Terribly Sick

It's been a pretty slow week so far. It's been pretty mixed as far as the goo dnad bad. First off, found the mp3 player I lost. I am frustrated because I pretty much bought another one because I thought it was gone....but, it's as good as sold on eBay. Speaking of eBay, I have made about $250 in three days on there. I sold some stuff I no longer use, and just need to ship it this week.

I have been sick since yesterday. It's the same junk Angela had last week. It's horrible! I am hoping I will be feeling better by Thursday.

May have a gig in April with Todd! Pretty excited, but I will fill you all in as soon as I know it's definite.

Sorry for the short entry, just wanted to let you all know I am alive. Later!

The Sweetest

Alright, I am going out and saying it......I am dating the most wonderful, sweetest, most thoughtful, considerate, most caring girl in the world! Angela gave me the greatest present for Valentines Day around! First off, we decided we were going to go to a movie in Lufkin (Nac theaters are no good). We went and took care of business at Wesley (officially off payroll tomorrw), and headed the way of Lufkin.Rolled into town and ran errands and made it just in time for the movie.

I suprised her and we went to "The Matador"....not a movie I would have chosen but she was interested in it a few weeks ago, so I knew she would enjoy it (back to that below). As we sat at the previews, Angela hands me this stack of papers. I open it up and she wrote the most beautiful and thoughtful letter for me. But, get this, she had it printed in braille!!!! I was so suprised. What made it better is I had no clue what it was going to be....and it is rare to catch me off guard. We left the movie and she gave me my other present in the car, which was a Remote Control holder....which I desperately needed.

I feel awful because I haven't finished getting her present. I love Valentines Day because it is the day she expects to be loved on, but.....that's just it, it is expected. I want to make it something incredibly special. It will be, trust me....

As for the movie....some pretty dirty parts (which neither of us knew about), some cursing (which again, didn't expect), but the storyline was actually pretty good. I get turned off pretty easy to movies with ALOT of cursing, but this one was ok. Wouldn't recommend it highly....but, hey, it was decent.

Well, no Wesley tomorrow, maybe no Grace stuff either....may have a Wednesday off. ROCK ON!

Did I Forget to Mention...

Casting Crowns and Nicole Nordeman came to Nac today. I wasn't really all excited like most just because I am not a big fan of either. I found out after church that Tim Mullican had a ticket he was going to sell for $15, so I got it. Now, the biggest reason why is because he bought five for his family, they received five free tickets elsewhere, so he was selling them so that he could buy Chris Tomlin tickets for his family. The kids were EXTREMELY excited about that Tomlin show, so I figured I would help out. Was I glad I did!

Show was fantastic! Nicole Nordeman, whom I really don't care for, was phenominal. Not only is she an extremely talented performer, she's an incredible songwriter. The $15 was worth it just for her (yes I said it). Her band, whom I assume were session guys, did an amazing job of emulating the rather pop, loopy tones on her records.

Casting Crowns, the band as a whole, was sick. It was still a really good show. They can rock, but nothing compares to the drummer. He beat the junk out of those drums. Every hit made the entire kit shake! DANG! They did a phenominal job!

In other notes, told Carl I wanted a break from Hearts Afire today. Only said a month or so, but I finished with "let's go from there...". I don't anticipate getting back involved. I will make one note....I have been very proud of some Wesleyans this week. I will say that I will still be involved on some level, as far as, fellowship stuff. I like alot of people there, just differing opinions.

Have a test tomorrow, and need to meet with Justin (the pastor) about some pretty important stuff....regarding equipment usage. Other than that, pretty breezy day tomorrow.

May have a thing at Harmony Hill on Wednesday, should be interesting...

Please Pray!

Todd's new baby girl, Finley, is back in the hospital. It's been a difficult week so far and they were pretty certain everything was fine as of last night. This morning they found out there are some intestinal problems and the DR. needs to have a specialist come from Shreveport to examine it. Just be in prayer that this baby is protected and this family is comforted. The Wrights are amazing people and they love Finley so much. Just pray that God will help guide the doctors in giving this child the best possible care available.

ALSO, on another prayer note, I have a stitch or two lose in my left eye from the surgery. It's bothering me so much, I didn't sleep any last night. Honestly, I will feel better soon, but it is frustrating in the mean time.

Thanks guys! Have a wonderful day!

Figured I would share...

So, I figured I would share this picture with you guys. It's from a sign outside of a dry cleaners here in Nacogdoches. Angela and I are sending it into Jay Leno's "Headlines", so hopefully we'll get it on the air.

What I am wondering is, how they thought people were going to interpret this? And also, if we actually have anyone that took this sign literally? Oh well, they changed the sign yesterday, so now all we have is this picture!

Hot off the Press!

Well, for some big news....I officially quit my job at the Wesley. I say this as if it is extremely exciting, and that's not it. It's a good thing, for me at least, because it has really hindered me. I am thrilled because now I have time to serve (and participate) at Grace more. The meeting with Tom went rather well...in fact, I think it may have helped the overall picture. Wesley isn't working, and I think it's going to take some bold folks to stand up and say what they think....I believe that I am not one of the most confrontational people, but I made some very valid statements that were pretty bold.

One thing I did wrong....I made vague statements about things I had wrong. I didn't mention specific people merely because it truly is no one else's business. I made statements about inappropriate behavior, negativity, and other things. I am pretty sure that I want to meet with him one more time so that I can be a little more specific. Reasons being, I think for him to fix problems, he needs to be completely aware of every aspect of it.

So, where to now? Carl needs to pick up the reins and run with them now. I am meeting with him to discuss website details (passwords, setup, editing) and discuss his plans.

Well, school stunk today. I failed a quiz in Poli Sci, then another one in Math. No biggie, quiz grades aren't too heavy on the grade. Business Communication groups were assigned today and I got a good one. Our topic sucks (Pet Marketting), but, oh well. Once research starts, it should clear it self up.

In other news.....set up all my recording stuff at Grace now. It's in our back closet. It's pretty cool because now we have the ability (anyone who is interested) to go and easily plug in and either record to the Roland or into Pro Tools. It's pretty sweet! I am about to order a set of studio monitors and a mixer so I can actually use it some more. Hope to get some stuff going soon!

Alrighty, off to do some stuff!

Long Day, More to Come

This morning started really really early. I got to church around 7:35a, just in time for a sound check/run thru. Had some V-Drum issues, but nothing that won't be taken care of. First service was decent.....just little musical issues that hopefully will work themselves out. Tim Mullican, our acoustic guitarist for the time being, did a fantastic job coping with tempo issues on the vocal side. Very humble guy who truly has a servant's heart. It's good to work with those kinds of people.

Went back to the dorm to catch about an hour of sleep after "round one" as we will now call it. I had changed back into my sleeping clothes, and get a phone call from Mike and Paul and they want to go to Donut Palace. YUM, but YIKES. I am not even deressed. Wait wait wait, get that image out of your heads', I was dressed, just not to go out.

Went to the Donut Shack where we talked and ate. Headed back to GBC for the second service and it went a little better. Like I said, tempo issues are tough when your lead vocalist is not an instrumentalist.

Headed home, chilled, and met Paul back at GBC around 4p so that we could go to our Mission Trip meeting. That was a load of fun! My group is very cool and I am growing more excited as the time rolls on. It's going to be so much fun!

Got to GBC for the Super Bowl Party at around 5. It was alot of fun and a great time to hang out with people. I haven't done alot of fellowship stuff with folks from Grace, so this was refreshing to attend a fellowship event out of my own free-will rather than obligation. Had a fun time just talking and getting to know folks.

And now, I am home. I am ready to sleep! I have a big announcement and hopefully I can make it after tomorrow. I am truly excited about it....and it's going to be great for me.

ALSO, check this out! Read the first blog entry...good stuff! I am so happy I've been led where I am at.

Later!

Questions?

This morning has been very frustrating. I decided on Tuesday that I wanted to meet with my pastor, Justin Beadles, and just discuss the Bible, theology, and life in general. So we decided on Thursday's at 10:30a, we would do that.

I show up with alot on my mind. Number one, Wesley is still eating me up. I am so torn between what I think I should do, and what I know needs to be done. Number two, I am struggling knowing that entering into this meeting (this Bible study if you willl), I am a "doof". I don't know scripture, really at all. Excuses aside, I have not been exposed to it as much as I needed to be. I have grown bored with it, and therefore, don't immerse myself in it. As ashamed as I am about that, Justin never made me feel dumb.

Justin started by handing me an object, told me not too look, but simply make observations. I, out of confusion, just straight up told him it was a dice. I am not a patient person, and when I am frustrated and confused, I just blurt what I think is appropriate. He then told me just to make observations, just small ones, and tell details I can understand and see about it.

You have to open your eyes and observe to fully comprehend and understand what it means to you. Speaking about scripture, without observing and gathering information, you'll never find the application for you life.

We moved in to the Word and looked at this verse of scripture:

Acts 1:8 (New International Version)

8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

We looked at that scripture, and honestly, I couldn't gather much. Knowning me, or maybe even some of you don't know this but I'll sahre regardless. I don't read the Bible. Whether it's becase I can't see it and hearing it bores me, or whether I just don't...it's unimportant....what's the important thing is, just using what Justin showed me, I am pumped!

We broke that verse down, and made tons of observations, from the word "but", to the verb tense of "will receive", etc. There's oddles of observations one can make. I am not going to lie....it's frustrating, because I am still struggling to observe and absorb all of it. However, I understand that it's not supposed to be easy. We're not supposed to be able to open up the Bible and just inhale all the knowledge of the Word. If we could do that....it would not bare as much importance on our lives as it does today.

Justin is an incredible leader and a fantastic pastor. If anyone is in this area and can visit one Sunday, DO IT! Justin Beadles has, in one meeting, changed my life. That's odd to say, but, I can honestly say that my outlook on the Bible is completely changed. Will I still struggle with it? Probably... Is it going to be hard? Of course! But, I want it to be. I want to dig deeper and deeper to find the answers to further my walk.

We prayed for a better understanding of the Word, and the ability to observe it's many wonderful things and to be able to better observe details. We then talked about me, and things I do and think about. We brought up Wesley, and some of the issues I have...some big, some not-so big, and some minor issues. I am drawing closer to a conclusion, but, I need time to think everything through and decide what's better for the sitaution. God's going to be there whichever way I go.

Anyways, that was my morning....