HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE AWESOMEST BIG BROTHER EVER! I LOVE YOU JUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to see God's plan for your life continue to unfold! Love ya!

Here are the pictures of the snow!

© My Upmost For His Highest 2010

It's snowing out right now! Yah! I don't think that we are supposed to get a huge amount but snow is still snow!!!!!!!!! 

2 weeks ago we were in a drama camp. The play was amazing and we all felt God work in our hearts before the performance. We would just grab a few people and begin praying. It was wonderful! 

Here are some pictures!

David Darragh!

 Lydia Darragh

 From right to left: George Washington ( AKA Caleb ), Gen. Howe ( AKA Jeremy ), Lit. Col. Craig ( AKA Jeffery ) Myself, Captain, Patrick Henry ( AKA Alex ).

Big Bro and his "family"! They were pilgrims!

Myself.... I love the Sideburns! I think that I was tossing my "coffee", or at least coming close to tossing it at the moment! :) 

Hey All! Here is a recent offertory that I did! The name is: His Name Is Wonderful!

Thanks to my cinema photographer, Aaron! :) Great job for a spur on the moment! :)

© My Upmost For His Highest 2010 All rights reserved.

Thank you all for praying!!!! Our performance went absolutely awesome! Praise the Lord! :) This past week has really taught me a lot and we really felt God work. Before the performance, the cast grouped up in the back room and prayed and then someone started singing hymns.... four part Harmony mixed with prayer for God to bless, not for our sake but for His glory and His alone, Wow.... The chapel's had really been hitting home on problems, such as not using our Talents for the Lord, and surrendering our lives was one main point. I firmly believe there was a ton of surrender going on and we really did have our hearts set on the Lord. Praise Him and may all the glory go to Him ALONE!

Hey Guys! I wanted to let you all know that I am in a play today at 2. We were at drama camp this past week and were trained in the art of Drama and today, at 2 o'clock, our time, we will be preforming! While I know that many of you can't make it please pray that all that we do will honor God, and that this will be for his Glory. Also, that it will draw people to him! Thanks! I'll hopefully post pics ASAP! :) God bless you guys! 

PS. By the way... if you want to pray specifically, I have a hard time with my role as I am a serious and comical captain.... Often I have to switch in the middle of a line from funny to serious. Ssssssoooooooo.... :) 

Hey guys! It has been a while since I posted so I thought I'd throw an update out there to let you all know that I am alive. :) I've been very busy but I want to get a long blog post up soon! For now though, I have to run! God bless~AJ

PS. Thanks Mandie for the idea behind this post! 

Chivalry. What is it?

Chivalry? Com' on, You are probably thinking... That word is like from the 7th century! Well, despite its "age" this word has a lot of meaning for us today. While we don't have knights in shining armor riding around to save damsel's in distress we do have still have guys and girls who should be caring about one another and helping each other out.

So, what is my definition of Chivalry? Here is what I think we can break it down too: "Chivalry: The act of one, or multiple, man/men, helping to make a women's world a better place to be." We could break it down even father and universalize it to say: "Chivalry is simply, one person helping and giving of themselves to better someone else." Hm... this reminds me of what Jesus said, " The Second Greatest Commandment is to love your neighbor, as you love yourself..." doesn't it? 

The definition might help you understand Chivalry more but you may be wondering, " does this concept apply today?" My answer is a resounding, YES! Guys, If you see a girl that is loaded down with boxes, help her! Open doors for the ladies, offer to help them in anyway that they need! You might wonder where you should start... well, how about when you are about to go somewhere with your mom or sisters? Why not start by helping them out? God gives us all family units to learn how to help out humanity and if we don't learn at home, it will most likely be so much harder to learn once we are gone from home! Let us take advantage of the family units that God has given us and learn while we are surrounded by those who love us most. 

Girls. To be honest with you, I have rarely met a girl who has refused for me to open the door or something like that but I know there are those out there. Please, Please, Please!  Help us guys out by allowing us to give you a hand! I know that there are those who think that you don't need help. We aren't always saying that you need help, but rather, that we want to help you, to make it even easier for you! Please, don't refuse the next time a guy asks to help you out!

All this leads to what I'd really like to stress for you all. The Lord Jesus commands us to love one another, as we love ourselves. Chivalry is simply the guys way of doing that. I don't think that we guys always wanna get out of our air-condition cars to help that elderly lady out by putting her cart away but I know that the Lord commands us to help and love others like we love ourselves. When I am 85, I sure hope that a young man will be willing to help me out and I pray God will give me grace to help that 95 year old lady out! If you struggle with the idea of loving others sacrificially, pray! God will hear and answer. Loving one another is a heart attitude. May God bless us as we try to love one another!

Today is my mom's b-day! Happy Birthday Mom!!! I love you and am so glad to have you as my mom!

Here is a wonderful picture of my awesome mom and dad. I love you both!!! On Wednesday is my dad's b-day so Happy Birthday to you too dad! I LOVE YOU TOO! Thanks Mrs. Vega for the rough picture!

The Best Parents in the World! Love you guys!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY EVERYONE!

May we remember those who have died so that we could have this freedom... and those who might, and are right now, called to defend that freedom.

Something I read this morning was really good! "But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Hebrews 2:6-10

Hm... Praise God that Jesus was made the perfect Captain of our salvation through sufferings.... I think that I will think about that today... through our sufferings, what can God do?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL FATHERS! 

Now I know which father is the best but I won't debate with you all but I still have to say..... 

I LOVE YOU DADDY! YOU ARE THE BESTEST! :) 

Also, Thank you Heavenly Father for your love, mercy, and showing your love by sending your only son to die that we might have forgiveness of sin and be made your children. WE LOVE YOU!

Ah... a slow morning... woke, read my devo's and just had a nice time. Although, I am tired from this week it was good to work. 

I read Phillippians 3 this morning and something was pretty interesting. Paul was stating about how we don't need to go back to circumcision for our Salvation and then he goes on to say how, if we based our salvation off of works, he would have the most works! But he doesn't stop there, He quickly goes on to say that all that righteousness is counted for nothing. That can't get his salvation. It is only by Christ's mercy that he is saved... Wow. It was a good reminder for me. Even though I know that I am saved by grace, and am saved, how often do I "work" hard, almost as though my salvation is based on those works? Hm.... maybe I need to work on my trust factor. :)

Lately, I was able to have one of my best friends from AZ in for a short visit and we had a lot of fun! We played airsoft, Settlers of Catan, and took a trip to a Civil War battlefield! While at the battlefield OJ and Dad got some really good pictures and I thought I’d share them! 

As we walked past this statue OJ was trying to get a photo of it so I grabbed Z and we posed like the statue and there is the end product! 

Okay... Time to be serious.. :)

Provided by OJ

While these photos have my watermark on them, they were actually taken by OJ and one by Dad ( The one with the big monument in the background. ) They get the credit! 


Hey Z! Thanks for all the fun! We miss you already here! :)

As I browsed through my photo library looking for a picture of my family to send to a friend, I found this photo. 

I can't quite remember where I was when I took this photo but I believe it was in New Mexico. I just can't remember though. :) I thought I'd share it with you all! 

Enjoy your day in Christ!

Well, as I told a friend in an email, I think I am fighting a losing battle! For those who know, today my awesome big bro is leaving for a 10 week mission trip and I am feeling like I might just die. Okay, not that bad but I can't imagine life without my truest, bestest :), and overall, favorite friend! 

So, Brother, I love you and will miss you immensely but know that this is part of God's plan for you as you grow up into man-hood. Know that I am praying for you and will always be there if you need to unload over the phone. 

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

As I thought about this verse I know that Jesus Christ, my propitiation, is my closest friend and can always help me through a time like this, even though it is only 10 weeks. ( Which seems like a long time :) I know it is just a little selfish to want to hold him back but I just have to trust God. He created my brother, he can most definitely take care of him. This will be a great thing for him to experience and God will grow him through it, and that's important. 

Love you brother and be safe! We covet prayers for him as he travels!


Ps. Wow. This is post 60! 

Today was just packed full of things to do. After work we set to mulching the front flower-bed and I thought it would make a nice post. LJ just loved helping move the wheelbarrow and shoveling. BJ and Dad did the polishing touches of smoothing out and washing the sidewalk off. Here are the pictures of the job and the finished product.

After the work was done. I thought that I’d get some pictures of the flowers that are blooming and just ramble. Here is what I came up with. Some of these are unedited. Straight from the camera to you. Others... well. They are slightly edited. ;)

One of my personal favorite self portraits... :)

This ant was very determined to not let me get his picture. Well... after much stress I finally got him! :)

Tomorrow is another big work day. The mower at work is finally fixed so we have been mowing like crazy! Thankfully we have the vacuum running otherwise we could almost sell some hay! :)

By God's Grace, I Am Still In the Race!

Well as you can guess from the title, today, by God’s boundless grace, I am 16! What a joy my sixteen years on this earth have been. I am so thankful for my mom and dad being willing to raise me up in the, “ admonition of the Lord”! I truly have a wonderful family who I know will always be there for me. Thank you Dad, Mom, BJ, and LJ for always loving me ( not liking but loving, because I know, there have been times that I have not been likable. :) and always being there. I love you all and THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I also have an absolute wonderful God and I am so thankful that sixteen years ago he began creating me and molding me into his image. I am thankful that He has, and always will, love me, despite my unworthiness, and sent his only precious son to die, yes, die, for me so that I might live a life freed from the bondages of sin. While salvation does bring heaven, it also removes sin’s power in my life and I am so thankful that he has made it possible to live that victorious life! THANK YOU LORD!

Well, as for my plans for today, I wanted to do some kind of a construction project with LJ and BJ like a birdhouse. However, I got a call last night and the mower at work is fixed! YEAH! So, today I am going to work. What a reality birthday! I am so excited that the mower is fixed so I will not complain! Birthday and all! Tonight then I am going to have a Bible study with some young guys and their dads of which I have discovered that I need to work on planning just a wee bit.... such as not waiting until the day before the event to invite. :)

Well, I must run. I am off to work shortly! Maybe I'll put together a post of pics later!

Ps. To anyone who left a comment I have responded I believe! Whether on my blog or another. :)

Last Friday night we had the best time. We had our end-of-the-year program and what fun... We had a concert and a Shakespeare play, ( The Merchant of Venice ) I played my arrangement of Come Thou Fount and was Shylock in the play! I was told though that I was not allowed carry my role into real life! What a shame... what a shame. :)

The Video of Come Thou Fount is at the bottom... I am still learning how to work with video's on here. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures of the performances and play. J and I did Ash Grove, J on the Hammered Dulcimer and I was on the Classical Guitar. It went well but you can’t hear me on the recording.... I guess my mic wasn’t loud enough! :) I guess that I just won't upload the video for this one.... If you want it I'll put it up... you just can't hear the guitar.

It is very hard to believe that another year is done yet, it is true. Well... we aren’t quite done but two weeks aren’t that long.

Here are some of the pictures. One is of me on the guitar and then on the piano and then there is the court scene pic and lastly is the actors. What a crazy group! :)

I want to take a moment to thank all the teachers, Mrs. Sam, As our Shakespeare teacher you were just amazing with us kids and the way our play worked out, it was because you helped us do it! Thank you! Ms. Suzie, Speech class was such fun this year. Thank you for working with us and making it as fun as speech can be! Thank you! Ms. Carol, writing is never anybody’s favorite class yet you made that enjoyable too! Thank you! Ms. Marci, Art was fun this year! I know that I have always struggled through art yet you helped me along and I really enjoyed it! Thanks! Tim and Sam, PE was a blast as well and I think that Dodgeball should most definitely a part of next year’s PE class! :) Thanks!

I think I covered just about everyone... oh yes.... To my mom, Thank you for forbearing yet one more year and being there for me. You are my favorite teacher ever and I love you! THANK YOU MOM!

Enjoy the videos and have a great day!

Well... I tired to upload the video but it is a really big file. 117 MB to be exact so I will post it later for you all! Have a great night!

Due to the perfect weather condition yesterday, I took a walk out in the woods with LJ for a photo shoot. Sadly, I didn’t have a tripod ( of which I seem to need really bad.... I guess I shake to much :) and a lot of the almost perfect photo’s didn’t turn out but the one’s that did turn out are really nice! I thought I’d share the green with you all! Also, there are some pictures from random days. 

I praise the Lord for the wonderful weather that He has given us even if it is a little dreary and grey. It still has some beauty to me! 

Today at work, I stepped into the garage to fill the mower up with gas, I heard this little, but very loud meow! Now... those of you who know, cats aren’t my favorite animal... I am more of a dog person but since I started working I’ve started appreciate cats. This afternoon was the killer for any prejudice. I turned my head in surprise as I see this little, 3 ( or 4... not sure ) week old kitten come running up to me! I have to admit.. I saw this little one and I fell over. IT WAS SSSOOO CUTE! Now... I know what some of you are thinking.... WHAT? ARE YOU MAD? I am afraid my friend, yes... I am. I think that this picture should clear all minds.

ISN’T IT CUTE!

Next to my hand, how little!

I am amazed at God’s miraculous creation. How amazing are you God!

Your works are amazing oh Lord! How marvelous is your name!

I was reading this morning in Ephesians and something really stood out to me. 

Ephesians 1:4 says:

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." 

As I read this all I could really think was, WOW! This really sums up my life here on earth. Let's read it "piece-by-piece".

According as he hath chosen us, It is God who has chosen us not ourselves. Am I willing to live for the one who has chosen me? Is my life reflecting Christ?

In Him, This part is amazing.... through only two words Paul manages to fit in all the story of Jesus' life into these two words! In Him. I was chosen by the blood of the precious Lamb of God who came to earth, lived a sinless-life and died and rose again for who? Me! Am I living my life as though it was bought with a price? Am I willing to surrender my will to the the One who bought me through Him? 

Before the the foundation of the world, This is a proof of God's power and existence over time. It also speaks of his complete knowledge and wisdom. Do you realize that God knew you before you did? God has had a plan for your life since before the world was even made? When you think about Life this way it really adds a lot of value to it! Suicide, Abortion, Murder, even Depression, they would all lose their the predominance in our culture if we could just value the fact that God has a plan for all people. He knew them before the earth was created and we must value them for it.  

That we should be holy and without blame before Him, All of the facts now lead to the climax. The fact that God has chosen us, Lived a blameless life, died, and rose again, and chose us before the foundation of the world, are we, the people who God did all this for, are we willing to be Holy and without blame before him? He died and was tortured by the worst means, suffered so much for you and I so that we could benefit and will I/you live holy and blameless before him? My prayer for myself and you is that we can live that kind of life. and it is possible. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me! Paul has made that clear for us and we love to use it when we are taking on the Spiritual Goliath but what about when living our personal life? We must live holy and blameless! 

Now the last two words really sum it up. In Love. All of that being said, let us not forget that we should live our life in love. When we are in a group and someone starts doing something that is in disobedience with God's word then, depending on the circumstances we should just walk quietly away but if we confront, let us do it in love. I am starting to learn that, as Paul put it so well, "...If I lack love, then I am like sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal. Ever heard the two? Paul later says that if I lack love, even if I gave my self to be burned,( and I think that is a huge act of sacrifice ), even if I did that, it would be nothing if I didn't do it in love. Wow.... I constantly need this reminder. I know that some reading this will agree but sometimes I stand for what is right, which is a good thing, but I do it SO harshly and with such I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong attitude that what Paul said becomes true.... it is as an annoying noise. Let me/us not forget to do all we do in love.

This verse is really my life-purpose verse. So I will end this post with it again,

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."

WOW!

Alan Parks!

Good morning all my readers! 

We had the wonderful privilege of hearing Alan Parks in person recently! What a wonderful time of resting and focusing on Jesus Christ. The music was wonderful and I could tell that he was very sincere in his music. I would definitely recommend you go if he comes near your area! What a joy and wonderful time! I wish now that I would not have forgotten my camera so I could post pics/videos but I will try and remember something like that happens. 

I really need to work on the blog more... I started this post... I am not quite sure, 2 days ago I think? Anyway the point being that I really need to get back on here more often. While I will strive to post more often I will probably keep those posts shorter for time's sake. 

So with all that being put out, I am off to continue with what needs done. :) 

Look for more consistent posts! 

God bless!

Business of Life is a good thing!

Well... It has been a while since I last posted and I would like to apologize. I have had the pleasure of enjoying the company of two young men from Germany for the past 4 days and it has been a total blast! I have enjoyed their company and will miss them when they leave! Yet, I know I can't enjoy their company forever, despite how much I would love it! 

Today we went to a widow's house to help do spring cleaning. It was a nice time of working with other Christian men and eating good food! ( Such as brownies, cheesecake brownies, and whoopie pies! [ yes... there was other food such as barbecue and the such but the brownies were WONDERFUL! ] :) 

Shakespeare practice... Ah.. as I think about that wonderful time last night I cringe in regret at the lack of my acting! Well, I suppose that I should correct that! It might not be the lack of acting but rather the lack of memorization that has produce the lack ( in my part ) thereof. I know that I can conquer my lines... perhaps I will start typing them and putting them on here... that might just help! ( and maybe encourage all my friends too! :) Although I love my lines, everyone has the hardest time taking me seriously with that wig that I wear... I mean... What 50 old man has Albany, curly, and "so" 70's style hair? :) I enjoy the, I guess you could call it, "picking" that I get... I guess that I just don't want to show it. :) As far as pictures go... I don't think I will put one up of the wig! :)

Lately, the Lord has been teaching me a few things... one thing is that life, school, and work, aren't what you would plan for yourself all the time. Yet, while things might not seem to be going the way I want, I am learning to see that God's ways are higher and that I can trust Him! Another thing that He is teaching me is to hand over my fears to him. Now, for those of you who don't know, I have a AMAZINGLY INTENSE FEAR of poison ivy. Part of that is the case that I had last fall that had both of my arms, most of my upper body ( except the back ), and most of my legs covered in poison, for a period of three/four weeks. ( The longest three/four weeks of my life! ) Now, this summer the Lord has brought many lawn mowing opportunities to me when I wasn't even looking for them! Praise him as I had been praying for a job. The only downfall to lawn mowing is frequently running in to, none other than the real deal, Poison Ivy. Ah....... I am so scared of that stuff but know that a "lawn business" is what God would have of me this summer. He provided the work and I need to hand those fears, no matter how valid they may be or seem to me, over to the Lord. Please pray with me that I will accept this and that I will hand this fear over to the Lord!

I am very thankful for the friends that the Lord has brought into my life and thank Him daily, when I remember you! ( Phl. 1:3 )

God bless and keep in touch! I have so many things I can post about so I hope to get some more posted soon! Such as, our recent trip to... oh.. never mind. I think I will wait to tell you! 

Spring is here!

Hey all!

Well, the winter has passed! Last Friday ushered in spring and it is BEAUTIFUL out! I am loving the weather and will post some pictures of the flowers later!

Another good thing about the spring ( and the following summer ) is not that School will be done, ( although that is a nice thing to have a break :) but that the grass will need mowed and with that means mowing business! YAH! I am excited to get mowing but it isn't quite time for "steady" mowing. I did the first mow yesterday and it should last a while. Come this summer though....... I think I will have a lot to mow!

I was reading this morning and came across a good quote... I enjoyed it! Here it is,

Fellowship with God will keep one from sin,

or sin will keep one from fellowship with God.

Hm... I can think on that for a while today!

I apologize that it has been so long since my last post. It just seems that with these last 2 school months coming up I might be too busy to post much! Oh... and in case you are wondering.... Schoolwork is what is keeping me SO busy! I know that most of those reading understand that! :) 

God bless!

Spring is in the air!

Today was the most BEAUTIFUL weather so we headed out to play while it was so nice. While out there we drew with Sidewalk chalk. Below is a picture that I drew and then LJ which I am going to tell you about below!

I also saw the most miraculous sight. FLOWERS! It was so nice to see a sign of spring coming up so I took some pictures. LJ ran in with the flowers and said to Mom, " Here you go Mommy, the first flowers! " How cute!

The Flowers

Really Neat Picture. ( At least in my opinion! :)

Yesterday, I was sitting down to work on blog. Change a few things, post a little, the normal. When I saw that I had a unread message in my inbox. It was an invitation to share a Scriblink page. Now I've used Scriblink when getting help with Chem, ( My teacher and I will work through trouble problems since it is an online whiteboard. ) but never for fun really. So some good friends invited me to share a whiteboard and here is the end result! This drawing was made with 2 of us using the traditional mouse and one using a "plug-in" pen. 

Nerissa and "Mom", you did GREAT! Thanks for all the help! I could not of made such an amazing drawing by myself! It's amazing how it came together! 

Snowmen!

Today I had the privilege to help LJ build a snowman!!! We had a great time despite some rough moments along the way. Among those rough moments was attempting to get the "upper body" on top of the "lower body" but I am getting ahead of myself!

First we started with lower part. That took a lot of effort to roll that out! Meanwhile "LJ" was rolling the top part out. You can see the size of the lower part with the picture below.

Next came the middle part. Now, I really miscalculated this one as I started off. I thought that the lower pat was perfect. Nice and big. The only problem being that, as I was the only one out there big enough to wrestle down those big parts, when it came time to lift the middle part up... which was only a wee bit smaller than the "lower" part, there was some serious difficulty. After my fugal attempts I did what I should of done in the first place, Called "Dad"! :) We proceeded to get a board and with a lot of effort managed to roll it up on top of the lower part! Sorry that there isn't a picture of that. I was helping get the middle up there. :) Here is a size comparison with the middle. Already it is almost as high as LJ!

Next Dad and LJ took off down towards the woods and looked for eyes and "buttons". Durning that time I began to construct a much more manageable sized Snowman! Dad had already lifted the head up for us. Thanks Dad for all the help! :)

Next... the nose. A carrot from the fridge should take care of that problem! The eyes are walnuts that Dad and LJ found on the ground with sticks for the traditional arms. LJ must feel pretty small now! :) Pine tree branches were our selection for the mouths.

The finished product as we wave to you all! ( Don't miss the post below. It's new too! :)

Valentine Banquet!

I had the opportunity to serve at our church's Valentine's banquet and thoroughly enjoyed myself! The food was to die for and I found something new that I love. It's called Sorbet'. I think that is how you spell it and it is basically sherbet. Wonderful stuff!

The decorations were beautiful.

The heart was made by a friend of mine and I thought it was a very nice piece of art! Great Job Craig!!!!

There were plenty of people too!