It's all about Jesus...

I freakin love this time of year. Man, I'm hating that I have to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas nights, but I've just got a feelin that Christ is gonna use me tonight and tomorrow night to make Him famous--Just Somehow!

Had Christmas at my Mom's Mom's side last night ( no typo) .. That's where we get the best presents, no lie! ha It is always great seeing that side of the family. We decided to have Pizza Hut pizza to eat. My grandmother ordered what everyone wanted a day in advance. Went to pick it up last night and they screwed up the order-- didn't give us like 4 pizzas we were supposed to get. Took em back and they gave us our correct order plus the wrong pizza! Heck yeah we got like 5 pizzas and 1 breadsticks free! Merry Christmas from Pizza Hut!

This afternoon is my Mom's Dad's side. Lookin forward to seeing that side as well before I head to work. OK to be honest, I'm being a kid today and shaking I'm so excited about the gifts! haha I have had to go to every Christmas get together so far in uniform.. ha it sucks.

I've been inspired by the Holy Spirit here lately in a new way. I feel more passionate than ever about becoming the man He wants me to be. And even seeking out even more than ever to have God's will revealed to me. I feel as if something extraordinary is about to happen. So pray for me, please.

My prayer for you this Christ-filled season (regardless of what society says we have to call it) is that you experience Jesus in an awesome way, and that Almighty God is glorified in that.

I challenge you to read the entire book of 1 Peter over the next couple of days.. Hey, it's only 5 chapters. Get after it and comment on how Jesus has spoken to you...

Until next time!

Well, it has been a good first half of the week so far. Worked Monday and Tuesday nights. I started lifting at the Wellness Center about a month ago. Pretty great place--they give us half off so I can't complain. Ran about half a mile, then worked arms and abs. Pretty heavy workout this morning. After I got home, I ate breakfast but not so sleepy so I stayed up til about 2PM.

Slept til 8:00 PM! Ha now Im wide awake. This night shift thing is pretty crazy. Don't know that I'll ever get used to it. Coworkers, the parents, and the folks at the gym are the only ones i come in contact with these days. Ready for some hang time with friends.

Planning a get together over the holidays. Hope all of you "followers" can be there. Had my first full arrest at work the other night. The guy died, but I got an IV at the hardest place on his body so thought I did pretty well..

Haven't been spending time with Jesus like I should. I believe every Christian struggles with this! It is a constant battle with self. Thanking God for His power that overcomes all sin.

Psalm 40:1-3

Until next time, praise Almighty and hug your grandparents!

Wat that?

I have no idea what this means, but it's a new slogan folks are using referring to the New Orleans Saints I think---ha so i just wanted to use it as a title to sound like i knew what i was talkin about!

Its been a great week this far.. Had last night and tonight off.. I had forgotten what it was like to have a few consecutive nights off with no plans. Feels nice! Went to mall tonight with one of the guys from my youth group. Pray for Hunter as he seeks Christ's will for his college plans.

I've cleaned most of the house for Mom tonight.. She's helping with the Singing Christmas Tree at Church, and to say the least she is worn slap out.

Afterwards, I killed an hour on YouTube--------but I stumbled upon this video I want you guys to check out. Here's the deal. Imma share a couple things God spoke to me about after u watch it. Couldn't embed it, but I'm posting the link. Pay special attention to the lady at 3:45 and the congregation at 4:15. K thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K201hAW4Ycc

We'll scroll a little....

What'd ya think? The main idea here that the Holy Spirit revealed to me is that I can share

my faith at any----ANY career path that the Lord places me.. Not just in my career, but every-

where that I go--Homeless or Homefull. Second..About 3:45, did you see that lady? She put

her arm on that guy as he walked to the alter! Wow! What a hit in the chest! We should be doing

everything we can to make those that are committing their lives to Christ, at ease! This is the

most important decision of their LIFE! They need all the encouragement they can get. Got a chill

here.

Then, at 4:15, the new Christian turns around to go back to his seat, and the entire congregation

of the worship service is praying! Sweetness... This is number one! God commands us to pray

for others (see James). What a privilege it is to be able to pray for those who are struggling with

spiritual warfare, or anything else.

I dunno if this was as cool to y'all as it was to me, but it really struck a vein with this guy.

I'm going to make certain I show or speak of Jesus to every single patient I come in contact with

tonight. Please pray for me...I'm praying for you, that you clear your plans so He can be made

famous through us! Have a good weekend! -c

Do not be afraid; only believe

The title comes from Mark 5 when Jesus is going to see about Jairus's daughter who is ill. A ruler of the synagogue came up to Jairus and Jesus, announcing that his daughter was dead and there was no need to further bothering the Lord. Jesus heard his words and said, "Do not be afraid; only believe..." You see, Jesus knew what He was doing. No matter if the girl was alive or dead, He could heal her. I believe several things that interrupted Jesus getting to the child were lessons we can learn from.

Hope I haven't lost ya yet! You see, Jairus grew in his faith through this because he had to wait.

This rings a loud bell in my life right now. I have pleaded for specific answers from Jesus in my prayer life lately. I've come to realize that just because Almighty God isn't responding in my brain's appropriate manner--this doesn't mean He's not listening and working.

Just thought I'd share that.. came from Sunday night's message from Brian Tillman at FBC Houston.

Life's still good in my life. Had too much food at Thanksgiving, and one of the busiest nights of my career Thanksgiving night as it seemed everyone in the county needed an ambulance.

Praying for a patient of mine I had an opportunity to witness to. Please pray for him. I believe I mentioned him in my last post. I researched where he works and gonna try to follow up with him. Just pray he is receptive and gives his life to Christ! Hope everyone has a great Monday. Find time to spend quietly with Jesus today. You WON'T regret it!

Purpose

Yeah yeah I so suck at being faithful to this blog thing.. but let me tell u, God is alive in the life of this guy.. Thought I'd go with a bullet-style this time.. Play-by-play follows:

1) Work is flippin awesome: It is more clear each shift that Jesus Christ is working in my life when I go into work at this place. I couldn't imagine doing anything else, although He can lead me elsewhere if He wills. I have finally been released as a paramedic by myself. That means I'm totally responsible for my patients... I will place links for homes outside of Lee County that are for sale, so you can move as soon as possible..haha no really its great. I will say that I am around a lot of people who have no clue there's a Better life other than that they live; I hope I'm making a difference through His perfect timing. Pray for me and their hearts.

2) I think more guys should blog. Mine's pretty awesome I believe.. Ladies, tell your fellas to get on here.. its stellar i think.

3) Went to Ole Miss last week and spent the night with Amy and Lauren. Good times as always. Can't wait to get back up there to Oxford. Definitely the best senior university in the state.

4) Went to the ICC Homecoming game Saturday. Miss that place like crazy, but it is bittersweet. I enjoy visiting but God has me elsewhere now. Me and two guys from my youth group attended, Claire tagged along as well. Thanks Claire for putting up with the testosterone. Saw Coach Collins and Will Kollemeyer, those guys are still great. Austin sat with us too.. good to see him as well, love that guy.

5) Started Revival at our Church at FBC Houston today. It's gonna be great. We had a tailgate party before worship tonight.. I wish all tailgating was alcohol and profanity-free! We don't realize sometimes how good we have it here in the South. Up North you have to hunt for Christian fellowship.. It's just around the corner down here!

6) I'm still waiting for my wife to arrive. Whether it's here on earth or Heaven, I know Mighty God has a journey I'm just beginning. I have given up lookin, though. He will send her when she and I are both ready. For now, I'm gonna meditate daily on Proverbs 31 and other Scriptures. That way when He places her in my path, I'll do nothing but praise Him because I'll know she's sent by the Father.

That's all. Let me know if I can pray for you in any way. I'm refreshed everyday with how the King of Kings uses me. Hope you are looking for opportunities to serve Him as well.

-chad

Waiting on the World to Change

The fact is.... it won't ever change for the better. Still, I find myself praying for people around me who have heard of God, but really have no idea of what it means to be in love with Jesus Christ.

The past couple of weeks I have been struggling with God's calling for my life. All throughout college it was like there was no doubt He intended for me to be a paramedic. However, the recent days have been quite the contrary. Most High has, I believe, allowed me to question (if u will) my abilities at this new job. I'm convinced it's either that or satan is trying to tear me down.. Probably a little of both.

Anyhow, I have been captivated to study Scripture and just sit in the presence of Almighty God on a near daily basis. Random things have happened like people joking about me going into the ministry and even my youth minister asking me when I was going to go to seminary. This hit me hard. Even my pastor's sermon seemed to be "dead-on" the topic.

Long story short, I have seeked the face of my Savior more the month of September than ever. Through Ezekiel and Jeremiah, my Father has spoken to me again that I am right where He wants me to be for the time being. That's not to say that His plan will move me in the future. But for now, I am sitting in his presence spending time with Him EVERYDAY! No matter if it is in the recliner, in my car before I clock in at work, or if I'm watching a patient take their last breath. I will praise and serve the Everlasting Father in ALL that I do.. I pray you will do the same for the rest of this week.

He's Back...

It has really been a long time since I have posted a blog. Twitter and Facebook are my lazy ways out of typing a daily story on here, but I think I've missed it. So welcome back to the never ending story of James Chadwick McCoy..still hate my name...

Lots of changes have taken place, as I always realize after the fact. I'm working as an EMT at the NMMC in Tupelo. I work nights so I live a weird schedule. I still work part-time at 911 but don't know how much longer I will. Today I met with my insurance agent. She said I should start looking at Life Insurance policies and even gave me two figures to study. Seriously?? Life insurance at 21 years-old?? It' s a good thing she was hott!

Last night I started P90x.. Funny thing is when it was over I was actin all bad cuz I wasnt sore. I am paying for my conceitedness this morning as it is near impossible to hold my arms up to type this.

Took a patient home the other night from the hospital. Me and my partner have picked him up at their house before, so we knew his wife. She told us when we were leaving that we were her favorite crew to pick him up because we always listened to her. How awesome it is to get recognition-- or acknowledgement to say the least-- for the job I do. Sure does make me wanna go the extra mile!

Enjoying the rest of the day/night off tonight... back to work tomorrow night. I'm going to try to start posting great stories that I have on the adventures of EMS. Hope they're interesting to ya. Until next time, Praise God and hug your grandparents!

You just thought I was done. So did I but remembered another story...

I worked Thursday night, so slept Friday morning. Get a call from my brother about noon.

"Chad! Come quick! Get out to the nursing home! They almost lost Grandmommie and they're working on her now!"

I put my contacts in and rushed out there to find that my great grandmother had choked on some fried chicken while my brother was visiting. You see, she had a viral infection and could hardly swallow liquids, but the staff wanted her to have a full meal.. I'm still mad about that...

After they removed the food and got her back breathing, she was admitted to the hospital because they were afraid she had aspirated some of the food in her lungs. Turns out she's alright. Just a bad virus. God has blessed us with more time with her on Earth. She is 92 years young.

OK I'm done now. Have a good Monday, everyone!

Isn't He amazing?

Do you ever seriously stop everything that you are doing, turn off the ipod shuffle, mp3, or whatever you're ears are listening to, and just sit in the presence of Almighty God?

This post is much different than any other I've sent out.. Mainly because you see I have been captured by the Holy Spirit during the past few days and unable to explain it.  God the Father who sits on the throne in Heaven loves me.  In fact, He loved me before I was even a thought in my parents' minds.  He knew what sins I was going to commit, how and where I was going to make Him happy and sad (more sad, unfortunately), and yet He still chose to invest All of His consuming power in growing me to become the man He wants me to be.  Isn't that amazing?

I believe we "Christians" have gone too far when we base our so-called religion upon principles and laws that aren't even mentioned in the Bible.  Yes, I'm talking about criticizing other believers for going to a Methodist or non-denominational place of Worship, just because I am Baptist and I believe it's the only spiritually correct standard.  Nonetheless, Christ has chosen us to Worship Him and Serve Him.  If we do these two things whole heartedly, and love each other with all that we have, we will be doing all that we can do to truly see His face.

Hope this means even more to you than it has to me.  If you want to really soak up God's power, turn to Psalm 18 and read.  Before you do, know that this is David singing to God about how the Lord delivered him from all his enemies. Powerful stuff. Praying for all the summer missionaries today.  Until next time, worship and serve God! 

Night Shift Life

Well, it is 0443 AM on Tuesday, and it is all but quiet in the dispatch center. For some reason, every citizen in Tupelo has decided to fight and argue tonight, causing me to have a busy night. Night shift rocks at 911, by the way. In fact, night shift rocks everywhere.. When I'm here or on the ambulance, I always have time to chill while I'm working. It's like you come to work and you better be ready--the busiest hours will be at the beginning of your shift. As the night goes on, the call volume tapers off. Tonight before work, I went and sat down at Newk's and ate a sandwich. I came in to work and the rush began. About midnight, I finally caught a break and just had to go get something else to eat at McDonald's. Hope you appreciate the links I've figured out how to do! After a lot of people going to jail in the city of Tupelo, I am preparing to go home. Right now, I am using a little spare time to read When God Writes Your Love Story. It's the most popular book by my favorite author, Eric Ludy. If you're lookin for a good easy-read book to strengthen your walk with Christ and prepare you to be the husband or wife God wants you to be, READ IT! So when I get off, I'll be driving back home to Houston, have a cup of coffee, read the Daily Journal, catch the headlines of the Today Show, watch a Third Watch re-run, and head to bed. Tonight is the party at Ashley McGee's home, reuniting the big friends group for the first time since school's out. What a joy it will be. Until next time, Go Indians and praise God Almighty for what He has done!

It's Summer Time

Well, it is officially summertime! The last post I sent was pretty sad, considering I was leaving the best college around.. Since then, I have grown to appreciate the days off. It seems I have worked either at 911, the colliseum, or ridden on the ambulance everyday that we have been out. However, this has been a time of true growth in my walk with Christ.

You see, in college around fellow-Christians, you aren't quite as likely to screw up when these guys and girls are around. You are much more tightly held accountable to your thoughts, actions, and motives. Because if you aren't having your quiet time with God, it is evident in even the simplest ways.

Now that I am somewhat away from everyone, it is sooo much easier to slip up and whisper a bad word, or let Satan slip that bad thought or action into my head. In fact, he does it so cleverly, I sometimes don't even notice it happened until the consequences. Wow, every time I notice how powerful the devil is, I all but fall to my knees in awe of how incredible my Father is. It is through His Word and my prayer with Him that I have survived these 1-2 weeks. Thanks be to my Savior for His unfailing love. I challenge you to look up this passage of scripture as you read the end of this post. Until next time, Go Indians and praise God Almighty! 2 Samuel 22:31-33.

Like sands through the hour glass...

Sure, I stole this from a terrible, terrible daytime soap opera, but isn't the world-famous line somewhat true? Through the past I'm gonna say 3 weeks, things in my life have gone through much transition.

Some of the very things that God has used to grow me into the 21 year-old guy I am, He is somwhat placing distance. This doesn't mean that I'm separating myself from these things; however, let's face it--we're kind of going our separate ways. For example:

These guys are pretty much the most evident blessing I have been given by Almighty God since I've been at ICC. I honestly do not know how I would have made it through these two years without em. Especially Austin. This dude is freakin great, and I don't know how im gonna do my ventin.. ha If we were girls, you could says we're all 4 BFF's..

What a joy it has been to be able to serve our entire college as Student Body President for these past 2 years. ICC is where I have truly learned to give up my all to hear God's voice. Thanks be to Him for this time! Oh yeah, Andrea is pretty great too! ha

Ashley, how awesome it has been to get to know you.. You are one of my best friends, and I also praise the Father for placing you in my life to share both the good times and the bad.
Jeremy has been my barrier that kept me from crossing the line a lot of times.. It is through him I am still learning that no matter the amount of popularity of doing the cool thing, the reward is that much greater for doing the RIGHT thing! Thanks, bro!

I could go on and on praising my Savior for injecting these symbols of Christ in my everyday routine, but I'd max out this page to the billionth degree. Thanks to all of you for being even the smallest part of my life at Itawamba these past 3 years. I simply get a chill down my spine when I try to think of what God is going to do in the next 3. Until next time, Go Indians and Praise Almighty God! Proverbs 3:5-6

The only constant thing in life is change..

...and it's happening again! Since the last post, a lot has occured. A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from Employment Services at NMMC-Tupelo offering me an interview for a Paramedic position. Get this--I had not even filled out an application, and they are calling me asking me to come interview=Wow.. I gladly scheduled the interview for later in the week. Later this Tuesday, I was jogging around campus. When I finished my run, I went back into my dorm to find a voicemail from a staffmember at Lifeway, offering me a position at MFUGE in South Carolina for the summer. I called him back, and after a brief phone tag, he asked me to be a Children's Ministry track and Bible study leader at their camp in SC all summer. Now the true test begins: Do I choose to do what I believe God spoke to me last summer about doing, and accept the position at MFUGE....Or do I need to take on this job, that rarely comes around.

After 2 days of prayer and deep consideration, I opted to decline with MFUGE and continue with my interview on Thursday at the hospital. As I told my best friend Austin, the interview was pretty much a breeze. I'm not bragging when I say that I simply had a peace about everything when I steppped in the entrance to the East Tower. Today is Saturday morning, and yesterday I received a call from the Ambulance Service stating I had made it to the next round of interviews. AHH! Good news, so I have another interview Monday at 1:00 PM CST (All past, current, and future prayers are appreciated).

This has been a bold step of faith declining a job I was promised to accept an interview for a job I don't even know if I'll get... Still, God is good.

My theme verse for my college career and even more today is 2 Chronicles 7:14.

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My

face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their

sin and heal their land."

Thanks and praise be to Almighty God for not failing me in this time of waiting. Until next time... Enjoy your day knowing that our Salvation rests in God alone.

Spring is Here

It has been too long since that first post.. I'm gonna get better at this, eventually. Well let's see. What's going on in the McCoy world........
This weekend the BSU from ICC went to Leadership Training Conference in Jackson, followed by me meeting up with my youth group and spending the rest of the weekend with them in Clinton. Pretty amazing weekend! God really showed up and spoke to me about several things.
Now, this week that is supposed to be easy and all because we're out of class Friday has turned in to a NIGHTMARE! Teachers are throwing tests left and right, school folks are hounding my cell phone, blah blah blah.. This is supposed to be a great week! ha However, yesterday, I got a phone call from the NMMC in Tupelo Employment Services, offering me an interview for a Paramedic position that was to be posted yesterday afternoon. I was completely shocked! I haven't even graduated yet and I have an interview in just a few days--nothing shy of a touch of the Almighty God. I have been praying about this "somethin serious"! Here I am about to graduate and don't know what I'm going to do for the summer or where I am going to live. The Savior who died for my sins and came into my life to change me has chosen to give me a relationship! Sorry if that doesnt make much since, but sometimes God-things only make sense to the one who encountered it. I should write that last sentence down..ha

OK, here's a random topic! I just received a text message from some random number. Here's the dialogue..this is no joke and it happened while i was typing. number has been changed to protect the innocent, or guilty in this case.
"A swing threw here so i can get a blunt"
Me-"Ayte my bad lost my numbers who dis is?"
Random guy-"this ralph h*e"
Me-"where u at" (thought i might could incriminate him if he was on-campus..ha
Random-"The crib"
Me-"Well I believe you have the wrong number man. I don't do blunts, and you should consider quitting yourself"
Random-"O my bad"
Random-" Man why you playin"
Me-"I aint playin man"

weird.. hmm, and even weirder, maybe God just used me to on a small level impact his life. Hey, maybe this guy will start asking me questions, turn his life over to Christ, and become the next Adrian Rodgers or Billy Graham.... call it wishful thinking if you want, but I believe in a Powerful God!

On a Mission

Wow.. never imagined i'd give in to this thing they call blogging, but here goes.

I'm actually lying in the bed at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco, California. Weird place to be wi-fying, but all my friends on the trip introduced me to the blog this afternoon. I am keeping this first post short due to my enlarging eyelids because of the late hours we're keeping... But, God has done some amazing work in my life even tonight.

We went in to the city for the first time tonight. Two of the guys in our group were volunteered at a show at Pier 39 to hold a beam for a 56 year-old woman to balance herself on. Pretty much hilarious! Then we ventured on through the downtown area to Chinatown. There we entered a Walgreens to use the johns. When I asked if there was a public restroom, an employee answered, "we do, but our restroom closes at 7:30PM." I thought her response was pretty crazy, but without argument we walked next door to an ice cream parlor. The friendly college-age girl behind the counter greeted me and a couple of girls as we walked in. I asked for use of the bathroom, and she said "Sure.. Down the hall, around the corner. Where are you from?" "Mississippi," I replied in a voice that was half-proud, half-embarassing. "Ha, you're so cute," she added. We had a great casual conversation which led to me telling her why we were on this mission trip during Spring Break of our college career. I actually got to share with her about my relationship with Jesus Christ. Amazing is an understatement. She didn't make an obvious decision in front of me, but I did leave her some information. Hopefully and prayerfully, she will pray to receive Christ and begin that same relationship herself.

Had the Walgreens not closed their restroom at 7:30, I would have not had this opportunity. I believe that God ordains/wills these things to happen. And I think the God I serve is simply awesome and Almighty. To Him be the glory, forever. For these things to happen, He must become greater, I must become less (John 3:30). That's where the title of the blog gets it's name. Good night, America, and welcome to my Blog.