jon mark

sooo, this past weekend kasey and i were in indy and overall it was very refreshing…i spent four or five hours in starbucks on saturday…funny thing is i was reading this book while i was there…even the barista thought that was funny…i actually finished the book over the weekend and had time to read the epilogue on the history of coffee…good stuff!!! then i was back for a drive through order on sunday morning…

we did some shopping while we were there and got some good bargains…i hit up the 80% off racks at kohls and then we got 30% off the total…does that mean i got those shirts for free??? NO… but if you do that math, one might think so…

i even broke down and used the fitness center at the hotel…no joke!!! i actually ran two consecutive miles without stopping and then did a short cool down and some dumbbell work…that felt pretty good…wonder why i don’t do that more often…?

yesterday i went to vinyard community church and enjoyed the service there…i had never been to a vineyard church before, so that was cool…i came in for the final week of their series and the topic yesterday was on being single…not so cool… then i was off to this store to sit and read parts of this book, which i plan on purchasing soon…i just have two other books to read first…i went to kasey’s campus and hung out there in the lobby until she was done with her class…and of course i was reading…even took a real short knap…before we headed home…

we get home and find out that little molly has cut her first molar and is starting on the second one…she was so fun to come home to…the best welcome i have ever received by far!!! even though she was not feeling so well, it was good for mom and dad…all she wanted to do was be held, i’m a sucker for that!!!

it was great to get away and get some “fresh air”…away from work…away from home…away from the daily life…to just relax and spend time reading, studying, journaling…

it was…

very refreshing!!!

(i plan to get back to in or of tomorrow…for those who read, but don’t comment…)

soooo, kasey and i are in indianapolis for the weekend…we had a good day to drive over with very little rain as we got started and clear skies 90% of the time…then we made our way through the downtown area and found the hotel we are staying at…VERY nice!!! we are in the middle of an alumni get together…VERY interesting!!!  (we got to experience a 65+ year old man in the hallway with his patriotic boxer shorts, white socks, and black lofers…he was coming from the hotel fitness center!!!)

then it happened…we were trying to find out way through the downtown area so that kasey would be able to make it back to school in the morning…i didn’t see the stop sign, nor the car that would t-bone the saturn…! let’s just say the vw beetle faired much worse than the saturn, but we’re all ok and for the first time in my life, i’m actually having to use that insurance pay all that money for…

we had a great time…once we were back on our way…we headed downtown and checked out all of the shopping and eating options…back for a quick knap before heading to catch a baseball game…we walked the 1-2 miles to the ball park and even took a tour of white river national park…WOW!!! this town is very nice and definitely somewhere that we will be returning to and bringing molly along…

kasey is sitting in class and i am sitting where??? you guessed it…at starbucks!!! there just so happens to be one right across the street from the hotel…shucks!?! darn!?!

well back to my reading…

the weather here…VERY nice!!!

the book i’m reading…VERY interesting!!!

so we are now in our final week of an eight week series at church…days of vision…go here for some great resources and to see what we have been up too…

this week’s reading is dealing with how we can be “in” the world, without being “of” the world…and we were challenged with the question of how that is even possible for us…also how would we explain that to someone so that they can actually understand it…here is the passage that we are looking at…

john 17:14-18…14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Christ is sending us in to the world, as God the Father sent Him into the world…but we are not to be of the world, just as He was not of the world…

Christ was definitely IN the world…He got into messy situations and involved with people who had messy lives…never did He completely seclude Himself for the world or its influences (with the exception of getting away to pray)…but yet He was never of the world…

i have my theory on how that looks and how i would explain it to someone…but i would like to hear feedback from others…how would you explain it??? how do you see it working???

i’ll be back in the next day or two to follow up on what my take is…

in or of…?

so today i am going to revert back to monday’s post…and i would like to bring up the passage that it caused me to think about and then i just had to go read through it and chew on it for a little while…

Philippians 3:12-21…12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

i read through this passage several times and there were six words that just stuck out to me for whatever reason…”their mind is on earthly things“…and i’ve been challenged that no matter what situation i find myself in or who/what i’m even looking at with my eyes…i have to make sure that my mind is not on earthly things…i have to make sure that i am seeing the situation or the people or the things around me through God’s eyes…i have to have my mind on His kingdom and seeing His kingdom come to the world around me…

i have to say this is a definite struggle for me…too often i see through the eyes of my job…or through the rear-view mirror at things in the past…but i have to stay focused…

what about you…

where’s your mind???

so today i have really been focusing on the things that i have to be thankful for…i was able to see this amazing sun this morning on my way to work…in fact i had a hard time seeing because of the sun…speaking of coming to work, i have a job that i am able to come to each day and a vehicle that gets me there and back…i have money to put gas in the vehicle that gets me to work…

then i got this e-mail this morning…long story short, i am seeking to change my degree plan and was looking at losing credit for two of my classes, unless the school allowed them to transfer to the new program…i was notified today that those classes would transfer and i was not going to lose the hundreds of dollars i had paid for each class…not only that, i will be done with my degree sooner with this new program and in turn will save thousands of dollars…YEAH GOD!!!

these are just a few things that have come to mind so far today, out of many…and out of many more to come, i’m sure…

so…what are you thankful for today???

every day is…

a day to be thankful!!!