Counting down

Well it's almost that time again, time for the old year to end and the new to begin. Honestly this has been one of my favorite years, so many good things happened. I met a lot of people this year some I don't know well yet, some became good friends, one even became a best friend. I hope everyone enjoys time with their families. As a little devotional thought remember that we don;t have a guarantee that we will live the next second. Take advantage of everyday. God is good keep following him in the coming year I'm excited to see where he takes me :)

Hoping and praying the new year is the best yet for everyone!

Also hoping that I get to eat a lot of hot wings tonight ( I have had an insane craving for them lately, and nothing says new year like spicy chicken )

Girls -_-

So today I am writing this for all the girls out there. This has nothing to do with anyone I know, but it's something I have been thinking about for awhile and I feel like writing about it. Biggest pet peeve in the entire world is when my female friends bash themselves and tear themselves down! URGGHHHHH!!! Triple exclamation point that makes me mad! Our society tears girls down so much at every single opportunity! and it's all blatant bull crap!  First up get this straight God loves you more then anything, more then your parents, friends, or any guy! He declares you are a masterpiece!!! LOOK IT UP! Ephesians 2:10 God does not make junk! he does not make mistakes. According to the word we all deserve death because of sin. God through his grace has forgiven us and brought us to him. He no longer looks at our mistakes he sees us as we are with all our mistakes and shortcomings and he loves us, both guys and girls. Here's where this could get awkward this is the hard part for me because I'm always afraid that it will be taken the wrong way so I almost never say this. Girls you are beautiful! there I said it. If you are a Christan that is following God we can tell. Don't ask how I can't explain it, but guys can tell. After knowing a girl like that no other girls ever measure up again ever. I know I'm not the only guy that feels like this. You deserve to be treated like a princess because guess what YOU ARE!!!!!!! God declares us royalty! we share an inheritance with Jesus so through him we are princes and princess's! For those girls that follow the path of modesty in their dress. Thank you! from the bottom of my heart know that we notice and appreciate it (christian guys anyway). Lastly be careful with guys we are a very dangerous species. Some of us will say anything to get you to open up your hearts and you will only end up hurt because of it. Wait on God's timing please wait on his timing so you don't have to go through the hurt I see all the time. I hope this encourages some of you and know this is coming from a brother in Christ I care about all of you and I don't want to see any of you hurt. It all comes down to God's love and how much you really believe he loves you. Seek after him with everything you are, the right guy will come along eventually. Don't lose heart! A christian girl is definitely noticed!

Christmas time!

Ok so I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! for all the people praying for dad he is doing GREAT! I received some books I had been wanting for a very long time (if you don't know I love reading) so that was awesome. I got my brother a game he wanted and ever since then he has been addicted to it. I also tried to get a little tradition started, but I failed. I thought that it would be cool if we watched the nativity story as a family, but k-mart, walmart and sam goody didn't have it. I looked literally everywhere! so that was a bummer, but I definitely going to order it online so we have it next year. OH! I also got this really sweet ice cream maker (I also love to cook, weird hobby for a guy right? Lot's of people say that, but hey it has it's benefits) and I can't wait to try it out!  So do any of you have weird or awesome or fun Christmas traditions? If so let me know! I would love to hear about them

Fighters For Life

As I'm waiting for dad to wake up from his surgery (everything went well by the way so thanks for the prayers everyone) I decided to write this post. A lot of my stuff lately has been about the Bible and that's defiantly not a bad thing, but sometime soon I'll just do a silly one about my life. So about 2 weeks ago I'm sitting in church and God throws this question at me. Why do men fight? Honestly I had no answer at that moment, but God didn't leave me hanging, he showed me the answer. It's lengthy, but here goes. men fight because it's our job to do so. We are at WAR! If we are not fighting then we run the risk of becoming lazy, and if that happens we risk being wiped out. For us to become lazy means we lower our guard and put our weapons down. there is a devil prowling around like a lion and when he senses our weakness he will move in for the kill. We need to always be ready, our weapons are not the worlds weapons! our weapons are spiritual and have the power to demolish strongholds and drive the lion away. We have heavens armory at our disposal. When we are connected to God we can kick some serious butt.  Which leads me to the next point we fight amongst ourselves to test our selves, to encourage our brothers, and to hold each other accountable. As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. We test ourselves, when we lose it encourages us to become stronger, when we have the same goals we encourage each other to greater heights. to surpass our limits to tear down the strongholds in our lives. When Christian men are connected to God and we give our all to him, the world had better look out. We hold each other accountable because a wound received from a Friend is better then kisses from an enemy, sometimes we need to call each other on tough stuff, but its worth risking the friendship to save the relationships. We also fight to show dominance, that's why the strongest rules, that's why Jesus is our ruler, none is stronger he defeated death and all the demons of hell, we serve our king because he saved us from the pit of death and called us to be a part of his family we owe him our lives! that debt can never be repayed by something we can do all we can do is stand in  awe of our God who saves and give him everything we are. My personal favorite reason for fighting is this. We follow the example of our king, and we fight for the people we love, we fight to protect everything we hold dear. There are a lot of people I care about and I would do anything for them, I would take on anything for them. This war will not be over until the king returns, when he returns once and for all it will be over, but until then we need to be ever  vigilant, we don't know when the next attack will come and we need to have each others backs and be ready. We also need to be careful of pride, one of the greatest hero's of the Bible Gideon fell to pride, he caused Israel to sin by creating an idol at the moment of his victory because of pride. We need to watch out for chink in our armor and repair them. Lust, pride, and anger are 3 of the biggest struggles a guy can face. But God has overcome the world and everything in it. Nothing Can take us down when our focus is on him, so raise your swords high and get ready.

Job's Strength

Good morning everyone! I finally have some time to write and check e-mail and all that jazz. Only problem is I'm doing it form the OR waiting room, my dad is shortly going to be in there for surgery on his gall bladder. Before I get to that though lets rewind a bit. It's Wednesday I'm getting ready to go to our youth groups white elephant/ ugly Christmas sweater party. Awhile later Holly shows up, and proceeds to give me the coolest Christmas gift I have ever received. A Justin beiber singing toothbrush!!!!!! Now normally I would probably run away in disgust, but because it was Holly I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I have been using it a lot (thanks for promoting good dental health Holly!) I gave her this thing from a movie we both like (I thought she would hate it, but she said she liked it so woohoo!) Anyhow after the party I was on my home when I heard the news that my dad was in the ER and he needed surgery. WHAT! are you kidding me! no way! you can't be talking about my dad! He's invincible nothing can happen to him. Once I actually got a hold of someone that could tell me the whole story I learned that he was having stomach pains, and it had something to do with his gall bladder, nothing serious, very simple procedure. I talked to him when we got home and he was fine not worried at all. The problem was thought hat I still felt like something was wrong, I couldn't shake the feeling so I started reading the Bible and I started praying. I read comforting things like the 23rd Psalm, but I still felt anxious, that's when God got my attention. He showed me that what I was fearing was the fact that if something happened to my dad, I would have nothing left. my mom is not in the picture and without him there is no one older then me to look to for help or guidance. Then I started thinking about what would happen to my faith if something happened to my dad. As soon as I was thinking about that Job came to mind. He lost everything he had in the space of a few seconds. His wealth his servants and his family. His own wife told him to curse God and die (Nice support isn't it) What did Job do? He cried out and tore his robe in despair! He fell on the ground and said naked I come from the womb and naked I shall return ( I came with nothing and with nothing I shall leave). God gives and God takes away, Praise be to God! Job fell down in worship before his king. When I read that I knew that no matter what happened I would be ok, I would be ok if not only did I lose my dad, but my little brother. the two people I love the most. I would be grieved and saddened beyond belief, but I would still praise my God. Job in the end gets back double what he lost because he was faithful. I want that to be true in my life.

Update

Hello everyone! For some reason our internet got shut off for a little while so I wont be able to post anything new for awhile. I have big plans though, the other day in church I was hit with a question. Why do men fight? and God has shown me the answer, hopefully soon I will write about my findings! have an amazing christmas everyone! This is going to be some great stuff. And if you all get the chance check out the secret life of an american coffee addict. There is an awesome and very truthful post about stupid facebook statuses and chain letters

Mighty Men

Ok So I don't know how many people read this, if any, but today is a post dedicated to men. This week has been hard, I have not been reading and spending time in the Word like I should be. My life is going to go down hill soon if I don't get my stuff in order. My thought life is already a mess, but yesterday I was listening to one of my favorite speakers, and what he said hit me right between the spiritual eyes. What does it mean to be a man? Well the answer to that is in the Bible of course! Jesus was the man among men, there is none greater nor will there be someone greater. Jesus is the ideal, but there are others in the Bible whom we can look to. I'm a guy and on top of that I'm a guy that loves his epic fantasy books, bring on the swords, elves, and dragons! Because of that I know a lot about battles in medieval times and stuff like that. Now David (old testament King David) was a seriously strong dude, the guy killed a giant when he was a teenager! However he had an elite guard called the mighty men, these guys were insane! the most powerful are guys that can claim to have killed over 300 men in a single battle by themselves. 300 MEN BY THEMSELVES IN ONE BATTLE!!!! These men had no concept of fear, they knew that they served a king, and they did whatever was required of them. To many guys today are little more then boys, men do not stare at every girl that walks by, men do not use and abuse others, men do not bottle up everything on the inside and become little more then rocks, men are not meant to be consumed by lust! As men it is our job to pick up the slack of those that come before us and serve our king with a fearless zeal. To help our sisters, respect, honor, and love them ( in a sisterly way). It is our job to stand in for the weak to take the blows they can't. When all the fiery arrows of the devil are coming at you, you face them head on life up the shield of faith and follow our king who goes before us into battle. Every guy needs a battle to fight, when we do nothing we become lazy and easily susceptible to attack. We give up and give in, we need to make Jesus the center of our lives so that does not happen, we need Jesus because he guards our hearts, and minds, he helps us control our thoughts, and he makes us who we are meant to be. As I'm writing this its an encouragement, reading what I know to be truth gets me fired up! I want to dive into the word, I feel painfully every mistake I have made this past week. A few especially come to my mind, and all I can think of is why on earth would I have been such a moron. I also know that God forgives, and that I will have another opprtunity to do things differently. So I'm very excited. I hope this finds you all well, if I know you I'm praying for you. This is much more scattered about then I originally planned, but maybe some other time I will actually put some together about being a mighty man, for now these are my thoughts, for more information check out Jason ma's 5 pillars of manhood (GRRRRR IT WONT LET ME LOAD THE WEBSITE!!!!!) that's dumb!

A Whole New World

Ok I'll admit it. I have a thing for Disney movies, I grew up with them, I love them! The movie Aladdin happens to be one of my all time favorites

Lately I have been feeling like Aladdin... minus the princess. (deep breath) In the movie Aladdin is poor thief who finds a magic lamp, finds the genie inside who grants him three wishes. He uses these to make himself a prince and eventually win the heart of the princess, after beating the bad guy, and using his street smarts to outsmart him. (exhale)

My case is a little different, you see I was born a lowly sinner, I found God who forgave my sins and saved me from death. for a long time I found it hard to connect with God, but lately I've been making my life revolve around him, and its been such a huge change. The more I trust him the more he shows me. I've been reading the bible because I want to learn more about him, not because its a chore. Slowly I see his plan for me unfolding, and that no matter what happens his will, will be done. Another huge thing that's helping me grow spiritually has been being able to meet other like minded people that are about my age, I have not had this opportunity in over four years, and i was starting to forget that there are other people out there who believe the same things as i do. I've only met most of them once or twice, but being around them has really helped me steel my resolve and make me want to push harder to be someone that God can use. Truthfully its like I'm seeing a whole new world. (which by the way is an awesome song)

Haters hating

I really don't like it when people hate on my friends. In fact it makes me very mad. Other then God my friends are the most important people in the world to me. Not the acquaintances, but the real friends. So when they hurt I hurt along with them, and I just don't like seeing them get hurt. Here are song lyrics I found today from a pretty sweet band

You can't stop me / I won't give up / you can't stop me / What would you believe if I told ya / of all the people that would just love to see me fall / would it make them happy if I just gave up / if it's any consequence / I'm not doing this for them / When my dreams are drifting farther away / am I strong enough to follow through / until the end (chorus) Sing with me this song / I'm not gonna rest until I'm done / cause one day I will hold my head up high / and show the whole world I never gave up and that's why I'm not giving up / You can't stop me / I won't give up / Would you call me a hypocrite if I told ya / there are some days I could just burn this whole world down / how can you judge what I've done with my life / cause I'm not like you / how could you judge my life / when I've given everything / how could you judge what I've done with my life / cause I'm not like you / I'm not like you / I'm not like you / When people say / you're not enough / you'll never make it anywhere / just close your eyes and sing this song / Just close your eyes and sing (chorus) If you sing this song you'll feel much better / the hope in your heart will last forever / I'm not giving up / If you live for God and hope for heaven / the choices you make will last forever / Don't ever give up / don't ever give up / this is for all you haters out there / We'll here's a scream for you / RAWR

I like the part about living for God.

My family today has been another source of irritation. They have just been butting into things they have no business being a part of and I just feel frustrated today.

In your anger do not sin, I need to keep that on my mind today, and also don't let a day go past where you are angry, this is one of those surrender it to God moments. I need his peace, and even if I have to ask every 5 seconds I know he will give it to me. I need to give up these negative feelings to God. I don't want to deal with them and anger gives the devil a foot hold. it's not worth it. If you are dealing with something anger today do NOT! let it fester in your heart! give it up to God. Thank you blogging world for letting me vent out my thoughts!

Giving Thanks

Yesterday was an awesome day! I good time of hanging out with family and eating way to much food, but yesterday was also a day to remeber to be thenkful for all the blessings God has given me. It was a time to just stop and think of how grateful I am for all the amazing people in my life. I hope everyone had an awesome thanksgiving

This is a chinchilla. I put this in here because I felt like it.... theres really no reason at all why its here... it just is.

This is a bunny, there is a significance to it because its a bunny

Fire Proof

Today I watched the movie Fire Proof. It's an amazing movie and everyone should watch it, but watching it made me realize something. lately I have not been real. Ive been stuck in a routine and not going all out in my life for God. I have been slipping back into the way i used to be. For those that do not know I used to be a terrible person before I finally gave it all up to God. It's been a long road to recovery from that past self, but I'm finally on the way. I write on here because it helps me process my thoughts. Right now I'm thinking that I have just let a numbness creep into my life for about the past two weeks. Things like not praying as much, then finally not doing it, the same with reading my Bible. God has never stopped trying to get my attention though and I decided a long time ago to give my life to him. Watching the movie reminded me that I needed to get back on track because he has so much more planned for me. I'm running after those things. I want God to be number 1 in every area of my life, my thoughts, actions, relationships, the way I speak, everything!!!!!! I have to go jump into the word now. I should probably have done that first, but I wanted to write this down first. See y'all later.

Food, music, and everything in between

I love food. I'm just going to whip that out there, and not just any food, but REAL! food! for example I made my own french fries awhile ago and I almost died because they tasted so good! Food is also a social experience. I think its meant to be shared and it allows people to talk and just have fun together, even making food with a friend can be a blast..... and it just plain tastes good.

Music! I would die without it! in fact here is a song i found yesterday that is worth listening to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3410Eqh3LQo

Well see you all later, I need some time with God and I'm taking advantage of this time while I have it.

Christmas with guns

Some of my fondest childhood memories... (wow its weird saying that) involve hunting. I was born and raised on it. When I was little I would be forced to wait with my grandma and aunts in the mornings, excitedly eating their cooking and waiting for my dad and the rest of the motley crew of my family to get back in. The few times at that age when I went out with my dad I was always so bored and finally begged to go back inside. Finally though I hit the age and took hunters safety. I was a part of things now. I didn't have to wait inside any longer, nope I was now part of the crew that got up before dark and headed out into the cold to take my chances and try and bag that buck! One year it was so cold and I sat out there so long that my pants actually froze to my legs (not fun, let me tell you) but afterwards when it was time to head in that's when the fun really started. Sitting in the warm house with all my uncles and the other guys I got to listen to stories of years past, and enjoy fresh baked bread. Until one year I finally got to add my own story to the mix, and as part of our family tradition earned my right to drink coffee. I got my first deer and boy was I excited theres nothing like it and for me it was an initiation of sorts. The past few years I have been to busy with school to be out there, but someday I hope I can get back in the game. Good luck to anyone going out there

Saturday oh what a day =)

Hello everyone! Yesterday was a very interesting day, in fact that is why I'm writing this so early, but before I get to that I have to rewind a bit. You see yesterday it was almost exactly a year since I met Holly, and what an interesting year it has been. We hung out for most of yesterday, and did things such as go for a 2 mile walk (which was harder then I thought), bake a cake, read cards to the perfect timing of sad background music, and tell random stories. Personally I would not have spent my Saturday any other way, and I thank God that I'm able to call such an awesome person my best friend. Despite the setbacks such as my truck blowing up (long story), we got to have a lot of fun yesterday.  All this is only the result of one year! I'm excited to see what the next year has in store and how God will grow my friendships and me personally. By the way never let Holly decide how much coffee to put into something, her daily intake of coffee is more then I have in a year, and after our coffee cake with coffee frosting served with coffee ice cream, I had a coffee headache and pretty much passed out for the rest of the night, but now im writing this so early because I opened my eyes and its like WOW!!!! this is why people drink coffee....... MWAHHAHA, but it was all worth it! So Holly, if you read this I dont know what you were thinking, but thank you for putting up with a loser like me and letting me call you my friend! Its been an amazing year!

Tangled

For anyone that has never seen this you need to! Run, walk, fly, steal someones car (OK maybe not that extreme sheesh!), but go and rent or buy the movie Tangled. Not only is it the best movie ever, but its the first movie in awhile to have a strong moral value. I'm obsessed with it, and i have been thinking a lot about it lately mainly because Holly loves it to and we were planning on watching it yesterday (I will post about that shortly), but we didn't get to it. Ok so in this movie a loser theif and a kidnapped princess have a chance meeting. A lot of great stuff happens and viola the thief is no longer a loser, the evil stepmother is defeated and the princess gets to meet her real parents. The quotes from this movie are amazing, but one more then any other stuck out. At the end of the movie as the sun is setting the thief turned hero and the princess are standing together as the sun is setting, when he says " she was a princess worth waiting for" How awesome is that!!!! I love it! I want to say that someday! I don't want to lower my standards when waiting is so much better. Through the years I have learned to trust God. By no means am I perfect ( I mess up about a kajillion times a day) but I'm a work in progress thanks to his abundant grace. The female friends I have now are a shining example of what a girl should be like. When I'm with them i feel like i am in the presence of royalty because quite honestly they should all be considered as such! Some of them would probably disagree with me, but i have seen the alternative.... its not good, the fact that they are even trying means everything. Its about moving forward and even though you have doubts stepping out on that cliff and taking a leap of faith. So for my female friends keep doing what your doing, I know it can be hard, but eventually it will all pay off! You are all such an encouragement to guys like me, and without you I would have given up a long time ago. For those guys that struggle with purity and waiting, don't give up I've been there your not alone, I still struggle sometimes, but greater is he that is in us then he that is in the world. I made my choice to follow him, whats yours?

11/11/11 a day later

Today I was listening to a song and one of the lyrics was in Christ there are no goodbyes. With that in mind I want to thank all the people who have given their lives for our freedom, and for the family's who have lost loved ones you will see them again someday. Thank you for your sacrifice. For those still fighting I pray for you. We can never thank you enough.

300

Hello anyone that reads my blog! Today's post is actually a place where I'm getting serious. This subject is near and dear to my heart. If you have never seen it the movie 300 is about an army of 300 Spartans that stands alone against something like 10000 Persians, I think they all die, I cant remember, but the point is that sometimes that's how i feel the christian life is. All alone against insane odds, but like God revealed to Elijah after he made the same complaint. We are not alone! back then God had saved 2500 other people that never worshiped idols and still followed Gods ways. In the same way I know I am not alone. When i think I'm the only guy striving to be pure and struggling with it. I meet someone who has won the fight and is able to speak truth into my life and encourage me. When I'm convinced every girl in the world has given up on knowing God, I meet some that just stun me with how real they are trying to seek after him ( I know they struggle with a mountain of stuff as well, and we all do, but the fact that they are even trying is amazing!) So ya thank you God for the amazing people you have brought into my life! Thank you for letting me meet a part of the group that is still loyal to you! and as always its not about how many times you fall. its how many times you get back up. Never Surrender! in Jeremiah it says I will make my words in your mouth like a fire. God has got our backs, he wants to speak through us and use us if we will let him and seek him!

Crummy Government

SCHOLARSHIPS!!!!!! GAHHHHHHHH THEY ARE DRIVING ME INSANE! I WANT MONEY BUT THERE IS SOOOO MUCH PAPER WORK!!!!!! ok now that im done venting about the accumulating mountain of paperwork i have to fill out i want to talk about how are government is no longer doing its job and is drifting away from the values it was founded upon. Seriously when was the last time you saw a prayer meeting being held in the white house. Our nation is going downhill fast. Instead of just complaining bout it i however intend to do something about it. What that is i don't know yet, but i know i need to do something. For example a speaker i heard in church the other day brought to my attention that public schools have pretty much excluded all parts referring back to God in important historical documents, and that makes me really mad! if you want to know what im talking about find a way to look at the original fundamental orders of Connecticut. Thats all for now folks. Enjoy the rest of your week

Worship

Ok today I was having a terrible day, well and yesterday to, and I am just so thankful first of all for Gods amazing grace. For pastor Matt and him always being there for me and willing to help me through my toughest struggles. And I am so thankful for my friend Holly!!!!!! She is Just plain amazing, and if you don't know her, your life is pretty much incomplete, and i could spend a whole blog post talking about why. But you see Holly loves music, and even more then that she loves God and she plays worship music, and listening to her today at youth group, i was able to get to a place where i could just talk with God and take care of a bunch of Stuff! So if your reading this thanks again Holly! Its an incredible gift to be able to move people to a place where they can genuinely worship the Creator.

Today is one of those days where I feel like Paul back when he was Saul. Not that I go around killing people, Its one of those instances where I feel like I'm ignoring God. Thats not ok by any stretch of the imagination, but so often i find myself tripping myself up by the choices i make. Thank God for his abundant grace. I know the truth and I made my choice to follow it a long time ago. I just need to learn to put feet to my faith and live it out. Gah I feel like such a moron sometimes. Thank God for his grace though. (this is one of those cases where i use this thing as a way to vent, in case anyone is wondering)

Language

Ok I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have been thinking about language and the fact that we understand each other.... THATS INCREDIBLE! its one of those things most people take for granted, but if you think about it, its amazing that we are able to communicate with most of the people around us by speaking the same language. Its one of the most complex and hardest things to do, yet we do it as children. Simply amazing! Imagine though if we all still spoke one language... for everyone everywhere. I wonder how different the world would be?

First time for everything

I'm sitting here right now writing this because well i feel like it. I have friends that do this and i love love LOVE! reading what they have to say, and writing is a good way to sort through stuff. So i decided to start one of these both as a way to keep myself sane, and as a way to have a bit of fun.