Sometimes I sit.

     Sometimes I sit here and worry about life; what I'm going to do, study, marry, etc. And often I let these things get to me so much that it makes me flat angry. But then I always get reminded one way or another that all I need to do is rely on God. I can't possibly carry the world on my back and expect to get anywhere, relying on God means that he carries the world in His hands, not on his back. Our biggest struggles are nothing to God, but too often we make them such a huge priority that we lose our focus, we lose our faith in God because all we can think about is how we are going to get ourselves out of this one... Gods plans are always better no matter how long you concoct yours.


     Read James chapter 4 and it deals with this a lot. God bless.

Rain

This is not a normal post for this blog, but I wrote it a while back and I wanted to get some feed back on how people liked it....

            Rain or rather the lack of rain is beautiful. The effects are wonderful and if we think for one minute that rain is a curse or rain is something of an inconvenience; we are wrong. Nothing I just said makes sense and why is that? Because in two sentences I just said that the lack of rain is beautiful and rain is wonderful. I am actually correct on both. How is that possible? Or that is dumb! You might say, but I would excuse those heated notions that I am wrong because I would realize that probably you have never experienced rain as I have. Very few people have experienced it and fewer still will be able to in the future.

I first experienced rain, true rain, when I was ten years old. You may be thinking I am full of something that comes out of the back end of a cow, but I promise to you that I did not experience a proper rain until then. It is a wonderful event the first time you experience it. The sights and smells and sounds of a true rain catch hold deep in your heart and never let go for the rest of your life.

                First you smell it, a smell that gives life to the world again, meaning to the poor wearisome souls who just need this one thing to keep them soldiering on. It gives energy to people and animals alike; a sort of energy that cannot be induced by a soda product, food, or even receiving your first kiss. It churns up from the deepest part of your belly, gets held up in the top or your stomach, and like a glowing orb that energy will stay right there until the proper moment.

From all the changes going on your body desires to look upon the clouds that are bringing this marvel but you do not look for too long and so deceive yourself. You give a glance, maybe two but in the back of your mind you are telling yourself, “It can’t be real.” For so long this desire to have rain has toyed with your mind that now that it is so close you are scared to imagine any longer, instead you prepare yourself to be let down yet again and you are trying to steady your emotions. But finally you feel it, the darkness comes over you and there is a change in your body, you know that this time it is real, this time you will not be deceived. Whether it is just a shower or a storm you know that this time God is going to bless you with a gift and so you stare.

Then you hear it. It is a sound you have been waiting for, for six months or more. It is a sound that brings joy to the wickedest of men. It is a sound that can draw silence to an entire city; silence except for the pitter-patter of rain drops on tin roofs which can be heard from half a mile away. It stops people from their busy schedules, for instance teachers from their lessons, children from their studies, gardeners from their visiting, and night watches from their sleep. It is the most beautiful sound in the world. Like God playing his own piano and putting peace in the world.

Finally you feel it. A single drop lands on your hand and in this drop there is a history and a love and an energy that goes back to the beginning of the world. You look at it; touch it to see if it is real. You walk a little further into the open to make sure it was not a bird or a beast that graced you with his presence and you feel it again, and again. Now the energy that was stored in the orb in your belly burst forth and you let out a yell of praise! You begin to run as the drops become stronger and multiply, people join you in your race. There is laughter again and joy because finally after months of dry, yellow, exhaustion the world has now come back to life. 

I'm not thankful enough.

     Just wanted to take a second to thank God for everything that He has taught me, and blessed me with. Just for everything. I don't deserve any of it. Love You Lord.

It's getting warmer!

     I haven't written in a while and I have no real good reason for why not. I guess I've been lazy or busy or whatever excuse that fills this blank ______ I really don't know. But I am writing now because I feel alive! Finally after what feels like forever, it is getting warmer down here! Besides soccer, my favorite thing to do is fish and occasionally I'll choose fishing over soccer. I can't say that I am a great fisherman but I really love it. My brother, father, and I went into the swamp the other day fishing and had a great time cutting up with each other. We also didn't catch anything but that happens haha.
     Besides what I just wrote, not much has been going on. I've been helping coach the Gator boys here and they are off to a really good start. 2-0-1, which to be honest they should be 3-0-0 but you can't go back and change things like that. And I've been writing articles and taking pictures for the paper which has been loads of fun so far.
     I've been working out very seriously lately, I figured that if I don't start now then I never will and that can only lead me down a sad road. I don't know why I ever hesitate to work out because I actually love it, and once I start doing it I really enjoy it.
     I know I'm bouncing around on my topics but maybe I can tie them together a little bit here... I went to Haywood Baptist Church last Sunday, the preacher there is a really Godly man and he always has something new to share about the Bible. This last Sunday it was about when Jesus fed the 5,000 and how he took the little boys food and multiplied it. That little boy could have been selfish and just kept his lunch and hid or something but he submitted it to Jesus and look at what He did! The message was that we need to realize that once the Lord forgives us of our sins he forgives and forgets. He doesn't take those memories and keep bringing them back up to torment you, he completely throws them out. As humans we won't ever forget most things and especially sins, we will bring them back up in our heads to be excuses why we don't do something, or why we shouldn't even try, and loads of other stuff. What we are supposed to do is move on, forgive ourselves, and have a clear and ready mind for the Lord to use because we don't want to miss his call to action when it comes.
     That's about all I've got for right now, I hope that it makes sense? I often confuse my writings when I'm really going haha. God bless.

Thank You Lord.

     So I wrote out my season preview and submitted pictures with it on Friday and on Saturday (yesterday) my first newspaper article was published! I hope I can learn as much as possible from this experience and have a really good influence on people with it.
     Ware County's first game is tomorrow against Pierce County, I will be both bench-side and goal-side helping coach and taking pictures. If you do come out to the games, girls at 5:30 and boys at 7, make sure to WRAP UP! It's freezing! In Nigeria when it got down to like 78 we were bundling up... No I wish it would be 78!

     God bless.

A Jack of all trades...

     For any of you who have played for the Ware County Soccer team (Girls or Guys) you probably have noticed that they don't get much press action. In my junior year at Ware County I only remember us getting in the paper two times and from what I am told it has been pretty much that same way since the program started. ... Not anymore. God has blessed me and put me in the position to write for the Waycross Journal Herald about soccer. So now you can keep up with all of the games and players this season! I'm really excited about this and I think I am going to learn a lot by doing it. If you live in the area I advise you to make it to as many games as you can this year! We have a really good team and the support will make them even better. Come on guys, let's build soccer up in the swamp!


     .....     I know it's not related at all but I have become addicted to this song, hope you enjoy it!

Coach James

     Howdy, it's been a while since I posted and I don't have too much to update now but I am currently helping coach the Ware County Boys teams, mostly Varsity but JV has been pretty much mixed in these past few days. I think these guys will do really well this season, they need some coaching up and some of them need to show some more maturity and commitment but they will do well. There is a new goalie that showed up this year, I believe he moved down here from SC but don't quote me on that, he is very athletic and I can see a huge promise in his future as long as he gets the right coaching and puts for the extra effort. He is a natural keeper though. Seth Starling and Ali'i Mitchell are in really good shape and will be extremely hard for other teams to deal with in the midfield this year. It's kind of funny to me that I played with those two in my junior year when they were just freshmen and Seth and I were captains together. Time really flies.
     Slightly off topic now, my game plan that I am going to work towards now is that I am going to take a year off (not from working out and all of that though) and try for a four year school next spring. I haven't looked too much into the schools I'll try out for but I want to go somewhere that stretches me to become better.

Today is my B-day. :)

     Today I am 19. God has blessed me with so much through the years and I know He will continue because He is wonderful. I write these blogs and try and do my best at filling people in on what I'm doing or thinking or wishing I could do, but the majority of the time I have no clue. I just want to live a life that pleases God I don't really care where He places me or what He wants me to do because I know that if it is God's plan for me then I will find joy in doing it. Whether I go pro in soccer or I never get to play again, I will serve the Lord. That much you can count on.

I'm struggling...

     I'm facing a rough part in my walk with God. I think it is just the devil trying to get me down and tempt me away from what I am supposed to be doing right now. ... I am working, taking two classes, working out, and soon going to be helping coach the high school boys here in Ware County whenever they start actually practicing. That all sounds so great, and it seems like it should be such a good opportunity for me to grow and learn new things. But so far I think that I have been in the midst of a strong spiritual battle and this hasn't allowed me to fully accept these tasks. I've been struggling every night to sit down and read my Bible like I normally do, and I have been tempted to do so many more sinful things that normally aren't a problem for me. ... I am going to keep praying to the Lord to get me through all of this. I am also asking for any prayer support I can get from the people who read this. ... Lately I have been feeling more and more like I need to be getting ready for something new in soccer but I don't know what. So what I am going to do is step up my work outs and get fit, and see what happens.

I understand weakness.

     Today was my second day at my new job. (For those of you who don't know, I got a job helping to take care of kids in the YMCA's after school program here in Waycross.) It was a great day. I am not a mean person by nature and I have never been mean towards kids, I have always been the uncle who sort of just let's the kids do whatever they want to do without thinking about it, so this job is really stretching me and teaching me. I am so used to people my age where I expect them to do things a certain way and if they don't then we have an issue, and that is just not the way you can be with kids. Anyway, I am not going to go into teaching about kids right now haha. The whole reason that I am bringing any of this up is because today I actually helped a kid. Not like opening a door for them, but actually taught this kid something that I watched him put into practice and change his attitude about life.
     This kids name is Mason. He is 6 years old and joined my group today which are all 8 and 9 year old boys so he was slightly out of place. We took two groups of kids outside to play kickball and Mason decided he wanted to try pitching (or rolling) the ball. He didn't always roll it exactly straight and all the older kids yelled at him a bunch. Finally he got mad and started walking over towards where I was watching from next to third base and I asked him, "Are you mad at them?" And he said yes and started talking about how he couldn't do anything right, and how he doesn't know anything, and how he isn't fast, or smart, or anything. And I stopped him and started telling him that he could do stuff. I told him that he shouldn't let those guys tell him that he can't do something, I told him that if he decides to he can do anything. I used the example that I have played high school and college soccer and if I had listened to all of the people telling me that I couldn't do something, well to be honest I would not have tried out in the 9th grade. I told him that the best thing for him to do is to laugh and smile at the people picking at him and telling him that he cannot do something. I told him how people hate that more than anything. And on our way in a kid made fun of him for something and he said, "Hey, you're funny!" and kept on walking. And numerous other times that I was around him the rest of the day he kept either telling people that they were being funny or just laughing things off. I was very proud of him and I could tell that, that really meant a lot to him. He started opening doors for me everywhere I went and if I asked him to do something he made sure he did it.
     If I had always been the superstar sports guy, I probably would not have known how to help this kid today. I probably wouldn't even be in this position today. But the fact is, I was never the fastest, or the strongest, or the most talented. And everything that I have achieved I owe to God and hard work. I have had people point blank tell me, "James you need to quit soccer." or "James do you really think you are going to go anywhere in soccer? You are not!" But I laughed things off or tried too. I don't care what that little kid saying, "sticks and stones can break my bones bu words can never hurt me." means, that is not true. Words do hurt. But it is how you deal with them that matters. Madea says, "It's not what people call you, it's what you answer to."....... Often times being weak is the best thing for a person because it allows them to truly understand the measure of power, when power is achieved. My new favorite thing to say to adversity comes from Tim Tebow... 'ppreciate that.

     And I tried extremely hard to find a video clip for this but obviously I'm the only one who thought that this part of the Captain America movie was worth putting on the internet.... Anyway this is from when Dr. Erskine is talking with Steve Rogers (Captain America) the night before the procedure which turns Rogers into a super soldier...

     Dr. Abraham Erskine: Schmidt must become that superior man.
Steve Rogers: Did it make him stronger?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yeah. But, there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion.
Steve Rogers: Thanks. I think.

Dr. Abraham Erskine: Whatever

 happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man. 
     

One door closes another door opens...

     Hey everyone! I am sorry I have not posted in a while but I have been going through a lot lately. First before I begin, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and ya'll really honored the Lord this Christ-mas season.
     Well where do I begin? I guess I will just put it out here straight forward and honest and I will try and make sense of everything that has been going on sound good? ... I decided to quit playing soccer for South Georgia College. I am going to take two classes this next semester and I already have a job at the YMCA in Waycross. And as weird as it may sound... I am completely happy and at peace.
     The reasons, without going into tons of in depth detail of every thought that I had, are simple. I got extremely stressed out this semester because I was trying to do my very best in everything and I wasn't receiving much reward at all. (Now that sounds like a spoiled brat attitude, but trust me that's not all.) I couldn't stop thinking about what I was doing, I was completely not at peace in my mind or heart at all. I have always felt that if I can look around and feel at peace with my life because God is happy with what I am doing then I need to keep on doing it. But this was not peaceful at all. I was prepared to go back and do this next semester at South Georgia but I just did not feel at peace about it. I felt like I needed to take a step back for right now. I dreamed about it at night, and thought about it all day long. But since I decided to do what I am doing, I have slept wonderfully, and everything has been going good.
     I think God threw me a huge curve ball. And I sort of feel bad about posting that I felt God wanted me to be at SGC for another year. But maybe that was a good thing because it can show everyone who has not swung at a curve ball before kind of what they are really like.
     I don't know for certain whether or not I will play college soccer ever again, I don't know if this curve ball is still curving or if it's already in the catchers glove. But I am working out and keeping in shape and enjoying everything now. And if or when I get another opportunity to play, I am going to blow the roof off.
     So the title for this blog is still very much the same. And I still am going to post and continue this. I'm going through a lot and I would really appreciate all of the prayer support I can get. I just trying to please God that is all. But I am going to end with this quote which is my personal favorite.....

     "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill

Merry Christmas Everyone!

     Merry Christmas! I hope the holidays have been going great for everyone so far! My whole family is home for the holidays and we are happy about that but we aren't so happy for the circumstances. My mother got blood clots in her right leg just after having traveled home to the states for some different meetings. So now my parents will be here for a while. She is recovering slowly, but please be praying for her.
     Make sure to thank God for everything you have and everything you receive this Christmas. We are all so blessed in ways that may not stand out to us at the moment but if we think about it they will. I know that if nothing else (which there are tons more blessings) I have been truly blessed to be an American. There are people all over the world that spend their whole lives trying to get into America but they never do. This is a truly blessed country and we can't forget that. We should all thank God every day for blessing our country as much as He has and we should continue to pray for her future because if we forget God, then nothing good will come from that.

     Btw, I have eaten so much lately I feel like I may never run again. Haha. Jk. But I have eaten a lot.

Why settle for average?

     I am trying to change myself in huge ways and one of the biggest things that I am facing is that for so long I was accepting average results on things that I was doing in my life. Too many times the thought went through my head this semester, "You know, doing just enough studying to pass is actually alright." Thinking back, that was a sad, sad way to be. I also was settling for average in my workouts. For instance I would only go to the gym three times in a week and instead of going ham like I used to, I would just do a little bit and kind of lazy my way on out after 45 mins. .. I also got average or actually less than average in my spiritual life. As sad as it is for me to admit it.. I used to try and read my Bible every night but I fell into a every other night routine or even every third or fourth night. The Lord finally got through to me one day when I was watching something about Tim Tebow. I started thinking about what an awesome guy Tim is and how I would like to be that way. I have always prayed that if I am not going to use soccer to honor the Lord then I don't want to do it anymore. Then I realized something, maybe the reason that I had not been performing at my normal "trying to do my best" way was because I was giving in too much to temptation. And I thought about Tim and how much temptation he must have every day because definitely if the devil could get anybody to fall right now he would probably choose him. This made me realize that the higher I climb and the more things I achieve and the more influence I have, the more temptation I am going to face as well. I can't let my guard down and I can't quit learning about God and trying to become closer to Him. Things have really been looking up for me and things are looking like they are going to continue to get so much better! Lord willing. .. I get so tired of seeing these guys who get on such a high platform and are honoring the Lord so much and then they get caught doing something that just tears their reputation apart and people really start to doubt the Lord and his goodness. One of my favorite quotes and I don't know who it's by goes something like this, "I want to be the type of man that when I wake up in the morning the devil says, oh crap not him again." ... I'm not saying that this is easy, and I am not saying that I can do it, but... Luke 1:37 says, "Nothing is impossible with God."

I swam with elephants... nearby.

     Yeah they weren't literally in the water with me but they were drinking from it. This is another one of my short stories because I feel bad for not coming up with some deep message lately. ... I and a bunch of my mission family were all swimming in the warm spring at the Yankari National Wildlife park and a herd of elephants came through the woods and started drinking from the spring. It was very cool to be that close to them and watch them. I kept feeling like Tarzan while I was swimming around near them. To me that was one of the coolest experiences I had because it was like something out of a movie. You never wake up expecting to swim next to a herd of elephants you know? It made me realize how truly blessed I was to live where I did.

     Thank You God for blessing me and my family and allowing us to enjoy the wonderful things that You have created.

Respect.

     Once again I have been trying to come up with a new moving blog but I really can't think of anything. So I am going to just tell a little bit of what has been going on in my life since I last wrote.

     We are entering our last week of the semester and so I have four exams to study for which has really been stressing me out. I have also been working out at least three days a week. And I have applied for two different jobs. Hopefully I will be able to make a little money because the economy has been looking rough these days. Especially if you're a college kid.

     One thing that I do want to share is that I was quite proud of myself when I was applying for these jobs because it was easy for me to get references. I'm not saying this to brag but I want to point out that being respectful at all times and being a nice person to people goes a long way. You might have a tough job, or struggle with a sport, or just get stressed out by family stuff but it will really benefit you in the long run if even with all of that going on you remember to be respectful to people. You can't make everyone happy and for some people no matter how much respect you show them they are just not going to ever give a care about you but it will pay off in the long run if you stick with it and don't give in to anger and hate. Last night I was reading my Bible and I read this... Romans 5:3-4 "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope..." I think Paul was more talking about suffering for Christ and becoming closer to Him through it, but it makes good sense this way too I think.

Every little kid aspires to be a big kid... The trick is to never grow up...

     Today one of my best friends Charles Jones (CJ) and I had the honor of going to First Babtist Church, Folkston and do a skills demonstration for the kids who were playing in their Upward soccer league. It was their last day and the church staff thought it would be a good idea if we came and showed off a bit hopefully to keep the kids interested and show that they could also go far in soccer if they worked at it. This was a truly big honor for me because I was always one of those kids growing up that looked up to high schoolers and college people so much!
      I remember being little and getting so crunk on Fridays because that was the day that the Ware County Gators played and I looked up to them so much! And it's funny how when you grow up those memories of how awesome everyone was that was older than you, stay with you. You can still think back and be like, "Man, I remember watching Fred Gibson play for Ware County and the stadium used to be packed out every game!" (Even if the stadium was only half full it still felt like it was packed out.) I do remember one time while I was attending Williams Heights Elementary they brought Fred, and two other Gator Football players to our lunch room all decked out in their pads and jerseys... Pretty much every kid in the lunchroom tackled them and brought all three of them to the ground. It was quite intense, and to be honest I don't think they were ready for the whole 3rd and 4th grade, pads or no pads.
   Even to this day, Fridays hold something special to me. And I doubt that will ever change. Today, we got to  be a part of that whole "kids looking up to older people" scenario. It was great, I don't ever remember doing something like that before. As we did tricks on the field and played some 1v1 I could hear the kids on the sidelines shouting and saying, "Wow! They are so good!" and do you know what? Hearing those words from the kids meant more to me than anything a coach has ever told me. It was great, and it made me feel like maybe we really did help these kids to want to play the sport even more. I hope that they saw that these older guys are Christians and they are still playing soccer and loving it. I have always prayed that if I am not going to use soccer to honor the Lord then I do not want to play it anymore.
     After we finished up our skills demonstration a bunch of like 9ish year old girls came and asked us to take pictures with them which was pretty funny. And then this one younger girl and her mother came over to get our autographs which was really humbling because I don't know that I have ever given a serious autograph before and it was cool to think that to this little girl I am really something special.
     So for me, I am going to continue to remember this day. When I am down on myself for having a bad practice or game I won't give up. If someone that truly matters to me tells me that I can't make it anywhere, I am not going to listen. I am going to remember these kids and know that to someone, I matter and those someones are the ones I am going to play for. I am going to play for the little kid inside of me and love life and live it to the fullest and try and honor God in all that I do.

Never grow up.

What is it with me using the bathroom and random animals being involved??

     Hey everyone, I haven't posted in a couple of days because of being busy with school. I hope to come up with some moving post over the weekend but we will see, whatever the Lord lays on my heart I will do my best to share... Tonight I figured I would just tell another story from when I was in Nigeria and coincidentally it has something to do with me trying to use the bathroom on shrubbery again.
     In my sophomore year of high school I and quite a number of my friends went to Yankari National Game Reserve. For those of you who have not been to this place, if you ever get the chance I would take it. Anyway, some of my friends and I were out walking around way too late at night for being around wild animals. We had seen a bunch of water bucks standing together and eating, or doing whatever they do at night, and we decided to be brave and walk over to them. They were not afraid of us at all, in fact one of them walked within arms reach of me which was pretty exciting and scary at the same time because these water bucks are not small and they have two very big horns. After hanging out with all the "8-points" we decided to move on and keep looking for animals... I had to pee. So I started over to the nearest tree away from everybody. When I had gotten about twenty yards away from the tree I was greeted by a large black animal. This animal jumped down out of the tree, faced me for a second, and then ran off into the darkness. My first thought was that it was a bear, but that idea was shot down quick when I remembered that we don't have bears in Africa. Then I realized that it was in fact a leopard. Needless to say I did not continue on my quest for a bathroom but I went back and convinced my friends that we should probably do the smart thing and call it a night. It was a very cool experience and thank God nothing bad happened. ... So what's another lesson we can learn from this? Well I have two... 1) If you let James Bowman drink a lot of water and follow him out into the bush there is no telling what animals you might see when he begins to take a leak. 2) Always, always, always check the shrubbery that you are about to pee on.

   
And yes, that is a water buck. Sorry I don't have a leopard picture... But google works well if you want.

What are you afraid of?

     From the beginning of this week until 3:40 this afternoon I was so nervous I couldn't think straight. Our individual meetings with our coach were all this week. Mine was at 3:30 today. I was scared that he was going to tell me to not come back and I would have to start looking for a new place to go and play. I was scared that he was going to try and put me down or tell me that I am not good enough. I was afraid that this meeting was going to be nothing but negative and I was going to come out of there depressed wishing that I had done more during the summer to get ready for the season, or worked harder during pre-season every chance I got.
     I realize now that every day we athletes get a chance to continue to play our sport is a God given blessing. I may have made this verse reference in a previous post but it is too good to be left alone... 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." In every area of our lives we need to do our absolute best and have no fear of standing out by doing so because people will see how hard you work and what attitude you have and they will know that something is different about you. That something, is that you are doing your best for the Lord. And sure enough if you are trying to honor God doors will open for you to talk to people about your faith. It's not hard to share your faith with someone. It's a lot easier to do that than to create a human being from scratch and breathe into him the gift of life and the ability to do amazing things. If you think it's hard to share your faith with people then tomorrow morning at dawn try and do the second option and see what you come up with. We who live in America have been truly blessed because we face almost no persecution about our faith, so why not use that opportunity while it still last?
     Today I had an epiphany. After the meeting I was very confident. I realized that I am standing at a doorway to a new level of player that I have not been yet but I am so close to reaching now. And while I was sitting there thinking about all the good things that are about to happen I asked myself, "What have you been afraid of all this time? Why weren't you this player before?" and I came to the conclusion... I was afraid of myself. I was afraid of standing out and working hard and achieving things because once you've done that there is more of a chance for failure. I had stabilized at 60% when I really could have gone to 100%. I was afraid of failing...


     “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

                              -Marianne Williamson

     I stumbled across this tonight and it hit me right in the heart. And I really don't have words to describe what I mean by all of this and what I am feeling but I hope that I've done a good enough job that whoever reads this completely understands.

I peed on a monkey once.

     Maybe this will brighten someone's day haha. It is a true story from when I was in about the 5th or 6th grade. One Sunday morning my parents and I had gone to church in the bush as we did most Sunday’s. We were at this place that was deep in a valley between mountains. We climbed up one side of the valley and were looking out over it onto the small spread out village below and enjoying what God had created. On the way back down I had to pee really bad so I went over to a bush and as soon as I began to go the bush exploded….. a monkey had been hiding in that bush and he really did not feel like maintaining his stealthy hiding place was worth the pee that I was going to let loose on him. He screamed, jumped out of the bush, and tore out further up the mountain… I screamed, jumped, and tore out the opposite way! … Needless to say, I did not have to pee anymore.

Lesson learned: Always check the bush you are about to pee into.

Courageous...

     Tonight three of my closest friends and I went to watch the movie Courageous. It was absolutely amazing. A huge two thumbs up from my point of view. I pray that I can be courageous for my family one day. Not only for my family but in every aspect of my life. One definition of courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. Jesus did something that would frighten anyone. It frightened Him. But He still went through with it. Dying on that cross and taking all of our sins upon Himself is the ultimate act of courage that I can think of. Most of us get too scared to just say that we believe in Jesus let alone die for Him. I don't have that much to say on this topic except that as Christians we need to be courageous where ever we are, in whatever sport we are doing. Maybe your courage will come when a fellow student asks you what you believe or before you step onto the field you "Tebow." My goal is to be more courageous and for people to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is my savior and Lord.