I mentioned my friend I was having issues with earlier. Today I was able to have a good conversation with him. I have no doubt it was a God thing. He just got back from camp and had an eye-opening experience. We talked for a good half hour and he told me what had been going on with him and said he was sorry for brushing me off. It was just a good feeling to have this resolved.

It was a rough period of time, but I was able to become closer with a couple of my friends that I went to for advice. As I keep looking at the situation, I keep seeing God right there. I was able to draw near to God through this. My friends, God is good.

So... It's been awhile. I'm enjoying this Summer quite a bit. Hanging out with friends a lot. Had a nice vacation a few weeks ago. Stayed at home and basically was a bum. Finally finished Monster. I'm going to start reading Sinner soon.

I've been having some issues with a friend I don't want to get into on here. He's been kind of ignoring me the past few months and I'm not sure why. I'm just taking it one day at a time with him. He's moving in a few weeks, so I'm kinda hoping for a good outcome to this situation. If you think of it, pray that we can figure out a few problems. Thanks.

Saw Public Enemies. Good movie. A little different than a normal movie, but I enjoyed it.

Bout time the Minnesota election was decided. Too bad it gave the dems a super majority. Also, too bad it was Al Franken. I'm just glad I don't live in Minnesota.

Watched a little bit of the Sotomayor thing today. It was kind of interesting. I thought for a second she was a politician the way she was avoiding answering the questions the senator was asking. I'd rather not have a Liberal leaning judge on the Supreme Court, but there's not much I can do about it.

This Sunday at my church, they youth are taking over the Sunday Morning Service. I've kind of been the leader of our small group of youth, So I kind of got the job of setting this whole thing up. Got three of us to be a praise band, I'm doing one special (Yours to Hold by Skillet) with my friend and another special (Who I Am Hates Who I've Been by Relient K) by myself, and I got the lucky task of bringing a message. I'm a decent speaker so I'm not totally lost. The message is about The boy with the fish and loaves of bread. I'm talking about the interaction with the boy. I have most of it done, still need to do more work on it though. Should be interesting...

Church Update: We are still looking for a pastor. Our search committee had some surveys the memebers filled out so the state can set us up with some candidates that will fit with our church. I'm hopeing we can get a pastor in the next few months. I don't really have an updat about our Hispanic ministry. My church and the association still wants to proceed with the ministry, I just don't know where the process is. I'll keep you guys updated as much as I can.

That's about it... Hope everyone is doing well!

I started reading through Hosea last week and read about Hosea and Gomer. Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God told Hosea to take Gomer as his wife and that she would be unfaithful to him. Seems crazy, but Hosea did what God told him to do. I put myself in that situation and I don't know what I would do. When God tells me to do something that seems a little bit crazy and illogical, I have to ask Him if He's sure I'm suppose to do it. And then of course I'll give my excuses like 'That's out of my comfort zone' or 'I'm not sure how to approach the situation.' Sometimes I'll run the opposite direction like Jonah did. But here's Hosea, he goes out and does it. He took a step of faith not knowing what God's plan was. I want to be able to step up to the plate and have God use me how He wants to.

The past 2 years I've grown a lot and on several occasions, stepped out of my comfort zone and did what I felt God leading me to do. Things like going on a youth trip, talking to someone I didn't know sitting by themselves and getting to know some of my co-workers more personally. I've even done some things that seemed crazy to me, and way out of my comfort zone, that God told me to do. Prime example: I volunteered to help out Middle School Youth For Christ this past school year. That wasn't the craziest part though... The crazy part was when I thought about dropping out, God told me to keep helping out, and I stayed.

What's something you've done that's out of your comfort zone that God told you to do?

Oh, where to start... My girlfriend got a job and has moved to the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. So she is now a 3 hour drive away. I am looking for a job in that area and have applied for a few. Right now I have 2 companies I'm waiting to hear from.

My church is still in the beginning stages of looking for a new pastor. We are also looking for a new Hispanic Minister.

I'm still working at the grocery store. They moved me to the produce section with 4 other full timers. I've never been in there, so I'm learning a lot of new stuff.

Vacation is coming up at the end of the month!!! We are hosting a family reunion at mine and my parents house so I took the preceding week off to clean up a little bit and relax. It's just a 2 day thing, but I haven't seen some of my cousins for a good 10, 15 years. Should be a fun time.

That's all for now... :)