fight the good fight

An excerpt from Furtick's book, Sun Stand Still:

"All the good stories start with adversity. All our favorite plot lines are made up of major conflict. Of course, we wouldn't choose to write our own stories that way. We want our stories to jump straight from the promise of deliverance to the after party in the Promised Land. We like to watch other people cross through the middle of the Red Sea with an evil empire closing in. But we'd prefer for God to build a bridge over our troubled waters - and destroy our enemies before they get within striking distance.

It doesn't work that way. It can't work that way. Because you'd never see how strong God is if there were no opponent for him to overcome in your life."

After a humiliating defeat against the town of Ai, Joshua is stricken with self-pity and depression. He blatantly questioned God's purpose and wondered whether he would ever recover from his setback.

The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" -Joshua 7:10

After realizing and coming to terms with many of my own personal set backs, failures and inequities, it's hard to not cry about past defeats. But what God calls us to do is stop whining and obey Him completely in the present moment. As I was reading this part of the book, I looked out of the school bus window and across the horizon. I saw the blazing sun rising over the pink waters of the Caribbean and said to God, "I'm frustrated and tired of failing." Right then, a homeless man was walking on the curbside and on his shirt was a 5 letter word: (You're not going to believe what it said)

TRUST.

Alright, thanks God. You know what you are doing. And again, your timing is perfect.

It's so hard to do sometimes. We fight with all that is in us only to realize that it's not about us or our strength. It's not about our good works or our self-righteousness. It's not about continuing to wallow in our sin and knowing that the Lord's grace will cover us. It is about handing over our lives and CHOOSING DAILY to follow and to glorify Him.

portrait of Jesus

A Portrait of Christ from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.

hands of time

1. I can't believe it's already April.
2. I am extremely excited about my upcoming visitors and Semana Santa! (holy week)
3. I am constantly blown away by the Lord's perfect timing.

Conversation:
Me: Yeah, I got this under control, me, myself and I, I RUN THIS!
God: Ha. No you don't.
Me: What? Yes I do. I'm the jam.
God: BOOM. Roasted.
Me: Aw, snap. You're right.
God: See? I told you so. I got your back and I'm so intentional with your heart because I love you.

My prayer since last year has been that, 1. I would draw closer to God and 2. That He would reveal to me a pure and holy passion. He is faithful and it was right under my nose for a solid few months until I realized it. After contemplating several (more like 13) different ideas and desires for "life after Roatan" I stumbled upon a dream job. The application took months and after several scratchy phone interviews, I was offered the position last week. HALLELUJAH! Kelly and I jumped up and down for a solid 10 minutes, celebrated by drinking coffee and then jumped up and down again when she received an acceptance email to her sought after teaching position in Spain!!! CELEBRATIONS.

Austin, Texas, you better get ready.

here is love

Senior "itis"

Caribbean Yoga

We love you Melissa

bo VAY

Happy 25th Birthday, Sarah Elizabeth Bove.

A short poem:

From 7th grade and broken art
You sure knew how to steal boys hearts
Heading up to good old PHS
Driving Mustangs with such finesse

Road trip up to Boone for a night
Futons, Klondike and card games until light
Singing Celine Dion in showers
San Francisco sketchy flowers

Golden Gate Bridge bike riding
Trekking up hills and almost dying
80's parties, breaking chairs
So many more memories with you to share

Can't wait for you to get to the Ro
We're going to have a great time fo sho
Buy some sunscreen and until then,
Do it up right, Happy Birthday Best Friend

Thank you for being amazing.

I love you.