Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas on Sunday a little but mostly the Family celebrated Christmas the day after Christmas this year. Jennifer and Brandon gotin Christmas night so the whole family could be together.
When Brandon and Jennifer got home Brandon was ready to go so we went sledding in front of the house. Build a little jump, make a fool of yourself, and it is always good times

brandon and Jennifer home

nice air

sledding
Here is our Christmas Day

Christmas pictures

Christmas Lunch

apples to apples
If you have never played the game Apple to Apples. I highly recommend it as a group game. It is a fun one because of the interaction within the group.

Christmas Boxers
We are all sporting our Christmas Boxers
And sure enough, my dad would not let this Christmas go by without some kind of chaos so he bought us all nerf guns and let the fun begin
Nerf Gun War

you're a gonner

nerf gun war

war!

watchout
At the end of Christmas around New Years, Kelly's new boyfriend, Brenton(the soccer coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan) came to meet and spend a couple of days with the family

the family and Brenton
It was a full Christmas to say the Least!

Back To School

Right before i went back to school, two RA's from my dorm took me snowboarding for the first time! It was so amazing!

Me, Dave, and Joel Snowboarding
I fell so much the first day, that i broke the zipper on my snow pants and had to where Joel's jump suit(picture above) the second day! I got to where i could go off a small box railing and landed one 180 off the jump. I was cautious though! Dave did break his rist though. NOTE: Someone always gets hurt when a group goes snowboarding. Don't be that guy! :)
When School Started, my good friend TRace, from Cali came to visit. First things first i showed him where Mexico, IN was! It was only fitting! :) The cruel irony of a big mexio sign in the middle of a corn field where it is 30 degrees

Mexico, Indiana

yeah baby

Trace and me
We had a good time. A group of us went ice skating on the weekend while Trace was here.

kat, mark, and josh
On the way up we were blaring the music and acting like we were deaf as we belted all the lyrics to Disney, Spice Girls, Love Songs, you name it.

classic picture... can you find me?

me ice skating

the group

guys getting too close

the girls

Mark Jumping on my face
It was a good time
Trace left after a week and is now back home. It was sad to see him go, but nice to taste of Cali out in good ol' Indiana

Logos 05

Over Christmas break i got to be apart of the security staff that helped run the Wesleyan Churches Youth conference in Grand Rapids, MI.


What the Stage looked like

worship

Me workin the signing booth and workin it well! :)

Security

Dan Bellinger
It will be fun to see where he goes in the Wesleyan Church. he is sharp... and he apparently loves buffalo wings
I was lucky enough to get to pick up Something Like Silas up from the airport. They were a band who lead worship out in Cali on Sunday evenings that i always listened to, so it was amazing to get to talk to them and know the personally

Me with Something LIke Silas

Amy, Me, and Joy Hurlow
Janelle, Kelly, and Me


Me and the Olsons
Mitch is Travis Hobbs boss and the Head student ministries pastor at Hillside Wesleyan Church in Michigan

Me, Travis Hobbs, & Lance Young

Lance & Travis
THis is how it should be. Lance and Travis are pastoring at different churches but met up at this conference. This was an all too familiar picture of them growing up... together!

Alli Walls and Me

leaving logos

Kelly worked the promo booth for Oklahoma Wesleyan University with one of her good friends Caroline who also works there. They were entertained by each other to say the least.

Caroline Southworth and her husband Kevin

Me and Kel again

Oh, sibling love

Me and My Sis
Kelly and Caroline

Kelly, Caroline, and an OWU RA

Me and Gale Richmond

Security is serious work

Classic

Kelly and Caroline at Work
It was good to see Kel and enjoy the trip. I love my family.

Quick Thoughts

Pictures of Break will be coming soon... but here are just a few things i learned over break

1.
I was reading in my mom's People magazine and a guy said about weight loss,
"You're weight is personal. People can take away your job and house, but they can't tell you how to treat your body."
I thought that was very interesting. Reminds me a lot about the how the Bible tells us to treat ourselves with love
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

2. John Maxwell's Today Matters "Unfortunately, many people approach their lives very passively...But life is not a dress rehearsal...If you're proactive, you focus on preparing. If you're reactive, you end up focusing on repairing.

Repairing
Makes you focus on yesterday
Consumes time
Breeds discouragement
Increases Costs
Pays now for yesterday
Becomes an obstacle to growth

Prepairing
Lets you focus on today
Increases efficiencey
Increases confidence
Saves Money
Pays now for tomorrow
Takes you to a higher level

John Maxwell has got skillz!!! This is well put. There is a time to look at things in retrospect, but we must live in today and look to where we can go compared to where we could've gone.

3. "'...Nobody can make another person happy. That was [a personal] job'... If you want today to be a good day, you need to take charge of the way you look at it."
-Maxwell

Weekend Fun

I had a lot of work this weekend so i made sure to take a few breaks. Friday night we grilled out in the light snow! :) ate inside, looked at the Christmas lights, and watched the elf, and played spoons with Candy Canes.... it was one of those nights you walk away from thinking, "that was a GOOD time!"

Christmas Friday night
Saturday i was studying in the Library when my friend Mark came and got me and we went sledding in the first heavy snow at Midnight. Good times. Here are some of the friends. The guys all are on my floor and the girls all live in the same dorm.

New Hall Girls

Mark made it through!!! Painful bliss!

Bjorn got hit with a snowball!

Painful Sledding (did a 360 flip after this shot)

Our Snowman!

My ode to Thanksgiving Break

I've done nothing...

it's a love hate relationship.

I come home with good intentions of exercise and homework.

I come home to family time.

i come home to eating too much food.

Is there more i could do?
Sure seems like it.

Do i want to kick myself in the pants and call myself a "lazy, good for nothing Christian who doesn't work hard enough, talk to my parents enough, or discipline myself enough?... all the time!

Is that the answer? Maybe...probably not!

Don't get me wrong. Discipline is key. But Christians aren't built off works.

Oswald Chambers says this, "Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God; they are as much of God as the profound. It is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow; but your wish to impress other people witht he fact that you are a spiritual prig. Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a Baby. To be shallow is not a sign of being wicked...our safeguard is in the shallow things...the shallow amenities of life, eating and drinking, walking and talking, are all ordained by God.'So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.'1 Corinthians 10:31"

I did nothing?

Rest

Contemplation

family time

alone time

and homework in time.

i've done something...

I HAVE GLORIFIED GOD!!!

CAUTION: Don't get caught up in legalism


Thanks: to shopping with mom, My Utmost For His Highest, and Breaking The Bondage of Legalism

Contemplations of life

My thoughts on life. I was talking to my friend Greg and I loved it because he was so apt on knowing truth and what happiness really looked like and when he could be completely real with himself. What would it look like if I was completely real with myself and searched for truth? I would stop helping out where in ministries I was forced...then I would instead start trying to find spots where I could interact with nonChristians... a basketball gym in the winter time, Beat Nix, etc. somewhere, anywhere I could talk and try and help people beyond IWU. I would start another bible study/Know your faith group in Hodson that would meet weekly and we would talk. I would ago to bed at 2 and wake up at 8-9AM. I would understand my roommate and how to help him. I would be able to actually care/pray/nurture my guys. I would do the homework I cared about and I would definitely complete and finish the book I’m writing well! I would speak in chapel on the book 2nd Semester. I will have gone snow boarding once, trace will have visited, I will go to Cedar Point that week before I graduate or soon after, I will visit CA sometime soon, I will have bought steve a sword, I will have learned some Money Management Skillz. I would know what I wanted in a wife and if nothing else know that I lived my senior year without regrets as to how I acted with girls, how I did ministry, and how I enjoyed it. I would be physically active(personal need), wholehearted into my ministry(good for me and people I’m helping), more disciplined financially and just in general(needed for future), and God... God would be my answer. I would love to read His Word like every day it would seem like it was the first time I heard it and I couldn’t wait for more. Time would be an irrelevant factor when it came to listening or serving the Lord. God would be my reason for why I lived the way I did. God would be my security in the choices I would make. God would give me wisdom or the resources to know how to help those close to me. Lord give me wisdom. How do I minister and give myself to those in need without neglecting my family and those close to me? Please continue to surround me with people who want to love on those around them. Help me not to feel constrained by my relationships. Help them to be freeing, nurturing, and encouraging. Lord, help this prayer, these thoughts, to become a reality if they are your will. My Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Forever. Amen. Lord I trust you to act. Do your thing.

I feel sick.

i went 100 miles per hour this last week or at least as fast as a senior in college can go and my body crashed. Luckily i didn't have anything planned this weekend so it is more low key, but headaches and being stuffed up is no fun. Either way, here i am back at the library somewhat procrastinating but getting to work to.

Procrastination

enough said
This is my shout out to all those who thrive under pressure!!! Yes, it is 5am and I have a 6 page paper due in 5 hours and I LOVE IT!!! Actually I hate myself right now, and yet I know I am going to get it done, so much so, that I am writing this pointless time consuming journal just to distract my mind for that much longer before I get started. My question, Is there any ideal job for this? Weather man is out …I don’t think people would appreciate getting tornado warnings as late as I turn in my papers. Doctor is out …I don’t think the patient’s family would appreciate me waiting to see how close he can get to flat-lining before I save him, just for the thrill of it. Stunt devil… I would lose something, that’s fore sure. Sports player …too risky and way too close for comfort. The carefree friend that causes everyone else to slack off and not care because he never seems to have do any work or any thing of importance besides enjoy himself… YES! As to how I will make money, I am still at a loss.

What is Humility in the Midst of Success?

I wrote this for my floor earlier this year:
Is it knowing and saying that the other team might be better even though you beat them? But what if you are truly better than the opponent? Is it knowing you are all equal as humans and that competition doesn’t matter? Maybe… but we are guys… competition matters! Humility by the Bible’s definition from what I see goes something like this: Don’t think you are above God and don’t think that you know better than others. Treat others as though they are better than yourself and love them as you love yourself. Competition isn’t against each other, but against Satan, evil, and the evil he has caused in others in this world. Pride is the antonym and it is always bad”(Philippians 2, Titus 3:2, 1 Peter 5:5) Another way I have heard humility defined is: “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less.”
What is humility in a time of success? It’s not just an action but an action that comes from an attitude. It’s realizing that success isn’t just for yourself. It’s realizing that above the priority of winning is the priority to help others. What victory is there in winning an intramural championship if walls between friends are built up, feelings are hurt, and bitterness is formed? About now, those of you who are competitive are grimacing and thinking, “Come on, just let me be competitive and enjoy it. None of this play nice stuff.” But wait! We know as Christians PRIDE is not something to mess with! So I put it out there again,
What is humility in the midst of success? Maybe it’s giving glory where it is truly due the bold statement of saying, “I didn’t do anything special, God and the guys gave me the opportunity,” If that is too bold or cheesy for you… maybe it’s using the windows opened by your talents. Use the influence gained from being talented or winning to teach, guide, and connect with someone who looks up to you. Maybe it’s consciously making a decision to play first to help the team in whatever way possible before trying to be the stud you think you deserve to be. Maybe it’s giving up the reward, prize, or glory that you deserve to help those who are less fortunate(ie. $ to support those in need). That sounds familiar(Philippians 2:5-11). Could you allow a friend to honestly believe that you got beat at some sport while playing your hardest by someone who isn’t very good, without defending yourself? Even if you won? (ie. a girl in ping pong, guy in arm wrestling, etc.)
May be you do need to think less of yourself. Do you really think you deserve your accomplishments? Who gave you your breathe to live through that success, who gave you the strength to do it, and do you honestly think you came up with that desire and drive in the first place(Acts 17:25-28)? Maybe you just have a healthy confidence. Next, the question is are you thinking of yourself less? What do you prove by winning something? Who do you prove it to? Yourself? Other humans? God? God’s not really impressed by a trophy. Sure there is fun in winning but if humility is not there all that happens is that we become that much more distracted by how great we are. If that is our goal what are we really accomplishing? What are we winning? Is the battle going on, but we showed up to the wrong field? What is Humility in a time of success. Lord please help us not to miss it.

Pumpkined

My dad counted over 200 pumpkins in his year this weekend!!! Some one in the church put them all over the yard and behind his car so that he had to move them before he could leave the house.... well done!


all the pumpkins

loading them up

pumpined