NFL
Ok, so for the last two weeks or so there hasn't been anything on espn except for nfl draft stuff. Today was the first day of the draft and I am glad that it is finally here just so they will hopefully talk about something else other than draft stuff.
So here are my thoughts so far on the draft.
Houston: Big mistake not taking Bush. He's quite possibly the best college player in years and you pass on him.
New Orleans: Of course you gotta take Bush since he's there, but I wouldn't want to play for the Saints.
Titans: Good choice with Young.
Denver: Good choice with Cutler.
Brazil Craziness
Ok...check out this guy in the lower left corner of the picture. You can just barely see his head.
So, we are standing on the street corner in downtown Porto Allegre waiting for our bus driver to come and pick us up. So we are just chillin...taking pictures, making small talk, and just kinda hangin out. All of the sudden, (i don't remember who) but one of us says "hey thomas i think this guy is talking to you". Now I had seen this guy a little earlier yelling but I had no idea he was yelling at us. I though he was just selling stuff on his corner and trying to sell things to people walking by. So thomas turns around and we see this guy charging us with a wooden crate in his hand. When thomas turned towards him the guy turned back around quickly and ran back to his corner. Now at this point we are all just kinda like "what the heck is going on". Thomas is just as confused as we are and is standing there looking at us and back at him and back at us again. About this time, i hear grant scream "thomas look out" and see the wooden crate being hurled in the air at thomas along with crazy yelling in portuguesse. The crate comes crashing down on the ground as the guy chucks a trash back in our direction. Luckily the crate did not hit anyone even though i think the trash bag may have caught either Kristi or Amy's foot. So, once again we are left standing there...in a foreign country...with a crazy Brazilian guy throwing stuff and hollering at us. All the while three police guards are standing about 30 feet away watching this unfold. A few seconds later, the guy comes running back towards us to get his crate back. Here is where the story gets a little interesting. Seeing the guy coming to get his crate back, Grant gets the brilliant idea to kick the crate away from him and try to explain in english to the guy that he can go tell the police about it but that he isn't getting his crate back. Now this never occured to me at the time but thinking back on it, this could have gotten kinda crazy. haha I mean, what is going through your head right before you kick the crate away..."i'm in brazil with a crazy guy yelling and throwing things at us and i'm going to take his crate away." yeah...great idea. haha Now of course none of this was going through my mind at the time and I'm sure it wasn't going through Grant's either. However, in the end it turned out ok. The police that had been watching for a while finally decided to come over and make the guy leave us alone. The funniest part of the story to me was that the whole time this was happining, thomas is standing there doing absolutely nothing. haha i mean, he is the only one that could mabey understand this guy and he stands ther like a confused little kid for about 10 minutes. it was really pretty funny. Well that concludes my crazy brazilian story which i may or may not have altered in any way, shape, or form.
Life Verse
"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2
"You are not your own; you were bought at a price." 1 Cor. 6:19-20
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conveit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Phil. 2:3
"Serve one another in love." Gal. 5:13-14
"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say. 'If it is the Lord's will, we ill do this or that,' ...Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." James 4:14-17
"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."
So this last week at Stumo the speaker talked about leaving an impact. This was something that I had kinda been thinking about over this last week or so. Last time I was home me and my dad were kinda talking about something like this and it was sorta stuck in my head. It got me thinking about the way that I act and the way that I go about my life.
Sometimes I feel like I don't always live my life like a person in a postition of leadership should...which is probably not good since I am going to be pursueing youth ministry. So the talk at Stumo this week was something that I needed to hear. So here are my notes from the talk...
1. Pray: "Pray without ceasing." 1Thess. 5:17
"to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Serve: "do not forget to do goodand to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Heb 13:16
-people will remember the little things that you do for them.
3. Shepherd: "be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve." 1 Peter 5:2
O livro esta na meza
So I am back from Brazil and am completely overwhelmed. The trip was so awesome I can't even put it into words or know where to even start. I love how beautiful the country of Brazil is and how friendly and open the Brazilian people are. Both times I have been i am in awe of how much the Brazilian people love us. They are so nice and are always wanting to talk to you about anything and everthing.
Ok...so where to start....? Here is a short outline of some things we did
Tuesday we arrived in Brazil and got to hang around the camp with the missionaries.
Wednesday: Hugo and Hellen needed help working on their house which they are in the middle of building. We learned how to pour a concrete floor which is a little different from the way we do it in the US. We also helped them get their hall way walls up and painted. They were so nice and awesome to hang out with. I was really glad we got to help them out and I hope it helped.
Thursday: We went into the city of Porto Allegro to talk to one of the schools. Going to the schools has always been one of my favorite things we do when we go to Brazil. It is fun to get to hang out and talk with the students and get to know them. They are so welcoming and treat us like rock stars. After visiting the school we went into downtown Porto Allegro where we had an interesting encounter, but I will write about that later.
Friday-Sunday: ENGLISH CAMP. This is the best part of the week. I love hanging out with the students and getting to know them. They are all so awesome and friendly. They are willing to be open with you and talk to you about anything. They are so fun to hang out with. I will write more about the English Camp later too.
That's all I have for now. This is just a short intro to our trip and I don't know where to begin talking about details so I will hold off for a little while until I can get my thoughts organized.
I will say this:
The country of Brazil is a place that desperately needs God. I think something like only 3% of the country is Christian and 60% of the population is under the age of 30. Spiritism is the main religion in Brazil and it is a graveyard for Christianity. The people of Brazil desperately need Christ in their life. Pray for this.
I will write more later and post some pictures.
