One of many "Tree" entries to come...

I love trees, they've always fascinated me.

Psalm 1:1-3 talks about a righteous man being like a tree planted by the water (go read it).

One thing about a tree is that life happens around it. Sometimes the tree provides life, other times it contains life and other times it shares life; but one thing that is certain is that sometimes life just happens around the tree.

Think of a Christmas tree farm. Imagine the one tree, if you can, in the middle of the farm. Each day it wonders when it will get it's turn to celebrate the holiday inside someone's home. The day, unfortunately never comes.

Then the tree remembers that all of the trees that aren't used to celebrate, get chopped down and provide warmth by being used as firewood. Again the tree waits in anticipation, only to find that, again... no one uses him.

The tree then continues to grow and stand alone in the empty field. The tree feels abandoned by those that are supposed to care for him. The empty field is soon filled with smaller trees that will grow into beautiful Christmas trees to be sold in the coming year. While these trees are being cared for and life is being showered on them, the lonely tree just watches as life goes on around him.

Fast forward to the Christmas season; we find that the tree is huge and gorgeous, by far the most exquisite specimen at the local Christmas tree farm. The lonely tree, although it is beautiful, has felt rejected for so long, he wonders why even bother thinking of the season. Finally, a large truck pulls close to the giant tree. After some painful cutting, the tree is loaded onto the truck and transported to the middle of the town. There, amidst all the people, traffic is stopped, the mayor is there, the children are there, the ministers and families all stand around as the tree is decorated. Finally, the tree is adorned with lights. The entire town, if only for one night, stands around the magnificent tree and sings carols.

Sometimes jobs that we deserve pass us by, our friends and family seem to leave us, and we feel as though there is no reason to go on. We never know what God may be preparing us for, how big the task may be, or how much we may mean to someone else when that time comes.

New House

The builders accepted our bid on the house.

We close on March 22, which is when I get my key.

I'm going to be a resident of Travelers Rest, SC...

When I was in high school, I was in the marching band (drum line) and we would go to this huge band competitions against other SC high school bands. Every year at Upper State, we hated Travelers Rest. Once, the TR band threw rocks at us as we were taking the field. You could hear the tings and clanks of gravel hitting the bands horns. For some reason there was an unspoken rivalry between their band and ours.

Now I'm going to live there... and possibly raise children there... and they would go to TRHS...

http://www.carolinarealtyguide.com/idx/residential/1195514/details.html

Home Sweet Home... hopefully...

So, we got pre-approved for a loan, with super low interest, down payment, and all that good stuff.

Found a brand new house for cheaper than we thought we could find.

Hoping to make a bid soon.

Good Times, Great Oldies

Kevin and I had lunch today.

Kevin is incredible with video editing type stuff.

Kevin has VOLUNTEERED to do a lot of video stuff for me.

I love me some Kevin!

WICKED

So, for Christmas Anna Beth got tickets for herself and me to go see the Broadway Musical, Wicked at the Peace Center in downtown Greenville.

The show was last night.

I read the book and was very excited about the show.

I had no idea how they would adapt all of this thick book (with all of it's raunchy details) into an onstage musical.

I was shocked at how amazing the whole thing was! The musical made me think of a few things:

1. Just because someone is considered evil or WICKED by everyone else, has green skin, and comes off a little pushy or opinionated, does NOT mean that that person is, in fact, evil.

2. Popularity is subjective. You can't be infamous, without being famous.

3. What is right, will always be right, regardless of what everyone else thinks or says.

4. People will always try to control you, hold you down, oppress you, "fix" you, etc. no matter who you are or what position you are in.

5. Incredible singers are worth being on display and worth paying money to see!

"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down..."

Polar Bear Club

So, we went to the beach; we, being 9 college-aged folks from church.

The six of us MEN decided that the best thing to do at the beach in January was to jump into the ocean.

We ran, full speed, wearing nothing but basketball shorts into the frigid water, then back to the boiling hot, 104 degree hot tub.

From there we went hot tub, pool, hot tub, pool, hot tub, ocean, pool, hot tub.

Three of us agreed (Brad, Drew and I) that it was very exhilarating and "fun," but really what we were feeling was LIFE.

For the first time, in a really, REALLY long time, I felt ALIVE. I felt the breath of life. I gasped deeply to feel my lungs, actually taking in air. I felt myself go from hyperventilating short breaths, to full-on DEEP breathing. The feeling could only be compared to nearly dying, then having a new lease on life.

This all brought me to reevaluate my relationship with God. I realized that for an exceptional amount of time, I have not drank deeply from the well of living water. I had dug my own, broken cisterns that could not hold water.

"So I'm not sure why it always flows downhill
Why broken cisterns never could stay filled
I've spent ten years singing gravity away
But the water keeps on falling from the sky

And here tonight while the stars are blacking out
With every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt
I've spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away
But the water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away

So blood is fire pulsing through our veins
We're either writers or fools behind the reigns
I've spent ten years trying to sing it all way
But the water keeps on falling from my tries

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away
A lie to run
It would be a lie
It would be a lie to run away

It keeps on falling
Water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away "
--Jon Foreman