Ian Mattoon

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
-Berthold Auerbach

Thinking about all of the ways that men fail is kind of depressing, but it is reality.  I think that the way men fail can be broken down into two main categories.  The failure of individuals and the failure of the institutions of men.

By men I mean man, and by man I mean mankind. . all people.  Not just men as opposed to women.  Although I do know some women who would argue the later.  Even the best of people will let you down.  Not because they want to but because it is built into our very natures.  Man is selfish.  We want to do good to others but only to the extent that we feel good about it.  Even when we sacrafice it is usually founed in some form of pride and ultimately for our happiness that we act.  This is not to say that we should stop from doing good deeds, but it takes us out of the picture for deserving merit for our actions.

It is also clear more now than ever that people tend to put alot of faith in the institutions that they create or elect.  It is crazy how many people got crazy over thinking that Obama was going to chage the world and magically fix everything.  The truth is that if man is not perfect than nothing that man creates could ever be perfect either.  Again this does not mean that we should not create organizations.  But rather, if something good comes out of an organization we should be giving credit where credit is due, and thanking God for his hand in that organizations success.  Which is also a challange because God regularly works though the actions of people we don’t agree with for his good.  All things that are good are from God, and good works all things together for his glory. That just blows my mind and is a huge challage because it requires me to be thankful and joyful at all times.

I have decided to do a series of posts about the things that  I do know.  This may be a very short series or a very long series. . that I don’t know!

The first post in this series is going to be dedicated to my girlfriend. Lisa Michelle Howell.

She is so beautiful and quite sassy!

She was born November 3, 1986!

She loves Jesus more than any woman that I have ever met.

I am a far better person with her than I ever was or could be with out her.

She is a family person and genuinely loves my family.

She is willing to follow me where the Lord leads us.

She speaks spanish, and is the best teacher!

She will make and amazing mother some day.

She has an amazing tender heart, which makes her cry a lot!!!

She is even more beautiful when she cries!

I love her more than anything else in the entire world (besides Jesus)!

We look really cute together!