1 year ago…

As a church we were moving from our campus to a movie theater. On a personal level, I was so stoked about what we were about to do for Orlando. To truly start connecting the community with Christ was going to be so amazing. The location change isn’t what was going to change lives, having a church filled with people who love God and love others is what was. I was kind of still on the outside looking in when all this started, I was on the Connections Team, but I wasn’t really all that connected with the people here.

Nowadays, our church has done so much to reach our community, most recently this Feed The Families adventure. Having 100 families impacted directly by the love of the people of C3 was so amazing to witness. The last day of it was the biggest for me, I got to work with a ton of these kids in Powerhouse when the families came, and they all loved it soo much. My family came which was so awesome, the kids loved it and want to come back which is to me bigger than giving them Christmas gifts and supplies. The kids wanting to come to church is like.. the greatest thing ever.

I’m so blessed to be as connected as I am now, a year ago I was, like I said, on the outside looking in. Now I work in Crave, and Powerhouse, and I am blessed to say that my closest friends are at the church. I’m amazed at how we are reaching the community, but I’m just as thrilled we are reaching people within the church. It directly affected me, the change in the church.

I was a member of Parkway Baptist. When it all started out my parents made me go every week. I was a high school kid with no time to sleep except Sundays and I had to get up and go to church. I wasn’t thrilled. Eventually I got used to it and even started to like it. My best friend went with me, and we both got saved there, so there was plenty to like. Darrell did a great job with music, me and my friend always immitated his clapping style. Byron has always been a great pastor, so I liked the services. The problem was that I never had friends there, other than Mariel, who was my best friend from school, I didn’t really know anyone there. The girls in my lifegroup class we’re all sweet, don’t get me wrong, but they had been friends for ever and I didn’t fit in to thier already well established group. So I spent my time at Parkway surrounded by people, but basically alone. Mariel stopped going after a while so then I was really alone. After the transition I for whatever reason ended up finding a place to fit in. I really believe its because of the people. I started going to the community groups with Leah, and at first it was weird because I just didn’t know anyone, but everyone was so welcoming and really made an effort to make us a part of the group. So after a little bit the people that initially I was intimidated by are my core group of friends. I got really comfortable there and now I’m the one welcoming newbies. So, thanks to all of the people at C3 that have made my life so blessed and have given me a way to really fit in at my church. I don’t know what I’d be doing with out all of you.

Thanks to those of you who were there for me at the start:

Kayleigh – for being the first person to invite me to hang out. I still love that Cheerwine brought us together lol.

Monica – for being a great small group leader in Crave when I was still a student. And for being a friend to me now.

Leah – for being by my side when we started this crazy journey.

Josh – for helping me feel comfortable at community groups when I first started coming.

Barry – for being cool to me from the start.

Andrea – for being so sweet and welcoming to me and everyone you meet.

And to those who have come into my world after I got comfortable:

Chrissy – for being amazingly you.

Christy – for always having advice and being like a big sister

Matt – for being a goofball and always having fun

Karen – for being a great roomate and a trustworthy friend

Tasha – for being super amazing and so much fun to be around

Jon – for being like a big brother and for being hilarious

Ashley – for being a ton of fun and so sweet

Adam – for being such a good friend and genuinely caring

Nathan – for being my guide and one of my closest friends

Travis – for being such a good leader and helping me out with my leadership in Crave.

Don – for giving me a chance to work with Powerhouse, and for being a fun co-actor.

I’m so glad to be a part of C3, it’s not a building, it’s not just a meeting on Sundays. It’s a movement, it’s a group of people that are more like a family, and it’s a way of life.

Love wins. And I love C3.

That was a crazy game of poker…

I haaaaad to blog about this game. Sinply because one hand was completely ridiculous.
First of all, I must say, I was killing in the beginning. I had about 60 to 70% of the chips on the table. So that was fun. But anyway, after a while I got lazy with it and started betting on random crap just bcause I had such a signifigant chip lead. After a while, the table evened out and a hand came down wehre Adam put me all in. I had trip 3’s on the flop so I figure I’ve got a good shot here, I’ll go all in. My hand was a 3 6, Adam had a 3 duece. Sooo we bothhad trip threes, and this hand is gonna b decided on the river, because the turn made our hands dead even, the 6 and 2 meant nothing at this point. Basically I’m praying for a 6, Adam hoping for a 2. Anything else and we split the pot. MIguel burns a card.. puts down the river.. it’s a 2. Whaaaaaat the crap! I lost the hand. Awful. Just for the record, “what was the burn card?” A FREAKING 6. Insaneeeee. What are the odds?? So I’m laughing hysterically on the floor because seriously, what are the odds?? Then as I’m rolling the on the floor… I see a card, that didn’t make it into the deck before the hand was dealt. “MISDEAL!” I was kidding, but it was a misdeal, and Adam undid the hand. It was kind of the craziest thing ever. But when all was said and done I got out anyway, and Adam beat out Miguel at the end. So all in all it was a good night. I lost $5, but I had fun, especially the part where I was winning every hand

We must do this again, because it was funnnnnnnnnnnn.
Oh, and I also really enjoyed kicking Nathans butt 5949739 times in Spit. Freaking hilarious. Cards are soooo my favorite thing ever invented.

In honor of the fun night, here’s my fave poker song, by one of my favoite bands. Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R.

Jason Mraz concert

Wanted to write a quick blog about the show, because it was really great. Obviously the music was great, but the whole show was good, in between songs ason had interesting junk to say or talk about, the lead ins were really cool. Before ‘Bella Luna’ he had the people in the balcony put there phones up to make it looks like stars over the crowd, and it was pretty sweet, and obviously it tied into the song. He gave the crowd random dance moves for songs, simple like moving back and forth, or high fives, low fives and high tens during ‘Dynamo of Voalition’, but i was still cute and fun for everyone. Had a pretty funny bit about dating fore ‘If it Kills Me’. His band was great and the boy has got talent. It was a real show, not just some dudes playing usic for cash, but real entertainment, with a real performer. It was definitely one of my top shows of all time. So I’m really glad I was able to go out there. Here are a few videos I found on youtube to give everyone a little taste.

Dynamo of Voalition, you can see the crowds sweet hand motions.

Buttercup

If it Kills Me, with his rambling on dating. No videos show the whole bit, and it’s a little lengthy to explain, but this catches the end of it.