Looking forward to leave

Tomorrow is my last day of work for 19 days! I'm taking leave until January 10th, and I can't wait. I'm leaving for Waxhaw right after I get off work tomorrow to spend Christmas and New Years with my wonderful family and my beautiful girlfriend. Tim's going to be down from school, and Aunt Rachel is coming down to visit, too. Hopefully while I'm up there I'll get a chance to drive up to Raleigh and visit NC State for a day. I got accepted there starting in summer semester of '08, so as long as the Navy clears everything, I'm definitely going. As much as I've had a great time teaching at NPTU, I'll definitely be glad to be leaving here. I'm ready for something new and challenging, and going back to school as a 24 year old freshman should be an interesting experience. The Navy made me change my intended major, so now I'll be studying materials engineering instead of construction engineering, but since they're paying for it all, I suppose I can't complain too much.

God has continued to bless Naomi and I in our relationship, and it's been an incredible experience so far seeing His hand at work as we both seek His face and His will in our times together and our times apart, too. We've been reading through "Boy Meets Girl" by Josh Harris, and talking about it chapter by chapter on the phone at night. It's been encouraging, and also it's brought out some good questions and prompted some great conversations. I wish I had read it a long time ago. We'd both really appreciate prayer that God would give us peace and contentment as we're doing the 'long-distance relationship' thing. It's hard sometimes, but it's comforting to know that God has a plan, and it's neat to see the things He's been teaching me through it.

I would write more, but it's 9:00 now, which means it's time to call Naomi! :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

-Ephesians 3:20, 21 NIV

Back on shift work

Tonight will be my third night of mids... the first week I've had to work mid-shift since July. I went back to crew (and shift work) ten days ago, and I'll be doing this until I leave for NSI in late January. I wasn't very happy about leaving my nice day-staff job, but I am trying to make the best of it and trust God that He has reasons for where He has me right now. Thankfully Naomi has been very understanding and supportive of me with my weird schedules now, and has gotten used to me calling at all sorts of strange times of the day. It has been just under a month that we've been dating now, and I'm still amazed every time I talk to her or see her by God's plans and timing. This relationship was really not something that I felt at all prepared for, and God has been using it in many ways to grow me and stretch me in my walk with Him. It has been amazing to me to see His faithfulness every step of the way, and He has been teaching me every day to find my strength in Him, and to give up every part of my old self to Him. Every day He brings to mind more areas of my life that need His power and cleansing, and every day I realize more and more my complete dependence on Him. Learning to trust Him completely has been hard... there's so many areas of my life where I want to be in control, so many decisions that I want to make for myself, so many parts of my life that I don't want to change or don't think I can change. But at the same time it is so completely awesome to see Him at work in every facet of my life, changing and renewing and healing. There's so much room to grow, and I thank God that in His wisdom He only reveals to me as much as I can handle at one time. Sometimes it seems like more than I can take, but He is faithful. Always. Even my bad days aren't that bad anymore. He is always at work, and I am so grateful to Him for that.



Lord, please never let me become satisfied with who I am while I am still living in this sinful human body. I pray that every day You would point out the areas in my life that do not conform to You. The habits, the thoughts, the attitudes... Lord, I want to be more like You. Let me never lose sight of that goal. Let it permeate my every thought, my every action, my every word. Thank you for Your power to change lives. I am a life that was changed. Let me never cease to give You glory and honor and praise.