Baylor.... Sic'em

I know you would never believe I'd actually write a blog about another university, but the day has come. Yes, I'm still a loyal Longhorn fan, and will be... forever, but I've also realized how much I enjoy seeing parts of people's lives, and Baylor University was where several of my good friends spent some great years of their life. Lynn and I decided to head down to Waco this afternoon so she could give me a tour of the campus, and I got to eat at my favorite taco place, Rosa's. It was a fun/random trip and it was so cool to see another part of her life. Lynn is a new friend of mine who I met back in August, and have become good friends over the course of this fall. She's an awesome woman of the Lord, and has brought a lot of laughs and fun times in to my life recently. I love her! I'm very thankful for her friendship and look forward to see how the Lord uses it in both of our lives. Our next "Road Trip" is jet setting to NYC in 24 DAYS!!!

The Lord's been good to me.

Oh, and Texas is still NUMBER ONE. Hook'em Horns!!!!

I will rise...

Chris Tomlin's song below makes my heart REALLY excited:

I Will Rise:
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise


Won't it be a great day with no more sorrow and no more pain? What a great day of the Lord that will be. I'm thankful that I can live at peace in that truth. That Christ is the King of and Lord of the Universe, and one day He will call each of us by name, and rise above with Him in glory forever.

I am blessed. Blessed beyond measure. May each day of my life be lived for His gospel, for His purpose, and ultimately for His glory.

New York City

One of my favorite things to do in life is travel. I've been blessed the last few years of my life with being able to see lots of new places. I went to Colordao with some friends at the beginning of the year, went to the D.R. in March and then again in June, Philly a few weeks, ago and next up is NYC! I visited the city back in May '07 and really really loved it. It's a very cool, but very busy city. I'm fortunate enough to get to celebrate my 25th birthday a little early (my excuse for going on this trip) with three of my best friends. Tanya Jo, Lynn, Laurin, and I will depart from Austin on Thursday, Nov. 20th for a long weekend of fun :) I'm so dang excited!

Let Your Kingdom Come

LET YOUR KINGDOM COME - Aaron Ivey

Give us a love for peace
Move us to brokenness
Our generosity,
Release from poverty

Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and see

CHORUS
Let Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
All the Earth will say
and echo angels’ praise
that You are God

So, let the sick run free
The orphan find her home
The captured man will know
Release from slavery

Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and see

CHORUS
Let Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
All the Earth will say
and echo angels’ praise
that You are God

We pray and ask for hope
We pray and ask for peace
We pray and ask for justice
We pray and ask for You
We pray and ask for You

Let Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
All the Earth will say
and echo angels’ praise
that You are God

We've been singing this song a lot the past seven weeks in our Vision Series at the Stone, and for some reason (God) this song gets me SO FIRED UP! I love it. I think I could hear and sing it all day long and never grow tired of the truth behind the lyrics of this song. We just finished at seven weeks series about being a church FOR the city of Austin. The Lord is doing mighty things through the people of this church, and I'm just thankful to be a part of what God is doing here.

May this all be for His glory.

TEXAS.... FIGHT..... TEXAS.... FIGHT!

If you know me AT ALL you will know that I am a die-hard UT Sports fan. I love the longhorns and bleed burnt orange. On Saturday, we had our much anticipated rivarly game with the evil, Oklahoma Sooners. This game is a big game every year. Texas hates OU and OU hates Texas. We meet in the middle and play at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Tx. Saturday's game was outstanding, and we came up on top of the th #1 ranked Sooners, 45-35. It was one of those games that at times I had trouble breathing, but in the end the Longhorns prevailed! I'm SOOOO stoked! When the new rankings came out on Sunday afternoon, it was the Texas Longhorns that were the new #1 :) Hook'em Horns! Up next: The Missouri Tigers come to town. This one should be just as exciting.

I'd also like to add the rankings of some of my dearest friends:

Baylor Bears- #70
Texas aTm Aggies- #87

My trip to Philly

I had the amazing opportunity to go visit my great friend, Rebecca in Philadelphia this past weekend. Rebecca and I have been good friends for the past year or so after meeting last summer interning together for Makarios. She moved to Philly the past June to do the Teach For America program. She's now a fourth grade teacher, and definitely has her hands full. It was so great to see her, her new city, get in some good laughs, and enjoy some great food. Philadelphia is one of the largest cities in the U.S. and also the poorest in the top 10 (I believe). There were some awesome, beautiful parts of this historic city, but there were also some pretty "rough" parts you could say. I think a city like Philly definitely puts in perspective the reality of the world, and that it's not all sunshine and happiness. It was cool to see another part of the U.S. that I had never seen. I definitely can't wait for another visit sometime!

Fun Things from my trip:
1) eat at PAT'S (best cheese steak of my life). I don't think I'll EVER be able to eat a cheese steak in Austin and be satisfied.
2) seeing parts of Rebecca's cute neighborhood
3) witnessing Rebecca's AWESOME parallel parking skills (wow)
4) FREE Bruce Springsteen and Amos Lee concert (but briefly having to hear liberals cheer on Obama- sick)
5) wearing burnt orange in DT Philly and hearing people say Hook'em, and even one guy yelling "Texas" and Rebecca and I yelling "Fight!"
6) Watching the Texas game in a Sports bar in DT Philly with other Texas Exes!
7) Attending Rebecca's awesome church, Epiphany Fellowship
8) Getting to go to New Jersey, just for a grade book :)
9) Eating a Hoagie from a Convenient store.
10) Last but definitely not least, getting to meet Rebecca's fourth graders. Getting to spend a morning watching my friend love and teach these challenging kids. It was awesome.

I love you, Rebecca!!!! :)