mattforeman

a year has passed

2008-12-16T11:52:00.001-08:00

well it has nearly been 1 year to the day since I last blogged. I can't believe it's been that long.

Right now we are filming our final quarters of the SuperStart curriculum. It has been quite a journey. There always seems to be some kind of obstacle that hinders these video shoots. Last year around this time when we were filming we had an ice storm that halted production. This summer while shooting we had a camera go down and lost one of our camera men. And this year, it's been great so far. We had snow the last two days and the office has been closed, but the production must go on.
I know it's not much, but that's all I have in me to blog today. See you in a year

2007-12-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

well it has been a crazy coulpe of weeks here in this sleepy little town in this wild southwest corner of Missouri. We haven't been traveling much, which has been nice. I actually feel like I've had a normal scedule recently which has afforded me some luxuries which I have not enjoyed in a while (the main one going to church two weeks in a row). I know it's crazy!
The weather continues to be a mystery to me around here. It can be such opposites, and not just day to day or week to week, but from hour to hour. Sometimes the highs of the day are in the morning. That's right, the high for the day can be at 8:00 am. What is that all about? I just don't get it. It's not like that in California where I'm from.
We had an ice storm come through about a week and a half ago which knocked out power for, what I've heard, hundreds of thousands of people in our neck of the woods. Of course I was one of these such people. So were many of my friends. People were huddling together at the few lucky people's houses that did still have power. It was a big slumber party for a couple of days. Which was kind of a cool thing. Friends all hanging out, enjoying each others company. Here is an observation I have made. I'll give two examples; 1) "Hey we all need to hang out sometime! We should get together at my house on Friday night and we'll do something". 2) "I still don't have power at my house yet." "Oh you can come stay at my house, it will be fun"
Okay, in one way these are the same because the end result is people hanging out together enjoying each others company (hopefully). But they are totally different because of the way you get there, which causes a totally different dynamic.
In situation #1 there are certain expectations from both the host and the invited parties. There is an "entertainment factor" involved for the host and the invited doesn't necessarly feel like it's their responsiblity to make a decision on what everyone should do. Either way no one wants to decide what everyone is going to do becuase they don't want to be the reason why no one is having a good time. It can be a lot of pressure for the host and a difficult situation for the invited.
But when you come together because of reasons such as a lack of power, combined with the idea that you are spending the night, the "entertainment factor" for the host mysteriously disappears and the invited feels as if they are helping make a morgage payment and feels comfortable helping make a decisions. While the circumstanses in which you are all together in one house (all sharing the same bathroom) are some what unfortunate, it is really one of the best situations to be in. Friends are all together having a good time without a care in the world, just enjoying each other's company.
So this is my suggestion, any time you are going over to a friends house, go with the mindset that you have no power and you are going to be spending the night. The same goes for those having people over. Think of them as unfortunate souls that just need a warm place to stay and you don't have to entertain them. Giving them heat and hot water is comfort enough for them.
This is a picture of Teri's house. All the houses around here had power, but one of the branches from her tree in the back yard fell on her power line. That happened last monday and it finally got fixed yesterday! I was also without power from last Sunday till Monday. Because I got my power back before Teri, Harley, her cat, stayed at my house the other night because she needed a warm place to stay.
Needless to say the rules I mentioned above do not relate to cats! It was just about the worst night of sleep I have ever had (excluding the month my freshmen year of college that I had mono). If you don't know anything about cats, they spend most of their day sleeping and spend most of the night awake, walking around, playing, scratching their liter box, scratching ever wall, pulling down my Ohio State Flag, walking around on my bed, meowing, and just keeping me up. So thanks to Empire Electric for finally getting Teri's power back on because I had a great night of sleep last night, I hardly remember getting into bed.
One last thing, we had a successful video shoot for SuperStart last week. We were worried about no power and not having enough time and other factors. It didn't all happened the way we were planning on, but it happen probably better then we planned. We were done a couple days faster then we thought. It was amazing!

Alot has happened

2007-11-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since me last blog entry, and a lot has happened since then. We have finished out fall tour with SuperStart which all went very well. It is such an amazing program. I am constantly amazed at what our team comes up with. I am so blessed to be working with and being a part of the SuperStart staff, and the staff of CIY as a whole. The people here are just so amazing and I love coming to work everyday.

Also about a month ago my Uncle Curt died which was totally unexpected, but it was kind of a blessing also. Because of this our family was able to get together in Ohio (which is always fun when family gets together) and Teri was able to come with me and meet my family. They all just loved her and are so happy for us.

For Teri's birthday I made her a porch swing. Obviously from the picture, it is more of a bench at this point, but now that we are home and not traveling as much there is some more work to be done. Along with a lot of other things around the house that need to be improved.
And the last bit of information (which I saved the best for last) is that Teri and I got engaged a couple weeks ago. We were in Jacksonville, FL for SuperStart and on Saturday night after the event we went to the beach, we sat and talked, and walked, and slow danced down by the water, and I got down on my kneed and asked her to be my wife, and she said yes.

We had the Atlanta SuperStart the next weekend so we stayed out in Atlanta for the week and one day we went to downtown Atlanta and walked around Centennial Olympic Park, and had a nice dinner at Magianno's Little Itaily. It was a nice night out on the town.

And this last picture is the ring. We went to a jewlery place here in Joplin and designed our ring. It was really a very cool process. The dimonds are family dimonds. The center stone is from my grandma's old wedding ring, and the four side stones are from Teri's great Aunt's old wedding ring. So the ring has a lot of sentimental value. It's just really cool that we could get those dimonds and be able to design a ring for Teri that incorperates all of them. It means so much to us.
So that date is set. We are planning on getting married March 21st here in Joplin. It's a little less then four months away and we have a lot of planning to do. But we are so excited about it!

Hiking in Seqouia National Park

2007-09-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

This last week I have been on vacation in California hiking in Seqouia National Park with my Dad, Uncle Eric, and cousin Ben. We left at 6:30am Sunday morning and hit the trial by 12:30pm. The plan was a six day hike to Kaweah Gap and back. A round trip of 42 miles. At first 42 miles doesn't seem too bad, but really it is! I weighted my pack before we left and it was 39 lbs. (obviously showing that I am a true amature) while my dad's (a pro) weighted 30 lbs. Nine pounds doesn't seem like a whole lot of difference, but when you're hiking 42 miles on rugged turane it makes a huge difference. That first day was a killer. My legs were so tired I just didn't feel like I could go on. The next day was even worse! My dad asked me last night if this was one of the most difficult physical things I have ever done and it definately was. I'm sitting at home right now writing this with two big blisters on my heals, calfs that are so sore it adds more to the tenderness of my walking, and thinking about looking into hip replacement. On Wednesday morning we slept by Little Five Lakes. Absolutely beautiful, with the Black Rock Pass looming above us, waiting to take one of us as a victim.

It was switchbacks for two hours, two hours of painful climbing up to and elevation of 11,600 ft. While feeling victorious once we reached the top we looked at the other side that we had to go down, and while downhill looked a whole lot more inviting, and knew it was going to be hard. Again, not really too bad, but with almost a 40 lbs pack it's killer. It took 2 hrs. to go down this mountian. This is where I was starting to think about hip replacement. This is also where the blisters started coming into play. But the scenary was amazing.

Thursday was a decently easy day compared to the previous ones. We traveled about 12 miles so that we would be in good position to only have to go about 8 miles on friday so we could be back to the car around 12pm and head home. Which everything worked out that way. We were moving about 2 miles an hour, which is suppose to be pretty decent. At this point in the trip all I am thinking about is what I want to do first once I reach civilization. One thing I was having visions of was a power sized Jamba Juice, which I ended up getting around 2:30 friday. Other top choices was a shower, which I hadn't had all week, a clean bathroom (specifically a toilet), and a nice clean, soft bed to sleep on.
Overall, looking back (even though it's 24 hrs. later) it was a great time. While I was hiking I was thinking, "This is how I chose to spend my vacation?", but I'm glad I went. I had a great time with the Foreman men and I got to see some of God's amazing creation. But I'm excited to be heading back home tomorrow (it's still kind of wierd to call Missouri home).

Religous Philosophy, Politics, and Jesus

2007-08-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm finally home from a long summer on the road. It was a great summer! It was long and tiring, but it's always worth it when you see on the final night all the kids that stand to say publicly that they made some kind of life changing decision. My last conference was in Oregon so there was the long drive from Oregon State back to Joplin that I was not looking forward too. The first day wasn't too bad, it went by fairly quickly and uneventfully. On Sunday morning our air conditioner went out while we still had all of Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, in the middle of the summer, with all the heat and humidity. I know I'm having a god sweat when sweat is rolling down my legs. So Sunday I'm driving and need to stop to get something cool to drink and to re-fill our ice chest with ice that melted very quickly. This stop was perfect because it was at a Super Wal-Mart and there were tons of other trucks. It might as well have been an offical truck stop. I was pulling out of the lot and I turned on the CB radio and the truckers were having a political debate (debate might not be the correct word, but I'll give them some credit) It was very interesting and somewhat comical. They got to talking about how if there were no government we'd all end up killing eachother. So me, wanting to have some fun and join the conversation, thought I'd throw in some knowledge. My comment was this: "If we all loved Jesus the world would be a better place". This started a very humorous discussion about 1) if Jesus created Satan or not, 2) why Jesus lets bad things happen, and 3) if Jesus was a man or a woman. When something good was said I'd throw in an "Amen Brother" in the best trucker voice I could. It was really interesting to hear what some of these guys views were. Some of them were pretty messed up, but some of them were right on. And I was very excited that I started a religious debate at a truck stop. It was the highlight of my long, non-AC day in the truck. The religious discussion though didn't last too long and was quickly followed by a session of dirty joke telling. Which was also kind of funny.

Week Off

2007-07-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086750604277095122" />This week I've had the chance to relax down here in So Cal, it's been so nice. Chase, Abbey and I went to a Dodger game on Saturday night. Then we went to Shepard of the Hills for church on Sunday and say Dusty speak and Byron and Tommy (guys in the Matt Bayless Worship Band) play in the band. Monday was a day to get some work done. We had a projector go out on us so I worked on sending that in and getting our staging all situated for Cal 2 & 3. Then we checked into our hotel a couple blocks from Disney and went to Downtown Disney and ate at the ESPN Zone. I had been craving some Fetticcini Alfrado and finally got some. It was pretty good.
Tuesday we met up with Grant and his fiance Danielle and Kelsey (Hope Reps from Colorado) and went to Disneyland. Kelsey used to work there so she got us some front of the line passes, so that was nice. Disneyland is a lot smaller then I remember it being. Maybe because I have been to DisneyWorld more recently and that's bigger, but the castle seemed so small and It's a Small World looked like a 4th grade class had craft time in there. It was clearly sub-par, from what I last remember anyways. Other then that, it was a fun time. We saw the fireworks show, which is one of the best I've seen, but that is to be expected from Disney. Oh, the other bad thing, I set my Jamba down for two seconds to take a picture, and a park worker picked it up the threw it away. Pretty much the down point of my entire day. But on the up side, that brings me to mention how well kept the park looks. You didn't see trash anywhere! So good job Disney, you get two thumbs up.

On Wednesday I got to hang out with my friends Matt and Valarie Crane. I went to school with Matt so it was great to hang out with them. We got onto a golf course called Robinson Ranch, which normally costs $117 a round, for free because Matt's brother works there. So we got 18 holes in before dusk which was awesome. I didn't shoot my best round, but I had a great time.
Thursday Matt and I played 25 holes of disc golf and we went out to eat at Pei Wai. It was a fun and relaxing day.
Today (friday) is the last day to relax so it's almost over, but my sister is coming up from San Diego on Sunday to visit and I haven't seen her in a long time, so I'm really excited about that.

2007-07-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Identity is a huge issue in the lives of these high schoolers. that's something I'm learning this summer. I have always know that. It seems like it was a long time ago when I was in high school (there is a myspace for our 10 year class reunion that is coming up next year) and I was struggling with the same thing. But when I see the masks, when you see the hurts and pains for these kids I realize some of them are stuggling with their Identity a lot more then I ever did. This has been a reminder that they struggle so much with life. High school can be a great time in a kids life, but it comes with so much crap they have to deal with. It's hard to go from hanging out with your friends, laughing and joking, to being back at home, alone, Isolated, trying to figure out who you are and why you're here.
It's powerful what the kids are going throught

Coming to the Father

2007-06-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

During worship last night I was able to seek away from behind the light board for a couple seconds to take some pictures. I love taking pictures at conference but unfortunatly this year I don't get that oppurtunity too often. I saw a kid during worship with his hands raised, much like so many others were doing, but he was a little different then the rest. He seemed to be trying to reach higher. He was grasping at the air, as if to by trying to climb closer to the Father. It was amazing to watch him. Those are the moments during conference that you think about all the long, hard hours of work that we have put into this and know that it was all worth it. Every splinter, every time it rained and we got frustrated that we would be limited in our work, every t-shirt rolled and every stencil traced, cut, and painted, it's all nothing in those moments when you see kids coming close to the Father. It's truly amazing to witness!

2007-06-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's monday morning, beginning of CO2. We just had a great two days relaxing between conferences. This is the only week we'll have where we don't have to set up or tear down, our only weekend to relax. So you'd think Sat. I'd sleep in and just take it easy. But no, no sleeping in happened. My plan was to not set my alarm clock and just wake up whenever and head out to the golf course just off campus. So I woke up, looked at the clock thinking it had to be at least 8am (which never seemed to be sleeping in to me until recently) But no, it was 6:15am! So i figure what the heck, I'll hit the links early. I was teeing off with two other gentlemen probably in their 60's by 7am and had played 18 holes by 10:30, not bad for my day off! Then played some softball later in the day. Sunday we went to a canyon near by and had church and relaxed. Some of the boys and I climbed a mountain, which is pictured above. It was absolutely beautiful! I almost died a couple times, but in the end, once we were back on level ground, It was worth the pain I feel in my legs today. So we had a good weekend, hanging with each other and enjoying the mountains of Colorado.

2007-06-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Matt, the sponsor that spent the night in the Isolation booth last night. He stayed in there till they all left for encounter this morning. It was awesome to see him get inside the booth last night and see his eyes tear up as he read the hurts and pains the kids wrote down. I'm excited to see how the interview with him goes tonight to hear what his thoughts and feelings were during his time Isolated.

Reflection and rants from my mind and heart

2007-04-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

There are so many thoughts going through my head as I reflect on this last year of SuperStart and Believe and traveling all over the country. I just got back last night from Anderson, IN where the final Believe of the year was held. What an awesome program Believe is! I love that I get to help out and be a part of it every once in a while. I've learned a lot this last tour, from tech stuff to how a conference works from the administrative side. It's been great! But I want to learn more so when Josh and Jon talk about the new 7500 series circuit board in the Series 3 blah blah blah, I can actually know what they are talking about. (I tried to think of the most technical sounding device, but still feel like I came up short) This is my greatest area of weakness, which became more evident to me as we tore down in Florida last week. People were asking me questions about equipment and I had no idea. I don't have a problem telling people that I don't know, I just don't like that being my response to every question. So it's definitely something I need to work on. I'm running lights this summer so I think that will definitely help me take my knowledge to a higher level.
I've also learned more that it's so important to just relax and not do anything sometimes. I took that opportunity this weekend. I rented a car and drove to Columbus, OH to visit some family I hadn't seen and a year and a half. I got there Sat. evening and just relaxed out of the back porch with my family. I slept in Sunday morning (till 8:30) then watched my uncle cut the grass and took a nap on the back porch. It was great! The timing of the visit was also great because my great uncle died on Wed. and the funeral was Sunday afternoon, so I got to go to that and represent the California Foreman's. I didn't know my uncle Bob all that well, but I learned a lot about what kind of man he was. He was the definition of a gentle man, and a Godly man, which made my heart happy. Because of the funeral, I got to see a lot of family that I would not have had the opportunity to see. I got this a lot, "I can't get over how much you look like your father". Which I like getting, it's a great compliment.
So with being at Believe and getting the opportunity to visit my family in Ohio, it was a great weekend. I love my job, the people I work with, and I love my family, so a good time was had with both this weekend.

Late night frustration

2007-03-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

It's 11:30 pm, we just got settled into our hotel room in Cincy after driving 12 hrs in the van. It's late, I'm tired, Skyline Chili is not doing good things to me, and I need to vent a little. Why? you might ask, because I hate (I know it's a strong word, but it's very appropriate) online mapping services. Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Mapquest, and now Ran MacNally. They can just never seem to get it right. Why send me in a big circle when it's just down the street. And I'm not the best with directions, so when it says, "Head North on Buttonwillow Blvd" I'm sorry but I don't know which way north is. Give me left and right, that's easier. It's universal. They could put it in Spanish and I could understand it better then telling me to head East on some random road. GEEZ!

Being in a Van for 4,000 miles, you do some thinking

2007-03-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've been in a van for the last week traveling out to California and back so I've had a lot of time to think about this. It's the little things that we don't always notice that have been blowing me away. Some of them extremely random, like thumbs, holy crap! God was thinking on that one. I'm not even trying to be funny (because I know you are rolling right now). I was trying to open a bottle of water with one hand while I was driving and I was thinking, "There is no way I could do this without my thumb". It's such a simple thing, something we don't often think about until we get a hang nail, but it's so very important. I often think about how things work, that's just how my mind works. I am amazed at the technology that we have now a days. But as much as I am amazed that right now I am going to hit a button and my words can be accessed by millions of people, I am more amazed that I don't even have to think it and I can walk across the room. I know it seems simple and it's not anything that we really think about, but it's so amazing how it all works.
We never know what tomorrow brings. Half the time I don't know what yesterday brought. But the crazy thing is that God knows. He has it all planned out. I have to worry about things like what I'm going to wear tomorrow, if I'm going to go to Starbucks or not, what I'm going to eat for dinner, stupid things like that. Of course throughout life I have to make bigger decisions, but it's really nothing when I try to think about how God does it. But then I think I don't need to know how God does it. Even if he were to tell me how he does it, I don't think there is any way that my mind could possibly comprehend it.
I was talking to a friend from back home tonight and he was telling me the things God has been teaching him. He was telling me about how God has been amazing him. Which was great to hear because it always makes my heart happy to hear my friends talk like that. But it was also cool to hear it because it is something I have thought about a lot lately also. I look back on this last year, even these last couple of months and I am amazed at what God has been teaching me. Life is a constant journey that, for me, has been fun the whole time. Sure there are ups and downs, but I've been constantly learning new things, formulating who I am. I can't wait to see where this journey continues to take me.

Things in life must change sometimes

2007-03-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

I have gotten to a point in my life where I felt like I needed to make some changes. Not that I am unhappy with where I am in life, because I love where I am at, but a change in some of the little things must take place. This has been my conclusion. This new way of life may have been inspired by some of the people I work with, or maybe just from the suttle, yet obviously very effect marketing of a company with a guy in a tee shirt and jeans representing the cool, casual, hip lifestyle their product is associated with. I'll have to admit I have been fighting this change for a while. People don't often like change and I am no big exception to the rule. I don't mind it, but transitioning from one way of thinking to another is not always easy, even if you know deep down inside that it must take place. So, after fighting it for a while, going back and forth on what I should do, I finally broke down and joined the esotaric, tendy group of people that own a Mac.

I make this judgement with the utmost respect, with the reluctant knowledge that I may be entering the beginning stages of becoming one myself. I told a friend who is a proud Mac owner, that owning a MacBook makes you feel almost high class. It's a smooth, classy looking machine and you are proud to walk into Starbucks (strictly for example purposes) with this MacBook in your hands, set it down on the table and surf the web with the added bonus of enjoying a Mocha Frapp (again just for example).

Several other people have MacBooks at CIY and I have seen theirs and they are durty where their hands rest as they type, so I decided I did not want mine to become like this. So I added some blue surface to protect and enhance the surrounding keyboard area. I think I really like it. It adds a nice accent and sets it apart from the other MacBooks I am surrounded by. People can look at mine and know it belongs to me, because it is unique. No one else has a MacBook that looks like mine.

The transition will take a while for me to be totally comfortable. I find myself trying to do little things that worked on my PC but don't work on the Mac. And I am learning the things that the Mac can do that the PC can't. So here I go, entering a new phase of life. It's like graduating from college and school all together. I went to school my whole life, then one day I woke up and I was done. I started a new stage in life. The same goes with my computing. I have used a PC my whole life. It is all I have ever know. Now I wake up one day and I have moved from the old to a whole new thing.
So far, it's been great. I'm loving it and will soon be a pro, or maybe just below pro status!

Remembering Ohio

2007-03-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

I found this picture, which I thought I had lost. If you know me, which I don't know why someone would be reading this if they didn't, I am a big Ohio State Fan. I'm often asked "How did you become an Ohio State fan? You're from California" Well in case you don't know, my dad is from Ohio. Growing up my family would take trips out to Ohio every couple of years to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was always a favorite place to go. We would all go out to the farm and hit golf balls and come up with inside jokes that only my cousins and siblings were privaliged too. Those were such great times. It is still always very exciting to go to Ohio to visit family. This picture was taken when I was out there a last Christmas 05. I have been lucky enough to have been able to walk the ground that my favorite team plays on. One day, hopefully soon, I will get to go to my first Ohio State Football game. Oh what a glorious day that will be

2007-02-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

I'll tell you what, after a great weekend at SuperStart in Dallas this last weekend I have just found myself to be so very tired. I don't really know why. It's not like it was a longer weekend then we've had before. It was only a 7 hr. drive, so not that bad at all. I do about 99.9% of the driving, which is fine with me because I absolutely love to drive. Sometimes after we get home from driving for 8 hrs home, sometimes all I want to do is get in my Tahoe and drive out on the country roads with the windows down enjoying some loud, yet soothing, music. Because we work on the weekends and travel we get comp days. I probably don't take as many as I could, but Monday I was determined to sleep in and just relax. One thing I really like to do in my spare time, and for work, is take pictures. It's relaxing and just plain fun to take a subject and capture it in the way that you see it. See, people see things differently, and the fact that you can capture that image the way you see it is amazing to me, and it give you an oppertunity to be creative. So I found myself taking pictures of everything in my living room. Playing with different settings and just learning more about my camera. It was great! The above image was one I took while I was trigger happy the other day. You can go to my picture website http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattforeman/
to see more images that I have taken that I like the best. It's just something that I really enjoy doing. I'm hoping to get a Macbook soon, and I'd like to add the new Photoshop Lightroom program so that I can take my picture taking to the next level. I have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but it's something that I enjoy doing and learning about. So we'll see where this little hobby of mine takes me.

To good friends

2007-02-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

I went to Starbucks tonight, making that my second trip today. I think I'm to the point where I have to realize that I might have an addiction. But that is not the reason for my thoughts. While many great thoughts can be cultivated in such a wonderful environment, my thoughts are about the people outside Starbucks this evening.
I walk out of Starbucks with my Mocha Frapp in hand and there are some kids (or young adults) either in high school or the early stages of college perhaps standing in the middle of the parking lot (it's in the 20's outside) trying to decide what they were going to do. My first thought was 'why didn't you discuss this inside before you left?' Then one of the guys said "Target is really cool!" with an enthusiam only an adventurous young kid with nothing else to do could muster up. It reminded me of my days in college. While I was a little bit older when I finally went away to college (and much more mature) and it was never my idea to hang out at Target or other store like that, I do remember my friends coming up with these kinds of ideas. While only a few times we might have actually followed through with it, they were ideas none the less, and often times the only ones. What else were bible college students going to do on a friday night? (well we would often go to the beach) We'd drive the 35 min drive on the windy roads through the Santa Cruz mountains on Hwy 17 in my RD's Cebring Convertable. It didn't matter how cold it was, the top would always be down. We'd get to the beach, make a fire, and sing worship songs. Again, what else do bible college students do then get together with a guitar and sing worship songs. But there was nothing like it. Feeling the coolness of the ocean, the sound of the waves, the warmth of the fire, singing songs with good friends. I miss those times, I miss my friends back home. Seeing those kids in the parking lot tonight made me think of them and how much I love and appreciate them. I used to be the type of person that didn't really miss people. I always figured I'd get to see them again sometime. It was never goodbye, just 'see you later'. As I've gotten older I have realized that I do miss people. Miss the pleasure of their company. While talking on the phone one every couple weeks is good, face time is always better.
I realize I have pretty much been all over the place with my thoughts, I just kind of sat down and started typing and went wherever the breeze blew me.

Things are changing, because they are

2007-01-30T06:13:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here at my desk in the offices of CIY. There is the buzz of people coming in for work, talking about the show's that were on t.v. last night and everything that needs to get done today. Most are hanging around in the hall waiting for our morning prayer time. This is one of my favorite times when I come to work. The words "Let's pray" comes from down the hall and everyone that hasn't already congregated in the hall comes out of there little part of the office. Depending on the urgency of the days events and the number of people to pray, there is sometimes story time with Robin, which is always enjoyable. Or if there was a big rivalry game there is often banter back and forth between fans of those respective teams. It is just a great time with friends.
Right now is a crazy time. Things are changing around here. We are getting new staff members, which they are awesome, and we are losing staff members, which is not so awesome. But God is moving them in a different direction, and that is great! The thing that makes CIY a great place to work is the people. The people here are amazing. while you want things to stay the same, the change is God inspired and you cannot complain about that.
Because of these changes, there is a constant shift of personel between offices. We just do not have enough space around here. But we are working with what we have. My desk area is one of these such places that are getting a "makeover". Right now over my right shoulder is freshly layed drywall. A new wall is in the process of being put up for a new office for M.D. our video guy. It makes for a mess around the office. That along with all the new equipment and Merch. we have been getting the last couple of weeks. It's been like Christmas around here. so there are boxes, papers, cases, etc. everywhere. It may seem like I'm complain, but I am not. Things are changing, and that's okay. They are good changes and I'm just happy to be a part of all this, because I know it is part of a bigger plan than just putting up some new walls. God is good, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for the ministry here at CIY.

Bipolar Temps

2007-01-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday morning: I usually watch The Today show in the mornings while I'm getting ready for work mainly for the part where Al gives us a national look at weather then says his line "And here's whats happening in your neck of the woods" Then I am reminded in those next few seconds when they move from Al to Tiffany how very much below par the local news is here in Joplin. Anyways the point, the local weather outlook for the next couple of days looked pretty good. It was suppose to be in the low 60's on Thursday, which it was. Well done. Then friday was suppose to be in the 50's. I'm thinking "Great, still definately shorts weather." Move to Friday morning. I'm getting ready. While standing in the doorway of my closest deciding what to wear, I'm reminded that it's suppose to be in the 50's. Sweet. Which shorts should I wear today? After I pick out the shorts with the holes in them I want to wear today, I turn on The Today Show. Al does his things and sends it to our local weather broadcaster. Current Temps for Joplin: 38 degree and falling. WHAT! It'getting colder. And it's raining. Wait, no, wait. That's not rain. It has turning into ice. Instead of being in the 50's, we're having and ice storm. May I remind you that it was in the 60's yesterday.
Move to today, Saturday. High today, so far around 23 degrees, maybe. Now I hope you are not getting the wrong impression here. The point is that the weather in Joplin is definatly having some issues. It's "bipolar" as I like to say. 60's one day, 20's the next. It's just crazy.
But I love it. I'm back into 4 wheel drive in my Tahoe. Which I enjoy doing. So don't get me wrong. I love it! It's just crazy!

Dang Denver!

2006-12-24T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'm at home in California for Christmas, finally! I went up to St. Louis with Mike and Jenesse and stayed with his family for a day because I was flying out of St. Louis at 6:30pm Sat. night. My flight went from STL to Denver, Denver to Sac. Knowing about the storm in Denver a couple of days before it worried me a little because the airport had been shut down so I was keeping a close eye on my flight status via the intern. Everything was looking good, so we left for the airport, and my flight into Denver was on time and things were running smoothly. I got to Denver and had about an 1:30hr. layover, no big deal, so I got some food. My flight out of Denver was scheduled for 9:15. Well that came and went. And the scheduled departure time kept being moved back by 10 min, then 20 min, then another 20 min, etc. I didn't get on the plane till about 12:30am. Apparently, because of the storm, the ground crew had been working for three days straight, so they were highly understaffed yesterday to unload and reload luggage from the plane. That was the only reason my flight was delayed 3 hrs, because there was no one to unload it. I almost went up there and offered to do it myself if it would get us going. So we finally left and I arrived in Sac around 2:30am. Then the wait for the luggage. This is something that has never really bothered me too much because I have never had a bag lost or anything like that. You except to see your bag come up over the ridge of the conveyer belt and then you can breath easy. Well, it was somewhat stressfull for me this time. Knowing about the problems in Denver, I figured the chances of all our luggage getting to us wasn't very good. I saw one bag so figured I'd get both. Well I was wrong. My bag with my closes is somewhere in the United States right now. So I finally got home to Stockton around 4:30am and decided that I needed to go to the mall before churcha and buy some closes. So the only good thing about this whole thing, if there is a silver lining, is that my mom bought me some new jeans, which I really needed anyways, and two new shirts. And the gifts for my sister and parents are in that bag. So hopefully I'll get it. They are suppose to deliver it too me, maybe a christmas gift on my front door tomorrow. That'd be nice, shoot!

"First I would like to Thank God!"

2006-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

"Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! Um, normally I'm pretty cool in pressure situations, but my heart is pounding so fast right now. First off I want everybody that's able to be here with us today to understand how much I'm thankful and I have to thank God first because without him none of this is possible. I sit in front of all you great people today and without God we wouldn't have the blessing that we have before all of us."-Troy Smith

These are the opening words spoken by this years Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith of The Ohio State University. I want to say first how proud I am that an Ohio State Buckeye won this most prestigious award. I am always honored to be a Buckeye fan but it is moments like these that make it truly special. And it could not have happened to a better person. Granted, I do not personally know Troy Smith, so I may not be qualified to make a statement like this, so Troy, don't pull something like that guy that use of play with you, I think his number was 13, and end up in Jail in a couple of years. I do not want to hold Troy Smith on a pedestal. He is a great athlete and sounds like he is a great person that has over come a very difficult childhood. He has made some mistakes in his past that I'm sure he is not proud of, but he has over
come all that to make for himself what could be a great future. But my question comes not about his athletic ability, there is no doubt there, but in his faith. Do the words he spoke at the beginning of his speech really mean something, or is he just one of those people that thanks God when things are going good and points to the sky when he throws a touchdown? You see that a lot in sports. Someone makes a great catch, a perfect throw, hits a home run, or crosses the finish line in record time and the first thing they do is point to the sky. Are they thanking God in the
moment for being with them, for giving them the ability to play this sport that they love? Are they remembering a loved one that has pasted away as if to say "This one's for you pops"?
When you watch the Grammy's or Emmy's or any of the seemingly hundreds of other awards shows and you hear an actor or musician first thank God for their success do you really take them seriously? Do they take it seriously? I know it's pretty much impossible to tell. Half the time it's someone that has been married 3 or 4 times, has been to AA meetings for the last six months, and is probably a Michigan Wolverine fan. (okay that was low, I'll admit that, but it was funny) I'm sure that some people really mean it. They believe in God, or a god, and believe He is responsible for giving them the talents and opportunities to be where they are today. Or you have people that are just saying it cause everyone else gets up there and says it and they figure it's the 'cool thing' to say. I'd like to believe that it's
the first reason. While they may not live a life that says, "Thanks God for everything", that might be inside them, it's just the pressures of the life they live in weight heavier then a life following God. That of course doesn't make it right, but I'd like to think that anyways.
As for Troy Smith, I have heard him talk before in interviews. I have heard people talking about him (on tv) and you hear nothing but good things about him. It's one thing to hear what people say, but to also hear how they say it. Their tone of voice, their body language, their facial expressions, the way they carry themselves and their attitude can say so much more then what actually comes out of their mouths. I'd like to think he really meant what he said at the beginning of his acceptance speech. It wasn't just going through the motions. I think he really feels blessed to be where he is today and that he has receive those blessing from God. And he wanted the people that were in the Nokia Theater in New York City and all the people watching on ESPN to know that God has given us those blessings. While I can speculate and give you the reasons why I believe him, God is truly the only one that knows what is really in his heart. Maybe I'm just a Christian that is a big Ohio State fan and wants the Quarterback, and Hiesman Trophy winner, of my favorite team
to be a Christian also. That could be it. I guess one day when I'm in Heaven I'll have to look up Troy Smith and see if he is there also. Maybe I'll look up Mel Gibson also!

Big 12 Championship Game

2006-12-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went up to Kansas City with Chase, Abbey, Teri, Eric, and Tori to the Big 12 Championship game. It was Oklahoma vs. Nebraska. Being that we are in Joplin and half of the people I went with are from Oklahoma they were all going for OU. I was, somewhat quietly at first, going for Nebraska. When it really comes down to it I didn't really care, but I guess for me the edge went to Nebraska. The other's wern't really too happy about that. Because our seats were at the second row from the top of Arrow Head Stadium (where the Kansas City Cheifs play) they threatened to throw me over the top. But we still all have fun.
We knew that it was going to be cold up there. It had snowed in Joplin a couple of days before and some up in KC, so we tried to dress accordingly. I had on my wife beater, cutoff tee, long sleeve tee, short sleeve tee, two sweatshirts, and a heavy jacket for my top layers. That's seven layers. That worked out pretty well for me. I had long underwear, athletic shorts, jeans, a pair of ankle shocks and two pairs of knee high socks as my bottom layers. This worked alright. My feet were freezing by halftime, my right knee was cold because I had a big hole in my jeans, and my butt was cold because the seats were freezing. I also had a beany, the two hoods on the sweatshirts I was wearing and the hood from my heavy jacket. Also three pairs of gloves. Overall I felt like I was pretty well prepared. It sounds like I may have overdone it, but no, not overdone at all. There are a couple of things I would do differently next time I prepare to stand out in freezing temps with the windchill being probably close to single digits. But I had a great time. I have only been to one pro football game, but the atmosphere of a college game is so much more electric. The energy of the crowd is amazing. You have the band playing and everyone cheering for 'their' team. It was great. Funny thing was I was taking pictures, so I had one glove on my right hand off so I could work that camera a little better. I had dropped it at some point at the beginning of the game and looked everywhere for it. I figured it might have fallin in the seat of the man sitting in front of me, so when he stood up I looked. Nothing. So the game has gone on and sometime during the third quarter I think, the lady next to him finally stood up, and there it was. She had been sitting on it the whole time. She kept it nice and warm for me so I apprieciated that.
We didn't get home till about 2:30/3am. It was a great game though, great time with friends, just a great overall experience.

Lot's of Snow, and I love it

2006-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

On Wed this last week it was 68 degrees when I left for work at 7:30 in the morning. The day progressed and it was raining and got colder. By that night its was sleating/snowing. Thursday morning there was snow on the ground and the southwest Missouri area was shut down. And of course I was wearing shorts, and it really wasn't too bad out. It took me about 20 min to get my car ready to go. First I couldn't get into it because the doors were frozen shut. Then I had to scrap a thick layer of ice off all my window. I was loving it though. I went into work and there were a hand full of people that came it. I love my Tahoe. It has 4x4 so I can get through the snow and Ice a little easier then cars without it. It still slides around a little, but it is so much fun. That night, Thursday, Mike asked me to help him pick up his sister at work because she couldn't drive her car and Mike couldn't drive his. So I was happy to help. We got back to Mike's house and had some hot chocolate and relaxed a little. Then we got to talking, we should go sledding. Now that I'm out of school I haven't done too many spontanious activities late at night, 10:00pm is late to me now, so I was excited about it. Mike, Janese, Nicole and I went to Wal-Mart to buy some sleds and we headed to the biggest hill we could think of. Being in Missouri there aren't really many hills, so we went to where the CIY offices are. There is a little hill that you have to get up to get to the offices so we thought we'd try that. Needless to say it wasn't very good. There was too much powder. So we decided to get a rope and tie it to my hitch and pull each other around the parking lot and down the hill and back up. It was a lot of fun, very cold, be so much fun. It was snowing pretty good by then so the snow was hitting your face so you could hardly see, it was great!
Friday morning I woke up and had to pick up Nicole and take her to school. We had another snow day so we didn't have work. The roads still weren't very good, so again, I was happy to help. I dropped her off at Ozark and went to the office. I turned in and there was someone that was stuck at the bottom of the hill. So I got out and asked him if he wanted me to push him up the hill with my car. So I slowly started to push him up the hill. I was a little worried about hurting his bumper. We got half way up the hill and I got a little stuck too. So I backed up and repositioned my car. I started to push again and I heard a cracking noise. I got him up the hill and saw that I broke his back right tail light. Thankfully he was okay with that, he was just happy to not be stuck anymore. Again though, I was loving the snow still. I took some pictures around the office and was just enjoying the beauty that the snow brings.
After a little bit of that it was time to go pick Nicole up from school and take her to work. Then I came home, relaxed briefly, then went to Kansas City with Patrick and Sam to pick up their friends from the airport. I am glad the Lord blessed me with my vehicle and I can help people out. I love it. And it's always fun to hang out with them.
I am just loving all the snow. I love that it is cold. I love that I can put my Tahoe in 4x4 and get though it. I love that I can help people out and give them a ride. I even enjoy scrapping the ice from my windows. Maybe it's because I grew up in California in the central valley where I never had to drive though snow and deal with everything that comes with it. I just love it and I hope this is the first of several snow storms we get here in Joplin. And I wouldn't be suprised if I'm the only person that feels that way, but that's okay, because if I haven't said it yet, I love it!

Two great victories

2006-11-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

It has been a great week in sports. Last weekend my team, The Ohio State Buckeyes, beat our greatest rivals Michigan. We will be playing for the National Championship. One of my favorite parts of beating Michigan is hearing the excuses people make about why Michigan lost, expecially the Hansons. It's so much fun to argue back and forth. I love it! It was a really good game. But Ohio State came out on top, again, and Troy Smith, (the ohio state quarterback) will most likely win the Hiesman trophy. And as an added bonus right now, the OSU basketball team is rank #3 in the nation, and there are talks of a national championship in Basketball also, which would be the first time in NCAA history that one school has won both Football and Basketball National Championships in the same year.
On Friday I went with the Sigar's to St. Louis to watch the Webb City High School Football team play for the state championship. Football in Webb City is LIFE. I have never seen people so into high school football as the people that live in this little town of 9,000 people. It's like something you see out of the movies, and I'm not just saying that, it's real. Anyways, it was in the Dome that the St. Louis Rams play in, so that was also cool to be in. WC dominated this other team. It was a very exciting game. We, meaning everyone in that stadium, probably saw the biggest hit they had ever seen at any level of football. On a kick return, probably the biggest guy on the WC team hit the return man at full blast and you could almost feel the shock way from the hit. I'm suprise the kid got up. It took him a little while, but he eventually got up, I'm just suprised it wasn't on a stretcher. Anyways, WC has an explosive offense, which makes them fun to watch. Needless to say, Webb City won the game 26-0 and collected the State Championship.
So two great games, two great teams, both who I wanted to win came out on top in both the biggest games of their collective seasons. Next up, the national championship for Ohio State. I love sport!

2006-11-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

Today is a BIG day, perhaps the biggest day in the history of college football. Of course I'm talking about Ohio State/Michigan. I sitting in St. Louis during our break at SuperStart. Unfortunately when the game is going on will be tearing down and driving back to Joplin. The biggest game in History and I will be missing it. Yeah I set my DVR to record it so I will watch it when I get home, but there is something about watching it live, with friends, enemies (Michigan fans), or family. The picture above was taken last year after OSU beat Notre Dame in the Feista Bowl. This is my family, we watched it out on the farm in Ohio. It was an amazing way to watch the game. Any time anything big happened we were all jumping up and down, cheering and giving high fives and chest bumps. I will very much miss watching it this way. Because I will be working. So the challenge is this: Stay away from any kind of outside world media outlet or people of anykind until I get home and watch the game. Then my phone will be turned back on and I will rejoin the world. Then I will post about how THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES beat Michigan and the joy it has brought to my heart. I know you all will rejoice with me in our time of glory. Then a month later when we win the national championship. GO BUCKS!!!

2006-11-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

I'm in Portland this weekend with Believe. The first night is over and it was pretty cool. People keep asking me if I miss traveling with Believe. I tell them no. Not because I didn't like it, I in fact loved it, but I also love traveling with Superstart. Two totally different programs, so it's hard to compare the two. Anyways, Portland has been awesome. Chase and I found our way into the Rose Garden where the Portland Trailblazers play. We walked on the floor and sat on the Bench. It's crazy because no one said a thing to us. We just walked around like we belonged there. It was sweet. It's also nice to be at a CIY event and not have to really worry about doing anything or making sure everything is running well. I worked the infatables and had fun joking with the kids and watching them be silly Jr. Highers. It was great.

Portland is a beautiful city. I have to walk by two starbucks on my way to the convention center, there is a Jamba Juice down the street, and it reminds me of Pittsburg or Cincy. Which are both awesome cities them selves. It is cold and it's been raining since we've been here, but that's okay.
I also helped drive the semi out here, I hadn't driven it since this summer and was a little worried that I might have forgotten how to drive it, but it's like riding a bike, it comes back as soon as you get back in the saddle.

Domino's

2006-10-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days I have been painting 1000 domino's and making our Summer Conference Logo of a video that we will be making. I can't really express in words what it is like to paint 1000 domino's. It is quiet the experience. I'm sure it could have been made much easier if we had a spray gun that actually worked well. It kept getting clogged thus making this project a little more difficult. I also had to paint the two dots and one line on 75 of the domino's. It is a tedious job, but I tend to be okay with those most of the time. Then next step in the process was to set up the domino's around the logo. With each domino placed there was the fear "I really don't want to be the one that has a domino fall over and make the whole thing fall and start over". Well, I was putting the last Domino in place, and sure enough, it tipped and set one of the four lines going. THAT LAST DOMINO Dangit! That happened several times to a couple of us. That's the risk you take when you work with Domino's I guess. But, be that as it may, as usual, the hard work pays off because it looked really good. My back hurts, my legs are tired, there is red spray dust all over the garage, but it was worth it because the end product looks good.

J is for Jamba or Jesus?

2006-10-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

So I went to a vision night for a church plant here in Joplin last night. Some people from work invited me so I thought I'd check it out. It was at the Bridge, which is a skate park/coffee shop/ministry type place, and it is a really cool building. So I was sitting there listing to the "vision" of the guy starting this church. And for a little while there, I was getting a little excited. And that got me thinking, this guy is doing in me what he was hoping to do. He was getting me excited about something he is excited about. And that got me thinking some more. What is it to have a vision? What does it take? I think that before you can have a "vision" you have to have a passion. In the broad scope you can have a passion for anything to have a vision. But to have a vision for a church, you have to have a passion for God and his people. And to start a church, you have to be able to cast that vision to other, and have them catch that passion that you have. You can be passionate about a lot of things, some say I'm passionate about Jamba Juice, I can't really argue with that, but that is nothing compared to having a passion for Jesus. It really isn't. I know when I get someone to have Jamba for the first time, I want them to be able to catch the passion that I have for it. I want to educate them and guide them in the right direction to have the best possible experience. I know it's wierd, I'm comparing a passion for Jamba with a passion for Jesus. The do both start with a J, they both have the same amount of letters, vowels, and those other letters that are not vowels (can't think), It is really just an example with startling similarities. So I guess what I'm saying is that I understand where the leader of this church is coming from, and I think he did a good job of casting his vision and spreading his passion to, if not just me, the other people in the room last night.
So the question I have to ask myself is this; Do I break away from the church I am attending now to join this church plant? I think I am going to continue to explore my options before I make a commitment to one place. I know I can't balance on the fence for too long. A decision must be made at some point.

Christmas is almost here

2006-10-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day so far. I decided to take the day off today to relax a little and try to catch up on some rest. I didn't sleep in, which is fine because I took Chad to the airport in Tulsa. That all went smooth. That was a good drive. I enjoy driving, it's relaxing for me. So I am doing what I wanted to do today, relax. I will have to admit I had an alterior motive. JAMBA!!! I had a power sized citrus squeeze this morning with the added pleasure of an Apple Cinnomon Pretzel. It was just as I had remember from days of old, or at least about a month ago. Then I went to the mall and just walked around and found a pair of shoes that I really liked that were half price, so needless to say I couldn't resist. $40, that a good deal. Then I went to Panera in the mall and worked on some things that I really needed to work on. I really enjoy that atmosphere at Panera, and they have free internet, which is better then the one in Joplin. Next I made my way to the Guitar Center. I played on a couple of Taylors and tickled the ivory of a couple keyboards and just generally enjoyed myself. Then I had another favorite, the Sausage breakfast burrito at Sonic. It was great. Now I am back at Panera because I thought to myself, "I need to blog about this day since I am in this blog mode the last couple of days" And I am listening to Christmas music and relaxing as I write this. I would have a I.C. Mocha helping to make this moment that much better, but I figure that will spoil my Jamba Juice for the ride home. That's right, I'm going for round two before I head home, which might be after I go to Barnes & Noble and relax with a book. Who would have thought I'd want to relax with a book? I guess I'm getting old. Nonetheless, it has been a good day. Which may be capped off with watching some episodes of Smallville season 5. Tell me, does it get much better? Sure it does, but I'm enjoying the moments.

Questions in Life

2006-10-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

There are times in one's life when you have to ask yourself questions. There are different question for the different stages in life. In high school, or even before, you have to ask yourself; What college am I going to go too? What do I want to do with my life? Or where do I want to go in life? In my world and the world of the Christian, we ask ourselves, or should; What does God want me to do? Where does God want me to go? Often times it is not met with an answer as quickly as we would like. That's where our faith comes in. We need to have faith that God is going to take care of us and that even when hard times come, when we feel like he isn't there, he really is, and through our hard times he is teaching us something that, if we are wise and are paying attention, will develop who we are into what God wants us to be. We talked today in our all staff devotions about trusting God even when we don't understand. When we don't see where he is taking us, but having faith that God knows best. That was really something that I needed to hear because it is something that I have been struggling with a lot lately. This last year or so has been a time where I have really had to trust that God has me in the right place. It's been hard at times because I am away from the people I am closest too. My family and friends are all in California and I am in Missouri. I am torn by this, because I love what I am doing, I love the people I work with, and I even enjoy living in Missouri. I have new family and friends here in Missouri. I am very happy with the 8am-5pm aspect of my life. So I find myself asking God what he has planned for me. My prayer is this; Lord help me to trust that your plan is best. It's a simple prayer yet it is so difficult when your just not happy about it all the time.
So the question remains, Lord where are you taking me?

New Thing

2006-10-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

so we had this meeting today at work about blogger. So here is my attempt to do this blogger thing, please be patient with me, I'm trying to get this thing going.

2006-10-11T12:35:00.000-07:00