My little sis, Marley, is turning 16 on Monday! There's going to be a party. My missionary buddy Josh turned 26 last Tuesday and didn't tell anyone. Jason threw him a birthday party. He really enjoyed it, and everyone had a great time. We worshipped. We fellowshipped. We ate burgers. We talked. All that was missing was the dance. One of these days... I hope Marley's party goes as well as Josh's did. God gave him all the rest of the money that he needed to do missionary training in the Bahamas on his birthday (what a birthday present - totaling $4,000+). After he goes to the Bahamas and trains, he'll be heading off to Nairobi, Kenya, one of the worst slums in the world to train pastors. Please pray for this man. He'll need it...

I find in myself a growing insatiable bon-fire that destroys all of my useless activities. Many things that I once enjoyed I now find as a useless waste of time as God applies Hebrews 12:1 to my heart and I lay aside every weight that hinders His will. The problems with weights is that they're not inherently sinful, they just get in the way. They are these useless, unprofitable distractions or diversions to getting tasks and exploits done for God. Video games are great. Making them is a lot more fun. But, both playing and making them are a waste of time. Drawing is a good talent I once had. It's a worthless waste of time. I have novels I'd once read. They're in vain - unprofitable to the Kingdom of God. I want to learn a lot of things, but they're so useless! My heart cries what Solomon's cried: Vanity of vanities! All is vanity! I for one believe that the Holy Spirit used him to write the book of Ecclesiastes.

I so much want to be diligent at the will of God. Please pray the Lord leads me into the right medical school and the devotion to Him enough to focus in on it and learn what He wants me to learn. Pray that God conforms me to Christ as a godly man of His Pray for Enam. Pray for Ian.

The longer I stay at Wal-Mart and the more I see my hopes from two or three years ago dashed the more I understand that God's will had been different from my will...but as He conforms me to the image of Christ and disciplines me...the more I realize that God's will is best and oh, how I want God's will to be done! No matter how many times my bank account overdraws or how many sexual temptations to avoid or resist (by God's grace alone), or how many things that once appealed to me that I now hate... I want to see Christ face to face! I want to be found worthy of His callings.

Lord, grant me repentance from my slothful laziness! Let me be all about my Father's business, fervent in Spirit as the Lord!

Isaac D.