Thursday, January 18, 2007

good report

OK...this will be different than usual. Only because it's been a long day and I'm going to bed. I just wanted to point out for those that are going on ski trip...the weather is going to be PERFECT!!

Go to weather.com and then type in Flat Top, WV and read the 10 day report. It's going to be awesome!!

I'll put up something profound later this week.

jeremy

oh yeah...Happy Birthday Meghan!!

Monday, January 15, 2007

cleaning up and cleaning out

Sorry for the delay in my blogging update. Thank you Sheila for the reminder for me to get back to it. I could give out all kinds of excuses pointing to how busy I am, but I'm sure that many of you (as busy as you are) would not find that to be a good excuse. So, I will suffice it to say that my time that past few days has been spent cleaning and rearranging furniture in our house.

I can honestly say, that I am not much for keeping things "tidy." Take one look at my office and you know what I'm talking about. I guess the truth is, I don't really enjoy the tediousness of daily cleaning and picking up, sweeping, dusting, organizing, blah, blah, blah. Some people tell me that my lack of daily cleaning up is just a sign of my immaturity. Hmm...interesting thought. Oh well. I do, however, enjoy the occasional clean up and clean out. You know that day where you just get fed up with the clutter and just start throwing junk out. I know that there are some people out there that have the pack rat mentality and just can't get rid of stuff, but I do think that most people arise one day and just can't take it anymore, and have to get rid of the junk that's in the way.

Well, this time Ren and I decided to rearrange some furniture and do some organizing while we were cleaning out a bunch of junk. It' kind of fun rearranging furniture sometimes. It's almost like moving into a new house. Sometimes it can be exciting. For example, today is the first time I've ever used my computer to write this blog in this room of my house. So you are a part of history.

Well, anyway, to get to the point, these ideas of throwing out junk and rearranging furniture and stuff have kind of got me thinking about the spiritual life. (Right now your probably going, no kidding, doesn't everything make you think about the spiritual life with Christ...well yeah, it does...it should I think in some way...) So anyway, first the idea of the occasional clean out. I see how we as Christians like to do the occasional clean out of our souls. I think that most of us tend for our personal soul care the way I clean my office or my house. "When it just gets bad enough, or when I can't take it anymore, that's when I'll deal with it." I see it all the time, the students... the parents... the church people... only wanting to do the discipleship work occasionally ...retreats, ski trips, River of Life... What about a daily quiet time with God? What about a prayer life? What about growing in our practice of the living as Christians? Like I said, most of us tend to our souls the way I tend to my office. But hey...it's better to occasionally treat my soul like Jeremy treats his office than to treat my soul like those "pack rat" people. Could you imagine life like that? Not ever being able to truly let go of the things inside you. Not being able to let go of hurtful comments people have made...not being able to forgive...not being able to release bitterness...what a terrible feeling. You're probably right, it is better to occasionally tend to your soul as opposed to not tending to it at all. But maybe the fact that you only occasionally spend time with God, maybe the fact that you are occasionally thinking and growing as a disciple has more to do with the fact that you are spiritually immature? Hmm...kind of like how I am about my office.

I really do want to get better at keeping my stuff tidy...but I'm far more concerned with keeping my life with Christ together. I can handle my lack of maturity about my office, but I don't want to be immature about my faith. I really do want to grow...I really do want to be a better disciple each day. I wonder what our lives would look like if we grew in Christ? Hmm...

Hebrews 5:11 - 6:3

11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.

Monday, January 01, 2007

new year

OK, it's 2007!! This is going to be a good year, I can feel it!!

So, It's time for me to make a blog entry, and since it's Jan 1, I feel compelled to write briefly about all the great things that happened to me in 2006. Short recap, here we go:

Jan 2006 - Ski Trip!! Always the highlight of my winter months. Ski Trip is always blast being off with students and having a great time skiing and getting to know my students better.

Feb 2006 - Winter retreat with Jr. High and the unbelievable trip home with the red van that couldn't hold water and kept overheating. I will always remember being on my back in the parking lot of the gas station in SC and asking Andy if chewing gum would plug the hole in the hose that spewing water everywhere! Ahh good times.

Mar 2006 - Cherry Blossom time!! - This is absolutely the best time to live in Macon. It is by far and away the prettiest time of year, and there's a lot of fun stuff to do.

Apr 2006 - Boys retreat to Okefenokee - The whole trip was worth it just to see that alligator jump out of the water and try to grap Andrew Mochrie's bait off his fishing line. I will never forget Andrew's freaking out and screaming as he was staring straight down the jaws of an alligator from about 10 feet away.

May 2006 - Rennata and I went on our anniversary trip to New Smyrna Beach, FL. We have some really nice friends at church that let us borrow their condo for the week. (It is awesome by the way!) It is always a great trip to go down there and have a relaxing time. It was also the last family vacation that Rennata and I will be taking by ourselves with no children.

June 2006 - SUMMER CAMP! Enough said. Great week! Great time to build relationships! Great worship! Good time to just get away! And the highlight of the week was learning from David Welesko that corn dogs were the new currency.

July 2006 (two items) 1st - River of Life. Because this year it was awesome! I look forward to what God has in store for River of Life at our church in the future!
2nd - The birth of Taylor Lane Wilson July 24th. This was the pinnacle moment of my year...if not my whole life. Getting to be a part of the birth of my first child was amazing and has affected me like nothing else in my life ever has. I am a better man because of that day.

August 2006 - I don't remember much about August. I was totally deprived from sleep in every way. I just remember waking up some time in September

September 2006 - Whitewater rafting down the Ocoee. Yeah, I think this was the weekend that woke me up from the stupor that happened after Taylor was born. What a fun retreat!

October 2006 - I turned 30!! I don't exactly know if this was a highlight, but I dreaded it the entire month.

November 2006 - Being hired by the church as the "worship leader" for the 9:30 service. May not seem like a big deal to everybody else since I've been playing and singing in there forever. But, being the leader in there now means that I get to spend some time with Shane planning, dreaming, visioning, and hopefully growing that service in such a way that it will bring glory to God. It's really been a lot of fun to be in there the past few months for me. (OK admittedly, I have a second small highlight...UGA beat GT!! Go dawgs!)

December 2006 - Christmas!! Is there any other time of year that really competes with Christmas? It's magical. It's awesome. And it was my first Christmas as a daddy. How cool!!

Oh yeah - second best highlight of December is that Rennata and I became officially consumer debt free. For those of you dealing with debt in your past, your present, or your future you know how big a deal this is.

So, that 2006 for me. God's blessings everywhere. This was just a month by month recap of the highlights. There were tons of other things I could have added in here.

Where has God blessed you this past year? Did you take time to thank him for all he's done?
God is good. He is good to you, and you need to take some time to reflect on His goodness, His mercy, and His love for you.

Psalm 115:15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Happy New Year!

jeremy