One of my favorite things about music is the ability it has to trigger certain memories, places and people in time where you first heard it. Im gunna list a few of my favorite bands and songs and the memories associated with them.


Yellowcard is one of my foundation bands for the genre of music I listen too. It all began on a bus ride to a soccer game my freshman year. I borrowed Ocean Avenue from a friend and didn't give it back to him for 6 months. That CD will always be one of my favorites, and remind me of my friend Brad.

ACDC-Back in Black was also a soccer song, being the first track on our varsity warmup CD when I was a freshman. I miss those days.

BoA is an artist very few Americans would recognize. Her actual name is Boa Kwon and she is a Korean pop star that I discovered while in a record shop in Seoul, Korea in 2007. Once I bought her CD I listened to her the rest of the trip and it always brings back fun memories from that trip.

Brad Paisley, sorry I have to throw him in here. Since I grew up in MT whenever I listen to him it reminds me of my hometown and the many adventures I had living there.

Mariah Carey sadly is on this list too with Touch My Body. Isaac and Joe made it happen with their late night dances in boxers interchanging each other's names in the song. I think I got subbed in a few times as well...

Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach always brings back memories of getting up when its still dark out to go skiing with my sister and dad while we were growing up in MT.

Songs definitely don't always remind you of good things either. Daughty-Over You is one of my most hated songs now cause of a girl..After a long friendship for years, she stabbed me in the back and never talked to me again. Awesome!

Aqueous Transmission by Incubus brings back urban camping memories last summer with Isaac. Camping on roofs in Boulder and Springs, and also random parks in town waking up to a yoga workout class on the basketball court.

A side of me most of you don't know is I used to be a huge gamer. I mean playing online every night for 3-4 hours. It was my escape for not having any "real" friends in Canon. So I made friends online, but in turn found some great music along with it. My favorite being Jason Reeves-You in a Song.

Linkin Park will always remind me of Boston. Each CD I heard first there. I picked up Meteora and listened to it while riding through Boston tunnels at night.

Justin Timberlake-What Goes Around Comes Around. (believe it) Is one of my favorite songs because of the amazing memories of my first summer at Horn Creek. Climbing 4-5 times a week with one of my best friends Johnny O. and he got me into it and it became our theme song that we listened to every night we climbed.

Run Kid Run reminds me of camping in New Mexico with some amazing friends, and seeing things we shouldn't have..

The girl that I have fallen the hardest for in the past, will always remind me of Paul Simon- Father and Daughter. We worked together up at Horn Creek. I had never found someone that shared more things in common with me before, especially taste in music, it was amazing, i'll never forget her and how she grew in God that summer.

Motion City Soundtrack, Something Corporate, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Rise Against, The Flaming Lips, A New Found Glory, Nirvana, Silverstein, Spoon, Sublime. These were alot of my starter bands when I first moved to CO, and my friend Brad introduced me to so much like this. It was a rough time in my life once he moved on to partying and I was left in the dust.

But now my life is back on track due to some amazing people i've met this semester, I seriously couldn't have done it without you guys.
Some bands to go with that now would be- Hillsong United, Number One Gun, Barcelona, Chasen, Dashboard, The Spill Canvas, Fun, and Amsterdarn.

Letting God lead your life. -Conclusion

In conclusion to my previous post about me battling Asia vs. Africa. I have talked to a few people about it and interestingly enough got very similar answers which leads me to believe they have a point.

I need to stop worrying so much about what I think God wants for me and start doing what I know he wants for me regardless of the country and timeframe. I realize how selfish I was thinking I couldn't support another country other then China. I need to keep my view open to everywhere in the world and not focus completely on one place.

Although it is Africa, it's still a country that's in so much desperation and need, and me being involved with that and the community that goes along with it will be good for me. I need to be content with where I am right now and the oppertunities at my doorstep. God can teach me so much right now and it will help with my future endeavors in China.

Time to stop being so selfish.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

And start enjoying life worry free with the amazing friends I have.
Ecc 8:15 "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun".

So recently a friend of mine turned me onto an artist named Chasen. Him and his band lead worship at a church in South Carolina and a few years ago released their first CD and have just released their second. I'm really diggin their music and they have amazing lyrics so you should check them out.

One of my favorite songs by them right now is "Nothing Like You".
A song simply saying that there is nothing like God, and He is all and ALL is good, it's so true and I love it.

Nothing Like You
(Chasen Callahan)

Take a storm and watch sing
Take the thunder create a scene
Take a light and throw it across the sky
For the whole world to see
Take the ocean take the tide
Sweep it in here on beaches white
Wipe my eyes and let me see
The beauty of Your sunrise

There is nothing like You
There is nothing underneath the son
Without You, You are all and all is good
There is nothing like You

Take a branch and watch it break
Take the snow and watch it fall
As the green begins to grow
Lord Your growing my soul

There is nothing like You
There is nothing underneath the son
Without You, You are all and all is good
There is nothing like You

Letting God lead your life.

Recently I've found one of the worst feelings in the world to me is coveting. And it's not your normal type of coveting which could result with possessions like cars, houses, or the latest technological gizmo. But rather the type that is coveting a feeling that someone might get when experiencing something amazing.

For example, my passion right now in life is China. I'm majoring in Asian Studies and plan to learn Mandarin as well, I am not necessarily looking at missions, but it's coming to my attention more and more these days. I think about it all the time and when will be the next time I can go visit and explore and see my brother, it's a non-stop cycle. And it's sometimes annoying because I know it will be a while before I get that chance again.

But in the past few months I met a group of people who are in love with Africa. They want to help out the many thousands of kids there, doing missions and sharing God's word. I couldn't be happier that there are people who share my same desire for overseas work, but the downfall for me was that it wasn't China, it was Africa. As I attended a few different social events having to do with Africa, I found myself utterly jealous of the fact that there kept being events featuring Africa and catering exactly to my friends desires. As much as I loved seeing my friends getting excited and fulfilled from it, it just wasn't the same for me. I got very envious of the feeling of excitement and joy that these events brought them and I wanted it too, oh so bad!

It got me to the point that last Sunday a group of African children preformed and sang at a church up in Springs. As my friends and I sat there and watched I saw the look on their faces of sheer joy and encouragement from these kids. As for me, after the first 10 min I broke down and left the building. It's not that I didn't like it or anything, I just couldn't handle the fact that they had what I longed for. A group of friends with a common interest and events that entertained that interest.


It made me think back to Aaron Stern's last sermon which was on the 10th commandment-Though Shalt Not Covet. And one of the things he said was "We have to believe that God is leading our lives. If we think that someone else is getting something that we deserve and we're not getting something that we think we do deserve, chances are we're thinking that God doesn't know what he's doing. Do we believe that God is leading our lives?" For me this concept is very easy to wrap my head around, but uber hard to actually live out.

To not covet someone, something, or a feeling someone has about something, is to believe that in everything God has it all planned out and has his own plan for each one of us individually. Its so difficult to come to grips with that sometimes. For me it's difficult to realize that even though I don't have a group of friends that are in love with China right now, doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. There will still be a time and a place for that and if it's not right now, then that must be God's plan. All I can do is live with what I have and the amazing friends that share a common goal, even if it isn't the same country. And trust that He is going to reveal it to me when the time is right.

"I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress." -Psalms 32: 8

My prayer is I will put it all before God, he will show me when he's ready and I just have to trust in him through it all. And that he will give me peace about my current state of mind.

-Amen

Brotherhood

This past week has been one of the best on record for adventures. A few of my best friends and I went to Texas for spring break. It was definitely one of those times that was needed, where you just longed to get away and experience something new and fresh, and we got exactly what we asked for. Even if Texas isn't the greatest state in the world, you can't disregaurd God's beauty everywhere in it. The ocean was definitely a highlight for me, with the waves gently crashing in the cool morning air and the sun still coming up over the horizon. Reading on the beach in God's word and praying with some of the greatest guys I know, It's hard to compare to anything in the world (except doing the same thing in the mountains of course).

I feel God was trying to show me something with this trip and to show me that this is what brotherhood is all about. One definition I found was "An association of men, united for common purposes" That purpose to me is to come together and glorify God in everything we do and to fellowship with eachother on a regular basis. As well as encourage eachother in all things that we do. That might mean playing ultimate frisbee or snowboarding, or whatever hardships we might go through as well. Whatever the case, I know they will be right behind me backing me up every step of the way. And that's what a true brother in Christ is.

Aside from my actual brother, its been a hard attempt to find people who fill the brotherhood gap. Playing soccer on the field, working together as a team, as brothers, to win the game. This trip has been alot like that and the different trials I went through and the ways they responded, I am proud to call these guys my brothers. They have put themselves out on the line for me and encouraged me in ways I didn't see possible. It really made me think and thank God for them and the blessings they are in my life.

"Above all things let us not forget that mankind constitutes one great brotherhood; all born to encounter suffering and sorrow, and therefore bound to sympathize with eachother." -Albert Pike

Without brothers like these, I don't know where I would be today. Who would push me to jump off the 40 foot cliff? Who would challenge me in God's word? Who would be right by my side as im getting married? My brothers have such an important role in my life I couldn't live without them.. Here's to you. I love you guys.

Trust is a tough one..

Several years ago a few friends of mine joined up with the forest service to fight fires, I decided not to do it but was eager to try the next year..and the next.. both to no avail. With no motivation to keep trying and an ever terrifying website of confusion, I gave up on that idea of traveling to different states helping put out forest fires, and making lots of money.

This past fall however, the idea somehow worked its way to my head again, mainly because I was getting to the point of transferring schools and knew I couldn't afford to make minimum wage again. So I called up one of my buddies who did it before and got quite a bit of info of what to do and how to make it happen. So I finally applied for an entry level job based out of Canon and was up against 19 other applicants. I waited and I waited..and waited.. for about 3 months. Which in my opinion is waaay too long to dwell on whether or not you get a job, its torture, my mind twisting against me and eventually having to start thinking of alternatives if it didn't work out. Nearing the time when they were suppose to select the only position for the summer. I got a call from my buddy again telling me to make sure everything was in order and they should be selecting someone soon. Another few weeks went by and I was getting really ancy. I kept thinking .."what if I don't get it? I will have to make crap money again this summer". So after meeting with a friend recently he showed me a verse in the Bible that couldn't of been more acurate to my situation.

Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heats and minds through Christ Jesus".

So after hearing that verse it really got me thinking about how I was handling this job process. I wasn't relying on God at all but only in myself and what I could do about it. So I decided to pray about it and just put it before God and if this was the way he wanted me to go then he would open the door. So I finally was able to relax knowing that God was and IS ultimately in control over everything, and even if I don't make alot of money, I trust that God will always provide for everything in my life. Its definitely not an easy thing to do with our human nature. Trust is not built overnight, but it's much more worth it in the end.

So about a week after this happened I got a call from the Forest Service offering me the job! I couldn't believe my ears, such accomplishment I felt, and I owe it all to our loving and gracious God.

It's things like this that make me strive to live for him even more when he answers prayers.

All in all--God is good.

God Always Provides

I grew up going to church, every sunday, every week, without fail. It was an involuntary movement that's lasted my whole life. In the past year though, Church has been a very interesting topic in my life. I was going to a church I liked only because I had some friends there, it was never about actually going to listen, but rather to socialize and not pay attention by any means. And once these so called "friends" graduated and moved on to college, I was left by myself. I kept attending now and again, but felt so out of place always by myself with no real group to even hang out with. Slowly as the Summer came I began to go less and less and finally when I started working alot of Sundays I stopped going altogether. And when I did have a Sunday off the last thing on my mind was church, but rather what can I do today to have fun on my 1 day off.

It was a very stagnant Summer altogether with no real friends around and consisted of alot of boring days indoors. With the end of the Summer nearing and school starting up again my mom addressed the issue with me and expressed her concern for me fading away from God (rightly so). She asked if I would start going to church again, so I did. Back to the same church I was at before with nothing really new changing and still wasn't stoked about going.

So about a month into the school year my brotha-from-anotha-motha Isaac invited me up to the new church he was attending, TheMILL. He said he knew I would like it and I could meet alot of cool people he recently had met there. I kept putting it off and said I would come eventually. So finally a few weeks after, I made the long hour and 15 min trip up to north Colorado Springs and ended up going by myself due to certain circumstances, so I sat quietly in the back and was instantaneously blown away.

First off I didn't expect it to be so large, with upwards of 1000 college age kids it was pretty insane, and second the worship band was incredible and I could feel the power of the music as each song built up and got louder. Needless to say by the end of the night I knew...just knew that's where God wanted me. So I came up the next week with Isaac and was introduced to so many amazing Christian people my age and couldn't believe how much I had in common with them right off the back. So I decided to make TheMill my new church home and haven't missed a service since my first day on January 8th. It has been sooo long since i've been apart of a church where I actually look forward to going every week and fellowshipping with awesome people. And don't forget all the crazy times we have after the service, it has been amazing and I couldn't of asked for a better change in my life.

I've really learned through all this to rely on God for EVERYTHING and he will ALWAYS provide as long as you trust in Him and ask Him for help. It never crossed my mind to do that before all this happened, but my mom never gave up on me and im so thankful for that. I'd also like to thank Isaac for getting me up there and being a great friend in the past few years, I love you man.



Like John Lennon said "Oh I get by with a little help from my friends"