Happy Halloween... A time to try and rejoice..

Debbie my gm of the store, David, and I went to go hangout at a birthday party in south Arlington last night. This was not any special birthday party. It was for a friend who we work with whose mother is dying of cancer of the throat. Debbie asked me to go for support and of course when David and I were talking at 3am in the morning this past Saturday, I told him I really don't want to go. He assured me I would be fine because he is going with. I thought he was joking, only because he has so much other stuff to do that would be more important. He replied "what would be more important than hanging out with my best friend who needs my support in a rough time". She has cancer really bad and only has less than 2months to live, and she leaves to go back to Mexico this weekend to finish out her time. The party was hard to be at, but you can tell they love their mother to pieces. Please pray for this family that God will give them strength as they will need it. Tonight was the end of the regular season for Davids volleyball intramural. It ended with a blast. His whole family went even the 3 little brothers, me and his other best friend Joshua who was the one who really taught him how to play volleyball, after his two/one games won. After the big win we all went back to the house for apple cobbler and ice cream. Once again good times had by good friends.

living for an audience of ONE...

Here is the question

What do you get when have the 2 Thompson brothers + Phi Theta Kappa + Karla Kimber= no not a drama, but Boo at the Zoo. David invited me to help and hangout with PTK for their yearly volunteer services at the Ft Worth zoo. Kids come for 3 hours the last 5 days of October for spooky games and it was actually lots of fun. Not lots of going on, hanging low, tossing the football a lot, and just chilling and taking life a bit easier. I would indulge a little but at this particular time I am kinda not in the mood . Life is continuing, I am still losing weight, anxious about the upcoming holiday season, but in a real somber mood.

living for an audience of ONE...

Silence is Golden

This weekend at Fellowship was an awesome service that God really met me at. I went to the 6:30pm and 10am on Sunday morning as well. The theme of the weekend was on silence and What's The Point.--It's the most basic, yet profound question we can ask. But so often, we get distracted and set aside our quest to uncover the reasons behind what we do. The routine of everyday life keeps the answers at bay, And for Christians, life gets to be all about a list of do's and don'ts rather than about the God we serve. In short, we end up missing the point. This weekend there was no smoke, no moving lasers, no lighting changes, just a quiet worship to reflect on how God can speak to us through silence They had lots of video and a segment on questions that we read on the screens and two songs played, one with a song leader singing, but no congregation. The other just instrumental with only the words on the screens while the cameras panned the stage as it was all lit up with about a 100 candles. It was a very moving service. Today I decided to block out all distractions for me personally, that meant no cell phone, no t.v., no radio. I was humbled as a I realized that I can hear and feel God more when life's noises are not up and running.

living for an audience of ONE...

Brothers gotta hang

This weekend was no exception to having fun with one of my best friends David Thompson. Twice a month we try and do something fun, wild and crazy. So Friday night was bound to be a blast. We started off the evening at 7pm with Thai coffee, which for D's first time he loved it. We then went and looked at Hyatt Reunion tower that has a revolving restaurant on the top that I have never been to see. We had a appetizer that kinda sucked. The view was awesome. The next stop we had a quick tour of the W Hotel which was so contemporary and sheek. Then we went to the Martini Ranch for a drink and an appetizer. I then showed him where I use to live in the Village by SMU where he might take his last two years of college at. Then went to go see the largest Half Priced Book store, which is huge. After that we went to the Iron Cactus in downtown Dallas for dinner and walked around the downtown till 1am.

Saturday I had to work then we went to a friends 21st birthday at his house and was able to throw the football around, which is always fun, however it was a little rainy. Sundays I have been going to Restoration Church with David and God definitely was in the house and the service was amazing. Enjoyed the normal Monday night volleyball game and David 's dad Sr. went along with which was fun. Oh yea thank you for the Biology lesson on leaves producing water on the way there David Jr.

living for an audience of ONE...

Are you ready for Friday the 13th?

I have a really good friend who has had a really tough week, and has experienced an extreme amount of undue stress, from family, personal, and work. Most people don't get real concerned with tomorrows D-day, but I have friend who would really covet your prayers. He has the privilege of being a pallbearer of one of his past students who died earlier this week in Bellevue due to not wearing his helmet when he was skateboarding. I talked to my friend earlier in the week when he needed some encouragement. I also was a little down and wanted to receive my own encouragement, but he needed to just talk and release and I am glad that I could lend a listening ear. So tomorrow when you wake up and go about your day, say a prayer for my friend Shane around 10am. Life is about listening, caring, and supporting the ones who might need it.

living for an audience of ONE...

Thoughts on friendship...

I will warn you, I am going to babble, but it will be beneficial.

Friendships come and some go, but the good ones will always last longer than the rest. My sighs are long, my tears are heavier, and my heart you can read in my lack of facial expressions. Why does friendship have to hurt when it is not supposed to? You are supposed to be able to trust what your friends tell you. You never doubt, you always believe, and hope is always on both of your minds, tongues, and hearts. How do you know when God brings a person into your life that you know He wants you to be friends with? How can you trust that you are making a good judgement call when you are alot alike, and also a little different? When you choose to be friends with someone, and your old school friends don't agree with your decision, you lose out on the ones that have made such a lasting impact on you, why can they not just accept your decision? Can friendship be as good as it has been for a while, or can you rest in the fact that sometimes you just need to breathe a little? Then you realize that time has passed and you have had a total blast until Satan throws a wrench into the friendship.

I firmly believe that God brings certain people into your life, that will make a lasting imprint on you and them on the world. YOU know you are supposed to be friends, but you are fighting your spirit of fear, peace, hope, and someone that you get along with so much. You have never ever been exposed to a friendship like this. Should you let it go, or should you fight for what you have found- a friend who knows you better than yourself. A friend who looks up to you in all situations, believes in you, trusts you when you step out a little and lead, enjoys introducing you as one of his best friends with pride. What happens when that fizzles, when the hope dies, and the love of a friend is entangled in fear. He pushes away his interest in the truth, that he knows you have and desire him to grasp onto as you have, and as he is a witness to the all life changing path God has rescued you from.

When you are 95% there and you see your friend who just has one link to his chain away. He is still being held back from unleashing his spirit that has so entangled him for the last 2 years. How do you let your friend know that the one link he needs to release and COMPLETELY give to God is the link in letting go of past relationships and past hurts from those old friends. In return he's scared, of being real, open and honest and fears of being rejected that might throw him back into the past. He is scared of being hurt, only cause he has been hurt so many times, but always wants to be positive, loved, and wants to be liked. He has been betrayed too much and always is guarding his heart, which will never let him be himself. He is so overprotective of himself, but in a good way of his friendships. You cant let go of hope, you cant let go of the good times, and certainly can't let go of a God thing when you both realize God wants you to be hanging out for a long time.

I close with this, people are not perfect, people do fail, make mistakes, but when they get stripped of all they hope far, they then can lean on their friends. Friendships are a gift, cherish them always, keep the basics basic, and always hope for the best close to your heart. I do that always, Im doing that now, and will continue to never ever give up on my friends, that's a promise.

living for an audience of ONE...

Back in the saddle again..

We flew back to Dallas Sunday night, Monday went back to work and every Monday I watch David play volleyball. He has been wanting me to come check things out at his church called Restoration Church and so Tuesday we went to the college and career group for a bible study, which was really good. Wednesday was checking out the youth group that he is a leader of, and Thursday was the stand prayer service that I went to by myself. Friday night was out with friends, Saturday was FC, and clean my car, wash clothes, clean apt and have some alone time. Sunday picked up David for church at 10am in which we were really late. Then I hung out with a new friend who is the senior pastors kid of Restoration Church that David had introduced me to a month ago. We went to dinner, and then threw the football around while talking with his parents, which are really cool parents for being pastors.

living for an audience of ONE...