Wedding Hurricane - Joaquin Re-Plans the Wedding

So, Laura... I mean my girlfrie... fia... WIFE, thought it would be really cool if we both blogged our recollections of our wedding day from either side of the adventure that took place! I think its a great idea, mostly to help me remember, but so that everyone else can see how awesome God is through how a day that fell apart ended so well.

CRUNCH TIME

First, I think it's important to touch on the fact that I had decided to pray by myself and with friends and family every day for the 40 days leading up to the day of the wedding. It would have taken a lot more discipline than I have to actually accomplish that, but I prayed quite a bit. Of course, I prayed for our marriage - that we would love each other unconditionally, walk in the Word together, and see eye to eye on the Lord's mission for our lives, but most of my prayer was focused on the ceremony. I wanted a ceremony that honored God more than it honored us. I wanted to make sure that everyone who came to our wedding knew who God was in our lives when they left. I asked God to make Himself greater than us, and to show everyone in attendance how loving and sovereign He is. Looking back on that, maybe I should have discussed some hopes of what that might NOT look like, but at that time, I wasn't really thinking He was going to answer those prayers through a hurricane!

On the week of the wedding I started checking the weather every few hours. Hurricane Joaquin was inbound and there was a strong front stalled over the coast of South Carolina promising a week-long rain storm. For some reason though, I had my trust in the weatherman who for some reason didn't want to commit and kept changing the chance of rain for Saturday (wedding day) anywhere from 40% to 100%. As the day approached we had to start making arrangements for Plan B. (Plan A was to have our ceremony under a couple large oak trees at a plantation with the reception beneath a tent 100 feet from the location of the ceremony). Plan B was to rent an additional tent to cover the location of the ceremony. We settled on the fact that it was going to rain on the wedding day and decided to move forward with Plan B.

As I considered my fiance and her wedding day, I realized that rain for the ceremony wasn't the thing that would bother her the most, but that she would just want to have cute pictures! And she would be sure that the rain was going to ruin them! One big thing that I shared with Laura was that everyone always hopes to have a perfect wedding, but there's always someone or something that happens to take away from that. Well, in this case, something had happened, and it was totally outside of our control. We couldn't blame anyone, or even really be upset. I decided to try to take control as much as possible, so I had a quick conversation with our photographer, who is also a good friend of ours, and asked her if she could work with some umbrellas and rain boots. (I may have consulted Pinterest to see if it would work well). She thought it was an awesome idea! So, I contacted the maid-of-honor and asked her if she could have the girls get boots. Then, found out we already had some clear umbrellas, but asked my parents to go out and buy some more just in case. After a few hours and a handful of different stores, all they could find were about 8 black umbrellas, so they bought those and added them to the hurricane-survival stash.

REHEARSAL

On Friday I hung out with the groomsmen on Folly Beach (a barrier island along the SC coast). We had a pretty lazy morning, then walked to a lighthouse where the waves were crashing on shore higher than I'd ever seen before and took some fun pictures in the storm. After that we went out to my favorite restaurant for brunch (Black Magic Cafe), then a few of us played some football on the beach with some of Laura's family while the others got ready for the rehearsal. Rain was intermittent, but not very strong throughout the day.

The rest of us got back to the house, quickly got showered and dressed for the rehearsal, then we all headed over to the plantation. The ground at the plantation was already completely saturated. In order to walk from the parking area to the tent we had to walk through a few inches of water or hop, skip and jump with hopes of not getting soaked feet. We had a quick run-through in the tent, then hung out for a little while before driving across Charleston to the location of the rehearsal dinner. As we hung out, water was running off the grass onto the concrete pad of the tent and forming puddles and rivers through the tent. I tried to fight my worry and the concerns of my dad knowing that everything would be okay, and trusting that that would be the worst it got. We got to the rehearsal dinner without having any trouble getting through downtown Charleston, which is often too flooded to drive through if a storm is combined with high tide. Dinner was awesome and I shared a few words with the bridal party to ensure them that we were going to have an awesome wedding, and to charge them with the task of being a part of making it awesome. Everything closed down after a fun time with family and friends. My groomsmen wanted to see where I was living, so we drove a little out of the way to stop by my house. At this point Laura knew she was going to be wearing boots, so I picked up some boot socks for her, as well as the ring, which I had originally forgotten to bring with me with the storm creeping in! Grateful the guys were down to make the trip out to the house!

WEDDING DAY

Laura had gotten a pretty nasty cold a few days before the wedding, and I noticed it coming on me as I fell asleep the night before the wedding, but it was just another thing I didn't have any control over. I slept pretty sound other than waking up a few times to blow my nose. I was the first awake in the house the next morning - probably due to the fact that I was actually from this time zone, used to waking up early to go to the gym before work, and I probably had a few nerves building up some adrenaline. I sat down in the living room and started reading the Bible for a little while as the rain continued to come down outside. After doing that for a while, one of my groomsmen's wives woke up and come visited for a while. I needed a minute with God, so found some shelter under the stilted house and prayed for a while that He would protect us physically, but also emotionally. After praying to the point of finding a lot of peace, I went back inside to hang out with whoever was awake. My groomsman, Dan, was up and had mentioned going out for a ride to talk about the day. As that was about to start taking place, I got a call from my mother-in-law that the venue was flooding and not much other than a large truck would be able to cross an area of water in order to get to the tent. I tried to tell her everything would be okay, then we got off the phone as we tried to determine if it was really a big deal or not. Shortly after, I gave her a call and suggested driving to the venue to see if we could get there and determine what another 4 inches of rain might look like. She thought it was a good idea, so I grabbed Dan, picked up Laura's mom and started driving to the venue.

There are only a few streets that run parallel to the beach on Folly Island, and they were closing down a few of them when we were leaving due to flooding. A little further from the beach the road to the island was also gaining quite a bit of water. I started fearing that maybe my decision to leave the island was going to cause me to be separated from my bride on our wedding day. I asked Dan to call the guys and instruct them to pack up everything they had at the rental house and leave the island. Then, I decided I needed to call Laura and break the news to her. I called her a few times before she finally picked up. I noticed when she answered that she had just woken up. As calmly as possible, I told her that her and the bridesmaids needed to pack up all their stuff and leave the island so they didn't get stuck. She seemed to understand and got things moving right away.

As we're making these phone calls, our pastor called to see what our plan was and if he could help in any way. As I'm on the phone with him we drove passed a manhole cover in the street that was getting pushed up out of the manhole from the pressure of water below! There were areas of the road that already had 4-6" of water on them, and we drove passed a few houses where cars were soon going to experience some water damage from rising water. He said he'd start checking around to see if he could come up with other options. We kept driving toward the venue, all while I'm trying to come up with the best solution for a Plan C. Who would have thought we needed a Plan C?!?! We ended up getting about 4 miles from the venue when we crossed through an area of the road that already had 3-4 inches of water on it, and the rain wasn't supposed to slow down. I made the call that we would have to change venues and we started letting everyone know.

Laura used words to let me know that she got off the island with the girls. I emphasize that she used words, because there were a lot of other emotions I pulled from a short conversation on the phone, and I really wanted to lead her away from those however I could! The girls had stopped a couple places, but ended up a Chic-fil-a where they were waiting to know where they could start the process of getting ready. I had instructed my groomsmen to get to the condo my dad was staying in near the entrance to Folly Beach, so that I could easily get to them. After talking with Laura I wasn't sure they were as easy to get to as I hoped, so we headed there in the truck to get with everyone and let them know we were going to go to Chic-fil-a and at least have the wedding party all together.

We got to the condo and I quickly said hi to two of my uncles and my parents, and we decided the best move would to have them come with us because we couldn't tell what another few inches of rain would do to the road to the island. The groomsmen came with me to Chic-fil-a and my parents followed shortly after.

We got to Chic-fil-a and went inside where I could tell my bride was extremely sad, stressed out, and worried about what her wedding day was turning into. I tried my best to keep her hopes up and let her know that as long as the wedding party is together, we can still have a really fun and great wedding. The guys tried to get me to eat something, but the stress of the day wasn't going to allow any food to get into my stomach. After trying to organize a little more and reach out to whoever I could think of, one of the guys asked me if I needed anything. I said no, but then immediately changed my mind and decided we needed to ask the Lord for some help on this. We packed 7 or 8 guys into my truck and all took a turn asking God for an answer on a location for the wedding and to bless the wedding party with some peace of mind.

We got back inside, where I was reminded that we needed an answer of where we were having the wedding so that the florist and caterer knew where to go. I was in the process of texting Pastor Josh to see if he had come up with anything and my phone started vibrating with his name on the screen! I started talking to him, excited for the news he may have for me. I had a strong feeling that with our church involved, our church family would be able to come up with something great. He had already mentioned to me previously that day that we could have the ceremony at the church, but did not think that we could have the reception there. We have a large church with three different "venues". There's a main sanctuary, but then we also have a smaller venue we call the Chapel which has more of a church feel to it, and the Warehouse, which is where our youth service takes place. The church has plenty of space to host a wedding, but they have a church service on Saturday evenings that was still going to be happening. Josh told me he had talked to the youth pastor, another friend of ours, and asked if he thought it was okay to move the youth service for the night since they didn't expect as many people because of the storm - and he was all about it! So, we were going to get married at Seacoast Church - a church that we both call home and love, and we were going to get to have the reception in the same, very safe and very dry building!

It wasn't the pretty plantation with the awesome spanish-moss covered oak trees, but we had a spot! As I got off the phone I noticed some firemen talking to my bride's mother. They overheard everything that was going on and had offered to help rescue anything from the island that we may have needed. We had everything accounted for, so we asked for some instructions on the best route to the church and we all took off.

Now... we left as soon as I heard we were going to have the ceremony at the church. I expected to get there and have to figure out where to start with getting things set up... well, our florist is also the mother of one of Laura's bridesmaids, and she's my new best friend! Two of Laura's bridesmaids and the florist are already at church setting things up when we get there! I'm in the process of trying to breathe still, but still really stressed. I expected to be in and out - in route to a hotel where the guys had rented some rooms where we could get ready. Nope, Mari had other plans. She got us all together and asked me to pray. What a blessing it was to slow down and once again be reminded that it was all in God's hands! After I prayed she walked us through a short time of de-stressing and speaking some truth into us. Taking time with the Lord throughout the day definitely helped to ease the stresses and worries of all the plan changes that happened, and helped us remember that we could trust Him. I asked some friends, who I love dearly, but were not in the bridal party to stay behind and help set up the reception, then went with the rest of the groomsmen to the hotel to get ready.

Once we got to the hotel I quickly showered and got ready, then spent a few minutes on my best man's computer updating our wedding website in case anyone checked it to see if we had relocated or changed plans. I also spent some time texting friends who wouldn't had known that the location had changed from anyone else, then we headed back to the church to finish getting ready in front of the photographer before taking some pre-ceremony pics!

FIRST LOOK

The whole time we were getting ready I kept thinking of more and more things that I had planned to do earlier in the day. I think I had a few minutes to remember that I was about to get married, but until the photographer came to get me for the "first look", I hadn't really had the space to think about it. They walked me outside and placed me in a spot where I had to sit and wait for Laura to walk up behind me. While I was standing there, it finally started to hit me - this was it! Today was the day, and my future wife was about to come up behind me shining like a star on the rainiest day of our lives! Turning around to see her smiling face after all we had been through that morning was an awesome moment that I'll never forget! I'm hoping that if I grow old and do forget, someone will have a picture to remind me!

I honestly don't remember much of what happened between that moment and when I was in a tiny room next to the pulpit praying with my guys and stuffing my pockets with tissue that I expected to need during the ceremony - to blow my nose of course! After praying, we just sat and hung out for a little bit as a couple of the guys left to walk the VIPs down the aisle. I could barely hear Laura's cousins playing music through the door, but it sounded great and I can't wait to watch it on the video!

We walked out and stepped into our places in front of our guests when the time finally came. Due to the circumstances of the day, we had already seen and spent time with about half of them! That definitely takes a lot of pressure off of trying to appear perfect. We chose to take communion together during the ceremony, which was an awesome time for just the two of us to get together with Josh and take the moment in, invite God into it, and honor Him through the action. Shortly after going back to our spot in front of the guests, we recited our written vows to each other, added some rings on our fingers, and I got the instruction to kiss my bride! At which point I remembered our other pastor talking about how cute it is for everyone in the audience to see the kiss, but how awkward it is to see all that passion jump out for the guy standing a foot away - so I made sure to put it on her with as much passion as I was willing to share in front of my family!

We had prayed that the rain would let up for the ceremony, and well... it had! Unfortunately, we weren't more specific, and it had rained up until it and started slightly after, but we had a good amount of fairly dry weather to take some outdoor pictures! (I really think that God is trying to teach me to pray more specifically for things).

The reception hall AKA the warehouse that has graffiti on the walls and games all over the balcony, looked amazing! The team that got thrown together to help decorate had done an amazing job and transformed a high school hangout into a beautiful reception hall - you only saw the high school hangout if you were looking for it. We had some tasty food, danced to some good music DJ'd by the one and only DJ Hey DJ, and had an awesome time with all the friends and family that were able to celebrate with us! It almost seemed that our guests were hand-picked to be present, as I noticed some made it from California, one made it from China, many from Wisconsin and other states, but many were not able to make it that live within 20 miles of the church due to impassable roads.

We woke up the next morning to a foot of water in the backyard, and a little time to waste before getting on a plane for South Africa! I think this is enough blog for a while, so stay tuned to my social media accounts for a video story of our trip!

Love ya'll!

Walk to Marriage - Kevin & Laura's Stories

HOW WE MET

KEVIN

I didn't really know what was going to happen when I moved to Charleston, but I knew that God was calling me down here and knew that must mean there were great things in the path ahead. I wanted to quickly get involved with a church so I could meet some people and possibly network my way into a job. As many of you know, and the rest of you can read on my blog, my adventure in Charleston started very slowly so I had a lot of time to meet people and hang out. I met Laura through the church college and 20's group. I definitely didn't have dating on my mind. I didn't have a job, a place to live, or anything to give… I knew I wasn't in a position to impress anyone! As I got to know Laura better, I was drawn to the passion she had for God and the anti-human trafficking movement. It wasn't until we had the opportunity to go on a backpacking trip together that I finally started to think about her more as a friend. We got back from the trip and I started praying about what our relationship should look like. A couple weeks after that Laura decided that we were hanging out and talking too much for just being friends. Well… that sucked. The best friend I had in Charleston didn't think we should talk or hang out much anymore. It's a good thing that I was already considering making the move - she just sped it up a little bit! God used that to help me understand that she was someone peaceful to me and a girl I would enjoy spending more time with. At that point marriage was on the horizon. (I learned earlier in life that if marriage wasn't at the end of the road, don't waste your time and emotions starting down it!)

I'm stoked to be entering into a marriage that is Christ-centered and adventure inspired. I think the greatest adventure in life is living for God, so to have someone to walk/run/stumble through that adventure with is going to be awesome - mostly encouraging! Our relationship has been filled with relationships and adventures. We love being around people and spending time with friends and family, and we've loved getting away into the mountains, out in the ocean on kayaks, or to the beach with some friends for a day. I can't wait to continue those adventures in marriage!

LAURA

Kevin and I met through friends from church shortly after Kevin arrived from Charleston in Summer 2012. The first time I saw Kevin he was extremely tan and way too blonde, and he was wearing a tank top and earrings. I thought he looked pretty guido. Later that night we went to ice cream with a group of friends and all I heard him talk about were birds and bears. Needless to say, it wasn't love at first sight! :) After a while, we found we actually got along very well due to many common interests. We soon became best friends. We enjoyed hiking and mountain trips, long boarding, being active and outdoors, exploring new places, playing soccer, running, and spending time at the beach, and longed to travel the world. Our friends began to make comments about us being together before it was on our radars. I soon I learned Kevin wasn't only a person who had similar interests as me, but similar passions and dreams. He has a strong heart to seek the Lord in everything he does and is a challenging and inspiring example to me in loving all people well. We went on our first date on December 28, 2013 and became "official" on January 7, 2014. And the rest is history!

PRE-WEDDING PICNIC

A lot of you were probably directed here by an invitation that my parents sent out for a picnic at their house on September 12th. We are so excited to be married and Charleston is a very beautiful and special place for us to enjoy the ceremony. Unfortunately, we couldn't manage a wedding that would include everyone that we wanted to celebrate with, and the distance from home has made it tough as well. I truly value the relationships I've had in the past, and know that a lot of those relationships will continue into my marriage and grow into a relationship that includes Laura as much as me! I was not able to track down addresses for everyone I had hoped to invite, so please contact myself or my parents for information and stop by even if you did not receive an invitation. 

I'm so excited for you all to meet Laura and get to know her. The greatest thing we will walk away with after our time with you is the relationships that have grown and been established, but I've learned that some people just really love getting people gifts! I don't want anyone to feel like they have to bring anything other than themselves (if I could put spending time with you on my registry I would!), but if you desire to give something please visit Zola.com, Target or Bed, Bath & Body for our registries (October 3 wedding date). 

We're so excited to share our special low-country boil with you and your families on September 12th! See you soon! 

The Chad Effect

In my last post I talked about how I wanted to be more transparent... I wanted to not just journal for myself, but for anyone else that might need to learn something from the lessons I've learned and the experiences that I've had.

In the light of being transparent I just want to share my prayer for this blog...

"Father. My heart is broken for the broken and joyful for the son that you've called home. Although young deaths will never make sense, I know that you have a purpose behind it. I know that it's not something you want to keep quiet.

Lord, please speak through this blog into the hearts of the readers as I share about the death of a friend who knew you. I ask that you use his death to speak into their lives. Use my actions and words to do your will.

I love you Abba. Amen"

As I drove home this evening, I felt a pulling on my heart to write about this experience. Some people have also lost a friend recently, and they're looking for answers. Others have never lost a loved one, but couldn't imagine the agony of saying goodbye without hearing a response. Now that I'm home at a computer, all I can do is sit here at a loss for words, waiting for the Holy Spirit to fill the holes...

Chad is not the first friend I've lost. A couple years ago I lost a college friend that taught me how to worship Jesus with my whole heart and soul. Years before that I lost a friend while I was serving with Campus Crusade for Christ in Australia, and I was never able to determine why God allowed someone to be taken away who showed so much interest in Him but never allowed me to know if she had decided to follow Him. And before that I lost a friend in high school who I never even thought to talk to about Jesus.

Losing someone causes us to look at their lives and our relationship with them in a much deeper way. We spend time thinking about how they affected us and what kind of impact they are going to continue to have on us even after they're gone.

When my friend Sarah died, I was so confused. She was attracted to the joy that I had and I knew that I needed to spend time around her. I was able to work up the confidence to invite her to a Campus Crusade gathering and she came a couple times, but it never became a priority. We got closer as time went on, and then I ended up traveling to Australia. She lived less than a half hour away from me at home, so we decided that after I got back from Australia we'd hang out a bunch before we had to go back to school. I had prayed so much to have an opportunity to talk to her about the gift of the cross, and I sincerely thought God was opening that door by securing the opportunity to hang out. When that got taken away, I couldn't figure it out. I still don't know why it happened, but I do know now that there's not time to wait. Any time could be my last breath, or yours... I can't sit around and take that lightly and spend years without sharing who Christ is with the people around me and what He gave so freely for us.

A couple years ago my friend Dave was on a summer project with Campus Crusade in Myrtle Beach. I drove up and hung out for a day. I hadn't seen him for quite a few years, so it was awesome to catch up and hear about all the things God was doing in his life. I'm so glad I got to spend that time with him, because God called him home shortly after. Dave was a pretty tall guy, with even a bigger wingspan. Whenever he would worship he would spread both of his arms out wide... as if he was physically being lifted up to Heaven. Dave understood worship and the gift that it is to God in a way few people do. The way I worship now, which I know has touched people equally as much, is due to the imprint Dave left on my heart. Because of Dave, when I worship I can imagine the angels worshiping alongside me. In my mind, they don't hold back... so I can't either.




Tonight I sat through a 2 hour memorial about Chad. Friends and family reminisced about the laughter and joy that he so often brought to the people around him. A concert hall full of people showed that a 20 year old can truly leave a legacy greater than that of most grandfathers. Chad taught me joy in a new way. No situation is ever so great that God cannot contain it. No sadness or fear is ever so great that God has not already conquered it. No great work or task is so large that God cannot create us to be the person to accomplish it. No situation is so bad that God cannot turn it into good. No one is so far gone that God cannot save them and bring them home. God is so great in all situations. That joy should be flowing forward from our lives. James 1 tells us that we should find joy in all circumstances, because it produces perseverance which when tested makes us whole and complete, lacking nothing. Chad taught me what it looks like to have that joy and how to bring that joy to the people around me.


I'm so thankful that God allowed me to meet each one of these people. I'm glad that I can look at their faces right now and see that God definitely used them to teach me and affect me in great ways. I can only hope that my life will be one that is used to touch the people around me. As I often share with the people close to me... I know where I'm going when I die, so I'm not still on earth for my good, but so that God can use me in the lives of the people around me.

I sincerely love everyone that reads these blogs and everyone that has come alongside me as family and friends. I'm thankful for the people that have read this and I pray that God has used these few words to touch your heart. Right now could be your last moment... if you don't know what that means and you're concerned about what would happen to your soul if your life ended, please talk to me about it. God sent His Son to be available for everyone... don't let that free gift pass you by.

Love you all!

Life's Lessons: Lessons from Adventures

Introduction to Life's Lessons

Everyone says to do what you love. I sit around some days and think about that for hours. How can I financially support myself if I'm just hanging out with people all day long? If I lived in the wilderness for the rest of my life is there a way that I could simultaneously be spreading the Gospel that I believe in so deeply?

When I think about the times I'm happiest, it's when I'm either in community with people building relationships, or when I'm out on an adventure. Since I haven't really been able to find a career in either of those things yet, I decided today that I want to use my blog to share how those two loves/passions shape me. Maybe it's a niche that could allow me to turn into one of those professional internet bloggers with guest bloggers and cool pictures. Maybe even a speaking event here and there! I doubt it, but I like dreaming!

Recently I've been joking with this guy at work that keeps calling me "weird", always asking me how old I am trying to determine where the days of my youth got lost. I think the reason he considers me weird is because the experiences I've already had in life have shaped me in a way that most people don't see happen to them until they're in their 40's. I enjoy birdwatching. Let me ask you this... if you were to shape your life off of the lives of the wisest people on the planet, wouldn't you choose people in an older generation? My life and hobbies reflect those of the retired community... I make wise decisions! I enjoy going to sleep at 10pm. Most consider that bedtime to be too early and feel bad for their grandmother that has to leave events early to get home by then to go to bed. So, maybe I have some traits that I share with an older generation, but from now on you'll be able to read where they come from through stories of my experiences on adventures and through community!

Today's Lesson

I've been reading a blog post from one of my friends who after college decided he was going to experience homelessness for a year. It happened to me on accident for a few days when I first moved to Charleston, and it was very trying. Reading his blog shows me what it could have been like if it was real. 

You can find it here: Redefine Homelessness

I'm inspired by his blog and his experiences. It makes me want to do things that take a step out from my comfort zones. There are worlds of people apart from us that we choose to ignore. Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while know that I tried to spend a lot of time with homeless people when I had the margin in my life to be out and about in downtown Charleston throughout the week. They often come back to mind and I'm continually hoping for a breakthrough in my career that allows me to spend that kind of time in their community again. But, I've been convicted of other people groups that I go through life ignoring. The families in Africa surrounded by civil wars, separated from every member of their family. The one-child policy in China that puts a lot of stress on a family if they can't manage to birth a son. Women who are tossed around as sex objects. Crazy stuff happens all over the world, but it won't be on Fox News tonight. It might be mentioned, but they'll likely dumb it down as if it were a minor event that affected very few people.

In America, we have access to everything we could ever want. It's crazy though... we're never satisfied by it. We always want something better. Something bigger.

I want to think about life in a way that my biggest desire is to eat a meal during the day. That my largest daydream is to have a warm place to sleep at night. That the biggest blessing in my life is that I know where my family is and that they are safe. 

In order to do that I need to fight the temptation to want the things Americans want. If I allow myself to want the iPhone 6, a drone, a Fitbit and all the hot items from this past Christmas, then I'll be so busy trying to attain the financial status necessary to buy these items that I'll forget about my young brothers and sisters in Africa. All they wanted for Christmas was to know where their mommy was. 

Blessed

There's times where I sit down and blog for other people. I know that I have certain friends and family around the world that are interested to know how I'm doing and what's going on in my life. I hope that my words and actions encourage them, and that the things that God is doing in my life point others toward Him. Other times I blog for me. It seems that my thoughts sometimes only get in order when I'm typing them out. I find the most wisdom and conviction through what the Spirit decides to work out through my own fingers. I think it took some time for me to realize that I actually blog for myself most of the time.

I asked myself if it makes sense to blog and not just journal. A journal is more private. I can share things that I might not want to share through a blog. But, then I remember that life isn't meant to be lived alone. My problems aren't meant to be dealt with alone. My fears aren't supposed to be given a foothold to destroy me. The blessings I receive aren't meant to make me feel high and mighty. I want my life to be completely transparent. I want my sin to be something that others can see, so that they can hold me accountable to it, but also to give other people comfort to know that they aren't the only ones going through something. If we think we're the only ones with a struggle we're more likely to keep it hidden inside.

It's also important to understand that sharing things too openly can be harmful. If people around us hear that we have certain attributes, then they may stop paying attention to us. For example, if the pastor of a church were continually professing a specific political background it would most likely lead some people away. I'm not saying that it's all about the numbers because of the numbers, but because of the sphere of influence. In this case, a pastor would have a larger sphere of influence if he hadn't discussed his political background. If everything else he teaches is something that would be beneficial for someone regardless of political background, then there is no reason to feel the need to be transparent about that matter.

So I want to be transparent. I heard a sermon a month or two ago that got me thinking pretty deeply about the idea of being blessed. So often I look at the house and neighborhood I live in, the student loans I have to pay, the hours of work I have to put in, and I think I'm better than that. I'm better than a house that's falling apart. I'm better than having to work 50 hours a week. I'm smart enough to have skipped school. All these prideful thoughts like to get in my head and start burning an ugly fire of discomfort.

I had to remember that I'm right where God wants me to be. All the things that burn that frustration are things that God placed in my life because this is where He wanted me to be. If I'm exactly where God wants me to be, then I'm blessed. God allowed me to be stripped out of all my comforts two years ago, and this is the way He chose to build my life back together.

So instead of those negative thoughts I need to remember: I OWN a house. I HAVE a neighborhood. I EARNED a degree that allows me to WORK at a great job. So this is where God has me. The only thing to do now is figure out what He wants me to do with it?

Did God allow me to buy a house so that I could be more comfortable? Am I surrounded by neighbors so that I can be secluded from them? Do I have a degree so that I can work a minimum wage job? Do I earn a good salary so that I can feel financially blessed?

When I was in high school I managed to set myself up so that I took calculus 1&2 my junior year. That decision allowed me to spend some time my senior year helping out by teaching my friends and younger schoolmates how to do calculus as a teacher aid. I ended up in a position where I was able to help others because of the experiences that I had.

I'm blessed with a relationship with God that allows me to look at the things I have in a positive way. What am I going to do with them?

Something Greater - The Passion for Adventure

Every Monday I roll out of bed around 5:45, 30 minutes after my first alarm goes off. I don't want to roll around in bed for a half hour of "wasted time". I just want to get to the gym, and get a good workout in before heading to the office. Leg day usually gets cut a little short due to my inability to get out of bed to the first, second and third set of bagpipes. (If you've never woken up to the sound of bagpipes, I'm sorry, but maybe that's why most of you need coffee in the morning regardless of how much sleep you get.) The day drags on and I'm falling asleep within an hour or two of lunch. 

Every day after Monday gets progressively better, until Friday when I often wake up without the bagpipes. The excitement of the weekend gets to be so great that I can't even sleep! I've been planning the weekend since Monday morning and it's finally here. I have so many chores to do around the house. So many adventures I want to go on. So many people to see and activities to enjoy. I put in a quick hour at the gym, a half day at the office, and then it starts! I rush off to the Habitat for Humanity Restore and check for any good deals quick before the adventures begin. What's the weather like? What's the tide schedule? Are there any rare birds around? What are my friends doing? What's my girlfriend doing? Is anyone playing volleyball? Soccer? Basketball?

I have two and a half days to do everything that I'm passionate about and I want to make the most of it!

I have a passion for experiencing everything that God has placed around me. That means I don't have time to be inside, where almost everything is something man-made, unless I'm experiencing an adventure through time spent with friends and family. I want to see things that make me stand and observe in awe.

I want to see people loving on people. The greatest gift God gave us was His Son because of the love that He had for us. I can't see Jesus and I can't see God's love, but I can see both love and the gift of salvation lived out through the people around me.

I want to see waves, rivers and waterfalls. How does the water keep flowing and never stop? How do waves continue to crash on the beach from before I get there until after I leave? No one is pushing them. No boats are going by. Water just continually crashes on the beach because of some force that people think they can explain, but that can't be seen. I can see God's power through the continual flow and circulation of water.

I want to see fire turn something that once existed into something that looks completely different. Some call it rearranging atoms. What does that even mean? It means God has more creativity and influence in our lives than we can even begin to fathom. He gave us power to change the genetic make-up of things around us in order to bless us with different things that could have been given in far less creative ways. (odt.co.nz)

I want to look up and see the stars scattered across the sky. They aren't lined up in a row or in any type of pattern, but placed in unique locations across many galaxies by a God who just wanted us to look up and realize that He's bigger. He's bigger than our sin. He's bigger than our sickness. He's bigger than our fears. He's bigger than finances. He's bigger than our trials and our problems. He's so much bigger that He created a universe just so that we could see that He created a universe. (theguardian.com)

I want to see artistic details in minute things. Today I saw a picture of the iris of a penguin (fineartamerica.com). Look at the details in the penguins eye! It doesn't have to be red, but God knew we'd think it looked cool! Last week I saw an octopus similar to the one below (reefs.com). God gave this one animal so many awesome traits! It had the ability to jet water out of a tube on it's head in order to push harmful things away, or in my case, to blow sand at my hand. It could quickly turn from the reddish color shown in this picture to almost white. It used it's legs to learn everything it needed to about everything I put in the water, so that it's body could remain hidden behind the small amount of protection it had under an old tree stump. If something went wrong, it could lose it's leg and grow it back without any problems! God is an artist. Giving a penguin an eye without so many details was too boring. Creating an octopus without giving it the ability to do awesome things just wasn't enough! God carefully designed every little detail of everything around us, and I want to see it all!

I want to listen to music and the sounds of nature, because God created such beautiful sounds for us to enjoy. Why did God even create sound?! I think the only answer is just so we could enjoy it.

All these things God gave us because He loves us as His children. He wants us to know our Father is powerful. Our Father can take care of whatever problems we have. Our Father doesn't only care about the big problems we encounter. He doesn't just want us to come to Him when we have cancer or we've lost a loved one. He cares about the small things, like mosquito bites. We've been spoiled by our Father for as long as time has gone on, but we often want to look other places for our joy. 

I want to continually be reminded that my Father loves me. My Father spoils me. My Father wants the best for me. My Father cares about every detail of my life. My Father has the time, the creativity and the desire to help me get to the greater plan He has for me. Just as my earthly father has loved me and deserves my love, respect and praise, so much more does my Father in Heaven who continually blesses me even when my life is apart from His will daily.

God is certainly present in man-made things, because He gave us the intelligence and the power to create things, but I personally want to see all those things in there rawest form. Men are sinful, and that sin can so easily influence the things that men do and the things that men create, regardless of the man.

God's plan for us here on earth is not to spend our time investing in things of this world, but to invest our time in Him and His desires. I want to know that everything I do is either helping me gain knowledge and experience that will be used by God later in my life, or that it's something that will help the people around me see Him clearly and in a new light. It's often hard to see how this is happening from the position I'm in right now as an engineer, but I trust that God has given me this position and put me in this place at this time for a purpose. When that purpose is fulfilled, I know that a new door will open, and at that point I will walk through in excitement, knowing that the opening of a door is like getting a promotion from God. We may not think we're ready for what's beyond that door, and we might be scared to walk through, but God knows what's ahead and He's telling us we're ready. Leave your baggage behind and walk through the door, expecting God to do something great and knowing that He's going to take care of the details!

I'm going on a kayaking adventure out to one of the barrier islands with my adventure partner tomorrow. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us!

Love you all!

City of Brotherly Love

They refer to Philly as the City of Brotherly Love.


I definitely wasn't feeling the love as I walked around the city last night. In a city that size, I'm not sure that anyone can easily feel love. There's a constant sound of people beeping their horns. People on the sidewalk quickly rush along as if the other people around them don't exist. The homeless and less fortunate line the streets in tattered close, unkept hair and signs calling out to the people listing all of their misfortunes, but people walk passed them as if they are a part of the landscape. Whatever green areas exist are filled with a large variety of people. Skaters are filming mix tapes, couples are going on "romantic" walks, families are taking a break from touring the city, and the members of the landscape are sleeping on the benches and under the trees.


How anyone can find peace in such a hectic location will never make sense to me. I said hi to a few people as we made eye contact, but they quickly looked away without responding. I really wanted to find some gelato or ice cream, so I tried to approach a few people on the street to ask them if they could direct me towards some, and everyone seemed a little caught off-guard as I approached them. In a place where everyone standing around is seen as an object instead of a person, these people almost seemed that they had adapted to being a part of the landscape and being ignored. I decided the best people to ask were the people that weren't already set on doing something, which meant the best people to ask were the homeless people standing or sitting around throughout the city.


The first man I approached couldn't think of anything, but he seemed like a good guy and tried really hard to think of something and help me out. I gave him $5 then headed in a direction he told me I could go to find some ice cream. I made it over to that area but wasn't finding anything. I saw a couple guys on the side of the road asking for money that couldn't seem to sit still or keep their eyes open. I immediately decided they must be on drugs and walked right by. It's hard to admit that maybe I was wrong and maybe these two guys just really needed help, but I try to judge as best I can so that my money is going to a profitable place.


I left those two guys and ran into another guy who really wanted to walk me to get ice cream, but we first needed to stop so he could buy some beer. I talked to him a lot about Charleston. He was really interested about the women and the beach. He told me that he had recently gotten out of jail and was just living on the streets for a while until he could figure something else out. I told him that he just needs to get to Charleston before it gets too cold! He asked me my name and I said "Kevin". He stopped walking and just stared at me...
"Nawwwww!" I said "Yeah man, I'm not playin with you." Then he pulled out his ID and showed me that his name was Kevin too! Kevin Groomes. I wish I realized how special these moments are while I'm in them and I'd make sure to get named and pictures for all these people, but it's never until later that I realize I want to be praying for someone whose name I don't know and whose face is fading from my memory. Fortunately, he hooked me up before I've become disciplined enough to remember on my own!


After he got his beer he kind of forgot why I was with him. I gave him $10 as he dropped me off with a friend of his who told me he knew where I could get some ice cream. The man was 48 years old and had been living with his sister until he had gotten in an altercation with her boyfriend a few days ago. He was fresh on the street, but knew some of the other homeless guys as if he had been out there before. He also knew quite a few other people as we walked down the street. He was on a misison to get me some ice cream and was making me feel like a star in the process.


After a little while he got me to a gelato spot. I offered to get him some but he told me he had to watch what he eats. I went in and got a cup while he waited outside. While a lot of the other guys I was seeing were drunk or seemed to be on drugs, this guy seemed to have it together. I gave him $20 and thought he'd just be done with me at that point. I offered to go out to dinner with him if he was hungry, but he thanked me and told me he was alright for the night. After that, he started trying to get me back to the hotel. I had told him where I was staying and I knew how to get back, but he didn't want to leave me stranded so I just followed him wherever he led. We zig-zagged our way back to the hotel as he continued to ask everyone on the streets where the Sheraton was at. I knew he was enjoying spending some time with me and feeling needed so I just let him do what he needed to do. A couple times I tried to tell him I could get back, but he'd just say, "I can't just leave you out here on the streets. I'm going to make sure you get back to your hotel."


We finally made it back to the hotel, shook hands and went our separate ways. I went to the comforts of my $210 hotel room, and he went to find an alley to pee in and a safe place to sleep.


I started thinking about my adventurous trip around Philly as I headed up to my room. First, I was thinking about how I left the hotel with the intent of spending less than $5 on some ice cream but returned $41 poorer. I knew it was God calling me to empty out my wallet though so I got over all of that pretty quick! Then I got to start thinking about how cool it was to step through the invisible veil that separates the busy city life from the "members of the landscape." God really showed me that relationships can be made anywhere if the effort is made. Even in a place where it seemed that no one cared about anyone other than themselves, I found a man who walked over a mile with me just because I asked a simple question.


I found adventure in a city! I didn't enjoy the city, but as soon as I was willing to step slightly out of my comfort zone, God had an adventure planned for me that took over an hour! I love meeting new people and getting the opportunity to interact with people in different walks of life. I was hoping to somehow portray how amazing it was through this blog entry, but I haven't been able to even come close to explaining how much it blessed me.


I hope your adventure is going well!


Love you all!