Friend to the Navy

Hey Everyone!

I hope that everything is treating you well. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day in August! This summer has flown by so fast. Also so much has happened since the last time I posted - most of it having to do with my father. Since I know I will forget details and may not get everything right, here is a link to my Dad's caring bridge site where you can read about what has happened and what is currently happening.

In other news, one of my best friends went to Boot Camp a couple of weeks ago for the Navy. I'm very excited and proud of him. We hung out a lot and went to church together since High School, so getting used to him being gone will be different. I know he doesn't like the attention, so I'm not going to tell him about this post. But if you could send a prayer out to him and our Armed Forces, that would be great.

There's probably a lot more to say but I'm kind of tired. Have a great rest of the day!

"Eternal Father, Strong to Save": The Navy Hymn

Words: Rev. William Whiting (1825-1878) & Music: Rev. John B. Dykes (1823-1876)

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 10)

Hey Everyone!

I hope that you are all doing well! Today is our last day in Hong Kong and will probably be my last blog until I get home to the states. I hope that you were able to follow what we were doing. I wish I could have gone into more detail, but the time constraints with Internet as well as the time constraints during the day permitted me from doing so. Hopefully in future blogs I can tell a little bit more about what I learned this week!

Today was a good day to just relax and fellowship with CBIBC. We were able to do our VBS presentation to the church. We sang 3 songs, two volunteers gave a testimony, and we recapped what happened during the week. Some final numbers would be that we had 98 kids total register for VBS and we talked to over a dozen kids with at least 4 of them making decisions to follow Christ and become Christians! At the service, the church presented us with gifts for this week. Those that didn't go last year got a stamp with their name and Chinese character, and for Zach, Courtney, and I we got some wall pictures to hang (on this trip I got a wall picture of Hong Kong and a wall picture of the Chinese character "diligent" all from the church). I believe Courtney got the Chinese character for faith and Zach got the Chinese character for Love. We also gave Janice a gift from our team for being with us all week. Deejah bought this book on Nashville with a bunch of art having to do with the city and we all signed it. I thought it was a great gift, and I am glad that she took initiative (Go White team! *that's the team for preteens*)

After church, we ate at this western restaurant with some of the other church members. Courtney, Jennifer, Hannah, Deejah, and I all talked with Oscar Au (I will double check the spelling of the last name later) and we had a great time. He is such a smart and good Christian man. He teaches at the University and he's a deacon at the church also helping to lead music from time to time. We also got to hear from Pastor Billy's wife - name escapes me...sorry - and she told us about how her and Billy met (got engaged after 3 dates) and their life doing missions in Asia and all over.

Right now I am just finishing up the blog before we go explore a little bit more of the city. I hope that you all have a great rest of the day, and I will hopefully again blog soon!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 9)

Hi Everyone!

I finally have a moment to sit down and tell about what we did today. One of the great things that we got to do today was sleep past 7! We didn't have to meet for our activities until 10am, so it was good.

The first thing we did today was go to Lantau to see the big Buddha. I say big because it is 112 feet high. That's pretty big! I went to see it last year, so I probably told more about it on my previous blog. The thing with this is we had to take the MTR (Mass Transit System) to get to the cable cars and then the cable cars took us over the river and mountains to get to Lantau Island. For those that were not a fan of heights, they could go on a bus. We got there and we saw the Buddha as well as the Po Lin Monastery. The worse part of the trip was we had to climb like a thousand stairs to get to the Giant Buddha. But, it was still an incredible display of architecture.

After we saw the Giant Buddha, we went to a local fishing village. The village was actually one of the only fishing villages of its kind left in Hong Kong. The time we visited now is low tide, so the river is not as high as it was and also some parts are just dry. The village didn't bother me too much except that there were some live fish which I just had to stay away from. Most of the stuff there was dried out. I actually tried some miniature bananas and cherries there and it was pretty good. It was a different sort of scene to see there. You forget what it's like for some people in the world who live near the sea and don't have a whole lot. Although when you looked at their "houses" you did see some big screen TV's, so it wasn't really void of technology.

After the village we had a long bus ride, and then a long MTR ride. We made it to the Hotel a little while ago, and we just decided to eat here. I just got done twenty minutes ago, so here I am! I am about to head out though because I am getting a little tired and we have our VBS Sunday presentation tomorrow where we tell the church what we did all week and the children sing the songs for them. It should be good.

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 7 & 8)

Hi Everyone!

Because I didn't post yesterday, I will have to cover two days worth in this blog. Once you see what I post, you'll understand why.

Day 7

Today was day four of VBS. We were talking about the woman at the well (the Samaritan woman with the husbands) and focusing on telling others about Jesus. This day was particularly hard for me because I just felt extremely tired this day. I felt like I had no energy. I was trying everything I could to get some more energy like listening to music, moving around more, and luckily God gave me enough energy to sing with the kids, do what I needed to do for the classroom, and sing at the end of the day. I about fell asleep on the desks after we were done. That day, however, we were not going back to the hotel. That day was our day to go to Stanley Market. Stanley market is this big open market where you can buy lots of cool things. You can bargain for prices like in the Ladies' market, but they are a little harder to bargain with. I'm horrible at haggling for prices, so I just pay full price. I ended up getting some good stuff, but during this time I started to feel dizzy. Then after I felt dizzy I got a headache. I drank some water and juice because I thought I was dehydrated, and then my stomach hurt so much it felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily Courtney had some medicine that I took, and after the long bus ride we finally made it to the hotel where I just crashed and took a nap. It helped a lot even though I was still dazed. I ended up going to bed early and I think it really helped (although I forgot to take me sleeping pills so at 11:00 I finally gave in and took them to help me sleep).

Day 8

Now to today! Today was our last day of VBS. It was interesting though because we only had half of the kids show up today. There was a level 3 typhoon warning here and according to Government regulations, we had to cancel classes for the real young kids (preschool and kindergarten aged children). Then there were lots of kids that had other obligations today and then some that just couldn't come because of the weather. We had 9 in our class. I personally would rather have more because believe it or not, they were actually easier to manage when there were more of them! We ended the day pretty well though. We actually have our family night tonight in about 3 hours. Hopefully the weather will be good and we can have plenty of the family and children coming to see about this week.

Other than that, things are pretty good. Now we are just seeing what the weather will be like because that determines our activities for tomorrow. If you could just pray for the family/kids as well as CBIBC for following up with the family and kids, that would be appreciated.

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 6)

Hi Everyone!

Today was a very important day for us. Today was the day we were presenting the plan of salvation to the kids. The story for the older kids was centered around Jesus and Nicodemus discussing how you can be born again. The younger kids were talking about Peter walking on the water. The way that we were presenting it in the older kids class was I would give a little introduction to the story. I had an activity. They had a sheet of paper and they had to find a partner with a matching name. The catch was that they could not open their eyes they had to shout and basically find them through hearing and touch. It was related back to Nicodemus and the questions he had for Jesus. Mainly, "How can one be born again?" It set up Courtney for being able to talk about the ABC's (Admit, Believe, and Confess) as well incorporating the verse and God's story. It went pretty well. Actually one girl in our class made a decision to accept Christ, so it was very good!

It was a very busy day for me though. I agreed yesterday that I would help with the music which meant that I would do the rapping part for the song. Basically it was just me rapping the John 3:16 verse. The kids seemed to like it. I know I got some compliments from the adults :-) I also volunteered to do a drama for the Younger kids about Peter walking on the water. So right after I did my rap, I ran backstage to get into my costume, ran upstairs to the classroom, and gave my "drama" for Peter. It was different because I have never done a drama for just Kindergarten before (and it was a smaller group). It was more interactive, which was fine with me. From what Zach and Nicole said, they seemed to listen and understand the story very well after that. I enjoy doing the dramas for kids, so it was fun for me! Then at the end of the day, Zach asked if I would talk to this little Girl (7 yrs old) who said on her commitment card that she had questions about God. So I talked with her about who God was, who Jesus was, what they did, what sin was, etc. I relayed the information to Zach and Rachel (her teacher) and it was very good. I don't think she was ready to make a full decision, but she understands everything very well. I've never really counseled someone that young before, but it was fine.

So after all of that, I was pretty tired! We had lunch in a small restaurant in an upper room (very good) and then we went to visit the new headquarters for the ICM (Inner City Ministries). I talked about them in my blog the past couple of years. I can't go into a lot of detail due to my time constraint, but here is a link to their website http://www.innercityministries.org. It was great visit and I hope that CBIBC and BBC can help support this for years to come.

Tonight is going to be a fun night because Courtney, Zach and I are going to be having a guys night out! Just to be clear on the numbers...including Janice who is our go-to person on this trip, it is us 3 guys and 10 girls. We're going to probably eat at Outback and see the new Transformers movie. Good guy stuff! Be sure to pray for tomorrow that we may have energy and also follow-up with those kids we didn't get to talk to today.

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 5)

Hey Everyone!

Well, we made it through day two of VBS. We had 92 kids today, so we were just one short from what we had yesterday! I think it was from our class, because we only had 16. It was a good day though. The curriculum presented a little bit of a challenge to teach, but we all made adjustments and followed through. The biggest thing about day two is getting them prepared for day three! Tomorrow, we present the plan of salvation. We had a longer meeting this afternoon about that. We talked about the right and wrongs ways to talk to kids about their decision. We also mentioned about how that day is typically the hardest. The technology might not work right, the kids may be extra disruptive, our coach might not get their on time, there are just a lot of things that seem to happen when we come to day three! It's like Zach told us, "When we do something for God, he's not the only one who notices." If you could just pray for strength, clarity, and patience tomorrow, I would appreciate it. The Jet lag hit me pretty hard this morning, but luckily it didn't get me down. The lack of sleep and time change are starting to show though, so it's getting tougher to have the kind of energy I had yesterday.

Tonight will be a good night. In about 30 minutes our group will leave so we can tour the oldest church in Hong Kong (St. John's - Zach said it was close to 150 years old). We will then go to the Peak after that to have a very nice dinner and view of the skyline. I am also planning on buying a hat and trying a crepe. I am feel so tired I may wear the crepe and eat the hat :-)

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 4)

Hey Everyone!

I hope that everything is treating you well. There is a lot to talk about today because it was our first day of VBS and we also visited a daoist temple. I'm going to start with VBS.

It is always stressful the first day of VBS. You have the kids you know already registered, but then you have kids that come who didn't register. You are in your classroom trying to get last minute things done, make sure everyone has everything they need, and you are meeting the kids for the first time and trying to get them not only in the right place but also get them excited about this week. I don't know if God just gave me extra adrenaline this morning, but I remember having more energy than I have had in the last couple of days! Like I said before, we had only 10 officially registered on our list. I told Courtney that I felt that we would at least have 15 and Deejah (our other co-teacher) said she prepared for twenty. What happened was my group (the preteens) got 17 kids! It was wonderful and I actually know several of them from previous years. So we got to the worship time and they LOVED the opening theme song. They were dancing and having a great time. Then we went to class. They were all engaged, listened pretty well, and were open to try new things. Let's just pray this continues throughout this week! Overall we ended up having 93 kids at VBS today! We may even have more near the end of the week. The main issues are that we are having some really big classes and more helpers are needed. We also had to adjust our schedule so that all the kids can do all the rotations. It's crazy, but we are also very thankful that we get to be with all these kids! Pray for strength and that we may be able to show them we love and care about them while telling them about the Bible.

The second thing we did today was go to a Daoist temple. Courtney, Zach and I went to this temple two years ago so you can probably find me talking about this in a post from 2009. They have done several renevations now and in the open square, they have mats and incense where you see a large amount of people casting lots and praying to their Gods. There are several Gods all around the place and they go to the one that they believe answers them the best. From what I can tell, there isn't very much loyalty. It's very complicated, and unfortunately I can't cover it in the amount of time I have on this internet connection.

Right now we are on our break about to go to dinner. Everyone feels very hot, but it doesn't seem like Jet Lag has really hit anyone hard yet. I'm tired myself, but I am refusing to take a nap because I think I would be set.

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Day 3)

Hey Everyone!

Let me be a little selfish for a moment and say, "Happy Birthday to me!" :-) I have to say that it has been a great birthday for me today. I woke up and my team members all said "Happy Birthday," I got a card from one of my prayer partners (thank you Ms. Melva!) and I got a note. When we went to the church and introduced ourselves, Pastor Thomas told them that it was my birthday and they all sang "Happy Birthday" to me! They also gave me a gift of a birthday card and a wonderful picture of Hong Kong. Even though it can be tough being away from home on your birthday, I felt very welcomed here.

Today we went to CBIBC to worship. It was a great service and the whole room was filled with people! We had a commissioning for VBS in the service where we told where we were from, what grade we were teaching, and our occupation. The service was great it was in English and Chinese so we would sing in English and then the others could join in the same song in Chinese so we would be doing the same song in two languages! It was pretty cool. My co-teacher, Courtney, sang a solo (Softly and Tenderly) for the offertory which was great and then Zach preached with a someone translating what he said.

After church, we ate dimsum at a restaurant. I had a little bit, but not too much. Then we toured the campus. CBIBC is meeting at a University...I believe it is Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I will try to put some pictures with my blogs once I get home, but it is a beautiful campus...full of a lot of smart people!

Right now we are taking a little break until dinner where we will eat at the Spaghetti Factory. Please keep us in your prayers for tomorrow. Particularly the kindergarten/preschool classes as well as the 3rd and 4th grade because they will have the most kids. We have 10 so far and I actually heard that we may only have 10 this week. Either way, it will be great. I heard that we have more registering today and some coming tomorrow, so we might actually get more than 80 kids.

Have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2011 (Days 1 & 2)

Hello Everyone!

First off, I want to tell you that if my blogs seem to be all over the place (thought-wise) it's because I am timed with the amount of internet I can use (15 minutes per XX amount of dollars), so I am trying to get my thoughts together quickly!

We arrived in Hong Kong pretty much without any problems! It was a good thing although when you put together the total amount of time we were in the air along with the times we were waiting for a plane, we did a total of 21 hours of travel. It was tough. We flew from Nashville to Denver to San Francisco to Hong Kong. I don't think it really matters how many times you have done a flight this long, you never get used to it. I felt a little sick on the plan so the last hour and a half was me praying, "God, please don't let me get sick!" Luckily once we touched the ground, it was okay. The flight just seemed longer because I couldn't sleep and also we didn't have our own TV's that we could usually watch movies on and such.

Today (day two) has been really good! We got up early and headed to Evangel College where we will be doing the VBS. We met some of the people we are working with, set up our classrooms, and had a time of de-briefing. We are expecting around 80 kids! It should be pretty exciting. My class has 10 so far, but we are expecting around 4-5 to arrive that haven't gone through registration.

After we got done with that, we headed to this Christian Retreat center where we had a time of singing and prayer with our group and Pastor Thomas who is helping us coordinate and work VBS. It was a great time to hang out with the group and pray for this coming week. The weather has also been fantastic, so hopefully it will continue! The only thing is it is very hot. I have to keep reminding myself to stay hydrated.

Tomorrow we got to the church that we are parting with CBIBC (Clearwater Bay International Baptist Church). I will let you know more about that tomorrow. Just continue to pray for us as Jet Lag is setting in for some people and also the reality is kicking in that we are really in Hong Kong, VBS is really happening, and we need to be ready!

Have a great rest of the day and thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Hong Kong 2011 (Pre-Trip)

Hello Everyone,

In less than 7 hours, I will be meeting at the church and then going to the airport for my 3rd mission trip to Hong Kong. It is the night before and I am looking at my bag of supplies, my personal bag, my carry on bag, and downloading some last minute books for my Kindle. I have a nagging feeling like I am forgetting something, and I am sure that I will. I don't intend to, but it is a Scott Lemons tradition to forget at least one thing on a trip no matter if I am going across town or across the world.

So, what are my thoughts? Generally on pre-trip journals, one talks about their goals on the trip, how they are feeling, what they want to accomplish, etc.

What I am looking forward to:

I am looking forward to seeing my team members open up the prayer cards that have been written for them by their friends and family. I am looking forward to seeing them open them up before we leave, and hear the stories of when they opened up a letter of encouragement just at the right time. I am looking forward to being with my fellow Christians. Not only my friends from America going on the trip with me, but my friends across the world who love Jesus and his people. I am looking forward to seeing the kids laugh, play, and learn important truths. I am excited to see how God will work in and through the volunteers to minister to the kids and community. I am looking forward to eating real Chinese food and seeing architecture, artifacts, and stepping into a country that has an extremely rich heritage.

What I am anxious about:

It is a really long flight to Hong Kong. I got some bad motion sickness last time and two of our members last year got really sick. I know one was influenced very much by the plane ride because I was there! I'm also not looking forward to how my body reacts to the time-change. I'm hungry at weird times, I get tired at inappropriate times, and I'm not a fun person to be around when I'm tired or have to deal with unexpected change (It's how I'm wired. Unfortunately the people closest to me get the brunt of it. Thanks for sticking with me even though I can be a pain!) I'm also anxious because I know that even though this trip is somewhat "easy" because our main responsibility is just VBS, it is very difficult spiritually. I could tell even the months leading up to this trip. I have been faced with so many different things personally that have been distracting me. There were times in the past couple weeks when I have even felt like throwing up my hands and saying, "I quit. Go on without me!" Yet I know that there is a reason I'm going and there's a reason why each of the individual people are going on this trip. We just got to have faith. On the plus side of this, I know we have a lot of people intentionally praying for us on this trip. Sometimes you need people to pray for you when you do not have the strength to do it yourself.

Well, I better get back to what I was doing. Hopefully all this stuff will calm me down because I have to get up REAL early.

Have a great rest of the day, and keep checking back for more updates!

Scott

Waiting by Kerith

Hey Everyone!

It has been a long time since I posted last! I apologize for that. A lot of times I don't post because either I don't have anything to say or I have so much to say that posting would not do it justice. Then unfortunately, you get these posts where I cram a lot in and am all over the place. Hopefully you will be able to follow. If not, I will try to do better next time :-)

I believe that last I posted was in January. A lot of different things happened since January. As far as my Lifegroup, we studied, "Experiencing God." It was the first time our group did a book together where they were required to do some actual reading/work on their own. My co-leader and I both did it with them and were pretty faithful. I know that we got a lot out of it, and we hope that some of our guys did too. It's a pretty eye-opening study. So often we ask ourselves, "What is God's will for my life" instead of asking, "Where is God at work and how can I join him there?" There's a lot more lessons in that book. If you are interested, I recommend taking a look at it. After that study, we had a couple various lessons, and now our Student Minister Linc is teaching our group about Leadership. I've already learned something, and I think they are too.

Men in Training this semester was over Joe Gibb's, "Game Plan for Life." If you are a man interested in some of the hard-hitting questions of faith, this is a good book for you. It's been a great study for me and great meeting with men of all ages to talk about faith. I look forward to next semester when we study Proverbs. My friend Tom who has been going with me to this study will be in the Navy soon, so it will be a little Bittersweet not having him there with me. There are two separate posts I can do about the things I just mentioned, but I will go ahead and move on.

I have been having a great time hanging out with my friends! I have had lunches with Tom and Zach, I got to have great meetings with Jay, Chris, Linc, and Brian (ministers), and I even went down to Georgia to see Philip and Ferrell! It was a lot of fun, and I hope that those relationships continue to grow.

Now...the Job situation! It seems like this particular subject has been the center of all my thoughts for the past several months. I have been struggling with vocation vs. occupation, where God wants me to be, where I want to be, what the opinion of everyone is, what will happen with Choice A, what will happen with Choice B, where my purpose is, where God is working, where my talents lie, etc. For those of you that are not familiar with Personality types, let me give you a description of mine. I am a type "C" personality. That means I am constantly surrounded by my thoughts, details, I analyze practically everything. Even with this post I will proofread this, post it, and then proofread it again to make sure it's how I want it. I cannot take a break from my thoughts. So because of this, this has been really getting at me. Yet there has been a bit of a breakthrough...

My main concern has been staying around this area because of my involvement with church family/friends. I have a group of guys that I have been teaching for almost 5 years that I want to be there for (at least two more years), I have a place where I am growing spiritually, there are opportunities to serve, and I am developing some good relationships. It is a little difficult to find teaching jobs in this area. Now don't get me wrong. There are several people are are getting jobs in this area, there are things I really could have done to beef up my resume and I could have substitute taught. Saying that, I realize that I could have done more to try to secure a spot. Yet I really felt that I shouldn't do that. It's hard to explain, but I just didn't have a huge desire. What did I do? I stayed at my job. In my job I started to get a lot more responsibilities. While doing these responsibilities I realized that I was actually pretty good at what I did. Others started to realize I was pretty good at what I did. I enjoyed doing it. It turns out, there is a whole career field that employs what I was doing. A couple weeks ago I met with a few of our directors who told me about these opportunities. So after much prayer, prayer from friends and family, making lists, and all the other crazy things that I do, I have decided to pursue this. It will be a lot of work, I may succeed, I may fail, and God knows if it will work out...but I'm going to try.

So there you have it. Now we wait. Just like Elijah waited at the brook of Kerith (here's where the title comes in!) Did you know Kerith means "the cutting place?" It's in that moment of waiting where God cuts away anything that is detrimental to your spiritual health. He already cut the pride that was an issue in my life. Now I believe he is tackling obedience and trust. I just hope it doesn't take something drastic to make me learn those lessons like it did for me to learn my lesson on Pride!

I hope that you all are having a great day. Thank you for reading, and I hope to post again soon!

Treasures in Heaven

For as long as I remember, I pretty much always said the right things in church. I would answer the questions correctly, offer some insight, and even times think I was morally superior to others because the answer was so obvious to me and not to them. I would think, "They are the ones who don't get it. This is so simple! Why does anyone have trouble following this?" When I first started leading small groups, I thought similar things.

Then I started to grow up and face new challenges. I started dealing with more difficult decisions, different periods of life, and different situations. Pastor Mike said that when you get older, you deal with the same problems/issues at different levels. It's like a winding staircase. When I thought about this, I realized that I was doing well at the bottom of the staircase. I started to progress up as my faith matured. Now I am where I was before, but at a higher level. What do I do? It's the same issue, but at a higher level. How do I deal with this issue at this point of my life? This issue that has been on my mind a lot lately was an issue that I thought I didn't really have a problem with.

After listening to sermons, reading passages, and looking at my life, I realize that i do have a problem. The issue I am talking about is seeking after worldly treasure. In Romans it says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world..." (Romans 12:2) Jesus points out, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 19-21). Where is my heart at right now? Am I storing up treasures in heaven?

I have been dealing with this passage for about a year. It's mainly because of my attitude toward money. Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and Money. You will hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other (paraphrase from Matthew 6:24). I give to the church, and I am happy to say that my giving has gone up over the years. But is my main reason for wanting a higher paying job so I can give more to the church? How much of my motivation for getting that job is to satisfy my wants and desires? I know that the world tells you to get more money so you can get more stuff. An apartment is not good enough, you need a house. That car is not good enough, you need a newer model. You need to update all your electronics, or else you will be behind and look stupid. All these ideas are lurking in our minds of how to use our money. It's no wonder that one of the Woes Jesus mentioned was, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort" (Luke 6:24) Let's face it, compared to a lot of the world, we're rich. Do we really get comfort from all of this? Temporarily we may. But eternally? The treasures that we value on earth are not the treasures that are valued in heaven. We can't buy those.

The second part of Romans that I didn't quote says that we need to renew our minds. We need to ask ourselves what is of true value? If we think about it, it won't be anything monetary. What we value, what Christ values, is something that can't be bought with money. Now, does that make money evil? Only if we let the money rule us rather than we ruling our money. If this Economy has taught us anything, it is that we cannot trust in money. It may not always be there! We can take the advice on our money though and Trust in God. I think that is a great reminder. Whenever we pay for something, we should read that sign and understand that it is in God we trust which is why we can part from that money. After all, "Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33).

I pray that we call can have an attitude of seeking Treasures in Heaven rather than Treasures on Earth. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Luke 12:34.

Retreats, Daniel Study, and other things!

Hello all you people who are reading my blog,

I promised my Great-Grandparents that I would update by blog because I haven't updated in a long time. The reason is that I really haven't had anything to say. There is stuff going on with church and work, but it wouldn't be worth a post. I have a good amount of material to work with now, so it is a pretty good time to start posting again. Here it goes...

First off, I want to talk about the Fall Retreat we had a couple of weeks ago. I think this was a very different retreat. The theme was "Downpour" and we focused on the passage Isaiah 55 (mostly 1-11 with our theme being 10 & 11). I liked the curriculum better this year, but there were times when it was hard to find the flow. That could just have been from me personally. I did prepare for it, but it seemed like I was just all over the place. It threw me off a little bit that it was more girls than guys (I had 9 girls and 2 guys in my group). I am very thankful though that I had Eve Sarrett as the other leader for this group. She works with High School students all the time and she is such a fun and deep person. She really knew how to communicate with them, and it was great learning from her. The retreat was very good in pointing people to Jesus. The speaker was very dynamic. He could tell you a story that would make you laugh off your seat, and then he would bring the word making you look deep inside and ask the tough questions that you are afraid to ask yourself. It seems like at church, there is a fear of sharing the hard truths of the Bible. It reminds me of when Jesus started getting into his ministry and he spoke of repentance and sacrifice. The "religious" people started to leave, but then the sinners started drawing closer to him. I think we can learn something from that.

On a related note, I FINALLY finished my study on the book of Daniel! It was meant to be 13 weeks but it ended up turning into 20. Hey, it's a something! I really enjoyed studying the book of Daniel. To be honest, I was kind of scared to get into it after a certain point because of all the prophesies. I was thinking that I wouldn't understand it, it would hurt my head, and I would quit the study. I learned so much from the prophesy sections though! It really showed me how God has moved throughout history and how he keeps moving. There were some prophesies in there that were revealed to Daniel that didn't come to fruition for hundreds of years! Some haven't even happened yet! I would be so confused if I were him. I'm glad God didn't reveal that stuff to me. I would probably be in a corner crying because my brain would be hurting. Daniel was also a good character to study. He was unlike a lot of people in the Bible. He wasn't very confrontational, he tried to find sensible solutions to problems with those in authority, he didn't have any controversies - he was faithful to God throughout. One of my favorite parts in Daniel was that he was getting high in position and in favor with the King, and the others were taking notice. They said to each other that they had to get rid of Daniel. They tried to dig up some dirt on him, but couldn't find anything. So they said, "The only way to get rid of Daniel is force him to do something that is against his God." They then made it illegal to pray, and he prayed anyway. That alone is a testimony to me. Would you or I be arrested for praying? To be honest, I probably wouldn't make it past their first test. There is a bunch of stuff I could say about this study and a lot that I learned from it. I am thankful for the study, and I look forward to doing more from this author (Kay Arthur - New Inductive Study Series). I'm going to start the study of the gospel of Luke next. Let's hope it only takes 13 weeks this time!

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! The whole family went down to Indianapolis to visit my Great-Grandparents and my Aunt Sue and Cousin Julia (Shout-out to my family who is reading this!) It was a time of good food, good conversation, and fun. The only bad part was that it rained on the way up, on the way back, and in-between as well! It seems to always rain when we travel there. I don't know why, it just does. If Indiana is ever in a drought, they need to call our house :-)

We had to cut our trip short because we had a concert to sing at with Michael W. Smith and friends. It was a very long day, but it was fun. I haven't sung that much in a long time, so my voice was going out on me. I need to rebuild my stamina if I'm going to do that again. If you are reading this and have some time, there are a couple of songs on his new album that he sung that are great (Welcome Home and You Belong to Me).

That's about it. I will blog again soon if something happens. Have a great rest of the day and a great Holiday weekend!

Man proposes, God disposes

"For the resolutions of the just depend rather on the grace of God than on their own wisdom; and in Him they always put their trust, whatever they take in hand.
For man proposes, but God disposes; neither is the way of man in his own hands" (Thomas A Kempis).

It has been almost two months since I have been in Hong Kong. During that week, (I believe it was a Wednesday), I got to talk to Pastor Billy of CBIBC. It was a short conversation, but I still remember it. He asked me what I was doing, if I was in school, what my job was, etc. I told him about what's been going on, and I finally just admitted to him, "You know, I had all these plans lined out for me. I didn't think it would be any problem to get a job, I thought everything would be set and I would just keep on going with my life. I don't know whether it's the job market where I am at or if I didn't try hard enough, I just know that it seems like all my plans have fallen through." Pastor Billy said to me, "You know, it's just like the saying, 'Man proposes, God disposes.' Our way and God's way to don't always line up. What you need to do now is keep your eyes open and look for any open doors or opportunities that come your way. God has a plan in all of this."

This isn't going to be one of those posts where I complain about how things are or what I am feeling at the moment. I wanted to share with you what God has been doing in my life since all this stuff has been happening. This is not the way I would envision it to happen, but I can see the good things that have come from it. I wanted to share with you a couple of things that have happened to me since all this has happened.

Work

I have been blessed the past several years to be working at a place that gives me flexible hours, good pay, with really great people. I was still employed when I was looking for a job. The boss even gave me a recommendation and helped fill out some forms for me. When I did not get a job, I was still able to keep this one. Through this job I have still had something to do, I helped pay off my mission trip, I still have some extra cash to do other things, and I have been able to give more to the church then before. I know that some people don't even have employment now that were looking for jobs as I was. I realize what a blessing it is to have one.

Relationships

When you graduate from college and stop going to the events and studies and activities that you did when you were in college, you tend to lose contact with several people and friends. That's when you kind of figure out who your really good friends are. I may not be in contact with as many people as I used to, but I can point out people that I consider good friends. That is not to say that I don't enjoy the company of those I haven't seen in a while. But me be gone has caused some friendships to deepen. Time with my family has been good too. With all my mom's traveling and things with my dad, it has been kind of difficult and I can see that I'm not just another person in the house :-) It was rough me having to answer to my parents about lack of interviews, what my plans were now, and things like that, but it has gotten better. I can see the growth that has happened since then.

Ministries:

1) I figured if I couldn't teach kids at school, I could certainly do it at church! I signed up to be a teacher in the Children's ministry. I still feel kind of new to the whole thing, but it reminds me a lot of teaching in school - only better. We get to talk to them about God, faith, and pray together. More than anything, this ministry has taught me humility along with serving with a happy heart. It reminded me that it doesn't matter what your position is as long as you are doing what God has called you to do.

2) It has been a very different year for Lifegroup ministries. I have had some of these guys for 4-5 years but every year it seems to me that I have a different group. This year seems to be a little bit of a challenge. I feel comfortable teaching them, being honest with them, and I think that they all want to grow in their faith. Yet I am just encountering so much resistance this year from them, from myself, and from everywhere. I think that God can and will do big things in this group this year, but it all depends on where our motives are. This year has been teaching me that Phillip and I really need to be on guard and making sure we are growing spiritually and held accountable to God, each other, and our group. Then we need to make sure that we are setting a good example for all of our guys. We also need to be teaching in such a way that we are no longer spoon-feeding them anymore, but challenging them. This is a time when they need to make their faith their own, and that is where I see a lot of the resistance coming into play. I see this year heading into a big lesson on accountability.

My own Faith

God still worked through me from May-August, but this was a very difficult time for me. Other than Summer Camp and the Mission Trip (plus two times directing traffic), I wasn't really serving. I wasn't part of a Bible Study. I didn't want to talk to anybody about what was going on because I felt I was being punished and that I was a total failure. I thought that's how most people saw me, even if they didn't admit it. Yet over time, I started to realize a couple of things. I wrestled with what was the most important thing in life. Was I living life for me or for God? How did I view success? How am I using what happened to me for God's Glory? What was he trying to tell me? Do I care more about how people see me, or how God sees me? What do I do now? Through all of these questions I realized that first and foremost, I needed to focus on what was really important. My faith. I started doing a devotional again. I went to church, prayed more, poured myself into ministry, and even put some stepping stones into place to help me overcome some of my problems. Once I started to do that, I found contentment with where I was at.

There are still several bumps, but I am still keeping my eyes open for those open doors. I do know what is important though. That's what really matters.

The Oath & Other things

Hey Everyone!

I have been meaning to read this author for quite some time. I am always a little hesitant to try out new authors, but this one seemed interesting. So I went to McKay's, bought this book for 50 cents (quite a deal) and read it. I must say...I should have read his stuff earlier! It was not only entertaining, but it was very thought-provoking. I don't really want to give the story away, so I will just tell you the part of it that really got me thinking and I thought was interesting.

This town of Hyde River has a curse. If you keep doing bad things, then a black spot appears over your heart. It hurts at first and if you don't take care of the problem, then it doesn't hurt and it starts to stain with tar and it smells like a dead animal. The person doesn't notice, becomes oblivious to reality, and then it is then marked for Hyde River's biggest secret. It started off small but when more and more people got marked, it fed off them and got bigger. There is only one way to defeat it. The battle cannot be won with guns, knives, or any conventional weapons, but with something - or rather someone - else (Do you see the symbolism?). Critics say that be basically started a new genre of "Christian Horror," and my personal thoughts are that you should go about it like a book talking about the end times. If you are in the right, then you have nothing to worry about!

Things have been going good here. I am working at Legalbill for the time being. It's a good job that I enjoy, so it's great to have for the time being. Other than that, I have started Lifegroups with my now 10th grade guys and I am also helping out in a children Sunday school class (1st grade). Both have been really good. I haven't officially taught in my Lifegroup yet, but I'll be doing that this week and also a little bit at Genesis Weekend this coming Saturday and Sunday. I had my first official teaching (meaning I put it and executed it by myself) with the first graders this past Sunday. It went very well. For the record though, I must admit this. If this past year has taught me anything it is that, "...and he who walks in pride he is able to humble" (Daniel 4:37). I realize that this past weekend and other times with my Lifegroup were only successful because it was God working through me. So, I will try not to be so prideful in the future.

Other than that, not a whole lot more going on with me. I've started some new...not really obsessions but engaged interests...in several different things. One is that I started to watch a lot of different Vloggers on You Tube. I always thought, "I don't really want to watch people just give their opinions and talk about life." Yet when I started to watch a couple, I couldn't help myself! I want the official NFL season to start already. The Titans have a really good team this year, and I am also excited to see how other teams will do as well. I think some of the NFL players need to get over themselves. I won't mention names, but they know who they are!

I hope that this finds you well. Have a great rest of the day!

Time for some Honesty

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everything is treating you well. I wanted to say "thank you" to those of you who have been reading my blog and keeping up with the mission trip to Hong Kong. It was a great trip. Three kids accepted Christ (one being the first in his whole family), my love for the people there grew, and it reminded me that God's Kingdom is a lot more diverse than we give it credit for! I'm hoping that I will be able to go back next year.

A lot of times when I wrote a blog, I will give an update on what's going on with my life. Sometimes I may talk about what events I'm part of, books I'm reading, or just some random thoughts in my head. Rarely do I just vent or really go in depth about how I am feeling. I mainly don't do that because I don't want want to seem depressing or because I don't want to get personal online. This is a blog after all, and if you wanted to get more personal you could talk to me. Yet over the past several months, I have found it a little hard to talk about what's been going on and effectively communicate how I feel. So I am going to use this blog as a way to do that. This blog is not directed toward anyone in particular. Whether you are in a similar situation or totally opposite, this is mainly an outlet that I want to use for me and for others that want to see what's really going on.

Today is the first day of school for Williamson County. As most (if not all) of you know, I graduated this past December and have been applying for teaching jobs - mainly in Middle Tennessee. Since college I have been told since I was a male teaching in the elementary age group, I would have no problems finding a job. I was told that through classes, through student teaching, and by people inside and outside of the profession. Even though I appreciate the encouragement, I kind of wish they would have not told me that! I applied for several jobs, e-mailed some principals...and didn't hear anything. I kept rationalizing it saying that it's too early, they need to take care of this first, they still have some time, they are still reviewing my stuff, etc. Looking back, I know I probably wasn't as pro-active as I should have been and I should have broadened my outlook a little bit. From what I heard from people too, it's also to find a job here in Middle Tennessee regardless of profession. Whatever the reason, I didn't get employment as a teacher. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I love to teach. I could have been passed over because of my experience or because they felt that there was someone better for the job. I have some friends that did find employment teaching, and I am happy for them. They knew they wanted to teach since they could walk, and it's a dream for them. For me though, it's a different story.

To quote one of my professors, "It is what it is." Looking on the bright side, I still have employment at a job where I feel that I am contributing. I am still teaching Lifegroups and I am actually starting something new this year and helping to teach a children's Sunday School class. I love to teach and being able to teach about God makes it even greater. One reason I'm happy I didn't take a job elsewhere is because of these opportunities.

Did you know this is my 5th year with my Lifegroup? It's amazing how much they (and I) have grown since I met some of them in 6th grade. Now they are starting their first year of 10th. Then this Sunday I will be in a room full of 1st graders building relationships, learning about a new ministry, and growing myself. How come no one really wants to ask me about this? Whether in church or outside of church, it seems like people define you by what job you have. I know some of them are concerned, and I do appreciate that. But no one really asks me questions that I would like to answer. "What has God been doing in your life lately?" "Tell me about this year with your Lifegroups." "What is your favorite episode of Scrubs?" "What makes a perfect Hamburger?"

Kidding aside, I can say that things haven't turned out like I thought. As pastor Billy told me in Hong Kong, "Man proposes, God disposes." Right now I am keeping my eyes open for any open doors, trying to be content in all circumstances, and focusing on how to be a great leader for my guys and group I'm going to meet this Sunday.

Thank you for listening and for those of you who continue with prayers and support. Have a great rest of the day, and I wish you the best!

Hong Kong 2010 (Flight Home)

Hey Everyone!!!

I am writing this blog from home. I am trying to stay awake right now to get my body re-adjusted to this time zone. It's a struggle. I would like to sleep right now, but I know that it would be more beneficial for me to stay awake and go to bed early. So, I will do that!

Yesterday was our trip home. The trip home is always the longest day of your life. When I went to the airport, it was August 1st in Hong Kong and July 31st in Tennessee. When I got back to Tennessee, it was the night of August 1st and the morning of August 2nd in Hong Kong (doesn't that blow your mind?!?). Basically I pulled an all-nighter of travel. Let me tell you about my adventure with the planes.

First, Lacey and I went to the airport. All of our team was at CBIBC giving the wrap-up of our VBS week with a presentation. We got to the airport (with plenty of time to get checked in and go through security) and we came to a VERY long line. But, it was all right. We should be able to get through the line and security before the gate closed at 9:55am. We finally got to the counter at 9:15. It was cutting it short, but we could still make it. We got up there and the guy said, "There's a problem. You didn't reserve your seats." We both looked at each other like, "What is this guy talking about?" We did not have to reserve seats for this flight, the ticket was already paid for, and we were confirmed to be on there. As a matter of fact, they were supposed to assign us seats when we got to the counter. So the man told us to stand to the side and he would get to us in 10 minutes. Twenty minutes went by, and he didn't even look at us. I went to ask him a question, and he refused to talk to me. It was the same with the others. There was nothing we could do but wait. I looked at my watch and it was 5-10 minutes until our gate closed and we still didn't get through security or immigration. Then it was 9:55. We knew there was no way we could get on the flight. Lacey was talking to her dad about other options and I was thinking of who I could contact. I couldn't contact any of my team members and I didn't have anyone's phone number for the missions office at BBC. I ended up calling two ministers from BBC (who are Godly and forgiving men...sorry if I called you guys late, but I appreciate your help!) Right when Lacey was on the phone with one of them and was texted information about who to contact, a miracle happened. At 10:05am, we were called up to the counter. We thought that they were re-booking us. That was fine, as long as we got home. It turned out they got us seats for this plane. But the plane was going to TAKE OFF in 10 minutes. One of the crew members said, "Follow me." We went through the security and immigration that the crew members go through. We got to our gate and they were waiting for us. We gave them our ticket, ran to our seats, and the plane took off a couple minutes later. We looked at each other and were like, "That was unbelievable."

There's not much to say about the 15 hour flight, so I will go on to our next adventure. These words are like curse words in the aviation industry...Newark Airport. We already had a 3-4 hour layover and when we got there, they delayed it for two more hours! We were there from 2pm-8pm. I met a guy there who had been there since 6:30 in the morning trying to get a flight to Nashville! Can you believe that? He was also getting deployed to Afghanistan this week. He made it with us, but my goodness. Anyway, the fun thing that happened was our gate changed twice. The first change was okay. We were at least in the right terminal. Then as I was talking about it this man came up to me and said, "Are you going to Nashville? They changed the gate to terminal C." I went and double-checked and then an announcement came on. We had to take a shuttle to terminal C and then wait for an hour or more. We finally TOOK OFF at 9:00pm and got home around 10ish? I was tired, I really can't remember.

That was our day of flight. Once again, once of the longest days of my life. I will probably blog again to wrap up everything, but I wanted to share what happened yesterday.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Have a great rest of the day!

Scott

Hong Kong 2010 (Day 9)

Hey Everyone!!!

Today was my last day in Hong Kong. It was very bittersweet. I am looking forward to seeing friends and family and sleeping in my own bed, but I am going to miss all my team members who are going to their respective homes and my friends from Hong Kong (both of whom seem like family now). But looking on the bright side, let me tell you about what I did today.

Today we got to sleep in (PRAISE JESUS) before we went somewhere. As a group, we decided that we would go to Lantau Island to see the world's largest Buddha. The trip itself was an experience. We got on the MTR for a while and then we went on the Cable Car. I'll try to insert some pictures from that when I get a chance. I have never been so high up in the air but yet also felt so peaceful. Part of me was screaming inside because of the heights but I calmed myself down after a minute or two. After that, we finally made it to the place. I got to see a Kung-Fu presentation going on and after that we went up to see the Big Buddha. We went up about 100 steps or so and finally made it. Courtney said it best, "I felt like Po at the very end of Kung Fu Panda." Now this Buddha was huge! I got some pictures of it, but it may not do it justice. The interesting thing about this was there was a quote inside the building that said, "China has always been a place where freedom of religion has been protected for it's citizens." Interesting...

After we saw the Big Buddha, we made our way back for the BBQ at Thomas' house. He is a missionary/children's minister who helped put this whole thing together. We ate lots of food, sang songs, and just shared about how God was working this week. It made me feel like this is what the church in Acts must have been like.

Now, I need to go and pack for my flight tomorrow. I have a four hour lay-over in Newark, so that will be awesome! I will blog back when I get to the states to wrap up things. Thanks for following my blog. Sorry I couldn't be more detailed because of the time constraint.

Please play for all flight preparations tomorrow!

Hong Kong 2010 (Days 7 & 8)

Hello Everyone!

I finally found some free time to be able to tell you what has been going on the past couple of days. We have our VBS family night in about 4 hours, so we are all just resting and refreshing until then. I'll go ahead and briefly talk about what we did the past couple of days.

Day 7 - This was our fourth day of VBS. We talked about "How can I be like Jesus?" and there were several different stories and things to do. Nothing really big or exciting happened. The main difference was that Janice helped sit in on Courney and I's class and help interpret for some of the kids we felt may be having trouble. It was actually good to have extra help in that class. After VBS, we went to Stanley Market. We ate at a pizza place (which took most of our time), and then we shopped around the market. I got a couple of things and was happy with one of the paintings/pictures I got. If I upload the picture later, I may put it on this blog. After Stanley Market, we came back and dinner was on our own. Courtney, Zach, Janice, and I went to Hong Kong Island to eat at this Mexican Restaurant. It was good but...definitely a different neighborhood. I'll let you fill in the blanks for that.

Day 8 - Today was our last day at VBS! There was a feeling of excitement and a feeling of sadness as we were ready to be done with it because of the hard work and tiredness we were feeling, but we were also very sad to see it end because we got to know the kids and volunteers really well and tonight will be our last night to see most of them. We actually won't see the ICM kids tonight because they are busy. That was sad for me because Lacey and I will be leaving Sunday morning and that would be the next time we could see them. So this was my last day getting to see those kids. They did give me their names and (almost) all of them are on facebook, so I will probably hear from them again!

Things to pray for:

1) Family Night is in 4 or so hours. Some of the parents of these kids are not Christian, so pray that they get to see the program and hear the Gospel being presented.

2) Activities tomorrow. It is whatever we want to do. Pray for safety

3) Clearwater Bay Church. Pray that they will be able to follow-up on these kids and families.

Thanks, and have a great rest of the day!

Hong Kong 2010 (Day 6)

Hello Everyone!

I am coming to the end of my day, but this was the only time I could really find to blog. Hopefully it won't sound to jumbled because I'm a little tired.

Today was the day we were presenting the plan of salvation. I looked over the passage about 4 times or so, and I had a good idea about what I would do. Basically what I did is I told the story from Zacchaeus' point of view. I was really nervous as several of my team members could tell. I did do drama everyday last year, but I also had time to think over it and practice last year. This was a last minute thing. I have to say though, it went very well! I had the kid's attention. I could see their eyes focused on me, and I think they were really following what I was saying. I got several compliments from different adults as well, so I think it went well. Zach presented the Gospel after I performed, and it was very clear and concise and done very well. In our classroom, Courtney was the one who explained the ABC's of becoming a Christian. He broke it down so they could understand it and used examples that were very good. We had two kids from our class talk to Zach about decision they would possibly make. We'll know more by the end of the week. Overall though it was a great day and nothing really went wrong! The only thing that was possibly a hindrance would be the weather (very very rainy) but it wasn't that big of a deal.

After VBS, we ate at the University where CBIC meets. Then we went back to the hotel. Some of the women went to the Jade Market and Zach, Courtney, and I went to the History Museum. It was great! I got several pictures. I wish I could make a day of it because there was so much information and so much to see. Being there for two hours felt like I was rushing through it. It was a great experience though. I hope to go back there again.

We just got back from dinner with some of the ICM kids and Caroline at a small Nepali restaurant. It is always great to see the kids and Caroline. The ICM is such a special place and wonderful ministry. There are a lot of ICM kids in Courtney and I's class and a lot of the kids are coming to the VBS this week, so we're excited that they are there!

Things to pray for:

1) Two more days of VBS!
2) The weather. It's tough to plan certain things when the weather is bad.
3) Strength. We don't get a whole lot of time to rest, and lack of sleep catches up with you

Thanks, and have a great rest of the day!

Scott