FINALLY in Arizona!

I think it is safe to say that we have definitely done enough driving for the week! We have finally arrived in Peoria, Arizona. We got in at about 4:30 yesterday, dropped off our stuff at both of our houses that we are staying at, and then went to the church to check out their middle school service!

I just wanted to share a couple of initial thoughts about the area and the church:

1 - 30 miles will make a heck of a difference!

We drove through flagstaff, Arizona and it was a mild 74 degrees. There was lots of trees and grass, it kind of reminded me of home. After we got out of Flagstaff (which has an elevation of about 6000 feet) we drove down a hill that never seemed to end. In less than an hour, the temperature went from 74 degrees to a smokin' hot 103 degrees! I don't care who tells you it's dry heat, you definitely feel it. When you walk outside it's almost like getting punched in the face. To be completely honest, I really like it so far! It's always sunny, there are beautiful mountains and it feels nice at night. I am being told though that it's going to get to 107 today and up to 116 in July... yikes!

2 - CCV is both HUGE and PERSONAL... is that possible?

The first thing that I noticed about CCV is that it is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely huge. I always wondered how it was possible to form genuine Christian community when the church is that big. I haven't been here long, but I have already learned so much. The church has this really cool thing called neighborhood ministries. All of the small groups and a lot of the children and youth ministry stuff is divided by neighborhood and area. It creates this awesome feeling of knowing the fellow believers that live around you and share in the joys of Christ with you. It has a real awesome ACTS 4 community feel to it. People can help those in need and join with them in prayer and study! It really does make such a huge church feel really personal, I like the idea. I was able to check out children ministries this morning, and I had just as much fun as the kids did!

3 - I am in my element!

It has been such an awesome adventure so far! Granted, I started to get a little cranky in the car on the 3rd day, but since I got here, it has been so fun to meet new people. All of the staff I have met so far have been so gracious to share how they do ministry here. I feel like I am going to learn a lot from them this summer. It has been so helpful just beginning to see how other churches do things. The family Melissa is staying with have been so helpful in helping us get acquainted. They even cooked and incredible meal for lunch today before youth group, it was amazing. Another big thing is that the church is also very in to adventurous stuff. It was one of the main reasons I went to this church. When I went on their website and they said they were about loving people and living an adventurous faith, I really felt God was pointing me in this direction. The one guy who I will be living with runs this ministry called "the edge" that is all about doing crazy adventure sports. I love the idea and I hope to get involved in the ministry!

Anyway, I could say much, much more, but I think I want to take a little nap before group. I will posting pretty often, so please keep in touch!

Love and Adventure, Adam

DAY 2 DRIVING (click to enlarge)


DAY 3 DRIVING (click to enlarge)


This is the position I sat... and sat... and sat!


This is when the view finally got pretty... the mountains out here are awesome!


Lastly, this is when we got to Arizona. The welcome center was cool, and it meant that we were finally getting close!

Let the Road Trip Begin

Here I sit in Lincoln, Illinois after one very long and exhausting day of driving. Over 800 miles down and we are still only 1/3 of the way there! Although it is discouraging, it is still hopeful! We are staying with my good buddy and fellow intern Brendon Foulke and his wife to be Amanda Enlow at Lincoln Christian College. They are both graduating in 4 days and then Brendo is starting his new position at the CCV in PA! Very exciting!

Anyway, it was a good drive today through the mountains and the rain. We went through Indianapolis which was cool and just started seeing miles of cornfield. I look forward to another good day tomorrow, so I should probably hit the sack.

Tomorrow we should see some cool stuff, we will be taking the ol' historic Route 66! If you read this tomorrow, it would be cool if you could take a second and just pray for us youngins out on the road! We hope to make it to Amarillo, Texas tomorrow, so we'll see what happens!

HERE IS A MAP OF TODAY'S ADVENTURE!
(click to enlarge)



Love and Adventure,

Adam

Arizona here i come!

Church Tours - Day ONE

Only one day after buying my new Honda Civic I get to take it on a little drive! As I quickly approach my trip to Arizona, I find myself on another trip just days before the 2400 mile haul to Peoria, Arizona.

I am taking a class for the very beginning of the summer called "Discipling Youth." Basically, for this class we are touring around to different churches, youth ministries, and church camps to get a feel for how different people and different denominations do church. I think this is a great experience for the same reason why I think my trip to Arizona is going to be very beneficial, because too many people think the way that they do things are always how they should be done. So, now that you get the gist of things, let me tell you about my first day this far:

I woke up and headed to the church to pick up the rest of the group to head to Bethlehem. It's a small group consisting of two friends of mine, Jon, Laura and of course the girl I see everywhere I go, April Tatta! You can check her blog out HERE. Anyway, we got to Bethlehem at 8:30 to go to First Baptist Church. The service was pretty good. The worship pastor sounded a lot like Jimmy Buffet, the Senior Pastor seemed to know his Biblical Theology and I really liked how you had children, teens and older folks all in the same service.

They had a contemporary worship service, followed by a gap for Sunday school (which I got to hang out with some teens at) and then a more traditional worship service with a choir. One thing I really enjoyed about the service was that they had this part in the service called "Children Chat." During this time, all the children come up and listen to a short Bible story and they ask the kids questions. It's really awesome just hearing their simple answers and applying that to how Christ asks us to have a child-like faith. That was my favorite part.

Tonight we are at Camp Ichthus up in Palmerton, Pa. We're going to have a class up here and then go to see the new Star Trek movie! From there we are going to have a camp fire and then hit the sack. We're heading up to Syracuse tomorrow, so I look forward to it. I certainly know that I will sleep well tonight from being up late putting the finishing touches on my mothers day gift! LOVE YOU MOM!

PS - Happy Mother's Day to all the rest of you mothers out there in the bloggisphere! You are all eternally under-appriciated!

Arizona, Here I Come!

First off I would like to apologize for my little blogging hiatus. Between how crazy things are at the end of the year along with trying to figure out why I blog, I decided to give it a little break!

Now that I am back, I want to fill in anyone who in the bloggesphere who may not know what is going on. A couple months back I accepted an internship at a DIFFERENT Christ's Church of the Valley out in Peoria, Arizona. I was hooked up with this job from my Senior Pastor Brian. I will be heading out on Thursday, and I will be out there until the end of August. (minus a break for some stuff, I will explain later)

I have had an incredible experience over at CCV in Pa over the last year. Giving my last message this week was incredible and at the same time hard. I love these kids so much, I look forward to seeing them when I get back!

So some of you may be asking, "Why do you need to go all the way out there when you have a great church here?"

Well the answer to that is simple... Experience.

All of my ministry experience has been from the same place, with the same people, with the same idea of how ministry should be done. As incredible as that has been for me, it will be a difficulty when I go in to full time ministry and have the perception that there is only one way to skin a cat. So this will be really for me to get a very well-rounded education on ministry!

There are a couple really awesome things about this internship as well.

1 - Melissa will be coming with me! She got accepted for their children's ministry internship, and will be living at a different "home stay" in between mine and the church.

2 - Traveling! As most of you know, I love to travel. On Thursday I will be road tripping across country with my wonderful fiance and our two great friends Damo and Renae! We'll have the opportunity to see the Grand Canyon and take a drive down Ol' Historic Route 66.

So I am pretty pumped about this. Of course in the fall I will be back at Eastern to finish my last semester and graduate! I will also be needing a job for that last semester, so if any of you have something I could do, let me know!

Here is a short video about the church!

One last thing I wanted to do was give you a quick schedule of events, because I explain this a lot, and it's somewhat complicating!

The Schedule

Sun, May 10th - 13th -- Summer Class Trip For School to Syracuse.
Thurs, May 14th - 16th/17th -- Road Trip from Pa - Az. (aprox 2,374 miles)
Mon, May 18th - 20th -- Intern/Staff Retreat to Lost Canyon in Williams, Az.
Thurs, May 21st -- Fly back to Philadelphia with Damo and Renae
Sun, May 24th -- Melissa's Graduation
Sat, May30th -- My Sisters Wedding in NJ.
Sun, May 31st -- Fly back to AZ for the summer!
July10th - 15th - Orange, California for C.I.Y.

When You Know He's Grown Up

As most of you may know, I have a little brother who is just now graduating from high school very soon. You may also know that I am quite reluctant calling him my little brother because for some crazy reason, he outgrew me about a year go... messed up.

But regardless, he is still that little brother. If you have a little brother, you know that little brothers fight and argue about everything... and of course, the older brother is always right. Watching the last couple of months unravel has been the most interesting thing I have witnessed in our family. As most of you probably also know, my brother started talking about enlisting in to the Army about a year ago. Not too many people took it too seriously, I think a lot of them thought that he might back down. There were many times where he would say things, and do things that made me think he was way too young and immature for such a serious task. Well here I am, 3 days from his 18th birthday, and he's all set to sign the papers. He just told me a couple of minutes ago that he will be leaving in early July.

That that brings me to right now. I just decided to check out his blog, and I read his newest post directed to my mom. I guess you could say it was an "ah ha" moment. I read the post and for the first time realized... He's grown up, he's leaving, and I'll miss him. Good luck man. Make sure you duck.
Read his post: EVAN'S BLOG

To Blog or Not To Blog...

...That is the question.

I was confronted by a good friend a couple of weeks ago who had read my blog a couple of times. This is a guy I can genuinely say cares about me. He is one of those friends who I can honestly say wants me to be a better friend next year than I am right now, and the year after that. If you're reading this, and you know who you are... thanks. Everyone needs to have a friend like that. Here is a quick verse that this guy reminded me of...

Proverbs 27:5-6

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.

He told me very boldly that... he didn't like blogging. I asked him why, and he gave me a response that I wasn't quite ready for. He said that when you blog, it is almost like you are saying, "Hey, look at me! I have something good to say!" He said that there is a certain pride in blogging that isn't really representative of a true follower of Christ. I'll admit, at first I was ticked off. I was thinking in my head..."how dare you insult something I love to do, and make me sound like some arrogant jerk!" That is what I wanted to say... but instead I sat there. I thought. I wondered. Then I asked myself the question that every man hates to ask. Am I wrong???

I mean, to some extent he is definitely right. Jesus Christ is the guy that every Christian wants to strive to be like. This is the same man who constantly taught humility in every word and action. This is the same Jesus Christ who got down on his knees and washed the disgusting feet of every follower of his at the table. This is the same Jesus Christ who said in Matthew 23:

⁵"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

⁸"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. ⁹And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

That verse makes it seem pretty clear. But then again, there were some very humble people who were sent in to the world to tell other of the "good news" of Jesus Christ. It's actually the charge we are given! We are told to go, make disciples, baptize and then teach.

I do view blogging as a way to go out in to the world. I see it as a small way to plant a small seed that perhaps other people in their life can then water or vice versa. Although it is one way to spread the good word, we all need to remember that it can never replace forming true, genuine, loving relationships to draw those near to Him.

So what I've done is created a couple of small guidelines to make sure if you are a blogger you are doing it for the right reasons...

BLOGGING GUIDELINES!

1 - Always ask the question, "am I honoring God with these words?" If what you say causes anyone to stumble, then you are on the wrong track.

2 - NEVER blog for the purpose of being exalted or praised... EVER!

3 - If you are blogging to get more hits on your analytics, then you need to stop blogging immediately.

4 - If you are blogging to market yourself, be true to who you are, no fake persona.

5 - It is okay to blog to get something off of your chest that you need to let out, just remember everyone is going to see that... potentially forever. It will never go away. Don't blog out of anger or frustration. Let it sit for a while.

6 - Blog when you actually have something to say. Don't sit at your computer thinking about what useless blog you could throw up next.

7 - It's okay to make people laugh! If you want to throw something up there just to brighten one persons day, go for it!

8 - Get your facts straight. You look like a moron if you put something up on your blog that may not be true. People mess this up all the time when using a Bible verse without knowing its background and its context.

9 - Remember legal and logistical implications. You could potentially lose a job or find yourself in a bind because of something you publish in the public eye for all to see.

10 - Don't be afraid to be bold. Saying all of that other stuff first, don't be afraid to be real. Share genuine struggles and joys in life (as long as you keep all of that other stuff in mind!)

So that is all I have for you tonight. Continue to have fun out there all of you fellow bloggers. Make sure you are asking yourself if you are blogging for the right reasons!

Be Still...

Last night was a good night.

After spending my whole entire day from 7am-11pm running all around the world, I ended up at a good friend's house to work on my car a little bit and just chat. Working on my car is usually something I do for me. I do it when I have some free time and I just want to do something that is basically mindless. We worked on the car until about 12:30am and then after that just stood under the stars outside and had a real honest conversation.

This is what I admitted to him and myself...

"I am too busy... When I'm not busy, I immediately find something to do so I am busy. The problem is, relationships in my life have suffered from my busyness. That is a real shame. When it is all said and done, my cars, my resume, my money, none of that is going with me. But these people I interact with... now that is something that will come, that is where the time should be spent."

I find myself, a day later, with a day that isn't so busy. I'll be honest, I am bored out of my mind. I'm already contemplating heading over to get my hair cut, then perhaps I will go to the gym for a while before I find out what some friends are doing so I can go hang out with them. The problem is, when I'm not busy, when there isn't so much noise, I am confronted with myself. I am just alone with God and my thoughts. Sometimes that's enough to make us say to ourselves, "wow... I really don't like that about me," or "what was I thinking?" You know, all of those questions you don't get to ask yourself and definitely not think about throughout all of the hurriedness.

As my life has gone on, I have learned more and more about the discipline of meditation. It is the hardest discipline for me to learn. Learning to pray has been easy for me in the hours and hours I spend alone in the car in a week. Learning to read scripture has become a joy for me as I became educated on what exactly it is I'm reading. But learning to shut up and listen to the whisper that God usually shows up in... now that has been difficult.

For some reason I keep thinking of this same verse over and over again. In Psalm 46 verse 10, "Be still and know that I am God..."

Perhaps that is my prayer today... to be still and be aware of God's presence. I'm sure it's something that all of us can try to do a lot more. Starting with me.

Knocked Out by the Spirit

I am so sorry if you are on my blog looking for something insightful or deep, but you are not getting it today. My good friend Jeremy Morelock just showed me a YOUTUBE video that made me laugh a whole lot.

Disclaimer - I believe that God can work in incredible and mysterious ways, I am in no way mocking the ability of the Spirit to heal people. HOWEVER, I also think this guy is crazy. Enjoy.

Bad Taste in my Mouth

I saw a picture today when I was reading the daily yahoo news that really put a bad taste in my mouth. I wrote a post a while ago of people having hope in the wrong things or people, I think this picture pretty much summed up everything that I had to say. Perhaps the photographer didn't mean to do this intentionally, but is it just me, or does this look like a halo?

Pastors Mess Up Too?

I know it is a hard idea to wrap your mind around, but pastors are in fact human! I just thought I would share a couple of those minutes of weakness with the whole world do that they might see the truth! This might in turn safe people from expecting their pastors to be superman!

I don't mean to lower the expectations of of people upon their ministry leadership... but sometimes you just have to put the truth out there and hope for the best! I would like to share you a couple of famous quotes I have heard lately.

Our first mess up coming in at 3rd is from a very charismatic preacher who made a very key mistake, and did not have as easy of a time picking up the pieces! Tell me what you think?



The next mess up comes from a preacher who had a little something else on his mind the day he was preaching! He did a pretty good job recovering if you ask me...



Coming in 1st place is our very own Pastor Brian Jones. He is actually introducing to us a new profession that he was thinking about going in to that involved fire engines and passing gas? Check it out HERE.

Partial Christianity Doesn't Work

If you were to ask me what the most counterproductive aspect of the Christian faith is, I would tell you that it is Partial Christians. Too many times the motions of the average Christian is completely deprived of the word ACTION.


I gave a 20 minute message on Sunday night about the life of Paul, and about how when he was healed by Ananias he then made an ALL or NOTHING decision about following Jesus. As we have come to find, Paul, in that instance decided to choose ALL.

The problem I see today is that the majority of Christians want to follow Jesus, but only so far. Going 50% for Jesus until things get too hard, complicating or uncomfortable simply does not work for me. We do not see following Jesus as an ALL or NOTHING ordeal.

I with shame say that I am one of those Christians, and I feel convicted. Every year I do this cleanup trip in Chester, Pennsylvania, and I can't help but ask really hard questions. It's hard for me to know I am going to school down on the Main Line (One of the wealthiest areas in Pennsylvania) less than 15 minutes from the poorest. You know 70% of all Americans say that they are Christians. 70%. Do you have any idea what 70% of 280 million people following Christ would look like if more people were choosing a faith that is all or nothing? I will tell you that it looks nothing like it looks right now. I am sick of partial Christianity.

Perhaps you are familiar with the Invisible Children movement that has happened around the country over the last couple of years. It is a large group of people who are taking a stand for the abduction of child soldiers in Uganda. They are doing everything they can from going over there, to giving support right from home. I was watching the latest video they released today and I could not help but feel so hurt inside that there are not enough people helping such an ungodly thing from happening. I suggest you please watch the FULL video HERE. There are people who are sacrificing so that someone else may have a better life, so someone else may see and follow Jesus.

Check out an update of the situation in this video:



Following Jesus ALL the way is hard. It just downright sucks sometimes. Regardless, it is what we are called to do. I'm tired of the excuse, "Well someone people are called to do that, but I am called to do this." That may be true in some ways, but we are all called to get off our lazy butts and take action in any way, shape or form.

When I continue talking about the all or nothing mentality that Paul had, we see the different hardships that he went through in 1 Corinthians 11:23-31:

"Are they servants of Christ?... I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked...

But If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever."

Paul went through all of that, and continues to Praise his name, not only in words or worship, but through action.

The faith of a Christian must CONSTANTLY be paired with the word ACTION.

Invisible Children has opened up tons of doors and ideas on how to join their movement. I suggest you watch the movie, and consider joining me in a small donation of $3 a week as a part of their TRI movement to help them with their continuing mission. What stupid stuff have you bought for more than $3 this week?

Time for Action is now.

Florida Adventure, PART 1

So for all of my friends and family digging themselves out of all the snow, I thought I would share a little warmth from good ol' Florida! I just want to share a few highlights from my trip and a couple of pictures to go along with it. This trip has been a much needed vacation for my soul!

The trip started with snow, but rained pretty much the whole way down. I took the 6am - 10:30am shift to drive the jeep. During that time we were in a tornado watch, at one point I had to put on the four ways, and guess where the road was.



We stopped at an awesome restaurant in New Smyrna Florida, where Bryan's mom lived to grab some awesome food. The only time the sun came out is when we finally made it to West Palm Beach, only to find it was absolutely beautiful there.



I didn't waste any time to get in my shorts and flip flops. We spent the next two days at the beach.



After the beach yesterday, I had the best burger of my life at Cheeburger Cheeburger. We also met our waiter, Alex. He didn't like his job, so we offered him some encouraging words!



The water was warmer than I think it ever gets in Jersey, so that was nice too. I forgot I was wearing my sunglasses and lost them to the Atlantic. But it still felt reaaaal good in that water!



We also did a little jam session on the beach with the guitar and the djembe. I had to hand it over so I could film, but I had a blast doing it! It doesn't get much better... Check out the video.



Although it is warm and beautiful here... I wouldn't trade it with hanging out with all of the people I love at home ever! I look forward to seeing you all when I get back! Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to have a little "me" time.

-Love and Adventure

God, Where Should I Go?

As I quickly approach graduation there becomes more and more blanks that need to be filled in. The problem is, at this point you start to have a countdown timer on when these blanks need to be filled in. Here are just a couple of the questions that remain unanswered.

What will I do?
What do I really feel passionate about doing?
How much will I need to be paid to pay back student loans?
What else do I need money for?
Who is coming with me?
Will I need an apartment?

And even more importantly...

What does God want me to do, and where does he want me?

We ask this question so many times in our lives, yet for some reason we expect some type of lightning bolt to shoot out of the sky engraving the location we should go into a rock in the back yard. I guess I've kind of been waiting for my lightning bolt. Instead of doing it that way, I want to explore some questions we can ask to begin to understand more thoroughly where God wants us to go.

1 - Where do you want to be?
This is a question that many times can get overseen. Or perhaps we meet this question, and assume that is selfish of us to want to go somewhere when there is a need somewhere else. I personally believe that God works in many ways. For some people it is making them very uncomfortable. If you haven't been uncomfortable, then I believe that you may be very limited in your understanding and dependence on God. Perhaps you know what it is to be uncomfortable, and it is simply a matter of being happy where you go to do either ministry or your own daily ministry at your own job. This has been a very important question to me because I want to be selfish. I want to go somewhere WARM. I am actually writing this post from West Palm Beach, Florida in Starbucks. I look around, and know that I would be very effective in this area because I enjoy the warmth. That can't be enough though. I also look around and see that these people have money, and yet something is lacking. There is a need. When it is a place you enjoy, and there is also a need, that is a clear option for the future.


2 - Where is God opening doors?
This is a very important question. What may be even more important is asking the question of why is God closing certain doors. At times God has a funny way of manipulating the direction we go in. I know that most of us at any given time can look back and go "if (fill in the blank) didn't happen, then (fill in the blank) certainly would not have happened! What this does NOT mean is that we have to look for some deep meaning every time we miss some opportunity, or have another one offered. We do however have to prayerfully be looking at opportunities that God seems to be pointing at with a large neon sign.

3 - Where are wise and loving friends and mentors pointing us?
There are so many variables to think about when looking at where to start your ministry. Unfortunately we weigh our own point of view to the max, and the others are easily drowned out. We need to be quick to listen and slow to speak when it comes to listening to what people who love us are telling us. A new point of view on the whole situation can be very helpful from someone who knows and loves you. They can be a very helpful judge of the whole situation without your own personal bias.

Ultimately there are a couple things we need to remember that are of incredible importance. Regardless of whether we go where God was pointing us, we will be used. God does not give up on your life's purpose just because you went a direction you possibly should not have. No matter where you go, God is with you. Another thing to keep in mind is that WHERE we are will never be as important as WHO we are. James 4:13-14 says:

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

Our lives on this earth are just a blink of an eye in the view of eternity. What will make the difference will be if you truly loved the people who you ended up spending your time with like Jesus has taught, regardless of where you are. That brings hope. These are some good (starter) questions to help you go in the right direction. Even the wrong directions can bring out the most incredibly fulfilling life if you are truly thinking about the WHO, and not the WHERE.

New Sermon Posted!

After a long wait, I finally have posted a new message that I gave for CCV's high school ministry.
The message was on the idea of temptation, and how David was tempted by Bathsheba. You can find it on the Right Pane of my Blog. You can also find it Here.

Temptation 2/22/09

Disclaimer

- Remember you are listening to a message for HIGH SCHOOLERS. What you find appropriate and what a 15-18 year old finds appropriate are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

- Telling the kids to "FART" is not quite what you think.

- Glorifying sex AFTER marriage is a new idea for teens and should be embraced.

- I'm sorry for how many times the word boob is said in my message... but every time was for a reason though! Enjoy.

The Perfect Weekend Part 2

And so the endless night begins;

1:45 a.m. - Meliss falls asleep after playing board games with my family in my living room. I play regular Nintendo because there was no way I was getting sleep.

3:45 - After rolling around nonstop for about an hour, I told myself that I definitely was not going to be getting any sleep. I got up a little early and packed up the car with a tarp, lots of blankets and my blue blanket. I then woke up Melissa and told her the car was packed and started. Get ready, dress warm and get in the car.

4:20 - I did what any man does who will be on the road for more than an hour, I hit Wawa. I grabbed myself a 5 hour energy shot, a soft pretzel and hit the road bound for Ocean City New Jersey.

4:21 - Meliss fell asleep in the car... already.

5:50 - Meliss wakes up only to discover that we are at the beach! At this time it is extremely cold, but we brought a ton of blankets. We park at 11th street and make our way over to the beach. We get there and are obviously the only ones on the beach. We set up camp and tried to warm up a little. The sun at this time was just a little bit brighter on the horizon.

6:25 - The sky is beginning to turn several shades of pink, and sea gulls are starting to come out in mass numbers making that wonderful noise. I am starting to get nervous knowing that the sun will be coming up at exactly 6:50 (because I checked the weather channel like 4830803 times to double check)

6:50 - The sun finally peaks over the water. It is so quiet outside. All we can really hear is the sound of the waves and of course a couple of gulls. The sky is a million shades of pink. It was the third most beautiful thing I saw that morning. (obviously after Meliss and the ridiculously awesome ring) I am starting to sweat bullets. None of you guys who haven't been engaged quite understand how nerve wrecking that is.

6:52 - The sun is completely over the horizon, so I turn over to face Meliss and say the following: Meliss... I brought you here to tell you 4 special things about our relationship. (Meliss found this odd, because I always give points in sets of 3) The first thing is that there are going to be times like right now, when we are seemingly completely alone, and all we will have to depend on is each other. The second thing is that we must always chase what we love. We love Ocean City so much, it has a huge piece of our heart. I don't want my life to be about resumes or money. I want to spend my whole life doing things and going to places that I love. The third thing is that in our relationship we must always be reminded of the presence of God. When I look up at that sunrise, I can't stop thinking about how I don't understand how some people can see it and not believe that something bigger is out there. I want to be constantly reminded of the one who brings that amazing sight up every morning. And the fourth and final thing is the most important reason why I brought you here today... I have a very special gift for you. ( I was almost shaking... I pull out a felt black box and sit it on her knee. She looked me in the eye and said "I'm scared." To ease the tension, I made a classic Adam move. I then proceeded to tell her to not be scared, it's just got a little note in it that says "GOT CHA!" hah. She slowly opened the box. I then said, Melissa, will you except my gift... the gift of forever. Melissa then said, "ADAM! Say the official version!. I then said Melissa Jaworski will you marry me? She then kissed me and then tackled me. I then slipped it on her finger. We packed up our stuff because I had to get to church because I work there. Meliss called people the whole way back and couldn't stop looking at the ring.

That is how I asked the girl of my dreams to marry me.

The Perfect Weekend PART 1

I have some great news... Melissa and I are no longer dating. That is because she is now my fiance instead! I know. I can't wrap my mind around it either! So since I keep getting asked a million questions about it. I figures I mine as well Just give you guys the play by play!

It all started on Saturday, February 14th. I know what you are all saying... Valentines day, how cliche. But something else you need to remember is that February 14th is more importantly my birthday! This year we had agreed to celebrate my birthday as opposed to V-Day, because we never have before. So Melissa picked me up at 2pm Saturday and brought me to a location on the Perkiomen Trail with mountain bikes. She said, this date will point at three aspects of your life, and will have 3 different aspects.... the first is Adventure. We ended up taking a 15 mile bike ride down the trail. It was super muddy, but we had an awesome time. We got to chat the whole entire time. By the time we got back to her house, we were whooped.

So anyway, we got back in the truck and she drove us over to her mom's house. At that time we got showers. She got hers and then I got mine. When I got out of the shower her mom told me Meliss had gone out to do some stuff. 45 minutes go by, no Melissa. So finally her mom hands me a note and a blindfold! She drove me to our next location. I get there and remove the blindfold. I was in a saloon. Melissa had brought me to get a professional 1 hour massage! She has learned how to do it from the owner and was going to do it herself! I was amazed! Usually when I ask Meliss for a massage, she gives up 3 minutes later from hurt hands, so it was incredible. That part of my life represented Relaxation.

So at that time it was snowing outside pretty hard, so I drove. She told me to head toward King of Prussia, so I did. We ended up pulling in at Kildares. It was awesome. We had some authentic Irish dining. We were right next to a fireplace and it was snowing outside. It's hard to have a better dining experience then that! This part of my life represented Travel. The last thing we did was go back to my house and play board games with my family. I got second. Not bad... Shortly after that, Meliss fell asleep... and this is where part 2 starts! COMING SOON.

Yet Another Sleepless Night

So here I sit, almost 3 in the morning, and I can't sleep.

This is a common occurrence with me. I will lay down to sleep, and even if I am tired my thoughts will run wild preventing me from sleep. I will toss and turn relentlessly. It's not always bad thoughts, or thoughts about things I need to do the next day. It's thoughts on sermon ideas, relationships in my life, things I want to do better, things I don't want to do again... you know... everything. Many times the best ideas and most improvement I have done in my life have been thought up while rolling around under those blankets. I just wish I could do that some other time. So what I want to do is something very personal with you out there in blog land... When I can't sleep, many times I have to get up, turn on the lights, and pray to God. Pray for peace, so I can sleep, and wake up to serve him. I have not yet done that prayer tonight. I want to do that now, and I want to share it with you.

May I ask you respectfully read, or instead just switch to another web page, I'm sure there is something good on YouTube. Thank you.

Another Sleepless Prayer

Dad,

Here I sit with a million thoughts going on in my head. I am so jealous of all of the people I know who can just lay down and minutes later be snoring away. Their mind must be so calm, so at peace. I'm not sure yet if this is a huge blessing, but it feels more like a curse. I lay down and I think of the many ways that I might be able to help our ministry better. I think of all of the mistakes I have made in the last day or so. Although I know I have your forgiveness, I want to be better for you. I read a book tonight. The book nearly made me cry. The book talked about how people outside of the Christian faith look at Christians. It really made me think and ask the very hard question, am I at fault? That is a question I have been wondering about for a long time really. Also, I have been wondering where I will end up this summer, or beyond graduation. It effects so much of what I do right now... God, as you can see my thoughts are very scattered. I trust in you, I have such faith that I am willing follow you wherever that may be. I have already let you take the drivers seat and I have moved to the back seat... Yet I can't sleep. I humbly ask for some peace for my mind and heart. Take away my worries of this world. Give me strength to empty my mind. Please continue to watch over my family, Melissa, my friends, my church, my enemies, those who I haven't met yet and those in pain... I am so blessed beyond what any man deserves. Thank you for that. I will follow you regardless.

In love,

Your Son

Why Teenagers Think They Know Everything

I know most of you are probably saying in your head right now... "Wasn't Adam a teenager just a couple of years ago?" And the answer to that is yes. I want to tell you why that benefits me:

1 - Because it wasn't that long ago, I can resonate with teens a little easier. Being a teen is still pretty fresh in my mind.

2 - Through working doing youth ministry for the last couple of years I have been able to see not only the lives of teenagers, but the view of youth worker, and just how much they are about these kids.

So whether you have a teenager, you have had a teenager in the past or if you have had any interaction with this interesting species of human over the past couple of years, it is not hard to see that teenagers for the most part think that they know everything. The even funnier thing is... a big part of me can't blame them. Let me explain.

I have this strong belief that teens work through the science of "cause and effect." Yes, it is one of the few times you can ever say that teenagers are a science of any sort, but let me explain. Many times we have several burnt out leaders and youth pastors because the majority of their time dealing with teens is seeing the effects from the many "causes" they have had in their life. When a student comes in, and is breaking every rule that I lay down, it's not for no particular reason 99% of the time. This is a serious "effect" to a really nasty "cause" in their life. I want to take this and apply it to the concept of teenagers thinking they know everything.
I believe the majority of teens think they know everything because most of them feel that they have to.

The reason to teens feeling they have to know everything can be attributed to several things. The biggest reason being they haven't had much help putting the right "causes" in their life. The majority of the students I see on a Sunday night are either from families with divorce, single mothers, foster children and families that simply do not get involved in their students lives enough. The family is meant to be a child's main support system until they are able to get strong enough wings to drop from the nest. What is the teen supposed to do when that support system falls apart? What do you do when there aren't grandparents to share wisdom? What do you do when there's not a man telling your son how to treat a girl? What do you do when there is no positive mentors in your kids life? What do you do when you have no real roll model to emulate?

As a teenager, I will tell you what you do. You try to learn it all yourself. You will learn from the biggest stars in hollywood or music. You will learn from the things you read in magazines. You will learn from the movies. You will learn from myspace and the internet. You will try to learn from your LIMITED PERSONAL EXPERIENCES and most likely you will learn from your friends. Why? Because there is usually no better person or place to learn from.

I want to finish this post with a command and a call:

1 - I am in no way excusing the behavior of any teen using just the excuse that they didn't have good roll models. Many people have overcome such terrible conditions to be strong and capable people. There is still a sense of right and wrong in every human, and that is still an important factor. If you are a teen and reading this, then you will just have to take my word on this. You really don't know it all. I thought I did when I was 17, I didn't know it all, I promise. A real sign of maturity is when you are ready to sit down, admit you don't really know a whole lot of anything and listen to someone who has been there before. There will also be a whole bunch of teens who have great mentors and families that still think they know everything. That is mostly attributed to the fact that teens know more now than they ever have before. They just still think it's more than it actually is.

2 - I am calling for all of you parents and wise people of faith out there to do something about it. Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Teens are nothing to be scared of. The world needs more wisdom to be passed on. Nothing can replace years of experience. I will be the first one to admit that. I learn something every day from someone with more years under their belt. Imagine what a group of moms, dads, grandparents and mentors who are willing to pull up their sleeves and get dirty can accomplish. It is a force of good to be reckoned with... There are so many hands out there looking for answers. Grab one and help it go the right direction.

When Superman Can't Walk

If you have had any conversations with me recently, you have probably heard me jokingly say... "don't worry about, I'm superman!" I say this because I am constantly on the run trying to do it all, and barely ever taking a rest. (Which is not a good thing by the way) Well the unfortunate thing is Superman is going to have to take a break whether he likes it or not. Last night at my hockey game I was tripped and I messed up my ankle pretty badly.

From the first second I tried to "do it all" after I messed up my ankle, I knew that I wouldn't be able to. This is when I was reminded of a song I used to listen to by Good Charlotte called "When Superman Can't Walk."

So today after finally swallowing my pride I made my way to the doctors office who then quickly made me an appointment down at the local hospital to get an x-ray. It was actually the first time I have been in a hospital in over 10 years. (I am either extremely blessed or extremely lucky) Anyway, I find out tomorrow if I just have a stretched out tendon, torn tendon or a fracture. A fracture would be my worst case scenario. If that were the case, I would be down and out for quite some time. Hopefully it isn't that bad. All I could think about was the millions of things that I normally do that I would not be able to do; hockey, all the traveling, going on runs etc...

Something else that I was reminded about was my man Paul from the Word. This is the part that gave me a little more confidence. Paul's main objective was to spread the "Good News" regardless of whatever situation he was in. I get this image in my head of Paul getting arrested and being under close watch in prison. Security was so tight that they had his hand cuffed to a security guard or two for a little while. To any other person, this would have been seen as a huge road block from him sharing the Gospel... But in Paul's eyes, it was just another opportunity! He starts up a little conversation, and before you know it, he is trying to convince these security guards of the transforming message of Christ!

Then it hit me... I am such a wuss!

I really need to view whatever time I am out of commission (which is hopefully very, very short) as an opportunity to get creative and try some things I may not have tried before. There is always more than one way to do something. As for me, I'll retire the cape for a week or so... But I'll be back again soon... ((followed by awesome superhero stance and light breeze))

CHECK OUT GOOD CHARLOTTE'S "WHEN SUPERMAN CAN'T WALK HERE!