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There I did it. More coming soon!

Back from El Salvador

From July 31-Aug 11 I was blessed to be able to travel to El Salvador on a mission/surf trip! I traveled with the group Christian Surfers headed by my friend John Lindsley. Because I jumped on the trip last minute I was not able fly with the majority of the guys but had a seperate flight that was supposed to leave 30 minutes after the main group. However, my flight was cancelled and I ended up spending the night in Los Angeles! That morning me and a father/son pair boarded a flight to Guatamala, and we ended up sleeping in the airport! After almost two solid days of traveling...(the flight only takes about 5-6 hours) we were all there.
El Salvador is a beautiful country just south of Mainland Mexico and Guatemala. Its very tropical and our first session was at a fun right hand point break (El Salvador is mainly right hand point breaks which is good for regular footed surfers like myself). The water was 90 degrees and so was the air so it sometimes felt like you were melting in the water! We scored some amazing waves, visited an orphanage, helped judge a christian surfers surf contest, and visited with a kid that was sponsered by the christian surfers group through Compassion international. More to come on my trip in the near future!

Graduation and still no deer head!

So, after the graduation things got a little crazy. Annalisa Olivares smashed some cupcake into my face so I did the same. Then I threw the rest of the punch on her and then she did the same. Then I found out Crystal Harpold, an assistent in the childrens ministry, had actually put Annalisa up to it. After that I went to get Crystal's car all dirty and someone had already messed up my truck! Long story short, after Crystals car got messy...and also her face had a handful of cupcake rubbed into it-my car got even messier. Before the night was over we were all covered with chocolate pudding, punch and cupcakes!
The night was more than that. The eighth grade graduates and seniors were recognized for their accomplishments! Congragulations and look forward to what God is going to do in and through that group! It is a huge step in life to leave middle school and start from the bottom! Prayerfully this group will be the salt and light that there schools so desperately need!
And by the way...whoever has my deer head I WANT IT BACK!

Don't Fall Asleep to Early...

Here is what you get for staying in Pastor Matt's cabin, mouthing off all day and then falling asleep early...although in my defense Xavier deserved it! But this was nothing compared to the wedgies that i had to give Kevin Davis (all in love of course), and the antiquing (turning off the lights and lighting kids up with baby powder) that Ted and Ernesto were involved in.
All in all, it was the funnest camp because it was just our group and we were able to get a little crazy and truly get to know each other like never before!

HAHAHAHA, Good One, or Patience (I can't decide on a good title for this one)

Well, after the amazingly awesome Big Daddy Weave concert on Sunday Night, I got up to my office to find it absolute carnage. I got a laugh out of it but then Monday it was even worse! Some group of people have decided to wage war. And I'm not mad. I will be patient though. And I do know who it is. And I want you people responsible to know that I will get you, but it is not out of anger...it is out of justice and fairness. It was really good, but the punishment did not fit the crime...therefore, I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks and months and what might be the repercussions of these events!

Jr High Winter Camp

So obviously I am behind the curve once again as far as blogging...but I am not discouraged! We had an awesome time at camp. The theme was Abundant Life taken from John 10:10-

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

We had an abundantly fun time of fellowship and worship and teaching...many kids made commitments or recommitted their lives to Christ. Thanks to Scott Mcdonald for doing worship, Pastor Dan and Pastor Adam for teaching and Kristy for organizing all of the games and events course of some snowballing throwing and pranks. One girl even ate one of the guys buggers! Although she will remain nameless I will give you a hint that her name is double syllable, it starts with an A and ends with lisa.

David and Goliath Video

A Desert Island Project

So I set to do this about 6 months ago. It is a cover for my grandparents pool heater and vacuum. It took a LOT of work, planning and thinking. It is my baby from start to finish. I would work on it here and there, and it is almost complete minus the paintjob. I know every imperfection it has, and I wouldn't do it again any time soon so don't even ask me to build you one! I love building stuff and just seeing if I can do things and learning, but at this point I'm not going to make a career out of it. I learned a ton and know now that if I am ever stranded on a desert island that has electricity, power tools and an ubundant supply of building materials like a Home Depot I know I could build myself a descent structure!

Paintballing

Ok, so I was a bonehead and didn't take any pictures to post. But I do wanna say that the Junior High beat the High Schoolers! I not only forgot how fun paintballing is I forgot how sore you get from rolling around, running, crawling and getting shot. Not that I got shot...in fact I don't know if I wasn't pushing it enough but I have no welts, which is more than I can say for most of the others. It was a great time of male bonding. I forget sometimes that us guys need to go out and do stuff together. And the best part is two kids came to know Christ! What a rewarding day. Not to mention the waves weren't bad in the afternoon either.
I was out in the water thinking, "this is a tough life, but i guess somebody has got to do it." Just kidding-obviously! But then I got to thinking, "what if it was all taken away?" Would I still be as happy? I don't think I would be as happy. But I do know that I would be joyful in another way. My time in Peru I didn't do as much fun activities like this, but my time with the Lord and the discomforts led to a joy that I feel is harder to experience here with so much stuff. I wonder why God placed me in such a place as Southern California, where it feels so difficult to place him number 1. True, it is getting easier with the economy the way it is. And I think a lot of people are refocusing what is truly important. I wonder how God will judge us by our situations. Which life is more difficult: living on fire for Jesus in the midst of prosperity or dying for Jesus in the midst of poverty?

FUEL STORE Wednesday Night

Ok, so the FUEL STORE is open for business! Remember, in all that we do, we do for the glory of God. If your motivation for getting FUEL BUCKS is only the physical reward of the prize you got, you are missing out on what is really important and the purpose of having the FUEL STORE! When we live according to God’s will and seek first His kingdom, all of the other stuff will be added…and if it isn’t we won’t care because we have Him! Seeking the Lord is an amazing journey and in so many different ways very rewarding. At least for this season there are tons of cool things to earn! God bless you and I hope you enjoy all the goodies!

Creepiest workout of my life!

So a few Saturdays ago I went up to the church to finish my study for Sunday morning. There was nobody at the church but one of the doors was propped open and the lights were on but there was nobody there-at all, and the alarm wasn't set. It was kinda eerie but stuff like that happens right?
Well, I left the church at 11 and decided to stop by 24 hour fitness to get a quick workout in before bed. The door was also open, but there was no one at the front desk, which isn't uncommon at all that late. What was uncommon was there was only one person in the entire gym-and he didn't work there! I was a little razzled and asked him if he had seen anyone. He said no, not one person but when he had gotten there there was one guy leaving who also had not seen anyone.
I worked out for over an hour, completely alone. I actually called Pastor Adam to make sure that the rapture hadn't happened. Finally, a cleaning lady came in and in a perplexed and kinda scared tone told me that the gym closed at 9pm that night! I would be a little scared to if I came in to clean and there was some dude on the treadmill at 12 when the gym had been closed for 3 hours...like some crazy dude or something. Long story short, I will use that story in rapture illustrations for the next few years and I am so blessedly assured that when it does happen for real I will be in heaven and not wandering around alone wondering what happened to everybody.

So, since my last post I have been hit by a car while riding my bike, surfed some of the scariest waves I have ever been in down in Mainland Mexico, and turned 25 years old (yuck)! It's pretty amazing how long it has been-but God willing I made a commitment to stay up on my blog this year! So please, by all means, keep me accountable!