It's Thanksgiving!

It only takes a holiday for me to go, "WOW! I haven't blogged in over 20 days!" hahahaha. But I just wanted this to be a "What we're thankful of"-blog, so here we go!

- For my God, who for some reason loves me unconditionally, gave His Son's life for me, showed me mercy and grace in times where I clearly didn't deserve it, blesses me when I don't return the favor, and gently speaks to me through His perfect word.

- For family and friends. All of them. From close and extended family to best friends and people you only chat with once-a-month. All the same, the people are in our lives and that is something to be thankful for.

- For my dog, Honey. Isn't she CUTE?!

- For food, water, and various other drinks.

- For a roof over our heads, air conditioning during the Summer and heat during the Winter, blankets and pillows for comfort, and a working shower and toilet (You don't know how much you'll be thankful for those until you don't have a working one).

- For clothes. What a gift to be able to cover and warm ourselves all day long.

- For pens and paper, because some phenomenal people have been able to write wonderful words of encouragement, poetry, short stories, epic tales, and commentaries that we would be without today without writing utensils and paper.

- For music. All kinds. There is truly so much talent out there, and just being able to hear God's gift in other people's lives is awesome.

- For means of contact; Email, snail-mail, telephones/cell phones, blogging, Skype, Facebook, etc.

- For different nationalities and cultures, because seriously, if everyone were the same, this world would be rather boring. Also, for languages. There are so many beautiful means of communicating around the world, and English is only one language to do it.

- For children, because they are the future (And when you get old, you best know they'll be taking care of you!).

- For TV and movies (Of which I know I might watch too much here and there).

- For games (Of which I might do the same. hehe).

- For hot tubs, because they feel SO nice after a long day. hahaha.

- And lastly, but not the least (At least for me. hahaha), I'm thankful for sweet tea! Oh, what would a Southern state be like without the comatose-inducing sweetness that is Southern sweet tea?!

It truly is a day to think about all the things we are thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

He's President. The End.

So Barack Obama won in a landslide last night (Who seriously didn't see that coming?), which means America has truly overcome a major racial barrier by electing a black man as president of the United States. I'm honestly very proud to be an American on this day, because I've always assumed that racism and hatred for one's fellow man would always continue. Despite that still being true, with 70ish% of the voters yesterday being white, I can guarentee that a good number of those people overcome some hatred during this past year or two. And for me, that's something to be proud of as an American.

Now, if you're thinking I voted for Obama, I didn't. I'm just boldly stating that he is the president-elect, and that's just where we are as a nation. I respect the man for what he's done and how hard he's worked to get to where he is. And there's one thing I can be sure of, he's got a whole lot of mess on his plate when he steps into office.

I've been reading 1 Chronicles in the Bible, and God has been showing me some beautiful truth through the history of His people. I've read the names of people I know truly loved God, and I've read the names of people I know who turned away from Him and did some of the most defiling acts in the Old Testament. However, these men are still related. And not only that, God used both of them equally for His plan. The outcome of their lives may have been significantly different, but it's a sure sign of knowing that the LORD is in control. Coming to terms with that, Barack Obama winning the election doesn't bother me at all. Apparently, God has a plan for him as leader of this country, and what I am called to do is to respect my governing authority. And in this case, it is Barack Obama. Whether we like it or not.

Again, I do want to say that I'm proud to be an American, and seeing the racial barrier coming down more and more is not only encouraging, but a true blessing to see in my life time.

Flashback Friday!

Happy Halloween (Or not, if you can't stand the holiday)! hehe. I figured it would only be appropriate to share a sweet Halloween story for the Flashback Friday, since they do fall on the same day.

(Me at youth swordfighting with the Wiseman's daughter.)

A couple years ago, my friend, The Bert, and I came up with this brilliant idea to dress up as Nintendo characters. Naturally, I wanted to be Link (From Zelda), and my hair at the time only further supported the notion. Bert wanted to be Mario, and also, that worked out quite well. However, we didn't feel right with just the two of us doing it, so we ended up recruiting TONS of people to join our Nintendo cause. People claimed they would dress up as Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, Mega Man, Princess Peach, Princess Zelda, Wario, Waluigi, etc. It was going to be a grand Nintendo-themed Halloween! However, this was all the people who ended up dressing up...


And not only that, April took SO much convincing, and I think ultimately, she was the least likely to dress up. However, she didn't just dress up as Princess Zelda, she hand-made her entire costume from scratch material. Not only did she end up dressing up as her claimed character, but she put so much more effort and looked 10x's better than the Bert and myself.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Lots of love!

My Heart in Election '08

Romans 16:17-19

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Reading this passage is very convicting for me as a believer. On the one hand, it's really encouraging to hear Paul express true concern for such obstacles in life, but on the other hand, what he asked to watch out for is what most Christians tend to do today. This got me thinking about the upcoming Election. Being from South Carolina, I've heard it all. "Bush is God's candidate.", "Clinton is of the devil!", "Die, Arabs, die!", "If Barack Obama wins, I hope he gets assassinated.", "John McCain is the man that God wants in the White House.", "If Obama wins, this country is going to crash!", etc. And to think, these all come from fellow believers, some of which I know really well. That isn't to say that I don't do the same thing, but for me, this whole Election season has been a hatred of both sides and convincing people that both candidates are hacks and shouldn't even be up there. One, that's my opinion, and it really should stay with me. And two, God's in control of this Election, and He'll put in whoever He thinks is best for us now (Romans 13:1 - Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.)

I've been a fool. It's okay to express your opinion about something or about how you feel, but it's a completely different thing when you try to force your opinion on someone else, especially if it has the potential of misleading a fellow believer. I've been pleasing my own appetite and reading up on knowledge that isn't going to change history. I've made it my mission to be selfish and question the authority God has laid out there for us these past 232 years in America.

The last line of the passage says, "I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." I think some times we, as Christians, tend to relate more to the evil of the world instead of being innocent to it. People read His word less today and watch way more TV and movies. People listen to less sermons today and listen to filthy music. People do less fellowshiping today and spend too much time by themselves. There's barely any evangelism and a whole lot of turning away from Christ. These are the important issues that Christians have walked away from.

So ultimately, who cares if Barack Obama wins the election? So what is John McCain wins? In the end, it's going to be chosen by God and NOT something for us to question. Questioning it would be undermining God's authority and making your opinion more important than His plan.

In the end, God will always prevail.

Can't even make it to a month.

So I noticed I missed "Flashback Friday" this past week, due to the fact that Gabe came into town and I ended up spending the entirety of the afternoon and evening with him. That was an absolute blast! We ate at Mr Subs (AKA Senor Subs, Monsieur Subs, Subs-san) for lunch. All in attendance; Gabe, myself, Rachael, Curtis, Nancy (My mom), and Teddad (My dad). It was a really good time together, and I know I was personally blessed by the experience.

After that, my dad, Gabe, and I went to the mall to buy Tre' (My brother) a birthday present, and then Gabe and I went back to my apartment and discovered the brilliance of JellyCar (An iPhone/iTouch application). We laughed a lot between that and goofing off on Fable 2. From there, we went to my dad's house and watched Iron Man on BluRay, and it was actually better the second time. Still not as good as Spiderman 2 (In terms of comicbook films), but still a wonderful film for what it was.

Sunday was a great day as well, as Jeff preached a wonderful message about having the faith of a child. That, combined with two little girls reading something one of them wrote about us being like a Jack-0-Lantern. It ended up being a beautiful analogy, and it really does make you think twice about the almost-uselessness of complexity in Chrisian thinking. After church, we went out to eat with a load of people! I have never actually had a sit-down conversation with Travis (One of the singers in the choir), so that was a blessing to be able to eat with him, his wife, and his cousin. Also, Matt and Kinsey came, and so did Summer and her boyfriend Darrell. This was the first time I've seen Summer in about 4-ish years, so that was cool to see her again, and that she's doing pretty well.

Laster that day, we went to Mike and Sharon Jack's house to watch the Steelers game and talk about our trip to Japan. Despite the Steelers losing, we had a wonderful time, and just walking around their house was a blessing. The stream and the dock in the backyard was enough for me to just want to come over and hang out everyday! Mike even invited me to a men's Bible study on Thursday, which was of immediate interest, so I'll be seeing him on Thursday. Both of them were extremely encouraging with their words, their ideas, and their hospitality. It was just a great experience at their place.

With all that said, we had a wonderful weekend, and God blessed us tremendously. Just continue to pray for our trip to Japan, in all areas (The fundraising, the donors, the mental and spiritual preparation, the language learning, the softening of the students' hearts, the living arrangements, etc), and we'll be sure to keep you posted as to what to pray for next. Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

What's a schedule, anyway?

As some of you might have already heard, I (Jason) am totally off of the night shift at the gym! Last week was my first official week (Although short, because we didn't get back in until Tuesday night from Colorado Springs.), and I have to say, it felt nice. Sleeping on a proper schedule, waking up between 8am and 9am (As opposed to between 10am and 2pm), and getting all my errands done in the day time is such a wonderful blessing! I don't think I need to bask in this any longer, but I have to say thank you for all the prayers.

The LORD has truly been working in our hearts this past month, and I can't help but share how He's been working! As stated before, the Summer months were a little difficult for me and Rachael, but after lots of prayer and meditation, it has been understood that God used that time to test our faith. Not only did that time of struggle strengthen our relationship with Him, but it also confirmed that our going to Japan is from Him. We have never been more confident of this mission to go to Japan than now... and it's only getting stronger! The LORD is good. Always.

I'll end this with scripture and a CUTE picture of Honey. This passage has been on my heart, because God has been showing me a lot in confidence and what to be confident in.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."

Flashback Friday!

Okay, this is a random, short, and silly one, but still a flashback! hahaha



This is a picture of Rachael while we were visiting family in Boston. As some of you may know, Rachael and I will lock-up and semi-wrestle on occasion. At this point, I was always threatening her that I would give her a hickey on her eye. I don't think she ever believed me until she kept pestering me... so I gave her a hickey on her eye... as I promised. hahahaha. This was the aftermath of such an event. :P
(This flashback was actually approved by Rachael. hehe)