Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Grace

Just going to warn you at the start here that this one gets a little technical for a second but I promise it's worth it. At least I think so.

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I'm afraid of a lot of things. Wether it's confined spaces or dark alleyways. Or weirder ones like, swallowing a pill and having it go sideways and lodging itself in your throat and then you either die or have this obstruction in your windpipe for the rest of ever. You know something logical and not crazy sounding at all. But fear is a rational emotion that every single human being has to deal with in their lives. Even those people that puff up their chest and say, "I ain't scared of nothin'." First of all you seem to be afraid of proper grammar. Secondly we all know you have a tiny inner squeal every time you see a spider scurry across your garage floor. No one is gonna think less of you. Long fear rant aside that's not really what I'm getting at. (I know, that's poor writing composition, but who cares, I'm a rebel.) What I'm getting to is one of the things I'm afraid of the most, and that's God's grace. You might be thinking to yourself, "How can he be afraid of something that absolves you of your troubles? That seems like the opposite of fear." Well, that's why I'm writing this, to explain a different type of fear, an intense sensation of uncomfortableness.

Over the past few weeks The Lord has been making the subject of his grace a focal point of my everyday thoughts. And helping me to really understand something that I thought I had a grasp on. For those of you who may not know God's grace is pretty much the central ideology of Christianity. In the fact that, when entering a relationship with Jesus, he first gifts you with his Grace and forgives you of every past transgression. And that's what's frightening to me, why am I permitted this? I'm fearful of this because my worldly mind doesn't comprehend the idea that I am granted this with really no work on my side. It says in the bible, to receive this gift, to receive this relationship, all you have to do is come to Jesus with a sincere heart and ask to join him. It's that simple, why am I allowed that? I don't deserve that at all. Everything you gain in this life is earned in someway or another except this gift that trumps them all. In Old Testament times the wages of sin was death and separation from him for eternity. Because you had sinned and gone against God you were not worthy of his presence. However, The Lord sent himself to Earth in the form of His Son and died upon the cross to absolve each and everyone of us that comes into a relationship with him of our sins. His death now serves as our death to sin. One of my favorite books in the Bible, Romans, explains the impact perfectly. (This is kind of a long excerpt so good luck.) :

"20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"
(Romans 5: 20 - Romans 6: 3 NASB)

So, we can see that the impact of this grace is an overall changing of mindset and heart path. You think and see things differently. If you make this decision with a pure heart, your mindset and relations with the things you fumbled with in this world will change. You have died to sin so your heart will no longer justify you living in the same sin. That's the heart of conviction to me. 

What I've been realizing recently over the past few weeks is that conviction and grace, though implicated into your life immediately, may not revolutionize the way you fully react in the world until you are fully humbled before The Lord. I've witnessed first hand very close friends of mine going through some of the roughest patches of their life recently. And others battling with issues that haven't surfaced in quite sometime. They've been brought to complete complete breakdowns emotionally and spiritually. It's given me pause and I've begun to reflect back on my darkest periods. And seeing no matter how much I would argue or shout at God he was there to extend his never-ending grace to me. And that brings me back to the fear within God's grace. In it's purest form it is a fear of the unknown. I have no earthly understanding of how, no matter how many times I go against God, he is there to accept me with open arms and pull me out of the pit I've put myself in. 

It breaks my heart that my friends are going through the things they are, but I know from experience that no matter how difficult it might seem it is for the best. I'm a large proponent that Satan will attack those who are going to impact the world for Christ. He sees the potential in you just as God does however he wants to stifle you way before you can influence anyone. A very close friend and mentor of mine said it best, that in the end grace is not something to be earned it's just something that is. Simply it just exists. The Lord's love for us is immeasurable and his grace just is.

"14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
(Hebrews 4: 14-16 NASB)

Thank you and God bless.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Short-Sightedness

Just as a preface to this blog I want to make it clear that I am in no way claiming to be some kind of expert on this topic or really on theology in general. All I can really vouch for is that this is just the way that I see things, as is the case with all of my blogs. 

Anyways, now that that is out of the way, I had a small/moderate/huge (subjective really) revelation yesterday. And it was on the controversial topic of women in the church and their role in leadership. Now, I also want to preface that I am the furthest thing from the expert on women. I feel as though most men are students in the back of that class just trying their hardest to pass the course. But, I've heard this topic come up in a bunch of different venues as of late. People from all sides of the table weighing in whether or not women should be allowed to be leaders in a church setting. This is a fastly multi-sided table. You have many differing view points. Whether its a Christian who is firmly against a woman leading their church or a Christian in that same church whole heartedly behind a female at the pulpit. I've heard the argument from people outside of any distinct religion asking the question of why women would be apart of a religion that "obviously" doesn't respect their influence and strength.

I'm going to keep this somewhat surface level, otherwise it would lead to a long drawn out blog of me stumbling through explaining the many different passages that seem to deny the legitimacy of a woman having any kind of headship in the church. That exercise would ultimately lead to a "blind leading the blind" scenario.

So, the way I see it the core of the apparent "contradiction" that the written word of the Bible and many modern day churches have comes down to very different cultural settings. And trust me I know this point has been brought up many, many times and eloquently done so. All I'm trying to do is give, maybe, another avenue of understanding exactly what is at work here.

The ideology that The Lord does not value the role of women as highly as men is extremely bogus. And any man that claims that a woman is lesser than you is lying straight to his own face. As a man I feel I can speak on behalf of our whole knuckle-dragging gender in saying that without women we would be utterly lost in life. They are the leaders in a whole host of areas. But that is another completely different topic that someone else can get into. What I'm getting at is women are important and have way more influence on the world than what we tend to give credit. And Jesus/God knows this and knew this plain as day. Jesus encountered many women on his time on earth. Whether it was the woman that poured perfume on his head or the prostitute at the well, Jesus had many miraculous encounters with them that turned them around in life and made them lights in our dark world. 

I love the point Jim Henderson at Relevant Magazine brings up in his March 8, 2012 article entitled "Women: The Church's Most Wasted Resource":

"It’s a fact that Jesus did not choose a woman to be one of the Twelve, but it’s just as true that He did not choose a man to be the first person to witness and announce His resurrection. It’s also a fact that no women were included in the inner circle of three who were present with Him at Gethsemane and the Transfiguration, but it’s just as true that no women followers bear the shame of having denied Jesus publicly."

Now why would Jesus go through all this trouble to involve women on such a large and important scale in his work here on Earth but not have them lead in a church setting. Now, we encounter where the dilemma of cultural differences comes into play. In the era of the world in which Jesus blessed us with his presence women were very much seen as lesser than men in all walks of life. They were the caretakers of the home, seemingly servants under the "all-powerful" man. It's for this reason, I believe, that Jesus didn't call the women to stand at the pulpit and teach. He knew that if they had they wouldn't have been shown the slightest light of day by any passerby or patron of that meeting. That's just how the world was. It wasn't that the women weren't capable of leading it was that the men would not have let them. So He worked with women in a different mission. I almost see them in a modern spy thriller being sleeper agents under cover having a more subtle and unseen influence that keeps everything on track in a much larger scope. 

Fast forward to our modern day culture we see this role of women in the church hitting a conflict. This is because this seemingly barbaric view of women is just now becoming less and less common. Up until a few decades ago it was really no argument that the woman's place was back at home being the homemaker. All of this is not to say that it is wrong to be a homemaker, as C.S. Lewis said, 

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ” However, with a surge in civil rights for women their role has increasingly become more and more equal to men. Women are CEO's and presidents and owners at multi-billion dollar corporations. They are congresswomen, governors, mayors. Long gone are the days of them not having a public sense of influence. As it should be, women are becoming equal to men in all walks of life. This is why I think there is no problem with a women leading in a church in this day and age. I understand why it wasn't possible before, but now is a time when women have an equal voice in the world and I see no problem in them teaching me or anyone else about the bible. 

In one of the most controversial passages on this subject comes a great conclusion to my point:

"Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."
1 Corinthians 11: 11-12

We're all human in the end. Let's just help each other and get past our own short-sidghtedness.

Thank you and God bless.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Mind Heart and Spirit

There are some things that aren't really written. Just uncontainable thoughts and feelings that force themselves into something other than their dark hiding place inside someone's head or heart. This might seem like an over poetic view of what people see as gonzo journalism or beat writing, or what have you, but I see it as much more than that. It's an opening of something more than your inhibitions can even attempt to touch. It is what you're feeling and thinking all at the same time hitting the page at full trot and working side by side. Albeit a lot of the times it can end up being complete and utter nonsensical gibberish, but even beyond that it's more for the writer's experience anyway. It's their form of art and they are expressing their whole self as openly as they can muster. And the same as any other art there are going to be a good number of people that don't really "get it" or they "you know I see why people like it but it's just not for me."

I kind of feel like that's what's happening to me right now. I haven't written on this blog, or really anywhere for that matter, in almost a year. Until tonight when I got inspired by listening to a song and it made me really feel like it was time to open that door again. So I thought I'd fling it wide open. Not for anybody's sake. But to just feel this again. Feel what it's like to dictate in a more comprehensive way as to what goes on in my mind.

So I hope to start this up once more and give it more of a consistant pulse than with which it was operating before. Some of you read my first few blogs but I'd assume that the majority of you who will read this now are completely new. And to both of you, I hope you'll stick with me.

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consultation of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose." (Philippians 2: 2 NASB)

Thank you and God bless.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Perfect 10


I didn't know how I wanted to start off this blog. I went back and forth deciding on the first word, debating, in my head, on what it should be. I didn't want to have it start with "I" because the last two had started with the same personalization and I didn't want to seem too self-centered. So I was going to start it with a relatable story on how the show 'Double Dare' has affected me now that I've grown and can look back on it analytically. Relate how the shows' final hurdle of competition, a super sloppy obstacle course, shows how we go through life struggling in the mess of the world on this mad dash to the finish. It seemed so personal and poignant for the majority of people that would actually read this blog, albeit few and far between. I even go about my writings with a sort of pseudo-intellectualism. Using 'big' words that I have in my quiver of vocabulary but seldom equip in my daily life; leaving people that know me personally to ponder if I am just puffing up this work to seem more learned. I'll be the first to admit I never thought I'd ever have the balls to write down what goes on in my head all day, not to mention writing it down in some fucking online blog for the world to see. (And yes the "world" reads this; I am the beacon of hope to the lost majority.) And I'm no literary genius, anybody who got at least an A in a high school English course could point out hundreds of mistakes I've already made up to this point. Nevertheless, I harp on these aspects of writing, especially on such a public forum. I get so wrapped up in trying to make this blog "perfect" for everybody to read. To make it revolutionary to your lives. Spark a fire in your soul that has been lying dormant for years just waiting for me to come along and agitate that damned thing. I wanted this to be a forum to, 1. get my thoughts out of my skull, 2. have some sort of creative outlet, and 3. be a source of wisdom and conviction in the readers', your guys’, lives. I was so dead set on this "perfection" that I battled over the beginning of this shit for a solid while waiting to pour this out.

Perfection is a weird thing in our world and in our lives. There are competitions, such as the Olympics and X-Games, where judges will score you 1-10 on how you performed. Ten, the numerical equivalent to "perfection" in today's world. Yet to me perfection is something I will never achieve. Not because I don't want it, but because I know it is impossible for us to accomplish. As it says in James 3: 2,

"We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check." (NIV)

Can anyone that is reading this, whole heartedly say to me that they can control all aspects of their body, mind, and actions? Yeah, I can't either. But, that is completely okay! Over the past few weeks I've realized that it's awesome not being perfect (not that I thought I ever was by the way). All I'm saying is that if I was perfect I would be automatically the best at anything I tried, because, as I said previously, I'm fuckin' perfect man....... That's incredibly boring to me. There is nothing more I value in life than the experiences I have trying to better myself and adventure that accompanies. Most important of all its having to rely on God's guiding hand in all of my escapades. If I were perfect in this world I would not need the Lord. My relationship is strong because of this fact. I am fallen, THEREFORE, I NEED God. And in that relationship I am perfect. Not as seen by this world, mind you, but I am seen as perfect to God. 

I was actually given a very inspirational passage that pertains to this very situation by a friend of mine in a note I received on my last night in Columbus. The passage was Phillipians 3: 12-15, it says:

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you." (ESV)

I guess this verse serves as a segue to the conclusion of this blog, and I find myself returning to my very personable analogy from the beginning, that sloppy obstacle course. I now can picture myself geared up in my helmet and matching 'Double Dare' elbow and knee pads, readying myself for the biggest challenge my young life has ever faced. And as I complete each stage amass the undeniable slop, I put it in the past keeping my eyes ever focused on the end goal taking each obstacle as they come. And that's how I feel that we should live our lives. We start at the beginning of our lives/obstacle course, and we continuously face these hardships and aptly named obstacles in our lives. However hard they might be they can seem penetrable as long as we know what we're fighting for. What we are rushing towards. We should be sprinting towards Christ dealing with life in our best impersonations of Jesus as we can. Then we won't be dragged down by each obstacle because we can see the ever-present finish line.

For that reason, don't let the strive for perfection in this world rule you, for you are already perfect in the eyes of the Lord. Strive to be Christ-like, which is the human embodiment of perfection. And don't be discouraged that you can't achieve it, Christ is there as an unreachable example but also a sign of hope; that there is perfection out there and that perfection is our God.

Again I say, go enjoy life. And as my friend Jesse likes to say, "Go make stories and have barbecues!"

Thank you and God bless.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

It'll Be Good

I had a dream a few months back. I was running through a field on the edge of the woods. It seemed to be in the very early hours of the morning seeing as there was plenty of dew on the grass being trampled beneath my bare feet. However, there wasn't a single sign of the sun in any direction. You might be wondering what I was running from. Admittedly, I was hanging on this same question inside the dream. After a good while of exasperating sprinting I decided to look back and survey my pursuer. As silly as it sounds I found that I was being chased by an infuriated pack of sheep. Sheep...... Okay. I was confused as to why I was running but I had this overwhelming sense that I did not want them to catch up to me, so I continued hauling ass. As soon as I turned back my gaze to the path ahead I saw one of those random park bathroom facilities. I made my way as quick as possible to the stone oasis in front of me, and found cover in what can only be described as a dimly lit hallway between the men's and women's sides respectively. I thrust my body against the cement wall breathing excessively at this point. Almost immediately I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, a full grown lion heading into the hallway. And before I could think I found myself pinned against the wall with this lion roaring straight into my face. Even though this event sounds horribly terrifying I felt nothing but an overwhelming peace. And sure enough I watched the indignant sheep pass right by paying us no mind. Then I woke up, perplexed by the intensity and emotional realism of the dream.

For a while after I went out seeking interpretation of my dream from people in my community. I then came to the conclusion that the sheep I was fearfully running from were a representation of my fears in this world. Whether it be fear of physical harm or detriment, or attack on an emotional level from the people I come in contact with; these sheep were the embodiment of my insecurities. I guess it goes along with the adage, of wolves in sheepskin. And very literally I was running from them. The lion that came to my rescue was the manifestation of God, as He often is. The most important clue of this being the Lord was the fact that I was very calm in his presence; even though there was an awesome display of his power right in front of my face. God then sent the overwhelming message that there was nothing to fear in this world as long as I had Him on my side.

This has been a theme over the past three or so years. God has come into my life and shown me that there is nothing to be afraid of in this life because he will protect me. It was hard at first for me to accept this because my paranoia and crippling fear had plagued me for the majority of my youth. It was a little over two years ago when I finally overcame this ailment. And ever since I've been reminded, in any instance that used to strike me with panic, that God had his hands carrying me through the circumstance. I think back now to Matthew 6 verse 27 which says:

"Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (NIV)

This struck me very heavily when I first heard this. It's so easy for us to spend so much time worrying about things that are out of our control and eventually will not matter. I'm continuously filled with strength from this verse and verses like it. Nevertheless, I am only human and continue to struggle with how I feel inept to carry out the will God has over my life.

This, again, came to a head when I began planning my move out here to California. As I wrestled with the turmoil of whether or not to go and the possible outcomes of the move, the Lord gave me a word of encouragement. All he said to me was, "It'll be good." That's it and that's all. It seems to me that God likes to speak to me in the simplest of ways. There's an overwhelming allure to His brevity. It has shown me the power of His words. That a sentence comprised of three elementary words can bring about a sense of peace and determination that had been previously so unattainable. I knew whatever happened once I made this leap of faith, what ever outcome, that it was okay because I was following God. In turn, "It'll be good," has become my aphorism over the petrifying goings on of life.

If there's anything I hope you get out of this is that there is no reason to worry. Worrying has been shown to interfere in your sleep habits, appetite and relationships. It will not only make you feel physically unwell but I will inhibit you in experiencing the wonderful creation God has placed around you. Now, push your anxiety to the side and live life. Build friendships, strengthen bonds, see the world and most of all love God.

Thank you and God bless.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Lean Not

I feel like a fish out of water flopping around this strange place trying to regain something familiar and holding onto anything that is. I moved away from my hometown, where I lived for the first 21 years of my young life, three days ago now. I've never had something take so much out of me emotionally, physically and mentally than this jolt out of the norm. You might be wondering, then, why in the world did I make such a jump. It goes a little something like this.... HIT IT!

Growing up in my household was a pretty difficult thing for me. I know I had it much better than a lot of people, including ones close to me, but I can only react to what I know. I come from a pretty dysfunctional family. If somebody wasn't in some kind of feud or in some external problem it was a little, precious miracle. Whether it was siblings battling against siblings, or children against parents, or rebellious kids against the law, there was always something interesting, and usually detrimental, happening within our ranks. And I was very much apart of it and hopping on the train following the same tracks into my pubescent years. Luckily I found my best friend Mark early on when I was ten. He came from a family much like mine and thus made us perfectly compatible. Over the years we used each other as guiding ropes through the shitty waters we had to tread. Mind you none of this is to say that ,as we progressed with age, we did not participate in any of the dysfunction. However, I feel we approached it with a sense of consciousness and guilt our siblings didn't seem to carry. Now, when me and Mark first met neither of us were Christians and didn't come from houses of very strong faith. So what we knew of morality and right or wrong we drew from the repercussions we saw around us daily.

Freshmen year I met a few dudes named Jeremy and Josh that invited me to a church in Columbus that consisted of hundreds of home churches called Xenos. I had been searching for many anxiety stricken years to find the Lord and the home to learn about him. This church was perfect. It was contemporary and didn't hinge on "churching" yourself up for the Lord. It was a principle of "come as you are, the Lord already knows you" rang beautifully in my ears. After a couple of months I fell in love with the Lord and the church. In October of 2004 I took a walk with Josh and we prayed and I accepted Jesus into my life, changing my perception of the world and how I was to conduct myself.

This church became my home for the following five years. Growing me and molding me into a strong and knowledgeable man of God. However, I had a hard time still hearing God speak to me on a one on one playing field. I had convictions of sin and immorality which I now know was the Holy Spirit, but I never felt God's voice as strongly as I wanted. Then, in February of 2009, I was sitting in my weekly home group and I heard a teaching on Matthew 28. At this point in my walk I was dragging my ass in almost every aspect of life. I was going through the motions of a college degree I had no passion behind and I was aching for a true connection with the Word and with Christ again. When I heard this teaching one verse in particular stuck out to me, Matthew 28: 19-20:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

Right when I read this verse I couldn't hear anything else. All of the sudden the teaching didn't matter. What people were doing around me didn't matter. Day dreaming didn't matter. At that moment I was sitting right with God. And, as clear as I can say I've ever heard the Lord's voice, I heard Him say, "Go. Travel. Do my work." I was awestruck. However, right then I knew exactly how to follow his request. At this point my friends' bands were starting to tour all over the place. I had a glorious opportunity to hop on with my best friends in The Crimson Armada. But, there was a roadblock in the way, I was still in my first year of college. Not to mention I would have to drop everything such as any comforting source of income, food or shelter. And I would have to leave the church that was the security blanket throughout my whole Christian existence. But I knew what I needed to do. As a result I decided that I would finish out my first year of college and then become a touring bum. And that's what I did.


After having the tough conversations of explaining the decision and resulting actions to my parents and church, I began touring. I continued to do so for the next three years. It was probably the most difficult point of my life. The music industry is a fickle temptress and I didn't tour consistently through any of these years. I had to get jobs, knowing that they would only be for a while and staying with ones I hated because they let me tour from time to time. But no matter how poor I became, how difficult it was to exist on the road, how shitty the music industry was to my friends and subsequently me, I can say without a doubt it was the best three years of my life. I grew more and learned more about myself and my walk with the Lord than I ever had in the preceding five years. Dropping out of college and "Living The Dream" was the best decision I ever made.

In these three years Phil Shomo, his son Luke, my dear friends Jesse Burkett and Matt Hamparian, and myself created a small bible study in the Shomo's back yard that would later be called ShomoGroupTime. Despite all of our insanely farfetched brainstorming a very personable and challenging church arose. This group ended up being the greatest thing to come out of these three years for me. Having a community so focused on interacting with one another amongst the presence of God is something I will never take for granted. (But, as long-winded as this post has become, I won't dive to deeply into the inter-workings of the church.)



As time goes on life likes to throw in surprises and preposterous challenges. Until we end up in a continuous game of chicken with life's absurd agitations. Which will eventually end with one of the participating parties upside down in a ditch. I like to think I've held my own in a majority of these unfortunate pairings, however losing some battles here and there. The most recent and largest of my life came about over this past summer in 2011. Jesse had been hired onto a new company out in Los Angeles and it was a really incredible opportunity for him and he was excited to turn to this new chapter in his life. And Jesse, being the good friend that he is, saw to it that I had a place with him in this company. He brought up the idea to me on the back porch of our married friends, the Nelson's, condo in Westerville. At first I thought as cool as it sounded it wasn't anything I could see myself following through on. As the night calmed down a little bit and I sat there on the back porch in silence I had another very clear and very real encounter with God. And in the same concise manner as he approached me in the winter of 2009, I felt him say again, "Go." Just that simple.... GO! I could have never, in all my time on this earth, seen myself leaving the city of Columbus and the community I had come to know and love with all my heart. But again I knew what I had to do.


After months of hammering out the specifics of my move, one tour, moving in and out of a house, and splitting my sleeping time between a couch, futon and reclining chair, it was time for me to move away from everything I knew and into a city so set in its ways. Moving so quickly without me that throwing me into the mix was akin to tossing Droopy Dog into a foot race with the likes of Usain Bolt. 


As much as I thought I had prepared emotionally for the move over the months leading up to it, the last week in my hometown was flushed full of sentimental moments, nostalgia and tears. But it resulted in me getting on the 6:55 p.m. flight out of Port Columbus and into the biggest risk of my life. And now I'm here and I'm scared and I'm lost. The only thing I really have that keeps me grounded and steadfast is the Lord.



"5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
   and lean not on your own understanding; 
6 in all your ways submit to him, 
   and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3: 5-6)


I thank all of you who consider me a friend. I am forever grateful to you and your never ending love and encouragement you've shown towards me. Just know that your texts, tweets, Facebook messages/comments, and phone calls mean everything to me. 


Thank You and God Bless.