How's Chicago?

I want to give y'all a run-down of what's been happening in Chicago (actually Evanston, directly north of Chicago), Illinois. Well, I got in here late Friday night and just crashed on Kathy's couch. We were pretty pooped, spending three days in a car will wipe you out! We spent all day Saturday at a wedding, decorating for it in the morning and enjoying the festivites in the afternoon. Seriously, weddings are becoming a theme of our relationship: we met at a wedding and now we spent our first day together in the same city at a wedding! Crazy!

The wedding went great, we had a great time dancing and hanging out with her friends. It's weird for me right now because all of the social situations I'm in are new social situations, I don't really know anyone really well yet. But more on that later....

Sunday was my first church service at Evanston Vineyard (Kathy's church) and it was great. I got to meet more people, we had some great worship and made it through a rather boring sermon on Prayer. Sunday afternoon was our first opportunity to just hang out, we set up my apartment and got me all unpacked. It was sweet. At church, a guy that I met before I moved out here (Tommy) gave me an air mattress and pump - what a life-saver!

Monday was my first weekday in Evanston. I spent the majority of the day looking for a job, finishing up my apartment and getting to know Evanston. It was really relaxing! Monday night I attended my first meeting of a Men's Group I was invited to; the topic of the Men's Group is relationships - perfect, I know! Anyway, it was really cool and I feel like I started to bond with some of the guys out here.

Tuesday was a real work day, I was very determined to get things accomplished. I did more job-hunting, returned a lot of calls and caught up on my emails. Nothing really exciting happened, but in the afternoon Kath started coming down with a real bad stomach pain that would keep her at home all day Wednesday. I spent a large part of Wednesday just babying Kath and getting her well again so she could go back to work on Thursday.

I went with her to Downers Grove (the city she works in) on Thursday to spend the day down there, just relaxing. I needed a day where I had nothing to do, and this was a good opportunity for me to do that. I spent the morning reading Ann Coulter's new book at the local Barnes and Noble, had lunch with Kath and spent the afternoon at the local library. Sweet! Then last night me and Kath went to the local mall just to try on clothes and hang out. It was really fun!

I feel like the Lord is blessing my socks off out here. I've really connected with some guys out here and it's only been a week. I feel like I'm starting to become a part of the community out here, I feel like I belong. Kath has done a great job introducing me to people and letting me make my own connections and establish myself as an individual. This move has already really strengthened me and Kath's relationship and brought us closer together as a team and as a unit. I miss you guys in the Antelope Valley, but I know God has something really special for me out here - I just don't know what yet. :)

Headed on the Highway, Looking for Adventure!

This is a day-by-day recollection of me and Kath's crazy journey across the country! Sit back and enjoy...

Wednesday:
We left Wednesday morning about five in the morning. We packed the previous night, my poor little Saturn (later named Willy) was packed to the brim! Before I left my mom gave me a tearful good-bye and me and Kath were off, driving into the sunrise. The drive started off very easy and we got out of California without any difficulty.
We enterered Nevada when the sun was still rising and got into Vegas about ten. Kath had never seen Vegas before so we stopped and walked the strip. More on our Vegas trip later, we did something a little crazy.
We got out of Vegas and headed east towards Utah. Nevada's actually a really boring state once you get past Vegas! There's really nothing there except a few small towns...disappointing! Me and Kath were in Utah for about 400 miles and saw maybe five or six towns. It wasn't uncommon for us to see a sign saying "Salinas next right - no services next 100 miles." To say Utah was a barren wasteland is being very nice. We *did* get some good tanning in some National Forest in Utah, it was sweet! We were eager to get out of Utah and into civilation, but we kept stopping to take in the sights so we ended the day about four hours behind schedule and got out of Utah around nine. We stopped at a Super8 motel and went to bed.

Thursday:
We got back on the road about nine in the morning and headed east. We hit the Rockies around noon, the mountains were gorgeous! The ski season had recently ended so there were waterfalls around almost every corner, it was a very romantic drive. We stopped to see one of Kath's old friends in a nearby town, stayed for about an hour and then took off. Well, Kath's friend gave bad directions so we ended up losing an hour. We barely got out of Colorado before the day was over and stayed in a podunk town in Nebraska called...Ogallala! There's a great hotel there called "Grey Goose Lodge" that provided free breakfast, an outdoor pool and double beds. It was sweet! We got a great night's sleep...

Friday:
Our last day on the road! We were excited to get back to Illinois, but we were having a blast the entire trip! We both like to sing at the drop of a hat, so we would break out in an appropriate song with great comedic timing. We were having a great time just enjoying each other's company! We were having some great conversations, we made a lot of progress in our relationship and got to know each other a lot better. Anyway, so we got through the bajillion cornfields in Nebraska and entered Iowa about lunchtime. Iowa was lame. We got to Illinois around six-ish and grabbed some chinese food for dinner. We could taste home, so we kept going. We finally arrived at Kath's house at nine on Friday night. Pictures to follow!

"Red Bull" Christians

Studying Acts 13, we see some awesome church growth and great examples of what it means to be a powerful Christian. The first thing I noticed is that the believers were high-performance believers! The first church had a *vision* and a plan for action. Churches must have a vision if they want to see success, energy not directed is energy wasted. This principle applies in our personal lives as well, more on that later.

The early church persevered in the face of defeat, they wouldn't allow setbacks to deter them from their mission. How easy it is to give up in the face of trials, throw up our hands when we sense we may lose or walk away when the going is a little tougher than we thought. The early church didn't exist to survive, it's purpose was to thrive! One of the most common traps Christians face is the attitude of complacency: "I'm doing great! I'll stay just like this." After one victory, the church moved on to win more battles; they never stood still on the battlefield for souls. They overcame the heartaches, they overcame the defeats and they overcame the persecution. They were winners with the mindset of a winner, they lived Romans 8:28, they knew they were made to be victorious!

Revelation 21:7 - God rewards those who overcome
1 Cor 15:57 - God gives us victory!
Revelation 2:26 - God gives authority to those that overcome
Romans 8:37 - We are more than conquerors, we are victors!

To become powerful Christians we must wholeheartedly believe what we live. At first glance, you may think: "Believe what we live or live what we believe?" Those of us that have given our lives to Christ attempt to live according to His Word; but I fear some of us don't wholeheartedly believe what it says. We read that we are victors, we strive to survive instead of thrive; we read God wants us to be prosperous, we're content with our measly wages; and we read that we are being watched over and taken care of, yet we worry about tomorrow. We read in James 1 that double-mindedness, or doubts, cause us to lose blessings from the Lord. Doubters never prosper.

Lastly, you know if you're not living a powerful Christian walk if you're not evangelizing. What Christianity are you living if it's not exciting enough to tell others about? I leave you with this passage from 1 Peter 1:5-9:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

Five years ago

Twenty-five things about me five years that are no longer true now! I was seventeen years old...

1. I hated my job
2. I had very few friends
3. I was depressed....very depressed
4. My goal in life was to become rich and powerful
5. I didn't enjoy church
6. I was lonely
7. I was afraid of love (and pretty much any other positive emotion)
8. I looked at porn daily
9. I drove a Ford Escort
10. I was fat
11. I felt ugly
12. I was shy around women because I was fat and ugly
13. I drank close to two liters of Moutain Dew every day
14. I didn't respect my parents
15. I didn't care about what anyone thought of me
16. I had very poor spending habits
17. I enjoyed hurting women so they could feel the pain my mom caused me
18. Me and Denny weren't close friends; I hadn't even met Kyle yet
19. I didn't want God's plan for my life - and I didn't even know what it was!
20. I cussed a lot
21. I lacked confidence in myself, but I was cocky about my abilities
22. I was angry
23. I didn't want accountability, I thought I enjoyed my life and didn't want change
24. I had no peace...
25. I had no love in my life; love was foreign to me.

At 18 years old I turned my life over to Christ and everything changed.

Bye Bye Lancaster

A part of me passed away today
The part of me that pushed you away
The little voice that told me "No"
The caution that told me not to go

That part of me is gone, for now
I wanted to hold back but I didn't know how
I was afraid of the pain you'd bring
Terrified you'd make my cry again

But now I know what true love is like
Everything about us just feels so right
I hope I'm not wrong about you
I hope your love is nothing but true

Cuz I've got nothing left, I've given all to you
I have no regrets about what I'm about to do
Leaving the world as I know it
Don't know how else to show it
I love you with all of my heart

Don't let this become reality

I'm standing at your grave today
You're going down in the ground
I'm sorry I couldn't help take your pain away
I guess it's a week too late now
I was always there for you even though I was away
You should've just picked up the phone
Left a message, vented a little, would've been ok
I'm fighting the tears, holding them inside
This hurts so much to see you go like this
Why did you have to take your own life?

The emotions flow from one side to the other
I'm sad, I'm angry, I'm confused and pissed at you
We were best friends, no we were like brothers
I never left your side, my friendship was true
This is how it had to end
I scream inside, Why! I hate you!
It's a lie, I never hated I was always loving you
Even when you were unloveable and cruel
You knew I was always going to be there for you
You would've liked to see the pain you caused today
It would make you realize you were loved, in a sick way
But now it's over, this is the end
I'm the last to leave your side even though you're gone
I was, and will always be, your best friend

Christian pick up lines

My blog needs some loving, so here's a fluffy blog for ya...

1. Nice bible.

2. You know Jesus? Hey, me too!

3. No, I'm not coveting. I intend to make you mine.

4. I've prayed about it and God wants you to go out with me.

5. I know a great church where we could go and talk.

6. Has anyone ever told you, your eyes are like doves and your neck like the tower of David?

7. Do you need help carrying your bible? It looks heavy.

9. Is it a sin that you stole my heart?

10. Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?

11. I just don't feel called to celibacy.

12. Hey..for you I'd work seven years. Oh, yeah, and seven more for your sister!

13. The Bible says "Give drink to those who are thirsty, and feed the hungry".... so how about dinner?

14. I'm pretty flexible--I don't think a woman should be submissive on the first date.

15. You want to come over and watch the 10 commandments tonight?

16. You have the body of Amy Grant and the soul of Mother Teresa. (DO NOT get this one confused!)

17. What do you think Paul meant when he said, "Greet everyone with a holy kiss"?

18. Hey baby, you wanna take the church van for a spin.

19. Do you believe in Divine appointment?

20. You know, I'm really into relationship evangelism.

21. Excuse me, I believe one of your ribs belongs to me.

22. My friend told me to come and meet you, he said that you are a really nice person. I think you know him. Jesus, yeah, that's his name.

23. Before tonight, I never believed in predestination...

24. I hear there's going to be a love offering tonight.

25. What? Friends listen to Amazing Grace in the dark.

26. I practice our mission to "Love one another" to the fullest extent

27. When I saw you, I knew the true meaning of "Rejoice and be Glad"

29. What's your name and number so I can add you to my "prayer" list?

30. Hi, my name's Will...God's Will

31. God broke the mold when He made your sweet face.

32. I didn't know angels flew this low.

33. I'd pick you over Satan any day.

34. God was just showing off when He made you.

35. [check the person's shirt tag] "just as i thought... made in heaven.