For everything else, there's mastercard

Black Ops for the Wii. $49

Life savers. $20

Laffy Taffy :D. $2
A New Testament Bible King James Edition. $15

Pen/pencil and lead $30

Index cards hahah $5

Sudoku puzzle $8

Clothes $200

Hershey bar :D $2

A vacuum cleaner :) lol $198

A prayer cross :D :D $3

2 toothbrushes and toothpaste. $5

Second copy of Don Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years$20

Getting to see 3 of my old coaches from years past all in a matter of two minutes. Priceless


The amounts for the most part arre made up completely. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Happy Birthday Jesus!

TJ

My heart is searching for.

God knows what. I know what my heart wants. I just don't know what to do to get to where my heart wants to be. My heart wants 2 things in the world right now. To see God in everything, and for that one special person to come into sight.

Thing is, I can't see that girl. I have no possible way of going to see her, and I just want to see her one day this whole break. Just one. I know that there is much that I can do, but I really just want to see her smile one time this break, and I'll be perfectly happy.

My heart wants to feel that. I feel like that's the one thing that will make this break perfect for me is just to see her smile one time. I love seeing people smile, but something about her smile brightens my days. I see many things in her smile that I don't see in most people's smiles.

It feels like my heart races a million miles an hour when I see that smile too. It never feels so good as when her smile crosses my eyes. So, all I want for Christmas? Her smiling face. That's literally all I want for Christmas this year.

I think that there is a reason I feel so strongly right now. I can't very well tell you what that reason is, because I myself don't even really know, but I know that there is some reason that my heart has just jumped. Everything my heart loves, has grown to be more than it was previously. I love God and Jesus a lot more because of the great service we had. It really opened my eyes. I love football more just because I know that through that, people can see God's impact on my life. It also gives me a chance to just show people Christ's love. My feelings for this girl have grown also. I just see the Lord shining through her like a magnifying glass.

I can honestly say that I have never felt this strongly about someone and the Lord at one time. It's usually either one or the other. Now it's a whole new experience, because I am experiencing both at the same exact time. I think this is amazing because when you are seeing the Lord in it, the feeling is so much greater than you could ever expect.

Aight, I've been up all night, so I'm just gonna stop writing now. Love you guys bye! Merry Christmas
TJ

I'm so screwed when school gets back in

I've been up every night of Christmas break past 12. Thinking about whatever is put on my mind. I can only put a few things into words though. My thoughts have been racing this break time, and I can only think of one logical place to put them down. Right here!

Well, beginnning with the obvious, I still can't get her out of my mind. No matter how....Oh who am I trying to kid, I don't try at all. I love picturing the smile on her face. I've been all smiles, though more or less when it comes to the fact I never get to see her. I just don't know why it's such an intense feeling. Feel free to help me. Please!

Next thing is, this book has captured my heart. It has so much to do with my life right now. It's got everything to do with how I want to live my life. The good stories, the bad stories, the boring stories, and the just plain dumb stories. It's taught me a little about how I should just take my own advice and take a leap of faith on things. What's the worst that can happen?

I have just been learning recently about how serving others gives greater rewards than anything. Just giving your life to each other can not only accomplish great things, but you will be rewarded in some way. I just want to serve someone. Make someone somthing for Christmas. Make a little necklace, or even just something as small as a card. I will probably do one of the above. For everyone who I call a friend. I just want to make someone smile. Anyone really.

I learned my freshman year football coach had ACL problems. Pray for quick recovery. We love you coach Josh!

Again, this might just be the best book I've ever picked up. Lol :D

:)won rof lla s'taht.


Love y'all.
TJ

PS Kendall Madison, I still think we need to go to Rockbridge and get some Bloo Drank just because. :)

A Thousand Miles in a Million Years

This book is really starting to capture my attention. I've read 18 chapters of it, and I am really starting to love it. I just read the part about an inciting incident, and how it affects our lives. This is really cool, I've never been so into a book before.

Well, human beings are naturally comfort seeking cowards. When we get these inciting incidents, we always want to move back into our comfort zones. I think this is awesome how I had just started moving away from my comfort zones, but still hide in them sometimes. I think this book is going to motivate me soon. In great ways.

This is truly the best book I've ever wanted to read. Well, it's the only one I've really ever wanted to read, but that's beside the point :)

Donald Miller is a literary genius.

Much love
TJ

Baby blue eyes

When I see you in the hallways, I can only smile and think to myself, "I wish she was mine". When I talk to you, my life is more fun than when I'm not. Seeing you laugh makes me smile, because laughter is a sign of happiness in any mood you're in. Seeing you smile makes my heart stop, because it's such a pretty thing to look at. You may not think your looks are amazing, but believe me, there is no one else who I'd rather see in any weather, time of day, or season than your pretty face. I know that you probably think I'm just another friend you see daily, but I wish I could be much more. I want to be the person you can bring your worries too. I want to pray with you for whatever. I just want you to be happy. I won't lie, you've probably never thought of it this way, but I want you to know, that all I really want for Christmas, is you. You're the best friend I could ask for, and I just wish I could call you mine. God will see us through whatever, I feel this is right, because I think that there is a slight flame that can be kindled to however high you want it to go. Let's make the best of these times, because there's no one else I'd rather be with

Let me just say I love you. Bye now. :)

Closer to love when Virginia is for lovers

I've seen myself falling more to the point where I have to be away from my house. Whether it's showing Christ to people, or just broin out with the guys haha. I've noticed it's easier for me to want to be uncomfortable, and when I am uncomfortable, it's easier for me to be who I am.

I've also noticed that life is way more exciting when you are uncomfortable than when you stay in comfort zones. Life is way better when you take that leap of faith, and just let God guide you through whatever. I believe that when we do take a leap of faith, we feel much more rewarded than when we let it slide by. We all love feeling accomplished, so why let it get by?

I still think if I lived my life this way, I wouldn't be on facebook all freakin' day haha. I think I would also be a little more active than I am now. It's so easy to do, but I don't do. Like it says in the Bible, what I don't want to do, I do, but what I do want to do, I don't. I think I switched the order, but you know what I mean.

It goes along with the song Lose Yourself by Eminem.
If you had one shot, or one opportunity, to sieze everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it? Or just let it slip

That's all for now.

A million years in a thousand miles

Yes, I know I switched the years and miles. I just want to see who is going to catch it before they read this :D

I started reading Don Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years a few days ago. I think it's one of the best books I've ever read. I'm only about 8 chapters through it though. I think it's awesome how Don tells the story of how they're making a movie of his book Blue Like Jazz. I think it's cool because from what the cover of the book says, it's about what he learned while "editing" his life. I love reading it

My friend  Zack also bought me Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I haven't started it yet but I will say I can't wait to. I think that it's a book that will teach me many things.

That's it. Haha, Merry Christmas.
TJ

Love, Faith, Service and Learning.

Over the past few weeks, I have learned so much about having faith in God, His promises, and just knowing that He loves us. I've posted about it before, but it's just so powerful that I can't help but put it in another post. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." I've been learning to put God first in everything I do. Whether that be sports, school, or just living life. If we put God first, everything falls into place.

This has helped me to accomplish many things. After I started really putting Christ first in my life, football became easier, my relationships became better, and everything was working perfectly. I haven't felt that good with the exception of Fall Weekend and Work Crew, in so long. There is nothing more filling than putting Christ first in your life, and letting Him do all the work inside of your broken lives.

One thing I've also started seeing is I think I'm slowly starting to like my best friend. Who that is will not be disclosed at this time, but I have been thinking about this for a few weeks. She's amazing, and yea. I just don't really know how she feels. I just think that I need to pray on it, and see where God takes me. Like I said, put Him first, all else falls into place

This is just one thing that's been on my mind recently. She's just such a great friend to me, and I love love love love talking to her. She's always got something really fun to talk about. All I really want to do is just talk with her about it, see where it goes. I can't believe I'm basically going back, but I just think there's much that I can learn with her.

God's been teaching me that I need to rely on His promises, and not the promises of other people in my life. I think that if I fully relied on His promises only, I wouldn't be having nearly as much trouble with a few things like I have been recently. God is just so loving, that He is teaching me non stop, and I love it because I can't think of a way that will be better.

I've also been taught about the impact of serving other people as an act of love for Christ, and not just because you're asked to, or to further your ownself. When you just give your life to someone when you're serving them, you'll show people the love of Christ through that, because we are the lights in the world of darkness that show Jesus' love for all of humanity. We get the joy of showing Christ to the world because Christ died for our sins, to save us. So we should give our lives to each other, to show each other the love that we so often times miss from the people we are with for most of the time that we are here on this planet.

I do ask that you pray for my time wit this girl I've found interest in. Those who want to know need only message me, but depending on who it is, you may or may not find out, for my own reasons.

I love you guys. I truly don't know what I'd do without this. Being able to put all my thoughts down is truly a blessing,
TJ

Work Crew....Better than camping??

I've just finished with my first time doing Work Crew for WyldLife campers. There were many different jobs that we could have done. It was ranging from cleaning all the dishes, to cooking the food up, to serving the food to the kids. I got the pleasure of serving the food to them. This was the job that I wanted to do, but I  was willing to do whatever I was needed to. I served 3 tables their food. 2 guys tables and 1 girls table. I must say that the girls table all around made my weekend fun. They were just so awesome, and their enthusiasm just made it easy for me to deal  with my horrible knees. I loved the messages they left me too haha. Those were the best :). I love that I got to learn a little bit about God this weekend. We had free time after lunch, so I got to go and be like a camper. Doing whatever I wanted to basically. That was NOT the highlight of the week though. I just loved being able to serve those kids and let them not have to worry about a thing all weekend. I know that some kids lives were changed this weekend. I just hope that God continues to work in them.  I also wanna say that I am glad my boys Quentin, Adam, and Dan came down to work with us. That was really a blessing in itself. I haven't seen those guys in quite a while. I can also seriously say, that I have fallen in love......with Bloo Drank. It's still the best drink in the world, no matter if you can get unlimited drank or not. We got to do work crew with some guys from Herndin(sp?) and they definitely made the time more fun that if it were just us. I made so many new friends this weekend, and I definitely know why Tanveer loved it so much. I love these guys and girls so much, and I hope I get to hang out with them  again.


Love y'all.
TJ

PS. Rockbridge is STILL my favorite place in the world

Work Crew- Fall Weekend 2010

It's official now. I have talked to everyone I needed to talk to and I am going to be on the work crew for this weekend's Fall Weekend Rockbridge goers. I'm going up there with many of my good friends, and I know that while I am there that I will meet many many more. I am very very excited for this opporunity, and I hope that everyone at Rockbridge as a camper has a great time.

I am very excited that I get to spend the weekend with some of my best and closest friends. I always have had great conversation with these guys, and I know that this weekend will probably only bring us closer to each other, and to God. I have heard stories from people who have gone to work crew, and they say that it's a life changing experience. They say the friends you meet there are the best you will ever have, and that nothing after that will break the bonds that you make there.

I want to thank Fetz, Pete, Mrs Chapman, God, and everyone else who made it possible for me to be able to go with them this weekend. I have been aching to do work crew since my friend Tanveer got back from when he did it, and told me that had an amazing time. Getting to know the people there just makes the time even better. He also said that the say so at the end of the camp time is the best feeling. I think it's because he knows that the hours of work we do, help kids have a great, worry-free time, and they know they don't have to worry about a thing.

Well, I'm excited now, and nothing is going to change that. I just hope that the looming sickness of the school doesn't catch up with me before I leave. I also want to wish everyone who is already sick that I hope that you get better soon!

Love you guys,
TJ

Tear the walls down

Campaigners tonight really opened my eyes to a cool way of life that I had been missing the past 2-3 days. As many know, there has been some very saddening events that took place recently. I've just been good at hiding the pain I've felt. I've been telling myself to keep my faith strong, which hasn't been easy in any perspective. Until tonight

The talk at Campaigners was ironically on faith. God's promises, and how faith in His promises will bless you more than anything else, ever. We also talked about the fall of the walls of Jerico. (Joshua 6:1-20). When God told Joshua to march around the city of Jerico, with trumpets blasting, the ark of the covenant with them, and the soldiers not making a sound until the 7th day, Joshua was promised by God that Jerico would become his. Joshua, having a great amount of faith in God's promise, did exactly as he was instructed, and marched for 7 days, once a day, for 6 of them, and 7 times  on the 7th day. Such a tedious task, but very worth his effort. After the last march, the trumpet players blasted even louder, and the soldiers screamed, and sure enough, the walls of Jerico came crashing down.

Unthinkable! The fact that just by having faith in God's promise, Joshua was given exactly what he was promised by God. Thing is, Joshua knew that the land there was set-apart for God. When Joshua took over the city of Jerico, he gave it right back to God. He knew that everything we own belongs first to God.
I think it's insane that one would do so much to win a city for the israelites, just to give control of that city over. He gave it to good hands though. God never once thought of blowing Joshua off. As long as we obey what God has to say, we will be blessed. Now, you would think "No way if I march around a fortress 13 times and blow trumpets, with the most holy object in the world at that time with me will the walls ever just fall down. Not even with the greatest amount of faith" Watch out, there's a double meaning.

The double meaning is this: We must go out, march around our area that we are trying to win over for Christ, and love the people who live in that area that do, and definitely the ones that do not know Him. When we speak to the ones who don't know Him, we must make sure that the words we speak are not ours, but they are His, so that we can build a relationship with them that will bring them to trust us more, and be more apt listen when we talk about our God. They will ask questions, they will want to know more about Him. It's our job, to be disciples of Christ and make Him known to the world.

Well, this is my 10 minute talk for tonight. I love you guys, and I hope that I will be able to talk to you again when I can.

With as much love as can be,
TJ

Oh love

The gift of love that we receive every day is something that we can not take for granted. All of the time that we spend living our lives, we take for granted the things that some people can honestly say they don't have. The biggest gift of love that I know is the God breathes life into us every day. He gives us the blessing of life, and even in the hard times of our lives, which everyone in the world goes through, we need to know that by just being alive that we are truly truly blessed. I know that when a lot of people go through a rough time in their lives, they like to start blaming the world or worse yet, God. They believe that God is putting them through it. I like so many others have been in those places where we think we need someone to blame for all of our problems. In reality, we tend to get very angry with someone when we have chosen to blame someone for our problems. I think that if we fully relied on God, and not rely on blaming everyone else for our own problems, then we would all be able to see that we are all truly loved and blessed. God doesn't want us to blame others for the problems that we have, so why should we? Jesus went through a lot of hardships in His life, but He never once blamed someone else for any bad mood He was in. He was tortured many times. He had every reason to blame someone for all His pain and suffering. Thing is, He wasn't suffering for His own cause. He was suffering to save each and every one of us. Because He loves us so much, that when the time came that He was hanging on the cross, people told Him if He really was the son of God, that he could get off the cross there. He didn't though, because He knew a debt had to be paid. He was thinking about all the sin in the world that there had been, was, and that would be coming into the world. He was thinking about each and every one of us when He died on the cross. He lived a perfect, blameless life. He never once sinned. He went through the same temptation, the same things we did. He knew that His father, and our father was with Him through it all. I believe that if we knew that God was with us every step of the way in any hardship that we could go through, then we would know no depression. We would know no sorrow. We would face temptation just as we all do, but we would know that God the father is watching us, and He loves us so much, that He sent His son to die for us (John 3:16).

I am mostly saying this for myself right now, because I haven't had the best week already and it's only Tuesday. I am also saying this for anyone out there who reads this that is going through any type of hardship to say: You're not alone. You have many other people in the world who go through the same things. Also, you're deeply, undeniably loved. This is the story that has helped me go through anything I have faced since I began walking with Christ with a full head of steam, and that confidence has come from knowing that I am prepared to deal with it because I have God, His son, and His spirit all on my side.
With much love,
TJ :D

Fall Weekend under official review

Fall Weekend had to be one of the best experiences of my life! There are many people who made the time at Rockbridge the best time.

One of many people who I can say are my best friends is Lauren Chapman. She is not only one of the smartest girls I know, but she knows how to put up with my seemingly endless sarcasm. She also listened to me when I had something to say, which is something I should be used to by now, but I'm just not for whatever reason. Anyway, she is just such a great friend, and I am glad to call her my sister of Christ. I hope that I can continue being friends with her for the rest of being

Another one of my many people who I consider my best friends is named Kendall Scott. She also deals with my sarcasm, though I think she just ignores it, so it's like it's not even there :). She also is able to make talking about sports fun. If we're talking about Soccer, she goes off. We talk about VT/UVA (VT>UVA :]) I'm also glad she threw that apple at my back. Though very random, I was waiting on it, and couldn't help but laugh when I saw her after throwing at me hahaha. I'm just glad that Kendall is one of my friends. I can honestly say that she is my (unbiological) sister, and I hope my friendship with her continues for eternity

Ryan Flora: Probably someone who I have grown closer as a friend to since I met him way back in whenever the heck it was. Ryan is one of those people I really don't know a lot about, but I know that will change as time goes on. I know that he is still my brother, regardless of how little I may know about him, and I hope that doesn't change.

Zack Lacy, my brother, best friend, and so much more. He has made both the trips to Rockbridge very special, not just by his endless amounts of gas, or some type of bad idea hahaha. He made it special because he has shown me so much about Christ through his love and caring for others. He also was able to give me a little fire inside of me because he knows exactly how to inspire my heart to just want to take in God's every single word. I know that my friendship with Zack will continue for forever.

My friend who I don't see much of anymore named Graham Harkey was able to make this time at Rockbridge very special, and very interesting. He told us a few things that I can not repeat to anyone, but I know that God gave him the courage to tell us of these times. I will personally say that I am very proud of Graham for doing this, because we got into a very very deep conversation with this topic, and I hope that the time at Rockbridge was able to bring him closer to God.

Needless to say, God obviously made the trip special. He is the creator of everything after all. When God sent us there, He knew exactly what He was thinking and doing. He knew that all of us were there because He wanted us to hear what He had to tell us. Though the talk was on the same thing as Summer camp was, I still think that it's a very important talk to hear, and I am glad that I was able to hear it again. God also brought one friend to me, helped me make many more friends, and bring me closer to my brothers and sisters that I already knew and loved. I thank Him for all He's done for me.

Liv Kiser was able to make the weekend at Rockbridge a very good one for me too. Starting from the bus ride up there, to the way back. On the way up to Rockbridge, Liv was having her little party session with another friend who will be in this, which was very very amusing if I say so myself. I got to hang out with Liv a little bit during camp which was really fun. I think that there will be many more times that Liv's presense in these trips will make it better for me:) I am glad to say she's my sister, and I know she and I will be friends for a while.

Jenn Vigh was one of the many first timers to Rockbridge for Younglife camp people. She too was able to make the trip fun, from start to finish. She was with Liv as they both were partying on the way up there because they were just so excited about going to Rockbridge that they couldn't contain their excitement. Which brought me and others great joy. Jenn also was with Liv when we were hanging out at camp. We just joked around with each other like we always do as if nothing had changed because really all that ever changes is the times and places of where you are with these people.

The mysterious Bloo Drank has returned. The mysteries of this amazing, yet simple drink. The Bloo Drank graced us with it's presense when we first went to Rockbridge over Summer, and when we come back in fall, without fear, Bloo Drank is able to come back to us and bring us all seemingly endless joy. This drink is just so filling that you believe that you are never going to taste anything better in your life. Thank you Bloo Drank, for showing your, well........liquid again. :)

I want to thank everyone who went and everyone who made the weekend a special time for me. I want to thank the people who helped get me there in the first place, because without them, I would not have been able to go. I Love You All so much, and I know that we will see eachother, well, everyone on here I will see tomorrow haha.

I also want to say that I can't wait to have this new opportunity. I am going to do Work  Crew for another bunch of Areas Fall Weekend. I can't wait to give these campers the best weekend of their lives. I have heard that it is a great experience, and I hope that I will make new friends, and that I will be able to just serve the kids with the best of my ability.

I love you guys. Everyone listed on here, and not listed, because I can't think of who, or why. Just know that I love you, and I will see you guys soon!
TJ