A praise...

As I was writing an email to a friend I was struck by the truth that the Lord spoke to my heart... so I just decided to post this excerpt that explains my heart of thankfulness.

"God continually allows me to stay connected with people who speak into my life and show me love. There have not been more than two days when I have not spent extended time on the phone, had a face-to-face interaction, or received a card or gift from someone in my life. He continually reminds me that I am loved and I am thankful."

That was my prayer request as I left Phoenix, that I would just be reminded of the Lord's love even when I am away from everyone familiar, and God has done just that.

First Blog

Considering that there is a two hour time difference and I have not had a chance to even speak with everyone that I left behind or connect with them, I figured a good way to keep everyone up to date on my life and ministry is to post blogs at least once a week and perhaps even more frequently than that. Given that I haven't been able to consistently make journal entries, I figure that I'll set myself up for success through realistic expectations. So I'll start off with a breakdown of what has happened in my life thus far, for the first few posts. Don't expect chronological order considering that I'm always sort of random.

Getting settled in:
The drive across country was great. I enjoyed cruising through the southwest, even not minding the barren lands of North Texas and Oklahoma. It made the drive easy. Just pop in the iPod and ride out!

I had a chance to hang with a good friend Brent while passing through St. Louis, and at the same time visited my alma mater Washington University. It was cool to see a lot of the changes that had occurred on campus, and yet the few things that had remained the same.

When I arrived in Chicago... actually let me clarify. I'm in the NorthWest suburbs so I am about 30 miles northwest of the Chicago in the city of Elgin, IL - known for its casino riverboats and farmland that is being eaten by suburban sprawl. I found an apartment on the second level with a cool balcony so I can sit out and watch people in the complex walk by. It's right next to the pool, although unfortunately it's not really hot enough to use it. The tough part about moving to a new place is getting started over from scratch. Thanks to some good friends I came with plenty of food and snacks though!

The day after I moved in I took my first roadtrip to Milwaukee on the last Friday of August. My cousin, Jonica is up there and I wanted to show her a little love. That and I am pretty confident that it might be a little more difficult to make the 2 hour trek with inches of snow on the ground. We had a good time going out to eat and hitting a fair at a local park the next day. I'm proud of my younger cousin!

Needless to say I have been able to settle in and get to know the area.