Golden Arches

That's right, after a 10 year absence from the Big Mac, Filet O Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fry (you know the rest of it) I'm back. I worked at McDonald's over 10 years ago and haven't missed a day of it, but starting tomorrow I'll be employed by them once again, except this time they've got me doing maintenance instead of flipping burgers. I'm quite excited about this because I will be working in air conditioning, something I haven't done in 10 years, and I'll have an unlimited supply of chicken nuggets. Amen!!

Just to fill you in I finished my first week of elevate. It was fun I guess. A little overwhelming with all the reading we have to do but I got a head start on that. My favorite memory of the week was at the elevate retreat in the middle of nowhere. We had an altar call Saturday night that everyone went down for to get prayed for. As I was sitting on the floor Timmy was praying for this woman and thank goodness Tiffany walked in front of me cause she dropped. She was cool for a second then she dropped again except this time Tiffany couldn't hold her so I jumped out the way just in the nick of time for her to fall right where I was sitting. Nothing like a little Holy Ghost moment to get you off your feet. Thanks for the save Tiffany.

Of all the things this week though the greatest thing had to be our Refuge life group. We talked about decisions and God began to show us that the clearer our vision the easier our decision. I have a clear vision that I am going to do full time ministry one day, so when the opportunity came to do elevate, it was a no brainer. Yeah it was a tuff decision because of what Candace and I would have to give up (apartment, time, finances, etc.) but ultimately the decision was easy because of the vision God has placed in our heart. That night we asked the students what was the vision God had placed in their heart for the '07-'08 school year because the clearer the vision the easier the decision. All 15 guys stood in a circle holding hands and shared what God had placed on their heart and it was a priceless moment. Guys where crying, God was moving. I have never experienced the presence of God in a bible study like that. It was priceless.

I'm done talking cause its getting long. Please continue to pray for Candace and I as we pursue the dreams God has placed in our hearts.

A New Chapter

Today I begin a new chapter in my life, I start full time elevate. I'm so pumped about this and at the same time scared to death. It's been an awesome last few months. God has already shown His faithfulness far beyond what I could imagine. He has provided a place to live when we had none, He has provided not just the deposit for elevate but the full $4000, and I got a job working 20 hours a week making almost what I make now at AT&T. Now that's a part time job I love. P.S. My new boss goes to Healing Place, score another one for Jesus. I thank all of you guys for your prayer and support. It has meant so much to us. Please continue to pray for Candace and I as this will probably be the hardest 9 months of our life, yet I know it will also be the greatest 9 months. Two weeks ago Tweezy asked this question at Refuge, "are you living your life worth telling stories about?" If you would have asked me that question over the last couple years I don't know if I could have answered yes, but I know now without a shadow of a doubt Candace and I can answer yes, yes, yes and we are loving every minute of it. I pray we all can live our lives worth telling stories about. I know over the next 9 months I will have plenty so stay in touch, I will post them all.

Getting My Feet Wet

Well it's been a long wait and taken a lot of patience but it has paid off. For years now I've wondered when this opportunity would come. In my heart I knew God has called me to be a

mouthpiece for Him but I never thought I would see the day. I dreamed about it; probably

preached a hundred sermons in my head but what I experienced was nothing what I expected.

To be honest, when I spoke for the first time in a church setting Sunday night it was down right hard and when it was all said and done I didn't have goose

bumps or float on a cloud to my car, I was slap exhausted. I appreciate our pastors and other
pastors now more than ever. They speak several times a week and honestly I don't see how

they do it. I'm glad I don't have to do it every week. Well, that night I talked about fear and I had one point which was DO IT AFRAID! WOW, was I living that out on stage. If the students didn't take anything home that night I wanted them to remember to do it afraid. I kept saying it over and over again. When I left Sunday night I didn't know if I had made an impact, a difference, was anyone going to change. Well the next day I went to an outreach with the church and this girl came up to me and said, "hey, I put it as my myspace headliner, do it afraid." That one person telling me that made it all worth it. I knew if I only impacted that one girl it was worth it. Well thanks for your prayers to all you who have been praying for me. God answered them more than you know.

First time for everything

Well tonight is a first in my life. For the last several years God has given me bits and pieces of what He wants me to do with my life. One of those things is to preach the gospel. For a long time I've wrestled with the call that God has put on my life to be a communicator and the fact that I've never communicated in a church setting. I always said I would never ask for an opportunity but that I would be patient and when I was ready He would open up that door. Well that door has been opened today and I am pumped. I'm also about to throw up but that comes with the territiory. So if you read this today please pray for me cause I'm gonna need it. I can't wait to post and let you guys know how it went. Again pray, pray, pray. I'm overwhelmed that God would trust me with this opportunity.

Where He Guides He Will Provide

The last blog I wrote I talked about living life with no regrets. I told you guys about putting in my application for elevate and putting in my resignation at AT&T thus solidifying my decision to pursue the heart and will of God even though I wasn't sure how I was going to get what I needed to do this. Well let me fill you in on how amazing our God is. He had already provided us with an apartment for free while we do this, which is so slammin cause this brother does not want to live with his parents again. Also, I've been sweating the $5000 we have to pay for our tuition. I don't have it and I didn't know where I was going to get it. It seems like an incredible amount of money and I didn't see how we were going to raise it. For you to tell me $5000 was like telling me a million. Now let me say first of all you better be hearing from God before you step out and do something crazy because if He didn't tell you to do it, you might find yourself broke like a joke. Well, since the day I turned in my application and resignation I've gotten four committments or checks in the mail totaling $2000. Four people, $2000!!!! WOW! If He can meet these needs, He can meet them all. I saw this on someones blog and like it so I'll leave you with this thought. God can do amazing things with two types of willing hearts: 1) Willing to obey 2) Willing to believe.

Friday the 13th

So today is supposed to be some creepy, scary day where guys in hockey mask jump from behind the bushes and cuts half your finger off and then you get some weird nickname like 4.5. OK that's just plain silly, but on a serious note today was a memorial day for me. On a day when people talk about bad luck and getting chased down by Jason (not you Mr. Guidry, the guy with the hockey mask) I took probably the biggest step of faith I've ever taken in my life. Today I turned in my elevate application and turned in my resignation at AT&T. Today I began the journey that I've always dreamed of. I'm following the heart of God, even when it doesn't make sense, even when people tell you don't leave your comfort and security, even when I don't know what the future holds, He does!!! Leaving the comfort of my job and chasing something that I can't see right now is probably the craziest thing I've done up to this point in my life (there will be crazier don't worry) yet I have never had this much peace, joy, fulfillment in all my life. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if God has put something in your heart to do, do it. Don't let anything stand in your way. Don't let doubt, uncertainty, worry, etc. stand in the way of the things God is trying to do in and through you. Some of the biggest regrets we will have in life are not the things we did (like beating the guy up in 7th grade) but it will be the things we didn't do because of fear, doubt, etc. It will be the job we didn't take because we were comfortable where we were, it will be the sport we didn't try out for because we were afraid we wouldn't make the team, it will be the college we didn't go to because we were afraid to be that far from home, it will be the mission trip we didn't go on becasue we were scared we couldn't raise the money or we thought we weren't going to be able to handle what we saw, it will be the person you didn't tell about Christ becasue you were afraid what they would think of you. Let us live our lives with NO REGRETS!!!! Let's leave it all on the table and if we mess up so what, we'll get it right eventually. Let us be submerged (see other post below). Let us live life: NO REGRETS!!!!

Fully Submerged

This past week I got to be are part of the greatest summer camp

ever. 17 churches over took the white sandy beaches of Destin, FL

and had a Holy Ghost party. It was packed with amazing worship,
inspiring teaching, and divine moments of God transforming us from ankle deep living, waddling around in a kiddy pool, to fully submerged followers of Christ, DESTINed to fulfill the purpose that God has for our lives. This is me and my guys representing New Orleans. Well, I'm not from N.O. but whatever, I live close enough. I watched some of these guys come in broken and beat up and watched God totally transform them. I am so blown away by the passion that these young people have for Christ. One night it got so rowdy in there that we had the cops called on us. It was awesome. We had to kick the students out because they wanted to go all night long. We even had a little deal or no deal going on at camp and each night a student had a chance to win $1000, but that's beside the point. The last night I walked into service a little late because I had a Dr. Pepper attack (Jason, Phil, Jake, you know what I'm talkin about). When I walked into the building I saw the finest deal or no deal model EVER!!! She was bangin to say the least. I decided to holla at her. I got a date later that week with her, she decided to ride back to Louisiana with me. We even got married; or; were married. Yeah that's my wife. She's awesome!! Well back to Submerge, we concluded everything with a little baptism in the Gulf of Mexico where students could GO PUBLIC with there decision to follow Christ. What a way to end a week. I pray that we continue to lived lives fully submerged to the Will of God. When we are submerged it doesn't matter how deep we go becasue we are in the current of Christ. He will take us to our DESTINation.