Praise God today.

Do it how ever you know how,

but please,

sit down,

and take a second to praise God.

What an awesome God!  Right?

I just wanted to remind everyone today to look really close, and evaluate the blessings you’ve received.

It’s very easy for me to complain and gripe about life, and the ‘unfairnesses’ of it.  But It’s very very difficult for me to open my eyes and realize the small things that have been poured upon me. For instance, I woke up this morning!  Amen and Amen!

I think sometimes we pray for miracles, and when they don’t turn out like we prayed, we don’t think a miracle has happened.  Miracles happen every day.  Sometimes I might write a miracle off as a curse.

I write this because too often I complain about stuff.  My job, my allergies, my stresses.  All of those things are easy to complain about, but in reality it means, I have a job to complain about: Amen!  I have a body that is fighting off things it thinks are bad for me: Amen!  I have so much going on in my life that I get stressed: Amen!

Sometimes are gripes are blessings.  Look close.  What are you griping about today?  Would a child in Haiti gripe about it?  Let’s give praise when praise is due!

Praise God!

That’s right.  I’m married.  Needless to say.. this next week.  Come read all my old junk.  Wish me a congratulations.. More importantly.  Go wish this beautiful woman a congrats.

Thank you all for your support through this craziness.  Thanks for your prayers, thanks for your kindness.  Keep em coming. Please.  From what I understand… it’s not ALL Peaches from here…. hmm.

Anyway… yeah.  Thanks. I don’t have pictures because this is a scheduled post. C’mon.  Did you REALLY think I was blogging that I was married on my wedding night?  PPSSHH!  I’m busy! a prayer.

God.  Bless this marriage.  Please.  Bless me with wisdom, strength, integrity and “yes dear”(s).  God, bless Andrea with patience.  I’m a little wild sometimes. And God… Most importantly.. Bless us with Love.  Your love.  No matter what happens, remind us to stay close to you, lean on you, RELY on you.  Help me learn how to act, (re)act, and (inter)act, as a husband, Christ-follower, and Man.  God. You rock my socks.  I love you.  I love you. I LOVE YOU!  Thank you for the most beautiful woman in the world.  You are insanely awesome and Good.  I praise You Lord.

A lot has been going through my mind lately, questions about my faith, my purpose, why I do the things I do, and, why am I not good at doing certain things. I stopped for a moment today, my back turned to my girlfriend, with tears running down my face, and let it all go. I told her I feel like a waste of space, like, I’m not moving towards my purpose, if anything, I feel like I’m regressing. Here I am, 23 years old, with the entire world staring me in the face, and I’m cowering like a child in a haunted house. Feeling a little defeated, I didn’t want to talk much more, so I did my normal quiet routine, not expecting a response. I didn’t feel there was much to say that hadn’t already been said.

“Everything you’re doing is moving towards your purpose. Reading the Bible, and building your relationship with Jesus.”

That’s all she said. That’s all she had to say. I realized today, a relationship with God isn’t a twelve step program. It’s not something where I can just show up once a week and praise, or read the bible occasionally, and BOOM! it will happen. I have to make my life his. Surrender, so to speak, my life to Christ Jesus. In theory, I thought I had. (Being saved) But, I haven’t even began. I realized, the answer I’ve been looking for, a way out of this self-doubt, to fend of the tricks Satan is playing on me, is right here.

When this world starts getting me down, don’t cower, don’t ignore my problems. Ask the Lord. Someone told me, it’s easy to ask God for what you want, but nearly impossible to ask him for what you need. I never really took that in, until just now. My stubbornness to ask the Lord is the reason Satan is still getting the best of my mind.

Too often I wake up with expectations for the day.  Typically, I expect the day to not go well.  (Mon-Fri at least) I have been praying about that lately.  I feel like, if I wake up thinking about how awful my day is going to be, that sets me up to have an awful day.  It’s hard for me to wake up and thank God.  I mean.  Normally by the time I’m brushing my teeth, I am at least trying to thank God. (My teeth are a constant reminder how good God is, because of my meth addiction, and the fact I still have them is a miracle)

I wonder what it takes to open eyes, and just praise.  It doesn’t seem to difficult.  I mean, I can choose what song I wake up to from my iPod.  Why not tune it to a worship song instead of something else?  I used to do that… for like.. three days.

I am starting to believe a good day is just as possible as a bad day, and we determine that. (aside from catastrophes) Maybe tomorrow Monday I’ll wake up to some Chris Tomlin, unless someone has a great song they like to wake up to.  maybe that day will go better.  Maybe I have been creating my own bad days?  I think so.  For the most part anyway.

Enough of this “Today is gonna suck, I have too much to do, I work too much” yadda yadda pity me crap.  Instead, I want it to be, “Holy cow.  I woke up again.  Thank God.  The fact that I have more than one job in this economy is a blessing, and I am going to go and be grateful for this day.  Thank you God for giving me another chance today to worship you!”

Maybe it won’t sound exactly like that, but you know.  I can try.  Heck, who knows.  I might even have better days because of it.

God.  Help me remember You.  I can be so self absorbed.  I can be so pitiful.  Please help me to remember each day does not have to come.  Help me make the most out of what I have, and give praise to you in ALL that I do.  Not just somethings.  God, I love You.  You are amazing.  Thank you for loving me.

-Amen