Holy freaking amazing-explosion crapness (part 2)

It started Friday night, with this girl who goes to GodWhy. And then yesterday whith this girl I met. And then tonight, from a freaking billion places. Girls from my past and present and all this hooplah. Multiple girls I swore to myself I'd never ask out. I knew I shouldn't. But really, my urge to date is through the roof.

And when I think about it . . . yes I feel bad. But not like I'd be cheating. Like I'd be rebelling. This isn't about Heather, forget her. This is about God. That's why I'm fighting.

I've been listening emery all the freaking time the last few days, especially this one song called "Studying Politics," which is about the guy's girlfriend cheating on him, but except for one line is really applicable to any betrayal. And there's this one line. "You'd like to think that you're the best/ part of me, but I confess/ there is nothing left of you here." And sure as crap that's where I am. I was kind of there before the letter, but now . . . . This whole fighting thing has nothing to do with her. I don't think she's worth it. I don't want to. But God said it, so I'm doing it.

But that urge to date. Would it be so wrong? Alissa has a friend coming in to town soon, and I can only imagine how cute that girl will be. For reals. What freaking crap.

So anyhow, the letter did not ruin my Friday. I didn't even think about it the rest of the night. I just went and hung out and had an amazing night. Talking with and meeting people. Then sitting around the fire and doing more of that. And then singing songs from my tween and teenage years with the other older ones. So great. And I kept eyeing "girl who's name I don't know yet," and she was totally doing it to. Oh well right?

So I get home pretty late on Friday night but I decide to spend some time with God. And I'm praying and reading. And I ask God about this whole fight thing, and He takes me to Ezekial 2, which talks about taking a message to a rebellious people, and speaking regardless of if they listen. And then He takes me to Psalms, where the psalmsist talks about his enemy rebelling against God, not directly, but just because he attacked the psalmist. (You go after God's kids, you go after Him.) So then He leads me to 2 Chronicles 29, which talks about Hezekiah. And I read a little bit but I don't get much out of it.

So I close my Bible and open it again, this time to 2 Kings 19 . . . which is also about Hezekiah. So now I'm thinking . . . alright, I guess you wanted me to know this was for me and not just random. So in the story this king named Sennacherib wants to kill Hezekiah and destroy Judah and Jerusalem, and he sends Hezekiah a letter to that effect, part of which tells H not to be decieved by his god. And then verse 14-19:

"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayged to the Lord: 'O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of eath. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to instul the living God. It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid wase these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed the, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth my know that you alone, O Lord, are God."

And I knew it was for me. So I vowed to do it, I said to myself that soon I would have private worhsip time and I'd do what Hezekiah did.

Saturday was great. My mom and brother and I went down to this barbeque at the school for the bling in Donelson. Then I goofed around in the afternoon and then we had Jonathan's birthday party over at Dan and Alissas. Freaking fun as all get out. I laughed so hard.

I got up late but still made it to church early, so excited to be there and to worship and draw close to God. And worship was amazing. I had this undivided heart and just sang out and could feel God, so close and so loving. And Aaron's message was good and encouraging, again about Joseph and how God plans to prosper us. And then the prayer time at the end. And I felt God calling me, and low and behold I'd accidently slipped the letter into my Bible along with some other papers in the rush to leave.

So I took it up and spread it out on the stage (altar). I opened my Bible and read Hezekiah's prayer, personalizing it. Then I read the whole story 3 or 4 for times over and then just bowed my head and prayed.

And that was it. Nothing happened, no word from God. But I did what I was supposed to and I feel great.

Functionally the rest of the day was great. Little nap and some video games, lunch at Shane's with my moms. First young adults in the church's new space, which was a good time. We had some new people and really opened up and learned and enjoyed each other, a great time. Then some of us grabbed some food and went to see the new Terminator movie.

But today had even more crazy awesomeness. One line of Aaron's message pointed out how God took Joseph from a prisoner to the ruler of Egypt in an hour, and he said God could do that for us.

And then this after noon two amazing things happen. My brother tells me this woman who knows this guy Brian works for wants somebody to help her out the same way he does. So that's not a great opportunity, but its very solid.

And then I get an email from Jenn, the head of CAKE at GodWhy.

"Zack - Hi, It's Jenn from GodWhy. It has come to my attention that you have some experience with youth centers/ministries/shelters/events. So, I wanted to invite you on an adventure. A business man from our church lives in Westmorland and noticed a lack of activities for youth and young adults in the area. He has built a building to somewhat immolate Rockettown, and their ministry. He hired a director from CA, and he has done nothing and now has bailed, leaving this man with a building opening in two months, and no marketing, plans, contacts, touching base with principals, bands, etc.. No decor, paint, hours, or staff. Money is not the issue with this guy, and his heart is awesome, but he [needs help putting everything together]. So, last week I assembled a team to get EVERYTHING together over the summer and open in August. Yes, there are employment opportunities, but no promises. There is a great adventure though! If you are interested in giving input, or helping in any way let me know.
Jenn"

Bam!!! And just earlier in the day and yesterday I was struggling with wanting a purpose and adventure. And then . . . God is freaking crazy!!! And this opporunity is near perfect. I have experience with all that stuff and . . . just nuts man. Its far less solid but . . . it seems so possible. God is good.

Then when I get back tonight I have this great conversation with Jill. And with three good friends from high school I've been out of contact with for a long time, and I have plans to see them all sometime this week. See . . . holy freaking explosion of amazing.

So anyhow, pray for me dear friends. God is dangling these blessings, enough that they could crush me. He is so good!