i'm so glad i get to be a part of this church....

and free donuts.

my name, his story.

So I've never had a problem with my name. Ok, actually I did once. It was third grade, and there was another Sam in my class. His last name started with a G so for a while he got to go by Sam and I had to go by Samuel. That really messes with a kid's sense of identity. I had been Sam my whole life and not all the sudden I was Samuel. That was a rough year, I began to get chunky, and my teacher was super mean to me. HOWEVER other than then, I've never had a problem with being named Samuel David Hatch. I used to tell people that all of my names are in very popular books (hatch being in the dictionary). I was named after my grandfathers, both pretty cool dudes. So i was proud of it. I knew they were both biblical names, but I have always focused on the grandfather side of things as far as where my name comes from. until now.

Samuel \s(a)-muel\ as a boy's name is pronounced SAM-yoo-el. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Samuel is "God heard". Also possibly as "requested of God", "God's heart" or "God's name". Biblical: the prophet and judge who anointed Saul and David as kings of Israel.
(http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Samuel)

David \d(a)-vid\ as a boy's name is pronounced DAY-vid. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of David is "beloved of God". Biblical: one of the most remarkable personalities in the Scriptures. David was a shepherd, musician, poet, soldier, statesman, prophet, and king. He wrote about half of the Psalms and very likely composed music for them as well. He is the only David mentioned in the Bible; his name occurs there more than a thousand times. (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/David)

How amazing is that?? "God's heart" and "beloved of God" no matter where I run or how hard I try to hide from God he lives in my very name. This all came to mind because I just happened to read the David and Goliath story on Sunday after work, which is in 1 Samuel. David was just a scrawny good looking shepherd kid. He bowed up to Goliath, this humongous philistine warrior that has killed tons of jews and laughed in God's face. He stood before Goliath knowing that he'd win because the God of the universe was going to get his glory one way or another. David didn't even use the weapons and protection that the world would have him wear because he KNEW God was going to protect and prevail over evil.

Samuel and David play pivotal roles in the line to Jesus. They point to him, and i think it's totally amazing that my name is Samuel David and that more than 3000 years later I get to point to him as well.

stay tuned

I am quite exhausted, but I have a post in the works, I will get it done within the next 2 days. too tired to write it out right now. but it will be worth the wait. It's on names. and identity.

get ready!

ch-ch-ch-changes

So I was stuck in downtown Seattle 5:00 traffic today, so I had ample time to think and reflect. here's some things that came to mind. I realized how drastically my situation has changed.



From living in an apartment with 1 dude to living in a house with 2 married couples, another lady, and 3 young girls
From having 3 jobs to having 0
From knowing someone no matter where I went to hardly knowing anyone.
Memphis metro area population ~ 1.3 mill.
Seattle metro area population ~3.4 mill.
From BBQ, Chic-fil-a, and Sweet Tea to Thai and Vietnamese food, Jack in the Box, and delicious Coffee
From BB King to Jimi Hendrix
From 95/70 highs and lows in July to 88/55 highs and lows in July
From FedEx, AutoZone, International Paper to Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon.
From 32% white and 63% black to 70% white, 8% black, and 14% Asian
From 21% poverty to 12% poverty
From one of the least literate city (7th out of the bottom 10) to one of the most literate cities (along with Minneapolis)
From one of the most stereotypically high murder rates to one of the most stereotypically high suicide rates.




I could write at length about the BIG philosophical differences in most of these things, and maybe i will in future blog posts, but the one that is constantly blowing me away, and messing with me the most is this one:

From ministry as a hobby to ministry soaking every aspect of what I do.

Ladies and Gentlemen, God gets his glory and we get to be a part of that. For me, it took moving across the country to realize how relentless God's pursuit of us really is. Pray for me, I'm praying for you.