8.26.2007

24 Hour Prayer update.

So we only have 7 more hours to go in our 24 hour prayer, and i felt like writing down some observations while i'm on the 2-5am shift looking over the building.

Things i've seen so far:
An elder of the church overcome by tears.
A mom with three kids from 1 yr to 5 yrs praying on the steps in the foyer.
A family sitting down praying together well after bed time.
The look of excitement when i told a lady there was a 'quiet room'.
Two of our senior saints who have been friends for a long time holding hands praying together at sunset.
A newly married couple in their 60's holding hands praying together as they walked around the field by our church.
A man with cancer who can barely lift a hammer putting a nail in a cross.
Grown men coloring.
Jr high kiddos setting up prayer stations that have pushed the prayer lives of people eight times their age.
Families talking about what they can do to help out the invisible children.
Little kids writing what they are thankful for with their mom and dad.
A family taking turns putting a nail in a cross, and a dad explaining why.
Five cars in the church parking lot at 2 am.
Several sets of mothers/daughters praying together.

Things i haven't seen so far:
Where God is going to take us after tonight.

one love, one heart.

8.22.2007

"When it comes down to me against a situation, I don't like the situation to win." -MacGyver

time for a random blog. (i wrote this late last night)

it's late, i can't sleep. i'm tired and exhausted. have you ever been too tired to sleep?

i can't wait till monday. summer's almost over, and the best way i can describe how i feel right now is like i've almost swam underwater across the whole pool. if i can hold my breath for just a few more strokes i'll be really stoked about making it the whole way, but all i can think about is taking that breath.

why do i feel like such a nerd after watching lord of the rings tonight?

speaking of nerding out. my new favorite tv show is 'women of ninja warrior'.

last week was awesome. i went to a bunch of baseball games and ate a bunch of stadium nachos. maybe too many. whatever, there's no such thing.

and for those who asked, the blind date didn't pan out because her flight back to los angeles got delayed. i'll keep you updated on what happens next.

is it just me or does it seem like the whole michael vick case is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dogfighting?

if you want to see some cool artwork look up steff plaetz.

if you want a good 'are you kidding me' laugh look up steven seagal's music video.

if you want a good gift idea for me i would really love a new chargers jersey.

if you want a good cd to listen to right now go pick up ben harper's 'the will to live' so you can say you were a fan before his new album comes out next week.

if you want a good haircut don't go to supercuts.

after being in san diego for a few days, it brought back some old memories. to top the list, i wonder whatever happened to our old car, the blue 76 monte carlo?

i realized the other day that i don't have a stereo in my room, which is odd since i listen to music pretty much everywhere i go. so i went to look at new stereos, and they all looked pretty gaudy and stupid. then i looked at al the stuff they make for ipods and they were all kind of small or expensive. that and i didn't like the way ipods fit in most of the slots. so i just bought some speakers and plugged the right into my ipod. i saved a few hundred bucks on a system, and i got a lot better sound than any of the smaller stereos. if you have an ipod, skip the stereos and just buy speakers.

i just ate a slice of pizza in bed. all i need now is some yosemite sam mudflaps for my truck and i'm good to go.

i'm looking at my closet right now, i think i'm going to go get a bunch of new clothes soon.

oh yeah, and towels. somehow over the course of the summer and trips to the beach, vbs, hurricane harbor, and camps, i'm down to one towel.

i just saw a commercial for a new medical drama on tv. really? do we need another one? if we're going to duplicate ideas for tv shows how about some more private investigators working for rich english guys in hawaii, or ex-military mercenaries working for hire while on the from the law, or even better... a secret agent who can make anything out of anything fighting the forces of evil one gadget at a time.

speaking of... did you know that MacGyver's first name was Angus?

well, i'm actually starting to doze.

one love, one heart.

8.15.2007

"When I played, they didn't use fancy terms like emotionally distressed. They just said I couldn't hit." -Bob Uecker

hope you're comfortable.

due to popular demand:
i typically don't cave into demands from people about 'you should put this on your blog'; esp when it's stuff that typically gets passed around on a myspace bulletins. however, i've decided to make an exception due to the fact that the requests lately have come from people who actually read my blog, and i'm in a really good mood with no sense of feeling tired right now. also, this seemed kind of fun...

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
1. i set the alarm on my tv to telemundo when i know i need to get up at a certain time. i wake up confused, but hearing spanish first thing in the morning always seems to get me out of bed.

2. i used to wait outside of class in college just so i would 'bump into' this girl i had a crush on.

3. i have to turn a faucet on whenever i go to the bathroom.

4. i've chipped all four of my front teeth, but you can barely tell.

5. semi-celebrity crushes: erin andrews (espn reporter), giada de laurentiis (italian cooking show), and megan (age of love).

6. i almost always drip dry after showers.

7. i sing in the car. loud. and if i don't know the words i'll play the air drums. i get caught almost daily.

8. if i wear dress shoes to church i switch them out for some vans as soon as service is over. lately i've just started wearing vans.

hmm.... who to tag....

james, dan, brianna, myndi, trey, nikki, julia, thornton.



on to the blog.

teen camp.
so the theme for this year's teen camp was 'reveal' which ended up being a pretty cool theme to revolve around for the week. we spent every day working through different things that God reveals to us. I had the first day, and we talked about how God is a jealous God, which is something i've always heard but never really studied. it was kind of cool to go through and compare our jealousy to that of God, and see how they are so completely different. our jealousy lies in our insecurity, and ends up being a simple matter of us wanting what others have. our jealousy is motivated out of selfishness and becomes a trite way of dealing with things that don't go our way. God on the other hand, has no reason to want what others have, so to look into His jealousy we really need to take a closer look at where His motivation lies. His jealousy is motivated out of a love for us, and a sense of commitment that He desires. When we read of God being a 'jealous God', it comes in times where the people that He loves have forgotten about him, or turned their backs, or simply ignored Him outright. As a creator there is a special bond between HIm and his creation. There is a sense of pride and a desire to stay close. When we put other things before God (false idols) it's kind of like us forgetting who has really looked out for us the most. at the very least, it's an interesting concept to work over.

anyways, the next day we talked about God being a forgiving and accepting God, and we had a great time of confession. talk about revealing, watching my boys in the cabin confess to each other their struggles, you could see the sense of relief in their eyes. what power there is in hearing someone else own up to struggling with the same things that tear you up. the word reveal is a great way to describe the feeling in the air that night.

the next day we talked about God being a sustainer and provider, which yielded one of the best teen camp skits i've ever seen. after every morning session we have the kiddos head back to their cabins and come up with a skit over what they have learned, and this year we were truly blessed by the skits. the best being the boys cabin that had a hungry kid not only being provided food, but being completely satisfied and breaking into the snickers song. (had to be there moment) anyways, it was one of those times where all the youth ministers are smiling at each other knowing that the kiddos have got the point and then some.

then we talked about God being a Holy God, and what that means to be holy. we talked about the difference between trying to be righteous and self-righteous. it was awesome seeing the kiddos grasp that they were representatives of God to others, and how they could use that in their lives. what a great time of affirmation and a sober sense of pride. watching a kid realize that they could truly reflect who God is by showing love to others is absolutely amazing, because it brings such a great feeling of purpose to a troubled time of growing up.

the last day we talked about the reality of heading home, and how to make camp less of a spiritual high, and more of a permanent step forward in faith. me and my other group leader let our kids go on their own to talk this over, but from the reaction of the kiddos afterwards i'm sure there were some great discussions going on.

the other stuff from camp....
i love church camp. every year it ends up being a huge blessing, and the tiredness and lack of sleep are completely overshadowed by the blessing i receive from watching kids grow so much in a short period of time. this year i was really impressed by our older guys stepping up to take a leadership position and being nothing but absolutely respectful to our staff. i was really stoked too because we had twice as many kids from our youth group go this year as we have in years past. it was awesome watching our younger kids start to gel as a group, and our older kids reach out to other youth groups that aren't as solid just yet. and as always, it was great blessing to be around some of my best friends for a whole week doing what we love to do.

the goofy stuff...
one of the other benefits from camp is that with the food being ...um... subpar... i'm now back into the pound a week range that i was shooting at for the summer. it's nice to come back home and have to get a new belt because the old one doesn't have enough holes to fit the buckle anymore. actually, what is that little thing on a belt buckle called? you know the part that i'm talking about? whatever, i feel good and my jeans are super loose right now.

baseball.
a few years ago i coined the term 'astros week' for the week of summer that the astros make a swing out to the west coast to play the padres and dodgers. it's typically a great week for me, but this year is turning out to be one of the best. last night we went to a great rout of the dodgers where oswalt pitched a great game. today, we got filed passes and hung out on the field for batting practice. i got to meet luis gonzalez, and hall of famer FERNANDO VALENZUELA. yeah, i still can't believe i met him. he's a legend, and evidently pretty good friends with my uncle. who knew.

this on the tails of a great present from uncle strech/ granny; an autographed copy of the houston chronicle from biggio's 3000th hit, signed by the legend himself. oh yeah, and i got a copy of the program from this year's hall of fame induction of tony gwynn and cal ripken jr.

tomorrow is a blind date to the game which should yield some great stories, and then friday i'm back at it again down in san diego with some of the boys. needless to say it's a good week for baseball.

oh yeah, and the yankees are tied for the lead in the wild card race and only a few games back from the red sox. nice.

well, i'm actually starting to doze a bit, so i guess it's time to shut the laptop down for the night.

quote of the day:
"when are you going to try and hit me fernando?"
-uncle strech to fernando valenzuela while throwing batting practice.

quote of the week:
"they should make a ueckerbot to hang out with you at baseball games".
-erik

one love, one heart.