a walk through landscaping @ Lost Canyon

Okay, today started early, and as I was walking to work, I thought to myself, "maybe today would be a good day to take my readers through A DAY IN LOST CANYON LANDSCAPING." Ya know, to give you an idea of the kinds of things I do here. Here is how it went.The day started early. I was walking out of my cabin at 6AM. Ryan (boss) was already on the main and largest field. He was turning on sprinkler heads so that we could mark them with little flags. Once I got out, I hopped on the tractor and started aerating the field. I punched so many holes in that field, you wouldn't even believe it!
Then, once I had gotten several swipes done on the field, Ryan started driving the Kubota, pulling. . . . the drag mat. The point of the drag matt is to break up all the little cylindrical pieces of sod that the aerator has dropped all over the place. And the whole reason we did this was so that we could prep the ground for. . . . . the top soil that we were going to throw on it. First, Ryan and I had to mix the soil. It was Arizona soil (which sucks compared to Indiana soil), old mulch (that helps retain water), and a little bit of sand. We mixed and mixed and mixed and put it into the. . . . top dresser machine. The top dresser machine evenly spreads the soil over the grass. We got a little bit of the soil dressed on the grass, but then it started pouring, so we had to stop the whole operation for the day. We went and heard 2 "life stories" from 2 of the ODC guys. It was a good good day.

It was a good day after I finished working. BUT, little did I know it was about to get a WHOLE LOT BETTER! Now, Janice had been telling me that she sent me a post card, so I was anxiously waiting to receive it. When I went to the summer office to see if it had come, I got a little note that said, "Mikey Riley, you have a package." The first thing that popped into my mind was, "well, my mom must have sent me another one." I thought that was kind of strange. So, I checked the package, and this is what I found.As I read her letter, and read through the album she made just for me. I was breathless. It seriously made my heart beat fast. I'm not gonna lie, I got a little teary eyed. It was so beautiful and well written. Janice is very artistic, and expresses herself very well in words. It was seriously so amazingly beautiful and well written. And, put God first, and gave him the credit for bringing us together, which he did in a BIG WAY!! Also, she sent me the shirt she said she would make for me which also BLOWS ME AWAY!! This is the front of the shirt, he he he, I love it so much. This is the back of the shirt. This is so funny/special because one night we were talking on the phone. She was telling me about the shirt she made for herself a couple of nights earlier, and she sent me some pictures of it. I was like, "wow, that is so sweet, you should totally make me one sometime." Now I said this never actually expecting her to do it. Little did I know, when Janice says she is going to do something, she does it! I love it so much.

God has truly blessed me with Janice. I am so amazingly glad she is in my life. It is so awesome too because she makes me want to be even stronger in Christ. My relationship with Janice has been completely and is constantly surrendered to God and his WILL. I am totally comfortable with that too.

DEATH IS COMING!!!

One last thing. My computer is dying. It took me so long just to turn it on. It keeps giving me the "black screen and words of death," that I have feared. It sucks, but it isn't like I have not seen this coming for a while now. I will try to save as much from my hard drive as I can, and hope for the best. :o)

Check out what I have to say.

If you could look closely at this picture (perhaps enlarge it by clicking it), you would see many many many young teenage mothers with babies all over. This week is called Young Lives week. The camp is compiled of many pregnant young teen aged girls as well as mothers with very young babies. This is an amazing opportunity for young ladies who have a lot on their hands to experience life in a very fun and safe atmosphere. For every baby that is brought, there is a caretaker. The girls are allowed to be girls. This is amazing to see play out. Many of these girls have encountered abuse through their very young to adult lives. They are from all over the United States, and many have never even left their home state until now. Many went through a lot of hardships just to get here. Boyfriends, mothers, and others are telling them no no no, but through prayer and the work of many loving women in their lives, THEY ARE HERE!! It is so awesome to see them having fun and not worrying about all the things that hold their minds captive at home. They are free to be teenagers, to laugh, to play, to get messy, to enjoy friendships, and to experience the love and story of Christ!This is my new group of ODC (Our Door Crew) boys. They are a good group of boys. In the picture above we are shown filling water balloons. Now, normally this activity could be tedious and possibly not that much fun. BUT, to a group of ODC boys, headed by the leadership of yours truly, this activity is filled with laughing and smiles. It is so good to be in a caring community of believers who really act on their faith. It is one thing to say you believe in Jesus Christ, it is another to LIVE IT! These boys do a great job of living it.Every morning, except on the day that they get breakfast in bed, we have a great time of studying the Bible and enjoying each other while in the Word. I have to say, that out of all the things we get to do. When I look back on days, weeks, and months of the summer and ask myself, "What was the most fun or impacting?" The answer would go to Bible Study with the boys for both. We have so much fun, learn so much, and enjoy the Bible study time so much. I love how it infects my life. Studying the Lords word is so VITAL. The importance of it to a Christian wanting to fully give themselves to the Lord is paramount. But, I have found that it is not something that can be explained. You cannot sit down with someone and explain to them how important being in the word is. In order to really "get it," one must find it on their own. You can talk and talk and talk and tell and tell and tell till you are blue in the face, it won't do a lick of good. You must just continue to live life devoted to God, and allow your actions to speak loudly. You must allow your love, happiness, and peace speak into the heart of the matter. God is good though. He will honor your obediance to yourself, as well as to the individuals you want so badly to understand. Never force, never overbear, never put together an idea of where you think someone should be. God is in control, and thinking you can do something to impact someone's Salvation is pure foolishness and frustration waiting to happen. :-) I am at peace with that.

In the immortal words ofPopeye the sailor man.

"I am what I am and that's all that I am."

It has begun

To most, this would appear to be nothing more than a water tower. Old, slightly rusting from the outside, and not appearing very special or unique at all. For me though, I see the start of something beautiful. I see God's hand at work, uniting two individuals who were willing to do things right. To cast aside doubts and to live by the Holy Spirit. I see a place of vulnerability and of trust from two individuals not looking for relationships, but being placed together; not by circumstance, or irony, but by FATE. Strong words? I'd say so.

This is where Janice and I had an opportunity to break through fears held by years of cover up. I am so into this girl. It's crazy. I've had crushes and fling's, but this surpasses the short lived nothingness i've had in the past. IT IS OFFICIAL, I am in a relationship, a long distance relationship with Janice Hernandez. A lovely lady who lives in L.A., California. What am I crazy? To that I say no, I am just on for the ride, and feel 100% that this is right. Janice is right. We both agree that we will listen and seek God first. Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and these things will be given to you as well." God placed Janice in my life for a big reason. A lot has already happened for both of us. It's no coincidence, and I am proud to ANNOUNCE TO THE WORLD, or at least to my BLOG readers that Janice and I are dating, and I couldn't be happier.

On a different note. Today I struggled with an ego and pride that would not let go. But, I did some things right. I realized what I was doing early. I was carrying around this attitude that kept looking down on others, and it derived this negativity that I found extremely unattractive. I was in serious prayer against it all through the day, but it kept coming back. When I got off work, I took a shower and headed right to my Bible. I looked in the Concordance under PRIDE and found these verses. They helped a lot, along with the surrounding words. Here is that list in case you are curious.
Proverbs 8:13
Proverbs 16:18
2 Corinthians 7:4
James 1:9

There were others, but those were some of which that really spoke to me. I am going to stop typing now. Bon Iver is great music to listen to while you BLOG. PEACE!!

My eyes are changing

Don't be alarmed, my physical eyes are not changing, and it is not my M/S acting up. This change is completely inward and Spiritual. Check this out.I was sitting in dinner the other night. And, well one of the interns brought the sky to my attention. As I gazed out the window of the dinning hall, I was just taken by the beauty of the sky. Now, Mikey of the past may have said, "ohh, that's pretty," or "that would make a good calendar picture," or even "hummm, I wonder what different colors can happen in the sky at dusk." But not so much anymore. As soon as I saw that sky, I knew I had to go outside and get a better look. So, that is exactly what I did. As I stared at that beautiful sky, I thought to myself, "God, you never cease to amaze me. You created this, you crafted this sky and you are allowing me to enjoy your splendor." I felt quite fortunate and blessed. My eyes are changing, my heart is changing too. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about those guests from Jordan that came to visit Lost Canyon. I have really been holding a lot of contempt in my heart. Not outwardly though. For instance, whenever we have had opportunities to talk about them, I always keep my mouth shut. Maybe it's because I think, "well, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." That cold and possibly confused part of me is learning a very valuable lesson. I have all these excuses in my heart, things like, "well, they are part of a very confused religion that denies the sanctity of Jesus Christ, and they only hurt the world. BUT, that is not how Christ would have approached it. Christ would have loved them no matter what they believed. I CAN NOT SAVE A SOUL! I must do my part, and that part is to love them in a way that will have them looking back thinking, "there was something different about him. The rest of the world will hassle them, I want to love them in a way that will infect them. Maybe that is the lesson I was supposed to learn from our Jordan guests. For that I am very thankful. A hard heart is not a heart of Christ. And that is what I want, it really is, more so than anything. I will slowly learn and transform. I want to be so driven by the Holy Spirit, that I never even have to rely on my own personal thoughts. Sounds scary? Not to me.Now, this blurry picture you see above was from today. Ya see, it was the last day today for the campers. They have an opportunity before they leave to go home to speak out about their week. Anyone can say whatever they want. Usually it goes like this. You give your name, where you are from, and share briefly what God did for you during the week. It all comes from Psalm 107:2. It is a powerful opportunity for the kids to take that first step out in faithfulness. To outwardly express what is going on inside. Similar to a baptism, but in a different way. It is very powerful for those watching such as myself.

I had such a good day today. I got to be really crazy with my ODC (out door crew) guys, and we got a lot of work done. Today was a really really good day. :0)

Good day

Every morning this month/session will start out in this room or a room/location similar. This is Bible study with my ODC work crew/summer staff. Right now we are going through Acts and learning about what it means to be in a Christian community. It's been really good so far, and filled with lots of great and honest questions about life and the Lord. That is the best kind of Bible study in my opinion.Sorry for the quality of this picture, it was really bright out and he was moving quickly. Anyways, this is Trevor and he loves the song Free Falling. I was finishing up with lunch, when one of his leaders motioned for me to come over. Of course I was happy to meet some new capernaum friends. So, I walked over and learned their names. Then Joe (was a Work Crew boss last session) had me lean over and said to me, "hey, go put on Free Falling through the speaker system, it will make your week." I did just that, and boy was he right. Trevor started dancing and singing like crazy. Every time the chorus came on he would somehow prop his leg behind his head, and fling it out with his arm and it was amazing. I am so blessed at the happiness capernaum kids have dispite their situations. I need to be able to find that joy. Actually, I have found that joy, I just need to continue to allow it to infect every part of my soul/body.

Today was a good day.

Another day @ LC

Today was one of those days that you can look back on and really feel like something got accomplished. Also, I had an opportunity to share my testimony with this new group of work crew and summer staff guys. It really surprised some of them. I heard several, "I would have never guessed!" And as far as work goes, we really got a lot done. We were doing weed and crap removal from a huge ditch. It smelled so bad, but the more weeds we removed, the more the water could actually start to move out. We got some rain today. They say this is just the start of rainy days. Monsoon season IS HERE!! I can't wait for some killer thunder. The day ended very beautifully.What a beautiful camp Lost Canyon is. I love it here. I am really starting to miss my guys from last session though. I miss the friendship, company, and work ethic of Andrew (summer staffer), and all the cheap laughs of Larz. I guess it is time to really pour into the new guys though. I could tell they were impacted by my testimony, and wow is that such a neat feeling. To know that God is making good of a lot of crappy experiences (crappy at the time, good now that I can chalk them up as experience and water under the bridge).

Janice sent me some pictures, I really want to share one of them. It is bright, but I really super like it.I love the laugh's, and I love the body language. It is a very funny picture to me. It seems super genuine. I sure am glad Janice came into my life. What a blessing she is.

Jordan guests

Today was a little different towards the end of the day. I fixed a broken pipe, and did some other things. . . . then we had some guests. Ya see, we had guests from Jordan (Middle East Jordan). Well, as you can see in the picture we were set up in a circle with guests, mostly which were Muslim. They wanted the Christians to believe that we hold a common belief and that we are not all that different. I kept thinking in my head, (I am right, you are wrong). That is how i'm built, it is so clear to me. I love every person in that room tonight. . . . But, Jesus Christ was our main difference. I believe that Jesus was/is the Son of God, and they do not. If anything, I was challenged on how I am suppose to view them and love them. It was a little bit frustrating, but in a good way I suppose. I need to process this information more though.

-Grace&Peace