First Day

After driving 18 hours back to Cedarville it was nice to get a good night sleep... But this morning we (me and Joe) woke up at a leisurely 10:00 and chilled, went to Sonic and had some delicious food... 

:-P.  Training started today and we had a fun day of set up and practice... followed by one of my favorite activities... mom & dad's :)  and the best part is that it's always free... 

Tomorrow should be good, a lot more practice, and chillin with the rest of the team... it's truly incredible to have such great people in the band with me who love me, and who I love too... they encourage me to be a better person... and always, above all, give all the glory to GOD... 

I Need Thee

I heard a story a few months ago, about scientists who were running tests on dogs.  The test was that they took a wolf, and a domesticated dog of equal strength and they threw each of them into a tank of water to see which one would survive the longest before it drowned.  When I first heard this I was shocked.  I thought, well the wolf is going to last the longest, because the wolf is out there on it's own living by itself and taking care of itself, and it has always had to provide everything without anyone or anything's help.  Whereas the dog, the dog has had everything provided for it it's whole life, it's used to always having someone look after it and give it everything it needs... but in the end, I was wrong.  After only a minute or two, the wolfe drowned.  It saw that no matter what it did or how hard it tried to stay alive, there was no way that it could save itself.  But the dog, since it has always had everything given to it, it knew that if it could just hang in there, and just keep swimming 'till it's muscles burned and it's legs ached, that sooner or later, it's master would come and pull him out... 

after I heard this I thought, what am I but that dog, just swimming around and waiting for my Master to pull me out of the junk I get involved in.  Then I start thinking how much I NEED Jesus - all the time - and I started thinking about how blessed I am that I know Him.  It all comes back to Grace.  Without Grace there would be no redemption, and without redemption, we would have no hope in this world.

"The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair..."   -Relient K

~only by HIS grace~

Perfection... isn't really perfect

I've been learning within the past few months that perfection isn't everything.  I try to be perfect, I try to do everything I can to make everyone like me, cause I'm kind of a people pleaser, to be honest.  But I have been finding that I just need to be me, and face the fact that not everyone is going to like "me"... but there's nothing I can do about that.  

Another thing is that I've been looking at others and trying to find perfection in them as well, but the truth is that imperfection is more beautiful than perfection.  It's those little flaws that make people who they are, and - I don't want to sound like a kindergarden teacher - but imperfections make people special for who they really are.  It makes them unique.  

Sometimes I find that people who appear to be perfect often have many complicated flaws on the inner that they would never discuss with anyone, it's their secret, and it is tearing them apart on the inside... whereas people who are real on the outside and -though they may be far from perfect - they just act themselves at all times, they never put on different personalities around different groups of people...  those are the kind of people who let imperfection make them unique and let their imperfections make them beautiful.

That is something that I am striving to be at all times, is real.  One of my favorite verses in scripture is 1 Timothy 4:12 where it says "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example to believers with your life, by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith and by integrity."  I love this verse because it reminds me that I can be a leader no matter who is present, and I know that God can give me the strength to live for Him regardless of my situation.

~only by HIS grace~

The Beauty of Grace

Grace is amazing.  It makes it so life isn't fair, and it's a beautiful thing.  I am shown grace everyday without deserving it, and I've been recognizing it more and more everyday.  As tour comes in just a few days I have to always remember that Grace is something that I am shown (By God and by other people) therefor I must show grace to others; the people in the band, the kids at the shows, and most of all the people who I don't get along with.  this summer is going to be full of fun times and memories that I'll never forget as long as I live.  But I must remember that as grace is shown to me, I must show grace to others, it makes like beautiful.

~only by HIS grace~

getting started...

This is hopefully my first of many posts.  I am home, anxiously awaiting summer tour.  It's kinda nice to be home, I can do what I want, and just kinda chill.  I'm getting ready to, like I said, start touring for HeartSong, the Cedarville University touring team that I am apart of.  This year we will be traveling the midwest and eastern portion of the United States and performing at LIFT camps.  I basically can't wait 'till we start.  I don't think there is anything in the world that I'd rather do than play music... I'm not all that great at it, but it makes me feel so at home when I'm standing on stage in front of a lot of people just playing and singing, all for the glory of God.  Sometimes when you're in front of people every night playing, and hearing the audience clap and yell for you, it's hard to not want to take the glory for yourself, and say, I made thisd happen for me, I made me who I am today and I'll take all the credit I can get.  But in reality, I deserve none of it, because I know that God can take everything away in a heartbeat.  It's difficult for me to sometimes find a balance between being confident and proud of myself, but to still give God all the glory He's due, but it's something I'm working on, and I am surrounded by an incredible band who's number one priority is putting God first and giving Him the glory, so there's a lot of people who can encourage me.  

that's all I got for now... more to come as tour rapidly approaches... 

~only by HIS grace~