Tonight is the Night

Tonight I have a Graduation practice for the ceremony tomorrow. I don't work at all this weekend, it's nice that I don't have to run off and work while my grandparents are in town. I tried to fly my kite yesterday but the breezes were not constant enough. I will have to try again.

John

Post Script

Wow wow wow! What an amazing trip. I had the time of my life; and what a great group to have it with. We did so much, and in doing so much we also did so little. Everything from horseback riding, a jet boat trip, rock climbing bare foot, and soccer on the beach. We played board games and billiards, watched a couple of movies and ran and walked up and down the beach. We went out to dinner and ice cream, we also made some masterpieces of our own. I had some awesome times of personal devotion on the beach, as well as being able to be a blessing through song to the small congregation of believers there in Coquille. The sun set proclaimed the glory of God and all the skies declared it so, singing their silent praises to their maker. We didn't have a single day of bad weather, despite a little cold temperature one day, and I even managed to get a little sun burned. I'm an amateur when it comes to pranks but that didn't stop me from trying to harass our sponsors. We even ended up flinging bananas and shrimp around one night when things began to come loose. I took ton of pictures, I think my camera was finally glad to be put to good use. On the way back, we stopped at the Woodburn outlet mall and I ended up buying something in almost every store I went into. All in all, it was a perfect trip.

John

Remember When it Rained

It doesn't take much memory to remember the Rain because the sky is falling as I write. The wind whipping it into an intense deluge, the rain streaks from the sky before the individual particles come to a spattering stop on the sodden earth. The trees, standing as stark sentinels, reach to the grey, lowering sky with barren criss-crossing branches. The wind, whistling through the branches, causes them to sway, and sweep as the rain runs down making its way to the roots beneath. I love it when it rains. I love to stand amidst the torrent, the drops fall on my head and shoulders as the occasional gust drives them into my face and eyes. It gives me a sense of adventure, and yet, conversely, I feel a calm observance of nature come over me. I love it when it rains.

John

Not Dead Yet

Hey everyone. If you were wondering, the answer is no, I'm not dead yet. I was actually gone for awhile. As is stated in the previous post, I went hunting, and I did not come back for week. Of course I had a great time out in the woods. Unfortunately, I didn't see any deer that I could shoot, so that particular deer is not dead yet either. It snowed and rained and winded and the sun shined while I was at camp. I spent more than 35 hours in the woods. Now I'm back and studying for my test later this month. Tonight the Dallas Cowboys are playing the Buffalo Bills on Moday Night Football. Go 'Boys! I think that I'm going over to Kevin's house to play Halo 3 and then watch the game. That's the story of my life recently.

Johnny

Storm

Last night we had a really big storm here. There were tornado warnings and flash flooding all over the area. Big thunder is a common thing down here, everything is bigger in Texas you know. Lightning strikes that would come halfway down to the earth then curve back around to connect with the clouds. It was all really amazing, and we happened to be driving to a mall during the whole thing. The wind gusts reached 90-100 mph and they actually broke a window here at the training center. All in all, it was pretty cool.

John

A Start

My life over the past week hasn't been terribly exciting but I figure I should at least summarize it for those of you who still visit this revamped yet still visitor lacking blog. My thanks to all of you who still do read it once and a while just keep me going.

Last week, on Thursday, I went to Westgate's first Varsity basketball game. I had never been to any high school basketball game before and it was a lot of fun, although at some points the gym was absolutely filled with noise. The Gators were playing against the Crusaders and the Gators ended up winning, that was good because it was their first game of this season. Throughout the whole game Julie wanted me to take a picture of one of the guys on the other team because she thought he was hot and I had my camera with me. During the game I couldn't get a good shot of him though, so after the game I stopped him and asked if I could take his picture. When I told him the reason he just thought it was funny and let me take a picture.

On Friday night we had the fall banquet at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. Afterwards, some of the teens in the youth group went bowling at Tigard Bowl. We had a good time but once again I didn't do very well. At least this time I wasn't the worst one there. When we had finished I drove home and went to bed about midnight. I really wanted to go to Shari's where I knew that some of the others were going to be. But I had to get up early the next morning so I just went home. The following morning I woke up at 7:30 and I had to be at the church by 8 for the Men's and Young Men's Breakfast. It didn't take me long to get ready and go so I got there at about 10 'til. After the breakfast Pastor Bruce Hamilton gave a short challenge about how to walk in the light (1 John 1:7). He used an acrostic of the word WORSHIP to as the outline. Wait on the Lord. Offer yourself to Him. Repent of sin. Surrender your will. Holiness is required. (I actually can't remember what "I" was for right now). Praise Him. After he had finished I helped clean in the kitchen until everything was done; then I got a ride home with Mr. Ballard. I spent the rest of the afternoon making stuffed Focaccia bread for the youth activity at the Ellis's house. At 4 I got a ride from church with Mr. Bickle to the activity. I had a pretty good time during the afternoon and evening. The only interesting thing that I did was volunteering for a game were I was blindfolded and had to guess the flavor of baby food that was being spoon-fed to me. Then Pastor Hamilton spoke to us on his burden that he has for Christian young people to reach out to the lost youth of the world. Afterwards, when I was supposed to be helping clean up I was in the back of the house brushing the horse that the Ellis's have. Then I got a ride back to the church and from there got a ride home.

On Sunday, following church and lunch, I went to G.I. Joe's to get my general season Elk hunting tag. Then I drove, in the rain, back to the church for evening service.

Upon coming home I had some food then got ready for bed. Proceeding sleep I lay in bed reading my Bible and studying for Bible quizzing. I had the window open a bit and the wind was chill and it howled through the gap; it reminded me of being on the mountain snowboarding. I hope toward the day that the season actually opens and I can finally go snowboarding. But for now I will have to wait and buy snowboard boots.

Thanks for reading about my boring life, whoever you are. You make this all worthwhile.

John