So here I go typing out the second blog I promised you. This post is unaimed. Filled with random points, to say the least. My mind is being given free reign to spill everything it has contained up in there. It's scattered ideas are going to be much like the sporadic flight patterns of bees. And so it will buzz here, and buzz there. But you'll catch the drift of the multitude of things I'll be talking about.
Alligator Sky? You're like, what? And well, if you haven't caught on yet, I'll tell ya. Every post I write is a song title. And I chose this specific one for my Spring post for no other reason than the lines that Adam Young sing that say: "Even though I'll never know what's up ahead, I'm never letting go. I'm never letting go!" I thought it was a great way to just think about spring. The bright beauty of everything springing back to life after hiding themselves away in the cold winter and the unidentified things that will come. Everyday I wonder what God has for me. What is to come today, tomorrow, and the day after. But just because we don't know what's coming, there's no reason to give up. I love the song itself, Adam is just basically saying the sky's the limit. Telling us to reach for the stars and let our imagination grow. This alligator sky is the idea that days will be frightening (like alligators!) and hard at times, but we need to keep pressing and blasting into them like a rocket with every inch of determination in us. Theme song for my spring? I think so.
Well I started off Spring at the Melanson's house and I can't think of a better place to have done so. I returned from El Sal at LAX and was generously given the opportunity to spend the weekend with them. I absolutely love spending time with Sami and her family, and oh how I adore them. Two or three days is never, ever enough. It's always so encouraging to be around the Melanson family, and always filled with laughter. Their heart for the Lord is so refreshing and I admire it very much. They are so much like family to me! I always wish I could spend more time. Mr. and Mrs. Melanson are so incredibly generous and caring, and I'm happy to be blessed with them in my life. Special thanks to you Mrs. Melanson for your endearment and investment in my life. Jess is like a little sister to me :) and the boys like younger bros. One of the things I love, and is a reoccurring enjoyment at their house is, worship. I love the fact that they have like every instrument readily available for my hands. But to pick up the guitar and sing worship with Sam, Jess, and the family is incredible. Not to mention Jess and Sami have unbelievably wonderful voices. Oh how I love to sing worship with them. Also, this time around, it was very comforting to hear Mr. Melanson's past and how it so closely relates to mine. And along with that, to be uplifted with words of encouragement from him. It was good to hear advice from a godly man like him.
Sami is without a doubt, one of my best friends, and I delight in spending time with her. That weekend, we spent one of the nights talking for almost three hours about life and such, and it was incredibly uplifting. Our pasts seem to intertwine so easily, and it's wonderful to be able to relate, be encouraged, and to encourage. I'm so glad to have her in my life, and I couldn't ask for more. Charles Kingsley stated:
"A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and the worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back."
So thank you Samantha for being you. I'm glad that you're so trustworthy, caring, and always there when I need you. I'm so incredibly blessed to have you in my life, and to be able to call you my best friend. :) thanks.
Time for the bee to buzz to the next idea:
This quarter is almost an exact replica of the last quarter in terms of classes. I'm taking a Poli Sci, an Economics, a Humanities and a Music class. I don't think it's any easier either, in fact, I believe this quarter is going to be more difficult in terms of work load, which DEFINITELY means I can't slack. But nonetheless I'm more excited about it than last, because the subjects of each class are more interesting. I've also being working harder and diligently at digging into the word daily. It's so refreshing to start (or end) the day with the Word. Ephesians 1:17-18 says:
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you."
I desire to know Him more, and draw closer to Him. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians is a prayer for everybody, that we all come to know Him and our hearts opened to the hope we have in Him. And by doing so, daily getting into God's word is what strengthens our hearts, and our relationship with God. So I've been getting into Acts, and to see the disciples devotion to spreading the Gospel is amazing, and encouraging in my daily life. So I'm going to try to continually be in the word, for in Deuteronomy 8:3 it says: "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
I've also had the desire to start reading more Christian books. I'm not a reader at all, but I feel like books are vital, aside from the Bible, to our walk. So I've come up with a list of books I want to try to get to read before Summer, and even into summer.
1. (Finish) Doctrine by Mark Driscoll
2. Reason for God by Tim Keller
3. Crazy Love by Francis Chan
4. Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll
5. Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die - John Piper
6. Heaven by Randy Alcorn
I heard these were all very good books, and if you have any suggestions on books, I would love to hear them! So let me know! I'm excited to read these.
A quick side note on the quarter, I've realized that I'm running out of dining dollars, and money, and I still have ten weeks to go. I'm definitely worried, but trusting in God. I like to eat a lot, and obviously I need to. If anyone would love to send a "food-package" or gift card to grocery store, I would absolutely be so blessed. But prayer would be so greatly appreciated :)
This also gets me on the track of what I am to do for summer. I've yet to hear back from Hume Lake (it should be any day now), and I've been having my doubts. I don't know if I can be away from home and friends for 3 months, then come straight back to school next year. Also, Summer Project was really put on my heart when I was in El Salvador (Summer Project is a 6-week 'project' of ministry) in El Salvador. However, that has been something I've had to question as well because I need to work this summer to make money for next year. So I thought of the summer project in Santa Monica, CA instead. Fourth option would of course be going back home to San Luis for all of summer, and trying to find work there. All this is flustering my mind, so I pray, and I'll ask you to pray, that God really works in my heart, and opens and shuts doors to where He sees fit.
My last bit of writing is a question I've been asking God a lot lately. That is, in first person view, and to be vague without giving it away, is, "Why God, do you put a feeling on my heart, that I don't know why is there?" It's a feeling that I can't seem to escape, that I pray about, but I feel God has given reasons to why it stays there, and why I can't escape it. If you want more details, I implore you to ask me. But its intriguing, that sometimes God puts things on our hearts that we have no idea why they are there.
But if you have stuck with me this far, I'm impressed, and I thank you.
With another post coming soon. I sign out.
With love,
Dan
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