worry not

here's a picture of the group that went to denver. we were working on walt's house for brother's development of denver.
the last few weeks i've been thinking and doing a bit of worrying....
God tells us some worry is alright...however we should not sweat things b/c God will provide us with resources and ppl to guide us through difficult times.
wed. i did a lesson for the youth on worrying....yet i was still worrying. how hypocritical!, right?
how can i expect the youth to learn from the lessons i teach if i am not applying them to my own life?

so i evaluated situations in my life. did some reading of my basic instructions before leaving earth (Bible), and reached out to a dear friend.
God is the ultimate baller.

I recently attended a funeral of one of my youth's mothers. After hearing his father speak I have a new outlook on life and relationships I hold with those close to me.

After dropping off several of my youth from the funeral I went to visit one of my friends. We shared a few life stories and at the moment I think we both realized how lucky we both are to have such supportive and caring friends.

God has blessed each of us with our own life experiences to share with each other so that we can all learn from one another.

I am blessed beyond measure and only hope I am able to adequately share my blessing with others, so they too can experience the wonderful joys of life and true friendship.
We should all be examples of Christ love, understanding, support and forgiveness.

ready, set,....

denver was amazing.
i've been doing a lot of reflecting and thinking lately...that too has been going well.
randomly i must admit i'm not really that poppy...or maybe i am.
but i have a new guilty indulgence that i'm slightly embarrassed to admit to....taylor swift. *sigh*
ah for girl empowerment.

my latest goal is to not gossip. i catch myself more, which is good. however sometimes i realize it and still listen...which is bad.

still can't believe it's been a week since we left denver.....it was so beautiful. i want to go back...and then some. (i hear zion and arches are amazing as well)

i'm going to miss jallen so hardcore...a lot of us are.

summer

this is one of my jr.hs kids and mrs. weaver painting the set for our vbs. it's going to be crocodile dock.
i'm pretty excited for it.....
i'm even MORE excited about denver. i just can't wait.


last year in chicago.


year before that to d.c.

a sport of patience

this is a picture of salad = jared + sally. this was my first trip to jerry's sno cones.
i have had a lot of my firsts w/ jared and sally. they have always been nothing but loving to me... i will forever love them both. and love them together.

today jared and his best childhood friend j.t. took me golfing.....
OMG golfing is a sport of patience....skill, precise-ness and many other things.

i am good at putting....driving off the rough and that's about it. (which no one should really drive off of...driving w/ a driver not w/ the cart)

i like riding fast in the cart through puddles though.
thanks jared & j.t.
however....after a few attempts at having a powerful drive i drove my club into the ground and i am pretty sore now.

...it was fun but i think i'll stick to tennis.



today i was also signed onto the wesley account as treasurer. i can no sign checks for wesley.
justin allen i will miss you dearly sir.

learning life lessons

so lately i've been struggling w/ a situation in my life and how to deal with it.
the struggle has been between 1 John:4 19-21 and john 15.

1 John tells us to love our brother like Christ has loved us.....this is forgiving and unselfish.

john 15 tells us that through love that if our brother is not being fruitful that we should pluck away what is not producing fruit...

this has been my struggle for awhile. i like to make ppl happy, and i love to love like Christ has loved me (i teach the students 'CHRIST LOVE'...yes in all caps)...and a lot of times ppl don't see long term happiness or in this case Christ love with some of my actions.

the struggle is between being a loving door mat/grunt and being a loving Christian and offering guidance/forgiveness that is not being taken.....*sigh*

on another note.....
michael had his suprise party this weekend.
minus the blindfolded nausea he enjoyed it.




happy birthday michael!!
this is daniel sweeping michael off his feet so we can throw him in the car...for birthday suprise pt.2

instant coffee doesn't mean it's fast acting

okay. this weekend is going fun filled.
see this picture. this is michael......this weekend he turns 24.
he currently is my best friend/brother.
after this weekend i'll update you to see if that's still the case.
prepare yourselves. it's going to be epic.


this is dexter.... he's just cute.
he loves me (to a point) even when i forget to fill the kibble bowl up.

life lessons

this is me....i was looking through the camping gear at outdoors and well...i couldn't resist reaching back to my roots ;-)

so check this...

God's been working quite a bit in my life lately...and it's been so amazing.
sunday...someone to the left of me on the pew sent me a msg...i'm not a fan of passing notes during church so i just let it sit next to me for a bit. i open it...
'you are the best youth intern ever!'
-proverbs 4:7....i look it up.
'The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.'
i LOVE it.
cause c'mon folks lets be honest....i have no real idea of what i'm doing...this life thing. i'm just learning as i go.

so....the week gets even more amazing.
i find myself becoming this...different person. i don't even know what's going on...just growing at this exponential rate it seems. i am amazed at this person i see...it's surreal to me. i'm not even sure i know...it's greater than myself. i know that much.
the last 2-3 months i've become something...someone that i think deep down i've always wanted to be.
that right there is some Christ love coming into play.

then tonight....
mr. ken weatherford comes and sings at wesley...he's talking about these starving children and he reads this verse and it speaks to me....
my heart is called so deeply to two things in particular....1. service, 2. love.....
i live my life strongly for both of those.

1 John 3:18
'Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth'

this verse i believe also goes hand in hand in with what the rev. brad gabriel has said...'you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do'

don't say you want to love or help someone.....do it. talk my friends is cheap. be a person of action. if there is something out there that is within your hands, your power, your heart that you can make a difference a, change....DO IT!!!!

one word...ballin'
...as always Chirst Love!


my cousin kevin.....an actual azn....in case you haven't figured it out yet...we like making fun of ourselves.