divine appointment

today, after school, i was walking around a plaza on pines blvd., i had just reapplied to publix (long wait for a job there) and i was walking back to my car. as i crossed the sidewalk, the man in front of me turned around and said, "good news friend, did you know that Jesus Christ died for you?" i replied elegantly with "yeah, i know." (give me a break i was caught off guard). anyways, it turns out this guy wasn't some crazy nut on the side of the road, but a real smart, spiritual guy. his name was james and he was a street evangelist. he said he had just got off the greyhound bus and was walking around when he felt the Holy Spirit nudge him to talk to me. now you have to understand, its hard to convey how cool this encounter was. it wasn't some dude just telling me the Gospel, it was some real life stuff we talked about. i have been praying for a long time now for direction and finding God's will for my life. and i was praying for some answers and at least the next step to be revealed to me. and you don't get any plainer of a sign than this guy crossing my path. it was weird, he hit the nail on the head of everything without me even telling him (the power of God is amazing). he could sense the Holy Spirit in me. when i told him i went to flamingo road church, he said that they have a real good spirit over there because he could tell something special in the people around this area that go to flamingo and Christ the rock. but i went on to tell him what i did in church and about my ministry and about my doubts for the future. now this guy didn't tell me anything really new, but he did reinstate what i needed to do. he told me that i need to commit to follow Christ completely. 100% Jesus, 0% world. (sounds simple, huh?) i told him i was debating the possibilities of the future and whether i should go into a field like business or political science or to go into youth ministry. and he really encouraged me to go into ministry. it was just a really cool encounter and the chances are so small that all of this happened it makes your head spin. i mean this guy happened to be right there when i was walking out to the parking lot, and he just happened to answer some questions that had been nagging me for a while, and he just happened to know all these blessings i'd been given. it was real cool. its hard to explain that its not as crazy as it sounds. it's late and i cant remember everything that was said, and im sure someone could probably tell the story better but it wasn't some doomsdayist on the street corner telling all the harlots to repent, it was real life stuff. or as a friend of mine likes to say, real talk. it was just an awesome experience. i know he wasn't an angel or anything cause he said so. but it was still a really cool divine intervention and a nice unscheduled divine appointment. now i'm reaffirmed, i just need to figure out the next step on my way to serving God. so if you see this guy james in his moccasins on the side of the road, tell him craig says thanks.

thanksgiving

thanksgiving was great. played some football with some guys from church, and then another game with some guys from some publix. came back, had dinner with the family. had a pretty packed house, watched a lot of football. nothing but awesome. then today i got up early again on the weekend, picked up shannon, and we went with my family to get the christmas tree and set up. everybody worked hard, except kelly, she sat a lot. but we got it done quick and it turned out pretty good. it was a lot of fun.

Gainesville

this weekend, i went up to gainesville with a couple of my buddies from church, will and jason. we stopped by will's lake house on the way. it was awesome. the weather was killer and the place was huge. i just wish we would have gotten there earlier to ride the jet skis. the next day we headed out to gainesville for the gator game. we pulled in, picked up a third ticket (jason didn't have one), and walked to the swamp. it was awesome, everything you expect from a UF game, the atmosphere was electric. i had a blast. then we went back to will's bro's apartment and hung out for a bit. later we hit up the movies, came back and crashed about 3 am (normal college time). The next day we headed home, jammed to a lot of david crowder and will popped in some cool sermons from Passion '07. Francis Chan really got me pumped. we got home safe and sound. i was a little bummed we missed church at sawgrass that week, but we got a great student ministry team over there and i'm sure everything went fine. good news was i got back in time for the food drop that night. i went with 7 other kids from my campus team and bought thanksgiving groceries and dropped them off at a needy family's house. only problem was, they weren't home. we had to call for a new family's address, got lost on the way there, but finally found them. then, on the way back, realized a girl lost her phone at publix, so we had to back track there. we were the last group back to church, i only got to see shannon perform one song on the big stage, but in the end, it was worth it. this weekend was a blast, but exhausting. its good to be back home, catching up on sleep. in fact, i think ill go do that now...

happy halloween!

so today i went trick-or-treating for the first time since 5th grade. thanks to shannon. we were referees while sam and scott wore the pumpkin costumes that me and shannon donned last week. we got a lot of weird looks and some discouraging comments about our age, but we got a lot of candy so it was worth it.

home alone

so my parents decided to go to the keys this weekend and leave me in charge of the house. woo, party! just kidding, in fact, its been a more laid back weekend than when they're here. i spent friday doing some unrequested yard work, i figure itll make my dad happy that the hedge was trimmed without him asking. then i got real crazy and rented a movie with shannon. needless to say, ive had a lot of free time. its been neat though, its given me time to read over Acts and Romans this weekend. i love these two books because one, its a refreshing break from my quest to conquer the old testament, and two, theyre such easily applicable books to everyday life. they're often overlooked with most of the focus on the early new testament going to the Gospels (rightfully so) but these books give just as much comfort, wisdom, and training. maybe thats not the case everywhere, but at least it is for me. i feel like ive read the Gospels far more than say, Acts. so i still have some time to kill before church, so i plan on watching the kentucky-LSU game, but i just wanted to sell you on reading some different books of the Bible. :) Kentucky is on the 15 yard line, i gotta go.

gameday and growth

i just got back home from the longest JV high school football game ive ever seen. I went to see one of the boys at my table from sawgrass, robbie, play against my school. robbie did great, he almost got a pick, and laid a nasty hit on a kickoff. i was impressed at what a ball hawk he is. its great to get the chance to go see some of my boys outside of church, i wish i had more time to see each of them individually.

in case you didnt know, our ministry is growing lately. our FRC sawgrass campus cracked 300 last week (by the way me and my sister were counted as numbers 300 and 301, thought that was cool), and our student ministry had over 40 kids! thats stinkin crazy. i remember starting out and we had more leaders than kids there. im thankful that God has blessed me with the privilege to lead these middle school boys in this growing ministry. its awesome that He's chosen our church to reach these kid's life. i pray that He keeps blessing us, and my group keeps growing. i love hangin out with these kids every week and just talking about school, life, and the Word. it is a difficult time, middle school, real awkward, with all the acne and hormones. i just hope that im getting through to them and am able to provide them with some insight, comfort, or leadership. its all for Him though. thine power and thine glory. but its a blast that he lets me work with these kids. i wouldnt trade it for the world. so keep praying we keep growing and let the good times roll.

school computers blow

hello all, im currently sitting in the media center at school, writing this blog. we had to look up some viruses and stuff, im done so im killing time. i just took some quiz online that matched me with the best fit possible presidential candidate based on some issues i voted on. i was matched up with duncan hunter(?) my boy mike huckabee, and joe biden. its kind of funny cause it verified what ive been saying all along. i agreed with the republicans on all the social issues, but the democrats on most of the economic/global issues. thats why i registered as an independent. fight the power! but i really am done with this two party system.

matt is currently cranking some jams next to me. i dont know how none of the teachers/administrators notice. gotta love everglades. well, we're about to go back to class, so i should sign off. ill keep you all updated on my life. ill bust onto shannon's computer later and fill you all in. peace.