God has blessed me!

Today was a day you dream of. I woke up this morning to discover that I had the day off due to a student canceled our 9:00 appointment. My first instinct was to sleep more, but then my ambitious side kicked in. Val and I had decided to head to the Cascades around 3 after I was done with work. My newly acquired day off allowed us to leave by noon. It was a beautiful day to go along with a beautiful girl with whom I was privileged to spend the next 14 hours with! It was Val's first time hiking the Cascades and she was in absolute awe the whole way. God's beauty is so evident on that trail! When we got to the falls we contemplated going for a swim but opted against it after feeling its cool temperature against our feet. What followed was an amazing conversation I may never forget. God was present and was guiding us as we spent time in His word and time in discussion together. The time I spend with Val is so precious to me and I am so thankful God has given us the opportunity to have these moments more often.

We headed to Matt and Rebecca's for dinner. I really treasure the time I get to spend with my sisters and my brothers in law. We had such good fellowship and played some train game to top it off. The Celtics also finished off the Magic which made a certain someone rather pleased! What a blessed night spent with family and my best friend in the world. Val truly has become my best friend. The level of comfort I feel when around her is unparalleled, and yet she continues to point me towards Christ instead of allowing me to focus solely on her. I can honestly say that our relationship has been centered in Christ from day one, something I was unable to say in any previous relationship I have been a part of. God has taught me so much over the years and has prepared me to be the leader I need to be for Val. I am so excited to see what God has in store for us. Please continue to pray that our relationship would be given completely to Him. What a mighty God we serve!

Back to updates from last weekend! After the YEC we were kept busy by Rebecca's wedding shower and the college worship service at Cambria on Sunday. We had a great time hanging out with family and friends. I am so blessed to have both of my sisters living so close to me! Sunday's service was neat. Some students from Liberty came and played the worship music for us. Val was a part of the worship band. Val and I sang Lead Me To The Cross for special music. What a blessing it is to serve the Lord with my girlfriend! The rest of Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. We played some tennis with Josh and Meredith and finished off the night watching 24 and eating steak. Each weekend is a true blessing. I must say I am looking forward to this summer when Val and I will hopefully be able to spend some time together each day!

Sports

I know I said I would continue my previous post but I need to blow off some steam instead. Why in the world do I have to care so much about my sports teams? I am truthfully afraid of the person I become when things don't go well. A Mets loss makes me a scary person to be around. Even tonight, with no one else around, I still feel uncomfortable with how angry I am. Here I sit, screaming at my computer screen at players I will never know personally. Not exactly representing Christ. Sometimes I wish I could be apathetic. I know some of the greatest moments of my life involve triumphs involving my sports teams and therefore know I am a bit out of line wishing for apathy. But I do wish I knew how to control myself better because it just isn't fair to those around me. While I have made progress since high school, I still have a long way to go. Lord, please help me to have better self-control and realize there are so many more important things in life.

YEC

On Friday our church hosted a Youth Evangelism Conference at Christiansburg High School. This event was many months in the making and God did some neat things through it. We had a good crowd there to worship in song and hear Ben Glenn, the "chalk guy," deliver a great Gospel message. I know that lives were impacted for eternity through the efforts of those who organized the event. God truly blew me away when I saw one of my former students from Pulaski there! I was walking around and heard someone say, "Hi Mr. Dunham." I recognized her face right away but the name escaped me. I eventually remembered and we had a nice conversation. She told me an awesome story of how one of my other students, and her best friend, accepted Christ recently! This was such a blessing for me because I have been thinking of my students for so long, wondering how the class finished up when I left. I never really got to know them like I wanted to because I was always so anxious and wound up. Sometimes God touches your life in ways you would never imagine. This was one of those ways and a special moment for me. The rest of the weekend was awesome and I will continue this update later. For now, it's off to work!

Surprise!

Val and I decided to drive up to New York for the weekend to surprise mom and watch some lacrosse games today. We left Lynchburg at 3:30 and pulled in to Pleasantville around 11:30. Mom was very surprised to see me at first and then Val came in and she couldn't have been happier. It is great to be home. God has blessed me so much with a great family and a wonderful girlfriend who is willing to drive a total of 16 hours in the span of 4 days. What a year it has been so far!