oh yea i almost forgot....

we are having a baby! we are 6 weeks prego, and are due in april!

mary magdalene and jesus

Mandy and i were talking today and she brought up this question:

" I wonder what Mary Magdalene looked like when she first meet Jesus?"

i sat there for just a second and just thought about the image, of being so desperate to pour out all you have at the feet of Jesus and not really caring much about anything people thought about you. we can find in the Bible that she was a 'sinner' ( luke 7:36-50) and that was more so than not a hooker.

she was considered someone who was not worthy, someone who was only associated with in the late evening hours , and she crossed a lot of cultural barriers to meet Jesus. i was thinking today at how many of us are bound to our "church cultural barriers" and how those prevent us from pouring ourselves out at Jesus feet. there seems to be so much pressure on the way we look, how we dress and who we associate ourselves with, i think it all gets in the way. the beauty i find in this story is that, she was desperate to forsake any dignity she had left, fully expose herself and give up what the world (the religious leaders) called wealth: her perfume.
(she gave up the very thing that made her the most desirable to men)

are we this desperate? are willing to just say this is me, and i need jesus, get out of my way?! i wonder how many churches would allow a mary magdalene in on a sunday morning? i think its time we get desperate, and pour ourselves out at the feet of jesus and give everything we have.

are you ready?

under my skin

so ive been listening to a lot of music lately and some of it, i just cant seem to get away from. i cant get it out of me... what is it about honest and in your face lyrics that get under our skin? i dont know about you guys but, i love when then happens. i love hearing a song for the first time and just drowning in it. a good friend of mine told me that "music is what feelings sound like" and i think we are all looking to feel something, and connect to it. we all want to be apart of something, and i think music is the best way to make friends and keep them.

here are some note worthy bands/artist that will get under your skin if you want them to or not:
wiclo
kings of leon
john mark mcmillan
jason upton
preson phillips
jon helser
ryan adams

give those guys a spin and let become friends!

alaska. going home

so there has been a lot going on with mandy and i, but long story short we are moving back to alaska. we are leaving on wednesday. we will miss our friends and the memories we have made along the way. this decision to move, is bigger than us (trust me, ive never moved so much in three months ever). we had a huge yardsale today, we did really well. God has really opened doors for us, and we feel like Jonah, we needed to be obedient a few months ago, and we have been on the ship in stormy weather, and then we jumped off and are feeling a huge peace....BUT we have to be obedient still. (what an endless cycle) anyway. we will be in the great north next week, and frankly i cant wait to go home.

so farewell florida and north carolina, we will meet again, and hello alaskan friends who i have not seen in a long time.

im still on my ryan adams kick, and it is getting better and better. go and buy "love is hell" album and lets talk about it.

zac

birthdayi year

this is mandy and i in alaska one year ago! we celebrated our one year anniversary yesterday. it has been a great year, God has proved himself more than faithful. we have been blessed with many friends and such great memories.

we also celebrated our birthdays this week, mine is today and mandys was last monday. life has been good. of course there are ups and downs, but thats what makes life worth living. we are excited for this next year and the adventures it will bring.

i hadnt updated the blog reciently, we have been so busy. (we will explain that one later). we just know this: God is faithful, his love is strong, it never fails, never quits and never gives up. no matter what else is going on in your life right now, just know that no matter what, at the end of the take a step back and let God be God and you be you, thats how its suppossed to be. find your strength in the power of his resserection, and by his blood we have overcome.

ive currently been building my ryan adams collection, and thanks to al jones, it is now complete. ill be busy listening for a while, its one of those tunes you can really sink into and let it all fade away.

just wrapping up a 5 day vacation, and we honestly didnt go anywhere. we hooked up with good friends, and stayed home, and that is the one place i want to be.

zh