Bad
This past Friday I was going to play in the faculty vs. student basketball game at the school I work at.  I was warming up with some guys, playing 2v2.  The guy I was guarding went to make a pass and he hit my hand with some part of his body (I’m not really sure how the collision happened).  Immediately pain shot through my hand and I looked down at it.  My left pinky was not pointing in a normal direction.  I immediately looked away.  What happened next still baffles me.  Before I could really comprehend what was going on, my right hand grabbed my pinky and pulled it back into place.  I felt the knuckle pop back in.  I have no idea why I decided to do this, but I am glad I did.  It all happened so fast that I can’t even tell you how my finger looked when it was out of place.  Part of me wondered if what had just happened really happened.  Within a few minutes my pinky had swollen to about twice its normal size and was throbbing, so that let me know I had dislocated it and then popped it back into place.  I called an orthopedic and he told me that it sounded like I had dislocated my finger but got it back in place. He said I should come by on Monday morning and get some x-rays to make sure there were no fractures.  So after that I did what any guy would have done, I tapped up my finger, took some pain killers, and still played in the basketball game (yes I’m serious, I still played).  On Monday I got my x-rays and everything looked good.  I am still wearing a brace and working to get mobility back in my finger.  It will be a process, but it could have been much worse.

Good
Since sometime in August, I have been dating a girl name Angela.  You may recognize her from season 3 of TVOneLife (she was in Songs to Numb Your Conscious, The Colonator, and some other segments).  Angela and I have tried to take all the right steps to keep our relationship focused on Jesus.  Erica gives some advice on how to do this, if you haven’t read her post about it you should go check it out.  Angela and I met working at an after school program for the YMCA about two and a half years ago.  On March 25 I proposed to her and she said yes! *insert “AWWWWWWW” here*  We are set to get married this fall!  It is pretty exciting to head into this new phase of my life.  You can be on the lookout for TVOneLife: The Wedding Special in season 4 (no not really, we aren’t the royal family or the Kardashians haha).

End
So there you have it, the good and the bad.  I would ask you questions about each, but I don’t want to spoil it if you started here.  So I’ll leave you with this question: Which did you decide to read first?

This week I decided I wanted to do an experiment.  I wanted to test the statement I had heard so many times.  I wanted to see if coffee really was an acquired taste.  I decided I would drink a cup of coffee a day for a few weeks.  At the end of the couple weeks I will see if it is easier for me to drink the cup of coffee and if I liked the taste more than I used to.  I was told by multiple people that Dunkin Donuts french vanilla coffee was the way to break into it.  I was also told lots of sugar and cream would help (I went with 2 of each).  I call it my coffee on training wheels.  On the first day, my first sip was disgusting.  Part of me wanted to just end the experiment there and just take people’s word for it.  The other part wanted to push through and find out for myself.  I think it took me about an hour to finish the cup of coffee (pathetic I know).  Every sip of the cup was pretty gross.  At first it was nice and sweet, but then the coffee flavor kicked in and ruined the experience.  The next day I ordered the same drink and it took about the same amount of time to drink it.  I wasn’t sure how this experiment was going to end, but I wasn’t too optimistic.  I am currently three days into the experiment and I’m not sure that it has got any easier for me to drink coffee or that I enjoy the taste any.

Sometimes in life we are going to go through things we don’t enjoy.  Sometimes we are going to have to do things and not know what the outcome is going to be.  Am I saying that I have to do this coffee experiment?  No, it just made for a good illustration.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  This is the ESV translation, and I really like how it is worded.  Faith is the conviction of things not seen.  Conviction is such a powerful word.  When we think of being convicted of our sins, no matter how many excuses we try to come up with, we still know those things are wrong.  If we apply that to the things we have not seen it is awesome.  No matter what we think or what anyone says, we know those things are going to happen.  We are convicted that those things will come to pass.  We need to be convicted about the things God tells us about our lives.  It is not enough to hope that they will happen, or think there is a slight chance.  We need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they will.  Maybe it is something that will be painful.  Maybe God tells us to do something, but it is only the first step of the process.  We don’t have to have it all figured out.  We don’t have to know the final result to take a step.  We just have to step out in faith.

I didn’t want to take the first sip of that cup of coffee, but I did.  What is it that is holding you back from taking the first step in the things God has told you to do?  We need to search our hearts and become convicted about the things we don’t see.  We need to believe God with our whole hearts.  Jesus said in Matthew 21:21, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.”  Have you ever thought of how crazy that sounds?  What would you do if you were just going about your day and then all the sudden a mountain flew by you on its way to the sea?  But as crazy as that sounds, it is possible with God.  Don’t let doubt hold you back.  Put some action to your faith and take the first step, or the next step, or whatever step God is telling you to take!

There’s this romantic notion that there is a man or woman out there somewhere that will complete us—our “other half.” Guys, that’s not true.

It’s true that we’re missing something in our lives. But only God can fill that void. Only God can fulfill us and “complete” us. When we look to a dating relationship to complete us, we will be, at best, disappointed.

2. Only date believers.

Period. We like to pretend this is a grey area. It’s not. The Bible tells us, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14). The verse goes on to ask what righteousness and wickedness and what light and darkness have in common. The answer is nothing!

If Jesus is really Lord of your life, He’s most important in your life. You cannot have a good, deep relationship with someone whose purpose, affections, and vision are completely different than your own.

3. Be the kind of person you want to date.

If you want to date someone godly and kind, make sure you’re godly and kind. If you want someone who looks good and is in shape, take care of yourself. It might sound harsh, but a 10 generally doesn’t date someone who’s a 4.

When I was younger, I remember hearing “Don’t look for ‘the one;’ be ‘the one.’” I probably rolled my eyes at that when I heard it, but there’s some wisdom there. Make sure you have the qualities that you’re looking for in the person you date.

4. Date to marry.

This implies a few different things:
A. Don’t date someone you couldn’t see yourself marrying.
B. Don’t date until you’re at a point in your life where you could get married within a couple of years.
C. Pray about it before you date someone. This should be way higher up on my list of tips. There’s no reason God can’t tell you if that’s the person you should date and marry!

5. Get accountability.

Lots of people make the decision to wait until marriage to have sex. Lots of people wear “True love waits” rings and carry their commitment cards in their wallet. And lots of people have sex before they’re married. Something’s gotta change.

When two people are alone late at night, snuggling on the couch, knowing that no one will ever know what happens between the two of them, it’s natural that they’re gonna want to have sex. And it usually happens, unless they do something differently.

You guys, it really stinks to be alone with the person you love and not be able to touch them. AT ALL. But you also don’t have sex or do other physical things you shouldn’t be doing when you don’t touch. And you don’t have sex in front of other people. Or in public places. So do what you need to do to keep from compromising on your decision to remain pure. Tell someone else about your decision and have them hold you accountable. Let them ask you about what happened on each date. You have to do things differently, but you can be sexually pure on your wedding day!

6. Get godly wisdom.

If you think you might be interested in dating someone, get advice from people who know you and the other person. Don’t ask your friends who will only tell you what you want to hear. Ask your parents or pastor. Other people may be able to see things you don’t and give you wise council. Listen to them!

——
God wants us to have good relationships and happy marriages. In a society that really only gives us the pattern for bad relationships, we have to follow a different model! Let’s surrender our lives to God—even our love lives!

I love to go cliff jumping. I also hate heights. You would think the two wouldn’t go together but somehow I make it work. I remember my first time ever going cliff jumping. It was in upstate New York at Cornell University. There was a bridge that was about 40-45 feet above a river. The bridge was made out of stone and had a wall that was about three feet tall on each side of it. The wall was about a foot thick. When it was my turn to jump, I climbed up on the wall and looked at what I was getting ready to do. Immediately my fear of heights took over and there was nothing in me that wanted to jump. After about a minute of inner struggle, my feelings about the height had not changed. Finally I forced myself to jump. It was awesome. I made my way back to the bridge and Josh told me his strategy for jumping. He told me that he would start on the opposite side of the bridge and run and hop up on the wall with enough momentum that there was no stopping him from going off. That way he didn’t have enough time to process the height from which he was getting ready to fall. That sounded like a much better plan than I had used the first time, so I decided to implement it on my next jump. I ran across the bridge, jumped up on the ledge, and the next thing I knew I was free falling straight towards the water. Nothing had changed about my dislike for heights, but there was no hesitation this time.

Since then I have cliff jumped many times in many different places. Through all of this my fear of heights has not changed. I still have a strong dislike for heights. The one thing that has changed is my attitude. When I go to cliff jump, my attitude is that I’m just going to do it. If I stand on the ledge of a jump I will never build the courage to jump. I could stand there as long as I want, but it won’t happen. I just have to force myself to jump.

The same thing is true about our walk with God. There are a lot of things that God calls us to do that we may be scared of. We can sit there and wait for the courage to build up inside of us, but unfortunately that is not going to happen. Courage is doing something in spite of the fear we may have. Maybe you are scared of telling your friends about Jesus. Maybe you are scared about tithing. Maybe you are scared of giving up that friend you know you shouldn’t have. If you want to be courageous, you are just going to have to step out and start doing it. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Remember that God is with you. So go ahead and take the step. Stop waiting for courage to come and just make it happen. When you take that step God will take you to places you never thought were possible.

1. David Crowder* Band – Give Us Rest or (a requiem mass in c [the happiest of all keys])
Unfortunately this CD will be the last one released by DC*B, but it is amazing.  I had been anxiously anticipating this album for a while and it did not disappoint.  To pick a favorite song is a tough choice, but I would probably go with After All (Holy).  While this CD is not my favorite DC*B album (that honor would probably go to Church Music) it is a very solid CD and a very fitting one for their last.  I was able to see them on their final tour and it was very bittersweet.  But for those that are pretty big fans like myself, rest assured that just because this is the last DC*B album that it doesn’t mean they are all going to stop releasing new music.  It is already rumored that a group of them will be starting a new project.

2. Starfield – The Kingdom
Starfield is one of my favorite worship bands.  They are one of the few bands that I will buy their CD even if I haven’t heard it yet (which is exactly what I did with The Kingdom).  At Charisma Church we have used many of their songs for praise and worship.  The Kingdom is the first CD that Starfield has released without the help of a record label.  It has that sort of low budget sound to it, which I like a lot for this record.  The CD sounds very raw and really showcases the pure emotion of Starfield.  My favorite song on the CD is Speak Now Jesus.  Other standouts are Just Surrender and Light of the World.

3. Chris August – No Far Away
This CD came out a while ago, but it is new to me.  I discovered Chris August on DC*B’s final tour.  He played solo with just an acoustic guitar.  He was a lot of fun and the stories behind the songs he played were amazing.  I was even more happy to find out when I got home that his website has an explanation of all the songs on this CD.  No Far Away is a very chill CD that talks a lot about the redemptive nature of God.  It is tough to pick a favorite on this CD, but it would either be 7X70 or I’m Gonna Sing.

4. for KING & COUNTRY – Crave
I was introduced to for KING & COUNTRY at Winterjam this past year.  I got their CD for free for being a youth director, so I figured it would be worth a listen.  If I wasn’t a fan of it I would just give it to someone else.  Once I put it in my CD player, I probably listened to it ten times straight through.  It is a really good CD.  I had to force myself to listen to something else.  Proof of Your Love, Middle of Your Heart, and Pushing on a Pull Door would make up my top three songs off of Crave.  These guys have an “indie” feel without the bad production that normally comes with that label.

Some of you would look at this list and wonder why it is all mellower music.  I don’t really have a good reason, it’s just what I have been in the mood for lately I guess.  What music have you been listening to?

-The “If-It’s-Easy” Method

If something comes easily, then surely it’s what God wants us to do, right? And on the flip side, if something is difficult, then that can’t be what God is saying to do…right? Don’t we all wish that were true?

James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Whaaaaaaaaaaat? Trials? Trials aren’t easy, but the Bible tells us to consider them an opportunity for joy instead of considering them a sign from God that we’re doing the wrong thing. I guess that kind of rules out the “If-It’s-Easy” method.

-The “Open Door” Method

This is a favorite. “If God wants it to be, the door will be opened.” “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” “The open door is a sign from God.”

Ok, let’s take a look at this with an example. You’re fresh out of high school, on a college campus for the first time, out of the watchful eye of your parents. It’s your first taste of freedom. Someone invites you to a party where there will be alcohol, drugs, and lots of people to hook up with. Open door! The opportunity has so obviously presented itself, so that must mean that you should take it, right?

Nope. Just because there’s an “open door,” that doesn’t necessarily mean you should walk through it. Or just because there’s a “closed door,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing the wrong thing. There’s got to be another way to decide.

-The “Follow-Your-Heart” Method

I’d like to think that I’m always going to make the right choice by “following my heart,” but I’d be giving myself waaaaaaaaay more credit than I deserve. I’ve made many bad decisions because my feelings have told me they were right. And I’ve missed out on doing things God has wanted me to do because I just haven’t “felt like it.” The Bible tells us that our heart is deceitful above all things, and I believe it. I want to make decisions based on something more concrete than my feelings.

So what’s the alternative?

When I was younger and would go to stores with my mom, I could always tell where she was in the store by the sound her keys would make. Since I was around my mom so much (and around her keys, I guess), I could distinguish the sound her keys made from the other sounds in the store. I knew that sound. I could follow that sound to find my mom.

Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice, they know him, and they follow him (John 10). Just like I came to know the sound of my mom’s keys because I was around her a lot and became familiar with the sound, we can come to know God’s voice as we spend more and more time with him.

-The “Hear God’s voice, Know Him, Follow Him” Method

Spend enough time in God’s presence so that you come to recognize what God’s voice sounds like. As you grow in your relationship with God, you’ll start to be able to distinguish His voice from other things in your life, whether those are the voices of comfort, open or closed doors, or your feelings. Then you can move forward in confidence, knowing that you’re doing what God has told you to do.

I’m taking 3D-Design, Film History Since 1940, Logic, and Screenwriting.

I also have been given the amazing opportunity to intern at Trailblazer Studios which does a ton of post-production (editing and the likes).

Why do I tell you this?

Because it’s all about stories!

3D-Design is all about communication, Film History is all about how people DID communicate, Logic is about examining communication, and screenwriting is one of the most basic forms of communication. And a lot of these classes (and the internship) focus on communication through telling a story, specifically through film or TV.

And man, is there a lot to learn.

But I think one of the coolest things (to me at least) is how films can so prove the existence of God, and verify what the Bible says, and I don’t mean just those few films that preach it up (or at least hint at God/the Bible) like Facing The Giants, Fireproof, or I’ll even give it to The Book Of Eli.

And I bet you’re wondering WHAT ON EARTH I mean by that, because all media is usually so anti-God.

Well, to start off in my screenwriting class we had to study very closely a screenplay of our choosing in order to get ourselves familiar with the material. So I choose Forrest Gump, ‘cause it’s a great film right? And everyone loves it right? Well, it turned out to be tons harder than I thought…but I guess that’s one reason why it was so great. But the thing that makes it REALLY great is because here we have a (slightly) autistic guy who goes on not only to live a “normal” life, but an EXTRAORDINARY one. And why do we like it? Because it’s the Fool Who Triumphs!

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Cor 1:27

We love it because it’s a God principle.

Or, another one of my favorites is from a movie called Adaptation (one of those awful “artsy” films, which I DO NOT suggest watching at all) that we had to watch for screenwriting class. At the end of this film, one of the characters named Orlean is crying over her dead boyfriend with whom she was having an affair and with whom she had gotten into a lot of bad stuff. She goes from way up top to way down low, and this is what she says:

ORLEAN

(suddenly weeping)

Oh my God. Everything’s over. I did
everything wrong. I want my life back.
I want it back before it got all messed
up. Let me be a baby again. I want to
be new. I want to be new.

“I want to be new.” Isn’t that exactly what every person wishes? Deep down? Because deep down all of us NEED to be new in God.

It’s interesting because the book that we have read to help guide us in screenwriting emphasizes primal goals. Like being new and starting over, or the primal urge to mean something to the world. And is this not all in the Bible? It’s because the things in the Bible are ingrained in us just like our DNA, and its principles function in the world.

So, next time you watch a movie, look out for the God Principles, and comment if you find one in a movie!

While that message is true, we do not see a lot of people walking around like they are free.  If you take a snapshot of our society you can see all the problems there are.  Turn on any “reality” show and all you see are a bunch of people that are trapped.  Christian or not, most of us live an enslaved life.  Jesus said in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  If Jesus is your savior then he has set you free.  Many people claim they have freedom, but do they really?  What is really interesting about this verse is the one that prefaced it.  Jesus was talking to the disciples about being enslaved and they ask him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (v33).  The disciples didn’t know that they were being held back.  They didn’t realize they needed to be set free.

Have you been set free?  Have you allowed Jesus to come into your life and take off the chains that hold you down?  Some people are like the people in our service who just stood there.  There are things in life that are chaining them down and holding them back.  They may be a Christian or they may not.  They may know they are being held back or they may not.  There are so many things that we could be enslaved by.  It could be a past relationship, it could be our childhood, it could be alcohol or drugs, it could be our pride, it could be our anger.  Jesus has set us free, but we must walk in that freedom.  I’d encourage you to not be like the disciples.  Don’t assume you are living in freedom.  Examine your life and see if there are things that are holding you back.  Jesus died on the cross to take our sins.  He died to set us free.  Let’s begin to walk in that freedom.

I have off work this week and next week.  It is fantastic haha.  There is one thing that is tough to do on a week off: to get motivated.  I have a lot of stuff to take care of since this is the week before Christmas, but all I’ve really wanted to do is sit on the couch and watch TV or play video games (side note: I have beaten 2 video games in the past 3 days, but they were both games that I had started before my break).  It has been tough to find motivation but in the past 3 days I have got all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped all the presents (with some help), cleaned my room and put up all my laundry, worked out every day, played a round of golf, had some pretty awesome quiet times, and spent time with my family.  It’s been tough to get up and make myself do some of those things (especially cleaning my room), but I feel so much better now that I have got everything done.

Sometimes I struggle with the same thing in my relationship with God.  Sometimes it is hard to motivate myself to spend time with Him.  Now maybe you don’t have that struggle, and if you don’t leave me a comment and let me know how you do it haha.  But I think it is something a lot of us struggle with.  As Christians, we don’t want to admit that we struggle with being motivated to spend time with God.  So we tend to just try to hide it, and act like everything is OK.  But just like cleaning our room or running errands, when we spend time with God things are much better.  So how do we motivate ourselves?   What is the magic formula?  To tell you the truth, I haven’t found one.  I usually use the same trick that I use to motivate myself to clean my room:  I just do it.  Sometimes it just takes getting into the presence of God.  Here is how Jesus put it in Luke 9:23, “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  You have to deny yourself and follow Jesus.  The simple truth in our lack of motivation is really that we are selfish.  We just need to realize that spending time with God isn’t a waste of our time, rather it is the best use of our time.

I’ve never met a person who didn’t think their life was busy.  But our lives are never too busy to spend time with God.  I have found that the more frequently I spend time with God, the more motivated I am to keep doing it.  As we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus, make it a habit to spend time with Him daily.  Instead of getting caught up in all the distractions that come with Christmas, get caught up in Jesus.  Just like your room looks better after you clean it; your life will be better after you spend time with God!

Now on a unrelated topic, here are my thoughts on some of the Christmas CDs that came out this year.
TobyMac- Christmas in Diverse City -  The TobyMac portion of this CD was pretty good, but I did not enjoy the Diverse City half.  I am a huge fan of “The First Noel” which features Owl City.  Other standout tracks are “Christmas This Year” and Byron “Mr. Talkbox” Chambers’ “Christmas Time”.
Hawk Nelson – Christmas – I was really looking forward to this CD coming out.  I am a huge Hawk Nelson fan.  I love their first Christmas EP, the Gloria EP, that they release a few years ago.  Unfortunately this CD is a big let down for me.  It has 7 songs and is less than 20 minutes.  One of my biggest pet peeves about Christmas CDs is that bands don’t record full songs.  They only record a verse and a chorus.  It seems like they rush to get a Christmas CD out.  This CD has that feeling.  However, I do really like “The Holly and the Ivy” and “Silent Night”.
David Crowder* Band – Oh For Joy – This is by far my favorite Christmas CD that has been released this year.  I love what DC*B did with these Christmas songs.  They gave them their own feel and even added some new bridges to some of the songs.  It makes me even more excited about their new CD coming out this January.  My favorite song on the CD is “Joy to the World”.  Other stand outs are every other song on the CD haha.

I hope each and every one of you has a blessed Christmas.  As you spend time with family and friends keep in mind that without Jesus there wouldn’t be a holiday.

Dear 16-year-old me,

There are a lot of things I could tell you and warn you about, secrets I could let you in on early, facts I could share that might be useful to you, but if I could tell you five things, this is what I’d tell you:

1. Enjoy your fast metabolism while you have it. It won’t last forever. Also, if you could go ahead and start to exercise, I’m sure that the just-out-of-college me would really appreciate it.
2. High school is not the most important thing in your life. Enjoy it and do well, but don’t take it so seriously.
3. The guy you are dating now is NOT “the one.” Stop dating him. Right now. In fact, you can pretty much stay away from guys for the next few years. I know you’re feeling insecure and want a guy to make you feel good, but only God can do that. Dump the dude.
4. You really do have a good family and you’ve had a good life so far. Appreciate what you have. There are people in your life right now who you think are just so much more important than your family, but you won’t have any kind of contact with them years later. Be kind to your parents and sister. Love on them.
5. It’s okay to really live for God. You’re not missing out on anything. Other people’s lives look so much more fun, but the fruit of their decisions will not be good. God not only has what’s best for you, but also what’s most fun, exciting, and adventurous. It’s not too early to really get serious about Him.

The next few years of your life will be really, really good. You’ll go through some hard stuff, but you’ll find that God is ALWAYS faithful to you. Enjoy growing up

Love,
Erica

PS. Your looks WILL improve. Stop worrying. But you might want to try some makeup or something in the meantime.