Master Plan

In the month of February I have learned a few things that might be useful for my life down the road. I have learned how to let go of people who mean a lot to me. I have learned how to pray for people who are struggling. I have learned how to be patient with people. But most importantly, I have learned that God has a plan for each and every one of us. More specifically, God has taught me that NO ONE including MYSELF can plan out our lives. Only He, creator of the universe, can plan out our lives.

And so I found myself questioning God's plan for my life. Let me back up for a second. At the beginning of February I watched as my teammate, Howard Fisher, fell under attack to a very deadly disease, which in the end killed him. I also witnessed one of my really good friends leave school. And lastly, one of my best friends, Sam, went through some difficult times in his life, for what seemed like, no reason at all.

These three events all caused me to question "why?" Why did God have to take my teammate? Why did He allow for my close friend to leave school? Why did He make Sam go through that pain? For a while I didn't understand, why these events had to occur. But then it hit me, I had been trying to plan out God's plan. I planned for Howard to get better, I planned for Ashley to stay at college,and I planned for Sam to be happy all the time. I WAS WRONG! Who am I to plan out God's plan for my life? I had no right thinking this way! I then realized that everything has a reason, and even when we don't understand why God allows certain things, we have to realize one thing. This is God's plan.

Stop and Stare

So I have had the wonderful privilege to wake up every morning, and see beautiful mountains. I think in this world today, we are constantly going somewhere. Our society is always moving, going, and working, and not resting, stopping, or chilling. We have drilled it into our heads that we always have to be working. And part of that is true, because we have to make money to survive in this world. But there are limits to how much a person can work, which means there is time to, take in a deep breathe of air, and enjoy God's beauty. I think all people, should every once and a while, just stop. Drop everything they are doing, and just look around. Normally when we are focused on getting somewhere or doing something, we loose focus of other things around us.

Now I'm no tree huger, go green, save the planet type of person, because its just not my personality. But I will say, God has truly blessed us with a beautiful world, and we should be praising his name every time we see that beauty!

His Plan

At approximatley 9:30 on Wednesday morning, Febuary the third, I found myself completely LOST. My physical body was in Dr. Hub's Principles of Managment class, but my mental self was lost in another world. My big brother, my teamate, my friend, Howard Fisher, was dead.....

This being the first time, I had ever lost anyone close to me, I was flooded with a sea of emotions. Anger, saddness, grief, confusion, lonelyness, and despair were crowding my mind. I truly felt alone.....

For some time I sat in my room thinking about life and death. Then it hit me, Howard was with God right at the very moment! He was looking right at God! How awesome is that, Howard was with the King of the Universe. I was then struck by another epiphany, this is all part of God's plan. And even though it really hurts to know that I will never see Howard again, I now understand that this is what God wants, not what I want.

How sweet the Sound

Amazing Grace

John Newton (1725-1807)

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

amigos

At the glorious age of 18, I am truly blessed! Why? Well, cause of the friends, God has blessed me with. I don't know about you guys, but I have had the opportunity to create, nourish, and experience the relationships that most people don't get to do. I like to compare friendships, to my favorite pair of Jeans. As you get older, the jeans might fade, scratched, and maybe ripped, but they will always provide the same awesome comfortable feeling that you received when you put them on for the first time. Friendships might also get ripped or torn, but the internal feeling they bring, is like no other.

So what now? Ho do i keep my friendships from tearing? Well it is now my responsibility to keep the friendships I have, going. Cause everyone can agree that its pretty easy to make friends, but the hard part is actually keeping those relationships intact. In one sense, building a relationship is like building a house. Each nail, piece of wood, brick, etc, is critical in a house's framework. In a friendship, each memory, picture, roadtrip, etc only strengthens a friendship even more.

In my life, I have had the opportunity to have about around twelve close friends. These people are the people that would have my back if I was in trouble, would spot me if I couldn't pay for something, and so on. We have a mutual understanding that they have my back, and I have theirs. These are the people, you stay up till 6 in the morning playing COD MOD2(Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2), the people who you smoke cigars with, the people you travel 2000 miles to hang out with, the same exact people that love Jesus as much as you do, and are always encouraging you to pursue a better relationship with our Heavenly Father. These people are my friends, my brothers and sisters, my Amigos.