still trying to figure it out

Top 10 Least Favorite Songs

2011-10-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

10. EVERYTHING (except "I Shoulda Been a Cowboy") by Toby Keith
9. "Dirt Road" by Jason Aldean
8. "Just a Dream" by Nelly
7. "What's my Name?" by Rhianna
6. EVERYTHING by Nicki Minaj
5. "Cha Cha Slide Part 2" by Casper?
4. "Meaning of Being Lonely" by BSB
3. "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega
2. "Cupid Shuffle" by That Cupid Guy
1. "Above All" by Michael W. Smith

Top 10 Favorite Songs from the 90s

2011-09-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

I was born in '84. The 90s had some of the best music. Here's a list of my favorite songs from the 90s.

10. "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground
9. "Superman is Dead" by Our Lady Peace
8. "Hail Mary" by Tupac
7. "Inside Out" by Eve6
6. "If I Had a Million Dollars" by Barenaked Ladies
5. "Jump" by Kris Kross
4. "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer
3. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
2. "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk
1. "Lightning Crashes" by Live

Next, my Top 10 Least Favorite Songs of all time

Getting back into things...

2011-09-16T08:12:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't blogged in a while.

I want to do more blogs like I am known for doing (En-Trees, Aqua Entry, Sparky Entry, etc.) and I will...

But, to get back into the blog thing... I am going to do a brief series of "Bo's Top 10s"

Bo's Top 10 Concert Moments

10. Eating a hotdog with George Yance and Glenn Payne. These two men (now deceased) were the founding members of "The Cathedrals." Hall of Famers. Amazing men. Ate a hotdog at a picnic with them in NC. George Yance tapped my leg and said, "Look how ugly that old man is!" speaking of Glenn Payne. I was around 7 years old.

9. Going to see some bands at a place called "the Refuge." It was this rundown skating rink that had been converted into a place to see concerts (stage, couches for sitting). We were going to see this metal band we had heard about. There was an acoustic band that opened for them from Georgia. Neither band had a CD. That night Third Day opened for Skillet.

8. Hanging out backstage with MotionCitySoundtrack. In Charlotte at the Warped Tour.

7. Lights, Lydia, LoveDrug, Copeland. In Columbia with AB.

6. The Spill Canvas, Melee, Daphne Loves Derby, Copeland. At the Masquerade in Atlanta.

5. Copeland, Relient K. In Charlotte.

4. Ben Harper singing "With My Own Two Hands" into "War." At the Fox Theater in Athens.

3. John Mayer using a girl's digital camera as a slide to play a 5 minute solo. In Charlotte. Also, the first time AB held my hand in public. She initiated it.

2. Meeting Claudio from Coheed & Cambria. At their tent, about an hour before they went on stage. Then watched them perform for 45 minutes. At the Warped Tour in Charlotte.

1. Shaking Ben Harper's hand. 'Nuff said.

Post about #1234

2011-03-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Anna Beth won the #1234 contest.

As promised, I will write an entry about her.

Since she was #1234, I will write the #1 thing I like about her, 2 things she is good at, 3 names I call her and why, and 4 times she has made me crack up laughing. Here we go...

The #1 thing that I like about Anna Beth is her love for YHWH as shown through her love for people. She has this uncanny way of looking past everything that could be "wrong" with a person, or everything that would make a normal person aggravated, repulsed, or annoyed and love them anyway. She just loves them, plain and simple. She has been on a few mission trips, but none that made as much of an impact as her trip to Argentina. I won't fill this space with details of the history, but there was this thing called the "Dirty War" in Argentina. Anna Beth came back with this deep desire and passion for the people affected by this tragedy. Also, Anna Beth wants to adopt babies. This blows me away. I have always wanted to adopt children, as well; but it blows me away because she has so much love for these kids that she hasn't even met yet. She just flat out loves YHWH and it shows through the way she loves people.

Two things Anna Beth is really good at are as follows: creating art and dealing with my ADD. First, she is an artist in the truest form of the word. She creates these amazing things. She can paint, draw, sculpt, etc. BUT, she can also make really cool stuff out of other, not so cool stuff. For instance, she took old gum wrappers, tissue paper, and other old paper, soaked it (then fill this space with magic words) and out popped a journal! She transformed old junk into a journal for me! AND she painted a tree on the front!
The second thing that she is really good at, dealing with my ADD, that's a gift. I have never met anyone who can just follow my line of thinking, follow my way of speaking and be okay with me not looking her in the eyes all the time. Anytime we go to a restaurant, she gives me the chair facing the TV, because she knows if my brain registers a TV behind me the whole time, I won't be able to focus on what she's saying. Whenever we are watching a movie, she's perfectly okay with me making jokes, interrupting, etc. just so long as I don't do it the whole time. She just knows how to deal with me (and of course, she would never say that she "deals" with me).

Three names that I call Anna Beth are as follows: Stinky, Lil' Girl, and Anna BeeBee.
First, the reason that I call her "Stinky" is because when we were at LUL together, sweating everyday, disgusting, covered in mud... I said, "Well, if we can like each other like this, all stinky and nasty, then surely we'll like each other when we're all cleaned-up."
Next, I call Anna Beth "Lil' Girl" because one time we were talking about how she had really long legs and was not short, and I said "Well, you are a cute lil' girl, regardless of how tall you are and how long your legs may be."
Finally, I call her "Anna BeeBee" because when she was in Argentina my niece, Carley Jo, wanted to talk to her and asked, "Unc, where Anna BeeBee?" What's great is that "BeeBee" was the way that CJ would say "baby." So Anna BeeBee was really "Anna Baby!"

Finally, four times AB has made me crack-up laughing.
First, we were on our way back from spending the weekend at the beach with my parents and my gas light came on driving on the interstate and I was stressing. Anna Beth said, "The gas light?" I said, "Yeah." She screamed, "HIT THE NITRO!!!"
Next, when AB had mono she took some NyQuil one night. She was DRUNK! She couldn't talk without slurring all her words and DID NOT make any sense. One of the things she said was, "You, y-y-you don't live here."
Next, she had finally had enough of this girl (who shall remain nameless) and told her, "You're ridiculous." That's all the details I can give, but trust me... it was priceless.
Finally, this is not a one time thing... she does this impression of the wacky inflatable flailing arm tube man advertisement things... you know the ones that are giant wind socks hooked to a fan that look like a man with wavy hair and long arms that just bend all over the place? Yeah, she looks just like them. It kills me every single time.

Anyway, AB #1234 is pretty. I love her a lot. She makes me smile. She is my favorite.

Aqua Entry #2

2011-03-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Did you ever do that experiment in a science class where you put drops of water from a dropper onto the face of a penny? It's incredible. You think you can get 10 maybe 15 drops and instead it's like 30 or 40.

It's called cohesion. Basically the hydrogen in water molecules bonds with each other, causing them to "stick together" easily.

Basically, water sticks with water.

...but...

The beauty of the water sticking is not that lots of it can stay on the face of a penny, but that the water molecules are STRONG enough to.

The more water molecules, the more bonds; the more bonds, the stronger the water.

This causes water to have a strength of approximately 2 pascals.

This means that water is strong enough to travel from the ground up, through a trees roots and into the branches and leaves of the tree (again, you know my affinity for trees).

The same seems to be true of us.

YHWH never intended for us to live this life alone.

There is strength in numbers.

This is not the same as my pine tree En-tree about trees growing together.

What I mean here is that sticking together, we're stronger... and that is possible, because we have been made to stick together.

If we stick together, we can cover a lot of ground, with strength.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

I can't say it any better than YHWH said it.

#1234

2011-02-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful readers!

As you already know, I like writing blogs about people.

If you haven't already won, this is for you:

#1234 will receive a blog about himself/herself!

Don't forget to let me know if you win!

Slainte!

Aqua Entry #2

2011-02-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

It's raining outside.

A lot of storms bring rain.

Storms destroy, wreck, wreak havoc, and are generally frowned upon.

On September 9, 1989, I was five years old. I woke up and reached over to touch my "touch lamp," (I loved that thing, it had three different brightness settings, based on the number of times you touched it) and the lamp didn't work. I called over to Jessica (we shared a room back then), and she didn't know why it wasn't working. Mom and Dad came in our room at this point and Dad said, "Y'all been missing the show!"

I looked out the window to see pieces of our siding, limbs, leaves, dirt, and water flying through the air. I can remember it vividly.

Hurricane Hugo was a class 5 hurricane, which caused over $10 Billion worth ($4.2 Billion in SC) of damage. By the time it got to my house, the winds were between 57-81 mph. We were out of school for a week. We grilled frozen pizzas.

There are still trees behind my parents' house that the entire root ball are unearthed, because of Hugo (faithful readers, you know how I feel about trees).

One of my favorite memories was watching my uncle "shower" in the rain falling from the barn roof. My uncle Sammy always ran a mile in the mornings. After his morning run, he jogged down to the barn and let the rain run off from the tin roof cool him off.

Obviously, Hugo was BAD.

...but...

With Hugo, came rain.

Without rain, you can't grow crops, you can't take showers and wash your car, you can't go fishing, you can't go swimming... life as we know it (and quite literally, on a grander scale) stops!

Rain equals regrowth... regrowth is LIFE!

Sometimes in life, life sucks (sorry if that language offends, it's not my intent; I simply am making the point that the word "stinks" or "lousy" aren't strong enough).

The phrase "when it rains, it pours" is never applied when we're in a drought. We only use that term when we want to complain about how awful our life seems.

Maybe the reason God brings a storm is to teach, comfort and cause regrowth.

The story of Jesus calming the sea, is to prove a point. These guys that have been following Him around are out on the sea and all hail (pun intended) is breaking loose (I don't know if there was actual hail, but it was necessary to make the joke, please don't kill me over poor hermeneutics). So, these guys start freaking out and looking for Jesus. Get this, Jesus is ASLEEP! Yeah, He's asleep... for a reason. They wake Him up, and He asks a question of their faith. Then, he calms the storm, no big deal. But then, the whole purpose of the story (which we miss so many times) happens.

The disciples turn to one another and say, "Who is this, that even the WINDS and the WAVES obey Him?" This was a reference back to the Old Testament when YHWH parted the Red Sea so that the freed slaves could cross. These guys recognized that Jesus had the power to control storms.

If He did it then, He can do it now.

My aunt prayed once that God would use her. The next day, she went for a routine check-up at the doctor's office. She had cancer.

A guy who went to NGU with me said that he was scared to become a Christian, because he thought God would use kill him in a car wreck to teach other people about God. Jamie died in a car wreck.

Another guy I went to NGU with lost his family, home, car... everything material due to a drug addiction. When he was attending NGU he was living in a tent.

...but...

My family is closer now then we ever were before, 30 people made decisions about their relationship with Christ, and, last I heard, Mike was reunited with his family.

Storms are bad. Storms can bring rain. Rain brings regrowth. Regrowth is life.

In a storm? Get ready to grow!

Aqua Entry #1

2011-01-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

I love to swim.

One of my favorite things is to jump, full force into a giant body of water.

I am not a "toe tester," "ease into-er," or "foot dangler;" If I am going to get in the water... I'm gettin' in the water!

I really don't have a preference of pools, lakes, ponds, ocean, etc. I just like to swim.

When I'm in the water I can spin around, flip spontaneously, dive down, shoot up, float, sink, blow bubbles, splash around, etc.

NASA does training in giant pools to simulate the weightlessness of space.

Outside of water... I don't take a lot of risks. I never flip.

Being at the center of what YHWH is doing is kind of like water. When you are submerged in His love, seeking His will... you don't worry about how foolish you look, or what your "abilities" are.

Sadly, we live so much of our lives as "fish out of water."

We play it safe.

A teaspoon of water can drown a grown man.

Water liberates and frees us... but it can also kill us.

Following Christ should never feel easy or safe.

...but...

In Him, we are free... free to flip.

New Series!!!

2011-01-21T11:21:00.001-08:00

Who are you people that read this thing?! Last time I looked, there was like 1027, now it's over 1100! That's crazy. I love you, each and everyone. If you are reading this, I am a fan of you.

So, for a new series... water.

Did you know that water is a big deal?

It's true. A really big deal. Maybe bigger than we realize.

The next, however many blogs are gonna be about water.

For those who are wondering about the fire thing... I don't know what happened either. Not sure. Just lost my creative spark... wow... bad joke...

For me, water has always been something I love. I love swimming... a lot. When I was a kid, Dad took me to the Clover community pool and taught me how to swim, age 3. We got an above ground pool when I was little. We swam as much as possible. Jessica and I swam once in the water when it was 54 degrees (the water, that is). I was a lifeguard three summers at Awanita. I have been known to take 3 showers in a day. I love to jump in puddles. Recently I have found that I would rather wash dishes by hand, than in my electric dish washer. Sometimes, I will just stand in the shower and watch the water fall around me. I love thunderstorms... really any storm, just so long as rain is involved.

Check back here soon, because I will soon start my new series: WATER!

Something new...

2011-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

I need inspiration.

I need a new topic.

I need to write my blog more often.

I need you to tell me what to write about.

I need something interesting.

I need to stop saying "I need" at the beginning of every sentence.

I need to do a better job at the last statement.

I need... wait...

Thanksgiving/Black Friday

2010-11-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Because I work at a retail store, I have to work tonight (Thanksgiving) 8pm-3am, then again tomorrow (Black Friday) 1pm-10pm.

I am not looking forward to this.

But, in between those times, I am going shopping.

I have never been real deal, true Black Friday shopping...

I have no clue what to expect.

I am thinking about buying some mace.

Here goes nothing...

#1,000

2010-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

There she iiiiiiisssss, Miss One Thoooouuuuuusaaaaannnddd...

So, for Miss One Thousand, Sarah Ashton Harris, I decided to do a 1,000 word blog!

It’s incredible to find out that Sarah was the one to be number one thousand, because she was the first person to ever leave me a comment on my blog.

I met Sarah a little over a year ago. I started dating Anna Beth August 11, 2008. Then I started attending Monaghan Baptist a few weeks later. In March 2009, I took a job with Monaghan and became a member. Sarah is a long-time member of dear ol’ MBC. Thus, this tale begins…

Sarah Harris is a funny girl. Sarah has an infectious laugh. She finds humor in things that… are not really all that funny, but because she sees most things as “half glass full” and doesn’t let on if she’s discouraged, she somehow laughs. It’s amazing to see someone get giddy and pump her fists over something as simple as a meal at a camp, but that’s Sarah. Also, she can laugh at herself. This is a great quality in any person. So many of us (me included sometimes) can make fun of others and tease others, but get offended when we are put on the chopping block. Sarah Harris has the ability to say, “Yeah that was me! I’m the dumb one!” Case in point, a few weeks ago during youth group, Scott asked the question, “Now, who is the ‘Prince of the air’?” Sarah yelled, “JESUS?!” Scott, with a smirk on his face, responded, “Nooooo… its Satan… and this is one of our adult leaders!” Sarah laughed harder than anyone else… at herself.

Sarah Harris has a blog that I like to read. http://sah624.wordpress.com/ is her blog. She talks about real stuff, life, desires, dislikes, letdowns, memories, Christ, people, etc. She has a gift. She knows how to relate through her typing, through her words on the page. A lot of peoples’ blogs seem fake or as if they’re trying to be deeper than they really are. Sarah’s writings have an honesty about them that is hard to find. Also, she doesn’t try too hard. If she can say something in five words, she doesn’t waste her space or your time with using the thesaurus to fancy it up. She’s got skills.

Sarah Harris is dedicated to the ministry of music. Sarah is an active member in the choir at our church. She is one of those people that you actually like to see singing, because she smiles. I have even caught Sarah raising a hand or two, from time to time. Sarah seems to always be involved in whatever the choir is doing, as well (i.e. the Passion Play). Sarah is also involved in my music ministry. I do Praise and Worship down in the youth room on Wednesday nights at our church. Sarah Harris does my power point. For those of you who have never been involved in this type of ministry, it may not make sense to you… but for those of you who have, you understand why this is a huge deal. Youth especially have a hard time expressing themselves in worship. This time of their lives is an awkward time for many reasons, but especially when it comes to singing and acting like you are enjoying yourself around those who are obviously NOT enjoying themselves. When I sing with no words… I sing with no people. If the people don’t have something to read off the screen, chances are, they ain’t singing! That’s where Sarah Harris comes in. She provides a much needed part of this ministry by going through the lyrics on screen for the songs that are being sung. I have told her this precisely 5,843,921,682,9002,453.867 times, but it bears being mentioned again: “Sarah, you putting those words up on that screen are as important (and in my opinion, more so) than any note I play or sing.” Sarah Harris, as I mentioned before, loves to sing. If she has to focus on making sure the words go up correctly, she can’t let herself focus as much on Jesus. I know that it is possible, and I truly believe that Sarah is worshipping when she does this, but the point is this: She sacrifices being able to be a part of a crowd, worshipping in some other way, so that others can worship. Thanks for this Sarah.

With the last point in mind, it should be noted that Sarah Harris is an encourager. Sarah Harris likes to brighten peoples’ days. Sarah Harris likes to see other people smile. Sarah Harris is good at both of those things. I am so glad that Sarah works with the young girls of our church. She keeps their heads up. I will speak more of her workings with our church later. For me, though, Sarah Harris recently encouraged me greatly. We had “Revival” services at our church recently and some friends and I led worship for one of the nights. Sarah, of course, ran the power point. Afterwards, Sarah came to me and said, “Bo! I am so proud, you hit every note! And for me being the ‘words girl’ that’s such a good moment!” I honestly did not know if anyone noticed I sang the songs a little better than usual. Shockingly enough, I did hit some of the notes I usually can’t… and Sarah noticed and encouraged me. It meant a lot.
Sarah Harris works with our youth. Sarah is a good teacher. Sarah is a good example. Sarah believes in “modest is hottest.” Sarah stays up super late and gets up super early for events. Sarah is a warrior of a woman. I won’t go into great detail here, but Sarah Harris does a great job with our youth.

Sarah Harris dates a black guy. Jamal, her boyfriend, is a Godly man with whom I have the utmost respect. He is my brother in Christ and I love him. Sarah Harris has dealt with great turmoil and oppression because of this fact… and yet, she continues on. I was the best man in an interracial wedding, and I make absolutely no excuses for such. The Bible does not say one word about it being wrong to marry someone of another race. For the sake of time, let me just go ahead and give a short answer to most of the arguments ignorant people will give: Deut 7:3-no Jew/Gentile marriage in the old covenant; Ex 12:48-49-not foreign women, but foreign women who worship a different god; 2 Cor 6:14-don’t marry an unbeliever. There is plenty of verses, actually, that speak in the offense of racism: Acts 10:34, 1 Tim 5:21, Jam 3:17, Acts 17:24-26, and many more that I will not list at this time.

I love Sarah Harris as my dear sister in Christ. This blog is for you, Sarah Harris. I hope you enjoyed it. Congratulations on being my 1,000 reader. Thanks for being a bunch of other numbers too.

UPDATE/Apology

2010-09-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Faithful Readers! (when I was a kid... okay, so now too, I was/am a big comic book nerd... Stan Lee used to begin things with, "Greetings True Believers!" and I always wanted to start something with a cool intro! But... I digress...

Instead of boring details of what has gone on since the last time I "blogged" (what a weird word), I will simply say, "Life is good, Jesus loves you and me for some reason, and Live from..." wait, no... "here's what's coming up:" Instead of saying it all again, just read it there (get it, I said, "I will simply say" and then had stuff in quotes, as if "I'm gonna say this stuff." Wow, sorry for all the ridiculously bad attempts at humor, I have done this in a while, I promise it will get better...

So, I will soon start a new series on WATER!

ALSO, The 1,000 Reader (as will be determined by that reader sending me confirmation of such) will receive a gift MADE by me (yes Anna Beth, I stole this idea from you) who knows what the gift will be? Made specific for the reader, also a blog about you... AAAAAAAAAAAND a song parody written about you... okay, the last one may not happen... we'll see...

Also, I will be taking ideas on what my next series should be (after water). I will tally all suggestions and whichever is the most suggested wins... there will be at least 5 entries based off the series that wins. I realize there may not be 2 suggestions that are the same/there may be a tie... who cares, I may do them all! Let's just see!

I love you guys, and I'm glad to be back!

My Prodigal... flip flops!

2010-07-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

So, back in 2008, I was working with Piedmont Community Church down in Boiling Springs, SC.

Tommy Lupton was the pastor and the church did not have enough money to pay me (and others) to "work" for the church. So, Tommy gave me a card with money in it.

I put that money into my checking account and decided to use it for something for Look Up, where I'd be spending all my time that summer.

I bought a few pairs of Chacos, using the money Tommy gave me to partially pay for them.

My favorite pair I bought was a gray/silver pair of Chaco "flips."

Somewhere towards the end of the summer (2008) I lost these flip flops. It was a sad day when I realized they were gone. I assumed they were in the shop, where most of my things were or in the trailer, where I lived.

Fast forward to a few months ago...

I was packing all of my belongings to move to my new house, with hope that I would find my beautiful flip flops... alas... I was sad to NOT find them...

Fast forward to this morning, circa 11:12 AM...

After a morning of shipment at Old Navy, Justin "Mam-Ma, the BEAR" Washburn and I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. We heard someone yell from the road, "BO!" which is very common, since I am a local celebrity... no wait... that's not true.

We realized we did not have correct change for the ball machine and decided to take a stroll down the street to find change for a $20 bill. Eric Knapp pulled into the parking lot in front of us. When Eric got out... he had on some old grayish looking flip flops...

"Did you find those at LUL?"
"Yeah, they yours?"
"YEAH!"
"I found them outside the shop one day!"

My flip flops, that I love so much, that were a gift from Tommy Lupton 2 years ago, that have traveled to North Carolina, Georgia, and beyond... were back!

Eric traded them out for me with some old flops I had... I say to you Eric Knapp, thank you, deeply, from the depths of my soul... THANK YOU.

Anna Beth

2010-07-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

So, Anna Beth is my girlfriend. She's pretty great. I like her.

Instead of being all mushy and blah, blah, blah... I decided this entry will be about a fun time with AB recently.

Last night, AB, Justin "Mam-Ma" Washburn, and I went to Hardee's in TR. We wanted a big fat burger and didn't wanna go to far to get it. For some reason, I told AB that she needed to love her son... Justin... this is part of the conversation that took place while we were eating:

"Charlene! That is your son! And he's a fruit cake! That is your fault!"
"You shut up!"
"Daddy..."
"SHUT UP!"
"Don't you talk to him that way! Baby, you just keep eating."
"HEY! WOMAN!"
"Don't you dare touch me!"
"Why does my car-truck smell like rubber?!"
"I'm leaving you and taking my son and the El Camino!"
"You take that fatty, but leave me my car-truck!"
"SHUT UP!"

She's pretty great.

Cindy Goforth

2010-07-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

So, keeping with what I said in a previous blog entry, this entry is dedicated to Cynthia Goforth, commonly known as "Cindy."

I met Cindy while working at LUL, with her daughter Anna Beth. Cindy seemed to have that "You looked at my daughter and now... now, I'm going to kill you!" look on her face. So, I knew I had to do a lot to try and impress this lady. My chance came when Cindy came up to visit/talk with AB. I told AB to go and talk with her mom and I would cover her "duties" down at the boats. This was a good moment for me. But, none of this is my favorite story of Cindy, which is what this blog is supposed to be about.

My favorite story is a tie between two stories... so, here they are...

My brakes went out on my truck, so I had to leave LUL for the day to pay $680 to fix my brakes. On my way back to camp, I stopped in Ingle's to get a drink, because my sweet tea from Chic-Fil-A was bad. While there, I ran into Steve and Cindy... Cindy was maaaaaaaaaaaaad. She looked like she could kill someone. I said, "Well, well, if it isn't the Goforths!" Cindy said, "Oh... hey..." Steve proceeded to shake my hand and we exchanged pleasantries. Come to find out, Cindy had been stung inside her mouth by a yellow jacket and was drugged up on benadryl. She was not herself... it was kinda funny... later.

One day, Cindy had invited AB and I to have supper with her. We did our usual: get out of the car, unlock her front door, go inside... except, Cindy didn't hear us. I signaled to AB to sneak around through the dining room, while I decided to sneak around to the other door to the kitchen. Cindy was playing with Dixie, their dog, and singing. I stuck my head around the corner and she had no clue I was there... then... she saw me and screamed. Turned around and there was AB... so she screamed again. It was classic.

#757

2010-06-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

So, no one ever told me if he or she was number 757.

With that in mind, here's a paragraph per person who has said they wanted to "win" one of my "contests." This will take place over the next few blogs. I'm taking a break from the "Sparky" series... just not feeling it right now.

Here's who to learn about: Samantha, Anna Beth, Cindy, Kaci, and you.

Samantha Cook- "Bootsie" as we call her, is my first cousin. She's more like a little sister. When she was born, her older sister, Priscilla, and I got to go to the store with my mom and pick her out a present. She was such a funny kid. She had a Dale Earnhardt onesie that was pretty ballin'. She has one of those great smiles that when she really smiles, her eyes disappear. She plays clarinet and dabbles a little on the piano. She drives a white mustang with a pink stripe. I love her a lot. It's crazy to see the woman of God that she's becoming.

I love you, Bootsie!

New Contest

2010-06-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

So, I have really enjoyed the first 2 "contest" blogs, so... the next one will be #757.

I love the number 7 and 57 is my football number, so...

Same rules, EXCEPT, there are no double winners, if Momma or Chris hit #757, then I will go with #758.

Good luck to all 5 or 6 of you that read this thing, for whatever reason you do!

Sparky #4

2010-06-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

You can put a fire out.

Think about fire fighters, extinguishers, etc. These are things made specifically for putting fire out.

A fire, given fuel and oxygen, will continue burning forever, UNLESS some other force acts on the fire to extinguish the flames.

The fire would probably rather NOT be put out.

Has anyone ever put your fire out? Have you ever come home from camp or a retreat or something of the sort and just felt "on fire?" Have you ever felt like life is the best it can possibly be, and you are out there just living it up... and then someone says or does one thing that completely puts the fire out?

We never know whose flames we kill or whose dreams we may destroy by one simple word, look, sigh or gesture.

One thing I, personally, have been trying to work on lately is enhancing situations. I don't want to be the voice of disappointment. I don't want to destroy peoples' ideas with my words (even if they may be words of wisdom or teaching). I want to squirt lighter fluid on peoples' dreams!

Go out today and find someone on fire and find a way to fan their flames; do not quench their fire, help them to burn!

"A little fire is quickly trodden out, which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench."
- William Shakespeare

Sparky #3

2010-05-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

So, the next three (including this one) will be related...

You can start a fire, whether it be a match, lighter, magnifying glass, chemical reaction, etc.; you can start a fire.

What gets you fired up?

Go start a fire in your life. Start something up, new, big, and let the flames consume it.

#637

2010-05-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

So, the other day I received a PIX message from my sweet momma informing me that she was the 637th view on my blog... also it had a caption that said, "Put that in your blog and smoke it."

Which I intend to do here...

Susan Jenkins was born January 11, 1960 to Martha Jean and Martin Luther "M.L." Jenkins.

Susan married Forest Parker, Jr. in July 1978.

She gave birth to Jessica Jeanann Parker, March 5, 1981.

On June 10, 1984, she gave birth to Forest "Bo" Parker, III... that's where this blog story begins...

My mom has always been "momma." Not "mama" but "momma." It just makes more sense, due to the sound that the "word" "ma" makes.

Due to size and time restraints, I will give 3 of my favorite memories/stories/whateva' you wanna call it, in this blog...

One of my favorite memories was when Jessica and I would lay on the couch with momma. As the night would go on we would all fall asleep. Jessica would lay her head on the pillow with momma or on her shoulder, and I would lay my head on her hip. Momma would always let us do this until dad got home from the second shift. She would wake us up so we could watch Cheers with dad. Once we finally went to bed, if we weren't sleeping on a pallet in our parents' floor, she would usually tuck us in with a story from our little children's Bible book. Anytime I had a bad dream though... I ran to their bed, hopped-in and would nuzzle between momma and daddy for safety.

Another great memory was the day that I was wrongfully accused for being "disrespectful" to a substitute and was given in school suspension. I was called, personally by the assistant principal who had given me this sentence, and through her tears she explained to me that I did not deserve what was going on. I didn't find out until later that my momma had driven to the school and laid into this woman. She told me later that she had said something along the lines of, "Get real woman! You don't know my son if you think he did that! What?! WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I am about to get mad!" mixed with many other things and words...

Finally, one of my favorite memories was recently momma came down to be at my new house the day that my giant TV was delivered. She came down the night before, so she didn't have to drive down in the morning. That night, my mom played rock band and we read books, played online... and both fell asleep on the couch before 10:00 PM... just like old times.

I love my momma very much. Besides bringing me into the world, trying her best to shelter me from the evils of the world, putting me through college, praying for me, helping me buy a house, giving me tons of advice, loving me and putting up with me... she's my greatest friend, because she loves me in spite of knowing me.

This blog is for the woman who held a dish rag over her head, and spanked me with a wooden spoon, for the woman who will shoot me the bird (usually just it's tail feather) if necessary, who will bless out the Wal Mart vision center, be at every band competition, teach Sunday School, lead the choir, be a secretary at a school and three churches, and still have the time to cook the greatest deer steak and gravy in the world.

LYMI.

Sparky #2

2010-05-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Something else I love about fire is it's need... it's need to feed.

Fire can not continue to burn with nothing to burn up... now before you go and think I've lost my mind, I know fire can sit there and burn with "nothing" burning, but it's actually using oxygen; no oxygen, no fire.

Watch videos of a forest fire, the more trees and brush, the bigger the fire gets... or one of those cool fires on top of water, once that oil or other fuel on top of the water burns out... the fire goes out.

If fire does not feed, it will not make it. Fire NEEDS to feed on something else.

Ever seen fire catch on to something "non-flammable?" It doesn't work. The fire can't feed on those things, therefore, the fire dies.

Think about your life. We need people to feed off of, to build us up, to fuel our passions and keep us going. When we get around people who are "fire proof" or "non-flammable" we try all we can to get encouragement, "fuel" from them... and sadly we lose a lot of our spark.

We NEED others to help fuel us.

This is not the same as my "En-Tree" about the trees helping each other grow. What I am saying here is that we need people to fuel our fire; to keep us burning; to give us something to feed off of.

This can be as simple as an "atta boy" as you go or as grand as $500 towards your mission trip. Regardless of who we are, our financial status or lack of desire... everyone needs someone.

The questions now are, "Who are you fueling?" and "Who fuels you?"

#500

2010-05-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I was surprised the other day by a picture message from Christopher Dunn. The picture was of the counter on this blog, saying that Chris was #500; therefore, this entire blog entry will be 100% dedicated to Chris Dunn.

In the beginning...
I met Chris at Look Up Lodge. I was working full-time and there were these three guys who kept showing-up randomly. Anna Beth explained they were from her church and loved LUL. I could identify, since I was the high school guy who would randomly show-up at Look Up (see what I did there?). He was wearing a T-Shirt that said, "Nate for President" the first time that I talked to him. Later in the summer I spoke with him about working part-time as a wrangler at LUL. What a strange kid...

D-Now Weekend '09...
So, the first thing I ever did with Monaghan was teach at D-Now weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. I noticed something different about Chris, from the beginning. This guy didn't just answer the questions... he answered them well; he didn't just make comments about the lesson... he added insight; he didn't just pick a song on the jukebox... he picked Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'!" This kid seemed to have it together. I had to find-out more about this guy...

Building a relationship...
After random meals, spontaneous trips and playing games on Wednesday nights, I got to know Chris a lot better. I found-out that Chris loves Star Wars; if it's at all related to sports, he's all about it; he's a mean Disc Golf player; Chris loves being called a "ginger;" Chris doesn't let most things get to him... I also learned that Chris's family life wasn't the best growing-up.

Culmination of things...
So, this past March we took the youth guys and 3 college-age guys to Look Up to do a "Warrior Weekend" for D-Now. I watched this red-haired kid transform into an amazing man of God. Chris was on my team (the Kelly Green team); the team in which he came-up with the chant, "WE ARE LIONS!" Chris's natural leadership skills, vulnerability and clear vision for the future revealed to all of us that weekend that he was truly on his way to becoming one amazing man.

The future...
I don't know what the future holds for this guy, but I know, without a shadow of doubt, that it's big! I know that God is planning on doing something huge in and through Chris Dunn. He is an infectious, energetic guy, who gets the crowd going!

Also... he's the Ginga' Ninja!

To Chris: "READ YE' BIBLE!"

P.S. I would like to give a "thank you" to all of you who wished to be #500 for reading my blog. Notable mentions: Samantha Cook, Cindy Goforth, and DeDe Reid. I will have another "contest" for blog reader #637.

Sparky #1

2010-05-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I just couldn't think of anything for these that was as fun as "En-Tree." For some reason, I think Sparky is fun... but, if someone has a better name for this series, feel free to help.

One aspect of fire that I love and can't get over is it's ability to change things.

Nothing is the same after fire touches it, is around it, or comes after it.

Fire effects to air when it burns, it can and does destroy, disfigure or change the thing that is being engulfed in the flames and once soil has been exposed to fire, the pH levels and nutrients that are left behind dictate the quality, type and size of plants that grow there.

Plastic melts, paper disappears, wood is turned to ash, our skin is disfigured, scarred or in some ways healed.

Regardless of the object that is being providing "fuel" for the fire, things are DIFFERENT after fire is present.

Jesus was that way.

No matter where He went, no matter what He did, no matter who He was around... things were different after he showed up; blind people could see, lame people could walk, deaf and mute could hear and speak, and those possessed with multiple demons, became evangelists.

Many other "cult" leaders (I use that word, because to everyone else, Christianity would have appeared as a cult; look up the definition of a cult, if you need) have come and gone, leaving no real stamp on the world. Sure, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Shoko Asahara, John Smith, David Koresh, (and even Tom Cruise, in his own respect... well, I don't respect him... but maybe you do) etc. are remembered, and may have made a "stamp" on our memories, but none of them have altered history forever. None of them changed EVERYTHING.

I think this begs the question/command: "If we are to be 'Little Christs,' as 'Christians,' should we not be changing things?"

What I mean is, are you leaving the world a different place? Is there a noticeable difference in the places, people and situations you have been a part of?

Go change something; move a rock, drop a dollar somewhere, tell someone you love them for absolutely no reason, buy the guy behind you in the drive-thru line's food, wave at everyone on the road as you drive around, take someone out to eat, call your mom, call your dad, call your sibling, make a paper air plane, give a homeless guy a hug, tell a cop "Thanks!"

Change YOUR world and you change THE world.

FINAL EN-TREE

2010-04-29T06:50:00.001-07:00

Alas, like most good things in life, the En-Trees have come to an end... at least for now.

For my final En-tree I would like to share with you where I believe my love for trees comes from.

Most of my family lives in a giant chunk of land, that we call "Jenkinsville." This magical place is covered in trees. When I was a kid, my best friend Blake and I would go on adventures, playing X-Men, mining for gold in the creek, setting-up booby traps for intruders, etc. My Paw Paw (that was my mom's dad), my dad, and sometimes my uncle would go and cut down dead trees, split them, load the wood into the trucks, then spend the rest of the day stacking the wood. Another thing that we'd do with Paw Paw was pick-up pecans from all the many pecan trees in our yards. My aunt and uncle had a giant sweet gum tree that would leave "sticky balls" or as I liked to think, "grenades" all over the place. Being old country folks, we also had a tired swing hung from a tree. We had a pear tree that in the summer was yellow jacket central. We had an apple tree that got struck by lightening and looked amazing. There's a tree in my parent's back yard that, to this day, has never fallen over, but is leaning at an almost 45 degree angle. When hurricane Hugo came through York county, it turned hundreds of trees over on our property, leaving the root ball exposed. This was a perfect place to hide.

Of all the trees I've encountered in my life, my favorite, by far, is this giant oak tree behind my grandparent's house. It's ginormous! We always had huge family picnics for someone's birthday under it. There was a tire swing attached to it at one point. We used to rake the leaves under it and have a wild rumpus. If you were working in the garden, it was just close enough to sit under for a minute in the shade. It's kinda become a "family tree" for my family tree.

I think that most of all, my love for trees comes from my deep love for my family. There's at least one story that deals with a tree for each member of my family. I love my family so much. If there's any of you family members reading this, know that you have helped my roots grow and continue to nourish this little tree.

***UPCOMING: MY NEXT BLOG SERIES... FIRE!!!***

ALSO, I have this ticker at the bottom of the page (scroll down, it's black with yellow numbers), since my 500th view is coming up, I've decided that whomever is the 500th view gets a prize. Now, in order to find this out, whomever is that person, needs to let me know... be honest people, if 5 people say they were the 500th, I'm just gonna go with the first person, anyway. BUT, the prize will be, I will write an entire blog based on YOU! My favorite memory of you, the reason we're friends, etc. So, lucky number 500, I can't wait to talk about you!

En-Tree #10

2010-04-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Just finished taking my final, not sure how it ended up. Grad school is so different from Undergrad. You can fail every single thing in Undergrad, pass your final, make a B. You can make an A on everything in Grad school, fail your final, fail the course.

With the stresses of money, everyday life, school, etc., I thought it would be nice to have an en-tree, just for fun. Hope you enjoy.

Last year sometime, Anna Beth, Drew, Tessa and myself were playing Bocce out on Bowman field, at God's house, aka Clemson. The game was intense. Sweat pouring from our bodies... well, my body, because I am fat. Just ahead of me I saw a giant tree, with a giant hole. I thought, "What if I can just land the Pallino inside that hole, this will make for an interesting game."

Surprisingly, I landed it directly into the hole! Drew was first to throw, nothing but net... well, hole. Next, was AB, swish... well, squish. Tessa's rimmed out, then mine fell perfectly into the hole.

We all laughed for a solid 10 minutes.

Thank you majestic tree, without you, the Bocce would not have been as fun.

En-Tree #9

2010-04-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid... think back... what's something you learned about trees? Counting the rings to see how old it was?

I thought this was the coolest thing when I was a kid. Anytime we would go and split wood or cut down a dead tree, my first thought was counting the rings... okay, so my first thought was probably, "I hope PawPaw has enough Mountain Dew in his giant cup to share with me!" But, definitely counting the rings was second.

There are professionals who can bore out a cylinder of wood from a live tree to count the rings and not kill the tree. Most of us would count the rings after the tree was cut down in some way and we would count the stump rings. For the purposes of this blog en-tree, we're gonna focus on counting the rings after the tree is dead.

When looking at the rings you can see the years that there was a lot or a little growth. A lot of this is due to the amount of water that the tree got in that year; i.e. If there was a drought, the rings are closer together, representing less growth.

You can literally see the hard times and good times, after the tree is gone. You can tell when the tree had to fight, when the tree got to bask in great things, when the tree had an average life. You can celebrate the life that this tree had, looking back through it's years.

One of the best sermons I ever heard was at a funeral. The speaker said that you can't help the birth date and the death date... the only thing you have any control over is the dash in between them. He then asked the question, "What will you do with your dash?"

What will people look back on your life, after you're gone, and see? Just years going by? Hard times? Good times? Times you had to fight? Years of growth?

After the tree is cut down, after it's life is over, when you are counting the rings... the tree leaves something behind: firewood, lumber, a mess, etc.

What's going to be your legacy? What will you leave behind?

"...they say you can't be killed."
"I wouldn't be bothering with the shield, then would I?"
"...he's the biggest man I've ever seen... I wouldn't want to fight him."
"That is why no one will remember your name."
--Achilles and a messenger boy, Troy

En-Tree #8

2010-04-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

I took so long to update, I figured a couple back to back ones would be the best thing to do.

We had a pool growing up. We didn't have a lot of the fancy stuff, like cable or satellite or a TV that wasn't a giant wooden box with the big knobs; but we had a pool. It was a standard, aluminum sided, above ground, 5 feet at it's deepest, with a homemade deck around it pool. I loved that dang pool. I love water (maybe that'll be my next "series" of blogs).

When I was younger, I would blow-up a balloon as full as possible, submerge it in the water, sink myself and then try and breathe underwater using the air from the balloon... it did not work. My mom informed me that I would need an oxygen tank to breathe underwater.

Through school and my PawPaw teaching me, I learned that "Them trees are where we get our oxygen. You cut 'em all down, we won't have anything to breathe!"

Trees take-in the CO2 (carbon dioxide) that we breathe-out and use it to make food for themselves and make O2 (oxygen) for us.

A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings.

The trees take the air that we have used up, the junk we're done with, that we can't use anymore... and make the thing we need, possibly, most of all.

You can live without food for 4 to 6 weeks; at most, you can live 10 days without water; you can only live, at the very most, 7 minutes without oxygen, but most cases show that anything after 3 minutes causes severe brain damage.

YWHW takes our junk, the stuff that we've used up, takes all the stuff that used to be good but we've turned into something else... He takes it, transforms it, makes it new, and gives us what we need the most.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness
instead of mourning, and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
--Isaiah 61:1-3

En-Tree #7... THE RUG

2010-04-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update, De... De...

So, I moved into the new house. It's incredible; no 25 almost 26 year old guy should have a house with this much swagger.

At my new house I have a "Welcome" rug at the front door... with a tree on it... huge surprise, I know.

Go with me on this, it's gonna start pretty hokey... My "Welcome" mat at my house with the tree on it got me to thinking about how welcoming a tree can really be (Told ya it was gonna be hokey at the beginning).

Have you ever looked into the woods, I mean really looked? Out my giant sliding glass door in the living room is nothing but trees. Since my house is on a hill, the door has a small deck and stairs off the house. This makes my line of sight much higher. I don't see the bottoms of the trees or the leaf covered ground; just trees.

When I look out the window, all I can think is those trees are challenging me to adventure, calling me to something more and inviting me to discover. Whether it's the birds flying to their nests or the squirrels jumping from branch to branch, I do not know; what I do know is that I wanna' be out there with them!

My yard is very small, but is covered in sod. There is this distinct line drawn: one side is SOD and the other side is TREES. The sod is where my property ends; the trees are where someone else's property begins. My yard is safe, kept, pretty and easy; those woods are dangerous, unkept, unorganized and definitely challenging.

YHWH never called us to a life of safety. C.S. Lewis said in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe of Aslan (a representation of Christ), "He's a lion! Of course he isn't tame! But he is good... and he is the king!" Jesus was not safe! He challenged the established order, he broke the "law," he destroyed peoples' thoughts of the status quo! Stuart Fuller said, "He looked like a terrorist;" I responded with, "Because He was!"

Those people who live life to the fullest and try to live in the fullness of Christ, are like the woods outside my house. They welcome us to a dangerous world. We are called to be a part of something more! We are told in Scripture that Christ came to give us life, MORE ABUNDANTLY! Why are we so satisfied with surviving, when Christ gave us the ability to truly LIVE!

Go find something that makes you feel alive; hiking, driving, cutting grass, talking with friends, drinking coffee with Burtney Reid, hanging out with college guys until 5:00 AM, etc. In those moments, when you truly feel alive, you are tapping into the spiritual world, if just for a second. In those moments you are closer to YHWH then you'll ever know!

En-Tree #6... sort of...

2010-03-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

Right now, we're doing the 2010 Passion Play, He Did It All For Me at Monaghan. I love this play so much. I play the apostle Peter, or as I like to call him, Peter "Rocky" Johnson! I don't really have any words to give you right now, except to act as a mockingbird to Shane Barnard's song lyrics:

A life you cannot define
A purpose that's benign
They need to see and believe
Be lead to the rugged tree

The one on which He cried
Not for His pain but for our debt
The very same tree that He conquered death
It was an unfair deal on the part of Christ
He got my sin I got eternal life

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
That means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
That died upon the tree

Small talk is a better choice..
A way to avoid Your voice
I need to feel the dust on my knees
And lead them to the tree

The one on which He cried
Not for His pain but for our debt
The very same tree that He conquered death
It was an unfair deal on the part of Christ
He got my sin I got eternal life

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
That means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
That died upon the tree

Will you follow me?
Lead them to the tree?
Can't you just believe?
Will you take a knee?
For eternity?

Make me the breath of God
And I'll show them the One
That means the most to me
They'll see the face of love
Be touched by the very One
That died upon the tree

Oh, I'll be the breath of God

En-Tree #5

2010-03-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

After Warrior Weekend, which was a huge success, I am very excited about the 10 new brothers of the sword I have, holding their shield over me, ready to fight, I had to add a new En-Tree.

Drew made an amazing point to the guys this weekend, that there are some trees that need other trees around them, to grow with.

Pine trees grow well with other pine trees around them.

While working at Look Up Lodge, Clint and I were told to cut down some pine trees that had grown on the front of the dam. Clint and I let them know that if we cut down any trees, we needed to cut them all down, because they had all "grown-up" together. While we were at dear ol' LUL this weekend, we saw that a giant pine tree had fallen into the water, roots and all were sticking out of the ground. The trees that helped to support this tree, the trees that kept this tree going, the trees that this other tree needed to survive... were gone.

In our lives, we need each other. We need other people, rooted in our same ground, that believe and grow the same way we do, supporting us, helping us where we are weak and, at times, holding our branches up.

When Moses was told to hold his arms up until all the Israelite people went through, his arms got tired. Had his brother and sister not been there to help hold his arms up, in his weakness, then the waters would have fallen upon the people.

Life was never intended to be a solo act. YHWH never told us to go it alone. We NEED each other. Worship was intended to be a corporate act, of people turning to a holy, perfect being and thanking Him for His great mercies.

When I see trees that have grown together and have these branches reaching up towards the sky, all I can think of is our arms raised, together, praising YHWH!

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way
they have to live than other things do.
- Willa Cather

WARRIOR WEEKEND

2010-03-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Heading to Look Up Lodge tomorrow for Warrior Weekend. Mothers lock-up your daughters, old folks lock-up your houses, and everyone else... watch out... 'cause there are manly, Godly MEN coming from Monaghan after Sunday!

En-Tree #4

2010-03-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

I love leaves.

Growing up all of us grand-kids would get together in my grandparents' back yard and rake up all the leaves and play in them. This, of course, was hampered by Dad telling us a story about a girl getting bit on the butt by a black widow, while playing in leaves. But, we were brave kids, we continued to romp!

Most people love fall leaves, but it's not just the fall for me.

I love to see them bloom and then grow into giant green shapes.

Leaves are not just for looking good or providing shade, although those things are great; leaves functionality is incredible!

The purpose of the leaf is to provide food for the tree through photosynthesis and release oxygen through the two guard cells.

Without leaves, trees would surely die, but so would all living creatures on earth (I'm not going into the whole using carbon dioxide and making oxygen stuff yet, that's for a later blog).

You can also tell how healthy a tree is by "reading" the leaves.

I feel that as humans, our heads are our "leaves." Kinda far out, you probably think, "Bo is really reaching this time!" but give me a minute to explain.

Our mouths are where we get our food, and in many ways give life to other people. You never know what a kind word to someone can mean; imagine this person, if you will: "A young girl has been raised in an abusive home, she has sought her entire life for a sense of belonging, a sense of love, a moment of happiness. After being in an abusive relationship, she decides that she does nothing good for anyone, she is useless and, in general, the world would be a better place without her. No one cares about her. No one will notice when she is gone. Suicide is the obvious choice. On her way to the drug store to buy a bottle of pills to end her life, she passes you... What do you say? What kind of look do you give her?"

One nice word from someone could be the difference in life or death. (I know, I know... I'm making up extreme situations to give people guilt trips for being in bad moods, but what if it were your sister? brother? mom? dad?)

Also, on our head is our face (shocking, I know). Through our facial expressions people can often tell the status of what's going on inside of us.

Another thing on our heads is our hair (or lack thereof, Dad). Our hair says a lot about who we are. Currently, I get a lot of weird looks because I am preparing to portray Peter in our upcoming Passion Play (a little alliteration for ya). So, I have shaggy, curly, un-kept hair and a bushy, 3 month beard. This gives people the impression that I am either a beatnik or don't have the money to afford proper hair products.

I'm sure there are more similarities I could draw, but these are the ones that are pertinent to my life right now. Hopefully, you can use them, as well.

"An anxious heart weighs a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up."
--Proverb 12:25

En-Tree #3

2010-03-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

Another aspect of the tree that I love is it's diverse functionality.

If you pick a flower, it will die soon and lose most all of it's "value;" if you cut the grass, eventually, you'll have to cut it again; if a vine runs out of things to climb on, it can not grow; with most all plants, if they die... their functionality is over.

A tree never loses functionality.

A baby tree can represent new life, can be a thing of beauty and can mark a moment in time.

A full-grown tree can represent life, strength, beauty, but can also provide shade, adventure, a place to swing, fruit, nuts, a place for animals to live.

A fallen tree can be a bridge to a make-believe world, provide different housing for animals, compost for the future plant life.

A cut down tree can be made into lumber, pulp, paper, firewood, etc.

The tree, no matter it's stage in life, will never be useless.

No matter what happens, no matter how you may be changed, even when you feel dead, you are not useless. One of the greatest things that a tree can provide is firewood, for this brings warmth, a way to cook and light; one of the greatest things a person can do is be burned-up, used-up and brought to his lowest level, for it is, many times, in that moment that he is the most useful. There is always purpose, there is always reason, there will always be something you can do. YHWH does not make junk. You are a beautiful creature who is fearfully and wonderfully made. Live in the glorious truth that Christ made you for a reason.

"One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But, on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world."

--excerpt from "The Three Trees" and Easter story

En-Tree #2... clever, I know...

2010-03-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

*Something new: anytime you see YHWH in my blogs it means "Yahweh" the Hebrew word for God. The Israelite people would not use the vowels for His name, because it was too holy for them to even speak, so it was the same in their writing. As I am studying the OT, I am reminded that I serve a Holy God, and this is one way I choose to remind myself of that.

Something else I love about trees is that the majority of the tree's biomass is underground, unseen, in it's root system. Some trees have root balls, others have stringy roots, and some have very lateral root systems.

Regardless of what the roots look like, all roots push through, fight and seek out nutrition.

While working at Look Up Lodge, I had to dig-up a septic line that was broken. Upon standing in a 4 1/2 foot deep trench of human waste, I discovered that a large tree root had broken through the 4 inch thick concrete pipe.

If the root system of the tree isn't where it needs to be, the tree will never be able to grow the way it's supposed to, and will eventually die.

Another cool thing to think about is that what you see, the beauty, the shade it gives, the leaves, the branches, the fun you can have with a tree is not possible without all of the underground, unseen roots.

The more a tree's roots force through things for nutrition and grow, the stronger the tree becomes, even though no one will see all of that going on.

If something damages the main roots of a tree, the tree will surely die; but the deeper the roots go and the more they spread out and find nutrition, the stronger the tree becomes.

In life, many of our greatest struggles, deepest hurts and things we face are underground, where no one can see them. YHWH asks us to force through big things to find Him and His will, to gain nutrition. We can have problems under the surface and look great, but only for a season. The longer we ignore the underground problems, the worse off we are, eventually leading to our demise. We must seek YHWH's wisdom, go as deep as possible, and force through the hard things and grow in Him, if we wish to have a strong, beautiful, magnificent life for others to see.

In simple terms: If the tree is not good underground, nothing above ground will be any good; if we are not good inside, the stuff we try to do outside will not be any good, either.

"When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves."
--Anthony J. D'Angelo

One of many "Tree" entries to come...

2010-02-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

I love trees, they've always fascinated me.

Psalm 1:1-3 talks about a righteous man being like a tree planted by the water (go read it).

One thing about a tree is that life happens around it. Sometimes the tree provides life, other times it contains life and other times it shares life; but one thing that is certain is that sometimes life just happens around the tree.

Think of a Christmas tree farm. Imagine the one tree, if you can, in the middle of the farm. Each day it wonders when it will get it's turn to celebrate the holiday inside someone's home. The day, unfortunately never comes.

Then the tree remembers that all of the trees that aren't used to celebrate, get chopped down and provide warmth by being used as firewood. Again the tree waits in anticipation, only to find that, again... no one uses him.

The tree then continues to grow and stand alone in the empty field. The tree feels abandoned by those that are supposed to care for him. The empty field is soon filled with smaller trees that will grow into beautiful Christmas trees to be sold in the coming year. While these trees are being cared for and life is being showered on them, the lonely tree just watches as life goes on around him.

Fast forward to the Christmas season; we find that the tree is huge and gorgeous, by far the most exquisite specimen at the local Christmas tree farm. The lonely tree, although it is beautiful, has felt rejected for so long, he wonders why even bother thinking of the season. Finally, a large truck pulls close to the giant tree. After some painful cutting, the tree is loaded onto the truck and transported to the middle of the town. There, amidst all the people, traffic is stopped, the mayor is there, the children are there, the ministers and families all stand around as the tree is decorated. Finally, the tree is adorned with lights. The entire town, if only for one night, stands around the magnificent tree and sings carols.

Sometimes jobs that we deserve pass us by, our friends and family seem to leave us, and we feel as though there is no reason to go on. We never know what God may be preparing us for, how big the task may be, or how much we may mean to someone else when that time comes.

New House

2010-02-19T00:45:00.001-08:00

The builders accepted our bid on the house.

We close on March 22, which is when I get my key.

I'm going to be a resident of Travelers Rest, SC...

When I was in high school, I was in the marching band (drum line) and we would go to this huge band competitions against other SC high school bands. Every year at Upper State, we hated Travelers Rest. Once, the TR band threw rocks at us as we were taking the field. You could hear the tings and clanks of gravel hitting the bands horns. For some reason there was an unspoken rivalry between their band and ours.

Now I'm going to live there... and possibly raise children there... and they would go to TRHS...

http://www.carolinarealtyguide.com/idx/residential/1195514/details.html

Home Sweet Home... hopefully...

2010-02-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

So, we got pre-approved for a loan, with super low interest, down payment, and all that good stuff.

Found a brand new house for cheaper than we thought we could find.

Hoping to make a bid soon.

Good Times, Great Oldies

2010-02-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I had lunch today.

Kevin is incredible with video editing type stuff.

Kevin has VOLUNTEERED to do a lot of video stuff for me.

I love me some Kevin!

WICKED

2010-02-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

So, for Christmas Anna Beth got tickets for herself and me to go see the Broadway Musical, Wicked at the Peace Center in downtown Greenville.

The show was last night.

I read the book and was very excited about the show.

I had no idea how they would adapt all of this thick book (with all of it's raunchy details) into an onstage musical.

I was shocked at how amazing the whole thing was! The musical made me think of a few things:

1. Just because someone is considered evil or WICKED by everyone else, has green skin, and comes off a little pushy or opinionated, does NOT mean that that person is, in fact, evil.

2. Popularity is subjective. You can't be infamous, without being famous.

3. What is right, will always be right, regardless of what everyone else thinks or says.

4. People will always try to control you, hold you down, oppress you, "fix" you, etc. no matter who you are or what position you are in.

5. Incredible singers are worth being on display and worth paying money to see!

"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down..."

Polar Bear Club

2010-02-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

So, we went to the beach; we, being 9 college-aged folks from church.

The six of us MEN decided that the best thing to do at the beach in January was to jump into the ocean.

We ran, full speed, wearing nothing but basketball shorts into the frigid water, then back to the boiling hot, 104 degree hot tub.

From there we went hot tub, pool, hot tub, pool, hot tub, ocean, pool, hot tub.

Three of us agreed (Brad, Drew and I) that it was very exhilarating and "fun," but really what we were feeling was LIFE.

For the first time, in a really, REALLY long time, I felt ALIVE. I felt the breath of life. I gasped deeply to feel my lungs, actually taking in air. I felt myself go from hyperventilating short breaths, to full-on DEEP breathing. The feeling could only be compared to nearly dying, then having a new lease on life.

This all brought me to reevaluate my relationship with God. I realized that for an exceptional amount of time, I have not drank deeply from the well of living water. I had dug my own, broken cisterns that could not hold water.

"So I'm not sure why it always flows downhill
Why broken cisterns never could stay filled
I've spent ten years singing gravity away
But the water keeps on falling from the sky

And here tonight while the stars are blacking out
With every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt
I've spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away
But the water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away

So blood is fire pulsing through our veins
We're either writers or fools behind the reigns
I've spent ten years trying to sing it all way
But the water keeps on falling from my tries

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away
A lie to run
It would be a lie
It would be a lie to run away

It keeps on falling
Water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows, heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! To suffer like you do
It would be a lie to run away "
--Jon Foreman

Updates

2010-01-25T07:46:00.001-08:00

Looking for a new place to live

Car window got smashed out and GPS, iPod, Mam-Ma's laptop stolen

Hours cut in half at both jobs, so looking for job #3

Started a new semester at NGU graduate school

God is teaching me how to be a WARRIOR, everyday as I get closer to WARRIOR WEEKEND for the high school guys at church

Ummm...

2009-12-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like getting to class and your professor saying, "Oh I haven't graded your papers yet... and the quiz is now available..."

LOVE Changes Things... and sometimes people's opinions

2009-12-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

BREAKTHROUGH!

BREAK THROUGH!

BREAKTHROUGH!

So, the name of my blog is "love changes things." Why?--> I believe, based on Scripture and life experience, that the #1 way to change things is to show people real, passionate, unwavering love! It's how Jesus changed so much of His world (I know it's all His world, I am speaking of the time He lived in, calm down all of you who automatically went on the defense right there).

I work at Old Navy with a lady who said, "I can't stand that Bo, boy. He's aggravating, showed up late one time and gets on my nerves."

Since that happened, I have tried my hardest to go out of my way, every Tuesday and Thursday morning, 4:00-9:00 AM, to show her love.

This morning, the lady walked up to me, put her arm around me, hugged me and said, "Hey Honey, I'm so glad you're here this morning!" Later on in the morning she walked-up and began to act like she was mad at me, winked, and started to laugh. She and I actually played a joke on the rest of the staff who was nervous for my safety at that point.

LOVE CAN CHANGE PEOPLES' OPINION

" Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." --1 John 4:7

"The Shack"

2009-11-30T07:48:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I used to really like this book.

I was given the assignment to write a research paper in response to the doctrine of Salvation as it is dealt with in "The Shack."

The book is a "novel" so William Paul Young can say anything he wants to, without having to give any references or have anyone demand anything from him to support his thoughts.

I still kinda liked the book during the writing of the paper.

Young does NOT give any type of Biblical account of the salvation process within the pages of his story.

The three main problems that I have with Young's novel are as follows: it teaches that God does not need to, nor wants to punish or judge sin; God has done everything in His power to redeem people and now human kind's entire chance of salvation is left up to themselves; Jesus is the "best" way to heaven, but never addressed as the only way to heaven.

After writing 14 pages on this subject... I do not care too much for that book.

Seasons?

2009-11-23T06:14:00.000-08:00

After talking to .0 last night, I realized that we both kept using the term "seasons" to describe stages in our lives. How true is that?

Spring-the renewal of things, the beauty of new life, refreshing rains, hope, rejuvenation

Summer-busy relaxation, refining fire, harvesting of crops, longer days

Fall-old things passing away, new sight, cool breezes of familiarity, preparation

Winter-a time of hibernation, longer nights, harsh realty of a lack of preparation or joyful realization thereof

I love trees. I don't know if it's because my PawPaw loved them so much, if it's because I love the outdoors, if it's because you only see a little less than half of them above ground, or what, all I know is... I love trees. Trees have amazing seasons! For non-evergreens, spring brings beautiful buds, summer brings leaves to sustain life, fall brings the beauty of the changing colors and winter the toughness of dormancy. I feel as though that is our Christian lives. A season of growth brought on by storms. A season of reaching up and out for sustenance. A season of passing off the old things and stripping bare of who we were. A season of loneliness and realization of needs.

He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. --Daniel 2:21
^{Psalm 1:1-3} Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers

Jesus and the love songs

2009-11-19T07:22:00.001-08:00

What if we loved Jesus the way love songs are written? Think about it! There are 1,000s of "Love Songs" out there written about some weirdo who left some other weirdo or some dork whose in love with some other dork; but if you really listen to the words and apply them to the great lover of your soul, WOW! Take these few selections for example:

Hold me, hold me
And never let me go until you've told me, told me
What I want to know and then just hold me, hold me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you

They told me "Be sensible with your new love"
"Don't be fooled, thinking this is the last you'll find"
But they never stood in the dark with you, love
When you take me in your arms
and drive me slowly out of my mind

I've got sunshine
On a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside,
I've got the month of May

I don't need no money,
Fortune or fame.
I've got all the riches, baby,
One man can claim

I love Him, I love Him, I love Him,
And where He goes,
I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow.
he'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love
from now until forever, forever, forever

I did you wrong
my heart went out to play
But in the game
I lost you
What a price to pay
I'm cryin'

Save me, I’m lost
Oh lord, I’ve been waiting for you
I’ll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I’m looking for
Show me what I’m looking for…oh lord

You have my attention
Like you’ve had all the while
Since that first day when you made my heart smile
With loving eyes and tired sighs that flow
You have my attention
Like you shout through an empty sanctuary
Speak but a whisper

I need you like the dragonfly's wings need the wind,
like the orphan needs home once again,
like heaven needs more to come in.
I need you here like you've always been.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." --Romans 5:8

Why blog?

2009-11-16T07:48:00.001-08:00

Good question; I'm not sure. Lots of changes have happened in my life in the past few months, I've been experiencing LIFE (really living) lately and not just surviving, God has made Himself more REAL to me and I've found that THE ONLY way we can really reach anyone is through LOVE. Maybe, that's why this blog has come about, to try and help others see that real, true LOVE is the way people will change, it's the way JESUS did it, it's the way I'm trying to do it and so far... it's working pretty well.

I'm not a huge fan of the 3,602 different versions of the Bible we have in English (another blog for another day), but this passage in the Contemporary English Version, is pretty neat:

1 John 4:7-12 (CEV):

My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him. God is love, and anyone who doesn't love others has never known him. God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.

How will people be able to tell we've been transformed if we don't love?