iPod car players

Hey. Okay. Why the heck do they even bother selling the FM radio adapter ipod players for your car that cost $50-$100?! This is absolutely absurd. If you have one. Return it. If you wanna buy one, DON'T BUY IT. I've had them in the past and they are ridiculous. You plug it in, you gotta scan for an empty radio station or a weak one, then you have to make sure once your ipod is connected perfectly, then you gotta make sure that it doesn't move or it might mess up the signal and STILL you get static even if everything is perfect. Then of course you have to deal with the big ole F350s coming along and absorbing your radio connection.

So, I got to Walmart right, and there is this little $10 package. It looks like a casette tape with a wire coming out of it. I ask this guy working in the electronics department if it'd work for ipods in cars and he goes "OH no! no no no, what you need is something like this right here." Of course he directs me to the crap I mentioned above. So I play along acting like ohh okay. I wasn't about to argue with a walmart employee, I have standards. So I go ahead and buy this little TEN DOLLAR device and guess what.

Yep.

IT FREAKING WORKS PERFECTLY. I don't even know why they bother making the radio ones. And know what, if you're really into ipods you can go ahead and buy the $20 casette plug in that'll charge your ipod (personally I don't need that but I guess some people do for longer trips). 

So the point is, if you need an ipod player for your car that works flawlessly and is as simple as eating a cookie, then go to walmart, FIND THE TEN DOLLAR CASETTE MP3 PLUG IN PLAYER and go enjoy all your favorite music. I'll go with you personally to make sure you buy the right one. 

Sorry. Incredibly vain post. (Vain as defined in definition #4 on dictionary.com) 

Save money cause the economy is gonna get worse and don't forget to wear your Avian-Human-Swine Flu masks today :]! Over a hundred kids in a NY school yesterday got it and we know that if that many kids have it, yes, that many families have it too. 

OH! and guess what. The first death of the swine flu was just confirmed this morning...it was a 23 month old...IN TEXAS. Great.

Audios. 

Jealousy Part III - Deception

STOP. haha scroll down to part 1 and 2 before reading this. It's not meant to be read unless you read the others. :]

This is the 3rd part of Jealousy and perhaps the ugliest. Deception. This is the one that snuck up on me out of the woods and strangled me. It did seem to be relatively easy to over come though. 

Deception is as you know, something that you work into your head, believing it's there when it's really not. Deception is bad for several reasons:

-Deception actually cultivates jealousy in the heart. Think of it as a farmer. Through your own assumptions, seeds of deception are planted, these deceptions grow bigger and then in your heart you have fruits of jealousy all over the place.

-Deception, it's a belief in lies, most often these deceptions don't reflect reality. (Once again with the overlap, you probably have this deception because you don't have trust, and therefore you are insecure and don't have confidence and you are fearful, it's one huge vicious cycle) 

I don't have much to say as far as personal reflection. I will say that I believe these are attacks by Satan. Satan's greatest tactic for taking down humans is to infiltrate the mind and distracting it enough in order for humans to either be unproductive or actually destructive. Satan encourages this belief in lies and if you have a wild imagination...it can suck. 

I had this girlfriend once and she went off to college and all the time I would conjure up some sickening story about different guys and eventually these thoughts and lies would consume me. It was awful. Especially because the whole time she was being absolutely faithful as a person can be. It really can hurt people when deception comes into play. So please, just get a grip and shove it out of your mind. Don't let the evil of this world bring you down. 

One of the best verses for Truth:

John 8:32 "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." 

Alright, that's the only verse I'll be typing out. I really want anyone that is interested to grab a bible and take a look at the following verses. I think they're just too great to type down. You need to find them and reflect on them. 

Psalm 24: 4-5   (good correlation to Romans 5:2-5 and from there that correlates to James 1:2-4)

Psalm 119:43

Psalm 145:18

Isaiah 45:19

John 16:13

I encourage you to look these up and really get into the meaning of them. Type them on the internet if you'd like and find some of the guides concerning the verses. (Always be careful, there are some nutts out there that post junk about them) 

I just want to leave yall with some closure concerning jealousy:

-Yes, Jealousy is ugly and it is fairly broad. However it can be overcome with consistent prayer and time with Jesus. 

-Please realize how it is all a cycle and if you're involved in one part of it, you're probably involved with more than you think. Break out of it.

- Realize God's love is sufficient. There is nothing in this life to be jealous of. 

- I did skip over coveting actual objects, I think we all understand why we shouldn't covet. 

- I hope these 3 posts have spoken to at least someone in some way or another. Please talk to me if you have questions or want to just talk. I'm always hear to listen to problems and give advice if asked. Also, if anyone has prayer requests, I'd be more than happy to pray for you. 

Jealousy Part II - Insecurity

Hey yall, this post is going to be the 2nd installation of the 3 faces of Jealousy. It's going to be covering Insecurity. This area of jealousy has had huge implications on my life and I wish to share it with whoever so that we all may grow. 

Last time we did cover jealousy and fear and you'll find that jealousy through fear and jealousy through insecurity actually have a lot of overlaps. 

Insecurity, in the non-dictionary definition is basically you not being secure and confident in yourself or God. Often insecure people will do things in order to feel secure. This can be very destructive and quite frankly, an unpleasant way to go about your life. It is also probably one of the hardest issues to over come. 

Insecurity in my opinion or at least in my time spent reflecting really has two main components. The first of these being trust and the second confidence. They also go hand in hand. You need to have trust in someone in order to be confident in them (or yourself) and to trust them you cannot fear them (like the previous posting noted). 

Trust. Personally, for the longest time I didn't trust people and I didn't trust God. This made things an absolute mess. For the longest time I needed to gain affirmation from other people because I didn't trust in God's will for my life and what He really could make me into. I had no faith in Him. I had faith in what He had done through Christ on the cross, but I had no faith in what He could do in the future. 

In order to gain confidence throughout your life, you really need to start with trusting God. Once you understand God's love for you and that he is there to take care of you, you really begin to understand that He is in control and will guide you. 

1 Samuel 12:22 says, 

"For the sake of His great name the Lord will not reject His people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own."

-Do you understand that? God was PLEASED to make you his own. Please, if anything, find some selfworth in that! Just go to him, he certainly won't turn you away, not matter what has taken place in your life. 

1 Peter 2:9

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light." 

If you really want to continue to work on learning about God and trusting in him , take a few minutes to read and reflect on 

-Psalm 13:5-6

-Psalm 48:9

-Psalm 143:8

-Psalm 27:10 

God is going to be there for you. He loves us, he has demonstrated this love and now we need to trust in it. We need to let go of ourselves, that's why you find Jesus saying we need to DIE to ourselves and take up the cross DAILY. God can do amazing things if we would just put some faith and trust into Him. 

Forever I seeked affirmation from people concerning my actions, my beliefs and especially my looks. I always cared about how people saw me and how I acted and I would just clam up and honestly I think it drew more attention to myself. I was a mess. I still have trouble with this. Just the other day I was at a jazz festival with my family, surrounded by..."interesting" people to say the least and I was a friggin clam the whole time. I coulnd't let go of things. I honestly wanted to say I was just having a bad day, but when it gets down to it, I didn't trust in God. 

Go set goals for yourself and how you can really improve upon yourself as a servant of God. 

Once again, if anyone ever wants to talk or discuss any of this, just leave me a comment with some contact information. 

Jealousy Part I - Fear

Hey everyone, I hope yall are all doing okay. Lately God has put the subject of Jealousy on my heart. I've been an extremely jealous person most of my life without even knowing it. I always thought jealousy meant "coveting" objects and therefore I always thought "Oh, I'm not a jealous person." However, I was dead wrong. Due to certain events that have taken place in my life recently I started taking a look at all of my faults. I had to turn to family and friends in order to see what was wrong with me. 

The strongest issue that came up was Jealousy. It took several ugly forms within myself. These 3 forms are Fear, Insecurity and Deception. They all can lead to a huge mess if you don't take the time to work through them. I encourage you to work through them with God because 1) the Bible helps a ton with verses and 2) Things just work out better if you are following God's will. 

Alright, let's start.

The first face of Jealousy we will be looking at is Fear. 

Well what's wrong with fear? (Keep in mind this isn't necessarily touching on phobias, it's the fear pertaining to jealousy)

-First, fear is devastating to relationships. Whether this relationship is with Jesus Christ or a friend, spouse, whomever, fear will eventually take its toll. 

-Fear does not help maintain relationships or objects that we desire. In some people, fear grips at us and therefore we grip at things that we are afraid of losing. For example, in my life, I used to be afraid of rejection by other people. And this of course caused the self-destructing habit of going and doing things with/to other people in order to gain acceptance. I particularly found my worth in girls liking me. There is a healthy level of feeling good in girls liking you or guys for girls but when it starts to become your main focus to satisfy those people's needs, it doesn't work. 

-Through this fear that is found in jealousy, you'll actually see it to start push people away from your life instead of keeping them there.

Let's take a look at what the bible says concerning fear:

(This is a great one for all relationships) 

1 John 4:18

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 

Romans 8:15

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry 'Abba Father."

(This is a good one for any of yall who just need to get a grip)

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." 

Another good verse is Jude 24. I encourage everyone to look these verses up in your own bible and really reflect upon what God has to say. Pray for God to reveal to you what you're afraid of and I can say confidently that He will help you overcome. You just need to be willing and open :] 

Don't be afraid to give God a shot. Really reflect on those bible verses, take them into context, and maybe pray that God transform you for His will if you feel led to do so. 

I'm not pastor or biblical scholar, all of this stems from my quiet times that I have every morning and what God is revealing to me. I encourage everyone to really sit down, set aside some time (just about 20 minutes) and really become consistent with God and prayer through Jesus Christ and the word. 

If you wish to continue on, Part II will be coming shortly :] 

The Poem

"The Poem" is the 2nd poem I have ever written in my life. The only other poem I have ever written was in 1st grade. In my opinion it was written rather quickly. I was trying to capture a moment of time and the feelings that were in my heart. This poem is a reflection.

The Poem

My hands are shaking and trembling in anticipation

The arrival, the new situation

Where do you and I go from here?

Onward I say, do not fear.

For the old is dying

and the new is lying

in wait for the precious moment

We stay clam, your body falls into place

it's so familiar when you see my face

Playful banter continues on

now my hope begins to dawn

For the old is dying

and the new is lying

in wait for that precious moment

Sudden movements and rebirthed passion

We exchange glances of familiar fashion

The pounding heart and connected eyes

please, lover, forgive my lies

For the old is dying

and the new is lying

in wait for that precious moment

The impulsive clutch and blossoming warmth

where shall we go as mind and body continue forth?

Suppressed uncertainty now melting away

how much longer must I keep at bay?

O Lover!

For now the Old is dead and the New is surging forward

Glorious embrace.

The enduring Dove.

You are here forever,

My wonderful, beautiful Love.

Tattoos

This is a reading from Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 2. 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any long to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." 

Keeping this verse in mind, I'd like to reveal my personal revelation on one of the hardest issues that I have dealt with. Tattoos. As a naturally artistic person, I have drawn and contemplated many tattoos for other people and have often debated one for myself. However, I was never able to really nail down an idea that I thought held enough meaning to be marked permanently on my body. 

I have debated vivid scenes of Jesus and his mercy, verses from scripture, images of Texas (cause I'm a 6th generation Texan and Texas only goes back 6 generations). I have debated Maori inspired designs and even Japanese garden views. HOWEVER, I realized that despite the meaning I put behind it and the relevance it might have to my life, and despite people thinking it's a form of standing out I really truly believe it is a type of conforming. I would do it not for myself, but for others to see and notice. This is not what I want for myself. 

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 6, verses 19 through 20 he states...

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with you body." 

If you really continue to take a look into this verse you recognize that your body is not only a temple, but as it states in Genesis 1:27, you are a temple that was crafted in God's image.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." 

I don't know how many of you have studied art or taken a general arts course, but usually one of the main focuses brought up in art is architecture. When studying architecture, you learn that the architect designs and crafts a building in order to reflect its purpose. God has reflected our temple, our bodies in order to reflect Himself because what else is as glorious? and also to reflect the purpose, complete and total worship of Him who has made us. So now that we have set up the visual image of our bodies as unique and diverse buildings, let us think of our opinion of some great building. Let it be Buckingham Palace, Yankee Stadium, your house, McDonalds, whatever it may be, and imagine it with graffiti on it. Whether this graffiti is done by an amateur gangster and looks like crap or a professional muralist puts up his very best piece...it still is going to look odd and immediately cause people to form an opinion instead of drawing them in. 

Some of you may say, well some buildings are ugly...God doesn't make ugly temples. They are reflected in His image. So I encourage all who debate a tattoo or are set on getting one, take a second and contemplate what exactly you are doing to your perfectly designed body. I also encourage you to draw people in with your intellect and allow them to get to know you through verbal exchange and through that exchange they will find out what you're like and what you support and what you believe. (That was directed to those who truly believe their tattoo has some profound meaning) I even encourage this among those who are debating getting scripture written all over their back. 

Well I hope this provided insight, take it or leave it. It has been on my heart and trust me, I used to really really want a tattoo but I took it to God in prayer. 

The Introduction

Hey everyone!

I'm David and I'm new to this whole blogging-self expression-reflecting on emotions-life-and-writing-about-it stuff. I hope this blog gives insight to whoever is searching for something. I'm going to keep the "diary" type stuff out of the way. I mainly want to use this as a way to etch my strongest thoughts into stone so I have something concrete to refer to. I have an xanga and I was tired of the layout. It's not very user friendly. So I'll keep that as my personal journal. I'll be posting a lot to refine a majority of my thoughts that I have posted in the past on my xanga.

If anyone has something they would like my thoughts on (for whatever reason you would) or if someone would like to have a CIVIL debate over a specific topic, just let me know. 

Alright time for some background on myself: 

• I'm 18 years old and a native Texan 
• I respond to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior and absolutely no one else
• I have a wide variety of political beliefs, they do however lean toward the conservative side
• I currently attend the University of Texas at Dallas 
• I'm leaning towards majoring in Public Affairs, which is not the same as Public Relations
• I'm really big into self-growth and learning about people's character 

Well I think that's good for now. You can find out more about me as time goes on. If anyone wants to contact me, you can find me on AIM, my s/n is pettythedutch