time for a cool change

7 more Buckeyes now in the NFL

2009-04-27T13:54:00.002-05:00

4 Buckeyes were drafted on the first day and three more on the second day. Malcom Jenkins was the first Buckeye to go and was taken by the New Orleans Saints at number 16 overall. Beanie Wells was picked up by Arizona Cardinals, which was a great pick for them because Beanie was the best running back in college and is now the best running back in the NFL. James Laurinaitis was taken by the Rams early in the second round. The Rams will enjoy an incredibly gifted linebacker but an even better person as well. Brian Robiskie is following his father's footsteps as an NFL wide receiver. Brian is a solid receiver who runs great routes, has great hands, and is a hard worker.

On the second day of the draft, three more Buckeyes were selected. Donald Washington to the Chiefs, Brian Hartline will join former Buckeye Ted Ginn Jr. in Miami, and Marcus Freeman will be an instant impact for the Chicago Bears defense.

homemade hot chocolate in a winter wonderland

2008-12-09T22:41:00.002-06:00

From Sunday at 10:00 AM to Monday night at midnight, we got hit with the largest snowfall of the year. It was an old fashioned blizzard. I could barely see anything driving home from church. This is the second year in a row that we have had a blizzard on this weekend. We are hoping to get about six more inches in the next couple of days. During the snowfall we hung up the Christmas lights, stockings, and tree in our apartment. It is looking very festive. Tonight I decided to make Heather and myself some hot chocolate. She enjoys Swiss Miss mix with water...basically water with a hint of chocolate flavoring. However, I like the true European style hot chocolate. I melted down chocolate chips, added milk and powdered sugar, and dropped a mini candy cane for a mint flavor. It was really thick, rich, and delicious. There is nothing like Jonathan's old fashioned hot chocolate, on a cold winter's night, up here in Minneapolis.

pre-turkey day cleansing

2008-11-23T23:38:00.003-06:00

On Sunday night Heather and I decided to do a little body cleansing before Thanksgiving. The diet will go for three days and consist of clementines, pineapple, spinach, pomegranate, juice, water, carrots, and grapefruit. The idea is to prepare ourselves for a big day of eating on Thursday. We are spending Thanksgiving in Milwaukee with her family. The last time I was not with my family for Thanksgiving was my junior year of high school when I spent Thanksgiving with the Mertz's while my family went to Washington D.C. to visit Amy and Jeremy. Heather, Zach, and I are leaving on Tuesday evening for Menomonee Falls, Heather's home, and will be there until Sunday. Have a happy Thanksgiving and if anyone reads this who will be seeing my family give them a hug for me.

Buckeyes beat Mich-again!

2008-11-23T23:28:00.002-06:00

For the fifth straight time, the Buckeyes have beat the Michigan Wolverines. This time they did with style by winning 42-7 on Saturday. I love the Ohio State vs. Michigan game because it is such a great rivalry but it makes me sad because it is the last game of the year (until the bowl games) for the Buckeyes. Everyone on the team contributed to the win on Saturday. It was 14-7 at halftime but the Buckeyes scored 28 unanswered points in the second half.

It was a great morning overall because Heather came over before tip-off to make a Palmer favorite...fried dough. It is tradition to make fried dough before the Ohio State vs. Michigan game every year. Ohio State finished the year 10-2 and will wait to see which bowl game they will play in. Ohio State has won five in a row now and have won 6 of the last 7 games vs. Michigan. Go Bucks!

my first sermon

2008-11-23T23:17:00.002-06:00

On Thursday I had the opportunity to preach for the first time. I preached in the student led chapel we have here at North Central. The topic for my first sermon...obedience. In 1 Samuel 15, Saul did not completely obey God. I taught on obeying God completely. It was such a great experience because and I had so much fun doing it too. God really used what I said to touch some of the students. I have a long way to go still but I was happy for my first time.

Because my sermon fell on the week of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, I wore a scarlet and gray sweater vest in honor of Jim Tressel. I had been very nervous to preach for the first time but as I began to prepare God seemed to take away all my nerves. It was a great conformation that God's call on my life to pastor is the real deal. I am looking forward to preaching more in the future.

collision in the coliseum

2008-09-12T23:10:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the eve before Ohio State's biggest game of the year. Tomorrow night Ohio State will be playing University of Southern California in one of the most anticipated college football games of all time! Heather and I have been outfitted all day in our Buckeye garb and cannot wait for the game tomorrow night. In this picture, Heather is wearing her brand new Ohio State t-shirt she got yesterday.

Earlier this evening Heather made her famous cranberry chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and corn. It was sooo good. After that she began the first stage of a triple batch of Ohio State cut-out cookies. I am sure that the boys will devour them tomorrow night during the game. Then we went on a walk because it is perfect weather here in Minneapolis. Tonight was about 65 degrees; just great early fall weather. On our way back from the walk we called Amy and Jeremy and talked to them for a while.

Now, only 17 hours until the big game. Go Bucks!

meet the parents

2008-05-30T08:15:00.009-05:00

Two weeks ago, Heather and I were on a 1700 mile road trip from Lakeland, Florida, to Minneapolis. On our way we stopped in Memphis for Mother's Day weekend with the Palmer/Baker crew. This was the first time Heather met any of my family...and she met them all. We walked into Amy and Jeremy's house on Friday night and Jeremy had the video camera running on us and Grandma Clay had her camera flashing. That was Heather's welcome and here is what it looked like (see above).

After the weekend was over, we drove north west to Springfield to hang out there for a full week. It was full of A/G tours (it was Heather's first time in Springfield), interior designing with Uncle Doug, playing golf, and ear wax candling (see right). The weather cooperated and so we were able to run almost everyday because we are training for our ten-mile race. Of course we had much to celebrate as well that week. We celebrated Heather's birthday, dad's birthday, Amy and Jeremy's five year anniversary, and mom and dad's 12,000 day of marriage. Seven days with the Palmer family and Heather is still alive. Just kidding we both had a ton of fun and she loved her time there.

the big 56

2008-05-29T12:13:00.005-05:00

Dad just wanted to say happy birthday to my favorite dad in the whole world. I cannot believe you are already 56...where has all the time gone. I feel like it was just yesterday you were a student at CBC running around wildly with mom. Although my memories are quite foggy I still cannot believe it was just over 30 years ago you were a young church planter in Athens, Ohio.

Well, let's just say that the past couple decades of your young life are quite a bit more clear to me. I can remember when you were in your forties and we would play catch in the church parking lot before JBQ practice. I can remember when you turned fifty because that was my first year of driving by myself. The last several years have been extra special because as I am nearing the end of college and about to embark on the next chapter of my life, the early years of your ministry have become so much more real to me. Thanks for all of the memories over the last 21 years and 11 months. You have lived an outstanding 56 years and I hope my next 44 years are as meaningful as yours. I love you dad. You are da' man!

college student's budget

2008-04-17T12:59:00.006-05:00

As a college student I am always looking for ways to save money. Here are just a few ways you can save your self some cash.

1. Slickdeals.net This site will let you know where all the deals are in your area.

2. On April 29, Ben and Jerry's is giving free scoops of ice cream all day.

3. On April 30, Baskin-Robbins will have 31 cent ice cream cones all day.

4. On May 9, Subway is giving six inch subs away all day.

We are to be good stewards of our money. Here are a few ways. Enjoy!

welcome to...

2008-04-17T11:52:00.003-05:00

Lifetime Fitness. As of 10:30 this morning, I am an employee of Lifetime Fitness in Plymouth, Minnesota. Starting on June 9th I will be working full time as a Summer Camp Counselor. All summer they have kids, ages 5-12, come to Lifetime for day camps. The job is 9-4, Monday through Friday, and loaded with a lot of fun. Every day consists of playing out in the field with the kids, crafts, games in the gym, two hours of swimming, movie time, and Wednesday is field trip day. We will be going to a Twin's game, the science museum, amusement park, the lake, and the zoo. Also, I get a free membership at Lifetime which is sweet.

I am really excited for this job and just cannot wait to live up here in the cities for the summer. Zach, Heather's brother (in picture above), and I are living together in an apartment for the summer. Zach is working at the Holiday Inn, following in the footsteps of his sister, and Heather is hoping to nanny for a family in the area. Only eleven more school days plus finals until I am a SENIOR!

doubled in size

2008-04-14T12:41:00.002-05:00

On Friday night, on the way down to the Masters, my dad and I had a two hour layover in Memphis. We called Amy, Jeremy, and Grant and they came down for a dinner at the airport. It was so nice to see Amy and Jeremy but for me, it was really fun to see Grant. That is only the second time I have seen him and the first time was the first Sunday in March. Since then he has doubled in size, going from 5 lbs. to 10 lbs. We sat at Maggie O'Sheas and I just held Grant for a while and gave him plenty of smooches. I had so much fun. Uncle Jonny is really loving his new position.

florida: day three

2008-04-10T12:10:00.011-05:00

Heather and I both agreed that Monday was our favorite day of the trip. After we got up and Heather made a wonderful breakfast of peanut butter toast and cereal, we spent our morning over at Ft. Myers Masters Commission. I once again met a lot of people who had only heard of me and I was referred to as "the" Jonathan. Heather must have talked a lot about me. It was neat to see where Heather spent her first two years of college.

After that we went downtown Ft. Myers and had lunch at a little cafe that was really good. It was there Heather realized that I like my turkey sandwiches dry...no mustard or mayonnaise. It was also there that Heather met a 75 year old lady in the bathroom who assured Heather that elementary education was most definitely the way to go.

Off to Sanibel Island for the day. As soon as we arrived we went straight to the visitor's center and got lots of maps and brochures. After doing our research, we decided we wanted to go to the end of the island and see the lighthouse. But we didn't want to drive our car so we stopped at Billy's Rental shop and rented a surrey bike for two hours. If you do not know what a surrey bike is, check out the picture. We drove that thing down to the lighthouse where we took a little dip in the ocean. We spent about 45 minutes swimming with the dolphins. We were literally swimming fifteen feet from several dolphins. It was incredible. On our way back we stopped for some ice cream. Heather went with her usual mint chocolate chip and I went with black raspberry in honor of dad. On the way back Heather took a few more breaks from pedaling than normal. So we returned our bike just in time.

After that we went to a Holiday Inn on the island and just made ourselves at home by the pool. Heather took quite a lengthy nap while I swam laps in the pool and read my Bible. Once the sun went down we changed and went to a huge Italian restaurant. The salad and bread was good but we split a meal and it was not very good at all. But we still had a lot of fun.

We made the two hour drive back to school just in time to meet up with our friends Ryan and Sara for the second half of the National Championship game (Memphis vs. Kansas). Heather and I ate breakfast together and next morning, went to chapel just for worship, and then off to the airport.

It was one of the funnest weekends ever. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoyed this Florida trilogy.

florida: day two

2008-04-10T10:56:00.002-05:00

We slept in on Sunday morning until about 9:30 only to see clouds covering the sky. Our original plan was to hang out by the pool all day and go to Ft. Myers that night but because of the weather we at breakfast at Maggie Mae's Sunrise Cafe again and then drove south two hours to Ft. Myers. The weather was sunny and 85 degrees when we got there. So we went to the pool hung out there for a couple of hours.

By the way, on our way down we passed the Manatee State Park and had to call my brother-n-law, Jeremy, because manatees are his favorite mammal. While we were talking to the Bakers, we passed a sign for Manatee Community College and decided it would be a great school for Grant to attend in 2026.

For dinner we met up with Scott and Betty Cray, the couple who Heather lived with during her two years at Masters Commission. We went to a Thai restaurant and then back to their beautiful home for dessert. Some of Heather's girlfriends, who still live in the area, came over and we played Wii bowling all night. It was a lot of fun. We were very tired from the late night the night before so we fell asleep early so we would be refreshed and ready to go for Monday.

Stay tuned for Florida: day three...coming soon.

florida: day one

2008-04-10T10:35:00.007-05:00

Last weekend I was able to go down to Florida again to spend a long weekend with Heather. Southeastern had their Spring Formal on Saturday night so that was the main reason for me to fly down there. I got in late Friday night and just went back to campus and got a good night sleep knowing we would have a full weekend ahead of us. Saturday started bright and early at about 7:00 AM. It just so happened to be our three month anniversary so I got up a little early and went to Publix and got three roses for Heather to go with a humorous romantic poem. We were on the road by 8:15.

Our destination that day was the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater. That is where the formal was being held. An hour later we were on the beach eating at Maggie Mae's Sunrise Cafe. After breakfast we went to the hotel where we swam and laid out by the pool from 11-5. The weather was great and we had so much fun eating a delicious picnic lunch that Heather made and sipping on virgin pina coladas poolside. It was amazing.

That night was the dinner and live entertainment. Everyone that evening thought Heather was the prettiest girl there. I was a lucky man to have Heather as my date...as you can see from the pictures. After dinner a comedy club came from downtown Orlando and were absolutely hilarious. The rest of the night we filled with a walk along the pier, until it rained, and then a late night snack at the local IHOP.

Stay tuned for Florida: day two...coming up next.

a new family record

2008-03-26T18:43:00.002-05:00

Some of you may remember the giant snowman that the Palmer's and Leach's built a few years ago. I asked Brad how tall their Michigan record sized snowman was and he said just under 10 feet. Well, I am here to announce that if they built the largest snowman in Michigan history, than we built Wisconsin's biggest snowman ever this past weekend. Over Easter weekend I was in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, with Heather and her family. On Good Friday it snowed about 14 inches and so Saturday we decided to try and break the Palmer family snowman record. After about 3 hours of hard work and a lot of fun, Heather, her younger brother Caleb, her little sister Emma, and I stood proud next to our 10 foot 1 inch snowman. We named him Mordecai the Great and put a number 4 on his chest in honor of Brett Favre. For the last hour or so of our project we had to pull two of the cars out in the street and shine the headlights on our work in order to see. It was so much fun and definitely one of the highlights of our fun filled weekend. Not many families can say they have the record for tallest snowmen in two different states. I must admit there was a little bit of competitiveness juice flowing out of me while I was building and trying to beat the cousins. Thanks for the motivation guys.

God's sense of humor

2008-02-26T15:35:00.003-06:00

Even though God has called me to full time vocational ministry, and I do believe that being called to ministry can come in many forms. However, I am pretty sure God is not calling me toward full time children's ministry.

Saturday night around 10:00 I received a call from my pastor, Tory Farina, who was calling for a favor. After I said, "sure whatever you need," he then explained to me that the volunteer who normally does children's church at High Point had the flu. I was thinking that he just wanted me to pray for him that God would heal him before Sunday morning. Well I am sure he did want me to pray for him but he was thinking more along the lines of me doing children's church the next morning. I gladly said yes as I thought to myself that this is going to be quite an experience.

And quite an experience it was. There were only four kids, ages 6-11, one overly excited, curly red head named Oliver, who was willing to assist me in every aspect of the service. He came in most handy when it was time for me to lead praise and worship. He knew all the actions so they other three could follow along. We memorized 1 Corinthians 11:1, ate candy, and watched a video together.

Both my mom and dad, along with Heather, had to chuckle a little bit when they heard that I was going to be leading kid's church. It was a great experience and am thankful God was able to use me to bless the church in that capacity.

the sunshine state

2008-02-26T14:56:00.009-06:00

Last weekend I had a three day weekend and so I decided to fly down to Florida and visit Heather for the weekend. The weekend was absolutely amazing and so much fun. My favorite part of the trip, besides seeing Heather, was the 120 degree temperature difference from Minnesota to Florida. When I left NCU it was -40 degrees and it was 80 degrees in Tampa.

I flew in on Friday evening and was greeted by Heather and her great big beautiful smile at the closest spot she could get to from the gate. We fought through heavy rush hour traffic all the way to Lakeland, home of Southeastern University. We had about thirty minutes to get ready for our Valentine's Day dinner (a day late). When I walked across campus to meet Heather I was greeted by a stunning blond in a Hollywood-like red a black dress (see picture above). She took me to a little family owned Italian restaurant called Mario's. The food was excellent and the company was even better. After that we went with 11 of her friends to Downtown Disney and hung out there until 2:00 AM before coming back to Lakeland.

Saturday was up and at em' and 6:45 because it was Disney day baby. We stopped through Haines City to meet Pastor Gary Peck, one of my dad's long time pastor friends. He had two free "hopper" passes, which meant we could go to any and all of the parks. And so we started at MGM and rode the famous Tower of Terror and even went to the Beauty and the Beast show...that was interesting. Epcot Center was next (see picture above). We ate lunch and waited for two hours in a line for a 3D hang gliding ride. Well worth the wait. Then we left Disney and drove to International Drive where some of you may remember was where General Council was held in Orlando a few years ago. I took her to see the Peabody Hotel because she had never seen one before. Then we went to Don Pablos for dinner and then drove back to Magic Kingdom for the fireworks. The show was cool but when it was done I was ready to go home. We didn't even make it out of the parking lot before Heather reclined her seat 100% back and was knocked out cold. I struggled to get us back to Lakeland where we hit the hay immediately.

Sunday started with church in the morning, where Dr. Rutland spoke their Faith Promise service. From church we went straight to the beach and had a nice picnic lunch that Heather prepared for us...just trying to save some money. We laid out, played football, and watched the sunset on the beach (see picture above). Then we drove to Clearwater Beach, had dinner at a little local cafe, and enjoyed our last night before I had to be at the airport at 5:30 the next morning. What a trip. It was so much fun and full of so many memories.

missional church conference in the nation's "icebox"

2008-02-12T07:47:00.000-06:00

One CNN headline yesterday read, Nation's "Icebox"hits record 40 below zero. As I clicked on that thinking the North Pole or Siberia just made the front page of CNN, I was surprised at one popped up. Minneapolis, MN, the nation's icebox. Although, the report came from Minneapolis, the town that actually hit that temperature was north of the city. So we were pretty lucky, it was only about 30 below in Minneapolis yesterday. It is so cold that when I breath through my nose outside, I can feel everything in my nose freeze. There is no real way to stay warm at all unless you stay inside.

Which staying inside is what I did all day yesterday. From 9-3 yesterday, I had the awesome opportunity of being part of this year's Missional Church Conference. I was able to attend four of the five sessions yesterday and hear guys like Mark Batterson and Earl Creps share their hearts in a relatively small group setting. There are probably 30-40 pastors, and me, from the Minnesota district here. What a neat experience to hear how God is using these men and what they are doing to reach people for Jesus.

Dear Grant

2008-02-05T13:20:00.000-06:00

Now that I am officially an uncle, I have a responsibility to take care of my new nephew. I thought it would be beneficial to give him a few words of wisdom as he starts his life. Here are 10 tips for Grant.

1. You were born a Buckeye no matter what state you live in.
2. Memorize "How Great Thou Art" as soon as possible.
3. Your mom has been sitting for one straight month and has a lot of energy ready to exert.
4. Your dad works for the FBI so learn right away that you will not get away with anything.
5. Enjoy being the only grandchild while you are because once the next one comes your time will be done.
6. Be alert and on your toes because at any given time you could hear English, Spanish, or German, spoken to you.
7. Read your Bible and pray every day or you'll shrink, shrink, shrink.
8. If you do not request to play Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land Bingo then you will end up playing Trivial Pursuit.
9. Your dad can teach you how to play every sport but just let your uncle teach you how to play basketball.
10. If you ever do anything dumb and get in trouble just tell mom and dad you were trying to be like Uncle Johnny.

Love you Grant and I can't wait to meet you soon. You da' man little guy.

what is "light"

2008-02-03T01:28:00.000-06:00

If God created "light" on the first day, but did not create the sun, moon, and stars until the fifth day. What is "light?" Everything that produces light was not created until later so what does that mean? This following passage is from Donald Miller's book, Through Pained Deserts. Not sure if it answers my question or not.

"In the Hebrew tradition, which splintered off into the Christian tradition, which is how i was raised, light is a metaphor God makes a cosmos out of the nothingness, a molecular composition, of which He is not and never has been, as anything is limiting, and God has no limits. in this way, He isn't, and yet is. The poetic imagery is rather beautiful, stating that all we see and feel and touch, the hardness of dense atoms, the softness of a breeze (atoms perhaps loose as if in play) is the breath of God. And into this being, into this existence, God first creates light. this light is not to be confused with the sun and moon and stars, as they are not created until later. He simply creates light, a nonsubstance that is like a particle and like a wave, but perhaps neither, just some kind of traveling energy. A kind of magnetic wave. Light, then, becomes a fitting metaphor for a nonbeing who is. God, if like light, travels at the speed of light, and because space and time are mingled with speed, the speed of light is the magic, exact number that allows a kind of escape from time. Scientists have played with atomic clocks, matched exactly, setting one in a plane to fly around the world, and another motionless, waiting for the return of its partner. When they reunite, the one that traveled rests milliseconds behind the one fixed. The faster you move, physicists have found, the less you experience time And if you move at the speed of light, you will never age; you are outside of time; you are an eternal creature. But before you strap on your running shoes, you should know scientists warn us that with speed, matter increases in density, so an attempt at the speed of light will have you imploded by the time you hit Witchita, your atoms as dense as bowling balls. And to make matters worse, your density increases on a curve; the faster you go, the steeper the trajectory on the graph. You and I, made from molecules, cannot travel at the speed of light and cannot escape time, at least not with a body. Consider the complexity of light in light of the Hebrew metaphor: we don't see light; we see what it touches. It is more or less invisible, made from nothing, just purposed and focused energy, infinite in its power (it will never tire if fired into a vacuum, going on forever). How fitting, then, for God to create an existence, then a metaphor, as if to say, here is something entirely unlike you, outside of time, infinite in its power and thrust: here is something you can experience but cannot understand. Throughout the remainder of the Bible, then, God calls himself light. The perfection of the Hebrew metaphor is eerie, especially considering Eratosthenes wouldn't play with sticks and shadows for several thousand years, discovering Ra was, in fact, never closing his eyes."

What do you think?

gram has a web cam

2008-02-01T14:40:00.000-06:00

Today I video chatted with Grandma for about 15 minutes over my lunch break. I called her to congratulate her on being a great grandma and she told me she has a web cam. So we both got online and talked for a while. It was great and she was having so much fun. Heather called me during our chat and I answered and said, "hey I will call you back because I am video chatting with my gram." She thought that was pretty sweet, and so did I, that my grandma, who is a great-grandma now, is video chatting. What a cool grandma. Love you Gram...you're awesome.

close call

2008-01-29T10:41:00.000-06:00

Growing up I have spent a lot of time airports, but yesterday was one of the craziest airport experiences I have ever had. Heather came up from Southeastern this weekend to visit for a few days. Her flight was scheduled to leave at 10:25 am on Monday. Because of a meeting with an admissions counselor, to discuss transfer information, that went late, we did not leave North Central until after 9:15. With some aggressive driving, we pulled into the parking ramp at 9:30...55 minutes until takeoff.

The parking ramp was very full for a Monday morning so after driving around for a few minutes I thought it would be better for me to drop Heather off. I told her to take her purse and go get in line and I would park and bring her suitcase and meet her at the ticket counter. I was forced to park on the 7th level. What I didn't know was that right where I had dropped Heather off was a separate ticket counter for Northwest flights. She just assumed I meant for us to meet there since that is right where I dropped her off.

Well little did I know that she was somewhere other than the main ticket counter, so Heather's suitcase and I made our way to the main terminal. When I got on the shuttle to go that way I get a call from her on my cell phone. She wanted to know where I was at. After informing her I was on my way to the main terminal to meet her, she informed me she was at the other check in place for Northwest flights. So as the time is now 9:45 and she is boarding in 15 minutes, and I have her suitcase. I begin to get nervous. I take the shuttle back to where I thought she was at and receive another phone call. She just wanted me to know that she could not find her drivers license. Now my nervousness just turned to panicking.

I jump off the tram and think I know right where she is at so I call and tell her I will be there in 2 minutes. Uh oh...the escalator is under repair. At this point I am not thinking, just reacting. So I pick her suitcase up, and couldn't believe she had packed only for a weekend, and bolted UP and DOWN escalator. It was physically, one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I barely made it up and then didn't see Heather anywhere. I had thought wrong. She was not here and I could barley breath and my legs were shaking from the workout and the panicking that was setting in. I call Heather, who is almost in tears because she cannot find her ID, I have her suitcase, we are still who knows how far apart from each other, and its now 9:55. The plane is boarding.

Luckily at this point I was a regular on the shuttle so I rode that back to the terminal and had Heather just meet me there. We are finally reunited and she checks in while I stand in line for security. However, the line is not moving and looks like it could be an hour to get through security. So the lady at the counter tells Heather to go to the skyway security checkpoint for Northwest flights. That happens to be right where I just was. So once again I am on the shuttle for the fourth time in 2o minutes, only I am not alone this time, thankfully.

We get off the shuttle I told her that she needs to be ready because we now need to go UP the DOWN escalator. She simply asked me, "why?" She asked that because she saw the huge sign that said ELEVATOR AROUND THE CORNER, that I had somehow missed. Only I would not think to know that every escalator in America has an elevator somewhere close by. So we rode the elevator up one flight and I said goodbye and watched her quickly go through security...at 10:15. "Wow...ten minutes to spare, nice timing," I think to myself.

The application is this. I have a lot of airport experience WITH my dad who is a pro at traveling. But I have had limited experience by myself. That is like our relationship with Christ. We can only experience Christ so much through other people and until we experience what He can do for us first hand we will never really know what it's like. God is so much better when he works directly through us and not through someone else. Just like now I feel much more experienced in the airport since I did not have my dad to navigate and problem solve for me. We must experience God on our own in order to be the best we can be.

half way done

2008-01-14T15:46:00.000-06:00

2 1/2 years down and 2 1/2 years to go. My college experience has been stretched out longer than expected because of some lost credits in my transferring process freshman year. Because of that, Bethany and I will be in college for the one year together, hopefully at NCU.

My blog regularity has been anything but regular but this time I am not going to say that I will blog more often because I do not know how busy I will get this semester. This semester is going to be awesome. Last semester I earned a 3.2 GPA and that was my best academic semester of my college career thus far. My goal for this semester is a 3.5.

My friend Levi, who went to Oral Roberts the same semester I was there, and I are now in charge of the entire intramural program here at North Central. We have been planning and working hard to make intramural basketball a success this year.

I am also reading the entire Bible this year, starting with the New Testament and starting the Old Testament in May. That was one of the New Year's Resolutions, along with keeping up on world and national news outside of sports. I am also greatly anticipating the arrival of my nephew soon.

And of course this weekend...cousin Bradley's big wedding. I am very stoked for that and am excited to see all the family. Love you all and see you soon.

saturday for the ages

2007-12-02T09:06:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the best Saturday of 2007...hands down. Let me give you all a glimpse into the wonderful college life of me yesterday.

12:30 PM - Rise and shine. It was a late night Friday night as six of us dudes pulled our matresses out into our suite and watched a movie starting at about 2:00 AM. The only reason I think I was able to get up by noon was because Ben came storming in waking all of us up and announcing that we were getting hit hard with snow. The first snow of the year, and by 12:30 we aleardy had several inches.

2:00 PM - I spent some time laying in bed with my new Mac Book surfing the web and listening to some tunes. And around 2:00, Ben, Brie, and I bundled up and took the blizzard head on as we hiked downtown for a late lunch at Panera.

5:00 PM - Twelve of us all met in the Phillipps Hall lobby with no concrete plan but all with one thing in common...we were dressed for the snow. We decided to go downtown and walk around enjoying the Christmas lights and get some Starbucks. While we were downtown we found a public ice rink that was closed. So we thought it was great we had it all to ourselves We had to clear off the snow so we could mess around on the ice. See picture above.

7:30 PM - Back from the walk at 7:00 and just enough time to shower up and make it to the brother/sister floor Christmas party. But only till 8:00.

8:00 PM - We went out to eat at the original Famous Daves in uptown with Zach's family. There was live jazz music and and Christmas in the air. During dinner we found out the Ohio State will be playing for the National Championship game. I was so excited that I started dancing on the dance floor. Everyone joined in with me. See picture above.

10:00 PM - Let me just say that we had a huge snowball fight in the parking lot with the whole family...for about a half hour.

11:00 PM - Back to school with just one hour to get ready for the school-wide snowball fight in Elliot Park at midnight. It was a blast! Side note...it was still snowing at this point.

2:00 AM - Time to throw in a movie with now six guys in the suite. We slept there again because we never moved our beds back to our rooms. Isn't college life great?

In conclusion...best Saturday of the year!

breaks and busy-ness (couldn't find the correct spelling)

2007-10-14T23:50:00.000-05:00

I am going home on Wednesday for fall break and I do not even know how to get there. Since when do you have to map quest how to get to your own house. New state, new city, new house, new room, but not new mom. Everything is going to be new this weekend except for one thing. Great cooking, laundry, and back scratching. I am thoroughly excited to get to go home for the first time since August. A few of my friends from my floor are coming home with me. Jaren, Weston, and Dustin are coming to Springfield with me which will be fun.

Blogging has not really be on my to-do list this school year so far because I have been so busy. Just a glimpse of what has been going on here at NCU so far.

1. God spoke to me earlier this year and challenged me to challenge our floor to raise $2,000 for World Misisons.

2. I have attended 2 Ohio State games, one of them that was nine hours away in Indiana and I did the whole trip in one day.

3. Planned and hosted a school wide ping-pong tournament.

4. I am interning with Pastor Tory Farina at High Point Church on Tuesday/Thursday afternoons.

5. Going undefeated in intramural football and earning the #1 seed for the playoffs. Our floor has outscored our opponents 174-49 this year in five games.

6. And studying. Ha.

Stay tuned for some more specific updates. This is a picture of a bunch of my buddies at a bar-b-que.