a crash of faithfulness.

last summer i asked one of my christian friends how their summer went. he sighed one of those fulfilled, just-ate-thanksgiving-dinner, 'life is really good' sighs and told me, "ya know, this summer God just really prepared me for this year back at school. I mean there are so many people on this campus who need Jesus!"

3 immediate thoughts:
1. dang, homeboy! get it! i was only looking for a "great! great! how was yours?" but you just exceeded my expectations!
2. will you marry me?
3. you, know what, Amen brother.

anyways, it got me thinking about making this summer meaningful. purposeful and focused.
then it arrived, the thought that i had never really entertained the idea of faithfulness. yes, i love Jesus, believe in Him, etc. but does all my worrying/anxiety really illustrate turning directly to Him once disaster/trials strike?
so i asked God to make this summer an "undistracted devotion to the Lord" summer.
just us two. just me and Him.
and that He would show me what faithfulness really means.

be careful what you wish for.

now i'm not complaining, but dang, i have learned more about what it means to be faithful, to trust in the Lord, than i think i have in a long time.

for example, last week this happened:

yes, i'm fine, i was a little shook up, but about an hour after the whole thing went down i remembered my immediate reaction after that blue honda took a turn and t-boned me out of nowhere.

"Jesus, please help me. help this situation."

i prayed like it was second nature. and that's a huge thing for someone who is awesome at legalism. God has truly answered my prayer of cultivating faithfulness to the point of producing in me a fruit that He promised He would. Gal 5:22-23 has never been so real: "for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

so for now, i am car shopping, with money from the insurance agency-holla! stay tuned for a little bit of blessing- mazda style!

love you all!