When You Wish Upon A Star

Well its Friday, and not soon enough. A majority of my week has been spent worrying about the company newsletter, which I had to finish by today in order to get them to the customers by Christmas. We have never done a company newsletter, and I don't think I have ever made a newsletter. To start things off, I am using an ancient computer that has many issues loading programs, so using Microsoft Word was an issue. Luckily, I have a smart old roomie who knows a thing or two about computers, and his conclusion-the computer sucks. Thanks Ben. After deleting basically everything on the computer to free up space, we were able to get Word to work, which meant I could get to work. Well it is almost lunch time on Friday now, and yes, the newsletter is complete. One of my first big tasks is complete.

Working on the marketing and sales of our company has got me thinking more and more about my own company. I am planning on opening my own sports store, and working with high school athletic directors and coaches in order to handle all of their equipment needs. I spent some time working as a Coach in Training Hibbett Sports, which gave me some great experience in the sporting goods industry. Hibbetts wouldnt allow me enough free reign or independence, so I knew that I wanted to open my own. And working with WKU's baseball team helped alot, as well. So I spent some time today looking at different business plans, just so I can get more of an idea of what it will take. And I'm not gonna lie, it is a pretty intimidating idea to start your own business. But it also got me really excited.

It's not so much that I want to be Donald Trump or a big mogul. I can't get the idea of my own business out of my mind, so I'm going to go for it. My job at Outdoor Inc. has been great in preparing me. Matt and Todd give me alot of room to do my own work, make mistakes, and explore new ideas. The experience I am getting now is easily the most valuable experience I have had thus far. So here we go. My list of goals by the time I'm 30. You could call it a bucket list, but this is more for my business, not completely life encompassing.

1. Finish my undergrad within 2 years. Part time student ofcourse.

2. Complete an MBA program at UTC or another accredited program by the time I am 30.

3. Have a business plan completed within 2 years.

4. Begin the steps to acquiring a store property site within 4 years.

5. Open the business, including store and fully operational team sales division, by the age of 30.

Everyone that I have talked to says to give yourself alot more time to complete things than you think it will take. So all of these plans have built in extra time. There are obviously many other things that I would like to do within this time (i.e. run a marathon, buy a house, get married), but these are just business goals. I am getting excited thinking about the idea of being a legit business owner in Chattanooga. I have soon business done in a Godly way and ungodly way, and am so thankful that God has shown me both. So now to get down to it. Ready, set, go.....

"My, your shoulders look so big."

Well it was another weekend here in Chattanooga. I had been looking forward to it for a few weeks now. The CVP Christmas Party was this past weekend, so I knew my boy Joe Brunk would be coming down to hang out, and then I would get to see other old friends during the weekend as well. And we planned our Bible studies Tacky Sweater Christmas Party for the same weekend, so I knew it was going to be rocking, and it didn't disappoint.

So not everyone went with the whole tacky sweater theme, but these outfits were top notch. And yes, I do have shoulders pads in mine. And the buttons are on the wrong side. Must have been a European sweater (or from my mom's closet). There were quite a few people over, but this is the crew that went all out. And yes, the Geyer's do take the cake for rockin' outfits. Emily's grandmother-esque sweater and Uncle Eddie look "real niiccceee."

Joe ended up coming back at the tail end of the party, and stayed at my place Friday and Saturday night. Friday night, Reilly and Randall hung out as well till about 4 am, and yes, my sleeping pattern is still recovering. But since I didn't have anything to do Saturday, I slept in really late and watched the Ultimate Fighter Marathon with Joe till he left. And I stayed there to watch the Ultimate Fighter Finale until Joe called me late that night to head to the Cleland's to hang out. That was alot of fun, since I got to hang out with alot of awesome people that I don't really see much (including Reilly, who lives here). Later that night, a few more guys stayed at my place, including two who live in Chattie, strangely enough. And once again, we were up till 4 am. But it was a rockin good time.

And Sunday was just as great as the first two days. My church had our first Sunday in the new building, and it was a great time because Joe, Kasey, Jordan, and Icebox were able to come as well. The building looks amazing. And the turnout was unbelievable. We were overflowing, and had to bring in extra seats. Needless to say, we will probably be going to a second service very soon. We hung around church for awhile because Meghan locked her keys in her car, and a whole convoy of guys from the church decided to help out. We had a group of guys working on both front doors, and as soon as the locksmith came, we got it unlocked. After that, a little Lupi's action with a few good folks, and then they went on there way.

That night, I had my first night helping out the youth at Calvary. I was able to meet with Pastor Kenny, the youth minister, on Friday and learn about the heart of the ministry and what they expect. Well the youth are awesome. We have some great kids and great leaders. There were 40-50 kids there, and quite a few leaders. It was a great time to get back and work with youth again, which I love. I'm really excited about getting to help out every Sunday and more in between.

The Jonas Brothers and the Power Team

Well it has been a few weeks since I have posted. Sorry about that. Lack of a computer and a time crunch contributed to that. But I am not abandoning the whole blogging thing.

But this past Saturday was an amazing day. I was looking forward to it for about a month. Generally when I am that pumped about getting to a day it doesn't end up being as great as I was hoping. But this past Saturday did not fall short.

My church (Calvary Chapel) was approached earlier in the year about hosting the Prison Prevention Ministries Christmas Angel Party. The main goal of P.P.M. is to reach out to kids who have either one or both parents in prison and share them the love of Christ. Growing up in a blessed family, I never had to deal with anything remotely close to this. So I was really excited to get to help out. I was assigned as a tean row leader, which basically meant that I would be leading a group of teenagers in prayer, devotional time, and just hang out time. Well most of my group didn't get to come, but I had two middle schoolers, CJ and Marik. These were some fun guys. CJ's mom came with him, while his dad was in prison, and both of Marik's parents are in prison, so he got dropped off by his grandmother. After a little worship time, we were treated to a little show by an evangilistic strength team. Basically, like a minor league Power Team. I don't know about the kids, but I was sitting with a youth minister from Fort Oglethorpe who was about my age, and we might as well have been 12 year old girls at a Jonas Brothers Concert. Seriously, we were that into it.

After they did their show, we got to have a little time sharing with the kids and their parents. At the end of the time, when a pastor led a quick salvation prayer, CJ's mom accepted Christ!!!! I was so pumped up that I wanted to grab a phone book and rip it in half, just like the Power Team.

After staying at church to help clean up, I went to David and Emily's to watch the SEC Championship game. It was a pretty tense game, and Alabama was definitely better than I thought, but in the end, my Gators pulled it out 31-20. Tebow was the MVP, and Florida moved up to the #2 spot in the BCS, setting up a matchup with Oklahoma for the National Title. So yes, I'm pretty excited.



Sunday was pretty great as well. At church, pastor Frank gave a testimony of our church home, and all the amazing happenings of God that brought his wife and him to start the church, and how it has grown. It was a great time to learn more about the heart of the church and how it got started. And next week, we move into the new property of South Broad Street. No more temperature extremes, not more plaster falling on the worship bands' heads, no more collapsing seats. It should be a great time of growth within the church.

Well, it is time for Monday Night Football and a little relaxation for the rest of the night. Have a blessed week!

Thanksgiving and the Week Leading Up

Well it is Turkey Day and I am getting to spend some time with the fam. Well, not at this moment, but I will. I don't get home much anymore, so I know how good it is to spend some time here.

This past week wasn't too bad. A little work, a little football and basketball, some running, the usual. My life isn't exciting enough to fill up a blog, but I'm trying. The highlight of my week was this past Sunday, as I got to hang out with Raynolds and watch our hero Jack Bauer walk back into our lives. The wait is over and Jack is Back!!

Really, other than that, Florida won, Green Bay lost, and my life is boring. I am starting to second guess this whole blogging thing, because I don't think my life needs to be in print right now. We'll see in the near future. Have a great Thanksgiving.

The Child at the Adult Table

Well I had another great weekend. And by great weekend, I mean one that had blowouts for the Gators and the Packers. Just throwing that in. But moving on from my fanhood-

I have really loved getting to know more people at Calvary Chapel. The church has a great understanding and follow through of the Great Commission(all nations, Judea and Samaria, local and abroad). We have been praying for the persecuted church, particularly for missionaries that we support on Yemen. 99.99% of Yemen is Muslim, and christians are jailed, including three men that our missionaries connected with who came to the Lord. This week, we began praying for a man in our chuch who is moved to leave his very high paying corporate job to go to Yemen. And at the end of the service, another woman came forward and gave her life to God. Just an awesome morning.

Sunday night, I went to a Calvary Life Group for the first time. At this point, the church has these small groups in different areas in and around Chattanooga. Right now, there is no age specific group, so there is a mix of young and old. Or so I thought. I called a woman from Hixson that hosts the life group at her house with her husband. She invited me out and was excited about a new face in the group. When I got there, I realized that I didn't quite fit the norm of the group. And by the norm of the group, I mean social security checks recipients. There were 6 married couples and one widower and me, the only person under 40. So I stuck out a little bit.

But God really taught me alot from this group of people. They have all been believers for a long time and married for a long time. Being a young single guy, I can not relate at all to the state of life that they are in. But I am also a people watcher. And it was amazing to see the way the husbands talked about and treated their wives. To me, it's not all the big things that you see in movies and junk like that. The lesson was on appreciating the great things in life. And none of the men talked about trips to Hawaii or athletic feats or promotions. One man said that the favorite part of his week was walking the dog with his wife. Another man talked about how much he loves watching his son with his girlfriend and just seeing them laugh and goof around.

I have also been blessed to have so many friends get married recently. Basically most of my friends in Chatty are married or moving that way. I have definitely seen a change in the guys, too. Not that they were bad before, they were just missing the other half. With David, I have seen a big change. Alot of it could be that I wasn't around him alot with Emily there(the whole different states thing). But hearing him talk about Em and the way he has incredible joy anytime she is around is awesome. And then there is Forrest and Alex. There was a long time that I knew Forrest where we wondered and hoped and prayed that God would bless him with a wife. And now that he is married, wow, they are like that cool couple from high school that is really into each other. But in a good way.

So all of that is to say that being a people watcher can be good. From the 40-pluses at life group to the newlyweds, its neat to see God work. And I'm starting to think that these petty things that I worry about (job, school, bills) will work out and I can enjoy those things that the more experienced people from life group enoy.

A New Beginning

So this is my first try at the whole blogging thing. I'm not sure what type of blog this is going to be yet. Some are strictly a running diary of the day, some are filled with deep insights into life and faith, and some are filled with funny commentaries on things that the blogger sees throughout the day.



I think I am going to be a healthy mix blogger. I certainly don't have enough cool things happening on a daily basis to keep people reading. I put on enough of a front during the day as a wise person when I'm really not, so I will include a few nuggets here and there but try to not act smarter and wiser than I am. And I have realized that I'm really not good with jokes and puns. My Cory Matthews and Boy Meets World sense of humor doesn't lend itself to blogging, or much of real life. So a little bit of everything sounds good to me.



Well as most of you know, I am living in Chattanooga now. I moved here at the beginning of August and am still getting adjusted. It is alot different living here than back in Kentucky. I loved being in Bowling Green, but since working at CVP, I knew this is where I wanted to be. And since I had to start working full time and had to take a break from school, I decided to just up and move. And it was a huge change from Campbellsville, where I was for 7 months before the move. I really love it here. I was thirsting for some guy accountability, and have been blessed by some awesome guys here, particularly in Bible study. And I have been getting more and more involved at Calvary Chapel, and love the people and the way the church does things. The gospel is definitely the focus, and they really strive to be prayerful about everything. So that has been a huge blessing.

And my new job has been a blessing as well. As many of you know, I started off working for a car dealership after my move. It was fine for a little bit, but once I started seeing some of the ins and outs of how things worked, I couldn't stay there. So I quit, with no other job lined up. Luckily, Keith had been on me for a month or so to come work at Outdoor Inc, and I am glad that I did. I never thought that I would work for a landscaping company, but it has allowed me to stretch my business skills. I am doing alot of sales and client relations, and it has been difficult, but I love the challenge. And the guys that I work with are great. There are some great christian guys on the team, so having that influence in place is great. And the experience I am getting on the business side is great. The early wake up call (5 am on days that I have to run) is rough, but I'm adjusting.

But this blog is already getting long. I will try to update it a few times a week, but don't hold me to it. Not that there will be many people reading this anyways, but for the 2 of you who might, I do it for you. Have a blessed day.