21 & FEELING OLD!!

LOOK I'M 21...DON'T I LOOK SO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM BEING 20...HA HA
Well, I turned 21 today, and what an akward feeling it was not...so many people say that turning another year older or "turning a milestone in life" is so devestating, and that they feel so old...well, I don't feel so old yet, and it has not been detremental to me. Yes, it has been such an awesome day spent with family & friends and I have had the best times with lunches and dinners & just being able to be a kid again...well, except for the college classes that I had this morning.



As I look back over the past 21 years of my life, I can't believe that I am at the point that I am at now. Who would have ever thought that I would have turned out to be such an awesome guy that everyone wanted to be around and that nobody could ever get enough of....ha ha, I know that's a lie. But what an awesome life I have had. I have had so manny opportunities that most people don't have in a lifetime. A lot of times I do complain that my life is boring because I don't get to do anything...ha ha, (sorry, I know all of my blogs are all look backs on my life, but that is the fun in this, right?) no, I might not to have gotten to travel all over the world on vacation, or have enough resources to do whatever I have wanted to do, neither have I really "lived life" in mans standards...I have chosen instead to serve God by volunteering in EVERYTHING at church. It gets to the point where I have lost sight of why I do the things that I do within Special Events & the Media Team, and everything else that I have gotten into, but WOW how each of them have helped shape me into who I am today. When I sit back and look at the things of life, I have never gone without what I've needed, and I've always been able to do pretty much what I wanted to. My parents have given and sacrificed so much so that they could be sure that I was where I wanted to be so that I could help out whoever it was. God has used each stage of my life to grow me and teach me so much, although a lot of the time I will admit, I don't remember half of what He has taught me, or else I remember it too late, I thank God every day for the opportunities that He has brought to me, and the roadblocks that He has put up in front of me to test my faith, but most importantly the people that He has put into my life that help me continue to climb that mountain of life, or jump that hurdle that lies in front of me...although not all of the friendships that I have had have lasted through the years, nor have all of them been wonderful, but everything that has happened to me has shaped and molded me into the person that God wants me to be.



I am at a BIG turning point in life, and I just decided to sit down and actualy think about the past 21 years, and to just think about it all I realize how blest I have been, and awesome God has been to me. I want to challenge you to just take some time out of your day, and just sit and focus on God and ask Him to show you how blessed you are. Our daily lives are so busy and we just pass by our blessings every day, and we hope that that person knows how much we love them, we hope that person knows that we appreciate what they've done for us, we hope, we hope, we hope, and yes, a lot of times most people know, but what a blessing it is to them to actualy hear that you love them, that you appreciate them. Look back and see how God has grown you, and who He has used to mold you into who you are, and make sure to realize the many blessings that you actualy have. No, all blessings are not money, are not a huge home, are not a lot of stuff, but the true blessings are the little things and the people that God has given you to help you through life, and to help guide you in the way that He has planned for you. I know it's going to be a hard challenge for me to keep, but I am going to try my best, and I challenge you to do the same thing.

CHRISTMAS TEARDOWN

This is the worst part about Christmas! I always love putting it up and coming up with new ideas on how to decorate, but I absolutely HATE tearing it down! Today is a day filled with sadness as it is time to take down all of my Christmas stuff at my house. It will be a multiday process, and boy are those days filled with pain, and joy. Glad that the rush and frustrations of the season are over, but yet sad to see everything go away! It feels like I have only gotten to see it a couple of times, and maybe that's because that's all that I have seen it because I'm always so busy with pageant and Christmas decorating everywhere else! Oh well, another year has gone by, and it's time to start thinking about next year!

Here's a few pics from the house (3 of the 135 trees this year!) Hopefuly I'll have a website soon with whole portfolios of my work so that people can view & hopefuly I'll be able to get some business off of my interior design stuff....who knows! Hope everyone had a splendid holiday season, and now it's time to get ready for 2008 to fly by so that we can be sitting here in 350 days going "where has 2008 gone?!" Yup, it's gonna fly by just like every year, so remember to relax, take it easy, and enjoy and cherish the little moments that come your way that bring you joy!

ROCKET SHIPS & FAITH

Alrighty, so today has been filled with SO many different things....Happiness, joy, hurt, dissapointment, surprise...Today is my last day here with Rusty & Tina...at least for a little bit until I move up here! It has been a sad day in so many ways...knowing that it is going to be my last day, and that I will not see them until probably Thanksgiving! I have had such an awesome time getting to hang out with them again, and getting to spend some more time with them. Being here just makes me miss them more, I really do miss them so much (and yes Tina, I do miss the kids too!) Rusty & Tina are two awesome people! For those of you who don't know them....you're missing out on a lot! They have encouraged me in my down times, challenged me to become a better person, and just been two best friends that anyone could ask for, and I am going to miss them so much! Then there's Megan who I have had to deal with.....God bless her ministry :) No, seriously, we have had a fun time hanging out for the short time that I have been here, and I wish that I could stay longer just so that I could bug her more....but that time will come later! Today I hung out around Charlotte and just explored the town this morning while everybody was at work...it is an awesome town! Then the family went to David Busters to have a fun night of walking around the mall, bowling and just hanging out before I have to head back home. What an awesome time!!!!

Today I have also been reminded about challenges in our lives. God does not promise that life is going to be easy, but he promises to provide all of our needs according to HIS plan....and right now it is definately a truthful test of faith. I know I have always heard people talk about trials that they have gone through, and just brushed them off and thought...hm, I'm lucky to not have to go through them....and then here I am smack dab in the middle of, and realize how hard it is to see how God is going to provide what we need. Again today I am slammed in the face with the message from last night at Ridge Church about BIG PRAYER. I made one of those big prayers, and am already seeing God answer those prayers. I have made a commitment to Him, and now he has pushed me over the side of the cliff and said "Trust me!" It is not an easy thing for me to do seeing as I have no idea where my needs are going to be met, but as I look at it, what an awesome chance to be one of the people that can truthfuly say, I don't know how it is happening, but because I have put my full faith and trust in God, He is meeting my needs and supplying what I need. It could be one of the scariest things that I have to do, and I do often loose sight of it as any human being would do, but how awesome to sit and think...if I am fully trusting God, than He is going to supply what I need, no it may not be everything that I want, but He is going to supply it. So many times when we make a commitment to God, it is easy to fall off of and loose sight of our goal because Satan is right there pulling us in the opposite direction, but when you have no where to go, and no where to turn to, and it seems that you are down and out, how awesome to know that God is right there by our side saying "Reach out and take my hand, trust me and I am going to take care of you!" and how awesome to know that He is going to take care of you!

So, while we were at the mall tonight, Rusty & I found a bin of clearance cd's at the christian bookstore and one of the cd's that we found was "Space, Love, & Bull Fighting" by Havalina...I dont' know if many of you remember this group active from like 95 -05....but one of their songs was titled "Rocket Ship" I would encourage you to go and find it online for some good comic relief!

RIDGE CHURCH - A MUCH NEEDED GOD SEND

Today was a day of wonderment! I got the chance to go and worship at Ridge Church in Charlotte, NC! My heart is truly at rest here! For quite a while I have been searching for what God would want to do with my life, and I think that I have finaly found it! Today began this morning as we went to pick up some rental trucks, and then load everything from their office and then haul it all to the senior center just to unload it and set it all up. I thought that it was going to be like when we set up Germain for Easter, just tiring, and when it was over you were just ready to home, but it was just the complete opposite! The number of volunteers that came out just to help out set up was just amazing! Although, I kept feeling that I was getting in the way because all of the people knew what they were doing, and me being the new guy kept getting in the way! Then by the end, everything was torn down, loaded back up, and put back at the office in what seemed like no time! It was a lot of hard work, but it was just so refreshing to see everybody so fired about getting to spread the gospel. Everybody there was so friendly, and you could truly tell that they wanted to be there and that they were not just going through their "church routine" but that they wanted really just wanted to be there and to be fed. So many times I have found people that have grown weary with church and that they feel like they have to go just to pay off a debt to God or because that is what God has told them to do, I know that I am guilty of being one who gets burned out and just going becaus that's what "I'm supposed to do"....but being around people who are truly passionate and on fire for God was just so refreshing, and I am so thankful that I have had this opportunity to be here!

The sermon today was about Prayer....BIG PRAYER. So many times our prayers turn into emergency calls. We only look to God to fix the things that are out of our control. Emergency room prayers are not bad, we should always have our emergency prayers, but really how BIG are our prayers? When we ask for some big thing, what is the result going to do to glorify and promote God? So many things that we ask for, it's because of something that we want for ourselves, but our wants and desires should be exhaulting Him, and so many times we miss that! I don't know quite how to put into words what the sermon meant to me, but I do encourage you to go to Ridge Church website and listen to the message, it is so powerful, and each will get their own understanding to take away!

THE LOAD UP FROM THE OFFICE

WE'RE OFF ON OUR WAY

THE FACILITY GETTIN READYMEGAN POSING LIKE SHE IS GOING TO DO SOME WORK

THE FINISHED STAGE

NEW YEAR....STILL NOT ENOUGH TIME!

Well, it is now 2008, and I had thought that I would have time enough to blog everyday, but as it turns out, 2008 has not changed much from 2007! Time is still flying by faster than I can believe and it is continuing to get harder and harder to try and keep in touch with everyone that I would like to! Yesterday was filled with a nice long drive over to Charlotte NC from Robbinsville! The drive was very peaceful except for the fact that I continualy had the fact of icy roads on my mind! I had no problems though with any of the driving, and finaly got here early in the evening! I was greated by two of my favoraitest people and I was so happy to get to see them again! Rusty and Tina have realy had a huge impact on my life over the past few years that I have known them, and I am so thankful that even though they moved away that I am still able to come and visit them and spend time, even though there is never enough time for us, I am continualy reminded that it is not the long periods of time that are spent together that make the friendships that last, but instead the little moments that create who we are together that are forever engrained on our hearts that bond such awesome friends together! I have met a lot of people in my short time, and I have had many friendships that have come and gone, but there are only a few that have lasted throughout the years, and as four of those friendships have moved hundreds of miles away from me, the bond is still there, and every time I get to see them, I treasure each moment that we have! God has given each of us an aloted time here on earth. Some people will choose to lead a life that is so busy that they don't have time for friends and family. Others will lead a life where they try to provide everything that they can and to be the hero because they see a need and they want to help fulfill it, but get so caught up that friendships begin to run shallow. Yet there are some who realize that each friend that we have is a special gift that is hard to get, and even harder to loose, and they invest in the friendships and grow closer to those people. God sends us people that are going to reveal stuff to us that we did not even know about ourselves! Sometimes the good things in us are pointed out, but sometimes the bad things that are going to hurt for a while are pointed out, but each step is a growing process for us in God's grand designed planned for our lives! As I always like to be challenged, I like just as much to hand out a challenge! This year, just take the time for the family, take time for the friends, strengthen what you have, and begin to grow the seeds that God is begining to plant! If there is confusion in a friendship that is causing hurt, go figure it out...is it realy worth loosing that person? I guess, just live the moments of life as if they are your last! Last year I was reminded very painfuly of this 2 times in only 3 months as I lost two of my very close friends, never to be able to tell them how much I appreciate them again in this life! Don't let words go unspoken, or wrinkles unironed! It may hurt now, but it is better to get the hurt out and over with than to have to live a lifetime wishing you could have, and what if.....

Okay, so after my ramblings, here are some pics from the snow of yesterday in Robbinsville!

THE SNOW IS HERE!!!

So, for an addendum to my earlier blog....the snow is here!!!! It just started snowing about 20 minutes ago, and already there is at least 3 inches of snow on the ground! It is 10:00pm and we all have been outside playing in the snow. It is hard to type because my fingers are numb from all of the snowballs! It is amazing, and we are all so excited to get to see it snow, and me being the Florida boy that I am, am loving it so much!! Here are a couple of pictures from our fun tonight, and there will be more tomorrow!!

SNOW DAY

Welcome Winter!!!! Today we were greeted by a freezing cold morning with the promise of snow later on that day! When the morning came the thermometer read that it was only 30 degrees! I don't believe that it ever got above 37 all day! Today we spent another day of pretty much doing nothing. We went to the camp and played with the whole diet coke & mentos experiment for a while...which that was fun, but it was WAY too cold to be able to stand it and truly have fun! Plus, with everything pretty much frozen, the experiment did not react as well as well as we thought that it would! Then we took a ride through the mountains again because it had not yet begun to snow, so we figured that we would go and track down the snow if it was not going to come and find us! We were successful of finding just a little bit of snow and a lot of ice...oh well I guess, they promise snow tonight! I'm supposed to leave for Charlotte tomorrow some time, but they say that there is a bad snow storm coming, so I might not be able to get out of here! Plus, I'm a Florida boy, and I don't think that I want to be driving on iced roads covered in snow for long distances! I had fun the one time, but it was a small patch, and I don't think that I really want to be doing that for very long! So, I hope that I still get to get out of here to go and see Rusty & Tina, but if not, I'll be thankful for the more timet that I get to spend with Steve & Brandy!

DAVID & CHRISTIAN SETTING UP OUR EXPERIMENT

WHISPER MOUNTAIN CAMP SITE

ME & STEVE

BRANDY & ANNA WERE TOO COLD TO GET OUT OF THE TRUCK!

SNOW ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

SOME MORE OF OUR ROAD TRIP

EVEN MORE ROAD TRIP

BRANDY & I FREEZING OUR BUTTS OFF

DAVID FREEZING HIS BUTT OFF

ICE DOWN THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

LOTS OF ICICLES

DAVID EATING THE ICICLES

BRANDY WAS TOO COLD TO GET OUT OF THE CAR...SO WE TOOK ONE TO HER