Read this today and had to share it! It is from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. GET INSPIRED!!!
"I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church..."
Colossians 1:24
We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside . Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, "Here I am! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8)
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured out wine. Yet God can enver make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, "If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn't object!" But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed--you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.
Wow!!! TRUE STORY!!!
I pray that we stay positive during our times of suffering. I pray that we put God first in ALL situations that we go through, good or bad! Jesus LEAD US!!!! I pray for strength and endurance!! So that we will be encouragements to those that need it around us! All this I pray in Jesus name! AMEN!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Athlete of the week!!!!!
A good question to ask is what day isn't busy for me eh? LOL!
Started the day off to one of my students sending me an encouraging word today "God prescribes trials, so rejoice when you are in them for it will produce endurance!" I'd say not a bad way to start the morning! Then another one of my students texts me "vote for me on wixy.com" He was nominated to be "Athlete of the week." So I immediately put up my status on Facebook so peeps can vote for him! He deserves it! I hope he wins! And if you are reading this and haven't put a vote in, heres the link: http://wixy.com/pages/7990019.php
Please vote for Michael Lafenhagen!
Work- Work was work today, typical work day, had some pretty fun customers today. Had one lady ask me about soccer and what offsides meant and how can you tell. So I demonstrated with a shoe insole LOL! it was funny, then i had a lady that called me crazy and funny. She had a fun time, i love fun customers!
Dental appointment- Because I was going from full time to part time, my insurance is about to expire so I had to make sure I got my teeth cleaned. Got to keep these teeth and smile pretty yeah? :) The last time i was in was right before i moved to Los Angeles! LOL they even remembered that, they thought I still lived there and that I made a special visit to them! Everything checked out fine, felt clean! Need to start taking care of my teeth and keep them clean; flossing and all!
Real Estate- Some things might be in the works soon! Still hearing lots of things people say about real estate but not going to get discouraged! Not going to worry about things I can't control, I know God has my back. HE WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Regardless of wins or losses, I will still serve JESUS!
Got a lot of big things that are about to pop off here real soon! Student leadership ! North Dakota Convention! Youth Retreat! Recruiting in Minneapolis! I cant wait!!!
Had a great conversation with one of my students in Naperville! Just really proud of his progress! Cant wait to see what is in store for him!
Pouring into others! Making a positive impact on others lives! LETS GO!!!!! GET INSPIRED!!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!"
Prayer Prayer Prayer!
Devo time!
It's long overdue eh? I praise you Lord! Much needed quality time! Read and get Inspired!
1Kings1:50-53 (NIV)
Key points- Fear can really make you say/do some things that you dont really mean or want to. Don't let fear get the best of you.
Text: Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. Mark 10:21 (NIV)
key points-
"Jesus looked at him..." A good question to ask is when has Jesus looked at you? When have you felt him looking at a certain part of your life? This story illustrates how a man strived for perfection. The man had everything, he identified himself in all the stuff he had. He thought that he had it all figured out, he didn't think what was about to take place next would happen. What is Jesus looking at in your life? in your heart? What do you identify yourself with?
"One thing you lack..."This just shows that we need to stay humble and in complete oneness with God. There should be nothing that is between our relationship with God.
"Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor..." What things do we have, material, accomplishments, achievements, relationships, money etc that we have put before Christ? This illustrates how simple we should really live. How our reliance should be on Christ, not our monetary value and our worth does not come from material possessions. It comes from CHRIST! One key word in there is "GO." When God says GO HE means GO!
"and you will have treasure in heaven..." Reality of it is, we are going to pass one day and all this stuff we thought we had forever on earth will go too. Earthly things dont matter, its the "treasures in heaven" that do.
"follow me." its only when we can die to ourselves is when we can really start to really follow Jesus.
Crazy how simple things can really be, how often do we find ourselves thinking we got everything figured out? But the reality of it is we don't. Take it from the rich man that identified himself in his riches and when seeking perfection (JESUS). Jesus looked at him in love told him simply what to do. And that was to identify himself in Christ and no longer in his riches. WoW!
Question- What would you do?
Text: If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Cor. 13:3-7 (NIV)
Key points- This has always been a deep verse for me. But really, this is LOVE. I really want to live this kind of love out! I know that this kind of love exists. THIS IS REALLY HOW LOVE SHOULD BE. Next time you get in a fight or mad at someone, I encourage you to really live this one out. I CHALLENGE YOU!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- You are bankrupt without love!
Question- Where are you lacking in love?
Text- But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Then Solomon was told, "Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, 'Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.' "
Solomon replied, "If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die."Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, "Go to your home."1Kings1:50-53 (NIV)
Key points- Fear can really make you say/do some things that you dont really mean or want to. Don't let fear get the best of you.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Start of the week!
Started off the week with a team meeting early in the morning! It was good, got to hear what the new store manager had to say about expectations and about what changes were going to come about. Overall I am excited for the store and team, I know some big things are about to happen, the store is under good leadership!
Work- The day at work went by pretty quickly, I really enjoy helping customers and especially the older ladies that come through the store that need help with shoes! I think I enjoy them the most because they laugh at my jokes :) In a sense we kind of entertain each other. The team laughs at me because they think I am crazy and basically they cant believe half the stuff i say anyways! I love it! Led the way in sales today, got to help some older ladies get fitted in some shoes, got some paper work done, and cracked some pretty funny jokes :)
Things haven't quite settled in yet that i am going part time, but i know it will soon. Its going to be some crazy times soon, but i dont care, I know the Lord will provide. Can't worry about things that I can't control. Just going to trust in God no matter what, through wins and losses. Its GO time, cant sit when God says GO!
I am guilty of buying a new watch today. It was something that I have always wanted ever since i was a little boy. I remember seeing it at Target as a little boy and wanting it so bad. Back then it was $10 now its $20....It's a Casio calculator watch! LOL!! DONT JUDGE ME! lol! I havent bought anything for myself in a long long long time, so i thought i would treat myself to this watch :)
Excel (young adults/college group) - I always look forward to Mondays and Wednesdays! Had a good conversation with Terry about ministry and evangelists. Some food for thought. Prayer before service was good, always good to pray with Bailey and Jon D! We got on a hype where we were just admiring how Jesus took our place on the cross, how He conquered death and Sin for US!! When He didnt have to... anyways we were hyped! PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER! Only way we are going to see change!!! Worship was awesome, Sarah Allen led worship tonight. It was awesome, you could really feel the Holy Spirit moving! Lord you get all the praise! We worship you!!! I shared a word that I received from one of my boys today!
DROPPING GEM MOMENT- It was Isaiah 55:9 where it says that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Just reminded me that when I get discouraged about paying bills, or being able to provide, or struggle with Sin, or struggle with life, work or circumstances. I shouldnt worry because God will take care, all I need to do is be obedient, follow Christ and acknowledge Him in all I do and He will take care of the rest. Put our FAITH in GOD not in money, people, possessions, etc. My wack thoughts are not His thoughts, my wack ways are not His ways! God is the only way! Get God vision!
The message today was awesome! it was about pouring into others lives and making a positive impact on others lives. Pour into others as others have poured into you. You never know who you are impacting, do your part and pour into others, leave the miracles up to GOD!
Key points- 1. Recognize the investments in our lives. (Acts 20:24) 2. Return the investments (2Tim 4:16-17, John 15:13, Proverbs 17:17) 3.Reinvest what has been deposited in our lives (1Corinthians 15:58)
At the end of the night we got to partner up with someone answer 2 questions : 1. who has invested in me? and 2. who can I invest in this semester?
I actually partnered up with one of my students. We had a great discussion about life, he is going through some stuff right now, but I know God is going to use this time to shape him through this fire. Refiner's Fire. I told him that I cant wait to hear this testimony. He doesnt know what kind of impact he is going to have but i cant wait to see when this is all said and done! I believe in him! I asked him if there was anything i could pray for, and at first he was hesitant but I could tell he wanted to tell me something. He was real honest and told me everything! Man WOW! Please anyone that is reading this, keep him in prayer! Prayer for wisdom to make the right choices, for strength to fight temptation, for God's vision for his life, for direction and for endurance!! I believe in you boy!
What a way to end the night! I love Jesus!!!!
Side note- Da Bears won!!! mannnnnn!!! crazy! I saw the Devin Hester run for a touchdown! Man that boy is SEERRRIIIOUUUSS!!!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!"
Please pray that I just continue to listen to what God wants me to do! I want to be SPIRIT led! I NEED MORE OF JESUS!
IF you need any prayer! let me know, I got you!!!! PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!! If we want to see change! it starts with PRAYER!!!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Super SUNDAY!
I thought to myself today, do i ever really have slow time ?
ANSWER: NO!
Start of the morning, got to sleep in for a little bit, fell asleep super early last night so i felt energized! AWESOME! Got ready for church and got a call from one of my students, they needed a ride because their mom locked the keys in their car, so i instantly scooped him up and then we scooped another one of my students on the way. Got to church a little early and that was good. Had the opportunity to chat with one of my students parents about what was going on in their life. They were thanking me for being involved in their son's life and also just being a positive influence. After the conversation i felt encouraged, Thank you JESUS!
Before church- Jason and Jonny were going around getting people with this little phone that looked like a Finding Nemo phone. The phone was a dummy phone but what would happen is if you pressed the "ok" button it would shock you LOL!!!!! Jonny would video tape it and Jason would get the people to press it! HILARIOUS!!! hahahahah! man those two are something else! They got a few people's reaction on video! funny stuff!!
Church- Pastor Terry really did a great job today!He spoke about judging others. It was good! made me think about thinking before speaking ! Got to remove my own planks before trying to remove other's specks. Matt. 7:1-6.
Tolerance- Allowing others to believe and live in ways we don't agree with, supporting their right to do so, and refusing to declare them right or wrong.
Judge-(krino)- to cause separation, harsh condemnation
THE VERSE DOESN'T SAY NOT TO JUDGE , BUT BE CAREFUL HOW YOU JUDGE.
How to judge wisely-
1. Judge with clear direction
2. Judge with a clear heart
3. Judge with clear standards
"I'm not responsible for what the outsiders do...God decides on the outsiders" 1 cor. 5:12-13 (message)
Good stuff!!
Right after service was our leader's meeting for SI (youth group), couldn't stay long because I had an open house i had to do for real estate. But stayed long enough to get lunch that Miett made! WOW! what a cook! the soup, rolls, and crepes were flippin awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Open house- My first open house by myself ever!!!! I thought it was going to be slow but boy was I wrong! It was great! Had a few families come in and check out the home! There wasn't a dull moment! It was a nice home that I was showing, right on the golf course! The last family that came through was a family i actually knew! Their initial reaction was like: "wow! you do real estate too? Lol! (last time they saw me was at mosser's shoes)" I told them yea I work at Mosser's, real estate, involved with my youth group, my young adults/ college group, manage/play on a soccer team and participate in life LOL! They were like wow!
Overall, the open house went real well!
Small groups- Right after the open house, had to get things ready for the small group that i was hosting! All i have to say is i love my students! we spoke about living for others and not yourself! Heard some interesting things from these guys lol! funny stuff! But i am happy that they come, its a chance to learn about life and Jesus together! Had some great conversations with my students, man i love it! That's what life is about!
Dropping off one of my students, we had a great conversation about life and school. Man i cant wait to see what the future holds, so much talent and so much love! I love my students, they are growing spiritually and physically! I pray that God continues to use them and shape them! This year is just the beginning...Growth and Development...Future leaders of the world !!!!
Game night- LOL! man met up with that crazy lady again... FIFA2010, sad but true, 2011 is coming out in a few days, we (the fellas) are already contemplating how to get it....WOW! i cant wait to play....Lord help us not to get so distracted from FIFA LOL! mannn we need prayer!
Finally got home! meeting early morning! What a day! I love life, but more importantly...I LOVE JESUS!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!"
Whoever reads this please keep me in prayer, going to need it! lots of things are happening soon, going to need God vision and God wisdom!
ANSWER: NO!
Start of the morning, got to sleep in for a little bit, fell asleep super early last night so i felt energized! AWESOME! Got ready for church and got a call from one of my students, they needed a ride because their mom locked the keys in their car, so i instantly scooped him up and then we scooped another one of my students on the way. Got to church a little early and that was good. Had the opportunity to chat with one of my students parents about what was going on in their life. They were thanking me for being involved in their son's life and also just being a positive influence. After the conversation i felt encouraged, Thank you JESUS!
Before church- Jason and Jonny were going around getting people with this little phone that looked like a Finding Nemo phone. The phone was a dummy phone but what would happen is if you pressed the "ok" button it would shock you LOL!!!!! Jonny would video tape it and Jason would get the people to press it! HILARIOUS!!! hahahahah! man those two are something else! They got a few people's reaction on video! funny stuff!!
Church- Pastor Terry really did a great job today!He spoke about judging others. It was good! made me think about thinking before speaking ! Got to remove my own planks before trying to remove other's specks. Matt. 7:1-6.
Tolerance- Allowing others to believe and live in ways we don't agree with, supporting their right to do so, and refusing to declare them right or wrong.
Judge-(krino)- to cause separation, harsh condemnation
THE VERSE DOESN'T SAY NOT TO JUDGE , BUT BE CAREFUL HOW YOU JUDGE.
How to judge wisely-
1. Judge with clear direction
2. Judge with a clear heart
3. Judge with clear standards
"I'm not responsible for what the outsiders do...God decides on the outsiders" 1 cor. 5:12-13 (message)
Good stuff!!
Right after service was our leader's meeting for SI (youth group), couldn't stay long because I had an open house i had to do for real estate. But stayed long enough to get lunch that Miett made! WOW! what a cook! the soup, rolls, and crepes were flippin awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Open house- My first open house by myself ever!!!! I thought it was going to be slow but boy was I wrong! It was great! Had a few families come in and check out the home! There wasn't a dull moment! It was a nice home that I was showing, right on the golf course! The last family that came through was a family i actually knew! Their initial reaction was like: "wow! you do real estate too? Lol! (last time they saw me was at mosser's shoes)" I told them yea I work at Mosser's, real estate, involved with my youth group, my young adults/ college group, manage/play on a soccer team and participate in life LOL! They were like wow!
Overall, the open house went real well!
Small groups- Right after the open house, had to get things ready for the small group that i was hosting! All i have to say is i love my students! we spoke about living for others and not yourself! Heard some interesting things from these guys lol! funny stuff! But i am happy that they come, its a chance to learn about life and Jesus together! Had some great conversations with my students, man i love it! That's what life is about!
Dropping off one of my students, we had a great conversation about life and school. Man i cant wait to see what the future holds, so much talent and so much love! I love my students, they are growing spiritually and physically! I pray that God continues to use them and shape them! This year is just the beginning...Growth and Development...Future leaders of the world !!!!
Game night- LOL! man met up with that crazy lady again... FIFA2010, sad but true, 2011 is coming out in a few days, we (the fellas) are already contemplating how to get it....WOW! i cant wait to play....Lord help us not to get so distracted from FIFA LOL! mannn we need prayer!
Finally got home! meeting early morning! What a day! I love life, but more importantly...I LOVE JESUS!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!"
Whoever reads this please keep me in prayer, going to need it! lots of things are happening soon, going to need God vision and God wisdom!
Friday, September 24, 2010
TGIF!!!!!
What a Friday! Started off with busy day at work. Crazy to think that i will going part time here real quick! I will most definitely enjoy time to think and organize my thoughts. I can't wait to see what God has in store! Got a few things done today. Had a great conversation with one of my childhood friends about life. Great to hear that he is growing up. Good convo.
Tonight was awesome. We had our Excel ( young adults/college group) meeting, then after that we had our prayer chain! Wow!!! is all i have to say! Before we went to campus we sang a few songs to get warmed up and hyped for JESUS! Then we rolled out to the quad. Some new church interns had just arrived from England, so it was nice to meet them for the first time! It was awesome tonight on the quad. We sang worship songs, prayed, met some cool people including a drunk guy that fell off his bike, worshipped with us for a little bit and I got to pray for him! I LOVE JESUS!!! Absolutely fun night!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!!"
cant wait to see what the Lord has in store!
Tonight was awesome. We had our Excel ( young adults/college group) meeting, then after that we had our prayer chain! Wow!!! is all i have to say! Before we went to campus we sang a few songs to get warmed up and hyped for JESUS! Then we rolled out to the quad. Some new church interns had just arrived from England, so it was nice to meet them for the first time! It was awesome tonight on the quad. We sang worship songs, prayed, met some cool people including a drunk guy that fell off his bike, worshipped with us for a little bit and I got to pray for him! I LOVE JESUS!!! Absolutely fun night!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!!"
cant wait to see what the Lord has in store!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Quiet Time
Text:
18When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Acts 20:18-24
Some key words/phrases :
humility, severely tested, not hesistant to preach anything..., publicly, declaring to both Jews and Greeks...,not knowing..., life worth nothing...,finish the race and complete..., and God's grace.
HUMILITY- The apostle Paul served with humility, he was humble. To be humble = to destroy the independence , power, or will of, low in rank, status, importance, quality, to have a feeling of insignificance, not proud or arrogant. Wow! Its clear here that God uses the weak to glorify HIS name!
SEVERELY tested- to put simply, Paul had some "haters," some people that didn't want to see him succeed. They were trying to test and see how real Paul's Faith was! Word to the wise, there are people in your lives now that are going to do the same thing! I encourage you to stay strong! In times of doubt, ask for God vision! God's provision and wisdom!
Not HESITANT to preach ANYTHING...PUBLICLY...DECLARING to both Jews and Greeks-Wow! Talk about boldness! Not hesitant meant that he was not scared and didnt think twice about it and to do it publicly meant he was not shy about letting people know about JESUS! It should be the same way with us, we should speak out boldly and publicly ! We have nothing to hide! If Jesus has made a positive impact in your life, why hide it? We need to let EVERYONE know about the GOOD NEWS!
NOT KNOWING- Life is this way. We never know what is going to happen. But this illustrates how we dont have to always know what's going to happen in our lives, and that God is in control if you let HIM. I know I am guilty of this, I am the kind of person that has to know exactly what the agenda is and what is planned. But when we have a strong relationship with Christ there is a level of boldness and confidence. We begin to walk forward NOT KNOWING what will happen and that God is in control.
Life worth NOTHING...FINISH the race and COMPLETE...the task of testifying to the gospel of God's Grace- WOW!!! This just clearly shows the ultimate sacrifice of self. Living not for self but living to serve others, to finish the task to completion and that is to let the world know about God's Grace! We are all here for a purpose! I urge you brothers and sisters to use your talents and abilities to help those that are in need, those that are weak.
"For he knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.
Our days on earth are like grass; like the wildflowers, we bloom and die.
The wind blows, and we are gone--as though we had never been here."
-Psalm 103: 14-16
What have you done lately to help? I encourage you, we are all God's instruments of hope and love to be used in a world that is hopeless. Use your talents, gifts and abilities to help someone that needs and asks for it!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe. Get INSPIRED!!!"
18When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Acts 20:18-24
Some key words/phrases :
humility, severely tested, not hesistant to preach anything..., publicly, declaring to both Jews and Greeks...,not knowing..., life worth nothing...,finish the race and complete..., and God's grace.
HUMILITY- The apostle Paul served with humility, he was humble. To be humble = to destroy the independence , power, or will of, low in rank, status, importance, quality, to have a feeling of insignificance, not proud or arrogant. Wow! Its clear here that God uses the weak to glorify HIS name!
SEVERELY tested- to put simply, Paul had some "haters," some people that didn't want to see him succeed. They were trying to test and see how real Paul's Faith was! Word to the wise, there are people in your lives now that are going to do the same thing! I encourage you to stay strong! In times of doubt, ask for God vision! God's provision and wisdom!
Not HESITANT to preach ANYTHING...PUBLICLY...DECLARING to both Jews and Greeks-Wow! Talk about boldness! Not hesitant meant that he was not scared and didnt think twice about it and to do it publicly meant he was not shy about letting people know about JESUS! It should be the same way with us, we should speak out boldly and publicly ! We have nothing to hide! If Jesus has made a positive impact in your life, why hide it? We need to let EVERYONE know about the GOOD NEWS!
NOT KNOWING- Life is this way. We never know what is going to happen. But this illustrates how we dont have to always know what's going to happen in our lives, and that God is in control if you let HIM. I know I am guilty of this, I am the kind of person that has to know exactly what the agenda is and what is planned. But when we have a strong relationship with Christ there is a level of boldness and confidence. We begin to walk forward NOT KNOWING what will happen and that God is in control.
Life worth NOTHING...FINISH the race and COMPLETE...the task of testifying to the gospel of God's Grace- WOW!!! This just clearly shows the ultimate sacrifice of self. Living not for self but living to serve others, to finish the task to completion and that is to let the world know about God's Grace! We are all here for a purpose! I urge you brothers and sisters to use your talents and abilities to help those that are in need, those that are weak.
"For he knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.
Our days on earth are like grass; like the wildflowers, we bloom and die.
The wind blows, and we are gone--as though we had never been here."
-Psalm 103: 14-16
What have you done lately to help? I encourage you, we are all God's instruments of hope and love to be used in a world that is hopeless. Use your talents, gifts and abilities to help someone that needs and asks for it!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe. Get INSPIRED!!!"
I love time spent with my students!
I just want to publicly say that i love my students. They are so awesome! I really enjoy my Wednesdays when I get to see them all at Sudden Impact (youth group). They are wild, wacky, crazy, loving, caring, cool, chill, awesome and the list just goes on and on and on! I love the diversity and the mixture of personalities! Man i love the youth!
Pastor Jason spoke tonight from Philippians. What an awesome message about humility! "your life is not YOUR life" and "humility causes UPWARD mobility." He had some great points and great illustrations! That boy can preach! This life we live is not for us to satisfy ourselves, its about living selfLESS and serving others!
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to yourselves, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4.
For the first time ever, we took communion with the students! What an awesome night! I can't wait until small groups this Sunday and also student leadership coming up the following Saturday! Empowering our future leaders of the world!
SIDE NOTE- as i was about to leave the church tonight, my phone rang and the number i saw on there was a number i didnt recognize, i didnt pick up because I was in a conversation but I called it right back. It was my boy from high school that I havent talked to in at least 10 years. I said whats up bro! did you call? he said, no , who is this? I told him this was DP and I just got a call from you. LOL he said oh wassup D, I dont think i called you but im busy at work talk to you later. So I said ok and we hung up.
Later on tonight, he calls me again and i miss the call. I called him back and now we chat! Keep in mind we haven't talked in years! He tells me what he's been up to and I tell him what I've been up to, we catch up a little and what a great story he had to tell me! Man! But the cool thing is at the end of the conversation, I asked if I could pray for him. He said sure, i know i need it! WOW! I just felt like I had to pray for him, so I prayed in Jesus name! Thank you JESUS! You never know who you are going to talk to right? PRAISE HIM!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!"
Those that are reading, i hope you get INSPIRED and encouraged! if you have any prayer requests let me know, i got you! PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!!
Pastor Jason spoke tonight from Philippians. What an awesome message about humility! "your life is not YOUR life" and "humility causes UPWARD mobility." He had some great points and great illustrations! That boy can preach! This life we live is not for us to satisfy ourselves, its about living selfLESS and serving others!
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to yourselves, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4.
For the first time ever, we took communion with the students! What an awesome night! I can't wait until small groups this Sunday and also student leadership coming up the following Saturday! Empowering our future leaders of the world!
SIDE NOTE- as i was about to leave the church tonight, my phone rang and the number i saw on there was a number i didnt recognize, i didnt pick up because I was in a conversation but I called it right back. It was my boy from high school that I havent talked to in at least 10 years. I said whats up bro! did you call? he said, no , who is this? I told him this was DP and I just got a call from you. LOL he said oh wassup D, I dont think i called you but im busy at work talk to you later. So I said ok and we hung up.
Later on tonight, he calls me again and i miss the call. I called him back and now we chat! Keep in mind we haven't talked in years! He tells me what he's been up to and I tell him what I've been up to, we catch up a little and what a great story he had to tell me! Man! But the cool thing is at the end of the conversation, I asked if I could pray for him. He said sure, i know i need it! WOW! I just felt like I had to pray for him, so I prayed in Jesus name! Thank you JESUS! You never know who you are going to talk to right? PRAISE HIM!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!!!"
Those that are reading, i hope you get INSPIRED and encouraged! if you have any prayer requests let me know, i got you! PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday September 20, 2010
Had a great feeling for today! Devo time!, work, meeting with the owners, some real estate, and then Excel (young adults/College group)
Devo time- Being a Christian is not about doing good but being more like Christ, loving all. Matt 5:43-48
this is a critical way to live, because naturally we want to hate or have bitterness towards our enemies when the Word actually tells us to "LOVE your enemies and PRAY for those that persecute you." v.44
Our strengths are to be used for service, to help those around us. We are taught by examples of what Christ did. Rom. 15:1-15.
Excel (young adults/College group)- It was absolutely awesome tonight! i had the opportunity to speak and share my life with the group! it was awesome! I really felt God's presence in the building! God is awesome! we finished out with worship and really going for it! what a great group! what a great environment ! what an awesome experience! Thank you Jesus!
After Excel- it was Bailey's birthday so some of the guys decided to go to Chipotle to eat. I fell in love with the burrito bowl! it was awesome! great conversations and great company! Happy Birthday Bailey!!!!
Got to get ready for the next day! Speaking again on Wednesday! Pray for Pastor Jason and I, pray that God will use us to impact the students that we're speaking to in a positive way, pray for change and direction in these students lives.
If you need prayer let me know! i got you!!!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!"
disclaimer- i am typing how i would speak it lol so please dont be mad at me for not capitalizing certain things or words or having this looking perfect. this is a blog from an imperfect person that loves JESUS! :) forgive me!
Devo time- Being a Christian is not about doing good but being more like Christ, loving all. Matt 5:43-48
this is a critical way to live, because naturally we want to hate or have bitterness towards our enemies when the Word actually tells us to "LOVE your enemies and PRAY for those that persecute you." v.44
Our strengths are to be used for service, to help those around us. We are taught by examples of what Christ did. Rom. 15:1-15.
this is how we should live, to serve others, God has given us STRENGTHS not for our own but to serve and help others in their weakness! I think the key thing here is "everything was written in the past was written to teach us , so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." v.4
Trust God, believe in Him, have "walking on water " like faith. We forget that peter ACTUALLY walked on water, matt 14:25-31this is an awesome illustration about how we should keep our focus on Jesus and keep strong FAITH in HIM not on anybody or anything else in our lives, because when we are focused on HIM and only HIM there is a boldness, a confidence that miracles come from!
Work- it went real well today! had a busy day today. its always busy on mondays for me, running reports, going to the bank, having schedules ready, preparing paper work for the meeting with the owners and today we had a huge shipment come in! So it was fun! The meeting with the owners went real well! it is always a pleasure to talk to those guys. I have learned a lot from them, its mos definitely interesting to work directly with the owners. You get to learn about how things work and how the operations parts really works. Looking over numbers and i feel like i have actually applied what i have learned in college LOL!!! i never thought i would say that but its pretty need to actually apply something i have learned!Excel (young adults/College group)- It was absolutely awesome tonight! i had the opportunity to speak and share my life with the group! it was awesome! I really felt God's presence in the building! God is awesome! we finished out with worship and really going for it! what a great group! what a great environment ! what an awesome experience! Thank you Jesus!
After Excel- it was Bailey's birthday so some of the guys decided to go to Chipotle to eat. I fell in love with the burrito bowl! it was awesome! great conversations and great company! Happy Birthday Bailey!!!!
Got to get ready for the next day! Speaking again on Wednesday! Pray for Pastor Jason and I, pray that God will use us to impact the students that we're speaking to in a positive way, pray for change and direction in these students lives.
If you need prayer let me know! i got you!!!
"Miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get INSPIRED!!"
disclaimer- i am typing how i would speak it lol so please dont be mad at me for not capitalizing certain things or words or having this looking perfect. this is a blog from an imperfect person that loves JESUS! :) forgive me!
What a weekend!
Busy busy busy!
Friday- worked all day on friday from 830am-6pm. Got the opportunity to make it the first day of small groups! Small groups was AMAZING!!!!! you already read about it from my previous post but man it was awesome!!!!
Saturday- We had our first student leadership meeting! what a great way to start your morning! Always encouraging to hang out with future leaders of the world! We had breakfast together and went over some of the plans for the program. Got to talk to the students about what to expect in the program and the level of commitment required. Proud of my students, i cant wait until the next session. We are going to dive straight into the curriculum. The bottom line is empowering our future leaders of the world: evolving, equipping, and executing! After the leadership meeting i went straight to work!
Sunday- I had a pretty jammed packed Sunday, did transitions at church so i was at church from 830am-130pm. What a great message again from Pastor Grogan! It was a continuance our the series of "8 Myths Smart Christians Believe" this weeks myth was "forgiving means forgetting." Wow! Pastor snapped !!!
if you want to listen to the message i have attached the link:
click this link and download the message-http://www.stonecreekwired.com/sermon/forgiving-means-forgetting/
Soccer game- We had our 3rd game at 4pm. I got to the field around 230pm to warm up because last game i played i got some major cramps in the calves lol and this time i made sure i was prepared to stay in the game longer and not cramp up. So i got there early to stretch and even before that i put icy hot on my legs and calves !!! LOL!!! hey dont judge me! it worked too! lol This game we played against a team that is basically our rival team, our brother team because we scrimmage each other all the time! so it should have been close match! to start the game we (our team) was scrambling because people showed up late to the game and we only had 9 people at first, so that was already rough. We finally started the game and it went real well! we scored the first goal in 5 minutes! so it looked promising...boy were we wrong, i dont know what happened to our team from there, it was like we were there physically but not mentally. to make a long story short we ended up losing 6 to 1 ? or 7 to 1 ? i dont even know it was that bad! but the cool thing was we had a whole cheering section for us!! got to love our fans!!! they supported us til the end! we appreciate that !!!! THANK YOU! also we all knew we had a bad game and we knew that we would meet that team again! even the other team knew we didnt show up, they were shocked at the score too. hmmm long long long week!
not exactly the way i wanted my weekend to end lol! but hey its life! after the game, came home to relax and get my mind right to finish up my message for Excel (young adults/college ministry).
pray for me! LOL i need it!
"miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get inspired!!!!"
let me know if you need any prayer! i got you! its our duty to pray for one another, and believe Jesus will heal, provide, protect and save!
Friday- worked all day on friday from 830am-6pm. Got the opportunity to make it the first day of small groups! Small groups was AMAZING!!!!! you already read about it from my previous post but man it was awesome!!!!
Saturday- We had our first student leadership meeting! what a great way to start your morning! Always encouraging to hang out with future leaders of the world! We had breakfast together and went over some of the plans for the program. Got to talk to the students about what to expect in the program and the level of commitment required. Proud of my students, i cant wait until the next session. We are going to dive straight into the curriculum. The bottom line is empowering our future leaders of the world: evolving, equipping, and executing! After the leadership meeting i went straight to work!
Sunday- I had a pretty jammed packed Sunday, did transitions at church so i was at church from 830am-130pm. What a great message again from Pastor Grogan! It was a continuance our the series of "8 Myths Smart Christians Believe" this weeks myth was "forgiving means forgetting." Wow! Pastor snapped !!!
if you want to listen to the message i have attached the link:
click this link and download the message-http://www.stonecreekwired.com/sermon/forgiving-means-forgetting/
Soccer game- We had our 3rd game at 4pm. I got to the field around 230pm to warm up because last game i played i got some major cramps in the calves lol and this time i made sure i was prepared to stay in the game longer and not cramp up. So i got there early to stretch and even before that i put icy hot on my legs and calves !!! LOL!!! hey dont judge me! it worked too! lol This game we played against a team that is basically our rival team, our brother team because we scrimmage each other all the time! so it should have been close match! to start the game we (our team) was scrambling because people showed up late to the game and we only had 9 people at first, so that was already rough. We finally started the game and it went real well! we scored the first goal in 5 minutes! so it looked promising...boy were we wrong, i dont know what happened to our team from there, it was like we were there physically but not mentally. to make a long story short we ended up losing 6 to 1 ? or 7 to 1 ? i dont even know it was that bad! but the cool thing was we had a whole cheering section for us!! got to love our fans!!! they supported us til the end! we appreciate that !!!! THANK YOU! also we all knew we had a bad game and we knew that we would meet that team again! even the other team knew we didnt show up, they were shocked at the score too. hmmm long long long week!
not exactly the way i wanted my weekend to end lol! but hey its life! after the game, came home to relax and get my mind right to finish up my message for Excel (young adults/college ministry).
pray for me! LOL i need it!
"miracles are happening, miracles are going to happen, just pray and believe! Get inspired!!!!"
let me know if you need any prayer! i got you! its our duty to pray for one another, and believe Jesus will heal, provide, protect and save!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Small Groups!
Who would have thought i would have spent my Friday night at a small group sharing thoughts, ideas, and life with fellow young adults, teens and adults :) At first i was not going to make it but one way or another i had scheduled enough people to close at the shoe store so it worked out ! So right after work i raced down to Tuscola, Illinois to Miett and Terry's small group! I thought i knew where i was going because i looked it up on google maps then i also put it into my gps! Boy was I wrong! I was actually 20 minutes ahead then after about 30 minutes i found their home! After i finally found their house i realized i was actually right down the street from their home but because i wasnt in the right state of mind (partially because i was so ticked off i was lost, late and a loser!) i missed it! lol crazy!
Small Group- it started off with dinner! mannnnnn the food was AWESOME!!! had some salad, garlic bread spaghetti, ALL HOME MADE!!!! it was DELICIOUS!!!!! also had this lemonade that was like mixed with strawberries or something but it was super DELICIOUS as well! After dinner we went down to the basement to get the small group started! Started with intros, our names, what we did for a living and what we did on our leisure time! Then we dove right into the core stuff! it was awesome just to hear everyones views, thoughts and ideas! It was fun to hear how life was for everyone, and how Jesus was working in their lives! We talked, shared and prayed for one another! Time flew by so fast! it felt like an hour or so but it was actually a couple hours! WOW! it was awesome talking about Jesus! After we prayed we had dessert! it was amazing! then shortly after that hung out and then went home! What a fun time! Thank you MIETT,TERRY, and ABBY for opening your home and sharing with us! Felt God's presence!
Prayer request! Need God's wisdom and guidance, some things are going to happen here real soon and i know that only way i can make it is through Christ's power! Also pray that i be affective in making positive impacts on people around me and also that God would use me to share the good news, that He would speak through me!!!!
AWESOME night! Student leadership tomorrow!!! cant wait!!!!!!! im sooooooo excited for my future leaders of the world!!!!!!!
Need any prayer? I GOT YOU!!! just let me know!!! We need to keep praying for our families, friends, co-workers, leaders and people around us to be encouraged!!!!!!!PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!
Miracles are happening! i believe it! Jesus is Lord! GET INSPIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Small Group- it started off with dinner! mannnnnn the food was AWESOME!!! had some salad, garlic bread spaghetti, ALL HOME MADE!!!! it was DELICIOUS!!!!! also had this lemonade that was like mixed with strawberries or something but it was super DELICIOUS as well! After dinner we went down to the basement to get the small group started! Started with intros, our names, what we did for a living and what we did on our leisure time! Then we dove right into the core stuff! it was awesome just to hear everyones views, thoughts and ideas! It was fun to hear how life was for everyone, and how Jesus was working in their lives! We talked, shared and prayed for one another! Time flew by so fast! it felt like an hour or so but it was actually a couple hours! WOW! it was awesome talking about Jesus! After we prayed we had dessert! it was amazing! then shortly after that hung out and then went home! What a fun time! Thank you MIETT,TERRY, and ABBY for opening your home and sharing with us! Felt God's presence!
Prayer request! Need God's wisdom and guidance, some things are going to happen here real soon and i know that only way i can make it is through Christ's power! Also pray that i be affective in making positive impacts on people around me and also that God would use me to share the good news, that He would speak through me!!!!
AWESOME night! Student leadership tomorrow!!! cant wait!!!!!!! im sooooooo excited for my future leaders of the world!!!!!!!
Need any prayer? I GOT YOU!!! just let me know!!! We need to keep praying for our families, friends, co-workers, leaders and people around us to be encouraged!!!!!!!PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!
Miracles are happening! i believe it! Jesus is Lord! GET INSPIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Life has been very busy lately, but thats the story of my life right? LOL
Real estate classes - I have mandatory continuing education classes for my real estate license this week. So I have been attending class. It has been pretty cool. Learning some new stuff and also meeting some pretty cool people. I happen to know one of the guys in the class. Havent seen him in years, actually the last time was back in 2002-2003 at Parkland College. So it was funny to see him in the real estate class with me. The class is pretty cool. Lunch is provided so no complaints there. Its just interesting to meet the people there, most of which have been in real estate for 10+ years. So its nice to hear some of their stories. The class itself is crazy in a sense that you go over the material and then you take test right after that, which means no time for studying so you better have been listening :) hahaha LOL man it caught me wayyy off guard at first but i was prepared the other times.
Random thought- I was just thinking earlier today that i have an addiction. And got confirmation when i got to church today and was talking to Jason. LOL. Her name is FIFA 2010. Playing that game has made me stay up super late for no reason, getting upset and actually emotionally attached thinking if i dont play it, i will be missing something ? LOL!! NO!!! thats a major problem right there! so i think i will have to lay off the stix for a while.
Sudden Impact (youth group)- Hanging out with the youth is always a blast. I love every moment of hanging out making an impact on these students lives. Thank you Jesus! So awesome getting to see them growing spiritually and physically! its crazy! Lincoln's Challenge came today too. Lincolns Challenge is basically a boot camp for students/teenagers that want to better their lives. So it was nice to see the Lincoln's Challenge students! Today my boy Sirimal tagged teamed a sermon with Pastor Ricky. Sirimal did excellent for the first time speaking ever! I was mos def proud of him! He spoke boldy, confidently and overall was poised! It was great to see!! Jason played the drums for worship today! Man he is a natural at anything he touches! He did a great job! It was also Matt's last day. Matt is an intern at the church from England. We gave him a USA flag signed by all the students. It was hilarious! Got to pray for one of my students. Im proud of him, he is really growing in his faith, the boy is stepping out boldly in Jesus Name! Miracles are going to happen, i have this gut feeling something HUGE is going to happen! its already happening!!!
Steak n Shake- After youth tonight, me and some of the guys took Matt out to Steak n Shake, his favorite place to eat. There we all just chilled and had some laughs! it was fun! something cool that happened was the waitress that helped us was real nice. We invited her to church and come to find out that she was invited the other day by another family from our church! thats awesome! someone had beat us to inviting her to church!
That concludes another crazy day for me! This is the first time I've had to sit down and really collect my thoughts all day! For those that are following me and reading my blogs, or anyone just reading this , please keep me in prayer! Got a lot of things coming up and the only way i am going to get through it is going to be through God's Grace!
If you need or have any prayer requests, let me know! I GOT YOU!!
We need to pray for one another, pray for our families, friends, leaders, and PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!! God answers prayer! BELIEVE THAT!!!!
GET INSPIRED!!!!
Real estate classes - I have mandatory continuing education classes for my real estate license this week. So I have been attending class. It has been pretty cool. Learning some new stuff and also meeting some pretty cool people. I happen to know one of the guys in the class. Havent seen him in years, actually the last time was back in 2002-2003 at Parkland College. So it was funny to see him in the real estate class with me. The class is pretty cool. Lunch is provided so no complaints there. Its just interesting to meet the people there, most of which have been in real estate for 10+ years. So its nice to hear some of their stories. The class itself is crazy in a sense that you go over the material and then you take test right after that, which means no time for studying so you better have been listening :) hahaha LOL man it caught me wayyy off guard at first but i was prepared the other times.
Random thought- I was just thinking earlier today that i have an addiction. And got confirmation when i got to church today and was talking to Jason. LOL. Her name is FIFA 2010. Playing that game has made me stay up super late for no reason, getting upset and actually emotionally attached thinking if i dont play it, i will be missing something ? LOL!! NO!!! thats a major problem right there! so i think i will have to lay off the stix for a while.
Sudden Impact (youth group)- Hanging out with the youth is always a blast. I love every moment of hanging out making an impact on these students lives. Thank you Jesus! So awesome getting to see them growing spiritually and physically! its crazy! Lincoln's Challenge came today too. Lincolns Challenge is basically a boot camp for students/teenagers that want to better their lives. So it was nice to see the Lincoln's Challenge students! Today my boy Sirimal tagged teamed a sermon with Pastor Ricky. Sirimal did excellent for the first time speaking ever! I was mos def proud of him! He spoke boldy, confidently and overall was poised! It was great to see!! Jason played the drums for worship today! Man he is a natural at anything he touches! He did a great job! It was also Matt's last day. Matt is an intern at the church from England. We gave him a USA flag signed by all the students. It was hilarious! Got to pray for one of my students. Im proud of him, he is really growing in his faith, the boy is stepping out boldly in Jesus Name! Miracles are going to happen, i have this gut feeling something HUGE is going to happen! its already happening!!!
Steak n Shake- After youth tonight, me and some of the guys took Matt out to Steak n Shake, his favorite place to eat. There we all just chilled and had some laughs! it was fun! something cool that happened was the waitress that helped us was real nice. We invited her to church and come to find out that she was invited the other day by another family from our church! thats awesome! someone had beat us to inviting her to church!
That concludes another crazy day for me! This is the first time I've had to sit down and really collect my thoughts all day! For those that are following me and reading my blogs, or anyone just reading this , please keep me in prayer! Got a lot of things coming up and the only way i am going to get through it is going to be through God's Grace!
If you need or have any prayer requests, let me know! I GOT YOU!!
We need to pray for one another, pray for our families, friends, leaders, and PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!! God answers prayer! BELIEVE THAT!!!!
GET INSPIRED!!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Weekend!
Friday- Jammed packed day, worked all day then it was one of my student's birthday! so we hung out, went to the Unity Rockets football game with some of the fellas from church to watch some of the students that go to our youth group play. Ended up seeing Pastor Grogan and some other peeps from church up there. Funny thing is we brought the "flavor" to the town and the game LOL! we had a mixed dude, Nigerian, English man, Sri Lankan, Brazilian, Laotian ( me) and an African American! lol mannn it was awesome! We had a great time, felt bad for the other team! Unity was killing that team 40 to 0 at half time! lol!!! mann crazy!!! the star quarterback and the star running back were students that we knew, and went to our youth group! they were KILLIN them!! i love it!!
side note- ran into my elementary school music teacher!!! what a small world! and she actually remembered me!!! crazy!
after the game we ordered some good ole Papa Del's Pizza (chicago style deep dish pizza, the best of all time in my opinion) got some JOLLY RANCHER popsicles ( they were OFF THE CHAINS DELICIOUS!!) and went to one of my buddies and "got down on the stix" (played some video games) lol some terminology for you! the kick right now is FIFA 2010!!! love the game!!!!!!
Saturday- worked all day, had a super super busy day at work! it was great to have traffic and business!!! love my team! after work went to watch the dance team practice, training for North Dakota convention in October! Please pray for unity and for growth in the dance team! we are going to need it!
Sunday- JAMMMMMMMEEDDD PACKED!!!! went to church! had a great service! Pastor Grogan really delivered the word!! He spoke about FAITH! mannnn he was spittin that fire! it was awesome! love it when Pastor gets excited! After church had our 2nd soccer game of the year! talk about a game! those that were there can testify! LOL it was like a movie!!!! we were down 3-1 at the half. came back to win the game with a last minute goal from my boy Milk! it was awesome! i love my team! i love the diversity, i love the energy and i love that we are together! right after the game, had to get ready for small groups! i am leading a small group for my students! my group is Champaign High Schools! it was awesome!!!! man i love to see these kids growing!! man i love them!!
what a weekend!
IN MY HEAD- miracles are going to happen! please keep me in prayer, keep our family and friends in prayer, PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!
If you need any prayer requests, let me know! I GOT YOU!
GET INSPIRED!!!
side note- ran into my elementary school music teacher!!! what a small world! and she actually remembered me!!! crazy!
after the game we ordered some good ole Papa Del's Pizza (chicago style deep dish pizza, the best of all time in my opinion) got some JOLLY RANCHER popsicles ( they were OFF THE CHAINS DELICIOUS!!) and went to one of my buddies and "got down on the stix" (played some video games) lol some terminology for you! the kick right now is FIFA 2010!!! love the game!!!!!!
Saturday- worked all day, had a super super busy day at work! it was great to have traffic and business!!! love my team! after work went to watch the dance team practice, training for North Dakota convention in October! Please pray for unity and for growth in the dance team! we are going to need it!
Sunday- JAMMMMMMMEEDDD PACKED!!!! went to church! had a great service! Pastor Grogan really delivered the word!! He spoke about FAITH! mannnn he was spittin that fire! it was awesome! love it when Pastor gets excited! After church had our 2nd soccer game of the year! talk about a game! those that were there can testify! LOL it was like a movie!!!! we were down 3-1 at the half. came back to win the game with a last minute goal from my boy Milk! it was awesome! i love my team! i love the diversity, i love the energy and i love that we are together! right after the game, had to get ready for small groups! i am leading a small group for my students! my group is Champaign High Schools! it was awesome!!!! man i love to see these kids growing!! man i love them!!
what a weekend!
IN MY HEAD- miracles are going to happen! please keep me in prayer, keep our family and friends in prayer, PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!!!!
If you need any prayer requests, let me know! I GOT YOU!
GET INSPIRED!!!
Manic Monday!!!
I just got done having a great talk with my dad. We talked about everything it seemed like. But i really enjoyed hearing what he had to say, it felt like 30 minutes but it was really 2 hours. WOW! havent had a talk like that with dad in a while. Learned about the family, talked about life, talked about everything! In my head the whole time I was asking God to give me an opportunity to share Jesus with him. Low and behold the opportunity came up!! I let him share his thoughts and his beliefs and it was awesome! Got to have a great conversation with my dad! man i love Jesus! Talked about Jesus, buddha, religion, muslims, about it all! it was awesome, i got tell my dad that Jesus was about love and how its not about races or color its about loving one another. I told him how i loved my church! I got to ask him how he felt when going to my church (Stone Creek Church) and he said EVERYONE is nice and he really enjoyed it! I also got to talk to my dad about tithing! man what a great opportunity! Thank you JESUS ! to make a long story short, i got to pray for my dad and for healing in his back, in Jesus name!
Excel- Worship- it is always an awesome feeling when being in the presence of God. Even when life sucks, i feel happy and filled with joy when im in that worship mode. Its just i can really sense the Holy Spirit at work! Just comforting me, letting me know that everything is going to be alright. Nothing like giving God ALL the PRAISE and all the GLORY! singing HOLY HOLY HOLY!!! mannnnnn!!! HYPE MODE!
Message- What a great word today, Pastor Terry really did a great job. It was about living for others, really learning to connect with God, connect with people and connect people with God. The text was from Luke 10: 25-37, talking about the good samaritan story. It was about going beyond our selves to help others, thats how we should live. The best part was the end when we broke up into groups of 3 and answered these 4 questions:
1. what would you do with $44 mil.?
2. who have you been taking from?
3. who have you been ignoring?
4. who have you been avoiding?
my answers:
1. What would i do with $44 mil.? I would off the top give 10% to my home church (STONE CREEK CHURCH), then invest majority of it so that i would be able to live off the interest, give some to friends and family, give some away to missions, and a spur of the moment thought i had was to buy a white ferrari and drive it just to see how it was then after a week or so, give it away to someone random that was really struggling to get from point a to point b! i think that would be so awesome!!!!!! i know! i know! not practical, white ferrari! but hey its my idea and i think that would be awesome so yeahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Its about extravagant giving and blessing others, not about selfless pleasures!
2. who have i been taking from? i feel like i've been taking from the company that i work for. Not stealing physical goods or anything like that but just not investing the time that i know i should to grow the company. I know the Lord has blessed me with this job but at the same time i feel like im not being a good steward of it.
3. who have i been ignoring? i have been so consumed with my own life that i have ignored my immediate family and mos def my extended. i feel so bad, its not that i dont care about them its just ive been selfish and just been thinkin of me me me. But i am going to work on that and am working on that, God really gave me an opportunity to talk with dad today so that was awesome! but im a work in progress, need to work on it :)
4.who have i been avoiding? you know what i really couldnt answer that one, i didnt know what to say. as much as i can, i try to be nice and approachable to everyone. but who knows, maybe you can let me know :)
Invited one of my students from back in the days that has been going through some things in life, some of lifes challenges right? Well i invited him to come tonight to excel and wasnt sure he was going to come, but he came! it was great to see him! Had a great conversation with him last night ! if you reading this boy! i believe in you bro! keep fighting the good fight! God is going to use this time to mold you and shape you! He is going to use your testimony to impact others so that they will have a relationship with Christ! God will get ALL THE GLORY FAM!!! He has never left your side boy!!! "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6. It's GO TIME !!!!!
I hope this was encouraging to read! Please keep me in prayer! again i honestly feel that miracles are going to happen! But the only way is through Christ! So please pray for wisdom and strength to really get through what the world throws at me.
If you have any prayer requests please let me know! i got you! remember without prayer theres no change, if we want change we got to change from within! and only way to do that is through a relationship with God! PRAYER WARRIORS LET'S GO!! GET INSPIRED!!
Excel- Worship- it is always an awesome feeling when being in the presence of God. Even when life sucks, i feel happy and filled with joy when im in that worship mode. Its just i can really sense the Holy Spirit at work! Just comforting me, letting me know that everything is going to be alright. Nothing like giving God ALL the PRAISE and all the GLORY! singing HOLY HOLY HOLY!!! mannnnnn!!! HYPE MODE!
Message- What a great word today, Pastor Terry really did a great job. It was about living for others, really learning to connect with God, connect with people and connect people with God. The text was from Luke 10: 25-37, talking about the good samaritan story. It was about going beyond our selves to help others, thats how we should live. The best part was the end when we broke up into groups of 3 and answered these 4 questions:
1. what would you do with $44 mil.?
2. who have you been taking from?
3. who have you been ignoring?
4. who have you been avoiding?
my answers:
1. What would i do with $44 mil.? I would off the top give 10% to my home church (STONE CREEK CHURCH), then invest majority of it so that i would be able to live off the interest, give some to friends and family, give some away to missions, and a spur of the moment thought i had was to buy a white ferrari and drive it just to see how it was then after a week or so, give it away to someone random that was really struggling to get from point a to point b! i think that would be so awesome!!!!!! i know! i know! not practical, white ferrari! but hey its my idea and i think that would be awesome so yeahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Its about extravagant giving and blessing others, not about selfless pleasures!
2. who have i been taking from? i feel like i've been taking from the company that i work for. Not stealing physical goods or anything like that but just not investing the time that i know i should to grow the company. I know the Lord has blessed me with this job but at the same time i feel like im not being a good steward of it.
3. who have i been ignoring? i have been so consumed with my own life that i have ignored my immediate family and mos def my extended. i feel so bad, its not that i dont care about them its just ive been selfish and just been thinkin of me me me. But i am going to work on that and am working on that, God really gave me an opportunity to talk with dad today so that was awesome! but im a work in progress, need to work on it :)
4.who have i been avoiding? you know what i really couldnt answer that one, i didnt know what to say. as much as i can, i try to be nice and approachable to everyone. but who knows, maybe you can let me know :)
Invited one of my students from back in the days that has been going through some things in life, some of lifes challenges right? Well i invited him to come tonight to excel and wasnt sure he was going to come, but he came! it was great to see him! Had a great conversation with him last night ! if you reading this boy! i believe in you bro! keep fighting the good fight! God is going to use this time to mold you and shape you! He is going to use your testimony to impact others so that they will have a relationship with Christ! God will get ALL THE GLORY FAM!!! He has never left your side boy!!! "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6. It's GO TIME !!!!!
I hope this was encouraging to read! Please keep me in prayer! again i honestly feel that miracles are going to happen! But the only way is through Christ! So please pray for wisdom and strength to really get through what the world throws at me.
If you have any prayer requests please let me know! i got you! remember without prayer theres no change, if we want change we got to change from within! and only way to do that is through a relationship with God! PRAYER WARRIORS LET'S GO!! GET INSPIRED!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Living for Jesus is an adventure!
What a day today! I love life! its full of adventure!!!
Work- Hoping things pick up, its been fairly slow but we've been maximizing the sales with the customers. People always get worried, i say to that , control what you can control (maximize sale, take care of customer, treat others with kindness, etc.) and don't worry about the things you can control (customers coming in, how customers feel, what customer is going to say, etc.) Making sure each customer is being taken care of and building that rapport! The key to a successful business is the basics, you need to keep your customers happy, no customers = no business. The brand sales week starts now, so we will start to pick up real quick like in the next few months! Can't wait!
Students- I've been talking to one of my students from Chicago and he has been going through some obstacles lately, but after talking and praying for him today, i know he is on the right track. Im so proud of him, gave him a good word that was shared with me earlier this week and that was Daniel 10. The book chapter illustrates a war is going on at all times (spiritual war). It shows how Daniel was persistent in prayer and the angels heard him but was tied up in battle and eventually because of his persistence the angel shows up and takes care of Daniel! Thats how i view things right now in life, is that we've got to be prayer warriors because thats the only way we are going to see change. If we want to see change we must change from with in, and the only way to change from with in is by asking God, and thats through prayer!
-Living for Jesus is an adventure, you just never know whats going to happen. I just got done reading, praying and collecting my thoughts when i receive a phone call from one of my students. He was in need of some help, he had got into a little accident and didn't know what to do. I immediately ask him if he was ok, and he said yes, so then i said ok hang tight i will be right there. So as soon as I head out the door i hit up Jason and we roll out to the scene. Everything ended up being ok, no worries, just crazy how life is always an adventure!
side note- drove from my house all the way to tolono, philo, sidney back to champaign on EMPTY TANK! Jesus knows!!!!! then when i finally got back into town gas went from $2.56 to $2.79!!! in a matter of an hour????? WOW!!! now thats crazy!!!But i ended up finding a spot for $2.57 :)
The final thought- This is a memorable moment for me, I officially have a house on the market to sell! My very first one!!!!! SO thats pretty exciting, i wanted to take a picture in front of the sign but it was already dark! LOL anyways i love life! i love my students! i love my family and friends! but more importantly i love Jesus!
Please continue to keep me in prayer! I need it, alot of things coming up and just need to make sure its God's Way.
if you need any prayers, let me know ! i got you!!
Hope this was encouraging ! GET INSPIRED!!!!!
Work- Hoping things pick up, its been fairly slow but we've been maximizing the sales with the customers. People always get worried, i say to that , control what you can control (maximize sale, take care of customer, treat others with kindness, etc.) and don't worry about the things you can control (customers coming in, how customers feel, what customer is going to say, etc.) Making sure each customer is being taken care of and building that rapport! The key to a successful business is the basics, you need to keep your customers happy, no customers = no business. The brand sales week starts now, so we will start to pick up real quick like in the next few months! Can't wait!
Students- I've been talking to one of my students from Chicago and he has been going through some obstacles lately, but after talking and praying for him today, i know he is on the right track. Im so proud of him, gave him a good word that was shared with me earlier this week and that was Daniel 10. The book chapter illustrates a war is going on at all times (spiritual war). It shows how Daniel was persistent in prayer and the angels heard him but was tied up in battle and eventually because of his persistence the angel shows up and takes care of Daniel! Thats how i view things right now in life, is that we've got to be prayer warriors because thats the only way we are going to see change. If we want to see change we must change from with in, and the only way to change from with in is by asking God, and thats through prayer!
-Living for Jesus is an adventure, you just never know whats going to happen. I just got done reading, praying and collecting my thoughts when i receive a phone call from one of my students. He was in need of some help, he had got into a little accident and didn't know what to do. I immediately ask him if he was ok, and he said yes, so then i said ok hang tight i will be right there. So as soon as I head out the door i hit up Jason and we roll out to the scene. Everything ended up being ok, no worries, just crazy how life is always an adventure!
side note- drove from my house all the way to tolono, philo, sidney back to champaign on EMPTY TANK! Jesus knows!!!!! then when i finally got back into town gas went from $2.56 to $2.79!!! in a matter of an hour????? WOW!!! now thats crazy!!!But i ended up finding a spot for $2.57 :)
The final thought- This is a memorable moment for me, I officially have a house on the market to sell! My very first one!!!!! SO thats pretty exciting, i wanted to take a picture in front of the sign but it was already dark! LOL anyways i love life! i love my students! i love my family and friends! but more importantly i love Jesus!
Please continue to keep me in prayer! I need it, alot of things coming up and just need to make sure its God's Way.
if you need any prayers, let me know ! i got you!!
Hope this was encouraging ! GET INSPIRED!!!!!
Devo time!
Rom 12:9-21
- God speaks about love in this passage. How we must act around one another as the body of Christ. The one verse that jumped out at me was 11: "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
DEFINITIONS-
Zeal- eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something
Fervor- intensity of feeling or expression
So what the passage was saying is that we should stay eager and hungry, spiritually intense serving JESUS!
Right now i feel like thats what I need to be like, to not lack intensity of life! I could literally feel God's presence when reading verses 9-21! Thank you Jesus.
Matt 10:1-4
-Wow! this passage just speaks to me about how serious Jesus is! He called these 12 ordinary guys and gives them "AUTHORITY TO DRIVE OUT EVIL SPIRITS AND TO HEAL EVERY DISEASE AND SICKNESS" verse 1.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Jesus takes the ordinary and makes them EXTRAORDINARY!
Acts 26: 9-18
-God can use you no matter what your past looks like. This is a clear example of how God can use ANYONE at ANY MOMENT! What a testimony is what I was thinking when i read this passage. But the truth of the matter is look in the mirror! Look at that testimony! God has a plan for everyone of us, just trust and believe be obedient and serve Jesus!
- God speaks about love in this passage. How we must act around one another as the body of Christ. The one verse that jumped out at me was 11: "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
DEFINITIONS-
Zeal- eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something
Fervor- intensity of feeling or expression
So what the passage was saying is that we should stay eager and hungry, spiritually intense serving JESUS!
Right now i feel like thats what I need to be like, to not lack intensity of life! I could literally feel God's presence when reading verses 9-21! Thank you Jesus.
Matt 10:1-4
-Wow! this passage just speaks to me about how serious Jesus is! He called these 12 ordinary guys and gives them "AUTHORITY TO DRIVE OUT EVIL SPIRITS AND TO HEAL EVERY DISEASE AND SICKNESS" verse 1.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Jesus takes the ordinary and makes them EXTRAORDINARY!
Acts 26: 9-18
-God can use you no matter what your past looks like. This is a clear example of how God can use ANYONE at ANY MOMENT! What a testimony is what I was thinking when i read this passage. But the truth of the matter is look in the mirror! Look at that testimony! God has a plan for everyone of us, just trust and believe be obedient and serve Jesus!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
What a WEDNESDAY!
I love my Wednesdays!!!! I look forward to seeing my students being transformed by God!!!
Met with Jason today about what is coming up with our Student leadership program! I am excited about that, we discussed things over a good ol Burger King breakfast! Havent had their breakfast in years! it was deeeeeliccious!!!!
Real Estate-Went to go show some homes today! That is always a good thing. Feels like things are beginning to pick up and that is a great thing! Remember ! long term goal is motivational speaking to our future!!!
Had team meeting with the real estate team! It was good, went over some basics so that we were all on the same page. Im glad I'm on the team, great to work with a unified team under great leadership! Keeping myself a sponge to learn all i can about the industry! Got a lot done in the office today, prepping for a busy upcoming weeks! My signs were finished today! I went to go pick them up, its pretty crazy to see yourself on a sign :) They turned out pretty good! Can't wait to see what God has in store! Thank you Jesus!!
Sudden Impact (youth group)-
Prayer- seeing some growth in my students, a boldness in them! exciting stuff! "God calls things that are not as though they were" Rom. 4:17 KEY ELEMENT IN PRAYER! knowing who is behind it all!!! love seeing the growth and confidence!
Before service- Man i love my kids! i really do! such interesting conversations! Well first thing you got to know about me is that i'm pretty unique in a sense that my sense of fashion is pretty LOUD. Thats just my personality. Today i had on my regular business casual attire (short sleeve classic Polo, dress slacks, colorful socks and black dress shoes) but i had to change for Sudden Impact. I changed into my usual SI attire (shorts,& SI shirt) But this time i wore my pink Jack Purcell shoes and kept my colorful dress socks on LOL, so my students didnt kno what to say except "cool" "i really like your shoes" "your socks are awesome" it was the expressions on their face before they even said anything! LOL!
Service - service was good, we were promoting our small groups at the beginning, i have the Champaign high school students this year! I cant wait !! we kick it off this sunday!! Jonny spoke about the importance of small groups , and mentioned that if it wasnt for small groups he would have never known i was once a buddhist monk! LOL! crazy! yea? Well now you know! Small groups are great! they are a great way to meet and learn about each other and begin to build a relationship! the highlight of my night was at the end of service, one of my students came up and asked for prayer. First of all thats AWESOME! the second part is, one of my other students that i have been mentoring, Stevie came up just to say wassup then he saw that his friend was the one that needed prayer and Stevie actually led out the prayer!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mannn i am sooo proud of my students BOLDNESS!!!
It was the last night for Pastor Kevin and Ann Pimblott! going to really miss them at church! they are most definitely encouragements to me! There was a little going away get together at the church after service, a lot of people came to hang out and say their byes. We are going to miss them!
After service- Hanging out with the students i ran into one of the student's grandmother. The funny thing i had just helped her yesterday at my shoe store pick out some shoes and i told her i thought i saw her before at our church (Stone Creek Church). I asked her if she came to Wednesday Bible study and she said yes and she brings her grandson,Kiwane, to the youth. So today i ran into her at the end of service and asked her where her grandson was. She pointed him out and one way or another we started talking about life and go figure i know her son in law! so to make a long story short i actually grew up with her son in law, Sonny Walker. He was one of the guys i looked up to in the neighborhood growing up playing basketball! So i told her grandson, Kiwane, that i knew Sonny, and Kiwane was like "no you dont" then another one of my students popped out of nowhere and said "no you dont" lol and i told them i grew up with him and he was like an older bro! SMALL WORLD!
Dropping the kids off at home- on the way taking them home we ran into Dan "the handler" Hornbuckle! i was super excited to see him! thats one of my boys that i went to high school with and now he is a professional fighter like MMA and UFC style of fighting. So it was good to run into him again! told the kids he was a living legend! Dan shouts back" you guys are in good hands with that guy"(saying that to the students referring to me) always good to hear encouraging things! Thanks HORNY!!!! (thats the name we called him in highschool at football games and wrestling matches)
The WORD -Acts 19. I dont know what it is about this book, but thats all i can think about right now. I read it in my devotional time yesterday. Seems like i cant get away from it. Starting to read a book called Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual adventures of Missional Leaders and at the end of the chapter i was reading, it talked about Acts 19. Then "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Gal. 2:20. that was in that chapter of the book i was reading , then when i spoke to Jim Ramos tonight, that verse was brought up again! this is awesome! Then another one, " Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1Cor. 15:58.
Skype with Jim Ramos- met Jim at Pearson's when i had just moved back from Los Angeles, California, has been a huge influence in my life! talk about BOLDNESS! well anyways, Jim is in california right now taking some time off to heal from surgery. Talking on facebook led to Skype! Technology is crazy!! He is always encouraging! i told him that i was getting really busy in life and that i needed some prayer! Jim made a good point, he said that its not about activities but its about relationships! then he continued with Gal. 2:20! thats when i told him about Acts 19. I told him that is what is really speaking to me right now is to be BOLD so GOD can use me like PAUL! final thought he gives me is 1 Cor. 15:58.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- live BOLD in JESUS NAME+speak BOLD in JESUS NAME= HOLY SPIRIT DRIVEN LIFE
Prayer- Told my boy to keep me in his prayers, told Jim to keep me in his prayers, I'm asking you to keep me in your prayers! Pray for God's Wisdom and direction. Prayer moves!!!! Let me know if you need any prayer! There's a war going on out there!
Anyone reading this i hope you are encouraged! GET INSPIRED!
By the way, this is a typical day off...I love JESUS!
Met with Jason today about what is coming up with our Student leadership program! I am excited about that, we discussed things over a good ol Burger King breakfast! Havent had their breakfast in years! it was deeeeeliccious!!!!
Real Estate-Went to go show some homes today! That is always a good thing. Feels like things are beginning to pick up and that is a great thing! Remember ! long term goal is motivational speaking to our future!!!
Had team meeting with the real estate team! It was good, went over some basics so that we were all on the same page. Im glad I'm on the team, great to work with a unified team under great leadership! Keeping myself a sponge to learn all i can about the industry! Got a lot done in the office today, prepping for a busy upcoming weeks! My signs were finished today! I went to go pick them up, its pretty crazy to see yourself on a sign :) They turned out pretty good! Can't wait to see what God has in store! Thank you Jesus!!
Sudden Impact (youth group)-
Prayer- seeing some growth in my students, a boldness in them! exciting stuff! "God calls things that are not as though they were" Rom. 4:17 KEY ELEMENT IN PRAYER! knowing who is behind it all!!! love seeing the growth and confidence!
Before service- Man i love my kids! i really do! such interesting conversations! Well first thing you got to know about me is that i'm pretty unique in a sense that my sense of fashion is pretty LOUD. Thats just my personality. Today i had on my regular business casual attire (short sleeve classic Polo, dress slacks, colorful socks and black dress shoes) but i had to change for Sudden Impact. I changed into my usual SI attire (shorts,& SI shirt) But this time i wore my pink Jack Purcell shoes and kept my colorful dress socks on LOL, so my students didnt kno what to say except "cool" "i really like your shoes" "your socks are awesome" it was the expressions on their face before they even said anything! LOL!
Service - service was good, we were promoting our small groups at the beginning, i have the Champaign high school students this year! I cant wait !! we kick it off this sunday!! Jonny spoke about the importance of small groups , and mentioned that if it wasnt for small groups he would have never known i was once a buddhist monk! LOL! crazy! yea? Well now you know! Small groups are great! they are a great way to meet and learn about each other and begin to build a relationship! the highlight of my night was at the end of service, one of my students came up and asked for prayer. First of all thats AWESOME! the second part is, one of my other students that i have been mentoring, Stevie came up just to say wassup then he saw that his friend was the one that needed prayer and Stevie actually led out the prayer!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mannn i am sooo proud of my students BOLDNESS!!!
It was the last night for Pastor Kevin and Ann Pimblott! going to really miss them at church! they are most definitely encouragements to me! There was a little going away get together at the church after service, a lot of people came to hang out and say their byes. We are going to miss them!
After service- Hanging out with the students i ran into one of the student's grandmother. The funny thing i had just helped her yesterday at my shoe store pick out some shoes and i told her i thought i saw her before at our church (Stone Creek Church). I asked her if she came to Wednesday Bible study and she said yes and she brings her grandson,Kiwane, to the youth. So today i ran into her at the end of service and asked her where her grandson was. She pointed him out and one way or another we started talking about life and go figure i know her son in law! so to make a long story short i actually grew up with her son in law, Sonny Walker. He was one of the guys i looked up to in the neighborhood growing up playing basketball! So i told her grandson, Kiwane, that i knew Sonny, and Kiwane was like "no you dont" then another one of my students popped out of nowhere and said "no you dont" lol and i told them i grew up with him and he was like an older bro! SMALL WORLD!
Dropping the kids off at home- on the way taking them home we ran into Dan "the handler" Hornbuckle! i was super excited to see him! thats one of my boys that i went to high school with and now he is a professional fighter like MMA and UFC style of fighting. So it was good to run into him again! told the kids he was a living legend! Dan shouts back" you guys are in good hands with that guy"(saying that to the students referring to me) always good to hear encouraging things! Thanks HORNY!!!! (thats the name we called him in highschool at football games and wrestling matches)
The WORD -Acts 19. I dont know what it is about this book, but thats all i can think about right now. I read it in my devotional time yesterday. Seems like i cant get away from it. Starting to read a book called Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual adventures of Missional Leaders and at the end of the chapter i was reading, it talked about Acts 19. Then "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Gal. 2:20. that was in that chapter of the book i was reading , then when i spoke to Jim Ramos tonight, that verse was brought up again! this is awesome! Then another one, " Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1Cor. 15:58.
Skype with Jim Ramos- met Jim at Pearson's when i had just moved back from Los Angeles, California, has been a huge influence in my life! talk about BOLDNESS! well anyways, Jim is in california right now taking some time off to heal from surgery. Talking on facebook led to Skype! Technology is crazy!! He is always encouraging! i told him that i was getting really busy in life and that i needed some prayer! Jim made a good point, he said that its not about activities but its about relationships! then he continued with Gal. 2:20! thats when i told him about Acts 19. I told him that is what is really speaking to me right now is to be BOLD so GOD can use me like PAUL! final thought he gives me is 1 Cor. 15:58.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- live BOLD in JESUS NAME+speak BOLD in JESUS NAME= HOLY SPIRIT DRIVEN LIFE
Prayer- Told my boy to keep me in his prayers, told Jim to keep me in his prayers, I'm asking you to keep me in your prayers! Pray for God's Wisdom and direction. Prayer moves!!!! Let me know if you need any prayer! There's a war going on out there!
Anyone reading this i hope you are encouraged! GET INSPIRED!
By the way, this is a typical day off...I love JESUS!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Basic Day!
Seems like there isnt enough time in the day to get everything done...or maybe i have too much on my plate? LOL! Been really busy busy busy, and feeling like i need to get a hold of myself...
LOL!
Devo-
Clear communication- as a leader we should always give clear instructions. No exceptions, set the expectations and lead by example, Jesus was pretty clear in what He expects. 1Tim 3:1-16
Living for Jesus is not a game. From the words of my man Jason, "don't get it twisted like pretzel or you'll be salty like pretzel." We got to live , speak and dream BOLDLY in Jesus name! Acts 19:1-20
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- Don't go around mimicking the REAL THING when you can have the real thing, just invite Jesus into your life and build that relationship. Don't fake the funk before you get folded up like a 3 fold lawn chair!
LOL!Work- Felt like time flew by today at work. Worked open to close today. Strange day, it felt like everyone was looking for sandals but it's the end of sandal season right now and all the stuff we do have is picked over in sizes and styles. Well maybe next year! On the other hand, I am in the middle of trying to figure out if i can win some free shoes, had to contact the MBT rep today, so we'll see what he says :).
side note- MBT is a shoe company that was the original creators of the "rocker sole" bottom technology. Since their patent has expired you have seen skechers, new balance, and other brands come out with their imitation versions. NOTHING LIKE THE ORIGINALS !!!
Real Estate- It seems like things are beginning to pick up, beginning to get a little busy. Thats a great thing, I owe it all to Jesus!
Words of encouragement- He will ALWAYS provide for my needs and your needs!!! Just seek Him first and all other things will fall into place!
Got a lot to do tomorrow! I can't wait to see my students at Sudden Impact (my youth group),
Please pray for wisdom and patience! I will not move until the "cloud" moves! thank you for the great message Pastor Tim Dilena! WAR WEEK DETROIT 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Just some random thoughts today...
This has been on my mind lately...
Miracles can happen today, in 2010! We read stories in the Bible about how Jesus healed the sick, gave vision back to the blind, breaking bread and feeding the masses with a few loaves of bread and the list goes on and on.
It just made me realize that these aren't stories that we should read about and do nothing about. But instead we should believe and speak out in boldness that people's lives, hearts and minds will be changed. Pray that people will be healed from disease, healed from broken relationships, doing good will trump bad, and just a list of things we think would be crazy if it actually happened. But in Jesus eyes " all things are possible through HIM who gives us strength"-Phil 4:13. I KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN! I am saying this in confidence that Jesus Christ is the healer, provider, protector, all knowing, all powerful, all mighty GOD, in charge of all the universe!!!
We have to understand that His ways are not our ways. His timing is not our timing. His grace and mercy is the reason we are here.
I want to see miracles happen, and honestly miracles are happening right now. I have and am seeing it with my own eyes! I believe with all my heart that people will begin to know and have a relationship with Jesus Christ through these miracles that are happening and going to happen in 2010 and beyond! These miracles can happen today!
If you read this, can you just begin to pray that miracles will begin to happen now! God is the same in the past, the present and the future! I know people's lives will be changed forever because of our prayers! Let's GO!!!
Get inspired!
The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life
Wow!!! I read this today and I have to share it!!!! I hope you are inspired! It is from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
"He who believes in ME...out of his heart will flow rivers of living water"
-John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And when Jesus said that, if we have recieved His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth"(Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow- "this is the work of God that you believe..."(John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your live and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ- not emotion nor experience- nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that HE will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
I pray that God will be my Source and foundation at all times, Lord I need your Holy Spirit for wisdom and strength!
Words of encouragement- no matter what you are faced with go back to the basics and lean on God, He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL!
AMEN!
"He who believes in ME...out of his heart will flow rivers of living water"
-John 7:38
A river reaches places which its source never knows. And when Jesus said that, if we have recieved His fullness, "rivers of living water" will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even "to the end of the earth"(Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow- "this is the work of God that you believe..."(John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your live and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ- not emotion nor experience- nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that HE will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.
I pray that God will be my Source and foundation at all times, Lord I need your Holy Spirit for wisdom and strength!
Words of encouragement- no matter what you are faced with go back to the basics and lean on God, He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL!
AMEN!
Labor day!
Well first things first, today was labor day but i worked...
Work- Had a full day with some busy times and some slow times, but overall it was a good day. It is going to most definitely pick up soon. People are going to need shoes, boots, socks, arch supports, cleaner, leather protectant spray, and UGG's! lol its that season again when all the ladies come in for UGG's! It is going to be pretty hectic, ladies are already coming in and trying to beat the rush because once they are gone, its hard to get them even in the basic colors and sizes. So i urge you, if you are looking for UGG boots Mosser's Shoe store is the spot to be!
After work we had a cook out for our young adults/ college group (EXCEL) at the park...
It was fun, we had a pretty good turn out. Had plenty of food! it was awesome! But i think one thing we need to stress next time will be the need for drinks :) I think alot of times we worry if there will be enough food and we forget about the basics like DRINKS! Its kind of hard to eat when your mouth is PARRRRCHHHHHED! LOL ! but we made it work, i think my cousin KG ended up grabbing some drinks and Sirimal brought some too!
Ended up playing some basketball and meeting a pretty cool dude named Aaron from Lockport, Illinois. That dude was about 6 feet 12! lol ahahha he could shoot really well! We invited him to our church and Excel also! it was pretty coo! Watched some of the peeps play some good ol' sand volleyball then rolled out because i was getting eaten alive by the mosquitos! Great food, great friends, great times!
-Side thought- i dont know why i was thinking this but i was wondering who would win between like 10,000 mosquitos vs like 1000 soldiers? lol man, thats a pretty wacky thought yea? let me know what you think :) By the way, my legs and back got bit up like crazy!
Work- Had a full day with some busy times and some slow times, but overall it was a good day. It is going to most definitely pick up soon. People are going to need shoes, boots, socks, arch supports, cleaner, leather protectant spray, and UGG's! lol its that season again when all the ladies come in for UGG's! It is going to be pretty hectic, ladies are already coming in and trying to beat the rush because once they are gone, its hard to get them even in the basic colors and sizes. So i urge you, if you are looking for UGG boots Mosser's Shoe store is the spot to be!
After work we had a cook out for our young adults/ college group (EXCEL) at the park...
It was fun, we had a pretty good turn out. Had plenty of food! it was awesome! But i think one thing we need to stress next time will be the need for drinks :) I think alot of times we worry if there will be enough food and we forget about the basics like DRINKS! Its kind of hard to eat when your mouth is PARRRRCHHHHHED! LOL ! but we made it work, i think my cousin KG ended up grabbing some drinks and Sirimal brought some too!
Ended up playing some basketball and meeting a pretty cool dude named Aaron from Lockport, Illinois. That dude was about 6 feet 12! lol ahahha he could shoot really well! We invited him to our church and Excel also! it was pretty coo! Watched some of the peeps play some good ol' sand volleyball then rolled out because i was getting eaten alive by the mosquitos! Great food, great friends, great times!
-Side thought- i dont know why i was thinking this but i was wondering who would win between like 10,000 mosquitos vs like 1000 soldiers? lol man, thats a pretty wacky thought yea? let me know what you think :) By the way, my legs and back got bit up like crazy!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Things are happening!
Woke up this morning with a lot on the mind. So many thoughts float through my mind every minute of the day it almost seems like my life is going at 1000 miles per hour! It seems like as soon as i wake up , its GO TIME!
Devo-
Its not about us it's about God. What kind of sacrifices have we made lately to glorify Jesus? Mark 14:3-9
Sometimes we get so caught up in thinking we are living righteous when in reality we are living right-ish, start to get comfortable where we are in life and start to take things for-granted. We have to wake up and thank God for the basic things in life that we are fortunate to have like : the ability to even wake up another day, clean water, clean air to breathe, ears to hear, eyes to see, legs to walk etc. I think we get so caught up in comparing ourselves to others, when in reality we just need to stop living for ourselves but to live sacrificially for JESUS! sacrificing our time, money and ourselves to serving others and helping those that are in need.
Real Estate-
Had a meeting early this morning with a friend that is looking to buy a home and sell their home. So it was a good experience for me to watch and see how the process worked. After a while of talking and getting everyone on the same page we went ahead and determined the next few steps that needed to happen. Cant wait to see what takes place.
Work-
The 24 shoe boxes that were supposed to be picked up by the lady that i spoke about the other day ended up going to someone else! There was a miscommunication on my part that took place. I guess what happened was another lady came in earlier and asked for some shoe boxes and my staff happened to give her all of them thinking it was the lady i was telling them about. NOONE asked for shoe boxes in the past 6 months, what are the chances of this happening???? I had to apologize to the young lady that was supposed to get them for her project and explain to her that this was not supposed to happen. She was very nice about it and understood. So that was the start of the work day. :)
Highlight of work-
I had a pretty good day at work today, great customers, got some things done, but the highlight of work today was with a customer. She came in looking for a pair of walking shoes because she was going on a trip with her family to Branson, MO then later i found out she also needed a pair to go walk in when her and her husband go to Niagra Falls for their 40th anniversary! WOW! 40 years? married to one person? in love with one person? committed to one person? dedicated to one person? best friends with one person? argue and fight with one person? man!!!!! i was hyped! i love to hear that kind of stuff, marriages LASTING and TRUE LOVE! you dont hear that much anymore but when i do i applaud that person! i told her i was very encouraged by that. i asked her what the secret was...she said to treat her like your princess, to love her with your whole heart and take care of her. I was like wow! i can dig that. she said that their relationship was not perfect that they fight but they NEVER GO TO SLEEP UPSET! she said there were some long nights! lol! i was like man thats REAL! you know im a little old school i told her, i said when i get married i dont take that lightly, its going to be "til death do us part" you know? ride or die! she was like thats how its supposed to be. nowadays people take relationships lightly and use people as disposable things, "if he/she doesnt work out, who cares, i will find somebody new" kind of mentality. NEWS FLASH- thats not working, all that turns out to be is a whole bunch of brokeness. broken homes, broken hearts, broken lives, broken dreams, broken relationships. she also said that they both had GOD as their foundation! DING DING DING DING DING!!!! yesss!!!!!!!! a good quote i once heard was, "A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her." wow!!! yesss!!! thats real! but heres the one that i really like its PROVERBS 31. Now that right there.....THATS WHAT EVERY MAN NEEDS ON THEIR TEAM AS THEIR BEST FRIEND!!!!!yezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzirrrrrcuuuuuhh!!!!!! when we were done with the sale, one way or another i just felt like i had to give her my real estate business card so i ran out to my car and grabbed one, gave it to her. i told her that i was also a real estate agent and that if she knew anyone that was looking to buy/sell a home that if she could please refer them to me. She simply said she would pray for me, i said AMEN! yea actually yes i need that! then the HOLY SPIRIT was really speaking. i told her that would be awesome if she could keep me in prayer and that a long term goal of mine is to be a motivational speaker to our youth, young adults and people of all backgrounds. She said she will put my name down on her prayer list and she will lift my name up to Jesus every day that she prays! WOW! she said she was a prayer warrior and i told her that prayer is what makes things happen! she said she could really feel the joy of the Lord by looking at me and that she knew that i was a follower of Christ! WOW! THANK YOU JESUS! then i was going to head back into the store, i thanked her for her business and reminded her to keep me in prayer, then i said you know what, can you pray for me now? she said yes, and next thing i know she was praying for me RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STORE!!! after that i walked into the store and there was a customer with Dave (one of my co-workers, that is one of the most efficient sales people i have ever met). She was so happy that she saw my customer praying for me right in front of the store! found out she knew some of the people that went to my church (Stone Creek Church). small world! Jesus YOU get ALL the praise!!!!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- stand firm in what you believe in, be bold and let the HOLY SPIRIT MOVE!
Ramadan dinner-
We had an opportunity as a church to host a Ramadan dinner. Ramadan, i learned today was a time of fasting for people of the muslim faith. A time where they would refrain from eating, and drinking from dawn to sunset. The dinner was at the Hub and all the food was provided by the muslim group that came. It was about 45 people eating and learning more about each other! it was awesome! the food was absolutely delicious! Most of the people their were from Turkey and the food were all turkish dishes! it was so good! i finished mine fairly quickly and looked around and then went up for seconds LOL! i hope noone got mad! but the food was soooooo gooood!! it was great to meet everyone there! they were extremely nice!
Another adventurous day! Friends, family, students, parents, anyone reading this, please keep me in prayer, i realize that im not perfect and that i need Jesus.
(I hope you are encouraged when reading!)
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- stand firm in what you believe in, be bold and let the HOLY SPIRIT MOVE!
Ramadan dinner-
We had an opportunity as a church to host a Ramadan dinner. Ramadan, i learned today was a time of fasting for people of the muslim faith. A time where they would refrain from eating, and drinking from dawn to sunset. The dinner was at the Hub and all the food was provided by the muslim group that came. It was about 45 people eating and learning more about each other! it was awesome! the food was absolutely delicious! Most of the people their were from Turkey and the food were all turkish dishes! it was so good! i finished mine fairly quickly and looked around and then went up for seconds LOL! i hope noone got mad! but the food was soooooo gooood!! it was great to meet everyone there! they were extremely nice!
Another adventurous day! Friends, family, students, parents, anyone reading this, please keep me in prayer, i realize that im not perfect and that i need Jesus.
(I hope you are encouraged when reading!)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
WACKY WEDNESDAY!!
Hey world! What a day today! I know you guys are probably like another busy day for desa p? yea seriously this is no joke, lol my life is very busy right now and i love it! So lets begin shall we?
Morning devo-
-Don't move, wait on God. Be patient it's not about when we want it to happen, it's God who is in control.God will equip you with ALL you need to glorify His name, Acts 1:4-8.
-Will you serve when He calls you? Will your influence be positive? We are called to be like Jesus. He is not some"eternal blessing machine" that we call on, but a God we serve to glorify His name. God's goal: produce saints, to influence this world in a positive way, 1peter 1:16
what a way to start the morning!!!! Prayer and PRAYER!!! nothing like God's WORD! yezzzzzzzzzziiirrrcuuuuuuhhh!!!!! man i love it!
Meeting with Jason-
Met with Jason this morning at county market, we talked about a few major things that were coming up that we should prepare for. we drank some "naked juice" mango flavor ! mannnn that it the best! nothing like some nutrients early in the morning! also i came across my favorite chips in the world! "krunchers- sea salt and cracked pepper" had a buy 2 for $5 dollars sale! so i had to go ahead and scoop those little buddies up!!!!!
North Dakota Convention-
we have an opportunity to go to North Dakota's youth convention and share our God given abilities and our testimonies. So in order to prepare for the trip we have to make sure GOD is in the mix. We are in the process of figuring out logistics and also the content of quality of dance we will perform for North Dakota! it is going to be awesome! a great opportunity for these kids to glorify JESUS!
Student Leadership-
we will be starting this in mid september, it will be a great opportunity to disciple our students and train our future servant leaders. Teaching them and empowering them to impact society and their schools in a positive way. This is going to be an awesome experience, i cant wait to see this pop off! The idea is to have our students grow in Faith and leadership skills. to LEAD LIKE JESUS!
Serving sermon-
Next we discussed how i did with my sermon on "serving." it was good to hear the constructive criticism. got to keep myself a sponge and absorb all i can about life. Got some things to improve on and got some things that worked great.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- always keep yourself a student of life, you can never learn enough.
after that i took a much needed nap, man it felt good, didnt want to wake up but had to. it was for 45 minutes but it felt like 5 hours!
Real Estate-
i feel like things are going to pick up soon, and that i better be ready. had a webinar training on my website and how to run things on it. Good to learn some new things about the business. After the training, went to show a home to a friend that is looking to buy a new home and sell their current home. We will see what happens. I always want to make transactions a win/win situation, so we'll see how things go! Got to look out for whats best for the client! Then went back to the office to get a few questions answered that my friend had. Got the answers and set up an appointment to meet tomorrow morning to get on the same page.
Errands-
had a list of things to get that i ran out of at home, things like lotion (got to keep the skin moisturized), skin toner ( some astringent to keep that face clear and bump free :)) pen refills , note pads ( note taking, thoughts, ideas, etc.)
SI (Sudden Impact- youth group)-
5:30pm Prayer-
walked in to a teaching by jason with the students and before things kicked off. He started with asking about good news from the students. at first noone wanted to share but then Laura kicked it off and shared some great news about her teacher? i dont quite remember, please forgive me lurrr! :) but i know it was some good news. Bless was next and his good news was that stevie and him participated in a bboy jam (breakdancing competition) this weekend and they made it to the second round which is awesome considering they were the youngest to participate in the jam, but the really awesome news was they met up with a kid that they had danced against the last time there was a bboy jam and they prayed for him and invited him to church!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so proud of my students, they are growing so much !!!! Student leadership!!!!!!
Before service- hung out with students played some basketball, kicked the soccer ball around (keep in mind it was sprinkling the whole time)
Worship-
great to be in the presence of God, seeing some of the students lifting their hands in surrender to God for the first time...priceless...Thank you JESUS! i am free to run!!!! i am free to dance!!! i am free to live for you!!!
take me to that place Lord, to that secret place Lord, so i can be with you, and you can make me like you! warp me in your arms!! wrap me in your arms! wrap me in your arms!!!
PICTURE THIS- no matter how bad life is, no matter how crazy things, no matter how empty you may feel...GOD is the only one that can fill that VOID! when we are weak HE IS STRONG!
Sermon (Matt Boyle)-
i am a hero!!!! yes we are bro! we are all super heros!! great message tonight by Matt. He is currently an intern here at our church! Also a great soccer player that is playing on Cham-Bana Divided (the soccer team we came up with to play in the park district). great message tonight about how God uses us to be heros to save our friends and family!
At the end of service I got an opportunity to pray for one of my students that just recently graduated from Lincoln's Challenge Academy ( which is a boot camp for individuals)! great to see him growing, he has been telling me his life is turning out to be great, he just recently got a job, hes going to school, he loves God, he's meeting new people so life is great for him right now! its always great to hear awesome news like that from my students.
Outside -
after that i went outside to supervise the kids. lets just say they are wild lol! i love my students! lots to testosterone flowing so they were all slap boxing and scrapping for some of the it was the first time ever at church so some were cussing. but i had to let them know that they couldnt cuss. for the most part they listened and apologized. but i tried to calm them down from slap boxing and they would stop for a little bit but go back to chasing each other and scrapping again. kids! then finally Security Phil came and did the same thing i did to calm them down, they listened for a bit then back to doing it again... lol squirelly kids! then Phil CHECKED them ALL by yelling if anyone threw one more punch they were never coming back again. LOL! boy did they stop quick! by golly noone through another punch lol! they are so funny, i love church. i hope they continue to come, i cant wait to see how God will transform these kids lives. WE ALL NEED JESUS!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- kids are a product of their environment, they are not to blame. only way to bring them to a relationship with Christ is through LOVE.
(this was my day off too)
Morning devo-
-Don't move, wait on God. Be patient it's not about when we want it to happen, it's God who is in control.God will equip you with ALL you need to glorify His name, Acts 1:4-8.
-Will you serve when He calls you? Will your influence be positive? We are called to be like Jesus. He is not some"eternal blessing machine" that we call on, but a God we serve to glorify His name. God's goal: produce saints, to influence this world in a positive way, 1peter 1:16
what a way to start the morning!!!! Prayer and PRAYER!!! nothing like God's WORD! yezzzzzzzzzziiirrrcuuuuuuhhh!!!!! man i love it!
Meeting with Jason-
Met with Jason this morning at county market, we talked about a few major things that were coming up that we should prepare for. we drank some "naked juice" mango flavor ! mannnn that it the best! nothing like some nutrients early in the morning! also i came across my favorite chips in the world! "krunchers- sea salt and cracked pepper" had a buy 2 for $5 dollars sale! so i had to go ahead and scoop those little buddies up!!!!!
North Dakota Convention-
we have an opportunity to go to North Dakota's youth convention and share our God given abilities and our testimonies. So in order to prepare for the trip we have to make sure GOD is in the mix. We are in the process of figuring out logistics and also the content of quality of dance we will perform for North Dakota! it is going to be awesome! a great opportunity for these kids to glorify JESUS!
Student Leadership-
we will be starting this in mid september, it will be a great opportunity to disciple our students and train our future servant leaders. Teaching them and empowering them to impact society and their schools in a positive way. This is going to be an awesome experience, i cant wait to see this pop off! The idea is to have our students grow in Faith and leadership skills. to LEAD LIKE JESUS!
Serving sermon-
Next we discussed how i did with my sermon on "serving." it was good to hear the constructive criticism. got to keep myself a sponge and absorb all i can about life. Got some things to improve on and got some things that worked great.
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- always keep yourself a student of life, you can never learn enough.
after that i took a much needed nap, man it felt good, didnt want to wake up but had to. it was for 45 minutes but it felt like 5 hours!
Real Estate-
i feel like things are going to pick up soon, and that i better be ready. had a webinar training on my website and how to run things on it. Good to learn some new things about the business. After the training, went to show a home to a friend that is looking to buy a new home and sell their current home. We will see what happens. I always want to make transactions a win/win situation, so we'll see how things go! Got to look out for whats best for the client! Then went back to the office to get a few questions answered that my friend had. Got the answers and set up an appointment to meet tomorrow morning to get on the same page.
Errands-
had a list of things to get that i ran out of at home, things like lotion (got to keep the skin moisturized), skin toner ( some astringent to keep that face clear and bump free :)) pen refills , note pads ( note taking, thoughts, ideas, etc.)
SI (Sudden Impact- youth group)-
5:30pm Prayer-
walked in to a teaching by jason with the students and before things kicked off. He started with asking about good news from the students. at first noone wanted to share but then Laura kicked it off and shared some great news about her teacher? i dont quite remember, please forgive me lurrr! :) but i know it was some good news. Bless was next and his good news was that stevie and him participated in a bboy jam (breakdancing competition) this weekend and they made it to the second round which is awesome considering they were the youngest to participate in the jam, but the really awesome news was they met up with a kid that they had danced against the last time there was a bboy jam and they prayed for him and invited him to church!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so proud of my students, they are growing so much !!!! Student leadership!!!!!!
Before service- hung out with students played some basketball, kicked the soccer ball around (keep in mind it was sprinkling the whole time)
Worship-
great to be in the presence of God, seeing some of the students lifting their hands in surrender to God for the first time...priceless...Thank you JESUS! i am free to run!!!! i am free to dance!!! i am free to live for you!!!
take me to that place Lord, to that secret place Lord, so i can be with you, and you can make me like you! warp me in your arms!! wrap me in your arms! wrap me in your arms!!!
PICTURE THIS- no matter how bad life is, no matter how crazy things, no matter how empty you may feel...GOD is the only one that can fill that VOID! when we are weak HE IS STRONG!
Sermon (Matt Boyle)-
i am a hero!!!! yes we are bro! we are all super heros!! great message tonight by Matt. He is currently an intern here at our church! Also a great soccer player that is playing on Cham-Bana Divided (the soccer team we came up with to play in the park district). great message tonight about how God uses us to be heros to save our friends and family!
At the end of service I got an opportunity to pray for one of my students that just recently graduated from Lincoln's Challenge Academy ( which is a boot camp for individuals)! great to see him growing, he has been telling me his life is turning out to be great, he just recently got a job, hes going to school, he loves God, he's meeting new people so life is great for him right now! its always great to hear awesome news like that from my students.
Outside -
after that i went outside to supervise the kids. lets just say they are wild lol! i love my students! lots to testosterone flowing so they were all slap boxing and scrapping for some of the it was the first time ever at church so some were cussing. but i had to let them know that they couldnt cuss. for the most part they listened and apologized. but i tried to calm them down from slap boxing and they would stop for a little bit but go back to chasing each other and scrapping again. kids! then finally Security Phil came and did the same thing i did to calm them down, they listened for a bit then back to doing it again... lol squirelly kids! then Phil CHECKED them ALL by yelling if anyone threw one more punch they were never coming back again. LOL! boy did they stop quick! by golly noone through another punch lol! they are so funny, i love church. i hope they continue to come, i cant wait to see how God will transform these kids lives. WE ALL NEED JESUS!
TRUE STORY STATEMENT- kids are a product of their environment, they are not to blame. only way to bring them to a relationship with Christ is through LOVE.
(this was my day off too)
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