Hello World - the tiny blue-green pea in a ray of sunlight

Call it crazy, call it a "God-thing," call it fate, but I'm always in awe of how some things just come together the way they do.

If you are reading this (and therefore procrastinating studying for your finals) note that after viewing the entirety of the video at the following link, 42 minutes and 30 seconds will have passed by. And if you can't spare that amount of time, or need a shorter break, I'll share a shorter clip (8 min 44 sec) further down.

I don't think that this guy is an amazing speaker. I think this is just a guy who knows how to speak to people to show them how amazing God is.

Indescribable - Louie Giglio

As it has been a long time since my last note, obviously a lot has happened since.

1. We now have a new worship team leader - he will be solely working at our church as of this next Sunday (the first Sunday in May). I would say Pastor George is what our church needs to get the "chosen frozen" moving, so to speak. He's certainly stretching everyone in the way we worship God, and I'm loving every minute of it.

2. We (the church technical crew) are now using a software program called EasyWorship during Sunday services. It's awesome; it makes putting everything together beforehand and running all of the media the day of SO much simpler - integrating videos, sermon note PowerPoint slides, song lyrics, moving backgrounds, fade-outs, special songs, etc. a BREEZE! One program up on the laptop instead of 50,000,000, and no annoying media player frame around the video clips and such. (Did I mention I love my (volunteer) job when no one even notices me in the back? That that's what makes this so fun for me - that I can somehow use my talents to make (a majority of) everyone in the room focus on the message of the worship, the message of the speaker, and just let them all give glory to God?)

3. Now that we are digitally recording the Sunday message (well, okay, this started way before the last entry/note), we are s-l-o-w-l-y moving to getting them online on our church website (still in the works, though the template pages are already visible out there at http://southparktulsa.com/Web/Home.html). Right now it feels a little awkward, as it seems we are screaming "we are a cool church, come and be cool with us!" when we are still far from it. I agree that we will need to make steps in that direction if we want to draw in new people who are hurting and seeking, but we still have some major hurdles to get over before we actually look and move like a "modern day" church.

4. I finished paying off all of my school loans. (Whooo!) The loans my dad took out to pay for college are another matter, but again, that's part of the arrangement of me getting to stay at home, and why I am paying "rent" - and more than enough to help supplement the cost of utilities and groceries and insurance (see item #5).

5. I bought and paid for my first car. As in no more car payments. Just insurance payments, and tag/tax. It slightly creeps me out that my dad can't even say that about his CRV. It's a Honda Fit, 2008 Sport model, automatic, Blackberry Pearl. And for those that care, I did my homework, and yes, it's fuel efficient and has low emissions. (Forget the silly hybrids that cost so much more it would take me 8 to 10 years to make up the difference in what I would save on gas money - even at an estimation of $4/gal.)

See photo. Or Google it.

The remainder of the money that went to saving up for the new car is now going toward future house plans. When the time comes, I'll be looking for a female house mate so I'm not a single young female in a big house all by my lonesome - college buddies have first priority. ;)

I say all this because I've been recently reminded how crazy it is that someone as small and insignificant like me could be watched over and taken care of by such an amazing God. It's unimaginable how different things might be if I hadn't given my sophomore Thermodynamics class, that I thought I was heading to fail, over to God, along with my major and all of the reasons I was at TU... if I would even be at the job I'm at today, making the salary I'm able to make, so that I can afford to pay off my school loans, so that I could buy my first car, so that I can give back to my church (and The Church - through missions, etc.), my community, and do so much more than I would have ever been able to imagine... I am too small to have thought it, and God's plans are too big for me to have dreamt it.

Know that He is the Creator of all things, and that He is holding you together, and that by Him, all things come together to glorify His Kingdom.

So, I just happen to get sent a video link via e-mail from relatives living miles away on the same weekend our church pastor starts a sermon series on God and our bodies...

How Great is our God - Louie Giglio