I'm in Portland

Howdy! We made it! Nathan drove me up to Roseburg this morning to Grandma's. Grandma and I left Roseburg about 4pm and she had me drive. We stopped in Salem for some delicious burgers, fries, and a milkshake. We arrived at our hotel in Portland about 8:30 pm. Portland feels so huge and scary, especially when you're driving and it's dark. We got 'lost' twice but eventually we made it.

I love small Grants Pass. :)

When we first got to the hotel there was a mix up about our reservations and we were given a room that had just one master bed and smelled awfully of cigarettes. We, thankfully, were able to get a different room with 2 beds and clean smelling air. So after that I explored the hotel and then settled down in our room. The beds are kinda neat; they have remote controls to pump up or shrink the mattress. Both the left and right, separately.

This feels weird.

It's strange being someplace huge and unfamiliar. I've been to big cities and hotels before but, for some reason this feels different. Maybe because it's just me and grandma. It was nice to be able to use grandma's laptop and to go friends blogs just to see something familiar.

But I'm not supposed to feel this way yet because I haven't even left America! I haven't flown any planes yet!! I'm still around people who speak English!!!

Well, as you can see, I'm feeling wimpy. I'll soon get over it. :)

Tomorrow, the plan is to fly to China. My visa was supposed to arrive today at the our tourist's house, in Portland, but I don't know if it has. I can still make it if it comes tomorrow. If it doesn't, Sue, our guide will try to arrange me catching up to them on a later flight in Beijing.
So things are still a little uncertain. But God is in control. If He doesn't want me to go to China, so be it.

You can pray for me that God will use me on this trip, in whatever ways He wills. In case you're wondering, I did bring extra bibles; to smuggle into China.

God bless you all!!!
-Aaron

Troubles

Hey, this is Alexa reporting. Aaron is in Roseburg right. But he is in need of prayer. This past month and a half have been a constant struggle for him to secure his passport and visa. Now, for some reason, his passport has not yet been delivered, and his flight departure is scheduled for tomorrow. He might be delayed until his passport shows up. So cross your fingers! Signing off...Over and out...10:4 or whatever.

Bye

I'm leaving in a couple of minutes toward China.
I'm going to Portland today, and tomorrow I'll leave from there, across the Pacific, stop at Tokyo, Japan, and then land at Beijing, China.

I'll miss all of you great friends.

See you all much later!

YeeeeeHaaaaww!!!!

WHOOOOOOOHEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
TACKLE FOOTBALL IS AWESOME!!!!!!!

Idols

During the summer, us Sleadd guys went to a men's lunch group every Wednesday at the Sub Shop in Grants Pass. Mr. Emmons, Pastor Dale, Tim McGilvreay, and some others guys went. We went through the Proverbs and talked about them so forth.

On one particular meeting, Tim McGilvreay, who if you know well, is a theological genius; anyway he had recently been listening to some C.J. Mahanay cds about idols.

Tim shared a quote by Mahanay that was something like this, "It's not so much that what we desire is wrong, it's when we desire it too much."

This really made me think about what idols I might have in my life. Before, I had always imagined idols as being obvious. Such as bowing down to statues or worshiping animals, or deifying celebrities....something that was obvious. But according to C. J. Mahanay it's not really the object that makes it an idol, it's how much we desire the object that makes it an idol.

And many times the things we desire are not bad, in fact they might be very good things. What makes an object an idol is when we desire it above God. When we seek satisfaction in that object rather than in God.

One of the examples shared was how a father can desire to be respected by his family, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to be desired, yet if he desires it to the point were he is yelling at his family to get it, than it has become an idol.

You see how desiring something good too much immediately turns it into an idol?
It could really be anything. It might be desiring a good reputation too much, it might be desiring to see your friends over God, it might be(in my case) wanting to get a driving license and a car too much. :)


In Conclusion,
After having this discussion at Men's group it really helped me to understand why at times I would feel frustrated and dissatisfied when things didn't happen my way. It was because I was desiring things too much. Even good things. Idolizing them over God.

Some questions to ask yourself-

• What are my idols?
• Am I desiring things above God?
  
• Do I seek satisfaction in things other than God?

A book

Here's a book you all should read, one time or another. I'm reading it for the second time right now and there is still soo much eye-opening stuff in it.

It has really helped me to understand that there is indeed a spiritual battle raging on around us. And the battle isn't between fat, naked little cherubs with harps, and demons dressed in red tights, with spade tails and tridents.

There is a serious battle going on that we are to be aware of and prepared for. "Put on the full armor of God...."

Anyway, I wish I could tell you more but you'll just have to read it. It is very similar to the Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis.

Note: I don't exactly recommend it for younger kids....who are 11 and younger. But if you're a teenager or soon to be, I highly recommend it.

An Old Speech I Did.