Well i guess it's about time for another update ;) I've been meaning to post for the past week or so now. Just never seem to do it :P
I haven't been up to a whole lot of new things here lately. I'm just getting tired of living the same old sinful, lazy, dull, boring, mundane life that I am. I'm want to do something, and do something great. I want to be somebody. Someone important. Someone who made a difference in this world. Someone who can look back on his life during his last days and say, it was all worth it, it was a life well lived. I'm tired of just being lazy when I don't have to go to work, just laying around messing on the computer, playing mindless games on the computer, etc.
There's a lot of stuff I would like to do in this life before I die (or Jesus comes back :P ). I want my life to be well spent. The older I get the faster time is flying by. I can't get over how short life really is. It's been driving me crazy. So I'm doing my best to try and do the things I want to do, need to do, and am called to do.
One of the things most people don't know about me is I love to cook, not all the time, but most of the time. If I could I think I would go to a culinary school to be a chef. Or I would really like to open my own southern cooking restaurant, or any restaurant really. But since that's probably not gonna happen, or not in the foreseeable future (could happen if I set my mind to it, maybe one day, idk we'll see). So I've decided to try and cook a lot more at home. I've cooked a few things the past month or so, but I want to do it more often. I've grilled out a couple times these past few weeks which was nice, definitely looking forward to warmer weather so I can do a lot more of it!
Today I made some 'pizza bread' in the bread maker we got for Christmas (Thanks Mom & Dad!! ^_^). It doesn't really taste like pizza, but it would go great with spaghetti or Alfredo, or anything Italian really. And I also made some homemade fries for the first time (been wanting to for a while). They turned out pretty good. I decided to bake them, but I think I'll try frying them next time. I made some with only salt and pepper, but I liked the ones I spiced up a bit ;) I put some garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and paprika on half of them and they tasted really good!!! Gonna up the dosage next time :P Oh and if you bake some homemade fries, grease the pan, even non-stick :P learned that one the hard way. I'll try to post what I cook with pictures, and possibly the recipe for everyone to read and see so if y'all want to try them you can! (I think I'll also do the same for projects I do and other things I make)
Another thing that most people don't know is that I have a heart for helping the poor and kids. I have always wanted to help the less fortunate (for as long as I can remember anyways). I'm sponsoring a child, well really another teen, not much younger than me through Compassion International. Her name is Andri, she's in Indonesia. I like being able to write letters to each other and hear about what's going on in her life. That's one thing I'd like to and need to do more, is write her more letters. She's planning to go to college to be a nurse which I think is awesome! So I love being able to contribute and help her! It's only $38 a month, which is only a small sacrifice, but it's something I can afford. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to sponsor more children!
I'm also hoping and planning to do more. There's a orphanage in Mexico called Rancho 3M that our church does mission trips to several times a year, so I would Love to go one time, and if I feel it's what God wants, go more. I've actually been wanting to go on missions trips for a while now, just never had the means, time or resources to do it. So hopefully soon! My wife and I also feel really strongly about adoption, which is something we've both wanted to do for as far back as we can remember. We aren't adopting right now, but we want to. So we've been looking into international adoption, there are so many rules and things though, so not sure how soon we'll be adopting anyone, but hopefully in the near future (next 5 years?). And my wife and I also feel strongly about fighting abortion. There are some women in our church who run an organization who help young women who are considering having an abortion. So my wife and I might try to get involved and help with that. She'll probably do more though, seeing as I'm a guy and it would probably be awkward for a lot of people :P
Work has been going pretty good. I've made it a point to do better this year. I'm thinking about it in a new way, and going about how I handle calls and everything a little different to try and keep from getting stressed a lot, like I did last year. It's still a pretty new job, but I think I'm starting to settle in. So hopefully I'll be good from here on out.
Another thing I need to work on is my spiritual life. It's been suffering for a while now. My wife and I decided we feel we need to stay at the church we are now, so I'm glad we have that figured out now. So now like I said in an earlier post, I'm making it a point this year (and the rest of my life) to go to church every Sunday I can (meaning I don't have to work, not taking vacation, etc.). My wife and I have missed quite a bit of church since we got married and have suffered because of it. And I also need to start reading my Bible regularly, I don't remember when I last had my quiet time. It'll be a struggle to do, always is, it go against what our flesh would naturally want to do. So I'll need a lot of prayer.
I'm also working on some sinful areas of my life, such as how I react when I get angry or upset, laziness (yep, I believe being lazy is sinful. resting is not, I'm not saying we don't need to have a day off and just to rest and have fun. but just plain laziness, doing nothing, all the time), and other things.
I'm sure by now after reading my posts y'all think I'm not really that good (for those that know me). I'm a sinner just like everyone else. Just because I'm a Christian, doesn't mean I'm perfect and that I don't sin or make mistakes. I'm just trying to be honest (it's something I've been working on, Honesty). I hope it helps anyone who reads my blog. I hope in inspires, encourages, and lets people know they're never alone in anything, there's always someone else going through the same thing, always. And being honest helps me, it takes a load off my shoulders. I never knew I could feel so good by being honest. Sure it hurts sometimes, it does to open one's self up, it leaves you vulnerable. But you feel so much better after the temporary pain. It gives others an opportunity to encourage you, help you, pray for you, and it gives you an opportunity to help others.
well I think it's time to wrap up this post, it's getting long and it's already 11:05pm so I'm going to end it by asking y'all to pray for me. Pray for guidance, wisdom, peace, and the aforementioned things in my post. We all need prayer, and we all will for the rest of our lives. If y'all ever need prayer, feel free to hit me up. Leave a comment, send me a message, hit me up on twitter, it don't matter. I'd be glad to pray for y'all!
Ben, great to see you're posting again!
ReplyDeleteJust wanna tell you: Don't rule God out on using you for great things, He will use you for great things, so just because you're "All grown up" and have lots of responsibilities that does not mean that God is done with you. So...DON'T GIVE UP BRO! Keep it up! ^_^
And as far as the laziness goes, that's nothing new under the sun we all fight to redeem the time...I know I personally haven't been doing well in that area either, at least lately. =]
God's peace to you my Brotha'!
Hey, just to encourage you...Philippians 1, open up God's word and READ IT! =D
TTYL man! ;)
-Nathaniel
Thanks for the encouragement Bro! I'll read it =)
ReplyDeleteBenjamin,
ReplyDeleteLove you (and your siblings) more each day. Praying for you as always!
(So...it is ok for me to post on here?)
M
So proud of you bro and encouraged! Keep it up bro! I'll be praying! I know God's got some big things in store for you and Beth that only you and her by his grace can do and I am excited to see them unfold in the years to come!
ReplyDeleteLove ya bro!
of course it's ok for you to post!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon your post because I have a Google Alert set to show me posts on Compassion. I am glad that you feel the pull to write more. Those letters are SO important and the reason why I blog most of the time. If you ever need ideas for letter, stop over!
ReplyDeleteok, Thanks Michelle! I'll definitely check it out =) Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDelete