Information Overload

Have you ever had a day where you got so much information that your brain literally hurts? That was today. My first day on the job. I took in so much info, I was exhausted by 11, and I "worked" until 5. Today I discovered just how big of shoes that I'm going to be filling. Slightly....no, heavily overwhelmed would explain my emotions.

It wouldn't be quite so bad if I had a couple, maybe a few weeks to ease my way into this position. But nope! The guy I'm replacing has surgery on Wednesday, and that means I'm by myself until possibly Friday. So today and tomorrow is essentially my training. Wednesday and Thursday are...how do you say it...test days. Even though I'll be working minimum hours those days, I will have to push myself to prove I was the right choice for this job.

Honestly, I believe I can handle it. I learned an immense amount of knowledge today, most of it I hope I remember this week. But it IS overwhelming. BUT! God wouldn't throw me in the lion's den without giving me some help. So if you could pray for anything about me, pray for inspiration. Inspiration that will keep me on my toes and keep me moving forward.

That's all. Just a small update. God works wonders. Thank goodness.

God Is

Praise God, from whom all blessing flow. That's the doxology for many churches, right? Especially on a day such as today, it seems extremely fitting. Today we celebrate what many people consider to be God's greatest miracle: The Resurrection. The symbolism (literal as well) of what Christ did on the cross fills up volumes of books, and to go even further, conquering death is a fairly big deal. It's something that no one (minus the prophet Elijah, but he more or less just skipped death) has been able to defeat. Death is something that every single person before us has succumbed to.

But because of what Christ did, we no longer fear Death. Where as it was the end of a person's life before Christ, now it serves as a means to be reborn forever. Christ turned that which was meant as a weapon of the enemy into the means for eternal life. And it's thru His sacrifice that we have this gift. If you can't get excited about that, then....well you should. Because no other being could ever go through with such an immense thing and come out of it alive (and I mean alive in the most literal of statements).

Switching gears.

God has poured out his blessings on us this weekend. I went from being a "shift supervisor" at Godfather's Pizza, to being THE graphic designer for a small screenprinting company fifteen minutes from where we live. Literally it happened in less than 24 hours. I applied, took a design "test," had an interview the next morning (saturday) and was offered the position in less than a full day. God's hand was at work in the whole process, I have no doubt. Everything fit too well and moved too fast for the circumstances to be coincidental.

This has been an answer to a long period of prayers. God has taught me a lot about patience (not to say that I've kept a lot of it), but has shown me that if I keep my faith in Him, no matter how down the situation looks, He will provide in HIS. OWN. TIME. And it somehow always becomes clear once it happens. Funny how that works.

So now that I am in charge of all graphic design for this company, nervousness has rushed in to fill the excitement. I am the only graphic designer, so I create everything for every design for every t-shirt, hoodie, etc that come thru this place. A little pressure for a guy who graduated a year ago with hardly any work/client design experience. Slightly overwhelming? Chyes (Modern Family input there).

But I know this will be the best for me right now. I guess God knows that if I worked under a head graphic designer at some other job, I probably wouldn't quite grow as quickly. But with every design being created by me in this crazy fast-paced industry, I know I will become faster, more efficient, and will HAVE to grow to complete these orders. By the time I move on beyond this job, I will have honed my skills to a degree I couldn't imagine. At least that's the plan.

Switching gears. Again.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This weekend has been one of many affirmations of my faith. God DOES answer prayers. Yes, God says no. He has shut many doors, right in my face. But He also says YES! YES! SEE HOW I PROVIDE FOR YOU?!?! HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU I'D TAKE CARE OF YOU? I LOVE YOU MY CHILD!! SO MUCH THAT MY SON TOOK ON ALL OF YOUR SINS SO I COULD HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU AND LOVE YOU!!!!

So if you're reading this, and you don't have that relationship with God, I pray that you would find it. It doesn't mean He'll give you everything you want or ask for. But it will change your life in ways you couldn't believe. It relieves you of so many hurts, pains, bagges and mountains. Let Christ die for you, because He already did, and He wants you to be in a loving relationship with Him, and He wants to bless you in a million different ways that you couldn't fathom.


Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

Blessed

This is probably the most current and accurate word that I can describe my life right now. These past few weeks have been nothing but blessed. Now I'm not really aiming to brag, but Christians (and non-Christians) like to hear about the joys and blessings of others, right?

Layla Grace. That's her name. The name of our little baby girl. Not only have I gotten to see her, but she's a stubborn, kicking little being. Getting to feel our baby has got to be one of the most exciting and terrifying things in the world. It's just unreal that there is a living, breathing, moving, kicking, human being inside of my wife's womb. Just the complexity of it screams God. And having a constant reminder of God right next to you is an amazing blessing.

A baby of course has financial obligations. But what do you know? God has taken care of that, at least temporarily. I've recently been promoted to Shift Supervisor at Godfather's Pizza. Not exactly what I believed would be the plan when I prayed to God for help, but hey, God is God, and I am not. He has reminded me that He will take care of me and He will do it however He wants. Not that I am complaining, it's just humorous how in control we think we and how we believe we know what's best for us at any time.

God has always promised to take care of us. He will and does always provide, especially in ways we don't think are possible or wanted. It's a harsh lesson to be learned, but what doesn't kill you makes you smarter, not necessarily stronger. God keeps us in check, thank goodness. And when we are faithful, He blesses us. Like I just said, it's pretty much guaranteed that it won't be in the manner you want. But I am fully under the influence that He always blesses those who are faithful to Him.

I'll try to keep updating more frequently, I just had major blogging/writer's block this past month.

God bless everyone. Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow

So tomorrow is the one of the biggest day of my...excuse me...our lives. Tomorrow we find out whether we are going to have a girl or a boy. I absolutely cannot wait to find out. I want a girl, and so does Amber. But I will be completely content with a boy. 

I still can't believe that God has chosen to bless us with a child. A few years ahead of schedule, but hey, God knows what He's doing right? I think so. 

I just wanted to have a post about this. And I'm so incredibly, unbelievably, crazy, ridiculously, undoubtedly excited for tomorrow at 930. 

Bring. It.

Becoming Content (part 2)

In the last paragraph of my previous post, it became clear that I hadn't really delved into how the spiritual content influences me. It has a tremendous effects in every aspect of my life. It's interesting how God has a way of affecting every part of your life even when don't see how it could. So here we go.

Yes, this contentness influences worldly desires. Who doesn't dream or aspire to live in a large house that can comfortably hold his family? Who doesn't want to have a career that more than takes care of his family? These "worldly" things are what I want, what I desire. It's not wrong to want them. Any "real" man would seek to take care of his family in such ways. God wants us to want. And He wants us to tell Him what we want.

The only problem is that when we tell Him what we want, and He doesn't instantly gratify it. Oh if it's in the cards, He'll make sure you get it, but it might take years. And we don't like that. I'll admit, I don't like that. I don't like to be told that I can tell God what I want, that's it's ok to want that, and then to hear, "Trust Me, I know what is best, when is best, where is best, and I know how is best." It sucks.

But it's in that midst that the Godly Contentness takes over. See, I'm learning that there doesn't need to be a distinction between my spiritual and worldly worlds. It's not like being right brained or left brained. God wants them so intermingled that you can't tell the difference (in a good way). That idea is hard for me to grasp sometimes. But in those "light bulb" moments, God shows me that I can trust Him, and that He'll pull through. He doesn't need my help, He just needs me to let go. To let go of everything I've made in my head. My head. I won't let go sometimes because I don't want God to take what I thought of. I don't want Him to meddle in my Ideals.

Sounds laughable right? But how many times have YOU done it? You won't be able to count, that's how many times. It's a daily struggle for me. Every day I have to commit to letting God take control. And there's several days where that doesn't happen. I just won't let God take it. Not from lack of trust. Simply because I'm tied to it. If He takes those plans, He takes me with them too. And then I'm not in control. And for a human, it rocks the very core of oneself to not be in control of the only thing that they believe is only theirs.

Every person can relate. I don't think on the level that I'm talking about. Or maybe you can relate deeper than I've experienced. I hope every person can feel that complete lack of control, so that they HAVE to rely on God as their only option. It's absolutely petrifying, but it changes you in ways you can't possibly imagine.

That's all I have for now. May God bless each and every one of you in the manner He seems fit. 

Becoming Content (part 1)

I know I mention this in about every post I've had so far in one sense or another, but it has remained a constant struggle for me. In my mind, things can always be better, I can always improve my situation, I (as in myself) never want to be content, so why should I?

Having said that, let me clarify further. There are at least two different types of content. We will call it worldly content, and spiritually/Godly/"Christian" content.

Worldly content has become synonymous with settling. Settling in the negative sense. It means accepting that things are the way they are and you just have to live with it. That not everyone is meant to succeed and achieve beyond their current, meager(?) circumstances. That is how a majority of Americans, and probably most of the world, feels right now. Especially now. There isn't anything they can do to help their current circumstance because either they don't have the faith, the heart, or the hope that they can get beyond that point.

I can't blame them, or judge them. In today's society, only what seems like a handful of people have jobs. The economy has tanked, and will continue to tank. I have little faith in the people who are supposed to be representative of the collective peoples of the United States. "The richer get richer, the poorer get poorer." That statement has never been more true. The American Dream no longer exists. It was butchered by corporations who abused the system that was intended to create a better life for every American. So the people lose heart. And they settle.

Now we turn to Spiritual/Godly/"Christian" content. This content is what is hard for me to grasp. God has not fully taught me the virtue of patience. And yet patience-to me-has slowly become synonymous with this Godly content. To be content with your current circumstances in this sense is NOT to settle. It is the understanding that things can and will get better, but until that opportunity presents itself (in God's timing, keep this in mind) you must be content with what you have. So it's a temporary content. Ever changing, ever adapting to what's going on in the now, but knowing that you can achieve well beyond your current self.

The hardest part is having the idea of what I want to achieve in my head, knowing what I can achieve, and yet knowing it won't come quickly. I almost said instantly. Society demands instantly. I don't necessarily want instantly. I DON'T want instantly actually. I want to enjoy the process of reaching my ideal, yet I don't want the years and years that it might take. That is why it's hard for me to stay content. There is always the drive for me to move forward, 24/7. But time goes by at a constant. Things don't just appear and I snatch it up. They have to develop, and only God knows (literally, not just using the saying 'God knows) how long that will take.

I hate to cut this brutally short, but this could get long, and I don't want to bore my audience all at once, so I'll post pt 2 tomorrow. So stay tuned everyone!

G'night and God Bless!

Twists and Turns of Life

Its seems these days that relatively everything about my life is not certain. Life is full of ifs, ands, or buts. We aren't sure where we will be living once our lease is up. I still don't have a well paying job, which I will desperately need to have once Amber stops working. We don't want to switch churches, but depending on the drive and other circumstances, we may not have a choice.  Amber still hasn't gotten approved for MedicAid, so we are still paying out of pocket for that.

I could pretty much go on and on if I chose to. But God is Bigger. He is Better. And lately, I have learned to lean on Him more fully than I have in a long while. Marriage has been unbelievably, absolutely crucial to that for me. I've learned more personal aspects of God in the last six months that I'd never gotten to know if it weren't for marrying my wife. I thank God for her daily. God has given me a relatively sense of patience and security about the future, even though I have no clue what that might look like.

Yet, not everything is going nowhere in my life. My marriage is still completely solid, we are still definitely having a baby in August. Amber is feeling tons better than she did in the first trimester. I have a peace about the future. It's hard no doubt, and completely scary. But I have God. And through the Creator of the Universe, I can do ALL things.

The most interesting thing right now is an idea that has so lodged itself in my head, I need to get it all figured out, simply to determine if it's a plausible idea or not. I'm starting a coffee company. There. Said it. "But dude, you don't drink coffee." "Nope, I sure don't." "Dude, you don't know anything about coffee." "No, not really. But I can learn." "Dude, you're an art major, not a business major." "Haha, totally. But I can learn from friends who are." These are just a few of the conversations my mind has with itself (yes, I have conversations in my mind).

It's crazy sounding, starting your own company. But I can't get my mind off of it. It's just not happening. So I'm diving in, doing the research, reading a bagillion articles, asking advice from friends, etc etc. This company won't launch easily for another year probably (if it launches at all). But I feel like it's something that I have to do right now. Thankfully I have the loving support of my wife. It means a mountainous amount to have that.

And so I'm going for it. Moving forward. With Christ as my Head, and my wife by my side.

This ride just got a little more crazy. And I'm lovin' it. Bada ba ba ba