McCallister's and Some HS Drama

So last night after Lindsay and I had spent some time shopping in the Florence Mall we stopped at McCallisters because she had not eaten dinner. We sat outside because it was cooled down and nice outside. While sitting there, the place was busy with what seemed to be the characters from Laguna Beach. There was a group of three girls sitting right next to our table and another large group a little further away. One of the girls at the table made a phone call to what appeared to be another one of the girl's boyfriends or interested boys, that can only be summed up in the word drama. It ended in an obvious hang up from the party on the other side, which infuriated this girl, for reasons beyond me because she deserved to be hung up on. After some time of these girls discussing God knows what, the group got larger when some boys came along and joined them, which only added to the exciting drama of high schoolers hanging out during their summer break. The one question that I thought of after this experience was, "Was I like that when I was in high school?"

I told Lindsay that I don't remember being involved in the drama that was high school, but maybe I was. I have fond memories of high school and being around that last night only annoyed me. Maybe I was too inclusive to be involved in the stupidity of certain things that go on during high school, or maybe my memory has faded and I have forgotten the drama that went on. Either way, I may be avoiding high school hang outs for the rest of the summer.

Guilty by Association

So I have tattoos, 4 or 5 depending on how you look at it to. The first one that I got is the word live in Greek on my left shoulder blade. I got this one because it was the theme at a Christ In Youth summer week that I went to that ultimately lead me on the path that I am on. I really felt God tugging at my heart to follow him in the direction of Bible School and then full time missions. The second and third, are the initials of my Grandma and my Father on my chest. My Grandma was one of the most influential people in my life and I am grateful for her ability to put her kids and grandkids before herself pretty much all of the time. My mom, my brother, and I lived with her for a time when I was younger because there weren't a whole lot of options for us. She passed away when I was a Senior in high school. My father, who was never really a father figure, passed away when I was a Freshman in college. I only had about 8 months to catch up on lost time with him before he passed, but I thank God for that time because it brought a lot of closure to some difficult memories growing up. The lack of him in my life also produced the father figure that I beleive God meant for myself and my broher to have, Mark my step father and then adopted Father. The most recent, also the largest and most visible without my shirt ont, has brought me to have a few discussions with my mother about tattoos. On the inside of my right arm it reads, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for" and on he insdie part of my left arm (both in the bicep area) "and certain of what we do not see."

That was a long preface to the point of this post. I've been thinking a lot about how society and how people view tattoos. And something that comes up in my thought here, is how it is perceived from people within the church. I keep thinking that if I were to show up to a church that knew me and had a high opinion of me, would that change if I were to show them my tattoos. Would they see me in a different light? So I'd like to just ask a few questions to see what people think. Here are some of the thoughts that are running through my head. Does a person's opinion of the person that I am or anyone else change if they know that someone have tattoos? Is it justifiable to look down or negatively upon someone just because they have tattoos? Are tattoos wrong? and why?

Possibly Uninsightful

Apparently I have not had a whole lot of insightful things going on in my life or maybe the start of baseball season, the nice weather, my trip to Africa, and the lack of Travis in my life has lead me down this lonely, uninspiring path. That maybe completely false or the exact truth. So what have I really done lately? I've worked, I've watched TV, I've searched the web, checked my fantasy baseball teams, checked facebook, gone running several times, eaten quite a bit of food, enjoyed time with my wife, visited some family on different sides, gone to a couple movies, read just a bit, had a cookout, had a nervous night with my sister going to prom, text messaged, gone to church, listened to some music, given a piggy back ride, gone on some walks, and that might be about it. There are probably some details that I left out, but that's been the jist of my life since the last update on here. Oh, I also bought some plane tickets to Lusaka, Zambia, which may have been one of the more exciting moments.

Just a brief update for the millions of readers that I have.

Leap of Faith

Dear Friends and Family,
Alex and I decided to take a leap of faith. Our dear friend Christy who is going to Africa with us, has not raised all of her money yet for the plane ticket. We lent her money so we could all three purchase our plane tickets together(as you can imagine, a two day flight could get pretty lonely all by yourself) She still needs to raise 870 dollars. We have so much faith that this can be done, because we know in our hearts she is mean to be there. We are wanting you all to know this because we figure the more people that know about her, the more people can pray for her, and the more supporters there could be for her. She has a blog spot as well! If you are interested in learning more about her, her name is Christy Mingey. We are really hoping to get this money raised within the next couple of weeks. If you know anyone who may be willing to help, please let us know! We want to thank everyone for your support as we were able to raise the support for our plane tickets!!! We still need to raise the costs for living and the visa and exit fee which should leave us around 920 dollars yet to raise!!! All things are possible through him!

To Boston

I'll make this short and sweet. After everything that Boston has put this man through, I give him props for embracing this moment. I don't think many people would have blamed him had his response to Boston been in the form of a finger in between his index and ring.

Old Spice Hair and Body Wash

So I am not sure if this change has been made permanently or if anyone noticed it, but the commercial has a change in it that I noticed. This commercial, has an old man asking if Old Spice Hair and Body Wash is right for him; it has Reno 911esq cop asking the same question, as he pins down a hair, sweaty, grotesque criminal who asks the same question. Now this is where the change has been made. Before tonight, when I saw this commercial the narrator said that the hair and body wash was not right for the criminal, but it was for everyone else in the commercial. Now when the criminal asks if it is right for him, the narrator says sure. Like I said, I'm not sure if this is a permanent change or just an adaption of some kind, but I thought it was interesting because I feel like society has to be completely inclusive towards everything. It doesn't matter where you come from, what your life is about, or where you are going, as long as you are not a terrorist you are to be included in society. Now I am not saying that this is always the case, but I am speaking in generalities.

I truly believe that we are to love everyone, despite their short comings or where they are going in life. That falls in line with the second greatest commandment. But does that really mean that we are to include everyone? I always think back to John's Gospel when this question or this idea pops up: the light and the darkness. I just thought it was interesting that I saw this commercial a number of times one way and then it was changed to include the criminal in the form of having the hair and body wash be for him as well. I'm interested to hear what you guys have to say.

God's Timing

God has a funny way of doing things. His timing is impeccable and completely daunting at the same. My faith is about to be completely tested in a lot of ways that I am not sure I am ready for. God has put on my heart and my wife's heart an oppertunity to go overseas to Zambia, Africa for a couple of weeks of work with AIDS orphans. The reason the timing of this is so daunting and exhilerating at the same time is because the oppertunity that has been presented is much much sooner than we expected. We are planning on leaving on May 9th. Now your first reaction, as well as my own, is that this date is too soon and it does not provide enough time to actually plan the trip or fund raise.

This is where God, for me especially, will stretch the boundaries that embody this situation. I am the type of person that likes to rely on myself to get most things done. This situation really does not allow me to do so. I can frantically plan all I want for this trip to happen, but in all reality, it is in God's hands. He put this on our hearts, he provided the oppertunity, he will provide adequate funds for this to happen. I am learning about myself and my God everyday.

This trip will also be one of great importance to Lindsay and I's future. The work that we will be doing and get to experience in Zambia will be exactly what we plan on doing full time in the future. I am extremely excited and scared all at the same time.

I would ask that anyone who actually reads this meager blog to pray for this entire situation. Pray for God's plans that Lindsay and I cannot see yet. Thank you.