Clever Title

Wow guys, it's almost been a month since my last entry. Sorry about that! I'm sitting here watching my favorite show: America's Funniest Home Videos. I've learned so much from this show. Multiple times, I've said to my dad, "Dad, we shouldn't do this! AFV!" And dad knows exactly what I mean. I'm so glad he and I have that common bond. Speaking of Dad, he should be going in for surgery in a few hours. He has prostate cancer. This is the third time he's had cancer. He's obviously beaten cancer twice before, but this is the third time. So, here's a little medical history.

My Grandpa died of cancer
My grandma died of cancer
My dad has had cancer thrice

You don't need to be a medical doctor to know that I have a very high chance of getting cancer in my lifetime. I also haven't told anyone that my dad has cancer again. I think it's a combination of several feelings.
1.) Asking for prayer insinuates he might not be ok in the end
2.) I don't want people's pity
3.) I don't want to think about it
4.) I trust God

My theological ideas are at war with this issue. I know that God doesn't owe anyone anything, but I also trust that God will take care of me (and everyone around me). But I also know that Jesus and God want us to pray, yet I also know that God knows everything we need before we even ask it. In short, I know all things work together for those that God and are called according to His will. Even if my dad dies, I don't think I would be too upset. That sounds harsh, but it's because I know my dad is a Christian. With all the other deaths in my family, as far as I've known, they haven't been christians. If my dad were to die, and it's weird to say that, he would be the first christian I've been close to. Of course, I'd miss him, but it would be a totally different experience.

But all this talk is depressing, since the last time I saw him, he looked fine. He also said he felt fine. furthermore, this type of cancer is the safest kind to get and it was caught way early. So, I got you all worried, then relived you.


Now totally changing the subject, I've been playing lead guitar and singing lead for a few weeks now. I am well aware that I am not that great of a singer, but I do consider myself a good musician. Well, I'm ok when I play guitar without singing, but I am discovering the difficulty of strumming and singing at the same time. I know I'll get better, but it's frustrating at the moment. I know what sounds good musically and on some of these song I'm singing, I struggle. Whether it's the range of the song or the rhythm, it's like I'm learning a new instrument all over again. But for those of you that know, I tend to pick up new instruments pretty quickly. I do have alot to talk about, but it's late. Sorry for the long delay. I'm gonna post some new videos.

Christmas time... a little late

Christmas was a pretty busy time, complete with more than 12 hours of driving, a few bruises, and a visit from a college friend. I went home to indiana for Christmas and that was great. I saw only my mom's side of the family, as most of my dad's was out of town for the holiday. The only thing I asked for for Christmas was skiing clothes. I got them, just in time for the ski trip right after christmas with the youth group. This was the first Christmas in the parents new house and it was all right. It felt different, but not bad. I also received quite a bit of money from my grandparents and dad. That money was used to buy a nice new guitar (which I keep having to use for youth group) and a new dishswasher and garbage disposal! I'm really excited about the garbabge disposal because there is great conflict when you don't have one. You know, if you have a bowl of cereal you're done with, you don't wanna pour it straight into the trash, cause it might leak. But you also can't put it down the drain cause it will clog it, then you have to fish out the cereal flakes with your hand and throw those away. Also, my dishwasher is pretty old and decrepit, so it will be nice to get a new one. It doesn't clean very well either.

So, after an 8 hour drive roundtrip, I returned to ohio and got ready for the ski trip. Sean West came over and went on the trip with us, which was fun. He's a good skiier and I'm just ok. I also got stuck teaching the first timers how to ski, but that was fine. I knew the basics enough to teach them and one of em made it all the way to a blue square difficulty in only two days! Not bad, but it was probably more his part than mine. I introduced the ski trip participants to two games I probably shouldn't have: the pushup game and the blow dart game. Both are played all the time and have publicly humiliating consequences. If you lose the pushup game, you have to immediatley do 10 push ups, no matter where you are. Then, if you lose the blow dart game, you have to collaspe wherever you are, like you've been hit with a poison blow dart, and wait for someone to touch you to revive you. We played it everywhere, including the slopes. I didn't do any pushups, but I got darted alot and the youth loved it darting me. Now I have to stay on my guard, since the gamse never end.

So right now, I'm waiting for the guy from lowes to come and inspect my house to see what he needs for installing my dishwash/disposal. After he gets here, I'm going back to bed.

Insert Clever phrase here

It's been a while since I updated my blog and I apologize. There is just so much to do around the house, let alone with my job, it was easy to get distracted. We now have a praise band and are planning to play for the first time this sunday night. The youth group is having a Christmas party this week, then we are going skiing the next. Should be a fun two weeks. I'll be going home for Christmas, since if I didn't, I probably wouldn't get any presents. lol. This will be the first Christmas in a few years since my mom's side of the family will be getting together for Christmas. I know we didn't do anything last year and maybe not the year before, but I think it's due to my cousin's death. Anyway, it will be good to go home and I'll be taking the ferrets with me! I'm sure that my mom will not want me to, but I want to introduce them to each other. Plus, I hate leaving them at home with a sitter.

I'm still overwhelmed by the amount of bad habits that I have. I let the dishes pile up in the sink until they stink, my room is covered with clothes, and my house is all around messy. The only room that is clean is the ferret room! Go figure. I keep hearing about all these people who have finals and I just smile when I hear it. I've put in my time and I'm done with finals. It feels great to have that behind me. But I keep having dreams where I'm back in high school because I missed some class and always try to explain to the teacher that I have my own house, I can't be in high school! I hate those dreams. Heck, I hate dreams in general. Half the time, I'm not in control of what is happening in the dreams. It's like I'm on autopilot. Oh, and speaking of autopilot, I found a box of cereal in the fridge! Id don't remember putting it in there, but I opened it up and blamo! I must have put it back in with the milk or something. I laughed at myself.

Another ferret vid

So, I've had garrett for a few weeks now and I've been doing a lot of research on ferrets. I learned that ferrets can make a whole bunch of noises, but Garrett wasn't making any noise. So, after a while, I decided to buy a second ferret! I just got her yesterday and her name is gracie. I haven't decided on a spelling. It could be Gracy, Gracie, Gracey, or Graysee. Anyway, I've been trying to introduce them but they keep fighting. Here's a video of them fighting. It's pretty funny to see them running around.

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.