Day 66 "Stay Away from Girls Vinnie -God"

Daily Summary: 300 more days and counting. An update on the blogs. Honestly some days are good and others aren't with the writings. No matter how much I write and how much effort I actually but into it I just wanted to let everyone know that my life is going great. I have really cracked down on some problems that I have been having and trying my best to live positively for Jesus. Well today went pretty crazy. Last night I was about to go to bed my buddy Bobby called me from the team and asked me to go miniature golfing with him and a couple friends. With doing nothing all night I decided to go for it. It was super cold and it was going to cost a few dollars but I was still down to do it anyway and meet some new people. It ended be a lot of fun not to mention the fact the I won. Haha. Well during the night around 10:00PM Outta Bounds called me which is the company I am trying to work for. They said that I needed to come in tomorrow and go through paid training. I thought that it was kind of ridiculous because of what time they gave me and how they know that I live far and need some time to prepare to come out. Also I was planning on bringing my friend Gabby from school out to Corona to attend my church and go out to lunch afterwards. This is what got me upset the most because I was really looking forward to it. I agreed I would be there basically because I didn't have a choice. I then talked to Gabby about it and she really wanted to go to my church so she decided that it would be cool to hang out with my mom and family while I am going through the training. I thought it would be kind of awkward for her but she still went on with it and she told me she actually had a lot of fun with them. I was really surprised but like she said just go with the things the Lord gives you. Anyways church was amazing as usual. Training was alright for the most part. I got into a little bit of a discussion with this guy when talking about Jesus. He said he doesn't like Jesus because with Him you can't get to heaven just by being a good person. I said to Him yes you are right, the fact is the only way you can get to heaven is if you have that relationship with Jesus. It has nothing to do with calling yourself a Christian or being apart of some kind of religion. I thought of something right away about what Pastor Chuck said in a sermon a while ago. He mentioned how people argue that doing good should be able to get You to heaven and we shouldn't need some type of savior. He then said okay well if Mother Theresa was a 7 out of 10 on a good scale, what were you? The man said well I guess I would have to say I am a 5. Pastor Chuck then said if you were taking a test wouldn't 5 out of 10 be failing? The man was later then speechless. Lets just hope I was able to plant some sort of seed in that guy at work today and that I will have the opportunity to have that kind of conversation with him again. I will be praying for him. Well I got out a little late of training and rushed back to my house to see how Gabby was doing and to eat some food. It was 5:00 and I haven't even ate breakfast! Gabby actually had a great time, (at least that is what she said) with my family and they also enjoyed her presence. She is really an awesome gal and wonderful women of God. Her passion alone keeps me in check on how my relationship with Christ stands. We got a chance to share each others basically life stories while driving in the car and I feel like I know her that much more. I am so glad to be a friend of hers and I hope our friendship continues to grow. Well after a long but short day we headed back to Biola. It didn't change much when we got back. To tell you the truth I wasn't to thrilled what so ever because I new I had a load of homework tonight. All well. I got most of it done and also got in some great talks with my rommie Phil. We went over some of the stuff that Pastor Chuck talked about in Church today. Things like, can we as Christians sin and not know it? Is it normal for Christians to sin every day? Is a bad thought a sin? so and and so forth. Pastor Chuck said they were all false and I believe the things he said so Phil and I were just debating. If you have any input please leave a comment or something. that would be awesome! Anyways today was definitely a good day and hopefully though the next 300 days I will not have any downers! Night Y'all

Daily Reading: Isaiah 40:28-31
I got this verse from the sermon today in Church. Pastor Chuck talked about how we as Christians often mistake the true meaning of what being a Christian really means and who God really is. The main verse today was these verses in Isaiah. Footnotes: Even the strongest people get tired at time, but God's power and strength never diminish. He is never to tired or too busy to help and listen. His strength is our source of strength. When you feel all the life crushing you and cannot go another step, remember that you can call upon God to renew your strength. As Pastor Chuck said today and I also have mentioned before, people sometimes picture God as a man who is up there telling us what we can and can't do. This is why sometimes it is hard for people to commit to someone of this nature. This is not what God wants at all. All God wants is us to have that relationship with Jesus Christ. He will actually do things that we may not realize in order to keep us from sinning. God will literally do anything in order to keep us from sinning. One way that I believe He is keeping me from are girls. I had this conversation with my mom and it is tough to admit but it is something that I have really seen God doing in my life. It seems as every time I start talking with a girl just as friends for a long time then decide to hang out it never works. Being a guy, when I talk to that girl for a long time even though we may just be friends there is always some sort of thought that being more then friends can occur. Every time I think this and we make plans to hang out. It never happens. At least it hasn't happened in almost a year. I literally haven't gone on a date or anything close to it in almost a year. There has been a few girls that I have talked to for a while then we decide to hang out one on one. Nothing creepy, you know, dinner, talk, watch a movie, whatever. For some reason it never works out. The girl ends up busy and has to cancel the plans, I become busy, or we just never get a hold of each other. It is kind of crazy how much it has actually happened. It has actually ruined some of my relationships with the girls. Even if there was no intentions what so ever it still just doesn't happen. A void to this is when I invite the girl to go to church or just go to church with them. For some reason every time I do that it always works out. Saturday I was supposed to hang out with someone (a girl) and it didn't work out because she was visiting her grandma and had a grip load of homework to finish. Yet today, invited Gabby to church and somehow it worked out. It definitely worked out in an usual way. In the begging of the week she said that she might not be able to make it since she had some babysitting to do or something, then she realized that she was going to be back Saturday night so it was going to work out. Then as Saturday night came along, I got that phone call that work wanted me to go to training on Sunday after church. So right when I thought it was going to work out it again seemed doubtful. God wasn't going to let the opportunity for us to go to Church up. She still wanted to go, so without even ever meeting my parents before I literally dropped Gabby off at a restaurant where my parents where and rushed to work. I felt really bad and I can't believe she was actually down to do so but she literally hung out with a bunch of people she never met before for over 4 hours! I couldn't believe it and she had fun! We also got to talk about our life stories on the way to and from church. So when I was completely free my plans fell through when I was supposed to hang out with someone, yet when both Gabby and I were super busy and our schedule seemed to be full, we still figured out a way to attend church and to get everything done. It is AMAZING the way God truly works in my life. I love every second of it. He just puts that joy inside of me that I can't seem to get rid of. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for me. I just need to stay focused and trust Him in the decisions He makes. His will not mine! Hoping in the Lord is expecting that his promise of strength will help us to rise above life's distractions and difficulties. We need to believe that God loves us and wants the best for us as well. We need to relax and be patient with these things and be confident that his purpose is the right way. We also need to be convinced that He has the power to control all of life and work in our life as well. Through our faith that may be struggling or weak, we need to accept His provisions and His care for us! Let's sore our wings like Eagles!
Daily Prayer:
Oh God,
I give everything to You! Thank You for such an awesome day God. Although some parts may have been rough i just felt like You were in every conversation I had with someone. I love talking about you and your teachings Lord. They are all so interesting and it so fun learning about new views and points. I pray that You will show me the true points and words Lord and for me not to be confused with false teachings. I pray that I will not be stubborn when listening to other people's view points. Help me to give them a chance and for them to try and back up their claim. Help me not to cancel out anything before it is said. I thank You God for the time I got to spend with my friend Gabby today! I thank You that she was able to come to Church and worship You Lord. Although she was put in unusual situations she also made the best of it and had a good time with my family. I also thank You for that God. I now pray for the pastors of churches Father. Everyone may think past them for it seems as if there life is perfect and they don't need prayer. Fact is there life isn't perfect God and need more prayer then people may understand. So therefore I pray for the struggles that they may be going through Jesus. Please help them to stay strong and figure it out God. Keep them on fire for You and help them to lead and teach people about Christ every week. Give them leadership with their sermons and give them the time they need with their families. I also praise You God for the pastors thank You for all that they are doing and I pray that they will continue to devote their lives to You God. I now pray for any friend or family member that may be going through a rough time. I pray that they will trust in You and look to You for answers or even thank You if things in their lives are good Father. I pray for the ones that don't know You. I pray that in anyway possible that they will come to know You. Please use me in the process Lord and help me to have the courage to talk to others about You. I thank You for the strength You gave me today in talking to a guy from work about You Lord. Help me not to pass up any opportunity to talk about You to someone. Give me also the words I need to show them the truth. I pray for what You are doing in my life with the whole girl situation. I pray that I can trust in You what You are doing in my life with that and that I will be patient in finding that dream girl Lord. I pray that I will not jump the gone and not force anything that shouldn't be forced upon. I now pray for our country in the recession it is going through. Help us and other countries that may be struggling to be able to turn everything around for the better. I especially pray for the Churches around the country that are struggling financially. Please help them to stay afloat and for them to keep spreading the Gospel. I pray for my roommate Phil in the decisions He make will be under Your will. I pray for my School that You will keep me focused on it so I will be able to obtain good grades. I pray for the injuries I have now Father that they will be able to heal quickly so that I may get back on the field and play some baseball. I pray that You will keep me from any kind of earhtly pleasure Father and also give me a clean tongue. I pray for the things I may have forgotten Lord that they will come to me so that I may pray for them. I love You so much and again thank You for this wonderful day.
AMEN.

Daily Prayer: