Twenty-two Things I’m Grateful for

I did this last year and I decided to it again this year. Maybe it will become a tradition.

Jesus
Putting Jesus first isn’t a coincidence or even an act done out of feelings of obligation. Jesus is first because Jesus is foundational to everything on this list. Without him, his grace and mercy, his love, his strength, and his blessings, none of these would be possible. It is because of him I have a perspective to see these things as blessings worth being grateful for, not things that should be expected. Without him I am nothing.

My Mom
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a mama’s boy. It is also isn’t a secret to anyone who knows me that I’m not ashamed to be one. If you had a mom like mine, you wouldn’t be ashamed either. My mother is the embodiment of strength. She had a heart for people, isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and is incredibly goofy.  She has taught me more about life than anyone else

My Dad
My dad has continually showed me what it means to be a good father. What it means to provide for a family. He has shown me what true sacrifice looks like. He would do anything to provide for his family, to see them happy. He supports my decisions and lets me make my own mistakes. I am truly thankful.

My Family
Along with my parents, I have a tremendous family. They love me at my worst and they get to see it more than anyone else. Knowing how bad my worst is, I am extremely grateful for their love and mercy. They always support me. They always love me, even if I’m being a self-righteous brat with an attitude problem.

My Friends
I’d like to believe that everyone is lucky enough to have as many wonderful friends as I do. I know, however, that this cannot be true. My friends provide me with more laughs than any movie or television show. They give me a place to go when I need a pick me up. I’m able to be myself, free of any pressures of feeling judged.

My “Above and Beyond” Friends
I have a few friends who always go above and beyond to see me happy, successful, and loved. They know my looks, my moods, my thoughts, my fake laugh, when I’m trying too hard, when I’m not trying enough, when I’m tying to fool them and when I’m fooling myself. They call me out, they lift me up, and they always have my best interest in mind. They stop what they’re doing to call me or come over when they know I’m in a funk. They make me a better person.

Role Models and Leaders
Everyone has role models, people they look up to. But, I bet few people get to be so close to theirs. God has placed some very special people in my life. Not only do I get to look up to these people, but also I get to do life with some of them. They speak into my life; they inspire me, some even care about me. I consider this as one of my greatest blessings.

Journey Church
The people who make up Journey Church mean so much to me. They were there for me when I needed it most. I love it when I’m there and I miss it when I’m gone. God gave me something special when he led me to Journey. I’m blessed to call it home.

Journey Kids
I get to hangout with some awesome kids, serve with some amazing leaders, and organize their chaotic closets. What more could anyone ask for?  This ministry blesses me in more ways than one.

UNC
Thankful for this institution, for my education, and for being favored enough by God to be a Tarheel. I wear Carolina Blue proudly.

Pizza
As I type this, I am cooking a pizza and it smells delicious. I cannot wait to eat it.

A Good Book
I’ve never considered myself a reader; I actually used to hate reading. But, as I grow older (I guess that’s why…) I’ve began to really enjoy diving into a good book headfirst. I’m thankful for this newfound love that allows me to escape for a little while and to truly appreciate the power of well-written words. (Currently, I’m reading Divergent. It’s awesome and you should read it too. Especially you Hunger Games fans)

Funny Movies and TV Shows
I love TV and I watch way too much of it. I know this and I don’t care. Funny movies and TV shows let me turn my brain off and laugh, or cry, or get mad, or whatever at events that never happened to people who don’t exist.

Loud Music
I like to listen to really loud music in my car so I don’t hear myself singing the words. If I heard myself singing it would ruin the fantasy of me being a rock star or the next, much better looking, Justin Bieber.

Apple
That’s all.

Coffee
I consume a lot of coffee. It helps be stay awake and alert in order to better appreciate all of the other things on this list. Also, it is yummy.

Laughter
Laughter is something I never want to take for granted. I get to laugh more than any normal person should. Some people long for laughter, for that instant where everything around you stops and all you can do is think about how funny something is or how happy you are. When everything in the world seems okay, even if it’s only for a brief moment. I get to experience it on a daily basis.

Forgiveness
I’m thankful for Jesus’ forgiveness of my sins, for people forgiveness of my flaws, and for my ability to forgive. Blame and anger are chains and bondage, forgiveness is freedom. Try it if you haven’t.

Growth
This past year has been full of growth. I can see God working in me and I am thankful he would take the time. This growth has come with new perspectives and a stronger faith. I pray that it never ceases.

Dreams
I’m thankful for dreams, passions, and desires. I’m thankful to be able to strive for better, to be able to work hard to achieve great things, and to be able to dream.

The Past
God has used my past experiences, the good and the bad, to shape me. He strengthened, grew, and stretched me into the person I am today. Looking at where I’ve been gets me excited about where I’m going. 

The Future
Just like he used the past, he’s going to use the future to continuously mold me into who he needs be to be. I look forward to where God is going to take me. The future is still a big mystery to me, but I’m excited nonetheless. 

21 Things I’m Grateful For

Jesus
My faith is everything to me. God is beyond good to me, far more than I deserve. Without him this list would be nothing. I’m grateful for the life he lets me live and for the unconditional, undeserving love and forgiveness.

Mom
I admire and respect my mom more than anyone on this earth. She taught me the meaning of hard work, love of people, and the importance of self-confidence. She is the strongest woman, scratch that, Person I know. She’s also crazy and makes me laugh.

Dad
My show’s me what it means to be a good husband and father. He sacrifices his comfort and safety for our sake. He love’s me unconditionally and has always supported my decisions, he lets me learn from my mistakes. For this, I’m forever grateful.

My Brothers
They get on my nerves. Often. But, I look up to each of them. They look out for me, protect me, and care about my well-being. I try to do the same. They make me laugh and don’t judge me. 

Family
I am blessed with an amazing family beyond my parents and brothers. I have an amazing sister-in-law, two beautiful nieces, and a genius nephew. I have a couple awesome cousins and an aunt who loves me unconditionally (and makes the best cream corn and potato salad, for that I am TRULY grateful.)

New Friends
Over the past two years God has brought some amazing new people into my life. They bring joy and laughter to my life. 

Old Friends
Over 21 years some amazing people have entered my life and I’ve been blessed to have some of them hang around. They share some of my fondest memories, they were there through my worst days. They keep me on check and motivate me to be better. 

Journey Church
I love this church. I love the leadership, the amazing body of believers, the mission, and the  transparent heart. I am blessed to be apart of it and honored they let me be. 

Journey Refuge
I love this ministry and I love the people who make it up. I’m excited for the future and thrilled that I get to do life with these people. 

Journey Kids
This ministry blesses me. I love the leadership, the volunteers, and the kids that make it up. Serving with them on Sundays always brings a smile to my face.

Carolina
I love my school and I love my education. But, I’m most grateful for second chances and amazing opportunities. Also, Go HEELS! 

Caribou
This place provides me with a delicious coffee, a study hall, friends, laughter, and a paycheck. What more can I ask for really?

Passion
This opportunity changed my perspective of myself, the world, and the Gospel. God used that week to wreck me. 

My iPhone
I had to have one materialistic one! Really, this thing never leaves my side and has saved my butt on multiple occasions.

Yummi Japan
I feel as though this one speaks for itself. 

Laughter
I get to laugh more than any human should. I also make people laugh sometimes. I’m thankful for both things.

Role Models
 God has placed SO many amazing leaders and role models in my life on a personal level. I look up to them and I love them. They inspire and challenge me. 

Lawyers
..who get me out of speeding tickets.

Not Drinking
A long time ago I made a commitment to myself that I would not drink until I was 21 years old. I made it. 

The Past
God has used my past experiences, the good and the bad, to shape me. He strengthened, grew, and stretched me into the person I am today. Looking at where I’ve been gets me excited about where I’m going. 

The Future
Just like he used the past, he’s going to use the future to continuously mold me into who he needs be to be. I look forward to where God is going to take me. The future is still a big mystery to me, but I’m excited nonetheless. 

My Photography Conundrum

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This may in fact be true, but I’ve recently discovered that sometimes a thousand isn’t quite enough.

My Uncle (my Mom’s sisters, husband) has a good amount of acreage in Fancy Gap, Virginia. I’ve been coming up here with my family for the past 12 years. Sometimes we would go once a year, sometimes twice, and on a good year I get to make it up here three times in one year!

There are only a handful of places that feel like home to me. This is one of those few. It’s hard for me to understand sometimes, considering it’s not home. It’s not even my families; it doesn’t belong to me in any way.

Every time we make a trip up here, I go hiking around some of the land. I did the same thing this time, but I decided to take my camera along with me to try to get some nice pictures. I’d see something I liked and I snap a picture, I’d look at it, and then I’d say “eh…” I did this a couple of times before I realized that I was going to have a problem.

I quickly discovered that no picture I’d take would be able to capture how I felt about this place. A picture would never be able to capture the memories I had there, the beauty I found in it, or the love I had for it. Despite how I took it, the lighting, how I edited later, or how fast I made the shutter close, nothing would manage to express what I wanted it to. No photograph would be able to show what I saw, what I see.

Don’t get me wrong; I believe the power of a beautiful photograph is unmatched in its distinction. A stunning photograph can tell 1,000 different people 1,000 different stories. Maybe that’s why those pictures didn’t do it justice for me, cause they could never tell the perfect story; the stories that I lived out.

Looking back, I realize that I’ve run into this problem before. I just never realized what was happening. I believe that sometimes we see God in places, in people, in things. We don’t literally see him there, but we see his fingerprints, his brushstrokes, his creation. Sometimes a picture will never be able to show the beauty God allows us to see.

I don’t know why I wrote this, it was just something I felt like sharing

[insert what was supposed to be a link to the album on facebook, but I could never figure it out]

 

=)

So i got this letter today =D

=)

Negativity.

I posted a tweet recently that mentioned the uselessness of negative tweets. “If you find 90% of your Tweets/Statuses to be negative, that’s a serious heart issue. God doesn’t call us to flare tempers. Proverbs 15:1 NLT” I wanted to quickly elaborate on negativity and why it is harmful and why it eludes to a heart problem.

 

Bear with me for a moment as I sort-of take scripture out of context. This is something I usually speak against, so criticize me if you must. I’ll understand.

Matthew 7

16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

In contexts this verse is speaking about false prophets and who disguise themselves as sheep. I think that we can acceptably apply this to the subject of being negative. This is may appear to be a stretch. But let’s flip it around to say, “Bad fruit, comes from a bad tree” If we are producing bad fruit i.e. negativity (or negative tweets!) then according to this verse we must be a bad tree.

However, it’s not too stretched because five chapters over we read, “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.” And it goes on to say in “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” (Matthew 12:33-34) There it is. Plain and simple. If our actions and our words are negative, we have negativity in our heart. As believers we have no reason to be negative, we only have reason to shout praises and rejoice (and again I say!).

James tells us that salt and fresh water cannot mix. Think about it this way, when you put salt water and fresh water together it becomes – salt water. No matter how much pure water you add to it, it is still salt water! “Blessings and coursing flow out of the same mouth! Surely brothers and sisters, this is not right!”

I guess the question is: Is praise that comes out of a negative heart, really praise at all?

Take note that the message puts it this way. “These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.”

I would say that the reason I’m so passionate about this topic is because it is something that I struggle with. God is delivering me from my negativity, allowing me to become optimistic. With God, we have no reason not to have brightness and to be positive. Plus, nobody likes a Negative Nancy!

So there it is. My little blurb about negativity. Nothing profound, just my thoughts and my crazy brains way of connecting things.

Two Thousand Ten

A year in retrospect

What an amazing year 2010 was! It was full of once in a lifetime opportunities. The year overflowed with new friendships, life lessons, laugh, tears, and memories I’ll keep forever. Looking back it seems impossible not be overwhelmed by the blessing I was given.

The year started off with a Birthday that was made incredible by amazing friends. My father even came home and took us on a ski trip! In February Gretchen and I went to the Black Eyed Peas concert, which was great! In March I was able to spend some time with Hillsong London!

April was an interesting month, to say the least! It started off amazing with an almost two-week vacation to Florida! We drove down with my aunt’s family in their mac-daddy RV. It was awesome to spend all day at the beach, hiking, and kayaking with dolphins! Plus, I took my cousin and her friend and we spent a day in Disney World!  I even flew home early, which was my first time flying alone! But, shortly after returning home I lost someone very close to me, Mimi. She wasn’t my grandmother but I loved her as though she was. Within the same week Mark Steinke passed away. It was a rough week. But, I was able to spend time with the Watoto Children’s Choir in between all the madness! I ended the month strong with a trip to the ORANGE Conference!

In June my family and I flew to Spain and got on a cruise ship that floated around the Mediterranean Sea for eight days! What an amazing experience that was! Never a dull moment! We even missed our connecting flight in Dublin, which made us miss the boat! We taxied from Barcelona to Monte Carlo! We went drove straight through the countryside of France, which was beautiful! We saw The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Spent a Day in Rome, walked on the Ashes of Pompeii, and spent almost a week exploring in Barcelona! I could seriously write about this all day!

The next month I spent time at C3 Student Camp and traveled to Wake Forest University for Camp Kidjam! I love Camp Kidjam! Totally bummed I probably wont be able to go this year! I love spending time with all those kids, all the laughs with the leaders, and learning from the Orange folks!

August began a new season for me. My dad offered to move me to Wilmington. I obviously jumped on that offer. In hindsight, I wish I would have spent more time praying about it and deciding if was truly God’s will.  The first month was okay, still exciting to be on my own. Around the middle of September I began to feel discouraged, and by October I was seeing that if I didn’t chipper up I could easily become depressed. I’ve had to choose to be happy and make the best out of my situation. I know God sent me there to get me away so I could clear my head and focus on him!

I’ve learned that even if I might have ignored Gods will, or didn’t seek enough, that he has allowed me to be where I am for this season. It’s my goal to discover why, grow closer to him, and rediscover myself.

I’m so thankful for parents who support me in my decisions, but don’t let me wimp out halfway through. I’m honored to have friends who won’t let me fall, won’t let me wallow in my own self pity, and that hold me accountable.

This year has been amazing, but I can only hope 2011 will be even better. God placed desires in my heart that I refuse to ignore. He’s given me passions I refuse to disregard. God has blessed me tremendously.

My Goals for 2011 are to read more, read the Bible in a year (try two), blog more, and stay positive. I know this blog was boring, but I hope it’s a catalyst to me blogging more.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7