I came into my own

As I walked out of my Religion and Culture class, I had this emptying of all things burdensome. That is not to say I was in grief prior to class, but when I walked out of there, I just had this appealing view towards life and people. In the class we watched a video about Sigmund Freud and all his views vs. C.S. Lewis and all that he represents. It was a PBS special, and if you are ever interested in it, you can watch it at this site http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/program/complete.html it was really good, but I still feel that was not what created this inner drive to impact others. Maybe it was the check out lady who got my debit card at the book store to work so I could purchase my flash cards (she was so kind and very smiley and fun). Or maybe it was the two Hindu gentlemen in the bathroom that I over heard speaking about life .One of them spoke about his uncle’s advice he mentioned that his uncle said, “enjoy life now!” His friend asked him, “What do you mean?” To which he replied, “You have to have fun right now because in the end you just die, and that will be that.” Or maybe it was the girl who recripircated my gesture of opening the door for another and did it for me. As I walked to the library I just simply asked her, “How are ya?” It took her a while, but she finally said, “are you talking to me?” I said, “Yeah.” She said, “Ohh well I suppose it has been alright.” And we talked about life and people as we both grew nearer and nearer to our locations. Everything was feeling so natural, every person I approached I had this fluidity to speak to them, to make them feel comfortable, while I felt comfortable myself. It was really awesome. It felt so innate. It was a confidence I couldn’t give myself, this much I know. It felt like puzzle pieces were just fitting themselves into place on their own. People need to be loved. Love is the ultimate tool in spreading the message of Christ. It was so obvious.

Dang God is good. We discussed an ideology in Religion & Culture class today. C.S. Lewis was quoted saying, "The fact that humans have a conscious points directly to there being a God who loves and cares for us." I agree with that in a big way. The fact that people have an innate drive to do what is drive, from a biological perspective says that something much bigger than us is at work in life. It is when HUMANS decide to go against that inner conscious that things start to fall apart. It is not "God allowing atrosities to happen, it is humans forcing them to come into existance." If we all kept to the MASTER PLAN, wow would life be so much easier. But we are pretty friggin selfish and we have EGO'S the size of Mt. Everest.

God is sooo good though. I am a friend of GOD!!

Janice, you are doing so good missy. Keep your eyes focused on our Heavenly Father for all your needs. Don't be afraid to call on him in ALL SITUATIONS!! Baby girl, I am so proud of you, and you have come a long way. God is not done doing a great work in you. Hold tight, and trust in Him always. :o)

betting stage

Yesterday I taught the kids at the childcare how to play the actual game of Texas Hold'em. Today we learned how to bet. I used plastic teddy bears instead of chip's or actual money. I tried really hard to emphasize that winning didn't matter, and that it was all out of fun. I explained that if people start looking at it as more than a game, then they are taking it too serious, and maybe shouldn't play. They seemed to get that pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

So in our poker game something very funny happened. There was a bit of a lull in the action. Maybe it was inbetween betting stages, or possibly we had just finished a hand. One of the little boys, I think his name might have been Austin. He made a comment about an A-rod poster on the wall of the cafeteria. There are "Got Milk?" posters all over the walls of the cafeteria, and Alex looked at me and said, "Mr. Mikey, guess what?" I said, "What's up bud?" As I usually reply when responding to a child that I am not sure of their name. The little guy pointed to the A-rod poster and said, "Did you know that A-rod got caught eating asteroids?" I tried really hard to supress the laughter, and did so pretty well. I replied to that, "Ya know what, I think I did hear something about that." No need to correct, it was sort of a priceless moment.

Today was a good day. I stayed busy, and I get to go to bed before it is too late. I liked today.

Also I have been thinking about something about myself. I have the ability to be a very disciplined person. I have an example, now to an outsider, it may appear as no big deal, but for me, even at 22 years old, it is a great sign of self-discipline. Since I have come home from Arizona, I have been making my bed every day. It doesn't matter if it is 5:30 in the morning on a weekday, or 10 in the morning on a Saturday. I make the bed, and feel good about it. When I see something in myself I do not like, I do my darndest to rid myself of it. Through deliberation and careful awareness, I find a lot of success in self-discipline. The phrase my dad told me, "Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it" rings ever so clearly.

Janice, every time I thought of you today, I would either say a prayer for you, or think about how much happiness you bring me. Thanks for being YOU!! Thinking about you or talking about you with someone really makes my day so much brighter.

a little mental meandering

Here is an internal observation for you. Now, some (one) of my critics may think that I am overanalyzing this topic, but this is simply how my mind works, and truly how I feel. It is really good for me to get this kind of thought process in progress out of my mind and out into the open. The topic is “motivation.” What truly motivates a Christian man to be the best that he can be? Well, I would like to think that God would stand to be the most important motivation. Ohh, by the way I am talking about myself in case you hadn’t picked up on that one. I’ll just get to the point. Janice acts like this motivation that is very clear and direct. Janice lives 2,196 miles away too. God is with me; literally with me of every second of every minute of every day. But, I so often forget this. It is like even though his grace and mercy wraps me like a warm blanket, I tend to quickly forget all he does. Janice serves as a direct reminder to me for all the things that I want in life, but also and more importantly who I want to be in Christ. I so look forward to hearing from her each day. It’s not a nervous tension; I’m not waiting by the phone anxiously waiting. It is a clear and lovely feeling to know that she is there, loving me for who I am, and that is really a HUGE MOTIVATION! It’s funny though, God does that and so much more. He is the only perfect example of unconditional love. But it is so easy to forget. I better understand each day why he created us to be such community oriented and relationship minded people. We need that connection. The connection feels really good too. I learn a lot about my relationship with Janice and directly correlate it to my relationship with Christ. It’s soo good. But dang do I need to die to my stupidity and sinful nature every single day. I wonder what that is supposed to look like. What happens when a human being you care very much for shares in the main motivation with God for bettering yourself? I’m not sure entirely yet, but I’ll keep trying to figure it out. I feel really good about it though, really, really good about it.

This morning at the YMCA (childcare) I taught 4 elementary school boys and 1 girl how to play Texas Hold'em. I don't know if that is not a good thing to do, but they really enjoyed it, and I am surprised how smart those little ones are. I mean they really pick up on things really fast. I of course was winning though, so they aren't that good. . . .

music, phone, and Janice

One of my favorite songs right now is by an Icelandic post-rock band called Seaglopur. The band is called Sigur Ros and I appreciate them for their melodic, classical, and minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound and lead singer Jonsi Birgisson's falsetto voice (WikiPedia). If you would like to give this song a listen, I really challenge you to try to find it. Maybe you could find it on YouTube, but I know for sure you can listen to it on Imeen.com. You just have to have an account with them to take advantage of their free music. The song is POWERFUL, it pulls me in as I listen, and I can feel the guys emotion as I listen. I have no idea what he is singing about, but I can feel the intensity in the music and his voice. The song is really a journey. Love that stuff.

Also, I believe I have found the new phone I will be getting here pretty soon. As of September 19th, I will be able to get. . . . .

the Verizon Touch Diamond for free. Good ole new every two, THANKS VERIZON!! It will do good to keep me connected with Janice, and I won't have to worry about it shutting down whenever it feels like it.

Today was a very ehh sort of day. Not a whole lot of motivation to do anything else except study some Spanish and little things here and there. That's alright though. Janice went to the beach today. Said it was sunny, around 80, and a nice breeze. It was rainy, not 80, and yucky Indiana weather here. Hummmm. . . . . . .

But anyways, this is where God has me, and you better bet i'm gonna make the best out of it and then some. I am getting the "itch" for Young Life to get up and running again. It's gonna be a sweet thing.

I miss you tons Janice! I'm so glad you had an AWESOME time at the beach. ;-) Sooner or later we will be able to enjoy it together. LOVE YOU!!

LifeLight & birthday

If the print is too small to read, sorry, I don't know how to make it bigger. I just got a new web-browser. . .

Lifelight Church, or "Dave church," as I have referred to it so many times as, is officially starting Sunday morning services on September 13th. It is our "officially official" starting day. I am super excited, and if any of you are curious what it is all about, well I really challenge you to come and check it out. I have called it my church for some time now, but I get to enjoy it on Sunday mornings and that is really exciting for me. We will be meeting in a building that use to be the Fuzion Salon. If you want a picture of the place we will be meeting, go to my archive and click on the (May 1st, 2009) post, and you will see a picture of where we meet.

My amazing Grandmother and Grandfather. They are really something very awesome in my family. We are not a perfect family, and we do have our faults and failures. We have our addictions and our black sheep. But the one thing that resounds above all else is the love that trickles down from high above. First from God, then to the creators of our moms and uncles and so on. My grandparents have given a lot to this family. And today, on my Grandpa's 80th Birthday, we celebrated that. In a big way too.

80 years old is really getting up there. And my oh my how he (Carl, my grandfather) has made good use of his time. My G'Pa took over for his brother so many years ago. He married my grandmother after she had already had 5 children with Carl's brother. My grandpa married her anyways, and loved those children as best he could. He also had two more children with my grandmother. The man is a hard worker, and he loves the lord. Two great characteristics in a man. There was magic shows and awesome food. But, the best time in my opinion came when everyone got an opportunity to share a little bit with Grandpa and everyone about what they remembered, be it a story, or just a thanks for something he has done or how he had impacted us. I believe it really touched him in a deep way. That man has done so much just for me alone. I am deeply moved by him and my grandma. He really loved the new LCD flat screen HD t.v. his kids got him too. ;o) It was a good day.

Many of my family members asked me about Janice today. I was very proud to tell them about her and share her pictures with them. It feels good to share Janice with people who have known me for so long. It's a very good thing to be so proud of someone. I am really tired, it is time to go to bed. Tomorrow I must study study study.

TA TA!!

I got an update for ya's

It has been a while, I definitely haven't blogged for a couple of days. Well, some things that have happened. To start off with, I got a Spanish tutor. I found her on CraigsList. Luckily, she has not tried to kill me yet, so I am comfortable with that whole part. I feel like she is really good for me because she is super patient, and has tons of super good tips on how to remember things. I know one thing that has been in my mind constantly, with no let up. Janice, the more time goes by, the more I fall for her. I miss her so much, and love to just hear her voice. Keeping God the central point in our relationship is something we both strive for, at times it is difficult because it is so easy to make someone you super care for an idol, but we do good to keep everything in check, and I feel really good about that.
I am so crazy about her though. Truly a blessing from God. And the fact that she is from L.A., well it's not scary anymore. In fact, it has become a blessing for me personally. Difficult? YES!! But, I see all the positive things that come out of it. First and foremost is the fact that we both have to grow with God on our own. I love this girl though. I really do. I am crazy about every part of her. She never get's to see it to the fullest extent, but I am just at peace when I talk with her. Usually when we talk on the phone, I have the biggest grin on my face. I have been working for the YMCA pretty consistently here this week. And I will continue to do so next week. I am subbing for them, and so for right now I am subbing at two different sites. That means two different groups of kids. Some of which are crazy. Some of which may have some serious instability and love to tell you to shut up and wouldn't listen to you to save their soul. I have on several occasions said to myself, "I don't paid enough to deal with this," but I keep moving forward with as much patience as I can manage to have. I got to spend some time with Nicky today, and will be continuing to do so here as the days keep moving forward.

My health is good, and my parents are good, and I am still in Spanish. I haven't gone completely insane because of the stress it puts on me. In fact I am learning how to deal with it. BSF starts up soon, and I can't wait for that. BSF is awesome, because I feel like I really grow the most in Christ when I am in and at it. That is when it is the most bright to me. I have been seeing a lot of really sweet clouds lately. I really appreciate the beauty of some clouds. Also, I am still reading through 1 Samuel, and it is a great book. . . a lot like all the other books in the Bible (great that is).

So. . . When I make an idiot of myself, I really go all out. Today proved that point in a big way. Okay, so a little background story. I went in town to go to a party. It was a party that I went to last year that my old professor Tom puts on. He does it for past students, even students that he had when he was a high school teacher. So people from all walks of life are there. Of course, I am the youngest, but these people are quality, and Tom is the man, so it is a super fun atmosphere to talk about God and to just share life together. I showed up at his house and no other cars were there. . . . "hummmmm," I thought. I checked my phone, and it turns out it is not till the 19th. NOT FOR TWO MORE WEEKS!! Ohh well, I was close to Nicky's (my best friends brother) house, so I thought I would go and spend some time with him, ya know see how he is doing and how Snider high school is treating him. When I got over there, his dad Ted asked me if I would be interested in putting something together for him. After talking for a bit, I said sure i'll put that contraption together for ya at my house. He gave me $20 to do it and so I called George and put it together. It is some vertical upriser thingy that is supposed to straighten out your back. You can see it on late night infomercials. George and I had a heck of a time putting it together. I had Janice on SKYPE with us through most of the assembly part too. She really wanted to see me try it out, so I got it together and well. . . I was not very careful, and as I was leaning back for the very first time I smashed the foot part of it into my moms lamp. It made the lamp fall towards the computer (luckily it didn't hit it) and smashed into a million pieces. I was stuck in the machine, George was laughing hysterically, and Janice along with her roommate Vicky watched on the web-cam from across the country. It was really a horribly funny situation. It was like something you would watch on a late night BBC sketch. It was very funny, but I destroyed my moms lamp. And I'm sorry about that mom. :o) Thanks for reading,

G'Night!

I do not have time, I should not be BLOGGING right now. . .

Seriously, this is crazy. I have many many things that must take priority over creating a BLOG post, yet here I am, BLOGGing away. Anyways, enjoy my life, cuz seriously, I do. No matter how stressful and crazy it may get, I like it a lot.

Flash cards have become my best friend. I went to get my oil changed today, and you better believe I was going over my verb tenses & conjugation & what not.

I have been hanging out with little kids a lot because I am subbing for the YMCA. It's a good thing I love little kdis so much. Otherwise, I don't think I would like this job. That was a stupid comment, but I am super tired, mentally and physically.

I will meet my Spanish Tutor tomorrow. I have already started seeing a tutor provided by the University, but I need way more 1on1 help. So, I got on CraigsList and found a lady who charges $5/20 minutes. I hope she is all that and a box of rocks.

A little boy at Foster Park Elementary School named Donovon drew this picture of a Robot for me. I think he called it the THREE Six Thousand. That kid is crazy. Love him though.

It is 11pm Right now, and I should probably stay up and finish reading and taking notes for Chapter 2 in Applied leadership. But, I feel I will be completely useless if I don't get some sleep. I am going to brush my teeth, and hit the sack.

God is so good to me.

G'Night!

Love ya Janice, what you told me on the phone tonight will resonate in my heart and mind until I see you again.