back to ACC

Alliance Community Church was my first stop of the day. It felt good to get back in that church too. The people are so genuine and real, welcoming and loving. It is a warm atmosphere to say the very least. Here are some notes I took from the message this morning.

• What does it take for a revival to take place; especially inwardly? How does God bring about revival?
  

- He does it in His church, to His people & friends.

Take Mark (2nd book of the New Testament) for example. Mark had to have a huge change take place in him. God had to do the work, because Mark was ready to toss in the towel. Check out Acts 13:13 and remember that when it says John left them to return to Jerusalem, Mark's name was John Mark, so it really means Mark left them to return to Jerusalem. Ya see, Mark was having doubts about this whole ministry thing, and wanted out. Then in Acts 15:36-40 Paul was ready to leave it at that. Paul's heart had not been softened to the point where he was willing to treat people with the grace that Christ was all about. But Barnabas knew that Mark was legit, and wanted to give him a second chance. Showing that especially in the starter stages of living a life for Christ, many chances need to be given. (Matthew 18:22) Anyways, I am getting off track.

• Mark had to be prepared because at first he did not heed the call to discipleship. Mark 1:2 -> to prepare the way... What has God had to prepare in my own life before I was prepared for a life of discipleship?

ANSWER: God had to allow me to drop to rock bottom, to realize the opportunity was now, and more than ever I needed to stop resisting. I have never had a hard time having FAITH, it has always been a matter of surrender for me. That will continue to be something I deal with daily, as well it should be. Luke 9:23 reminds me of the daily surrender that must take place. I had to realize that in my own life, with my health, my problems, my future, everything needed to be given into the hands of something much higher, it had to be given to God. It has, and I am empowered by the fact that I don't need to stand on my own 2 feet. I can just prop myself right up against the unfailing God I belong to, adore, worship, and love more than anything in this entire universe. THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD PEOPLE!!Pastor Brian ended with this story of a lady in a Bible study, studying Malachi 3:3, and wanting to understand this process of purifying silver.

Malachi 3:3
Refiner and Purifier of Silver

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

I love that, I love that God is keeping his eye on me, even when I am amidst the difficult times. I really gain a lot of comfort from that. Also, I am blessed by the people at Alliance, my new friend Bob (the guy who invited me to come to Alliance Community Church in the first place) and I talked in the church and in the parking lot, it felt very natural and was "of God." I see an accountability partner in him. He is going to cook dinner for me next Sunday. And another gentlemen from Alliance asked me if I would go to breakfast with him on Wednesday. Just out of no where. I was like, HECK YEAH! So I am meeting him for breakfast at Cracker Barrel this Wednesday. I have never had anyone that knew me for such a short time invite me out like that. After I left Alliance, I went to the library. I did not get too much studying, because I had to be on the phone a lot. A friend needed comforting, and prayer, and I needed advice on how to approach a situation. I did get some studying done though. When it was getting close to 4:30(time of leader meeting) I went to the Young Life leader meeting.

It was really good, and productive. We talked about how the talks would look for the rest of the semester, and just encouraged each other. It was good. I was tired, and did not get any final study time in. I'll finish it tomorrow....I SWEAR I WILL!! ;-)

G'NIGHT!!

back to the grind

It is Saturday, and that means LIBRARY and STUDY TIME!! What a relief, I was getting restless with all this laying around and extra sleep (emphasis on sarcasm added). When I was at the library today, I had to start off by getting on a computer, and printing something out for a class. I usually sit in this one area, but for "some reason (Holy Spirit telling me)" I felt pushed to sit in an area I don't usually sit at. Not only do I not usually sit there, but there was a guy who was talking on the phone and being kind of loud. Regardless, I sat down and got what I needed. As I sat there, I overheard this man's conversation. It went something like this, "I just can't believe she isn't going to make it, I can't believe she is going to be gone.." As he hung up the phone, I said something to the effect of, "that sounded like a pretty heavy conversation." As he explained that it was his aunt that lived in Colorado, and that he wouldn't be able to make it in time to see her before she died, he seemed really crushed. I simply took interest, and found out that she was in the final stage of a long fight with breast cancer. I asked him her name and he seemed confused, he told me it was Dianna, and I told him I would pray for him and his aunt. Which I did, right there in front of him. He made a point not to make eye contact with me for the rest of the time I was there, but I could tell he was lifted just by the fact that I took interest in him at a difficult time. Loving people, for no other reason than to just give what we are so freely given by God, is what it is all about. I did not know that person, and I will probably never see him again. BUT, I know that I did what I could in the moment to offer words of comfort and hope. I stepped in where I could have easily stayed away from out of love. After I was done studying, or I guess I should say after the library closed, I left to my "seclusion spot" on top of the parking garage to do my Bible study. I love this little spot, especially when it is sunny and nice out. While I was there, I talked with George, who I told I would not be able to accompany him to Dave church tomorrow because I had to go to a Young Life meeting (they are every other week). But, that I felt it put on my heart to tell George that he should really go even if I do not. He agreed that would be a good idea, and I told him I would tell Dave to be expecting him. I called Dave while up on top of the parking garage, and talked with him for a bit. I got the scoop that he was babysitting his grandson, "~Isaiah~" Click that link to see Isaiah. Isaiah is Phil's (Phil is Dave's son) son. You with me now? Well anyways, Dave said he was at Phil's new apartment, and I said, "well would it be okay if I stopped by?" Dave said, "well I don't see why not." So I went to hang out with Dave, Margie, and Isaiah. Dave and I went out to get a Pa Pa Murphy's Pizza, and we talked about where he felt God was leading Dave Church/Lifelight Ministries. The main focal point focused on the "decentralization" of the church that is so commonly known today in America (Sunday morning, worship time, sermon, maybe more singing, and departure). This could happen, "we discussed" by starting many churches of small groups (such as Dave church) and then collaborating together to form a church body, on specific dates, possibly once a week, once every two weeks, or once a month to gather, talk about what God is doing in the lives of others, and lifting each other up in support. Also, possibly doing the whole worship thing, because that whole "church experience" can be so beneficial, but should not be relied on fully as the once a week "FIX." Now that I have had time to digest what we really talked about, it makes so much sense. Not only does it make sense, it needs to be done. Radical? Yea, I suppose.

FRI FRI FRIDAY

Today started off with a little more A.M. child care than usual. Fort Wayne Community Elementary School's had a scheduled 2 hour delay today. We had a chance where the kids could make the little bead things, ya know you place the bead things on a pattern, then take an iron to it and they all melt together. The kids loved it. Then, they watched...Bee Movie, and really loved it. I was kind of surprised, I thought it might be just a tad slow moving for them, but they were really fixated on it the whole time. Made my job a whole lot easier. "Thanks Seinfeld!"

After I left work this morning, I went to the hospital, and got my 13th infusion of ~TYSABRI~ I am so happy to report that I have had 13 months of great health. With no major exacerbation's/relapses of any sort to mention. This is a really good thing, and I am so blessed and thankful for God allowing me to have such great health. Although, even when health is tough, I still have the same mindset. See the white blob in my nose? I have been getting these freakish bloody nose sessions. I think it is because it got all wet from all the rain, then dried up real quick. That probably had something to do with it. I dunno though.

I would like to conclude today's post with a reminder as to why I am a DOG person.

This is BLOG post # 800!

That's crazy to me. Sticking with something like a "journal" or a "blog" even "balloon animals" is usually fleeting and only momentary. But for one reason or another, I have stuck with this BLOG like a BEE sticks on flowers (I watched Bee Movie today). Ya know what else is crazy? It took me a long long time to make that picture you see above. Looks like it would be simple huh? Well, it was not, not by a long shot. It's all good though.

My grandparents came into town today. My Grandpa had an eye appointment at the Veterans hospital. So, I got to spend some time with my wonderful and amazing grandma. I took this picture of her, which I think is just lovely. She has shown up on my BLOG before, I think her last cameo was on Christmas eve if i'm not mistaken. Anyways, check out this wonderful picture of a wonderful woman.What a sweet heart. Although her body is showing the impact of parkinson's disease, I feel her mind is still quite sharp. In all honesty, she is the funniest woman I know. I love her very much. And just to clear something up about this picture you see above, she did not eat all those cookies. Though, part of her may have wanted to. :0)

I went back to work, and today, the kids were in a building mood.They called it the centipede, it was actually extremely long and to be honest, I was impressed.

Today, I was all up in Numbers 20:1-13 and it is amazing how much God can say in 13 verses. Moses was tested, and God shows that none of us deserve the promise land, but by His grace, we can have it if we only believe in His Son, and follow his commands.

Random verse for the day... It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. -Ecclesiastes 7:5

I LOVE DAVE PELZ

movie night/ginger bread massacre

I went to Snider today, I found out at lunch C that Nicky had not come to school. Well, since I didn't have any studying to do since i'm on Spring Break, I figured I would drive over to his house and see what was up. He was sleeping on the couch, and after I woke him I found out he stayed home due to an "icky feeling stomach." Well, we did the only thing that made sense to do. We made ginger break cookies..... "duh"The final outcome was, well, let's just say it was a little less than desirable. Yea, we will say that. It was creative, but quite less than desirable.

wednesday night movie day. . . . . we didn't have a typical CLUB, no talk, no crazy games, just a movie and jammies. Here is a group of Dwenger (high school in Fort Wayne) girls representing. In all seriousness, it was just me and Sam (leader of over a year) and Ben (brand new leader) with nearly 100 kids. It ended good though. We watche the movie August Rush, well most kids talked, but that is what you do when you are in High School. :o) God bless every one of um.

-Grace&Peace

Spring breAK day 2

$334.79 is the price of the round trip ticket I just purchased from Travelocity for my trip to and from AZ. this summer. I am pretty stoked, pretty darn stoked in deed. Now, there will be another set of tickets that I will need this summer. Ya see, I am going to be in Arizona for my "paid" internship at a Young Life camp from May 13th to August 17th, but I will have to come back from June 11th to June 22nd in order to take our kids to a camp in North Carolina called Windy Gap. I am stoked about all of the above. I still have to get the tickets for when I come back to Fort Wayne in June, and my friend from Cali will not be able to help this time. So, it is going to be a lot of money spent this summer on air fare.... :o) But, of all the things I could spend money on, I really don't mind spending it on air fare, I love flying more than anything, and it is for God's work. I just think of all the opportunities I have on planes and in airports to witness to people. It get's me excited. I love my job. I love that I get paid to hang out with little kids. You could take all the "negative attributes" associated with elementary kids, and multiply them by 3, and they wouldn't even come close to negating from the good times I have with them. And I think that says a lot. Did what I just say make sense??Anyways, when I got off work today, I hung out with Nick. We have a good time together. Today, I took him to get pizza, and then we headed back to his house to play some Banjo-Kazooie on X-Box 360. It is a good game, and fun to talk whilst you play it. I mentioned Windy Gap tonight to Nick. I think some of the walls are being broken down with Nick about Young Life. I think it's a good thing, and I really really really want Nick to go to camp more than anything. I do I do I do.

So that was primarily my day today. God is good, all the time, all the time, God is good.

first day of Spring Break

Now the thing that is a little bit disappointing about my Spring Break, is the fact that I still have to wake up at 5:22A.M. and be at work at 6:30. I knew that going away for SB was not going to be an option this year, but I sincerely wanted to be able to sleep in a bit. It is okay that I can't though. That's just life.

My parents got their T.V. taken care of right nicely I would say. They had some installers/electricians come in and just make it all look real perdy. Now the T.V. swivels, comes out, tips, and all sorts of stuff. We have all the right cables, and it looks and works great. It really shows that American's are centered around their television. I am not saying it is wrong in any way, in fact I am reaping the benefits of having such a nice T.V., but when I have a family, I want to try to make the focal point of my main living space not the T.V., I don't know how yet, but just want to throw that out there. BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) was amazing tonight. God really nudged me tonight in the lecture. This week we went through Numbers 15-19 and the part that got to me was intentional sin. Jack, the speaker made a comment, almost in passing about how it is very dangerous to sin, doing so with the mindset that you can just ask for forgiveness. It is almost making the act of seeking God's grace and mercy on our own behalf like rubbing a lucky rabbits foot. It is pointless if you aren't sincere. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." This is true, but if you can not humble yourself before the Lord in the first place....well, I think that is where it starts getting a little dangerous. It sure did prove that way for the Israelites.

Don't wory Sunday, you get your own spot.

So it's strange, I did not want to SKIP my Saturday BLOG post, but when I attempted to post from my cell phone yesterday, it said that it posted, but apparently did not post. That is sad, but I took care of it okay I thought. This morning, we went to a huge church near Louisville. It was called Southeast Christian Church and let me tell you, it was almost too big. Although I did feel like I was in one of those massive televangelist buildings, I have to admit the message was pretty good. When I walked up to it, I was talking and thinking "ohh man, this place is too big, it is bigger than a mall, people come and hear the wrong things here." When I should have been praying that I hear a good message, as well as everyone else who would hear the word delivered that morning in that church. Here is what the service spoke to me, ~NOTES STYLE~

• Enjoy life to the fullest
• Life is short, give it your all Ecc 9:10

-Your work should give you joy, and can give you joy.
- Ecc 3:13 says to be satisfied in all things, this is the gift of God.
~THIS HIT'S ME~

• The race is long, stick with it

-Matt 16:24 says you have to take up your cross daily.
-Matt 7:13-14 talks about the wide and narrow gates

• Your hour will come, be ready for it.

-Impact lives, do it for the sake that God did it for us "me" (everyone).

On the ride home, it kind of hit me how much responsibility was on my shoulders. As I looked in my rear view window, I saw responsibility in two different ways. The first way was of course the physical responsibility, if I flip the car I could kill everyone. That one is important, but the even greater responsibility was that of the Spiritual significance. Setting an example, and leading a life that is a representation of Christ.

Dave church was real good, I was really tired by the time I listened to the message, but the fellowship, especially with George was what got me. And that is what it is really all about. Showing and feeling love.

Friday & Saturday in one day

This was the start of the trip. I had 4 kids in my car, Tom had 5 kids in the SUV he borrowed from a Young Life committee member. We drove to Middletown (suburb of Louisville, KY), it was about a four hour drive. Good stuff though. The drive was really fun, and went by quickly. There was a lot of energy, and we all enjoyed ourselves quite thoroughly. We got to a small church, which served as our HUB or meeting place for the weekend. Friday evening, we all (there was about 100 kids from the Kentucky/Indiana area. They are all kids that are interested in doing ~WORK CREW~ and so all the kids that came this weekend, are kids that are ready to go a step further in their faith with Christ. To learn what it means to have a servants heart.This was right after we had gotten there, I think it was around 8:30ish when we finally pulled into the church parking lot.

So, the night eventually came to an end, and we were staying at a committee members house in or near middleville. He was a really cool guy, but there was like 20+ kids & leaders staying in his house. It was PACKED to say the least, but that's all good.

____________________________________________

SATURDAY

Saturday morning rolled around and it was time to meet up for a small amount of time at the church to get our directions for what we were going to be doing, and then we were off to a woman's shelter in down town Louisville, KY. It was really great, because the whole idea is to give them a taste of what they will be doing for a month, while they serve kids that are going to the camp as campers. We wanted to give them an idea or taste of what it means to serve, and get down in the nitty gritty. There were a lot of great people, and we worked our butt's off. In the morning we moved many many heavy wooden tables and benches and what not out of the way of this little courtyard, swept it out and cleaned it up, then placed everything back. In the afternoon we started cleaning car's at the car wash.

Very rewarding too. When we had some free time, my crew (kids that rode in my car) and myself decided that we wanted to walk across a bridge (one of the huge bridges in Louisville).

Here is a picture of THE CREW. We gave Cody's phone to a couple passing by, and had them take a picture of us, it was extremely bright out, so that is why it looks the way it does. We decided as a group that we wanted to cross one of the HUGE bridges that crosses the great Ohio river. So, that is exactly what we did. It was really cool because right as we got in the middle to the bridge, a huge tug with a bunch of barges full of Coal passed under us. It reminded me of what I use to go to school for, and was pretty exciting. I think this picture was also from Cody's phone. When we finally got back to the HUB church, we had dinner, and enjoyed each other. I borrowed Jorden's (another kid in our group who drove with Tom) phone to take this picture. It was a really good Friday & Saturday.

When we got back to our host house, we settled by his big HD t.v. and watched Larz and the real girl. If you have not seen this movie. It is seriously one of my favorites, and I cry when I watch it. Soo good.

I am blessed to be a blessing.

it got warm

Today was beautiful. OHH YES!! At work, we decided to take the kids outside for the first time this year. They were pumped, and the picture above is of them lining up outside for snack time. You gotta love a good snack time outside on a beautiful day.

When I got home from work, I had a package delivered to my house. I ran to the door just as quick as possible so I could thank the UPS man as he walked back to his truck. Check out my new kicks!! I like them a lot, and am glad I went with them.

The evening rolled around, and it was time to go to photography class. Ohh yes, field trip time. Instead of meeting in the usual classroom, we had a field trip to a HUGE NURSING HOME. We met in the basement, and it was a Fort Wayne, Camera club convention thing. It was pretty sweet. They displayed pictures that members entered, and then there was a panel of judges who judged them. My prof was one of the judges. It was pretty fun.

~CONSEQUENCES OF SIN~

On Monday, one of the main topics in my Bible study, was consequences of sin, and how they are something that will be dealt with. I am currently dealing with one of them. Tom (one of the Young Life staff in Fort Wayne) asked if I would be available to take a van load of kids to Kentucky, for a sort of work crew preparation weekend. If you want to know what ~WORK CREW IS~ Simply click that link. Anyways, I of course said, OHH HECK YES!! My spring break officially started as soon as I left the nursing home. Well, I get a phone call saying that I may not be able to go. Ya see, Young Life may not be able to cover me insurance wise, because I got a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) in September of 2006, and it won't be 3 years until September. If I won't be able to drive those kids, that will be a consequence of Sin that I will have to continue to deal with. I understand and accept that. God will do His work, regardless of what I can or can't do. Just like the fact that I can so clearly see concepts I learn in Bible study.

intense energy

{I tell you what, today was non-stop it seemed. As soon as I got out of work (8:45AM) this morning I went directly to the YMCA to work out. I did a hard ALL BODY work out, AND i just hope I can sleep tonight. For the past 3 nights, my body has waken/woken me up at 3am, and not allowed me to go back to bed....it's horrible. It was awesome going 2 the high school, & Young Life was soo good tonight. The best part was that NICKY CAME!! I was so insanely happy! It made my month, easily. I put so much energy into YL, it is a passion. BUT, i seem to suck when i'm put on the spot in front of kids. Not that i'm nervous, I just seem to suck at it. It was a real sweaty night too. Plus....more good news......NO MORE COFFEE CAFÉ!! That makes me excited. I am blogging from my phone right now, and it is time for me to go to bed. I hope i sleep well....i really do.}

** ADDED AT A LATER TIME**
(Taking action)

Ashley (woman with prego belly to left of girl in pink shirt) gave the talk tonight. It was about taking action in Christ. She gave a really awesome example about her and Josh's (her husband & Young Life are director) engagement. She told the story, which was very movie like, and built up suspense to the part where he actually asked her, "will you marry me?" She explained that if she would have just said, "ohh my gosh, this is so awesome, thanks for doing all these amazingly nice and things, and saying all those wonderful words Josh, YOU ARE THE BEST!" But, did not reply to his invitation of actually getting married, well there would be something extremely lacking. She said, that if she wouldn't have responded to Josh, and then went and told all her friends about the engagement story, they would all be like, "YOU DIDN'T RESPOND, ARE YOU CRAZY?!?" There would have been something extremely lacking there. She correlated this story to the concept of Jesus putting out the great message of salvation, and people just hearing it, and agreeing that it is a nice and novel idea, but by not taking action on it, the whole point would be missed. Living for Christ, takes action! This does not mean everyone needs to carry TRACKS and spread the message of Christ on the street corner. It means sincerely accepting that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and trying to live your life according to what he tought and stood for.

G'Night!!

-Grace&Peace

who'd of thunk it

Have you seen Dumbo? If you're a red blooded American, then you'd better have seen Dumbo. Well, there is a song in Dumbo called, "When I see an Elephant Fly." It goes like this..

I saw a peanut stand, heard a rubber band,
And seen a needle wink its eye
But I be done seen about everything
When I see an elephant fly
When I see an elephant fly

I've seen a front porch swing, heard a diamond ring
I've seen a polka dot railroad tie
But I be done seen about everything
When I see an elephant fly

I saw a clothes horse rear up and buck
And they tell me that a man made a vegetable truck
I didn't see that, I only heard
Just to be sociable, well, I'll take your word

I heard a fireside chat, I saw a baseball bat
And I just laughed till I thought I'd die
But I be done seen about everything
When I see an elephant fly

But I be done seen about everything
When I see an elephant fly
When I see an elephant fly

Now I would bet my last dollar that you have not seen an elephant fly. And, until I watched this video, I would have said the same thing about watching an elephant paint a picture. Well, you need to ~CLICK THIS LINK~ and seriously be AMAZED! I had my jaw dropped the whole time this thing was playing. Pretty amazing stuff I tell you what.Yes, I had a real good day. Some real good notes from my BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) lesson. I just have to quote my favorite sentence from the notes.

"What difference might it make in your life if you would learn to look to God first and trust Him, then look at the circumstances, rather than concentrating on your problems and forgetting to look to God at all? "

My answer is....Well, it would look a TON different. I would have so much less issues. I would get out of hard circumstances way faster, or never be in them to begin with. Life would be a whole lot more smooth, and probably more blessed, IF God came first in every situation, and I never tried to do anything on my own. Wow, if I just fathom that thought, the possibilities are endless. They really are, through Christ only though. ;o)

G'Night!

Today was filled with all sorts of sweet stuff.

Now here this. In case you did not know, TODAY IS Dr. SEUSS's Birthday!! Horray Horray, this day, this day. The furry cat is in dismay, the smiles shine, the coat is glossed, the cat in the hat is at no loss. His words stand strong, his morals; true, as we read and enjoy, they comfort and soothe. For the young and old, the stories are bold......I'm done. That was my ode to Dr. Seuss.In loving memory of Dr. S, we had one of the girls read I wish that I had Duck Feet to the younger children. She did a very excellent job. Then, as soon as I got off work in the A.M., I went directly to the downtown library. Ya see, my sister got her 2nd DWI, and she had court today. The downtown library is right by the court house, and I told her I would go and study there and wait for her to get a hold of me. I did that exactly.
Then, I took her over to her girlfriends house (far right/apartment), so she could pick up her cell phone and get dressed for work (you can't have cell phone's in the Allen County Superior Courthouse). I took her to dixies, and then to work. I love Merideth a whole lot. A whole lot... It hurts me to see where she is at.

I then went to the YMCA, and worked my butt off. Probably literally a little bit (and I have a small but!). I needed to do this, because yesterday I woke up at like 3A.M. and could not get back to sleep. NOT GOOD!! I find that when I work out, I can sleep good. That is just how it is. So I have to try to make time for working out. Once I got done working out, I went and studied more. I got a test tomorrow, and I am prepared for it for sure. When I was done studying for the day, I went down by the river in Shoff park, and parked my car. I listened to some Bob Dylan, and some M.O.E. and prayed and watched the water flow by. It was good. To the left side of the car, I had a beautiful view of the sunny sky. And although it was a brisk 20 degrees, I felt warmed by the sun and magnificent view. To the right, there sat the mighty river. I love rivers. Even dirty brown ones. There is just something about a river that amazes me. No matter what crap is flowing down it, they just keep flowing. Even if there is hardly any water at all, and it seems as though all will halt to a stop...they keep flowing. BSF was amazing tonight. I took some killer notes. I left them downstairs, and I am totally upstairs. The basic flow of the evening was this...Sin, still, although God completely forgives & even forgets. You (humans) still have to deal with the ramifications of what sin got us into. Bingo Bango Bongo.

Philippians 4:11 I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

that's more like it

This is my kind of shopping. This beats the heck out of the mall ANY DAY in my opinion. Just look and click. I ended up finding a pair of shoes that I decided to go with too. They are definitely not my "typical" style of shoes, but "pshhh" I don't consider myself a typical kind of guy. So Check um out.... I knew I wanted a red pair of shoes. For some reason, RED RED RED was just sticking in my head. I knew that I wanted something that was sort of a high top, but without being a really high top. Ya know?? So much to consider, and I FOUND IT!! Also, I got a %20 off code online, plus an additional %10 already taken off from the get go. I mean, how could I let something like that slip out of my grasp? I got these for $57.59 with free shipping, and free returns if I want to return them. I am happy with that. They sure are red though (staring deeply with a little drool coming out of mouth). So after I got these shoes, I got a shower. I did not go to church today, because....well I guess it was just a lazy day. I should have gotten up, and went to church, but I was very undisciplined today.

Anyways, after the shower I went to a Young Life leader meeting. It was really good, and we really talk about specific kids, and what we can all be doing for them. It is awesome, because for some of these kids, we are probably the only people who are thinking and trying out how to help move them forward in life. It's a beautiful thing. To do unto others, what you would want them to do unto you. Man is it ever...

Now, I am at the library. I am on the computer right now as I type, but as soon as I publish this POST, I will go back over to the table I was working at, and finish with the index cards I was filling out for interpersonal communications/stupidity... Most all of my classes so far I can find a big significance in, this class, or at least the way it is taught, isn't clicking for me. Ohh well, sometimes stuff in life is like that. You just have to push forward. Keep your eye on the final goal. Stay motivated in the unmotivated grimes of life. I'm done.

G'NIGHT!!

today I'm better

As the title so profoundly explained, I am doing much better today. I guess it was just a 24 hour bug. A nasty one at that though. I was really under the weather. It was crazy how horribly painful my body aches were. I mean, it was as if I had injured my lower back. But, as soon as the fever and ickyness were gone, so was the body pain. No matter though. I had to get back to school fairly quickly today. As soon as I got around, maybe 1:15 I was at school right back to the same classroom/computer lab where I have my Thursday evening photography class. You might ask yourself, Why, why did you need to get back there so quickly? I WILL TELL YOU. I forgot my little scandisk flash memory card. When I went back to check it and all the available lost & found's. It was still no where to be found. :o( This means someone in a Friday class swiped it. Now, is it important enough for me to dig in a little bit and go to those Friday classes and see who sit's in that seat.......Well, if I couldn't recover that information, then MAYBE, but since I can recover that information, I probably will not. I just hate that people steal stuff like that. It just really eerks me like no other. Anyways, here are 3 portraits that I really liked from the last assignment.

Yea, I like the way those pictures turned out. The first one was of a little girl that we watch in Daycare, and her pregnant mommy. The second was of a the girl Annie ( I think that's her name) from my law class who let me take some pictures. And the third was of my friend Brandon, who blows glass at my other friends house. I thought they would all make nice portraits, and I was right.

Back to MY DAY... I did a very SMALL amount of studying, before I went to the MALL..... Ahhhh, yes the MALL sucked me in. I need a new pair of shoes, and I went to the place I hate like no other. I went to the MALL, and I hated every second of it. So much so, that I could not stand being there for very long. It's almost like people put on their big fake faces to fake it up for the world to see. And sadly, they aren't exactly putting on what I would call their "good face." Usually it is just a very worldly face that is extremely materialistic and prideful. This is just my way of saying, I HATE THE MALL, and it was a stupid decision for me to go there. NUFF SAID.The mall was yuck, but hanging out with Jesse & Nick was not yuck. It started off at Nick's house. I took them to get pizza, and gave Nick his first lesson on how to drive a stick shift. Then we went back and played a little bit more video games. After that, I talked them into going to several big SUPERMARKET's to try to spend as much drive time in their electric cart's as possible. From the 4 stores we visited late at night, we only got a total of about 17 seconds of drive time. No matter though. The night kind of ended with a little King of the ice mound. Ya know how when big parking lots are plowed, and it has warmed up several times, but not enough to rid the lot of the big nasty sharp and jagged massive mounds of ice/dirt yet. Well, we played king of the hill on one of those. It was a bad idea, because it was really sharp, and it was hard to get down from. But we can say we did it now. And that is all that matters.....

For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. --Mark 5:26
>>>>>>

Now that is faith. Unmoving, solid, extreme faith you can sink your teeth into. She didn't know exactly what He was about, but she knew he healed, and did amazing things, and for her that was enough. wow to that.

today i'm sick

As I lay on the couch, with an unsettled tummy I realize that the saying, "when the sun goes down. the fever goes up," is a very sincere saying. I woke up this morning and puked like crazy. I also woke with this body ache that was just out of control. I didn't eat anything till about 9:00PM, and it is staying down, that is a real good thing. It seems like when I stay down, I do alright. I am just so thankful that I have a fever because it means that it is not my Multiple Sclerosis acting up. Ya see, my M/S can push me into what is called vertigo, and it usually comes on with a real upset stomach right after I wake up. It's funny, but a fever has never been so welcomed, and I can say that my 1 year+ time free from M/S exacerbations continues on. :o) HORRAY FOR FEVERS!! I say horray because if it were an M/S attack, I would experience similar feelings, but without the fever.....also
everything would be spinning. OK, this is mikey signning off.

MOBILE-SICK-POST-OUT!!

-Grace&Peace

from phone

In my Interpersonal communications class today, one of the 3 guidelines to a happy prolonged relationship(or something to that effect) was to practice safe sex........they(classmates) joked and made comments about it that were very gradeschool and I hated being there because of it. If someone could tell me what safe sex has to do with interpersonal communications, I would greatly appreciate it.

I am in bed right now as I type, but tomorrow when I get to a computer I am going to upload some of the pictures from this weeks photography assignment. They turned out real good I thought.

I LOVE GOD WITH ALL MY HEART, MORE THAN ANYTHING ON EARTH, FOREVER!! Amen

-Grace&Peace