Happy New Year!

It's been a big year. How bout a quick recap of 2011, eh?

Jan-May:

- worked on Senior Thesis for UTK

- completed my last semestester at UTK

- graduated with my undergraduate degree in Russian from UTK

June:

- my aunt, Nancy (Chichi as my sister and I called her) died in a car accident

July:

- trips to Chicago and New York City

August: 

- my last month in Knoxville, Carthage, and Tennessee

- offered and accepted position as Junior High intern at Prestonwood Baptist Church

- moved to Plano, TX

September:

- started classes at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX

- started job at Prestonwood

Sept-Dec:

- completed first semester at SWBTS

- went home for the first time in 4 months for Christmas

So yeah, it's been a year of moving, change, loss, gain, and everything in between. I've said goodbye to many people and met many more along the way, some of which are already changing and shaping my life as I begin a new chapter here in Texas. 

Now, with a new year quickly upon us, I want to set a few goals as is custom for the new year:

1. no more sodas - as much as I love Dr. Pepper, I really do drink too much of it

2. memorize scripture - specifically the entire books of James and Titus (which coincidentally are the first and middle names of a new baby born this year who shouldn't have been born until 2012)

3. run - I ran a 5K not too long ago and it was a little more difficult than I would have liked it to be

4. study Russian - sure it was my major, but I still have plently of learning and upkeep to do and it's much harder to do when you're not in a class every week

5. keep up with friends - with Skype, there really is no excuse to not keep up with people, regardless of where you are

There they are! Goals for 2012. While I feel like not all of them are very substantial, I also feel like they are all very accomplishable. I've got friends holding me accountable so I'm actually hoping to follow through with all of these. 

And oh yeah, maybe another goal will be to blog more. I've found that if I add it to my "to-do" list, I'm more likely to do it, so maybe I'll add it a little more often. 

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Home For Christmas

So it's been a while since I've blogged - so long that my grandfather made sure to mention it to me a couple times before I left his house. Here you go, Granddaddy!

I'm home for Christmas. For those of you who don't know, let me catch you up really quickly. I moved to Texas at the end of August and have been living and working there ever since. I'm in my first year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX but I live and work in Plano, TX at Prestonwood Baptist Church. 

This is the first time I've been back to Tennessee since moving to Texas (I only live in states that start with T). I've been away from home for longer periods of time, but only because I've been overseas. It's a little different being away from home this long knowing that I am only a short plane ride from home. But this is the life I thought I was so anxious to have all throughout highschool and college: independence, a real job, living (kinda) on my own, making new friends, etc. I do love it, but sometimes I would like to get the earlier days back and enjoy them a little more instead of wishing them away. 

Anywho - it's been a great holiday at home. Short, but great. I fly back to Texas tomorrow (Wednesday) and go back to work on Thursday. I'm excited to be back to my Texas friends (I miss you, J-High team!), but of course I will be sad to leave Tennessee and my family and friends here as it may quite literally be NEXT Christmas before I'm home again. I'd like to go to Russia at some point during the summer and that will take up most of my vacation days. 

Well, it's getting late so I'll say peace out for now. Tomorrow I'll need to pack, figure out how I'm getting my winter clothes to Texas, and then get some lunch before heading to the airport. I'll try to touch base on the blog more often for those of you who read this (assuming that more than just my grandfather reads it, that is). 

Peace.

GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!

My favorite part of watching the world cup, or really any pro soccer match, is when one of the teams scores and the announcer yells, "GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!" and holds it out forever as if the excitation must last as long as the anticipation that led up to the moment. There really is nothing like scoring a goal, even just the figurative ones.

I've set a couple for this week and I'm hoping that I can score on both of them.

1. Reconnect with friends that I no longer see due to the recent move to Texas.

2. Go without meat for this week (with the exception of fish).

So far, so good. I accomplished a lot today between school work and goal numero uno. I was able to do quite a bit of work for my New Testament Greek course - work that will prevent me from having to go into intense cramming mode in a few weeks. At the same time, I was able to get some messages out to friends I haven't talked to in a few weeks or months.

It's good to reconnect. I've already heard back from a couple of people and it's refreshing. I care about my friends from here and there, I'm just bad about keeping in touch with them. There's really no excuse with the technology of today.

As far as diet goes, no meat (except fish) today. I'm kinda giving this a try just for the heck of it. But at the same time, I could lose a pound or two of the stomach. With less time to be as active as I was in the college days (Did I really just say that? Man, I'm old.) I find myself storing up more than I'm burning off.

Whatever.

So yeah, I'm blogging for once. If your amazement has worn off by this sentence, then it's probably time I give you fair warning. No promises that this will be a common thing, as much as I wish it could be. My usual routine for the day-to-day is gym, work, homework/hang out with friends, bed. Rarely do I find this precious time to sit down and blog about life. I enjoy it, I really do, but it's always towards the bottom of my priorities.

But maybe I'll try to find more time more often.

That's all I got for now. Maybe an update on Texas life in the next blog post. Here's some pictures of Texas life to whet your appetite.

Canaan, Allison and I - gangsta pre-lunch pose

the koi fish in the pond at SWBTS

sunset at PCA football game

a night in FW at the Stockyards

a typical day at the office (w/ Ikea jellyfish)

stopped by the fair one evening

student ministry staff picture/model poses

What it is. What it is.

Texas: At Least the Sky is Bigger Here

So, I moved to Texas. Not on a whim or anything, so don't get excited. I moved here for school.

I love it. Texas, that is. (School hasn't started yet.)

Everyone knows the saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas." I think I know why they (the Texans) think this: the one thing that is undeniably bigger is the sky and perhaps that is why everything else seems to follow suit.

credit: granvillehouse.blogspot.com

I've never seen quite so much blue stretching in such an unfathomably wide area. It's overwhelming, not to mention when there are 7 different types of clouds in the sky at one time and 70 bajillion different colors coming and going during sunrise and sunset. I'd say it makes the whole believing in God by simply seeing His creation a bit easier.

Ok, my bragging on Texas is over. Don't worry. I still think the rolling mountains of east Tennessee are magnificent, but this is a nice change.

Now a quick update on what I've been doing since I've come to Texas. I drove down from TN to TX (I only live in T-states) last Thursday - about a 13 hour drive. No big. Since then, I have been getting used to the area and have also started my internship at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX.

For those of you who didn't know or I simply didn't get the chance to tell, I was offered and have accepted a position as an intern for the junior high ministry at the central (main) campus. There I will be doing a variety of things from making sure everything runs smoothly on Sunday mornings, to making follow-up calls to new students visiting the student ministry, working on video editing for events and services, having lunch with the junior high kids and attending their various sporting and school events at local schools, and doing pretty much whatever the junior high minister needs me to do. Today, for example, I started binding the junior high devotionals for the fall semester (well, at least running the machine that binds them). Not the most exhilarating job, but this is it: this is interning. I know I'm going to be given much more opportunity to do much bigger stuff, but for day one it kept me busy.

That's about it for now. I won't tell you everything so that I have something to blog about tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow. I've been consistent with my new workout routine, so I'm going to try to be consistent with blogging too. We'll see how both of those go. (And I'll never hear the end of it from Chelsey if I don't start blogging more often.)

Shalom and good night friends.

Long time, No blog

I keep checking my blog reader for new updates and blogs from my friends but no one seems to be writing this week so I thought I would.

Today was refreshing. Here's why: I started off the day with the kind of "quiet time" that I rarely get to do all in one sitting. I read the Word, had a time of worship (not so quiet), and then prayed for a while. I usually have my time with God everyday, but more often than not, should I try to have a quiet time such as today's, I am interrupted by someone or something on my schedule. So it was cool for once to be able to take as long as I wanted with no meetings or errands to run that would interrupt my time.

Another quenching time of my day was to be back at the church in which I grew up and to see old friends and hear a good message. We studied Paul's last Journey from the Holy lands to Macedonia and back (Acts 20).

I long to have the "freedom" that Paul did. I put freedom in quotes because Paul was never free from persecution, but instead found his freedom in the Spirit and followed its direction no matter what - even when his friends pleaded with him to hang around and avoid going back to Jerusalem. How AWESOME it must have been to go from city to city sharing the Gospel and practicing his own trade of tent-making in order to fund his travels.

Paul's testimony gives me great courage and excitement to go out and share the Truth with everyone. I'll admit that I need to get myself a little more organized before I do so (or else I'm just all over the place trying to explain the Gospel) but I'm anxious and excited to move to Texas and start there. Then on to Russia, maybe the Ukraine, and who knows where else!

The truth is not out there to find - I've already found it! Now it's up to me and you to go and help others find the Truth - the One, the Only, Jesus Christ.

Good night for now.

Check the twitter feed and blog for updates about my adventures in Plano, Texas and Prestonwood Baptist over the next few days. I'm in the final stages of hopefully being hired for an internship with the Student Ministry there and am very excited about the opportunity should it be in His will. Prayers would be appreciated!

Location:Jackson Ave,Carthage,United States

Roadtrip Chicago - Day Two

Day two of our roadtrip was day one in the Windy City. With ambitious attitudes and willful hearts, we set out for the city at 8 in the morning. We found our train stop and rode the Metra into the city where we found her waiting for us, true to her name.

With the wind in our faces and daunting clouds blocking the sun, we headed straight for Millennium Park where much more than a simple walk through was already waiting for us. We saw the famous fountains with the faces that blink and appear to be spitting water out as a fountain into the area between the two faces - they were a little creepy, but interesting for sure. After that we saw the bean and then the large pavilion where concerts are held.

Ada at "The Bean"

What happened next was unexpected, but awesome. We walked toward the main Millennium Park monument and came across a simple wedding in progress. There was a man and a woman in wedding-like clothes (he was wearing a shiny vest and she was wearing a simple white dress) and a priest having a very informal wedding ceremony with literally no wedding party or guests - until we came along. We watched after they read their wedding vows from their phones, said their "I do"s and then kissed. We clapped and congratulated them then snapped a couple pictures on their cameras. It was kinda cool to be a part of these random people's lives at a pretty important moment!

Anyway, then we moved on to the gardens inside the park which were unexpectedly pleasant.

Amber and Nicole in the Gardens

From there, we walked the pedestrian bridge and then headed on to Taste of Chicago. This part was pretty cool. For $8 one can purchase 12 tickets and then spend these tickets to buy "taste portions" of different types of food from restaurants in Chicago. I ended up getting some popcorn shrimp and some delicious cheesy bread and it turned out to be a good choice.

From there we did a lot of walking up and down the Magnificent Mile. Chicago truly is a beautiful city with spectacular architecture and fantastic views of Lake Michigan.

To keep a long afternoon/evening short, we simply walked around for a while, took a nap outside of the John Hancock building (where we were the subject of one odd man's dialogue about "the youth these days"), then enjoyed Transformers 3 before going out to Gino's East for some VERY good deep-dish pizza.

We ended the evening inside the 96th floor lounge of the John Hancock building. We bought some desserts and enjoyed the incredible view. There's something about a city at night that makes one feel that the city is very much alive, even as it sleeps.

Chicago by Night

Roadtrip Chicago - Day One

Cruising down the interstate, listening to the Temper Trap, I've got this feeling inside of me that is aching for the adventure that awaits me in Chicago. Digging a little deeper, I think it's the excitement that stems from the end of one chapter of my life and the beginning of another.

In a little over a month I move to Ft. Worth, Texas. Trying to describe how I feel is like trying to comprehend how big the universe is - it's pretty impossible. I have no idea what awaits me in the coming months, but the anticipation is suiting me well for now.

In a month and a half, I will have been to Chicago for four days, New York for a week, and I will have moved to Texas to start seminary.

This is needed change. I have no problems with my life in Knoxville. It is simply time to move on.

-------

"Who wants to know? All that is gold is rusting. No one will know when seasons cease to change and.. how far we've gone how far we're going. It's the here and the now and the love for the sound of the moments that keep us moving." - Soldier On by The Temper Trap

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In Loving Memory - Nancy Carol Smith // Part 1

Three days ago my aunt was killed in a car accident. That was the worst news I have ever received in my entire life. I will miss her so much.

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For those of you who never had the joy of meeting my aunt, she was honestly the most loving person. She never married, so she treated and loved my sister and I as if we were her own. She truly loved us more than anything in the world and took every opportunity to tell us so.

My aunt was a hard worker and had just retired from her job of 42 years at Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative in Gainesboro, TN. She was an adored member of the Twin Lakes team and was sad to leave the people she worked with, but ready to move on into retirement. She was looking forward to some of the free time she would have - time that she hoped she would be able to spend with my sister and I. Because of her retirement, she was able and excited to come to my graduation and see me complete a large chapter of my life. I'm so glad that she was able to be there.

Nancy Carol Smith was my aunt's name, but my sister and I never called her anything other than "Chichi". When we were both little, one of our favorite things to do was to spend time with Chichi no matter what she was doing or where she was. We would see her at work and she would let us push all the buttons, we would see her at the farm and she would take us for rides out the bend with the dog, we would see her at home and she would let us watch our favorite shows until we fell asleep - she would do anything for us because she loved us that much.

Chichi, Shelley and I at the farm

I will never forget Chichi, and I doubt that a day will ever go by that I don't think about her. When someone loves a person as much as she did my sister and I, it's impossible to ever lose them completely.

I am comforted to know that she is with God and that she is now made perfect in Him and no longer has any physical or emotional ailments. She is finally at peace and that makes me so happy. I'd like to think that if their are gardens in heaven - magnificent gardens with flowers and plants that we could only dream of - that she is slowly strolling through them, watering them, enjoying them as she did her flowers at the farm and on this earth.

missing the Motherland

One of my best friends is getting ready to go back to Haiti because she knows this is where the Lord is sending her and is fully prepared to surrender to His will and spend her entire fall in Haiti serving the people there with the love of Jesus Christ. Her story of how this all played out is beautiful - you can read it here.

Between reading her story and watching a Russian film tonight, I'm reminded of the place to which I feel God has called me: Russia. For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time or just didn't know this about me, I have my undergraduate degree in Russian Area Studies (language included) and I spent all of the fall semester of 2010 in Yaroslavl, Russia. (The story of how I became to be a Russian major is very much a God-story, but I'll save that for another blog post.) While I was there, I felt God calling me to serve the people of Russia and furthermore, a more specific calling to working with children, and even more specifically, orphans.

Touching the Volga River in Yaroslavl, Russia

So far, I have no idea what that will look like. Unlike Haiti, Russia is unfortunately not a country where one can just fly in, setup camp and start doing the Lord's word - there are hurdles to be jumped over, red tape to cross, and plenty of technical/political stops along the way. The good news is that God already has that figured out - it's just a matter of time.

While God placed this country and calling on my life, for now He has opened the doors for me to go to seminary at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary so that's what I'll be doing for the next 3 years - all the while looking for every opportunity to work with orphans, Russians, and everything related. I know God is preparing me for something and the excitement that stems from knowing He has a plan to use me in Russia is what keeps me going - that, and His infinite mercy.

One of my good friends asked me tonight what I missed the most about Russia. My reply was this:

I miss how REAL life is in Russia. I (we) take for granted how easy life is here in the U.S. We do this so much that it starts to feel fake - well, at least when you have had the opportunity to find out what REAL life feels like.

Honestly, I've felt like this since I've been back in the states. I love my friends and family that I have here in the U.S. and that makes life here so worth it, and if I could take them with me everywhere, I would, but I can't. But the one thing I can take with me everywhere is the love of Christ - so that's my plan.

Well that was a lot, but I've had a great day and the Lord has used it to get my heart back on track. If you don't know Him, ask me about Him. I'd love to tell you all about Him.

it's 2am, I must be lonely

I can't fight this feeling anymore...

this feeling of being wide awake at 2am despite my attempts at sleeping. 

This is unlike me - both to be awake at this hour and to be blogging. As you can tell by the date of my last blog it's been a while, but it's honestly the only thing I could think of that would be worth while at this time at night.

This is attempt number 4, 5, maybe 6 (who knows) at starting fresh in the blogosphere and being consistent. Here's my plan:


Today at a friend's wedding before the ceremony began, I happened to be checking up on twitter and saw an interesting tweet from @TheAdaL about finally finishing her 101 in 1001 list and she just so happened to be sitting beside me so I decided to ask her about it. She said she had gotten the idea from some blogs she had been reading about this idea to make a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.

I'm not gonna cook out a 101 in 1001 list right now - perhaps that's something I'll do one day down the road, but what I am going to do is start making some lists and working on conquering these lists and telling you about the experiences along the way, one check mark at a time. The trick here is that I'm NOT going to call them "to-do" lists - those things stress me out.

So here's my first list - a list of lists to make:

• summer reading list
• list of things to do in Knoxville before moving in August
• bucket list
• short term (within one month) goals list
• lunch list (list of peeps I want to grab some lunch with)

That should do for now. That's a lot of list making, but I think I can handle it.

Finally, I really am going to make another effort at blogging more often. No promises, but we'll see.

goals for 3.7 - 3.13

The Temper Trap

I can NOT stop listening to these guys. The Temper Trap is where it's AT. You'll probably recognize their song "Sweet Disposition" from a current Diet Coke commercial or from the movie soundtrack for "500 Days of Summer". Check 'em out.

Anyway, the point of this blog: I've decided to start publishing a list of my tangible, reachable goals for each week in an attempt to make them more real, more concrete in an attempt to feel even more motivated to strive to achieve them. Feel free to keep me accountable. I plan on giving a progress report at the end of the week (provided I have internet access).

• have a quiet time with God everyday at 8am or earlier
• memorize 3 verses of scripture and/or one section of 3 or more verses
• eat out no more than 2 times (in this case, "eat out" does not include fast-food)
• no fast-food
• put the debit card down and live on a set amount of cash
• blog at least every other day
• go to the gym 3 times (minimum)
• attempt to have a lucid dream and keep records of any dreams that I can remember from this week

(I know that last one may seem weird, but I am currently fascinated by the idea of having a lucid dream. Perhaps I will blog about that soon.)

It's also important to note that this Tuesday is "Fat Tuesday" or, as they say in French, "Mardi Gras." Following this day, I will be giving up carbonated beverages and fast-food both as a way of showing God my desire to follow Him more fervently by sacrificing things I like in order to depend on Him in a greater way and also as an attempt at making my diet a little healthier.

Wish me luck, but, better yet, pray for me - because who believes in luck anyway? And like I said, keep me accountable. Text me, call me, email me and ask me how I'm doing. I want you to.

Haiti Mission Trip - Countdown: 9 days

This spring break (March 12-19), I'll be headed down to Haiti for a mission trip with Calvary Baptist Church. Much planning and praying has been done and our plans are slowly but surely coming together.

I really don't know what to expect upon our arrival. I've heard of the current conditions and seen the pictures of the immense damage, but I'm sure that a first-hand encounter of the wreckage will be something that can't be accurately described through media channels. 

The team on which I will be serving will be working in Thomazeau, Ouest, Haiti. 

View Larger Map

As you can see, it is fairly close to the capital, Port-au-Prince. In Thomazeau, we will have two or three sub-teams. One team will be a construction group which will be building a house for a family in Thomazeau, the other two teams will be working with kids either at the town's orphanage or at the new Christian school that has just recently been built.

I'm really pumped about being able to go to Haiti and help out with rebuilding the buildings and lives that were so suddenly destroyed by the earthquake that hit just a little over a year ago. I almost feel like the dark reality of it all will, in a way, break me down as well. I'm so comfortable here in America and I'm craving the discomfort and the reality of a life that doesn't revolve around the pursuit of financial security.

Here's a prayer list of things that you can be praying for now and while we are in Haiti. We can use all the prayer we can get, but don't forget that the Haitian people need your prayers daily.

• pray for the three major teams: one is a medical team in Port-au-Prince, one will be in the DR, and one in Thomazeau
• pray that our travel to, from and in Haiti will be safe and that the things we take with us that we need while working in Haiti will not be lost along the way
• pray that God would prepare our hearts to do His work in Haiti
• pray for that our team members will remain healthy while in Haiti and will not contract any diseases
• pray for the people that we will encounter - that their hearts would be open to hearing the gospel
• pray that God will work through us in these places and that His name will be made more famous and that His glory will shine in Haiti

I'm sure I'll think of some more prayer concerns, so check the posts that will be coming up as the countdown to Haiti gets closer. Thanks for your prayers.

Weekend to Beat

This has easily been one of the best weekends of 2011. Granted, there've only been seven so far, but this one has been phenomenal. Here's why:

1. This past Friday night was the C2 Ministry's annual Valentine's Day Social. It was LEGIT. The guys decorated the student center for all the ladies and made desserts as well. Then we treated them to some hilarious videos/skits and some meaningful poetry.

Then came the dance party.

Ada and Me

Your V-Day DJ

Whitnee and Me

The party was off the chain and was then followed by the obligatory late-night trip to "casa de waffles". The perfect ending to the best V-Day social ever. 

2. The following morning, I went to my cousin's swim meet at UT's new aquatic center. There was a crazy amount of people - way more than I expected for a high school swimming meet. Turns out it was the state competition and therefore pretty serious. My cousin did well and it was great to get to see him.

3. After the swim meet, four of us went to a local nursing home to visit with the residents. I'll be honest. Before we got there, I wasn't too excited about it. I always get a little nervous before these things because I'm afraid I'll do something stupid or just not know what to say. This was not the case this time around. It was fantastic. 

Most of the epicness of the venture to the nursing home was getting to meet this fine lady, Geneva. 

She was full of joy and rich stories. She told us tales of her illness that led to her permanent residence in the nursing home, her experience with the Holy Spirit, her daily routines in the nursing home, and some of the tales of her youth. They were all completely fascinating and left the heart and ears wanting more. 

Ms. Geneva

Ms. Geneva was a joy to meet. I saw her again just today as a friend and I went to take her flowers for V-Day, but she was fast asleep in her afternoon nap probably dreaming of being back on her farm with her family. 

Finally, my weekend ended with two more bits of awesomeness.

4. For those of you who don't know, I broke my foot about 4 weeks ago while playing racquetball. While the break was not so bad, the crutches and pain of limping around everywhere certainly was. I mention all of this to say that today, since the weather was incredible, I decided to give some outdoor physical activity a try and headed to the tennis courts. My friend Daniel and I tore it up - well... I don't know if you could say we "tore it up", but we had fun at least. We played for over two hours: just hitting, practicing serving, and then finally a few games.

I can't accurately put into words how much I love playing tennis. It really is one of my favorite things to do - it gets me so pumped up. I feel physically better after playing and I'm always in a better mood post-tennis.

5. Last, but certainly not least, my community group met for the first time tonight and it was awesome. I'm "leading" an all-guys group. I say it like that because I know that this is going to be a great group of strong Christians brothers that is going to be led by all of us. There were only four of us tonight but we're already a solid group. We talked about our goals for the group and we're already off to a great start. I'm really, really excited to see what God is going to do through this group of guys.

So that's it! The best weekend of the 0-1-1 so far, son! 

Egypt

A few days ago, one of my friends asked me if I had seen or heard about what was going on in Egypt. At the time, I was completely oblivious to what was happening. So, I decided to get myself caught up on it yesterday and then decided that I would post a blog with the basic info about what is going on. The main point of this blog is to be a more specific prayer list so we can lift up the Egyptian people in a real way.


Here's some basic info about what's going on. I'm quoting straight from the NYT's info page on Egypt:


Basic Info on Current Events

Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, erupted in mass protests in January 2011 that have brought the 29-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak to an apparent end, with his announcement on Feb. 1 that he would not run for re-election.

The protests began on a Tuesday, Jan. 25, growing in strength with tens of thousands of people gathering to demand that Mr. Mubarak to step down. The government quickly banned all demonstrations, but on Wednesday the protesters returned in gathering numbers and clashed with the police in cities across the country despite curfews.

Control of the streets cycled through a dizzying succession of stages. After an all-out war against hundreds of thousands of protesters on the night of Jan. 28, the legions of black-clad security police officers — a reviled paramilitary force focused on upholding the state — withdrew from the biggest cities. After the jails were opened, looters smashed store windows and ravaged shopping malls as police stations and the national party headquarters burned through the night, creating an atmosphere that protesters said would justify a crackdown.

The uprising had come about with virtually no leadership, as angry young people used cellphones and social media to coordinate the first protests.Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate and a leading critic of the Mubarak government, returned to his homeland and called on the president to step aside for a new “national unity government.”

US Involvement/Response 

President Obama increased the pressure on Mr. Mubarak, warning that violence against protesters could lead to the loss of the billions Egypt receives in American aid. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States government stood ready to help "with a transition.'' Yet neither Mr. Obama nor Mrs. Clinton specifically called on Mr. Mubarak to step down.

But Mr. Mubarak's [announcement to not run in the upcoming elections] was rejected as insufficient by demonstrators, and Mr. Obama strongly suggested that it was not enough, declaring that an “orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now.”

Mr. Mubarak 

Mr. Mubarak has been in office since the assassination of Anwar el-Sadat on Oct. 16, 1981. Until the recent unrest, he had firmly resisted calls to name a successor. He had also successfully negotiated complicated issues of regional security, solidified a relationship with Washington, maintained cool but correct ties with Israel and sharply suppressed Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism — along with dissent in general.

Egypt - Background 

Egypt is a heavyweight in Middle East diplomacy, in part because of its peace treaty with Israel, and as a key ally of the United States. The country, often the fulcrum on which currents in the region turn, also has one of the largest and most sophisticated security forces in the Middle East.

The grievances are economic, social, historic and deeply personal. Egyptians often speak of their dignity, which many said has been wounded by Mr. Mubarak’s monopoly on power, his iron-fisted approach to security and corruption that has been allowed to fester. Even government allies and insiders have been quick to acknowledge that the protesters have legitimate grievances that need to be addressed.

In the last few years, Egypt has struggled through a seemingly endless series of crises and setbacks.The sinking of a ferry left 1,000 mostly poor Egyptians lost at sea, an uncontrollable fire gutted the historic Parliament building, terrorists attacked Sinai resorts, labor strikes affected nearly every sector of the work force and sectarian-tinged violence erupted.

The Protests 

Nearly every day in 2010, workers of nearly every sector staged protests, chanting demands outside Parliament during daylight and laying out bedrolls along the pavement at night. The government and its allies have been unable to silence the workers, who are angry about a range of issues, including low salaries. From 2004 to 2008 alone, about 1.7 million workers have engaged in 1,900 strikes and other forms of protest, demanding everything from wage increases to job security in state-owned industries that were privatized.

At least six young Egyptians have set themselves on fire in recent weeks, in an imitation of the self-immolation that set off the Tunisian unrest. Egypt has forbidden gas stations to sell to people not in cars and placed security agents wielding fire extinguishers outside government offices.

The Emergency Law 

The government has maintained what it calls an Emergency Law, passed first in 1981 to combat terrorism after former President Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated. The law allows police to arrest people without charge, detain prisoners indefinitely, limit freedom of expression and assembly, and maintain a special security court. In 2010, the government promised that it would only use the law to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, but terrorism was defined so broadly as to render that promise largely meaningless, according to human rights activists and political prisoners.

To sum up, there is a lot of history that goes into the current tension in Egypt, but perhaps most of the immediate problems are manifested in the current social and economical statuses of the country's citizens. Below I have compiled a prayer list of people/topics that, gathering from the news, could use our immediate prayer.


Mr. Mubarak - the current president of Egypt

• that he would hear the cries of his country and seek socio-economic peace between the government and its people
• that he would allow the other leaders of the Egyptian government to step in and answer the calls of the people
• that he would seek to install a governmental system free from corruption and unnecessary political suppression

The citizens of Egypt

• that they would seek peaceful negotiations with the government and cease to fight physically and self-destructively
• that God would intervene in the lives of prominent citizens and allow them to work in the central Egyptian communities to further facilitate peace in this time of transition
• that God would provide them with a leader that will treat them with equality, respect and love

Other

• that God would raise up a leader in the country of Egypt to lead this people group into a time of social, economical, and religious peace during which the Egyptian people will come to know Him
• that Egypt will become a nation for God

***For a more comprehensive prayer list, check out Ramez Atallah's post - Ramez Atallah is the general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt***

The Portland, OR Adventure: Planning Stage

A few months ago, I saw on Donald Miller's website that he would be hosting "The Storyline Conference" in his hometown of Portland, OR. At the time, I simply thought that it would be really cool to go. Now, I'm thinking I will go.

My friend Stephanie and I are huge fans of Donald Miller's writing and so we've decided to take advantage of this opportunity and head up to Portland and listen to one of our favorite author's thoughts on living out a storyline that will make a difference, not just for ourselves and for those who are in need, but ultimately for the glory of God.

Last night we made our plans. Since we're going to go all the way to Portland, we might as well make the most of it. So, to start off, we're going to take an Amtrak train from Memphis, TN all the way to Portland, OR. Sure, we're looking at a 55 hour train ride, but a train ride cross-country? There's the selling point. There's no telling what beautiful countryside we'll get to see as we go through the midwest, then we'll definitely be passing through the mountains as we make our way up to Oregon. I'm pumped about it. 

The northwest is one of my favorite areas in the United States. I've been to Washington state before, and loved every minute of it. It's easily one of the most beautiful parts of the world. So take that, throw in a road trip with a friend, add in a 2 day conference with Donald Miller, and you've got the best trip of the summer. I can't wait.

So after planning and consulting the magic eight ball concerning Stephanie's likeliness of dying on the plane ride home, we decided to cross the line of no return and start making definite plans. To make things even more promising, upon waking up this morning, I had a text from Stephanie - she had been @-replied on twitter from Donald Miller himself! It was completely legit, and our sign that our trip to Portland is now part of our destiny. Now if I can only get him to @-reply me... (a personal goal of mine).

Anyway, I'll be sure to document our trip via photos, blogs, notes, etc. when the time comes. For now, we wait in anticipation for an amazing adventure.

new look, new blogs

After my brief hiatus from the Blogger host, I've come crawling back. Overall, Blogger is more user friendly. Furthermore, with Blogger's new design templates and ease of making changes to fonts, colors and layouts, I'm excited about the move back and am looking forward to a hopefully more pleasing blog - both for my readers and myself.

Also, I've deleted all of my previous blog posts. Well, I actually kept them, but I've removed them from the blog. I feel like I needed a fresh start, and I want my blog to have more of a purpose. I'm not sure what that purpose is, but I'm working on it.

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I used my moleskin as a journal for the first time today. I'm fresh off of an awesome weekend retreat with my church and just felt the need to jot some thoughts down after I finished my morning quiet time. It's not something I do very often, but after logging a couple pages today, I decided it might be something I try to do more frequently. 

My friend Drew and I are leading a community group on practical faith this semester and are focusing our Bible study on the book of James. It was after reading the first few verses of James that I felt the need to record my thoughts. Check it out:

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

After reading these words, I realized that I'm the kind of guy to whom James is referring in verse six. Often I will ask God for certain things: wisdom, endurance, patience, etc. and I will find myself doubting that He will provide, and as a result, my spiritual life does go through wave periods where I feel as if I'm being pulled down by the undertow of a powerful tide of sin and doubt.

So today and this week, I'm asking for endurance with my dedication to a quiet time with God on a daily basis. The only difference is that this time, I'm believing - believing that God will provide me with this endurance.

Honestly, I'm not so sure why I doubt God. I know that He is capable, and I know that He is willing. I guess sometimes I simply feel that I'm incapable of receiving whatever I ask for and therefore doubt that I will ever receive it.

I don't want to be this "double-minded and unstable" person any longer. I'm ready and willing to receive that which God wants me to have.