Bieber Fever? A Confession…

I’m a fan of Justin Bieber.  There, I got that out of the way.

But, I’ve never once listened to any of his music.  I’ve never read any lyrics to his songs.  I couldn’t tell you the name of one his songs.  But I’m a big fan.

I know I may get ridiculed for having “Bieber Fever”, but I really don’t care.  The kid is just awesome.

In a society of teen pop culture icons, its good to see that so far, one of them has kept their head on straight.  After seeing the downfalls of so many going from child star to young adult inmate, its refreshing to see that Justin, to this point, has not met that demise.  I hope that he won’t ever fall from where he is right now.

Recently on Extreme Home Makeover, Justin Bieber was a guest star in support of a family who lost their daughter to texting while driving.  You can read more about that episode by clicking HERE. That night, he had a concert and invited the younger sister of the victim to be his guest of honor.  Being a young teenager, she was thrilled, and got to bring along several friends.  She had a private pre concert party with Bieber, and then Justin told her that $1 from every ticket sold that night was going to help their cause of stopping teens from texting and driving.  It was that night I became intrigued as to how such a young guy could have such a big heart.  Since then I have found out about several other things he does to help out.

Last summer, Bieber gave a sizable donation to victims of the Nashville Floods.  He speaks out against bullying in school.  He donates to the Children’s Miracle Network.  $1 from every ticket sale to all of his concerts goes to Pencils of Promise, an organization that builds schools for third world countries.  A simple google search will reveal many charities he helps out with, and he seems to be always looking for a way to help.

As a parent of a young child, I hope that future child and teen stars can look to him as a way to get it right.  I know he was raised right.  Recently, Bieber’s mom issued a public prayer request to ask all his fans to pray that he would continue in the ways he seems to be headed, and not be influenced in a negative way by his fame and fortune.

Friday is always Friday, No Matter What

No matter what, you can’t take Friday away from me.

For the past 9 years or so, I never took a regular day off from work, except on Saturdays.  Every church I’ve worked for has allowed me to take one day off during the week, plus Saturday.  I never routinely took my day off.  Sometimes, I would just come home early from a day at the office, but I never really did much of that.  If Kristen was working, what was I going to do with my day off?

Since coming to Houston, I have realized the value of a day off.  Most of us on staff take Fridays off, and it has really helped make it feel like what a weekend used to be like.  I take Friday and Saturday off, but its back to work on Sunday.  Well, really I usually end up with something to do with church on the weekend also, but I don’t mind, so long as I get my day off on Friday.

It has really helped rejuvenate my spirit.  It has helped me refocus my attention.  It gives me much needed rest.  I go to the gym and get an extra long weight session in for the week.  I get to do some things around the house.  I have time to pray, meditate, and sometimes fast.  I have a chance to listen to God.  It has given me so much.

You know, God rested.  It doesn’t always make sense that God rested.  I mean, He is God.  He created rest.  I can’t entirely comprehend it.  However, its kind of neat to think about our God, taking it easy for a day.  Don’t get me wrong, God never stops loving, working, creating…but I’m sure He still takes a breather every now and then.  If for no other reason, its to stop and look at his creation, maybe re-evaluate it, relish in it, soak it in, or cry over it.

Ecclesiastes tells us to seize every moment we have.  How will you seize today?  How will you relish in the day that God has given to you?  May God bless all of us this weekend.

A New Beginning

For a few years, I have been placing my thoughts out there for everyone to see.  While I may not be the most effective or proficient writer, I try my best to write things that will at least provoke some thought amongst my readers.  Ultimately, the blogosphere is a great way to just release your emotions in writing.

I used to always want to be an author.  For the longest time, I wanted to write children’s books.  I also thought it would be fun to write a screenplay.  Recently, however, I’ve gotten into writing devotional thoughts, Life Group guides, and Family Devotionals.

While this site may have a new address, it will still have a lot of the same thoughts, entries, pictures, etc.  It will be a place where I can continue to post pictures of my family, thoughts on ministry, and music and television reviews.  I will also be importing my “Tumblr”/”Twitter” feed.  This is my site for random thoughts, status updates, etc.

I hope you will take the time to re-direct your link to my new address.

Thank you for continuing to read my thoughts.  I hope you will be enlightened and uplifted.

Here goes!