An Actual Post
Yes, I'm posting. I rarely get on this thing anymore. Oh well.
I moved back in with my parents. It's okay I guess back at home. I'm not sleeping on my water bed anymore, so I have difficulty sleeping at night. I'm sleeping in my childhood room that looks like a little kid's room. My parents have house rules I'm not used to anymore (no shoes on the carpet, no feet on the couch, etc.). I live far away from everything now. My drive to work is 25 minutes. I'm still paying my rent on the apartment. Those are the cons. The pros are that once the apartment lease is up, I'll be saving tons of money. The house is actually fairly clean. I'm with my studio. There's a hot tub. So, yeah, I think I'd rather be out of my parents' house, but saving all that money for everything I'm saving up for will be a mighty good thing. (a car, a house, and yes, a ring)
Rachel is still in England. She gets back in 2 weeks and 2 days. I'm missing her like mad. She's been calling me a lot which is cool! I love that girl! I'm gonna marry her one day! Her trip is over halfway done, but it's still a long time before I see her. 2 weeks and 2 days is just too long. its been 3 weeks as of today. Well, if it's just about 3/5 done, that's not too bad I guess. It still sucks though! It just seems like it was so long ago that she left. I've been calling her best friend Krystal in Lexington to talk about her, lol. I'm going down there Saturday to visit all Rachel's friends, plus a few of my own friends down there.
My youth ministry is awesome! I started my first Sunday afternoon program yesterday, and it rocked! And it's only gonna get better! I'm just so excited about this church and our youth program! Yay! Yesterday, I went through the 5 purposes of youth ministry (worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship) and those are what drives me being a youth minister! I'm kind of in a renewing stage in my faith right now. Unfortunately, I was beginning to be focused on religion rather than a relationship with God. I just HATE that word religion. Religion sucks! Who wants their purpose in life to be following a whole bunch of rules and rituals? I'm finally getting back to what God wants from me: a loving, intimate relationship with Him.
The other day, I went to a youth leader's training seminar, and the guy leading it was trying to get us to use our own life stories as parables, showing how our life stories are the most effective sermons. So, he had us write a list of things that happened to us the day before. One thing I wrote was that Rachel didn't call me, and I really was missing her. (Along with going to Red Robin for bottomless french fries, and having a stressful work day.) He told us to pick one that we could form a parable out of. I thought for sure I'd pick the bottomless fries. Surely there would be a good sermon illustration with that somehow. But, he said, before we pick it, pray for God to guide us to pick what He wants us to use. So I did, and God led me to pick the one about Rachel. And, if I went one day without talking to her and miss her that much, would I miss God at least that much if I go a day without talking to Him? I'm supposed to love God more than her. That's a scary thought. I tell ya though, one thing I love about Rachel is that she would be very upset with me if I loved her more than God. THAT is the kind of girl I want to be with forever!
Closing
Today is the 5th annivarsary of the September 11 attacks. I've been seeing some things on TV about it the last couple days, and my mind just can't take it in that well. I see movie clips of firefighters on the bottom floor and people running out. I've been there a few times, and just seeing that happening exactly where I have once stood... it's just... wow. I just really really really wish that things could be solved with something other than violence. I know if life is threatened, there is ntohing wrong with defending oneself (person-to-person or nation-to-nation), but were they really feeling threatened by us before 9/11? Why would they kill that many people? And that many innocent people? And that many civilians? For the sake of their religion? And it's not really their religion; it's a perversion of their religion. No, I'm not really a pacifist, but I really do wish for, I guess to use the cheesy expression, world peace.
I moved back in with my parents. It's okay I guess back at home. I'm not sleeping on my water bed anymore, so I have difficulty sleeping at night. I'm sleeping in my childhood room that looks like a little kid's room. My parents have house rules I'm not used to anymore (no shoes on the carpet, no feet on the couch, etc.). I live far away from everything now. My drive to work is 25 minutes. I'm still paying my rent on the apartment. Those are the cons. The pros are that once the apartment lease is up, I'll be saving tons of money. The house is actually fairly clean. I'm with my studio. There's a hot tub. So, yeah, I think I'd rather be out of my parents' house, but saving all that money for everything I'm saving up for will be a mighty good thing. (a car, a house, and yes, a ring)
Rachel is still in England. She gets back in 2 weeks and 2 days. I'm missing her like mad. She's been calling me a lot which is cool! I love that girl! I'm gonna marry her one day! Her trip is over halfway done, but it's still a long time before I see her. 2 weeks and 2 days is just too long. its been 3 weeks as of today. Well, if it's just about 3/5 done, that's not too bad I guess. It still sucks though! It just seems like it was so long ago that she left. I've been calling her best friend Krystal in Lexington to talk about her, lol. I'm going down there Saturday to visit all Rachel's friends, plus a few of my own friends down there.
My youth ministry is awesome! I started my first Sunday afternoon program yesterday, and it rocked! And it's only gonna get better! I'm just so excited about this church and our youth program! Yay! Yesterday, I went through the 5 purposes of youth ministry (worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship) and those are what drives me being a youth minister! I'm kind of in a renewing stage in my faith right now. Unfortunately, I was beginning to be focused on religion rather than a relationship with God. I just HATE that word religion. Religion sucks! Who wants their purpose in life to be following a whole bunch of rules and rituals? I'm finally getting back to what God wants from me: a loving, intimate relationship with Him.
The other day, I went to a youth leader's training seminar, and the guy leading it was trying to get us to use our own life stories as parables, showing how our life stories are the most effective sermons. So, he had us write a list of things that happened to us the day before. One thing I wrote was that Rachel didn't call me, and I really was missing her. (Along with going to Red Robin for bottomless french fries, and having a stressful work day.) He told us to pick one that we could form a parable out of. I thought for sure I'd pick the bottomless fries. Surely there would be a good sermon illustration with that somehow. But, he said, before we pick it, pray for God to guide us to pick what He wants us to use. So I did, and God led me to pick the one about Rachel. And, if I went one day without talking to her and miss her that much, would I miss God at least that much if I go a day without talking to Him? I'm supposed to love God more than her. That's a scary thought. I tell ya though, one thing I love about Rachel is that she would be very upset with me if I loved her more than God. THAT is the kind of girl I want to be with forever!
Closing
Today is the 5th annivarsary of the September 11 attacks. I've been seeing some things on TV about it the last couple days, and my mind just can't take it in that well. I see movie clips of firefighters on the bottom floor and people running out. I've been there a few times, and just seeing that happening exactly where I have once stood... it's just... wow. I just really really really wish that things could be solved with something other than violence. I know if life is threatened, there is ntohing wrong with defending oneself (person-to-person or nation-to-nation), but were they really feeling threatened by us before 9/11? Why would they kill that many people? And that many innocent people? And that many civilians? For the sake of their religion? And it's not really their religion; it's a perversion of their religion. No, I'm not really a pacifist, but I really do wish for, I guess to use the cheesy expression, world peace.