I Exaggerate Not

I had probably the best couple of days with my friends so far this year. And I'm not exactly sure what to even say about it. Chris, Chryl, Lanna, and Mif came up Sunday night to my house. We hung out for a while then ate supper and then we pretty much stayed around talking, laughing, doing various things. Well we went to bed and then Mif and I woke up around 300-330 to take care of some unfinished business with Lanna. After the laughs we stayed up till it got light. Later in the morning after I managed to acquire some sleep Chris and I went to the next street up and jogged a mile. The girls were surprised that we actually did it and thought we were crazy. I just felt like doing it and we both admitted to each other that we haven't jogged in a while and wanted to start doing it.

@11 we headed up to Cedar Point for a day of fun. Here is where I begin smiling. The weather was nice and there wasn't that many people there so I got a nice parking spot and the lines were not bad. We rode several awesome rides and even had a chance to get wet. To dry off we headed back to the car to have a license plate party. The food was really good although I have to say, never give Missie a monster drink. I also oddly found an interesting way to sleep in my car with the seat tilted back my feet in the back window and my head on or beneath the steering wheel.

Yea. Anyway, so that evening a couple of storms came in and we had to wait around for the rain to go away. (Which I told it to) Once the rain let up we were waiting for the big rides and so we decided to ride the tower once more and a little kiddy ride for fun. Then half an hour before they closed to our jumping up and down joy and excitement they opened the best ride there. A 17 second ride that takes you 120 mph in 3.8 seconds then goes 90 degrees straight up with a 270 degree vertical twist then you arch over the top (looking out over the park, Lake Erie and Sandusky) only to begin screaming as gravity takes you back down with another twist in repetition of the first stretch of the ride. (That was a long sentence) It's the most thrilling ride they have. We were raving over it and I told them that's why I wanted to ride it so bad. This was their first time to Cedar Point and my third time. On the way out Mif, Lan & I went splashing in puddles. Then we stopped for food and rode all the way home. I shall not forget the funny Odyssey episodes we listened to. Or the guessing auction while we were waiting for the rain to pass. Ah, crazy!

Once home we took a walk around the field and down the road with Callie. Unfortunately we would've been out there longer but my allergies were really getting to me so we decided to head back to the house to hang out. We ate some leftover birthday cake and stayed on the porch talking for a while. May I here profess my fond love of staying up late with friends? I ended up going sub-conscious. My only recollection is crawling into bed in my room. I don't remember getting up from the couch or walking to my room. I woke up in the morning thinking, how did I get here? I was so tired from a day of so much fun. To our sadness we parted ways with smiles yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed my time with all of you guys. May the memories continue to flood your mind.


Later on yesterday I ended up working on a roofing job for a relative of mine. We finished shingling the house and I was happy to be able to work for 5 and a half hours. I came home filthy, showered, ate and went to bed.

Today, after justifiably sleeping in I did several things before going to church. Mel had a really good Bible study on misusing God's name. I led the singing for the teens and we sang some good songs: "Jehovah-Jireh", "King of Kings", "The Solid Rock" and "I'm Amazed". Tonight I noticed something about the teens that really motivated me to commit to praying for them. As I was playing my guitar, I was pumped and the words of the songs were really good, but the kids were lifeless! Perhaps my emotional level was a little higher but they seemed pretty apathetic about the God they claim to love. Understandably not everyone there is a Christian that wants to love God with all their heart, but...and maybe that was it. I just sensed a spirit that I think was affecting the other teens' worship. I shared Psalm 66 & 68 with them before the songs where it says, "Make his praise glorious." & "May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God; Sing praise to his name." However they have a long way to go before they learn to express praise to God.

It's disheartening, but educating at the same time. I scribbled the words to a song tonight in my notebook and while talking with Leanna and Missie at Cedar Point I've been thinking about my future goals. I really want to see these kids (affectionate term) grow in their relationship with Christ. I also want to be writing songs because I know how much music affects my generation. I know that I cannot keep up with my culture's television, movies, and ipods, but I am commanded to play skillfully (PS 33). I know God must somehow be using me but I also feel that there is something keeping them back. Cares of life, maybe.

Long post, but God's been blessing. Gotta share.

-Sam