This is it.

Who knew that 5 years ago I met the woman of my dreams. It's amazing to look back and read things that pointed to it. I'm so glad that God is more patient than I am. He's so right with his timing and planning. Thank you, Lord. You're the best!

PS-If ANYONE still reads this...I'll tell you who it is that I am talking about.

Fun in the sun?!?

Hello. Had my first "vacation" in 3 years this past week. It was good and bad. The first 2 days were spectacular. Panama City Beach can be a very relaxing place. Until people bring their drama with them. You really learn alot about people on vacation. Some people just aren't mature enough to just go and relax on the beach. All in all I had a relaxing and thought provoking trip.

I'm moving into the BCM tomorrow. It's really made my trip to the UK more real. This is the last place I'll move before the "big" move in 4 months. I can't tell you how ready I am.

To be honest there are people that I can't wait to leave. That may be bad, but it's true. Congrats to some of you, you aren't the people I used to care for anymore.

I'm emotionally spent. That usually means that I went home to Atlanta. It was a good trip but it's always so taxing. It's getting better, but not enough to have hassle free trips.

I'm scattered and a bit lonely. But there is always tomorrow. Off to surf some more and eat.

-Robert

The end of an era....

Just wrote a long detailed post that was lost by the Internet. Dang you Al Gore and your cursed Internet.... PS-Who reads my blog, I'm convinced it's me, Stella and Karen.

Ok, I'll try this again. Yesterday was our Banquet/Formal at the BCM. It was very bittersweet. We honored our secretary of 25 years, Mrs. Joyce. She is the rock that holds the BCM together. It was a well deserved honor. After that I shook my groove thang for a couple hours. I'm a horrible dancer. I know this. It's not that hard to see. But I have a blast dancing. You see, for 24 years of my life I didn't like to dance. But over the past year I've found the joy of dancing. It's great. Boy did I dance last night. Check out my facebook profile if you want to see me in action. (WARNING: The whiteness of my dancing has been linked to people laughing hysterically)

As the last song played last night (Closing Time-by Semisonic??) I was beset by a wave of emotions. They ranged from happiness to a bittersweet kind of closure. After 3 years of trips to Cecils, softball, SPOTS trips and everything in between, my time here at JSU is rapidly coming to an end. I've made some lasting friendships, visited some really cool places, and grown exponentially as a person in my 3 years at the BCM. The first formal I attended was very different for me. I didn't know many people and I was a bit shy (comparatively speaking). I wasn't completely sold on JSU yet. I actually had thoughts of leaving and returning home and enrolling at the local University. To come full circle at this place, to have such a strong emotional tie to this place is very bittersweet. To know that in about 6 months I'm going to start over is very....daunting. I finally settled in here. It makes me appreciate what I have now, and more importantly how rare what I have is. To all of you BCM'ers that read this thanks for the past 3 years. I'm a better person because of your influence in my life.

As I write this I'm packing for what will be my last official BCM trip. The new student leadership team and I are going to LTC (Leadership Training Conference) at Shocco Springs. I look forward to how the end of my BCM era ends....

-Robert

Katrina relief

So it's been a while since I've written. It's been a while on purpose. I've needed time away from things and "the world" to gain perspective on my life and future. I've started my interview with ICY and I'm really excited about how the prospect of me leaving for England/Wales is coming together. It's starting to really materialize in my head and heart that I'll most likely be leaving the country for 3 years. If I only knew exactly where I was going....

So for Spring break I went to the Gulf Coast to help with Hurricane Katrina relief. There are no words for the experience of the last week. The fact that I was in another country during the bulk of the Katrina disaster only enhanced the emotions of the week. I was in charge of a team that cleaned out an 89 year old man's water rotted possessions. I'll try to describe the amount of stuff this guy had and how "nasty" it was, but I'm not sure if I can. I took a crew of 11 people working from 8:30am-4:30 ish for 3 days, plus 24 people working on Thursday from 8-5 to haul off all of his junk. If you add it up that's 489 man hours of work on this man's house. Believe me, it took every one of those hours for us to complete the task. I don't know if I've ever worked so hard in my life. Plus the stench of the stuff decomposing was HORRIBLE. There was a jar of pickle juice that was at least 20 years old. It was the worst smelling stuff ever to grace my nostrils. To see someone so overwhelmed that people would give up their time and drive 400 miles just to help him was amazing. He was the sweetest man and you could tell he was happy to be relieved of this burden. I guess the emotion of the week hit me on Wednesday. After dinner I read through a book of pictures of the Katrina disaster. The local newspaper put together a series of these books that were just amazing. The damage was on the scale of war torn areas that I had on;y seen on the news. Katrina didn't discriminate when she tore through the Gulf Coast. Black, white, rich or poor, the damage hit everyone. The pages that effected me the most were the ones about the volunteers that gave up MONTHS of their lives to help other people. One picture was forever burned into my mind. It was of two men crying and embracing each other. The caption said that they were NYC Firefighters that had given up a month of their time to do relief work on the coast. When asked why they did it they had a very simple and profound answer. "We're here because America helped NYC when we needed it, and now it's our turn to give." I broke down when I read those words. If only we'd act like this all the time rather than when a disaster comes, I think the world (and Church) would be a much better place.

I'm a changed person after this past week, and it's for the better. On to finish up ICY stuff and rest up the rest of my weekend.

Robert

Love Languages...

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Physical Touch
with a secondary love language being
Words of Affirmation.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		11
Words of Affirmation:		9
Acts of Service:		4
Quality Time:		4
Receiving Gifts:		2

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Fringes

FRINGES by Shane Barnard
He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing And how faint a word we even hear of Him And yet – our eyes and ears and minds get all the candy

I sing for grace For grace it lets me sing And all I’ve ever seen or heard Or haven’t seen or heard It’s His There is no other

All of this is but the fringes

And these are but the fringes And all the world hinges On His grace and on His word It speaks things into being And the spoken things revealing The glory of our God and King

I’m stumbling upon things that aren’t mine Things he spoke to life before time Name one thing that’s not One law or thought He taught the clay Molded it Behold, He called the sheep That’s why they came Sheep! Who by grace get a peep And make it cheap by calling it mine

"Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?" (Job 26:14)


How much of our lives to we really get? Do we really see and live in God's perspective of us? Or do we just live in the Fringes of what God wants and has for us? I know I'm scared to fully embrace what God has for me. It's scary because it's the unknown. Moving to a new continent is a struggle, but so is talking to that random person about my relationship with Jesus. But it's not just in sharing Jesus that we fail to understand the fullness of His plans and desires for us. He has a plan for you and I. A detailed and formulated plan that was devised before the foundations of this planet were laid. A plan to "prosper us." I challenge you (and myself) to quit living on the Fringes of what God has foe our lives. Dive in. "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"

Obviously God is working on me right now. I have many things that are burdening me, but I'm trying to take hold of the promises that I've been given. promises that tell me that if I have faith God will bless that faith. I have another job I may take here at JSU. It's an intern position for the semester. The campus minister here at JSU is taking a leave of absence, and I'll be filling in for him. Please pray for me as I take this position. More importantly, pray for him and his family. They need your prayers desperately. Good start to the week. Let's see how this one's gonna go...

Robert

All better

So I feel better now. I needed to have some things work themselves out, and they did. I still have some issues to work out, but I'm much better now. I still don't feel like I'm all the way back to being myself, but I'm well on the way. Just letting you know,

Robert

Vacation

I need one. Our ski trip was great. Other than the skiing part. It was 50 degrees both days. The "snow" was slushy and that made it hard to control what you were doing on the black diamonds. But on the good side we had over 10 decisions for Christ. John Gillis did our retreat and he was fabulous as always. Good weekend.

But then I had to come home. I'm just in a place that right now I was to run from all of my problems and be on vacation for a month straight. Wake up because that can't happen. With all of the family stuff that I've dealt with I really needed for someone to break into my apartment while I was gone. I really didn't need my couch or my table and chairs. That's what was awaiting me on my return to Jacksonville Monday afternoon. This is all a test of some sort, but why or how this is going to help me I have no idea. I just need to process all of this and get in a good place with it. My couch isn't coming back and all I can do is work on getting another one. Oh well. I liked that couch, it had a fold out bed.

I'm just running on empty emotionally. I'm sure in a couple of days I'll be better. In fact, I'm sure of it. But right now I'm lonely and I want to whine a lot. I just need some me time by myself or with trusted friends. Thanks for listening. I'll be better next time I post.

Robert

Trials and tribulations....

Two days in a row!! That's some sort of record for me here in the States. This will be a devotional post so hang on...

All of you that have happy, stable, emotionally balanced families stop right now and thank God for them. They are a blessing and shouldn't be taken for granted. I'm going through a hellish period with my parents and it's draining and it's honestly a huge burden. But as I was doing my devotion this morning God stopped me in my tracks with the subject matter. My devotional book is Max Lucado's, "Grace For the Moment" This is what it reads:

"Made For Heaven"

My kingdom does not belong to this world.-John 18:36

Unhappiness on Earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dissatisfaction, God holds our attention. The only tragedy, then, is to be satisfied prematurely. To settle for Earth. To be content in a strange land...

He goes on to quote 1 Peter 2:11; we are "like foreigners and strangers in this world" That's what God does sometimes. He has to remind us of what heaven is like by letting the ugliness of the world interact with our hearts. This isn't a pretty thing most of the time and we certainly don't like it. But I have to remember, not everything that I dislike is bad for me. God is trying to "hold my attention" in this and I am trying to hear him. So just remember next time a "crisis" comes that God is trying to get your attention. Remember that growth is painful. Seek his purpose in the strife and let His peace rule your heart. Don't forget, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son..." Romans 8:28-29a NLT

Robert

A new year means new beginnings

Hello all!
A new year has brought about new beginnings in my life. We have a new Senior Pastor at FBC Jacksonville. His name is Dr. Derek Staples. He's different than that last pastor, so it's going to take some time to get used to him. All in all I'm really excited.

I had my first interview with ICY. It was a phone interview and it went really well. We seem to have the same heart about ministry and administration, so I'm really excited about that! If everything works out I'll be moving to the UK some time in September. WOOHOO!!!

Christmas and New Years were a blur. A lot of driving and sitting, just like usual. Got some clothes and money, a good adult Christmas.

It's good to read other blogs and see how my friends are doing. Stella, you need to blog more. Josh Boston-GET A BLOG (or if you have one let me know) Karen-I thoroughly enjoy your blog. Thanks for the look inside your life.

Till next time,

Robert

UK here I come?

So here it is..

I may, and I mean MAY move to the UK by the end of the year. I'm in the process of working with an organization that will let me finish my undergrad and be a youth minister at the same time. It's very early, but I have the same feeling about this as I did Wales.

On another note, I WILL be in the UK for Spring break. Brent and I are going and I can't wait!! I'll be in London (Luton) for the first part of my trip and then it's off to Cardiff for the last part.

Who reads my blog? If you still do just post a comment and let me know. It's ok if I'm writing to just write. I'm just curious.

Robert

Content

Hello All. I'm doing really well. I'm now the Assistant Band Director at Jacksonville High School. I'm loving it!! I like working with the kids and all of the stuff that comes along with it, but not dealing with all the crap that comes with it. I just go and teach and leave. It's great. I'm also the music intern at the First Baptist Church. I run sound on Sunday mornings, do Youth and Childrens choir, and I work with the Junior High and 11am worship band. I really like working at the church as well. God has answered my biggest prayer request and I couldn't be any happier about that. I'm emotionally stable for the first time in my life, and I think that I'm as happy as I've ever been. Life is good. More updates to come!!

Robert

My USA!!

create your own personalized map of the USA

These are all of the states I've visited. I need to get to the West Coast and up tp the North East. Go do a map for yourselves!!

Robert

Wow, what a world of difference

Hello all! It's been quite a while, wouldn't you say? To be frank, my life is way different compared to the last time I posted.

I'm single now. Ginny and I were just in different places. I still love her and miss her terribly, and a part of me always will. I wish her nothing but the best. I hope that she finds whatever she's looking for one day.

I'm now an insurance agent. I work for a really great company called Liberty National. I've been there since early March. I really like it, but it's not for me. I think God has bigger things for me.

That leads me to this. I think I'm moving to the United Kingdom. Wales really made an impact on me. I didn't think it did at first, but the longer I've been home the more I feel out of place. I think it's what Stella was talking about in her blog a couple months ago. I just feel in my heart that I am supposed to be there. I've already applied to be an ISC missionary through the IMB and I'm really excited. Stella and I ran into each other at the Movie Gallery about 2 weeks ago. She told me that you didn't have to be a college graduate to be an ISC missionary. It just made sense to me. I knew then why I had felt so out of place the entire time I've been back. I'm really excited and scared at the same time. It's a 2 year commitment and it's not one to take lightly. It will happen if it's God's will though!!

Well I guess that's about all from here. I will be writing WAY more that I was before. Well I guess anything is more than I was before. Cheers!

Robert

Happy Thanksgiving?!?

Hello all. So I had a first yesterday. My first Thanksgiving with snow. It started snowing around 9 pm yesterday while Josh and I were walking home. It eventually stopped. Well after I got home I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up around 2 am and started up to my room. I looked out the window and it was snowing again. Now I've seen snow before. But I've never seen it snow so hard before. It was really beautiful to see it snow with the church across the street in the background. Most of it didn't stick, but about an inch and a half did. Thanksgiving with snow. Nice.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving. We had class all day and then us Americans hung out. None of us realized that it was Thanksgiving until about 9:30. No dinner, no family, no Thanksgiving. I called Ginny and talked to her. She's at the beach. Thanks Gin. I'm stuck in the snow and you are rolling down sand dunes getting sand all over you. Way to be sympathetic. I also called the family. It was good to hear from them. I think they are what make the holidays for me. Ahh. Christmas is only a month away. So you hear that all my people? Only one more month for you to find my gift. Not you Ginny. You know what I want from you. (it's nothing bad) Early Merry Christmas everyone!! ( I have no idea why I wrote that.)

Well off to bed for me. My time here is rapidly winding down. I'll miss this place and the people that I met here, but I am SO ready to be home. Until I'm home, leave some love.

-Robert

blah...

Hello all. Another day, another dollar. Or is it pound here in Wales? Either way another day has come and gone. I've found that Tuesdays are the longest days for me here. With my accountability group, men's club, and then computer club it's a full day. I'm really sapped of energy right now. When I get tired I get homesick. So right now I just want to be home curled up watching a movie or Viva la Bam with Ginny. Maybe chillin at Struts eating a ribeye sandwich. Maybe Ginny and I would be grilling out with Val and Tj. I just want to be home right now. Sigh. My work here isn't done, so I'll be here a little while longer. This shall pass once I get some well earned sleep.

Things are actually wrapping up nicely here. I preached Sunday at church. It went really well. I had a lot of the members come up to me and tell me what a great job I did. I talked about how we've made duty and tradition the essence of what real Christianity should be. I talked about how we are commanded to be joyful and serve God with gladness. I thought I did a decent job. I gave myself a B-. The coolest part about it was I got paid!! I didn't know about the money before I spoke, so it was a neat surprise. £25!!!!

Josh has got me addicted to Soulcaliber 3. We go to the Virgin Megastore and play it. It's nice to have an activity that takes no brainpower. I know that Kevin would say that's why I'm good at it. While he may be right, I have a lot of fun playing.

Well, I hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving holiday. I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Well, now that I think about it Christmas and Thanksgiving are tied. I just love the food and the time spent with my family. We are doing Thanksgiving at Rob and Jenny's on Sunday afternoon. Think of us as you stuff your face and watch the Falcons beat the Lions. Leave some love!!

-Robert

Stonehenge: the story

Ok. Here is the story of our wacky and wonderful day.

We were supposed to meet at the train station at 9. This turned into 9:10 for me, 9:30 for Josh and 10:15 for Jeff. I wasn't happy with the way this day started. Well, we caught the 10:30 train to Bristol. We got there at 11:30 and walked outside the train station and said "what now?" Well we decided to go to Bath, a town about 15 or so miles away. It's famous for the only warm springs in all of Britain. The Romans built public baths there that are still in use today. We decided to go check it out. After a 30 minute bus ride that I fell asleep on ( I fell asleep on the train ride also), we arrived in Bath. It's one of the most lovely and charming places I've ever been. I think that it would be a great place to spend a honeymoon. But I digress. We walked around and looked at the town. Did I mention that it was amazingly cold today? I can't understate how cold it was today. For those of you that went to Philly, it was colder than the day we walked around the University of Penn. Anyways, we saw the abbey in Bath. It was amazingly beautiful. It was massive!! It was closed for a memorial service, but they opened the doors afterwards and we got some pictures from the doors. Then we went to see how much it would cost to see the Roman Baths. It would have cost us £9. We all decided that was too much to pay for that attraction. We went into a tourism office and saw tours to Stonehenge. For the price that they were offering we couldn't pass up the opportunity of a lifetime.

It took us about an hour to get to Stonehenge. Did I mention that it was cold today??? We had an hour to walk around and do whatever you like. I determined that it's almost impossible to spend more than about an hour and 15 or 20 minutes at Stonehenge. As cool as it was they are just rocks. They don't move, you do. They way that the tour went was this. They took you there and dropped you off. We had to pay to see Stonehenge. It's like a national park. You walk around Stonehenge in a circle and listen to an audio tour. It's really interesting and I can tell you a lot about Stonehenge now.

After we got back to Bath we stopped in a pub and just chilled out. It was the first REAL pub that we have been to. All of the other ones we more like bars, but this one was like the pub that I always imagined. It had a fire and wooden floors and everything. We chilled there for over an hour. Then we went to eat.

Burger King was good and we chilled there for a while as well. The reason for all of the "chilling" was how freakin cold it was today. Then we got back on our bus and headed back to Bristol.

About 8 miles out of Bristol I thought that we were at out stop. So we got off and quickly realized that I was WAY wrong. The reason I thought that we were there were two shops that were right beside each other. They looked just like the two across from the train station. Well luckily we caught a bus to the train station and managed to get home.

The reason that I was so detailed about today was simple. 30 years from now when I tel my grandkids about this I want to have SOME memory of it.

I hope that everyone has a day like I did today. It was amazing and I can't tell you how much I needed today. I'll see you guys in 3 weeks!! Leave some love!!

-Robert

STONEHENGE!!!!!!!!

Hello all. Just had one of the best days of my life. LOng story short some of our plans changed and we ended up going to Stonehenge. It was great. I'm posting pics right now so check them out. I'll blog more about to day later, I'm beat. Leave some love!!

-Robert

Georgia on my mind....

Hello all. It has been a cool and boring weekend. Friday night Stella and I went to the Wales v. Fiji rugby match at the Millennium Stadium. Usually national rugby matches are sold out months in advance but for some reason this one wasn't. We got really good tickets for only £10!! There are about 20 pictures from our night together on my photobucket account. Check them out!! I think it's a real shame that the USA doesn't have a national sport. The passion and loyalty that the Welsh people have for their national rugby team is really neat. 73,000 people were at this match!! Don't get me wrong, I love cheering for UGA. But it seems like every week I root against one of my friends. Tech, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, I have good friends that root for all of these teams. I'd be really nice if we could all root for one team. That's all with my sports philosophy.

I have a flat tire. Ginny went to drive my car yesterday and found I have a flat. Great. I haven't worked in 3 months and I have to pay for a new tire. Fun. But it will be ok because I'll be back in the States.

Well only 3 more Sundays here in Wales. This time has really flown by, but at the same time it's been such a long period. I'm in a very reflective mood right now. I can't really go into all of it right now, but maybe later.

Off to eat lunch. I really miss you guys and can't wait to see you all again. Thanks to all of you who email and comment regularly. Leave some love!!

Robert

30 days and counting

Salutations. I guess this is the part of the trip where I should be saying things like, "Man, where did the time go?" or "Man, I'm really going to miss this place when I leave." Sorry to disappoint, but that's not what I'm feeling.

To be really honest I can't wait to come home. I really want to use so much of what I've learned in the BCM and at Jacksonville 1st Baptist. I don't think that I will miss Wales as much as I will miss the people that are here. I can't wait to have a "normal" relationship with Ginny. One that doesn't involve the phone or the internet as our sole means of communicating. It will actually take some getting used to for both of us, but I can't wait. I can't wait to have some food that I really enjoy. It's not that Welsh food is bad. It's just very monotonous. The same stuff over and over again. Blah. I need variety. Cracker Barrel, here I come on December 9th.

I think that a HUGE reason that God brought me to Wales is to refine my character. It's something that has been happening for the last 6 months or so. This is the part of the refinement that couldn't take place unless I was away from everyone and everything that I've ever known. If you've never been on summer/semester missions you can't understand what I'm talking about. It's just neat to look back at how I've changed and where I still need to change. I think the thing that I've learned over the past 6 months is this. Either your moving forward or you are moving backwards. I've heard it like this. Life is like a bike. Either you move forwards or backwards. When you stop you fall over. That's what the spring was for me. I got all happy and content and fell over. Things in my life started to suffer and I'm still suffering the consequences for it. It's ok though. I'm a better person now. I know that you can never stop growing. Forwards or backwards. I choose forwards.

This is a post that has nothing to do with the things that I do while I'm here in Wales. It's just a brief summary of the last 6 months or so. I'm really excited about the last month that I have here. I know that it will be very productive for me personally and for the youth ministry here as well. I love you all and can't wait to see you again. Leave some love!!

Robert