smith style! But, being alone I just pondered my thoughts deeply and determined that yes, I had in fact missed my calling, and I had the answer to turn around this wicked generation of sinners! Now, that being said.....suddenly (the Lord this time), began pointing out to me....COWS! EVERYWHERE I LOOKED! Ranch here, farm there...cows! cows! cows! It seemed as though every time I broke myself out of my stupified state of thought, the first thing I noticed was.....cows! All shapes, sizes, and colors...So, me....not being one to miss details, began to ponder....what is the Lord showing me here! THERE IS DEFINETLY SOMETHING TO ALL THIS COW BUSINESS!......combine this with my two hours of constant revival messages..DO WE NEED TO GO BACK TO SACRIFICING THE FATTENED CALF!!! WHOA!! THAT IS WAY BACK!! haha, (this only lasted like 5 seconds), but it just gives you an idea of where my mind was....I never really got much farther than that, before I decided that the Lord would make the "cows" clear in his timing...if at all....my other thought was that maybe it was a simple way of getting me out of revival mode..needless to say...after stopping for some dinner at a cool out the way Mexican Food place in Huntsville (once again, I was looking for adventure, right?)....I get to Beaumont after a record breaking 7 hour journey....(I was going the speed limit).
Without going into thousands, upon thousands of details about the weekend....I do realize this much...1. the Lord was working in great ways 2. I have learned a little patience over the past few years 3. the Lord never ceases to amaze me 4. I still don't understand all the cows! (this is driving me crazy...I know there has to be some deep, pearl of wisdom that the cows will show me! I know it!! 5. The Lord is faithful 6. The Lord is answering prayers that I myself prayed, and although I don't really remember exactly what they were, and when i said them, He doesn't!
Anyway, that is part, of mostly, kind of sort of, the take aways from my small adventure back home...I supposed I could have written everything I remember, but for some reason I just feel we need to focus on cows right now!
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