Loving Jesus, Loving People and wearing out that Bible in Tennessee...

Catching the Vision

2009-10-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

I've been super excited lately. I feel like when I think about ministry at UT there are more things to be pumped about than ever. It's been an interesting year and a half but this little ministry feels like it's beginning to grow some wings.

I think that somedays it's easy for college students to think that they'll be laborers in God's Kingdom when they graduate, or once they have a job. So much of this thought process is wrapped up in fear. As we've been dialoging with our students we've found that a lot of it is the fear of "what if." What if I don't have the right answers? What if I say the wrong thing? What if they think I'm a religious nut? All of which are fair questions. Unfortunately they're questions centered around a me first mentality. A mindset that keeps my own identity and reputation as the focal point.

Lately though, it feels like students are "catching the vision" of being laborers in God's Kingdom. There is a growing sense of determination and desire in our students to step out in faith and be bold in sharing what they believe. Not in some in-your-face-if-you-don't-believe-what-what-I-believe-you're-going-straight-to-hell sort of way. Rather in a gracious and truthful way, both in word and action.

I love the fact that Jesus was full of Grace and Truth. Not just one. Perfectly full of both. It's a challenging model to follow but an excellent one to hope to emulate. This is what I'm seeing in our students. A desire to communicate that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but to do it humbly and with a heart that does truly desire to see lives changed.

That's exciting. And it's an answer to prayer.

Meet Emily Grace

2009-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems two months have passed since our last post and there's really a good reason for it. That baby we made...well, she came! Right in the middle of December, and life changed as we knew it. The very fact that we started this blog to keep faraway family members updated with pics and such, and that we've failed to do just that, may indicate how busy life has become. So, almost eight weeks into little Emily Grace's life outside the womb, I'm posting the first album of her for all interested viewers.

2008-11-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

Tennessee is pretty.

Nick, Charlie and I have loved this time of year in the state of TN. We've been able to venture into the Smokies several times since fall began, and capture the beautiful sights on the Nikon. Some of the pictures are from our prayer retreat several weeks ago, but the rest are from more recent trips into the mountains and from our backyard.

A few hardy trees are still hanging desperately onto their golden or crimson leaves, but autumn is too quickly turning the trees bare and gray. Soon all that will be left of autumn will be the crisp air and delicious smell of fallen leaves.

I will miss Colorado's snow. But, this is sure to be the best winter season yet with the arrival of our baby girl in just a few more short weeks, and by "few," I mean six or seven. Hopefully "short" turns out feeling true.

Tonight Nick and I are snuggling down into our home, waiting on a pot roast, and listening to the rain falling outside. It feels good to be home.

kind of like giant spoke wrenches.....

2008-10-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

kind of like giant spoke wrenches.....

Sometimes I envy the accountant. Sometimes mind you, and maybe that's because I don't understand the utter depths of frustration that confront the man who deals with numbers. I guess I envy them because, from my perspective, they are able to see an end result in their work. They can start with a stack of papers and numbers and balance a budget, or find the missing money.

Maybe a home builder would be a better example of the tangible nature of ground up project completion. Here is a bare piece of earth. Here is a house. I know it is more complicated than this but it seems simple to some degree.

Sometimes it seems that the work of a Christ Follower lacks tangibility.

I love what God is allowing Katie and I to do these days. I love being on staff with the Navigators. I love these "beginning" stages of a ministry here at the University of Tennessee. But lots of days it feels like I'm moving in insanely slow motion.

The business of relationship building is a tricky one, that is for sure. Nothing tangible when it comes to dealing with people. How do we know when we've built a successful foundation of friendship? Is it measured in hugs? Seriously though, it's hard to know how people are doing and it's not often that you run into people who are fans of total disclosure in short periods of time. Friendship is an interesting thing, it takes patience, a patience I sometimes lack.

Now, I praise God that there are tangible points of growth in the spiritual life that we get to help others strive for. What greater joy is there than watching your friend, who previously did not acknowledge Jesus as his Lord and Savior, fall to his knees and cry out to his Father for forgiveness and strength? I can think of few things that cause the heart to scream its joy like this. The angels in Heaven rejoice!

Sometimes this process of becoming a Christian can take years. I trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of so many of my friends, winning their hearts over piece by piece until finally they "confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord" and "believe in [their] hearts that God raised Him from the dead." Yet sometimes I think that things are moving too slowly! I begin to doubt God's timing, quit praying and start moping. Until that next conversation with one of those friends when it's obvious that the spark of interest in eternal things has increased it's fire starting potential.

So lots of times, when I feel the most frustrated, I like to build bikes. Or take them apart. Start from scratch on something and work with my hands until it's completed. It may take a day. It may take weeks or even months, but in the end the bike stands there completed, built up how I wanted it to look. More importantly though it stands as a visible, tangible reminder to me that God also works in His own time, with His own two hands, building us into the image of His Son. From sinner to saint. I'm glad He uses people in His process as well, like giant cone wrenches or spoke wrenches, we get to be involved in the lives of those around us, praying, befriending, sharing the gospel. Slowly piece, by piece God is completing another work of art. Pretty rad. Pretty amazing.

2008-09-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we got to head back to Colorado for a whirl wind of a trip... Here are a few pictures of the expecting Hamiltons!

2008-09-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

...this morning Katie and I stayed home from church. We don't "have a church" yet that we're calling home. Today however, we had "home church." It's all the rage these days. We were singing some songs with my wife on the ivories. Here is a song that is pretty much amazing... Read the words if you've got a minute.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.

Joyful Joyful - Henry J VanDyke

A couple thoughts...

2008-09-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Knoxville

Tennessee

It has been a grand total of two months since the move out to the nether regions of the Estados Unidos. It started raining last night around 10 pm and just stopped (3 pm). It is one of those gray days.

Mostly I miss Colorado at the moment, one of those woe-is-me type missing Colorado feelings. I’m not always good at escaping these moods. It’s ridiculous to dwell in them however. The overwhelming evidence of God’s love and provision in my life makes it difficult to justify a pity party.

I was thinking about this:

Acts 20.22-25

“And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.”

- Paul

We’re flying back to Colorado in two days, we’ll get to see so many of the people we love and miss. Paul knew that he wasn’t going to see any of the people he called friends again. Yet he didn’t care if he was beat or imprisoned or killed. All he wanted was to preach the gospel of Jesus to those who he met.

I pray for a heart that is a given to one passion as Paul’s. I hope that one day I can say that I was faithful to complete the tasks that God gave Katie and me to do.

Some Pictures of the Ham Fam

2008-08-29T11:40:00.001-07:00

Ham Fam

phenomenal hair...

i like this picture because i have a mustache

My wife is phenomenal at most things, it's crazy really...

some friends of Ham, l to r, Hess, Sperling, Ham

after officiating my brother's wedding

one time we adopted a student for a year... his name was Scott.

We look really white in this picture...

turns out Katie's a better shot than I...

my brother Ben and his wife Cori

thanksgiving climbing trip to Utah...

spring break backpacking trip to Utah

And so it begins

2008-08-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

well, we've clearly decided to jump on the blogging train...mostly to keep some of our non face-booking parents and friends in the loop with hamilton news since we've moved to the far, far away city of knoxville, tennessee. we have some big life changes going on that seemed blog worthy...mainly, a recent move, new ministry, and, well, making a baby. a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, so the plan is to post lots. Enjoy sharing in our life!