The Cold Bench…

Hey guys, I know i’ve been slacking with new posts, and I want to apologize… work has just been keeping me busy these past couple weeks. I have a ton of ideas floating around in my head, I have just not had the time to blot those ideas down in an orderly manner which makes sense to someone other than myself.

This post is an article I wrote a little while ago for non Christian thing. I used the light rail system of Sacramento as a means to deliver my point. (the importance of reaching out, caring for, and communicating with people) I use to ride the light rail 5 days a week to and from school during my senior year, then longboard from the downtown station onto campus… fun times! =)

A cold breeze blows an old newspaper by as I sit on the cement bench. The time is 4:44 p.m. It is nowhere to be found. It is running late like usual. I am not alone though, others just like me anxiously await its arrival. Finally we see a light in the distance. The ground starts to rumble and shake, as the tracks sound like there is electricity running through them. It is finally here. It is so much larger up close. It comes to a stop, and its doors slowly open. This is the Sacramento Regional Transit Light rail. Now let’s enter the doors together, and see what really happens on the inside

The Light rail is filled with a wide variety of people. From the minute you step onto the train, you realize that there are people from different cultures, languages, and race. The diversity is amazing. I have never ridden it without hearing a language in addition to English being spoken somewhere within the train. Also, many different social status groups ride it. Everyone, from the lower class riding it just to get from place to place, to the upper middle class, riding it to save on gasoline as they commute to downtown Sacramento. Because of its diversity, the Light rail it is one of the melting pots of the Sacramento area.

Since the Light rail is one the melting pots of the Sacramento area, it is an excellent place to get a good representation of the people in the area. I was excited to begin my research and observations. At first I assumed because of the diversity of people, they would not have anything in common, but the more I rode and observed, the more my initial assumptions proved wrong. The people on the Light rail shared a great deal of things in common, but there was one that stood out.

Everyone riding the Light rail was in their own world. Let me explain. The Mexican man sitting in the seat in front of me had his earphones in. The Afro-American women behind me, was on her cell phone arguing about something. The white older lady sitting across from me was knitting a little scarf. The middle age career woman next to her was reading a Twilight series book. Everyone was doing something else in addition to riding the train.

Now at first I did not think anything of this, because I myself had my Ipod blaring in my ears. The more I thought about it though, the more it jumped out at me. Then it hit me… There is really no communication that takes place within the Light rail train. Everyone does their thing, and does not take part in the Light rail society.

It is so sad to me. No one within the train really talks to each other. No one even really makes eye contact with each other. There is no interaction what so ever between the people. They get on, sit down, and take out some device that pulls them away from the Light rail. There is a great deal of Absorption that takes place!

Absorption is one of the four things that break down a society. It takes people’s interest away from what is really going on. It’s like the kid in the classroom, daydreaming out the window at the other kids playing on the playground, while the teacher is trying to teach him how to do math. Do you think the kid will be able to do the math problems and grow as an individual? No! That is why it is a huge problem to a society.

As I applied absorption to the Light rail, I realized that people are lonely, not only on the Light rail, but as a society in whole. We as an American society might possibly be one of the loneliest societies. Step back from the light rail, and just look at how electronic devices make us lonely. Text messaging via the cell phone is a great example. You do not have to really talk to that person; you just send them a few emotionless words. The World Wide Web is also a great example. I do not want to go into detail with that, because books can be written on that topic alone. But just look at how someone can go online, interact virtually with people all over the world, but really that person is sitting alone at home, having no real personal interaction.

We are slowly eating away at ourselves, and eventually are going to hit a wall. We need more communication. It makes life more meaningful to have community. I believe that is so true. We were created for community. I mean, that is what a marriage and friends are all about. There is no community that really takes place within the Light rail, and if you step back even farther, it is safe to say that the community of American society is slowly falling away too.

People within the Light rail are also on the go. They are so fast paced. It’s all about getting somewhere, and getting their fast. It seems as if they are not taking in and appreciating every moment of their lives. As Americans, that’s how we’ve become: always having something to do; a “go go go” mentality. That also is breaking down our society.

What happened to the good old’ days? The days when people passing on the streets smiled at each other. The days when you had to go down to the store to purchase an item. What happened to the days when you had to talk to the person on the phone? When you were able to walk home from somewhere, taking in the moment, with its smells, feelings, and joy? What happened to the slow, meaningful way of life? Now it’s all about buying stuff online, talking to automated machines, and driving as fast as you can to get somewhere.

The American society is shallow. Since we are slowly falling away from community, we are becoming shallower each day. A great example of this is shown on the Light rail. Those few people that do interact only interact by means of a quick, “How’s it going?”  It seems as if those people are just asking the question to be polite, not because they really care how the other individual is doing. A couple decades ago, people would interact with more than a “How’s it going?”, and would have a much deeper conversation, thus providing the community needed for everyday life.

When, I step back from within the Light rail, I see loneliness. I see pain. Just looking into those people’s eyes I see the emptiness inside. It really breaks my heart and I feel for those people.

As I come to my stop, step off of the train, and sit down on the cement bench, I am hit with a tidal wave of thoughts. What if that one person sitting in the seat across from me was on his last leg, ready to commit suicide? What if that little old lady knitting her scarf was a widow and had no one to go home to? What if that lady on the phone arguing was arguing with her husband about why he was sneaking out late at night? What if all they needed was a good old fashion smile, along with true eye contact?

We as a society are just like this cement bench that I am sitting on. From a distance we look strong and sturdy, but as we get closer and take a seat, we are cold, hard, and empty. This is my realization. This is my challenge. I am going to do it. I encourage everyone to do it too. Break out of your comfort zone! Smile and talk to people! Take out your Ipod, set down your book, and listen to people! We need community, and the only way to do that is to do away with absorption.

Alone…

Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted new stuff. The following blog is a fictional story, that I wrote a little while ago, on the importance of close friendships in life. It was something that was really on my heart at the time, and still is. I would encourage you guys to think of a couple close friends that you have; pray for them and shoot them an encouraging message. We all need close friends to get through this crazy life.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! That old familiar sound ringing in the background as Jim comes to. It is Monday morning. “Dang, it’s already 6. The weekend goes by so fast these days,” he thinks to himself as he slams the alarm off, rolling over and out of bed. At that moment, the coldness of the dark hits him straight on. Not having the heater working during these cold December months puts a nice chill in the house while the sun sleeps over the horizon. Jim is use to it; as he has not had heat for a few years because he can not afford it. He runs straight for the shower to turn it on, all the while keeping his fingers crossed hoping that there will be hot water. The gas bills are two months behind, so every morning is a gamble. Yes!! Steam starts rising from over the curtain. Once again Jim can enjoy a hot shower; taking in every moment of it because this may be his last. Jim finishes his shower and steps out into the bathroom. Once again, the chill of the house smacks him straight in the face. The cold tiles beneath his feet radiate up his whole body. He quickly dries off and slides into his warm clothes. His clothes are plain; dark blue work pants with a lighter blue shirt tucked in. Across the chest it reads: Jim. He stands there for a few seconds looking at himself in the mirror; looking at his nametag; looking up into his own eyes. “Am I really the man behind this name?” he doubtfully thinks to himself as he turns and heads back into the darkness of his room. There is no time to follow that thought deeper; for once again he is running behind. He kisses his beautiful wife goodbye, grabs his coat, and heads out the front door. “This is going to be a good week” he tells himself, “A good week…”

The crisp morning air is refreshing to the soul. Jim takes in every second of it during his fifteen minute walk to the bus station. About a block away that old familiar diesel scent hits his nostrils, and he knows his warm bus is waiting. He finds an empty row toward the back and sits down quietly. The bus quickly fills up with people; the widest array of people Jim has ever seen. As he is pondering this thought, he sees a well dress white lady coming straight for him, her eyes focused on the only empty seat left on the bus… the seat right next to Jim. She gets closer, looks over at Jim, then turns around and heads for the standing section in the front of the bus. If this were ten years ago Jim would have been taken aback, but by now he is use to it. The whole twenty minute bus ride to work he sits alone, just staring out the window at the beautiful sunrise.

At 5^th street Jim gets off the bus. It is just another three minute walk to his work. By this time the sun is out, just barely peaking over the horizon. Jim can feel its rays, warming him up from the inside out. “This is going to be a good week” he tells himself, “A good week…”

Jim’s office is in the basement of a twenty five story high rise building. It smells of chemicals; a scent if you were just visiting there, you’d be passed out on the floor, but for Jim, the scent is invigorating; for he has worked there for almost ten years now. Jim grabs his cart, loads it up with supplies, and slowly pushes it onto the elevator.

At about the same time Jim steps onto the elevator, a click followed by an oldies hit song is heard, as Ron is awaken from his sleep. Even though he sleeps in just his boxers on top of his sheets, he awakens in puddle of sweat on his pillow. Oh that old familiar puddle from tossing and turning all night long. Ron sluggishly gets up and crawls over to the shower. The heated tile beneath his feet feels good as he begins his morning routine. After his shower, Ron makes his way to his walk in closet and puts on his suit and tie, followed by a little spray of cologne. “Hopefully this will finally be a good week,” Ron hopes to himself for as he looks into his well lit mirror. He is glad that the weekend is finally over, for he had spent it all alone, lounging around his huge space overlooking the city.  Ron then takes the elevator down thirty five floors to the ground floor, where the valet has his car warmed up ready to go. Ron crawls in, tips the man, and heads off to work. The seven minute ride to work in his Mercedes is smooth and comfortable, just like every other day. He pulls in front of the building, hands his keys to the valet, and heads into the elevator to go up to his floor. Ron is the Vice President of a fortune 500 company.

The day goes by and Ron gets into the groove of things. Every Monday is the same: Yell at three employees to do their job better in the staff meeting, remind the administrative assistant to make sure the temperature of the coffee is just right, and tell at least two jokes to the employees by the end of the day; hoping that this will be the time in which their laughs are sincere.

This may seem like a dream job for anyone, but for Ron it is quite the opposite. He is tired of it. He is alone. On the outside he seems to have it all together. He has prestige, money, power; but it is not enough. He is craving something more. He is suffering and breaking down little by little each day. The people he comes in contact with are fake. They tell him what he wants to hear. He can not take it anymore, and as he sits behind his desk overlooking the city, he tells himself that today will be his last, he is done with life. He is throwing in the towel. “No one will miss me. I’d be doing everyone a favor,” he thinks to himself. At that time Jim makes his way to the twenty fifth floor, the floor where the company that Ron works for is on.

As soon as Jim steps off the elevator he gets to work. He never has a set routine, for his duties include a wide array of cleaning. One would think that he listens to music while working, but he does not, he just always has a song in his head; smiling and singing here and there as he cleans the office. People always stare and make smart remarks. They ponder up stories about who they think Jim is. Usually they say he is a retard, but today they say that he is a child molester, making up stories on what he did to little children; for on the news the night before there was a story on a Mexican man who was found guilty for raping little children. Jim always can overhear their remarks, but he does not care, for he knows that he is a good man and does not get his worth from other people. Jim makes his way down the hallway, all the while employees getting out of his way trying to stay as far away from him. He then comes up to Ron’s office, but Ron is in there. “That is weird” Jim thinks to himself, “Usually Mr. Cabe is out in a meeting at this time. I’ll just come back later.” Right as that thought crossed his mind, he noticed something through the window. There stood Ron Cabe looking him straight in the eye. It was just for a second, but through that Jim knew exactly how Ron was feeling. He was able to look deep into his soul, and see the loneliness, the pain. He knew what he had to do, so he knocked on the door.

As soon as he entered the office, Jim apologized to Ron for having to take out the trash while Ron was still in there. Ron had a hard time understanding him with his thick accent, and just sat there and stared at Jim. The two sat there all alone for what seemed like an eternity, until Jim broke the silence with a question. “What are you doing this Saturday? Would you like to come over for dinner Mr. Cabe? My wife makes the best enchiladas.”  As the word enchiladas came out of Jim’s mouth, Ron broke down and began weeping. There he sat in his nice leather chair, behind his huge oak desk weeping. All Jim could do at this time was to walk over and give Ron a hug. “Yes, I’d like that” said Ron as the two men embraced.

Saturday rolled around quickly as Ron rang the doorbell of Jim’s house. As they sat around the table, Ron asked Jim how he was able to get through life, dealing with all the crap that goes on in the office, and Jim’s reply was something that Ron will never forget. “Ron,” Jim said, “It may look like I am suffering from an outsider, but I am not. I do not care what other people think of me. I do not receive my worth from others. I receive that worth from my friends, my family, and most importantly, myself. I could go through life looking at all the negative things, but that is wrong. The positives are always out there, you just have to realize that and know what to look for. You need to silence out all the other crap in order to focus on what really matters. Ron, do you ever wonder why or what I am always singing? Well I sing those songs to focus and get me through all the negative comments people make toward me. Ron, that is what gets me through it all; that and having close people to surround myself with.”

Dinner was a big hit, and soon it became a reoccurring thing, every Saturday night Ron would come over to Jim’s house. These two completely different individuals became best friends. They talked about everything. They talked about life, not just the surface stuff, but the deep meaningful stuff. They grew inseparable. They both were suffering in different ways: Ron was very successful but he was alone. He seemed to have it all together, but he did not. Jim was poor, laughed at, and a stereotyped individual, but he had it together on the inside. He had a sort of light, or joy that radiated out of his heart. Together these two men would conquer their sufferings and pains. That is what everyone needs, a best friend you can come too and share everything with; a best friend that you can suffer together with. Once you find that person, life will be much more meaningful.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.”

 

I’ll Bring You More Than a Song…

“‘I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You’re looking into my heart”

This song, especially these lyrics, have been stuck in my head and heart all this past week. I had to get it out, so I did a rough recording. Nothing fancy, just me and my guitar.

I’m not going to lie, it’s hard  to honestly sing those lyrics to God, and something that I am continually working on. My hope for this post is that someone will listen… really focus on the lyrics, thus focusing on God, thus bringing  their heart into worshipping Him.

I’m blessed to have all of you in my life. Thanks for listening

PS. change the video settings from 360p to 480p —————–^

Flashbang, How I Got Over Myself

This is just a short post on one of my favorite books, “Flashbang, How I Got Over Myself”.  I read this book a couple years ago, and loved it. I recently read it a couple months ago, and loved it even more. God spoke so clearly to me through it. It is a brilliant book written by Mark Steele. A little background… Mark is a stand up comedian, who also runs his own production company. They take care of all the production aspects for large church services, commercials, and a ton of other stuff. His company’s main focus is to share Christ through the modern art of production… so of course I would love his stuff.

A Flashbang is an object used in filming or magic. It is a grenade type object hat produces a very bright flash and a loud explosion, but no shrapnel and minimal explosive force, to disorient the target. The book is based around that, and how as Christians we tend to become like flashbangs… All show, and no real impact. We need to break free of the flashbang, and become a real explosion, leaving a lasting mark on the people we come in contact with on a daily basis.

The book itself is an easy read. Each chapter is written with a parallel story, or testimony of Mark’s life. Mind you, he’s a stand up comedian so it’s pretty funny. He then spends the second half of each chapter tying in that testimony to an aspect of getting over himself, and focusing on God.  Man, God really speaks through Mark’s words. It’s such an applicable book to Christians today, or should I say Disciples. When I read this book two months ago, it was one of the main driving factors that woke me up, in a sense, to my walk with God.  I would like to encourage you all if you are looking for a good read, to pick up a copy of this book. I can’t even begin to describe how powerful it is. I like to read, and out of the 100s of books I’ve read, this one is by far in the top few.  Here is a quick little excerpt…

And now I see my life with new eyes.

A view above my own circumstances-over myself- to see God’s plan outside of my tunnel vision. It was not until I rose to that height that I realized my darkness had actually been selfishness- which explained the sin I had run toward. That true slaphappy comes when I release those five folded fingers that wrap around my own plan an freefall into God’s version of the desires of my heart.

As I finally open my clenched hand to view my human intention, I will see that what is truly left there is nothing. That it was always nothing. That it was not an item or a skill or an ability that God wanted to mold. God wanted to use the hand itself. He wanted to use what He made rather than what I made. But the hand had been clenched so firmly that God could do nothing with it.

God, my arms are now wide open. Free to reach and free to embrace. Because I have seen that when I live in that place, I leave teethmarks.

I see that serving and leading in Your Name actually works and works for the long term when I let go and love. It is the difference between me in Mexico and me in Romania. That which is true versus that which is planned and plotted. One follows Your lead. The other attempts to take the lead over.

I am finished with that,

You may now begin with me.

It is amazing to witness the ferocity with which God’s teaching and plan work (like they say they will) when our attempts are true, when we truly love and truly care and abandon what we think is best for ourselves to sacrifice for the better of the other person. When we desperately want the other to have a full life, even when that full life is not what we though it was supposed to look like at all. When we give everything inside of us so the other will be whole.

In my experience, this proves that God’s plan is genuine- and that my doubts only became accurate because I was busy standing in God’s way.”

Now I don’t mean for this blog to be a commercial at all. I just wanted to share this, because it has had such an impact on my life recently. Mark’s prayer in the excerpt above, pretty much sums up what God is currently teaching me. I am tired of living a flashbang life, and ready to leave an impact on this world, or as Mark calls it, teethmarks. Take my open hands God, I fully surrender my life to You alone. Not my will but Your will be done.

I love you guys and am thankful for the encouragement you bring.

http://www.amazon.com/Flashbang-How-Got-Over-Myself/dp/0976035723/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285817684&sr=8-1

New Eyes… Holistic thinking

I’m not going to lie, when you make a public statement of Faith, it gets crazy! Within the next day of posting my first blog, I received nothing but attacks from the Devil.  I know it was he, because the bible is so clear that he is alive and well, prowling around on the earth. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there was just a chain reaction of events that happened, where it was a direct attack to distract me from whole-heartedly following Christ. It wasn’t easy, but through the hope I have in my Lord and Savior, I am able to fix my eyes on Him, and through that hope, have Him walk me through the flames. I also have hope, because the bible is so clear in Romans that the God of Peace will soon crush Satan… oh what a glorious day that will be!!! Anyway, I just wanted to share, now onto the blog…

There you lay, darkness surrounds you. Your chest slowly rises up. down. up. down. You feel the humidity and warmth of your breath, keeping your cold nose warm. up. down. up. down. With every up, you feel the sharp pain below, right on the corner of your pelvis. It radiates the pain all through out your legs. up. down. up. down. Every breath you breathe in, your nostrils are hit with the scent of decay, death, trash, feces. Up. down. up down. The brushing of their skin with yours, feeling just that much warmer for that split second of contact. up. down. up. down. Your tongue is stuck to the top of your mouth. Dryness. Up. down. up. down. You feel, hear, and even taste your heartbeat ever so slowly. It drives, radiates all through out your extremities, with every beat in sync with the up. down. up. down. Right then, you feel it. You see it on the back of your eyelids. The light! Oh how you hate that light, but at the same time, love and embrace it’s warmth. The night is over, and the sun is waking up, peaking its glorious rays over the horizon, right into your humble life. There is no time to continue sleeping, because you must get on with your full day of strenuous work. This is a daily basis. This is your life. This is who you are. You are living in poverty, without a roof over your head.  Without adequate water. Without food. Bundled up for the night with hundreds of others trying to keep warm.

How did we “Americans” get so blessed to be living here? Think about it! Most of us are living here because we were born here. We were born into this life of comfort, of financial stability, of not having to worry about food or water.  What did we ever do to deserve this? Nothing! Nothing at all! Now what about the majority of the world? The majority that lives in poverty on a daily basis? Did they do something in their life to get to that point of extreme poverty? Heck no!!! They were born into it! Just like us. So why do we think that we are so much better than them, just because we have money? It’s all nonsense. They did nothing to get to where they are! Now, I’m not talking about the people you see on the street corners in downtown, because the majority of them have opportunities, but are too lazy to pursue them. I’m talking about the billions of people throughout the world, who spend their whole lives just trying to find food and water.

I will save my rambling on the downfalls of being rich, in regards to following Christ whole-heartedly, for another blog. I do want to share this though. If one hundred people represented the world’s population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month (which I know most of us make far more than that), you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet? That is crazy!!! Robert Murray M’Cheyne states it sarcastically, but perfectly: “I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day…. I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.”  Like I said, I don’t want to dive into the “how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom talk” just yet, but rather I want to encourage us that there is so much to do.

We need to have a holistic view of the world. God has really put this mentality on my heart, and I just want to challenge you guys also!  Break free of your ignorant American Christian lives, and realize that there is so so much more going on in the world that the media just hides under the rug. I know I’m starting to preach and ramble, and I don’t want to do that. I do, however want to encourage you guys to start asking God to see the world through His eyes. Maybe a practical, baby step you can do, is sponsor a child. I mean come on; it’s only like $32 a month. I bet most of us spend that much on starbucks in two weeks. Sponsoring a child through an organization like World Impact is such an awesome experience. It’s so cool being able to write back and forth with your child, and watch them grow, not only in age, but also in Christ. Because lets be honest, it’s not your money but rather God’s. He placed you in America with money for a reason. Now go out and use His money to help those who are in need.

I made this simple video a little while back. I encourage you guys to watch it, and afterwards just spend a moment in prayer, asking God help you see the world through His eyes. Jesus said it Himself, part of the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself, and so lets get out there and share God’s Love!

The Starting Pistol

Starting Pistol: a handgun that is fired to start track and field races. The loud report of the gun going off is a signal to the athletes to begin the event

Imagine, sitting there, feeling weightless. Everything is just right.  Everything around slowly comes to a stop.  Heart beats. Peace. Hope. The smell of fresh cut Bermuda is in the air. The taste of an ice cold bottled Coke is fizzing on your tongue. The motion and business of life fades away, as you hang there suspended. It’s in that split moment where I would dream. Dream of the life I will live.  A life of friends; of a good education; of a good job; being close with family; being comfortable; being financially stable; being able to travel the world, and most importantly, having a best friend who I could call my own, to journey down that path with. This was the life my hopeless romantic mind would daydream about while Grandpa would push my five-year-old self on the tree swing in their backyard.  Oh how I loved that swing; and my Grandpa.

I have always been a dreamer. An optimist. I dream big with my life. I always set high goals and love the challenge of achieving them. Being very goal oriented, meant that I was successful. Almost everything I would set my mind to, I would be able to accomplish…. I have always been a straight A student. I have always been the star player on sports teams. I have always been good at music. At age 19, I worked fulltime-fighting fires. I worked for three years as a worship director for a very successful youth ministry. I obtained my bachelors degree and graduated with honors. In 2009, I got hired at a ‘grown up’ job, being the youngest guy they’ve ever hired.  2009 was also filled with buying a new car, having lots of toys, purchasing my own house, and having enough money to go out and finally enjoy life.  I was set.  All the years of goal achieving finally paid off. My life was in rhythm with the American dream. And in spring of 2010, I finally had the last piece of the puzzle. I DID IT!! I finally reached that goal I spent hours dreaming about. My life was complete!!  YIPPEE!!!

There was only one problem though. Actually, a huge problem. Over the course of achieving that dream, I forgot one important aspect. God. I spent so many years focusing on goals that I set, in which I left out the goals that He set. Wow. All of a sudden I am rushed back in time to those weightless moments on Grandpa and Grammas’ swing. What happened?!? Where did I get off track? Tim Kizziar states it perfectly, “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Ouch! That was I, all the way.  I was living a flashbang life.  A life that looked solid, but on the inside hollowness. Just like those hollow chocolate bunnies at Easter, just a shell… I hate those things!!!!

Ultimately, I lost sight of God. I didn’t realize that until summer, when He ripped the idol I held dearest to my heart right out of my tight grip. Man did it hurt at first. But man, it feels so good to have clean hands outstretched to Him. I could spend hours rambling on about how God used that event in my life to Defibrillate my heart back in sync with His, but I won’t bore you with that.

I love creative arts… reading, writing, drawing, music, poems, photography, and videos. etc. Not only do I love creative arts, I also love doing them. It is my passion. My outlet. My joy. My area of service within God’s family.  I love music. Music has, and will always be a huge part of my life. I love thinking outside the box when it comes to scenes… photography, painting, designing. I love to write. This is one of my dark secrets that literally no one knows. I love writing poetry, stories, lyrics; I am a closet writer.

This blog is going to be a testimony of my life, portrayed through creative arts. Some days it might be deep and heavy, while others fun and light. All though, will be tied together, or portrayed through song, poems, photography, videos, or just my boring writing. One of the ways I have, and always will serve God is through creative arts. It is one of my outlets of service. I know at times I can be notorious at rambling, so I promise I will keep the posts short.

A good close friend of mine stated it so simple, but yet so clearly. He said, “David, run back to God as best and as quickly as you can!”  This is my race back to the loving arms of my Father.  My marathon. My Story. My journey. My testimony. I pray and hope that God will speak to you through this. I honestly do not know why I am starting this, but I do know that I am called to.  If through the life of this blog, one person is touched and brought back into the Heart of God, then my purpose has been fulfilled. I love you guys and thank you for being apart of my marathon.  Now hold on tight, because running the race for God is not going to be easy, but it will be the best race you can run.

“To Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”  -Eph 3:20-21