today, I'm thankful for salt.

I just moved into a new place here in Asheville. I think we're finally settled in. And just like any other time you begin living in a new place, there is a period of time where you start to realize the things that you need. Well, it had been about a week and a half when my roommates and I were tired of eating our food without any salt. After two or three trips to the grocery store and returning without any, we finally wrote it down on a list and set out to buy some. And today, I'm thankful for it. I feel like thats one thing I would have the toughest time cutting out of my diet.

So I got to thinking about its importance and then the Sunday School bible verse came to mind: "...salt of the Earth...". So we're supposed to positively 'flavor' the world right? And my other question is, am I doing my part?

I crossed paths with someone yesterday. A guy I have known as a fellow believer. So, as a believer I find it important to have a genuine concern for others. Now, this is no pat on the back for me, but when I greet someone and ask how they are doing, 9 times out of 10, I truly mean what I'm saying. I honestly want to see how they are. But when you have this cliché response, I find it offensive to not take the extra second to stop to genuinely, casually chat. Maybe it was just me being in a weird mood where everything bothers me, who knows. But, I do know that we are called to have community with other believers. Therefore, I believe it's important to show love to everyone. I believe this can be the most simple way to show love. It's different with 'strangers' but I still find it necessary to have a loving demeanor regardless of who you meet.

There is such thing as being over-salty. I believe there is a balance. You can over saturate your fries at Wendy's which makes them less enjoyable. So, if we try to show this same compassion to just anyone, things can become awkward real quick. Sometimes a simple smile and head-nod will do the job. But I think that when there is a tighter bond between you and whoever else, it's appropriate to show your care for them.

I feel like we owe this to the American culture. In America, we think it's important to be polite and speak but I feel like it's worse than being impolite when it's obvious you don't care how someone's doing. Since when do a conversations look like this:

Person 1: "Hey, how ya doin'?"

Person 2: "How's it goin'?"

And they keep on walking. Neither question was even addressed. It's kind of funny to realize how many times we do this. But, there were two questions proposed here and neither was answered. I do think that if we are genuinely concerned about others, this could be a small step in bettering our world. We could start with our relationships with those we consider acquaintances. You may not be their best friend but you do know their name and have at least met them before. You can speak some love into their life if you show that you are truly concerned with their general well-being.

Maybe this is just one of my quirks. Or maybe it just hit me weird yesterday. This may not even make 'a lick a' sense'. I don't know. Just something I felt I needed to share to whoever may run across this. But I honestly try my best to be Love to everyone around me. I think we can make a little difference with improvements in areas like this. I feel like this is one step in 'flavoring' the world. I hope I'm doing my part.

Believe and Be Love.

this summer.

Let me say I've had the most wonderful summer ever. I couldn't wait to blog about how this entire season has built me up, humbled, and readied me for the next chapter of my life. Now I've finally found some time to smear some virtual ink across a page so here we go.

First off, I got a job at a conference center near Black Mountain, NC called Ridgecrest. When I found out I had the job, I didn't know what to expect. I learned that I would live at this place with a few other college students who were doing the same kind of thing. Little did I know that these people would change my life. Especially the men who I've come to know as my brothers. I owe it to them for impacting my life so much.

Not only did I have a job and got paid, but I truly enjoyed the work I did. The work consisted of running sound and setting up for bands, learning how to patch audio signal in some of the most complicated but efficient ways, and bat wrangling. Yes, like real bats. The ones with rabies and all.

During one of my first weeks, I got to run sound for Todd Agnew. I didn't really have to do much since the band was already mixed but I still felt a little more awesome from that. Speaking of, getting to experience Todd leading worship for the Fuge Camps was a life changing experience in itself. With experience and a desire to lead worship, it was a privilege to see this guy do his thing. Each week was essentially the same, but once every week, he would talk about God's love for us. Every time I was floored. I had been struggling with the question of why God loves me. As big of a screw up as I am, how could someone so beautifully perfect, actually enjoy my life? But what it comes down to is that no matter what, God sees us like a groom seeing his bride walk down an aisle with this undying love. It's still hard to grasp. I definitely do not deserve it. But at least now, I'm letting God love me in a different way than before...a better way. And I actually UNDERSTAND this love in a better way. Not completely but better than I did.

On the spiritual side of things, God lead me to read through the New Testament this summer. I admit that I had never went through every book of the NT before. But I hadn't gotten through the gospels before God was teaching me so many things about how to live and love. Reading about Jesus' life was so much sweeter reading it four times in a row. What a man!

Next on the list: my dreams are coming alive a little at a time. My music-partner, Randy, and I completely wrote an album earlier this summer and are in the process of recording it. As of right now, we have all the drum tracks finished. It's amazing because we actually wrote 7 and 1/2 of the songs this summer. The other 5 and 1/2 were mostly written. We hope to have everything mixed and ready to hand out by December. It's so stinkin' awesome to hear our own music like this. I get so excited every time I think of the positive things that COULD come out of this. The negative ones, they kind of suck. It's a hard road to go down, but I want to do this thing. And I feel like God has given me this desire for a reason. Pray for us. We were both able to work together at Ridgecrest this summer which was a plus since it gave us ample time to discuss, write and exchange ideas with each other in our spare time.

So...this summer. It's been a great one. It's arguably close to last summer when I traveled to Europe. But most importantly, this summer has helped me to grow in many more ways than last year. I have been blessed. Ridgecrest will always have a piece of my heart....even though I will continue to work there as a temp.

And for today: I can't get enough of Switchfoot. More specifically, Jon Foreman's songwriting. How can a man write so deep? I want to shed tears every time I finally realize what this guy is saying. For instance, they put out an album awhile back called The Beautiful Letdown. I've listened to it thousands of times, but today I was listening to "On Fire." He wrote, "....Everything inside me looks like everything I hate. You are the the hope I have for change. You are the only chance I'll take." I may sound dumb or illiterate, but I never quite 'got' what he was saying here. This is what I've been trying to get out. Just a minute ago, you read how I was faced with the question of why God would love me. Well, today, I sang, in my car, what I've really been wanting to say. I had been hating myself because of how wicked I really am, but I will only chance on the One who gives me hope to change. I still feel like I'm having trouble communicating this.