Thanksgiving, and 4 days left of facial hair

It’s time to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I was able to come home today (Wednesday) to spend some time with my parents.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to come home and just hang with my mom and dad.  They just recently did a complete kitchen remodel, and this is the first time I’ve been able to see it completed, and it doesn’t even look like my house any more!  I’m super excited for my parents, they rarely do these kinds of things for themselves, and my mom was like a proud parent showing it off.  Pretty cool.

Tomorrow, it is lunch with the extended family at grandma and grandpa’s house.  I’m so grateful for the family that I have, and the legacy that they have left.  Shortly after lunch tomorrow I’ll have to head back to work overnight to get things ready for black Friday at the store . . . just so that I don’t have to actually be there on Friday!

Well, here is the weekly update of the beard.  There are just 4 more days before I am able to shave.  I’m actually looking forward to the many different configurations that I can shave it into when I do shave. . . well, here’s the picture!

Happy Turkey Day!

weekly beard update … and some

Well, just a weekly update to let my few followers, and those interested in how “no shave November” is going … so here is this weeks pic:

Onto other things …

God has really been showing me several things lately.  It is exciting to consider all of the things that He may have for my future, and knowing that even if I try with all of my might, I will never be able to comprehend the height and width and depth of His love for me, nor understand why He chooses to use me as He does.

Getting ready for a “friendsgiving” dinner tomorrow night at a friends house with a good group of people, and with the holiday season upon us, it is definitely time to start making plans for my 2nd annual Christmas party, I’ve been thinking that this year may need to be Christmas Party: ugly sweater style!!!  More to come on that soon!

Do you or your family have any quirky holiday traditions?

Through the years . . .

I thought these were too funny not to share.   Enjoy.

A friend of mine sent a link to this site www.yearbookyourself.com, you go and upload a picture of yourself, and it puts it into all of these poses/styles from the 50’s all the way up to 2000. . . too funny.

Retreat, then revival, and rest

This weekend is going to be a busy one for me, but to God be the glory!  I sometimes can’t believe that I can use something that I love so much (music) to serve, and honestly I am baffled and humbled every time someone asks me if I would be interested in leading at an event or service for them.

I was asked a while back to lead worship for a youth retreat weekend at another church here in Springfield.  So, I’ll be spending some time with some pretty cool kids on this Friday and Saturday evenings leading worship for their retreat services.  I’m excited because I was very involved with this church while I was in college, and now some of the kids that were in my classes/Bible studies are all grown-up and are leaders now, so it will be good to be part of a weekend of ministering along side them now!  Super cool.

Then, church on Sunday morning.

Then, I am traveling to another church to help lead worship for their revival services on Sunday evening and Monday evening. This is going to be an exciting time, because I am going to be able to lead with some of my closest friends, and it has been a long time since we’ve all been together and led together.

So, looking forward to my weekend, I look at it and I see all the travel and energy and investment that will be put into people, and I feel like I’m already getting worn out!  However, I realize that I cannot do anything in my own power, so this weekend I will just rest.  Rest in Him for His grace is sufficient for me.  Rest in Him and trust that He will provide the right words to say, songs to sing, and all the energy needed to do it all.

How’s your weekend shaping up?

facial hair update …

It’s been a crazy week in the life of Eric Barb, so little time to write anything up here, but here is the weekly beard update…don’t mind all of the white hairs in there!

any other “no shave november” updates out there?

If you could go anywhere …

Where in the world would you choose to go?

I’ve been thinking a lot about travel lately as I’m preparing for our trip to Africa next month: buying supplies, making packing lists, etc.  I know that this trip is different from just taking a trip for leisure or for entertainment, but part of it fulfills that travel bug as well.  There are a lot of places in the world I would like to visit, so I was just curious …

Where would you go?

If you could spend one night anywhere in the world?  Why?

musings of a 29 year old …

I’m sitting here on the eve of the celebration of my 30th birthday, and several things are going through my mind.  I’ve lived a very blessed life that has included everything that has shaped me to be the person I am today.

I wouldn’t be able to skim the surface if I tried to blog about every life-molding event I’ve had in my life, but I figured I’d hit a few of the ones which have had a profound impact on my life … in no particular order:

1. My hometown.  Population 425.  Rural Missouri at its finest.  There were times that I cursed growing up “in the sticks” but I know I am who I am because of the people there, a great school which provided amazing opportunities to hone skills and talents in sports, music, drama and academics, a super church home . . . the church isn’t the little white building on the corner lot, it is the people who helped to form the concepts and ideas and beliefs that I hold dear today.

2. My family. I don’t take the opportunity near enough to let my mom, dad and brother know how much they mean to me.  If I had the opportunity to pick my family, I’d choose them a million times over.

3. Mrs. Dove.  Matt was my best friend growing up, and his mom Cheri became a huge part of my life.  I was always staying the night at their house and such.  She was a teacher in our school district and as a junior higher and high school-er she not only poured into me as a teacher, but as an advisor and mentor and friend.  She believed in me, encouraged me and challenged me to look beyond myself.  During my senior year Cheri was diagnosed with cancer and passed away that following summer.  She taught me a lot about the value and brevity of life, and how to make the most out of it.  I hope that I can make an impact on lives the way she did on mine.

4. SMSU.  It will always be Southwest Missouri State University to me. I spent 4 years there (yep it is possible to graduate in just 4 years).  While there I made friendships that will last a lifetime, further developed skills and studied things that I will never use … ever!  But among it all, it was the life experiences that probably taught me more than anything.  It was during my time there that I got involved with the Baptist Student Union and got my first taste of ministry, and it was during my college years when I first felt God impress upon my heart that He wanted to use me in ministry.  It was there that I met “the clique” who will be my friends for a lifetime and beyond.  Although I wouldn’t be able to tell you half of the things I STUDIED in college, I can tell you that I LEARNED a great deal.

5. NLQ  After college I traveled for 5 1/2 years with a ministry called No Longer Quiet.  There aren’t enough blog pages for me to recount the experiences I’ve had with those people.  Traveling from state to state to love students and to share Christ’s love with them was an unbelievable opportunity.  We laughed hard, cried hard, and dare I say it … sometimes fought hard.  Being involved in NLQ provided my first, second and third overseas experiences as we traveled to South Korea to lead worship. 6 of us lived together in a house for a yaer (Jared and Dawn, Chris, Earl, Seth and I). We rolled a 15 passenger van and trailer in the middle of I-44, and walked away from it.  And have met some of the countries  best youth groups and student pastors. There aren’t enough words to say how those experiences and those people have shaped who I am today.

6. A broken engagement.  I never would have guessed that I could have grown as much as I have as a result of something like a broken engagement.  God is faithful and even though there have been times when I’ve still questioned why any of it ever happened, I know that He is sovereign and trustworthy.  I know that she and I are both better people because of it, and I know that as much as I believed at the time that it was right, God has something even better planned for me!

7. Church at Finley Crossings.    God orchestrates things so brilliantly.  I wasn’t looking for a new church when I came to CFC to meet with a friend nearly 3 years ago, and now I’ve been on staff there for 2 years.  There is no such thing as a perfect church.  We don’t claim to be perfect, but only to serve a perfect God.  I believe that I have grown a lot in the last two years, and although I still have a long way to go, I know that my experiences at CFC have helped me to make major strides in my ministry journey.  Again, a church is not the building … it could be gone tomorrow, but I know the relationships that I have made and the people that I care of and have grown to love will still be there.

I could go on for hours writing about the way that a multitude of people (many of you reading this included) have impacted my life and helped shape me into the person I am today.  So thank you to everyone who has played a part in my life so far in it’s 30 years.  As I paused tonight to look back at those years and see what God has taken me through, I can only look forward in anticipation for the next 30 years to see what else He has in store for me!

So, here’s to the past 30 years, and to those that are yet to come!

11-05-08

I’m unsure what to think …

I mean we’ve been going through this for months now, this campaign, these candidates, it seems like I’ve been bombarded for at least a year with television ads, mailers, e-mails, conversations, etc.  Now it’s over, the election is over, we have a new president elect, and I find myself at a loss … I don’t know what to expect … I mean when I go home tonight and turn on my t.v. there will be NO POLITICAL ads!!!  woo hoo.

Regardless of who hoped would win, who you voted for, what your political stance is there is no greater time than now to rally around our elected leaders and support this amazing country that we are fortunate to call home. As an citizen, I as proud to be an American yesterday as I stepped into the voting room and exercised the privilege to cast my vote.  I was reminded of the amazing FREEDOM that we have as Americans to believe what we want, to say what we want and to cast a vote in the way that we want.

As a follower of Christ, I trust that God has complete control.  The outcome of the election may or may not have come as a surprise to you, but I guarantee that God was not caught off guard by the outcome at the polls.  God puts leaders in place for us to follow, but ultimately my hope is not placed in a governor, senator, congressman or a president.  “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”

Just some thoughts…

and a beard update:

Big week.

It is a big week for me and for this country.  I turn 30 on Friday … eek.

And tomorrow our country will elect a new president.  I don’t know about you, but I was done with all the mudslinging and “ad bashing” months ago.  So rather than add to it, rather than spend these last few hours of the campaign trying to bash the candidate that you have NOT chosen, why don’t we pray?  Pray for our country, pray for our candidates (both of them!).

Ragamuffin Soul is having an online time of prayer tonight at 9:30 EST over the candidates and the election.  You should go check it out, or at LEAST pray over this election.

www.ragamuffinsoul.com