so since i left home theres been quite a few changes in my life. some may not seem very monumental to you, but they are to me. im becomin a man now. let me share some of them with you.
1. LAUNDRY- this is probably one of the most significant changes in my life. no longer do my clothes magically appear clean and dumped on my floor, waiting for me to fold. ive discovered this entire new world of pretty smelling detergents and fabric softener and that those little white sheets you put in the dryer actually do do something. it's kind of exciting, because i feel like im all on my own, but then its not so cool, because doing laundry stinks. i mean you have to set aside like 3 hours of your day so that you can wear clothes that dont smell and you have to fold them and fix all your socks that turned inside out (which takes forEVER, and HOW DO THEY TURN INSIDE OUT? it doesnt make logical sense). i say let me wear my clothes the way i want and dont judge me if they smell. so WHAT if ive worn the same pants for 2 weeks. if i stay moving you cant really even smell them, so whats the big deal? sigh.
2. GAS- yes, it is nice to have a car. yes, i am extremely thankful to my wonderful parents for allowing me to take their car to texas for a year. i mean, paying for gas is a pretty small sacrafice for being allowed to drive. the only thing is, is that when youre like part of the 19% of the 700 people that have a car here, people tend to notice you a little more. heres an example..."hey james, me and some people were talking and we were gonna go to applebees for lunch after church...we were wondering if you wanted to come?" then i usually respond with, "whats your name? you dont want me to come just because i have a car and you have no other way of getting there do you?" then they respond with, "you have a CAR?? man, thats weird. i didnt know that. but yea, we need a way to get there, wanna go?" sigh. THEN, after out of the bottom of your heart you take them to their destination (and everything here is atleast a 30 mile round trip), you say, "hey, if you guys dont mind, could some people chip in a couple bucks for gas?", everyone in the car goes silent, and i get a dollar. but thats alright. i cant complain. i love paying for people mooching off me. im just a servant i guess....
3. RAMEN- ive been a ramen fan since i came from the womb. ive eaten it when i was sick, ive eaten it when i was well, ive eaten it in the little cup thingy, and ive even eaten dry. i love ramen. it was only until i began the journey of living away from home that i gained a new love and respect for it. you can get like 12 packages of those jokers for a buck twenty five. i mean yes, it does have its down sides, but for a buck twenty five i dont even care. its beautiful. i started to think one day while i was eating it though, how to they make this stuff? then i imagined like a bunch of melted animal fat, flour, and buckets and buckets of salt being dumped into a big pot, and thats as far as i took it. i dont want to know. and i dont care. its my favorite and thats that. i do kinda wish mrs. dejarnett taught me how to cook though...
there are many other things that ive learned and grown in over the past 6 months, and i plan on writing more about them, but for now thats all. as you can see, the opportunities for things to learn out here are endless. the sky is the limit.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
I'm not the boy I once was, but I'm not the man I'll be.
well i dont really have a great reason for making this thing, except for the sole reason to keep in contact with people. i really dont like facebook...or myspace...or xanga...i dont really know yet why this is different but im doing it none the less.
I feel like i have not kept up a relationship with a single person back home. not one. no one knows what is going on in my life at "that place in texas where james is", what im doing, what im learning, and i dont know whats going on in any of your lives. when i say your, im referring to the few people that i know will read this, and they so happen to be the people i care about quite a bit. so there you have it.
i guess to start off...if you have no idea what im doing, im at an internship in texas called the Honor Academy. No, its not an advanced placement school for really smart kids or a missionary society or a cult. its a year long internship that was developed to train up leaders in our generation to get vision for their lives, wisdom, and discipline, and to get a solid foundation in their lives with the Lord before they go off into the world. the Honor Academy is apart of Teen Mania Ministries, which is an organization that puts on huge youth conferences and stadium events around the country called aquire the fire, as well as sending out around 5000 teenagers all of the world every summer through Global Expeditions. interns run teen mania basically, so while our lives are being molded and changed and refined and stretched, we are running a ministry that is reaching hundreds of thousands of teenagers lives around the country. bascially i am taking classes on character development, leadership, missions, apologetics, and a classes about developing into a man and being a father and a husband. i am on the phones calling to bring people to the honor academy as my job in the ministry. at first i though that i was basically going to be a telemarketer for teen mania, but i was very wrong. every day on the phone i talk to a hungry, dying, and hurting generation. i talk to teens who are enveloped in drug addiction, addicted to pornography, kids who are in dark depression so much that they are cutting themselves and contemplating suicide. every day. it has definitely opened my eyes to what is going on in this generation, and how desperate our youth are for something solid to grab ahold of, something constant, something that will fill the gaping hole in their heart that they are desperately trying to fill with lies from satan that are leading them straight to hell.
this place is changing my life. i never imagined that the Lord would be using me to speak life into people who are dying and without hope and bringing them the truth and life that Jesus Christ can give them.
i am learning a lot. i am growing a lot. i have much more to learn, and i have a ton more growing to do. it is so easy to forget about why i am here though...this is the most busy that i have ever been in my entire life, hands down. i feel terrible because i havent kept in contact with the people that i love, and at some points i feel like i have gotten too busy for the Lord. i know it when that happens, and i hate it. all that i want is go deeper. to know His heart, to know his love that surpasses knowledge, to fall more in love with him every day. i want to be the man that He wants to be, and for Him to be able to use me with no restrictions.
as i said. i am learning. as the great band mewithoutYou says, "im not the boy that i once was, but im not the man ill be."
i want to know whats going on in your lives. i really do. i want to stay in contact and will do the very best that i can to do so. dont worry, not all of these will ridiculously deep or depressing. i will try to get my creative juices flowing, or lack there of.
I feel like i have not kept up a relationship with a single person back home. not one. no one knows what is going on in my life at "that place in texas where james is", what im doing, what im learning, and i dont know whats going on in any of your lives. when i say your, im referring to the few people that i know will read this, and they so happen to be the people i care about quite a bit. so there you have it.
i guess to start off...if you have no idea what im doing, im at an internship in texas called the Honor Academy. No, its not an advanced placement school for really smart kids or a missionary society or a cult. its a year long internship that was developed to train up leaders in our generation to get vision for their lives, wisdom, and discipline, and to get a solid foundation in their lives with the Lord before they go off into the world. the Honor Academy is apart of Teen Mania Ministries, which is an organization that puts on huge youth conferences and stadium events around the country called aquire the fire, as well as sending out around 5000 teenagers all of the world every summer through Global Expeditions. interns run teen mania basically, so while our lives are being molded and changed and refined and stretched, we are running a ministry that is reaching hundreds of thousands of teenagers lives around the country. bascially i am taking classes on character development, leadership, missions, apologetics, and a classes about developing into a man and being a father and a husband. i am on the phones calling to bring people to the honor academy as my job in the ministry. at first i though that i was basically going to be a telemarketer for teen mania, but i was very wrong. every day on the phone i talk to a hungry, dying, and hurting generation. i talk to teens who are enveloped in drug addiction, addicted to pornography, kids who are in dark depression so much that they are cutting themselves and contemplating suicide. every day. it has definitely opened my eyes to what is going on in this generation, and how desperate our youth are for something solid to grab ahold of, something constant, something that will fill the gaping hole in their heart that they are desperately trying to fill with lies from satan that are leading them straight to hell.
this place is changing my life. i never imagined that the Lord would be using me to speak life into people who are dying and without hope and bringing them the truth and life that Jesus Christ can give them.
i am learning a lot. i am growing a lot. i have much more to learn, and i have a ton more growing to do. it is so easy to forget about why i am here though...this is the most busy that i have ever been in my entire life, hands down. i feel terrible because i havent kept in contact with the people that i love, and at some points i feel like i have gotten too busy for the Lord. i know it when that happens, and i hate it. all that i want is go deeper. to know His heart, to know his love that surpasses knowledge, to fall more in love with him every day. i want to be the man that He wants to be, and for Him to be able to use me with no restrictions.
as i said. i am learning. as the great band mewithoutYou says, "im not the boy that i once was, but im not the man ill be."
i want to know whats going on in your lives. i really do. i want to stay in contact and will do the very best that i can to do so. dont worry, not all of these will ridiculously deep or depressing. i will try to get my creative juices flowing, or lack there of.
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