A Day where you truly see how blessed you are.

Every Year my family holds a charity golf tournament benefitting the Make A Wish Foundation in our Fathers Name. It is always around the same time in November about a week or so after the anniversary of my dads death.
My Dad died in a freak accident 5 years ago, something that obviously shook me to the very foundation of who i am. Coming up on the 1 year anniversary a few years back my oldest brother had the idea to hold a Golf Tournament every year to honor our Dad, the first year we had just friends and family and co workers and people who knew our Dad. About 75 people played and it was a cool experience. The next year our field grew enough that we were able to give money to a childrens hospital. The last three years we have partnered with the Make A Wish Foundation.(for those who dont know Make A Wish grants wishes for kids with Life threatening Diseases.) Its cool to play a role in being responsible for sending a kid on the ONE thing they want to do if they could.
I gotts give it up to my two older brothers they spearhead this thing and do an awesome job at it , I do a few things here and there whatever they ask me to do but its there show. The Golf Tournament week is a weird week for me , You know its been 5 years but I still Miss my Dad every day, but i have gotten to a place that i can really focus on Good Memories of my Dad and good times and not dwell on the fact that he is gone. That kinda changes for me during Tournament week, its a week where I kind of go into that dwelling on it state of mind. The Golf Tournament day is an awesome day but its also kind of a tough day in alot of ways, I hope that makes sense. There is no doubt though our Golf Tournament has become one of , if not the most important day of the year to me.
So yesterday we held the 5th annual Greg Mitchamore Memorial Tournament and man it looked like the rain was gonna get us, after years of good weather it looked like our luck had run out. Just as it started raining on us , God showed us that he was looking out for us and the sky cleared and we had a great day of golf.
My oldest brother Byron always handles the post tournament duties of speaking and thanking everyone every year. He said something this year that really rang home for while thanking everyone he mentioned that majority of people here , attend the tournament year in and year out with a good portion being there all 5 years. I got to thinking about and he is right , it is truly awesome and a blessing to see all these people show up every single year and come out and give money and show there support. The fact of the matter is in these times most people cant give and alot of just dont want to , but we are blessed with so many people in our lives that defy that and come out and allow us to be successful and brighten up the life of some kids who really need it.
I have no doubt that God has his hand on our tournament every year , I mentioned the weather , the turnout every year , bringing the same people every year. It is really cool to see the different spectrum of people out there whether its old friends of my dad or friends of mine or friends of my brothers you truly see how blessed you are when you try to do something like this and people come out to participate in force!
It's something that i am truly thankful and feel blessed to be a part of. Its also something that i feel truly thankful and am truly blessed by everyone that shows there support. I cant begin to correctly explain what it means to our family , we were blessed to have the Dad we had and we are blessed that all of you help us to do something special every year in his name.

Blessings,
Blake

Team of Destiny?????

The Texas Rangers are the 2010 American leauge West Division Champs how awesome is that??? Sure you can say but the Angels did this, but that , but the bottom line is this was our Year and we won!!!!! The baseball season is so long though do you remember just how this season started???
We began the year with our Franchise being broke, a new owner on the way but we had to go through bankruptcy court first. We were a good up and coming young team , who could have used a little more pitching but didnt have the money to go get it. WE DIDNT HAVE ANY MONEY!!!! The Rangers were so financially strapped that Major leauge Baseball was the money behind the franchise. More on the Ownership situation in a minute.
We had a superstar or so he looked like in 2008 , coming off a terrible injury riddled season, where he had an addiction relapse and just an overall bad year.
Our Manager who had done a solid job since being here , even though you could question some (or alot) of his managerial decisions. Then it comes out that during the previous season he tested positive for Cocaine???!!! Not a player OUR MANAGER!!! who has ever heard of that??? After the admission the players and the front office suprisingly stood behind him.
So lets review we entered Opening Day 2010 with :
1. Ownership situation in Flux , Team in Bankruptcy
2. Can the guy we think is our superstar rebound and prove it??
3. Manager who tests positive for Cocaine.
4. Typical Sketchy Texas Rangers pitching staff.
The Rangers started off a little slow but quickly rebounded and began to play solid ball. Same goes for Josh Hamilton our Superstar , Josh started a little slow but then began to play a level of baseball , that has never been seen before in Texas Ranger Land. He was playing Gold Glove defense in the Outfield, Running the Bases like a freight train all the while heading to .360 batting average 30 home runs and 100 rbi's. Had the injury bug not hit Josh again in September he would have been headed for 40 or more home runs and 120-130 rbi's and an all but guaranteed MVP Award. As it stands now with Josh about to return he still looks like he will win the MVP in the American Leauge.
As far as Ron Washington , He has managed a team who has been in First Place the majority of the season and kept them there. Not only are people not talking about his cocaine admission , it looks like he is headed for a multi year contract extension with a hefty raise!!!! He also looks like one of the front runners for Manager of the Year who would have thought??
The ownership situation was settled in early August, Greenberg and Ryan who agreed in January! to buy the team won the team in bankruptcy court from Mark Cuban and Jim Craine(yea Mark Cuban!!) They were able to do this all the while maintaining a top quality team on the field and making move after move to improve there team, including trading for a bonafide ACE pitcher Cliff Lee , the first time in my almost 29 years that we have had a bonafide top 5 Ace starting pitcher on the Texas Rangers. Our New owners first statement "were gonna go after Cliff Lee" trying to lock him up long term here in Texas. I cant tell you how refeshing that is to hear after years of Tom Hicks money mismanagement and 2 years of being in a top 5 market and being BANKRUPT!!!!!
So our Superstar Emerged, Our Manager was good, We got new Owners who appear to have the team headed in the right direction Basball wise and buisness wise, and we have an Ace starting pitcher.
There may be a team out there who has faced more obstacles , or had the odds more stacked against them, but i dont know of one. Are the Rangers of team of destiny this year?? Honestly I dont know I hope so!!! But even if there not I will be there every step of the way untill this ride stops. Somebody out there has to write a book about this year or make a movie or both the story is absolutely incredible!!!!! One thing is for sure Playoff Baseball is back in Texas hopefully to stay for a long long time!!!!!!!

UK CAMP UPDATE

Well I cant believe it but My time working Camps and serving with YoungLife here is over. But what an awesome time it was!!! I just got to London after being about 4 hours away at a UK Camp. This Camp was very Unique it was both a YoungLife and Wyldlife camp(wyldlife is Younglife's Middle School Ministry) but they ran seperately and concurrently , we ran 2 different camps at the same site at the same time. Which made for alot of fun and alot of hard work.
We did just about every element at a normal camp in the states except we did them all twice!!!! The only things we did with all the kids were meals and , Entertainment Night and the Opera. We did 2 Work Crew Nights , 2 Bonfires we ran 2 clubs a couple of days to be able to get all the messages in , so that meant on 3 days of the camp WE HAD 4 Clubs in a day!!!!
I worked with the Program team which are the guys who provide the comedy and actually pretty much run the entire week . I wasnt actually an upfront character but i worked kinda as the Head Sound Tech so to speak working with the work crew guys who were doing sound making sure they were prepped , knew what they were doing and putting them in a position to succeed. I also helped get leaders ready for entertainment night (which is a night where the leaders who are with kids get up and do skits and shine in front of the kids they brought). It felt really good spending my week working putting people in a place to succeed and by doing that succeeding myself. We worked really hard , I usually went to sleep from anywhere between 1:30- 3:00 am and was up by 7am every day.
There were guys there that have been on staff for the last 20 years plus and they all said that they dont know of any camp every done where Wyldlife and Younglife ran seperately at the same time. so its pretty cool to know i was apart of something possibly never been done before in Younglife's history. Just like Germany they have some great people who have given up life in the states to share the word and show God's love to the kids of the U.K. Wyldlife kids are crazy but alot of fun.
There was another cool thing about this camp , there was a group of Capernum kids there (capernum is YoungLife's Ministry to Mentally and Physically Challenged kids.) These kids were so great and it was really cool getting to love on those kids and seeing them feel so special all week. All the hardwork was rewarded at Say-So(which is YL 's invitation type thing which gives kids the opportunity to stand up and declare they accepted Christ) Out of about 110 and combined campers we had 19 !!! Kids accept Christ at the camp.
This camp was such a perfect way to end this part of my trip , It was by far the most fun i had at any Camp and probably by far the most physically taxing as well. I have met so many awesome people along the way , YoungLife is truly a family and one i definately hope to be apart of for a long time to come. It has been an amazing experience some has been hard , some has been Great , but I wouldnt trade any of it , and its something Ill definately remember for the rest of my llife.

Munich

Hey Guys,

Well Ive been in Munich since Saturday and its been awesome!!!! Munich is an old City its just a little slower and Ive really liked it here , I liked Berlin but i think i Like it here more. Im staying with some friends who are on YL staff here Jim and Terri Hale , Jim is the one who set me up with my trip.
They have been so great , they have put me up , feeding me and not excepting any money from me!! There really great people , Ill be going to the Austria and England Camps with them. There are a lot of American Staff here in Munich , which is really cool althese people have given up life in the States to come over here and spread the Word. They all have came over here and most of them have learned German and are ministering to kids here.
I have had alot of time to rest and relax this week there apartment have these crazy blinds that block out every single bit of a sun , Its like your sleeping in a Dungeon!!! I have woke up at 11 a couple of days and 12 another , Im not kidding its crazy it is so dark , you could sleep the entire day if you tried!!!!
The weather here has been phenominal!!!!! It has been about 65 degrees here every day, the hottest it has been has been 70. I put a jacket on yesterday when we got out at 2 in the afternoon on July 27th. I told Jim i think this may be the first time in my life i have put on a jacket in July!!!
We go to camp Sunday in Austria , in a 700 year old castle in the Alps , it should be amazing!!!!! I will be taking a ton of pictues that week im sure!
I got asked point blank tonight if i was ready to move over here and work here with the staff. It kind of took me off guard but its something that i might not be totally opposed to at some point. Now before any of you freak out , Im not doing it right this minute or anything and its something that would take much prayer and thought before i totally committed. But talking to Jim he made a valid point , that if its something that doesnt totally freak you out then you could do it and should think about it. Honestly
it doesnt totally freak me out , but for right now my heart is with reaching the kids of Mansfield. Even if i did commit it would probably take me a year or more to fund raise the amount of money i would need , the Hale's budget is 200,000 dollars , with the amount of traveling you do and it is very expensive over here. I dont feel thats where God wants me right now , but in the future who knows , I definately like it over here and could possibly see it , but for now like i said My heart is in Mansfield.


Miss everyone
Blake

The Best in the Game

Lately Ive been blogging about my time here in Europe. I was looking at Rangers stuff and this just kinda hit me so here it goes.......

Josh Hamilton is quite an amazing baseball player i think we all see this , he is an amazing person as well. What an amazing story he has , Growing up in North Carolina being a freaky athlete growing up , playing in 11 year old baseball leauges as a 7 year old!!! No.1 Overall Pick out of High School , Most People said would have been a first round pick as a pitcher if he would have came out as that. He was looked at as a future superstar and quite possibly a future transcendent baseball player. He could do it all , Run, Hit , Throw , Hit for Average and Power. He was without doubt what baseball people refer to as a 5 tool player.
Fast Forward a couple of years and he is quickly making his way up the minor leauge ranks then injury hits....... He falls into the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use. Goes in and out of rehab multiple times , is such an addict that he hawks his wife's wedding ring to get money to buy drugs!!!!! After Multiple years of living this way he rediscovers the Lord puts his life back together and gets to playing baseball again.
The Legend goes that he stepped out just to see if he could still play again and he completely Mashed or was hitting great. Had not touched a bat or played for over 3 years!!!

He gets back in the Majors has an ok year for the Cincinatti Reds but it gets cut short by injury. Then he is traded to the Texas Rangers.......
Being a lifelong Ranger fan and a sports geek , I knew a little about his story at least the drug side of it. I was completely unaware of his Faith though. How through shear faith in the Lord he rebuilt his life and himself , restored his relationships with family first and foremost and the Lord rewarded him by not taking away his baseball abilities.
Josh had an amazing first year here , was the media darling and the new superstar on the block. His second year injuries struck again , He had a hickup , he fell short one night and went out and had some drinks , We have all had these nights and we all sin , but his was magnified because of his status as athlete. In his third season here a new season brought new hope and kind of a chance at redemption once again.....
Josh has been nothing short of amazing this year again, Leading the Leauge in Several Categories , being close in others , playing great defense just being the superstar athlete he is. in my opinion (i admit it could be biased but i can make a pretty good case against anyone!) he is the best ALL Around player in the Game , he may not be the very best at any one thing , but His combination of Hitting both for Average and Power , his Ability to Play defense both with his Arm and the Ground he can Cover and He is a great baserunner also, always taking an extra base or getting a key steal. I think you would be hardpressed to find anyone person who has a better combination of skills than Josh.
Josh is a true testament of what can happen when giving your life truly and completely to the Lord , Sure the road may not be easy every day for the rest of your life , but if you trust in the Lord he will take care of you. I truly love the fact that a guy not just with that baseball ability but with that character and that faith plays for my Hometown Team. He is a truly a guy that realizes that he shouldnt be here but the only reason he is here is because the Lord wants him to be.
I think its really awesome to have the best player in the game on my favorite team. I think its even cooler to have such an Ambassador for Christ and what the Power of Christ can do playing for my favorite team!! Im proud to say that Josh Hamilton is without a doubt my favorite baseball player and someone i really hope to meet some day. Keep up the goodwork my man and I hope to be watching you in the stands in the playoffs in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Berlin

Hey Everyone ,

Well my time here in Berlin has came to an End. Its been a little short of 3 weeks , and 3 good ones! I got a stomach virus these last couple of days here in Berlin so that kinda sucked , but on the bright side thats all it was and after a couple of days im fine. We had 2 good camps here the first one was a lot of hard work but we had a great response from kids , parents and the school where it took place. So i think we definately planted seeds in the kids heads and set up Frank and the rest of the permanent Berlin crew with a solid footing in the communty around this school to hopefully with the Lords help start making some major strides.
The basketball camp was a lot more low key , there wasnt a lot for us to do , but News Release the people who put it on are good people and good at what they do , and through using Basketball they reach alot of people.
I cant believe it has only been 3 weeks , It feels like I have been gone from the states for a lot longer than that to me. Berlin has been cool , the people here for the most part are really nice , the City is really cool and German food NOT THAT BAD Suprisingly!!!! Im moving down to Munich today to stay with some friends for a week , then we go to the Camp in Austria. This camp may be the highlight week cause its a camp based out of a 700 year old Castle!!!!!!

Love and Miss Everyone ,
Blake

2 weeks in and counting........

I know weird picture but when i think of Germany and Baskettball i think of Dirk! Dont we all!!!!


Hey Hey,

Well we started our 2nd Camp here in Berlin. The first camp was great , I have a few new German Facebook friends and i think given some time we will have made a big impact in Kid's Lives over here!!! The rest of the Us Team left this weekend. We arent staying at the camp site this week , I have a bout an hour commute via subway and buses .
This camp is way different We arent actually running the camp , its ran by a group called News Release they are a basketball ministry. Players and a coach from the US come over and work through skills all day and there is a "power hour" which is basically YL Club and then a small group discussion which would be Cabin Time. Its pretty cool how they do it. Our Involvement is fairly low , we help out with power hour and other than that we are there for Contact Work with Kids being that i will be gone next week that makes my involvement pretty low. Its alright though Its still a good experience to see how Camps are run and how other people share the Word with kids. Got one More week here In Berlin than its on to Munich and kinda relaxing and seeing Jim and terri who are helped me get set up over here.
I thiink Ive decided this may be the last time i do this much time over here , but if i can make it happen I would like to come over here and it least work one camp a summer. Frank is a great guy and seems to have a really good thing starting here it would be a blessing and honor to help him every year keep it going and make it better. I told him that i think in the year between possibly coming back I think i am gonna try to learn a little German that way i can either speak a little or possibly understand it and be able to read it . Im getting to where i can read a little now already.
One of the really cool underlying Blessings to doing this was this past week , the people we worked with were some really great people from different parts of Texas , a couple of which i think will go onto to be friends long past this camp and even if we dont ever work together again. Some good guys One Youth Pastor of a church in Georgetown and two lead pastors of Churches in Georgetown and Killeen as well as my musician for the week. i expected the experience from working the kids , getting to know Frank and the other people who will be here has been good to . The added experience was un expected and really cool. Well i guess thats all ive got for now , Its weird I left two weeks ago today but it feels like Ive been gone longer than that already!!!

Love Everyone,
Blake

Its hard to believe its only been a week ive been gone , it seems like longer than that already!! Well i guess i shouldnt have been excited about coming over here for the weather. Cause it has been INCREDIBLY HOT HERE!!! It has been over a 100 here the last three days. Frank our Team leader said that with the Heat Index in the City it felt like 115!!!!! Guess where were at the CITY!!!!!!! When you mix doing alot of walking and riding subways with NO AC and the Fact that most of the buildings here have no AC , were staying in a school with none , it has made for some pretty miserable sweaty days!!! Never has showering before going to bed felt so good!!!! From the heat and all the sweating Ive battled a little dehydration even though i think i drank 3 or 4 liter bottle of waters yesterday, I have some problems with cramping and stuff , but other than that Im good.
Other than the heat Berlin is a really cool city , One i would strongly suggest visiting if ever having the chance. A couple of days ago we went by and saw one of the last standing peices of the Berlin wall and you can see the line that seperated East and West Germany , its right in the Heart of what is now Downtown Berlin. Toward the end of the week were supposed to visit a Concentration Camp which should be a cool experience. Ir is such an experience to be in this totally different culture and style of living , It makes you really wonder why we do some of the things we do back home . Now saying that I wouldnt give up my AC and you might could talk me into a Subway as long as there was a station by my house and you didnt have to walk 3 miles to the station like you do some places here!!
The Rest of the American Team got here this past weekend , there some really cool and good people , from Two different areas of texas. One a group from a church and the other is a family(talk more about them in a minute). I cant lie a little bit of Home sickness or feeling alone has set in , I have never once doubted why the Lord put it on my heart to come over here or that I want to be here , but its hard not to feel kinda like the loner or the outcast when everyone else has relationships. THey are great people they dont do anything to make me feel that way and we all get along great but The Two groups know each other , Frank has his family here , and they have more of a realtionship with Frank than I. Its alright though I know hy God has me over here , so Im fine with that.
The Mcmurray Family from Temple is here and its a Dad Mom and there three kids 13,12,9. Dave the dad is a youth pastor , but i think its really cool that he and Autumn his wife brought there kids with em . It should be a cool experience for the kids as well as a family bonding experience. That they can share for a lifetime , I think that for those of you that have kids and have ever thought about doing any kind of mission trip or anything as a family you should. I know after seeing them , Its something I would like to do some day.
Along with the people from Texas are another American Couple Brian and Joella who are my age and are good people, they are actually Young Life Internation Interns and have committed to spending 3 years in Berlin with Frank doing YoungLife here and there open to possibly permanently moving here.
Camp has been going here for a couple of days and going well, My YL Clubs have been going pretty well , which makes me feel good cause it was something i was definately nervous and worried about coming over here! THe messages are given in German so its a little dissapointing for the rest of the Team cause we dont know what's being said , but Obviously were not what its about . Its still school to see God;s word being spoke even though you dont understand it , cause you know at least a general idea of what he is talking about and you can look around and watch the room and see the kids listening. We have been told here that kids here have a real fear of being "converted" but the Lord still gets there attention.
The best way i can describe what were doing , is it would be like for the YLer's on this email or those of you with Church Ministry is if you completely designed , funded and organized your own YL Camp or Church Camp and thats kind of what youre doing to get your area or church started. Its really cool , doing this over here kind of takes me back to our first year or two in Mansfield where we were just planting seeds , 5 years later were still planting seeds but there starting to bloom!! Im sure they will here to.
Ill try to send another email out toward the end of the week after this Camp has closed before we begin next week's camp. I miss of all of you!!

Love,
Blake

Update 7/9/2010

Well its been a couple of more days and ive had some fun with people here as well as some time by myself. The German people are all for the most part really nice , most of em speak at least enough english where you can communicate with em. Its weird though they choose not to speak English untill you ask em if they can. I was alone last night and ventured out down to a restaurant and ate dinner , they set up tables in a weird way on the patio , theyre set up where you are facing the street , so if youre with another person you sit side by side facing the street looking at people walking by.
Its funny ive always been the type of person that feels like" if they cant speak the language they dont need to be here" and what do i need to know how to speak spanish or anything else for. Most people here know three or more languages they are fluent in german and french or itatlian and most of know english well enough to speak it some , some speak it very well.
We did some prep work today , which required me riding the subway again across Berlin to meet people , On the Subway i encountered a guy playing a guitar and this woodwind pipe singing something in german. Subways are an interesting experience people get on off dont speak to each other . i did alot of walking today , probably had a 2-3 mile walk to catch this certain train i needed and then a 2-3 mile walk back to my hotel. I can use , and my back held up alot more better than i thought it would , it was bothering me a bit toward the end,. Im back in the hotel now and I am worn out!!!!!!! Still kinda struggling with sleep i have woken up at 4-4:30 am every day , the first night wasnt a big deal i went to sleep at 10pm , the last two days i have only slept 4-5 hours a night. Still kinda feeling dehydrated but that could be from the walking .
We go into camp tommorrow and Im not sure if we will have internet at the school or not , So it could be a week or so till i can write again.

Berlin Day 1 and 2

Well Ive been here for a couple of days now , This might be kinda long but we go into Camp here in 2 days so it may be a few days till i send another one so here ya go!
I arrived here on Tuesday night about 6:45 , Im sure you can get it caught in Customs but i made it through customs in both England and Germany in a combined 20 minutes. One of the guys picked me up at the aiport , and we took a cab to where im staying , Mercedes's ,BMW'S, Volkswagon's are a dime a dozen here , we ended up taking a normal cab , but I have never seen a Benz or BMW Cab and i bet i saw 50 coming out of the airport. The City of Berlin is cool , its just really different , it really looks nothing like any city ive ever seen not being , out of the states other than to mexico before. All the cars are the same , there some kind of sedan of a car made over here.
My hotel is a holiday inn , its pretty nice but the room is TINY!! Ive got a couple of pics of it , I mean it is a bathroom , a bed and a desk and thats about it!!! The bed is weird its a queen or full size bed but its made out of two twin mattresses , It aint very comfortable. Either getting used to the time or the bed , I have woke up at 4 and 5 am both days , right now its 10 till 6am. Hopefully here in the next day or two i will be able to at least sleep till 7 or 8 am .
Went to Dinner here with some YoungLife people and that was interesting , Most People here speak a little bit of english , so you can communicate and they have a menu printed in english. We went to a restaurant and i ordered a grilled chicken breast , IT WAS TINY!!!! and served with French Fries , but almost everything on the Menu was served with Fries. Having water with your meal is like anything else here so most people order drinks with there out , because they charge you for water and they serve you carbonated water , which is just weird.
Yesterday i went and walked around some , i stayed fairly close to my hotel , just kinda so i was sure where i was! Its a really different feeling to be in a place where you cant read most things on the store fronts , or the street signs , I had two random people come out and get in my face speaking German , all i could so was look confused and say sorry.
Last night I experimented with the Subway system , which Ive never been in a city where ive had to do that before either. They gave me pretty strait forward directions so it was easy to follow , i just had to be able to read what i wrote down. The subway system is interesting , I payed 3.50 cents and rode like 5 different trains probably an hour's worth and thats all you pay. You have to get a certain kind of ticket or they fine you like 50 dollars if your caught on the train with the wrong ticket.
We went and watched the Semifinal World Cup Game that Germany was playing in last night at the apartment of some of the volunteer YL leaders here , watching Soccer with people that really love it , Im a soccer fan but they treat Soccer like we treat Football at home , theyre yelling at the TV they all know the game. It was weird sitting in a room and not knowing what anyone was saying , its kind of an unnerving experience. A couple of spoke english and i talked some to them , it turned out that a couple of more them spoke english and they speak dang near perfect english , two of em ended up driving me back to my hotel about a 20 minute drive and we talked the whole way , there really nice people. We ate i guess what would be the equivalent of Microwave Pizza over there that wasnt bad , it was pretty much like it was at home , there was one noticeable difference though , A pepperoni Pizza has one big peice of Pepperoni on each peice instead of little ones all over the peice.
I have kinda felt dehydrated the last few days , and it kinda started to click last night , i think its because at home were so used to Gigantic size drinks and free refills and over here everything is way smaller , last night everyone was drinking out of cups that would be considered childrens cups there. The other thing is i think you might have to ask for Ice , i drank Sprite with no ice at room temperature last night , wasnt my favorite but 15 other people were doing it so i did it to.
You walk every where here , which will be good for me , but its a little tough to get used to , last night i walked probably a mile to the subway and then getting off the subway probably a mile to there apartment.
Its really weird Im in a place where Ive met a couple of people , but I really KNOW no one , i dont know the language , it feels really weird to think how far i am away from home , but its ok , I know what im over here for and if i gotta feel a little like a fish out of water , Im ok with that . We go to camp soon

Berlin Day 1

I arrived in Berlin today and MY OHH MY HOW DIFFERENT IT IS!!!! The first thing i noticed right off the bat besides not being able to read anything!!! Is the Architecture , Things are built incredibly different , From Houses to Downtown Area to Hotel Rooms. My hotel room is tiny!!!!
Second Mercedes , BMW's , Audi's , Volkswagons are a dime a dozen over here , I have never seen a Mercedes or BMW Taxi before , well ive seen about 50 NOW!!!!!!
Restaurants are weird , you just walk in seat yourself and then you have to grab your waitress to pay the bill. You have to pay for water over here!!! But you only have to tip 10 percent!
Got a couple of days to chill , get accustomed to the time change , and do some work and Get Accustomed to Germany! More to Come

Something Truly Special

I think there are only a few times in life that your blessed to know that you have been a part of something truly special. Something that truly impacts peoples lives. 5 years ago i was blessed to be become a part of something that is just that truly special. There have been alot of occurences over the years when i felt that way , Last night was defiantely one of them.
What a powerful night to see the holy spirit move in peoples lives is why I put the time and energy into this. There are kids who you dont speak to other than introducing yourself to them and a few "hey man how are you's?" But You know that your apart of the thing that has changed there lives forever.
You get the opportunity over the years to see kids grow from "little freshman" who arent sure about alot of stuff , to confident Seniors and UpperClassmen who arent afraid to take on the world and arent afraid to stand up for what they believe in. I am personally so jealous of some of these kids , I look back and say Man i wish i could have been like these guys , I wish i would have had the Spirtual Integrity to be the kinda person i should and not fall prey to the pressure of High School. Our kids are so amazing and it makes you feel so blessed even if you dont really have any direct impact on the kids , you know that youre apart of something that has had a major impact on there lives. What a blessing ...........
Another special thing this year is we are seeing new kids , accepting christ which is so amazing to see , you get to see and experience the pure emotion that comes with finally realzing that i have a purpose in life , that what these people are telling me is true.
I dont believe you can be involved in this ministry , without feeling like you are apart of something very special. It has changed my life so much and filled me with so many memories that i will never forget . I have my purpose in life it is to make sure that high school kids know the good news and know about Jesus. Im not really one to share my feelings but I truly love our students and am very thankful to be a part of there lives.

WORLD TRAVELIN!!!!!!

It's funny I never had alot of desire to do the whole traveling to europe thing growing up. Even as i got to the age to where i could do it without parents still never really was for me. We always went on family vacations to beach type places whether it be florida or mexico. I can honestly say even up untill about a year ago still had absolutely no desire to do it.
Over the last few months though that has changed , around last summer after coming home from camp with our YL kids i felt a strong desire to start seeking out ways to work with Younglife not just in Mansfield . There are ways to go to work at camps and that would be awesome , not here to try to demean that. I started to think it would be awesome to go overseas and see European kids not only take in Younglife but to see them find the lord.
Through some conversations with a friend and a YL contact i now have that opportunity in front of me!!!! I will be leaving in July and bouncing to a couple of different countries , doing what i love to do , Hanging out with Kids , making em feel special and helping em to find the lord. It is gonna be so awesome and i cant wait !!! It is a incredbile opportunity and i am so thankful for it. It should be a blast , a learing experience , a spirtual experience , I think it may be safe to say it may be the best experience of my life. To all those who have played a role in helping me get here thank you!!!
Like Erik said who knows maybe I'll go over there and love it and become a EUROPEAN!!!! Doubt it but hey Never say Never!!!!

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

I'm gonna start this by saying I am 100% a member of Team CoCo and have been from the beginning. I have always thought Conan was hilarious and when it came time for him to host the Tonight Show i thought it was awesome. With that being said obviously i was pissed when it came out that he was getting screwed over by NBC. Now lets lay the facts out 1. I have heard that Conan's ratings at 10:30 were HORRIBLE!!!!! 2.Jay Leno's ratings at 9:00 were terrible 3. and I have absolutely no idea what goes on NBC , Conan could be a complete jerk , but i dont get that opinion.
So about 2 or 3 weeks ago it came out that NBC was getting desperate and looking to shift Jay to 10:30 or 11:30 on the east coast and Conan to 11:05 or 12:05 on the east coast. So essentially changing the Tonight Show to the Tommorrow Show. Its the TONIGHT SHOW!!!!!!!!!! If there is one television show you have heard of its the FREAKING TONIGHT SHOW!!!!!! So Conan realizing this and B that he had only been given 7 months said I wont do it. I lay most of the blame at Jay Leno's feet , Jay could ride off into the sunset he could do standup and go off of tv. Lets not get it twisted though The blame lies with NBC . NBC was the NETWORK! 10 years ago , now they hang there hats on the OFFICE , The Today Show , THe TOnight SHow(or at least they used to) and thats it pretty much all there other shows are crap. They made there decision and it eventually came down COCO out Leno back in at the Tonight SHow. Conan over the last two weeks has put up some of if not his best shows in the 7 months , all his monologues were hilarious ,taking shots at Jay , NBC etc. He brought back some characters that im pretty sure may not have been allowed at 10:30
Last night was Conan's final tonight show , and i expected alot of the same NBC jokes maybe a rant who knows. I was truly impressed with what we found , he did some jokes , but towards the end of the show Conan made a final statement . He thanked NBC for getting him to the place he is now , He worked for them for 20 years went from a nobody SNL writer to his dream job the Host of the Tonight Show. He recognized that he was absolutely a very lucky guy.He knows that no matter what he was host of the tonight show , and it doesnt matter whether he hosted it for 70 years or 7 months , he made it to the pinnacle of his career. It was just a very classy way to go out and i left last night being an even bigger Conan fan than i was before.
This is something we could all do , everyone gets breaks in life some are good , some are bad , but you cant let the bad breaks change or jade you , and Conan was able to do that. I think we can all take a page from Conan in this . If you get even a short opportunity to do something you love or youre dream job , be thankful for that and not bitter because you are luckier than most of the people out there.
So thank you Conan , cant wait to see you again in september or soon after.

To leave or not to Leave

The Coaching Industry is a funny one , Its definately a industry or Job in which most of the guys motto is Look out for no. 1. You take a guy like Lane Kiffin , now no doubt he upgraded jobs, going from Tennessee to USC definate upgrade. The fact remains though pretty much one year ago exactly we were watching Lane accept the Volunteers Job. He made some improvements but how does 7-6 in the SEC land you the one of I'd say top 5 jobs in the Nation. Well he was there during the Heyday and it doesnt help that his Dad Monte is one of the best defensive minds to maybe ever coach football!.
I personally like Lane he reminds me alot of a young Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer when he was coming up a few years ago. I know he hasnt proved much as a Head Coach but the guy has to have some talent or inginuity as a coach. Maybe he is just a guy who obviously knows how to sell himself to people because at the age of 34 he has been an Offensvie Coordinator for USC and now the head coach of the Oakland Raiders , Tennessee Volunteeers , and USC Trojans now. The guy has to have something pretty special. The fact still remains you can make an argument he has no loyalty he is just out for the paycheck.I think his heart has always been at USC or he wouldnt have gone back to a school facing NCAA sanctions , when he already had a great job at the Univeristy of Tennessee.
There is alot to be said for a guy like Gary Patterson who is a fantastic coach and seems to be content where he is , granted TCU is a good job , but its a mid major a small private school . But Gary has turned them into a legitimate Top 10 program year in year out. Gary has had the opportunity to interview for jobs such as Kansas St , Notre Dame , Tennessee but turns them all down to stay at TCU. Now apparently Gary has a pretty sweet situation for himself in Fort Worth. But i mean really can u really stay at TCU when one of the big dogs come calling? Apparently Gary values loyalty more than others.
There are guys out there lIke Will Muschamp who has a contract in hand to make 1 million dollars to be the defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting for the University of Texas. Now im biast because Im a UT Fan but i love the fact that he wants to stay cause i think he will make a fantatstic head coach one day. Here is a guy smart enough to realize that he may be in line to take 1 of the top 3 jobs in the country in 5 years where he will be the head coach in his early 40's . He turned down a chance to interview for Notre Dame and turned down a 3 million dollar a year offer from the Volunteers. He may do it out of loyalty but is smart enough to know that he is in position to have a fantastic job.
That brings me finally to Mike Riley , he is the head coach at Oregon St a good job- not a great job but they love him and he apparently loves it there. USC came calling and he signed an extension for 9 more years through 2019! I guess the man knows where he is and loves it and is happy to stay. I applaud him for that , i dont know that i could personally do that but hey i think that is really cool of riley.
The Coaching buisness is something i felt like i woudl be a part of for a long time and still have a want to possibly do it sometime , but its a buisness where you definately have to be willing to do a few things 1. look out for yourself. 2. be prepared to pick up and move at a moments notice. 3.Watch youre back if youre not winning games left and right be prepared to be looking for work. Because of those things , it has turned into an extremely lucrative buisness, Mack Brown makes 5 mil a year , Lane Kiffin who has not even been successful as a head coach yet makes 3.5 , Pete Carroll who has been successful at the college level makes 7 mil a year now as a pro head coach. I guess when it all comes down to it what means more to you being loyal and turning a job into youre dream job, or looking out for yourself getting that next big paycheck and hoping for success! There are guys that do it both ways and are successful in both. Which one would you be?

Whats my mark?

Something i have been thinking about the last couple of days and I dont know why. If i was to die tommorrow , What Mark have i left on this world and the people i was around. I havent done anything great career wise , not married , dont have kids (im suddenly getting sad). Id like to think i have been a pretty decent son , and a decent brother and family member. Ive tried to be a good friend sometimes ive failed at that. The question still remains have i done anything to really leave a mark on this world? Ive recently begun reading a book called Do Something! and it tells storys about people leaving there marks. That may have been what sparked this thought process in my head.
When i think about this there is one area where i think my mark can be seriously made and i may have begun to do this already. That of course is Younglife.


This is where i feel like my mark is being made and can be made showing kids what took me 18 years to learn , that without Jesus in my life i am nothing. That is something that even though i accepted him when i was 18 dont know that i properly understood untill maybe just a couple of years ago. Younglife gives me such a sense of purpose and a sense i am doing what i am supposed to be doing. If you would have told me 4 years ago i would be dying to get done with christmas break so i could get back to spending my nights hanging out at high school sports or mondays at younglife i would have told you , you were crazy .I would have never though at 21-22 that when i was heading towards the age of 30 that my i would be trying to forge relationships with high schoool students. It's such a funny world in that way , we dont know when or where were gonna find our life's passion some people find at a young age some find it older. But when you find it you hold onto it and now i know i have found my where my mark is supposed to be made , Now its just a matter of figuring how to make it and making it as long lasting as possible.