here's to next semester

Well it is about that time of year, when we have to start registering for classes for next semester. Last semester I got screwed, when I went to register literally 3 of the 4 classes I wanted were filled up, so I had to completely redo my schedule. I mean, it all worked out in the end, it was just majorly annoying at the time. So I was hoping that wasn't going to happen again, and thankfully it didn't. Only one of the classes that I wanted was filled, so I just filled that time slot with something else. And that something else is Print Media Design and Production. I've been wanting to take a couple media communications classes for a while, but just never had the chance, so that is why I am so excited about this one. I definitely need to improve my skills in photoshop and such, so I'm really looking forward to this class. Granted it is from 1-3:30pm every Wednesday, but hopefully it will be interesting. So my registration was very successful in my opinion. I mean, this media class doesn't really count for anything, but o well. I figured it out and I'll still have normal class loads next fall and spring, so its all good. So just wanted to give an update on that.

Also just wanted to thank mudering muses for his input on my last post long live the blog He brought out some great points. So thanks for that.

I was also thinking today, how it might be good to do an episode of the JSquared Podcast before the election next week. Just to get each of our views on it, and everything. I dunno, its just a thought, chances are it won't come to fruition but we'll see. Would you all like to see that happen? Or do you even care? LOL.

here's to next semester. :)

long live the blog

I've been thinking recently, and the question has come up, why blogging over facebook notes? Or contrastingly, some people prefer facebook notes over blogging. Well here are a couple thoughts I have, and some reasons why I prefer blogging over facebook notes.

First of all I think that facebook notes serve a different purpose from blogging...for me at least. I think many people use facebook notes for the same purpose as blogging, but for me I don't think they should have the same purpose. The purpose of facebook notes in my eyes are to write simple little notes that then go up on all of your friend's newsfeeds for all of them to read. Facebook notes in my eyes just seem common and overused. I am never really motivated to read a note on facebook, especially if it is more than 2 paragraphs long. I mean, I have hundreds of friends on facebook and every single one of those friends has a chance to read that note, therefore it just loses value for me. It is somewhat hard to explain, but blogs are just so much different. If someone is reading my blog then I know that it is someone who at least mildly cares, or at the least care more about how I'm doing than if it were someone on facebook. Why? Because for people to read my blog they have to go to my website, then click on my blog link. It is not integrated into any social network in any way, it is its own independent site, so just by the fact that they visit that site says something. And if someone is reading my blog consistently it means that they are subscribed to it in their RSS reader which means that they've taken even more time to keep up with me. I think there is just much more personal value in blogging.

Secondly, facebook notes are just so stinking unattractive. It is so hard for me to sit there and read a facebook notes because I feel like my eyes are bleeding. I mean, not that facebook GUI is extremely unattractive but in a note the font is just so small and and I almost have to squint to be able to read it. Plus when I take a first look at a facebook note it is so intimidating if it is more than 2 paragraphs long because it just seems like so much because the font is so small. It really does annoy the heck out of me. Now granted, the background on my blog is white, and some may say that is boring, but it just has such a more personal feel to it, and at least my font isn't size 0.2. Ok, so that was a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point. Or maybe you don't...

Here's my point, if you write a facebook note I am less likely to read it than if you write a blog post. Sure I may see your note in my newsfeed, and I might click on the link to go to it, but the chances of me sitting there and actually reading it the whole thing are pretty slim. Like I said, I do think that facebook notes have their place, because they are very helpful to get some important information out to a bunch of people at one time. There is also a feature in notes that allows you to mention people in your note. I think this was originally designed for the purpose of if you actually did mention one of your friends in your note then you could let them know that, but now it has evolved into mentioning a long list of people because then they get a direct notification about the note, so they are more likely to read it. So I think facebook notes have their purposes, but I do not think that one of those purposes is to "blog" your daily or weekly thoughts. An actual blog is so much better for that purpose. Imagine that, a blog is good for blogging. Crazy.

What do you like better? Notes? Blogs?

Long live blogging.

family night

This weekend was good and relaxing. Always love those relaxing weekends, although I was thinking about this 12 page paper that I had to write for Systematic Theology but I got that done, so no longer thinking about it. Although I did learn some very valuable things pertaining to what Arminians believe and how it differs from Calvinism. It was good stuff. I'll blog about it sometime this week. But first lets get to the fun stuff.

Friday night we had what we called a "Family Night." Me, Nate, "Benji", Emily, and Brooke. We got Benji on skype video and we played a game called "Celebrity" with him. It was a blast. We took some pics, check them out on my facebook profile. They're pretty good. It was almost just like having Benji back. It was great. So we played a couple games in Brooke and Emily's apartment and then just relaxed and ate some popcorn and oreos. It was great to just relax. I really wish I just had an apartment. Just to be able to lay on the couch and watch tv and not have to worry about rules or getting in trouble for watching a movie or anything. Its just great. Maybe one day. Well, hopefully one day. I mean, I'm gonna graduate eventually, and I hope I don't end up living in my parent's house for the rest of my life. LOL.

Then Saturday night was men's open house. Now, if you know me, you know that I loathe open house with a passion. I just really don't see the point in it at all. At least casual open houses, because the girls just come over and sit in our room and its just really awkward most of the time. But last night was a formal open house which means that our floor was supposed to plan something to do. So made a slip 'n slide in our hallway. At first I thought it was gonna be really lame, and I wasn't looking forward to it at all. But once it got started, I got interested. The slip 'n slide was directly outside my room, so I just opened the door and watched people fling their bodies down the hall on this plastic wrap covered in water and baby shampoo. It was pretty funny. The night ended with a bang, when one girl from a sister floor tried to surf the slip 'n slide and ended up getting her feet knocked out from under her and banging her head on the floor really hard. She had to go to the ER. So needless to say she was the last person to do the slip 'n slide, but luckily there were some really good slides before that. Again, check out some pics on my facebook profile, but here is a sample.

So overall it was a good weekend. I ended getting about half my paper done by Sunday and then on Sunday I finished up the other half. So not too shabby.

This was just a small update from the weekend. I have some actual legitimate thoughts to blog about, but again, it is late at night, and it would take me alot longer to blog about those then it would to just give a quick update. So I figure, a quick update is better than no update, right?

ok, peace to all...have a good monday, or as good as it can be.

spillage

I read someone's facebook status tonight and it said, ________...has guts to spill, but no one trustworthy. I wanted to immediately comment on his status and just let him know that I know how he feels, and that I hope that he can find someone to trust, but thought that might be kinda awkward for a status comment. lol. Thats where that facebook discretion comes into play that I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Anyways, I really did feel for this guy, because I have felt that way so many times this semester, like I have so much to spill and that I just wanna talk about, but sometimes there is just no one around that I trust. Thankfully I have found some good friends that I can talk to, and know that I can trust them, but they are not always there. And some people do not always have that someone to trust and to talk to. Unfortunately I do not know this guy well enough to just be like, "well dude you can spill your guts to me if you want." I just feel like that wouldn't be my place at all, but I do hope that he does find someone.

And hey, if your that person that needs to spill some guts, but has no one to trust or talk to, feel free to spill to me. I know that is kinda contradictory to what I wrote in the last paragraph about not being close enough to this person, so it felt awkward, but I mean, if you are comfortable enough to share with me, then I would be more than happy to listen, and try to help you out. If you are reading this then you probably already have all my contact info, but just in case, you can go to my website and there you can find my contact info, cell, email, etc. Anyways, I just really felt for that person, and felt like I needed to write about it.

love you all.

another

Today ended the break from soccer practice. It was good while it lasted. If you have been paying attention to my facebook status lately, you will know that I have this big Systematic Theology paper due on Monday, and I just started it last night. Surprisingly, I already have two pages done. I've been thinking about it all day, and I've really let it kinda stress me out. It has just been a while since I've put a big paper off till the last minute and then just busted it out the night before, so I'm a little nervous right now. I've got a little over ten pages left, but I think I can do it. Anyways, I bring that up because the topic of the paper is "God's Will: Secret and Revealed." And it is kinda ironic because as you know from my previous posts, I've been struggling with what God's will is for me pertaining to my internship this summer, and what I should after graduation and such. I got a little more stuff cleared up today about my internship. I still need to do alot of praying and seeking God on my decision, but it was good to talk to someone about it, and get their feedback. But I think it will be good to get this refresher on what God's Word says about His will, and what is revealed in Scripture and what isn't. I just really need a good grade in this class, because I'm not doing so hot in it right now. DANGIT! And as I'm writing this post I'm remembering that I have Greek homework due tomorrow (another class I'm not doing so hot in). Well I'm gonna go do that while listening to my newest friend Pandora Radio

hope you all have amazing Fridays.

a break...kinda

Well, this weekend was somewhat successful as far as this sport that is my life right now (soccer) goes. We tied Robert Morris 1-1 on Monday, and won 2-1 against Andrews University on Tuesday. So it was a good weekend overall, except for the fact that both of these games were away, and these two days were our "Fall Break" or "Study/Reading Days" so we didn't have any class, but we still were busy as ever. But o well. Thankfully Coach gave us off practice today and tomorrow, to give us a bit of a break. I guess it was a break. It has been more of a break mentally, than it has been physically. We still are required to run for at least 30 minutes on each of these days, but 30 minutes turns into about an hour and a half of being in the gym, which is ok I guess. Actually I was in the gym today for longer than that cause I had to TA (Teacher's Assistant) for one of my Sports Min. Profs. So anyways, I say all that to say, that coach gave us these days off to sleep, catch up on homework, or just rest, but none of those things got done today. LOL. O well, it was good to just run on a treadmill again. Never thought I'd see myself typing those words but it is true. I've actually been gaining weight through soccer season this year, so today I lost about 3 or 4 pounds, just by running 4 miles. It felt pretty good except for the fact that my calf muscle was killing me. So we'll go back at it again tomorrow. Another "day off" practice, but it'll be good cause I'm meeting with my former roommate, Tom Clark for our weekly catch up/get in The Word time. I would like to write a post about how crucial it is to set aside time like this with a close friend to just talk about each other's lives, spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. But I'll save that for another day, maybe tomorrow in fact, since we are meeting tomorrow. Give you something to look forward to.

But in the meantime, I've got a 12 page Systematic Theology research paper on "The will of God" due on Monday, which I just started, so I better get to that.

I also wanna welcome back my best friend and roommate, Nate Nearpass. He returned back to campus last night, and he's almost going at full force. I wouldn't say completely full force yet, but he's almost there. He's gotta rest for like another 4 weeks, but I sure did miss him, and its good to have him back.

shout out to spleen boy, love you.

call

Many times I find myself reading a friend's blog and that blog initiating thoughts in my mind that I then feel like I need to blog about. So I found myself doing this today, and some of the thoughts in this post are a product of this friend's blog. So this friend was saying that she has been good lately because she is becoming less and less confused. At the beginning of the semester she just saw alot of things as pointless and was confused as to why she had to do them, but is now understanding more and more why God has placed her where she is. When I read this I was jealous. I long for the understanding that she has, I long to not be confused. Granted we are going through completely different situations, but still, I was jealous. lol.

From practically the beginning of the semester things have happened that have just completely confused, and I had no clue why they were happening. Then about 2 1/2 weeks ago things got worse and I was really getting tired of everything. But then for a week things went really well, and it looked like things were looking up for the most part, I was beginning to understand some things about my situation, and why they were happening. Then God threw me for a loop again this past week.

Some things have happened over the past week that have caused me to rethink alot of things about my life, and my future. This past week was missions conference. Now, if you know me at all, you know that for the past 4 years I have believed that God has called me into the foreign mission field after I graduate, specifically doing sports ministry, that is why I decided to major in sports ministry. So usually during missions conference you hear about God confirming the call on people's lives to go to the mission field, it seems quite unusual that God would cause someone to question that call. But now that I think about it, maybe it is not so unusual, because this has been some of what God has been doing to me. And I think it is a good thing, it is just hard. It is just hard to go from "almost full assurance of a call" to "rethinking that call completely." It is scary to not know what God wants for my life. I think one thing I realized this week is how hard it is actually going to be on the mission field. It is not going to be some walk in the park. And I think for a while I thought of it as that. Over the past couple years foreign missions has become more and more real to me. Through observing and watching my youth pastor and family pick up everything and go to Ireland, then also seeing my youth small group leader and mentor do the same thing, sometimes it is not all it is cracked up to be. I think sometimes we get this perception of missions and it is full of glitz and glam, but it is not. It is just life. It is life in a completely different culture than what we are used to here in North America.

Some of this confusion in my mind is caused by the fact that sometimes I don't know which gifts God wants to use more. I have a gift of sports and also technology/computers. And I love to use both of these for God's glory, but sometimes I don't know which one I should pursue the most. I attended two seminar sessions at missions conference that had to do with using your passion for making videos and filming on the mission field. So it really just got me thinking about that. Also considering there were no specific sports ministry agencies here this year at missions conference (honestly I think it is because Moody doesn't consider it a priority, but thats just my opinion, and the opinion of almost every sports ministry prof. here at Moody, lol) so there were no seminar sessions to attend pertaining specifically to sports ministry. So this is one dilemma that I have run into this week. The other dilemmas I think have to do with fear, as I mentioned earlier.

So these are some of the things I've been thinking about. I've been thinking about other things as well, but my mind can only focus on one thing at a time, so we'll save those for another time. Basically it all comes down to spending time with God, and seeking His will always, and always remembering that He is my Savior. The cross of Jesus Christ, thank you Lord.

And as I was rereading this post I was thinking that the way I started out in the first paragraph about reading a friend's blog...well I felt bad calling this person my friend because I've never even met her, a bunch of my friends were friends with her on facebook, so we ended up becoming "friends" on facebook and I found her xanga and started reading it. So just wanted to clarify that. I know, sounds kinda stalkerish, but hopefully me clarifying that cancels out the stalker factor.

ok clarification made.

visit

There are always so many things to write about yet if I wrote about them all in one post it would be a VERY long post, and it would probably lose your attention very quickly. So I'll just start out with the latest. This weekend a very close friend of mine from back home, Adam McNeal came and visited me along with his girlfriend, who is best friends with Chelsi, so we all hung out all weekend. It was a blast. It seems that God is just giving me exactly what I need exactly when I need it. I had one of the worst weeks a couple weeks ago, and then that same weekend my parents flew up and surprised me at my game. Then this past week was really good because it was missions conference but through missions conference I've just been thinking about alot of different things pertaining to my future, and just been a bit confused, and then this same weekend my best friend Adam came up and visited so it was good to catch up with him, and just talk to him about stuff that I've been thinking about and such.

Not only was it really good to just talk to Adam about everything, but whenever we get together its just fun, because we've been through absolutely a TON together, and we could go on for a long time just talking about memories that we have together. It is awesome. So that was another enjoyable aspect to the weekend. It is good because when we get together we can be the most immature people but yet we have some really good talks, and that is what it is all about. Helping each other through the good times and the bad times, those of which I've had both recently. Just to be able to sit down across from a good friend at starbucks and just talking about life, what our goals are, and things we are going through. I love it. And when he got in his car today to go back to his school in Louisville, KY it made me sad because I feel like a piece of home is leaving me. I felt the same way when my parents left last time. There are somedays when I just want to get on a plane and go home. Hopefully that day will be coming soon after soccer is over. Me and Jared Tolley have a new project in mind that needs to be done within the next month so I'm hoping to go home soon.

So that is just one post of many that I could write about this week and this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to write some more soon. This upcoming week looks as if it is going to be another busy one. I've got a big research paper due for Systematic Theology next week, so that is going to take some time for sure. Anyways, I'm listening to Hillsong right now and loving it. O yeah and why can't the Bengals win a freaking game. Its ridiculous. Not the best note to end on, but I feel like an appropriate one.

who dey!? yeah right.

juntos no more

Juntos!
If you are a Moody student or attended any of the general sessions of the missions conference here at Moody last year then you will recognize this very over-used Spanish word meaning "together." That was the theme of the conference last year, and the keynote speaker felt the need to use the word "Juntos" literally about every 2-3 minutes, and if that wasn't enough he used it in about every part of speech that exists. Needless to say last years main sessions were not the greatest, we found ourselves sitting in the auditorium for 2 hours counting how many times the guy said "Juntos." So honestly I wasn't expecting much from this year's main sessions, and to be even more honest I fell asleep last night during Al Guerra's session, which was probably worth listening to but I just couldn't keep my eyes open after a very draining (both physically and emotionally) soccer game (another post for another day). But I did enjoy today's sessions very much.

Al Guerra spoke again this morning and thankfully I was able to stay awake, because he talked about how to minister to people that we don't want to minister to. He spoke out of Matthew 28. ...And brace yourself...I also took notes, yes thats right. So a couple points that he made were to 1. Lead by theology. He talked about learning what we have from our Systematic Theology classes, which I am taking right now, and work hard to apply this to real-life leadership situations. Another point he made was to 2. Study the culture. This was very stressed that we should go into a culture as learners. Don't go into a culture ignorant of their rituals and practices. I think many people do this, especially when it comes to short-term missions trips and they lose their effectiveness because of it. So the morning session was very beneficial, and I was glad that I got the extra sleep in order to stay awake.

We are also required to go to some seminar sessions. One of these that I chose to go to was called "Movies and Media: What does that have to do with Missions?" So of course, if any of you know me you know that this immediately caught my eye, and it didn't take me very long to decide which one I was going to attend. The woman leading this session graduated from Ashland College in Ohio with a videography degree and now works for a missions agency doing 50% video work, and 50% missions work. It was very interesting to hear how this worked. Half of the year she will spend traveling around the world filming and producing content for different missions agencies, and then the other half of the year she will spend building relationships with people in the area where she is living, whether it be London, England, or somewhere else, and then try to influence these people for Christ. I think this is a very interesting concept. And I just kept getting more and more interested because she has her own company which is something that I've always thought would be awesome to do, and I've done some freelance work before under the name of JSquared Productions, but it hasn't gone too far. But this session just evoked some very interesting thoughts in my mind on some cool opportunities that are out there.

Tonight we had another main session, and you'll never guess who the speaker was...Steve Saint. Steve Saint for those of you who don't know is the son of Nate Saint, one of the 5 missionaries who was speared by the Auqa Indians while trying to share Christ with them. Some of you might have seen or heard of the movie "The End of the Spear." This movie was made about this man, Nate Saint and the other missionaries. I remember seeing this movie, I believe it was my Sr. year in highschool, and after coming out of the theater just sitting in my friends car and just crying because by the time I had already felt God's call on my life into full-time missions and I didn't know if I was willing to give up my life like that for the cause of Christ. And so that movie really had an impact on my life, and evoked alot of thoughts in my mind. So it was amazing to hear Steve Saint speak and just give first hand accounts of how he felt, and how his mother felt, throughout all of this. While interviewing a wife of one of the missionary men who died, she was asked, "When this happened to your husband how did you not ask God, Why?" And she responded, "I guess I just never thought about that." ("that" being questioning God). That just amazes me. And Steve's challenge to us was to be heroes of the faith, and be willing to give my life for Christ. So tonight's session was very impactful, and exceeded far beyond my expectations, even though my expectations were very low coming into it.

With all that said, I'm tired and need to get some other stuff done, but I am genuinely looking forward to what tomorrow has to bring. Sorry for such the long post, they won't be this long all the time.

We're all in this together, juntos no more.

the spot

It's official, Chipotle hits the spot everytime. Don't ask me what that "spot" is, but it gets hit everytime I eat a chicken burrito with black beans, mild salsa, cheese, and lettuce from Chipotle. I happened to have one of these tonight, since it is Sunday. See, here's the deal. Here at Moody we do not get served dinner in the dining room for dinner on Sunday nights, so we have to eat on our own. My family (immediate and extended) for some reason give me Chipotle gift cards like they grow on trees. Seriously, anytime someone from my family visits, or I go home, I get at least 2 Chipotle gift cards valued at $10 each. This eventually results in alot of Chipotle currency. Therefore, every Sunday night I have no reason not to eat at Chipotle. 1. I love it. 2. I don't have to spend money. 3. I have enough gift cards to last mean probably for the next 10 weeks. LOL. Every once and a while I get a gift card for a different restaurant such as Subway, and sometimes I get a Starbucks gift card. Just to clarify, I am not complaining whatsoever by writing this post, I am just writing. In fact I absolutely eating Chipotle every week, and feel very blessed to be able to eat there every week. So thank you to my family, and thank you Chipotle.

shout to the fam!

accessibility

I was just thinking about this tonight. This thought just popped into my head while I was in the bathroom, don't ask my how or why, but weird stuff happens when you're on the can. So anyways... I was thinking about how much access we have to put our thoughts into the world anywhere and anytime we want. Just think about it, these thoughts just popped into my head 5 minutes ago as I was using the facilities and I have the ability to walk 5 steps across my room, sit down at my desk, make a couple clicks and all of the sudden these thoughts can be posted on the World Wide Web for everyone and anyone to see and read. And then if that is not crazy enough, if you are reading this post right now then you can immediately post a response to these thoughts for anyone to see. If you do not agree with what I have to say then you can state that disagreement which could evoke thought in my mind or anyone's mind who reads your comment.

Think about our parents. Back when my parents were my age (20) and in college, they did not have this accessibility. If they had thoughts in their minds then they could make those known by verbally talking to someone and then get that person's feedback, but even still that is just one person. Unless someone was a writer for the school newspaper or even the town newspaper then they could write an article about some interesting ideas or thoughts they have, but that has to go through editors even before it is published, and even still it is a limited audience. And if a reader had comments or thoughts or disagreements with the article then probably the only way to express those thoughts to the writer was to write a letter and send it through snail mail. In which case the writer could write a response to these comments but that would take at least another week before it was published.

Nowadays, like I said, I can express my thoughts on my blog and literally within seconds if someone is reading my blog I can receive a comment about my thoughts. And with the access of facebook and similar social networks, I can post my thoughts and they can be sent out to however many hundreds of "friends" I have. It is just crazy to think about how technology has changed life in so many different ways. And then another topic for another day is videoblogging, which is something that I just picked up last year. The ability to record your thoughts on video and post it for the whole world to see. Again, another topic for another day.

I have so many thoughts about technology and how it has and is helping us. And as you can see from this post and previous posts, I am a strong advocate of technology if it is used properly. That is the key. I think it can help us in so many ways. It just annoys me sometimes when people are so against technology for various different reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is just because they do not know how or choose not to use it properly. So I will write a post like this every once and a while just talking about my thoughts on technology and where the world is going with it.

agree? disagree? thoughts? comments?

winning streak

Well, some good news for the weekend so far. We had 2 away games this weekend. Friday we played Robert Morris (Springfield, IL) and Today (Saturday) we played Lincoln Christian College. These were 2 big games for us considering we haven't had any wins on the road so far, and we were on a 2 game winning streak before this weekend. Against Robert Morris we played exceptionally well, I thought. Our defense had a couple breakdowns, but thankfully we've got a beast of a keeper who saved our butts on numerous occasions. Andrew Stoddard is our keeper and he had a heck of a game on Friday. We ended up winning 2-0 to give us a 3 game winning streak. Then today against Lincoln Christian we had a slow start, I think because some of us were tired from the Robert Morris game (I know at least I was). I did not play well at all, at least in the first half. I don't know what was going on but I couldn't make a pass to save my life, but I picked it up in the second half. It was 4-0 at halftime, and we ended up winning 8-0, a good clean win. And to top it all off Jollypop (a.k.a. Josh Jalandoon) scored the last goal with 16 seconds left in the game. We went crazy just because he doesn't get to play that much and so it was a big deal for him to score. So all in all it was a good weekend. I'm glad to be back home though. I love traveling with the team and my best friends but it just drains me, especially playing two back-to-back games, so naturally I'm wiped now. Maybe I'll write a post sometime about some experiences of being captain. I've learned a ton throughout the season so far, but sometimes its just stressing. But its ok. I'll talk about that another night. Tonight is a night to celebrate. 4 game winning streak. We have our last home game this coming Tuesday against Grace College (Winona Lake, IN), so that is a big game. If you are a student at Moody make sure you come out and support us as we go for our fifth win in a row.

ole' ole' ole'...ole' ole'

scattered

I've got alot of different thoughts running through my head, so usually I would use this medium of the blog to get these thoughts out of my head in some kind of order, but tonight there are so many I just feel like I would have to write like 5 different posts for them all to make sense, that is how scattered they are. Plus I'm just tired and don't feel like focusing my mind on just one thing.

One thing I will ask though is that you continue to pray for my roommate and best friend Nate Nearpass. He went into the hospital on Tuesday and as far as I know he is still there. He had to go to the hospital because he had strep and mono at the same time, and he couldn't breathe through his throat because of the strep, and he couldn't breathe through his nose because of the mono so they had to hook him up to a breathing machine. Also, he couldn't keep any of the medicine down. I talked to him yesterday and he said he was doing a bit better but still pretty bad, so if you could continue to pray for his health. Also that he wouldn't get too behind in school, and that he could return to campus as soon as possible.

Any requests you might have let me know. I would be happy to pray for them. Comments...

useful

We have what we call here in the Moody realm a PCM. These letters stand for "Practical Christian Ministry." A PCM is something that every student here at Moody is required to do each and every week. This is some type of ministry here in Chicago outside of school. For example, tutoring, working in a church in some capacity, whether it be youth group or AWANA, or playing soccer in a park once a week. So last year me and Ben Harrison, a dear friend, were Jr. High leaders in a church in Schaumburg, IL. I was technically the tech and video guy, while Ben was the games and activities guy, and we both helped lead a small group. Well I decided to do the same thing this year just because I had built some good relationships with the kids already, and I didn't want to have to start over somewhere else, so I felt like it would be good to continue to grow those relationships. So I've been going to my PCM now for about 6 weeks. The first was really good, it felt so good to get back to a familiar place and do ministry with those kids and just catch up with them again. But the weeks following this were just, ya know, nothing too special. I think some things that contributed to that were just plain old tiredness because I have class all day and then soccer practice, and go straight to PCM, so I'm so tired by the time 7:00pm rolls around, so its a struggle to stay energetic and interact with the kids. Secondly, I haven't been involved in a small group yet because one of my responsibilities this year is to be in charge of the Jr. High website, so me and Nat (the youth pastor) have been setting that up during small group time.

So I say all that to say this, last night was the first night since the kickoff of PCM that I really felt useful. Why? Because I was a little more awake than usual and Nat asked me to do announcements which is a little unusual, but I'm happy that he asked me, and he also got me in a small group. But little did I know that he was giving me my own small group. So I had 4 Jr. Highers to discuss the lesson with for a half hour and it was great! It was just good talking with them and interacting with them on a different level than I am used to when we are just playing games or whatever. I could also say that this was the first time that I felt like I was doing ministry, but I know that that statement is not correct or true because I am doing ministry in so many other ways, but thats the way I felt at first. I don't have to be leading a small group, or be up in front of everyone doing announcements to be doing ministry. Ministry is done in the small ways as well, and I need to remember that. So I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the year, especially the retreat, because that is a blast as I found out last year. And I can truthfully and confidently say that I love my PCM, and not everyone can say that, and if you go to Moody you know what I mean.

shout out to all my guys and girls at Refinery!

paranoia

In the midst of the craziness of this week, and my parents visiting and such, my best friend and roommate, Nathan Nearpass was diagnosed with strep and mono at the same time. I know right, crazy. The bad thing is, he had already had mono for a week before he found out what was wrong. So me and Kyle Isabelli (our roommate) have been basking in the glory of mono and strep for at least a week and we didn't even know it. Now I'm not taking anything away from Nate because I have the deepest sympathy for him right now as he's at home and can barely talk, I'm just saying that I just hope that me or Kyle doesn't get it next considering Nate is not allowed to play soccer for pretty much the rest of the season, which sucks. I mean, I can't imagine having to be out for the rest of the season because a physical illness, and not an actual injury of any sort, that must be the worst.

On top of that there has been someone on campus who has been diagnosed with the dreaded MRSA (or as we say it mersa). Don't ask me what it stands for because I don't know. All I know is that I'm probably more afraid of getting this than I am strep or mono. So I'm officially paranoid, and for good reason. The symptoms of MRSA are red boils on the skin and apparently it eats away at your insides. I don't know all of the in's and out's of it, but our athletic trainer has freaked us about it enough to know that it is something I do not want to acquire. Probably the worst thing about it is that it can be retrieved just by touching something that the person with MRSA has touched.

So that is and is going to continue to be my paranoia for the next couple weeks. Anytime I itch or see any kind of red spot on me someone else I start freaking out. Maybe you should too.

peace from the ultimate immune system

ignorance

I am a strong advocate of facebook. I love learning about how facebook has been developed over the past couple years, their business plan, and I just love watching the changes that they have made to the site. It is just something that really interests me. I actually wrote a blog post when they released the new chat feature on facebook because I just thought it was brilliantly done. So just as a preface to this post, I am a very big supporter of facebook, and I believe that they have done some things with the online social networking world that is amazing. But I just want to write about some things that just annoy me to death when it comes to facebook, and it doesn't really have anything to do with facebook, persay, but more to do with how ignorant the people are that use it.

Here's the scenario...I log onto facebook tonight and just doing the usual checkup, checking messages, notifications, etc. Then I notice in my news feed that there is a "story" saying that this guy and girl, two of my friends had ended their relationship. I had already known about this, so I was just like, "ok, thats legit." And I go about my business, I go and write a blog post, then a couple minutes I go back to facebook and notice that two people had commented on this "news story." For those of you who do not know, facebook just added this new feature that allows you to comment on any news story directly from your news feed on your home page. I think it is a pretty nice feature. It allows you to comment on someone's status, and just makes the social networking better I think. So this is what two people had done, they had commented on this news story of these two people ending their relationship. These people commenting on the story were asking "did you really?" "what happened?" And in my in-the-moment fit of annoyance I commented back saying that it was ridiculous, like were they really expecting the people to comment back and tell you what happened? Actually as I'm writing this post more people are commenting on the story, saying that the person posted that they ended their relationship, so it was their own fault. But they did not post it at all. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of facebook I think is that their user preferences aren't the easiest to navigate through. So unless you spend about 15 minutes digging around in the preferences so that these things aren't automatically put in your news feed, unless you do that all that stuff is going to automatically be shown to the world in all of your friend's newsfeeds.

As I said, I am a strong supporter of facebook and I think it has done alot of good things. I think one of the most annoying things about facebook for me though is the whole "relationship" aspect of it. Like if you are dating someone then you can list yourself as in a relationship with this other person. Which, sure is great, until maybe you break up, then it sucks because the whole world knows about it, and we've come accustomed to this phrase, "its not official until its on facebook." So I would suggest that unless you really know the in's and out's of all the preferences and everything and you have total control of what you want publicized and what you don't want publicized, then I would just put minimal information on your profile. I actually just came out of a relationship and I had this on my profile, so of course I had to end it on facebook when we broke up, but thankfully I knew what I was doing with the preferences since I didn't want this all over everyone's newsfeed, so thankfully I didn't have to put up with any of this trash, but I know what its like to have to put up with it.

So I guess the question could be raised, "well if you don't like people commenting about the story in the newsfeed then, Josh, why are you blogging about it?" Why am I blogging about it? Hmmm, ok, well because I'm blogging about it so that people aren't ignorant and think that facebook is the end all be all of communication these days. I mean if you still wanted to talk to them about it on facebook, if you really cared then you could message them about it maybe, and by messaging them I mean sending them a private message that no one else can see. But then again, if you really like actually cared then I guess you would actually verbally talk to this person about it and find out what happened. This is why I'm blogging about it, because people are ignorant and I'm just trying to make it so there are less ignorant people in the world of facebook.

Then again, more and more adults are coming into the world of facebook. I just got a friend request from my aunt tonight, it is starting to be a family reunion on facebook. lol. Which I'm completely fine with, but that is another post for another time. I've done all my ranting for the night.

comments please...

Surprise

Well this weekend has probably been one of the best weekends that i've had since I've been back to school. While at the same time, this previous week has probably been one of the worst weeks I've had since I've been back to school. So, this week pretty much sucked just because of some stupid stuff, and so needless to say I was really lookin forward to this weekend, especially because it was going to be my first game since I've been injured. So Friday turned out to be good because we beat Great Lakes College 10-0. Yeah, you heard me right, 10-0. So that turned out to be a good game. Today I was a little more worried just because Grace College has been known to be a very physical team. For example, last year we played them and they broke Mike Worley's nose. So we were all being very cautious, because the last thing we need right now is more injuries considering that we have like 3 guys who are out for the season already. But it all turned out good in the end, we won 7-1. But what made the game even better was that my family flew in and surprised me to come to my game. It made me so happy to see both of my parents and both of my sisters. After the game we went out and got Giordano's pizza (best in Chicago) and then walked around a bit. Then they are flying back tonight (thank you flight benefits), they just got a taxi and are on their way to the airport.

So that was pretty much the highlight of my week. I actually didn't want them to leave, and it made me kinda miss home a bit (i know surprise, right). I mean its been a rough week, so I kinda wish we had more time to spend together, but I was just thankful that they were able to come today. It was awesome.

Ok, well there are a couple other things that I just thought of that I could write a whole other post on, so I don't wanna prolong this one any longer. So I'll end it here and write a couple separate posts.

All is well that ends well

Stuff in Life

You know what I realized. I've been journaling and blogging more in the past 2 weeks than I think I have ever in my life. There might be a couple reasons for this. 1. I think that I definitely have alot more on my mind over the past month than I usually do, and I talk to my close friends about some of this stuff, but I've found that I am able to write what I am actually feeling which is good for me because I am the absolute worst person on the face of the earth when it comes to putting my thoughts into actual words, so therefore it is hard for me to actually verbally say my thoughts. 2. I think that I'm treating my journal and my blog like the girlfriend that I don't have. lol. Except my blog can't talk back to me, but hey, that is where you come in, right? Feel free to leave comments.

Anyways, that is not even what this post was supposed to be about, but it is so easy for me to get off on tangents. But God is teaching me things left and right, and I think he has been teaching me things previously as well, I think sometimes though I'm just not listening. But just through different situations, both in my life, affecting me directly, and also in other's lives who I am close to and it has been hard, yet refining me to just trust in God for what is coming next in life. These are the things I believe that are preparing me for what God has for me in the future. The decisions that I have to make in the situations that I am in are just ways that God is preparing me. And also just supporting other brothers in Christ who are going through ALOT more than me, and they need prayer, and just someone to talk to, someone to lean on, someone to hug them sometimes. All of these things God has been putting in my life. This has brought me closer to God and His Word than I have been in quite a while, and it is great.

Please be praying for my friend as he has been put in a situation that I cannot even imagine myself being in. He literally has nowhere to turn but to God and he doesn't know what to do other than trust in God. So please keep him in your prayers. Thanks.

O yeah, and just so you all know, it is officially the season of fall, but yet it is 45 degrees here sometimes. So for those of you enjoying the nice fall weather, don't take it for granted, I'm already bundling up for winter.

This is for all of you in the 859, shout out!

Ethnic Lit.

I'm taking this class this semester called Ethnic Literature. I have to take a literature credit so I decided to go ahead and get it out of the way, and it sounded like an interesting class, and luckily enough I'm in it with one of my best friends Nate Nearpass, so that has been good. To be honest I've learned alot American history so far. Our first section of literature was Native American literature, and I never knew how ignorant I was to Native American history and culture. What made it better was that we have a Native American girl in our class and so it was really helpful to hear from her about her heritage and her family. I think the biggest thing I learned from the Native American section of the class was how much the Natives feel like they've gotten alot taken from them, which seems to be true. It seems that the whites just came in and took over. Its very interesting to learn about this, and I would suggest that if you do not know much about this to start to learn more about it, it is very helpful.

All the way from Joe's,
Josh

Bruised Hip

Today has been filled with its ups and downs, which isn't quite different from any other day that I've had lately, so I'm not quite sure why I'm so surprised. But a highlight of my day was that I got to practice with the team once again. I have been injured for almost a week with a bruised hip, so I had to miss the game in Iowa last weekend, which I was bummed about, and I haven't been able to practice with the team. So, naturally I was ready to get back on the field, and much to my surprise, the trainer, Sean, said that I could practice today, so that went well. We are just getting ready for the two big games this weekend against Great Lakes at 4pm on Friday, and Grace at 1:30pm on Saturday. These are both conference games so they weigh heavy on our season. So that was an "up" for the day.

Then there were some "downs" for the day, but we'll overlook those for now. Haha.

Anyways, I would appreciate your prayers in all aspects of my life right now, and I will be praying for you.

God is good,
Philippians 1:27 "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."