"Let Me Get Back To You On That"

I'm back from music tour. We went over to Idaho, up into Washington, and swung back around through Portland. It was a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of fun.

Today I finished a group presentation that leaves me now very much less stressed. Ah, it feels good. I think the presentation went well. I kind of enjoyed my portion of it. Granted, I was really worried that I wouldn't say enough. I had a general idea of what I wanted to say. I even had a specific idea of what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to just stand there reading, so I pretty much took what I knew and what I wanted them to know and spoke as clearly and to the point as I could. There were some bumbles along the way, but all in all I think it went well. I even put some effort into keeping the attention of my audience. I noticed, while my team mates were giving their portions of the presentation, that we were losing the crowd. So for the sake of the team, and for the sake of the our gracious audience, I decided to just put myself out there and give them everything I had. Like I said, it was kind of fun. Terribly frightening though.

I have some choices ahead of me. That's life I guess. But I have some very new choices ahead of me. Example:
This summer I have been offered the opportunity to stick around campus and work part time for the A/V department. I would be provided housing at no cost, I would only need to take care of my own food and personal expenses. It could be a very interesting experience. Dare I say, it could even be kind of fun. Living on campus with a consistent amount of work every week. Not like during the school year when I have little work one week and long days and late nights the next three weeks. There are a lot of reasons that I want to take the opportunity. I already know that I really want to do this.
However, there is at least one--if not a few--reason(s) for why I would choose to go home for the summer. There are people back home. There are people there who I have had the privilege of getting to know. There are people at home that I would love to be there to help with the various trials, struggles, and joys of life. There are some who need a positive influence in their life--someone to show them the love that God has for them. There are some who simply need encouragement in their walk with God.
I'm not trying to say that I am the solution to all the problems in my home town. I wouldn't even say that I'm the solution to any of the problems. God is the only solution. He doesn't need me to be there for these people in order for good things to happen. God is capable of achieving his goals through so many ways.
But, should God desire to use me back home this summer, I want to be there. I want to be doing what He wants me to do. That is one opportunity that I don't want to miss, because even if I don't have any visible effect on anyone or anything there this summer, I know that if God has me there, then something will come of it eventually. It is a sick, dark town; especially for the youth who live there. I want to see God change that town tremendously. And if God would wish to use me in that change, I don't want to miss that.

So you see, I have decisions ahead of me. Please be praying that God will continue to guide me, and that I will be listening intently for His voice to guide me.

Leap Frog

So, I know I missed it--and that saddens me a little--but had I not missed it, this would have been the first possible post to ever occur on Feb 29th for this blog. The last Feb 29th was a little before this blog even existed. It's crazy, I know.

The next chance I get to post on Feb 29th will be a very different experience. I will be a very different person. Chances are--Lord willing--I will have completed my Bachelor's degree, and I might even be teaching music in some school next time I am able to post on Feb 29th.

I will probably have new friends. I could possibly have lost old ones.

A lot can happen in four years. I was reminded of this fact while reading a post written by a friend of mine. It's a good reminder that things change, and that things have changed.

In many ways it is very comforting to know that I am not the same person I was four years ago. I'm sure if I met that version of me I might think many things about him, some of those thoughts being:

My, he is energetic.
He is so shy.
He is so ignorant and foolish.
This boy is pretty silly.
He is kind of a short, scrawny kid.
He has some potential.

I think you get the idea. I am a different kind of monster than I was back then.
I wonder what kinds of things I would think about me now from me at the next February 29th.