'Rents and Grand-Rents

So my parents came to town last weekend to talk to their builder in Anna, TX. That's right, Big G and Karen will be moving to the Metroplex in 2009. It is exciting and the house will be awesome. Big G drove Lauren and I by the property which is right next to my Grandparents house, out on a nice 7 or 8 acres. There is a fantastic view from where my parents house will sit, it will make for some amazing sunsets and fun times out at the "Big H Ranch" as my Dad has called it.

Afterwards we went and ate with everyone, and Kimbo and Beau met us, at The Jalepeno Tree. This was the WORST mexican food I have ever had. I would liken it to Lone Wolf Cafe in Lubbock or bad Taco Bell. It was bad, all disguised in a nice place with a very good ambiance. (sp?) We had a great time though and afterwards went and hung out in Denton with Kim-Beau, Karen, and Big G. I got to hang up curtains, yay. Here are some pics from the evening.



Lauren and Me

Karen and Big G

Beau, Me and Grandaddy Richard

The whole gang

The Hughes Boys and Grandaddy

The whole group again

Lauren and I with Beau and Kimbo

Being Sick

So I missed my first day of work as a Trainer today, at home sick, it was a lot of fun. Ok, I was being sarcastic, it sucked. I slept 80% of the day and then got up and studied and now I am heading back to sleep so I can try and get up for a 6:30 client tomorrow morning. Yuck.

I also wanted to say that I am blessed that I have an amazing girlfriend. Lauren brought me food and medicine tonight, risking getting sick just to come take care of me. She is so wonderful.

Not much else is going on here in Plano. Just working and living life. Hope this finds you all well. God bless.

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2008 here already. 2007 was such a blessed year for me and I am so thankful for everything good and bad that happened last year. I am so excited for what God has in store for me in 2008, assuming I listen to him like I want to. Just as Matt recommended Sunday my question for 2008 is "How?". I know what goals I have, the way I want to be, the person I want to be, but HOW do I do that??? Humility is hard to come by and pride manifests itself in many different and ugly ways, and usually keeps us from getting to the How questions and keeps us stuck at WHAT. I am taking a lot of this from Matt's sermon, but for Christians the WHAT should ultimately be increased Godliness, and here are 3 ways to train for Godliness:

1) Spiritual Disciplines: reading scriptures, praying, quiet time, etc.
2) Fellowship: Doing life with one another in the body of Christ, walking closely with fellow believers.
3) Biblical Counseling: Personal introspections

I have already started my training in the the first 2 of the 3, God has blessed me by providing me with a great group of guys to start walking with in my HomeGroup who live and work near me, and workout at my gym, and I have a wonderful girlfriend who loves the Lord. I also have a renewed interest in reading and I have been finding more time to pray, read the scriptures and read other books helping me understand and learn more about Jesus everyday.

I am extremely excited about beginning the third way of training this weekend, at the Village's Celebrate Recovery Step Study. I am excited but also know that the next few months of unpacking all the baggage in my soul is going to be difficult and force me to look deep into my heart and bring up some very painful parts of my past. I hope to be able to share more of my issues with you and hopefully God will use me to encourage people who read my blog.

So, this year when you make your resolutions and figure out "what", sit down and map out "How".

To listen to Village sermons go to this link: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/sermons.html