clearly defined lines of doubt and uncertainty

whooped

Law school is kicking my butt. It doesn't look like I'm going to have as much time as I thought to update this thing, so it may end up falling by the wayside.

I have a post I want to write about how we're all looking, in one way or another, for validation of self through others and how only God can ultimately validate us, but when he does we become completely different people because we aren't concerned about getting our validation through others, but I don't have time (obviously law school hasn't taught me to not write run-on sentences). I'm pretty much in class or working on homework all day.

Well, to my friends: don't forget about me! I'll see you in three years!

I'm back...well, sort of

After many moons I finally have an opportunity to post. We're in Nashville now. The move went great. We had lots of people on both ends to help us, so it really didn't take all that long.

We had a few days to settle in, and then Lesley's parents took us to the Outer Banks for one last hurrah before school starts. They had rented a sweet place right on the beach, and they paid for the vast majority of our food (which wasn't cheap). It was nice to be able to live it up one last time before we become poor college students again.

Speaking of poor...Lesley hasn't been able to find a job yet. God's proved himself faithful in the past, so I haven't started worrying yet. I know that he'll provide one way or another.

Right now I'm sitting at the law school waiting for orientation to start. It's kind of surreal to be here. I've literally spent about 2 years planning for this, and now it's here. Strange. I know I don't have any reason to be nervous, but I can't help but have butterflies over the whole situation. I suppose that's natural.

I hope to be able to post more often now that I'll have daily access to a computer, so don't give up on me!

goodbye Chattanooga!

We only have a few days left in town. I'm excited to be starting this new chapter in my life, but I'm sad to be leaving behind the city I've grown to love. I've been here since '98 when I started school at UTC.

Since then this has become home to me. Besides attending college here Chattanooga is where I really started seeking God, where I had my last years with my sister, where I met my wife, where I got my first "real job", where I first really felt part of a church, and where some of the greatest people I know live. Lesley and I love Chattanooga so much I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up back here at some point. I guess we'll see what God has for us.

Until then, goodbye to everybody and thanks for all the love!

most commented on entries

A friend of mine added a new feature to my blog. I now have a list of the entries that have received the most comments. This list is entitled "MOST COMMENTED ON ENTRIES" and is under the "RECENT COMMENTS" section. I thought this would be useful to highlight some of the more interesting posts on the blog.

lying to God at church

I've been bothered for a while at the music that many of us sing in church services. The songs that I'm asked to sing have me saying things that I don't really believe, especially about my love and devotion to God. I don't think I've ever been able to honestly say that I love God with everything I am, that I truly want to give him everything (including my worship), or that I honestly trust him to be my "all in all". When I sing these kinds of things I lie to God, and I don't think I'm the only one.

I think that we are trying to convince God and/or ourselves that these things are true (that would explain the repetition of choruses 10+ times). It seems to be a very unhealthy way to go about "worship".

the christian culture war

This is a copy of a discussion that I'm having with a guy over at the internet monk's site around the monk's latest post, "War of the Worldviews".

This discussion is actually following a few threads, some of which I'm waiting for a response on, so I'll try to divide the threads and note where Dave hasn't had the opportunity to respond yet.

does God still love us?

Ben Franklin is quoted as saying "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. "

My question is does God still love us?

yea for shelter!

We finally closed on our condo today! Yea! This has been a long process, and I'm glad it's over. So, for my Nashville friends: I'm coming home! I'm going to miss Chattanooga quite a bit, but it'll be cool to get to spend time with some of my old buds again.

Maybe now that the closing is over I can devote some of my brainpower (which is apparently very limited) to writing blog posts. I'd like to get a few good ones up before school starts. I suspect I won't be posting much after that.

buy my jeans

I'm selling an old pair of jeans on eBay. A friend of mine posed in them for me and I wrote up a character for him (he is now known as Sweet Marco). I think it's pretty funny, but then again...I'm pretty strange.

family tragedy

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late. We had a family tragedy this last weekend which has been consuming our thoughts and time. My wife's cousin, Carrie, has been through a horrible ordeal. On Thursday Carrie's husband, Justin, shot and killed himself in front of her. They have 2 small children: Keaton (4) and Brady (7).