Gone, But Not Forgotten

    Goodbyes are always tough. Especially ones from those you care about the most. I don't think we were made to deal with things of this nature, and that's why it hurts so bad when the time comes for separation. God did not intend for us to die and leave the ones we love. Adam and Eve came into a perfect world. But due to our sin, we have chosen to go our own way against the will of God. And so, we are punished. 

    A dearly loved individual named Jacob Heatherington has moved his life to Richmond, Va. Jacob has always been there. I have watched him go from someone I saw in the parking lot of Hickory High School, to a guy coming to my basketball games, to a friend, and then a best friend, to ultimately my father in Christ.

    I got the chance to stand and say a few words about Jacob in front of a Leader/Committee Christmas party a few weeks ago, and emotions ran sky high. Along with Jacob, I could not find my words through a river of tears. So many memories found their way to the front line of my mind. All the joyful moments of walking with Christ beside Jacob, to the times of encouragement and growth, he was always there. He never hesitated to tell me I was being an idiot when I needed it, something which happened quite often. He truly SHOWED me who Jesus is and what living for him looks like with his own life. He didn't just tell me, Jacob undoubtedly lived out everything he believes. I would not be who I am today without Jacob stepping into my life, something I will never forget. 

    Words still cannot express my gratitude towards Jacob. He saved me from this world. He reached down and picked me up, and brought me from death to life. Yes he's gone for the time being, but we will forever be connected through Christ Jesus our Savior. To Jacob; I owe you my life, and nothing less. Thanks Jake.

Romans 1:9

God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

Gordon's Giblet's

    I am taking a break from my normal format to introduce a best friend of mine. We served at WorkCrew together as servers. His name is Isaac Cramer, he's the real deal, and he wrote the proceeding paper for his english class.

Gordon's Giblets

            I wouldn't consider myself to be a liar. Trust is important to me so I try to hold myself to a standard of honesty to maintain that character trait. However, when mixed with the right person in the right environment, one's true nature can be cast aside for the adoption of totally new personality. This exact thing happened when two fun-loving, sarcastic and imaginative people coincided at a 15 day summer camp.

            I had been invited to participate in a work crew staff at Rockbridge Young Life camp for a little over two weeks. With anticipation on my mind and a humble spirit on my heart, I gladly accepted. Upon arrival at the camp I only about 2 or 3 people. One of the first people I met at camp was named Zachary Wyatt Inman. Zach was a tall, athletic eighteen-year-old with a servant's heart and a caring personality. He also had a devastating sense of humor.

            Our lack of familiarity with those around us gave us an outstanding opportunity to build relationships with people that would be built purely on our time spent at camp. This also provided the chance to abuse that relationship. One of the first conversations between Zach and I was how we could have pretended to have accents when we first arrived and convince everyone that we were foreigners. This sparked a flame that would ignite the fire of constant deception.

            We contemplated over how we use our prime relationship with those around us to abuse our status. Once this happened, lies began pouring out of us. We convinced the fifty or so people on the work crew that Zach had become engaged two days before journeying to the camp, that our friend Terry was a professional Bill Cosby impersonator and that the Amish don't believe in Wednesday. They ate the stories like they were banana pudding.

            One tale outgrew the others by mass proportions. Zach and I told everyone that we had a Youtube channel called Gordon's Giblets. Everyone wanted to know what it was like, due to our hilarious personalities and natural ease for comedy, so we decided to put on a live show. Our on-stage antics were so popular with the crowd that we began to perform almost every night. The little white lie had grown into something beyond belief.

            Eventually we began to realize that we had taken things too far. People began to stop believing us at all and we started to understand the effect it had on our character. So, with heads held low, we revealed all of our half-truths, fairy tales and falsehoods. Amazingly, no one was upset. They all found it hilarious that we had pulled it off so well, or they just already suspected our veracity.

            The reception of our untruthfulness had a huge impact on me. The fact that after being deceived and tricked day after day for weeks they would still like us dumbfounded me. Of course it was all done in good spirit but that is beside the point. When in a community, great things happen. Lives are changed, invincible bonds are made, but most of all, character flaws are overlooked. It is no longer about what a person can or cannot do, but about what you can do for them. I will never forget the relationships I made with those incredible individuals. The imagination of two young rabble-rousers incited a change in my heart that is inestimable. Gordon's Giblets changed my life.

Work Crew August 2012

    It feels like it has been ages since my last post. My summer has been nothing short of hectic. I have graduated and moved out of my parents house. It is such a weird feeling, but I have great roommates that no doubt will make me a better person. It's hard to be away from Kelly also. Three hours is not extremely far, but nonetheless I don't like being away from her. But as long as we keep our trust in God, we will be alright. She is pushing me towards God in ways that I didn't know were possible. She has taught me so much about what I want in a relationship. I had no idea how great the conversation could be between a dating couple.
    Along with that, I have learned so much this summer. I have recently done Work Crew at Rockbridge for the third session. If you don't know what that is, I worked at a Younglife camp for two and a half weeks where I served and bussed tables. I never knew how tiring that could be! There, I worked alongside a group of fellow students all about my age. We didn't get paid, and we hardly got thanked. But that was not why we were doing it. We did that hard work so that camp would be perfect. Camp is such a fun time, especially when everything is clean and in place. This camp was very special, but only because all the campers got to hear the greatest news in eternity; The Cross of Jesus Christ.
    In living with the other workers, I learned so many things. I could talk about them for hours, but now I'm going to focus on just one thing. And that is the absolute need to stay in God's word. Before I went, my time reading and studying my bible looked very different. I would read a couple of verses up to a passage. But at Work Crew,  I was reading whole books! It was a stubble at first until I realized how much I needed that time to remain in God's will for me that day. I needed that "charge" of energy that it gave me. Energy that cannot be found in any drink or food. This strength and energy came from The Lord, and it got me through each day.
    I could have made it the first few days on my own. I am a hard enough worker to do that. But that's it, only a few days! I would have been grumpy and upset about fourteen hours of work followed by very little sleep. But with that time spent with Jesus, I learned to delight in my sufferings so that other people might understand what Jesus did on The Cross and I might share in Christ's blessings.
   I have found this to be the best two and a half weeks of my life. I have never grown so much in so little a time. And to that I give thanks and praise to God for guiding me through it every step of the way.

Colossians 1:29

²⁹ For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Just The Beginning

    Finally, my last days of high school have come. I can't believe it's happening. I am about to graduate high school. The very life that I have known for the past twelve years is coming to an end. On one hand I feel anxious and ready, but on the other I feel scared and unequipped.
    I know everything is going to be fine, and my feelings are normal. But I just can't help but to feel like it was just yesterday that I was a little freshman at my first day of high school. And now it's over. All the times I woke up too late only to find that mom had made my lunch, all the countless hours spent in the principals office, and all the years I got to spend with my friends who lived right down the street, are all gone.
    And now everyone is going their separate ways. It's going to be tough not seeing everyone all the time. I guess this stage in life calls for many road trips. It just feels so weird that I won't have to wake up and get to school before the dreaded tardy bell that ruined so many of our mornings. And I know that this next phase of my life will bring on a whole new set of responsibilities. And for that I'm ready. I'm anxious to be on my own and pay for my gas, rent, and food. There is a sense of accomplishment and pride felt in doing those grown-up things. So yes, I am excited.
    But it is still a bitter-sweet feeling. I love coming home to be greeted with a kiss from mom and a, "What's peepin' dawg?" from my dad. I'm going to miss just sitting around with my closest friends and deeply conversing the things that make up our lives.
    These times are not totally gone. I will have much to look forward to in the next few years as I will move in with Chesapeake's finest and start leading Younglife. Many more bonds are sure to be made. And in four more years, I will probably write these same things I am now. So I want to thank all of you for being in my life and caring enough to read my ramblings. But remember; this is not the end, it is only the beginning.

Integrity

     Billy Graham once said, "Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost."
     We are called to follow God's will in our lives. We are called to obey His commandments. We are ultimately called to glorify Him. But out in the world today, this is becoming increasingly difficult. While temptations surround us, we face decisions that we don't want to make. We are forced into situations that we don't feel prepared for. These situations can either make us or break us.
     The key to getting through these tough times is our integrity. It's easy to be dishonest with ourselves and others, and far more easy to be dishonest with God. And this sense of dishonesty can become our regular way of dealing with things.
     But we can also be honest. Pure honesty can be difficult. Sometimes it has a way of piercing our hearts and causing pain. But the truth is what's needed. The truth shall set us free. And as soon as we build it into our everyday lives, it will take over and become second nature. Rick Warren said, "We become whatever we are committed to." If we commit our lives to being truthful with God, we will become the truth that so many seek.
   


"Maintaining your integrity in a world of sham is no small accomplishment." --Wayne Oates

Family

    These are the times that I cherish. Sitting around a fire with my whole family. I hold these moments so precious to my heart because it is a rare occurrence. We have recently been united by the ever so wonderful visits from my brother Jeff and his girlfriend Kelsey. So there we sat, next to my other brother Corey and his fiance Melissa. Dad got the fire rolling as Mom came out with s'mores. What more could I ask for? Oh I know, a wonderful girl named Shannon sitting right next to me.
    Laughter filled the air as we talked about life and love. Every person outside of our immediate family has said the same thing. When we are all together, they all comment on our movie-quoting habits. I will say a line from a movie but I'll stop before completing it and wait, and without hesitation one of my brothers, Mom, or Dad will finish it.
    Others will literally laugh until they cry. Especially when we are around my Nanny, who is probably the most unpredictable woman on the earth. But we love her all the same.
    And so we sat, reminiscing on our favorite childhood memories. We decided to watch our favorite movie when we were little, 3 Ninjas. And as we sat through the corny jokes and children acting, a deep sense of appreciation fell upon me. It was my parents' love for us. They would sit through the dumbest movies and shows time and time again, just because it made us happy.
    But it wasn't always this easy. We definitely had our fair share of fights and struggles, particularly due to a house full of boys. I don't know how my mother did it. But in the end we are all better from it. I can't speak for them but I certainly wouldn't change a thing.
    I write this because family is something that I had taken for granted up until a few weeks ago. I've learned to live in the moment, and appreciate the small things. For we are not promised a tomorrow. So it's my goal to make the best of each and every day, because each one has its own purpose.


¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. --James 4:14

The Cross

    While being criticized, a good friend was accused of being too Christian. He was then reminded of something his dad had told him; "Was Jesus too Christian?" This answer is easily overlooked because of its simplicity, but it also carries huge significance.
    If the very person sent to show us what life should be like wasn't too Christian, then how in the world can we be? His name is the root for the word Christian! It is, however, possible to become over-zealous and lose sight of what we we are called to do. And it's easy to miss the true reason Jesus lived and died. It's not hard to overlook many things. That's what I will focus on.
    Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as ransom for many." Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death . . ." Wages? Ransom? What? To understand this, we first must get a grasp of our sin. Sin can be defined as a transgression against divine law; so anything that goes against God's will for us. We have been separated from Christ because of this sin, we have all tried to do life on our own.
    But the beauty of it all, is that we have the privilege of coming back. Coming back to the One who died for us. The wages of sin is death, someone has to die because of this disease we call sin. Someone had to take the blame. Someone had to die the death that we all deserved.
    You see, Jesus was without sin. Which means he was perfect. He was the only one free of blame. The only one to live a blameless life. Jesus was sent specifically for me. He was sent specifically for you. He was sent to take upon our sins, and die the death that we deserve. Jesus died a terrible death upon the Cross of Calvary. And He did it for one reason, you and me.
   He loved us so much that He was willing to be sacrificed so that we may live. And we rest assured because Jesus was raised from the dead three days later. He rose again to show us that He was exactly who He said He was. These are the things we have taken for granted making it easy for us not to think about them very often.
    But what baffles me is how we have belittled the Cross. A while ago my family received a heart-swelling e-mail from my cousin, Mike Inman. The e-mail is titled The beauty and essence that is from the Cross of Jesus Christ, and these lines stuck out to me. He says, "My sins should break me, and make me realize my need for Jesus, but through indulging in the world I have drank, like water, the cheap joys that this world has to offer. To where the most costly joy, which is salvation, is numb and dulled down to being another cheap joy." This spoke to my heart so much that I put it on my bulletin board so I can see it every morning.
    I'm in awe every time I think about how powerful the Lord is. I used to hear the good news of Jesus, and push it aside like it was just another story. But now, I weep. I've had the opportunity to be around numerous people hearing the Gospel for the first time, and I remember thinking that this was huge for them. They are hearing the greatest news in man's history. But at the end, I wasn't crying for them, I was crying for me. I couldn't help it.
    Time again this news wrecks me. And I am ever so thankful that Jesus loved me so much to do all this just for me. There is a second part to Romans 6:23. It says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 


Thanks Mike.