the time is coming for spring to grace us with warm breezes and beautiful sunrises. if you know me very well you understand that i love winter. i love snow, snowboarding and all the other fun things you can do with snow. but every year as the winter starts to thaw out into spring i can't wait to go camping.

i love to connect with God in the midst of His creation. to be reminded of His beauty and love for us. basically every man loves the outdoors and we men should make it a point to connect with God in the most primitive of environments every now and then. guys need to start fires, catch a squirrel or two, carve something out of wood, skip rocks in a river, or if you're the daring type wrestle a bear.

guys...be that adventurous man that God intended you to be. there are a lot of life lessons to be learned in the wilderness and God is waiting for us to take a break and revive our souls with Him.

i have taken a book off my bookshelf that i've read twice before and decided it was time to read it again. it's titled "the traveler's gift" by andy andrews. i find this book very entertaining and a good pick-me-up. the main character, david ponder, finds himself and his family in financial despair and the daughter's health is slowly depreciating. at his last ounce of strength he presses the pedal to the metal and just before crashing his beat up junker into a tree he is immediately warped to another period in time. he has just began a journey to talk to seven different people who have made an impact in history and each one of these characters have a message to give mr. ponder. this message was given to them by God.

while this book is strictly fiction i still resonates truth for most situations in life. this book makes me laugh and remember to think of the bigger picture that God has in store for me and the people around me. i would have loved for the author to throw in some scripture but remember this is a pick-me-up fictional story of a man's chance to regain his composure in life.

i recommend this book and give a warning, don't over spiritualize what is written. only the Bible and Christ can give us real insight to "right living". just let yourself be entertained by this book.

statistics...

i admit i am blogging in the middle of my statisics class but i just wanted to say, "i am so bored and this i too easy!"

that is all.

strength

                                  

as you all have figured out by now Angela and i have been taking karate for some time.  more specifically, we are taking Tang Soo Do.  this is a traditional style of korean open-hand fighting.  our instructor Paul, or Master Cuthbert, is a good friend of ours and, with his fourth degree black belt, knows how to kick our butts during class.  our workout last saturday was one of the most intense workouts i have had in a while.  needless to say, thanks to that workout last saturday i am back in the swing of things and am making my way to the gym on a more regular basis.  

i wanted to pay special attention to the fact that i have more energy now than before starting the daniel fast.  eating healthy can do so much for your physical, mental and emotional self.  

just the other day when i was craving a latte or just some good strong black coffee my lovely  wife said, "i like you better when you don't have caffeine."  you could imagine the look of confusion on my face but she was completely right.  i even like myself better when i'm off caffeine.  without it i don't have those lows in the afternoon, my stomach aches are not as often, and i don't have the oh-so-lovely coffee breath that would drive even a skunk away.  

i still would like to have a cup of coffee here and there but i am no longer dependent on it to wake me up or energize me when feeling lazy.  just like in my walk with Christ, i don't want any substitutes to alter my relationship with Him.  we should be dependent on Christ and Christ alone.  so thanks Daniel for your example through fasting.

daniel fast...daniel fast...daniel fast!

this has been a very busy 2008 so far and lent came very fast. faster than anticipated. angela and i remembered partaking in the daniel fast last year and decided to do it again this year. i wasn't sure if i was ready but "ready or not, here we go".

its been about a week now and i am just starting to get that healthy energized feely. thursday through saturday of last week was the worst. i have developed an addiction to coffee over the years and if you know me at all i was usually never without it. i'm not going to lie i was grumpy, cranky, tired, lazy, useless,...... and the list goes on. but this made me realize that coffee was just a temporary fix to my start in the morning. i don't need coffee to help wake me up and i don't need sugar rushes to get me through the tiresome afternoons that endlessly drag on.

today i feel great. i have my energy back and i am starting to feel the positive effects of eating healthier than i was. just like this fast i want my spiritual life to reflect a healthy growing body. never eating what it shouldn't and never settling to eat unhealthy foods because it seems like the only option at the time. i want to hold out for what God has for me and give into those quick-fixes. my spiritual life should only feed on what is good and right in the Lord's eyes.

and with His strength, i know this is possible.