So Finally I Shaved....

No no my friends, your eyes do not deceive you. I have truly done away with my wooly days, for the moment. And I must say, it feels pretty good. I can't remember the last time I could feel a breeze or the hot Texas sun beat down on my baby-smooth face. Truly a pleasant feeling. Ah yes, I have missed these days for a while. Anyways, I realize that the majority of y'all will not get to see this dramatic change until Sunday or so, therefore I have decided to post the following picture taken the day of my shave (this past Thursday) before calm before the storm of 'The Face formerly known with a Beard'. Oh yeah, I got my hair trimmed too, but it's not quite as big a change as the whole beard part, so yeah.
(Before the Shave)

Having said all of that, this week has been a casual stroll back into the routine. I have familiarized myself with all my teachers and classes, discovered for what to watch out for what to watch, and I've been having a good time doing it. Above all things though I hope my influence has truly been a positive one reflecting Christ-like love, but in this matter there is always room for improvement. I just want to be able and say at the end of the year I made my time at Bowie worth it and made a difference. To this I rely on God, and to Him alone...And maybe also a bit on my closer friends.

Life is good...Frustrating for moments at a time, but never the less it's good. I look forward to hopefully attending the mission trip to Piedras Negras, I want to be able and make a positive impact globally and Christian-like. Finally my Spanish will be put to good use. But seriously though, I am very much excited to be a part of what God's doing anywhere in the world, and I think this will be a great opportunity to strengthen my Walk.

Well other than the daily running to school, going through 8 periods strait, and then the allotted study time at home, I find that school is very fun...In fact, if it weren't for the homework, I would absolutely love school...If only it weren't for the homework. Alright you crazy kids, you need to stop reading and attend to your studies and whatnot, so I'm going to bring this one home. In the mean time, please remember, Trix are for kids.

Good Ol' School Days

Indeed it's that time of year again. The craziness of NFL, the final stretch of MLB, the return to school, and a chance to go see a movie with snakes...Not really that last part. But yeah you get the point-schools back, and this year, school is cool.

Let me tell ya, this week has been a great start for me personally. I have all the classes I wanted filled with several of my friends, some good teachers here and there, everything is just dandy...Except for the whole no lunch deal, that's kind of a bummer but oh well. But guys I just gotta say, this is going to be an awesome year. Tuesday through Thursday were "eh", but Friday made a stunning entrance in that everything is going my way, for the moment.

This morning I awoke at 6 am and ran to school, later I would clean up and go into my cabaret audition (which went very well I think) singing 'Friend Like Me' from 'Aladin', then to a wrestling meeting, and finally I concluded my day with 8 hours strait and no lunch. Now to some that might sound like a bad thing, but for me its character building. For some reason when I'm busier I perform better, thus my commitment to school and grades has been as high as ever. Now I have no intentions of boring you anymore with the details of my week, but just make sure you know that it was awesome. And in case you missed that, I'll type it again.........It was awesome.

Now while school is fun, it still has no shot of being compared to the awesomeness of 'Great Adventure', but hey you can still have number 2 right? I think I'm gonna bring this one to a conclusion here, but first I gotta tell you that the book is coming along nicely and it won't be long before y'all can read it. Until next time, Praise God, or else you'll make Baby Jesus cry, and that's not cool at all.

Serventhood: A Humble Way of Saying "God Loves You"

Well I feel that the time is adequate to update y'all with the details of my life. So in saying that, the biggest thing to mention is that I'm in a world of stress for the moment. I realize this won't be a factor for very long and that in no-time I'll be back to my typical Seanzy self, but I just ask that for the moment you'd pray for me this week.

I really don't feel it's necessary for me to tell you my issues and that's okay for I know God's got it under control. I will tell you though that the enemy is relentless and is using not only my past, but issues of the present to try and break me down. I accept this challenge knowing that it won't work this time for God is too good to me and has been awesome keeping me positive. None the less, a little prayer goes a long way.

Having said that, I'd like to bring you up to date with a slightly brighter reflection of the week which was great in that I was able to serve someone else. The best part was being able to serve alongside a few of my Christian brothers/sisters/friends and showing God's love. Spending a few days at Bowie and Small wasn't just rewarding in the fact that I was able to select the exact location of my locker for the upcoming year, but also in that when you serve others you are left with a humbled feeling of pride. A confusing concept I know, but bear with me here. Humble in that you've lowered yourself for the benefit of those who normally you wouldn't go out of your way for if you weren't a Christian, and proud in that you are apart of the greatest love story ever told: God's love for all.

There were times this week when I wanted to snap and chew people out for the smallest things, and sadly I feel as though I succumbed to some of that anger, but for the most part, many of y'all were there to keep it positive and uplifting in the way Christian brothers and sister would do such a thing. I love all of you guys and I just wanted y'all to know how much your sense of humor, guidance, patience, and love means to me. Simple as that.

It's interesting going back to school. I'm not extremely enthusiastic about it, but at the same time I am anticipating it. For the first time since I can remember, I have a real drive to try and succeed when it comes to grades and school in general. But it doesn't just stop there, also, I'm excited and ready to go out and take all the opportunities God lays before me to spread His love and His good news. But before all of that I have to finish reading this book for school.

Closing thoughts: To all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, you are all amazing, and let God bless you throughout this week. I love y'all.

p.s. A little treat for your viewing pleasure...Now who does Eric remind you of?

Praises to a King

So last night I attended the 'Concert of Praise' therefore making my first experience in the Great Adventure complete.

I must say, coming into this summer I was skeptical about the whole concept of Great Adventure. I've had some brushes with failed VBS weeks and so really I thought this was overkill. But none the less, I participated, having some curiousity to what everyone already knew to be a meaningful and rewarding experience. I'll be flat out honest, it was one of the most Amazing experiences I've ever felt in my life. Seeing those children excited to learn about Jesus, seeing the numbers of decisions to recieve Christ, seeing the aftermath of what we worked so hard for. It makes you want to cry and praise God all at the same time. I'm pretty sure there was an equal share of both.

One of the best things about last night, was seeing Jeremy again. Seeing the loving, happy kid he's become. That's truely God, nothing else can be said. If it wasn't for me lifting and holding all the little ones upside down, I might have stopped and filled up with tears. But you can be sure I had my hands full with the distractions of all the younger Leydens and whatnot.

The point of all this is that God is Awesome. His love is something to continually praise like we did last night. I realize that it'll be harder to get into that kind of a mood when the school years starts, but it's something we should strive for anyways, for God is good and His love never diminishes.

Having said all this, I came across a video which really touched me. I had heard the story before of a severely mentally challenged young man who wanted to compete in a triathalon, so his father trained extra hard to be able to take both of them threw the whole race. This touching story is just one of many that proves with God anything can be accomplished, just like The Great Advenutre.

Swimming for 'Dippin' Dots'

With a much needed trip to Schlitterbahn comes a much needed review of events from Your's Truely. In the midst of all the water, sunburn, food, and fellowship a lot of fun was had (by all, dare I say it). It wasn't just a trip to Shlitterbahn it was The Trip to Schlitterbahn!...Okay, maybe that's a little over the top, but you get the idea. There's something about hanging out with people from our church that just makes it even better.

The day started off with a bang...litterally, as one of our own in the caravan blew a tire. Fortunately the minivan was steered to safety and nobody sustained injuries. Hope was still not diminished for Gordan was there, and let's face it, that guy could manhandle a lion. So before long the situation was temporarily sustained. It was at this point in time when I noticed that the beginning Jake Box's day was singing flat, so I took the initiative to cheer him up. It wouldn't be long before he was singing a sweeter song.

Thus the moment came when we arrived at the German-named water park. Spirits were high, and laughter could yet again be heard...again, I realize the over-kill. First thing was first, I needed to get wet. So in our little Fellowship of 7 set out to enjoy the first part of the day and destroy the one ring symbolizing the arrival of scho**.

Lunch passed and at this point it was time to venture the Torrent and place a fierce game of tag. This was the innitiation of our little 7th graders, and it was fantastic. The rest of the day was basically sheer fun as was the first half and the details are sketchy, but other than waiting in line for 2 hours on the Master Blaster, all was well. But the key point here is I enjoyed 'Dippin' Dots' for the first time in my life. I am officially now ready to go see Jesus, but I guess I'll stay for the time being.

The day wouldn't find itself complete before I performed my hand motions to various songs on the radio on the car ride home, all of this done just to say to summer "We're not finished yet!" Yes, we made a valiant stand against the merciless arrival of scho**, and a great time it was. Now I realize this really isn't one of my better posts, and for that I apologize. Rest assure though, I will come back with a much wittier and better prepared piece of literature. But until next time, take it from me, use sunscreen.