Artem Popov

My dear friend Artem did the awesome design you see on my blog. He's pretty darn good at what he does and for those of you who know him, I'm preaching to the choir. He just put his portfolio up on his new website, so check it out. And if you haven't already done so, take a look at his blog, it's super dope.

A photo to add to his credibility as a professional:





Teebs

Chivalry

Yesterday I had the great displeasure of seeing quite a few displays of men who lacked courteousness, thoughtfulness, and just plain common sense. I don't know why I paid more attention to this yesterday than I usually do, but it really stuck out to me. I saw one scenario where a woman was walking up to a store with a baby on her hip and a big bag tucked under the other arm. Three men walk past her, fling the door open, and all walk in ahead of her; not thinking to hold the door. I'm not sure when it became okay for men to stop being chivalrous, but it is unacceptable. It's not okay to be so arrogant that you're completely oblivious to the people around you. Hold doors open for women, walk them to their cars/front doors, pay for them when you're able to, offer a jacket if it's cold outside. Show some class guys, act like gentleman! And don't forget to stay proper.

Blessings & Prayer

Lately I've been trying to make sure that I notice the many blessings in my life. The Lord really is good to me and all too often I pay too much attention to my trials, the difficulties in my life, shortcomings in my character and/or personality and not nearly enough to all the great things God does in my every day life. While it is, however, very important to pay attention to the not-so-pleasant things and learn from them; to dwell on the negative or difficult things is detrimental to our spiritual health and just downright unnecessary. I've been thinking more and more about how amazing it is that God saved me. This is something that's kind of become "normal" or even kind of old for me because I'm so focused on moving ahead in life, growing spiritually, and maturing as a man. What a shame that this isn't always something that makes me want to shout with joy! God saved me; a sinner, someone who hated Him. He saved me and made me His child. That's something to constantly be thankful for. God also gave me a family who loves me and is patient with me, He gave me friends who accept me and help me grow, He gave me a church where I can work to build up His kingdom and am surrounded by people who encourage me and whose lives are an example to me. There's just so much in my life to be thankful for, and so many things that aren't even on my radar that the Lord does for me every second of my life. Be thankful to God for your life. Praise Him for His goodness, His love, His care, and His patience. Don't grumble, don't dwell on the difficulties; but instead rejoice in the fact that God has given you what He's given you and use it to glorify Him with every breath He graciously grants you.

Another thing that's becoming more commonplace in my life (unfortunately quite late) is regular prayer; a deeper communion with God. I'm starting to see the importance of bringing everything to God and truly trusting Him with it. I'll be honest, my prayer life is pretty weak. I'm working on fixing that, but for a long time this wasn't something that I saw as being all that important and therefore I didn't actively work on it. I've been seeing the horrible flaw with this kind of thinking and just how much it has stunted my spiritual growth. What I've been doing recently is making prayer lists for different days of the week and actually making myself stick to them. It's such a simple thing to do, but it has very unfortunately taken me a long time to figure that out. I've experienced a HUGE blessing in seeing God actually answering prayers and seeing that He does actively work in our lives. I urge all of you to be intentional about your prayer lives if you aren't already doing so. Don't be like me, be proactive in prayer!