The end of the Challenge...

Well it is over.. the "Blog Everyday about what God is teaching you in Life" challenge from my boss. It is funny to think back on how I felt when I was given this challenge and how I did not want to do it or was at least hesitant, but now I look back at the last 31 days and 28 posts in those days with a few days where I was excused, and I am glad I was given this challenge. If nothing else, it has taught me to look for stuff that God is teaching me daily more diligently and I am going to be forever grateful for that. I will also continue to be vulnerable on here at times, but also excited about the mindless mind explosions I will have on here as well from now on out. I will enjoy not having pressure to do this everyday and hopefully continue to open up at leisure. So thanks for putting up with all the rants and raves and attempts at posting something worth posting.

Know God is working in my life and I hope he is working in yours. I am extremely excited about everything He is doing...


Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Nothing worth noting...

Today was one of those days..

I will be honest, I woke up late, for the 2nd day in a row, got to work 5 minutes late, it was a busy day here in the office, then right after work I went to eat in Asheville, then played Dodgeball (good effort team Ridgecrest.... next time), just got back to the office to remember I needed to blog.. well I have nothing really that great to say, i could say something extremely generic about thank you God for this amazing day, but, although I do thank Him for that, im not gonna attempt to build it up into some momentus blog post. So anyway, I do have a thing I dont usually do, I ask for some prayer, we are nearing the end of hiring here at Camp.. a very limited number of spots are left for counselors, and we are searching for the best Outdoor Adventure Program Staff out there.. So if you Climb/Mtn. Bike/and-or are experienced at Low Ropes and love kids and Jesus.. let me know and apply!!! anyway, I also have a lot of other stuff going on.. so I ask for prayer that I can seek God's discernment and guidance in all of these things, and that I don't get too busy for Him as I seem to do a good bit.. so thanks for that.. I will leave you all alone now.. I only have 1 more day of this Challenge.. I hate that I had nothing good or profound today.. so maybe i'll do well tomorrow!! ha.. and then I will go back to posting intermittently throughout the rest of the year. Thanks guys..

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Friends are good

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17

I have great friends, I know this. But here lately, I have realized how great they are and how amazing it is that God has blessed me with these friendships. So the catalyst that sparked this overflow of thanks for friends was a great skype conversation I had tonight with David, Kori, Amber, and Blake along with some other cameos from some good Starkvillians... I just am so thankful for good Christian friends that have so much in common with myself and each other.. As the proverb says above, I feel everytime I talk to them i am "sharpened" and renewed in life if not faith. I am thankful everyday for friends and family who also follow my Savior.

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Pictures as promised!

Everytime I go hiking around here and see the beautiful scenery that reminds me of our Creator, I think about Psalm 121--"I will lift my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from?; My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and of earth" (v. 1-2)

Gotta love that.. and the documentation of my awesome home (and surrounding trails)

Rattlesnake Mtn. Hiked on Wednesday..





A couple from Catawba hiked on Saturday..


Love God. Love People. Hail State


Grace and Peace,
Seth

Another great day in His creation..

Woke up this morning and it was another great day to be outside, so Kathleen, Sharon, and I decided to head on out to Catawba Falls, a nearby series of waterfalls that is about a 2ish hour hike from camp... Well it should be 2 hours, but I allowed Kathleen and Sharon to lead the way, because I had never been to Catawba (another RC sin) and they led us on a journey on the way there, I won't say we were lost, but we definitely blazed our own trail and luckily found our way there, pictures will be posted later.. but even when I was crawling under trees or wading through the creek, I was so happy to be where I was and where I am honestly. I love living up here and praise God for the opportunity, yet again for such a great setting in life to figure things out while serving this amazing camp... I feel like I post that a lot on here, but how great it is to get constant affirmation that you are where God wants you and following him and enjoying his creation day after day.. I for one, love it.


Love God. Love People. Hail State.


Grace and Peace,
Seth

Fully Known

The theme for our summer here at Ridgecrest is Fully Known.. so that we can teach the kids about being fully known by God and striving to fully know Him. Today as I was writing a quiet time for the kid's quiet time guides I "rediscovered" something that is just amazing...

When trying to explain to the kids how to know Him and about how He knows us so well I was using Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female He created them."

Isn't amazing that we can know God and He knows us because we are in His image.. comforting..


Grace and Peace,
Seth

Book update

Well you will be proud to know that I am still reading the book "Scouting the Divine" and still liking it... I have finished the part about Shepherding and Farming. I have now moved on to the part about Beekeeping. In my reading this week, it explains all the "roles" that the bees play in the hives.. first off I learned that there are anywhere between 50-75 THOUSAND bees in each hive. But each bee has a certain duty in the hive that keeps it going. Anywhere from the guard bees protecting the hive to the "fanning" bees that fly around fanning the queen and honey to keep the hive at a good temperature. The tie in to our Christian Lives and even lives in general.. The book goes into how we each serve a specific purpose and have received certain traits or spiritual gifts to serve our part of the Body of Christ. I find that my purpose in life is people and service to those people. When it comes to camp for example and where I am in life right now, I feel that my spiritual strength is leadership and being with people and the programming side of camp. I love to do the manual labor and the fixing of things and administrative part of camp, but I recognize I am not the absolute best at that stuff. I have found my strength is fixing the programming things, hiring and interacting with the staff. As it states in 1 Corinthians 12, we are all a part of the body of Christ, do your part for the betterment of the Body as a whole. I find myself at times envying someone else's "role" and trying to do it and failing. We need to pray that God reveals our gifts and roles to help further His Kingdom. Right now in life, I know mine and strive and pray that I will be able to help in this small part of His ministry as a bee does in a hive.. and btw.. how cool is it that our lives are able to be compared to that of what goes on in a beehive.. Our God is awesome.. and really good at what he does..


** I have a special prayer request today, for whomever reads this.. One of my closest friends in life and a Godly woman who helped get me through college and to be the person I am today, Lauren Phillips, received some pretty tragic news today of her father passing away in a helicopter crash. He was piloting the copter back to the Memphis area after dropping off a patient and I dont know all the details, but crashed and perished. Please pray for Lauren and her family, through this really hard time that I cannot begin to imagine, to continue to rely on God and his sovereignty in everything. Thanks.


Grace and Peace,
Seth

This is the day that the Lord hath made...

I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Today was glorious weather wise. I was able to actually take advantage of living in such an amazing place that our Lord has created. After work (which while at work I got to be outside some today, not a lot but even just a small amount in this weather is glorious) I went hiking with a friend from the conference center.. We hiked up to the Rattlesnake Summit, which I had never been to, which is very unusual being a seasoned Ridgecrest veteran.. It has arguably the best view of any campsite or summit around here, luckily, the trailhead is just across the interstate from me! I had this great plan to post some of the pictures I took from being up there and then tell how much just being in God's creation is such a medicine and soothing thing for me, but as i plug in my camera to upload the pictures, my camera dies.. so sorry, I shall post some pictures of my own later, but I will leave you with one that a friend took last year or the year before of the same lookout. But we should rejoice in the beauty that God has created all around us.. find him in each day, i'm learning to find him even in the small things, although the summit today was a big one!


Love God. Love People. Hail State!

Grace and Peace,
Seth

A Servant's Goal

I am trying to learn about becoming more of a servant, and doing it with no selfish tendencies, I see it everyday around me in life, especially where I work.. and even when I was in school at State, there are people everywhere with servant's hearts and that encourages me to become a person with a total servant's heart for Him.

A verse of encouragement:
2 Cor. 5:9
"We make it our aim.. to be well pleasing to Him"

Just something to chew on and think about while being a servant for His Kingdom

--I am now headed to Charlotte for the evening (yes driving there and back in one night) to hear Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney in Concert!!! I am happy about this, but sad that I will be missing my dodgeball game.. you have to trade some things sometimes!


Love God. Love People. Hail State.


Grace and Peace
Seth

QT guides

I am struggling right now.. I have the task here at work, to write the quiet time guides that will be used by our 12-16 year olds to lead them on a daily walk and quiet time with Jesus. I don't take that very lightly, I am struggling with this today, I have written, fully, 1 as of today, the other 15 are due by the end of next week. I am finding this hard for some reason, mainly because I have been given a guideline, the devotional guide, which is already written. The one I have been stuck on for a while now is about being cast out of the Garden of Eden, the fall of man, and as a result being no longer clean and spotless, but spiritually dead. I am just having trouble of writing something to reflect this, one of the most important aspects of the gospel (or at least a firm cornerstone) that leads us to reconciliation and where to go next. I have to write this for the middle/high school crowd, which ain't easy.. I need to in about half page to understand we were created in his image (perfect), yet we ruined this by being tempted and sinning, and how God knew all this and this leads to Him knowing us even more. I can not for the life of me think of an illustration of this for their level, so if you have suggestions, let me know.. ha

But as I have had the opportunity to dwell on this and the passages that correlate, Genesis 2-3.. I have been able to chew on it and really think about it the last couple of days, how amazing is it that our God knows us from the most vulnerable moment in our lives, yet we feel we have to hide things from Him, and that we CAN hide things from Him. He saw the fall of humanity, he has seen us in our pits, at our worst, persay.. take your best friend for example, i mean a TRUE best friend.. why are they your best friend? well im sure you have surface level things in common and traits that are similar, but I find that RIGHT NOW in my life, my true best friends are the ones I am not afraid to be vulnerable with, to show that I am not perfect, and that makes us closer. It is so freeing to know someone knows pretty much everything about you, and that they still desire a relationship with you. So, why do we not take that approach with our LORD? He has seen us in one of our most, for lack of a better word, embarrassing times in all history. So, that is what has been going on in the mind of Seth here lately, and typing that out may have just helped me with this whole QT guide.. we shall see..


P.S. it is snowing here today, HARD.. im mad.. it's the official first day of spring..

P.S.S. What a horrible weekend, The Health Care Bill passed (which I just can't comprehend, Change for the sake of change isn't good, Well thought out change that may actually be able to work for the betterment of the people and their health, is good), and Greg Byrne is leaving Mississippi State, goodbye Ninja..


Love God. Love People. Hail State


Grace and Peace,
Seth

Fellowshippin @ UGA

1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

After a great weekend of hanging out with some camp friends, and their friends at UGA, I was reminded of one of God's greatest gifts to us, fellowship... No not just viewed in the way of the three Baptists F's i learned growing up (Food, Fun, and Fellowship) I mean REAL, intentional, Christian fellowship. We are so blessed to have a Maker who desires fellowship with us and provides that model of fellowship that we can imitate and initiate here on Earth with our friends. As this verse says, 'if we walk in the Light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another'.. I feel that stands with us and Him, as well as us with one another on Earth. If you and the people you fellowship with are in the light, it is gloryfying and pleasing to our Lord, we are able to be witnesses to each other, provide support, and what was done most of this weekend, just laughter and a release and a reminder of the blessings God has bestowed on us. Be encouraged by your Christian relationships, go deep in them and enjoy them and use them to grow.. how great is that!?!



Love God. Love People. Hail State.


Grace and Peace,

Seth


PS. Just noticed yesterday's blog did not post, and is not in my drafts, pretty sure I did not dream I wrote it, just don't know what happened.. my B

PTL for this day!

today is amazing.

I luckily got to go outside and walk around for work today, luckily because it is like 68 degrees with not a cloud in the sky! It is amazing.. it reminds me of the summer and how great it will be. I praise the Lord for weather like this and a job where I get to experience it! As this weather feels more like summer, I begin to realize it is getting closer.. some of the central staff show up for training in 70 days, and that brings so much excitement/anxiety/nerves I can't begin to explain it, but then I remember to lean on my Provider for all the peace and guidance I need in this time. What a great day and a mighty God we serve!

I will leave you with some things I am now extremely excited about that come with warmer weather..



Tie dye V-necks

Mountain Hardware Shorts

Chacos and the Lake



Can not wait for summer!

Love God. Love People. Hail State!


P.S. I will be spending the weekend in Athens, GA with some good buddies at UGA!!

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Author and Perfecter

Hebrews 12:2-3
"Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted"

Amen.


Love God. Love People. Hail State.


Seth

Birthday Post

Well i know this is like 8 hours late.. but when I explain my day to you, you will understand why I was unable to post yesterday.. Great Birthday.

The day started out as normal.. minus people telling me happy birthday in the office, and them singing to me during the prayer time.. ha. Normal day really until lunch, then after lunch I am just in my office working minding my own business when two of my great friends, Allyson Basden and Patty B, come rolling in the office. They drove up from their SB10 destination, Charleston, SC.. just to see me on my birthday, man I have good friends!

So they came and spent the rest of the day with me! I got to show them around both camps, and show Patty where she will be working this summer! It was real fun. Well after work, we headed to have dinner at Tupelo Honey Cafe for my birthday, but they were way to busy and we were hungry so we walked down the street and ate at Jack of the Wood, and it was real tasty.. but then we hurried over to my dodgeball game, yes, I have joined the Black Mountain Community Dodgeball League, NBD. So Allyson and Patty B came and cheered on the Ridgecrest team and took some pictures, so here you go for your pleasure..



It was very intense, but a great way to spend your birthday night.. It was our first night to play in the league, so we were surprised by how serious some of these people take it, you play for 20 minutes 5 people on each side, whoever wins the most games in the 20 minutes wins the match. Our first match, we lost... 7-2.. second match we lost 7-2.. but don't worry, now that we understand the rules and how serious it is, these people won't know what hit them next Tuesday night, well I will miss next Tues for the Matt Kearney/Ingrid Michaelson concert in Charlotte, but in 2 weeks, they better be ready!

Then the last news of the birthday is the addition of my friend/birthday present, my new fish Kathleen gave me..

It's a betta fish.. i hear they are deadly, I really wanted a fish for the summer, so Kathleen was awesome and got me this one, to keep in my office "The Situation Room" this summer (If we are blessed that it lives that long, i shall try). I named it Snooki, for many reasons. 1. Because I can now call it whatever I want (Snooks, snookums, snick, snickers) 2. It is staying in "The Situation" room this summer.. and no not after Jersey Shore, it has been called that for years, just happened to be humorous this year. 3. I love the trashiness that is that show so it is funny to call it Snooki... I may buy him a friend this spring and call him JWOWW..

Overall.. this was an amazing/random birthday.. I am ridiculously thankful for this birthday. God has really blessed me in this time of my life where I have no idea what is going on in life. I continue to praise him daily for giving me a peace in life right now that is a time where in my mind I feel I should not have a peace at all, He gives it to me.. the song "In Christ Alone" really is some good meat in this time. I will leave you with the first verse of that song, it speaks to this time in my life..

Thank you, all of my friends for making this birthday awesome, and for the prayers you all are sending my way, and know they are coming back towards you!


"In Christ Alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ i'll stand"

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Birthday Eve

here on this the eve of my birthday.. I read a special thing on birthdays.. yeah i know im weird.. but anyway, it was funny because it was a theme verse from camp last year that talked about the "birth of man"... Genesis 1:26-27.. It talks about how I was made in His image and how in His image i was created... that makes my birthday mean so much more, honestly.. to think of not only was I born into this world, but CREATED.. in His image.. we are each beautifully and wonderfully made.. rejoice in that people.. and know we are His..


Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Ps. My BDay is TOMORROW!! woot (there is nothing fun about 23)

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Being joyful at midnight...

**This did not post for some reason last night, So I am posting it now.. as yesterday's (Sunday) Challenge**

Today has been a ridiculously horrible day.. well only athletically.. I woke up with only one thought on my mind.. the SEC championship game.. I went to church with Sharon and Beth to a new church (for me) called Biltmore Baptist.. it was very big, but the service was pretty enjoyable and worshipful.. While there the preacher spoke on being strong in your faith and joyful even at "midnight", he used the example of Paul and Silas being arrested, and thrown into the depths of the prison only to begin singing psalms (he mentioned theologians think the Psalms were 118-123ish) , so the gist of the sermon was no matter how upset/mad/down/in trouble you are remember your faith and where it comes from..

OH MAN, did I not know he was preparing me for my day.. You probably know if you follow college basketball at all what went down today.. 1st we lost to UK (with some sketchy calls!?) in OT (again) to lose the SEC Championship game, and after beating UF, and Vandy and lets be honest.. practically UK on a neutral site, we get snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee.. yeah, we had some bad losses earlier in the season.. but you can not tell me that 23 wins and being one of the hottest teams in tourney play in the country doesnt make us better than say.. Houston or Cornell or East TN State to get in the tourney.. ugh.. ok enough about that..

The point of this blog is not to vent about today's happenings.. although i just did a little, it is to say I was reminded, after getting so upset, almost to tears after the game today, that I remembered where it lies in the grand scheme of life... Don't get me wrong.. Mississippi State and Sports rank high on my life priorities list, of course behind the important things, but I do have to remind myself, I am blessed to even have the opportunity to cheer for that team, God has given me so much to be joyful about in this world, there is no reason for me to sulk about not making the NCAA.. I will praise him through this small time of frustration.. it is almost silly now that I have calmed down and thought it out..

Psalm 118:28-29
"You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
His love endures forever!"

P.S. -- I hate the NCAA and UK right now

P.S.S-- Lets win the NIT

Love God. Love People. STILL Hail State.

Grace and Peace
Seth

Birthday Weekend..

Well this weekend is fun.. I am house/dogsitting for my boss, Phil, and it has been a great time, it is real nice to be in a real house again, and especially a house that is pretty much a picture perfect house in my mind. I also had some ridiculous, but amazing options for this weekend, that I had to not do.. like driving 9 hours to Destin for the weekend, or driving to Charleston to see another group of awesome friends, or drive to Nashville to the SEC tourney which is turning out to be awesome (Hail State!!) ... but luckily I decided to stay here in Asheville to celebrate my birthday weekend with my co-worker Sharon, whose bday is on Monday... and mine is Tuesday (hint).. anyway, I will be watching the game tomorrow and for us to beat Kentucky. But anyway this weekend is going great, although I do miss Spring Break greatly, like for real.. I can feel summer getting so much closer and I am extremely excited/nervous about that. I can't wait for it to all happen.

I have to be honest today about my challenge.. I just, being so busy and lazy at the same time.. yes that is possible, did not even take time to chill out and spend my time with God today.. so I am not going to fake anything specific that I learned or found out about God today.. but I am thankful for all he has blessed me with again.. great friends, a great job and place to live, and great times..

Everyone should watch and cheer on the Dawgs tomorrow...

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Grace and Peace,

Seth

Take pleasure in my work....

2 John 1:8
Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.

With all of this Spring Break talk by all of my friends, I had to turn to the Word to make me feel better about not having a SB10 and not be in Destin on the beach with all my friends.. so I remembered this little jewel. I need to remember that I am working towards a great goal to provide a great summer for about 1,000 kids and 80 staff this summer and the return will be this summer. I praise God for the opportunity he has given me with this job, and I should not fret just because I do not have one week off for Spring Break.. although it is hard.. ha


Love God. Love People. Hail State!

Oh yeah.. I really hope we win the game tonight in the SEC tourney, but I cant watch it, because the ACC tourney is on the same station ugh.. so I will just go to my Derek Webb concert at tonight.. WOO HOO


Grace and Peace,
Seth

Be joyful.. at all times

James is one of my favorite books.. and just from lack of time and being in the office all day, I am going to leave you with a little encouragement/charge for today that I have found helpful lately!

James 1:2-3 Count it all as joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance

Amen

Love God. Love People. Hail State

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Living out the message..

There are a good bit of things going through my mind here lately, but one that has been on the forefront since this past weekend, is if I am as deep of a steward of the Word as I should be.. I feel that I am not. I feel that I live a life that people can look at and see that I have a growing relationship by how I treat people and live day to day.. But I have started thinking here lately I need to get deeper in the Word and really begin to be a steward of it. I started my journey to read the whole Bible cover to cover, this year, and I am already slacking greatly. I just find myself putting off the reading for other things and justifying that with excuses that do not come close to covering for my shortcomings. When reading a little devotional today, I read John 6:63 that says "The words I speak to you are spirit, they are life" so not only do the words He provides for us are life, but they should be exhibited in our lives.. I then began to search and found this little tidbit that proves my point."Preach the Word" 2 Timothy 4:2.. So not only are we called to learn the words, but to be stewards of the Word. Go take a little side challenge with me to dive into His Word and live it out and use it for all aspects of life. hope this made sense.. it does in my head, ha.

Day 10

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Late night posting..

Challenge day 9.. crazy..

So today was a weird non conventional day.. had to wake up early, which was no fun, because I have not gotten good sleep since like last Wednesday night, anyway, we as "Ridgecrest Summer Camps" employees went to a CCCA (Christian Camping and Conference Association) Regional meeting and lead a little meeting thing to teach people how to do recruit staff effectively, well actually Phil and Sharon taught it.. Kathleen and I were more like cheerleaders and support, it was a 3 hour drive over there, then we were there for like 2 hours then drove 3 hours back.. it was more driving, not what I needed in life haha. So anyway, when we got back I finished the workday, then went to see Alice in Wonderland 3D, all by my lonesome.. I really wanted to see it but no one wanted to go with, so I just set out on my own. I enjoyed it, it was entertaining, but nothing to "write home about". Then vegged out in front of the TV to Idol, Glee!, and some random sports on ESPN.. it is March Madness time you know.

As for what the Lord taught me today.. this is the day I have been dreading to write about.. I was so busy today and caught up in me that I didnt look for those "blessings" today.. I feel really bad about it, The challenge works I got back to camp and realized I had not blogged then realized I had nothing really profound to blog about today either, I did wake up in an amazing mood, because we were blessed with great weather today, but no meat or anything today.. I guess not every day is filled with groundbreaking revelations from God, or maybe even that we discredit things that are smaller. Like I just said that nothing really happened today and as I write this out and think about it, it's pretty stinking amazing He even allowed me to experience another day on this amazing earth.. and one that had beautiful weather on top of that. So I change my mind.. I did learn something today.. well was reminded of something.. take joy in the blessings that we have daily, another moment to live on His earth.. and rejoice that we can have days like this and realize He is sufficient for us in all we do. Even the little things in life.

Will leave you with a scripture that I have read lately that I enjoy
"Prove me, O Lord, and try me
test my heart and mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes
and I walk in your faithfulness"
Psalm 26:2-3

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Long weekend, but God was working

Sorry for the 3 day break guys, that will be the last time i will NOT post for the rest of the month.. it was a excused hiatus from the Blog part of the challenge, because I worked a Disciple Now weekend in Birmingham at a church that I have been working with since my Freshman year at State... I have been leading the same guys for 5 years now.. their 8th grade year through this year, their Senior year. It has been truly a blessing in my life to work with these guys and get to know them over the past 5 years we had a great time learning about Christ together and just talking about their futures.. and appropriately the theme of the weekend was "Purpose" and it was something I needed as well as these guys at these transition times in our lives. We talked a lot about how Christ has to be first in our lives and our main focus and how that is sufficient in life.
It was a great weekend where God taught me a lot and made me count my blessing again in life with the opportunities I have received in my life to serve him in unique and amazing ways. Isn't it amazing having a God you can approach and be personal with? I like Him.. A lot.

And it was great to see a good group of State people! Miss that place..

Love God. Love People. Hail State.

Grace and Peace
Seth

Love me some Derek Webb...

Ok guys.. this challenge thing has been cool.. i "challenge" you to start something like this.. if not a blog just a journal or something.. it has made me so much more attentive to God's little things that speak to me, I look for them.. and isnt that how life should be? seeking out God's little blessings in life? and what we can learn from them?

Any way leading to today's "little hello" from God.. I get A LOT of my peace and worship from music.. if you know me, you know I live for music pretty much.. As I was working today, I had my iTunes playing with one earphone in, like usual.. Derek Webb's "She Must and Shall Go Free" came on.. I love that song.. and it has a great lyrics.. I was just singing it in my head and really started chewing on the words.. i will put some in here..

"Mercy speaks by Jesus’ blood
hear and sing, ye sons of God
justice satisfied indeed
Christ has full atonement made"

Amen to that..

Isn't it great to know that we had a God so loving that he gave His Son to pay full atonement for all of our sins.. "Justice satisfied indeed"..


Grace and Peace
Seth

Feed my sheep..

ok.. on the sheep thing again.. ha.. expect a few posts dealing with Sheep, honey and wine, being that the book is something really opening my eyes here lately..

So I have been reading some random passages about sheep now as part of my QT, and this morning I got a little caught up in reading a few, so much that I was late for work, whoops. but let's be honest.. it's a good excuse.. haha.

In my QT, I came across John 21:17 , "Jesus states, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' Peter said, 'Lord you know all things; you know that I love you' Jesus then said, 'Feed my sheep'.

This ties in to a secondary point I alluded to yesterday, about how sheep can not find substantial nutrition on their own without a shepherd.. And this is bringing a new angle on that, we are called as His Commission to us to also 'feed his sheep' through discipleship, but the only way we can fully do that is to seek him first Christ simply says in the next verse, "Follow me"..

- So goal for this week (and life)... 1. Follow Him 2. Feed his sheep

^^ told you I was a checklist person now..

So there is Day 3 of the challenge.. im liking this i think..

Grace and Peace,
Seth


btw.. it snowed 8 inches yesterday.. its March for crying out loud..

I just want to be a sheep, baa, baa, baa, baa

Day 2 of Challenge (I promise not all will be tied together, or maybe they will, who am I to say what God will reveal to me or teach me daily..)

So we are reading this book as the "admin" of camp, together. The book, Scouting the Divine, by Margaret Feinberg, is about a lady who seeks the "organic" view of God. In this book, springing from her personal curiosity, she seeks a shepherd, a beekeeper, and a vintner (person who makes wine) and asks their opinions on certain passages of the Bible including these things and how they interpret it and how it changes the way we look at certain verses.. when the book was explained to me I was NOT excited about reading it, but as I have begun reading, I really, really like it, and really, really recommend it. Anywho, I am just starting the book, still in the first section, about the shepherd, when I came across a snippet, last night, that TOTALLY reinforced what my blog was about yesterday, funny how God works. I wanted to share that with you.

- When talking about how when "dumb" sheep can stray from the shepherd, they will not eat well and die, the shepherd in the book, Lynne, tells the author, "The sheep are literally dependent on their shepherd for their next mouthful." The author goes on to explain.. "Interestingly, when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he instructs them to ask God for DAILY bread, not yearly or lifelong bread---- a reminder that, like a shepherd, God leads us every step of the way."

All I thought after reading that was, Amen. Hello, if you didnt read the blog from yesterday, read it then come back to this one. I struggle with giving up control.. esp. about my future.

Once again God, thanks for that peice of daily bread. I will not hunger with servings like that everyday!!

Grace and Peace,
Seth

Can't get better friends... and a challenge for March..

I don't really know how to approach this blog.. The story I want to tell you fits in with the challenge I have been given by Phil (my boss) and Sharon (my other boss), so first let me tell you about the challenge, then the story, then I will tie it all in together.

THE CHALLENGE:

Phil and Sharon have presented Kathleen and I with a challenge to post a blog everyday, talking about what God is doing in our lives/something we have learned from Him/Challenges we are facing/an honest assessment of what is going on in our walk with Christ.. everyday... when I first heard this challenge my first thoughts were.. "I'm gonna fail".. not because of the spiritual part, just because I have become just plain forgetful. I have turned into one of those "checklist" or "to-do list" people.. I will forget it if it isn't on a post it note on my desk or in my Google Calendar.. so what did I do? I put an alert for everyday @ 5pm for my calendar to alert me.. problem solved, I hope. Other thoughts about the challenge included, that this is a forceful way for me to share what is going on in my life.. I still feel a little forced, but being forced to assess my relationship with Christ daily on a blog will have more good than bad consequences. So i accept this challenge.. now don't expect everyday for me to bring something deep and moving to the blog.. if you know me and anything about my walk with Christ, you know I approach my walk more than casual, with passion nonetheless, I just am not your typical theologian who is deep all the time. I love Jesus, I love that he is there for me and I love digging deeper into a relationship with him, but I do NOT know everything, or will i try to claim I do.. It will be an honest assessment of the day.. bad, good or neither.. ok that is the challenge..

STORY:
titled: Best Surprise Ever

ok picture this, I am lying in bed asleep Thursday night..we are talking deep sleep, and around 230 am I hear this banging on my door.. like multiple people knocking. I wake up, in obvious delirium from deep sleep, and walk to the door, in boxers only, with thoughts of Kathleen being in trouble/someone is going to kill me thoughts.. open the door to a surprise.. 3 of my closest friends had driven from Starkville, MS (God's Country) to surprise me and visit, as i have begged them to since I moved here. I am completely shocked, as I stand there in my pink polka dotted boxers and hear them yell surprise, and the only words I can say are (in muffled tone) "best surprise everrrrrr" ha. David, Kori, and Kelli had been in contact with Kathleen planning a trip to surprise me here in Ridgecrest.. I was overwhelmed with happiness and just feeling good about having friends that awesome. They stayed all weekend and I naturally hit all the Asheville/Blk. Mtn hotspots with them (Morning Glory, Tupelo Honey Cafe, Bier Garden, Downtown Shops, Take a Hike, Dripolator, and Hiked Kitazuma)... all the while just being able to catch up with them and share what has been going on in my life. They left, sadly, Sunday morning at 11am ET, ha. But as they left some of my last words were 45 days, that is until Super Bulldog Weekend when I will be going to Starkville for a few days! This past weekend was just one of the most perfect weekends in the words of Kori "Get a better weekend!".. this leads to the tie in..

THE TIE IN:

I found myself all weekend, thanking God for my friends. I pray daily for all of them, and for what they mean to me in my life, and I found out this weekend I am significant in their lives as well, which feels dang good. I love my friends from MS, to no end, and I have always said that I wanted my favorite people in one of my favorite places (NC), and this weekend it happened, and I am thankful for that. I was reminded this weekend that I am a blessed guy. I am blessed that God has had his hand in every aspect of my life from what happened to me as a child to motivate me to go to college, to the weird things that led to my being @ Mississippi State, to the friends he led me to, when I needed them the most, to putting me here, now in this internship. I am struggling to be content and ok with my future.. because I don't know what it is going to become. I try to figure it out on my own daily, and have to be slapped in the face usually by God to realize that I need to look to him for that it is like he says to me "how foolish can you be? Can you not see how I have led you and guided you so far? Follow my daily, and you path WILL be revealed.." I struggle with that.. greatly. And God used 3 little tools this weekend (Kori, David, Kelli) to remind me to count my blessings, these being in friendships and to recognize, he is STILL in complete control of my life, like he has been in the past with all my past blessings. It is a simple simple concept that my stubborn mind doesn't comprehend very often.

So special shout out to David, Kori, and Kelli again.. I hope you know what it meant to me this past weekend, everyone, just be jealous of my friends.. go ahead..

Psalm 73:24

So be looking for a blog everyday for the next month.. with the exception of this weekend because I will be at Disciple Now in Birmingham!! Some will be just that on the blog, others tied in with a normal one. Pray for me as I go through this challenge as well, That God will reveal himself to me in new ways, and give me the words to share how he is working in my life.

Grace and Peace!
Seth