Sarah Lynn and I

Imagine the greatest thing that could ever happen to you, Apart from knowing Christ and experiencing His grace day to day in major ways, for me it would have to be Sarah 
Lynn hands down. Sarah Lynn's my girlfriend and we're planning on getting 
married. To tell you the truth, the prospect of marriage has always been something scary for me.
    I think i've always been afraid of the idea for a few reasons, the greatest of which would have to be the end of an era of selfishness in my life. Upon getting engaged and then married, i would have to think of another person first and put myself last, something i badly want to do since starting my relationship with Sarah.
     Sarah and i have known eachother for about a year and a half. She's one of those girls you see at college that's too good for you. Too pretty, too perfect, too everything. She's the type that makes you feel intimidated. So, while she was at my bible college (only a semester) i only ever worked up the courage to talk to her a little here and there.
     Last October right after her birthday, we started chatting quite a bit on AIM and after much discussion we started dating the day before i went to Australia (November 15th). We have only been datin for almost 4 months, but plans are well underway for us to marry next May (09), and to move to Australia. 
     Yep, we're in love. I've prayed for her for such a long time not even knowing her name or when i would ever meet her. I was content with staying single if that's what God wanted (at least i like to think i was), and now i am totally ready to give up myself live for someone else for the rest of my life. 
     In fact, i don't think i can do it soon enough. Sarah has totally changed my life. She is a constant reminder of God's grace and goodness, of His wonderful provisions for my life, and of His desire for the best for my life. Well, i'm sure there will be more of Sarah and i to come, which i will post about in the near future, but for now, enjoy a few pics ;)
                    

    

Trip Down Under...

     So i hadn't been back to Australia for quite a while and since i've decided to stay in the US for a while to pop out some grad-school classes and work at my church, it seemed a trip home was due.
Special thanks to my brother Jonathan for deciding to get married and thus providing the opportunity to go visit family and friends.
Jonathan met and has now married a girl called Melissa. She's from Bolivia but lives in Australia.      They were married in Australia in November and the in Bolivia in January. I decided to go to the wedding in Australia, while my parents, my little sister Ana and her hurband Tim went to the one in Bolivia.
     I hadn't been to Australia for around six years, and a lot of things had changed. Friends had grown up and moved on, many getting married an moving wither to other parts of Australia or to other countries.
     While in Australia i was able to do a bunch of things i hadn't done in a long time. I went to ManlyBeach ;), i walked around CircularQuey, The Rocks, drove 
over the Harbour Bridge, walked to the Opera House, caught the Sydney-Manly ferrie (a must for great city views), went to my old church to see people who had had a great impact on my life, had a small high school reunion, and caught up with family and friends i had missed dearly.
     Certainly the coolest thing i got to do was meet my little niece Abigail Raquel Coleman, ans spend time with my nephew William Thomas Coleman. Both of which not only have the coolest names in the world, but have the intellectual personalities to go along with their author-sounding names.
     Raquel and Glenn (my sister and brother in law) have moved to Wagga Wagga, a town about 5 hours south of Sydney. I was able to spend two weeks there visiting them and working for Glenn for one of the weeks. It was incredible. Wagga Wagga is a beautiful large country town, with wonderful sunsets over the country horizon, and Raquel and Glenn ensured i had a great time visiting. We made day trips to wineries and country towns that i'll never forget.
     Well, here are some pictures from my trip to Australia. Hope you enjoy.
      


           

         

So it's been a while...

So it's been a while since i last posted, and a ton of stuff has happened. This past May 12th, i finally graduated from NBBC, which for me was probably one of the highlights of my life (the finishing part or it anyway). As most people would know, i am totally in love with Australia and really want to go back and serve in a church there. Until the middle of April, i had every intention of doing exactly that. The pastor of the church i had been attending for about a year and half and i spoke and he asked if i would be interested in coming in as their youth pastor. I had already decided before that, that the only way i would stick around was if he asked e to do just that. So i prayed about it and a few weeks later accepted his offer and decided to get my Masters in Biblical Counseling and be the youth pastor for two years, and see where the Lord leads from there.

I began my time as the youth pastor on the 4th June, 2007 and have now been doing it for almost five months. To say it's been an incredible journey would be an understatement. The Lord has taught me so much through this whole experience and i have learned to trust Him wholly.
The teens here are exciting and awesome to work with. Like any other youth group the numbers go up and down depending on what's going on at school, but usually there's around 20-25 of them. On Wednesday nights for the last five months, we've been studying the book of Ephesians. This study has helped me so much with my personal walk with the Lord, in better understanding the privileges i have as His child. From His choosing me to be His child before the foundation of the world, to the challenge to make Christ feel at home through His indwelling in Chapter three, it has been awesome to study so much doctrinal truth. Needless to say, we just finished chapter three and are only half way through the book. Lord willing we will be done by next summer.
I'm posting some pictures of our youth group from recent events as well and some pictures of recent stuff i've done. Hope you enjoy,
Only by Grace
Ruben

ps: In one of the pics i'm holdinh Brighton Trent Herron. Trent and Erin Herron's new addition. He's cute, in another pic i'm with some friends right before graduation, and in the other, i'm graduating (oh how sweet that felt)

So, since Mexico...

In April 2001, my parents called me up and said "Hey, we're moving to America, and you're coming too". And that was that. In July, 2001, i rode a Greyhound for 29 hrs all the way from Monterrey Mexico to Kansas City, Missouri. And hated every minute of it too. I worked in Kansas city for about one year and then started college at Northland Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin, where it's flipp'n freez'n. (www.nbbc.edu) Below are some pictures of some of my friends at Northland. My freshman Year, i was voted class President. The first picture is of me and my other class officers. The second one is of me and some mates at a music deal at my school. The call 'em Artist Series. You're supposed to take a girl, but we opted to hang out with the blokes the first time. The Third picture is of my mate Doug and I. We were roommates My Freshman year. He calls me his "Little Aussie"The last photo is of my friend Kristen and i. We went to one of those Artist Series things and on the way got blasted by a snow storm. My umbrella broke, which really sucked but made for a great picture.

Well, i guess the best place to begin would be Feb, 2000.
After some time of preparation and vacation in the U.S.A, my parents dropped me off in Monterrey Mexico. At first, i didn't kow a single thing about Mexico. When the opportunity first came up, i looked up Mexico on the internet and found pictures of Pyramids. Not really what i was expecting. As soon as we crossed the border for the first time i fell in love with the place. Mexico's an awesome country of beautiful landscapes and even more beautiful people. I got to spend a year and a half there and loved every minute of it.
Following are some of the pictures i took while in Mexico.

These are some more pictures from my time in Mexico. One is of me in a confession box in a Catholic church, another is of me on a Harley in San Louis Potosi, and another of a baby girl sitting on a table at the church i attended.

MY TIME IN MEXICO

My time in Mexico Mexico proved to be quite beneficial. Learning Spanish all over again, Living in a totally new culture, and meeting new friends. but it was awesome. Below are some pictures of stuff i got to do in Mexico during my time there.

The Last Six Years....

OK, so i just started this blog so i can post info, and pics from the last six years of my life, and hopfully for the ones to come.
As all my close friends would know, i'm terrible at keeping in touch with people. While i absolutely love reading emails from friends, not many have enjoyed reading any from me. So, in a dire attempt of redempting relationships, within the next few days, i'll be posting pics and info about the last six years, to get you all up to spead, and then every couple of weeks or whatever, posting updates.
Alright, more info to come.