God likes showing off... even in softball

I need to get to the computer more often! I haven't blogged in almost a week!

So much has been going on, so much great a glorious things that my God is showing off with...

Anything and everything, God has completely taken over my life, and I love it!

For example, last night... I was playing some church league softball...
It was a close game... really close... We were winning in the bottom of the 5th 12-6... We made some costly errors in the field, and the score quickly became 12-11, we're still winning... Well, the next batter hits a gapper, the guy from first is going around 3rd and scores, the guy who hit the ball was coming into 3rd. The umpire in the field was covering 2nd, and the home plate umpire was covering home (nobody saw 3rd) I was playing 3rd and got the ball, placed in front of the bag, waited on the slide... TAGGED HIM! BEFORE HE EVER TOUCHED THE BAG! I'm thinking "He's out, we got him, let's go hit!" The umpire in the field had his back to the play, and couldn't overrule the man behind the plate... That umpire came over and yelled "Safe! Around the tag"

I was livid!!! I said "there's no way??? I had the glove waiting on him, the ball even beat him here?!?!"

"No, no. He slid around the base, and then you tagged him."

I would have been fine with a missed call, because the runner was out. But I cannot get over the fact that he LIED about it!! He was behind home plate and makes that call, ridiculous!
The other team ended up scoring 3 more runs, and we were trailing 12-14...

After the inning, I went directly to the umpire in the field and apologized. I felt terrible for calling him out when he couldn't do anything about it. He knew my dad and said "I've chewed your dad out plenty of games, I understand. don't worry about it." Then I went to the umpire behind the plate and apologized to him, I told him " I'm sorry for over reacting, we're human and we all make mistakes, i apologize" he said "it's OK, i saw the play, he was in there, and then you tagged him." i asked him one last time, "after this question, I'm dropping it, 'where were you when you made that call?'" he replied "from me to that pole" (about 35-40 feet) i said "OK, thanks Andy" Being an umpire myself, i knew he hadn't seen that play from 40 feet off... but I dropped it, and continued to play, God gave me the ability to swallow my pride, anger, and attitude to apologize to the umpires... even though I still believe I was right, and they were wrong, they were in charge, and I questioned it...

We ended up losing 18-15 (on some very close fair/foul calls too I might add)

But we still ended up with 3rd place for the season, which ain't too shabby :) We start the post-season tournament this weekend, and we're hoping to have better luck, and bring home the big trophy!

Ignite '09

I'm finally getting time to write about Ignite!!! WOW! Words cannot express how amazing this weekend was! It was truly a humbling experience to say the least...

First off, I was just going to go. I had no idea what I was getting myself into... I did not know if I was going as a youth or a chaperone. I quickly found out on that Friday afternoon, I was a chaperone. Before I could go on the trip, I had to finish my Stats exam (which I made a 90 on :) ) then I hurried home to pack and off to the church. I was at the church waiting on the bus at 2... we didn't have to be there til 3... I was getting very excited about the weekend!

Around 3 o'clock, everybody starts arriving and loading the bus... I was put in charge of taking roll... oh the joys of trying to spell people's names. I think we ended up with 33 on the bus, and 38 for the weekend.

Well, once we finally got down there... (2 hours plus on a tour bus) we unpacked and some team building activities. (pass the lepracaun shoes :)) It was so much fun!

We finally began our 1st session (of 4) We had one brave young lady raise her hand in the back and become saved that first night! It was awesome! God was just beginning to show off! That first night, I, along with some of the other chaperones, got lights out at 12, then bandaided the little rascals in. It was a very interesting night (only 2 busted bandaids) The busted bandaids weren't kids sneaking out, just opening the doors at the sounds outside (supposedly)

We continued to have 3 more sessions (all on Saturday) and the food was great there! Surprisingly!

During that first session, Scott began to talk about 1 Peter 3:15 "be able to give an account of the hope that is in you" and if you don't have a testimony, tonights the night for it... that one girl raised her hand... it was simply amazing! She was one of the ones I had been praying for on this trip, along with countless others... words cannot exress how amazing this weekend was... for that one girl and for the 4 others that turned their lives over to Christ!!!

I have been trying to write this blog for about two hours now... and this is all I've gotten... I keep getting distracted... If I think of more to say about the weekend, i'll blog it later :/

13 Rules to follow when your life hits rock bottom...

Rule 1: Jesus.
Rule 2: There is more to life than just here and now. This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. 1 John 2:17
Rule 3: It's not about me. Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in him. Colossians 1:16
Rule 4: I am not an accident. I am your Creator, You wer in my care even before you were born. Isaiah 44:2
Rule 5: I'm as close to God as I choose to be. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. James 4:8
Rule 6: Life is a test and a trust. Unless you are faithful in the small matters, you won't be faithful in larger ones. Luke 16:10
Rule 7: Living on purpose is the path to peace. You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You. Isaiah 26:3
Rule 8: The heart of worship is surrender. Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes. Romans 6:13
Rule 9: I was planned for God's pleasure. The Lord takes pleasure in his people. Psalm 149:4
Rule 10: God wants to be my best friend. Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him. Psalm 26:14
Rule 11: God smiles when I trust him completely. The Lord is pleased with those who worship Him and trust His love. Psalm 147:11
Rule 12: This world is not my home. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is ETERNAL. 2 Corinthians 4:18
Rule 13: It's all about Him. For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for His glory. Romans 11:36

Just another Sunday... Hold my heart

Happy Father's Day first off... a great day to be a DAD! (not that I am one or anything...)

But just to type about nonsense this morning...

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lgvuashdgluahsgliuawheg

Just kidding, the real reason for blogging. There's a lot going on in my life that I have no control over. So much, that I try to grab everything and run like a wild fire. I'm tired of running... I'm tired of holding on... I'm tired of trying to control my life... I'm tired of the mediocrity of my life...

I've had a radio/clock in my room, next to my bed, for who knows how long... and this morning, I decided to turn on the radio while I was getting ready for Sunday School. God just loves to show off I believe because after a long long long night of a heavy heart, God let me listen to this song by Tenth Avenue North entitled " Hold My Heart"... I would put the entire song on here, but I'll just put the chorus and a verse:

**************************************************************
So many questions without answers, Your promises remain
I can't see but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name

One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.

Hold my heart, could you hold my heart?
Hold my heart.
****************************************************

And that is exactly what MY GOD did... He held my heart, He opened me up enough so He could come live in me and be glorified today... He helped me hold back the tears, hold off the bad attitude, hold off biting somebody's head, holding off the world... just so I could get back up on my feet one more time... My God is so good, that in the mist of all this turmoil and trouble and pain, He is there... holding my heart, He is picking up all the pieces, He is putting me back together for His purpose and not my own.

Dear God,
I just simply want to thank you! Thank you for saving me from this world. You say in 1 John that the things of this world will not last, but the things not of this world, will last forever. You last forever, I last forver in you Oh God! I pray that you take my heart into Your will. Do your will through me, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.
~A

What a glorious day!

As it comes to the weekend, I got to thinking what all I had to do. I have to work. I have to work a total of 29 hours this weekend. Yea, do the math! This is only my "real job" not my Ambassador job. If you throw that in there, it'll be around 35 hours this weekend. WOOO! I have so much I need to study, for all two of my classes, with 3 big tests in two weeks (which I need to knock out of the park!) Then get ready for Ignite! And work, and play softball, and get my girlfriend, and mother a birthday present. WOW! It doesn't sound like a lot, but there is very little time to do important things and then day to day things...

Deep breath...

Ah! God is so good at letting me calm down. I get so wrapped up in day to day activities and planning that I over plan, a lot... God is my only plan this summer, everything I do, I do to give Him glory!

Dear God, please do whatever it takes to make my life what you want it to be. Whatever it takes! I pray that you guide me into your will, not only this summer, but the rest of my life. Dear God, I pray for my family, and Kylie, that you guide them this summer as we are all SOOO busy! God, You know the plans of my life, I pray that you open up my eyes so that I may see what you have in store for me. ~Amen

The best $2.99 ever spent...

Today, I had to cancel eating breakfast at Chickfila with my youth minister to take my brother to golf. Let me tell you, this golf course is in the middle of nowhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean seriously, I thought my small town was in the middle of nowhere, and then I found this place. My oh so great mother had me directions to and from, so you're thinking "no problem, take the brother, go get some breakfast and be about your day." Not sooo fast slick. I get there just fine. Zach, aka "map", did a great job saying "go this way, this road Andy, not here, here!" So I drop him off and say bye. I call Mom and tell her "the baby eagle has landed and I'm on my way to eat some good Chickfila breakfast anyway." Well, God had a different plan. I turn out of the golf course like I turned in. I figure I can stay on that road until it ran out, because I had turned onto it at a "T" crossing... Well, the road I was on, never came to a "T". Instead, I crossed the Broad River, twice, a few railroad tracks, and it began to rain, so I couldn't see the road signs. After ten minutes of praying through the rain, driving on this single road in the middle of nowhere with a cop on my bumper probably saying "what the crap is this kid doing out here??", God answered my prayers. He let me have 3 bars of signal! I was able to use the GPS on my phone! I downloaded the week long version of Verizon Wireless Navigator, 2.99 for 5 days. That prayer went something like this, "Dear God, please let me get out of this place. It's raining, I'm hungry, there's a cop behind me, I can't see, I need to get to school, I can't call my mom, she won't know where I am, please guide me."

Well, turns out, I had gone almost allll the way to 74, and for those of you who don't know where I am, that highway is a good hour away from my home, or anything close to anywhere I needed to go. I was parked ontop of hill beside "Shiloh Baptist Church" andwas very very north on Hwy. 221. I've always wanted to travel 221 up as far as it goes just to see the scenery, well, I got my shot. I finally got to take 221 all the way to Chesnee, where, God said, "I'll take care of you, forget Chickfila, you get Bantam Chef!" (Which has the best biscuits and hashbrowns ever!) So, I got me some breakfast afterall...

All this is going on after I drop Zach off at 8:30, and have to back at school by 10:00... I pulled into the school parking lot at 9:45... God is sooo good! I was able to eat my breakfast and not be late for school! I even got to skip class (legally of course) and give a tour of the campus!

Today turned out to be pretty awesome after all!

A Personal Plan

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. ~Isaiah 26:3

God has such a personal plan for each and every one of His children, that how can we reject it? Especially in the world we live in today, all the non-believers that flood our government, our schools, our work places. God has a big plan... a HUGE plan... so no worries...

There are so many little blurps that I want to type and put out here, but there is just no time for one sitting...

My night devotional used that verse mentioned above. It talked about how God had a specific plan just for David as he was about to face Goliath. (this story is in 1 Samuel btw) King Saul wanted to give David all these heavy things to 'protect' him, but all David needed was God and a slingshot. God had a plan to use David's slingshot skills to destroy Goliath. There was nobody else that could have made that shot to kill a giant who stood over 9 feet tall!?!?!?! Thinking about this story and how God works on a personal level gets me to thinking about how God worked like this in my life. Working backwards now... try to follow... I am currently working in the Admissions Office. To know about that job, I had to know Andrea. Andrea was the track and field coach when I was a freshman. I was a discus thrower as a freshmen (hence where I met Andrea.) I had to like discus to participate in the sport before college. I was introduced to the sport of throwing objects by my AP History teacher in high school. I was taking AP History only because it helped boost my GPA. I wanted to boost my GPA because I wanted to get into a great college. I wanted to get into a great college because that is the way my parents raised me. My parents raised me this way because that is what they wanted for me (to go to a good school, get a good education, and make a life for myself) They had faith in our God that He would have a plan for their son, a plan to prosper and not to harm as proclaimed in Jeremiah.

In this simple, yet complex example of how God works in awesome and mysterious ways... That my parents had to have the faith that God had a plan for me, that I would want to go to a good school, so I took AP classes, that my AP History teacher knew something about the discus and wanted to tell me about it, that I took up the sport because I liked it, I stuck with it through out high school and into college, I met a Jesus-lover named Andrea as my coach, and now I am working in Admissions... wow... the chain can go wayyyy farther back, but you catch my drift (hopefully)

This whole thing is about how God works on a personal level, so personal, we can't even notice what is going on most of the time.... He is the ultimate giver and planner of our lives... This video shows how we as "Christians" over look the great giver that God is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9-XGeUfYC4