"Oh back to school, back to school, to prove to dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight, oh back to school."
Good ol' Billy Madison there, in a way though I kind of feel like an adult trying to go back to school again (well okay I am, but you get the point...hopefully). I start Boise State again tomorrow and I really am excited for what God wants to do with me there! I am so grateful for second chances- let me give you a little synopsis of my first experience with BSU. I was just graduated from high school (02') and like most people, went to college right away and I might I add that I had the greatest of intentions when I first started out. I started out okay but as time progressed and the classes got harder as well as my partying, class didn't seem like much of a priority for me. I scheduled everything in my life at that time around 3 things: snowboarding, partying and work. I had class early in the morning (big mistake), snowboarded the rest of the day til work on the mountain in the evening and then partied all night. And let me reiterate, it is not easy going to class still buzzed from the night before or morning of! I started skipping a lot because I was so exhausted, but of course I didn't sacrifice anything else. I probably would have skipped out on work if I didn't need it to pay the bills. Well I managed a full year of school by that routine and of course landed myself on 
academic probation. That next fall I decided to take a semester off to make sure that school was what I really wanted to do. Spring semester rolls around and I decide to give it another whirl and re-take some of the classes that I failed only now all motivation quickly diminished and I stopped going altogether. Disclaimer: If you make the decision to not go to school or class, do so before the withdrawal date, that way you don't fail every single class and it winds up on your permanent record. Four years has passed since I last roamed that campus as an actual student and a lot has happened in those four short yet long years. The last three, God has radically encountered my life and set me on solid footing and for the first time since school I have restored hope and excitement for that campus. I see a future and something new to work towards in life. I am excited to meet new people and leave a positive and lasting impression in their life. I now have something to offer them besides snowboard tips and keg stand records. That hope is Jesus and I really want to be bold and courageous. I want any and all fear to vanish. I was a little bit scared that since it's been so long since I really buckled down in school that I wouldn't be able to get the job done or that I wasn't smart enough, but I know this is God's will for me at this season of my life and you know, He's called me there for a reason. I really am brimming with excitement at this new opportunity. It hasn't hit me yet that I am officially back in school and officially finished with interns! So pray for me this year, pray for all of us going back and hey, when you see us, encourage us! :)
So the other night I went with my non-biological lil bro night fishing at the ever-beloved Swan Falls. I hadn't gone night fishing in I can't remember how many years, but it turned out to be such a lovely night to go fishing...the weather that is...no one get any ideas!
The drive was typical, normal conversations about life and God, the future and present, mishaps and triumphs filled the air. The drive out past Kuna is pretty uneventful, it quickly becomes vast acres of open land and eager animals waiting to run out in front of your vehicle to meet their demise (well that is what it always seems like when I drive, I am convinced that these animals are choosing suicide by hurling themselves in front of my car...Heather and Meagan can vouch for this). Anyway, we arrive to Swan Falls dam and begin the search for the perfect spot to cast out a line in the dark water below. Amidst our search I casually came to an area where dirt and water had met its match and formed into something that my car loves to rally itself in. So I did what any giddy SUV driver would do, I sped up and rallied that mud with such a ferociousness. I do not know what it is inside of me that whenever I see a mud puddle I have to drive my car through it! Such joy fills my heart as the water spills over the entire car and mud covers the windshield and mud flaps. Aw, pure bliss :)
After I finished enjoying my childish shenanigans, we continued our pursuit for a prime fishing spot. The windows were rolled down allowing the breeze from the water to flow freely throughout the car, although now, the breeze brought forth a pungent, dairy farm type aroma. For Idaho though, this smell is quite common especially when the wind really kicks up, tossing around all sorts of scents. The further we drove though, the smell kept the same and in fact was not growing faint in any way. Some time goes by and the realization hits me that in fact the smell was not in the air, but that this smell had attached itself to my vehicle. I pulled over my car and got out to investigate my suspicions, which only confirmed my accusations...yup the body of my car and tires reeked of poo! I am laughing as I wrote that. The mud that I was so giddy to plow through was no more in fact a "toilet" for animals. I still find this hilarious, I mean, how often does that happen? You know how there is always that kid in school who is the smelly kid? My car is now that smelly kid, it has been tainted. But you wanna know something, if I had known beforehand the repercussions of my mud excursions, I probably still would have done it. ha ha! I know that some of you are so judging me right now, ha ha!! Go ahead, but put yourself in my driver's seat. Trucks and SUV's were meant for fun, they were meant for mud and gnarly roads. I actually use to be so annoyed at people who had trucks or SUV's and didn't use them properly, but just skirted around in them to look cool and tough, or people who turned their trucks into low riders, but that is a whole other story which you don't want me to get into. Low riders are a joke, no offense if you are a fan, but a truck that needs hydraulics just to go over a speed bump is a waste of a good truck.
So I say all this to say, ensure that your mud pot really is in fact mud, not a poo-mud mixture. Otherwise you will be the stinky kid...unless you're in to that sort of thing. lol
So recently I took a backpacking trip up to Seven Devils in Riggins, ID. It was my first official backpacking trip, with all the packs and camping equipment strapped to our backs we hiked up the steep terrain. It was such a FUN adventure for me, I felt like a stinkin kid again climbing up rocks and the mountain side. I hardly paid any attention to the physical exertion, I was just stoked to be out in the mountains and starting a new venture that I have never done before. When we finally reached the top of the mountain where we were setting up camp, the view was magnificent!! It really brought me to my knees and tears to my eyes at the overwhelming beauty of God's wonderful creation! Everything was so beautiful and I was standing so small in the center of it! I immediately have fallen in love with this hobby and sport, I mean camping is fun enough but to actually hike into someplace is a whole different ball game.
It also made me want to take up rock climbing as well, I have done rock walls at gyms before but the little that we did while we were up there was a blast. I love the challenge of pushing your body to new extremes. If any of you get the opportunity to go backpacking, take it!! All the work is worth it when you reach your destination (hey that could be a sermon right there). Needless to say, there was no "devil" about this place, God's craftsmanship and fingerprint was everywhere!! Might I add that my personal worship time there was some of the best I have ever had. God is soooo good!
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simplisticthoughts
,
11:53 AM
So I have been up in McCall since Monday and have really been enjoying my relaxing vacation time. I was supposed to be at the Oregon Coast this week, but things didn't work out so I got the opportunity to come up to McCall and hang out with one of my besties, Lacey and her husband Cole. They are the newly ordained youth pastors at Mtn Life Church up here and Cole gave Glover (she came up for a few days too) and I the opportunity to preach to their youth group Wednesday night. So Wednesday Glove and I spent the day bouncing thoughts off each other, reading, studying, praying and really asking God what His heart was for this group of young individuals. The theme had been on commitment, so we were asked to correlate that into our message.
Glover was on the vein of wells- God had been showing her about drinking from your own wells and digging deep wells that even when dry seasons come around you still have water to drink from. Throughout her research of wells, she found that they used certain wells that have either dried up or were broken as prisons for people. How interesting that the dry wells in our lives can actually be vessels for prisons in our life.
God has been imparting to me lately about building altars in our lives. How we need to be the sacrifices on those altars and allow the fire of God to burn out areas that are displeasing to God. I read from 2 Sam 24 about David's punishment for taking a census of the fighting men of the land due to pride in his life. Once he recognized the sin that he had committed he cried out to God but it was too late. The sins of the people were already rampant, but once the head of the people fell, the rest was like a domino effect. So God gives him 3 options for punishment- 3 yrs of famine (which they were already recovering from), 3 mos of fleeing from their enemies or 3 days of plague. David decides that it is better to fall into the hands of a merciful God than into the cruelty of man. These 3 options are all in Deut. 28 under the curses for disobedience. After the 3 days of plague, David is instructed to go build an altar to the Lord and offer burnt and peace offerings to the Lord. As he goes to buy the threshing floor to build the altar the man offers to give it all to him for free, but David refuses to offer sacrifices that don't cost him anything. As soon as he builds an altar, the Lord answers his prayers and the plagues stop and healing comes. It is the altars in our lives that are going to bring healing to our spiritually plagued culture.
God calls believers the head, so if our sins or complacency set in then the rest will crumble. We continually need to be offering up ourselves as sacrifices so that we can see healing in our land. God doesn't give us what we can't handle, which usually is a prayer of thanks but it is also bittersweet because he isn't going to give revival to a nation, a city, a church, a person who can't handle it. It's going to take a sacrifice that will cost us something whether it be commitment, cutting off certain hang ups, etc...
It was pretty sweet preaching side by side with another one of my besties, but I pray that the word really went deep in the hearts of the McCall youth. We certainly had a good time after service hanging out at Crusty's pizza! Live outdoor music and dancing, it was bodacious! And here is some footage of us too ;)
So this blog is not like my usual theological, pastoral themed blogs but the experience of today's adventure was much too humorous not too share. Now if you are not from Idaho, this will make little to no sense, but I will do my best to lay out the scenerio as vividly as possible so that whomever may stumble upon this can grasp the fullness of this experience. Who knows maybe where ever you are from, you have people who fall into this category of drivers. Ah yes, I said drivers. Let me paint the picture for you...
Today was like any normal day, heading to my place of employment. Well I am exiting off the Eagle exit and merging onto the freeway only to hear this repeated horn honking at me. My first thought was maybe it was someone I knew (because everyone in Idaho knows each other I swear!), and I was merging the way the law instructs to, so I didn't see any other reason for the horn honk. As I looked closer at this little blue Ford Focus hatchback close in on me, I had come to realize that I did not know this person behind the wheel and yes, they were honking at me...for merging!!! They did not slow down to allow me to merge, nor did they 
get into the vacant lane right next to them, yet they continuously honked their horn at me as if I was breaking the law by merging onto the freeway. I did not get angry, mainly because I saw the driver and its passenger; a little old man and his little old wife with their blue and white handicapped sticker proudly hanging from their rear view mirror. I slow down and allow them to pass and I glance at their license plate, which was merely icing on the cake...yup, you guessed it Idahoans...2C!!!!!
Triple threat behind that wheel!!! So why do I entitle this piece "The Antichrist"? Well my good friend and laborer in the faith, Jake Lee, has a term for a 2C driver with a handicapped sticker and by now you may have guessed what that might be. The reasoning: because they bring death and destruction to all! haha! As us Idahoans know, 2C drivers already are crazy drivers...if you come to Boise and you get cut off, almost run off the road, etc... check the license plate. (2C represents the county that the vehicle is registered in, this particular one is Canyon County) Maybe where you're from you can relate to this, especially if you are from California. Anyway I thought I would share my encounter on my way to work today! haha! It certainly brought laughter to my heart.
Disclaime
r: In no way was this intended to offend the elderly nor the handicapped, but maybe the Canyon County drivers!! lol
academic probation. That next fall I decided to take a semester off to make sure that school was what I really wanted to do. Spring semester rolls around and I decide to give it another whirl and re-take some of the classes that I failed only now all motivation quickly diminished and I stopped going altogether. Disclaimer: If you make the decision to not go to school or class, do so before the withdrawal date, that way you don't fail every single class and it winds up on your permanent record.
