New

It's kinda sad to see 2011 go, because it was such a monumental time period for my life (probably most definitely the most monumental, eventful, fun, growth-filled, and important year of my life) for reasons just about all who read this know. I got married, moved to our own place, found new friends, got a new pet and a new job. I love 2011.

God's movement in my life isn't transient, though. It's constant. And I want to commit to growing in Him daily, both as an individual and together with my wife. There is not a reason in the world why 2012 can't be just as filled with adventure, romance, God, growth, and fun; I have a feeling it totally will be.

I'm not a fan of "resolutions," because they rarely work for me, but one goal I have set for myself that I am excited about is reading the whole Bible in a year. Only being a Christian for about four years means that there is so much of the Bible I have yet to even scratch the surface in. Entire books and prophets, even. Plus, reading the bible daily is the one sure way to constantly grow in Him and know Him better, so I started a chronological reading plan of the whole Bible on New Years Eve (which you can find on YouVersion); so far it has been great.

However, I know that the hard part of committing to such a plan hasn't even begun. Will you pray with me as I begin this journey?

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! I know this is late, but I've been busy! The good kind of busy. Kaitlin and I had a really nice two-week break from work (since we both work with kids and therefor still get Christmas break!). I hope everyone has also had a nice New Years day and Christmas!

One last thing before I call it a post: the subject of "change." Many people look at a new year and find it the perfect time to start all these changes in their lives. Eating healthier, working out more, praying more, reading more, etc. I don't think all of that is bad, but don't let it consume you. God has already made you new, and is continuing to do so:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

The source of the voice telling you to change is ultimately either God or Satan. Pray and be sure before you leap into something. If you feel the urge to change or make resolutions, give it all to Him, and let Him guide you to change as He sees fit. He has been molding you and changing you constantly since the moment He entered your heart, mind, body, and soul. Pray, pray, pray, and pray some more. There is no rush to figure something out soon so you can start changing at the beginning of the year. Let God's timing take over, lest you become your own God. And most importantly, don't look back on regrets of the past year. Look forward to the future. Don't try to make this year different; try to make your life follow God's perfect will. Jesus reminded his followers to seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will follow and present itself to them (Matthew 6:33). Paul says in his letter to the Philippians that although he has not achieved his goal yet or taken hold of all that Christ meant for him, he focuses his energies on "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. [He presses] on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [him] heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Seek Him and His kingdom, growing in Him daily. He'll take care of the rest. You are precious to Him and incredibly loved. If there is anything in the world that you need, ask Him first! He will never fail you. In fact, He alone will not fail you. He is your Helper, your Guide, your Savior, your Love, your Father, your Everything. He makes all things glorious. He makes all things new.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Yesterday, after a fairly successful (and fun!) yard sale and a surprise visit from some pretty awesome friends, Kaitlin and I made our way to the Silver Creek Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our very first Christmas Tree. Upon arriving, we were quickly greeted by the friendly staff, given a saw and a measuring stick, and headed out towards the countless rows of leyland cypress and white pines.

We quickly found this not to be an easy endeavor.

For about half an hour we searched, frequently running into nearly-perfect trees, only to find bald spots when we circled them. Some would be great from one angle, but just not that great from everywhere else. From far away, many looked promising, only to disappoint us when we finally reached them. In hindsight, we were probably very unfairly critical and judgmental towards these trees. When we finally realized that we were not going to find an 8 feet tall tree that was unfailingly symmetrical and branch-y from top to bottom, one called out to us, and we knew it was just right.

I took the provided hand saw and started cutting. This became quite tiring in no time at all, especially having gotten up at the break of dawn to start our yard sale earlier that morning, and having to use a saw that was dull from hundreds of uses. In about a minute or two, it finally hit the ground and we started dragging it back. We didn't get far at all before one of the staff came rolling along in a tractor pulling a trailer that he offered to pull the tree in. I snapped a photo of Kaitlin, and then he snapped one of the both of us, which was nice!

Note how beautiful she is!

A little blurry, but it was a phone camera.

They drove it up, wrapped it, and tied it to the top of the Nissan Altima while we ran into John Moore (the college minister of West Rome Baptist Church) and got to have a brief chat about Christmas trees and exchange belated congratulations (he recently had some additions to his family, and we got married (in case you didn't know)).

On the way back a whole-in-the-wall BBQ restaurant caught our eyes. Those are the best kinds, so it was very exciting. Upon closer inspection, however, we found that they were closing, which was extremely unfortunate. We went to Shane's instead. There, we ran into two other friends, who just so happened to be UGA fans and were headed to continue watching the game. We put our college football loyalty differences aside and enjoyed a little fellowship before they left.

Anyway, back to the tree. We soon discovered that there is more to putting up a tree than just cutting it down and bringing it home. It has to fit into the stand. That was not happening. Some of the bottom branches had to go. Out of desperation, I tried some pretty stupid things like a box cutter and a steak knife. The branch of the pine yielded to neither. Meanwhile, Kaitlin is trying to hold up the tree and balance it on the little part of the stand that the tree can sit on, with a few close calls when it leaned a little too far for comfort. This wasn't going to work. We needed a new plan.

I carried the tree outside so it wouldn't cause any more mess in the house, and drove to Wal-mart to get a heavy-duty clipper. After rushing back home, I hopped out of the car and quickly started to clip those stubborn branches off. Finally, we got it into the stand and tightened the screws. My cutting job was not very   straight, and the tree itself was not perfectly straight. This made it a little harder to work with, but we finally got it to stand without leaning and though the bottom looked a little naked after the trim, we were very proud of ourselves.

Our tree! I added our Nativity scene today. It's from Willow Tree and it's so awesome!

There is just something about having the tree up that makes Christmas feel so much more closer. I'm so excited about our very first Christmas! Just looking at the tree awakens that excitement and makes me so thankful to God that He has blessed me with such an incredible life, wife, and home, and that He loves us so much that He left His throne and became the Son of Man that I (and you and you and you and even YOU) may be saved by the grace shown through His death and Resurrection. It has become so cleche, but in the mess of it all, let us not ever for a moment this year forget that we are not gathering in the name of capitalism or materialism, but in the name of Jesus, Son of the Living God.

Merry 21 days before Christmas, everyone!

- Zack

God is the Source

About a month or two ago I started the "Life Journal Reading Plan" on YouVersion. For any of you who don't know what YouVersion is, you should check it out! It's a sweet website that lets you start your own Bible reading plan. But anyway, it was a plan to read the whole Bible in one year, which became a bigger challenge than I first thought. I got about two weeks into it before falling behind and it's taken me this long to try to continue it. I realized the other day that the reason I started falling behind was that my heart just really wasn't in the right place when I started it, but I'll get back to that a little later.

The plan started with Genesis 1-2, and Luke 1. I only had to read a couple verses before my faith was both challenged and strengthened. Everyone knows and has probably heard the signature verse of Genesis 1 being used:

"And God said 'Let there be light,' and there was light."
- Genesis 1:3 (ESV)

I read it and continued and it really didn't stand out to me until I read verses 14 and 15:

"And God said 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth."
- Genesis 1:14,15 (ESV)

That opened up such a can of worms for me. I began to question the order of the creation story. Light came before the sun and the stars? How could that make sense? The sun and the stars are what emit light, right?

A few minutes later and I suddenly felt convicted. Is our God not the LORD? Is HE not the source of everything? How could I dare to question how God could create light without the help of giant balls of burning gas and plasma? Does God need anything other than Himself to create? I know it sounds like a small little minute detail of my reading, but for me it was huge. God alone is the source of light.

More than that, God alone is the source of everything else. I soon found that it doesn't really stop with just the origin of light or the order of creation. If we're not careful, we can take for granted all that God does, and just assume that the source of our [life, success, love, freedom, forgiveness, happiness, joy, peace, provision, food, water, relationships, intimacy, etc.] is something material or worldly (or worse, ourselves) instead of God Almighty. Everything we have, we owe to God, because HE is the source of it ALL. He spoke our lives into being. He brought everyone into our lives that we know and love. He makes sure we are well and provided for. He created and designed intimacy, love, peace, and happiness. We owe it all to Him. And if there is anything in our lives that makes us happy or at peace, let us make those reasons to praise Him with all our hearts. Thank Him the minute you think of it! It's so easy to take it for granted. Thanksgiving may be over but may we never cease giving thanks!

I'm going to try my very best to start this Bible reading plan over. I'm going to let the source of my motivation to complete it be to strengthen my relationship with God, and to know Him better, not just to finally read the whole Bible, or to read it in just one year. Those motivations will just run dry. However, motivation for anything can never and will never run dry if God, and God alone, is the source!

- Zack

“There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) And as I lay there, it occurred to me that God is up there somewhere. Of course, I had always known He was, but this time I felt it, I realized it, the way a person realizes they are hungry or thirsty. The knowledge of God seeped out of my brain and into my heart. I imagined Him looking down on this earth, half angry because His beloved mankind had cheated on Him, had committed adultery, and yet hopelessly in love with her, drunk with love for her.” 

― Donald Miller,  Blue Like Jazz