Ian—A Year I Will Never Forget

The 2012-2013 school year of Southern Adventist University is only a few days from coming to an end. All that is left is a few more days of finals exams, and then we are all taking off in our own paths. I do not think that this school year is any different than the ones before it. Yes, I have only been here for one year, but I am sure that others have felt the way I feel as I think back over the year. The school year has been a time where people’s lives get intertwined with each other. You meet people for the first time, and then within only a few days, you have several good friends around the campus. Every day is filled with these moments where you meet someone new, and then you do not even realize that you became good friends within a short period of time. I hope you understand what I am trying to tell you, and if not, I apologize. The point I am trying to make is that personally, my life has been transformed by the people I have met over these past eight or nine months. Every single person I have met has touched me in some way all throughout the year. I have made so many great friends over the school year, and I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I hate to see them go as we all part ways. In my final post for the school year, I want to remember the friends I have made and also say thank you to them. I hope you all enjoy and if you are one of my friends reading this, do not feel bad if you are not in it or not, I still feel that you have touched me in some way.

                I would like to thank my roommate Prescott for being the greatest roommate, and only real roommate I have ever had. When we first started rooming together, I did not know how this was going to work out, but eventually we got use to each other, and have become very good friends. He has always helped me out throughout the year, and being a fellow Theology major, he has helped me through the word of God. There is so much I could say about him, but this post may get way too long if I stated everything. To sum it all up, he is more like a brother to me now than anything. I cannot wait to room with him next year.

                I would like to thank my best friend Mike for being a great and caring friend to me. He was not my first friend here at Southern because I consider Prescott to be that, but he is definitely my closest friend that I can relate to the most. We both have a love for videogames, although he is a computer gamer and I am a console gamer. We also have fun just acting really stupid and doing things that are crazy. He is definitely the friend I can act like myself around. If it were not for him, I would have never met so many other friends here, and I thank him so much for that.

                I would like to thank my good friend Daniel for being that guy who I can talk to about stuff, but at the same time another friend I can act crazy around. He was really the one who introduced me to Mike, so I really thank him for that. He always gives me advice if I need it, and at the same time, he comes to me for advice if he is looking for some. We may not hang out as often as I hang out with other friends, but we still have fun hanging out together.

                I would like to thank another good friend of mine named Tim. I met him through Mike’s room and even though our friendship did not start out that well, we have become very good friends now. He also is a computer gamer and we have playing games together as well. I really am in debt to him as he helped me with a situation over the semester I was struggling with. He has been a true friend to me and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done.

                I would like to also thank my friend Joel who has been a good influence on me, even if he does not think so. He is really into music and he is always the one who is singing down the hall or whistling. I also met him through Mike’s room. The reason I appreciate as a friend is that he has a tendency not to hold back on how he feels about things. I like that because there is sometimes I need hear something, but do not want to listen to myself, so he tells me point blank. That helps me a lot and I thank him for being a caring friend to me.

                I would like to thank the members of the House of Levi as well for being so supportive and having my back if I needed it. The House of Levi is what the freshman religion majors came up with so we could keep in touch and maybe hang out here and there. Out the group, I would like to thank Mindy, Evan, Andrew, John, Shelly, Silvia, Nick, Frankie, Lance, William, Prescott, Matthew, Joel, and Daniel. Every single member helped me in some way, shape, or form. No matter what, these friends will always remain with me because they have helped me so much over this year. I cannot thank them enough for their friendship.

                I would like to thank the lifegoup I was in called EPIC. I may not have been close to everyone in the group, but I looked forward to it every week. Everyone was so caring and they really wanted to hear how I was doing. Most of the friends I have listed about are in that group, but I thank the ones I have not mentioned for their friendship. All of them got me through some tough times, and I thank them so much their help.

                Before I start thanking every person I have met here on campus, let me just say that I would like to thank every single person I have met, and friend on this campus. There are little things that they have done that I will never forget. Even if it was a simple smile or opening the door for me, it made me feel welcomed here at Southern. So I give a shout out to all every friend and acquaintance out there, thank you!

                Above all, I want to thank God for bringing me here to Southern, bringing me through the year, and giving me all the great friends I have mentioned in this post. If it was not for God, there would be no chance I would have been able to make here and through the year. When I first came here, I had no idea how I was going to pay off the bill. Within only a few weeks, though, He took care of that and I did not have to worry about it so I could focus on my studies. He provided me with great friends along the way and I could not be happier with the friends He has given me. He gave me a job as soon as I got here, and then provided me with an ever better job as the semester has come to a close. He helped me through the hard times where I did not understand what was going on in my life. He has been there for me every step of the way and there is no way I can thank Him enough for what He has done for me here. He is my best, everlasting friend, and the great thing is, He will not be going anywhere.

                I would love to continue thanking people for the great year that I have had here at Southern, but it would take way too long to thank everyone. I want to leave all of you reading with this thought, though. I have this from the beginning when I first started posting: God is with you and has a plan for you. He did not put you here so you could waste money and in be in debt all of your life. He put you here for a reason and if you ask, He will help you figure out what that reason is. God is always here for us, and He has definitely showed that to me this year. For anyone who may be reading this that is planning on coming to Southern next year, all I have to say to you is this: Ask God and He will open the door for you if it is His will for you. When you get here, meet new people, get involved in ministries, and never stop forgetting that God is watching out for you every step of the way. It has been a pleasure being a student blogger this year and thanks to the people who have been following my journey over the course of this year. I pray that all of you return next year so I may have the chance to meet you. I hope the Lord has blessed you this year, and remember to thank Him for what He has done. Have a great summer everyone and may the Lord bless you in all that you do. BYE!!!

Ian—The Final Weeks are the Worst

Do you remember in when you were in high school when you were in the final weeks of the school year? The first thing that would come to mind is all the projects you had to do and tests that you had to study for. Also, you had to deal with saying goodbye to all of your friends and making plans for what you were going to do over the summer. Well, I guess college is not any different from high school because I seem to be in the same situation now. Everything seems to be piling up on me and I do not have the time to put everything into my schedule. Another concern that has arisen is procrastination is starting to kick in. I usually like to make sure I am busy the beginning of the semester so I do not have to work as hard at the end, but I think it has backfired a bit. I think we all know what I am going through here, but let me just explain a little bit more in depth about what I have been going through in these final weeks.

                This past week I realized that I have been putting a lot of things off so I can hang out with my friends since we will all be leaving soon. I have papers to write, a Bible Study to write, and tests to study for. I am pretty lucky this semester that I only have two real finals and they are both on the Sunday of finals week so I will be pretty much done after that. All the stuff I have to do, though, is what is going to hurt me this week, though. I am not too concerned about the tests or the papers I have to write, but the Bible study that I have been putting off has finally caught up with me. I have to write five Bible studies for my final in Christian Spirituality, each having to be six questions and one appeal at the end. Now, you may think this does not sound very hard especially for a Theology student, but I have to make a confession, I am not very good at writing a Bible study. When I am pressured to study the Bible, I usually have a hard time committing to the project or study. I would rather read the Bible on my own, rather than having to do it for a class. Although I feel this way, I believe God is using this Bible study to teach me a lesson. I am not good at studying the Bible, at least in my own mind, and I think God is trying to teach me how to study the Bible. I am having a hard time thus far as I only have one out of the four done and it took me four hours to write that one. I am sure that I will finish it, but I will need the grace of God to help me through it.

                The reason I feel the final weeks of a school year are the worst is because everything just seems to happen all at once. As I have said and you know from experience, homework piles up, there is a lot of studying to do, and you have to say goodbye to your friends. In college, I feel like it is worse. The projects and homework we get from classes is much harder, and studying for the exams is a pretty tough, especially with cumulative ones. I think the worse thing is, though, is that we all have to say goodbye to the friends we have made. In high school, most our friends lived around us, but in college, friends could from entirely different countries. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to all of my friends here, but I know I will see them again and that softens the pain a little bit.

                The last week and a half here is going to be pretty rough, but let us all remember that God will be with us every step of the way. If you are struggling with anything, pray to God and He will help you make it through. Make sure to work hard and say goodbye to all of your friends before the semester ends. I hope you all have a blessed week and make sure to look to God every second of every day. 

Ian—He Knows You Best

If you remember what I wrote about in my blog last week, you will remember that I was having a hard time making decisions. Actually, the only decisions that came down with a definite answer were by the grace of God. Like I said, it may take a while to get an answer from Him sometimes, but when you give it to Him; He will give you the answer that is always the best for you. Well, over this past week, God gave me an answer to my other two decisions. All I can say about His decisions is that He knows me very well, and I can agree with Him on both that He made the right ones. (Of course, when does He ever make a wrong decision?)

                The first decision I was a little foggy on was who I should room with next semester and where in the dorm I should live. The problem I was having was that I wanted to live on my friend Tim’s hall next semester because he is going to be an RA, but my current roommate wanted to live in a suite. I started thinking about rooming with another one of my friends who will be living on Tim’s hall that way I could be on the same hall as two of my good friends. I did not want to leave my current roommate, though, because he is like a brother to me now. Finally, I decided that I would room with my roommate right now instead of my other friend. I was feeling uneasy about rooming with my other friend and I felt like God wanted me to stay with my current roommate because of the spiritual atmosphere we have in our room. It was a tough decision to make, but I am glad that God led me to the right option. Ironically, I was able to get a room on Tim’s hall in the end. I went to the housing fair to acquire a suite, but when I got there, they were already all gone. I called my roommate to tell him, and then he told me he was ok with whatever I picked as long as it was close to the ground. Luckily, Tim’s hall is on the second floor and no one had reserved a room on that hall except for my other friend. Once I saw it was open, I reserved a room on it and it was a done deal. In the end, I was able to get the room I wanted, and I am so glad God worked it out that way.

                Now let me get to the other decision that God made for me this week. The other decision I was having trouble with was this girl. I am not going to tell you her name because I want to make sure that nobody bothers her over this. I have liked this particular girl ever since the semester started, and I have been waiting on God to work on His previous decision. You see, I asked Him earlier if He wanted me to go after this girl and He gave me the go ahead. For the past two and half months now I have been trying to get to know her, but with little success. I could not understand what this meant, although I had a feeling of what He was trying to tell me. Jumping ahead to this past week, I was at a point of just letting God work to have it happen or not. I could not take it anymore. It was on Tuesday when a friend of mine came to talk to me about this situation. He told he had a discussion with this girl earlier in the day about me, and she said that I was cool friend, but she did not feel the same way about me as I did for her. Honestly, it hurt, but I was ok with it. I knew I had to talk to her, though, so the next day we sat down for supper and we talked about it. I told her everything that had happened in the past few months, even the decision that God had made. I was not trying to convince her to like me, but explaining how I was feeling about it. We came out of the conversation with the goal of just staying friends. I am perfectly fine with that. God has shown me that I am not ready for a relationship yet, and I need to work on my friendships with people first. I have no idea what God has in store for this girl in my life, but for now, I want to focus on being friends, nothing more than that.

                If you think about it, God knows way better than we know ourselves. He knows when we need things in our lives, and He knows when there are certain things in our lives that should not be there. I knew I was not ready for a relationship right now. I have too many things to learn about before I get into another relationship in my life. Plus, I was never really a good friend to this girl to begin with and it would have been awkward to have tried to go into a relationship. God wants me to be friends with this girl. It is something He knows I need. I hope all you look in your own lives and think about things you actually need other than what you want. Remember, whatever you need God will provide, but whatever you want, God has no obligation to give to you. If it is a want that will hurt you in some way, He has no intention of giving it to you. He wants you to be happy and rely upon Him. As you are going throughout this new week, please think about this and I hope you will realize what you actually need in your lives.

Ian—Decisions, Decisions

I think the title for my post this week pretty much sums up how this past week unfolded for me. After a week of homework assignments all do at once, I was able to have a week where I could relax a little bit more and slack off. I think I did a little bit too much slacking off, though, because later in the week I was packing my nights with loads of homework. Yeah, not the smartest decision of my college career. The homework was not the hardest thing about last week, though, because I was faced with decisions that could change with my life here at Southern and those decisions could also affect my life in the future. I did not come to a final decision on all of them, but God was able to lead me to the right decision on a few important ones.

                Registration for classes was one of those decisions I had to make last week. There was not much to deciding on what classes I was going to take, although I hard time making up a schedule that I knew I could handle without too much hassle. Praise God that I was able to get into all of the classes I needed to get into and I came out of it with a schedule that I felt quite comfortable with, although for one day I will have to go without lunch. Sacrifices have to be made, and if lunch has to be one of those sacrifices, then I think I can handle that.

                Even though registration for classes was important, the next decision I had to make would determine where I would work at Southern for most likely the rest of my college career. On Wednesday, my Hebrew professor Dr. Hasel asked me if I could meet in his office after Hebrew. After class that day, I went to his office and he offered me to be his reader for the next school year. To be honest, I was blown away and I almost jumped out of my seat. It was position I had only dreamed of before, but I was actually being offered it. I was praising God all the way back to the dorm. Now, you would think that this would be an easy decision, but wait until you hear about the counter offer. I currently work in Talge Hall as a janitor. I do not mind being a janitor, although it is disgusting having to clean up the messes guys make in the dorm. After I told my boss about possibly quitting being a janitor, she told me that if I would stay that I would be able to become the super janitor for the dorm, which is the person who is second in command under her. The position would mean better pay, more hours, and I would not have to work on Sundays. I told her I would think about and get back to her what I would do. Here is the dilemma now. Both are great jobs with better hours, pay, and experience. I could not lose no matter which one I would pick. I actually did not know which one I wanted, but after praying to God about it, I felt called to be Dr. Hasel’s reader for the upcoming year. Although it was a tough decision, God was with me on it and I am so happy with His decision.

                I am so glad that God helped me with both of those decisions last week, however, I still face two decisions in my life that I have not found an answer to. The school year is close to ending and that means deciding who you want to live with for the next school year. I currently am rooming with Prescott and, let me tell you, he is a great roommate. He is more like a brother to me than anything. He wants to live in a suite next year, though, and I have no interest in living in one because anything that costs me more money is out of the question. Also, my friend Joel also needs a roommate and I have told him about my situation, and he has asked me if I want to room with him next year. Both options are great, but I really do not know which one I want to go with. This is one decision I am still waiting on God for. As for the other decision, it is more of a personal one that I do not want to get into detail with. All I can say is that it involves a girl on this campus. God and I have been talking about this one for a long time, and He has given me somewhat of a decision, but I am taking my time as not to make the situation blow up in my face. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be able to tell all of more about this, but for now I want to keep it to myself.

                Let me tell you, decisions are not easy to make. Each decision we make has some effect on us, whether it be good or bad. The great thing is that these decisions we face in our lives do not have to be made alone. We have a powerful, wise, and wonderful God who is want to help us make those decisions in our lives. I believe we should all strive to do the will of God and ask Him in every situation what we should do. Even though we may have small decision in our lives that we can make on our own, there are times the smallest things can have the biggest effects on us. I pray that all of you do God’s will in your lives and ask Him to help you with the decisions you have to make.

                Before I end this post, I want to make sure all of you remember that we only have three and half weeks left of this school year. Make sure you make them count. Get those projects done for classes, get rid of that meal if have not already gotten rid of it, spend as much as time with your friends, and I also praise God for all that He has done for you this semester. I know I promised that I would make a series of post like I did last semester, but I have been busy and very lazy in doing my posts this semester. I do apologize for not having one, although I hope you have all enjoyed the posts thus far. My last post of the year will be a great one, though, so make sure you read it. Have a great week everyone and may God bless you in all that you do!

Ian—Let Us Not Forget

When this week started, I knew I was in for a week that I would never forget. I think I will always remember this past week as the hardest week of college, thus far at least. I had to write a research paper, and it would have been the third I have ever written in my entire life. Plus, I also had a project to do for another one of my classes, interviews to do for another and a FAFSA with taxes to add onto that. Now, I definitely could have gotten the taxes and such done earlier, but I put it off too long and that was my fault. I actually had planned ahead for this week ever since Spring Break ended and if I would not have planned ahead for it, it would have just made it harder. On top of all of this, I was facing some emotional issues in my life and that was hard as well. I had so much on my plate and I could not do it alone. Every single day was a struggle, and I kept thinking of ways to get out of it. Dropping classes, putting assignments off, or even going against God’s will with His decision. Well, this post is not going to be about my day to day anguish of the previous week. That would just be depressing and a repetition of what I have done in the past. I want to explain something very important to you in this post instead, and that is the everlasting love of Jesus Christ and His blessings He has bestowed upon us.

                As most us know, Sonrise was this weekend and for all who got to see it, they saw the pain and suffering Jesus went through to make sure that we could be with Him in heaven someday. The entire pageant was well done and I would like to thank all the people who volunteered to present this pageant to so many people. I would like to give a special thanks to the mob who, even though it must have been very hard, mocked Jesus and showed how easily the people of Jerusalem went from loving Jesus as He entered the city to wanting Him dead at His judgment on Pilate’s front steps. Anyway, as I was passing the pageant during the time Jesus was carrying His cross to Calvary, I noticed something very interesting about the crowd. Before I go off on this point, I am not saying that this is true and I have perfectly good reasons to why it is not true, but this is just something I personally noticed. As soon as Jesus started carrying His cross, I noticed the crowd moving far ahead of Him. Maybe only half of the crowd stayed behind to watch as Jesus was carrying His cross. Now, I understand the crowd had to move on since another group was coming soon, but them moving on made me think about how some people just were there for the show and nothing else. I am sure that not everyone was touched by the performance; however, what I do know it that is may be only a show, but this was a true event that I real person went through. The reason we have this show is to remember why Jesus died on the cross for us. He did not do it because He wanted to put on show, but to SHOW HIS LOVE! It hurt Him to be separated from His Father, but He did it anyways for our sinful selves. I think there are times we totally forget about what Jesus did for us and we pay more attention to the show, than the underlying purpose. Yes, what Jesus went through was very important, but it was the underlying act of love that was the most important part. If Jesus would not have done it out of love, then we would have no chance to be in heaven with Him. Think about it, Jesus died for you and suffered the worst death imaginable so you, yes you, could be saved.

                Even though I want you to remember Jesus’ love, I also would like to remind you of the blessings He bestows upon you. This past Friday night, my friend Tim and I were talking to each other in the Talge stairwell and I was holding the door open. After a while, he left and I continued to stand there holding the door open. I held open that door for twenty minutes and only a few people said thank you to me for holding it open for them. Sure, they probably thought I was weird and a few people came in and out more than once and did not want to sound awkward saying thank you to me every single time, but how many times do we forget to say thank you to God. Jesus says in John 10 that He is not only the Shepard, but the Gate as well. He lets us come in and out all we want as we do His work, and always He is opening that gate for us. How many times do we thank Him for holding it open, though? How many times do we forget to thank God for all that He has done? Personally, I think I thank God a lot, but I know I could never thank Him enough for all that He has done. God has done so much for me and there is no way I could ever repay Him. I want you to think about for yourselves, though. How many times do you get the door opened for you by God and never say thank you for it?

                The whole point of this post was to help you remember how important Jesus is in our lives. He gave His life for us, and He continues to bless us, even though we do not deserve to be blessed. How awesome our Lord is! God is so awesome, powerful, wonderful, merciful, and above all, loving. Last week was a tough week for me, but God got me through like He always does. Yeah, not everything is going well in my life and I am to blame for things that are not going well, but I rest upon God because I know He can help me make it through. As this new week starts and as we spend the last few hours of Easter reflecting of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us not forget what He did and what He will do.  

Ian—Pastor or Chaplain: What is God’s Calling?

In my Intro to Ministry class lately, we have been discussing our personal missions in life. Our professor has been asking us to write out our personal mission statements so we can figure out our true goal in life. This is a very scary process. He is asking us to right our goal in life when the majority of the class is twenty or below in age. We have our entire lives ahead of us still. Of course, it is better we know now, then when we are sixty and have barely any time left to work on our life mission. For me personally, though, I have been freaking out about this. My classes have been piling me up with homework and I have not had time to really even think about it. I had a little time over this past week, though, to think about it and talk with my professor, and I am starting to believe where I know God has been calling me. By the end of last week, all it came down to was one question: a pastor or a chaplain?

                When I first came here to Southern, I was for certain that God wanted me to become a pastor. He had laid it out so perfectly for me when I first preached, and then it went so well the next few times that I was certain that was why God called me here to Southern. I got down here and I was ready more than ever to learn more about my faith and God as well. It was so awesome to be around people who believed the same as I do. I come from a small church and in the town that I live in, it is primarily Catholic. It is very rare to find a lot of Adventists in the area up there. Anyway, for Smart Start I was learning so much and getting out into the community with the outreach program they have here. I was definitely on a spiritual high. As school started, though, and as I got into my religion classes, I came to realize how hard of a time I was having understanding what was going in some of them. I did well in the classes, and I learned a lot from them, but I came out of them not remembering much because I felt like the class was more homework then learning. Second semester has been a rough one for me in my classes. I have mostly religion classes and we are getting deeper into the Christian faith and Adventist beliefs/history. I listened intently in the classes at the beginning of the semester, but as the weeks went by, my mind wandered off. It was probably due to a decision I have been trying to make, but homework was another reason as well. I started feeling like there was no way I could become a pastor if I did not understand the material or remembered any of it. I mean, I look at my friends and see bright, young Theologians, when I feel like I am just a baby learning how to walk. I started thinking about chaplaincy the last few weeks and then I went to my professor last week to talk to him about it. I told him I was interested and he supported me in my decision, but told me not to close doors so fast. I came out of that meeting thinking that chaplaincy was the way to go, but as the day went on and I thought more about it, I felt called to be a pastor again. Chaplaincy does sound nice and all, except, I want to witness to others about the love of Jesus Christ and show them why I believe the Adventist faith is the correct one. It has been a struggle; however, I feel like I know where God is leading me.

                My mission in life has not been fully developed yet and I believe it will take several years before I fully comprehend what God wants me to do. For now, I will stick with being a Theology major unless God wants me to go down a different path. This post could change in the years to come, I could be a chaplain or a pastor or an evangelist. Wherever God leads me, though, I will follow. We all should remember that God has a plan for us and He will continue to lead us down the right path as long as we are willing to follow. I hope all of you have a great week and may God bless you the rest of your lives!

Ian—The One Day Green is Everyone’s Favorite Color

Every week I have a blog post that is due on Sunday at midnight. I have entire week to think of something to write about or have an overwhelming experience that I am sure all of you would want to hear. Most of the time, I dread it when Sundays come around because that means I have to write one of these blog posts, but do not get me wrong, I do enjoy writing some of these posts. It is just that after a while it is very tiring writing one post after another. I am starting to run out of ideas, if you could not already tell that is from previous posts. Today, though, I could not think of anything to write about, until I thought of what day it is. It is Saint Patrick’s Day! The day where green is everyone’s favorite color. Everywhere you go there are a good portion of people wearing some shade of green. Even though most people today only celebrate it for the alcohol, Saint Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. The reason being, my favorite color is green!

                First of all, how could you not like the color green? A vast majority of the world we live in is green. The trees are green, the grass is green, the lakes are green (sometimes not for the right reasons), and even some of the food we eat is green. I hear it all the time from some my friends, “When I was young, I would not eat anything green because it looked weird.” Yes, I would have to agree with them that green food is weird looking, but once you get past the fear of green, it tastes great! Now, though, they are eating all of their green vegetables and think nothing of it. Well, one of my friends still thinks that broccoli is evil, but I do not think it is the green part of it that makes him think like that. You know, that makes me wonder, why do children fear the color green? Is it because of the movies making monsters green or a green gas that comes ever now and again to take away a lifeboat full of captives that takes it to an island that is made of this green gas and it can make your nightmares come real? You have to admit, for that added story plot to the latest Chronicles of Narnia movie, it was pretty weird. If I had watched that while I was a kid, then I probably would hate green as well. Maybe we do not like the color green because we always think of something disgusting like puke or acid whenever it comes to mind. It is very mysterious to me why people do not like the color green, but what do I know, all I know is that I like the color green.

                Honestly, as soon as I started writing this, I had no idea where I was going with it. I thought I was going to blabber on about the color green for a while and leave it at. God gave me and idea about this, though, while I was writing, that I would like to share with you. Do you know why I like the color green and others do not? Well……it is because that is the way God created me to be. Everyone has their favorite color, and mine is the color green. God made us all in His own image, but He gave us our own personalities. It is not just with colors, but with what makes us individuals. We all have different interests, different backgrounds, and different feelings towards people. If everyone was like me, this would be a boring world. I can only be sarcastic with myself for so long before I get bored out of my mind. The same goes for the color green. Green is a special color to me because of my Irish heritage. If everyone were Irish, which would be awesome, then green would be everyone’s favorite color and it would not have a day dedicated to wearing that color. I know this blog does not make any sense, but remember, as VeggieTales says, “God made you special and He loves you very much. Goodbye!”   

Ian—It’s Been a Long Time

During Spring Break, my sister had her 24th birthday. Twenty-four does not seem like any special number at all, and, even to me it is not. Usually, only people remember the most memorable numbers like sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one, and maybe fifty; if they really want to remember that they turned fifty that is. I did not think of my sister turning twenty four as anything special until I came to realize how long it has been since we were children. I am about four years younger than my sister, give or take a few months. Ever other birthday I never thought about the years that have passed, but this one made me remember how much has changed in both of our lives. I would like to take a moment to reflect on my sister and I’s life growing up together, and then I would like to get into thought that I hope you will think about in your own lives.

                My sister and I have not always seen eye to eye. Of course, what siblings have ever seen eye to eye? Cain and Able definitely did not get along, and that showed through Cain murdering his brother. Do not worry, though, my sister and I never attempted to kill each other, although we wanted to at times. My sister has been a diabetic for most of her life. She has always needed to have insulin and, for a good portion of her life, she had to make yearly visits to the doctor to be checked on. She has not had the easiest life. For a time, I was actually jealous of her because she was treated differently for her diabetes. She would get presents and she would get to go do special activities that I could not like pet dolphins. Looking back, I feel stupid about that. She has a disease that cannot be cured to my understanding, and I she only received that special treatment because she needed it at times. Aside from her diabetes, we fought a lot as children and teenagers over the silliest things. We fought over cleaning the house, who got to go to my mom’s on the weekends, and who could get to play on the computer or videogame system that we had. We even have fought over uncontrollable situations now that we have become adults, but it has happened less and less over the years. Actually, as adults now, we both appreciate each other more. I think it is because we live so far away from each other and we barely get to see one another anymore. I do miss my sister, but I am happy for the relationship that we have today.

                Now, you probably know where I am going with this. I am going to say something like, “You should appreciate the time you have with your siblings,” or “it is great to have siblings because they help you out as person later in life.” Well, both of those statements are true, but that would not help anyone reading this that has never experienced having a sibling. I want you to think about where you are in your life right now. Think back and remember the years that have gone by. Thinking of my sister reminded of the journey I have been on myself and all the trials that I have been through. I cannot believe that I am twenty years old and still going. When I was young, I always wanted to make it another year and it took forever for that year to go by. Now, the years fly by and I do not have the time worry about the year ahead. I need you to remember the precious years you have had in this world. You need to do this to remind yourself that God has brought you through every single year. Even if you were not a Christian for some of your life or even if you have never been a Christian, God has been there for you. We all originated from the Creator, which means we are all His children. Some of us may not act like it, but He still considers us His. Remember that!

You may not be able to remember every little thing that has happened in your life, and that is fine because it is humanly impossible for you to do that. God remembers, though, and He also remembers all the things that He will do for us in the future. Remember the people He has brought into your life, the places you have been, and the experiences that He has given you. The only reason you have survived this long in this world is not because of luck, but because He has blessed you. Please think about this with every year that goes by. During your birthdays, family birthdays, and even your anniversaries, if you have any, use those days to remember all that God has done for you. I know we want to get to heaven badly and cannot stand another year in this world, but remember this as well, one year gone by is another year closer to seeing Jesus come again. I hope you remember what I have reminded you today and, please, do not forget how much He loves you.

Ian—Why God? Why me?

You know, there are times I forget about my life and how I got to be here at Southern. I forget about all the great miracles God has performed in my life, and I surround myself with negative thoughts that make me feel like I am worthless. I ask God how He could make a decision on a matter and then leave it up in the air. I start doubting God’s decision; making myself feel like there is no way that what God said could ever happen. He gives me answers when I ask for them, only for me to spit His decision back at Him and say that it cannot happen. Even then, when I doubt His plans, He still fulfills them. When God makes a decision, it is not a suggestion, it is a decision set in stone. We have the choice to believe in what He says, or believe the false teachings of Satan. I remember last week how I talked about patience. This week, though, I want to praise God for what He has done in my life. I know I have praised Him so much in previous posts, but He deserves even more praise than I could ever give Him. In this post, I would like to share with you my past week and how it all came together this afternoon, Sunday, the 24th.

                The beginning of my week was quite depressing. I worked almost non-stop on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday so I could get all my homework done for the week, and the next week as well. I took a break here and there, but I did not want to stop until I knew I was ahead a week. The reason I wanted to do this is because I want to get far ahead so Spring Break and after would not be too busy. Luckily, I accomplished my goal and am now over a week ahead in my school work. Yeah, I know how this sounds; I do not have much of a life. I do have a life, though, and this is where the depressing past comes in. I have been talking about the decision I asked God to make for me in the past posts, and, once again, it will be a part of this post. I will not tell any of you what the decision is yet, but I hopefully will be able to tell you before the school year is out. Back to the depressing part, though, before I bore you to death. I felt God was misleading me on the decision He made because it was not going very well. Especially as the rest of the week went about, I felt even worse and worse. I really felt like I was not getting anywhere, and I wanted to give up. There was no way this was going to work out, however, God stepped in.

                Let us fast forward to Sunday then. At the beginning of the week I had a plan for this decision, and I was really hoping it would work out. I made sure to plan ahead, and prayed that God work on His will. I was content if the plan fell through, as long as it was God’s plan. The plan went absolutely wonderful, though, and afterwards, I realized He confirmed His decision again. He had actually been using my friends all week to help me through this issue. They were supporting me and telling me that you have to be persistent or it will fall through. This is very vague to all of you and I sincerely apologize, but I cannot give away any of the details because it needs to be kept a secret. God, though, He knows and He is helping me through this. I could not be any happier for His help.

                My posts are usually about me and how my week went. They are very self-centered if you asked me. Even though I feel that way, I want to let all of you know that I write about my experiences so you may learn from them. The whole point of this post is to make you realize how blessed you are. I am astounded by how blessed I am. I look back on my life and all I see is unworthiness. God continues to bless me, though. Why God? Why me? Even when I doubt Him, He still cares for me. When I feel like He has abandoned, He is there. Do I deserve this? I my mind no; in Him, I am worth so much He allowed His Son to die for the sins I committed. I can never thank Him enough; I can never praise Him enough; and I can never give enough to pay back that debt. What about you then? Why God? Why you? It is because He loves you. Never, and I repeat NEVER forget that God loves you. He is always there for you no matter where you are in your lives. You can doubt Him, you can neglect Him, and you can even reject Him, but He still loves you. No matter what happens in your life, weather you are going through a spiritual high or a spiritual low, remember to praise God with all your heart. He has blessed each and every one of us so much. You can continue to ask yourself, “Why me?” My answer to you is Jesus. I hope all you have a great week and an even better Spring Break. God will be with you, and I pray that you will remember that forever.

Ian—Patience is a Virtue….I WISH I Had

Last week I mentioned I had a decision to make and I gave it to God so He could tell me in which direction I could go. I also mentioned that He gave me an answer, and, believe it or not, He gave the answer that I wanted. I do not know why He answered the way He did, but ever since He answered me, I have been trying to go ahead with His decision. Unfortunately, it has not gone very well for me over the past week and throughout the week I felt really discouraged. I kept asking God why could I not go ahead with this decision and why wasn’t He helping me with it? I pretty much moped around for a few days just wondering that, until my roommate finally gave me an answer. He said something along the lines of, “Give it time! You only asked God for this decision a week ago and you think it should happen right now? Let God work on it in His own time for that is what you need.” OK, he may not have said it like that, but it was pretty close. This made me realize, though, how an impatient person I am, but I’m not the only one. A majority of us are impatient people, not only with God, but with everyone. In this week’s post, I would like to have all of you consider your impatient persona and think about how that reflects your faith in God.

                So, why are we impatient? The easiest answer that I can give you is that we always want things done right at the moment we ask. We do not want to have to worry about anything that might happen if the thing we are waiting is sitting around too long. To add on to this, our culture is a time driven society. As soon as one thing is done, we go on to the next. There is no time to wait for things. I realize this in my own life when I’m doing my daily activities of doing homework or doing the laundry. I continuously look at the clock and saying to myself, “Why does this have to take so long? Can’t it just be over with so I can go do something else?” Sadly, I do this while I’m reading the Bible as well in the morning. I keep looking at the clock and seeing the time before class. I know I have enough time, but I just want to be sure so I do not go over. I’m sure all of you have this same sort of struggle in your own life and it can be very stressful. Let us face it, we are an impatient race.

                How does impatience show our faith in God, though? When we are impatient with God, it is like we do not trust Him to do what He said He would do. You may be praying that He helps you with your school bills or helps you get a boyfriend or girlfriend, but if you really believe in Him, why keep nagging Him about the issue? God will take care of it in His own time, He will never forget about what He promised you. If you look in the Bible, there are characters like Judas Iscariot who waited for Jesus to come into His full potential as their king. He became so impatient that he handed Jesus over to the Jews, hoping He would reveal His true glory while He was under attack, but Jesus did not. Judas was impatient and wanted Jesus to show everyone who He really was, but it was not for Judas to decide. God makes the final decision and as long as we trust in Him, He will answer us in His time.

                I know we may all be facing struggles that we want answers for or have already received answers, but are waiting on God to fulfill that answer. It is not easy to wait, trust me, I know from a lot of experience. God will answer and act in His time, though. I know have been saying that a lot, but you have to realize that He is the one in control. If you take control, then you are bound to fail. Set aside your impatient heart then and let God work. He will always answer you, even if it takes time. As you are starting your new week, ask God to give you a heart of patience and faith. Through faith, is the way God answers us all.

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