What a great day!

I have absolutely nothing at all to complain about today. Woke up early and got ready for a test, which may have turned out alright. I don't really know. Hung out with Clint in MacZ and watched the GSP guys on The Price is Right. That was so cool. Went to chapel and was blessed to see some great friends and by the music of The Ministry! Man those kids can sing! Lunch with Reid and now work. The weather is awesome. The pod is playing and God is good! What a great day!

Be Blessed!!!

Happy Bubbles...

Quote of the day...

Dad: Why are you late for work Carolon?

Mom: Well, I was happy and I just didn't want to get ready!

I love my mom!

Waiting

That's what I am doing. Waiting. This morning I got the privilege of experiencing my first Thursday Morning Breakfast with the University Youth Group. It was fun to get to see some of the kids from the retreat and to meet a lot of new faces in a casual setting. I am grateful to the girls for inviting me and I hope to be able to come consistently until I graduate.

So what does that have to do with waiting? Well, for a long time I have waited for God to present me with an opportunity to meet new people and sort of spark a new fire in my life. At lunch with some friends on Tuesday the question was proposed, What does being on fire for God look like in your life right here and in the now? What a great question to process and answer. In the last two weeks I have felt like I have been very intentional in looking for opportunities to minister and God has been faithful in delivering these times. With the UCYG kids, with Soul Force and even in my group of friends I have had the chance to process, fellowship and love. I still feel like I'm waiting though...

I don't know what for. Maybe it's personal, maybe it's just between me and a friend, maybe it's public. I don't know but this sense of anticipation and urgency has come over me in the last couple of days and I don't exactly know what to do with it. Have you ever felt that? Man!

So here I am waiting on something to happen. God, whatever I am waiting for prepare me for it.

Be Blessed!!!

Soul Force

As most of you know yesterday ACU was visited by a group called Soul Force. You can go to their website: www.equalityride.com and read up on their visit here and their journey so far.

Personally I was encourage and heartbroken for a good chunk of the day yesterday. I forgot the Equality Riders were going to be here and so I was thrown in to a minor frenzy when I walked into the campus center after my 9 o'clock class. There was no protesting or rioting like some anticipated, but there was a lot of talk. People just chattering about the presentation. Some in agreement and some not but it was definitly the talk of the campus.

In an impromptu decision I decided to go to the 10 o'clock presentation. I was glad God put it on my heart to go because it helped prepare me for what happened next. But first the presentation.
It was all about violence against homosexual, transgender and bisexual by Christians. It was heartbreaking to see and hear these stories of people, real people who align themselves with Christ, beating and mocking and killing. No one deserves that kind of ridicule, no matter who you are. I do not agree with the beliefs of the Soul Force group but I do believe that they deserve the same respect that any other human deserves. Anyway, the presentation was to raise awareness on the violence issue.

After the presentation I made my way to chapel stewing over some of the things that were said by soul force and by our administration here at ACU and when I got to chapel I met Dr. Mattis and chatted for a minute before he introduced me to his friend, Jaime. Jaime was a rider. I didn't really know what to do at first because, well, I was kind of thrown into the conversation, but I am so grateful I was. I was able to meet Jaime and talk to her about their journey. I got to hear about her life a little bit and some of the struggles she is having. Most of the conversation wasn't even about being gay it was about struggles as a human. Praise God for showing me in a very real way how to love someone so very very different from me. You can read a little bit more about Jaime here>Jaime St. Ledger. In our 20 minute conversation I never felt the need to "confront" anything. All I knew what that she was struggling and putting herself out there to a total stranger who she knows disagrees with her, and that I needed to love her like Christ would love her.

What a blessing for us as Christians to be confronted with the hard issues. I am thankful that our campus handled this situation with tact and class and I hope and pray that the violence will stop and that as Christian brothers and sisters we can begin to have peaceful conversations about what the Bible says about the issue at hand.

If you have any questions about my experience yesterday I would love to talk to you so leave me a message and let me know. The feelings of yesterday cannot be described in words very well at all but I hope you were able to catch a glimpse of the conversation and are maybe evening mulling over these things yourself.

Be Blessed!!!

About time!

This weekend was amazing! Things were planned to a T. Times, places, devos etc. and yet nothing happened the way it was supposed to. I say nothing, what I really mean is that things got shifted back and forth and thrown out completely in the course of the retreat. Our work with Central Dallas Ministries fell through Friday afternoon and so we were stuck with nothing planned for 4 hours of our trip, but that did not stop God from revealing himself.

The goal of the trip was to see something bigger. To see ministry in different lights. To see God working in the rich and poor, in the well off and the struggling. To see more. There is more.

These kids are precious. They have hearts of gold and real struggles and real pains and in the midst try to serve God and others. One of the girls this weekend really got it. Her words were, "it's just so unbalanced." She saw the message of God revealed this weekend. I pray that as the kids talk and reflect on their experiences in impromptu prayer they will all see a glimpse of this message.

I think I got as much out of this weekend as the kids did. I got to hear all of Buddy's motivational talks and they really pumped me up. As I talked with my mom and my friend last night I got excited about life and about the direction God is leading me. It had been a long time since I have met a whole new group of people and this weekend was a fresh start for me. I was glad to be there and in the midst of the learning and the lessons.

Saturday night was my own personal throw down with God. I call it a throw down because that's what it was. My head buried in my pillow and my mind being frustrated and at times just mad at God. It was no holds bar between the two of us and I am so thankful for that freedom and the liberation felt Sunday morning when I work up knowing that I was finally 100% real with God and that he could now begin to settle my frustration and really lead me.

I don't know if you have ever felt that or if you ever will. I don't know if I shared too much or not. I do know that God has refreshed my heart and my mind. He has refocused my vision to align with his. I have seen how God is in control and I am thankful for that.

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On a separate note but of the same color, I got to spend some great time observing an old friend doing what he was made to do, and doing it well. I got to get to know a great guy who has college and the world ahead of him to mature his spirituality and to continue to lead kids to Christ. I got to view an amazing woman of God in a new environment, though you would never know it, doing everything she knew to do to love and lead. I got to meet a youth minister who loves God with his whole being and radiates his glory. So many others who I now know and call friend came out of this trip and I praise God for his work in to=hose relationships as they continue.

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For fear that there are only 5 of you who made it this far in the blog, I will quit, but tomorrow I am going to write about a great experience I had a chapel today with a friend Jaime who is here with Soul Force on their Equality Ride.

Be Blessed!!!

Tower Experience

Well, on Tuesday in class we talked about Thomas a Kempis and Martin Luther. I was really engaged in class for the first time in a while and something that really caught my attention was Martin Luther's Tower Experience.

Luther lived as a monk trying to do all the eight things. He practiced all the spiritual disciplines and lived his life dedicated to serving the Lord but Luther didn't find fulfillment. Luther didn't find fulfillment until he realized that he could never do enough. He found freedom in realizing that God's grace. This tower experience of his changed his life. My favorite quote from his writings we read is "A Christian is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone."

I love it!

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I love Remember the Titans!

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Be Blessed!!!

It's a good day...

I woke up this morning refreshed and ready to conquer the day. Maybe because I went to bed early last night but I think mostly because God provided me good friends to hang out with yesterday and rest for my soul.

I am totally pumped about the UYG retreat this weekend. Meeting new people and spending time with some good friends getting to know them and watch God work all over the place! I can't wait.

I woke up this morning to a song called "It's a Good Day" Here are the words:

However long our feet have walked on this world
We've all lived long enough to know
That sometimes life will go our way
And other times it won't
But still I've got this joy inside of me
With each new dawn I do believe to

Say hey, it's a good day
Even if things aren't going my way
Jesus is Lord and I am saved
So, say hey, it's a good day

Circumstance and situations change
You know life can turn on a dime
But there's a constant hope and peace
That I have come to find
And it's all because of who God is
And that He is live and I am His, so

We are all as happy as we make our minds up to be
I have just decided that nothing's gonna take this joy from me

I love the Lord and this attitude he has given me this morning! Praise God!

Have a great day and Be Blessed!!!

Unexpected meeting...

This was the title of one of the chapters of the book I just finished. In the Magician's Nephew (the first of the Narnia series) the kids are trying to obtain the fruit Aslan sent them after when they run into the Witch, a woman they knew well at this point. Unexpected meeting. I felt like that last night. Maybe it was a mixture of the tiredness of my body and the passion I feel in music but regardless, I unexpectedly met my feelings last night. Upon hearing a song I had heard many times before and allowing my mind to reflect on times spent with my Granddad, I felt as though I was fighting a war to keep the river of emotion from flowing out of my eyes.

I was with people, we were driving home, I didn't want to cry. Luckily God sent laughter into my life at just the right time to hold off the tears momentarily. I called a time out in life last night (I also called my mom), retreated from my current atmosphere for a minute and allowed my body to cleanse itself as it so eagerly desired to do.

Cleansed but not refreshed. Not yet at least. God speaks to my heart through his music and he has reminded me of something lately.

You are mine, you are loved
You have always been thought of
When you hurt I feel it every time
You are mine, you are loved
And I'm never giving up
Till I've dried all the tears you cry
Long before you took a breath
I took your pain upon my chest
I knew your name, I heard you call
It was worth it all
It was worth it all
You are worth it all

This is the chorus of a new FFH song called Worth it All and it's written to be sung from God to us, to me. Last night God sung this song to me.

Thank you Lord for drying my tears, taking my pain and loving me. Cleanse me. Cleanse my heart and my soul. Rest my body and refresh it. Help me to wake up each morning and sing to you. It is worth it all. -Amen

A&M

Watched the A&M and Syr. game tonight with Mark and Dave. They were hilarious! A&M won in case you were wondering. I think I would watch a lot more bball if the people I watched with acted like those guys! That was fun!

Baby Face...

I promised them and here they are. The faces of Ty.

This is Silly Ty




This is Crazy Ty
You can't see it but he is wiggling his legs and arms too.












This is Cheesy Ty. When you tell him to say cheese for a picture this is what you get.








This is Scary Ty. Imagine him rolling his eyes back and forth and then laughing. This is the least scariest face I have ever seen. It's precious. If you do this face back to him he laughs. It's cute.


So there you have it. Here are the faces of Ty. Here's one last one that doesn't have an official name but it's just so cute I had to include it.

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So I am back at school now working and sleepin' and trying to get ahead on school while I have the chance. I miss my little Snickerdoodle but I will see him again soon enough. I am getting really excited about going to Belton. And I am even getting excited about going to Grad School which I honestly never thought would happen. Speaking of Grad School I need to finish my application essay so I can turn it in on Monday.

Have a super evening everyone! Be Blessed!!!

I know nothing about soccer!!!

Ok so funny story of the night was at the soccer game. I went to watch Drew play with a bunch of church people. It was his birthday so we went out there with a sign and a banner. I realized that I know nothing about soccer because 3/4 of the time I had no idea why the ref blew his whistle. Hum... The best part of the game, outside Drew's score, was the kid on the other team who kneed the ball into his own face!!! If you will just close your eyes and imagine this cocky high school kid kneeing the ball into his face I'm sure you would laugh. It was great. I also enjoyed the dramatic line judge (I guess that's what they call um). Every time he threw up his flag it was with passion and vigor!

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So I have been home the last couple of days visiting the family. Jeff and Ty are here and I have throughly enjoyed hangin' out with my little snickerdoodle. I love calling him that because he will say it back to me and it comes out less than perfect. That's what I love about Ty right now. He can't always say the whole word or phrase but what he says is so much cuter than what you tell him to say. It's precious. Right now Ty has these faces that he does. There are four and at some point I will post them. We have, Crazy Ty, Happy Ty, Smiling Ty and Scary Ty. They are too too cute!

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The Chronicles of Narnia. I am half way done with The Magician's Nephew and I love it. I want to finish it before I get back to Abilene so I can read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before Spring break is over.

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Easter. Mom wants me to come home and sing again. This will be the third year in a row. I don't know who with or what song but I'm sure she will tell me with two weeks to learn it and perfect it. Last year was fun. Remember that? Takin' the keyboard out to Will Hare park and watching the sunset while learning this new song! So many things about that trip were awesome! (Easter shorts) I am so grateful to God for giving me awesome friends to make incredible memories with. Life is good! Praise God for that!

I think it's time to call it quits. It is my mine and my dads nightly ritual (when I'm home) to watch Law and Order: CI or SVU until there are no more to watch, then go to bed! It's on!

Goodnight friends!!!

Be Blessed!!!

Waiting...

Not that "right here waiting for you," Richard Marx, waiting on your love waiting. This is that, huddled in a corner in a dark room, alarms going off, army men strolling the halls with guns sort of waiting.

Now I am well aware of the over dramatization of that previous statement, but I do however feel as if I am waiting for a bomb to go off. The timer is set for 3:00 p.m., place Bible Room 103, 2nd chair, back row, left side (looking at the room of course). The test will not be an easy task and promises to be a forceful attack with the enemy pulling out all the stops. Advantage: We get to use the play book! Praise God for that, and for the lessons learned about open book test in the past. For this I am thankful and for the essay portion this soldier feels adequately prepared. It's the 50 people and 30 identifies I am struggling with-this part is not open book.

Waiting.......and waiting.............and studying.............and waiting.

Be Blessed!!!

The First Test

Believe it or not, I will soon embark on my first test of the semester. It's gonna be a doosey! It's a Jeff Childers Christian Spirituality test. We studied last night, it was a lot of fun. I don't really know if those words, study and fun, should go together but none the less, we combined the two in a rousing 2 hours of Spiritual camaraderie. Test is Thursday!

Be Blessed!!!

I Got It: Belton 2

Well, like I said the interview went really well and I felt really good about it. Jordan called me Monday and confirmed that the group I interviewed with felt the same way and they offered me the job so I will be spending the next 15 months at Belton Church of Christ and I couldn't be more excited!! I know God is going to do awesome things there and I am humbled that he has given me the opportunity to be a part of them.

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It has been a great week here in Abilene. The weather if BEAUTIFUL!!! In the 80's and 90's! I know crazy!! I love it!!

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Tomorrow in Come As You Are we are celebrating Lent and are going to do some really cool things with the worship. The song list is awesome. Friday we are singing in Chapel again and the songs are gonna be awesome. God is so good! Everywhere I turn I can see him working! I love the times when I am carefree! Praise God for these times of peace!

Be Blessed!!!