Catching up with 2009

So much has happened so far this year.  I started the new year in Dallas, TX, but did not stay here long.  I left on the January 1, 2009 to New Orleans, LA.  No, I didn't go for Bourbon Street (However there is a wonderful Philly Cheese Steak Shop just off it).  We received three tickets to the Sugar Bowl (Alabama vs Utah) in the Super Dome.  What an incredible time!  Utah really spanked those little Bama boys.  The Utes really showed up... again.

After this wonderful game I returned home to Santa Clara, CA where I took care of some last minute things and moved out of the dorms.  Next I had the great privilege to drive across this great country I call my home.  I drove from Santa Clara, CA to Dallas, TX in two days.  Really it was just over one day since I drove 1,200 miles all in one day. Then followed up with the rest the second morning.  I was able to stay in TX for about 36 hours then continued my drive into Baton Rouge, LA for Nathan Allan's wedding.  That will be the next portion of this blog, but some may still be wondering why I moved to Texas (The great state of Texas that is)... I have recently accepted a job as a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church of Meadowview in Mesquite, TX.  More on this to follow

Back to Nathan's wedding. Here is the greatest wedding story of all.  The morning of the wedding, Nathan, the groom decided he needed a shower before his wedding at 1:00 (It was currently 9:00)  He went in the bathroom at the hotel (some of the other groomsman were there too, myself being one of them).  After only being there for approximately 2:00 minutes we heard a "THUD".  I said, "Kyle, do you think he's ok?"  He joked and said it was 

probably just the shampoo bottle or something, but I decided to just check on Nathan.  I cracked the door and said, "You ok, bro?"  I didn't hear any words, but I did hear some groaning.  I opened the door a little more and saw him drooped over the side of the tub and a pool of blood under him.  I called for his brother (thinking he had a bloody nose) and his brother went in there for a minute.  He then came out and told me to get dressed because I had to take him to the hospital.  He came walking out a minute later with a huge gash in his forehead.  He had slipped 

(yes Nathan, I still make fun of people who slip in the shower) and hit his head on the toilet and he put a 1.5 inch gash in his head.  While I was walking him out to the truck, the guys called me back (thinking they were going to give me his shoes, since he was walking in the parking lot in his socks) and this is what Kyle said, "Hey, here is my HD camera.  Make sure to get some good footage!"  I put him in my truck, flew through red lights, sped on the freeway and finally slammed on the brakes just outside the emergency room.  I told the people to hurry and stitch him up, it was his wedding day and we were still 2 hours from where the wedding was going to happen.  They stitched him up (in the same room as a woman who so

unded as if she was going to die at any moment) and we were out of there, but keep in mind the wedding was in 2.5 hours and we still have yet to take showers.  They guys had already left the hotel to go to the wedding site so we just went straight there.  It was incredible!  No shower on the day of your wedding!  Oh boy!  5 stitches the day of your wedding?  That day was just nuts.  I then left after the wedding for the long drive back from Baton Rouge area to the Dallas area.

After that fiasco, Stephanie flew out to visit me for my birthday (January 23... put it in your phone and send me a gift next year).  While she was here, we went house hunting, put an offer on a house in Forney, TX and we are currently waiting to hear back about that. It is super exciting.

The New Year with the "NEW" Life

There will be a lot of new things happening in the year 2009.  The more I think about it, this year hold more "NEW's" for me than possibly any other year.  This year I embark on grown-up life.  I am now a college graduate.  I will be starting my first job as Youth Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Meadowview in Mesquite Texas (Trieber Permitting), getting married March 6th, purchasing my first home and spending my first year of holidays with a wife.  There are more "firsts" as well, but I won't bore with the details.  I am very excited with what the new year holds.  I'm hoping to post several pictures from the holidays in the next few days, but I will wait until I have some pictures from the Utah/Alabama game (Yes, I have aquired several tickets and will be traveling to the Sugar Bowl with my dad and Jeramy again this season).  I did however give you a picture of this delectable little Danish Breakfast treat.  These little guys were the best thing on my plate that blessed Christmas morning.  

The Hunt

Well, the job hunt is on.  I really have no idea what to do in this big bad world in which we live, but I am being thrust into it at a rather rapid rate.  I graduate from college next friday, have no job and have no idea what the future holds.  It's rather exciting.  I have been looking for work, planning a wedding, keeping up with the last few weeks of school and trying to find a few minutes here and there to sleep when possible.  Life is good.  We also got our engagement pictures recently and there turned out pretty good.  We had so much fun.  I'm currently uploading this post from Peet's, one of my favorite places in the world, but real life calls (and I probably shouldn't have spent money on coffee when I don't have a job, but I'm a sucker for the heavenly black substance... or the white chocolate mocha to be more specific)

"The Show Must Go On"

It is now official, today is my last day at AMTSJ.  It has been an interesting few months.  I had a great time and met a lot of really great people, but it is now time to move on.  Some of my favorite memories happened at "It's a Grind" coffee shop.  Many great conversations with really interesting and incredible people.   

I started only a short time ago working under the great T. Douglas.  I learned so much in the time spent working under him.  I got to visit a lot of really cool places, participate in "big people" meetings and work with some of the best printers in the world (Pisani).  

Although it is now at the end, it will not be soon forgotten.  The lessons learned will last me a lifetime.  It is truly a bittersweet time for me as I close this portion of my senior year and pursue new projects.

The End is in Sight

With only 23 more days until I leave the great North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College, the world is starting to look a bit bigger than it has in more recent years.  Prior to this year, the world has been an interesting exciting adventure, but is taking on a different role.  In the days of yesteryear as a small child everything seemed so big, but an overall opinion was "It's a small world after all!"  The world can sometimes be a little intimidating and downright scary.  I'm about to finish college, become a big boy, get a real job, house payment, insurance, cell phones, taxes, taxes, taxes and many other things (a wife being one of the greatest things on this planet!).  It can be intimidating however.  Choices are never easy.  Some people let you down, others really surprise you and still others just sit by like bumps on a log.  Right when you think you know everything, something/someone reminds you that in the grand scheme of things, you know nothing.  Let it just be known to all right now, "I KNOW NOTHING!"  

People are very interesting.  They all have so many different views.  I do not understand one particular thing however.  People all "believe" something.  That is a fact.  They do not know why they believe it.  For some reason saying "I believe ________" makes it ok, but what makes it ok?  Who says that "All roads lead to Rome?"  Where does it say that when people do bad things there is no consequence.  The truth of the matter is this:

1. All Roads do not lead to Rome (Since I drive on De La Cruz Blvd everyday from one end to the other and still have not seen the Trevi Fountain on my way to work)

2. There are always consequences for all of our actions.  (Good and Bad)

This means that we, as humans, can't look at ourselves or our knowledge for any answers, but most go Higher.  Someone knows more than us and He has the answers.  Please find (big old fashioned word that is rarely used any more) "Doctrine" for what you believe rather than just telling me what you believe.  Tell me why you believe it and Who says we should believe it.  Just because I think that cars should run without using gasoline doesn't make it a reality.

I have talked with several people over the past few weeks and this has been a general theme.  I am not wanting anyone to be offended by this post, but to get people to think.

This post started out to explain the big bad world that is rapidly approaching and the choices involved within.  I sure am excited, scared, happy and sad all at the same time every  moment I am awake.  Lots of decisions that will not only affect me, but many of the people around me, including my future bride and love of my life, Stephanie.  I can't trust myself for these decisions because as previously stated, I know nothing, therefore, God's Word will have to guide me every step of the way.