Living in a swamp

This picture is from the walkway going out to the parking lots here at NNPTC. It looks nice and green and beautiful, but what you can't see is the swamp underneath that makes a raised walkway necessary. NWS Charleston is pretty much all built on a swamp. Which means that there are mosquitos. Lots of them. I got bit up this afternoon playing football... right when the sun starts to go down, they get really bad. Hopefully soon when it starts to get colder they'll go away. Hopefully.

Praise and worship... and doing laundry

My original plans for tonight were to finish up with my schoolwork and studying, and then head over to church. The college and career group there was having a praise and worship night, and I really wanted to go. But long story short, God changed my plans for the evening and I felt lead to help out a friend who is really struggling in school prepare for a big exam tomorrow. Since he wasn't going to be ready to study until around 6:30, I headed back to my room to do some laundry. I was pretty disappointed about not going to church, even though I felt that I was making the right decision in not going.

But God taught me something tonight. We don't need a church or a worship band or a group of fellow believers to praise God. It can be anywhere, and at any time. For me, it ended up being in my room while ironing my uniforms. It was an awesome time. Just me, God, and some good Christian music. In the past few weeks, I have found a lot of comfort, strength, and peace in listening to the music of Keith Green, Third Day, Delirious?, and Hillsongs, just to name a few. It helps me to focus on God, and to quiet my heart and listen to Him speak to me. Anywhere, any time, in any situation. Even while ironing my summer whites.

"It is good to praise the Lord
and to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,"
-(Psalm 92:1, 2)

Thank you Lord for listening to us anytime, anywhere we are. I praise you with all my heart, Lord. You are worthy of all my praise. Lord, please use me to show your hope and life to the people around me every day. Father, please let Your light shine through me. I want to be a living testimony for You. Convict me of the sin in my life, Lord. Never let me become comfortable. Change me, mold me, shape me to be more and more like You every day, Lord. I will praise You forever, for You alone are worthy of my praise. I love you, Lord.

Parked on the side of the road...

This is not an uncommon sight where I live. Drive down any of the roads over near the docks, and you're likely to see tanks, camoflaged bulldozers, humvees, crates of ammunition... all waiting to be loaded up on one of the MSC (Military Sealift Command) ships and hauled over to the middle east. I thought this pair of M109A6 Paladin howitzers made a neat picture just sitting in the parking lot off the side of the road. Click on the picture to see a larger version...

These thousand hills

These thousand hills roll ever on
Footprints of a mighty God
They bring me to my knees in praise
Amazing love, amazing grace

Was on a hill my Savior died
A broken heart, a bleeding side
Hill of the skull, mount Calvary
The blood He shed, He shed for me

When heaven's hills at last I roam
Forever settled in my home
I'll join the saints around Your throne
Your kingdom, Lord, rolls ever on

These thousand hills roll ever on
Ripples of a coming storm
The morning star precedes the dawn
These thousand hills roll ever on

-These Thousand Hills (Third Day)

Thank you, Lord for good Christian musicians and the gifts and talents you have given them.

Temptation

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
-(1 Corinthians 10:12-13)

Thank you God for Your amazing wisdom. You have not promised that we will never be tempted, or else how would we grow in our walk with You? You do not allow us to be tempted beyond what You give us strength to resist, or else how could ever hope to be more like You? You use our temptations as a growing time in our lives. You allow us to experience situations in which we have to make a choice: for You, or against You. When these times come, You offer us all the strength that we need to make the right choice, and then wait to see what we will choose. How it must break Your heart when when we dishonor You with our sinful choices, even though You give us the strength to resist. We have no excuse. We can't claim that the temptation was too great; only that we chose not to respond to it as You want us to. It is only through our deliberate disobedience that we fall into sin.

Father, please forgive me for all the times I choose to dishonor You with my choices. I praise you for the strength you give me to make the right decisions. I pray that as I grow closer to You, I would focus less on my own desires, and more on Your will for my life. I love you, Lord.

The admiral's house

I was exploring around the old navy base down here in Charleston a couple weeks back, and I love the old buildings there. The base closed down in 1995 after the BRAC decision in 1994 that it was no longer cost-efficient to keep it open. Although you can't really tell from the picture, most of the buildings, including this beautiful old house, are deteriorating pretty badly. It's a shame that they have just been left to rot. Certain parts of the base, mostly the industrial sector, have been purchased by private companies and are in use now, but other parts, like most of the old officer housing area, are just abandoned and left to the elements. It does make for an interesting afternoon exploring, though.