Only two years left...

So, apparently if you're not married by the time your 30 years old, there is no hope. Someone asked me yesterday if I was married. Here's how the conversation went, and I am not kidding you, this is really how it went:

Person: "Are you married?"
Me: "No."
P: "Are you engaged?"
M: "No."
P: "Were you engaged?"
M: "No."
Silence...
P: "Are you divorced?"
M: "NO!"
P: "How old are you?"
M: "I'm 27...well, I'll be 28 in July."
P: "Oh, well you still have 2 years...just keep looking."

I crap you not! So, let me get this straight: 30 is the cutoff for marriage. If you're not married by then it's curtains. In 2 years, I'll be washed up, an old maid if you will. I may as well purchase 10 cats right now and get it over with. Sometimes I can't believe the lack of tact that some people have. Well, coming from this person I guess I should, but that's beside the point. I'm thinking I should have said something like: "Quite frankly I've been through so many men, I honestly can't keep track anymore." I know...I'm a hoochie. Anyways, if you're not married by now you better get crackin' because 30 will creep up on you real fast.

Spiritual Warfare

This past month has been a month not from heaven. I have learned and grown a lot through the situation that I found myself in, and I have to admit even though it has sucked more than anything could possibly suck, good has resulted from it spiritually. I think watching a dearly loved friend walk away from the Lord and close relationships has got to be one of the most trying, depressing, and infuriating things on the planet. It also goes to show that no matter how secure in the faith you think someone is; Satan is ready and waiting to pounce on them in a heartbeat. He stands by our sides ready to accuse us before God and ready to pour condemnation upon us. It has shown me that we have got to be ready to do battle against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Through the last month I have heard story after story of people being spiritually attacked and this leads me to believe that something big is brewing below the surface. Maybe God is preparing his people for something just around the corner. Two people I know have said they have had very vivid dreams of persecution taking place here in the U.S. Who knows what it could be, but we need to be ready and clothed in the full armor of God. I have felt weary and depressed lately, and I have been tempted to let my shield down. When I have, now more than ever, I felt the flaming arrows of the enemy. That seems very dramatic, but there is no other way to explain it. Pray, pray, pray for our friends who may have strayed far from God. I heard something recently, "While the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return." As long as there is life there is hope. "But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." We need to encourage one another to continue in our pursuit of the Truth, to continue to steep ourselves in the word of God, to hold each other accountable personally and biblically. It's one thing to know it, but it's an entirely different thing alltogether to believe it. Christians do not remain on a single plateau. They are either progressing or regressing. Their desire should be continual progress.

Some books that I have read/am reading that have really shed some light on all of this are, for your reference:

When The Darkness Will Not Lift--John Piper
Finding Peace in Life's Storms--Charles Spurgeon
When Godly People Do Ungodly Things--Beth Moore
Spurgeon on Prayer and Spiritual Warfare--Charles Spurgeon
When I Don't Desire God--John Piper
The Bible--God

I would highly recommend any of those books, especially that last one. Friendship is amazing, but it's not all fun and games. It's being open and vulnerable to people, it's trusting someone else with knowledge of your past hurts and experiences, but it's also taking a risk to love someone even though you are opening yourself up to the possibility of being hurt. I'm hoping I'm on the "road to recovery." I know it's going to be a long one, but I know that we have a God who is faithful and our Lord Jesus Christ is our greatest Advocate. "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Jesus pleads on our behalf and intercedes for us as well. That is very reassuring.

The Reaping...

So, Kim, my mom, and I went to go "get our Swank on" as Moose calls it and saw The Reaping. For the most part it was a pretty decent "thriller." Don't go into looking for a biblical flick or anything because it's not, it's just simply a suspense movie with a few biblical elements thrown in. It had some good jump moments and I have to admit I did jump a few times and then look around to see if anyone saw me. Some lady that was sitting behind us was crying her head off at the end of the movie. I really wanted to ask her, "What's sad? Why are you crying?" I mean I can understand getting a little emotional during some movies, but The Reaping?! Come on!

Anyways, the drama with my family has settled down and we can all go back to pretending the other people don't exist. That seems to work the best for my family. When my grandma does pass away I can only imagine the antics that will ensue. I'm picturing someone blaming someone else for something ridiculous and then punches being thrown. My grandmother's coffin will inevitably be knocked over, and her cold, lifeless body will go rolling across the funeral parlor floor...unnoticed. Such is my family; ignorant, a little bit redneck, and completely and utterly ridiculous. That's just on one side. The other side is pretty cool, but has its problems as well, none that would require a bouncer at a funeral, though.

On the homefront...

Mexico is coming up very, very soon. I'm kinda ready for it, but not quite. I get more excited on the day of than the days preceeding. This will be the 7th trip with CCH. I know...that's a lot. Never on earth did I think I would be this much of a Mexico veteran. It's a great trip and something new and exciting happens every year. Whether it be seeing a goat with jewelries to witnessing a donkey with bangs, Mexico is always exciting.

The family was just here from Dallas. As always I was sad to see them go, but Mariah did poop in the bathtub so that made for a fun evening. She left her mark...literally. The bathtub in room 210 of Krystal Aire Suites has been claimed in the name of babies everywhere, fight the power! I had the chance to watch The Prestige with my mom and brother and let me tell you that was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's one of those that you really have to watch and pay attention to, but it's well worth it. And don't let other people be talking through it either or you'll miss some things and then you'll have to rewind it or kill that person. As for the other magician movie that came out at the same time...that's interesting isn't it? I wonder who said, "You know what? I think the public is due for some magician movies so let's release two at the same time." We'd been having a dry spell. The Illusionist is good, but it really can't compare to seeing Wolverine and New Batman magic fight for a few hours.

Janae was here, but now she's gone back to the East. I didn't get to say goodbye so there's no closure there. So belatedly, Janae, I bid you farewell. I hope your stay in our humble quarters was to your liking and you filled out a comment card on how we could better serve you next time.

That's about it. Off to Mexico I go on Friday and then I will return on the 24th. Later!

The Happenings...

So, what's been going on here? I visited a different church this weekend. I just wanted to check it out and see what's shakin'. I've been going through some stuff, theologically speaking, and I was interested to see what this church had to offer. Not that I'm leaving Glendale, but I may go to this church every once and a while and I might possibly get involved in a women's Bible study there. I already have 3 million things on my plate, so we'll have to see how it all pans out.

Speaking of "pan", what's the deal with the Peter Pan peanut butter salmonella? People all over the country are getting salmonella or "Panned" as I like to call it. How do you get that from peanut butter? Janae, you're a medical type person I expect a full report.

Girls'/Guys' Retreat is this weekend. The guys are going to go shoot things and we are going to make corn bags. I, for one, would prefer to shoot the corn bags. I mean someone could yell, "PULL!" and then another person could chuck one into the air. We're also going to play hide-and-seek in the dark around 4a.m. Pray for the safety of all those involved and that we don't get attacked by homelesses.

Missions Rally is this weekend and we all know what that means...diarreah from all kinds of different foods churning in our stomachs. No, seriously, it's a great time. Our good friend Brittany Bolt is going to be doing scheduled music on Sunday morning, and who will win the Aspirin Challenge this year? I'm in suspense...

Long time no post...

So, I'm back from Guatemala. I have been for a while now, but I haven't really posted anything since forever. The trip was amazing. Guatemala is probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to, nature wise, but one of the poorest, also. I got to haul rocks one day to clear land for the new hospital, and another day I helped build an office with AJ, Kim, Jen, and Lewayne. This involved me using power tools, something that I've never really had much experience with, but it was fantastic! To quote AJ: "You girls learned how to screw real good." All I could think of was a quote from Arrested Development: "There's gotta be a better way to say that." The rest of the week I spent helping out at the new library/soup kitchen. I helped serve the elderly people lunch one day, which was sad/awesome. Sad because these people are really the lowest mark on the totem pole. They live in terrible poverty. The people at Victory Mission live like kings compared to those I spoke with. The gratitude and humility on their faces was enough to make me want to cry. At the library, I helped catalogue books in the computer and paint the reading center.

In the evenings, Bryant and I led worship and then we all just basically hung out. We spend New Year's Eve there and enjoyed an amazing BBQ. We also got to see tons of fireworks. The people at the Posada where we were staying tried to set some off as well, however we discovered they had a huge amount of inexperience and we ended up dodging/running/ducking out of the way when they shot back around towards us. Dave laughed the entire time...it was great. Near the end of the trip a good majority of got sick. Not too terribly bad, but just enough for some of us to throw up and throw down. I threw down many, many times and had to bust in on Kim and Crystal Coakley on separate occasions while they were showering so I could utilize the facilites. All I could say was, "Don't listen!" Mahoney got quite ill and her's lasted longer than most I think. She's all better now praise God.

After returning home, I spent a week in Dallas with my family. It was great seeing my bro, sis-in-law, and my little niece. I also got to see my Dad a couple of times. He's so cool. My niece is now walking around on her own two little legs, jabbering away as if what she's got to say is so very important, and giving lots of evil eyes. The evil eyes go away as quickly as they come and then she starts laughing...a true Hernandez. We were trying to teach her how to say "wanker," but my mom threw a fit. Geez...it's only a British swear, the folks here won't know. We got it out of her once. Good enough. Anyways, if you read all of that good for you. Have a great weekend. The forecast is calling for more inches of snow...yippee. The Crystal Village melts ever so slowly. I think today is the first blue sky we've seen in over a week. Later.

Pondering theology...

I've been thinking through a lot of things lately. Mostly it's been brought on by questions that I've been getting at work, but it's really forced me to take a look at what I believe. I'm trying to sort my way through some stuff, and frankly, it gives me a headache. I've polled six different people on various subjects and it's split down the middle. It's not a question of faith, but rather a theological debate going on inside my head. So, if you'd like to give your two cents, please feel free.

What are your views on "free will"? Is there a biblical basis for it, or is it just a man made concoction?

What do think about predestination?

Those are just a tiny sampling of the things rolling around in there.

Anyways, I'm pretty much exhausted. I don't think I've gotten a decent nights sleep since last Friday. I've been going non-stop with CCH and then last night, my first night that I've had to just rest, I spent with a student at the hospital until 2am. Needless to say I was running a bit late for work this morning. Please pray for strength and energy because I'm not feeling any of it right now. Peace out.