YES!!!!

Travis Pond finally put up some pictures of Big Break!!! ..the rest to follow on Monday. I've been waiting for this ever since Big break and Spring Break. I have been looking at his page every single day waiting for them to show up but he's been really busy. Well today I checked it and there they were, all glorious. It instantly brought back a whole lot of memories and he also captured everything better than I ever could have.

Sorry, but I just can't get over it. You can go to his Flickr page and see for yourself. Just click HERE.

Also, today I went to a college aged worship service and it was really nice since Cru and Vespers are not going on right now. The speaker said some things I disagree with or disagree with the way he approached some things, but also said some very good things. My favorite part was when he read Ephesians 5 which is sorta what God showed me from this. It directly relates to my Work at Daniell Heights and is an encouragement. Here are verses 11 through 17.

Ephesians 5:11-17
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

At Daniell Heights, people get lazy and end up sleeping on the job. My brother for instance was still on the bed resting 15 minutes after our 15 minute break had ended. I told him to get up and get working because we're not getting paid to sleep. Naturally he god mad at me because nobody wants their sin pointed out (not saying I'm blameless by any stretch of the imagination regarding this), but it says to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness but expose them. Lazyness falls into that category. I push myself much more this summer to make my breaks exactly 15 minutes give or take a minute or two. I used to automatically push it over by 5 minutes.

Well, I really need to get to bed because church is in the morning! Have a great day!

In the lull of the day.

Hey everyone who reads this... like all 3 people or so... haha. How are ya doin? (feel free to comment after you're reading this). I don't really know what direction I'm gonna go with this post either. A few somewhat interesting things have been happening in my life. At Daniel Heights... well... that's still not ever going to be a fun job. There's a TON of gossip and drama at work and I'm so sick of it. It's like I'm in high school again, only the people are older, but they all act the same... even the bosses which makes it that much worse. Eck... I don't know what to do about it. Every time someone does something that someone else doesn't like, the someone else will start telling everyone else about it and everyone agrees with what everyone says but won't tell it to the actual person, so the problem with everybody just escalates until everyone just hates each other and so times goes on.

Ah, now that felt good to get out. At least on Monday I get a day off for memorial day, so I get to finally sleep in on Sunday! You have no idea how happy that makes me. :D

So anyhow, I STILL need to get to reading my Bible on a regular basis. I am going to try to start a "read the Bible in a year" thing on the first of June and see how that turns out. I might start trying to get ahead a bit. I think I'm gonna plan to print out a page with everything and cross out some chapter every time I read it. If I miss a day or a chapter, then I'll leave it blank and continue on to the next days so I don't feel like I'm getting behind and give up. Then in my spare time, I'll go back and start filling in the gaps hopefully. I want to gain a thirst for God's Word again, which I've had but have been lacking in lately.

I really hope people at HTC don't mind me going to their house after work like every day. They seem to be pretty ok with it, but I think it gets old after a while and they don't want to tell me to leave. Meanwhile I have my other group of friends doing things sometimes after work but I hope to be doing something with cru people because our interests are more similar. I work with a lot of my high school friends, so yeah. It's sorta a routine everyday. Go to work way too early. Get tired throughout the day, go to HTC and hang out and do something uber fun sometimes and then go back home early so I can wake up early the next day. After doing that like every day, you want a change... especially before 3:30.

I worked out a couple of days ago and I'm still sore now... its so sad. I didn't stretch out my arms enough... I'll live. It's nice to have a reminder that I did something though.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'm a little tired and kinda want to sleep, but I have the weekend to catch up on that a bit.

Catcha later.

Into the swing of things

Well, Summer has definitely begun. This summer is totally different than any other summer I've ever had. I am still at home, but I have a different group of friends (campus crusade friends) that I hang out with the majority of the time. All my other summers I always spent with the same high school friends. Crusade people often do more stuff rather than going to walmart all the time and watching movies (which there is also a time for). Today, a whole bunch of people just hung out at HTC which was sweet. We just talked and ate some pizza and played some mario kart 64. We didn't do a whole lot, but it's great that we don't have to and can still have a great time.

The part of the summer I don't like is my job, which takes up a whole bunch of it. I work at Daniel Heights apartments, doing maintenance of all kinds. The majority of the work is painting, but there is also changing shower heads, scrubbing things like greasy kitchen fans and changing lights, moving furniture... it's really varied sometimes and I can't list everything but you get the gist of it. I have to wake up at 5:50 to take a shower and grab a lunch to bring and head out the door by 6:25-6:30ish so I can get to work by 7. Then it goes until 3:30 where I can do whatever I want for the rest of the day. It's nice, except I can't do stuff late into the night because to get 8 hours of sleep I'd have to be in bed by 9:55... that's never gonna happen cuz that's way too early! So, I just get little sleep and catch up a bit on weekends.

One thing I'm really grateful for is HTC and the girls living there. They don't mind me going there after work everyday and changing into some clean clothes after work and just relaxing a bit there. I really wish there was a way I could show my appreciation to them.

Well, I am getting a bit of a cold, like runny nose type symptoms. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday because I think this acute sickness is because of my lack of sleep. It is however, still cold out, cuz it's Upper Michigan and it's always cold out... I can't wait until my first 80 degree day! I LOVE heat. Speaking of heat, it reminds me of Florida and my Big Break Spring Break trip down there with Campus Crusade. It was so decently warm and sunny and I found the resort I stayed at on street view on google maps so I could look at in in 3D. It brought back all sorts of memories and I really want to go back! Luckily I'll get to next year. I'm already excited for it and there are so many other fun things going on before then too!

Well, this was sorta a different kind of blog than most of mine. This is more just updating people what's going on in my life. I'm so glad God has shown me all these great people and let me get to know them. I need to focus on God more. I am always much more joyful when I do that. Without God, the happiness is temporary. Happiness and joy are two totally separate things. You can be happy and still lack joy.

Please pray for me as I go on through the summer that I'll be in the Word a lot more. Also, pray for some of my friends I know who are not in their campus crusade groups and they had to go home that God will show them that people are still thinking about them and they are cared for and they shouldn't be feeling too lonely because God is always there and they can read the Bible and grow closer to Him in their spare time. I know when I'm not around friends I feel really lonely and I can relate, so pray for them as well. I guess that'll wrap things up for now. Thanks for readin'!

Awesome Day! 2 days from my birthday!

Alrighty, so I had a great day yesterday and today! I got to hang out with a bunch of friends last night until late. We did some fun things... some things I won't mention, but fun. I also got to say a couple more goodbyes which is really sad. Everyone is leaving for the summer... and by everyone, I mean a bunch, but quite a few are staying as well. Davy Jones in particular I may never see again along with his brother and his brothers girlfriend who came up who I got to know a little better. Leslie is also leaving for the summer among other people.

Before it got dark, I went on a bike ride with Kyle Goetz in Houghton and across the bridge, around to chutes and ladders and back to HTC. Then I went to Pizza Hut with the family and then went back to HTC for another bike ride. The second bike ride was rough after the day before that day (two days ago), I went on a 4 hour hike that was quite exhuasting for my out of shape body. The second bike ride went down by the canal almost all the way to chassel and back.

Today, I woke up and was sort of sick to my stomach, so I wasn't able to go to church, but it's not the flu. I must have just eaten something that didn't agree with me. Anyways, I slept a little longer until like noon. Then I decided to read my Bible. I haven't been doing it like I should, so I got some really good time in with God. I read Psalms chapter 9 through chapter 19. I then read a topical Bible book thing I have. Then I read a voice of the Martyrs devotional.

Together, those three things made me realize that God delights in His children when they are walking in His ways. We truly can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. In one of the Psalms I read, it mentioned how Christ is a mediator between the father and us and even though we still sin, we have Faith in Christ who died for us. I like to think of it kinda like God is a train and we are tied to the tracks by the ropes of our sin. God is just and won't tolerate sin. However, God sent his Son to be sorta like Superman to go in front of that train and stop it from destroying us. The only thing about analogies is that they are never quite right on, because Christ went through GREAT pain to pay for our sins and superman only has to push. God knows that we're born into sin and we need a blood sacrifice, so Jesus is there to take on all the wrath of God for us.

Knowing this, we need to really follow Christs example and live a life that pleases him. I have also thought about the fact that the greatest love you can have for someone is to die for that person. I want to be that kind of person willing to lay my life down for a friend. This is exactly what Christ did. Even though He is perfect and He is God, he humbled Himself by becoming man to die for us so we could be saved. If one of my earthly friends payed such a severe price, a bloody death on a cross after being beaten, and it was all for me... I would live the rest of my life with a whole different mindset. The best part is that Christ rose again 3 days after He died according to prophecy in scripture, so we serve a living God. Christ died for us and He is risen again. We owe Him our lives of service and by doing that, we will get a great reward in Heaven. It pleases God when His children honor Him and serve him. Living in sin is like nailing Jesus on the cross every time.

Why is it that we do such things? Well, we were born into a sin nature, but if we have faith in Jesus, then we are born again. We have put off the old self and put on the new self which is created to be like Christ Jesus (This is found in Ephesians somewhere...). We can now live for God with hope. Christ will return and I want to be on His side.

This whole thing is really refreshing to me. Who knew you could get so much out of reading the Bible for like half an hour/45 minutes? I need to do this more often. I do not have joy when I don't.

As a birthday resolution, I'm going to read the Bible every day. I don't want to waste my summer away pleasing myself. I want to live for God and share His love to others!

This post is already pretty long, but I strongly encourage you to go read Psalm 16. It shows David's confidence and joy in God because he is living for Him. We can do great things for God when we are living for Him and following Him and there is NOTHING better!