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Needless to say I am blessed. When words like "miracle" are used by police and other personnel to describe that I wasn't hurt, you have to jump at those opportunities to praise God for it! #praise #joy #thankful

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Best and worse case scenario for the back of a squad car... Car is totaled but after a full flip in my car and I don't have a scratch on me. #praiseGod #nomoreaddi #driveslower

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This band just keeps making good music and I can't wait for the next album release! #nevergetold #love #myfav

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Yup. It's gonna be a good night. #brothers #cards #friends

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I love my little brothers and miss them a whole lot. #family #brothers

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Best way to break in my new home? Bond. James Bond. #007 #jamesbond

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The Super Bowl bash! #spyntv #halftime #salvation

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Just a little over two hours till Night Light. #word #discipleship #outreach (at Mount Hope Church)

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I don't think I will sleep much tonight. So excited to be able to launch this new chapter for @mounthopechurch and be apart of what God has in store for Lansing. #word #prayer #Godswill

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Do You Really Love?

I love the next generation. The potential in each one is absolutely amazing, and we get the opportunity to speak into them. Whether you are in your twenties, thirties, or seventies, we all have a God given responsibility to love, encourage, pray for, and disciple. What are you doing for the next generation?

Loaded question right? But please take a second and really think about that for a moment. Are you actually investing into the next generation and the greatness God is calling them to, or are you serving as a road bump? Because lets face it those are the only options. Even more than that though we need to not only invest into them with our words and time, but with our prayers and LOVE.

That means learning not only the names of as many people as you can and remembering their names, but also learning what motivates them the best way to the greatness that they have yet to tap into.

The other night I was talking with a young man who I love to death, pray for, and invest personal time at his home and with his family. I got a little frustrated with him because it didn't seem to be clicking and that all he was using me for was till time. Turns out he really has a confidence issue when it comes to reading and writing (Two things I encourage is daily devotions that include journaling). 

Knowing that now I am changing up the game plan. Instead of maybe requiring a certain amount, now I am encouraging him to do what he can because God loves the effort we put into spending time with him, not the quantity of materiel we ingest. I would never have known this about the young man if I didn't actually love him and get to know what makes him tick, what motivates him, and most of all just him as a person.

Slow down, invest your life into someone else, and really love the guts out of them.

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We wrote scripture on the ground in @mounthopechurch to go under the carpet in the new sanctuary. #acts2024 #word #sogood

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Perfect

You ever feel like you are in a rush to get something done, or go somewhere, or pursue someone? I know I have. In fact I do a lot, but I have found one simple little truth that I always laugh about afterwards when I remember... “His timing is perfect.”

Now think about that statement for just a second. What I am saying is that we can try to make something happen relationally, or in our jobs, and in our homes. But did we really commit to pray about it and seek God, because if we didn't, I also know this truth... “Our timing is always off.”

It brings me back to the amazing fact and realization that as much as I may want to control things in my life and the timing of when it will all take place, God still knows the perfect time for me. When I stay committed to prayer and spending time with Him, He will be faithful and His Timing is Perfect. 

Just a quick story about His timing and how it could not have been more perfect for me. If you didn't know I recently moved to Lansing with my Pastor and his family to begin the next chapter of our lives at //spyn student outreach. I have been living in his basement for two months and this was literally tearing me up inside. Even though I knew my pastor and his family were super gracious I just felt like they needed time with just the family and as long as I lived there that would be next to impossible.

I fought with God in prayer for weeks and yesterday He won. I had thought I might be able to get a place, but that fell through. I thought I could live with any one of the amazing young men in our church, but that wasn't right either. One after another, search after empty search, and then in walked Ian. Needless to say it was His Perfect Timing and I will be moving into my new place with an awesome guy my age who loves God as much as I do next weekend.

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” -Proverbs 16:9

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Trash talk before the game takes place.

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Got a break between snow runs. #snowremoval #nosleep #allnight

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I love getting to watch God speak through @spyncaptain and transform the youth at @spynyourlife #spyn #spyndtm15

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Get to hang with one of my lifelong "Iron men" for the day. So amazed at what God is doing through him in South Africa! #friends #iron #amazed

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First Christmas in Lansing. Thankful for the Chiltons and inviting me to be apart of their holiday. #thankful #christmas