Rainy Days, Birds and God

Do you think it’s possible to learn something new from something totally off the wall? I like to learn new stuff. I like to watch people, read books, watch movies and I feel like I can learn something from everything I do.

Maybe I’m weird, but it’s cool. I don’t mind.

Just the other day I was reading in the Bible and there is a verse where Jesus is talking about how much God loves us. He says, and I’m paraphrasing here – “Look at the birds of the air. They never go hungry. If God can take care of the birds, won’t he take care of you since He loves you so much more?”

I thought that was interesting. You never see a bird hungry. They always have food. Sometimes you’ll see a malnourished dog (cue sad music and emotional TV ads here) and other times you’ll see a cat chasing a mouse through a field. But you never really see a bird going super hungry.

We have some geese that have made a home in the pond behind Refuge. They waddle around and quack and chase away any unsuspecting people that get too close. Just recently they had little babies. Today it was raining and the momma goose lifted up her wings and the little babies, with their little barely there wings came running over and snuggled up underneath their momma’s wings.

I thought about how simple it was for those birds to crawl under the safety of their mom’s protection and how much they trusted her. I wonder… Do I trust God that much?

If God loves the birds enough to take care of them, to provide food for them, to give them protection… how much more will He take care of me. The Bible literally tells me that I’m more important to God than birds. Do I trust in the protection of God?

Will I crawl underneath His arms when I need protection?

Do I believe Him to take care of me no matter how much it rains or how many storms life brings?

Do you?

Trust.
Believe.
Know that you are important to God.

andy ::

March 27!?

That was the last time I posted something on this blog. That is unacceptable. I can’t believe I would abandon it for so long. Not that this is a good excuse, but things have been crazy busy around these parts.

Here’s what’s going on in Andy’s world:

I’m planning a wedding with my amazing and beautiful fiancé. It’s more work than I thought, but lots of fun and totally worth it.

We are in full swing for camp planning right now. It’s coming together amazingly and I can’t wait to see everybody and get this camp season off the ground!

More and more people are coming to Refuge every week and we are super busy keeping up with that. It’s a lot of work, but again – totally worth it. This team we have here loves their job!

I’m about to start P90X…. again. For the umpteenth time. I have to stick with it though, because we are 93 days away from our wedding and it’s a 90 day program. I need to get cut!

Wow… after reading it, it doesn’t look like there is a lot going on, but trust me there is. It’s awesome.

What have you been up to these days?

Black Friday vs. Good Friday

It’s interesting to think about these two Fridays that are so far apart from each other and how we respond to each of them.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and is the busiest shopping day of the entire year. It’s the best day to get great deals and expensive things at inexpensive prices.

Good Friday is the day set aside to remember and reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It’s the day when the banks are closed and schools cancel classes.

There are a lot of similarities to these days:

1. They both include rituals (A lot of people have their shopping schedule laid out three days before black Friday and millions of people all over the country go to church on Good Friday)

2. More people show up. A LOT more people shop on black Friday than other Friday and WAY more people go to church than normally do on a Friday.

3. It’s the same every year (generally). Every year there are good deals, long lines, tired people, etc… At church we talk about the same thing, maybe take communion, sit in silence and reflect on the death of our Savior.

But thinking a little about Black Friday vs. Good Friday the similarities stop there.

As Good Friday approaches, I want this year to be different. I don’t want to just reflect on the death of Jesus, have some crackers and juice and move on. I want to really let the weight, the power, the glory, the hope that comes with His death and resurrection to settle into my spirit and become part of me.

I want to really embrace what the day represents. Jesus died because of my failures. And God knows, leading up to this Good Friday I’ve sinned more times that I care to even admit.

Jesus died so that I wouldn’t have to. Jesus died even though He didn’t deserve it. Jesus died because He chose to even though He didn’t want to. Jesus died for me.

For my failures. He took the punishment I deserve. He was perfect, blameless, holy. I am human, sinful, a failure, desperate, lost, and scared. Jesus suffered more so I could suffer less.

Why me? Why him? Why would he choose to die for me? What did I ever do in my 25 years of failing, fearing, crying, and trying ever do to make it worth the greatest man to ever walk the earth to die for me?

I want to let that sink in this Good Friday and be changed by my reflection, be changed by my understanding, and be changed by my Savior.

He died. He came back from the dead. He’s alive today.

And it’s because of Him I can see, live, laugh, love and live.

Will you join me this Good Friday?

andy ::

Heyyo!

It’s a new week. Monday, March 15th. Can you believe it’s the 15th already!?

Spring is here, the snow is melting, the clocks have turned ahead and we’re officially gearing up for an amazing spring/summer season at Refuge.

Here are just a few of the things coming down the pipeline this season:

-Regular Movie Nights (Some OUTSIDE)
-Video Game Tournaments
-Flag Football League
-CAMP!
-Not to mention, regular meals, random games, thrilling competitions…

it’s all good at Refuge.

check out the Facebook page or call andy @ 330.219.3170.

seriously, you won’t regret it.

Adversity III

What do you do when your back is to the wall? When nothing seems to be going your way? When everything you do fails and backfires on you?

We all face adversity, we all have things in our lives that we feel can be better, but how do we get there?

There was a young man, probably early in his teenage years, he was one of 12 brothers. He was daddy’s favorite. And the brothers hated him for it.

This guy had a dream that he was going to be in charge of his brothers and family one day and when he told everybody about this dream, the brothers hated him even more. They hated him so much, they decided to kill him.

After some discussion they were convinced by a level headed member of the family not to kill him, but to simply throw him into an empty well. Seriously? THAT is the voice of reason? Throwing him into an empty well is the only alternative this guy could come up with?

This young brother had a dream that he believed would one day come true, he was going to be a leader. He had ambition, he saw where he wanted to go. But quickly he found himself at the bottom of an empty well. Adversity.

What would you have done had your brothers thrown you in an empty well? Think about what would be going through your head as they are manhandling you and chucking you over the edge into a black hole. You don’t know how far down it is, you don’t know what’s at the bottom, all you know is that you’re going to hit and it’s going to hurt and there is no way out. What will come of your dreams?

You might even feel like your dreams are shot already? Like you’ve already ruined all your changes at achieving your hopes and dreams.

There is hope.

We’ll find out more tomorrow about how God can turn even the greatest adversity into the greatest opportunity.

Adversity II

What do you do when you face adversity?

A lot of time that depends on the type of adversity. Is it important or trivial? Does it include a family member or close friend? Is my income or livelihood effected by it?

All of these questions are important but they are surface questions, getting down to the very basic question… How do you respond when you are faced with adversity?

When things are simply NOT going your way, what do you do?

Do you get angry?
Sad?
Depressed?
Quiet?
Loud?

We all have different ways of handling adversity. What’s yours?

Tomorrow, I’ll retell a story from centuries ago that is riddled with adversity, and a young teenage boy who faced more than his fair share of hard times… and came out on top of it all as a huge success.

Until then, ask yourself… how do I handle adversity? What I do when times get tough?

Adversity

What do you do when you face a tough situation?

Usually there are only two options:
1. Give up
2. Go on

Caught in the middle of a tough situation, the choice seems a lot more complicated than that.

The dilemma at school. the fight with your mom, the issues with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Whatever it is you may be facing, there is always a situation where you have to make a decision.

Over the next week, we’re going to look at one person’s story from the Bible where he had countless opportunities to give up or go on. We’ll see how he moved through extremely difficult situations and eventually became the second most powerful man in his country.

From the pit to the palace. This man’s journey is incredible.

What’s the pit you find yourself in?

andy ::

If You Could Tell the World One Thing…

If you could say something and the whole world would listen.

Every person on the planet hinging on your every word…

What would you say?

President’s Day

I had the opportunity to see Washington DC with my fiancé this past year. I never would have thought that walking the streets of sidewalks of that place would make me speechless – anybody who knows me knows that I’m never short on words! There were moments when we were walking and I literally didn’t know what to say. Looking at the monuments established to honor men that gave almost everything they had to build a country that they didn’t even get to see fully develop. It’s amazing.

If you’re at all like me, you want to see the results quickly. I don’t like to wait for things to develop, I want to see the results now! I can’t imagine sitting in a dark, dingy room lit by candles, sweating and starving discussing laws and policies that haven’t even been developed yet!

These men were BRILLIANT! Working day in and day out to build the foundation for the country we live in now, a country based on principles of freedom and equality – even if there were some dark times. As I write this it’s 7:16 pm and the day is almost over… but as you read this, please take moment and realize that the men who poured their hearts and souls into this country deserve our respect. It’s because of them I have the freedom to write these words without worry of the repercussions.

Politics is more than what we see on CNN or FoxNews, it’s more than what we read on the blogs and in the newspaper. Don’t get caught up in the craziness of opinion arguments and mudslinging. Remember, it’s because of the founding fathers and our presidents that we can exercise our right to bash them.

Remember. Freedom isn’t free.

What Do You Do…

…on a snowy winter day?

Here are my favorite things to do on a snow day?

1. Read a book with a fire going and a cup of hot chocolate. I don’t always have a fireplace for that, so sometimes it’s just a book and a hot chocolate.
2. Snowball fights.
3. Throwing people in snow.
4. Doughnuts in a parking lot. (When the parking lot is empty of course).
5. Catching up on much needed – and put off – work around the house.
6. Movies with my fiancé Steph.
7. Doing nothing but talking with Steph while cuddled up with a blanket.

That’s what I like to do with a snow day. What about you!?