Tokyo anyone?

So, my little brother came back from Tokyo today. I was completely pumped to see him too. Before I go too far, let me tell you a few stats about Tokyo. Tokyo is the most populous city in the world. There are a little over 120 million people living in an area about the size of Houston, Texas. Less that one half of 1%, in other words less than .5%, of people are christians. The biggest religion there is a Buddhist/Shinto mix. As we were looking at his pictures, he was telling us about the day that his group went to a Buddhist/Shinto temple. Being christian missionaries, they started to do their thing; prayer walking, talking with people, a little singing. While they were doing all this, my brother said that he sat off to the side of a shrine and read Psalm 24. Especially verse 9: "Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." I didn't really think much about that verse until I later read a blog from a friend of mine who was at the temple with him. She said, "I've never felt Satan's hand pushing so hard on us." You see, as the group was working in the Lord, there were police officers who asked the group to leave the premises...Wow. My little brother prayed that simple verse, and not very long after that, they got kicked out. Honestly, I think Lauren was right. Satan has a very strong hold on that city and he has no interest in losing it. But he should know something about the people that were on that mission trip...They'll never back down! Those people paid so much to get on that plane and fly 14 hours to a city that God's light is hardly shining. They have done amazing work already over there, and I know that there will be a few that will go back...I know David has already told me that he wants to go back. Why not you. Why don't you go?...I wish I could.

Sadness? Yes!...but also great joy!

So, I was just chillin at home when I got a phone call from my dad...kinda made me a little sad. I have been going to the church I am at for a little over a year now. One of the greatest joys of going there was the amazing youth program that we have. The youth minister got there about the same time my family did, maybe a little earlier. When I moved there, the youth program was a little stagnant, and we didn't really do much. It usually had about 15 kids, maybe...now it's running pretty high. That's all pretty much thanks to the outreach that Nic has had to the kids of Lockhart, Texas.

Anyway, the news that shocked me was that Nic put in his two week notice today. It kinda took me by surprise, but at the same time, I knew that he has always had a big heart for a church plant. Well, when my dad told me, I found out that he was moving to a church called The Connection Church. Now, that church kinda has a little irony behind it for me. The youth minister at the church that my dad was a pastor at when we moved to Luling, Zak White, went to help make that church bigger. AND the pastor that preceded my dad, helped start that church. So, yeah....I guess that's two people that God has taken away and put in a position there. I guess that church is really doing well, because they now have at least three men that are amazing speakers of God's word and awesome role models.

I guess what I'm getting at is, I hate to see Nic go, but I know that this move is what God has had planned. Nic will be missed greatly by First Lockhart Baptist Church. The youth group will never be the same and you will be hard to replace. Those kids really looked up to you more than I have ever seen happen before, and I couldn't find a better person to have in that position. We love you and are gonna miss you!

What is Yours???

What is one thing that compels you? What is the one big thing that is driving your life? Ever sat down and thought about it? Me either....I never actually took the time to sit down and ponder what the moving force behind my actions is. I mean, there's something that empowers, enables, even motivates us right? God...power...money...status...praise...narcissism even? Is it that we are trying to prove something to ourselves? Is it that we are trying to prove something to everyone else? Me? I think it's an irrational fear that I won't add up to anything. Maybe like Atychiphobia...or maybe it's Athazagoraphobia. Whatever phobia it might be, I push myself on the simple fact that I don't want to be a failure and make nothing of my life. I wish it was easier. I wish I wasn't so worried about making myself a winner. But I guess that's how life treats me. I get to sit around and worry why my life is so much tougher than everyone else's. But wait! Is it really harder? If you really think, I have a fairly good life. My parents are still together, I've had some hardships, but nothing too dramatic. I've even been making a little money lately. So why do I still worry about making something of myself? Why not just sail through life unnoticed and unavailable to success?...cuz that's not me! I want to be succesful! I want to make something of myself! But I really don't want to be wealthy. I don't want to be famous. Heck, if I had just enough money to get by, I'd love it! No need for fancy toys or Italian sports cars. Just to live comfortably. Me, a wife, maybe a kid or two., perhaps a small lap dog or chihuahua...Nothing extravagant. But sometimes I feel like I cant motivate myself anymore. In high school, I lived for cross country. Up at 5:45 a.m. every morning doing 7-8 miles of squishing rubber between my feet and the asphalt before anyone else in the world knew where they were. My senior year, the State Meet was on November 9th. My motto that year was 364 days count, only 1 matters. Does that explain how serious I was? 337 consecutive days of running at least 3 miles of more. 215 straight days without a soda...That's how motivated I was. We were running a meet in Seguin about a month before District...BOOM! There's a hole. Foot down, knee sideways, tears flowing. I thought it was over. I could not walk at all. I thought I would never run another day in my life. See, I had already had surgery on that knee once. I could see it all right there in front of me, then it all faded away. The Atychiphobia was creeping in. I had failed. But! I only missed one day of running. By the grace of God, my knee had only slightly been tweeked and after missing only one day of running, I was back on the road. I probably should have taken it easier, but I did three miles two days after messing up my knee. See! POINT MADE! Driving force right there! The State Meet was calling, and I wasn't gonna let up. Even if it meant ruining my knee, I wasn't gonna let myself become a failure. That's enough proof to me that everyone has a point for their lives. There were alot of things cross country taught me. One of them is a concept called "The Time Capsule." The Time Capsule is the amount of time you have left in any certain aspect of life. The Time Capsule of my birthday is 8 months and 11 days. Basically, it's a countdown. The Time Capsule I am looking at right now is 40 days. 40 days until I ship off to BCT (Basic Combat Training). My Capsule is almost up. I've only got that long to get myself ready for a life-altering experience. I've changed the way I look at it. I've already made something of myself. Basic will make that feeling stronger. My Atychiphobia is gone and now it's time for a new life in God, with him driving everything. So now my question has been altered...What drives you?...and why?