Good Morning

I dont have much to say right now, but I will give you an update. 5 days until I am a Full Time Youth Pastor. :) It must be official because I get a Credit Card. That is very exciting, but the word caution keeps being said around me. :)

I ran into a scare last night to. I talked with JAM (Jackson Area Ministry) where we are doing our Senior High Missions and they didn't have us on the calendar or anything. Luckily, that week, was available and I got us scheduled. We will be going to Meigs County.

I have learned something. I am already an anxious person, my mind runs a mile a minute, however I am a very laid back person, it takes alot to upset me. I wasn't really worried about Missions and not hearing something back from JAM because I knew God would provide. There are some things in life that are just not worth getting upset about or losing your 'cool.' Now when I say that, I would be lying to tell you I never lose my cool. I have my struggles with letting little things bother me. I also know that God will provide and take care of me. He gives us Blessings in Disguise. (I just a wrote a paper on this)

Take today, and take it moment by moment. Dont worry about all you have to get done, focus on the first thing then the second then the third and continue this process. Our God is so good and he loves you so much. Spend more time dancing in His Love, and less time going through the routine.

Memorial Day Weekend

What a weekend. My roommates and I hung out and that was a blast. We cooked out yesterday, and mmm that was delicious. I am sitting in class, waiting for another 9 days when I am done.

I have a Final tomorrow and Thursday, a speech next Monday and a Final next Wednesday. Almost done. Better yet, 6 days and I become a full time employee at Northwest UMC as Youth Pastor.

We have some exciting things in store, including mixing things up again. If you know me, you know routine kills me.

Bring It!

Recycling

All I can say is WOW! Let me just tell you, I took all the recycables from this last week over to Sims Recycling, and we had so much stuff it filled the WHOLE ENTIRE church van. It took me a good half hour to load it all up, and a good hour to seperate them all into bins at the recycling center. When it comes to the aluminum we had 54 pounds this week. We had 22 pounds last week. To date we have made $26.60 for the Habitat for Humanity.

I must admit when we started this, I didn't think Northwest would get into it, but I was so wrong, and you know what I am SO GLAD I was wrong.

Thursday Afternoon

Wow, it is hot again. I am so excited. This weather makes me think of camp though, and I must admit that I am sad I will not be going back this summer, however, my alternative is so much cooler. the haven will be rockin` this summer.

So I had Yoga this morning. Whoever says that Yoga is easy, I will beg to differ. My arms and abs were burning today after class. I am getting stronger. hahaha. Oh how I wish that was true.

So you know the Bible talks about working out right? Back in the day, they didnt have Yoga, but they would pick up big rocks and throw them. Now unfortunately, normally at people, but what a great game of Dodgeball that would be. :)

That is just a random thought that popped in my head.

Wednesday Night

So, I am sitting in my bed, about to start some homework which I will be up for the few hours finishing, and I am not starting until now because my family went out to eat at P.F. Changs for my sisters 27th Birthday. Let me just say, I am blessed by my family. I will not share what was our discussions throughout the night mainly because you would think we are dysfunctional. I'll put it this way, if you know my sense of humor, I get it from somewhere. ;)

It was such a great night and with Dad now a District Superindant we barely see them especially because they live in The Plains. God has blessed me with two great families. My actual family, and my church family. Isn't it great to have two families? It is such a great feeling to know that you are loved by multiple people.

I am saying all of this because you need your family, like it or not. They help you grow, even if it was a negative experience in your life you can grow from it. I would not be the Young Man I am today with the love and support of my parents.

I was laughing tonight because we were in Fossil looking at watches, but the watch I want is a Miami Dolphins watch which is exactly like my dads. The cars I am out looking at to buy is the same model that my dad drives. My profession is exactly the same my dad took when he was my age. *Note: I don't want to be a DS though* In other words, I am blessed to have a great dad and I see it as a good thing that I want to be just like him.

God Bless,

Goodnight

Wednesday May 20th

Goodmorning.

Last night I went to a Memorial Service for Elijah Lee Albert Glenn Hamm. He was born on April 27th at 4 AM and passed away April 28th at 11 AM. He battled for 31 hours. He was born to Adam and Megan Hamm whom are two of my very best friends in the world. It was a great service, and I had no idea what to expect because I had never been to a memorial service like this.

Though this was a horrible situation that occured with Elijah passing away, let me tell you that in those 31 hours, Elijah changed many lives. He brought families together, he had dozens of churches praying for him, and he brought his mommy and daddy closer together. WOW! I know that is not the word many would use after this type of thing happens, but that is all I can say. The beauty of God's hand is truly at work. He took a sick baby and changed the world with him. Now Elijah is perfect and in heaven with our Lord and Savior. He is most likely in Jesus' arms being carried as he walks on the golden paths of heaven.

Do not doubt what God can do in the moments of our despair. I promise you He can take any situation: good and bad and make them great.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job 1:21

Bagels

So bagels are so good. I mean they have all kinds of flavors including chocolate chip, which is what I had today. Bagels are a good breakfast food, and they provide us with some necessary grains for our lives. Did you know that bagels make a great analogy of our lives as a Christian? I think bagels show a great example of how we should be. I mean, not that we should be round and be toasted, but bagels are normally soft on the inside and hard on the outside. At this point many of you might think “is he saying we should be hard on the outside?” I am, but hear me out! God calls us to be full of love, loyalty, honesty, charisma, and those usual good traits. On the inside of us, we need to full of those, we need to be full of love, and be soft and caring as a Christian. We have to be careful though, because when we open up to others and care for others, we become vulnerable and open to temptation. This is where the outside being hard on a bagel is a good thing. We need to be thick-skinned per say in that we don’t allow ourselves to be tempted. Those things that tempt us will find you, in the moment that we are our weakest. Maybe it’s cheating on a test, cheating on your spouse, maybe its lust, maybe its greed, maybe its pornography, maybe its conceitedness. You get the point. When that is what our inside is full of, we cannot be successful at being disciples of God. We send out the wrong message. We need to be thick-skinned to block out the temptation. Jesus was a bagel. A good one I might add. He was full of love, compassion, and so much more and when he was tempted by Satan, he was able to say no because he had thick-skin. The devil tempted him three times, and all three times, Jesus said no, finally telling Satan to be gone. Jesus is a great example of what it means to be a bagel for God. I know that sounds weird, but it’s the truth.

If we want to show others what it means to be a God-follower and spread the good news to those who don’t know it, we need to block out the bad and allow the good to enter us. It doesn’t matter what flavor bagel you choose to be as long as you are a bagel and you allow God to enter into your life and be full of love on the inside and block out the devil and say “be gone.”

Sunglasses

Open Mic: Ok so I am going to try Sunglasses today: This is the part that I will make up on the spot something biblical with sunglasses. So, what do sunglasses do? We wear them to protect our eyes from UV Rays, and the block out the sun light. On a bright sunny day, it is hard to see things. Luckily, sunglasses allow us to see without being blinded. Do we put on sunglasses in our spiritual life? I mean light is seen as a good thing, and dark is a bad thing. But do we put on sunglasses knowing that we are blocking out Jesus. I mean think about it, if light is good, if light is Jesus, and we put on this sunglasses in our lives we are blocking the good, and allowing the evil. In our real life sunglasses protect us from the light but in our spiritual life sunglasses can't protect us, the only thing that can is Jesus who is the light. When we put on our spiritual sunglasses it is like telling Jesus we don't want you right now. Maybe we do it because we have
sinned or we want to continue to sin but dont want to feel guilty. That is very common.
In our lives it is okay to wear sunglasses, but in our spiritual life we need to delight in the light and know that God is our protector from all things, not just UV Rays.

If Saul had spiritual sunglasses on when Jesus approached him, would we have Christianity that we know it today. If you don't know, Saul was blinded by the light that Jesus brought with him, but through that experience Saul transformed into Paul because he saw truth in that light. If he wore his sunglasses, he would not have seen the truth in Jesus and would not have transformed. The majority of the New Testament was written by Paul

When it comes to Jesus, take off your sunglasses and look deep into the light because when you do, you will be changed radically, and the person you will become will be someone that can change the world.

Gushers?

open Mic: I want to talk to you about Gushers today. So I absolutely enjoy Gushers. They are so good, and they never disappoint me. :) Have you ever wondered how Gushers can be related to our lives as Christians? Well here is my attempt off the top of my head. So as you probably know, that Gushers are a gummy treat with a gooey goodness in the middle. In a way that is our life right? We may not be a gummy treat (unless you are kissing people - but you didn't hear that from me :)), but the thing about Gushers is that the best part isn't the outside but what's in the inside. Wait a minute that sounds so familiar. God gave us a heart for a reason. David who has the heart after God's own heart shows us that. God didn't choose him from the outside, his hotness, his sexiness, his money, NO! he chose him because of his heart. He chose him for what was in the inside. I know I choose Gushers because of the inside, and we know that God does too. We need to recheck what our hearts are saying to others, are they open to others, are they loving others? We may not be Gushers, but our inside should be the gooey goodness and share the love that God has given us to everyone else.

The Whopper Sandwich

So I was thinking about something today, and what could I write to tie God to food, because I like this Food/God thing. Then it hit me, so lets see what I can do.
Today's Word is Whopper.
Have you ever had a whopper? If not that is ok. So I was thinking what if we were a hamburger, just a hamburger on a bun with nothing else. That is a boring life, there is no pizzazz, there is no color, just boring old patty on a bun. See I believe that is what our lives are like when we have a life without God. Our lives are boring, flavorless, bland. Who wants that? I want a life that is full of flavor, full of goodness, and that is exactly what God gives us. He makes us with so many toppings. With God in our lives we have Hope, Love, Faith, Grace, Forgiveness, Peace, and Joy. With those in our lives we have a life that is flavorful, worth living. The Whopper is not just a sandwhich that is a patty and a bun it has, lettuce, mayo, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup, and mustard on top of the Hamburger. God has done the same thing in our lives. He takes Hope (Lettuce) and puts it in our lives. He cuts up some slices of Faith (Tomato) and puts it in our lives. He puts a couple of pieces of joy in our lives (pickles) - however a couple of pieces of God's Joy lasts forever. He takes the onions which normally make us cry, and fills us with peace and puts that in our life. He pours out Forgiveness (Ketchup) on us. As well as pouring out Grace (Mustard) on us. Lastly, he SMOTHERS us with Love (Mayo). God gave us a full life, one that is full of life and flavor. I challenge you to choose the Whopper over the plain hamburger.

Pasta

So to start this one off, I have a verse for you.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

So pasta is a meal that is very high in carbs, there is a study that 82% of runners that have a high carb meal before running can last longer. I believe that is true. I believe that if you eat more carbs you can do this. Well pasta is a great source of carbs. Did you know that approximately 45-65 percent of calories should come from carbohydrates. That is pretty much half of food intake then. That shows you how important carbs are. God calls us to run the good race and fight the good fight. Well in a spiritual sense, carbs don't do a thing for us when it comes to running. However, what if God was the pasta and he was the carbs to our spiritual fullness? How can we run the race and fight the good fight without God keeping us going. Maybe we would last about a week maybe 2, but eventually you would lose energy. We need some kind of carb to help us keep going. In my book the best carb is God. He is always keeping us nourished and he gives us that push when we feel we can't continue.

We need carbs in our daily diet but I challenge you to pick the carb that won't be found in nutrition books, this carb can be found in the Bible.

Spinach

Is God spinach?
I say this because we know that Spinach is good for us, yet we don't like it, we don't want to eat it. People won't even try it. I always say you should try something before you knock it. God is great in our lives, but sometimes we see him as spinach, because we know that he is good for us, but we still don't have him in our daily diet. Spinach is very high in so many vitamins and minerals. Including Iron, Vitamins A, C, E, K, even a good source in protein. Why wouldn't we want to eat Spinach, it is so healthy for us. A little bit of spinach can go a long way. But don't people deny God everyday even though we know he is good for us. He may not be a good source of Vitamins and Minerals, but he is very high in love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and salvation. Those are things that our body needs too, even though the RDA doesn't include it. God is essential in our lives, and better yet, he doesn't taste bad. God is like spinach in the aspect that people treat God like spinach, but the great thing about God is, he is better than Spinach, and works even more miracles than spinach can, and God doesn't taste like spinach.

Maybe a good example is Pop-Eye. A normal man with normal strength, but when you add the spinach to his life, he is a powerful man. Isn't that just like our lives? We are all normal Joe's (not the plumber) and without God (spinach) we are nobodies. However, you add God (spinach) and you have exponential possibilities. 
The story of Samson in Judges sounds similar. He is a man with God and had super strength, but when he was no t with God he had the same strength as me, and as we all know that is pretty much NONE. I know in my life, my strength with God in my diet isn't my body build or how big my muscles are, my strengths with God in my diet is something completely different. God in our diets will do amazing things. 

So...
I encourage you to give God a try. Don't just assume that he isn't there for you. Don't treat God like Spinach. God wants us all to give him a try. He knows by doing that, you won't want to go back to normal life.

Pepperoni Pizza

So today's word is Pepperoni Pizza. I am making one for dinner and it was on my mind, plus in class the other day I found out it is one of the foods that provides the most Sodium for our body. Crazy huh? However, I have a point with this. Have you ever realized how good pizza is? I mean it is great. It tastes good, smells good, mmmmmm. You take some dough, and it becomes a crust, you add some sauce, cheese, and pepperoni (or add your own meat) and it creates a delicious meal. Did you know God can be like Pizza? God is always good for us, I would imagine if God was in edible form, he would be SO GOOD! Also, sometimes Pizza can be messy to make, you have sauce everywhere, cheese all over the countertop and floor, and a mess is created. However, our lives are often messy, and its not cheese or sauce that makes it that way, its our everyday lives, our drama, our lies, or sins, but God can transform that messiness, by carrying us. He would be the crust to our Pizza. He is a place for us to belong to. When you add that crust it no longer is just our sins, and what not, it creates something. It creates a Pizza where our sins are forgiven, and all that matters is our lives are now filling, and good, and thats because we add God to the 'mix'. Without the crust (God) our lives would be messy and nasty (sins), but God can take those sins and that mess and clean it up and make some that is so good... Pizza (Forgiveness).

Silly Putty

Silly Putty for God
So when was the last time you played with Silly Putty? Believe it or not I played with it today while I was in class! It is an interesting thing this Silly Putty. Nothing special, but provides us with hours and hours of fun. What if we were like Silly Putty? I mean what if we were Silly Putty for God? As you know if you take Silly Putty and stick it to a Newspaper or a Comic Book it will copy the Newspaper and Comic Book. So let’s say we are Silly Putty and we want to copy something. Not something like a Newspaper or a Superman Comic book, how about copying God. God has a life for us that nothing else compares to. He wants to Mold Us. My life is far from perfect and maybe you can relate with me on that, but I also know that when I give my life 100% to God, I will be molded into something unbelievable. Look at David; he was molded into a warrior that defeated a Giant named Goliath. There is Josiah, who was molded into a King when he was just 8 years old. Even better, how about Mary who was molded into the Mother of Jesus Christ. There are so many possibilities with God, they are endless. When we allow God to Mold us, our lives will no longer be like a rollercoaster. We may still have our ups and downs, but with God sharing the cart with us, it is an adventure, not something to make your stomach turn.
We have a life that we will have struggles and we need God, but if we are like Silly Putty and form around him and copy him, God will guide us. We can think of us as Glow-In the- Dark Silly Putty when God is guiding our lives. God is the keeper of light, he allows us to live our lives in light, while Satan offers Darkness. However, if we are Glow in the Dark Silly Putty, and we copy God, we will have plenty of light. 
The one thing we do not have in common with Silly Putty is that is was accidentally invented. We were not an accident. God knew of us before we were born. He knows every hair on our heads, every cell in our bodies, for He made us. He knows every thought, every motive, and every pain we feel. God wants to mold us into something amazing, but we as well need to want to mold our lives on him. If we do that, and we are confused with a situation, but because we molded upon God, we too will know what to do, we will know the right answer. In Job 10:9 it says “Remember that you molded me like clay.” We are not the first ones to be molded, we are one of many, and God has perfected the meaning of Molding Us. The tricky thing in our lives is to Mold upon God 100%. God is someone you can’t see, you can’t touch, so it can be hard to mold him, but if we Mold upon living things like sports, friends, drugs, or even sex, then we are being Silly Putty for all the wrong reasons. Those things cannot give us happiness; they cannot lead us in the right direction. God can do that, God will never let us down, while friends come and go, and girlfriends or boyfriends come and go, God will never leave us and his love for us is indestructible. Romans 12:2 says “do not conform any longer to the pattern 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.” God has a perfect plan for us; it even says it’s good, and pleasing. I will take that any day over suffering and pain. God knows what he is doing, unlike us, who live our lives in total chaos. Let God Mold Us into something amazing, something that will shine so bright, brighter than anything like Glow-In-The-Dark Silly Putty. Just remember, we need to Mold to Him, like we want to, like we Love him, like we Trust him. Do all of these and you will be like Silly Putty for God, living your life stuck on him, he’s the one carrying the weight when we are stuck on him, not us. Be open to God’s ideas, they are perfect ones. Just as the disciples were open to and eager for Jesus’ teaching and direction, we need to be teachable. If we don’t allow God to change us through his Word and the input of others, we’ll prevent ourselves from becoming the people that God wants to mold and shape us into. 

Hang Tough

Hang Tough

When your life gets you down
Try not to frown
When your life can’t get any worse
And you think your life is one big curse

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

You think you have it bad when that girl breaks up with you
Or even when Santa forgot that gift when you were two
No one said life would be easy
Sometimes it’s a hurricane and others a little breezy

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

Life can be all you want it to be
Just try not to make all your prayers say the word me
Be persistent with your prayers
God will answer because he cares

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland

Keep praying over and over again
To heal someone or even forgive a sin
God won’t get tired to hear your voice
He’ll kick back and he’ll rejoice

Turn close to God, turn close to God, and Pray
Do it constantly like every minute of the day
He will heal you with his hands
And make your life flavorful, no longer bland



I wrote this because I was talking about persistence at Camp in summer of 2006. Isn’t it funny how hard it can be to be persistent sometimes? One minute you are on a high and the next you have hit the concrete floor with a thunk. It basically talks about the persistence of prayer. As you can tell that one stanza is repeated over and over again. It says turn close to God and pray. All the Time. He will heal you. And like Emeril would say BAM! To your life. Well that is the shortened version. But I believe the shortened version works very well as well. Think for a second: what is your life like when it’s bland? What is your life like when it’s flavorful? I would imagine you would call flavorful = happiness. I would imagine you would call bland = non-exciting. The dictionary says Flavorful = full of flavor, tasty. And Bland = not highly flavored; mild; tasteless. Well that makes me wonder how you get that tastiness. It just so happens the answer to that is very simple. JESUS! Jesus knows what it means to turn bland into flavorful. He did it in John 2:1-12. He made the bland into flavorful when he turned water into wine. JESUS is what our life being flavorful is all about. He is like a spice, and herb, a seasoning. When we live a life without Jesus it is blah. It is like food without a seasoning. Think of stuffing without the good taste. But when we cover ourselves in the herb, spice called Jesus Christ we become flavorful. We become whole. We become something we can be proud of. However, no one said that using that seasoning called Jesus was easy. We find those times that life sucks, and instead of pulling the Jesus herb out of the cupboard we pull out self-pity spice. We pull out a jar called misery and we pour it all over ourselves. I am one to be talking. I do this a lot. We are human. However, we need to do a spring cleaning, and get rid of the self-pity, misery, loneliness, and we need to use an extra portion of Jesus on us. With Jesus in our lives our lives become worth living. He took up his cross and died for our sins. This just so happens to he Holy Week, and it can be our Holy Week as well, by taking up our crosses and dying on that cross. Get rid of our self-pity, misery, loneliness, and know the truth about that cross we carried. It represents freedom. Jesus already did that for us, but we can do it too for ourselves and for others. Why can’t we sacrifice our lives for Jesus’ life? 

So let’s move onto another part of this poem.
Let’s move to the part about sometime’s it’s a hurricane and other times it’s a little breezy. So we all stumble, we all fall. Sometimes we trip but catch ourselves. If we had to choose between a hurricane and a breeze we would all choose the breeze or probably the third choice of neither. I am going to call these valleys. We always are climbing and then we reach the top of the mountain. We feel good, but to get to the next mountain we have to cross a valley. It may be a deep valley (hurricane) or a shallow valley (breezy).

1. VALLEYS ARE INEVTIABLE = they are going to happen regardless, so you might as well count on them. You have just come out of a valley, you’re in one right now, or you are probably headed towards one. Jesus said in John 16 “in the world you will have trouble” It is not a matter of if, but rather when. It will happen; it is a normal part of life. Don’t be surprised.

2. VALLEYS ARE UNPREDICTABLE = you can’t plan these valleys. You can’t schedule them. Plus they usually come at the worst time. Have you ever had a flat tire at a good time? They usually happen when they are the least convenient and you least need them or want them. Ever realize how a good day can all of the sudden become a train wreck and all hell breaks lose?

3. VALLEYS ARE IMPARTIAL = No one is immune though. Don’t think that this only happens to you, because you are wrong. EVERYONE faces valleys. Problems, trials, difficulties, disturbances, downtimes, depression doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It means you’re a person. It doesn’t mean you are an evil human being, it means you are a human being.

4. VALLEYS ARE TEMPORARY = they have an end to them. They don’t last. They may seem to take a while, but they don’t last. David himself, whom I consider the Manliest Man in the Bible said “Even though I walk through the valley…” You don’t stay and walk in it your entire life. It is something you go through. 1 Peter 1:6 says “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” Basically life is going to be rough. However, there is wonderful joy ahead. He is talking about Heaven. There are no problems in Heaven, no valleys, no dark days. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ that is where you are going.

5. VALLEYS ARE PURPOSEFUL = I know this is what no one wants to hear, but it’s the truth. God has a reason for taking you through the valleys. The valleys are not just a freak of nature. God wants them to build faith. We love mountain tops, but we don’t build faith there. You build faith in the valleys of life. When everything is going fine and great you don’t need God. But when you come face to face with a dark valley, you get on your knees. Faith is strengthened in the valleys. If you were to read Lamentations 3:18-20 “Gone is my glory, all that I had hoped for in the Lord. I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me.” It sure sounds like Jeremiah is going through a valley. But if you keep reading there is HOPE! “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” 

Yeah we have our valleys our hurricanes, our breezy days, but through those Valleys come a greater story. A story full of love and story full of no valleys called HEAVEN. God has worked miracles in my life and I know he will in yours as well. I have had my fair share of valleys, and am slowly walking down into one. I say this because we are human. Yeah I am walking down into one, but what does that mean? It means it builds my faith! It also means that sooner or later I will be walking up to a mountain top.

Thank you God!

Manly Man

This is a poem called Manly Man by Bradley Hathaway. He is my favorite poet.

I don't want my long hair
Pretty green eyes with
NO I DO NOT HAVE ON MASCARA
Eyelashes
Skinny Figure
Undersized T-shirt

Hip
Shake
Too
Much
When I walk.

Confuse anyone...

I AM A MANLY MAN!

Within this sissy frame
Obviously rib-laden chest
Lies a heart
That BEATS

To the drum of a
Native American ritual dancing
WILDNESS
It PUMPS an evercascading supply of unTAMEDness
That a herd of WILD mustangs have yet to grasp.

If DANGER lurks about, I will seek it out.
If adventure abounds, there I will be found.
If a damsel be in distress

I will show her who is best

I AM A MANLY MAN!

Because I DON'T FLUSH
And I leave the lid up.

I drive a nineteen
Eighty eight
Ford PICK-UP truck.

GIRLS DON'T BREAK UP WITH ME
I break up with them first!
(except the last time)

I DON'T SHAVE THE HAOR ON MY FACE
(because I still can't grow facial hair yet...
But when I CAN, I won't)

BECAUSE BEARDS ARE TOUGH

I
FART
BURP
SPIT
WHEN I WANT
Not caring who is nearby

DISRESPECT my MOMMA
And I will PUNCH you in the eye!

I AM A MANLY MAN!
OR AM I?

I TELL MY guy friends I love them.
Sometimes I even hug them
NO I'm not gay

BUT because I LOVE THEM.

When I watched Bambi
I cried.
WHEN MY MEMA GETS MAD
I still run and hide.

LIKE DAVID I WANT TO BE A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
I’m not there yet but past the start

And when people talk
I try to listen
A SPIRIT OF COMPASSION
That’s my vision.
Surely I am a manly man
I WANT TO BE LOVED
And have love
And GIVE love
(not just that romantic kind either)

ALTHOUGH I AM LOOKING FOR THAT BEAUTY
NOT HELPLESS
But wants to be rescued.
The damsel in distress
MAN
WOMAN
MYTH
TRUE.

I WILL FIGHT FOR HER.
CLIMB THE HIGHEST TOWER FOR HER
LOVE HER.
SHARE with her.
DELIGHT in her.
Be her WARRIOR.
Her PROTECTOR

She will be my crown
And I will be hers.

My masculinity will be passed down
And affirmed to my sons.

Each of my daughters will know they are LOVELY
And deserving of authentic romance.

Society tells me
All day long

That I have defined manhood
Completely wrong

BUT YOU ASK any honest man and he will agree
YOU ASK any honest woman and she too will see

THAT I AM A MANLY MAN!


So I am 5’11 and weigh about 130 pounds, so I am definitely not the manliest in terms of the physical. I am content on what my physical-ness looks like. I am not content on how much of a manly man I am. Not because I don’t shave or grunt or fart. But because the thing that makes me a manly man, I have yet to complete. A man of God. I try and try and try, yet I fail everyday. So this is it! A new beginning. I have nothing to lose. Why not try it now. No one said life would be easy. And that person who did was a fool. It was never meant to be easy. It has its easy parts because God never leaves our side. He gives and gives and gives, but what do we give back? Most of the time NOTHING! Not even a thanks. When we do give thanks was it because what we asked for was for ourselves? Are we selfish? Do we care only about ourselves? God created me to be a manly man. Not how the world sees me being a manly man, but how God planned it. You may have muscles, and good looks, and I may not. However I am strong enough to open the Bible. Turns its pages. Strong enough to read it. I may only be able to do 20 pushups in a row, but I am strong enough to face this world, and all the crap it throws at you. I am strong enough to stand before the devil and say NO! I am strong enough to tell him GO TO HELL! I am also strong enough to embrace him and say I love you! For his weakness is not hating him but loving him. I want to dance undignified like David did. Even if it means losing your wife. I want to be strong enough to stand up for what I believe. 
God created me to love! A man fights with his fists, but a true Manly Man fights for his love! I will fight for what I LOVE! Love is not just a girl word. A true man can say it without making sure his buddies are around. Love is a word that you aren’t ashamed of. We say love movies are chick flicks! What makes those only for ‘chicks?’ 

ALL I KNOW IS ‘I AM A MANLY MAN’