old, new & world-chaning

i started my senior year in college! i have too many adjectives to describe how i actually feel about this. mostly good. however, i don't understand how people graduate - i think they don't sleep, EVER.

i have gotten to know some acquaintances a lot better the beginning of this semester. i don't understand how i could have gone this long without being good friends with these people. i am inclined to thank God for such amazing friends.

some of my friends are living my dream. three are overseas impacting the world, and i commend them for that. i have the utmost respect for ashley, jon, and alesha in following the lords calling. i am honored to be able to pray for you as you live your faith. -go change the world!

it sorta makes me think about my life. right, i'm still in college. but, my life will be here before i know it and i need to be prepared for it. - God help me.

so, to the new friends, old friends, and world changing friends. - thank you for puttin' me in check. i love you.

Thanks DAD

Today I went to the batting cages and mini golf park. i sucked horribly at both. it would have been nice to have someone there when i was growing up to teach me about sports and how to be a young man.

united states of summer, albuquerque, and life

i LOVE america. i think that it is the greatest nation in the world and i am so honored and privileged to live here. this past holiday made me realize just how amazing the land of the free and the home of the brave really is. i cannot fathom why some would dis my nation, but they do. it is beyond me.

i am an intercultural studies (missions) minor and i love learning about and experiencing other cultures. i love to travel and try new foods, hear new music, and learn new languages. as a potential missionary, i feel like i should have the utmost respect for America, my nation. how can i love others or appreciate different cultures when i don't love my own. it makes sense to me. i know other students interested in perhaps becoming a missionary someday that share my same love for other cultures, yet they disrespect America. it is unfathomable that someone could love another nation and what to see them won for the cause of Christ, but does not share that same love and respect for their own nation.

well, that was a nice little rant.

I went to James River's I Love America celebration. it was incredible! i had never witnessed such cutting edge perfection when it comes to celebration. I was in awe the entire time. amazing!

in just 4 days i will be driving back to new mexico. ahh, beloved dry heat! i cannot wait to see family, go to sushi with friends, here spanish regularly, eat homemade food, and wake up to hot air balloons outside!

i will miss springfield for the month that i will be away. i will miss the people that made my summer amazing. i will not miss the humidity and electrical fires in spence.

... and i will win the postcard war!

BIG NEWS

I AM MOVING TO TEXAS!
today, at my internship, i spun a globe because of pure boredom to see where i would eventually end up in my life. apparently i am going to live in texas. i dont know why, the humid parts are too humid and the dry parts are too dry. i have always wanted to live in denver... my finger landed over the panhandle of texas, near a small town called denver city. oh well, i guess that what happens when you live your life on pure chance.

but..... why not live our lives on chance? i mean there is nothing to depend on that would keep us from chancing it up. the world is always changing. we cannot even depend on money, the economy is a dump. what can we depend on? friends, family? they will in some way let us down - they are human, thats what humans do. so, other than God, life is everchanging.

i hate change, i think. i like being comftorable with where i am at in life. i hated going to high school, and masters commission, and college. its hard for me when new national leaders take over, or i enter into a new position in life. all my life, i have wanted consistency, and all my life i have never gotten it. even my favorite sports teams are not consistent. being at evangel is the most consistent my life has ever been. but in a year that will all change. thus, the globe spinning.

consitency is so easy, change is so difficult. but then again, who said life would be easy.

growth without change is impossible!

blessings. and lately

sometimes we are blessed to be a blessing. and sometimes, because of my greedy human nature, i don't want to be a blessing. i want to be blessed without being a blessing. it seems logical that the more money i keep for myself, the better off i'll be. however, God is not constricted by logic, or anything else for that matter. as a christian, we know that if you sew sparingly, you will reap sparingly...

i was recently blessed. it was nice to have extra money for life in general. it was nice to be able to send my mom some extra money. but that is not what i was blessed to do. i was blessed to help others. it took alot for me to overcome my greed. now i am back to square one, eating ramen, and bread with hot sauce. but its all worth it. God knows what he is doing, he's God and i'm not.

i saw transformers last night at midnight. it was fun to hangout with different people. the movie was spectaculiar, although some characterization was overdone. it was an incredible flick!

summer school is almost over. it is going by much faster that i had anticipated. the summer has been amazing, but soon i will be in humidless albuquerque - thank ya jesus! i hate humidity.

my little cousin, who is more of a brother to me, is coming to visit me next week. i cant wait to show him the ropes and that there is more to life that what is offered in new mexico. it will be nice, and i am uber pumped.

i am a lover, not a fighter. but i will fight for what i love.

i knew this would happen

hi. well, i haven't written a blog in over 4 months... i knew this would happen (hence, the title). so here is a summary of my life, at least the parts of my life i want to share...

well, spring '09 semester is now over and i am now a senior in college... never thought that i would see this day come. i am the first in my family on my dad's side to graduate high school, so coming this far in college is a big deal to me and my family. i had to say goodbye to numerous friends from evangel who graduated. some i will see often, others, not so much. i said bye to my cousin, who has been my partner in crime ever since i can remember. next year is gonna look so much different, but i'm ready. BRING IT ON!

during the last semester of school, i started and ended a relationship with an amazing girl. it was an amazing time in my life that i learned about myself more and grew. it just wasn't the right time for me to be in a relationship.

i bought a new car... it was a grand blessing from the provider. my cousin allowed me to take over payments on his '06 honda civic. it is so nice to finally have a car that has a cd player, and ac, and a heater.

summer school began, and i decided to take the job as the only male summer school ra. its been an interesting adjustment moving dorms and living with a group of random guys. i like it. i only have about ten guys on my floor. its waaaaayyyy quieter than krause. i dont know what quiet is anymore, but i have learned... and it is nice. i thought this summer would be a complete bore. however, it has turned out to be on of the most amazing summers of my life. i am interning at assemblies of god world missions communications department as the marketing intern. i love it. it is so nice to be around christian professionals who support an amazing cause. my internship makes me fall in love with missions and communications all the more. it is a great way to incorperate both my major and minors. the summer would not be as amazing without the friends, old and new, that are here with me... you know who you are. from playing house all weekend, to ridic adventures... this summer has not been without fun.

i cant wait for the next year of school to start again. i am defenitley looking forward to it.

i learned on friday, that my cousin who had been missing since december had finally come home. prayers have been answered and a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders. she still needs prayer, we would appreciate your prayers for samantha. god is so good!

i know there is much more that has taken place over the past several months... but this is not a biography peoplr, it is a blog. i will try to do better in the future.

adios, for now.

nice guys finish last

lately i have been talking to some amigos... women say that they want a nice guy, yet they pursue morons. or they say that there are no nice guys. well, unless i am fooling myself, i think that i am pretty nice and i know some nice guys too. its frustrating....

here is an email forward that you should read.

• 
  

  Kurtis the Stock Boy and Brenda the Checkout Girl
  

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry-out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished and wanted to get some fresh air, so he decided to answer the call. As he approached the checkout stand, a distant smile caught his eye ~ the checkout girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.

Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card, punched out, and then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.

Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a babysitter, so he offered to pay for the babysitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.

That Saturday night, he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The babysitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us." She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, and then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Downs Syndrome.

Kurtis told Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us." Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities ~ just like her first husband and father of her children had done. But Kurtis was not ordinary ~ he had a different mindset. That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids and went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything, Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him, and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added five more kids.

So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy at a grocery store in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Brenda the checkout girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the hunt for a possible appearance in the Super Bowl.

Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person. It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI...and he has also been the NFL's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. He established the First Things First Foundation in the spring of 2001 with wife Brenda to promote Christian values and bless the lives of those less fortunate with projects such as trips to Disney World for ill children, building recreation centers in children's hospitals, helping single moms achieve the dream of homeownership and teaching Special Olympians the football basics. All projects are centered on Kurt and Brenda's life theme: faith and family come first.

DANG!!!!!!!!!!