El estrés es muy estúpido (I don't speak spanish)

I am so tired of stressing about stuff. Seriously. I stress more than a 30 year old skizofrenic with four kids and an overdue house payment. And sometimes its over stupid stuff, like school.. (Jk Dad..) But sometimes its for big stuff, like what God's call for my life is.

I know I'm called into youth ministry. But that is still such a broad area. And just because I'm going to work with youth, doesn't mean I'm not going to have some other career too. Lately, that's what I've been stressing about. Where am I going to go to school? What am I going to major in? Should I double major? How much schooling should I do? Should I be a doctor? Is youth ministry going to allow me to provide for a family?

Well, I'm done. And by that I mean, "I'm partially done". Because I know worrying about it a little is fine, but the amount of stress it's causing me is not healthy. So I'm giving it to God. I trust Him completely. I really do. And I know that He has a plan, and He will provide.

My favorite verse of all time says this:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6


So thats my though for the day. On a side note, if anyone has any ideas/advice for my future, that would be much appreciated.

My song for the day is by Steven Curtis Chapman, called "Do Everything". I love the first line of the chorus:

"Do every thing you do to the glory of the One who made you.. Cause He made you!"

Very to the point. It's a great song, so check it out.

So thats it. I'm done. Adios. Bonsoir. Goodnight, travel well.

"Please fasten your seat belts and make sure your seats are in the upright position"

Okay, so I’m on an airplane right now. Unfortunately, I can’t post from an airplane.. (Legality.. ugh), but I just had something hit me, so I figured I should write while it was still fresh, ya know?

Okay, so we just took off out of Denver, and I realized something. See, it used to be that whenever I was flying, take-off amazed me. I would sit in the seat, grinning ear to ear, thinking about how dang fast we were going. But lately it hasn’t been like that. Today, I could barely stay awake during take-off. I’ve gotten used to it, to the point that it isn’t a big deal. I’ve become callused, if you will. I don’t like that. At all.

Not necessarily the fact that take-off doesn’t amaze me, but the fact that I am able to become callused. Mostly because I know there are other areas of my life where this can happen, that I’m definitely not okay with. Especially when it comes to my relationship with God. 

Do you think its possible to become callused towards God? To get to the point where you “get used to Him”? I tend to get to a point in my relationship with Him where I think I’m in a good place. And when I think I’m good, I stop looking for growth. Prayer becomes a daily thing, that isn’t necessarily meaningless, but its sure as heck not as intimate as it could be. This is when I stop feeling Him. And it’s not because he isn’t there, but it’s because I’m not looking. It’s because I become content. And I hate that. Being content is not okay. I don’t ever want to be content. I want to always strive for things to be better, in all aspects of my life.

What if I become callused in my love for my friends and family, or find contentment in my future job. What if I didn’t allow my love for my future wife to grow continuously? That wouldn’t be okay, would it? I hope not.. So why do we tend to treat it like its okay when it’s God. I need to be constantly striving to grow in Him.

Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied."

Thats something I definitely need to work on. And all of that spawned from my airplane take-off experience..

On a completely seperate note, I’d like to reiterate how great this weekend was for me. Like I’ve already said, I definitely needed the time off. But thats not the only reason it was good for me. This weekend has been one constant reminder of Jamaica. In little ways to big ways, everything has made me think back to that trip. From being in an airport, to a text message reminding me of the clear skies and abundant stars, (As I typed that, my Ipod played the song “Stars” by Switchfoot.. weird.), to the ginger ale and twizzlers I just enjoyed. 

Did you know it's illegal to take pictures on an airplane?
I'm a rebel.

God has used this weekend as a reminder, and it’s one that I definitely needed. I needed to think back, and remember how strong his presence was there, and how clearly he spoke to me. I feel like this trip has been one big, “Hey, remember what I told you to do?” And thats been really good, because its been hard lately.. 

Anyway, thats all I’ve got. Song of the day: “Why do I keep counting?” by The Killers. The main lyric says, “If my days are numbered, than why do I keep counting?” I don’t know what it means, but I interpret it as, “Why am I wasting my time thinking about what to do with my time” I like that idea. Maybe I’ll elaborate on it sometime. But not right now. Lol. 

I will end this post with the final bird count for our trip.

Daniel: 18
Ryan: 13
Scott: 13
Dad: 9
Carter: 5
Dog: 1

I. AM. VICTORIOUS.

He will wipe away every tear..

Okay, so today was not nearly as successful as our previous days hunting. Today we hunted some public land, which meant we were only allowed 3 birds each on the day. That brings our possible trip total down to 75. Heres the count at the end of today:

Daniel: 14
Ryan: 11
Scott: 8
Dad: 7
Carter: 2
Dog: 1

Total: 43/75

So we need to shoot 32 birds tomorrow and be out of here by one o' clock. Thats gonna be a challenge. But I think we can do it. And even though today wasn't crazy good hunting, Carter finally got one, so thats good.

After hunting we came in, and I decided to sit on my bed and just chill for a while. I was tired, so I decided to just sit, and do a little stumbling.. At 5:30, I moved my computer off my lap, and said to myself, "I'm gonna get up, go into the lodge, and see what everybody else is doing. At 7:00, my brother came and woke me up for dinner... I don't remember falling asleep, but when I woke up, I was exhausted..

You know how when you fall asleep, and don't get enough sleep, you are more tired than before you went to bed? Thats what happened to me. And I kinda stumbled (Literally, not on a computer) into the dining room, where I was supposed to say grace.. I'll be honest, I don't know what I said during that prayer.. But I think I said "Bless this food" at least 3 times.. I was super tired.

After dinner I went back to the room to get my phone, and found a text message from my friend whose great grandma has been sick. Earlier today she told me that they had found a tumor in her lung, and that she probably only had a few days.. While I was at dinner she passed away. Please lift her family up in prayer.

I hate situations like this because I know there is nothing I can say to make somebody feel better when they've lost a loved one. But here's some stuff that can make things a little easier:


Matthew 5:4- Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.


Psalm 116:15- Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.


1 Corinthians 15:22- For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.


Psalm 34:18- The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.


Revelation 21:4- He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.


Out of that last scripture comes my song of the day..  "You hold me now" by Hillsong

This song is amazing. And its a reminder of how great our God is, and whats in store for us who have accepted his love. He has prepared a place for us, where there will be no weeping, no pain.
"For eternity, all my heart will give, all the glory to your name."

Thats how I want to live me life. I want to get to heaven, and I want God to say, "Way to go.. You did good son."

Tomorrows our last day, and honestly, I'm ready to be home. Its good to be away, but I miss all of the people I'm around during the weekend. I don't like missing out on stuff. Especially sunday mornings. I've probably only missed 5 sundays in the last 2 years.. Thats part of what gets me through the week.

Anyway, thats all I've got for today, I'm gonna get some sleep. And to end this, I'm going to stumbleupon until I find something worthy of posting..

Not the best song in the world.. but thats okay.. Check that kid out.

Pheasants, Albino Mountain Goats, and Easy Cheese..

Today we hunted mega early. And guess what? I'm still winning. The count is now as follows:

Daniel: 12
Ryan: 8
Scott: 6
Dad: 4
Carter: 0
Dog:1 (He chased one down..)

Total: 31/80

After hunting early, we headed to Rapid city, (2 hours away), to see Mt. Rushmore. On the way, we drove through the Badlands. If you've never been to the Badlands, they look like this:

And this is what they look like while we're there.

This is a cactus that I found. Turns out there poisonous..

Now, I've already been to Mt. Rushmore, and guess what? In the 4 years since I've been, it hasn't changed a bit! Its the exact same rock as it was when I was a freshman. But thats okay. Because my brother hadn't seen it. And I know he enjoyed it.

And honestly, I'm super pumped I went, because what happened while we were there was sick! This is for sure the coolest thing that happened to me today. I was in the Mt Rushmore parking garage, and look what comes out of nowhere. (It is not an Alpaca..)

"Oh, well hey there albino mountain goat and child, how is your day going? I'm going to try to touch you now."

Thats what went through my head. But as I figured out, Mountain Goats are very protective of their young. I thoughr he was giving me the "I love you" face.. but his soft pet-able fur was deceiving. His "I love you" face was actually his angry face.. Heres the picture I took while stumbeling backwards right before the goat decided to lunch off the edge at me face:

This is his angry face.

Okay, so after Rushmore, we headed another hour out of the way to see the Crazy horse memorial. This was a pretty big dissapointment. THe drive out there was insane, and dad decided to take the long way.. And Just because I'm into pictures today, let me illustrate to you what we saw.

Here is what crazy horse looks like right now:

Heres what Crazy Horse looks like when you get there 5 minutes after close, and the lights guy is sick, and no one else bothered to light it up:

Can you see it?

So that was a really big waste of time. We ended up not eating until nine, and we didn't get back to the hunting lodge until almost one.. And now I'm writing. And really, there wasn't anything profound in my brain today. It was just good to have a day where I didn't have to worry about anything. I mean, my biggest worry today was whether or not I could climb to the top of those mountains without falling off. And I think that was good for me.

Psalm 127:2 says: "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep".

I think I may be eating a little too much of the bread of anxious toil. So days like today are good, and I'm glad I had it. After all, who wants to get obese on anxious bread? Its all carbs you know..

Oh, and my song for the day was for sure "Afterlife" by Switchfoot.. Check it out, its brand-spankin new.

But anyway, I think that verse is also telling me to go to bed, so I'm gonna do that. 

I have no idea..

Alpaca out of Nowhere!

So today we left for South Dakota at 5:45. And a 5:45 flight meant that I woke up at 3 in the morning. And I went to bed at 1. Mathematically, I believe that means I only got 2 hours of sleep.

Okay, so you know what 6 hours of travel means? Lots of music. Heres some stuff I listened to today, that you should probably check out:

-Josh Garrels
-Andrew Ripp
-Will Rethorford ("Fill Our Hearts" is in my top 5 worship songs)
-Everyday Sunday ("Find Me Tonight" is super good)
-The Killers

I also listened to a ton of Relient K. And they provided me with a song for the day. "Forget and not Slow Down" is off of one of there newest albums, and theres a reason it stuck out today. Its the first time I've listened to it since the flight home from Jamaica. The song starts out with the same recording from the sky-train thing in the airport we flew out of on that trip.

"The next station is concourse B. Concourse B as in Bravo."

It's kind of funny, because today was also the first day I've flown since Jamaica. Just the feel of being in an airport brought back all the emotion from that trip. It's funny how God can use things to remind you of what you are supposed to be doing. He showed me a lot in that trip, and I was right on the verge of saying, "It's not happening right now, so I'm done working for it, He's gonna have to do it himself." That would've been really dumb.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if God wants you to do something, and its burdening your heart, and you can tell it's God, then do it. And do it with all your heart. But like I've said before, don't expect it to go as planned, and don't expect it to be easy. Sometimes, it'll wear you out. But God's on top of things. Here's how I know that:


"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11


"God will instruct him in the way chosen for him." -Psalm 25:12


"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:10


Thats good stuff. You know what else is good stuff? I'm in South Dakota right now, pheasant hunting with my dad, brother, dad's friend, and his son. We're here for 4 days, and we are each allowed 4 birds a day. There is 5 of us, so we're allowed 20 birds a day. (More math..) At the end of day one, we'd only killed 10 birds as a group. I guess that's bad news, but the good news is, I shot 5 of those 10. So lets get a score count:

Daniel- 5
Dad-2
Ryan-2
Scott-1
Carter- 0

Just as I thought. I'm winning. Boo-yah.

I guess thats really all I've got for today. I should probably go to bed considering the lack of sleep I experienced last night. But thats not gonna happen. lol.

Here's a picture of a child being tackled by an Alpaca...

Get the title of this post now?

A Simple Life is for Losers

You ever have those times when things just don't work out as planned?

Yah, that happened a lot today. From big things to little things to humongous things, it happened a lot.

I got out of school today really quick, and I was making really good time getting home. I was happy about that because it meant I'd be able to get to church on time, or early. And I love to be at church. But on the way home, a buddy called me, and informed me that he was stuck in a ditch. Long story short, 45 minutes later we were left with a tow rope broken in 5 places, a car still stuck in a ditch, and me running late. Then I get home to drop off Katie, and realize I am out of gas. (Normally this would be do to my own stupidity, but today my truck was in the shop, so I was in my dad's truck.. but he gave it to me on empty.) So by the time I get gas and get back to church, I walk in when we normally start practice. So things didn't go as plaaned. And at that point, I was frustrated. Which was dumb of me, because I should have realized that it could get a ton worse.

After church, I realized my keys had disappeared. See, every week I sit my keys on the same counter, and today, they went missing. Of course, this happened the one week that its my dads keys. And if that wasn't enough, the keys to our gun cases were on the same ring, and we leave for A hunting trip at 5:45 tomorrow morning. So we searched for my keys until almost 10 o clock. It ended up that somehow they had been knocked into Mary Garrison's purse, and she found them and brought them to me. (Thank you so much Mary!) Thats definitely not how I planned on my evening going. Possibly one of the most intense stressful situations I've ever had to deal with. But I'm not even going to start to complain about it inconveniencing me, because that doesn't even come close to how much I inconvenience those who helped me look for them. I have some of the best friends in the world. Thank you Nate, James, Jessica, Josh, Jeremy, Kedron, Bailey, and anyone else who helped look.

So at this point, things were super stressful, and my parents were mad. Which is appropriate, since I shouldn't have left the keys out in the first place. Thankfully, If anyone can lighten a nasty mood, its Mary Garrison. So that made things better. But still, at this point the day couldn't get any worse, right?

Ha.

See, If you know me, you know that outside of school, all I do is church and work. And I don't work an insane amount, but I work quite a bit. And its not that I need the money right now, but I know I will eventually, so I'm trying to get ahead, you know? Trying to prepare for whatever lies ahead.

Well, today, I had to get my truck inspected for my new plates. Turns out driving my truck for work has done a little more damage then I thought. My dad hit me with the bill when I got home. The last thing I needed today was to blow $850.00.

I don't understand. God has this plan for me, and He's telling me to prepare, so I did. And 85 hours worth of that preperation just went out the window.. I don't get it. Not one bit.

But thats okay. I don't need to. I must have faith. And thankfully, when it comes to my walk with God, Faith is the one part that I can say is strong. Even when everything else is crumbling, my trust in the Lord is strong. And if all of this is happening just to build that trust stronger, then it'll be worth it.


There some verses in the bible where God is talking to Daniel, (Ironically enough), in Daniel chapter 10. Daniel Says:


"How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”


God replies: “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”


God is in control, and God can give me strength. I've got to remember that. He is stronger. He is able. Which brings me to my song for the day: "God is Able" by Hillsong Live. It speaks so much truth. God is so able, He is bigger than all we seek, and all we ask. He will make a way. He will NEVER fail. He defeated the grave and he is completely able. And that is MY God.

I don't want this blog to become a place for me to only write about things in my life that suck. I want to have some humor from time to time. So how am I ending todays Blog post? With some Rick Perry:

Hope you enjoy it.

Love and God.

So you know how in elementary school, whenever you had a crush on someone, you did everything you could to let them know it, without actually telling them? You share your lunch, (even though you wanted all of your cake).. You give them the coolest of your Scooby-Doo valentines.. You follow them around on the playground in a way that would get you arrested if you weren't 9 years old.. 

When you love someone, when you care about them, you want to show them that. I think its built into our brains. I feel like it's how we're wired. (Granted, I am no psychiatrist. Heck, if I didn't have spell check, I wouldn't even know how to spell psychiatrist.) 

Maybe it's just me, but that's how my brain/heart works. I want to let people know that I care about them. When I can't do that, or when I'm not doing it well, it doesn't feel good. At all.

I think thats how our relationship with God should be. I think that in our everyday lives, we should be doing everything we can to show him how much we love him. And I think we make that harder than it needs to be. God sees love in the way we follow him. Here's a couple verses

"And Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" Matthew 22:37

"Jesus replied, 'Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.'" John 14:23

So if we love God, we should have that same desire to show him affection as we do with people here  on earth, right? I wish I could say thats the way I always felt, but its not. Not that I don't love God, by any means. I do. But I don't feel a burning desire to show HIM that. I need to work on that.

Here's a song: "Your Love is Strong" by Jon Foreman Listen to it. This guy is possibly the most talented person I've ever seen. And who doesn't want to sing about how strong God's love for us actually is.

Also, I have a friend who's great-grandmother is sick, and not doing well. Please lift her up in prayer.

So thats my thought for today. Please expand on it if you're reading this. (Actually, feel free to do that anytime I post something.)

Again I am face with the dilemma of how to end a blog post. Do I say goodbye? Cheerio? So long, and thanks for all the fish? I don't really know. Maybe a video of a dog running around with a roman candle in his mouth?  Probably not. 

How about a story:

Today, I told an Iphone to get me a sandwich. It gave me driving directions to 14 different Sandwich Shops. Including 12 that were within 3 miles of my location. 

Genius.