it's in the fire

its been a few days since i have been home and since i have posted anything... sorry for the delay... i am still new to this bloggin thing, but I am going to try to keep up with it...

i was reading a few chapters in a book in the Bible, Jeremiah, this morning... Jeremiah was a prophet of God according to the Old Testament, and he was given words by God that the nation of Israel would be taken over and the king Jehoiakim would be taken captive and ultimately die a peaceful death... the word finally got to the king because God asked Jeremiah to put all his word down on a scroll, the scroll was delivered to the king and before he read all of it he cut it up and through it in the fire... burned the whole thing...
i know that there are a lot of things that are produced when introduced to fire, for example somehow sand can be turned into glass with the right heat... glass can be turned into intricate shapes and designs with the right amount of heat... steel and other alloys or metals are strenghtened, purified, and formed when given the right amount of heat... fire was used to destroy clothing that had disease or germs in them thousands of years ago... fire tends to do one of two things when it is introduced to an object... it either destroys it or refines/strengthens it... i know that there are probably cases that go against this maybe, but on the whole... fire tends to show you what you are made of...
back to the story... it makes me wonder what type of person i am when i am introduced to fire... fire being struggles, frustrations, bad days, unfairness, or whatever "bad" things that may come our way... does it strengthen me or does it destroy me... do i burn God's words, or throw away my faith when I hear things I don't like, or do I become stronger and find what God is saying to me...
i do not want to let my friends in Romania down, I want to help them... not just when it is convenient and I am sitting at a table with them... I want to help them now, to find resources, to pray for them, to be there friend even when I am not with them... I want to be the kind of person that is who I say I am... a person that isn't always right but is always honest... someone people can trust... not just in my family or with my friends, but in my work, when i go to Walmart to buy something... when I am on the phone... every moment I want to be the same person... don't you...
this begins a transistion for this blog... God is not just at work in Romania... He is at work everywhere and I would love to share the part that I see and hear about with you... this will be about Michigan, about me, about my family, and about other parts of the world... life with God is such an adventure, a journey that is like no other... every day I come closer to understanding Jesus' words that are found in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
i have tried life without God and life with Him and there is no way I am going back... i love this adventure and I am going to try to share it with you... and hopefully i can figure out how to put some pictures and videos on this thing...