Job

 Job declares himself right before God.   He still clings to God amidst the pain.   He holds onto God midst the belittling of his friends.    Eliphaz, the youngest person that speaks to Job says he speaks for God.   Only God can speak for himself.  God is God alone above all heavens and the earth. 

Best friends

 Some of my best friends came in to visit me for the Brandon Lake concert at the end of last month.   I had not seen Wes since the Engagement Party weekend at the end of April.    I had not seen Jordan since Arturo's wedding in early August.    It was great to see both of them getting to know each other and hanging out.   I felt like Wes had not really had a chance to talk to Jordan much last April.  

They were hoping to come in town late afternoon but did not end of getting in until early evening.   They unloaded their stuff and I got Wes some coffee.   We talked for a little bit before we picked up Amanda, my fiancée at her apartment.    We went to eat at Modern Market Eatery before the concert.   The food was good overall though the guys piazza was not very filling.   From there we went to the Bee Cave campus at Austin Ridge for the Brandon Lake concert.   

We missed the first musician of the night Brandon Haskins.   We stayed for the whole night of the concert which was really awesome.   The old band Leeland came on stage and played some of their old songs with Brandon Lake.   The next day we slept in and went to the 11 am service at church.   After church, we went to eat at  Jack Allen's right by the church.   The food was pretty good though they mixed up our order and gave it to the wrong table.   They made up for it by giving us soup and we did not have to pay. 

Trust in the Lord

 God has been reminding me how important it is to trust him with everything in my life.   Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean on your own understanding.  But in all of your ways acknowledge him."   God has been showing me that it is a constant trust with everything we have.   I have to lean on him with everything in my life.   Jesus wants me to acknowledge his presence and leading in my life.   I need to trust in his goodness despite waiting on a few things right now.   

I am trying to trust in his leading for a Children's Ministry position.   My fiancée and I are trying to trust him for the right time to get married.   We are trying to trust him in seeking other couples to encourage us.   Also, we are trying to trust him with fiancé's right now.   I am working at HEB full-time job but it's not enough to pay for wedding.  We are trying to trust in his leading for jobs we both enjoy that pay well.  

How can we trust God more today?   What are you struggling with in the area of trust?  Let's pray that we can learn to trust God more.  

One Year

 Recently, Amanda and I celebrated our one-year anniversary. It's been one year since God led me to meet my fiancée Amanda Love.   It's been an amazing year of ups and downs.   We talked for three hours that day on the HOD Meetup.  At first, the meetup was going to be on another day.   

God ordained us to meet that day.   She has become my best friend, and I am excited for her to be my future wife.    It has been a year of ups and downs.    Also, it has been a year of a mixture of emotions and a lot of different transitions.   God has been there with us through it all.   

It was a great weekend celebrating our one year together.   We went to Lady Bird Lake where I proposed.  We had a great time walking around the lake and hung out at her apartment in the afternoon.    In the evening, we went to Central Machine works where we first met.   We had piazza, danced, and enjoyed a live band.  We ended the weekend eating healthy chocolate brownies after church.  

Jeremiah Takeaways so far

 Here are a few takeaways from the book of Jeremiah so far.   God's judgements are true, fair, and according to sin.  God hates when we break his covenant and laws.  Judgement through Babylon is used by God as a time of refining in the lives of the Israelites.    Persecution comes when we preach and teach according to the name of God.    We are to speak against false lies.   God has a plan for restoration for our lives.   God is faithful and just to lead us back to him in times of exile in our lives.  He will give us peace and protection as he leads us back to a place of restoration.  

Ecclesiastes-Takeaways

 Here are some things to take away from the book of Ecclesiastes: everything in this world is vanity and passes away.   We will not be remembered.  Enjoy our wife/the things that God has blessed us with in life.   Fear God for, he judges all things in life.   God is sovereign and in control of all things.   Everyone will end up dying in life.  True godly wisdom considers God in all things and leads us to an eternal focus.  

Proposal weekend

 Last weekend, God worked out all the details for my proposal weekend when I proposed to Amanda.  It was an amazing weekend seeing how both of our friends helped and attended the Engagement Party on Saturday night.  Everything came together last weekend from the scavenger hunt to the proposal, to the engagement party.   Miranda and I planned out all the details months prior to that weekend.  I texted each of our friends and some family about helping out.   Around 20 or so people ended up attending the engagement party last weekend.  

Also, we were able to find the friends to help out that weekend pretty quickly.  The people that wanted to be at the engagement party were there.  On my end, the Airbnb details worked out last minute.  Miranda and I were able to keep Amanda guessing so she did not know.  The scavenger hunt and proposal weekend was a good surprise to Amanda.   She was only somewhat surprised for the engagement party. 

God showed me from that weekend how he ordained us to meet August 27,2022.  It was truly a God thing in leading us to meet that weekend.   We talked multiple times that afternoon before I asked for her number.  We just had an instant connection that afternoon.  Two days after we talked for five hours on a Monday night.  Then, I came to Austin in the end of September for our first date weekend.  

Now, we are going on eight months of officially dating.  We are transitioning as I move to Austin in a few weeks.  It has been amazing see God work out this relationship these past eight months of long-distance dating.  Neither of us have had much dating experience before.   God has totally worked this out for his glory.