Jesus is a Kentucky fan

With the college basketball season less than a week away, and Kentucky having the #1 recruitment class in the country, as well as a #4 ranking in the AP poll, naturally I am excited. A few nights ago at church during band practice, a man walked in the back of the room wearing a UK hat. He asked if any of us was the youth minister, and assuming he was a member that just hadn't met me yet, I identified myself and stepped out to talk to him. He was wearing a pair of dirty painter's pants and began to explain his situation. I quickly realized that he was not a member, but a man in need of help. It's at this point I did what most of us do; find any and every excuse not to help. I listened to him tell me he had a wife and kids, how he didn't get payed till tomorrow, how his electricity had just been cut off an how he didn't have enough gas to make it to work tomorrow. And naturally I responded with the fact that it was late, that there was nothing I could do for him tonight, and that our church had special channels in which we distributed help to families like his. His face reflected a heart that had been broken. He couldn't go home a failure, and suddenly my attention was drawn back to his hat. It is rare to see a UK fan in the greater richmond area, and anyone around the church or in my circle of friends knows that I am a die-hard Kentucky fan. And just 5 minutes earlier, I jokingly told a man I knew nothing about that I would do anything for a fellow UK fan.

Before I knew anything about him...

"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?' And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for me.'"

It took a man in a UK hat to remind me of that. But God put that man in my life for a reason. And so I gave him some money from my pocket, and some food out of our food closet, prayed with him and got back to practice. And hopefully the next time I come into contact with someone I consider "the least of these," I will remember my experience with that man. Praise Jesus. Go Big Blue.

Growing Pains

My wisdom teeth started to come in at least 3 years ago, and every once in a while I will bite the very back inside of my cheek. It usually hurts the first time, and then swells up so that i bite it repeatedly, each time hurting a little more, drawing a tear in the corner of my eye. Beyond the physical pain is the fact that I now have to focus on something i usually don't focus on; talking. I have to try extra hard to not bite that spot in my mouth, or make a ridiculous face by puffing out my cheeks so that my teeth wont touch the sides of my mouth, both strategies cause me to talk like droopy. I was reading in 2 Corinthians about Paul's pleading with God three times to remove a thorn from his side. God's answered with "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." It is understandable that Paul would consider this thorn a hindrance to a wider or more effective ministry and that he would ask God for its removal. But God's power is and always has been best displayed against the backdrop of human weakness, so that God alone is praised. Rather than removing the problem, God gave him grace and strength through it, and He declared that grace as “sufficient.” Perhaps this thorn in my mouth is here to help me practice humility, something I am not great at.

The first one

Well, it's my first blog post and i'm overwhelmed at all I could say and the large blank canvas before me. As the subtitle suggests, I only want to reflect on the day-to-day occurrences that affect my life both positively and negatively. About 2 months ago my roommate chip and i moved into our new townhouse. And for those last two months we've been battling the deadbolt lock. Friends have told me to call maintenance to come fix it, but all it really needed was some WD-40 (about $1.50 at Home Depot) Anyways, living in the part of town I do, It is ingrained in us that we can have and deserve anything we want, when we want it. Sure, I could have requested that maintenance come and fix the problem, but it would have robbed me of the opportunity to fix it myself, saving time and giving me the opportunity to learn a new skill, "lock de-sticking." I wonder what other things I could be learning if i wasn't always focused on myself.