Updates From A Texan Bloke

It is now JUNE and you can literally feel the 98% humidity in the air caressing your body as you make your way to your mailbox to get the mail. It is only about week 4 or so since classes at Tarrant County College ended and I couldn't be anymore happier. Now, instead of reading about Shakespeare and sitting in a classroom while a feminist professor bashes on the Bible, I am now currently using my free time reading the Bible and studying more Apologetics. Oh blissful days...

I suppose the fun all started when Joseph and Lindsey Durant (the big sister of Jon and Seth as mentioned in my last post) flew back home from Moody. I seriously have almost forgotten that big smile and innocent personality of Lindsey's (I mean afterall, I only knew her for a week). It is funny to note that during the time with the Durants I have had the fortune of spending with, I know Gina (the younger sister) a lot better than Lindsey. The two are complete polar opposites from each other...one literally is able to bounce off the walls while the other would possibly just stand in the crowd and laugh at the silliness. If the two were to be compared to animals, one would almost be an energetic rabit while the other would be a laid-back, yet graceful, cat. Nevertheless, I love the girls as my own sisters and would love to know them more and see who in fact they end up marrying in the future.

Joseph and I have spent much time together since he's been out here. Lindsey seems to find it great joy having the two of us in the same room with her. Apparently she finds it hilarious to observe all the inside jokes and fun the two of us can ignite. So far Joseph and I have gone out for pizza, did some one-on-one evangelism, swing danced, and even open air preached both in Southlake Townsquare and Downtown Fort Worth. One time Lindsey came out to preach and that brought back wonderful memories from when I first met her up in Chicago. I just came back from Joseph's house, watching both a video of him preaching and a Star Trek episode. It is real awesome to know that the person who taught me evangelism is going to be my roommate for my first semester up at Moody!

Sad to say I have been neglecting my time with Gina Durant these past weeks or so, and not only her, but Jon and Seth. I have been so busy working and meeting with other outside of work that time with the others have had to be placed on the back-burner for now. Gina truly is a great girl, not to mention dancer! I believe I know the best dancer around :) Jon and Seth I wish I can spend more time training in evangelism. At one point, Jon expressed a wanting to open air preach, a wanting I hope will eventually push him to preach, if not now, then later. On one occassion in Downtown Fort Worth, Joseph and I ran across a young man my age by the name of Alex Long. Apparently, he leads his own church's youth group out to evangelize! Expressing a desire to learn how to open air preach, we are now considering getting together and merging teams, not to mention teaching him out to be a bonified preacher, like Joseph and myself!

So I suppose it is safe to say I will be missing the Texan life I have lived thus far, not to mention the bonds I've established out here in the blessed South. If I wasn't going to Moody, I'd love to train Jon and Seth more. Outreach to the cults would definitely be on the forefront of my mind and heart. Lindsey would be staying down here for about a semester or so, which would eventually lead to us spending more bro/sis time together, and Gina and I would have more time to bond as well! I really feel that if God hadn't called me to Moody I would've lived this "alternative life" where I can still still see myself working security overnights, preaching with Alex Long and our new combined team, while on Sunday afternoons having lunch with the Durants at their house. During my time down here, Gina and I would be doing some more swing dancing, Lulu (Lindsey's nickname) and I would be tackling Muslim mosques, and Sterling (a friend of Gina's) and I would be having sushi at least once a month! Oh how my thoughts travel to far off places, stepping into a doorway that leads to another life! Now do I wish I spent more time down here...? To tell you the truth...NO! I hate living in Texas just as much as I hate watching the gas price rise over a span of two weeks. Yet, in some weird, mystical way I would like to spend more time with the friends I have made more without ever prolonging my time before I fly up to Chicago...Lindsey is deifintely coming back to Moody sometime in the future, while Gina still has about another year in homeschooling before she can head off to college.

To sum up, it has been a long, emotional/spiritual ride for me...To sum up, God has taught me the importance of being led by His Spirit instead of either running too far from It or lagging behind It. It is important to note that if one pursues an avenue that is not in accordance to the will of God, you can expect Him to pull you out and shine bright lights in your face until you agree to submit to His authority. Currently I am brushing up on my Mormon studies in hopes of visiting two Mormon churches (or at least one) and asking the attendees questions as they come out, praying that the seed of the Gospel will be planted.

2 more months until Moody!...the pendulum swings...God I'm going where you want me to go...