From the Desk 8/3/2008

This morning I woke up feeling much better after having slept more than the past few nights. I got ready and picked up Christina and we went to His Hands. The service was great! The message returned to focusing on the "Sermon on the Mount" which the pastor referred to as the "teaching on a hill". He focused on Jesus' illustrations of how if people wanted to be like the Pharisees and live by those rules and laws that they would have to be perfect to still enter the kingdom of Heaven. I never thought about the fact that throughout the examples he gave ("don't pray openly and make a presentation of it as the Pharisees do, otherwise that will be its reward") were calling the so called religious leaders out and saying that they were doing these things to be seen as righteous by others and not doing it for God's glory. The service was capped off by the last song that had pretty much everyone at least bobbing their head as the band played and we all sang:

"Your mercy taught us how to dance
To celebrate with all we have
And we’ll dance to thank You for mercy

Your glory taught us how to shout
To lift Your name in all the earth
And we’ll shout to the praise of Your glory

It’s the overflow
Of a forgiven soul
And now we’ve seen You, God
Our hearts cannot stay silent
And we’ll be a dancing generation
Dancing because of Your great mercy, Lord
Your great mercy, Lord
And we’ll be a shouting generation
Shouting because of Your great glory, Lord
Your great glory, Lord"

I left feeling alive and ready to conquer the day. That energy eventually faded as I wasn't as caught up on sleep as I thought. I dropped Christina off at her car since she had to work at noon today for the last day of tax-free weekend.

I went to my apartment and ate some lunch. I also snoozed briefly to the movie "The Core" that was on FX. I woke up and got to work on things I needed to do. I scanned in all the photos Elizabeth brought me for her wedding slide show DVD. I also scanned in some photos I had found while cleaning the other day. You can see that some of them were quite old as this one was probably from my sophomore year in high school (who is that wild creature roaming around in the background?) I then took a break from my computer and decided to play around on the guitar Hickey lent me. I managed to remember how to play "Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews Band and it sort of sounded similar to the real thing after several minutes of picking and strumming. I then returned to some necessary chores. I got in a hyper-cleaning mode and ended up cleaning (Hickey level of clean) both bathrooms, the kitchen, and vacuuming the entire apartment. I finished up cleaning and Christina called to let me know that she was getting out of work a little early. She picked up Wendy's and headed over to hang out. While she was on her way I grabbed a quick shower as to not smell like Fantastic and Dow Scrubbing Bubbles when she arrived.

She got there and we ate our food and enjoyed our Frostys. Christina pointed out the new slogan on the fries box: "You can't eat a Frosty and not smile". While this is a bold statement to make, I firmly believe that it is true as I thought back and have never seen anyone eating a Frosty that wasn't smiling. You will have to let me know if you witness this unlikely event. We then watched some TV and intermittently slept to the sounds of That 70's Show which was playing several episodes in a row. We were both exhausted; me from my driving and trip to Knoxville, and her from working all weekend in the chaos. I walked her to her car and we said goodnight. I went back inside and then went to bed not long after that. I was reminiscing on the weekend and smiling about getting to see all my friends and family even if it wasn't for as long as we would have liked.

Meditation for the day: Matthew 6:1-8 "“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!