Merry Christmas

I hope everyone who reads this had a wonderful Christmas. I am really not sure who all reads this, so if you do and you don't regularly comment, it would be cool if you made that known sometime. I was just curious how many people actually about my exciting life.

Nonetheless, if anyone has seen the movie 4 Christmases, that was a bit of what my Christmas was like.. except a bit more enjoyable than the one they shared. Through all of the running around I enjoyed seeing everyone and had a wonderful time. I was able to see my brother which was a blessing. 

That is about all there is to sum it up. I would love to hear if anyone else did anything fun. Love you all.

Meet Andrew

This is Andrew, my new nephew. He was born exactly 2 weeks before me... well at least his birthday is two weeks before mine. 

This is Lia. She has changed quite a bit since the last time I saw her. 

Chloe and Ella watching the Wizard of Oz! 

Ella is quite the big cousin!

As you might be able to guess, we went to visit them last weekend. I haven't seen the girls since my graduation, that is entirely too long! I simply had to go. We had a lot of fun and I fulfilled my role, as usual, the human jungle gym! I was glad to see them and can't wait to see everyone again for Christmas! 

Oh and did you hear, Josh will be home very very soon.. like I think by the end of the week soon!!!!

What happens when class is cancelled?

I don't know if any of you have ever had this happen back in your college days, but I want to share my little bit of what I call frustrating joy.

I woke up today at 7:30 to be at my 8 o'clock class, which I love going to by the way. I was a little impressed with myself too because I was able to be ready in time that I could walk extremely slow to class and still make it on time, which doesn't normally happen, it is usually a brisk walk to get into class seconds before roll call. Anyway, I got to the building where my class was and saw two other people from the class sitting outside. I was quickly informed that class had been cancelled.

If you have had much or any college experience I am sure that you have had class cancelled, but that isn't my frustration, that was more of the joy part. The frustrating part is a result of the joy. I was so excited that my 8 o'clock class was cancelled that I "excited myself awake" in a sense. It is very difficult for me to get back to sleep now, thus, I am writing here (which I haven't done for a while, so I would like to take this time to apologize). I will be writing soon, I hope you all are doing well. 

Sorry if this wasn't what you expected, I just felt like this was a place where I could share my frustration with y'all.

I can't believe it

No matter how great a person is, their life is just as fragile as the next. I just found out this morning that my cousin, Jonathan, who is my Uncle John's son from his previous marriage, died at work either today or yesterday (I'm not too sure exactly when it happened). 

I just ask that you think of him and his family, John and my aunt Carol Lynn, and lift them up in prayer through this time. 

It's been a while since I have seen him, but every time I saw him he was all smiles and the nicest guy. Just a small reminder of the importance of knowing life really can end at any time no matter who you are.

Correction

I have just remembered that I had another Thanksgiving meal before the meals that the last two posts were talking about. A couple days before the Thanksgiving at my dad's, my school "fancied up" the dining hall and served a some-what less than home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I am grateful for it nonetheless. So that was 1. 2. Dad's 3. Randy's 4. Mom's 5. Grandma's! 

Yes, you are seeing correctly, 5 Thanksgiving dinners!

I want to let everyone know who had a hand in fixing any of the meals that I truly enjoyed every one of them, but I don't want to see, smell, or taste Thanksgiving food for at least a month.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving as well. I would love to hear from you, feel free to leave comments (you can comment even if you don't have a blog, just click either the name option or anonymous). 

Round 2

Last night I was on my way home from school when I received a phone call. Randy was calling to let me know that he was having some people from his home group (thats like an adult small group, or cell group as you might know it) and he was asking if I wanted to come over for another round of Thanksgiving eatins! I just couldn't find it in my heart to turn him down! 

The food was really good. Someone brought a green bean casserole, but whatever it is that you normally put on it, mushroom sauce or whatever, they substituted for a healthy portion of Velveeta cheddar! It was very yummy. There was turkey there, but as I figure, with my 2 other Thanksgiving meals, I would be having enough turkey, so I opted for some wonderful honey baked ham! I really like honey baked ham!

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving once again and I wish you all an early Happy Holidays! 

A Delightful First Round to Thanksgiving!

Yesterday I had my first round Thanksgiving meal with my dad's side of the family. It was everything I thought it would be, delicious with a side of delightful company. Okay, I know that was corny.. but it's true. I was able to see some people that I haven't seen for quite some time and enjoyed all of them. My little nephew is about 1 and a half and he is developing quite a personality. He wants to talk so badly, but he just can't quite do it yet. He will sit at the table and just jabber as long as it takes to get someone to notice him. I wish I had a picture, but I lent my camera to a friend from school over the weekend so I don't. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be thinking of you as I enjoy another dinner or two!

How can it be?

This is a follow up on the Jr. High retreat, Crazy Love, that I promised you all that I would write. If you want the "cliff notes" version of the weekend then...

It was awesome, it went really well, everyone really got something out of it, and the students responded better than I ever could have imagined.

If you have the time, I will describe in more detail some of my thoughts from the weekend. I know some of you have asked and I was a little brief in what I might have said, but that was because I barely got any sleep and could hardly collect a thought on Sunday. I will tell you a little of what we talked about then some things that I concluded from these events looking back.

Friday night: We talked about what we love. We are all lost in our search for this perfect love, but the opposite of being lost isn't being found, the opposite of being lost is knowing where you are and how to get back on the right track. So all we wanted to do was figure out what it is that we love and if it is really worth loving?

Saturday morning: In the morning the kids were playing some random games that were fun to play but didn't really have a point. We told them before the game started that if any of the leaders came up and wanted to do something with them or for them that they (the students) had to do whatever the leader said. During this time we had students pulled aside and loved as Jesus loved us. Some students were able to take communion and remember His sacrifice that way, others were able to experience it in a little more realistic way by actually laying on a cross while someone hammered it. Others were just pulled aside to be prayed for. Some were asked to read a verse that they probably have never heard before and talk about what they thought it meant, one kid discussed a verse for 20 minutes with a leader. Others were asked to step out of the game for a minute so a leader could wash their feet. The response from the students from these events was incredible.

If you couldn't tell already, Saturday morning's message was about how GOD loved us through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made.

Saturday evening: The students were able to love each other in ways they had been loved in the morning. They were able to wash each other's feet and pray for each other and taught how and why to do these things. Again the response was amazing. It was so amazing that when it came time for main session I didn't feel like it was necessary to teach anything, instead we had about and hour of worship to close out our weekend before we went home!

Some cool things that happened: 

Worship: First and foremost, the organization of the band was incredible. We originally planned the retreat to happen the weekend after it did, and we had an awesome guy who was going to lead worship for it. But, the weekend needed to change and this kid could no longer do it. I was given two weeks to find a new band. The day I had to meet with Randy who gave me the deadline only about 3 or 4 hours before the meeting I call this person who couldn't do it but said that his younger sister, Shelby, might be able to. So I call her and she said that she would love to. Then she was having trouble finding a guitarist and her drummer could only be there Friday night. I told Randy about our problem, he gave me a deadline when we needed to know for sure about our musicians. I decided not to tell Shelby about the deadline, but I told her that I would help look. The day of the deadline she calls me and says, "Great news, I have a band completed."

There was still another concern about the band that I never really shared with anyone though. Shelby is a sophomore in high school and looks rather close to their age. So I wasn't sure how the students would respond to her leading. So the first night she gets up there and and starts talking to them and just connects wonderfully and instantly gains everyone's respect! It was so incredible. The whole weekend the worship was awesome and the kids loved it, they couldn't stop talking about the awesome band.

The game Saturday morning: Some of the coolest things happened during this experience. I wish I could tell you some things that the students were saying in response to these, but this post would be twice as long, so if you are interested you can email me or call and I will tell you because it was truly amazing.

The talk following the morning activities: We talked about Christ's sacrifice. There was such an enormous response from that and worship was supposed to go 3 songs afterwards, but ended up being about 45 minutes after we were done talking. At one time all 6 leaders had a kid that they were either talking to or praying with. I looked up at one point and noticed a girl holding tight to one of the leaders but at the same time noticed that the 6 leaders were all talking to someone, then I looked over at the band and one of the singers put down her microphone because she noticed a girl who simply needed a hug. I have no idea how long that hug lasted, but my heart melted when I saw that. There were 3 girls that went off with one of our female leaders who ran the Jr. High program with me over the summer and I heard afterward that they concluded that she was a lot nicer than they ever thought! That one made me smile.

Everything that happened Saturday night was just so awesome. They prayed for unsaved friends, wrote letters to people who couldn't be at the weekend letting them know of GOD's love for them, they learned how to discuss verses with one another and really understand what it was talking about, they talked about why they should pray for one another and how they should do it, and they were able to wash one another's feet and talk about different ways to serve others. The response was so good that we just got back together for one last amazing worship time and it was so wonderful.

On Sunday we were back at the church and the students had some time to talk about what they learned and tell the other people who weren't able to go. I heard some people say some stuff that was way deeper than anything that was talked about throughout the weekend and it was evident that they really got to know a little more about GOD, to them it felt like a lot, but as they continue on their journey they will find that there is so much more to learn. One kid, I found out, when he got home, before his parents could ask, he sat down opened up his bible and started telling them what he learned over the weekend!

One thing that kept resonating through my head was the question of how can this be? How can 24 Jr. High students who can't focus on one thing for more than 10 minutes worship for more than an hour at a time? How can a group of students whom it normally takes the pulling of teeth to get to discuss anything, talk about one verse of scripture for 20 minutes or go up to a leader after a message and talk with them for 45 minutes? What makes a group of kids who normally won't say a word or make eye contact when you ask for a volunteer to pray literally argue about who gets to pray? I know the answer, it's simply that they really did see a bit of GOD's face and realized that He is a loving GOD who sent Jesus to pay the ultimate price that we didn't deserve, they realized that the things they once loved seemed ridiculous compared to loving the One who created them. It was so refreshing and so rewarding to see first hand the promises of GOD delivered this weekend. Change that is about to happen in Beavercreek, Ohio and it is going to be led by a group of Jr. High students! This is when I ask the question, "How awesome is the One we call Savior?"

The Life

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, I have been a little worn out. This past weekend was, as expected, exhausting, but at the same time refreshing and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. 

There are two kinds of staff at the retreat: there is the staff who makes sure students aren't doing anything they aren't supposed to and there is the staff who does all of the dirty work; setting up games, making sure everything is working, and running around doing other heavy lifting. I was the latter of the two. While I wasn't able to actually participate in these activities, I think I got more out of the experience than any camper there. 

On Saturday morning I was woken up by Chris, the slave master of the "dirty workers", saying, "Jordan, get up. I'm putting you to work." No lie, within 2 minutes of being awake I had a 6 foot cross in my hands and was loading it onto a truck. There was an encounter experience where students had the opportunity to carry a cross from one spot to another, it was about a 1/4 mile walk. When the crosses reached point B they were supposed to be returned to point A, but the campers weren't supposed to do it, that was me along with 7 other people. We carried crosses for 3 hours, I lost track of how many I carried, but it made long days of building fence seem like nothing. Needless to say, this station left an impact on me, both literally and metaphorically... I had a nice little bruise on my shoulder. But still I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

The band was really good. The speaker was Chris, yes the one I just referred to as the slave driver, he did an awesome job. There was a lot of talk about coming together and leaving an impact on the world. One thing he talked about living "The Life" and how everybody goes through life, but few people actually live. It was a very encouraging message series and I really got a lot out of it.

So now the main thing on my plate is this weekend with my retreat for the Jr. High students. It is going to be great. I think we finally got all of the bugs worked out, so it will be a lot of fun. 

More on that to come. 

I hope you all are doing well and I will do my best to not make it this long in between the next post.

Vintage Jesus

This weekend I will be at a Sr. High retreat with about 380 other people. I will have several titles at this week and since I have been a part of 3 of the churches that will be going it could be a busy weekend from going from group to group. I will be a counselor, I am taking still pictures for a worship video, and being that it is my first year helping I will withstand the title of "slave-boy".

Of course the weekend is not about me, as you can tell from the title it is all about Jesus. There is a book called "Vintage Jesus", I haven't read it yet but you can't get it in stores. The central thought of the weekend is that through time we have made Jesus into whatever we want, but do we really remember the Jesus from the Bible? 

It is going to be a very amazing time. The dean, Chris Cox, is the one who helped me with the Crazy Love retreat that I am planning and he had a much bigger team to help him plan this. Did I mention that 380ish people are going to be there? I know this doesn't seem like that crazy of a number, but did I also mention that the camp capacity is 275? Clearly there is something that is going to happen at the weekend if there are about 100 people willing to sleep outside in tents and campers!

I am really excited and can't wait to tell you more, but it might be a few days, since I am guessing that there won't be much sleep happening this weekend!

An Interesting Man

Need I say more?

The drummer took a Guitar Hero guitar and made actual chords for each of the buttons and he played that on song. In case you don't know, Guitar Hero is a video game where you sort of simulate playing a guitar.

Of course if you have ever seen him in concert before then you have probably seen the "key-tar!"

Since it was Halloween he had people who dressed up come on stage. Yes that is a David Crowder impersonator and Dilbert with him.

It was a fun time, they had a firework display afterwards, but I didn't really have any good pictures of that. We enjoyed the concert though. He is an interesting man with a cool perspective on worship, which made the whole experience a wonderful one.

David Crowder Concert

Tonight! I am going to a David Crowder concert tonight, in case you didn't get that...

I'm not really one for concerts, but I suppose I am fairly excited, I mean the guy does have a wicked crazy hair due! That is about all I have planned for the weekend. Well I also have a paper to do for Greek and Roman History about this book called the 12 Caesars. I know sounds exciting right?!? Well I will let all you faithful followers know how it all was in a couple days, hopefully I can get a picture of the crazy hair guy. 

Crazy Love

For those of you who don't know, I am running a retreat starting two weeks from this Friday for Jr. High students. This has been consuming quite a bit of my time for the past month and a half. My hopes and expectations for the weekend is to change the way we, particularly Jr. High students view love. It seems kinda funny how we love soccer, but if we think about it no matter how much we sacrifice for the game, what does soccer do for us? How does it sacrifice for our gain? We are going to be defining love, looking at how we are loved by GOD, and then what we can do in response to GOD's Crazy Love.

It has been quite a journey in discovering topics and ideas for games and such, but after a few meetings with a new mentor of mine, whom I am working for at another church now, I think we have a good weekend planned. The last challenge we faced was getting a band. We had one planned, then we had to change the weekend due to use of facilities and since we changed the band could no longer come. I talked with a few people and no one seemed to be interested. It was getting down to the day we had to know who was leading worship or else (I don't really know what would have happened, but we had to have someone by then). Then a kid was suggested so I called him up, he couldn't do it but... he said he knew of 2 other people who would be interested that he trusted completely. So I called the first one up and she is going to lead the charge, this took a huge weight off my shoulders. It was awesome, literally 3 hours before our meeting where I had to have a band it was confirmed!

I really see a group of Jr. High students really making a change in the way things are done in our youth ministry and possibly even sparking change in the church. I believe with a more outward centered approach we can become more grounded inwardly. I had the privilege of working with the Jr. High ministry over the summer and noticed that they want to do the right thing, they just don't know why they should fall in love with GOD and do as he commands. I expect this to change after this weekend as we really look at what we can do to obey the one who created us. It will also be good for the adults and high schoolers that will be helping.

I will definitely be posting right after the retreat is over (it is the 14th and 15th of November). I would love to feel the prayers going out for the leadership of the retreat and for hearts and lives to be changed. I am really excited for this weekend and I know that GOD has some wonderful things in store. 

Corn Maze and Costumes and a Few Scares

Today I went and looked at some Halloween costumes at several different stores. I didn't buy anything, but we went into one store that was just awesome and decorated for Halloween, it was kinda creepy. We went in this one room and there was a fake man laying on a table and just had blood and guts all over him and there was a coffin next to him. The people I was with walked down the other side, but they could still see me. I noticed before I got to the coffin that the guys stomach was a weird shape so I got a little closer and right as I started to lean in to see what was up with his stomach he sat straight up and I jumped and yelled so loud it wasn't funny at all. There were only a couple other guys than the two that were with me, but everyone was laughing so hard at me it was terrible. I like to be the one scaring people, I don't like being on the receiving end!

Then I had a quick meeting for the Jr. High retreat I am running. People really got pretty excited about it and that made me even more excited than I already am, I didn't think that was possible but apparently it is.

After the meeting the youth group went to a corn maze. I went with the intention of scaring someone worse than I was scared at the store, but that didn't happen. This was one of the corn mazes that was like a scavenger hunt in a maze of corn, it was like you have to get through a maze... I don't know if that is what you thought a corn maze was but I was a little disappointed.

Since I didn't get to scare anyone there, I went to my friends house afterwards to watch the Ohio State game (I wasn't that interested in the game, but my friends were there so I went). I took him home and we were the first ones back and he had this mask... you can probably see where this is going, but to get into his living room from the door you walk by a bathroom in a dimly lit hall, you're probably getting the picture. I scared every single person that walked into that house, some of them even twice, don't ask me how you fall for it twice but some people just don't learn! Needless to say this was quite a consolation for not being able to scare anyone in the corn maze.

A Day Without Ethics!

Yesterday I woke up at 10 minutes till 8 am to make it to my 8 o'clock modern ethics class. I didn't take a shower or anything and was contemplating skipping the class (I have not skipped yet and have 4 possible skips). I rush to class to get there just in the nick of time only to find... no one in the class, class was cancelled. I woke up for nothing, my next class wasn't until 11.

So I went back to sleep thinking I will wake up in without an alarm before my next class at 11. So I fall back asleep and when I wake up I think it is only 9:45 at the latest, I look at the clock and it is 11:30! Way to late to try and sneak in. I found out later that we really didn't do anything important so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I volunteer at this after-school program called Bloc Ministries on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays. The people that work there are all from my school except one kid. There are a few people who live in the Bloc House which is just a house with 3 or 4 guys that work for Bloc. We were talking on Wednesday about having a dinner and everybody bringing something. So we went to the Bloc House and fixed dinner ourselves, there were about 8 of us. We had a great time we ate and watch Hancock, then we looked at videos on Youtube for at least 3 hours and were crying laughing at times. We were having such a good time that we missed curfew by about an hour. 

I realized that after not having Ethics class for a day I just wasn't concerned about missing another class or missing curfew or anything. So it kinda led me to wonder, what would happen in the world if we had one whole day where everyone's ethical code went out the window and we all lived however we wanted? Something to think about, but I hope that day never comes.

Dinner at Howard's

Last night I was invited over to Howard Brammer's house, our interim senior pastor, for dinner with some other students from churches he has served. His wife Martha fixed a wonderful hardy meal consisting of meat loaf, corn, green beans, some wonderful mashed potatoes, and Ezekiel bread. Ezekiel bread is a special kind of bread they make themselves, but their doctor recommended it, Martha said you can find the recipe in the book of Ezekiel... so if anyone is interested on a new type of bread, start reading up on you prophets!

The night was fun, we heard all kinds of stories about how they met, some of their dating life, and stories from their journey through life. We were even privileged to see a picture of the young Howard when he was in college. He picked up this cane that was sitting in the corner, the stick part was made of old wood that looked like it had been around for a while and the handle was a carved bone. He told us that when they had moved into the house they stripped the walls down to remodel the house and they found the cane in the walls! So several of their family members came up with different theories as to why it was in the walls. After he showed it to us he says, "So I would like to hear your theory about... so Jordan why don't you start us off." He hands me the cane. I was thinking to myself does he really want me to make up a story about this thing? Then Martha asked for his help for a second so I quickly passed it on to the guy sitting next to me. I think I am supposed to have a story for this Sunday though when I see him at church.

Well the evening was rather refreshing, it was nice to get off of campus and have a wonderful home-cooked meal. I sort of like hearing people's stories too, so the whole evening was very nice.

The evening reminded me a little bit of being over at my Great-Grandma's house, she made a good meat loaf and loved to tell stories about when she was growing up. I even remember the one of her and Great-Grandpa getting married.

The Stereotypical Woman

I am sorry if saying this offends anyone, but it made me laugh and I just have to share it. 

I help out at a church in Mason, which is about half way between where I go to school and my mom's house. I also occasionally give this girl named Ashley a ride to or from her house on the weekends, she lives fairly close to my mom's. Well, yesterday she was going to come to the church and help out as well and I was asked to give her a ride.

I packed up my car, I had my guitar, basket of laundry, a bag for clothes, and my computer case... and of course some food that was "forced" upon me to take to school!  I pick her up and she has a rather large bag of laundry, a school bag, a brown paper sack, another bag of who-knows-what, and of course her purse. 

So now my trunk is full and we go to church! Which by the way was really cool last night, we had a worship night, it lasted about an hour and 15 minutes.

I also normally take the worship leader back to school, we were the only ones from our school. So he asks if he could have a ride. Your probably thinking, "not a big deal," but did I mention that he adds to the car not only another person, but another guitar and a guitar amp! If you aren't getting this yet, let me show you a picture of my car.

I know this doesn't help a lot, but the point is, it is a small two door coupe. So after church while Zac, the worship leader is packing up, Ashley and I go out to re-arrange some of the stuff in it because we had some of her stuff in the back seat. So we take off the cover to the trunk to give it more space and pack everything in real well so we can fit Zac's guitar and amp in the back seat. I must admit I used some of my "man skills" in packing the car and this is the part that was the stereotypical woman part... Right as I finish my expert packing, I just barely get it so the trunk will close, close the trunk, and she says, "Oh wait... I need my purse, it's in the trunk." 

Repeat process of packing trunk.

Even after the trunk was re-organized Zac's amp was on the one back seat and the guitar was laying right under Ashley's feet and the trunk cover across her lap. I wish I would have taken a picture. It's not that I didn't think about it, it's just that my camera was in my computer case in the bottom of the trunk! I wasn't about to dig it out.

Welcome Home Lieutenant Colonel David Searle

After my eventful Friday, I didn't really do a whole lot. Saturday I met my dad at the mall and sat in the "man chair" in Elder Bereman while Anita shopped... and by shopped I mean she took about 10 things into the dressing room, no idea how many she tried on, then came out and hung about all of them back up then proceeded with the same process. I have no idea how many times the process repeated, but my dad and I went to get something to drink and walked around a bit and about a half hour after we came back she had about 3 things she wanted! My dad and I had a good time talking though.

Then we went to the Searle's house, some of you might have heard them referred to as my third family, since both of my parents live about a half hour away from my church, whenever I am hanging around the church on the weekends most of the time I go and stay at their house or my other friend Nick's house. Anyway, we went to celebrate the return of Lieutenant Colonel David Searle, returning home from Iraq. He was a very happy man, he normally is, but there was extra happiness since he has been home. He is a wonderful piano/keyboard "ist", so we got to jam a little that night which was very fun. I wish I had a picture of him, but I don't have a good one, maybe sometime soon!

A Wonderful Doctors Visit

The other day I was informed that I had a doctor's appointment on Friday (yesterday). I was told that it will just be a routine check-up and I shouldn't even be there very long. So I go in and get all of my measurements and everything, by the way I am 5 ft. and 9.25 in. (in case anyone was dying to know!?!), then the nurse says, "Well your mom sent these forms in, it looks like you will be getting a few shots today!" Now let me just clarify, I don't mind needles, but she listed off about 6 shots that I needed. The good news is, she proceeded to tell me they don't do all of them and I will only be able to get 3 of the shots from this place. Then it got even better, she told me that the one shot for whatever reason I had to come back in 3 days, which would be Monday. When she asked me if I would be able to do that, assured her that there was no way because I would be back down at school and I just couldn't do that! So I still received 2 shots and one of them made my arm a little sore, but I didn't notice it for about 6 or 7 hours. They also took some of my blood from me.

Other than that it was a wonderful day. I went up to see my Great Grandpa, but he was out of town. So I walked around his yard for a while and took some pictures. Then I went to my Grandma and Grandpa Trump's house. Ate lunch with them, then before I went on my way Grandma insisted on me taking some bakies with me, to which I just couldn't tell her no, you understand.  

In case you are wondering about what a bakie is, I just have one question to ask that will explain it for you... To make a cookie, do you cook it or do you bake it? Think about this one.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, just a football game and a 5th quarter party at the church.

Just a few pictures so you can see a little what my Great Grandpa's house looks like in case you haven't been there and if you have, hear is a little something to remind you of whatever it is you think of when you are there...

The good ole creek or crick as some of you might say it...

This is what most of it looked like though. (Kinda less exciting, huh)

The world famous pond!

Finally the house.

Trip to North Carolina

Over fall break I decided to go down to North Carolina to visit some family. I have a few cousins and a couple aunts that live in the Charlotte area. I spent most of my time with my cousin Kristi and her family, Ian and Kylie. It was a nice change from the busy college life to go down there and have my main objective be to keep Kylie who is two and their dog Maya entertained so they could get some stuff done. I also went to visit my Aunt Carol Lynn and went with her to surprise her daughter Sara by picking her up from school. She was rather surprised and somewhat speechless for a few minutes after getting in the car, she just sat in the back seat and giggled, it was pretty cute. Here are a few pictures from my visit.

Kylie and Maya after a "Nice walk!"

Kylie loved taking pictures with my camera!

Kylie loves her grandma (my Aunt Saundra) and me too.

Cousin Sara and Me! She is getting pretty big and she is in the first grade!

It was a nice and refreshing visit/get-away, it wasn't fun leaving, especially knowing I would be coming back to school, but I hope to see them again soon. I also saw several other family members, but I either didn't get a picture of them, or got one that they didn't care for... for instance, I got a picture of my cousin Traci as she was turning away, so it is more like the back of her head! Know that I was thinking about you Traci, I almost posted it!

A Mossy Creek and Cracked Walnuts

I know this sounds sort of random, but I was thinking about my childhood and one place I spent a lot of time was my Great Grandfathers house. There is a mossy creek that runs through his property which I absolutely loved to walk up and down catching anything from minnows to crawdads. 

Apart from wondering around the wooded wonder, I remember a few cold days outside where we would be enjoying the warmth of a fire. Between my Great Grandpa and Grandma's chairs was an end table that held a bowl of pre-cracked walnuts with a "cracker" in the bowl. I remember my great grandpa teaching me how to crack a walnut open and I thought it was one of the coolest things ever and would crack as many walnuts from the bowl as I could and he would eat everyone that I cracked.

Something that I have been thinking about lately is in Luke where Jesus said that one who does not receive the kingdom of heaven like a child will have a hard time entering Heaven! So this is just something to remind me of my childhood to remind me of the wonder and amazement a child has on life, especially with something as simple as cracking walnuts!