Oh, hey there!

Been awhile, eh?

Well, here I am now, alive and well-ish.

It's been snowing outside. Again.

If you know anything about me, you know that I love snow.

So it is with great joy that I will announce that this is the third, yes, third snowiest winter that Minnesota has ever had on record. And it's only February.

Seriously though, Minnesota weather is screwed up. Last week, it was 45 degrees and sunny. In February. I was outside with flip flops on for goodness sake.

Fast forward to the beginning of this week, and you get 20 degrees, windy, and the sky pouring out enough fluffy white precipitation on my front yard to cover the whole planet. Well, maybe not, but you get my point.

Minnesota weather is outdoing its own reputation this year.

Besides the luxurious weather, or lack thereof, I have some exciting stuff to write about.

On Friday, I climbed into a van, with all the gracefulness of a frog in a blender, to embark on a three and a half hour journey to Big Sandy Camp.

My church, Bethlehem Baptist Church, puts on one of the most amazing winter retreats in the history of winter retreats.  It has been the highlight of my winter for the last three years, and this year was no different.

I love everything about these retreats. God truly works through them to bring me closer to Him, and out of that winter slump that I tend to fall into.

This year's retreat theme was "Unseen".
God convicted me in so many ways this weekend.
I took some time to write down a few things that really 'hit' me.
First, I was convicted that so often I settle for things that this world offers me, short-lived moments of self-focused glory, plastic trophies, that always end up being sat up on a shelf and forgotten anyways.
God started to show me all of the "plastic trophies" that I have in my life.
We, as humans, are created for glory. We have a yearning to give attention, and to get attention. But God is the only One deserving of this glory. So instead of getting attention and glory for myself, I'm giving it to God.
Because the glory that I would get for myself isn't worth anything. at. all.

Cool story:
While at the retreat, I had the opportunity to be on the worship team, which was awesome. So I was standing up there during one of the practices, waiting for whenever we were supposed to sing. One of my friends who was also singing was standing up there also. He seemed to be amusing himself by grabbing at the dust in the air, which you could easily see because of the lights. I was caught off guard with this weird act of.... weirdness, so I turned to him and said, "Uh, Justin, what, exactly, are you doing?" and he replied,
"Oh, just catching dust."
Well, of course, my brain is always set on figuring out cool names for a song/album/band, just because. "Catching Dust" or "Chasing Dust" seemed like one of the coolest ideas yet.... and later on we had some good conversations about the possible allegorical content* of the phrase and I was really blessed by it, and besides that, it really ended up tying into the whole message of the retreat...
So often we strive after things that are fleeting and pointless, things that will end up turning to dust.
Psalm 119:25 says, "My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to Your word!"
Our hearts cling to the dust, the dust that we were made from... but God has breathed his life into us, and we are no longer dead, but alive in Him. We don't need to chase after stuff that will turn to dust, but seek after the things that are unseen, because that's what lasts forever.
Just thought that was cool....


The retreat also taught me that my Mom has an abnormal, somewhat unhealthy fear of a bed bug infestation, and she thinks her children are contaminated when we arrive home from said retreat. (while at the retreat, a single bed bug was spotted in one of the cabins, not anywhere near mine, I didn't tell my mom this until after the bed bug shock had set in). You know, nothing says "welcome home, sweetie" like being told to go take a shower and leave all your stuff in the car...Oh, I do love this family.

Nonetheless, it's good to be home, and after the initial headache, I was back to being happy in a loud house with a million little kids running around. Just kidding, there isn't that many, and honestly, just between you and me, I'm praying for a couple more. ;)

Also, it would seem that this retreat has started some sort of epidemic, where everyone in our youth group is and/or has suffered from some sort of illness since the retreat. I am not immune. Though I like to think that I have a strong immune system, it would appear that my immunity is lacking in the area of your classic cold, and abundant in the area of random parasites from water in other countries.
Then again, maybe I just need some sleep, but how does one sleep when they can't stop sneezing?

Sleep deprivation? Achy muscles? Uncontrollable sneezing? Yes, but, God is still good.

I have no need to complain. Ever.

Especially when I have a God who creates sunrises like THIS.

Praying God blesses me with this same attitude in the morning.

Goodnight, y'all.

In Christ alone,








* 'allegorical content' is REALLY fun to say. Also, disestablishmentarianism. Just saying.