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One step at a time…

Last Friday I gave you a quick recap on my crazy week. I guess you could call this Part 2… It’s certainly the more important side of things. So, let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?

God’s been really pressing hard on my heart this week. He’s been revealing a lot of things to me that I didn’t even know I had problems with. I feel like the second part of that verse in Ecclesiastes: “There’s a time to build, and a time to tear down.” It’s good, but it’s rough.

Just a few things: One of my coworkers is on a trip in Europe now. She left Wednesday. Both Sunday and Mondy, I worked with her, and both time, I had a chance to try and bring up the topic of religion and where she stands (I don’t know where it is, but I’m pretty sure she isn’t Christian). I didn’t. I deeply regret it, and I hope God either brings someone else (braver), or gives me another chance (does He do third chances?).

Tuesday, at Junction, there was a panel discussion based off of a sermon we watched last week by John Piper about serving and following God in the minute details of our lives (“Whether eating or drinking, or whatever you do, do it to the glory of God” [emphasis mine]). At one point, the story of the rich young ruler who struggled with selling all his possessions to give to the poor came up. The question was how that applied to our lives. There were several excellent responses, but the one that stuck in my head was actually a question. If God asked me to give something up for Him, would I? I could sense God asking me the question. The conversation went something like this:

“So, Greg, would you do it?”

“Yeah! Sure I would!”

“Ok… You’ve got five dollars in your wallet. Would you give that up?”

“Sure, yeah, I’d do that…”

“Are you going to drop it in the box on your way out?”

“…Um… Yes?”

I had a brief chance to, but I didn’t. That’s stuck with me, and I can’t believe I didn’t trust Him in that. I didn’t even need to worry about it. But I held on. Why should He trust me with anything if I’m going to be like that?

And that’s the heart of the issue, I think… Trust. All this time, in every situation, God has been asking me to trust Him. Trust the results, the methods, the timing, everything… to Him. And I’ve struggled with that on a deep level. He’s asking me to not worry about what’s going on… Whether the future, the present, things already past, or anything. It’s not necessary for me to worry about it.

Yet I persist.

I guess I need to return to Matthew 6, and take every day…

…One step at a time.

Remember what I said last week? That it was quiet?

It was probably in preparation for this week.

Friday morning saw me in Brainerd with a friend, followed by work in Pine River until 8pm. Saturday, I had a brief bit of rest in the morning/early afternoon, before I had to work (again until 8pm). Sunday was nuts, because we had to go in early to church for practice, I had less than an hour between the end of church and the beginning of work to eat, change, etc., and after I got off work at 6pm, I hung out with friends until 11pm. All of this was fun, don’t get me wrong, it just kept coming at me!

Monday saw me at work again, this time only until 6pm… But I had to be back out the door to get to practice at 7. Tuesday was quiet, and I didn’t accomplish too much early in the day (mostly because I was trying to fix my mp3 player…). Once I stepped out to go to Brainerd for Junction, that was the end of that. I had to leave early to get my guitar checked out and be at practice to play Keys. I didn’t get back until nearly 2am! I haven’t pulled a long night like that in a while. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that much time to sleep in the next day, because I had to get some stuff done before work from 12-8pm, and then I followed that with Wandering practice (we’re getting ready for another concert… details soon!). I turned in by 11pm, because yesterday (Thursday), I had to be up early to meet with another friend in Brainerd in the morning, run some errands, get to work in Pine River by 12 again, and work until 8.

*whew* How’s that for a recap? Once I got home, I was hoping to get a few other things done, but I didn’t have the energy, and just sat on the couch for an hour and a half. I was fast asleep by 11pm.

And that’s just the surface stuff. I’ll post again in a few days to talk about some of the deeper things I’ve been going through (and who knows, I may even need to add more to it… ).

One step at a time.

Fairly quiet week for me this time. It’s nice to have that occasionally.

I’m keeping an eye on what’s going on with Israel and Turkey. It looks like Iran’s trying to get involved now, too. It looks pretty volatile… We’ll see what happens. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

One step at a time.

It’s been a good Memorial Day weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed it, and took a moment to consider those who have given us the freedom to enjoy it. For those of us who believe in Christ, we know that for the short-term, it won’t last… But that in the end, we will experience true Freedom.

We had a bonfire. Well… that’s how it ended anyways. It started out as a raging inferno. We lit our brush pile up, and it was pretty intense. Once it calmed down a bit, we had some friends over, roasted some hot dogs and marshmallows, and had a great time. Here’s a little artistic glimpse of the aftermath:

Again, I hope everyone had a great weekend! Let me know if you did anything special in the comments!

One step at a time.

I finally did it. I took my razor, and I committed beardicide. After two and a half years, G-Bo is now beardless.

Not to say I didn’t keep some hair. I just decided to cut back to a goatee.

And, naturally, I took before and after pics. Enjoy.

And yes… what a beautiful face. Everybody loves a good mugshot, right?

For a few other random items, here’s the past week in quick review: Worked some, went rock climbing with some buddies (got to the top on a beginner route!), did plenty of thinking about where my future is headed (and where God’s leading me), played music at the normal venues (church and Junction – both of which were great), spoke with an Air Force recruiter briefly, and most definitely appreciated any prayers for guidance in my life. As for the rest of the week? Well…

One step at a time.

I thought about skipping the blog post this week, but I’ll go ahead and put something up here.

It’s been a confusing week for me. God is trying to teach me something… But I’m not exactly sure what it is. Not yet, anyways. He’s guiding me… I’m just not sure where.

I could use your prayers… First, that I would be open to whatever He’s trying to teach me, and second, that I would follow Him.

One step at a time.

Well, my car’s back in business this week. I’ll letcha know what happens next week.

And not just back in business… it’s in like-new condition!

…Yep, we sure did a great job fixing my car…

Monday, after fixing my car (which was over at Ethan’s house), we went down to Brainerd to hit up Bridge of Harmony (a music store). Ethan picked out a sweet overdrive/distortion pedal to get, and I got to try out a Taylor T5 through a Line 6 M9 effects board. If all that’s gibberish to you… Just be content knowing that I was a very, very happy man. The guitar (the T5), and the larger cousin of the M9 (the M13) form part of my dream guitar rig. I would definitely enjoy using those regularly…

Today, I spent some time talking with an Air Force Recruiter. While I’m by no means ready to make a decision in that direction, I am considering the Air Force as a career, or at least to get an edge up later in life. We’ll see where that leads, but for now, I’m just exploring my options.

I’m also keeping an eye on world events over the next month or so. There’s definitely some interesting things going down in the world these days…

And there you have it.

Well, my car ran for a total of a day and a half. Then the starter stopped working. *sigh* It’s always something, right?

In any case, it’s not hard to fix. Once I get the part, I should be back in business. Until the next thing breaks…

This week, I had my friend Lucas up from the Twin Cities. Woot! Good times… Now, to get him to bring some others with him next time.

Finally, last night (Wednesday), I led a worship event at a church in Nisswa for a couple of youth groups. What we were lacking in planning, God apparently made up for in His Awesomeness. Thank goodness! It went really well, and I hope everyone there drew closer to God as a result.

And there you have it.

The Bronco II liiiives! Mwahahahaha!

Ok, so there’s one little thing preventing me from going all out yet, but it’s all put back together, the engine starts and runs, and the car moves. This is a good sign. This is progress.

The only thing now is to fix a leak. *sigh* If it’s not one thing, it’s something else.

In any case, “Trust Me,” is still applicable. Even reinforced, by last night’s message on not worrying (end of Matthew 6). So, I guess God’s plans for me don’t end with just getting my car fixed.

Here’s hoping for a quick and easy finish… Then I can finally start blogging about something else, for a change! (Just kidding… Some days I have a hard time figuring out what to blog about. )

And there you have it.

“Trust Me.”

That was God’s message to me last night at Junction. I assume it would be an answer to my prayer, which I won’t go into now… But the connection is a little difficult to understand. Still… “Trust Me.”

I suppose it could be continued into this morning… When we attempted some more work on my car. We got a little ways, and then got stuck on one bolt. One bolt! I must confess, I lost it. Dented my door and everything (oops….). I will be very glad when we’re finally done with this project. We’re so close… But there’s still a few hoops to jump through yet.

In any case, life continues. Music is played, work is worked, fun is enjoyed, food is eaten, and sleep is slept. But where is God leading all of this?

And there you have it.