Feeling, Believing, Knowing

WHO I AM: It has been 16 years to this day.  16 years ago when my life was changed.  16 years ago when Jesus Christ came into my life.  I am 32 now.  It has been half of my lifetime.  I would like to say that everything was perfect, lovely, without stress or problems, but that wouldn't be life.  Nor would He be glorified in my struggles and weakness.  Easter Sunday.  I grew up Catholic but never knew the depth of God's love, nor His mercy or grace.  The gift of salvation, a FREE gift, was given to us in His son, Jesus Christ.  He is the reason for Easter.  He gave His life for us.  Sinners worthy of death.  Punishable to the ends of the earth and beyond.  Instead, He took our fall FOR us.  I pray that His blood is what runs through MY veins.  I am in no way perfect.  FAR from it.  But I share with you my life verses:

ROMANS 5: 1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

That was my first life verse.  It took a hold of my heart and has never let go.  It is through my Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ that, at the end of this life, will enable me an eternal life in heaven.  I am writing this as a public declaration for who I am, and WHOM I believe in to the very core of my being.  I am also doing this so that I am held accountable for my actions and words.  I am guilty of many things and I praise God that I am forgiven and that He has wiped these wrongs from His sight.  It is for that reason that I continue to live my life as best as I can for His glory; to reflect what He has done for me.

My life verse that He has added:

1 Samuel 2:3, 9

Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 9: He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails...

I am humbled every day that I wake.  I am, by nature, very proud, arrogant, and pompous.  Over-confident.  But anything I accomplish PALES in comparison to Him who created the heavens and the earth.  No matter what happens, He is in control.  There is a God who LOVES YOU.  Who CARES.  Circumstances and accidents happen.  Why?  We can't answer that.  But He is the hope that I hold on to.  How GREAT is our God!  All will see how great, how great is our God!  Lord, when I recommitted my life to You in 1997, after a great fall, I promised You that "no matter what I have to do, or what I have to go through, I will not leave Your side as long as You don't leave mine".  Your promise is that, in Deuteronomy 31:8, "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  So for that reason, I will not leave You.  I will grow weary, but You carry me.  I will grow weak, but You will be my strength.  You've been faithful.  So faithful.  I thank You.  I praise You.  I worship You.  Hallelujah!  Lord, You are good and Your mercy endureth FOREVER.  In parting, I offer you this:

All the chistles I've dulled carving idols of stone
That have crumbled like sand beneath the waves.
I've recklessly built all my dreams in the sand just to watch them all wash away.

Through another day, another trial, another chance to reconcile
To One who sees past all I see.
And reaching out my weary hand I pray that You'd understand
You're the only One who's faithful to me.

All the pennies I've wasted in my wishing well
I have thrown like stones to the sea.
I have cast my lots, dropped my guard, searched aimlessly

for a faith to be faithful to me.

Through another day, another trial, another chance to reconcile
To One who sees past all I see.
And reaching out my weary hand I pray that You'd understand
You're the only One who's faithful to me.
You're the only One who's faithful to me.

Buying: mp3 players

MP3 players: Let me start off by saying that I'm an AVID Apple iPod guy.  So far, I've had a first-gen ipod, 3G ipod, 1G shuffle, ipod video, 1G nano, 2G nano, and now a new 4G nano (more on this later).  Since I've stated my preference, why do you need to keep reading?  LOL.  Well, I tried to break away from my iPod addiction and see if the "grass" truly is "greener on the other side".  So I tried my friend's Zune for a week and also obtained a couple of  SanDisk items from their Sansa line: Sansa C240, and Sansa Clip via Buy.com.  The latter two were on special.  ;)

Here's the criteria: I wanted something small and I didn't want to spend that much.  I also bring my mp3 player almost EVERYWHERE.  I work out, bike, run, play football, etc.  So it's gotta be durable and portable.

Zune: The Zune functionality was very iPod-esque.  I know I'll get flamed by the Zune-faithful about this but, c'mon guys!  It's like the preference between Mac's and PC's.  I use BOTH btw.  I liked the Zune and it's feature-set is RICH.  Seriously!  Here's a little comparison on Zune vs. iPod.  If the Zune was "familiar" and the features (tactile touch, wi-fi, comparable battery life) were that rockin', why didn't I get that?  It came down to simplicity.  Those features are nice and you'd get all that with the same price as Apple's products.  I just didn't feel like I wanted all of that on my person.  No, I'm not paranoid about getting cancer because of all of these wireless devices.  Lord knows that I've had enough of those since I was younger.  If it were true, I would've keeled over by now.

Sansa: Why the Sansa's?  Well, I use SanDisk cards religiously for my digital photography since, imho, they're the best around for that purpose but I'll talk about that at another time.  It boiled down to the expertise of SanDisk with their flash memory.  The C240 was okay.  It was just too thick.  Length and width were okay but just too deep.  Functionality-wise, it was so-so.  Nothing dramatic or mind-blowing.  It's a simple mp3 player.  The same goes for the Clip.  But the Clip wins due to its diminutive size.  It is downright puny.  It's about the size of my thumb (L = as long as my thumb, and W = 1/2 of my thumb).  And it's a nice shade of red.  I'll keep the Clip around for my backup.  You know, those days that you want to use something that you wouldn't be afraid to break or lose.  Probably for biking.  Notable items on the Clip: it has FM radio and a voice recorder.  :)

So which monopolizing, mega-conglomerate product did I get?  What did I end up with in the end?  the 4th Gen iPod nano.  I was able to "procure" it through a good friend's brother.  ;)  Simplicity at it's best with a great form, function, and design.  It's just appealing.  With all of the tech in cars nowadays (USB, A2DP, FM modulators, aux inputs), either the Zune or the iPod will work in just about anything.  The iPod, with it's metallic case, COULD get scratched up more than a Zune but it feels more durable.  Yeah, you could say I was being brand-faithful, but I gave it a shot with the others.

Sound off, what do you guys think?

Intro to "What Rex Is"...

What's up everyone!

Welcome to "What Rex Is".  Originally, I was going to name this "What's Rex Wearing", but I felt that was too limiting as a topic.  Then I thought, "Rex is...", but thought that was TOO general.  I guess.  Then I settled on "What Rex Is".  It's more like an implication of a statement regarding a specific topic: "What Rex is wearing", "What Rex is thinking", "What Rex is eating", etc...

I've attempted many blogs before so what's going to make this keep going?

I don't know.  LOL.  To be honest, I'm not sure.  But I'm going to try to keep the topics written down as my day goes by so I can post.  We'll see how that goes.

How did this get started and what can you expect here?

Let's address the first part: how this got started.  I originally started this idea as a "What's Rex Wearing" photo post on Facebook.  My friend Giancarlo (GC to his friends), suggested that I make this into a blog.  So here we are.

Second: what can one expect here?  Well, I'm into a LOT of things- just as I'm sure all of you are.  My varying hobbies can be "expensive" to say so I'm hoping to write about those dilemmas and my interests.  I'm hoping you'll be entertained.  So what hobbies are these?  I'm into modifying cars, auto racing, photography, shoes, clothes, shopping (yeah, a GUY into shopping - LOL), TECH/GADGETS (period), comic books, toys, etc.  It can become troublesome.  :P  I've got my preferences and I'll explain why I have them and what got me addicted in the first place, etc.

Anyhow, have a great day!  See you around the blogosphere!