swept away by a fragrence

i was walking down the hill the other night after choir, when i caught a wiff of fall. All at once i was flooded with memories of childhood. The pure joy of raking the leaves in the front yard only so we could put them in a pile and then jump in them, or bury my sister in them, and then jump on her. Or stepping out of our house onto the front porch to light the pumpkins that my dad helped us to carve.

Sometimes i catch a scent of something that reminds me of a certain season of my life and i sit back and enjoy the nostalgia of better days, but not always are they pleasant.

Smelling the perfume of an ex-girlfriend can be both wonderful, and devastating. Remembering the intensity of being close to someone, and also the reminder that it had to end and the pain that comes with that.

The smell of spring in March reminds me of the biggest turning point of my life, which was that death of my father. The smell of March 12th always forces me to feel like my life is being forced to change forever. And every year at some point it smells like i will be forced to move beyond where i am like it or not.

Today I was walking outside and i caught a smell of decay. Probably the leaves that have fallen from the tree and are now decomposing on the ground. I was overwhelmed by the smell because it was similar to the death and decay that i smelled on skid row in L.A. Instantly i felt like i needed to be back there showing them Christ, helping them "climb from their grave into the light"

Perhaps we all smell a bit like decaying leaves. We all have fallen from the tree and are decomposing on the ground. (thats another blog proabably)

I can remember the smells of the point in my life where God stepped in, and took a hold of me. That was the smell of grace, when the smell of decay was washed away and i was anointed with the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Lord thank you for creating me in a way that even a scent can evoke memories and emotions. Thank you for giving me feelings, and emotions and memories, good and bad. Lord help me to be the scent of life to others everywhere i go, and that you would annoint me and that i would reek of your grace and mercy and light. Amen

ruins turned into a tower

City of Angels: what an ironic name for a place that is the closest thing i have ever seen to hell. Perhaps it would be better to refer to it as city of fallen angels, cause L.A. is the eppitome of man's fallen nature.

Despite the depravity of that city, I am sitting here back in Kirkland and ever fiber of my body wants to be back in L.A. more than anything. I fell in love with a place that completely breaks my heart. I walked skid row, the projects of East L.A., Santa Monica, I carried an 8 ft cross around the sunset strip. I have never seen a place in so much need of the light of Jesus Christ. The grace and mercy of his love, the hope of knowing there is more than what they have, and far more than what they don't have.

I have never loved and hated a place so much in my life. I saw people smoking crack and shooting up heorin. Prostitutes turning tricks in the porter potty. Children with nothing, but overwhelmed with joy just to have you pick them up, and show them love. Drunk clubbers that were too inibriated to understand that we were there to tell them about God's love. I loved it cause God loves us despite ourselves. I hated it because of the raw human nature that dominates the lives of those who live there.

L.A. forced me to take hold of God's power. At first i kept praying "God please give me the power to do what you want to be done here, and to make your name known to those who have yet to hear it." God said to me "It's yours Andrew. Take it" I did and i walked in it His power, cause i could not have done anything otherwise.

My heart shattered in L.A. and i left a trail of its pieces through out LA. Much of my heart is still there. But in my brokeness God did not just put it back together to the way it was, he put in new pieces, and filled in the cracks with love, and compassion. So now i have a heart that is even bigger and better than before. He picked up the ruins and made a watch tower out of them, and now i see people from a better perspective, one that God has given me. One that hurts for the lost, and the broken. One that has the power and courage to do something about it.

women and the creatures of that sort

It's a wierd thing to be content with being single. I'm sure i am not called to be celebate for the rest of my life but for this season i am positive of it. However there is always a monkey wrench thrown at me from time to time which really causes me to question whether i want what God wants in my life.

Ultimately i believe that God has given me the wisdom and the choice to operate my life, but i choose to honor him with it and i know he will honor that. I know that i could probably find a woman tomorrow and she would probably bless that as well, but i choose not to because i would miss out on the blessings he has for me in this season which is unlike any other season i will have for the rest of my life.

I just wish it could always be as simple as i just explained it.

Lord, please keep hold of my heart for now. and please help me to keep from holding the hearts of those who are ready to give it out.

Collison

Tonight i had one of the happiest nights ever. I went and saw my favorite band in concert
The David Crowder Band. By far the best performance that i have ever seen from them. The name of their latest album is A Collison which is referring to the qoute that David ends most of thier concerts with: When our depravity meets His divinity, it is a beautiful collison" Tonight was a beautiful collison. And i was thinking about it and the same can be said about my life.

I am truly a miracle of God's grace. I should not be where i am, and i should not have accomplished so far what i have, and i probably should not have the future in store for me that i do. And it is all because of my God, Jesus Christ.

When He did pick me up out of the mud and the mire it was while David Crowder was leading worship at a youth conference. And that is why tonight was one of my happiest nights ever, because in more ways than one i was brought right back to the moment that Christ took a hold of my life and i was never the same. Tonight i celebrated the first time where my depravity met His divinity and it was a beautiful collison.

Finally a Cure! (to our genetic dispostion to death)

I was just thinking about how people strongly believe that there will someday be a cure for cancer. Something that sparked my interest about this idea was that people can have so much faith in science while science has yet to actually succeed in curing diseases like aids or cancer. Then i thought when will they find a cure for man's genetic diposition to sin and death? cuase when all of those who commit their lives to science for the cure to what ales them find Christ they will realize the cure is not found in science but in the Son of God, who can give them eternal life, living water, and a life worth living because it is more than just a life of dying.

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord.

Lord use me to help others find the cure to death, Lord use me to help others find You.