coolness, baby, yeah.

The WeatherBug Weather Tracker that sits conveniently in the corner of my Firefox window shows three tiny grey clouds with rain and lighting shooting out of it.

In my mind I knew my mindset should have been one aiming to glorify God alone, and even to me, my exterior looked like it emanated the drive to that goal. I think it was just apathy. God saw me in my funk and grogginess and decided to give me my favorite type of weather today. and lots of it. :)

All those clouds, the flashes of lighting, the percussive thunder exploding afterward, and the ridiculous amount of rain that pelted down on all of us really reminded me that God is ultimately in control.

It was a mighty fine reminder.

It's about time to get back to work. The big-fat-naggy-lazy-procrastinating-apathetic-tired-bored part of me doesn't really want to keep going. Ideally, I know what I should do. Sometimes I don't think I'm capable.

And then I was reminded of one of my favorite passages. :)

¹⁰Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

¹¹The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹²"Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." (Exodus4.10-12)

I think all of us can take that "slow of speech" and "slow of tongue" and insert our own shortcomings. God is bigger than all of those.

So when I start complaining about time or abilities wasted, or wishing for time and abilities I don't have, I'm reminded that it's God who made this brain (and these feet/hands/eyes) fearfully and wonderfully.

Thanks for:
-rain
-sunny days
-vocal harmonies/high action
-powerful, heartfelt lyrics
-the noggin
-the chance to learn the intricacies of Your creation.

:D

-spencer-

junkjunkjunk

i just finished packing up all my guitar stuff to study for finals...
-hiding pick case
-stowed cables
-unplugged effects pedal
-locked acoustic case
-zipped electric gig bag
-wept for a little bit
-not really.

and i just had this random thought...

As difficult as this is for me to do,
isn't it such a shame that I'm still able to cut out
the things that distract me from my studies
and still be either unaware or unwilling
to snip away the parts of my life
that distract me
from
God?

-spencer-

realistically, finals aren't really an end to anything.

Do Not Worry

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

i really like this passage. :)
my natural response to most things is internalizing all of my thoughts and essentially just running through scenario after scenario of things i either could have said/done better or those that are upcoming. but all that brain gunk does no one any good.

sometimes it seems like we all tend to exaggerate the weight of certain situations.
but no one's going to die if they fail a final.
the sun isn't going to crash into the earth if you forget an assignment.
bad grades don't mean that God's love for you has reached an end.
and yet it's so easy for us to act like all of that is inevitable.

We need to take some time in the next couple weeks and be a breath of fresh air to all of our stressed out friends. be a strong support when they need it, and be encouraging. :)
avoid getting sucked into that cyclone of pointless worrying. put everything in God's hands. take a couple of minutes every once in a while to remind ourselves that even as things might not be going our way with projects due every day and finals swiftly approaching, God still loves you. and He loves each one of the other high-anxiety kids on campus. take some time to get out of your head, away from the "what if I this"s and "what if I that"s and share some of that Great Love. :)

praying for you, amigos.

:D

-spencer-

very important hippos.

like the hypocrite i usually am, i'm going to take this very beautiful Jan. 1st sunset moment to clack out some resolutions. this time they're not on any pass/fail basis. i'm doing em because they're good. :)

-daily QTs. because God knows that I have the time for Him. I'm just not making the smart decision to make it for Him.
-daily journals. because i forget like crazy and if i don't write things down, the rollercoasters in my head are going to throttle me all over the place. and i'd really like to see how God uses my insecurities/failures/hungers/losses for Himself.
-sometimes daily guitar practice and phys. exercise. because if i say that it's completely daily, i'm going to spend all my time on one or the other and quit when i get bored/sore. and these aren't as big as resolution no. 1. this one's about taking care of the talents/abilities God's given.
-responsibility. period. because i've probably wasted cumulative months on stupid things that barely deserve minutes of the countless milliseconds with which God has so far graciously blessed me with. and because finishing homework to me means honoring parents, not throwing away blessings, investment in the future, and more time to make and build lasting relationships. (because all these online shenanigans are just a tad bit too impersonal for my complete liking. :D )
-big eyes. no asian jokes intended. i've spent too much of my 2009 and the years before that looking only at the things placed within the 5 inch (?) span between my eyes. i look down because i personally "need" to know why and how each step will take me where and when. i need to realize that there is a HUGE portion of the plan that i (however much i may want to) cannot, nor will ever be able to, see for its full worth. trusting in God means really trusting in God. none of this, "just give me the who/what/where/when/why/how details, and then i'll put my faith in you."

yay!
happy twenty ten!
yay for seniors!
yay for everyone else!
BIG yay for another year to do the right things!

:D:D:D

-spencer-

i'm not crazy.
i promise.
hippo-critical?
important hippos...
nevermind.
back to apps. :)