Hump Day

WOOHOO

Hump Day!!! That means the week is almost over. I am really excited because my good friends from Harding are coming down. This weekend is going to be off the chain... right, dumb, I get it.

Wow, today is such an encouraging day. I woke up today talking to God, I had been filled by two Bible classes, and my spirit is rested and ready for the day. I also get to see my church family tonight with some of my buds from school.

The missionary seminar is coming up next week, and that is when I'll have to opportunity to sign up for mission work this year and next year. Pray for my efforts as well as God's blessing and guidance during this process! I would not have this joy and dedication without Him!

Praise God,
Potter

A new week

Um woah, I have forgotten how boring school can really be, especially if I am working toward a major I really don't care about. I'm working toward a Business Mgmt degree, but I'm not really sure why. My passion is for ministry and the church and for now, that is the only thing I can see doing that will bring the most joy to my life. I guess I found myself getting here because of my dad. He was a minister for 25 years and was awesome at it. Several things brought him down and he no longer preaches anymore. Bills are high and spirits are low. He's a truck driver now. It's the only profession that he could go to school for a couple of weeks and make the same money he was while he was preaching, plus more. By his advice and other ministers, it would be best to have a profession to fall on if the whole ministery thing doesn't work out. Right now I can't see that happening, but I never know what God has in store for me. All I can do is prepare. I dreaded coming back to school the whole entire summer. I only look forward to seeing a few people when I came back and I was excited about the Bible classes. However, I refuse to let myself become bitter and negative like last semester. The atmosphere is tough. The conservative view is strong and socialization is hard here. Clicks are prominent, social clubs are life, and church life and dorm life are clearly divided. I thank God for the church in Alvin, Jerry and Carolon, Danielle, the Alvin youth group, KSBJ, my parents, and other influences over the summer. I draw on God a whole lot. What concerns me is that I am doing it harshly so early in the game. I've only been here a week and I am already starting to feel overwhelmed. Pray for me. A verse I am going to draw on over the semester is Psalm 119:71. Wanna know what is says? Pick up a Bible and read it!!! :-) Because of His Blessings, Potter

It Begins

So today is the first day of school. I've been running around all day yesterday and today I finally settled on a schedule just in time to begin this morning. At 8:30, I have Hebrews. 12:30, Genesis and Exodus. Ok so I have two bibles, but it's ok because I can't get enough of bible classes. Then 1:30, I had Managerial Finance. Tomorrow, I have Logistics Mgmt, Human Resources Mgmt, and Physical Science. So far, I've been to a devo every night. I went back to my TN church family at skyline c of c today. After church tonight, we had a massive group singing in the tennis courts on campus. About 900 people showed up as we sang praises to God while looking up at the stars. It was kinda disappointing because the college class is canceled until the new semester starts. However, I was lifted up because I went to the youth group class and saw some amazing things there. They sang contemporary songs and the prayer thought was from "Seven Habits for highly effective teens." At the end, the youth leader asked fort prayers because he is appearantly facing a tough situation when he makes a trip to AR monday. A teen, about 15 yrs old, raised his hand and volunteered to lead the group in prayer as we closed out. There are some great things going on in that youth group. Thank God for young sincere hearts. Thank Him for being there while we are afflicted. Ps 119 says "It was good for to be be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees." Thank God for showing us why His character is supreme and the life we yearn for. Because of His Blessings, Jeremy

On the Ranch

So I just got back from an amazing weekend with some old high school chums! A long lived tradition of ours is to take a camping trip, watch cheesy horror movies, and then have an awesome time being ourselves! Instead of the usual state park cabin, we headed off to a ranch owned by one of my friend's grandparents. It's in a little town in south mississippi called Kiln. This place is amazing ya'll, they aren't amish, but they are Godly people who live off the land. They grow their own cows (which they herd with 4 wheelers, yeah) chickens, etc. We stayed in the bunk house in the barn. Hurricane Charlie pushed a huge cool front up to us, so temperatures were between 60 and 75 degrees all day. There was this massive husky dog there named tiny whomI hit off with immediately. Tiny and I took a few walks at night down the dirt road and talked with God for awhile. Then I had an awesome time riding the 4 wheelers and threatening my life on it, WOOHOO! Hmm, nerd, right. I would talk about how I made all these friends with farm animals, but that would sound pocohantas like, so lets not. My friends don't live the christian life, so it was hard sharing Christ with them. I felt like time has begun to drift us apart. I realized that I no longer find comfort or pleasure in many things they do anymore. I've engulfed myself in the Christian atmosphere for the past 2 years, so my past life is slowly becoming uneasy to me. Thank God for changes that allow us to be like his character! For the first time, I felt proud of my changes. For awhile, I felt as though I didn't make much progress. But after spending a long time away and going back, I've noticed changes. I'm excited! Growing closer to Christ is really possible, and that's what I'm going to do! Because of His Blessings, Potter

Last Day of Work

Ok, so today is the last day of working at the Hampton Inn. Even though this job is really stressful at times, I remember that its an answered pray from God. I had the hardest time finding a job close to home. So instead, God gave me an awesome family to live with in Alvin and my same job that I had last summer so I didn't have spend a lot of time training. God is awesome and I thank him so much for taking care of me as his child.

How has God been working in your life? God is very active in your life, make sure you reflect and thank Him for taking care of you!

Last night was an awesome night. Brock came by with Sarah at the Nelson's so she could stay with them for a couple of days. We spent a lot of time just kicking back and laughing a lot. They are an awesome couple and I pray that God bless their lives together. I think some awesome ministry is going to come out of their lives.

After work, I am going home to sleep, then i am going to start sorting and packing. So why is it you never realize how mcuh stuff you have until you try to move it all? Last year, I really thought I was taking very little to "rough it" at college and that took up all the space in my car! Well anyways, please pray for me and my trip. There are things I am not looking forward to this semester and I am going to miss my church family, friends and physical family very much!

Because of His blessings,
Jeremy

August 6th

I love some of the random quiet times I share with God. Most of them spark up right before I go to bed since I do not have a TV to watch in my room. I had a really awesome talk with God last night as I read through the first three chapters Galatians. One particular verse stuck in my head, which is Gal 3:13. It reads "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us - for it is written ' Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree.' " This is significant to me because I always wondered what 'magic' was there in the physical act of Jesus hanging on the cross. Deut 21:23, God specifically says that any man who hangs on a tree is accursed in the sight of God. This created the psychological association that anyone who was placed on a cross would be distinctly put in the most accursed action known to man. While I still do not understand God fully, discovering this verse helps me all the more in my growth in Christ.

Because of His Blessings,
Jeremy

August 5th

Ok so I posted a Blog yesterday, but clearly it is no more! Has anyone seen it? Where did it go?

Ok, to recap what I lost, I had an awesome late night drive Thursday night with Danielle. I couldn't sleep, so i went to the store to pick up some toilet paper, because the well went dry at the Nelson's. I left, and the drive and the music felt awesome, I went for a cruise before hitting the store. Next thing I know, Danielle is in the passenger seat and we are off on some distant country road looking out for cows. We sang some praise and worship and spent the rest of the time catching up on each other's week.

Thank God for awesome friends whom you can call on any hour of the day!

Because of His Blessings,
Jeremy

What in the World?

Ok, so how in the world did I forget to put this in the blog?

Sometime during the 3rd week of July, I decided it would be fun to take a really late night drive on the dark, tumble-weed infested roads of Texas. I drove for a few hours which totally winded down my day. I proceed down 1462, 2814, or whatever this road's name is, and I begin to daze a little as I watched my headlights hover over the road in front of my car.

Then I pull one of those numbers where I stare a little and say to myself, "What is that?"
Three point five seconds later I find myself swurving my car to left of the biggest cow I have ever seen. I could help but notice that as I was speeding around this heiffer at 60+ mph, it had a great fear in it's eyes and the poor thing tried so hard to run that it's hooves were slipping on the pavement while it's flailing utters threw it off balance. I had been going so fast when i swurved around the cow that when I tried to switch back in my lane, my brakes locked and the back of my car fish taled until I was face 180 degrees the opposite way I was heading. I saw oncoming cars that were following me and I flashed my brights at them because my car had died and I couldn't move outta there way. Just like in a movie, the cows walked back in front of my headlights across the street toward what I had assumed was there pasture. Boy was that cow lucky!!!

Because of His Blessings,
Jeremy

So on and So forth

Woah, I don't think I have slept so much in a short period of time. So I worked night audit at the hotel sunday night 11 - 7am monday morning. I woke up monday night at 7pm... I know I know. The whole time I was up I was out of it. Then I went to bed at 1am and woke up again at 12 noon. I didn't realize how a messed up sleep schedule could throw a stick in the works. I'm pretty non-chalant today. I can't wait till I am pumped up with the spirit again!!! I've been praying for it, now I'm just waiting.

How has your day been? Have you ever felt out of it like I do today? In a class by Dr. Gilmore, he said that when you feel depressed, out of it, and feel like quitting your spirituality, give to someone. Whether it be a random phone call to someone, a gift, or money. Give something and the spirit of God will gain back control.

Because of His blessings,
Jeremy