Until further notice

I will not be BLOGGING about my life, and my journey for a while. How long? Well, I just don't know. It does not depend on me. I will however tell you this. You'd better believe I will continue to move forward in Christ. I will strive to be a man of God in all the things I do and all the people I interact with.

God is more real to me now, then he has ever been before in my life. I have such a clear picture for why I exist, and what a comforting feeling that is.

I will continue to grow and flourish in Christ. I have all the more motivation to do so. And don't get me wrong, I love BLOGGING with a passion. I do, this post is my 955th post, but until it is time for me to start up again, I must stay away. The power of persuasion is far to strong, and i need to let God do his work.

If you care enough to understand, please write me and E-Mail at mobileRILEY@gmail.com or call/text me at (260)433-1432 and I'll keep you informed. I promise I will be blogging again, but for now, I must take a break . Don't bother commenting on this POST because it will be weeks or months, or maybe longer before I will check it again.

GOD BLESS YOU READERS! Thank you so much for taking an interest in my life. I'll be back.

God is alive

~CLICK ME~

Every where I look I see the work and love of Christ. Sometimes it is meek, and hard to make out, but if you look, I mean if you really have the eyes to see it, you can't help but see it every where. It is impacting and powerful. It is loyal, and warm. It never demeans or belittles, it uplifts and protects. This is the love I know to be absolute truth in my life. This afternoon Janice called me when she was in church. She just left the phone on talk, and I listened while she was in a worship time. It really was a neat experience for me. Especially when I could hear her singing From the Inside Out, by Hillsong United. I am so attracted to Janice, because she believes in and trusts her life with the same LOVE that moves me to act and treat people genuinely. It was a really cool opportunity just to listen from her pocket or purse or where ever I was.

More happened today too. But seriously, I have to wake up super early and do childcare at a shcool I have never been at before, so I need SLEEP!!!!

loss of self

Through the words of an individual, I came across a thought that challenged me to think about something. What is it that allows an individual to bring out the best in people, situations, and themselves? Is it an innate ability to compose the optimistic points of view, or is it something different? Well, for those of you who know me best, of course I believe with all my heart that it is something different. I feel that the ability to look at something and see what "could be" and what "should be" is a trait given to those truly seeking for the Holy Spirit to do a great work in them. I feel that the more you seek for Christ to be real in your life, the more he will be. It is really an amazing and reciprocating relationship. I'm tired, and as soon as I get off the phone with Janice, I will be going to bed.

i'm getting sick. .

I went to the Urologist today. Everything is back to normal says Dr. Irven, and that is really good. He gave me a couple of explanations as to why the pain happened the way it did, but I dunno. It is what it is, and he said to not worry about it. So I won't.

I am for sure getting sick, and that sucks. I am going to sleep in tomorrow, and get some much needed R&R. I went to the football game today.

I had a lot of fun being really loud and hanging out with my H/S friends. Good time, and a lot of fun for all involved. I re-connected with some kids from last year, and all is well.

Even though I am truly getting sick, I still went to Nicky's house after the game and spent some time with him and Jaccob playing the new Beatles Rock Band. Let's just say I am getting better at it, but for sure not a pro. Again, I am feeling very under the weather, so I am off to zzzZZZZZ land.

The lesson for the day is, "It is all about the small steps, it is troubling to get hung up on the things in life that trip us up. We must focus on what we are accomplishing and not dwell on what we have not been perfect at." -Inspired by Janice Hernandez.

Love you miss!

panorama

so my new phone takes pretty cool panoramic photo's. It is a pretty cool new toy to play with! :o)

And look! My cars twin found us! I was at the Doc, trying to get stuff straightened out for my TYSABRI medication, and well this car was parked next to me when I got out. I know it is a topaz instead of a tempo, but seriously, just about the same. AND SMURF BLUE TOO!!

VLOG (VIDEO BLOG)

I made a Video Blog. Please leave me your comments and let me know what you think. This is something I don't understand. On average, 35 readers check out my BLOG every single day. This average number has been in the making for over a year and a half. I know you guys and gals are reading, leave me a little something something.

I've got an update for ya. . . but I need to go to sleep

The update will probably come once I have a chance to sleep. . . I am uber tired, and I just need to go to bed. CLUB was super fun tonight, and I have a pretty neat story to tell.

ooops

I did something stupid today. I went downtown to help my sister by helping her with her table and bla bla bla, when I was running errands for her, dropping something off and getting pizza for her and her friend I was in my car. I took her car and parked it in the parking lot. . . . She has a sun roof. . . . . I rolled the side windows up, but totally forgot about the sun roof. . . . DO'OH! We got a massive storm. . . . . Not good.

She was pretty nice about it though when she called. Goodness I feel stupid.

oops!

a good Monday

Today started with I guess my first official Student Staff meeting. One of many to come of course. It was with my Area Director (AD), Josh to the right, and fellow friend and other student staffer Ryan to the left. We talked about all things ministry. It was really healthy, and super good.

Then something amazingly good happened today. I mean really, really, really good. I was at the "study table" with my Spanish Prof, and I totally asked her out of no where, "do you think it is to late for me to transfer into a lower level Spanish class?" She said, "Go to the Spanish office, and tell them I sent you." BAM!! It happened, God hooked me up with a new Spanish S111 class, and all of a sudden I am TOP DOG instead of the class re re. I go to an elementary school on the South side of town. Lindley for my local peeps following. Janice said this, "Talk about going back to the basics." And I agree with her. ;o) To end my day, I got to relax a little bit. Back to BSF. First week of answering questions. I LOVE SHARING and hearing other guys share their hearts. It is so good for me. I took so many good notes, but this week they are for me.

I was in some pretty intense prayer today. But, really peaceful, I was surrounded by God's hand and I could really feel his protection over me. It is amazing how God can protect your heart. It is amazing how he can really seperate you from the things that are the most important to you on Earth, because it is what is best for your mind and emotions. Craziness though

Young Life retreat & LARP'ing

From 12pm on Saturday to 12pm today, I was at a Young Life retreat. Let me tell you, it was amazingly refreshing and motivating. We do so much good when we get together, we really set the ball in motion to impact kids to the best of our abilities. Through Christ of course. See the guy all the way to the right, in the blue and white striped shirt? That is Christ Bishop, and he was one of the most motivating individuals this weekend, if not month for me. Christ is a salesmen, and lives in the rich part of the city in a super nice house. Bishop has made a $50 Million dollar deal for his work before, and can bring in mad cash. He has been involved with Young Life for the past 3 years, and God has really been pulling on his heart to go at it full time. He made the announcement this weekend that he was going to be quitting his job and doing Young Life full time!! It was amazing to hear him speak about it, it was amazing to see how faithful he is being. Taking a complete leap in faith, trusting only that God is good and he gives us what we need. We talked about Acts 20:22-24 When Paul says, "I consider my life worth nothing. . . " that hits me pretty close to home. Mostly because it is so easy for the world to consume me. I mean, Bishop has displayed so clearly that he does not care about the world. He cares only that the Kingdom of the Lord is advanced in beautiful and amazing ways. That is really awesome to see. What am I willing to do for the Kingdom?? That is the question I kept asking myself.

So today, Sunday I tried something new. I suppose it was for the Kingdom. I went Larping. LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. And I was introduced to this on Wednesday when I went to Snider High School. One of my Young Life guys got really involved with this, and LOVES IT!! He so badly wanted me to come out and check it out. Well, I wanted to go further than that. So, instead of studying Spanish, I did this at a local park. . . Just check out the pictures.

First I got my training. The guy training me is known only by his LARP name, which is Fiery!!

Then I headed into BATTLE. It was intense.

Will you just take a look at the friggin gladiator!?

The guy with the long hair was really good, he had

like a 12 pack of abs too. Intimidating stuff.

I had a lot of fun, you can see Jessee (the reason I came)

standing behind me.

Some of my old friends (from a past life) were playing a disc golf at the park, something I used to do all the time. Well, they saw me and some of my other friends taking pictures so they stopped by and chilled for a bit. It was all really unique, and I actually enjoyed myself. I didn't suck, lets just say that much. Anything to advance the kingdom, even if I look silly doing it. Everyone needs a little encouragement.

Me and another leader had our first Campaigners/Bible study with some guys tonight. It went really well, and they were extremely receptive. I loved being in it, and advancing the knowledge and kingdom of Christ, even if it is in the smallest way. It's all about taking baby steps. It was a good weekend.

(LATE ADDITION)
There is something difficult looming in the air though. Something lingering that causes a breeze of unsettled action. It is a familiar breeze, but still blows through any outer garment that I may be wearing for protection from the elements. A prayer gives the discomfort a bit of hope, but ultimately I have no control over where the wind blows. I can only hope that I agree with where it settles.

new phone & Putt-Putt

Well, I changed my mind on the phone. I ended up getting the LG Envy Touch. This is a big upgrade for me. I have the original LG Envy CRAP, and so I am stoked to see what this new fangled electronic doo hicky is all about. Check it out. . .

Thank you VERIZON and your NEW every TWO plan. You make me so happy. :o)

Ya know who else makes me really happy? God. And you know who else makes me happy after God? Janice!! Janice, I was so excited when you gave me that news today. It really was just a huge answer to prayer. Something I just got goose bumps over. I love you miss. And I am just super excited when I think about you.

I had a lot of fun. We (Jared, Nicky, Derrick, and Dan) went Putt-Putt golfing. Check out the pictures, then i'm going to bed.

Putt-Putt was so much fun. There was even a huge volcano that spit out MASSIVE fire. I captured it on my phone, but the picture is INTENSE!! Now if that is not the most HEFTY fake volcano fire blast you have ever seen, well I don't know what to tell you!!

I hope you had so so so much fun tonight Janice. Can't wait to talk to you when I get back from this retreat thingy. LOVE YA!

derrotado

I needed to vent for a little bit. Sometimes it is just good to let it out. I know I have it good, I know this for a fact. But, even people who have it good at times need to vent. This is what it looks like and sounds like.
I did something interesting tonight. I studied and studied, which was frustrating, but I got enough done to say that I was productive. Then I went downstairs (I was studying upstairs in my room) and talked with my rents. I had all this nervous energy, and my dad said, "why don't you go for a run?" I said, "I hate running, I always get side aches." My dad said, "why don't you just walk when you get a side ache?" I said, "well gee, I dunno." So, I went out for a run! It felt really good, and I went way way further than I thought I could. I could have run longer, but I figured 35 minutes of running was enough. The secret was to find a rhythm. A rhythm in breathing, steps, arm movements, etc. It all worked really good. I came home, took a conquering shower, and now I am blogging. I felt overwhelmed this morning and early afternoon. Pretty discouraged and not very good. I had to do a lot of self-processing today. God is so patient, an attribute I want to gain more and more of. I think that this whole idea of finding a good rhythm is going to be a theme. I need to find a good rhythm with school, Young Life, with struggles and fun and all things pertaining to life.

Janice, I hope you had so so so so so much fun at the concert (she went to a Blink 182 concert tonight). I am trying to listen more, to slow my thoughts and just watch for the small life lessons.

Today is for YESTERDAY

Because I was so tired yesterday, as soon as I got home and took a defeating shower I went right to sleep. I didn't pass go, I didn't collect $20, I PASSED OUT! But, Yesterday was awesome, and I have tons of sweet pictures, so here is the "MAKE UP BLOG."

Well, I am back baby! Back in the good'ole halls of Snider High School! It feels really good to be able to connect with kids again in this specific way. I love being in that school and around all those kids. I just get filled with joy every time. The vibe I was getting was that kids were READY to get back into Young Life!!

Our first Young Life Club was crazy. The kids definately came ready to have a lot of fun. This was much appreciated because the leaders were ready to give it to um. I am just going to throw some pictures of the night and let them tell their own story.

Don't wanna forget about the slip & slide.

We had two huge tarps full of Cool Whip. Yummy!

The girls loved it!

The guys loved it!

And don't let my face fool you, I LOVED IT TOO!!

Here is how it works. You get messy, you stand in line like cattle and get sprayed down (you gotta be wet to go really far), and then you SLIP & SLIDE!

Number 1 reason why I loved Young Life Club today. We present the message of Jesus Christ while directly having shloads of fun. I love how they can work together. The Holy Spirit was in that place in a big way tonight!

campus crusades & birthday pizza

Today was Nicky's B-Day!! I had told him last weekend that I would take him out to do something "special" as soon as I got out of class. As soon as class was over, I drove over to his house and started thinking what would be special. . . . what could I do? Then it hit me, BIRTH DAY PIZZA AT OUR FAVORITE P-ZA place!

It went over well, and Nick really loved it. The pizza guy said to me, "Man it is my little girls birth day tomorrow, and I don't know why, but I never thought of this. I am totally making her a b-day pizza tomorrow." I smiled, thanked him, and took off.

I went back to school to study study study my Spanish Spanish Spanish. Making flash cards, studying my flash cards and so on. Literally for 3 hours straight I studied. I had time to kill because my friend and fellow Young Life leader Ben invited me to go to Campus Crusades where he would be giving the talk about Scripture. I was totally down for that. Campus Crusades is a ministry at my University where we sing, talk with each other (fellowship), study the Word, and then one of the leaders gives a talk. It was so good, and there was probably about 70 students there. I had so much fun! There was so much energy and everyone was parsing God like crazy! It was very refreshing to know there are a strong hand full of people my age at my University that love the lord so much.

back at BSF and boy it sure feels good.

Now I did many, many things today, but I want to focus on what was most important to me. The thing that stood out to me today was me getting back into BSF. Ohh it felt so good. And looking back on the night getting back into BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) I can sincerely say that studying the word is the only thing that I really enjoy to learn about. It is the only thing I can study that makes any real sense. This year we are studying the Gospel of John. So tonight I met and got to meet my small group for the first time, then I got to hear the first lecture of the year. Boy it was good. Here are some of the key things I pulled from it.

**We gain knowledge of the Bible through study (that means actually spending time in the Bible other than listening to the pastor tell you on Sunday morning).

** We gain insight of the Bible through meditation (that means actually attempting to apply what you read and learn to every day life).

This next one I really really like. **The greatest cure to trouble in my life/our lives is to focus on Jesus. If you focus on the actual trouble all the time, you will be troubled. If you focus on Jesus all the time, he will infect your mood, attitude, thoughts, and actions. AND, there will my strength lie.

John 20:31 states the purpose of the book of John. It does so very precisely and doesn't mess around.

**What is the focus of my life?

I love that my notes are compiled of mostly questions. BSF calls them challenge questions, and I find that a well placed question is much more impacting and insightful than any amount of given knowledge. Sooo true.

Janice, I think of you more times through the day than I can count on my hands and feet put together. I am so thankful you are in my life, and it is made more clear to me each day why you are in my life. Such a motivating and good thing. Love you miss!

Saeglópur (Crash Overdrive Remix) - Sigur Ros

This is Sigur Ros - Saeglópur (Crash Overdrive Remix). I have been listening to this song A LOT. I know it is strange, but I am totally into this song. I love everything about it. It is totally weird too, but I could care less. Strange though, for me, music has been something I am completely independent on. No one around me, except for my best friend Jared supports my odd music choices. I love it though. Really love it, I usually smile right in the beginning of this song because it is so intense. I love cranking the volume up and enjoying the heck out of it. By the way, you cannot enjoy it by only listening to the 30 sec. preview.

On more important note. TODAY WAS THE FIRST OFFICAL SUNDAY MORNING LIFELIGHT CHURCH!!! It was really good, and I am super proud to be a part of it. I can't wait to get a check again so I can give some money. Oh, and Nicky went with me. It was so cool to see God working in him. God was doing all kinds of crazy things to really make him think. Nick is in the picture, lower right corner. I hope he keeps coming back with me. But if he doesn't, I hope that God stirrs in his heart in a big and changing way.

I wrote a paper for class. . . but ended up not reading a bunch of stuff I should have.

Then I hung out with Young Life kids. I have so much that needs to get accomplished tomorrow, I should be pretty stressed, but I am trying hard not to.

I am hurting, physically. Guess where? Yea, that is where. I need to go to bed and hope that this pain will stop. . . . . I will go to the Urologist as soon as I can get an appointment tomorrow.

Moving in, riding bikes, studying

What a surprise today turned out to be. Now when I woke up today, I knew that it was going to be a good day. I just didn’t know how good it was going to be. I started my Saturday morning at 7:15am. I got around and drove to where my sister has been living for a while now. It was time for Mer (my sister) to move on, physically; meaning her housing situation, and relationally; meaning her past relationship. I met at her old house, and helped move things into different vehicles. She had a guy from work help out, there was my car, there was Audra & Ally, and of course Mer’s car. So we packed things in and drove them 3 or 4 blocks down to her new residence. I really like the new place a lot.

This place was originally built in 1926, that is really really old. It is actually in good condition though. There are little things here and there that could use some work, but seriously for $335/mo and she only pays electricity, well that's pretty darn good. I was done helping her around 10:45am, then I went straight to the River Greenway (Place in Fort Wayne where there are miles and miles of walk ways/bike ways for people to ride all around the city. They are super nice and taken care of, and well it was amazingly fun. I went with a handfull of Young Life guys and another leader Ben. We had a blast!! This was the staging area (parking lot). Mitchell, the one who is sitting on my car to the left was the brains behind this adventure. I was of course taking pictures. It is really not safe to take a picture with my phone while going really fast and only riding with one hand. Luckily I did not smash myself. We really had an awesome time though. It was such a beautiful day, and eventually we found like a sweet area with hills, jumps, and other super challenging things to take your bike on. I of course was covered in really wet and nasty mud in what seemed like seconds. It was still really awesome though. We went back to Mitchell's house, where Ben and I lead a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee. Dang I love that game!

I left around 3pm, went home, talked to Janice, took a shower, and went to the 24 hour study lab at school. I studied Geology like crazy! Probably for 3+ hours. When I couldn't stand any more, I went over to hang out with Nicky. We went to Wall-Mart and he got a Beatles CD (his first ever) and then we went back to his house where a simple talk of the COSMOS lead to a pretty amazing conversation about God and life. I ended up asking him if he wanted to go to church with me tomorrow at Life Light Church, and he said YES! I am excited becaues he gets to enjoy Life Light Church with me for the first time on Sunday morning. IT IS GOING TO BE SO SWEET!! I can't wait, and I am so extremely glad he is going. :o)

Janice,I super hope that your serving went flawlessly for the first time. I am sure it did, but I hope you felt comfortable and that everything just went really well for you. I can't wait to tell you about things that happened tonight. It was a really good day. Love ya!

pain. . . the bad kind

Okay, long story short. This summer when I was in Arizona, I hurt my testicles. I know that is not something I should talk about, but it is the truth. I lifted a rock that was way way too heavy. It was not hernia, and I thought the pain would go away. It did not. Lately it has been hurting again, and when it hurts, it hurts REALLY BAD! I was going to, of course, ignore it for "just one more week." When I told Janice that it was no big deal, she made me promise her that I would go and get it checked out. So I did just that. I went to RediMed and had it checked out. It was a little awkyard at first, but hey we are all adults. . . for the most part anyways.

Turns out it was a really good thing I went. I still don't have hernia, and that is good. BUT, they did find blood in my urine, and that is not so good. I will get an ultrasound, but the physican at the clinic was pretty dumbfounded. He was pretty darn sure it was not something serious, because testicular cancer is not painful, and this is really painful. So, I will see a urologist soon, and just see what is going on. :o) That is my post, sorry if it was kind of vulger, sometimes life is just that way.

I came into my own

As I walked out of my Religion and Culture class, I had this emptying of all things burdensome. That is not to say I was in grief prior to class, but when I walked out of there, I just had this appealing view towards life and people. In the class we watched a video about Sigmund Freud and all his views vs. C.S. Lewis and all that he represents. It was a PBS special, and if you are ever interested in it, you can watch it at this site http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/program/complete.html it was really good, but I still feel that was not what created this inner drive to impact others. Maybe it was the check out lady who got my debit card at the book store to work so I could purchase my flash cards (she was so kind and very smiley and fun). Or maybe it was the two Hindu gentlemen in the bathroom that I over heard speaking about life .One of them spoke about his uncle’s advice he mentioned that his uncle said, “enjoy life now!” His friend asked him, “What do you mean?” To which he replied, “You have to have fun right now because in the end you just die, and that will be that.” Or maybe it was the girl who recripircated my gesture of opening the door for another and did it for me. As I walked to the library I just simply asked her, “How are ya?” It took her a while, but she finally said, “are you talking to me?” I said, “Yeah.” She said, “Ohh well I suppose it has been alright.” And we talked about life and people as we both grew nearer and nearer to our locations. Everything was feeling so natural, every person I approached I had this fluidity to speak to them, to make them feel comfortable, while I felt comfortable myself. It was really awesome. It felt so innate. It was a confidence I couldn’t give myself, this much I know. It felt like puzzle pieces were just fitting themselves into place on their own. People need to be loved. Love is the ultimate tool in spreading the message of Christ. It was so obvious.

Dang God is good. We discussed an ideology in Religion & Culture class today. C.S. Lewis was quoted saying, "The fact that humans have a conscious points directly to there being a God who loves and cares for us." I agree with that in a big way. The fact that people have an innate drive to do what is drive, from a biological perspective says that something much bigger than us is at work in life. It is when HUMANS decide to go against that inner conscious that things start to fall apart. It is not "God allowing atrosities to happen, it is humans forcing them to come into existance." If we all kept to the MASTER PLAN, wow would life be so much easier. But we are pretty friggin selfish and we have EGO'S the size of Mt. Everest.

God is sooo good though. I am a friend of GOD!!

Janice, you are doing so good missy. Keep your eyes focused on our Heavenly Father for all your needs. Don't be afraid to call on him in ALL SITUATIONS!! Baby girl, I am so proud of you, and you have come a long way. God is not done doing a great work in you. Hold tight, and trust in Him always. :o)

betting stage

Yesterday I taught the kids at the childcare how to play the actual game of Texas Hold'em. Today we learned how to bet. I used plastic teddy bears instead of chip's or actual money. I tried really hard to emphasize that winning didn't matter, and that it was all out of fun. I explained that if people start looking at it as more than a game, then they are taking it too serious, and maybe shouldn't play. They seemed to get that pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

So in our poker game something very funny happened. There was a bit of a lull in the action. Maybe it was inbetween betting stages, or possibly we had just finished a hand. One of the little boys, I think his name might have been Austin. He made a comment about an A-rod poster on the wall of the cafeteria. There are "Got Milk?" posters all over the walls of the cafeteria, and Alex looked at me and said, "Mr. Mikey, guess what?" I said, "What's up bud?" As I usually reply when responding to a child that I am not sure of their name. The little guy pointed to the A-rod poster and said, "Did you know that A-rod got caught eating asteroids?" I tried really hard to supress the laughter, and did so pretty well. I replied to that, "Ya know what, I think I did hear something about that." No need to correct, it was sort of a priceless moment.

Today was a good day. I stayed busy, and I get to go to bed before it is too late. I liked today.

Also I have been thinking about something about myself. I have the ability to be a very disciplined person. I have an example, now to an outsider, it may appear as no big deal, but for me, even at 22 years old, it is a great sign of self-discipline. Since I have come home from Arizona, I have been making my bed every day. It doesn't matter if it is 5:30 in the morning on a weekday, or 10 in the morning on a Saturday. I make the bed, and feel good about it. When I see something in myself I do not like, I do my darndest to rid myself of it. Through deliberation and careful awareness, I find a lot of success in self-discipline. The phrase my dad told me, "Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it" rings ever so clearly.

Janice, every time I thought of you today, I would either say a prayer for you, or think about how much happiness you bring me. Thanks for being YOU!! Thinking about you or talking about you with someone really makes my day so much brighter.

a little mental meandering

Here is an internal observation for you. Now, some (one) of my critics may think that I am overanalyzing this topic, but this is simply how my mind works, and truly how I feel. It is really good for me to get this kind of thought process in progress out of my mind and out into the open. The topic is “motivation.” What truly motivates a Christian man to be the best that he can be? Well, I would like to think that God would stand to be the most important motivation. Ohh, by the way I am talking about myself in case you hadn’t picked up on that one. I’ll just get to the point. Janice acts like this motivation that is very clear and direct. Janice lives 2,196 miles away too. God is with me; literally with me of every second of every minute of every day. But, I so often forget this. It is like even though his grace and mercy wraps me like a warm blanket, I tend to quickly forget all he does. Janice serves as a direct reminder to me for all the things that I want in life, but also and more importantly who I want to be in Christ. I so look forward to hearing from her each day. It’s not a nervous tension; I’m not waiting by the phone anxiously waiting. It is a clear and lovely feeling to know that she is there, loving me for who I am, and that is really a HUGE MOTIVATION! It’s funny though, God does that and so much more. He is the only perfect example of unconditional love. But it is so easy to forget. I better understand each day why he created us to be such community oriented and relationship minded people. We need that connection. The connection feels really good too. I learn a lot about my relationship with Janice and directly correlate it to my relationship with Christ. It’s soo good. But dang do I need to die to my stupidity and sinful nature every single day. I wonder what that is supposed to look like. What happens when a human being you care very much for shares in the main motivation with God for bettering yourself? I’m not sure entirely yet, but I’ll keep trying to figure it out. I feel really good about it though, really, really good about it.

This morning at the YMCA (childcare) I taught 4 elementary school boys and 1 girl how to play Texas Hold'em. I don't know if that is not a good thing to do, but they really enjoyed it, and I am surprised how smart those little ones are. I mean they really pick up on things really fast. I of course was winning though, so they aren't that good. . . .

music, phone, and Janice

One of my favorite songs right now is by an Icelandic post-rock band called Seaglopur. The band is called Sigur Ros and I appreciate them for their melodic, classical, and minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound and lead singer Jonsi Birgisson's falsetto voice (WikiPedia). If you would like to give this song a listen, I really challenge you to try to find it. Maybe you could find it on YouTube, but I know for sure you can listen to it on Imeen.com. You just have to have an account with them to take advantage of their free music. The song is POWERFUL, it pulls me in as I listen, and I can feel the guys emotion as I listen. I have no idea what he is singing about, but I can feel the intensity in the music and his voice. The song is really a journey. Love that stuff.

Also, I believe I have found the new phone I will be getting here pretty soon. As of September 19th, I will be able to get. . . . .

the Verizon Touch Diamond for free. Good ole new every two, THANKS VERIZON!! It will do good to keep me connected with Janice, and I won't have to worry about it shutting down whenever it feels like it.

Today was a very ehh sort of day. Not a whole lot of motivation to do anything else except study some Spanish and little things here and there. That's alright though. Janice went to the beach today. Said it was sunny, around 80, and a nice breeze. It was rainy, not 80, and yucky Indiana weather here. Hummmm. . . . . . .

But anyways, this is where God has me, and you better bet i'm gonna make the best out of it and then some. I am getting the "itch" for Young Life to get up and running again. It's gonna be a sweet thing.

I miss you tons Janice! I'm so glad you had an AWESOME time at the beach. ;-) Sooner or later we will be able to enjoy it together. LOVE YOU!!