Thanksgiving

I'm home for thanksgiving this week, so I have a lot of time to update le blog. It takes me 4 hours to get from Wheelersburg, OH to indiana. On this trip, I listened to all of the muse albums I have on my mp3 player. I also did not bring Garrett home with me. Garrett is really easy to take care of when I have a proper cage for him. However, moving the cage is not that easy. Plus, my parent's house is not very ferret friendly. So, I left him home and got a friend to ferret sit for me. I already miss him. I've also been thinking that I would get a second ferret. My cage is big enough for two (more like 4) and another ferret would be able to keep each other company while I'm gone.

Seeing as how it's thanksgiving, I think I'll list a few things I'm thankful for.

1.) My family. No ones family is perfect, but I don't have much to complain about at. We've never (at least from my perspective) felt in need of anything. I have good relationships with all my extended family and got to know my uncle (on my dads side) particularly well when I worked for him. Obviously, I had nothing to do with which family I was born into, so I have to tank God for that one.

2.) My health. In general, I've been pretty healthy throughout my life. In fact, when I had my tonsils removed, they grew back! I also have never had glasses, braces, or cavities. I know this has a lot more to do with my genes than my lifestyle, and once again, I can't affect my genes. So God gets the credit for keeping me healthy.

3.) My faith. I have no concept of what my life would be like if I wasn't a Christian. I wouldn't be living where I am now. I wouldn't have gone to a Christian college and I wouldn't have the same personality. Because of my faith, I have a deep rooted sense of joy and no longer fear death. And again, without the help of God the Holy Spirit, I wouldn't be a Christian. So, I have God to thank for Him drawing me to Himself.

4.) My new job/house. My new house is awesome. The sellers are so kind and my neighborhood is great. I got a great mortgage on my house and am saving a good amount of money. I don't have any college debt either which is really nice. Add to that my sweet new ferret and things are going great. The youth group is also going well and it seems like everyone is happy with the way the youth group is going. I think that this is all due to God helping me out and the training my parents gave me.

So, I am thankful to God. He is the giver of life and everything in it.

Mostly about garret

I have now had garret for a week and a half. It's been pretty interesting. I brought him home and promptly cleaned up his poop about 3 times. I quickly decided that I needed to get him litter trained asap. After some internet research, I discovered how to do that. See, ferrets like to do their business in corners, so I used up every corner in his cage. Bedding in one corner, food in another, water in the third, and litter box in the 4rth. After a few days, he had it down pat. So, with that in place, I kept improving his cage. I started off with this terrible purple bedding for him. It was in little pieces like when paper gets sent through the washer in your pocket. They got everywhere, so I vaccumed them all up and put a welcome mat down as his floor. Now, garret has a penthouse suite. There are two levels in his cage with three choices to sleep in. I also just ferret proofed my family room and have set up a way for him to walk right out of his cage into the room. So, now I can let him out more, since he's litter trained. I'm still having trouble with keeping him out from underneath the couches. Also, I've been putting this stuff in his water which is supposed to keep his waste from stinking. Well, it took one week to work. I'd come home from doing whatever and walk in to a great stinking house. Then one day, he just stopped stinking. It was great! I also fullfilled a life long dream and bought an ionic breeze. It covers any smell that sneaks through.

Switching now to youth group stuff, I started a series this week on how to study the Bible. This first week, we talked about how to study a narrative, or story passage of scripture. I gave em three steps for this:
1.) what does it say?
2.) What does it mean?
3.) what does it mean for you?

Next sunday, I think I'll talk about dialogue, or maybe the psalms/proverbs. We also had our first praise band practice on monday. We didn't do much playing, which was expected. We looked at what the band would look like, went over some logistics, and practiced setting up and tearing down the equipment. We won't actually be playing at youth group for several weeks, but I think we have a lot of potential. I'm working with two of the members personally too. One of em is just learning bass and the other just needs a little help on guitar. We should be able to sound really good, once we get up and running. Also, since I'm in charge of choosing weekly songs, I'll be sure to steer away from the fluff songs and to teach the youth why we sing what we do. Things are going well and we had a record 22 youth at the scene last sunday! We still have a long way to go, but everyone seems to be happy with the youth group.

Two things

Please watch the video first.


So, two things happened on Tuesday. The first is that I closed on my house. The process was painless. My first time home lender guy, Kevin Smith, was very helpful to me. I met with him and we walked down the block to a title company. They handled everything. They got all the papers together that I needed to sign, explained them all to me and pointed out the details I needed to be aware of. After sighing papers for about 30 mins, the Workmans came in and they signed their papers. And presto! I'm a homeowner! Also, I seemed to make money on the transaction. Well, technically I just got back my own money, but it still feels like I made money. See, I paid the workmans two months of rent and a down payment. After I closed on the house, all that money came back to me. Essentially, they let me live in their house for 1.25 months for just the cost of utilities. They are incredibly nice people and I'm going to try to stay in touch with them. I also got a check from the title company. Something about escrow. I don't understand where that money came from, but I figure it has to be money from the loan. so, I'm taking their check and putting it towards that loan anyway. I also think that if I can tighten my budget, I'll be able to make double payments on the mortage.

Then, after I was done with the closing, I went to the pet store. I had been in earlier looking at cats. They only had two, but the saleswoman pointed me toward the ferrets. For a while now, I've been a closet ferret fan. I never actually thought I would buy one. But, she sold me on the idea and there was also a sweet cage+everything you need deal. So, now I have my first pet: Garret the ferret. He's still too young to know anything. He sleeps alot, but when I take him out, he gets really energetic. If I try to hold him, he'll squirm and climb out. He doesn't respond to me either. But then again, I've only had him two days. I did get him to start using the litter box. That was a plus. Once he gets older and less scared of me, I'll try to train him. Either way, he's hilarious to watch.

Oh yea, I'm also a youth pastor.
I've pulled together all the members I need for the youth praise band. We have our first practice on monday. I also was able to pull together an entire sound system from left over parts from two of the churches. I was pretty proud of that one. It may be a powered mixer, but it comes complete with two monitors, 8 channels, and sweet digital effects which we'll never use! The only things missing are cables that are longer than 3 feet. That would make a crowded stage. So, I do have to go out and buy those, but they should be cheap. It should be really good once the band gets up and running. I've got a really solid lead guitarist and I'll be on piano, which will be the first time ever for praise and worship. Remember, I'm one of those "spend 6 months learning an 18 page song" kind of pianist. But I think I can manage. I've diversified my piano skills since those days. I'm also going to teach the band a theology of worship (thanks John for the idea, and ultimately, thanks Josh Lemons). Oh, and I'm starting a series on how to study the Bible (more kudos to John Bundick). John is more and more becoming my almost-kinda-mentor.

So, things are going well and I'm still single, despite the many grandmas who want to introduce me to their granddaughters. :-)

Life assesment

So, I still haven't closed on my house, but I'm almost a home owner. I did a little bit of life assessment. Here's what I found.

1.) Cooking skills-I'm terrible at cooking. Not because I fail at it, I just don't ever try. I'm sure I could be a great cook, but I'm so used to eating food on the go. You know, grabbing a quick bowl of cereal before running out the door. I'm slowly getting better.

2.) Time managment skills-Terrible. I've been playing too many video games and watching too much tv. Right now, my job is not too demanding. Why just this week, I asked my bosses for more work! In the mean time, I feel like I'm wasting my time just like I used to at home/school.

3.) Social skills-I seem to connect with people just fine, when I want to. I probably don't seek out people as much as I should, but when I do have encounters, they go well.

4.) Health-I've gained about 30 pounds since I was 21 years old, with a spike of 10 pounds when I moved to Ohio.

5.) Spiritual life-Bible reading frequency is improving, but could always be better. Prayer life is also much better, but not golden yet.

6.) Money-I'm doing really well on money. I'm saving money each month in a savings account and still have a lot of my paycheck left over. This is a good area in my life, lol and I have so little training in it.

At first, I was disappointed with where I was at. But then I realized that I have only lived here for one month. In that time, I have moved to a new state, pretty much bought a house on my own, gotten a job, met 300-400 people without even trying, preached the gospel to 15 people, kicked a video game addiction (God willing), begun working out again, and formed a youth led praise band (well, it's almost ready). I have plenty of faults, but the thing that makes me most happy just happened a few minutes ago.
I had made an on line friend through a game called World of Warcraft. It was just some guy that I would play with a lot and I wrote him an in-game letter (yes, the game has its own mail system) telling him that I was quitting video games. He sent me an email and I felt compelled to give him the gospel. I just felt like I needed to. so, I wrote him a long email where I laid out the gospel and pleaded with him to come to Christ for the forgiveness of sins. He sent back a quick and short reply which basically said, "I'm too tired, but I'll debunk your gospel tomorrow". When I saw that, I smiled and basically said, "Bring it on!" . I smile because God has trained me in this area more than any other.

I have plenty-o-problems in my life. Some big, some silly and small. But one thing God has done is He has made me an evangelist. Even when I get sucked into an addiction like video games, this gift overpowers that too! It has to be a spiritual gift. I can't wait for the guy to ask me more questions because that means we'll be talking about Jesus! Chances are, I've heard most of arguments he'll use, but that isn't really important. I'll be able to answer this guy's objections while always pointing him back to the cross. It also helps that right now, I'm listening to the new Muse album full of triumphant and epic music. I know that my life will be meaningful, even if I can't cook or get a wife. I can tell people about Jesus! Worth it