THIS WEEK= BLAH!

The title pretty much says it all, my youth pastor is away in Israel for another week or so, so I really dont have anyone to talk to on a typical day after Im done working for the night. Senior Appreciation Sunday was last week, celebrating the graduation of 10 High School Seniors and 3 College Graduates. These 10 kids graduating mean so much to me, because in alot of ways I considered myself a younger brother to some of them, so it really hurts to say goodbye to some of them. I know some of them will still stay around, but I just dont think it will be the same, I just pray that GOD gives me a spirit of thankfulness and not regretfulness when it comes to these things when I become a Youth Pastor

Not much else to talk about. Work has been going slow ever since MTSU got out of school, so that has been nice. Im getting moved to days pretty soon so that will free up more time for me to spend with the youth group, which will be really cool, hopefully this will be the last summer that ill have to skip out on all the summer events, I know its gonna kill me to miss all the goings on of summer this year, but I shall survive

Until Next Time................

Tough Week my friends............

Let me say by death doesnt happen often in my family, at least on my mom's side, so what happened Monday can be a little hard to take as my Great Uncle died last thursday and his funeral was this past Monday. He was the proverbial head of the family, he never said a mean thing about anyone, had no enemies, and was as close to Christ in a human form that you will ever meet

Understandably, the funeral was tough as everybody got a chance to say what they wanted to. Obviously, the immediate family (sons, daughters, grandchildren) had a tough time, I was able to stay strong for most of the service until I went back to the memories and what it would be like if my Grandfather was the one in that casket and not his brother, on that day I just pray to GOD that he will give me the strength that needs to be said when that day occurs, just hopefully not soon

Anyways, pray for my family because its about to get ugly as my Great Uncle didnt do his Will or file taxes in the last few years, so the family is going to have to go thru this mess to go forward and will prolly have to rely on my Grandfather to do so, so its just going to be a tough time all the way around

On a positive note, Chris Young, my best for years, won Nashville Star last night. Nashville Star is essentially the country version of American Idol so im very happy to see Chris come thru, although im not suprised. Didnt watch too much of the show, but I can imagine how it went because as a friend, Chris' talent was so obvious, this has always been the career that GOD has prepared him for. Overheard a conversation last night that Chris still considers Trinity his home church, given the way things went down. To make a long story short, I feel in part responsible for his mom wanting to leave the church, but who knows, but ive always had a great relationship with Chris' parents and his family and I hope to see him soon so I can congratulate him

GOD is already bringing this generation to the forefront........

It amazes me how passive some young people are when it comes to using their faith and their talents to change the world at an early age. Its often said that the world is simply too big to make a difference right now while we are in our youth, I say thats wrong, and point to the lives of Dakoda Dowd and Amber Metz

The story of Dakoda Dowd is simply one of wonder. Dakoda is a 13 year old golf phenom, but more importantly, has dedicated a playing career to a mother who has gone thru multiple cancer treaments and isnt expected to live too much longer past this weekend, 6 months-1 year I believe is what the diagnosis is. Regardless, this girl has shown the heart of a warrior and is accomplish the dream she set out to when it became obvious her and Golf were natural to each other, she wanted to play in a LPGA event before her mom died and that very request happened just yesterday and will continue today, and maybe if Dakoda will play well enough, just maybe she'll get to go all 4 rounds and enjoy the best weekend of her very young life. Dakoda Dowd is a powerful testament that prayers come true and If your willing to work hard enough to achieve your goal. God truly has special things in mind for this girl, even outside of the Golf world.

Amber Metz is another tried true to inspiration that through prayer, anything can happen. Amber's story is best told thru this excerpt from her website:

Breathtaking was born out of a young woman’s gut-wrenching honesty with her Heavenly Father.  Amber Nicole Metz was taken on a breathtaking journey, one that took her through the valley of the shadow of death and connecting intimately with the heart of God. 

          Upon leaving Cedarville University in December of 2004, Amber came home and literally laid in bed for several months, knowing that humanely-speaking, if she did not receive a double lung transplant in less than a year’s time, she would indeed pass away.  At 15% lung capacity and on oxygen 24 hours a day, a once outgoing, driven, passionate young woman found herself gasping for air and having no where to turn but to Jesus.

          During that time, Amber heard the voice of the Lord clearer than she ever had before, calling her to lay aside all forms of security she held on to so dear and to grasp a hold of Christ and Christ alone.  From March of 2005 until three months after her surgery (Christmas Day 2005), Amber sat at her computer and wrote out over 165 emails, filled with times of desperation, joy, and complete transparency before her Lord and the ones she was writing to at the time. 

          Amber says, “I have never felt the Spirit move so powerfully in my life, but I knew that I knew God wanted me to do 3 things: meditate on His Word, read other works, and write out my own thoughts. I remember saying, “Lord, I can’t do this…”, with which he replied, “No, you can’t, but I can…”

          For months, while not knowing if she was going to live or die, Amber cried out for more of Him and His glory, laying aside everything that hindered her and pressing on for the higher calling in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2), believing that Jesus’ ways were higher than hers (Isaiah 55) and that He would be glorified through all, as long as she got out of the way, in life or in death.

          Months out of surgery, Amber is feverishly working on editing the emails and putting them into book form, as well as praying and seeking financing for her project.  At this time, she is planning on going through Winepress Publishing, a subsidy publisher, which requires her to finance her own venture.  At the same time, Amber is praying that a mainstream Christian publisher will pick up her story and give her a vehicle to reach millions of people in His name.

          From planning her funeral in March of ’05 to having two false alarms before the actual surgery, Breathtaking is a spiritual, emotional, and physical raw account of the events that transpired before and up to three months after her surgery, which occurred on September 25, 2005. The tile, Breathtaking, comes from no one but the Lord, and she knows that He has given her a passionate spirit, one that is even willing to go back to the desert or even to die in His name, if the Lord would so choose. 

          In Amber’s words, “All I know is that, for such a time as this, I must go with God. No matter who I leave behind, how much I do not understand, I just more of Him. Jesus loves us all so much; He desires for ALL of each and every one of us. Breathtaking Ministries and Breathtaking (the book) are His and His alone. I am just a messenger; my spirit trembles for more of Him. Oh breath of God, come breathe within, within me and my generation…”

Note: The main pillar of Breathtaking Ministries is prayer. First and foremost, Amber asks for prayer, that God would be glorified in all she does, including her endeavors to publish her book. Everything is in vain without the power and favor of God behind it. As Moses prayed in Exodus 33, “Show us Your glory, Lord!”

What A Weekend............

Words cannot really describe how great this weekend was at ATF(Acquire The Fire). If ya know anything about ATF, its designed to give teenagers some purpose in their lives in winning a generation for GOD, but It can be so soothing to the adults that go as well. I feel like im progressing well in my walk, but this weekend was great in that I buried some issues that I didnt even know were still there until this weekend

The worship was just awesome this weekend, but by saturday afternoon I was flat out tired and there was still a night session. So I make this comment to Rick about how tired I am and then Rick says " Well, maybe you'll get your 2nd wind" then once I got back inside the arena its almost as if GOD said jokingly " You Pansy, well here ya go" and it was almost as if a light turned on because for me the worship saturday night was just awesome, just a awesome weekend all around

I cant say how appreciative I am of Rick in trusting me as an adult, instead of a extension of the youth. They had a breakout session for youth leaders a couple of times this weekend and each time Rick took a few adults with him, which didnt include me, which disappointed me but he thought of me enough that having me and just one or 2 other adults would be just fine. Im sure Slick Rick thinks nothing of it, but for me to be treated as an adult, I dont know if he will ever know how much that means to me

Back to the issue at hand I encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to take up arms for these young people, there is a great war for this young generation going on and they need all the help they can get.  www.battlecry.com is a great site to get plugged into as it has big plans for this generation, many of which include rallies in all 50 states on May 12th (Ill provide details about it tommorrow if ya dont have time to see it) GOD is doing big things right now, we need to turn the tide not only for this generation but for the world, it desperately needs Followers of Christ to go to every corner of this world and make disciples

Well thats it for now, I guess ill come back tommorrow to ramble some more so Ill be off of work tommorrow

Why yes, Im still alive..........

Just letting you fine folks know that yes im still alive, but working more than 5 days in a row takes a toll on me, so usually my routine as of late has been work, sleep, eat, repeat. Really excited about this weekend, for one Ill be going on my first trip as a volunteer with my youth  to Acquire The Fire (A 2 day conference that reaches teens for Christ), alot of these kids that are going are of the younger variety, so I think it will be a great experience for them and will open their eyes on a whole new level. Another pro of going this weekend with my youth group is that I wont have to work this weekend for the first time in who knows when, although for me to have the weekend off, I have to go into work for an hour or so, to help stock and clean, but it will be worth it being in Nashville with these great kids

Satan has really been coming on strong as of late, trying to get with the same old habits that Ive been trying to rid myself of. When Ive gotten away from having my quiet time/ reading my bible, I have found that I am pretty vulnerable to these attacks, but when I bury myself into the word of GOD, its been so much easier to resist. I know its not exactly rocket science, but Im no Einstein either..............

Work was really fun last night, one of the few times that I could actually say I enjoyed it. Manager for last night was Felicia, who usually works afternoons or mornings, but to make a long story short, all managers have to work a few overnights occassionally so it was her turn in the rotation I guess. Anyways, I absolutely love working with Felicia and almost see her as a 2nd mother at times in the way that I can talk about things with her that I cant normally talk about with anybody else (She has a daughter thats a year younger than me). Anyways, we get into this talk on if I want to become a manager, which ive been trying to go after for quite some time, but always seem to get passed over by somebody else. Assuming I made the jump to Manager, id be making about $8.50 an hour, which is about a 20% pay increase from what Im making right now, so everyone please pray for me in that regard because Eric needs the money with gas and bills being what it is. I guess thats all for now, will check in before I head off to Nashville for the weekend. God Bless