What do you guys think of this?

This is a pretty long video.  But I wanna know what you think about this…

Technorati Tags: How,He,Loves,John Mark McMillan

I don’t know why…

We get into the circumstances that we do.  But I do know that we can learn from each of them.  As I have grown older in my life I have realized this more.  And I have also had less and less regrets as I learn to make wiser decisions.  But the truth is that life can hurt sometimes.  But I am one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason.  Sometimes this reason is because our choices have taken us there, but most of the time it’s because God wanted us to experience something.  I have always been a person who regrets some of the things I have done, but now I want to be one of those people who doesn’t have regrets. 

Throughout life we are faced with many different circumstances.  And for whatever reason we have the possibility of doing one thing or the next.  But like I said, I believe that all of this happened for a reason. 

I want to move on from my past.  I know this is really childish, but it’s what popped into my head:  It’s like on the Lion King when Simba gets all sad about his circumstances and mad at himself for being the “cause of his dad’s death.”  Even though he wasn’t in the end.  Simba couldn’t move on from that pain.  I don’t want to be the old Simba.  I want to be the Simba that was ready to be king.  I want to be ready for the circumstances in the here and now. 

I didn’t go down the path I wanted to 3 years ago.  And that left me in pain, just like Simba had been.  But now I have the chance to live for the moment…  God has something else in store.  And I’m hoping I can live for that, rather that live in the past and live in the happiness that I once had.  True happiness comes when we are in the center of God’s will.  I haven’t been for some time, I will freely admit that.  It’s time to turn over a new leaf. 

Oh to be a monk…

This past weekend I had the privilege of going to up to Jerome, Idaho to stay at the Monastery of the Ascension with my Spiritual Formation class.  When I heard we were going to a monastery, I figured it would either be like one of those old stone castles or it would be like one of those old wooden churches from Europe.  It wasn’t really either.  It was actually more like a small catholic church with a conference center attached to it. 

But it was a great time up there.  Whether it was Father Norbert saying damn or the monk from Spain falling asleep before it was his turn to lead a chant, it was all great. 

I had the chance to think about my life for the last three years.  I am now a senior here at NNU and a lot has happened.  But my mind kept on travelling back to one place in time that happened two years and four days ago.  It was one of the best days of my life.  But I screwed it all up.  She meant a lot to me, and has never left my mind or my soul.  I miss you and would go back in a heartbeat. 

It was a good time of reflection.  I was thankful for the beauty of the countryside and for the rain that came down as I journal-ed.  I was able to look back and think about the good memories, and the bad.  The happy times and the sad. 

Those monks live an interesting life.  But it is one of great spiritual devotion.  In some ways I wish I could live like them, and have my devotion structured the way they do.  I learned so much from them.  Just because they do things differently doesn’t mean it’s wrong, in fact, what they do is extremely inspiring to me. 

There were some funny moments while I was up there.  Like Josh and his lady.  And like getting sprayed with Holy Water.  Like saying the wrong words in the services.  Like walking through the corn fields.  Like Matt’s knitting. 

Oh to be a monk…

This thing is so cool

So I am writing this from Window Live Writer Beta.  First off, Windows Live Beta has been out for a little while now, but it is the most awesome thing ever.  It comes with the latest messenger, then this blog thing that lets you write blogs easily while offline or online from a program on your desktop. 

It also comes with this picture editing program.  It’s all pretty pimpin. 

Plus it comes with Windows Live Mail, which you can use all of your e-mail accounts on and you can use it offline and it will send your stuff the next time your online.  But think about it, all of your e-mail accounts from one place.  It rocks my socks. 

So you should all go and download it, so you can see how amazing it really is. 

This past week…

This past week has had its good and sad moments.  First off, the sad.  My Grandpa’s prostate cancer has spread to his back.  Not good.  He is in so much pain, and it is very sad to see.  My grandpa has been one of the biggest influences on my life.  He has been a man of great integrity, and has led a life by example.  He starts radiation this coming week, but only to stop some of the pain, not stop the cancer. 

It was good to be with my parents.  They were up at a retreat in McCall, and spent some time down here as well.  We had fun. 

Finally this past weekend was spent up at McCall on a retreat with the religion department here at NNU.  It was pretty fun.  I really enjoyed getting to know some of my fellow students and staff better.  And we played two ball a lot.  The one of the best games ever!

Also, I enjoyed this song:

OMG!! They ran out of gas in Tennessee!!! Look at Zimbabwe!

So the headlines on CNN today read that 3/4's of the gas stations in Nashville were out of gas today. What a catastrophe! We won't be able to drive down to the mall or go down to the local McD's for lunch! Saddest day of our lives...

Ok, now think about the country of Zimbabwe.
They have had acute fuel shortages for almost a decade. People would wait in line for gas over night sometimes. Often times lines were at least 200 hundred cars long. I watched the news the other day and people were so upset to wait for 10 cars in a line. Somewhere in the Southeastern US.

We have become such a demanding society.

We only care about us. But seriously! Think about the people of Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Rwanada, Congo, and the list goes on. People are suffering daily around the world, and they become accustom to living lives that Americans could never ever dream about living.

Seriously lets try not to be so ignorant, and lets try and be thankful for what we have.

$5 a gallon for gas? What about $18 a gallon in Sierra Leone.

A bad economy? What about inflation at 70 MILLION PERCENT in Zimbabwe!

Hungry from taking a 24 hour fast? Try not eating for 120 hours in a row, a reality facing many people in Zimbabwe.

one chance...

The average person in the US lives 2,453,500,800 seconds. Does anyone else think that isn't really all that much? i mean, ya that is definitely a big number, but those are only seconds, not minutes or hours or anything. they go by sooo fast. blink and another one is gone.
so with that in mind, think about how many times you only get one chance to make an impact...
I know personally it happens ALL the time...
i wrote this little poem thingy:

One chance

I see the man with no money
But I look the other way
I see the angry woman walking down the street
But I fail to smile
I see the friend who is so sad
But I don’t give them a hug
I see the most beautiful girl in the world
But I neglect to say hello

I see the dying yearning for help
But I look the other way
I wake up to the most spectacular day
But I fail to smile
I see the person who has experience a loss
But I don’t give them a hug
I see a complete stranger
But I neglect to say hello

In life we have thousands of one chances… But they could be our last