Here goes...

Well, for anyone who didn't know what's going on in my life right now, let me explain.

For the past while, I've been up and down with my faith (praise God I'm on an up right now) and just can't seem to be strong enough to dig my roots in deep. One day I was talking to a friend of mine about it (in tears, mind you) and he asked, "what do you think triggers it?"
because you have to understand, I'd been reading all the books I could, listening to all the music I could, going to retreats, attending prayer meetings, doing all the life groups I could and nothing could help me.
And I replied, "None of this started until I got my job."
PING!
Lightbulb.
Bingo.
"Ohhhhhh...!" he said.
"Ohhhh..." I thought.
So after that I started wondering if leaving my job would be the thing to do. I went to my alone spot (I totally go to Brushy Fork when I'm feeling down) to pray about leaving.
"Is this really what You want me to do, God?"
I feel very strongly that His response was a resounding "Yes."
So I thought (note: thought, didn't pray) about when my last day would be. I decided I wanted to close on my last day, so I decided on Christmas Eve, and put in my notice in early November.
I thought and prayed a ton about what I'd do during this time off, what it was for, where I'd work, etc...and I'm positive that God's response to me was something like this:
Your faith has taken a beating. You're only holding on right now because you know deep down inside that I am the truth, and I have branded you. You're mine. Now is the time to pull out of the battle. Let Me heal you. Let Me teach you. I'm going to reinforce the walls of your faith, and make you a strong warrior for Me.

So ever since I got God's confirmation that I was supposed to take time off, I've been stoked, because I really want to get back to the basics of my walk with God, and growing in maturity knowing who I am as a person, as a man, and as a child of God.
A couple of weeks after I had put in my notice, I was telling someone about my last day.
"Yeah, I'm doing Christmas eve because I want to close on my last day..."
And for whatever reason, the word "I" stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I kinda shrugged the thought off.
That next Sunday, whenever it was, Pastor Tim preached a sermon called "God's got a Plan." Then I started to realize that God was talking.
So I started asking God if He wanted me to leave sooner. I started thinking about money and Christmas and stuff, and I said, "God, I'll be getting like three less paychecks!" "Exactly," He replied. It was then that He reminded me of back at the men's conference when Pastor Scott explained that "God calls us when we feel least prepared, so we can rely on Him."
In fact, I probably would have never thought of leaving my job if it weren't for the men's conference...because let me explain the theme of the conference.
The scripture was taken out of 1 Kings 17 and 18, talking about Elijah, and his preparation for his mission.
1 Kings 17:1-6 (the Message)
And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: "As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise. God then told Elijah, "Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I've ordered the ravens to feed you."Elijah obeyed God's orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan. And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook.

So here's the deal. Elijah declares the word, and then listens to what God told him. Then he lives like a hippy, doesn't shower or anything, just kinda chilling by this brook while Ahab scours the land trying to find and capture him. And he's like eating from ravens. I'd be a little humiliated, myself. I'd be like, "oh, Lord, at least let me kill my own food!" but nope, he listens and obeys. And this was Elijah's preparation time. When God was setting everything in place. He was wearing out Ahab, giving Elijah rest from traveling, working on Elijah's heart, it was all being done here at the brook.

This is where I think God has me. He's preparing the road ahead, preparing my heart for it, and then here in a little while, He'll send me out again.
Waiting on the Lord is an active activity. it involves learning from Him, relying on Him, etc.
I believe that this is the time when God strips a man down away from his friends, his reputation, his stuff, his money (ohhh man that's big) and builds a heart for Him. Seriously.
And the best part of all of this is that right now, I feel happiest, I feel closest to God, I feel strongest, and I feel most ready to go.
Lord, thank You for working on me!

Anyways, back to the top...November 28th was my last day. Oh, I had forgotten to mention that I moved my last day up! It was going to be December 2nd, but the restaraunt manager didn't want me working only two days of December and being on it's turnover.
So here I am, December 1st, officially on the first day of my time at Brook Peggy Flats. After Thursday, I'll be living off my bank account (which, praise God, has plenty in it) and won't be hanging out much, going to see movies, buying music, buying junk food, anything like that. Bare minimum. And that's enough.

I'm doing a Bible study that I'm calling, "Getting to know Jesus." Where I just read a couple chapters in Matthew and write down everything, significant or not, about Jesus. I know I'll never fully comprehend Him, but at least I can get to know Him a little. :)
I'm also getting ready to go down to Tennessee for a weekend, my friend David and I are leaving at 3 AM January 3rd, coming back January 4th. We're going to Nashville and visiting NewSong Christian Fellowship. We both feel a peace about Tennessee, and we're trying to find out if God has a plan for us down there.

So there's my life right now! As of Thursday, I'm just working at home, studying, praying, going to church, playing with our wonderful worship team, going to Christmas choir practice, and life groups!
P.S. Christmas Concert (Jesus Saves) is December 13th at 7 PM at River of Life! Hope you can make it!