Promises, Promises.

Sorry. I missed “next Tuesday” by a lot.

At this point, dear friends, if you have any interest in what a trip to Israel generated in my life, rest assured it will definitely come up in conversation the next time we speak. That holy land and its culture are literally stamped into my life now. I can’t live the same way as before, especially in regard to the Scripture. Our Hebrew brothers and sisters revere their part of God’s Word so much; once I saw HOW much, it affected me to the point where I literally now need it myself. I feel deprived if I go a day without it. And that’s not of me. That’s God.

(Fun bonus note: Our current assigned reading is Augustine’s Confessions. Much different from Usher’s. Book 4 will help express some of my sentiments, especially in regard to a newfound respect for the Bible).

As for now, there are two major considerations weighing heavily on my life. Okay, maybe that’s a little drastic.

Two things I am thinking a lot about, then:

A) My time in Tyler ends in three weeks, and I have a LOT to get done still. Mainly: completing my memorization of 1 Peter and finishing my reading-of-the-whole-Bible. So there’s a little stress, because I’d like to complete the program well.

But it also means that I’m leaving an environment where I get hammered on consistently. I’ll have to swap it for one where, if I’m not careful, I can get away with stuff. I need to be active in goading people to watch my back and confront me, because without that (delivered in a healthy measure of love), I’ll be bound to fall.

Or, if you’d like, I’m now addicted to Christian community, and hope to never be without. Which leads to…

B) Where to live next year?

This being the internet, I’m not keen on letting the right hand know what the left is doing for all the world to see. But without being too vague, I feel strongly about living south of Dallas on I-35 this next year, probably because there are a couple of locations where I could jive with a community of Christians ’round those parts. But to be quite honest, I have no stable job awaiting me. ANYWHERE. That’s kind of a concern. If you’re so inclined, this is a great prayer point for Benjamin.

Regardless, the Lord is kind. I will not starve for food, shelter, or fellowship, even if He satisfies my hunger with weird food.

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By the way, thanks for reading, friends. This began as a way to let the college bros read up on my random adventures at summer camp (and will return to form this June, hurray-hurray!) and has since evolved into a report for those who have supported and prayed for me during my time in Tyler. So thanks for checking in on me. You staying in the loop counts as an investment in my book.

Or blog.

Because print is dead. And my last job was at a newspaper.

Hmmm….