I Love My Brother.

Blah.

I have a bad case of melancholy today. I cannot seem to shake it. I have too many things running through my head, I suppose. Lots of changes coming up. Lots of goodbyes to say. Lots of unknowns. I know I am doing the right thing … but can I just say, “AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Ok, I’m better now.

Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again!

The Valley of Dry Bones [Ezekiel 37:1-14]

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” 78 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ” Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.

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This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I was thinking about it alot yesterday. And for some reason I can’t get it out of my head today. It is a message of hope and redemption. It is a story of renewal and of life. But perhaps the reason i love it most is because God is taking these dry bones, the ultimate sign of death and destruction, and breathing into it life. I think about this passage a lot when I get discouraged with the church. But I also think about it when I question how God is going to take care of things in my life and in others’ lives … If God can bring new life out of complete death and destruction, surely He can work through whatever is going on in my life. And for that I am thankful.

A recent barometer…

I like to do these little questionnaire things every now and again … see how I’ve changed or what’s going on in my life right now. You can read the previous ones I’ve posted here and here.

thought: I can’t believe I’m moving across the freakin’ country in a few weeks.

hero: Jesus

contemplation: Why is it so hard to maintain good, lasting friendships with people?

film: I saw Get Smart a couple of weeks ago … that was AWESOME! Son of a hamster…Mother of pearl…

shame-inducing guilty pleasure: Mmm. I think Vitamin Water might fit that category now. I was informed of how much sugar is actually in it. I ignored that information and continued to drink it. Then I saw a thing on TV yesterday about it … and it is kind of gross, actually. WOW. Alot of sugar.

color: blue and green

wish: That I knew what God’s plans were for paying off all the debt that I have/will have. I trust that He is taking care of it, but would appreciate a little hint.

song: I keep listening to Coldplay’s new CD … loving the title track Viva la Vida. Also loving Needtobreathe’s song More Time on their new album and the PS I Love You soundtrack.

book: I have not read anything in several weeks. GASP! Who am I?

triumph: I’ve been pretty vulnerable lately without being too fearful of getting hurt.

celebrity crush: still Joaquin Phoenix!! ha.

indulgence: bbq sauce. hands down. its that time of year. i can eat it on ANYTHING.

story: Kevin was reminding me tonight of a story from China … we were searching for bootleg dvds on the subway and one lady thought she found a seller. So some of our team tiptoed behind the seller looking around to make sure no police were around … then the seller opened the bag and it was wallets. Not dvds. Wallets. It was disppointing. It’s funnier if you were there, or at least if Kevin and I are reinacting it for you. Ask me, I will reinact it for you. ha! It was FUNNY!

surprise: I like to browse in office supply stores. Maybe even buy a few pens. Just for the heck of it.

field trip: to see my bro on Fri and Sat!

feeling: good, glad, happy, sad, loved

Does anyone know…

…why there are annoying little black & white quesiton mark things in my posts and how I can get rid of them? I guess not everybody can see them, but I cannot figure this out. They are driving me crazy…

I heart John Mayer.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with the boy. He is AMAZING. Love the guitar playing. Love the singing. Love the songwriting.

Today I was at Target and saw the new CD and DVD, Where the Light Is, is out. I bought the CD there, then had to make a special trip to Best Buy to pick up the DVD. But MAN was it worth it. Holy moly this is awesome. Go buy it. It will make you happy.