Home for the Holidays!

It's been just over a week since I made the trek back from Clarksville, Tennessee to my home in Midlothian, Texas. I have had some great times catching up with family and friends and seemed to very seamlessly pick up right where I left off in when I left for school at the end of August. It's a great feeling getting to see everyone when it feels like it has been so long, and it's only been three and a half months. I'm first off excited to see my family, as well as a few friends it's been almost unbearable to only have talked to via facebook or phone.

In the midst of all of the enjoyment I do wish to remain thoughtful of why this time is important to me in my faith. I am so grateful that I was able to travel safely through the long stretch of road between Texas and Tennessee, that I drove through without stopping except to refuel, but I am even more grateful in this time because of the reason we celebrate. I know it seems almost cliché this time of year, certainly in our day and age, to say "Jesus is the reason for the season" or "Keep Christ in Christmas", but these seemingly over-used phrases are an attempt to remind our society why, and for whom, we celebrate. See, Christmas isn't about the presents, decorations, and over-crowded shopping malls, but it is a time to celebrate the coming of Christ, Jesus, whom is our only way to salvation. Without Christ our fate is that of men (and women) who alone cannot overcome their fallen state. Celebrating and spending time with friends and family is great, enjoy it, but remember the coming of hope that we celebrate this day, that through Christ we may glorify the Father.

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Surroundings

So I'm working on my third full week of classes now here at Austin Peay. I'm loving it here, but it still taking some getting used to. There's so many differences here in Tennessee from living back home in Texas. For one, it's not as open, there is a massive abundance of trees, much like East Texas, but I have grown up in Central Texas, where from my house you can see downtown Ft. Worth and Dallas. Another thing, people from Clarksville think there is nothing here, but they have a lot compared to what I'm used to. Midlothian was always a small town, and business wise still is, so here it's a completely different atmosphere. I still don't understand the barbecue argument between Texans and "Southerners". Barbecue is barbecue! If you smoke some meat and throw some homemade barbecue sauce on it I'll eat it, whatever kind of meat it is. On second thought, I might have a couple of reservations on the meat choice, like no domesticated animals, that's just weird. Everything here in Tennessee is great and beautiful, but in a different way than Texas. A few things that are great about being here. Like the fact that my favorite style of music, bluegrass, is in abundance here. I love helping out at First Baptist and being a part of what is going on there. The students are a great group, and the college ministry is a blast.

If there's something I have learned here, it's that you can't forget who you are. Not in the sense of me being from Texas, but in the sense that even in an emotionally stressful time, in the midst of changes in life, you can't forget who you are in Christ. When something is thrown in your way you can't revert back to how you used to be, but accept it and move on. Things happen, and since being here things have been tossed in my way that started to make me doubt myself, and have that "poor me" attitude, but through some constructive words from back home, I had to remember who I am. Christ has made us new, and there's no reason to go back to the way you were before that, because the slate has been wiped clean and you are alive in Christ.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17


Just for fun, I mentioned bluegrass at the first of the post, here's some bluegrass!