What it means to be a MAN

Haha, you wonder why I emphasize "man"...just ask Susan. I come over for dinner all proud of my new tool box that I just got for my job at a bike shop. (This tool box...I must say... is a manly sized tool box, 4 drawers with enough room for all my tools and future tools I might need) She then decides to say that, and I quote, "you are finally starting to become a man." Basically, you were a boy and now, are still a boy but just closer to being a man. She was just messing with me and I knew it...it was a nice laugh.

I am a man, a young man, but still a man. The tool box does not make me one, but it does add to the manliness a little :) Every day I learn from Godly, wiser, older men like my father, what it is to be a man. God has made me into the one He wants and I pray that I will continue in His path that He has for me, as a man.

All I know is this, possessions, status, money and other things along these lines does not make you one. What makes you a one is that you fight for the weaker and the ones you love, stand for what you believe, and trust in God for everything. I love how John Eldredge in "Wild at Heart" describes what a man soul longs for, "a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue." God has engraved these on my soul.

My new "Manly" tool box :)

Lead Me

I heard this song on the radio today and it really hit me. I love the words to this song by Sanctus Real. Listen to the song below.

I'm not married and I don't have kids yet...but wow, this song is really gripping. As a husband and father, when that time comes, I want to be able to lead with strong hands, stand up when they can't, show them that I am willing to fight, and that they will always be the loves of my life. What is so very true about this song is there is no way you can ever be this man with out first being lead by God. He is there to give you the strength and the confidence to be everything He has called you to be. The last three stanzas I want to make my prayer:

"So Father, give me the strength

To be everything I am called to be

Oh, Father, show me the way

To lead them

Won't you lead me?

To lead them with strong hands

To stand up when they can't

Don't want to leave them hungry for love

Chasing dreams that I could give up

I'll show I'm willing to fight

And give them the best of my life

So we can call this a home

Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone"

Even as God prepares me now I pray I will take this to heart and keep trusting in God in everything I do. He is almighty, all powerful, glorious, and abounding in love. He has a plan for my life and I have to keep trusting Him, keep in His word, keep glorifying Him, and He will lead me in the path He has set for me. 

My new home in Seattle!

Ok, so here are just a couple pictures of where I now live. God is so good!

Here is the front of the house

Views from the back patio

My kitchen

My bedroom

Sunny Seattle :)

This past Monday, out of nowhere, the sun decided to come out...so I decided that I wasn't going to be inside :) I ended up going to Gas Works Park which has a nice view of the city skyline and there happened to be a couple float planes taking off. If you have ever seen '10 Things I Hate About You' then you know of Gas Works Park...it is where they are throwing paint filled balloons at each other in the movie. Well here are some sweet pictures below, check them out.

Since in was sunny outside after I left the park I decided to go to my favorite road to drive on because of the view when you get to the top of the hill.

Road Trip to Seattle (Day 5)

LAST DAY!! Waking up that morning was awesome. Slept to 7:30am...latest the whole trip because today was a short drive respectively, only 8 hours. Only two states today, Idaho, and Washington! The border of Montana and Idaho was probably to coolest part of the whole trip. Right before I got there the temperature got down to 34 degrees and it started to snow! Then I hit Idaho

My only stop in Idaho was in Coeur d' Alene which means heart of an awl in French and was meant as disrespect to the native Americans that lived in the area way back in the day.

The Brooks Seaplane Base was the next thing on the list...funny thing...it consists of one plane. It made me laugh. I also took a picture of a flag near the base just because the colors were awesome.

The saddest part of the trip was come to find out that the Welcome to Washington sign was blocked by construction machinery along the interstate and there was no welcome rest stop either. I hadn't missed one state until then and it had to be the last and most important one.

The next thing on the list was Sing a Bing Crosby song as I drove past the Crosby Student Center at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. I decided to make a video so I could prove to Sarah that I actually sang, haha. It was a lot of fun.



I had to make one more stop before I got to Seattle. My friend Peter has been talking about going to the concert at The Gorge in Washington and as I was driving along I saw a sign for it so I had to pull off just to say I went to the Gorge before he did :)

It was an awesome view especially watching the rain move in over the gorge.

And finally the view I had been waiting and hoping that I would see...Mt. Rainier

Clouds were covering the peak but you can just picture the rest, this mountain is HUGE!

I then finally made it to Seattle. My legs and arms were almost shaking just from driving for 5 days when I got to Sarah's office. I was just glad to not have to get back into a car for a while. It was an awesome but surreal feeling that I was actually here and that whatever happened I was stuck here because I was broke and couldn't make it back to my parents, 3143 miles away. God is faithful though and had a job and room waiting for me when I got here...well the job took a little more work than I had planned but I kept trusting and He provided. Something really cool that the girl I am subletting said at our small group meeting last night that I was her answer to prayer. It was awesome to hear her say that but what was even cooler was the fact that she was my answer to prayer...God works in awesome ways. It is really exciting to be walking in the path that God has set for me right now and to see it intersect with God's paths for other people. I am so excited to find what He has for me here.

Road Trip to Seattle (Day 4)

The longest day of the trip by far. The GPS was telling me like 11:30 of driving plus stops put me at about 13 hours before I get to Missoula, MT. The beginning was pretty unsuccessful as well. Wyoming was the only place I didn't find a geocache, and the next thing on the list went out of business so I couldn't go. Pretty depressing until I started looking around at the scenery...WOW! This day and the next day was probably the most beautiful part of the trip.

Right before getting into Wyoming the land started to look like this

Then I got to Wyoming

and is started to look like this

Then I got to Montana

and it started to look like this

When I saw that I couldn't believe my eyes...they were the biggest mountains I have ever seen...ok Mt Rainier is bigger but this is still breathtaking.

I ran out of room on my camera's memory card soon after this picture which sucked because I saw a lot more cool stuff. I ended up just waiting till I got to Missoula to buy a new one which I used for my last day. I did take some pictures of were I stayed though.

I found my geocache here too...it was in a children's playground which made it a little weird because I was this random man walking into a children's playground with a GPS unit snooping around. These two ladies and their kids left as soon as I walked in, pretty sure it was because I showed up...oh well.

Road Trip to Seattle (Day 3)

I woke up crazy early because of the sun at around 5am. I got up and had my devotions sitting on the rocks by the river then packed up my tent and off I went. This was one of my longest days so I wanted to get an early start, ended up leaving around 6am. The weather was good and the traffic was little to nothing that early in the morning. The plan was to make it to Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD.

I was only in Iowa for another 2 hours before I got to Minnesota.

I was only in Minnesota for a little less than 2 hours but I really liked what I saw. Didn't have anything on the list for this state but I did have a geocache about halfway through. This one gave be a lot of trouble. I ended up looking for about 20 minutes and couldn't find it. I ended up calling my dad to see if he could find any hints that I missed for the cache but he could find anything so I ended up just asking him to read off the coordinates to another cache nearby. The cache ended up taking me in between fields down roads with no speed limits! No cars on the roads, just me, the gas pedal and open roads :) I found this geocache too so this detour was totally worth it.

Next state...South Dakota, all 510 miles of it.

First stop in the state was Sioux Falls. The Iron Lung and Sioux Fall Sculpture Walk were the next things on the list.

I voted for the sculpture pictured above. It was a lot of fun looking at all the sculptures, they were all pretty sweet.

The next stop was something that I've wanted to see ever since I saw a History Channel show on it.

And yes, it is made of real corn. The area was real ghetto though so I didn't stay long because I was worried about my bikes on the back of the car.

The rest of the drive consisted of tons of pictures because the scenery was amazing, huge rolling hills, bad lands in the distance and one tree every 5 miles.

I finally made it to Ellsworth Lodging around 7:30pm and I was wiped out. Basically ate, took some pictures, then went to bed. Oh...and I took a really, really long shower felt awesome after not showering the night before and driving 12 hours.

Road Trip to Seattle (Day 2)

Left bright an early from the base, probably around 7am. It was pouring rain which made traffic in Dayton, OH mad slow, so it wasn't a good start to the day. Once I got out of the city though, I got up to speed and was off to my next stop for the night in Waterloo, IA.

The next state I went through was Indiana.

Sorry for those who are from Indiana but it is a pretty boring state besides Indianapolis. The city was awesome though and I really enjoyed my stop by the Medal of Honor memorial.

I also found my next geocache very close to here, just a quick park and grab.

From there, I headed to Illinois.

 Sorry residents of Illinois, this state is even more boring than Indiana.

I found the next thing on the list though which was the John Phillips Sousa Museum and Library. Didn't go inside because it a raining here but I did find out a little about the guy. First and foremost he invented the sousaphone ;) He was born Nov 6, 1854 and is most known for composing music, mainly marches. I love to play his music.

I found the next geocache as well under the little bridge over a creek.

The last state of the day was Iowa. I really enjoyed this one because the sun finally came out, landscape was just a little more exciting...and by a little I mean a very, very small amount.

First stop here was an Episcopal church right inside the Iowa boarder. Wasn't quite sure why at the time but Sarah wanted a picture of the front door.

Come to find out her brother-in-law, an episcopal priest, told her that all or at least most episcopal churches have red front doors which is a tradition and an identifying factor of episcopal churches. She just wanted me to check a random episcopal church and see if it had a red door...as you can see, it does.

Next stop in the state was at the Czech Village in Ceder Rapids.

Leaving here, this big building caught my eye and I had to stop and find out what it was.

Come to find out it is the big POW/MIA memorial. It was closed for renovations at the time but still thought this was pretty cool.

I finally got to my camping spot for the night in Waterloo. God is awesome and blessed me with an awesome spot right next to the river. Didn't have any firewood, and every spot I checked was out so I ended up eating Subway for dinner. Before Subway though I went out and found my next geocache which ended up sending me down this crazy path on some dirt roads but I still found it :)

After dinner I went on a picture taking craze. I took pictures of the camp site, the river, and of where I ended up going mountain biking for like an hour. Here are a few of them:

        

Soon after the sun set, I went to bed.