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Howdy All,

HOME

Back to College Station feels like a homecoming.  There was no parade, no paradise, all conflicts were not solved, there was no magical job waiting for me, no perfect friends, no perfect church, and no perfect weather.  Like I said, this is home.  It simply where my family is.  Those whom I grew with both in human terms and in my relationship with the Lord. I would not give up my time in Findlay, but it is good to be back.

HOUSTON

Houston is where my family is and now I am a short 2 hour drive away. I was able to partake in family activity such as moving my sisters across the city in the blazing heat.  I am not being sarcastic here when I say that I missed these types of things. I was growing away from that in Findlay. It is family that asks you to sacrifice and serve. Still hot and humid, but it feels like home for the first time...ever.  That means a lot.

The food is still great too.

COLLEGE STATION

I am living with a 3 brothers in Christ near campus.  I am going to Emmanuel Baptist church who has the focus of Preaching Christ and Him crucified Verse by Verse. This is why I like this.

1 Corinthians 2

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b]wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

With this there is a large focus in making Disciples and teaching them all that Jesus commanded them. This is why I like this.

Matthew 28

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,even to the end of the age.” Amen.[d]

This church is also very evangelical.  Not in the sense that every new convert is thrown out on the street corner to shout at people, but rather quite the opposite. Learning the character of God, through His word, with unpacking the text and not filtering it (going through verse by verse and relying on the Spirit) can only result in the desire to share the good news.  With this church I will have brothers, beside me in fellowship, above me as teachers, an below me to teach, who know God as a God who saves, and know the world as a place that they are glad to be free from the bondage of. For there is bondage in sin and freedom in Christ.

(Romans 5-8) <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%203-8&version=NKJV

There is a focus to equip us to share His character through his word, get saved from our sins, and tell others about not our perfection (not going to happen) but rather God's Perfect Love.

1 John 4

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Challenging but very good. We are challenged and encourage by each other, and saved by God.  To respond, we tell others.

This is some of the stuff that I will be going over. http://www.truthfreesus.com/discipleship.php

Check it out.  What you you think?

JOB

Tutoring job at night has a great potential. I have the opportunity to teach Freshmen College Calc and Physics. and to make a little to a good bit of money too.  I am also exploring HR, Financial advising, Engineering, and College teaching. But I am falling short in patience, so I ask for prayers.

STRENGTHS

Also I took a strengths test and here are the results:

Ideation- I like ideas, thinking of them, hearing about them.

Maximizer- I enjoy getting the best out of a situation. This defiantly revolves around the ability to use innovation as self-motivation.  

Individualization - I am intrigued by the individual, and building relationships. It interests me to know the individual's needs and I am very cautious about applying a single system to every type of person, because they are not all the same.

Includer -  I want everyone to be included on what is going on.  Seeking the person by themselves at church and wanting to never limit who can come to a dinner, a mission trip, and so on. This causes problems, I would like to use it though where it could be useful.

Woo (Winning Others Over) - I like people to like me. This has been and can be a great weakness. When this is matched with God's Word as the authority in my life, the Lord has shown me that people liking me will mean nothing if they don't know Jesus, and if they do come to know Jesus, then they will be equipped to love their brother and probably like the one who told them above how to be saved from their sins.

So I can harness that for life, but how do I use that in a job?

I suppose you could use these in any job, but i want to know in what job I could be most competitive with these strengths. **What do you think? Send me what you think if it sounds like a career, I would love to hear your thoughts.

THATS IT

That is a run down. Always feel free to call, I cannot guaranty a great frequency of updates, but I will try.

Missing the people of Findlay, but happy to be home.

Praise God for all.

-Eric Benzenhoefer

Thank God for Sovereignty

Greetings
I know now one thing about myself. I am not the type of person who would keep a blog up to date. I am sorry for not being more faithful to it, but I hope that I have been more faithful to those that I have communicated with by phone. Below are something that the Lord has been teaching me, what has been going on, and what is next.

-Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights"

The time in Findlay has come with trial, refining, joy, challenge, revelation (truths that have existed for years but are new to me [you can insert your own word here if you are gifted with words {no really I am curious what word would be better than revelation here, please tell me}]), sorrow, confusion,the mystery of what is to come, patience, clarity, peace, and more Joy!

A lot to be thankful for. He has provided a job during a recession, friends in a distance home, opportunities to see my family, and christian brothers for growth and accountability.

I boast in the Lord as I have seen him lead people to marriage, mend marriages, draw people close to Him, and break the bondage of sin and save people. The Lord did this work, and it was a joy to be a witness to it.

Sin in my life included the self-pity of someone who did not know what the next step in life the Lord had for me, laziness in pursuit of what the Lord had for me, dark times without prayer and the Word.

Growth has come from the Lord as he fueled repentance in the above areas. Praise God. He has showed me how great each day is when seeking Him through trust, prayer, and being in his Word. He showed me that one day walking with him is far greater than many without seeking my own joy.

So here is what has been going on.

Summary:

• Spent a Month on the road in Indiana on a Hydro-test (Oct-Nov...in'08...not a blogger i suppose)
• Learned that Hydro-testing is not quite my thing.
• Was guided by mentor at Marathon wonderfully with this new information.
• Went to Texas for Christmas.
• Learned that Winter in Ohio no joke.
• Resigned my position at Marathon.
• Started working for my friend helping him flip houses.
• I forgot what +30 deg F feels like
• God provided a tutoring position at the local Community College
• Grandmother passed away after a long and hard fought war with Lung cancer
• Was able to spend my birthday with my parents in Pittsburgh
• Was able to get closer to my family in Pittsburgh
• Was not sure where the Lord wanted me, so I stayed in Findlay for the summer.
• Grandpa passed away
• Spent a week with immediate and extended family in Pittsburgh
• Started to look at new paths for my career including Actuarial science, applied math, industrial engineering, teaching, and tutoring
• Spring is unreal, I just want to run around outside and jump around (+50 deg F !)
• Planted a 0.000688 acre farm (30 sq ft)
• Summer in Ohio is beautiful (65 deg at night and 70-78 during the day)
• Summer is ending.

Next Season

At this time my heart tells me two things:

#1. There is no joy like walking with the Lord, experiencing His character in his Word, and entering the rest of prayer. So I will continue to seek the Lord.

#2. The season of Findlay is over, and it is time to come back to Texas.

#2 is less certain my mind than #1 but this is where my peace comes from. God is Sovereign. He is in control. Whether in Texas, Ohio, or anywhere he has still given me great task of serving Him. This is what I will do and for the next season, it looks like it will be in Texas for now.

So I will be in College Station Monday August 3rd to start a new job tutoring, will be looking for a cheap place to live with other christian brothers, and I am very excited.

This has been a great year in Findlay, I would not trade it for another (people always say this as if the was some market for trading years of your life. I don't think that there is, but I'd rather cover all my bases). I will miss the people, the summers, and not the winter.

Praise the Lord

Hope to see many of you all soon.

-Eric