Hmm...

There are days - more often than not - that I realize more than ever that friendship is critical to survival. I'm not going to go into some huge theological shin-dig about why God desires for us to have friends. I just want to share some thoughts.

I have been down many roads that I regret ever traveling. It is in those moments where I am on the way to destruction that a friend is there. He isn't there to judge me but to point me in the right direction.

Some days I am feeling like absolute crap and there is a friend to lean on.

There are days where I am in some dark times and a friend is treding with me through the battle field.

There are days where I rejoice and a friend is there more excited about what's going on in my life than I am :).

Let me just say that if it wasn't for the handful of guy friends that God has placed in my life I would be a total wreck right now. I would probably be off doing my own thing.

To all my friends I want to say, "Thank you." I love having godly friends such as yourselves. I cherish every moment that I have with you. I love you all with all my heart.

Hecktic

I'm really stressed out. I was sick with the flu on Tuesday and Wednesday. I missed half a day of work both days (which is never good... especially when you work for comissions). On top of that, I am WAY behind in my school work. I have a bazillion chapters to read and an assignment to do all by Sunday. I forgot about the camp board meeting tonight so I couldn't catch up on all my school work. PLUS, my band - Affix - has a show in a little over a week and we have a bunch of kinks to work out before we even take the stage!!! *big breath* .......... and ouuuuuuuuuut.

Exciting news! My band's first album is releasing on June 13th!! We're excited about it. It's just an EP of about 5 songs. We have our new posters in now and we'll be getting the T-shirts and CDs in next week. YEAH!

More exciting news! Kendra and I are going to be visiting Johnny and Amanda Erdman on Sunday! We're pretty much stoked. I love hanging out with them. It's so awesome being with the ones you love.

More exciting news! I made the Cadre!! I know that most of you have no idea what that means. LOL! It means that I am going to be spending the next 12 months in an intense mentoring program with Jeanne Mayo (she is considered the mother of youth ministry). She is awesome! I had the privledge of sitting in on her session at the the National Youth Ministry Convention.

God is so good. And my bed sounds so good... I'm definitely hitting that up right now.

Long Time Coming

It has been a LOOONG time since I last blogged. Why the long dry spell? Well... life.

Since I've been out of the Navy Kendra and I have had three girls (Evelyn - 3 1/2, Riley - 2, Giovanna - 7 months), I started up my band (Affix - www.rockaffix.com), I'm a full-time employee with Cintas, I'm a full-time student at Liberty University, and the list goes on. I'm not going to try to play "catch up" for the past 4 years, so lets move on.

Kendra and I started attending a Bible study May 17th. It's awesome! It's a home group that has been meeting on Sunday nights. We have coffee, cookies and we chat about God's Word. It's great because it's more of a discussion piece than anything. Right now we are going through Ephesians. Over the past two Sundays we have only gotten through about 5 verses. It's so cool because we read a few verses then disect them. Everybody talks about their point of view, what they think the scripture is talking about, what the theology behind the text is... and so on. It is everything the Kendra and I needed.

I say needed because that is exactly what it is. You see, Kendra and I thrive off of this type of fellowship. I was telling one of my fellow group memebers, David Lawrence, about how dry I have been for the past couple years. He stated, "This group is what is watering those dry spots." And it is! This is the environment that I grew up in.

Ever since high school I have been involved in home study groups. I love the atmosphere. It is so much more personal and intimate. I feel like I can share my heart and I won't be crushed just because someone disagrees with me. It's amazing how God put this particular group together (that is for another post).

God is so good... even when I am not. It's awesome to see how the Creator takes care of His own.

In California!

Ok. Cali is all right. It's not what everyone makes it out to be. There are a lot of materialistic people here. Then again, they're everywhere. In any case, I just want to go home.

I've been in San Diego for a week now. I'm suppose to be processing out of the Navy but the Navy is being gay and has made me wait to ceck out. I don't start all my paperwork until Monday. Hopefully I'll be able to fly out of here on Wednesday. I need to get back to Ohio. I miss Kendra so much.

Kendra is doing well. I know that she hasn't posted a blog in a while (as well as I). She is almost 30 weeks into the pregnancy. I wish I could have been there for most of it. I haven't seen her in about 4 months (yeah). It's time for me to go home and take care of her.

I'm hoping to get a job with Cintas Corp. It's a company that specializes in uniforms and stuff. One of my uncles is helping me to get an interview. We'll see what happens.

My time in the Navy has been one heck of a roller coaster ride. I've had a lot of ups and downs (A LOT more downs than ups) but I feel that my time was served well. After all, I wasn't there for the Navy... I was in the the Lord.

I'm going to finish up my laundry. God bless you all!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Thinking about joining the military? Think again... think HARD about that decision.

Last one!

This is my last duty day!! Of course, they gave me the midnight shift. Oh well... it's my last one in a long time. Hopefully, I'll never have to work a mid shift ever again! So, basically, after today I just have to show my face in the morning and then I can leave. That's awesome!

I have a few short days left and I will be flying out of here. I can't wait... but I can. It's a very bitter sweet for me. I have a lot of friends here that I am leaving behind but I'm going home to some really great family and friends.

I'm going to head back to work. God bless!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Life is good.

Stressed!

I am pretty streesed out righ now. Work is stressful. 20 more days!! I can't wait!!!

Home is right around the corner!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: God never gives us anything that we cannot handle. Amen!

Stressed!

I am pretty streesed out righ now. WOrk is stressful. 20 more days!! I can't wait!!!

Home is right around the corner!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: God never gives us anything that we cannot handle. Amen!

At Work

So I have decided that work sucks. Yeah... I don't think that we should have to work for anything. Can you imagine such a world......(*imagining*)........................ maybe we should continue with the tradition.

So, I have a few weeks left here on the mighty USS Blue Ridge. Then I will be flying out to Cali to process out. That's going to be nice.

I really miss home. As always, watch is boring, so I surfed the net. I came across this site - Google Maps - that allowed me to view satellite shots of any place I wanted to in the states. Of course, I zoomed into my parent's house. Hhhmmmmmmm.... home sounds so great right now.

Well, I better get back to work. Peace.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: God is good, no matter what.