Little things can make a BIG difference

So, I am trying to figure the most efficient way to travel to the Grand Canyon. Ya know, a few miles per hour can end up making a big difference. For instance traveling 1,900 (one-way to Grand Canyon) miles at a constant speed of 70MPH will take roughly 27 hours. Now, rarely does anyone actually cruise at 70MPH, unless you are an old woman. HOWEVER, you don't want to press your luck either. So, I figure 77MPH is a fairly safe average highway speed. But one might ask himself, "How big of a difference can it really make?" Let's do the math. 1,900/77= 24.5 hours!! So, increasing the speed I travel by just 7MPH can shave off 2.5 hours!!! That's pretty incredible. And let's be real, I know I'm going to be going way faster when I am driving through New Mexico. It's as flat and as boring as can be, and there ain't no cops gonna sneak up on you there. . . . (KNOCK ON WOOD). 

Anyways, for that secret component that I was talking about. Well, the deed has been done. That's all I will say. DEED HAS BEEN DONE!

Weekend & Continued Planning

It was a pretty good weekend. Got the house ready for when Grandma Karen (Hilary's grandma) and her friend Carol come to town for 3 days. House is crazy clean, and ready to host our lovely guests. . . .

My best friend Jared is living with Hil & I currently, and ever since he moved down to Lexington, we have been wanting to go and visit Jim Varney's grave. He is buried here in Lexington next to his parents.

R.I.P James Albert "Jim" Varney, Jr. 6/15/1949 - 2/10/2000

A.K.A. Earnest P. Worrell

You may remember him from such classic movies as Toy Story, Earnest Goes to Camp, Earnest Saves Christmas, Earnest Goes to Jail, & Earnest Scared Stupid. Jared and I grew up on these movies, so we decided to go and pay our respects. People were putting pennies and coins on his head store for some reason, so we followed in-step. 

 So, I took Jackson (dog) and Jared (best friend) and we went to the Lexington Cemetery. BEAUTIFUL CEMETERY by the way. I would love to be buried here some day. It is super huge, but there are still plenty of open real estate locations. . . . 

PLANNING UPDATE

I found a good half-way point for the trip. We will be able to take a shower, before going on the second half of this epic trip. The more the days go by, the crazier I realize what I am going to be trying to attempt. HOWEVER, I am only 28 years old. And I know for a fact that once Hil & I have children, I will not be trying to pull stunts like this, maybe. SO, I am totally going for it. This is happening!!!

The Planning Continues

Wow, this feels good. Just like back in the old days. . . . 

Okay, so this is what I did today. I contacted Hil's coworker Amy at her job with Vocational Rehabilitation. She has been great, she is excited to help, and I am excited to let her. She is going to make it so that Hilary can take the time off AND so the scheduling won't conflict. 

I am also in communication with her coworker at her other job with Sorenson. Her name is Heather. Heather is great. She gave me another idea as to how I can make this even more special. I am a little hesitant to even write it on this BLOG, because it is such an amazing idea. In fact, I think I will just wait on that one. This trip, and adventure is going to be absolutely EPIC!! It will be something our kids will talk about, and maybe even our grandchildren some day. 

I am so friggin excited!!! It feels a little bit strange to break out of the ordinary hum-drum of life. I feel like I need to ask for someone's permission to go on an action adventure like this. But then I remember these two very simple truths. . . . . . 

&

So, with that being said. I am totally ready to continue to plan this totally amazing trip & secret surprise. My goals = 1.) Great conversation in the car. 2.) See half of the United States. 3.) Be spontaneous & fun. 3.) Remind Hilary how special and amazing she is to me. 4.) KNOCK HER OFF HER FEET WITH MY "special surprise!!" 

Ohh yea, I forgot. I got glasses yesterday. Check it out. 

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll continue to update as life progresses.

Long time, no type.

Wow, it has been so long since my last post. So much to tell!! Quick update, I'm almost 4 years married to my wonderful wife Hilary. We moved to Lexington, KY. I am not with Young Life anymore. I work in Industrial Sales for a company called Netherland Rubber, and I love my job so so so much. Life, marriage, God, work, friends are all amazing. 

Okay, that's all I have time to tell about right now. 

I am trying to plan something special for Hilary. 

A surprise trip to the Grand Canyon!! She has no clue. The first step I took today was to take very intentional names and numbers out of her cell phone, I did this while she was still groggy in bed this morning. The Grand Canyon is amazing, everyone needs to see it, and I want to create some spur of the moment memories that will last forever. That's the kind of husband I want to continue to be. So, I got her boss, & some of her coworkers to help collaborate with me in this process. I sent a text to one of her coworkers at VR (Vocational Rehabilitation) to see if she is willing to help me plan something. 

Ohhh, by the way. I want to do this in like 4 weeks. Ohh yeah, I also want to pull this off in a 2.5 day time-frame. 24 hours driving there, 5 hours to enjoy getting a glimpse at the GC, & then 24 hours driving back. My plan is to rent a small, fuel efficient vehicle to make the trek in. 

I'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED AS THINGS PROGRESS!!!!!

Ohh it is official, I am getting married!

Hilary & Mikey / Save the Date from Thread & Film on Vimeo.

Watch "Sideways" Movie

Mustache CONTEST!!

I'm trying to win a mustache contest for one of my Young Life kids. The prize is a snowboard, I wanna win this thing for my YL kid so bad. If you wanna vote for my picture, log into FaceBook and vote for my mustache!!!

Log into Get Wet's FACEBOOK PAGE and click (LIKE) on my mustache picture. Here is their link

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Get-Wet-Boardshop/153721484654556

SWELL

-Grace&Peace

last club

Tonight was our last YL club. We had over 1,300 water baloons. Just imagine how amazing it was! I can't wait to take these kids to camp.

-Grace&Peace

A wall and some rain

You see that wall? I built that wall. Not the base of it, and a couple of the columns, but the majority of it I placed with my hands. Carefully setting each block one by one. I couldn't tell you how many bricks, stones, and river rock I personally moved over the weekend. It would be in the TON'S though. Seriously, that much. I was working at my bosses house. So many of his neighbors stopped by to say how good everything looked. It made me feel good. Today was the last official BSF meeting. Next week will be "share" week. Or something like that. I am looking forward to it for sure. BSF has been so good for me. To be in the Bible daily is such a good thing. I totally understand how it must be a daily discipline for any Christian. No if's ands or butt's to it. It is a life changing decision.

I love the Lord my God with all my strength, soul, and mind. BAM BABY! Bed time.

I have a right to be tired today.

I worked my butt off today. Not literally, because I still have a but (not much of one though). It was good though. I went into work today at 8:00AM, and didn't plan on working till much past noon or 1. I ended up working way past that time. lol, which is good because I can help out with bills and what not. I'm just saying. . . . it was a lot of work.

When I got home though, I had a little surprise waiting for me on FaceBook. . . it sort of blew my mind. So get this. Like 7 years ago, back when I was 16 years old, I went on this missions trip to Saltillo Mexico with my Youth Group. And my Youth Pastor told us not to fall in love with anyone. . . . well, I did not listen. lol, I fell in love with a local girl named Nohemi. Some drama happened, and I ended up kissing her. In reality it was all pretty innocent, but I was heart broken to leave her under those conditions. YEARS AND YEARS GO BY. I never really completely forgot about her. Definately didn't stay in love with her, but always wondered about her. BAM, today, she found me on FaceBook and wrote me a message. I was blown away. Pretty cool though. WAY TO GO TECHNOLOGY!!

going to bed. . . . working in the morning. . . . tis a good thing though. . .

marvelous day for real

update is coming. . . . .

post # 1,111

There comes a time in every mans life when he posts his 1,111 BLOG post. Right? Okay, maybe not. But, This is my 1,111th post. That is a whole lot. Dang. It seems like only yesterday when I was posting about parties and chillen with Chris. Wow how life has changed since October of 2006. I went out to dinner, excuse me, my parents took me out to dinner tonight. It was a good time. Now, they are not smiling in this picture, but they smiled most of the evening. I love my mom and dad. They are the reason I am who I am. I can say that with pride too. The the bad kind of pride, but the good kind of pride.

Today, it was really wet at work. Man, we have been getting a lot of rain lately. Spreading mulch in the rain gets really messy too, let me tell you.

G'Night ya'll

productive Tuesday

Today I got off work early because of the rain. I felt I proved myself by taking a little inituitive and fixing an irrigation leak. I knew how because of my internship @ Lost Canyon last summer. So. . . . I got a lot done today. I hung out with a two kids & was just productive. The day ended with me having a really difficult talk with someone who I didn't want to have it with. Sometimes being a leader sucks. BUT, God gives strength where we don't see it, and he is soo good.

p.s. Please say a prayer for a man named Mel. He is having some scarry health issues and it is impacting his family especially hard.

-Grace&Peace

tilling anyone?

Today I worked with Larry. It was just me and Larry (that is him in the back of the picture), and we got a lot done. I did a whole lot of tilling, I noticed that while I tilled, I prayed and thought a lot. I liked that a lot. Larry is a good old guy. I enjoy him and super love it when he talks about his grandchildren. Also, he kept stroking my ego by telling me he wouldn't work with anyone else but me. It was a good day. long day, but a good day. It ended with me going to BSF, which is almost over!! My friend and fellow YL leader came to the start up class. I'm super excited to go through it with him next year.

G'Night

-Grace&Peace

:o)

This is really something. So, if you remember my friend Brooks (if you don't, look at my 10/1/09,2/8/10 posts) , you will probably remember his wife. Her name is Mi Mi (not her actual name, and that's not her actual hair). They are both Liberian refugees out of Africa. They have 5 beautiful children. 3 little girls, and 2 boys (elementary). I love this family. God has placed me in their lives to help and do what I can for them. It is so cool because Mi Mi has never really opened up to me before. Well, today, she opened up big time. I was over at their apartment helping to hook up a computer, and this thing called Magic Jack (phone that works through your computer). After I got done hooking it up, Mi Mi and I started talking. She has so many stories. This woman is not only strong, she has wisdom that goes far beyond my comprehension. The atrocities this woman has seen is hard for me to even wrap my mind around. I am so blessed that she respects me enough to divulge all that information to. She told me things that I physically had my mouth open while I listened, literally. She spoke with passion, and I could tell she needed to get some things off her chest. I need to get her and Brooks out to eat dinner on their own. I wanna try and get them a gift card to somewhere like Applebee's and offer to babysit for them for an evening. I am very blessed by this couple. She said some things that blew me away, things I didn't really understand. Like how her grandmother is from the Liberian royal blood line. Yes, like the queen. Again, my mouth is just hanging open. But, she also told me many personal, extremely sad stories. She shared directly from her heart. Again, I was extremely blessed.

Ohhhh, check this out. While I was at Walgreen's picking up some things for Brooks computer, I got a phone call from my old boss Mark Nolot. He called me to see if I wanted a summer position back at Vision Scapes!! WHOOP WHOOP, I GOT A SUMMER JOB!

Bible study & cereal club

Right after Snider got out of school, I went over and picked up the three amigos. It twas some solid time. We learned a great lesson. I think the lesson we learned was a bit of, "All for one, and one for all." When one is struggling, it should never be internalized and kept out of the light. We have to bring forward these "issues" so that they can be dealt with. It is so good when things are dealt with. God heals the deepest of issues. Today was also our second to last CLUB. Simply put, "CEREAL CLUB!" It was so awesome, a whole bunch of high school kids, and like 15'ish boxes of cereal. Dig in, mix and match different types to find your favorite combination. It was so much fun!

I love the CLUB atmosphere because it provides a super safe place for the kids to hang out and just be themselves. It is a place for kids to experience Christ. The awesome thing is this, most of the time, they don't even know that they are experiencing Christ. They love the way they feel, they love being able to do things they don't get to do any place else, but they don't even know it is Christ that is providing them the peace they so desire. Ryan gave the talk tonight, and he incorporated some guitar playing into the message. It was truly amazing to see God's hand doing so many different things in so many different kids. I'm not kidding, God is powerful, I want to submit to him more and more. In my life, I ask, What can possibly be more important than spreading His love?

joyful noise

Honestly, I should totally be studying right now. I have my final in COM 318 in 1.5 hours, but this is really important to me. Last night, Bryson and I hung out at this dudes house. The dude was Christ Lee. And it was a RESPONSE session at his house. Blew my socks off. It was a powerful time of worship with people from all different walks of life.

While I was worshiping, God just put it on my heart to do a little journal time. So, mid-worship, I grabbed my journal and went to my knees and started to write. This is what I came up with.

"When confronted by the presence of the Holy Spirit, I see joy. Dancing comes naturally. There is no age limit. There are no boundaries, there is only love. Doubt does not reign here in this place. Grace comes through the veins of strings and vocals seeking only to make a joyful noise and usher in a satisfaction that only God Almighty himself can bring. This is where I want to live. This is where I want to build my home. I belong here, I am satisfied. This joy, this worship, finds parts of me I've not uncovered before. God brought me here. At last, I know what it means to have Heaven on Earth. Thank you Father! There is no understanding or comprehension to worship. It stems from a deep place, a place that man sometimes appreciates, but God always smiles at. A completely proud and beautiful smile, like when a father smiles at his new born baby for the first time. It brings joy and untainted discovery of the true being of Christ and His majesty. Warmth in a cold world."

That is what I have to say. Wait, one more thing. I PASSED SPANISH!!! I passed with at least a C, but maybe a B-. Just depends on the outcome of the FINAL. I was so excited about that.

running anyone?

Okay, so check this out. Today, my day was jam packed. It was seriously non-stop till like 10'ish. I started out at this church called Envision Life Center. I really needed to go to this church for many reasons. I will say some of those reasons, but won't really go into explanation about the "why's" because this it's my party, and I can cry if I want to.

I went to Envision because I needed to let go of my pride. I needed to experience what I had heart so much about, and what I had created such strong feelings about without actually being a part of. So, I went. The message was amazing. I took a whole page of notes about it, and it was truly amazing. The worship was a little over the top for my personal taste, but I can see how people could really dig that. It was like a Christian rock concert. :-) Twas a good thing for me to experience. Changed a lot.

After that. . . . .

I went to school where they were doing this thing called the Mastodon Stomp. Young Life used it as a fund raiser to help kids make money for camp. It went so good. In the picture above, you can see we were doing our stretch thing. I made sure the kids worked out their butt muscles, and yes, I did show them how to stretch that out. I demonstrated in front of the giant circle. There was a lot of people there. I walked for 2 miles, and that was enough for me. It was 3 miles for the competitors, but I was just supporting the kids. Very cool to see all those kids out there trying to raise money for camp. SUPER AWESOME FOR A LEADER TO SEE THAT MUCH INTEREST BY HIGH SCHOOL KIDS!!!

At 3:00 I peaced out to go meet up with this girl named Lynn Altevogt. If you search this blog for Lynn, back in 2008 I went with Josh to Chipotle and talked about her. lol. It is crazy how life comes back at ya. Well, anyways, God put Lynn on my heart to help out with something BIG that he is using me in. BIG! It is a huge worship thing. BIG BIG BIG

Then me and the "front line" Young Life leaders went to Chipotle, and took the food back to someones house and we all had dinner. I got the chance to lead this meeting, and it was great. I got the chance to lift everyone up individually and God really used that. I love boosting people up in faith. Like I am a part of such an amazing ministry team. God is good. SO SO SO GOOD!

it got brought!!

Wow, today was SOOO GOOD!! I mean seriously, when I don't think God is or can bring it anymore, I get my face blown off like WOOOOOWWWWWW! That happened, times ten today. Lemme start from the beginning. We had another fundraiser for Young Life kids to get them to camp. We mulched another house, and we mulched it real good. I love high school kids. I love watching God do things in their lives when they don't even recognize it. There is some kind of hidden and beautiful power in that. I get secret enjoyment by watching that little flame grown in them. It does something for me that words can't explain. So check it. . .

Those kids worked so hard, one of the Young Life leaders was like, "Hey, you guys worked so hard, i'm gonna take you out to eat at B'Dubs." And so off we went.

Okay, next thing. So I went home, spent some time with father and little doggy. Then off to a church. This church was kinda far away, I went to meet up with my friend Kyle, who plays on the worship team. It was a mellow service. But God was there. Then I went to go and experience my Saviour at this worship thing called RESPONSE. It was amazing. Totally amazing. Check this out.
> See that dude to the left? That is Chris Lee. Chris Lee loves the Lord a whole lot. He loves the Lord and knows how to show it. He is overflowing with the Grace God has lavished upon us all. Chris is just passionate because he has fully submersed himself in the Love of Christ. WOW! WOW! WOW! Tonight I experienced things in this worship time that blew me away. There was prophesying, there were tears/sobbing of joy, there was jumping, screaming, dancing, arm raising, and more tears of joy. There was heart felt songs of praise and worship coming from God's children. It was powerful. IT WAS CHRIST!!! It renewed something in me. Something I needed. Not something I lost, but something I needed a reminder of. Man I love the Lord. After the worship time, I went off to hang with some other friends. God gave me new eyes. I started seeing them the way Christ sees them. I started to see the honest, heart felt, expressions of LOVE that Christ expresses through all of us when we truly seek him. BUT, sometimes we cannot, or will not see it in others unless Christ has tuned our awareness a certain way. Well, I think he had me dialed in, because I kept feeling prompted to tell people what I saw. Maybe I was the crazy white boy, but maybe I was a gift from Christ that they needed.

AMEN TO THIS DAY, AMEN TO MY LORD!!