I Hate _____!

So i have been noticing something lately about some of my friends. Ever since i read one of this guy's blogs about only having friends that agree with our beliefs and ideals, I have noticed that i actually do have a couple of friends that i do not see eye to eye with. And thats okay. I feel like bragging about it honestly. It feels nice to know that i don't have to be the same as someone else to be friends. This does, however, make for some uncomfortable times of conversation, in which i often find myself wanting to put up walls and get the heck away from it. I don't know why i do that. Looking from the inside out i don't see myself as that kind of person. But every time a topic comes up that i have an opinion about and we talk about it, i end up getting frustrated and saying "whatever" and fighting through the next few minutes of awkward silence.

This is open for all like 2 readers (if that many) to discuss.

What are the topics that frustrate you?

Old blog from my now extinct MySpace...

"We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting, and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it? It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

I want to repeat one word for you: Leave.

Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it?

So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."

(Excerpt from Through Painted Deserts)
- Donald Miller


One story, that’s all. One story is all we get. God has that story ready for us to live. To act out. Yet most of us are sitting here and being lazy.

I tell you this, if you are not taking part in your story... LEAVE!!! Get out there and live your life for God. Not for yourself. We are all self-addicted. Some more than most.

Love God. Love Everyone. Not love yourself and no one else. You have to care about others feel over yourself. People are part of the Elements God has placed before you. So don't tell people that you'll do something and then not do it. And don't complain about someone does things and then be just like them. That’s called being a hypocrite.

It may be time to leave. To Change. To SHINE.

And everything that will still be here.... its okay.

Daddy, I want to be a professional wrestler!

So, I've had deep thoughts for a while now.

I have friends, friends that talk to me, that show they care, that influence me. I have friends who help me when i need it, who make me laugh, that make me cry, who are honest with me. I love my friends.

I have friends that let certain things and/or people get in their way of a close relationship with God. Whether it be a dead musician, vanity issues, the words they say, or the way that they treat someone when they aren't at a listening distance. I love my friends.

I know people that I thought were friends that I'm not so sure about now. Some, actually all, stopped talking to me. How do I respond to that? I mean I want to be friends with these people. Sure, at times some talk to me, want to hang out and be in fellowship. But, its all so common that they go forever without talking.

No, while all of the above is something I am thinking about, it's not what is heavy on my mind. I've been in a dry place with God and I didn't wuite know what to do about it. But, I know now that I need to wrestle with Him. The truth is that I'm going to come across things that I don't understand or maybe even like about God and instead of just throwing them in the "I don't like that part" pile, I have to fight about it, scrap with God, and hammer it out.

Just like Jacob did in Genesis, we have to wrestle with God not giving up. We have to wrestle as long as we can and this is how we aill be transformed in God. So now, I go to wrestle...

In Light of an Amazing Day!

Do you ever wake up in the morning, or go to sleep the night before, and just know that the day your are about to have will be fantastic? I had one of those days today. I could feel God in everything today! It was like everything that I got to experience was God filled and I was constantly reminded of God beauty, creativity, mercy, power, will, etc. It goes all the way back to last night actually. Berger invited me to dinner at his house and to stay the night. Dinner was crazy good and was followed by fresh apple pie and vanilla ice cream! Then we went a got a movie from Mcdonald's (funny how I won't eat there anymore but I will rent movies!) We watched "Into The Wild" while drinking some coffee from Brazil that I didn't really like all to much. The movie was so good! It's definitely a movie you should pick up and get into. That night I read a good bit of The Barbarian Way before hitting the sack.

8:00a.m. rolls around and I get up, hop in the shower and Berger and I are off to meet my new friend Emily (who is so awesomely awesome) for breakfast at MTSU's campus. We eat what turns out to be a good breakfast, and then walk her to her class and then Berger and I visit some buildings and go get his boards to skate around campus. We do some skating and stuff in the BEAUTIFUL weather and just enjoy God's creation! Then we meet up with Emily and sit around and talk outside for a bit about whatever is on our minds. Shortly after, we decide to split to Emily's apt. to drop her stuff off and to pick up Thaddeus, the majestic bald eagle kite. After stopping by my house we hit up the Disc Golf course with Nate and play a round of 18 holes. It was so much fun playing with everyone, hanging out, and being in the sunshine!

After that, we head to Sonic and Emily gets us free sonic food (told you she is amazing)!! Grilled Chicken sandwich with honey mustard, tots, and a "Route 66" strawberry slush. So tasty! We grub and decide to go to the park and fly Thaddeus and ride long boards some more. It doesn't long for me to finally bust it while on the long board. I skinned my knee so good... ouch! We head back to my house and on the way I realize that I don't have my phone. But I need to clean my knee up so I do that and tell Yvonne that I'm going to miss seeing "Horton Hears a Who" but will meet up after. So, I clean my wound, and someone calls Yvonne to tell her that they found my phone. That, was God working. I really didn't need to lose my phone. So I go get my phone from the disc golf course, come back to the house and chill, and then go hang out with everyone and play Apples-to-Apples and Hoopla! I just loved having fellowship today with everyone!

God revealed Himself to me all day and I loved it! When is a time that God revealed Himself to you?

The Barbarian Way

This week our college-age group at church was on mission in New Orleans and they made a safe return today before the snow moved in. I can't wait to hear the stories about their experiences and stuff. Above is something I randomly sketched in my moleskine on Thursday or so.

Also, the last few days have been so good! I've really enjoyed spending time with great friends, watching good movies, sharing meals with loving people around the dinner table, and unexpectedly holding hands with special people. In the last three days, I watched Across the Universe, Once (for like the 4th time), Definitely Maybe, and Love Actually. I thought Across the Universe was incredible! The same goes for Definitely Maybe! Love Actually, honestly I was kinda confused for a lot of the film, however, it all came together in the end and made it quite good. So thats two British films and and Irish film, and then an American one. I find myself saying a few words with either a British or Irish accent. But more important than the movies themselves, are the really special memories I will have of seeing them with really special people next to me.


But now, to the book I've been reading, aptly named The Barbarian Way. It was so weird last night. As I was telling my best Texas friend (and one of my truly best friends) Leslie, I felt as though the author was getting his points across to me very well. It could have been me very easily, but regardless, I wasn't getting deep. Anyway, Les had to go for a bit so I picked the book up and went to where I left off and everything I read from there was like a heavenly kick to the face. He spoke about the likeness and differences between the Ancients named in Hebrews 11 and the nameless later mentioned. How those Ancients were barbarians that lived by faith and have been remembered for a lot of the amazing things that happened to them during their lives, likewise those not named are also barbarians but in many cases had things happen to them such as having their back cut open by whips and yet they didn't turn away from God. And so I went straight to my bible and read Hebrews 11 just before Les called back. We talked about that for a bit before we both went to bed.

Romans 23:1-2 says this...

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The above was highlighted tonight at church. A good man named David Mcamens (sp) conversed with us about how we couldn't do anything for God if it weren't for his mercy. David tends to go on tangents from time to time (and by that i mean quite often) and his tangents are always helpful in understanding the point that God is trying to get across through him, and they are usually pretty hilarious. However, one of his tangents spoke volumes to me tonight. In this particular tangent he said "I came up with this today, it may be cool, it may not be cool. Our vision must be in God's submission for us and therefore our lives in submission to Him." And after he said that, I had a light bulp begin to flicker and then come on full power.

See, I recently read Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, and this man has such a vision and passion for the poor. As many people can attest, this book can really rock your foundations when it comes to your attitude towards the poor, as it has mine. So as I read this book, I was thinking about a friend of mine named Brandon Berger. Brandon has gone to Nashville to feed the poor numerous times and has developed the beginning of a passion that i can see in him. I recommended this book highly to him. He had it for a day or two before he called me saying "Man, I want to go sleep with the homeless now." I told him I knew how he felt, but the truth is, that's something that I just throw around out of habit. The even more evident truth now is that I too want to sleep with the homeless and get and idea of what they face. I want to know what their troubles are. How i can help. How God want to move me towards helping them.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated, and you don't have to be a member to comment!

P.S. A lot of my most recent daily thinking have come from a combination of God, Steven Bush's blog and Aaron Ivey's blog, Irresistible Revolution, and the first few pages of The Barbarian Way.