Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is among my most favorite of holidays. I enjoy seeing my family, and then sharing a huge meal with them. This is the perfect time of year to forget about calories and distances. This is an especially good time to forget about those "celebrate Christmas in advance" types.
This holiday is particularly special to me because of what it meant to my Aunt Gale. Out of all the holidays of the year, she requested this holiday to be the one she would host. No matter where we were or what state of health we were in, she requested this holiday to be the one we would give our all for. To give you some background, my Aunt and Uncle had eleven(!) children over the course of my upbringing. She loved to have us all at the house, even though there was barely enough room to fit everyone! There were always good memories at Thanksgiving. Life with such a big family rarely knows a dull spot. There was always something going on. Sadly, my Aunt is no longer with us today. Her untimely death occurred three years ago; she was in her late forties, pregnant with number eleven at the time. I am glad to say we, meaning my entire family, have kept the tradition about Thanksgiving in her honor.
Thankfully, my Uncle was able to remarry about a year and a half after my Aunt passed away. It was by my late Aunt's request, of course. God listened, and provided him with a wonderful woman to help him lead this family. His new wife, my Aunt Deb, had children of her own to join the family. Now, you can imagine exactly what I mean when I use the term "full house."

By God's grace, they were able to move to a larger house last year. In fact, that is where I am posting from right now! I am here at their home, sharing Thanksgiving with my family. No, I'm not being anti-social! My cousin John is sitting here with me helping to mark this memory on T Space. The whole thing started when my Aunt Deb and I wanted to exchange blog links. John thinks I am taking too long now, and he is getting ready to tear my head off, so I must wrap this up quickly!

Please, check my Aunt's page (Mom of Sixteen) to learn more about my family. She's learned some great things by taking care of so many. Don't belive me? Take a look for yourself! Then, I dare you to recite my cousins' names three times fast.



So, relax! Have a great Thanksgiving. Loosen that belt, and enjoy the time you have to spend with whoever you are enjoying it with. Eat to your heart's content, then eat some more. Don't forget: tomorrow there will be leftovers. :)

Massive Effect

     I came very close to buying an XBox 360 tonight. So close, but alas, I did not.

Yeah, I know. Very exciting. Let me start from the beginning...

     This whole mess started when I caught wind of one of the most interesting games I have ever seen. I am talking about the game Mass Effect. If you have not heard about it yet, check it out right here!


     The game appears to be a new style of RPG, set in a future where most of our galaxy has been colonized. There are dozens of alien races and new worlds to explore. You start the game as a commander in the "Alliance" military and begin to build your team as the game progresses. True to RPG form, your character is fully customizable. You will be playing as yourself in this game.
     The visuals in the game are amazing. Most of the trailers out on the net are shown in HD, and the screenshots from the game are also very impressive. The characters are frighteningly lifelike! The people you talk to will respond with varying emotions and facial expressions based on how you treat them. They even have little imperfections and quirks in their appearance. That meticulous attention to detail is what interested me the most. With a strong plot to carry it along, this game will be fantastic. This is the game that made me consider buying an XBox 360.

     Last week, I received a notice in my email about a store that would be selling refurbished XBox 360's in a killer deal at a very affordable price. As soon as I read the ad, my consideration now turned to desire. I wanted one! I wanted it as soon as I could get it! I knew where this store was located, I had time to go grab it, and I had money in the bank...
Well, to be honest, I would have had to move some money around to be able to afford the XBox, but I could have done it with no problem. As soon as I realized the rationalization I was making, I stopped.

     For the past two months, I have been trying to keep track of my budget. I am not in trouble financially, not even after buying the Elantra. (Thank You, Lord!) Rather, I want to be a good steward of the money God has blessed me with. I have been in dire straits before. What college student hasn't?! Now that I have a steady income, I would like to use it properly. I'm not saying that buying things for entertainment is wrong. When I need to shift money that has been allocated for other things, and the reason is not for an emergency, then that becomes a different story. I began to see in that brief moment how this XBox was quickly turning into an idol. I closed my eyes. I stopped thinking about it all for a minute, and started to pray about it.

     In those moments where I brought the issue to the Lord, I felt less and less drawn to answer my impulse to buy. I began to remember the mountains of schoolwork I am contending with this term in Drexel. In fact, that was all I could think about at that moment! Still, I wanted the XBox! I wanted Mass Effect!
     Instead of straining and anguishing over the situation, I laid it all at the Lord's feet. He knew exactly what I wanted. He knew what I was trying to do. He knew I wanted to honor Him. The deal at this store was good until Sunday the 11th, and my payday would be Friday the 9th. (Which is today.) I told God that I wanted His guidance for this situation. I told Him that I would wait until I was paid, that is, until I had money in the bank. I would call the store after work, and if they still had some XBoxes to sell, I would know that it would be alright to buy one. God would provide. After I prayed, I stopped stressing about it. My stress came back when I started into my schoolwork again, but that's besides the point.

     Payday finally came, and I called the store. I called them as I was beginning to run some errands on my way home. I waited through all the elevator music and customer service messages to finally get my answer: they had sold out.


Alright, Lord. I trust You.
And that was it. I was perfectly okay with His judgment.


     I finished the rest of my errands, and drove home. Amazingly, I didn't have any remorse about not jumping on the deal while I had the chance, before the store sold out. I did start thinking about the reasons why God held it back from me. What was the purpose? Again, I remembered my schoolwork. Ugh.
     Then, I remembered the other two game systems I already own, and the hours I spend playing on them. I should say, the lack of hours I spend playing! I barely have time to play because of all my schoolwork. I recognized long ago that video games are fun, but are a huge problem when important work needs to be done instead. I recognized that the games are just a thing. I recognized that the XBox was just a thing. I thought of all the other "things" in my life. I thought about how these things could be getting in the way of my relationship with the Lord. I have been quite overwhelmed with all the things I'm going through, and in my heart of hearts, I really don't want one more thing to get between me and the Lord. I would be kicking myself for it.

     I was glad that I sought God's Will for this. I am much more solid than I thought I would be. I have no worries about "missing the opportune moment." Putting it in His hands really did have a massive effect on me. It is something so simple, yet I keep coming back to it. This is a lesson I need to learn well. Truthfully, I will be in this situation again soon. Once Resident Evil 5 is headed for the market, I'll be chomping at the bit!

     This was something else that occurred to me: Perhaps God isn't saying no to this forever? He just wants me to wait for something better. No Problem. I can live with that.
     Besides, the XBox 360 won't be as impressive unless it is plugged into an HDTV with an HDMI input. I don't have one of those.
     Will I ever get one? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I am glad that I was faithful to God about it. I plan to continue. No worries.