"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him." Job 13:15
I have not had any experience that equals Job's sufferings. Not even close. But when hard things have come in life, small as they may be, some of my emotions are the same, although on a smaller scale. I wish that I could say that at all times I have had the same confidence in God's sovereignty and goodness that Job expresses.
If we know that God is good and we know that God is sovereign, then we can completely trust Him in every single situation that arises, and we can echo Job in saying even if the Lord kills me, I know that it is His will, by His goodness, and for my good. There is nothing to fear in death, hunger, nakedness, peril or sword, because none of these things can separate us from the love of Christ!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Will it snow?
Before moving to Louisville, all I could think about was how cold and wintry it would be in the winter months. I imagined ice and snow and difficult driving.
But in reality, it hasn't snowed here yet. There have been a few days of flurries, and only one day did it accumulate. Other than that, Texas had more snow in one day than we have had. Wherever Helen and I have gone lately, the weather has deviated from the norm.
It hadn't rained in Texas in months... until we got there. They are having a warm winter here in Kentucky. The month of December was 11 degrees warmer this year than last. I guess Helen and I are messing up everyone's winter.
So the question remains. Will we get a good snow in this year? And then, will we be happy when it does?
But in reality, it hasn't snowed here yet. There have been a few days of flurries, and only one day did it accumulate. Other than that, Texas had more snow in one day than we have had. Wherever Helen and I have gone lately, the weather has deviated from the norm.
It hadn't rained in Texas in months... until we got there. They are having a warm winter here in Kentucky. The month of December was 11 degrees warmer this year than last. I guess Helen and I are messing up everyone's winter.
So the question remains. Will we get a good snow in this year? And then, will we be happy when it does?
Hello Grace Community!
I discovered this morning that I have some new readers from Grace Community Baptist Church. I hope that you enjoy what you read, and feel free to make comments as you please.
Helen and I had a great time at church this morning, and we look forward to seeing you all again.
Helen and I had a great time at church this morning, and we look forward to seeing you all again.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Louisville is not good for me
At least, that's what this study says. To summarize, out of 100 US cities, Louisville ranks #97 with regard to men's health. The study looked at several factors such as "life-and-death data on cancer, heart disease, and stroke, lifestyle issues, such as annual income and daily commute, crime rates and college graduation rates. Lastly, [they] ran a sweat check, looking at how often, how long, and how intensely men exercise." Louisville is not good for me. For example, this is what the typical Louisville man looks like today:
While Buda, Kyle and San Marcos could not be found on the list, Austin and San Antonio found themselves at 21 and 68 respectively. I suppose Austin is 21 because of all the health food nuts there... or maybe it's all the cyclists.... or maybe it's all the liberal t-sips on hunger strikes...
San Antonio spent some time as the nation's fattest city, didn't they? That would explain their rank in the bottom half of the list. Either way, I'm not interested in being in a city that is detrimental to my health.
So for my own sake, Helen and I are moving to Hawaii.
Just kidding.
While Buda, Kyle and San Marcos could not be found on the list, Austin and San Antonio found themselves at 21 and 68 respectively. I suppose Austin is 21 because of all the health food nuts there... or maybe it's all the cyclists.... or maybe it's all the liberal t-sips on hunger strikes...
San Antonio spent some time as the nation's fattest city, didn't they? That would explain their rank in the bottom half of the list. Either way, I'm not interested in being in a city that is detrimental to my health.
So for my own sake, Helen and I are moving to Hawaii.
Just kidding.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
J-term over
This last week flew by. I took 3 hour course that lasted four days. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Dr. Fuller was sick, and so the class didn't last as long and probably wasn't as challenging as it should have been. On one hand, the class was supposed to last from 8am to 5pm, with few breaks and an hour lunch. But since he was really sick, we went from about 9-4, with a two hour lunch and long breaks. On the other hand, I don't know that I got the full benefit of the class that I would have had he been well. It all worked out though.
As it turned out, I got was sick on Wednesday and Thursday, so I had to tough it out too. So it worked out that class was short, since I don't think I would have made it if it had been much longer.
I took the final and got a B+ on it. Which was good because I didn't study all that much for it. Sick people don't feel like studying. We'll see how my final grade turns out.
I'm looking forward to next semester. I have the rest of the week to get ready, maybe read another book and study Hebrew. This is my first Sunday to lead worship at Grace Community Baptist Church, so I'll be sure to post again letting everyone know how that went.
Anyway, Helen and I are going to eat grilled cheeses and watch Vegas Vacation and Little Miss Sunshine. Until next time...
As it turned out, I got was sick on Wednesday and Thursday, so I had to tough it out too. So it worked out that class was short, since I don't think I would have made it if it had been much longer.
I took the final and got a B+ on it. Which was good because I didn't study all that much for it. Sick people don't feel like studying. We'll see how my final grade turns out.
I'm looking forward to next semester. I have the rest of the week to get ready, maybe read another book and study Hebrew. This is my first Sunday to lead worship at Grace Community Baptist Church, so I'll be sure to post again letting everyone know how that went.
Anyway, Helen and I are going to eat grilled cheeses and watch Vegas Vacation and Little Miss Sunshine. Until next time...
Monday, January 15, 2007
It should be called Brett's law...
everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. well not exactly, but it was a rough weekend.
Helen and I taught Disciple Now at Hays Hills in Texas this weekend. Sean flew us in so that we could teach. It was a really great time and we got in some quality teaching. Before we left, we checked the weather and it said the highs were in the 60's for the entire weekend.
As you can probably guess, that's not what happened. Friday night, a cold front came in and quickly brought the temperature into the 30's. Then, a bunch of rain came into the area making the driving and more importantly, the flying conditions awful. We were supposed to fly out sunday at 5, but our flight was cancelled and we were rescheduled for Monday at 12.
Again, as you can probably guess, that flight on Monday was delayed by about an hour. We were able to leave Austin a little after 1 and landed in Dallas at 1:58pm (I looked at my phone) for our connecting flight which was scheduled to leave at 23opm. So we had to book it once we got off the plane.
It never fails that when you're in a hurry, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. We taxied to the gate and had to wait about 10 minutes for a gate agent (who knows what that is). So our 30 minutes to get to our next flight just became 20 minutes to get to our next flight. After we got off the plane, we ran to the Sky link and ran to our gate. We got there just in time and got on the plane.
Again, as you can probably guess, our flight didn't leave right away. In fact, we sat there for another 30 minutes waiting for the plane to be de-iced. So even though our plane was not officially delayed, it was delayed. Then as we were pulling away from the gate, we stopped and the captain came on the loudspeaker and told us we had to go back to the gate to pick up another crew member. Seriously, does this stuff ever happen?
We landed in Louisville about 20 minutes late, and called the bethancourts to come get us from the airport. We went to get our bags at the location they told us. And we waited. and waited. and waited. no one's bags were coming. Then, at a completely different area, bags start coming out on the conveyor belt. People from our plane began to pick up their bags and leave (this is 45 minutes after landing.)
As you can probably guess, our bags were not there. So we had to stand in line for an additional 30 minutes before we could actually leave. We felt sorry for the Bethancourts who had waited for us for nearly an hour, so we called some other friends to come get us. We're so thankful for all the people who will drop what they're doing to help us out.
Helen and I finally walked in the door around 750pm. We dropped our carry on items and went to eat at Olive Garden. It was a tough day, but at least we're home.
Helen has to work tomorrow and I start a J-term. We're going to be tired, but hey, American Idol starts tomorrow night.
Helen and I taught Disciple Now at Hays Hills in Texas this weekend. Sean flew us in so that we could teach. It was a really great time and we got in some quality teaching. Before we left, we checked the weather and it said the highs were in the 60's for the entire weekend.
As you can probably guess, that's not what happened. Friday night, a cold front came in and quickly brought the temperature into the 30's. Then, a bunch of rain came into the area making the driving and more importantly, the flying conditions awful. We were supposed to fly out sunday at 5, but our flight was cancelled and we were rescheduled for Monday at 12.
Again, as you can probably guess, that flight on Monday was delayed by about an hour. We were able to leave Austin a little after 1 and landed in Dallas at 1:58pm (I looked at my phone) for our connecting flight which was scheduled to leave at 23opm. So we had to book it once we got off the plane.
It never fails that when you're in a hurry, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. We taxied to the gate and had to wait about 10 minutes for a gate agent (who knows what that is). So our 30 minutes to get to our next flight just became 20 minutes to get to our next flight. After we got off the plane, we ran to the Sky link and ran to our gate. We got there just in time and got on the plane.
Again, as you can probably guess, our flight didn't leave right away. In fact, we sat there for another 30 minutes waiting for the plane to be de-iced. So even though our plane was not officially delayed, it was delayed. Then as we were pulling away from the gate, we stopped and the captain came on the loudspeaker and told us we had to go back to the gate to pick up another crew member. Seriously, does this stuff ever happen?
We landed in Louisville about 20 minutes late, and called the bethancourts to come get us from the airport. We went to get our bags at the location they told us. And we waited. and waited. and waited. no one's bags were coming. Then, at a completely different area, bags start coming out on the conveyor belt. People from our plane began to pick up their bags and leave (this is 45 minutes after landing.)
As you can probably guess, our bags were not there. So we had to stand in line for an additional 30 minutes before we could actually leave. We felt sorry for the Bethancourts who had waited for us for nearly an hour, so we called some other friends to come get us. We're so thankful for all the people who will drop what they're doing to help us out.
Helen and I finally walked in the door around 750pm. We dropped our carry on items and went to eat at Olive Garden. It was a tough day, but at least we're home.
Helen has to work tomorrow and I start a J-term. We're going to be tired, but hey, American Idol starts tomorrow night.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
January 2007
Since we've been back, Helen has been working hard at her job. They started back with students on January 3rd. I've been trying to stay busy, but I'm really having a hard time motivating myself. I've read one of the books for next semester, and I'm almost done with another one. But looking at my reading list, it sure would be nice to finish a few more before school starts.
I've also really tried to keep up with Hebrew. I ignored it for the month of December, and I've been reviewing for the last few days. It's amazing what you can forget in only a month. That tells me that I will quickly forget many of the things I learned in seminary unless I continue to use them.
I've started my job tutoring. I catch the bus in the afternoon. Sometimes it's late and sometimes it's on time. But I can't complain, at least I don't have to walk. I'll begin leading worship at Grace Community on an interim basis January 21.
Helen and I have been preparing for Hays Hills' Disciple Now. We leave Thursday night and we'll be back in Louisville Sunday afternoon... just in time for MLK Day. Helen doesn't have to work, but I still have to tutor. (If you don't work, you don't get paid. So I'm not complaining)
My January Term starts the 16 and last through the 19. It's a course over the Psalms. It should be interesting. In the Spring, classes start the 28 or 29. I'm taking Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Systematic Theology III, Hebrew Syntax and Exegesis, and Contemporary Worship in a Contemporary Culture.
I've also really tried to keep up with Hebrew. I ignored it for the month of December, and I've been reviewing for the last few days. It's amazing what you can forget in only a month. That tells me that I will quickly forget many of the things I learned in seminary unless I continue to use them.
I've started my job tutoring. I catch the bus in the afternoon. Sometimes it's late and sometimes it's on time. But I can't complain, at least I don't have to walk. I'll begin leading worship at Grace Community on an interim basis January 21.
Helen and I have been preparing for Hays Hills' Disciple Now. We leave Thursday night and we'll be back in Louisville Sunday afternoon... just in time for MLK Day. Helen doesn't have to work, but I still have to tutor. (If you don't work, you don't get paid. So I'm not complaining)
My January Term starts the 16 and last through the 19. It's a course over the Psalms. It should be interesting. In the Spring, classes start the 28 or 29. I'm taking Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Systematic Theology III, Hebrew Syntax and Exegesis, and Contemporary Worship in a Contemporary Culture.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Waiting on the World to Change
Waiting On The World To Change
listen to the song here
me and all my friends
we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there's no way we ever could
now we see everything that's going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don't have the means
to rise above and beat it
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
it's hard to beat the system
when we're standing at a distance
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door
and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want
that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
it's not that we don't care,
we just know that the fight ain't fair
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
and we're still waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
one day our generation
is gonna rule the population
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change
The Red Rowdies
First of all, right about the turn of the century, some good Aggie students established an organization to promote aggie basketball called "the reed rowdies." They are alive and well, and should probably sue.
The "red rowdies" support rockettes basketball. I submit that they make these people take an IQ test before they let them represent Houston.
Here are some gems they chanted during the game that showed how smart they are:
1. Tim Duncan sucks. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that Tim Duncan is probably the greatest PF to play the game. To say he sucks is just dumb.
2. Chanting at Robert Horry "Houston Reject!" I'm pretty sure Robert Horry left Houston for LA where he earned more rings than he knows what to do with. A better statement would be that Houston is a Robert Horry Reject.
3. The Spurs Coyote came out disguised as a Christmas tree so he could listen to the rockets game plan during a time out. These fans starting chanting "gay tree! gay tree!" I have no explanation for why this is dumb, it just is.
4. After the Rockets had the game won handily, and I had had enough of them screaming and beating a drum directly in my ear, I got mad and reminded them that it was December and that the Spurs were preparing for June. They informed me that we lost to Dallas in game 7 last year. What that has do with our conversation I'll never know, but I did remind them that their team was watching that game from home since they failed to make the playoffs that year.
5. I asked them who had more championships, and they said our 1999 championship only counted as half because of the shortened season. I gave them a math lesson and reminded them that 2 and 1/2 is more than 2. Then they told me again that we lost to Dallas in game 7 last year. Intelligent.
After all that, I truly hope the Spurs and Rockets meet in the playoffs because it will humorous to watch the Rockets collapse again.
The "red rowdies" support rockettes basketball. I submit that they make these people take an IQ test before they let them represent Houston.
Here are some gems they chanted during the game that showed how smart they are:
1. Tim Duncan sucks. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that Tim Duncan is probably the greatest PF to play the game. To say he sucks is just dumb.
2. Chanting at Robert Horry "Houston Reject!" I'm pretty sure Robert Horry left Houston for LA where he earned more rings than he knows what to do with. A better statement would be that Houston is a Robert Horry Reject.
3. The Spurs Coyote came out disguised as a Christmas tree so he could listen to the rockets game plan during a time out. These fans starting chanting "gay tree! gay tree!" I have no explanation for why this is dumb, it just is.
4. After the Rockets had the game won handily, and I had had enough of them screaming and beating a drum directly in my ear, I got mad and reminded them that it was December and that the Spurs were preparing for June. They informed me that we lost to Dallas in game 7 last year. What that has do with our conversation I'll never know, but I did remind them that their team was watching that game from home since they failed to make the playoffs that year.
5. I asked them who had more championships, and they said our 1999 championship only counted as half because of the shortened season. I gave them a math lesson and reminded them that 2 and 1/2 is more than 2. Then they told me again that we lost to Dallas in game 7 last year. Intelligent.
After all that, I truly hope the Spurs and Rockets meet in the playoffs because it will humorous to watch the Rockets collapse again.
We're Back
Helen and I had a great trip back to Texas, and it wasn't easy to leave.
We arrived in San Antonio late Thursday night. My Mom, Dad, brother and sister in law met us at the airport. As we walked through the gate and past security, I read my mom's lips "they look the same." kinda funny.
Anyway, Jeff and Shana gave us our Christmas present early, which was tickets to the Rockets/spurs game Friday night. turns out, our tickets were in the red rowdies section ("intelligent" rockets fans), and they were completely obnoxious. In another post i'll put some of their comments.
We got to go to my Dad's basketball games. (In case you didn't know, he's a high school bball coach.) They won all the games I went to, and I didn't get ejected (Jeff?).
We went to Helen's grandparents house for Christmas and also went to my aunt's house for annual Christmas eve gathering. It was good to see our families since we hadn't seen them in so long.
Our break was really good, but it went really fast. Helen is already at work, and I'm already back to watching Walker Texas Ranger. So much for new years resolutions.
We arrived in San Antonio late Thursday night. My Mom, Dad, brother and sister in law met us at the airport. As we walked through the gate and past security, I read my mom's lips "they look the same." kinda funny.
Anyway, Jeff and Shana gave us our Christmas present early, which was tickets to the Rockets/spurs game Friday night. turns out, our tickets were in the red rowdies section ("intelligent" rockets fans), and they were completely obnoxious. In another post i'll put some of their comments.
We got to go to my Dad's basketball games. (In case you didn't know, he's a high school bball coach.) They won all the games I went to, and I didn't get ejected (Jeff?).
We went to Helen's grandparents house for Christmas and also went to my aunt's house for annual Christmas eve gathering. It was good to see our families since we hadn't seen them in so long.
Our break was really good, but it went really fast. Helen is already at work, and I'm already back to watching Walker Texas Ranger. So much for new years resolutions.
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