Cory’s Weblog

This is a few days late, but I have good reason for the delay.

Just two days ago I made a huge decision. It had been in the works for a couple months now, and I guess if you want to get technical, it’s been in the works for just over 3 years now. Saturday I decided to propose to my girlfriend Jackie. Yep! It was great. I had this whole thing planned out with my parents, her parents, and some of our friends. It was a cool little scavenger hunt that had Jackie visit a couple places in town that had some play in our relationship. It all started at her house with her parents giving her an envelope with a little letter in it with the first clue as well. She would go from place to place following the clues and in each envelope there was also a picture we took there and a letter explaining why I chose that place for her to go to.

The final place she went to was the church where we met in Seguin, and I was in the sanctuary waiting for her with the ring. She came in and we hugged and such when I then got down on one knee and asked her for her hand in marriage. And she said yes!!

It went very well, and we’re both so happy now. Not that we weren’t happy before, but this surely made things a very happy moment.

That night we went to a Mexican food place in town, that we’ve been to on many occasions, for dinner with her folks and mine. It was a great time to share with them and hear from them. We’re both so lucky that they support where we are and where we plan to go from here.

YAY!!

I’ve titled this post “Divine Sense of Humor” simply because I can think of nothing better, but check this out.

So one thing I really enjoy about summer time are the great sunsets we have here in South Central Texas. The sky turns shades of red, purple, and orange that just contrast the dark green pastures and the amber fields of hay and oats. There is just something so beautiful about the way the horizon of trees separates the colors of the earth with the colors of the sky. I’ve learned to take time to view these moments, and have surely been nothing short of happy when I do.

This being said, today I spent all day with Jackie, and it was wonderful. We woke up and went to Church and Sunday school like usual, then went the few blocks back to her house to have some of her father’s spicy jambalaya and her mom’s accidental crumb sticks. Later we rented a movie, Vantage Point, and ate popcorn. After attending the evening service at Church, we headed back toward my house and stopped off to eat dinner at the Dixie Grill, a local place that is known for their fried pickles and serving their drinks in small pitchers instead of cups. Then from there Jackie proceeded to take me home so I could get some rest for an early day of work tomorrow. It was on this short trip home that God took one of my favorite natural beauties and added something extra to make me laugh quite hard.

In McQueeney, Texas, we have nothing more than bars and pastures. One stop light, a church, and the post office is all that accompanies our variety of fields and brews. One of these pastures, where cattle reside, is just off Farm Road78, the road I take home from Jackie’s each night. It’s a wonderful pasture for cattle since it is quite large and near the Guadalupe River. This is also a great place to partake in the viewing of a sunset. As Jackie and I were talking, I peered over to take some time to view a sunset, something I hadn’t seen in a while. As I did, I mentally discussed how wonderful the contrast of the sky with the land was, and then decided to scan down and watch the cattle grazing. Now we were passing at 60 mph, so I had to glance fast, and because of our speed, I decided to turn my neck back to get as much of this view as I could when all of a sudden I see a cow standing off by itself with it’s tail raised high and leaking water like no cow I’ve ever seen. Now, I’ve passed this place many many times throughout my 20 years here, and never have I ever seen anyone of these cows relieving itself. Never. So why, now, during this beautiful view after a wonderful day did I see this lonesome bovine emptying its bladder? My best conclusion was that God simply wanted me to realize that even in the beauty of nature and life, there is always humor, always.

Those who read this, I hope that the next sunset you see doesn’t remind you of a cow, but if it does, do remember to laugh.

Thats roughly how long it took for Jackie and I to drive from Seguin all the way up to Odessa. A good long drive, but it lacks scenery once you get past Junction, Texas.

We drove all this way yesterday for a wedding for my friend Natalee and her once fiance and now husband Harry. It was so nice. I met her several years back through another friend at church, and she was and still is very cool. It was neat to get to see her get married. The ceremony was nice, very beautiful. The pastor who spoke and did the wedding was very very well spoken. He had such a great voice for one, but he said so many great things of encouragement and of Biblical reference to love and marriage.

After the wedding we went downstairs, thats right a basement fellowship hall in Texas, and had some food and drinks to continue celebrating. Jackie and I sat with the only other person we knew there, Stephanie, my good friend Justin’s sister. The reception had great food and as the rest of the wedding, was beautiful. It was neat to be there with Jackie, because it brought up some great conversation of what each of us liked in a wedding, and somethings we didn’t like as well.

After the wedding and reception we went back to our hotel room  and watched some tele and talked some more about what we liked and such from the wedding. The next morning, today, we woke up and got all packed up and went to Burger King for a good ol’ breakfast before venturing the 5 and a half hours back home. I feel that the drive back was much nicer, in terms of conversation and beauty, than the one there. Everything, no matter how sparse  or blank, is more beautiful when you’re heading home it seems. Also though, Jackie and I did a great bit of talking about us and what the future held, which was nice. She’s been doing some reading for the Pregnancy Center in Seguin, which involves reading books that the center is trying to work into there library for mothers and fathers. So on the way back we talked about baby names, even though we both know that babies are many years from now. It was fun though to think of names and even find out the meaning of names too. Some were quite funny and some were a bit disappointing. All in all, we had a great trip and we enjoyed it a good deal.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Harry Irwin!

Some conclusions:

Odessa is no place we want to live ( unless called to do so )

Pepe’s in Ozona is no place to eat at ( unless…well, no unless )

My family never seems to be at rest for more than a week at a time, never. I love my parents and my brother, but as a family unit we can never seem to operate properly. My brother is 22 works in a local factory and still lives at home, though is in the process of possibly moving out. My dad is a test engineer for a company that manufactures emergency exit door devices and has worked there for a little over 18 years now…he makes roughly $45,000 a year. My mom is a medical coder…not to sure how to explain this, but she is contracted by a company to work from her computer assessing medical bills and such, she makes about $47,000 a year. I am a 21 year old student at a near by university working part time at a local retailer with plans to move out the summer after graduating in 2010.

My family seems fairly average middle class. My folks make about $90,000 a year, but somehow, some way we have very little to show for this. The only thing that seems to surface from our normal lives is frustration at the “things” we own not working properly or at all, and never having enough money… How do we not have enough money to get by? My parents make good money. We have one car payment, one house payment, and other smaller bills. My brother pays for his own insurance, cellphone, and gas. My parents pay about $3,200 a semester for my schooling, and starting this year I’m getting free rent in my dorm. How do we not have enough money to get from week to week? How?!

I really don’t see how this happens, but because it does my family is in constant conflict about who is wasting what or spending too much. My parents have no savings, so if something is to happen we have nothing to really fall on aside from what ever paycheck is in the bank. What should, or do, I do in this time of my life? I’m trying so hard to get a degree to move on to another phase of my life. I have every intention to live a life that will bless my kids and their posterity too. I want to live so that my kids can see me as a Godly father, and I know Jackie wants the same for her.

So the reason I bring this up is that today my moms car broken down and wouldn’t start. This is kinda a big deal since it is a 2006 and should be having too many problems. Dad came home and determined, with his vast knowledge of cars, that it was the starter. Cool…except that a starter for her car costs $150. This isn’t in our budget and as for mentioned, we don’t have a savings to draw out of. Great. Somehow we manage to pay for this starter and get it home. We, dad and I, start working on changing them out, which should be a simply task, but on Korean cars it’s ridiculous. So an hour later the new starter is in and dad gives me the cue to start it up….nothing….try again he says….still nothing but the same clicking sound he previously associated with the starter. This is where it gets soo good… See, my dad has this thing with working on cars where if it doesn’t work right it’s cause you didn’t:

A) Cuss loud enough

or

B) You didn’t cuss at all

So he starts doing his, “You P.O.S. this…and you S.O.B. that…” and I start getting real sad. Long story short he takes in the old starter and its fine according to the local car parts store and we didn’t need the new one. So he comes home roughly 10x more upset, still cussing, except now he feels inclined to let the neighbors know by raising his voice and throwing things and kicking stuff… What a lovely father I think… yes he has reason to be mad that this isn’t working right, but to this extreme? Really?

My dad used to be real bad with his temper and act out a lot, but in all fairness he hadn’t done this in probably 8-10 years. And now that he has, it sucks. I have no clue why he gets so violent over such things. Even worse, I don’t know what to do when this starts either. He won’t listen to my mom, let alone me, and I have no way to get anywhere right now to escape this. I’m not even sure escaping this would be the right thing.

So now we’re down $200 dollars we didn’t have to spend, and the car still isn’t working. So given it’s not the battery, we’ll have to pay another $75 to have the car towed to the dealership to be looked at and hopefully fixed which will cost an arm and a leg simply for labor. Woo hoo. I’m almost sure that’ll do anything but make my father happy. I’m really not looking forward to tomorrow if a new battery doesn’t work out.

If it’s not one thing…it’s another.

Continuing on with my walk through the New Testament of the Bible, I read Mark 5 today. Here is what I feel led to say about it.

Jesus, in the first part of this chapter, heals a man who is demon possessed. The man, once he sees Jesus, runs toward him and begins to worship Jesus. At this point Jesus dialogged with the man, eventually casting out the demon that had been in him. Then Jesus allows the demons, roughly 2,000 according to the Bible, are then cast into pigs who in turn run of a cliff into the sea and drown. Ha! Take that…But then the people want this man, Jesus, to leave, and so He does. Jesus gets in his boat, but is approached by the man he just healed. This man wants to join Jesus on His journey, but Jesus insists that the man stay there and tell his friends what Jesus has done for him.

This made me want to take some time to share with those who read this, what exactly I’m thankful for and what God has done for me.

• Money to attend College
• Parents who support me though they don’t follow what I do
• Friends who keep me accountable
• People who are willing to be honest even if I don’t want to hear it
• A way to make ends meet no matter how tight/thin things get
• A girlfriend who has helped mold me into a man of God
• A desire to go to the people, for it is the sick that need a doctor, and Jesus didn’t come for the righteous…
• Healthy mind that needs His guidance
• A heart for people, though I’m still in the process of learning
• A want to know more about language and using that to serve Him
• This one guy named Matt who helped me get here
• Surrounding me with people who are so dadgum creative and they use it to spread love

All in all He gives a heck of a lot. Take some time to sit down and say/write/think about what God has done for you and share it with someone.

I made my first sale on Ebay this week.

I recently posted up one of my Rubik’s Revolutions for sale and a guy in Canada bought it from me yesterday for $5.50 +Shipping. Woo hoo!

All in all, I didn’t get much for this cube, but it’s still profit for me, cause it was a double that I have. I had already purchased one of these electronic toys for myself, and then an aunt of mine bought me one for my birthday back in December, so I waited awhile and now posted it on Ebay. They run about $19.99 in stores, but I posted mine up with a starting bid of $3.99 cause I just wanted to get rid of it. So, that’s that, and now I have about $6 more in my pocket.

Be looking for more updates on items I have on sale on Ebay. It’s kinda addicting to be honest…once I sold it I was like what else can I sell?! lol

Today I came across this very awesome video on the all famous YouTube. It was one of the featured videos on the home page called “10 MPH (Segway Across USA) Award-Winning Indie Film”. I was intrigued by the title simply because it’s a cross country trip. My heart desires to someday take a trip much like this…

Anyway, these 5 people all decide to take a Segway, the 21st century invention that is simply a two-wheel balancing vehicle, across the country. It’s pretty neat and slowly catching on, especially in the corporate world and also in security and police field. Some local malls in San Antonio have them for their security officers. It’s a neat video in that these people not only venture to travel at 10 MPH for over 4,000 miles, but on the way they meet everyday people who live lives the way they want; from clay molders to lama breeders to radio hosts, the traveling group wants to see and meet them all and hear about them. It’s very very cool. I’d like to meet these folks. If you 5 (THE 10 MPH CREW) are somehow reading this, I’d love to get into contact with you! I want to know so much more about your trip and what you’ve done!! I would also like to know more about how you planned this out, how you found places to stay, sponsors to help, and how you came to be who ya’ll are today!! If you do find this, please shoot me an email at coryjamesbellamy@gmail.com.

Please check out their video. I’ll post it here, but also go and spread the word of what they’ve done, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Cool? Cool.

Their websites:

http://www.10mph.com

http://www.myspace.com/10mphthemovie

So I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted t o write about my recent trip to Los Angeles, California, but have struggled so much with what to write. Several people in the group have taken lots of liberty in writing, and have 10-15 pages in their journals and such, and I’m just sorta suffering from writer’s block I guess. A few people from this trip have outwardly expressed these huge things God has taught them through this trip to LA, where as I was just amazed at what God had been/is doing in this community of 80,000+ homeless people.

So after some mental deliberation, here is what I’ve finally decided to write:

From May14-21 this year I went with a group totaling 16 to Los Angeles, California, to do some mission work with several different organizations that minister to the many who are homeless in LA. God is doing so much in this ministry, it’s incredible. Places like Union Rescue Mission, The Dream Center, Mosaic Church, God is using them in huge ways to reach so many people that otherwise get merely the other cheek we are so gracious to offer them before even getting around to saying hi.

Jackie came on this trip with us, and her and I were both rather excited about being in a missionary setting for a week together; something we both believe needs to be done before committing to marriage. We see our future together in some shape or form as over seas missionaries, and so we feel that it would be more than beneficial to go on a short term trip together to see how we interact in that setting before committing our lives together as that. In our 3 year relationship, this was a first. We had never been able to share such a thing, and so we were pumped to see what God was going to reveal to us.

From everyone else’s point-of-view, you’d probably hear that her and I did nothing but argue the majority of the trip. Outwardly, yes it did seem this way, but in all honesty, God was really showing us things we needed to see at this point in our relationship and our individual lives. Jackie expressed that God continued to enforce the importance of prayer to her that she had recently learned from her trip to North Africa. I really don’t know exactly what God was teaching me. I feel that I was impacted by something that evoked some change, but I don’t know exactly how to articulate this…(that probably makes no sense-I’m ok with that though). I guess if I had to put words to it, I would say God really opened my eyes to a differently shaped world view.  Prior to this trip I had absolutely no Idea what to expect of LA-what it looked like, population, demographic, anything like that. Then God gave me the spiritual nudge into this place, and I was now in a completely different culture than Texas and it was then that my image of Hollywood was defined.

This town has over 80,000 homeless people, and more come every day to this place…it is the place to be if you’re homeless it seems. Places like Skid Row, a six block radius of city street that are swarmed with homeless and depraved people, exist and people just merely accept it as a fact of life and then move on. How?! What person can look down on a place like this and just kinda shrug their shoulders and continue on with an “oh well” mindset? God really spoke to me saying that these people are just that-people. There’s a song that says, “Everyone needs compassion,” and then continues on to say, “Everyone needs a Savior.” This is so true, and its heart-aching to pass these people on the streets and think otherwise.

One thought I struggled with was this. Not all of these people were born homeless, at some point they withered down to nothing from something. At what point do they overcome pride and make the cardboard sign begging for assistance in some form or another? How does one do this? Me, being as prideful as I am, struggle to think how I would break down and admit the need for this. On this trip, God really opened my eyes to see what there is beyond the labels of society. Jesus was always breaking past labels and stuff to minister to panta ta ethne-all the people groups. Jesus became the least of these to reach out to the least of these.

I’m sure there’s some more inside of me that God has revealed though this trip, but this is what I found fit to share with others who somehow find my blog.

Summer has been nice to me thus far. I don’t exactly have a full-time job just yet, but soon enough I will. Target is bringing me back with a $0.40 raise which is nice. I just don’t like working there. Hopefully I will be able to move on up the ladder from cart pusher to sales floor or something of the  indoor persuasion.

I’ve also had a lot of time to spend with my folks and with Jackie. I enjoy both. Tomorrow Jackie and her family will be coming over to my house to have a Memorial Day BBQ dinner with my family. I’m excited for sure. We’ll get to all hang out, which is rather rare, and we’ll get to break in the new croquet set with some tasty bruatwurst to chow down on.

Yay summer!

I’ve almost reached the end of the Book of Matthew. Today I read chapter 27 of Matthew and Psalm 27.

One thing that stood out to me in Matthew was how in verse 54 the centurion finally declared that Jesus was the son of God.

It makes me think, how much does it take for us to truly see that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do? It took Jesus loosing His life before this Centurion Guard would believe. I think we can be so stubborn sometimes in faith. For Christians I think we easily doubt that God will come through for us, even though He does time and time again. And for not yet believers, I think they are easy to doubt that this person is who He says He is.

When we look at other religions where gods are born from elephants and have six arms we say…Thats silly! But consider this, when an outsider looks into Christianity and sees that our God was born from a virgin…how silly do you think that sounds to them? A lot eh?

Back to the current Christians, we need to suck it up and believe yo. God is always working in our lives, but when we want answers right away we can’t seem to see that God is still working. Agreed? We just need to step in faith and believe that God will do what He said He would.

What will it take for you to trust in Him? What keeps you from changing your ways to trust Him?

I know that I fear the unknown greatly. God is constantly putting me into greater and greater unknowns as time passes, but I still fear it. None the less though, I trust that God is doing this for some much higher reason than I can see.

This ties into Psalm 27:14 that I read today as well. David writes saying,

“14 Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Preach  it! Sometimes we have to wait on the Lord. Especially when He is working in our lives. When God is preparing for us the things ahead and places we go, we need to wait patiently on Him trusting that He will do as He said He would.

So that’s what God spoke to me today. Good times.