WHO ARE YOU?

Okay, so obviously people are reading my blog, and me being the nosey person that I am, am curious to know who is reading this...so if ya would, just leave me a message....I just find it funny that people actualy read this!

Thanks!

Have an awesome weekend!

YOU'RE GOING TO DIE....HAVE YOU REALLY LIVED?

I was talking with a friend the other day, and we got into a deep conversation (I didn't like it because I am a very small thinker!) but we were talking about life, and being able to live it to the fullest. The quote "Everybody dies, but not everybody truly lives" came up. This just brought the conversation down to a whole other level. It got us both thinking about everything. We are both in our 20's and if you do the math, if the average man is supposed to live around 80 years, then we are a 1/4 of the way to death. If the next 20 years go by as fast as the past 20 years, then we'll be 40 by tomorrow (now for those of you trying to figure that one out, it's only a figure of speech) then we are half way done with our lives. NOW, that is ONLY if God allows you to take the next 60 years worth of breaths. We are not promised anything past right now! We talked about all of the things back in school that we were afraid to do, but now we are regretting not taking the chances on the simple things in life. Then it got me to thinking, how many things has God put right in front of me, and He is just asking me to take a leap and to trust Him, but I am too scared to. I'm too afraid of that thing called "failure". This brought on another good topic that I have not thought much about.

What is failure? According to man, failure is not reaching the goal that we have set. But, what is failure to God? I do believe that what man views as failure, is just God pushing us to where He wants us to be, and helping build us what He wants us to be. A lot of times it is hard to get past that we might fail at what we try to do, but if we fail, it is God's will, if we succeed it is God's will. Now, understand, we are not to just go and do whatever we want and take us failing lightly. Failure in God's will is after careful council, and much guidance from Him. Maybe it's time to take that leap of faith that we know God is calling us to, put the word FAILURE out of our minds, and just follow. Are we going to regret tomorrow the decision that we made today? Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow! If this was your last breath, what are you going to regret not saying, what are you going to regret not doing? Don't live with regrets, live life for all that it's worth. We are often blinded by the things of man, bills, houses, jobs, everything we feel tied down by, but there is so much more, if we just let go and trust, we can live a life that we never thought we possibly could. Is it going to be filled with glitz and glamour? Maybe not, but what is God going to say to you when you get to the foot of His throne? "Well done thy good and faithful servent!" or "Why did you pass this opportunity by?" Just another challenge for you, tell those that you love, "I love you!" Tell your friends "Thank you!" and don't be afraid to show the love of Jesus to everyone around you.

THIS IS YOUR LAST BREATH, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO or NOT GOING TO REGRET?

On a softer note, I just want to thank all of you that have continued to pray for me as I go through some big life decisions and such, your prayers have been heard, and felt! I have gotten another job offer doing some faux painting with Connie (the lady that does the painting for McGregor's Pageant set) in some huge houses! Painting is not exactly what I want my career path to lead on, but I know that it is God continuing to lay a job in my path, and who knows where it will lead, I will follow! So, I just wanted to say thank you for your prayers!! I love you all! (Even though I'm not sure who all reads this, I do love you!)

THE STORY OF LIFE

I just got this book "The Ransomed Heart" by John Eldredge. It is a collection of Devotional readings from some of his most popular books. I have only read the first devotion in it, but what an awesome one it was for me as I continue to seek what God wants for my life. I know that God is calling me to something greater, but with something this big, I want a clear plan of what my life is going to become and why I am going to be going. This devotion was talking about how life is like a story. There is no pattern to it, it's not a cookie cutter, and it doesn't come at you like a math problem. Each day, a new paragraph begins when we wake up, and until we make the next move, we don't know what the next sentence is going to be. Sometimes the next sentence we know is going to be a scary one, and sometimes we know that it is going to be a happy one, but until we move, we are not going to find out what it is going to be. When we read a book, we often wonder what is going to happen at the end of the story, but we trust the author and we read all the way through the book to get to the end. The same applies in life, we all think that if we knew the end of our story, how, and when it was going to end, it would make life so much easier to live, we wouldn't regret things as much, we would get out and do today what we have planned for tomorrow. But, just like the author of the book, we have to trust the author of our life, and know that whatever the outcome is, that it is in His perfect plan!

Sometimes it is hard for us to trust God with the silent whispers that He speaks to us in our hearts, we know we hear something, but we're not quite sure what God is saying. We need to put our full focus on Him, and follow where He leads us, we are all going to make mistakes, but as a writer relies on whiteout (or the backspace key these days) the same we have to daily rely on forgiveness, and not let the past stand in the way of our future. It is proven that the hardest person to forgive is ourselves, but we must know that God forgives us, and we need to forgive ourselves, so that God continues each day to have a clean page to continue to write the chapters of our lives. Don't live today with looking for the end of the story and how it is going to end, live today as it's your last page, and God is about to sign His name at the end of your story. Take chances, if we seek God in all decisions we make there are no wrong moves. Somethings might not work out in mans eyes, but with God, He has put us in exact places at exact times. It is up to us at that point to realize the opportunities that God has put us there, and to take advantage and step outside of our comfort zone to use those opportunites, and to give our life story a purpose.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, NORTH CAROLINA

Well, since I have been told many times lately that I have not posted a new blog since my birthday, I figured that I would please the fans, and since I have a little bit of downtime, I will go ahead and post some updates!

Over the past few months God has been revealing so much to me through many circumstances that have happened in my life....some of them have been an awesome experience and I have loved every minute of them, while others were hard choices that I had to make or some difficult circumstances. Through it all though, I can truly say that I have taken the time to look deep into the situation and try to find what God is trying to show me, and what an awesome thing when God reveals parts of the plan that He has for my life. As I've told many of you, I have outgrown Florida. North Carolina is where my heart is, and now I am just working on the stepping process in order to be able to follow God's calling and move up there! I have been thinking about going and working at Whisper Mountain Ministries for the summer, but I new with me starting a business that it would not be possible for me to be gone that long, and honestly that kind of frustrated me knowing that I knew God wanted me there, but that I would not be able to because of work. Well, so far, I have been unemployed since Christmas, and as much as I love the unemployed life, it's hard not having any money! God has continued to provide me with odd jobs here and there to continue to meet my financial needs. My parents have been on me to get a job (and I guess I can't blame them...they can't support me forever!) but I again did not see how I was going to be able to get a job and go to WMM. I spent so much time in prayer over it, and again, God has fulfilled my need with a job that will take a few months to complete, but I am able to continue to put school first, and work around my schedule. That is one of the huge major hurdles that God has gotten me over, when I thought that there was no way it was going to happen, He had it all worked out already, and continued to open the doors! So, it look like I will still be able to go and serve at Whisper Mountain for the summer! How awesome is God with the way that He works!

I'm also into much prayer (and I welcome you to join me if you like!) over a huge transition in my life with a move to NC. I have served my time here and Florida, and God is calling me to move on and move to a new location where He has huge plans for my life so that I will be able to impact people for Him! I am looking at maybe even as soon as Christmas if everything will work out with school and all that I could be packing up and be out of here! But, I am not putting all my money into that basket as I have seen that God has a funny way of chaning my plans to fit what He has planned for me. What an awesome experience gettting to reflect back on my time, and though I did not see it at the time, being able to reflect on the ways that God has moved, and the awesome things that He has done in my life!

LOOKING UP AT THE CABINS & MESS HALL FROM THE FIELD AT WMM

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!