Sarah has finally arrived!

So today, Sarah has been featured on a church marketing website called Church Marketing Sucks. Now, this does not mean that they think her work sucks. On the contrary, it is a site geared towards the development of a better visual face for the church. It has long been time for Christians to step up to the plate and be as good (if not better) designers than seculars. So the nod to Sarah's work is a compliment. She designed a CD for the band at our church (the other pieces are the work of other designers). You can see it here: http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2008/06/church_marketin_94.html
And if you click on her CD (the piece they featured), it will take you to her flickr.com profile so you can see more of her work. She's super talented and I am incredibly proud of her!

P.S. I finally got a concrete date for an interview. Tuesday the 8th, I am going to have a conference call with some people at LifeWay. Pray that it goes well!!

Love you guys!
Ben <><

Good things come...

To those who have to wait a few more weeks. At least I hope good things are coming. I got a call from Lifeway today and it was basically to say that I have to wait at least two more weeks before I will hear anything. I honestly believe that God is trying to hold me down and teach me some patience. I've been trying to wriggle myself out, but apparently He's gonna keep showing me the importance of this lesson until I learn it. I am coming to the realization that I am the kind of person who wants immediate gratification in all my pursuits. In school, I want to hand in a paper or a test and immediately know what my grade is. And with this job, I wanted to turn in my resume and know instantly whether or not I was hired. It's been since February and I am getting SO antsy. Oh well. I guess I can wait a little longer. Even still, my mood is optimistic.

My Georgia Bulldogs blew it this past week. They lost the NCAA College World Series to the Fresno State Bulldogs in Game 3. Fresno St was a huge underdog and we should have won in grand fashion, but this time the underdog pulled out a stunning upset. Sad.

Love you guys!
Ben (and Sarah) <><

"I [Darius King of Persia] issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
Daniel 6:26-27

pawleys

pawleys - me and benny @ our house, originally uploaded by sweetgoodness.

i'll be putting up some pics of our beach trip on my flickr over the next week. check it out.

sarah <><

BitterSweet

Ok, I want you to know that this update is going to be both exciting and sad, so prepare yourself.


(This is the good part)

We just got back from vacation and it was AWESOME!! Sarah and I went down to Pawley's Island in SC and stayed with her family in a house on the water. It wasn't on the beach, but a creek separating the Island from the Mainland. But we had a total of 3 houses in the mix: Ours, on the creek; a condo on the beach; and another house on another beach. There were a ton of us down there and we had a stinkin blast! Here are some pics...






















This is me showing off my wicked Bocce Ball skills!!
(not really, I think I only won 2 games out of somewhere near a billion games)







The next few pictures are the WONDERFUL house we stayed in.
Here it is from the front:






And then from the back:







The patio, where most of our hang-out time happened. Many a funny story was told from those rocking chairs.







The dock, which overlooked the "creek:"





Lonnie and me talking on the dock. Lonnie is Sarah's aunt's sister who flew in from Dallas, TX. We talked a lot about philosophy and religion and life and tons of stuff. I look forward to see what God does with the planted seed. Pray for her.







Us driving home:







Ok, now this is where things begin to get bad. If you have a tendency to sadden easily when others are in sheer peril, I suggest you read no further. What lies ahead can be described as nothing but horrific.



Seriously...





Turn back...




Or Else....





Ok, I've warned you.





This is what happened Tuesday night when I tried to back out of one of the beach-house driveways and didn't see the fence pole (which just so happened to be the same height as the bottom of my window. It was dark, I was trying to back out into the close lane, Sarah was talking to me, then next thing I know, our bumper is sticking up and our headlight is laying on the ground. Best thing about it, I did it right in front of her uncle and her cousin's boyfriend. How embarrasing!







That's right, it broke the bumper. BROKE IT!! It didn't just crumple, it cracked all the way through.






It also ripped it away from the car and gave us a nice dent over my driverside tire. Luckily, the damage didn't compromise my tire. It's purely cosmetic, so I'll most likely leave the dent untouched to remind me of the horrific event (and because we can't afford the body work).






Yeah, for those of you who are asking, that's a shoelace.








But the bad news didn't stop there. When we finally got home, my friend Rion brought a box to me that looked like the box in which my Xbox 360 was sent back to Microsoft. They sent me a nice letter. Here it is:







It's basically a long letter telling me that they couldn't fix my Xbox. Great. The funny thing is, if you look real close at the letter, you can see that they actually claim exemption from responsibility if your Xbox is broken due to an "Act of God." I didn't realize that Bill Gates was a believer. That's good news I suppose.




But at least they know I'm enthusiastic about my Video Games.



Love you guys!



P.S. I got a call from Lifeway!! I haven't talked to anyone yet, as cell signal was nill at the beach, but I will be talking to the guy on Monday and hopefully setting up an interview date.

The most useless update ever...

So we've been really busy lately, which is the reason for the long period of silence. I am calling this the most useless update ever because it deals primarily with things that are probably of the least importance to anyone. Seriously. I'm not even kidding.
1.) Team Business time lost the Call of Duty Tournament. We went out first round. I think it was BJ's fault, he thinks it was my fault, but we both agreed that it was Josh's fault. ;-)
2.) My Xbox is broken. I had to send it back to Microsoft to get it repaired. There is a 50/50 chance that I will be able to get another working one without having to pay for it. In the meantime, I'll probably be reading more.
3.) I have to take Greek II again. Yeah, sad day. I didn't do well enough the first time through, so I have to re-take it this summer, which changes my plans.
4.) We still haven't heard anything back from Lifeway. I'm hoping that it normally just takes them months to contact applicants. I really want to work there.
5.) I was offered a job as Pastor of Media Services (?) by a man that I had only known for 2 minutes. Shady? Maybe so. I think I'll probably pass.
6.) Random. I ran into a friend of mine at a Zaxby's about 200 miles from here. We were both traveling different directions, stopped at the same exit to gas up and eat, and ended up having lunch together. Hmm. Weird.

The most important part of this post is that Joy and Shawn Price's wedding was PHENOMENAL!! They had such a great ceremony, including "O Fortuna," a horse drawn carriage, a bride with a near broken hip, and beach-worthy sunburn for everyone. It was great!We love them and can't wait to see how God blesses them in the future.

I love you guys!!
Ben <><

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.