February 19, 2012

Wow! This week I have been reading Spiritual Friendship by Aelred of Revelux and it's something that I have never really thought about before. The true act of friendship and what it looks like and having Christ at the center of those friendships. Friendship is not something that I have really entered into with a specific purpose. It has just kind of happened, and I've never gone deeper into what true spiritual friendship should be. One of the things that caught me by surprise was that Aelred said at one point in his life he knew he wasn't fit to be somebody's friend. That we need to have things in our life in a place where we are able to be a friend. I've never thought that before. I am looking forward to reading further to see what else comes to the surface.

February 18, 2012

With the reading this week from Inside Out, I have been looking more "beneath the surface" of myself. This transition is not an easy one. I have had to say sorry to my wife more than once this week once I have been able to process through some of my emotions. But it has been good at the same time too. Being able to realize why I have acted in the way that I did, and pinpointing it. The next part, and in my mind, maybe the biggest is the continuation of this process in a habitual way.

February 10, 2012

Journal Entry #2 Over the past few weeks Audrey and I have set a goal for each week. The first one we did was to run 29 miles in the week of my birthday. Boom, done. The second one for the second week was to do a Body Rock Workout everyday of the week. Boom, done. This week the goal has been to read Psalm 46 at least once a day and to memorize the entire Psalm. Reading the Psalm has been accomplished so far, the memorizing part is still in the works, but we do have until Sunday. Not gonna lie this week has been a hard one. There have been some things that have happened that just haven't been very good. But Psalm 46 has been a beacon of hope and light through some of the darkness. Here is a question for you, just play along with me. Did God make this week harder because we were reading Psalm 46, or did God know this week was going to be hard and He have us Psalm 46 for something to hold onto through it all? I don't know the answer. Here is Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:1-11 NIV) Thank You Lord for Your Promises.

February 9, 2012

It has been a while since I have been able to blog since I don't have internet access at my house. This doesn't mean however that I have been slacking. I have really been looking forward to the time where I actually had time to write down some of the thoughts and things that have been happening. So I'm going to break these up into a few different posts so I don't end up with one giant one. The first thing that I want to journal about is that I got to go watch KU Basketball at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in my life! It was an incredible experience being there with all the people, noise, and hype. Not something that I will forget anytime soon. The seating capacity in Allen Fieldhouse is 16,300 and as we were sitting there with everyone else around us, I was reminded of the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000. And if you have 5,000 men not counting women and children I think it would be fair to guess that there could have been close to 16,000. It was really eye opening to have that many people tangibally sitting in one place and then imagining that they were all listening to Jesus speak, and then even more astonishing is that they were all fed with a few fish and some bread. And in Scripture everyone was full. I'm not sure the amount of food served that night at the basketball game, but I can tell you that it was a lot, and I know that not everyone was fully satisfied. I guess the biggest thing that hit me was how incredible that story is, and it happened twice! I could just imagine all of us sitting there in Allen Fieldhouse ripping off a piece of bread, passing it onto the next person, them ripping off a piece, and it just continuing. His miracles are amazing...

January 31, 2012

I really can't believe that it is going to be February tomorrow. Time has flown by this past month. I am currently reading through St. Benedict's Rule for my next class session. It has been hard to get engaged in. The gist of the book is dealing with Monastic life and what that should look like from the times of prayer to sleeping arrangements to dealing with somebody who doesn't follow the rules. I am looking for the things that transcend just the Monastic lifestyle, but so far those have been few and far between. I took a walk with Audrey this evening and saw God in the beauty and creation of the sky, clouds, and sunset. It was so gorgeous outside. I really can't believe how warm it has been lately. I will totally take it!

January 29, 2012

I have really been enjoying every aspect of my Masters this semester. The reading that I have done has been stirring within me. The times that I have met with my mentor/partner to discuss the good and beautiful God. And even finishing up my first paper have all been life giving and God inspired in my life. God has been using all of these different ways to grow and stretch me, and I believe, prepare me for the future. I am seeing this time in my life as very formative for the rest of my life. I feel that through my Masters course work I am learning more and more about myself, my passions, my giftings, other people, and God.

January 15, 2012

I have started my next semester of my Masters Course Work. I am excited about all that this semester has to offer, especially how God is going to show up in all of the reading and conversations between classmates and professors. The book that I am currently reading is, "Streams Of Living Water" by Richard Foster.
There have been quite a few things that have struck me in this book, but maybe one of the biggest is the draw that God seems to have placed in my heart for the Charismatic Stream. When I was reading about St. Francis of Assisi, I was utterly struck by his faith in God, and by some of the amazing things that God did through his life. I think that the draw is that I haven't really experienced it very much. The Contemplative Stream is something that I am very famaliar with, and I think that I can grow a lot through looking more at the Charismatic Stream.
That is something that I want to go deeper into.