the gift of life

"And the LORD God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." -Genesis 2:7


my friends from my time in Vail, Erin and Kevin Daly, just had their first baby(Asher Kai Daly)...how amazing is our God to give us life...and now He has chosen this boy to have life...just blows my mind to know that He has given us so much just with the simple blessing of bringing us in to his world

Brandon Heath and Batman

I was talking with my friend today Brandon Heath Knell about obedience. Its something we do, something we are, something we fight for. I told Brandon today that his music displays that to me. Its pretty awesome to know that along with his fame he still takes time for solid friendships and to encourage me and gives me a chance to let me know what God is revealing to Him in his walk.

We talked about a song that is one of my favs on the new album coming out on August 18 (go get it!!!! its called 'What If We') called 'When I'm Alone'. Its about needing Christ in all times but how we feel the need for Christ especially when we are alone and really trying to become the person God wants us to be. I know that in this time of living by myself here I need to make great decisions for Christ and I need to obey but at times I'm scared even though I know of the reward of faithfulness. I just ache to be with Christ....ache for everything to make sense.

I know this suffering of living alone and being in a new place is God working in me...For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. -2 Cor. 1:5 How crazy is that that the more we suffer the more we are comforted...its a call to continue despite pain, awkwardness, rejection...to press on. And I dont claim to be the most radical person for Christ in my sufferings but I am seeing that I need to embrace this suffering and push through it to obtain a reward greater than any other, for in Christ Jesus I am satisfied and this life is not lived in vain for He has washed me clean and declared me righteous.

I listened to a John Piper sermon on my drive down last week that talked about a huge problem with American Christians is that we do not embrace suffering for Christ as we should...as in we always look for a quick fix or other way out to ease the pain and not embrace the true suffering that Christ has intended for us to go through. I am at fault for that but now I am truly finding the ways to endure the cost of being a follower of Jesus. It was another reminder to me to continue to grow in Christ and embrace this life He has given me that I completely 100% do not deserve.

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I saw the new Batman today with my friend Jason Boothe who I interned with down in Miami with the Dolphins. There were a few Christian themes that caught my eye such as Batman taking the blame even though He did nothing wrong and making himself a sacrifice for Gotham. Also there was a line that said “Sometimes people need to have their faith rewarded” but in this movie it was faith in a lie. It still strikes me as the world searching for a savior...and hello worrrrrld He exiiiiiists His name is Jeeeeeesus. I know its a movie and it would be crazy to just tie the end in to a great gospel presentation but I pray for the people that watch this and still search for a reason to live and a reason to believe something.

John 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

in Tallahassee

shewwww...after 2 days of driving I am here in Florida again safely...thank you all who prayed over my travel...its another feeling where I know I am outside whats comfortable to me...not to mention its so hot in my apartment! Just one AC unit that doesnt crank out much.

I met my boss today, Campo, and he showed me around Doak Campbell. Its really a great atmosphere and should be a great place to work facilities wise.

Last night I spent the night with Samkon Kaltho Gado. What an amazing friend God has blessed me with in Him. He is truly one of those people that I could go months without seeing but we see each other and we connect instantly in the most true form of fellowship. There arent many guys that I can say that about. Sam and I were privileged to meet one another in fellowship last year while both of us were with the Dolphins. We talked about this last night and will continue to do so forever that it was such an amazing time for us to have one another in South Florida along with the other guys in Tuff, Abraham, and Rod. We locked arms and went to battle together and really experienced a true piece of heaven together in fellowship.

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One plug I forgot to mention about my trip to Kansas City is my trip to IHOP. Not your regular ihop but the International House of Prayer....where they have LIVE praise and worship 24/7...seriously it was incredible to go. I went with a guy who used to be a Christian Counselor of mine named Ken Banks. In fact right now they are praising God in song and I am watching it live on the internet. For $10 a month you can have video streamed live to you of the worship whether its 1pm on Tuesday or 4am on Saturday they are praising God in song!!!....just amazing not to mention when I was there last week I saw a great friend Erica Grimaldi who was on my SPECIAL team at Ultimate Camp during the 2004 summer. Erica played basketball at Vanderbilt and was a baller! She has just returned from 10 months in Africa and is praying about what to do next. Lift her up please...

I will be trying out two new churches tomorrow so I must be getting some rest...



Jesus you are so good to me...I dont deserve this grace at all

I trust you Lord...

tonight was all over the map.

God gave myself and my fellowship here in town a powerful last night of prayer and surrender as we prayed for nearly 40 minutes for God to be in our lives and requests in crazy spirit-filled ways. Our amazing God showed up in a tremendous way and I know we walked out of that house changed by the living God.

On the other side of town my step mom Cathy is struggling through a group intervention where her pride and lack of trust in Christ to carry the burden of her past weighs her down in to a deep dark place of pain and alcoholism....it hurts me so deep to see someone struggle in this but its a crystal clear example of what happens when we resist taking the yoke of Christ. So as of Sunday she will be moving to our family condo just 5 minutes away from our house now...God we cry out to you to break down the walls in her heart and help her cry out to you....

It hurts me to see my dad going through this but we both reach the same point at the end of tonight...God has a plan for this...He chose us...and He will not leave us...ever.
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The past couple weeks have been tough and amazing at the same time. I go through anxieties and worrying but God just calms my heart and lets me know He is here and my portion...I reach deep and uncover sin thats been in the dark for a long time and God helps me to confess it and gives me an incredible and gracious response. God has been showing up in my life and I praise Him for it....Lord you are sooo real...so amazing. So many examples in the past few weeks: encouragement from countless people at the Littleton wedding including John Hardie, Kevin, Hoss and Emily, Ray Littleton, Cam Young...and then God having a sister in Christ overhear my conversation about God's love to someone on a flight last week and then after handing a couple verses from Romans 8 she looks at me in the face and tells me I am in God's favor.....brothers and sisters our God is REAL...

Cry out to Him tonight...shout it out if you have to but just get it out...let it all come forth to give Him glory because He so freakin deserves it.

Amazing King help me to praise you in every single season/day/moment of my life....you are worthy...you are Lord.



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finally an encouragement from God's word by my brother John Michael Payette tonight:

Galatians 6:7-9
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

pictures

Here are some pictures over the past few weeks of my life...they are in reverse order as far as the time sequence....enjoy




Fireworks to close the amazing night after the reception at the Littleton's wedding.

ooooh just a 3 hour dance party at the reception

The Littletons

Matt and Emily Hostetler at Kevin Littleton's wedding! such a great couple..they are living in Providence now...
The one and only Cam Young in Kansas City of all places!!!!


Mom and Clif driving their new boat!Cookin out at Marvin Key on July 4
Wynnie taking a nap with her pillow at the LAY Z Boy store before DMB

south florida...amelia...kansas city

Current Location: Lenexa, Kansas

my time in South Florida was great....from the reunion with brothers and sisters in Fort Lauderdale to 4th of July at Marvin Key to crackin coconuts in the backyard to hangin out with Mom and Clif to time with the Burris' the time was great. I wish the time could have lasted longer but my life seems to be stuck in fast forward at the moment as time as I quickly approach the move to Tallahassee. Last night I was with my grandparents in Amelia, Virginia and couldnt have asked for a better time. Today was the second consecutive day I was up before sunrise as we drove to Richmond to fly to Kevin Littletons wedding in Kansas City this weekend.

Tonight a great friend from my 2006 missions/holiday trip to Germany with Athletes in Action, Cameron Young, happens to be in Kansas City for this week on business from China. He is one of my best friends and a true follower of Christ. Infact the Coldplay lyrics and screams from our car ride home still are echoing in my head....

Over the past week though God has rocked my world. He has helped me dive in to a depth with Him like never before. He continues to amaze me with how real He is in every part of my life and how He fights for me to be with Him and spend my every thought in Him. My mind is a part of me that is really being transformed at the moment. Jason Burris asked how to pray for me the other night and I just said three words: depth...for me to throw myself at Christ in a way to experience incredible depth and intimacy...focus...for me to stay fixed on Jesus(Heb 12:1) and really live for Him in all I do with purpose....and lastly fellowship...to really know that God has this planned for me in Tallahassee and seek the most intimate and real fellowship I can find there..fellowship that will stretch me, challenge me, make me unconfortable of where I am to strive for more of who God is.

I will be posting pics soon of my USA tour...

pressing on...