Uh....help?

What a crazy couple of weeks of life...I'm looking forward to a day where I can relax, sip on a glass of Diet Pepsi and reminisce about the days of running around and trying to keep everything straight! School has been kicking my butt lately! I've been doing alright in my classes, but overall I have been taxed more academically then ever before. It seems as though my hardest work and best effort still doesn't net me that elusive A grade. I believe the good Lord is humbling me through all of it.

I'm a Resident Assistant in a freshman dorm. I've seen some stuff...you will not imagine what has been left in the Burgess bathrooms (due to graphic nature it will be omitted :) ). However, the last week has probably been the hardest week of residence life. I've had to deal with seeing suffering amongst my guys. This is so hard to deal with for me at times. How badly I wish that guys could live lives full of happiness, especially those who know Jesus. This week, one of the great guys of my floor (who we'll call Favre for confidentiality) just found out his mom has cancer. Knowing the strain I would feel if I found out such news about my own mother made me genuinely feel hurt for him. Lots of questions come up when such things happen to people who love Jesus. I had the opportunity to listen to many of these questions from Favre, but unfortunately was not able to give any answers. Funny thing about God is that sometimes he saves answers for us for a time when we are better able to understand them. So, that has been a tough thing to deal with.

Another resident had some issues with demonic sorts of things. This is really a long story and not appropriate to talk about in a blog, but let me tell you Jesus Christ reigns over all evil!!

Finally, I had the opportunity to work with the Furniture Mission in Sioux Falls. Basically we donated furniture to needy families. This is a tough thing to see, driving around the poorest neighborhoods of Sioux Falls is like a different country. I wonder how many of our city's residents are even aware that such a poverty stricken area exists. My eyes were opened and I received a gut check. How tragic is it to see people struggling so much that they have kids sleeping on the floor and have NO furniture in their dwellings (some were too rough to call houses). How can any Christian not be hurt by the fact that there are people in such a state of suffering? My heart was broken for them, may I never reach a place where my own possessions become so important that I forget to help those in need the most.

So I'm at a place in life where I am putting up my hands and asking God for help. This is real life, it is easy to be a servant for God when things are going great. When the rubber hits the road and things start to get hard, people start to suffer, this is when we need to rely on God and the power of the cross to carry us through.

One final note, for the politically minded. I try not to make too many bold political statements on the blog, many readers of this particular blog probably don't care too much about political rhetoric. However, I feel compelled to say that I support our President and feel that he is the man for the job and will get things turned around. There is such an aura of negativity around people of my party (I'm a registered Republican). To be frankly honest, sometimes I am somewhat ashamed to call myself a Republican. People like Rush Limbaugh make me sick to my stomach (granted, I believe he is primarily an entertainer, not a politician...or at least I hope). This is pretty much an aside, but I felt I wanted to say it just because I've run across a substantial amount of friends who have been trashing our President.

Remember, God is with you and is willing to help. Live with reckless abandon for Him!