Perseverance

As a chemical engineering major, many times I get worn down by the workload, not to mention that I am the captain of the TTU Frisbee Team, on scholarship for work study, and a pledge of Phi Gamma Delta.  Due to the stress associated with all these activities and the responsibilities that come with it, I tend to become over whelmed, forgetting the joy I have in Jesus Christ and that no matter what happens, it is a part of God's will.

In Romans there is a verse that speaks out loudly to me that I have no need for this stress and that I should be rejoicing in the suffering I am enduring and to contribute it all to the glory of God for he will not let me down.  The verse inspires me to continue on and to share this verse with my fellow Christians in my classes and also with the non-Christians so that they may see why I have such hope and joy in my life!

Continue to pray for me and my actions that I continue to grow closer to God and that others may see him through me!

Romans 5:1-5

1  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 

Here are some photos of this semester so far:

The marching Band has been fun this year, but alas, It will probably be my last year marching.

 This is my Big Brother, Julian, in FIJI.  It works out pretty sweet since he is a senior ChE and is from the same area back home that I am. I'm loving pledging!

 Earlier in the semester, I went to my first VOLS Football Game with Catherine.  It was definitely some thing to experience... too bad they lost.

These are a few of the pledges at one of the intramural football games in october.  We had the best fan section this season! No comparison....

 This time I'm actually painted up too... very very very cold night!

 We won the championship!! I've come to love these guys and I pray I get to spend a lot more time with them all in the future.

These are just a few of the things I've been into this semester, but hopefully more updates will have more photos.

Till then... In Christ,

Bobby

God's Work on the College Campus

This first week of school has been amazing and I can only attribute that to God!  I spent the last two weeks of the summer living with my Host Family, the Thomas's, and they have been a blessing to live and fellowship with.  I continued working at Dollywood's Splash Country so that I may continue reaching out to the lifeguards when most of Campus Outreach had to leave and go back home.  I know this is where God wanted me because everything worked out so perfectly!  Also with me, Donavon, my room leader from Summer Mountain Project, stayed at Brian and Tina's house and together we continued to share the Gospel to our fellow Lifeguards not only through words but also through our actions.

On the college campus though, God's work still rings out loud in everything we seem to do.  This year I am rooming with my best-friend Cody Ray, whom is a fellow laborer for Christ, and together we have been reaching out to other men in the residence halls.  Already we have a small group of four other guys to begin a bible study group which we pray will lead to our future d-group.  Although, we are not trying to rush into anything, so that we may be sure it is God's desire in everything we do.  Not that we don't believe God may work quick, but so that we know it isn't our excited ambitions influencing our actions but that it is truly his will which we are doing.

So far in the bible study we have our friend from last year who lives at the end of the floor we are located on.  I met him last year, but I was a little tepid in getting to know him sadly since I was so busy trying to get everything going my freshman year.  That changed though as the second semester began and I quickly learned what a good friend he would become.

Secondly, the other two people in our bible study are brothers that I met on the Great Move-in Day for TTU.  I moved in two days earlier since I am in band, so I didn't really have much to do that day, and as I was walking the stairs I ran into one of the brothers.  I introduced myself and for some reason invited him to come play frisbee with us later that evening on the President's Lawn.  After that the rest is pretty much history.  Just by the evidence of our quick and strong friendship I may assuredly say this was God working in my life.

I am looking forward to what this group is capable of and I know that it will all be to God's glory no matter the outcome.  

This weekend I am back in Sevierville, working the Labor Day weekend at Splash Country.  I pray that God gives me the opportunity and courage to share his gift of the Gospel with anyone and everyone that is willing to listen to me so that I may leave no stone un-turned.

Please continue to pray for me and my roommate so that our labors may prove fruitful!

Splash Country Fun!

So I tell a lot about work, so I decided it might help if I put some pictures of Splash Country on here...

These are some of the guys. (L to R: Blair Anton, Ben Drane, Matt Kiser, Random Head, Corey Smith, Bobby Adams, Jessee Holt)

This is me working at the bottom of Slick Rock Racer, our newest attraction and one of my favorite.  I'm probably looking so happy because the park hasn't officially opened yet... haha

This is Swift Water Rapids, also known as the toilet bowl.  My number one FAVORITE ride... especially when testing the rides in the morning and you send two double tubes down, backwards, holding each other's feet.  Talk about going fast... 

This ride may look wimpy, but it's the second fastest ride in the park.  Known commonly as "The Butterfly", people constantly lose their sunglasses at the bottom... very annoying, but it's a fun, easy rotation to be on.

Last but not least... the fastest ride in the park.  Fire Tower Falls.  This ride is definitely fun to ride down, but you are guaranteed to have a wedgie afterwards.  P.S. If you want a real adrenaline rush, sit up the entire way down... with arms up above your head.

Well, these are just a few images of the park and a bit of my insider knowledge... Hopefully I can get some more photos on here for you! Have a great day and may God be with you!

In Christ you can do all, be all, and witness to all.

Update Numero Cinco

Less than two weeks to go...

The knowledge of God I have acquired and how much the depth of my relationship with him has increased  beyond measure while I've been here.  Also the friends I have made are worth more than any earthly value I can think of. God is great!!

With the summer wrapping up and the school year starting, I am trying to get everything for TTU finalized so pray for me that I won't start stressing out and to remember that no matter what happens, God is in control. I'm looking forward to living in the dorms again with only ONE roommate! haha... after having a room with four other guys, dorm life will be a piece of cake.  Also, I'm excited to meet the new students that will be living around me and be able to form relationships with them that will lead to spiritual development with them.

Work has been wonderful lately and Catherine (my girlfriend) and her family visited me Sunday and I got to see Misty (sister-in-law) Friday morning.  I love seeing family here, especially when I am about to become an uncle :-D

This will be my last week of working in partnership with Campus Outreach and Splash Country.   I will still be working for Splash Country after SMP ends, but I will be living with my host parents, Brian and Tina, instead of the hotel.  I'm so excited!!!

Please keep me in your prayers! More updates to come...

New Friends Made in Christ

It seems this summer is going by so quickly... even though it feels like I have been here forever. Last night though, we went out on a group date with the lifeguards from one of the other Christian organizations here, the Navigators. Our program allowed only men to be lifeguards at Splash Country and their program allowed only women to be lifeguards, each group had their own legitimate reasons which worked out pretty well since we had 9 men and they had 9 women trained to be lifeguards. We have teamed up at work to tackle the 200 lifeguards that work there beside us every day and the fruit of our actions have been evident. Sadly though, the ladies are leaving soon and their last day of work is Saturday....

So in light of this soon coming departure, we had a lifeguard group date, where we went out to eat at Cici's and talked and shared our testimonies with each other, then went and rode on the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride (aka JJBR) Which if you are ever in Pigeon Forge, DO NOT spend your money on it. haha. Since we are considered locals we got in free and it was funny but not worth the $13 tourists have to pay... Anyways, I will sincerely miss my fellowship and friendship with these strong Christian ladies and look forward to where God may have me cross paths with them again or when I see them in heaven.

A New Update!!

Since I had trouble last time sending photos in my email, I decided to begin a blog at bobadams12.blogspot.com to help share with you all what is going on with me here on project. So it has been quite a while since I have been able to send an update, and I apologize. My free time seems to be sparse and very non-frequent. But anyways, God has been very active in the passed time:

-Working at Splash Country has been very helpful in creating relationships with other lifeguards, as I have previously said, there are even a few people that I meet with on quite a regular basis to just hang-out and discuss spiritual matters. It is crazy how God has made a desire in them to want to hang out with me and it gives me a chance to share with them what I have learned and put into practice all the evangelical tools that I have been learning.

-Evangalism Outreach, which we do every Saturday night has been awesome! Two of us actually got the chance on July 4th weekend to pray with someone that they may accept Christ as their Lord and Savior!! I can't think of anything else that could possibly beat that!

-To go along with that, last night we had evangelism outreach again, and I was with two of my friends, Chris and Alex, and we passed a group of five guys just a little younger than us and we started talking to them. We ended up being able to share the gospel with them and invited them to come play some ultimate frisbee with us on Wednesday so that I might be able to follow up with them.

God has been so great to us on project... just the material that I have learned and courage that I have built up to help me share with people is awesome! I'll try to send out another update soon and using the blog is a fun way to do it. In the mean time though, here are a few things to pray for:

• That while living in the dorms next semester, that God allows us to create a ministry to reach the other lost guys living there with me.
• That the other lifeguards will be open to what we have to say about God and his Word and not shut us out.
• That everyone on SMP has an open and teachable spirit so that we may absorb as much as possible of what God has to tell us and show us.
• That we be courages and fearless in our mission to spread the love of Christ.

Thank you all and I love you deeply!

Pictures...

The first picture here is of my room... We are the only room on the project this summer that has five men in a room which makes for an interesting living arrangement. Just try fitting five guys into one average hotel room that comes with two queen beds. Thanks to my host family for donating a bunk bed to our cause, because it would have been impossible for our situation to work any other way.

(From left to right: Fields Fouse, Bobby "Buddy" Adams, Ian Turnbull, Donavon "Room Boss" DeGrie, Charles "Never Scared" Malilu)

This is a picture of my host family in their keeping room. (aka living room haha) They have been nothing short of amazing toward us. They provided us a full-size fridge for our hotel room, allow and encourage us to do laundry at their house, take us out on the lake, and have us come over just to visit with them all the time. I couldn't have found a better host family if I would have held interviews. haha. Also, the really cool part, just to show how great God is again, the friend, Kendall Turnbull, that discipled me while I was at TTU this past year had them as his host family last year too! Talk about a small world... and he is the guy in the green polo in the middle of the picture. Past and Present!

(From L to R: Donavon DeGrie, Tina Thomas, Brian Thomas, Bobby Adams, Josh Thomas, Kendall Turnbull, Fields Fouse, Ian Turnbull, and the cool dog in the floor is Cade)

This day, the family all went out on the lake with one of Brian's friends, his name was Dack. Not too sure of the spelling but that seemed the most reasonable for you to read and pronounce correctly. Anyways, the boat that Dack had created a wake of around 3-4 feet that actually allowed us to surf behind it! My first time ever surfing and it was on a lake in Tennessee... cool no? The weather was great and we made it back in time for the evening Sunday service too.
(L to R: Josh Thomas, Donavon DeGrie, Tina Thomas, Brian Thomas, Bobby Adams, Ian Turnbull)

Just so you can have a better idea of who I have met and what I have been doing, because if you are like me then you are a better visual person than just reading what is going on!

My best wishes to all and may God watch over you!

The First Update...

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you all so much for offering me your support and prayers!! It has only been 2 days and God has already started moving in our lives here. I arrived without trouble on Thursday and we got everything settled into our room. There are four other guys rooming with me, three of which I went to college with and one is a new christian from Panama beach that we reached during Beach Reach in Panama City.

On Friday we went to Orientation for Splash Country and received all of our uniforms and IDs.

Today though was the most exciting day so far though! This morning we had Evangelism training then this evening we actually went out into Dollywood and Splash Country and shared our faith with other people as we waited in line. It was definitely out of my comfort zone but I started around 10 conversations with people so that is a start!

Please continue to pray for me and I will give you updates whenever I get a spare bit of time!!

Thank you and God bless!