I just got back from another day of work at Panera Bread. I’m tired… standing on your feet all day gets old after a while.

The business internship is off the list. I asked my brother about it, but I’m going to have to wait until summer after my junior year (or later) to do any sort of internship. So that leaves work at a ranch in California? Washington? Wyoming? …or stay in Franklin and work at Panera? or go back to work at Camp Westminster for another summer. I trust that God will open the right door at the right time.

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and well. This is the first real opportunity I have had to sit down and write anything since being home. Our computer is old and slow… it takes a while to do anything.

It’s been good to be home back in Franklin, TN. I’ve been working at Panera Bread again – just trying to earn some money for the coming semester. Last Thursday and Friday, I worked a total of 22 hours… woke up at 4:20 a.m. to work Thursday, and woke up at 5:20 a.m. to work Friday. I pulled a double back-to-back on Friday – opened at 6:00 a.m. and closed at 10:30 p.m. (with a two hour break in the afternoon). Oh the joy of paying for college…

My family is doing really well. Wim and his wife Libby are in Texas visiting Libby’s family for Christmas, while Nick and my sister Julie are spending their Christmas vacation in Honduras, Puerto Rico, and a few other exotic places. I miss them.

As for me and the rest of the Codington household, we’re at home – eating good food, sleeping, procrastinating buying Christmas presents (it’s the 24th, and I have yet to buy anything for Christmas… way to go, Flip), watching $5 movies from Walmart, catching up with friends at Starbucks, going on bike rides, thinking about playing tennis, buying textbooks and making plans for the next semester, and praying about where God wants me this summer…

As far as the summer goes, I’d appreciate prayer – depending on where my priorities lie next summer, I could either stay in Franklin and work at Panera (and try to find a business internship in Nashville), go back to Camp Westminster and work as a horse wrangler or senior counselor (as well as maybe go to Spain for two weeks), go to Uganda for three weeks in May, or get out of Tennessee/Georgia all together and go out West (possibly Wyoming, Washington, or California…) and find a job.

I’d appreciate prayer for that one – that God would grant me wisdom, peace of mind, and trust and faith in His good plans for me.

I’m one final away from being 3/8ths of the way through my college career. It’s such a beautiful thought, and I am so ready to be done. One more exam…

God has a way of convicting me at the right time, in the right place, and with the most random things… I’m reading doctrine, and one of the ”effects of sin on our relationships with other humans” is our inability to empathize. I am far too often wrapped up in myself and my own selfishness…

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”   – Philippians 2:3-5

My attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…

Four days to go until I am done finals and am heading home. I’m studying in the library right now — working on getting my doctrine exam done later this afternoon. Twenty-one pages of typed up notes — 10 pt font. And probably about 30 odd verse passages to know/memorize. Breeze…

For those of you out there studying and who do well listening to music while studying, check out pandora.com. Type in your favorite genre of music, and it compiles a never-ending playlist of the music you love… I know, I sound like a walking advertisement. Whatever. A friend showed it to me yesterday, and it’s pretty awesome. Forget having an ipod or a pile of cds… :)

I read this the other day… my favorite part is when Chambers says, “God became a baby.” Remember the small things in life, and remember who we do them for. Our Father who is God desires for us to worship and glorify Him in ALL things. Be encouraged, and I challenge you to go to the linked website to read from Chambers every day. It has been an incredible encouragement and inspiration to me from day to day.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

November 22, 2007
Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31

“Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher . . .” Matthew 10:24

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself. “

It’s Thursday night, and I am officially done classes for this semester. Three semesters down, five more to go… :) This weekend is going to be intense. I have a lot of reading and studying to do for finals next week. I have five in all. I’m just ready to be home right now… less than a week and I’ll be home.

Chorale is singing their final Christmas concert, along with the Covenant orchestra and Madrigal Singers, tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Covenant Chapel. I’m excited… my parents are coming up to see me and Bets sing (along with the rest of the chorale, obviously). I do believe this will be the first time I have ever sung or performed on stage in front of my parents.

It’s going to be good, so be there. We’re singing four a capella songs — Joy to the World, Lux Arumque, Sing We Now of Christmas, and What Sweeter Music Can We Bring… followed by several other songs with the orchestra from “The Many Moods of Christmas,” suites 1 and 3.

I read this verse this morning. I realized how so often I subconsciously believe that I can fool God by saying the “right things” with my lips and mouth. As long as I’m outwardly doing the right things, I’ll be fine, right? God can’t see the inner workings of my heart or the thoughts that I would never dare to speak into being. Though I would never admit that, I believe that lie in my heart. 

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”  Isaiah 29:13-14

God forgive me for doing that. I somehow think that if I pray and give an hour of my day to God, then I can live the other 23 hours for myself. God doesn’t ask me for an hour; He asked me for my life. Dr. Kapic, my Christian Doctrine professor, was talking about the passage in the Bible where the Pharisees confront Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. The passage is found in Matthew 22:17-21

Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

As Dr. Kapic was explaining it, he did not interpret the passage as meaning that we must tithe and give God our money. The denarius that Jesus held was made in the image of Caesar — it belonged to him. Who are we made in the image of? Think about that… we are made in the image of the Almighty, and we belong to HIM. God forgive me for giving Him any less of myself. God doesn’t want merely 10%. He wants our lives. Think about that.