the Mer face

Early, early, early this morning I was awoken by my mom asking me to pray for my sister Merideth. It was maybe 4AM when my mom woke me up to tell me that Merideth had just gotten a DUI (her second) and that my dad was going down to bail her out at 6:30. My mom almost had a voice of optimism in her voice. She said to me, "maybe she will wake up this time, and realize that something has to change in her life." I prayed the prayer, I prayed it sincerely. I went back to sleep, and actually I think I dreamed about a pair of jeans that I asked my mom to fix a while back. And in the dream my mom came to me and handed me the jeans, she said, "these jeans can't be fixed." I responded and said, "but mom, you can use material from these old jeans, just sow them together and they will be fine." It ended like that. Now that I have had time to think about it. I don't think I had any kind of GREAT AWAKENING or voice from God talk to me in my dream, but I can draw together a correlation between the jeans and my sister. With some jeans, they get to a point where they can't be fixed any longer. The material wears out, and stitching new material that looks good, won't do anything to the material that is already bad, except buy it a little bit of time. With my sister, and my family has come to the conclusion that God has to reveal in her along with her accepting the call, to hand it over. It is very hard to see my sister go through stuff like this though. She was coming home from a bar, and turned the wrong way on a one way street. A cop saw that and quickly pulled her over. Poor Mer. I took a picture of my facial expression when I was in deep thought about her.I was at school all day studying my Elements of Law stuff. I did real good, and performed excellently on my online quiz's. I needed to get away. SO, I called my best friend and asked if I could stop buy for a bit while I waited for time to come closer to 7:45. I wanted to go see Doubt at the local IIT Cinema Center downtown. I get in for only $3. To my great surprise Jared wanted to accompany me. TWAS A GREAT THING!!See it, it is a great movie. I doubt you won't like it. God is good, but his love needs to abound in mercy, compassion, and generosity. I took that from the movie a bit. Phillip Seymore Hoffman is the BEST ACTOR EVER!!! I friggin love the way that guy acts.

the day, my day, this day

YO YO YO

Today was grand! Really it was. I went to work, as usual, then studied my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) (in Leviticus) for about an hour or so. Then, Tom and myself went to Snider (high school I do contact work at) to hang out with kids since we were unable to do so on Wednesday because of school being canceled. It went great, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went in areas of the cafeteria that I typically do not wonder. I met two guys, they were really great. They were also eating quickly, when I sought out as to WHY, they told me so that they can wonder the halls. I was about to walk to a new table, and they said, "why are you leaving?" I said, well I figured I would make my rounds and try to visit a few other tables. They said, "why don't you come with us to wonder the halls?" I said, "OK." So off we wondered, and some good conversation came out of it. It was really cool because it was a supremely direct invite. They said they will be looking for me next Wednesday. Cool stuff/God thing.

WELL....Then I went back to work, and when I got out, I went to pick up Nicky!! You know Nicky, and if you don't, click here. Anyways, a long story short says I got Nicky and his friend Jesse to agree to go to a movie with myself and Tom tonight. It was awesome because I felt Nicky stepped out of his comfort zone, and I loved that new movie Taken.

Then after I dropped those guys off after hanging out for a short while, I went over to my friend George's house. I talked with his parents, who are awesome and very Spiritually sound, and we prayed over a friend of mine. Then George and I hung out for a while. I always get roweled up after I leave hanging out with George. When I left his house, I jumped into the snow. Just did a belly flopper into a foot or more of snow and rolled around in it. Not sure why exactly, just did. Here is a picture of me once I got home.

P.S. If you get a chance, check out the comment from PAUL in this post. Read his testimony, it is pretty darn neat.

genuine is the name of the game

I feel like money is being wasted in my interpersonal communications class. Today we watched as much of My Big Fat Greek Wedding as time would allow.

Yes, we watched the video then discussed quickly (maybe under 5 minutes) a couple of topics discussed through out the chapters. I don't know, it was kind of lame. Crappy picture I know. I did a bit of picture taking today. I will upload my favorite picture out of the roll. I went out to Amish country to find some good horses. They were great, kind of skirmish at first, but then warmed up to me and came closer. This picture is so great because you can see two of the horses have their ears all perked up in anticipation of something about to happen. As soon as I snapped the picture and they heard the shutter sound, they took off. It was priceless. Animals are pretty cool like that. Before I went to my Photography class, I stopped at Fazoli's for dinner, because I was running short on time. I ate their greasy not so great food, and read up on (looked at pictures) my photo reading assignment. Then I went to class. I really think this class is OKAY. But the people in the class are really cool. There are a lot of genuine people it appears in that class. There is nothing I like better than genuine.

more snow & a little exam

Today I woke up at 5:22 like I always do on a weekday. This day was different though. I was super tired even though I fell asleep at 9:45PM. I needed more sleep. So, I kept hitting the snooze. I had hit it 2 times, and was going for the third when I suddenly got a text message. SCHOOL WAS CANCELED!!!! Ohh I was happy that I got to sleep in more, but kind of bummed that I didn't get to get any money. Well, work or no work, I still had a UROLOGY appointment to be at come 9:15AM. Well, I was a little late. But I made it. Now, I have been having some issues with peeing for a while. They are of course M/S related, but not a super big deal, so I have been putting this appointment off for quite some time now. Then, a different "issue" (also m/s & [otherwise] related) came up, so I just followed through with it. As I was in the exam room with a really cool doctor, I was informed that it would be in my best interest to do a prostate exam.....after I was informed of that information, my face looked something like this.Yes, I was not exactly excited to hear that news. But, this guy did not look like a creeper, and so I agreed. Now I know what "older" men speak of when they refer to this type of examination. It was not pleasent by any means, but not as horrifying as I have depicted it to be in my mental considerations of the past.This is the exam bed where it all took place. I took this picture to commerate the day that I had MY FIRST PROSTATE EXAM. Something sweet came out of the deal though. I got my question answered, and turns out it was almost exactly what I thought it would be. That is the good news. The awesome news came after the doc. asked about my health history. I had an opportunity to explain to him how my M/S came about, and some of the difficulties associated with it. When we were talking about possible medication I could take at a future time, I mentioned this to him, "well, I am not worried in the least at any of the outcomes, God is in control, and I am at perfect peace with that." I had a chance to tell him about a guy I talked to from Arizona on Monday who I met through my web-site survivingMS.com, who calls me occasionally because he needs support and someone to know what he is going through. I told the doctor I am always there for people who need someone to listen, and possibly some words of encouragement. The Doc. told me this, "Ya know, it is really good to hear that from you. You are {a something something} "I forget exact words," but then he told me that I made his day. He said he was extremely glad that he had met me, and shook my hand. It made my day that I made his day. That is a beautiful thing right there I tell you what.

When I was finished with the exam, my mom called. She wanted me to clear the driveway. I said, "sure thing" and headed home. As I was about to put on some boots and get to work. A lady from work called and said she needed me to come into work. When school cancels, there is one location that still has childcare. I got to work from 12:15-6PM. I actually got more hours than I would on a regular day. THAT WAS AWESOME!!!This was a picture of me driving to work. SNOW SNOW SNOW. God is so good, I am always taken by how good God is. Even when life sucks, God is so good. A good God is what I have.

labelless

I could not think of a witty, exciting, and punch line'ish title for this BLOG post. I was assured that "labeless" is not a real word, and that may very well be so. BUT, I don't care, it is what I am rolling with. Today was cool, I went to an abandon gas station and took some really cool pictures for my photography class. I will have to upload them once I get them developed. I am excited to see how they turn out. I am not even going to try to describe them, because they will be all the more awesome when I upload them and you see them. TRUST ME!!! It was cold, and it started snowing today. When I got out of my 3 hour long (6-8:45) law class, I just wanted to be warm and naked. Naturally I knew I had to go to the tanning bed. Sorry if that was too graphic a depiction for your imagery senses. I am just being real with you.To the tanning bed I went. When I got home, I spent a little bit of quality time with my parents and the Television. I also got some AWESOME NEWS!!! If, and I say IF, because the only way it will all work out is IF God intends for me to go to Arizona for the paid internship this summer. BUT, IF He does, and I go. My friend Andy said he will send me, meaning he will give me the air fare to go. :~O That is some sweet stuff. SERIOUSLY SWEET!!! God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me.

G'Night!

the oil change

Well, I needed to do some routine maintenance on my runner (vehicle). Yes, she needed an oil change. Pretty simple right? I mean for a guy (being stereotypical) it is no big deal to drain the oil, slap on a new filter, and then fill yur car back up with mechanical life blood (motor oil). Any schmo should be able to do it lickety split.......or so one might think. I went to Autozone and got 5 quarts of oil + a filter for $12.99, I was like, "dang that's a good deal!" In my dazed and confused excitment, I suppose I may have forgotten that I suck at anything [car]. The pictures below speak for themselves, I will just give a bit of caption.It all started by me thinking I could take two empty water jugs and cut the tops off and be able to use them to hold the oil. This was stupid, because how does 3/4 of a 2 gallon jug hold almost 5 quarts of oil???? Common Mikey, that was problem #1!Problem # 2 happened when I thought I could just pour the old oil into containers. I thought that it would pour nicely from a jagged and extremely uneven container. IT DID NOT!!I don't know if there was any more problems after 2, but It was a huge friggin mess. I was able to laugh the whole time though. And I think that shows a bit of my personality. I just don't take myself too serious.....thank goodness. I made a huge mess, and probably spent more time cleaning it up than I did actually changing the oil. BUT, that is okay. Well, maybe not. If I would have spent like $8 more bucks, then I could have had it done professionally, and no mess. Live and learn I suppose.

Bible Study (BSF) was good, God demands, but never forces his people to be Holy and set apart. I am striving for separation from the rest of the world. I am far from perfect, and always will be. But, by the Grace of God, I will continue to attain for much higher standards. I sure do love God, but not oil changes. At least not when I am changing um. :~)

G'Night!

It's my day alright!!

The day started off slow. I meant to wake up and go to a church that I was invited to go to, but I stayed up way way to late, and felt it was in my best interest to sleep in and catch up on my zzZZ's. When I did get going, I went to the school library, and finished my BSF study for the week. It was pretty much the only thing I enjoyed studying today. Yes, for soon after I left Leviticus, I entered into a world of confusing and boring words that plagued me for hours. I'm not gonna lie, I do not like studying this stuff at all. BUT, when I took my online quiz for the class and chapter I aced it! WHOOP WHOOP for me huh? Time passed, and eventually I left to go to a baby dedication. The Young Life area director Josh along with his wife Ashley dedicated their youngest girl. Also, Sam and his wife Jessica dedicated their little girl. Sam and Ashley are Young Life volunteers. Jessica is also Josh's sister. ALSO, they are neighbors. Isn't that special? It was real nice, and little girls are super cute. Today I was reminded how single I am.

SMILES FOR EVERYONE

wake up and STUDY

I believe that my Saturday's, and possibly even Sunday's will be similar to what today looked like. I got up at 8:30AM, took my sweet time getting around, went outside to the back yard to take a picture of the snowman I created with George yesterday for my photography class. Then went directly to school. First the library.This was my first study location in the library, 3rd floor, next to NO ONE. I was there from 11:15 to 3:30 easily. I took a break, and went to the cafeteria type thing IPFW has and made some pop corn in the microwave. Took a break and enjoyed my corn that I popped. After that I went directly to the 2nd floor of the WALB STUDENT UNION building to my next location.This was my location from ohhh maybe 4:00 to 6:00. I got a lot of reading done today. I got caught up on my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), and really understand and remember all the stuff I read from that darn LAW book. Horrible way to spend a Saturday, but considering the circumstances, good as far as study habits are concerned.

When I was on my way to the Smurf mobile (my vehicle), I thought about going to see a movie. I wanted to go and see Doubt with Philip Seymour Hoffman. It is playing at the cinema center, and with my student I.D. I can get in for $3. The pro to this idea would be I could see a movie with an actor that I like. The con would be that I would be by myself. That didn't seem like it would be accomplishing anything for anyone but myself, so I decided to go and hang out with Nicky. When I got there Nick's brother Jared (my best friend) was there. Along with our friend Ryan, who I use to see quite often, but now he has 2 kids and stays pretty close to g/f, kids, and work. I didn't even know what to say to Ryan really except the usual, kind of strange, "So, how are the kids....." I don't know, it is strange because we use to be a lot closer, and although still very friendly, we live in completely different worlds. It's all good though. After Jared and Ryan left. Nick and I beat the game we have been playing for quite a while, and then played a much less violent game called Banjo-Kazooie, it was super fun. It is a lot easier to have conversations while playing a game like this too. No senseless killing and violence. Just chill fun. Conversation flows a lot easier. I am real tired, I believe I will retire for the day.

SNOW MAN

I'm not going to lie. I may have the body and intellect of a somewhat unconventional 22 year old. BUT, my heart pretty much is still very childish and petty. My friend George came over, and we talked about God for a bit, and finally I just said to him. Dude, the snow is perfect for packing. Let's make a snow man. George looked at me and said, "are you serious?" I said, "Duh!" He said, "dude, i've never made a snow man before." I said, "it's about time." Before you know it, this was in my back yard.Yes, that's right. I made a killer snow man. Not like killer as in, he will hurt people. Killer as in, AWESOME. Check out the up close of his grill. Pretty good stuff.Friday's at work are movie day. So, for the kids, we watched two really good movies by my standards. The movie we watched in the morning was Horton Hears a Who. Which has an amazing Christ centered connotation. I loved that fact. And the afternoon/evening movie was Wall-E, another great movie. They were both really good movies. I am glad we watched them. I think all little kids especially need to watch Horton Hears a Who. AMAZING FILM!! Even for adults. I love God so much, and I especially love seeing that my friend loves Him too. George get's worried when his niece has to go to her mothers house every other week. Ya see, Kierans grandparents, Georges parents have custody over her because of some stuff.....and well George get's really anxious when she is over there. He asked me tonight, "Hey man, do you think we could like pray for her?" I was like, "DARN RIGHT WE CAN!!" I think those might have actually been my exact words too. Good stuff, tomorrow I have some serious work to be gotten done. A TON of reading, and just a but load of work work work. This going to school full time thing can really take up a lot of your time.

G'NIGHT!!

perfect picture

Okay, so in my J210 class. One of the many electives that I must get out of the way for my communications major turned out good today. It is mainly a digital picture kind of class, so when I get my 35mm film developed, I must take it and have it put on a disc. No big deal. The first assignment was CIRCLES. SWEET!! Simple yes, but one of my circle ideas/pictures turned out really sweet. Here is the final copy, after editing and cropping it. Okay, I took this picture on the interstate, going about 65 MPH. No, I was not driving, although that would be sweet if I could pull that off. That is a semi truck tire, up close and personal. I think it looks awesome, because that is exactly how I planned for it to look, and when the film got developed and it looked exactly how I wanted it too. Well, I FELT LIKE I WON A RACE!! Like, a picture race........

I got kind of behind in my Bible Study today, because I have SO MUCH SCHOOL work to do. I'll be able to catch up, it's just not the way I like doing things. Especially super important things like being in the Word. It's time for me to hit the sack, crack open some ZZzz's, pass out, go to sleepy town, zonk out.

Grace & Peace my readers.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!

I love Wednesdays, because I get to go to Snider High School (Large High School in Fort Wayne where I do contact work at for Young Life). To start off the morning I tried to find a place to cut my hair, the place I went to needed me to make an appointment, so I did. While I was waiting, I went to a coffee shop, didn't buy anything, and just sat, read and took notes.It was cold in there. It seems like it is cold everywhere.

Then I went to Snider. I love making kids smile and brighten up their day. It is a good thing. I think more people should do that for other people. Everyone would be so much happier if everyone made a slight effort to do for others more than themselves. It is such a good thing.The kid walking towards me I believe is Eli. He doesn't really have blurry arms and legs. Just the distortion of the image, so STOP FREAKING OUT!! I just walk around Snider, and talk with kids, go to where they are at. Visit them on their turf, speak their language (not the nasty language) speak on their level. It is absolutely amazing what God can accomplish through a willing heart in relational ministry. A beautiful thing.

After I left Snider I got my hair cut. At a barber shop called Karl's Barber Shop. It was good conversation, and good cut's. My hair looks amazing!! I would snap a pic and upload it, but I am freaking tired, not gonna lie. As soon as I got out of work, I drove to a church parking lot. Parked towards the entrance of the church and started reading my notes for BSF. It is about 40-45 minutes of reading. Really awesome information, just takes me a while to go through. While I was reading, someone drove up to the front of my car, and asked me if they could help me. I said no, I was just doing my Bible Study before I went over and played some video games with a kid through a ministry I volunteer with. I backed up my car, and then he approached me one last time. A real friendly guy, he even invited me to his church. I think i'll go and check it out on Sunday. Then I went and played some Gears of War with Nicky. I am blasting bad guys in an extremely grusome video game for Jesus. That sounds bad.... But, it's in truth. Plus, I love video games. This is a legit excuse to play them. Nick made a really cool comment at Snider today. It really showed me that he is thinking deeper on certain subjects. That is so cool for me to see. :-) G'Night!!

busy boy

Today was non-stop go go go, read read read it seemed. I leave work at 8:30, go directly to class, after I get out of class, I go directly to Library. STUDY TIME! Then, I go straight to class at 1:30. Class get's out at 2:45, and I have to be back at work at 3:00. I leave work at 5:00 today because every other day I have to leave at 5 instead of 6....because of hour cuts :-( The, I have class at 6:00-8:45!! Goodness!!The evening class is brutal too. It is Elements of Business Law for my minor in OLS (Organizational Leadership & Supervision). I am so tired, but when I got home I had to scan my application for a summer internship position for the Young Life camp that I volunteered at last summer. I am extremely mentally exhausted, and ready to go to bed. God is very good, and deserving of all I have.

CAR blues or oranges...

I went to Auburn once on Thursday to drop off my sisters car. Then again on Friday to bring it back. We took it to a trusted mechanic who ended up telling us that the catalytic converter was shot, and when he called the Chevy dealership to order a new one (which happens to be a California model, more expen$ive) and the lady on the phone told him that it was covered for 80,000 miles/5 years. Well, this was good news!!! We took it to the dealership, the tried and tried, but told my father and I that they could not get it to register on their machine. Hummmmm, the car had 79,765 miles on it when it left on Friday. They told us to give it back to my sister and let her drive it till the check engine light came back on. BUT wait a minute. Our trusted mechanic told us that the converter was all melted and totally messed up. Wasn't that reason enough? NOPE. So, back to the drive. The car came home Friday night, and my sister drove it that evening.....THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON!! Grrrr, but at the same time HORRAY!! My dad and I took it up there again this morning, and then picked it up this afternoon. I am really tired of driving up to, and back from Auburn. FOR REAL!The orange cavalier is my sisters car. And i'm just glad it got fixed for free. On Friday, when we went in I got a little bit short with one of the mechanic's. He was very rude and almost intimidating to me, but I still didn't have any reason to speak sarcastically to him. Sometimes sarcasm takes the place of anger for me. When my dad and I were dropping the car off, I apologized to him for being short/deliberately difficult with him. He looked surprised, but told me it was not necessary. We ended up not getting charged the $80 that they charge, even when a car is under warranty. I don't know if that has anything to do with the money. But, I don't know that it doesn't. Not saying that is why you should make things right with people or God. But.....well, i'm just sharing my life. That is what I do. I did remind myself quickly though on Friday, that God is in control of my sisters car. Even when it looks bad, that I just need to TRUST in him...and I did. That's not to say it will always turn out rosey posey, but that should not deminish my levels of trust either. God's plan does not equal Mikey's plan. THANK GOODNESS!!

LEVITICUS!!
That is what I have been studying all week. Let me tell you. I never thought I would be applying Truth's and Insight into my daily life from Leviticus. But I totally am, and realizing that I must take more concern with the specific things that make God HOLY. And, the things in which I must be a part of to create God's holiness in my life. My friend Liliana put it in a very neat way, "That is awesome when places U dont expect or underestimate reveal God to you (text message)." TRUE THAT Lili!!

Lazy day and a CD player

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

He is, who He is. Today, I really struggled getting around. Once I finally did, I finished my BSF for the week, and then started to learn about my 35mm SLR camera that my mom's friend let me borrow for this class. I just got the owners manual out, and started playing with things; settings, dials, and things of that nature. It's interesting not using a digital camera. Now knowing what the picture is going to look like until you develop the film is kind of exiting. I know that the first roll of film is most likely going to be fairly rough around the edges until I can get an idea for what kinds of pictures this thing will take. So, when I got done reading up on the camera, I headed over to my brothers house. Travis put in a CD player for my mom that I got her for Christmas.
She LOVED it. Also, it is a CD player with a USB attachment. So, you can plug in a flash drive directly into it. It is very cool because my mom loves listening to books on tape/CD and you can download them from web-sites. She will be able to download a book she wants to listen to right to her flash drive, then plug it into her CD player and BAM. She really liked that idea. I'm happy that she is so happy. Dave church was not on tonight because Dave's house did not have any water. He told me that his well was somehow messed up. I hope it can be fixed very inexpensively Dave. May God continue to bless you my friend!

Significant Saturday

MIKEY
My neurologist not urologist said that the TYSABRI is a GO!!!! This the news I fully wanted to hear, but was prepared for him to tell me it wasn't going to be the case. God is good.

MOM
The doctor did not give any bad news about her test on Friday. We are assuming that no news is good news. We are thinking that she caused this last incident because of years and years of untold amounts of stress on her. It is just in her nature to stress out about lots of things. I am probably a big factor of that stress too. Not the current me, but the me that use to make horribly bad decisions. So school is back in session full swing, and that means the library will become my second home. The picture above is a picture of me doing my Bible study. I had a TON of reading from Leviticus to do today. I love learning from places in the Bible where I did not think God could ever teach me. It's a wonderful thing to see the LIVING WORD in action.

Also, while I was there I finished filling out an application for a paid summer internship at the camp I was at last summer in Arizona. I feel it is the right decision for me, and am extremely excited about it. God will work out all the little things. This is my friend Brad. A friend I have not seen for quite some time, who just recently moved into a house. His girl friends grandmother moved into a nursing home, and his g/f's parents wanted to keep her home in the family. So, they are renting it out to Brad. Brad put a unique and exciting possible offer on the table for me. I will not say what, but it is pretty darn unique.

a day filled with news I accept happily!

Today was my M/S appointment. If you said that a lot was riding on this appt, I would agree with you quickly. My dad took me to Indianapolis (about 2hr 15min away) because, well because my car is not fun to drive those kinds of distances in. It get's a little bumpy after about 60MPH.Yes, indeed the drive was good. My dad and I had a lot of good conversation, and just enjoyed each others presence. Sometimes we are right on the same page. It's good when it works out like that. I know he loves me a lot. My father, patient, wise, quiet, subdued, God fearing, and loving sit's while we wait for the neurologist to come in the exam room and look me over. My pop's is a good man. I am so extremely thankful for the parents God has given me. He really did give them to me, I would say more so than the average individual. My parents adopted me at birth, so God had this planned all along. From the moment I was conceived, my Father (notice the "F") had big plans for me. It is amazing to see how He, has everything right in the palm of His hand.

So anyways, this appointment was important because I was going to find out whether or not my DOC. was going to continue keeping me on the TYSABRI, or if he was going to take me off the drug that has been horribly helpful and start me on a drug that has exponentially lower risk for yucky long term side effects. This is good though, a lot of things fall into place after this decision had been made. For that I am quite happy. After I had helped with my sisters car (LONG CRAZY STORY). I ate some pizza, and went over and hung out with my brother Travis (half brother) and his wife Amber. He had just gotten her Guitar Hero, and I believe she was addicted to it by this point. It was fun hanging out with them, and being with my brother that I don't get to see very often. Good stuff.

It was about midnight when I had left, and I wanted to go pick up some film for a 35mm camera I will be using for a photo-journalism class I will be taking. When I get the pictures developed, I will just have them put on disk and taken to class that way. It will be super fun.

it is FREEZING!!

Currently as I write, It is -12, it feels like it is -32. That is, umm COLD. This is a new kind of cold for me. I don't ever remember it being this cold outside. Wowzers, just WOWZERS!! Thursday's sure are long days for me. I mean I have classes and work all day. Lots of reading to stay up on, and all kinds of work to do. I have a morning mass communication class from 9:00-10:15 that I go to right from work, then an interpersonal communication class at 1:30-2:45 where I leave and go directly back to work. I get out of work, do some reading and go back to school at 7:30 for my journalism/photography class. It get's over at 10:15PM!! Ouch! Long day. The above picture was taken in class. The prof. is an old photographer for one of the big news papers in Fort Wayne, and he is a pretty cool dude. I am really going to enjoy this class. I saw this car walking out of class. It is so tiny. Tiny car's are kind of funny. I would feel so silly driving in that car. Or maybe not, maybe I would feel really really cool driving in it. I am kind of curious as to how it actually drives. What is the top speed, and how does it handle. It is supposed to be extremely safe, but that is hard for me to understand.

God is good, even when life is not, God is so good. He is always there to lift me up, to soothe me and comfort me. He is my friend, He is my greatest listener. He does not stay quiet when I need to be spoken to, and I am so extremely blessed when he decides to use me to drive out His plan. What an honor it is to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And to that, I give you a smiley face. :o)

WEDNESDAY, is the best day

OKAY, first I will tell about my mom's current health. I believe she is okay right now. She is up enough to like cook dinner, and do some other things. She is not working right now, because that might be one of the stressors that is pushing her too hard. My mom is a worrier, like a lot of mom's. Dave, just pray that what happened was a "fluke" thing, and that all will return to normal and she will be able to return fully to where she was at before. I got the story really wrong too. She is a leader for the woman's BSF, and was at a leader meeting on Tuesday morning when she started having serious chest pains, shortness of breath, and then started blacking out. They called the ambulance and it rushed her to the ER. We will know more on Friday. Friday, I will be able to say why it happened, and what exactly was going on.Today, I had my TYSABRI! This one will be my 10th infusion. All is going super well on this medicine, and I hope my neurologist agrees to keep me on it. I will find out on Friday, when I go to Indianapolis with my dad to my appt. My dad is taking me because I think my car might blow up, and I just don't want to risk it right now. So, that was good. It snowed like CRAZY today, I did a lot of snow removal just in our driveway. Good stuff though. I am going now.

the day of sorrows

(EARLY 10:08 posting)
School started back up today and I got let out of my class a bit early. Traffic was INSANE, with the nasty weather and the fact that it is the 2nd day of IPFW's semester, traffic is all bunched up all over the place. It is always like this at the beginning of the semester though. The class I had this morning was Mass Comm-250. The prof seems pretty neat, but it appears as though I will have to really start getting into some news outlet. This is going to be a big change for me because I always put an effort to stay out of the news as much as possible. I wonder how it will change my BLOG. Ya know, if I am impacted by world events...which I could very well be, then I would think it would be on my mind. I dunno, we'll see.

This morning, when I woke up, I woke up to some devestating news for my friend Mike (lives in Arizona). ~CLICK HERE~ to see a picture of Mike. He is at the bottom of that post, and I think it tells a little bit about him. Anyways, I woke up and there was a text message from Mike on my phone this morning. I checked it, and it just briefly said, "So Kait (his girl friend) just broke up with me and moving back to Mich." As soon as my alarm went off, I texted him back and then he called me right away. He probably had not slept a wink, and I could tell how disturbed he was just from his voice. He went sking up in Flagstaff for a little while with a friend, and when he got back home, Kaitylin had all her things packed and told him she was leaving. She had the house cleaned and they talked for a few hours, and she sait it was over. They have been together for 3 years, and Mike was explaining to me that it came out of no where. They had been getting along, and he just had no clue there was anything wrong. We talked for a while, and I was really starting to feel so horrible for him. Mostly I was feeling horrible because of the fact that I could not do anything for him to ease his pain. Nothing but pray. It is a horrible thing that has happened, and I know he is in a lot of pain. Please pray with me for Mike and Kaitlyn. I don't know the whole story, and it doesn't matter. They are both obviously in a lot of pain, and I want the best for my friend.

~PRAYER REQUEST~

I have a very important prayer request. First I will tell you how it came to my attention. I got let out of my evening class early today. It is my Elements of Law class for my minor in OLS (Organizational Leadership & Supervision). The class is going to be really hard, but that is okay. I was driving home and noticed I had a voice mail. I listened to it, and was kind of shocked. It was one of my mom's best friends. She said that she had heard through the grape vine that my dad went home early and took my mom to the Emergency Room...... I was like, "What in the heck?!?!" I quickly called the house. Turns out my mom has been having chest pains, but never told me. Today, she was having trouble getting her breath, and was blacking out. My dad left work and took her to the ER. They did a bunch of tests on her, and will do a super important one on Friday. PLEASE PRAY that she will be okay and that the tests will all come back with good results. Pray that this was just a fluke, and that questions are answered. It shook me up though. BUT, God is in control, and that I believe in more than anything.

Here is a picture of some deer that were enjoying the bird feeder today. They are pretty animals.

I blog, therefore I am

ummmm Good Bible, also good book that I am reading. I know I have been reading it for what seems like a long time now, but I suppose I am just slow, BUT, I am taking it in really well. It's Experiencing God by: Henry T. Blackaby & some other lady. I took notes while I was reading it today. I put... I know when God is at work when things happen that only God can do. For instance, (John 6:44) tells that no one will seek after God or Spiritual things, unless the Holy SPirit is at work in their life.

Things Only God Can Do

• God draws people to Himself
  
• God causes people to seek after Him
• God reveals Spiritual Truth
• God convicts the world of guild regarding sin
• God convicts the world of righteousness
• God convicts the world of judgment

I also wrote in my journal>>> When i am truly seeking to find where God is working in the lives of others, I must pray for it, then act. It could be anything that would lead me to believe God is at work. The acting part could look like me asking probing questions to see where God is at work...Then, I must listen. My mind is all over the place with "God thoughts" right now, but this is as controlled as I can get on this specific subject. I hope it is coherent and sensible. I believe it is. It is good having God reveal something, and then almost immideatly experiencing it in your life. Affirmation is such a wonderful thing, not a needed thing, but when you get it, it is very welcomed.
On the way to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with my dad, I was telling him, and he could hear how congested I have been. So much flem and YUCK! He told me about a little secret thing he has heard works very well. I heard him out........I was baffled, and could not make sense of it. But, I figured I would give it a try. Here is what he told me. To take some Vicks Vapor Rub, and apply it generously to the bottom of my foot. Then, to take socks and double layer them on my feet. Then, to go to bed. I can not figure out why this would help with my congestion, but I am willing to give it a try. I told my dad if he was messing with me and I nastied up my feet for no reason, I would be unhappy, but he assured me that was not the case, and that he was getting his information from a reliable source. Anyways, I am sitting here BLOGGING with this crap on my feet, and it feels kind of good actually. :-) I think it's time to go to bed. P.S. Sorry you had to look at my feet, I don't think they are the prettiest feet in the world, BUT, they could be worse. G'Night!!

day of seeking, conversation, and contentment

This morning was wonderful. Dave along with his wife Margie and daughter Rachel picked me up this morning and we went to a church downtown called New Life Covenant. It was awesome, and very Christ driven. Very diverse, and people were REAL with their love for the Lord. It was fun, and out of the "norm" for me. The sermon was about breaking rules. Not like rules as in laws or commandments, but as in the socital norms set up through tradition or just how things have been for so long. Like, Martin Luther King Jr. broke laws. He broke the laws of man that said Black's were to be shunned by society, and not accepted. He broke through the chains that held African American's down, or helped at least. Another example would be someone who comes from a long line of drunks in a family, someone taking a stand and refusing to fall into alcoholism like their father, and grandfather, etc. is breaking a rule of nasty tradition. It was way good. THEN... George and I went to real Dave Church, and it was very good. George took a big step by continuing to step out of his comfort zone, and even spoke tonight. It was very good to see. God is working in him BIG TIME. A real awakening. THEN... We ended up back at George's house. His niece is so CUTE! Just spending time with George is so good for me. I enjoy being around him, and his Spirit is just really moldable (there is a better word I know, just can't think of it).