Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is THE day...well...the night rather. LES MISERABLE! I'm very very excited about seeing it again...it's been a long time since I've seen it.

I'm heading to Champaign with Cody Maher, Amy Hohulin, Shelli Fisher, and Alexis Gasser. We're meeting Ashley Drayer and Becca Meyer from Bluffton.

For those of you how have never seen the theater production of Les Mis...well...You're missing out!

Here. Check it out.Les Miserables

If you have a chance to see the musical take it...and don't watch the movie first. :)

Then after getting home late Friday night...I have NOTHING PLANNED the rest of the weekend..yes, I said it...I don't have plans. wow...I'm kinda excited. Maybe I'll work on my old motorcycle with my brother again.

Neat Quiz

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 100% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

What that means when it say's "incredibly logical"...is that I'm incredibly anal and people get annoyed with me easily. It's kind of a fun quiz though! I like problem solving like that. Guess that's one reason I'm in engineering huh?

Big Sigh

What a weekend.
What love.
What joy.
What friendship.
What praise.

What did I ever do to deserve the friendships that God has given to me.
What did I ever do to deserve so much love and understanding. (even when I say and do things people wish I wouldn't)

*sigh*

How do I give it back?
How do I pass it on?
How do I show it to others?
How do I?

Give Me One Pure and Holy Passion

Thursday Mo'nin

Well Jake, I just found out that Ashley Drayers cousin, Steffanie, got .000 THREE TIMES! Kinda puts us in our place huh. :) Now here's a challenge to all of you who got "addicted" to that game I put in my last post: Did you devote as much time and energy to the Praise and Worship of our Lord and Savior yesterday as you did that game!! When that thought came to me I was humbled. How many things in our daily lives to do we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in that really don't matter at ALL.

This morning when I got to work I read Paula's Blog. What a great timely reminder it was for me. I would really encourage you all to book mark her site and read it often. She has wonderful words of wisdom that are very biblically sound from what I've read.

Last night after Wednesday night church, I small group (10) of us went to the square in Washington and played guitar and sang. It was a blessing. There is a fountain there, and the sound of water as a backdrop to our praise was moving!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend in Topeka. I pray God will prepare my heart to serve with Joy!

Well, it's official

The voting on the Jack Handy quotes (April 13th post) has effectively quit. It looks like the winner is #7.
As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I sat there thinking about life. Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking and yelling? Sometimes it seemed that way.

I'm not sure what that says about our lives...I think we are all tottering on the edge of being overwhelmed.

Here's a cool link to help bring you back to sanity. (Or just waste a ton of time, whichever you prefer) :)
Reaction times!

Let me know your times! My best was .1008! Of that I'm quite proud. :D

Check it out. I thought this was pretty cool. :)

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Weekend Update

Wow. Another blessed weekend. Here's a quick run-down.

Friday afterwork Cody Maher, Jake Gerst, and I went to the driving range for a while. After that Cody and I went to my brother Benj's and worked on my motorcycle. It's a little 70cc from when I was 14 or so. It's an old Honda. My brother and I have been fixing it up so his kids can ride it. It's a lot of fun. I love working on it. After I got done putting a new clutch cable on it, Cody and I went to Pizza Hut for supper and then drove to Starbucks in Peoria.
Saturday morning I volunteered at a benifit auction for the Goodfield Library until noon. Then after lunch I went back to Benj's and we worked on the bike together. That evening I had supper at Pizza Hut, again. :) This time with a group of people including Anna Esslinger who had come over from Taylor that morning to spend time with her cousin in Peoria and come to testimonies that evening in Roanoke. After we were done eating we went to testimonies. They were a definite blessing. After testimonies we went to a singing at Susan & Bethany Lemans. Sunday morning it was church in Roanoke followed by baptisms. Sunday afternoon was spent at the park playing guitar, hanging out, and playing some basketball. We grilled out at Ty Sauders before a singing at Bill Hodels (that's Erin and Nates grandpa). After the singing a few of us went out to Kaitlyn's and sat on her roof...watched the stars...talked...and sang a few songs with the guitar. It was a blessing. I feel so blessed to have such supportive Christian friends. We had marvelous weather all weekend too. Life is a blessing.

Jack Handy Quotes

I love these. Totally my kind of humor. Leave a comment, vote for your favorite one. Or maybe you hate them all, I don't know.

1. To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography and the dancers hit each other.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
2. I wish I would have a real tragic love affair and get so bummed out that I'd just quit my job and become a bum for a few years, because I was thinking about doing that anyway.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
3. If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
4. Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window? The guy looks out it, and if he leans too far, he falls out. Wait. I guess that's like a regular window.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
5. The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
6. Somebody told me how frightening it was how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   
   
7. As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I sat there thinking about life. Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking and yelling? Sometimes it seemed that way.
   --Jack Handy Deep Thoughts
   

And now...to end this post on a more solemn note. Here's a quote from someone infinitely more important than good 'ol Jack.

From Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
--Jesus

Have you ever concentrated on accomplishing this? Wow...talk about fighting against the flesh. This would be the epitome of selflessness.

Update! Number 7 has four votes, but the voting is kinda spread out. I love finding out what other people find funny. :) Keep voting!

Weekends

Another weekend with little sleep, and now I'm paying the price. I got sick on Sunday. I woke up with a sore throat and it got progressively worse throughout the day. By Sunday evening I had body aches and chills. I got 9 1/2 hrs of sleep last night and I'm still really drained today. My body feels beat up.

It was still an enjoyable weekend overall.

Friday after work I "explored" the pasture behind our house. I took my guitar and a book and just went and relaxed by a small stream. It felt so good, and the weather was beautiful. "Be still and know that I am God". Nature is a wonderful way for me to remember Gods majesty.

Saturday after lunch at Busy Corner with Gerbs, Prather, Holly Plattner, Ashley Drayer, and Steffanie (Ashley's cousin), I went to my brothers house in Eureka. Benj and I tore apart my old motorcycle and cleaned up the petcock and the carburator, and lo and behold it fired up on the first try, after sitting for 3 years untouched. That little Honda's amazing. It was a lot of fun and good bonding time with my bro. Sunday Vince Francesi and Tyler Scott and I went to morning church in Roanoke and afternoon in Washington. Cody Maher came with us to Washington in the afternoon.

Stay humble...stay thankful.

In HIM!

Les Miserables!!

I got the tickets in the mail today!! I'm so excited! Amy Hohulin, Shelli Fisher, Alexis Gasser, Ashley Drayer, Becca Meyer, Cody Maher, and I are going to see it in Champaign April 29th! That makes me smile.

who remembers this!?
posted by luke

How Adorable can you be!?

This is such a cute pic! Whoever "owns" this kid has a blessing on their hands.
posted by luke

Do you wonder?

Do You Ever Wonder?
I wonder.

I wonder how long God will be patient with me.
I wonder how God can forgive so much.
I wonder why I don' t learn.
I wonder why people don't see me
for who I really am.
I wonder how much could be accomplished
if we all strove for holiness.
I wonder at God for simultaneously expecting perfection
and knowing I'll never reach it.
I wonder at God for loving me anyway
when I don't deserve it.
I wonder who God will touch today
through this sinner.
I wonder why more people don't see
the living truth.
I wonder how satan can be so deceptive
that the majority of people choose
a self destructive hell
over a life of joy and peace and love and fulfillment.
I wonder how God can forgive so much.
I wonder how God can forgive so much.
How?
I wonder why I usually struggle to put God first.
I wonder why God isn't my only motive for living.
I wonder why God.
I wonder why...
I wonder...
I...

Maybe that's why.
Maybe it's because of that word.
That "I" word...
How God?
How do I get rid of that word in my life?
I do what I do, because I want what I want. I want what I want because of what I worship.

If I only worship the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I would only want those things that corresponded, and I wouldn't grieve my Father with my actions and words.

Is there hope? Will I learn? Can I change?
Those questions don't have solid answers.
There's that "I" word again...lets try that over.
Is there hope? Will You teach me? Can You change me?
Those questions have very solid answers.
To each one Christ gently, lovingly answers "Yes my child. There is hope. There can be change. Can you trust Me?"

da guys.
posted by Luke

Brotherly Love!
posted by Luke

College Weekend

Wow...what a weekend.

Ok...so I'll start with Thursday night. Alan Banwart and Josh Steffen came from Washington D.C. and were at Thursday night Bible Study at ISU. Kent Kloter did a wonderful study on Love vs. Selfishness. Afterwards a small group of us went out to eat at Damons. Alan came and spent the night at my house. I had to get up pretty early to drive 2 hrs to a job in Macomb, IL, so I had a short night. Friday night Alan and I went to a boys camp organizational meeting at Leslie Ringers house. It was a blessing and I think I'm going to try and be a part of that in some respect this year. After the meeting and some singing and fellowship Alan and I went to Tami...I have no idea how to spell her last name...phonetically...in-o-way...yeah, her house. Aaron Plattner and John Gerst showed up there late, so we hung out with them awhile. About 12:30 Alan and I went back to my house, and Michelle Bahr, Dona Fehr, Tony Esslinger, Tommie Hitz, Jake Leman, Jon Wales, Brooke Huber, and Tasha Knoblock all spent the night after showing up late from KS. Another short night. Saturday morning we got up and ate brunch at Busy Corner. There were about 23 of us that met there. College Weekend was in Bloomington so we got to registration around noon and spent the afternoon/evening there hearing Gods word on topics pertaining to "Vision". The theme verse was Ephesians 4:12. It was a blessed day.

*note to self* Bring back the sherbet slushie!!!

Saturday night we got back to my house late and stayed up and talked. Another late night. Sunday we kinda split up on the churches we went to. I went to Gridley in the morning and Washington in the afternoon.

Well, I'm telling people my home church is officially Washington. So I pray that God will give me a servant heart, so I can fill my part in service in that church.

Guys who stayed at my house...Thank you. From the bottom of my heart I love you all. Christian Friendships are SUCH a huge blessing in my life. Keep challenging me to grow!

Vince, I look forward to seeing you next weekend!!

God Bless.