a day for the ages...

Wow...yesterday was one heck of a day...for the good and for the bad. First off, we got Shaq! I am huge fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and how cool is it that we got The Diesel himself! Never would have thought I would see the day that he became a Cavalier. I remember, back in the day collecting sports cards (6-8 grade)...his Upper Deck rookie card was one of the first I ever found in a pack. I will never forget it...it had him dunking in a time lapse photograph. So cool for back in the day. It was all so a part of the good ole junior high days of the Mark Price/Brad Daugherty/Larry Nance Cavs, playing NBA Jam in the arcades, and even playing basketball myself for U.L. Light.

Moving on...as I got home from work yesterday I found out the Michael Jackson had been taken to the hospital suffering from a heart attack. Now, if you know me, you know how much he is a part of my love for music. Thriller was my first favorite album as a little 6 year old version of myself. Not to mention, how much I thoroughly enjoyed Captain EO on my first trip to Disney World when I was 7. I still find myself singing along to his songs, just like I did back then...

The very moment that I found out of his passing...I was in the process of making an offer on the purchase of my first house. A very surreal experience in itself. Excitement, fear, and just an overall numb feeling accompanied me as I wrote the words in the offer. Buying a house has been a goal of mine for oh...8 years now. So many setbacks and situations have crossed my path along the way. It is no surprise that the day that I make that final push would be filled with so many milestones to accompany it.

If you're one of those people that truly know me...you know how my brain works. How everything that goes on around me is taken in and analyzed, forever putting a stamp on that current place and time. Well, yesterday was a day for the ages...one that took me through 3 separate parts of my life, now all joined together in one moment/one time that I will never forget.

how he loves

I just had to post this because this might be my new favoritist song. David Crowder's new single, which is a cover, but they promise that their new CD won't all be covers...and I trust them. Enjoy!!!

the old school

This morninng I am prepping my talk for the Sr./Jr. Highers at my church. We are going through a study called Bible Basics. It basically is us retelling old "sunday school" stories, that either we never learned correctly, or just plain forgot about. As I was trying to put my talk together, I had to spend about an hour trying to locate the story I was going to use. How sad is that? Here I am, a teacher of God's Word, and I have to spend that long to find a simple story about Moses? Honestly, I find it pretty ridiculous. So, I am making a new commitment to start studying the Old Testament more in my quiet times.
I think that so often, we as modern day Christians, focus so much on the New Testament that we forget about all of the important things God wants to tell us through the Old one. Just as I flipped through, frantically trying to find more story, I passed so many things that I've always wondered about. Just one more way that the Holy Spirit is trying to convict me.... Just when I start to think I'm getting pretty good at this, I quickly come to realize that I haven't even hit the tip of the iceburg yet.

lost in the 90s

If you know me, then you know that I love the show LOST. Well, this might be one of the funniest things I have seen someone put together...enjoy!

the beatitudes by a different light

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Matthew 5:3-10

I am currently involved with the training of a group of high school kids for a week where they will be serving others at church camp in Loudonville, Oh. We have been reading through and breaking down the book Improving Your Serve by Chuck McDowell, and I must say that I have been challenged as much as...if not more than...what we have been teaching. Honestly, I have never really spent any time studying the beatitudes, or reading in them anything beyond their face value. Kind of an "Oh, that's nice" feeling and quickly moving on to something I felt was more interesting or important. When, in reality, these 8 verses are everything that I should be striving to become in my daily walk with Christ. Just exactly what should my attitude be like when dealing with others? How far do I need to go? How outside of my own comfort zone do I need to live? The truth is, of course...far, far outside of everything that my human brain can deem as acceptable. When does God ever ask us to do "just" enough to get by? Never.