Really long!

It seems that I have arrived at that point where I have lost interest in posting regularly. I will do my best though to try to get something up every week.....

(If you don't have time to read a really long post....the most important stuff is summarized at the end)

Looking back at the recent posts, I really haven't said much since the beginning part of December! For that month, I was nearly constantly working 40 hours every single week and the only days I had off were Sundays. I went to several different concerts, one of which I was a part, the others were: The Nutcracker, an ICC concert, ISO Christmas concert, and I think that's it. I also really enjoyed the CYA formal dinner and then Christmas followed. We did things as a family and also at my Grandparents. Sometime in here I finally got my braces off after 2.5 years! New Years eve, my family went over to the Ames house down the street. That was a lot of fun, we watched a movie and at midnight we all gathered around and shared what the thing is that we were most thankful for in the last year. A few of us stayed until about 4 am talking with Jaci, it was a wonderful time!

So January for now: My dad and I talked about the possibility of going back to ALERT and it was decided for several different reasons that I am not going back to ALERT now, but there is the possibility of going back in July. Work slowed down and now I'm "only" working about 30 hours a week with usually one day off besides just Sunday. At work, I've been able to have some really good discussions with several different people about my various beliefs and the importance for them to put their trust in Christ. I even invited one of them to visit church. Sometime in the early part of the month, my car was having problems and ended up in the shop for about 2 weeks and in the meantime, I used another car. I managed to leave the lights on one day and killed the battery and it’s amazing we were even able to get it to start by jumping it. We almost had to have that car towed to the shop as well! I'm glad I have my car back now! Michael, Kevin and I went one night and we watched the movie "National Treasure." It's a great movie and I'd recommend it to anyone. One thing it emphasized was the importance of working as a team and also the danger of greed. (The soundtrack is really good too!) About the second week of January, both Mom and Dad were out of town. Mom went to MI for a funeral for her aunt with her parents. Dad was in VA for a business trip for about a week. One week later he left for Switzerland and was gone there for almost 2 weeks! (He just got home on Sunday the 23rd!)

The next big event was the CYA Winter Conference: It started on Friday the 15th and went through Monday the 17th. Ok, I don't want to bore everyone with all the details so I'll try to just give the highlights...

I was really challenged and encouraged by the 4 messages by David Reese (from Colorado) on the topic of Holiness; what it is and how to achieve it. Probably the one point that will stick with me is that as a Christian, I must always be striving to live a more holy life, even though God is the one who does the work of sanctification (holy-fi-cation) in my life.
In our free time we played things such as Taboo, Mafia, Soccer, Set and many other games.
On Saturday there were 2 workshops that I was able to go to - "Deepening our time with God" and "Answering the World's lies." Both of those were very helpful and encouraging.
The meals were absolutely wonderful! Thanks cooks!
Sunday we got to go to Kokomo RP church. The message that Mr. York gave was very convicting in the area of righteousness and zeal. For lunch we stayed at the church and had a pitch-in prepared by the church. Thanks so much for the food, it was great!
The "stump the pastors" session that afternoon was very helpful. It answered some important questions that I had on some topics.
The last message by David Reese struck very close to home - I need to learn how to reject the small voices telling me to sin and quit believing the lies of the world because God has the power to keep me from falling, I do not have to sin! The remedy is Christ himself! Personally I have no way to be holy and to obey Christ; all I need to do is believe in and be consistent with the truth.
After dinner, about 6 of us got together and sang for about an hour and a half! That was very much a highlight for me!
Later on, we stayed up and then eventually watched "Minority Report" - one of those movies you have to think about! We kept on talking and fellowshipping until the last of the group finally went to bed about 7 a.m.! That time was an awesome time that will remain in my memory for a really long time!
When I got home on Monday, I found out that one of my guinea pigs had died - Spaghetti. I was rather surprised! I suppose though animals only have a short life normally though. He is the 5-6th one I have buried.

This week since the conference:
I've done a fair amount of work and other miscellaneous stuff. On Saturday the 22nd, I had my first experience with a flat tire. I was driving home so I could get ready for work and be there on time at 5 p.m. Unfortunately, I managed to hit the pothole that I thought I had missed and the tire went flat in a real hurry! Kevin and I got out and started to get the spare tire and jack out. Very quickly we realized we were in a bit of a pickle! The spare tire was flat, and the jack was rusted shut! Thankfully Kevin had grabbed the cell phone on the way out of the house and we called Michael. He came and brought an air pump with him to fill up the spare tire. We used his jack and changed the tire, and I left for work using his car. I stopped by home very fast, changed clothes and got some dinner to take with me. In the end, I ended up about 45 minutes late for work, but it wasn't too busy thankfully! What fun.....!
Dad was able to find a replacement rim for only $30 which is a steal of a deal! So now my car's finally back to normal!

Biggest news recently:
I have now gotten my passport back (which cost almost $200! to have processed faster) and I'm officially signed up to go to Nicaragua again! I will be leaving Feb. 26th for one week; I can't wait!
Wednesday or Thursday I picked up a cold but I'm starting to get over it thankfully.
I then got my first flat tire on Saturday by hitting a pot hole. :-(

Prayer items:
Get better from my cold. (Already by now over it)
Preparations for the trip to Nicaragua.
Wise use of time.
Better prayer times.


Sorry this was so long....bonus points to anyone who reads the whole thing. :-)
God bless you all.
Signing off for the night...
~Brian~

(post started on Jan 25, not actually posted till Feb 1)