From the Inside Out

I don't usually record myself playing music, especially when I am singing but I wanted to share this song because it is often what my heart feels when talking, praying, or singing to God.



Here are the lyrics:
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

Salinas Sunset

I really do love the weather and landscape, but ultimately I have really been enjoying the sky in Salinas, and admiring its different shades and styles. I took this picture on my way back home this evening. I was driving, looked at the horizon and had to pull over to take capture a moment of the creation that God organizes every day.
God is amazing!

Movie/Game Night!

Last night, I had a movie/game night with a bunch of my friends, and we watched Saving Private Ryan...I think like 4 of 'em hadn't seen it before, so that was good! And we had snacks and drinks (thanks to Momma Ri) and played Catch Phrase with the guys against the girls....it was awesome. Then we said bye to Adam and Ian who had to call it a night, and the rest of us continued on with 2 guys vs. 2 girls in Catch Phrase...talk about being out of breath, but it was so worth it! It was a great night. I only have one picture from my mom who sneaked in at the last minute to snap a pic of us playing, so here ya go:

The Road

I watched this trailer on The Road's Website after reading about the documentary on Invisible Children's blog, which I highly recommend! I recently just ordered the Invisible Children DVD because I want to be able to lend it to people who aren't necessarily aware of the crisis and war in Uganda that has been going on for years.
But this video is about the unfathomable story of the Karen people in Burma (or Myanmar which isn't recognized as easily), in between India and Thailand where villagers and families of women and children after nearly 60 years have been displaced, murdered, raped, and most of all been oppressed and unseen. These wonderful people have sought after freedom for years and specifically have been in pursuit of democracy, but their government has neglected and ignored their wishes and have continued to persecute them. I highly encourage you to support this cause and group of four surfers who took a trip to an unheard area that desperately needs a voice and justice.
A few ways to support this organization:

• Watch and show friends, co-workers, family, etc. the trailer and the film when it is released.
• Educate yourself and others about the people of Karen and the history on the issue. The website has several informative sections that explain the history and details of the war.
• Explore these other great websites/organizations/campaigns
• Free Burma Rangers
• Karen Human Rights Group
• U.S. Campaign for Burma
• Invisible Children
  
• Restore International
• The Road's Myspace
  
• Add your email, like I did, to their email update/newsletter to this link:
• Subscribe to the Email
  
• Or if you are financially secure, and feel the God's will to do so, you can donate to their organization as they try to spread awareness and create this film at this link:
• Donate to the Cause
• If you have a blog, myspace, facebook, website, etc. then you can post the one of the YouTube Trailers to spread awareness using this HTML:

<object width="425" height="373"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YiHh9rIr-F8&rel=1&border=1"></param>
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src=
"http://www.youtube.com/v/YiHh9rIr-F8&rel=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"></embed></object>

Here is a Trailer of Invisible Children if you haven't seen it yet:

Notice the Leaves

So today, I rode my Dad's bike to work in the morning from our new home and found that it is actually kinda far...it was kinda cold this morning, mostly hard on the hands (talk about numbness), but I can't complain because my dad rode his bike/piaggo/vespa to work this morning and it had to be freezing. Nonetheless, I felt better knowing that I wasn't leaving a carbon footprint while on my way to work this morning, and I got to see all the pretty leaves on and from the trees on the side of the road. So I took a picture off of my cell for you all to enjoy.
Now, the reason I was riding my Dad's bike and not my own, is that....I haven't completely assembled my own bike quite yet. I really don't enjoy following instruction manuals, and I really haven't ever been that "handy", but this next week I am going to try and motivate myself to build that sucker. For those of you who see me regularly, please keep me accountable to this goal! I don't really know if this counts as a New Year's Resolution...oh well.

Solio Solar Charger

"THE SOLIO SOLAR CHARGER is a boon for all of us who forget to plug our phones in, or who have to travel regularly without easy access to a charging point, but it can be much more than that for citizens of countries where electricity is scarce."

Invisible Children Update/Thank You!

O Holy Night

This one guy sang "O Holy Night" at the SVCC Christmas Eve Service, and I happened to catch it on video...

To All A Good Night...

I thank Thee, O Lord, for His gifts that stay veiled
His timing and plan, fulfill where I have failed
This Christmas Eve has outweighed any grief
That might have sneaked into my heart as a thief
He has cleared all my mind and filled me with joy
And rid my desire of getting "one last" toy
He has shown me His truth and blessed me with more
Than any person could sacrifice from their deepest inner core
For He paid the "great cost" of loving me so
With Son at right hand whom I deserve not to know
But His gift of grace takes away all my guilt
And encourages me to be the man that God built
I thank Thee, O Lord, for Your everlasting love
As a Father, a Shepherd, Redeemer, and Son
To all who forget and need a reminder of why
We celebrate this day because of the Lord Most High
Give thanks to your King whom loves those even with least
And to ALL men on earth, tonight be at peace.

Merry Christmas.

Catching Up...

We have a house! I will try and conjure up a video tour for y'all when the house is a little more organized (it actually looks great to me, but my mom would adamantly disagree). One funny observation of my room is that it is set up just like my previous apartment room...coincidence? I will soon provide evidence...Anywho, something I really like about this house is its green-ness. The previous owners left the washer, drier, and refrigerator that are all eco-friendly...along with one eco-friendly dishwasher, three water-friendly toilets, and a garden in the back yard...Talk about an amazing deal! If you want to see the outside of the house, go to my momma's blog.
In other news, John Paul and I had our last small group meeting for 2007 with our middle school men this last Sunday and had a blast! We hosted a white-elephant-used-items-gift-exchange extravaganza, which was a hit...it involved a X-mas card, Goofy-"Dreads" hat (from D-Land), a Hot Hoops Mini-Basketball game, an authentic Albanian hat, an antique camera, a keychain calculator (which tells the time), a rubix cube-like contraption, and a shirt with a big red "X" covering the front...all I can say is Mayhem. On top of that, we partook in "Wall-Ball" which is a concoction of extreme Dodgeball, a close-quarters room, a handful of combative middleschoolers, and a few miniature rubber balls that unquestionably impel their recipient. It was a bonding time...

Back in my day...

Taught Maximus everything there was to know about modeling...

Made a guest appearence in the movie Shrek, but my scene was cut...they said I wasn't animated enough.

Saved Spiderman's life...you think I look scared? You should have seen Spidey's face...

And took a moment of silence in honor of giant whammy bars all over the world.

Next Instrument...

Alright, so I need some help with picking the right brand name and stuff for my next instrument...THE HARMONICA! and possibly a violin later, but for now the harmonica. I want to get a good one, so I don't have to buy like a "beginner" and then a "pro" or whatever, ya know? I just want a good quality and sounding one, let me know what y'all think. I also want to get a neck holder, so I can play guitar with it...ya know, a little folk-style playin'. Anywho, bring on the comments!

The Shopocalypse!

Here is an interview between Rick McKinley and the producer of What Would Jesus Buy?

The Beginning is a Good Place to Start!

Alright ladies and gents, I have just started my adventurous journey through the bible from beginning to end (hopefully). Last night, I read about 4-5 chapters in Genesis and tonight I hope to read a couple more. Throughout this journey I also want to pose questions to you bloggers/readers and plug in a little commentary here and there or just point out things that are interesting to me. You all are more than welcome to comment on anything I post or don't post for that matter, and please keep me accountable with consistent reading.

Sooooo, last night I was reading about the creation of....EVERYTHING!!! Talk about craziness...here are just a few things that caught my eye or caused me to ponder:

- In Ch.1 Verse 29...it talks about how "every plant yielding seed...and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you..." My friends and I were coincidentally (or maybe not?) discussing this topic earlier tonight. But anyway, where did eating meat come from? Does God tell someone later on in the bible to eat meat? Would you call Adam and Eve vegetarians, haha? Sure there were sacrifices, (there is practically one in Ch.3) but I am curious when eating meat became "OK". Is God alright with us eating meat nowadays? Perhaps it is best to find a substitute for meat/protein...I don't know, but it is something to think about.

- In Ch.2 Verse 3...God blesses and sanctifies the 7th day "...because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made". Right off the bat, God wants us to realize something...that we should follow God's example of resting on the 7th day or maybe you have heard it as the Sabbath. Not only because we should obey God, but because it is what is best for us, huh, who woulda thunk? God cares for us. But I definitely need to apply this in my own life. I usually either forget or don't find the right time/day to completely rest. Not that I don't want to, but I just have a hard time setting time apart for resting (kind of a bummer).

I think that will be all for this week, but there is definitely more to come!

The Story of Stuff

I found this on No Impact Man's blog and saw how worthy of a post it truly was. It is a video about the whole process of the U.S.'s consumerism...resources, factories, retail, household and waste. This cycle has been embedded in our nation's society and is spoiling the earth, its people, and communities. But WE can make a difference! Take the time to watch this video in these 7 chapters to gain a better perspective, sense of awareness of this critical issue, and learn how to contribute to the solution. Yea I know 7 chapters is a lot, so I will provide different ways to view the video.

Download it here (50 mb, right click and save link)

Click here for a link to the website and flash video for one sitting. (they have a pause button)

And here is a link to their list of 10 things you can do!

Here are the YouTube video chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction


Chapter 2: Extraction


Chapter 3: Production


Chapter 4: Distribution


Chapter 5: Consumption


Chapter 6: Disposal


Chapter 7: Another Way

It's a Westernful Life!

Ok, so I watched all of my previous movies (Seabiscuit, Citizen Kane, 20,000 Leagues) and grabbed some more (Unforgiven, It's A Wonderful Life, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid).

My review of last weeks films:
Seabiscuit- Surprising, not what I thought the story was going to be like exactly. I actually enjoyed it, it's very "zero-to-hero" style of plot, but I am sucker for the underdog. I would say "see it".
Citizen Kane- I honestly didn't think it was that great, at times I found it kinda boring, but I don't know, I think it just wasn't my cup o' tea. But at least I can say I have seen it.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- I felt this movie was pretty interesting. It reminded me of the "deserted on an island" style of film because all four main characters are aboard a submarine and there is always a tension between everyone as they struggle to get along. I would say "see it" just for fun.

Settling for the Regular

I woke up this morning, proceeded through my daily routine...rode the bike to work and found out I wasn't opening, but rather closing tonight for work. I think it's funny how I can get stuck in a routine of thinking I know how my day is going to go or how I want it to go. For instance, after work (around 2pm-ish) I was thinking of going to the library and dropping off my books and DVDs. But what I tend to forget is that I need to go to God daily and ask him what He wants me to do. I get excited when I think about giving my day completely to God and letting him control my life...wouldn't that be awesome! Talk about never having a dull moment.