B-Day PARTY & more

I woke up early today, got myself around and had to head downtown for this YMCA training. It is so I am prepared for this new position that will start on Monday. Well, I got out of the house just a little bit too late, and felt like I needed to make up for some lost time by speeding.....This is never a good idea. But, some people like to learn the hard way. Now, I don't know why my brain would tell me it is a better idea to speed than it is to just be a few minutes late....but it did, and so I did. What happened???? Take a look below.Wow, this picture sure does look familiar. If you take a look at ~THIS LINK~ you will see that on April 29th, I got a ticket at my local university for not coming to a complete stop at a stop light on campus. Well, it cost me $242.oo to get on what is called the infraction deferred program, which means if I can go a year with out having another ticket, the citation gets wiped off my record. If I do get another ticket within a year in Allen County (my county) then I pay double the fine and get all the points taken off my license. SO, the decision to speed this morning was incredibly stupid to say the least. This is what happens.

I was going 62 in a 45....yea, I know. And as soon as I pulled over, I started praying. I nervously got out my license and registration, I was so nervous because I knew what was going to be on the line. In all seriousness, my license could be suspended for a while if I got this ticket. So I prayed, I honestly said, "God, I messed up. If I get this ticket, please give me the patience and understanding to take it well, and not to get super upset." When the cop came up to my window, I was honest with him, had my keys sitting on the dash, and was as polite as possible. He retired to his vehicle for only a few minutes, and came back to me. He handed me my license and registration back, and told me he was giving me a verbal warning. My jaw almost hit the ground, and I thanked God. I did however, ask him why he decided to give me a verbal warning. He told me it was because I was honest and didn't feed him a line of B/S..... GRACE is unmerited or deserved favor & love. GRACE is a pretty cool concept.So, I got to the building and went up to the 5th floor where the training was. I was there from 8:00AM to 3:30PM. The room was packed before lunch, but after it slimmed way down because only the new people had to go through the training.

When the training was over, I went home and helped set up for the BIG PARTY. Check out these pictures, from the extremely successful party for my awesome pop's. Who, by the way had a wonderful evening. :-)The beautiful woman to the right is my mother. She was the brains of the whole event. She has awesome taste, and is by far the best cook I know.It was so well done, I kept thinking all through the night, MAN THIS IS SOO NICE!!

I was sitting next to my dad by the fire pit listening to him tell stories and just make small talk with his friends when I got a phone call. It was my friend Matt, and he was really struggling. I mean he was really really struggling. I went inside the house and prayed for him. But he was still extremely upset. I asked him where he was, and he said he was at park in town out in the parking lot. I told him I would be there in 15-20 min. I left the party rather quickly with my Bible and journal in hand. I went directly to Matt, and we talked it out, ohh for probably 2-2 1/2 hours. I let him get as much off his chest as he could, and comforted him all the while. That is what a brother in Christ does, I could tell he was relieved, or at least in a much better place than when I first got there. It was a good thing, for both him and myself. GRACE came up again, and man is it good stuff.