Sam and Eli's Wedding Day - March 9, 2012

March 9, 2012. What a day. The two coolest mentors that I have ever met got married, and I was there to witness the true magic of love. Even more special was that this was the very first wedding that I had ever been to, and I was blessed and privileged enough to be invited. This marriage was truly like a fairy tale, and as I think back on it, it still seems very surreal to me. Watching them say their vows on the stage, putting on the rings, and then having their dance was no doubt the sweetest thing I have ever witnessed. You can see the love that just radiates off of them both. The reception was quite literally insane though. I have never had that much fun dancing, or been this sore. As I walked back to my table to get a drink, I looked back and observed the crowd. It was like nobody had a care in the world. Everyone was focused on the rhythm of the music, and dancing with their friends. You know the term "Dance as if no one is watching" ? I'm pretty sure I saw a ton of that. Heck I did it myself. I believe that the true magic came from being around the most amazing people. The people at my church are just so selfless and ready to help anyone at anytime. Oh, and did I mention that we had a flash mob? >:) The look on Sam and Elizabeth's faces was priceless. First flash mob I have ever attended, and it was incredible. So thank you Sam, thank you Elizabeth. You guys have turned my life upside down. Thank you for the advise, thank you for the love, thank you for investing in me. But thank you most of all for allowing me to be a part of your incredible lives. My life certainly would not be as entertaining without you two. You guys mean so much to me, and to convey all of that into words is probably the hardest thing to do. I'm so honored to know you guys. Thank you, for everything. :)


                                       Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. McDowell 

The day of Jeff Bethke

For those of you who haven't heard of Jeff Bethke, he speaks and makes these poems about God, about how you don't need to "earn" Gods' love, but that he already loves you. That even when you push Him away and say you hate Him, He looks down and says "I want that man." Well, tonight my entire youth group had the privilege of listening to him speak to us. His words amaze me. For the few guest speakers that I have seen at my church, never have I said "Wow" or "Holy crap" throughout the entire service because the words that Jeff spoke pretty much slapped me in the face. There is nothing you can do, no sin great enough to make God not love you. He loves you all the time, with unconditional love. If you think you need to earn his love, you need to reevaluate. One thing I love that Jeff mentioned was in Romans 5:8 it says "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So while you are, or were running away from God He still loved you. In fact that made Him want you more. No matter how much you push Him away and hate Him, God looks down and says "I want you." I think the biggest thing that hit me, was when he spoke of two types of people. Good, and bad. We always compare ourselves to worse people than ourselves, "Oh, well I'm better than that person, so I must be good." But he said "that's like looking at your reflection in a pool of mud. It won't give you the proper reflection, try looking in pure water, and then you'll see you're not too good." That line right there was like a punch in the gut. It really turned around my perspective on things and made me ponder. But Jesus said there's only one type of person in the world, evil, and himself. And addictions? You don't have to hide from those. You don't have to hide from your shame, your filth, your guilt, because Jesus has already forgiven you. I love this one too, that we should boast in our weakness. That's powerful. We should boast in our weakness because we have God. A question that had been asked was if you have friends that are not Christians and sin, should you avoid them or pour into them? As Jeff said, pour into them. Plant the seed, and then leave the rest to God. Often times people try and try again to get certain people to come to God. Just plant the seed, and see what God does for them. I'm going to end it here, because I want you guys to watch the message. :) But, one last thing, I love the 3 Hebrew words for love, which are Rayah, Ahavah, and Dod. Look them up because they're pretty neat. 


                                            Here's an awesome photo of myself and Jeff. :)

And here's the video link!!

Jeff Bethke Live at Collide