A Day to Remember

This post is a little change from the normal verses I write but I want to remember today forever so, I'm writing it down. Brett and I were in my room when we went to www.ahugfromtaylorswift.com to check on challenge three. We saw the karaoke challenge started in like an hour and decided to go string up our hammocks in front of Samford and hang and watch the Auburn University Hotel Ballroom incase T-Swift really came.

We noticed a crowd gathering and Payton told us it was really happening so we went over and shockingly enough it was true, she was in Auburn. We rushed into the parking lot only to be told we would be arrested if we did not stop and move over to the sidewalk. We then joined the crowd on the sidewalk and decided to start a mob into the parking lot. It worked. Us and a few other random girls started the mob and thankfully everyone joined! We rushed the parking lot and the cops and surrounded her car and the door she would be coming out.

You could cut the anticipation in the crowd with a knife. It was incredible. The doors open and her mother came out followed by tons of cameras and then the moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived. Taylor Swift was less than 20 feet away and she smiled and waved as she got in her car.

The crowd, unknowingly pushed to close to her car and the cops started pushing us away. At first I was angry until the pushing somehow ended with me in the very front of the crowd. I was right in front of her car! Then, the moment I will NEVER forget, she rolled down the window and POINTED AT ME! Best moment of all of Freshman year. We then ran to Spencer's car and dialed up our local connection lady, Mrs. Landrum and she directed us to the airport where T-Swift's jet was. We got there in time to meet her Dad and he gave us one of her guitar picks!

Then as the plane rolled closer to us we saw her wave goodbye! All in all, it was a beyond incredible day. I respect her so much more, no other "star" would be so kind to their fans to do this much for them. War Damn Taylor Swift!

Mountain Song

The first few steps into the shade and out of the sun,

sensation of escape from one reality into a more true, somehow more noble throne,

away from the traffic of the so called real world, let it all come undone.

My ears are kissed by song of summer cicadas and crickets happy jigs,

the noise of ripples on the pond and the arresting feeling of the unknown,

the perfect combination of adventure and control, the deeper the depth, here, my soul can dig.

The swirling leaves and blossoming buds hum a symphony,

these noises combined create a song older than time stronger than bone,

without careful silence and respectable awe all of this would be unknown to me.

Dream

When I was just a little boy,

eyes wide with wonder, love, and joy,

I sat up in my perch in Papa's tree.

I saw the world with no disdain,

knew none but bliss,

sheltered from pain,

I laughed and dreamt of whom I would be,

I had a dream.

I found my peace in mountain trails,

the wisdom of the world unveiled,

in the silence, stillness, calm.

I found me.

To and fro my world would turn,

I walked and as I did I learned,

More and more of who I would be.

I had a dream.

Once I had walked I wanted to run,

to God I turned and to his Son,

Running hard into their arms, into me.

I know not much more now, today,

of whom I will be,

yet I know my name,

I feel the call I want to fly, to be free.

I had a dream.

But as I taste my world of bliss,

poison threatens at my lips,

but I know now exactly how to lead.

the life I lead.

I've learned to fly I must first trust,

not on myself, but in God I dost,

My future is in your hands,

and Lord I know you know that

I had a dream.

So now my feelings juxtaposed,

pre-med or law, and other woes,

I fear and fear of whom I will be.

I want to be the man I saw,

those years ago,

without a flaw,

a man of the Lord, ultimately.

I had a dream.

I've lived it full and lived it well,

so many stories I tell their tale,

Of how and when I reached

my dream.

On paper it looks...

Waiting, sitting, pacing. Anticipation. "Idleness is the devils playground" my great-grandpa told me. I could not agree more. Instead of using the spare time for Christ we, or at least I, turn inward selfishly. Commitment to Christ is so easily said and put down on paper, that paper is so easy to put away, to push to a back shelf until we need to or want to open it again. That is not true Christianity. That is not a relationship, it's "fire insurance." It's true, coming to college you will be tested on many of your views and they will be stretched, possibly broken, possibly strengthened, Hold fast to Christ. He loves me, he loves you. Remind yourself that daily. Spend time in the word. Yes, yes, yes, yes, once again a paper list beautifully organized but terrifyingly easy to fold and hide from from until you need it. But, maturity as a person, maturity as a Christian is being true to what you know is true. Living fully for the light of the world. Diving deep, daring to adventure where no man has gone before, but in those adventures, in those journeys, remember why you are doing it. Not for yourself, fully for Christ. Live in this world, but remember you are set apart from this world. Prayer warrior, Prayer marches. A title and a task more ancient and beautiful than most. A title and task we each must do. Pray, fight in this war. Live for Christ.

So, as Spring break draws near and grades are coming in it is reliving to see a dramatic improvement from last semester. To me, this semester so far has been about priorities and where they fall and where they need to fall. Its easy to put the things that belong on the bottom of your list up top when it benefits you and the important things slip, silently, stealthily to the bottom. Every day, every hour, every second I need to remind myself "It's not about being the picture of a great 'Auburn man' it's about being the picture of a Godly man." While being a great Auburn man can and should share some of the same things as being a man for God, it is all about priorities and why I, you, want to do what you do.

Culture says just don't think, just jump on in everyone else is. Nike, just do it. But if you don't think why you are doing it then it may be for your own glory or a number of other excuses. You need to think about why you are doing it. Prioritize.

What if the paper you have your desires, priorities, your relationships, your life plan, and time chart what it the paper holding all that burnt and you had to write it all down again. Would it look the same if you got a fresh start focusing fully on Christ as you re-wrote everything. As C.S. Lewis says "God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense." In other words, he burns our paper every time we mess up. Confession is a beautiful thing given by Christ's blood to help us. So, I burn my paper, my jumbled up list of desires and priorities and relationships and life plan and time chart and, for the septillionth time begin again fallin at the feet of Christ letting him lead my hand.

Stolen Words

Stealing words from some of my favorite songs from my favorite artists.

"They got all the right friends and all the wrong places
So yeah we're going down
They got all the right moves and all the wrong faces
So yeah we're going down
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Where we’re going yeah we’re going down
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Where we’re going yeah we’re going down"

-One Republic

"I've seen the way you deal with things
The troubles that this life will bring
If it gets to you then I can tell by the way you sing
You act like it just doesn't mean a thing

I see you dancin all your, dancin all you, dancin all your daze
Maybe you can tell me how it is you got that way
Dancing all your, dancing all your, dancing all your daze
Come on, come on there's got to be a way

There's all these things that get me down
This dirty world is full of clowns
They'll build you up just so they can knock you down
Laugh at you while your there on the ground

But not you..
I see you dancin all your, dancin all you, dancin all your daze
Maybe you can tell me how it is you got that way
Dancing all your, dancing all your, dancing all your daze
Come on, come on there's got to be a way

I really like the way it feels
I look at you and it's real

I see you dancin all your, dancin all you, dancin all your daze
Maybe you can tell me how it is you got that way
Dancing all your, dancing all your, dancing all your daze
Come on, come on that's got to be the way"

-Avett Brothers

"It's a long and a dusty road a hot and a heavy load
and the folks that i met ain't always kind
some are bad some are good some have done the best they
could, and some have tryed to ease my troubled mind

and I cant help but Can't help but wonder where i'm bound
where i'm bound Can't help but wonder where i'm bound

I been wandering thru this land just doing the best I can
trying to find what I was meant to do and the people that I see look as worried as can be and it looks like they are wanderin too

and I can't help but wonder where i'm bound where im bound can't help but wonder where i'm bound


well I had a lil girl one time she had lips like sherry wine
and she loved me till my head went plum insane but i was to blind to see she was driftin' away from me and my good gal went off on a mornin' train

and I Can't help but wonder where i'm bound where I'm bound can't help but wonder where i'm bound

If you see me passing by and you sit and you wonder why and you wish that you were ramblin' too nail your shoes to the kitchen floor lace them up and bar the kitchen door thank your stars for the roof that's over you

and I Can't help but wonder where i'm bound where i'm bound can't help but wonder where i'm bound I Can't help but wonder where i'm bound where i'm bound can't help but wonder where i'm bound"

-Johnny Cash

Informative Speech COMM 1000

For my second speech in public speaking we had to an informative speech and I chose the street boys in Peru. I hope you enjoy. Thank you to Billy Greenman and Polly Ricks for their invaluable input.

“Finding food, staying alive, staying hidden. They eat anything...dirt, bricks, any food they can get. They have to sell themselves sexually or steal in order to get money to buy a plate of food or a bowl of soup. They hide out in the daytime to avoid being caught by the police and subsequently are thrown into prison and tortured or taken somewhere to be left to die. I have heard that the average lifespan of a boy on the street is 18 years.” This quote was given to me during an interview of Polly Ricks, a woman who has invested over 12 years of her life to helping the street children on Peru. The term street children is the politically correct term, Peruvian citizens call them “piranhas” and “bastards.” This past summer I was lucky enough to travel to Peru for two weeks and work with Scripture Union Peru outreach to the street boys. It was a slap in the face for sure, I hope to be able to inform you of the challenges, lifestyles, and hardships of these children.

Peru has around 29 million inhabitants. It is hard for the government to get an exact count of the number of street boys because the boys are good at hiding but the estimation is about 250,000 street children are in Peru’s streets. These children are put on the streets for a vast variety of reasons. In Inge Bolin’s book “Child rearing in highland Peru” he explains, “Women do not take a birth control pill or use other preventative methods common in mainstream society, since these are neither affordable nor trusted.” Because of this, many women get pregnant at an early age when they can not provide for the child, and the father most of the time disappears. Usually the first child is kept and raised, but in the years to come more and more children are born into the “family” and the mother is absolutely unable to provide for all of the children, so it is acceptable for the mother to send the first born and the ones she believes have the best chance of survival on the streets out. These children chosen are usually boys no older than six but could be as young as two or three. A common way this happens is the mother takes the children to a busy market far from their home, and purposely loses them in the crowd. Paul Clark, the director of Scripture Union Peru, often uses the illustration of a life boat. “When the boat is full one person needs to go overboard, or the entire boat will sink, and everyone drowns.”

Some children begin spending days on the streets trying to sell small bits of candy, hand-woven bracelets and hats, or they will just simply beg to try to provide income for the family. Many times, they are expected to bring home a certain quota daily, and if they do not meet that quota then they can expect to be beaten. Even when they do bring the proper amount of money home, very seldom does that translate to food on their plates. Billy Greenman, another employee for Scripture Union Peru said, “After awhile, sometimes the boy decides that he would be better off living on his own rather than trying to meet an unreasonable quota and still not getting fed.” Unfortunately the street is no safe haven from the hell that they called home, this situation is the epitome of the term ‘out of the frying pan into the fire.’

So what happens to these boys once they are on the streets? The streets of Peru are no place for people in there teens much less as young as two. The streets are full of gangs, violence, addictions, and death. The option of finding a job for a street boy is not an option at all. The street boys status in the economy is lower than the status of a slave. He has no one, and nothing other than the clothes on his back, if he even has clothes. So, the next reasonable option for the children in stealing for survival. This ranges from pick pocketing to stealing food from the markets. The younger and less experienced children who don’t know how to make a fast get away are usually caught by the police and tortured, when asked to elaborate Greenman said “They are raped and beaten. Boy's have been taken to a dungeon and used as a soccer ball to be kicked around. They have been forced to drink the policeman’s urine. They have been fed sandwiches laced with rat poison, and sadly, the list goes on.” The last option for survival on the streets, sadly, is prostitution. In Peru and all over the world sex trafficking and sex tourism is on the rise. These young boys will extend sexual favors in exchange for a small sum of money or just a plate of food. And the sick thing is, people actually take advantage of them and use them.
At the end of the day, the amount of help available to the children in proportion to the amount of children on the streets is very small. The group I was a part of this past summer has helped many children find the escape they desperately desire from the streets, but that is just a snowflake on the tip of the iceberg that is the help needed. There are many other programs in place similar to Scripture Union Peru dedicated towards helping the boys. When the boys steal and resort to drugs or prostitution, it is to "disaparece" themselves (to disappear themselves from pain, hunger, life) for a few minutes, they can be relieved of all of the horrors of being on the streets...and the thing they hold dear, the only real thing they own is "mi verdad", which is "my truth" or their story of what happened to them in their family and how they came to be thrown out of their home...most will NOT tell you their "verdad" and treasure "mi silencio" as the most deepest secret close to their heart. No one else can own their "truth" or their "silence". This is the one thing they own forever.

And these three things define college to you, to me.

-Back home again from BSC feeling exhausted, yes, but energized in ways not physical. It was so refreshing to reconnect with one of my best friends from back home, we share the same mindset on basically everything and are going through a lot of the same things right now. It was so relieving to be able to instantly reconnect and meant a lot to be able to. The fact that even though we only talk once or twice a month but anytime we see each other it’s like we haven’t been apart is invaluable to me. Growing up in church and maturing in Christ together we are in similar stages in our walks with Christ and because of that and build each other up so much and just having that reconnect refueled my passion for why I live the life I do.

The three words/terms we decided define college are these: “identity, throw it all out the window, and doing the little things”

Identity: coming into college we are trained to try to prove ourselves to everyone around us, it’s simply human nature and an easy way to do this is to fill you time and schedule with things that you can call say, “I’m a part of ___________, __________, and ___________.” But, as time progresses the people who accepted you for the things you are a part of and that reason only drift out of your life. The only way to define yourself is through Christ. Everything else is merely an asset. You really learn a lot about how you view yourself and how everyone else does as well. Identity.

Throw it out the window: This is a kind of direct spawn from the point of “identity” how you think you are defined, how you think about the world , how you judge others and think you will be judged as well. Just throw it ALL out the window. College is not the same for any two people, but it is not at all what you have preconceived in your mind. It is a wonderful incredible experience but it is like being dunked in cold water, your eyes are opened and it’s up to you if you ignore them being opened or if you accept the world for what it is and learn to live “in the world but not of it” What you think is bad what is good, what is sin, what is ok, where to draw the line, You will be stretched and challenged, but if you know who you are and how you define yourself, you will be fine. Cling to the word and hold fast to the cross and especially your friendships.

Doing the little things: This is how you can prove you know who you are, this is how you show others your identity, this is how you throw it all out the window, this is how you find yourself and how you fulfill the Great Commission at this stage in life. It is as simple as being the sober person at the parties, repeatedly. Easy as inviting other to church every Sunday again and again. Easy as living for others more than yourself and dying to your selfish needs. It’s doing the little things. Even if they don’t affect people in the here and now who knows how God can use these actions in the years to come. Don’t you want to be able to say ‘I used every moment as a chance to lead others to Christ, I had fun, I lived fully, War Eagle.’ That’s my goal, and to achieve it I try to keep the little things in check and somehow the big things seem less important and everything falls into place. All really is in God’s hands.

Desires

"I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out" Romans 7:18

Why does this verse stick to the core of what I feel. Every aspect of life can be defined as such and the comfort I glean from the fact Paul felt this same emotion all those years ago when he wrote this letter to the Romans is irreplaceable. I want to do big things, I want to bring change, I want to affect people. I want to live daily for adventure, a princess to rescue, a cause to rally and fight for. I have been given these things and I know all the pieces of the puzzle will fall in place as life progresses but I find myself impatient. I need to pray more constantly for God's peace and assurance that where I am is where I need to be, I hate being at unrest but in my mind it is a daily question I ask, 'am I doing the right thing?' I do believe the answer is yes, I feel more reassured since switching my major to kinesiology in the college of Education and every day I go to Spanish I am reassured that I am meant to minor in it so I can fulfill my hearts thirst for medical missions. I feel God calling me to the mission field so strongly it's hard to idly sit in class learning about kinetoplastids and xylem and phloem. But I know if I am to let myself be used by God to my fullest extent I need to continue to pursue my goals of achieving acceptance into Physical Therapy School at USA or UAB and to do that I need to just slow down and push through these classes. But every day that passes is one class closer to being able to be in Peru and Mexico and Haiti and Tunis and the other places I feel God had put on my heart to share his love through medical missions. Paul, your words hold such power to me, thank you for continuing to tell us that the reason we have the desire is because of our desire for Christ and the reason we can not fulfill that desire is because on our own we are helpless, we, I, MUST rely wholeheartedly on Christ and Christ alone.

"In Christ alone, my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, What depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand"

Big Event 2009

Incredible day with 1700 volunteers braving the cold, wind, and rain all for some selfless giving back to the incredible community we are luck enough to be a part of. My three job site I was in charge of all did incredible jobs! I was blessed not only with incredible owners of the sites we worked at, (Campus Church, Hardy's Children's day-care center, and the Veterans Brick Memorial task 2010) but also three incredible groups of volunteers. We finished the data base for the bricks in a record breaking hour and a half, had the Campus Church site's walls scrubbed, floors mopped and swept, and touch ups done in two hours, and accomplished the large task of re-mulching and cleaning the children's play ground area in four hours. The best part of being a part of this is the feeling you get when one of the owners starts crying tears of gratitude and another asks where the children can write thank you notes to because now they can actually play outside. The credit for this belongs entirely to Auburn SGA and specifically the Big Event Staff. Being in charge of these three sites was hard work but they were only three sites, and forty volunteers of of 1700 total. That is was Auburn is all about, and that is exactly why I love it. War Eagle BE2010!