No Phone...

I am bad about this sometimes, but I don't have a phone working right now and it is difficult. I want to call people and talk, but I can't. I will hopefully have it back by tomorrow.

I feel like we are stressing so much about fall and what we are going to do as a ministry and sometimes, we forget about Jesus in the whole mix of things. Yes, we have organizational issues. Yes, we will have many battles on our hands. Yes, I still have no idea what Chase is going to do all year. Yes, I feel like my hands are tied in many ways and that I could do more.

All of these things do not matter. What is Ignite anyways but an insignificant ministry on an insignificant campus. The only thing that makes us significant is Jesus. He chose us, He loved us and He provided for us. We forget that sometimes. There is only one formula that will work this fall and only one way to reach the goals (that we still need to set) we have.

Jesus

It is not complicated, it is simple. Let Operation PUSH begin, because He is ready for it. Let's serve and love Jesus for today (as Pastor Lance said so eloquently) and then worry about tomorrow and what will happen then when tomorrow gets here and becomes today.

I QUIT...

I quit many things; striving, worrying, planning and sharing my heart inappropriately.

What do I write about?

I dunno what to write about, it has been too long since I last posted... Many things have happened in the last week, where to start.

We will work backwards...

Today I got up and went to my grandparents house on Lake Taps to do some trench digging for them. It was good to spend some time with them and bless them with some hard manual labor. It always happens, but people I work for like that say a job will take 3 hours but, I get it done in half the time. I was able to finish the trenches and then haul a bunch of loose rocks and then move an entire pile of bricks. I am currently working, I have almost everything done that I need to have done and I am just over an hour into my shift. I have maybe a half hour of work left, which leaves plenty of time to write on the blog...

Friday I worked all day... I mean all day. I started at 11 am and finished at Midnight. 12 hours of Campus Safety. No big deal, it was a good shift. I usually spend time praying for campus as I am normally by myself, just driving around. It is good. I also got to have lunch with Dan Donohoue, which was also very productive.

Thursday I road tripped to the Gorge to see Hillsong United. They were amazing!!! I already love their music and worship style and I am very grateful to have been able to worship with them at Creation. Just seeing the way they do things and getting a glimpse into what God is doing in them to change the worship world as we know it. It was also fun to hang out with Nikki, Wes and Charisa, even though Charisa and Nikki couldn't keep up with Wes and I. The suntan expanded on my upper arms, so I was happy.

Wednesday I worked out and then did Youth Group. Sometimes it is like pulling teeth with the kids, but we need to keep pressing on. I had a dream today about walking around PSCC and having a large Youth Group and childrens ministry going on there. I was kinda excited about that. I played worship, then we had a game. The game consisted of some very gorss things and I was not to stoked about some of them. I took a huge bite of what looked to be a whipped cream pie with Sour Patch kids in it, only to have a mouth full of cold ravioli and whipped cream. We all conspired and threw the remains of the pie at Andy Armstrong and made a huge mess on the floor of the mezzanine. Nikki spoke and did a great job. She spoke on Ephesians 3:16-19 and how we can know the love of God.

Tuesday I worked my 8 hours after working out in the morning. After work, we had a football function and I got to play center. It is the only position I have not played on the O-line, so it was cool.

Monday I thought I was only working for 4 hours, but I was actually on for 8. I was planning on going to work out after Campus Safety, but I missed that. I told Wes about Hillsong at Creation and that is what started the whole idea of going to the Gorge. After work, I went over to the Ministry House and saw that a team from church was praying over the house. We went into the prayer shack and started praying. They began to pray for many of the things we, as the Ignite leadership team, had been praying for the last few months. It was really cool to hear other people confirming what the Lord has been saying to us.

Sunday I drove back from Lake Chelan early in the morning so I could get to church. Lance Powers spoke about identity. I really liked what he said, especially the part where he siad that we can get so caught up in what our identity that we lose sight of the person who gives us that identity, Jesus. It was a great word and it was fun. After church we had a Cook Out, and even though I don't think I get tons out of the Cook Outs, I think that it is good that I am there to support Malia and what she is trying to do with our group.

Saturday I left early in the morning with my sister Laura and her family to go to Lake Chelan.
The Lake was a blast, especially having my nieces and nephew there. Got to swim all day and then have amazing steak that night for dinner. After dinner I got to talk to Laura and her husband Heath about some stuff and then we got to pray together for a while. It was a very special ministry time and I was able to challenge them and give them some practical advice.

I think that takes care of my last week or so. It has been an eventful one. I haven't even scratched the surface of some of the things that are on my heart. Long story short, I need to be pored into more. I have my time with the Lord, but it is never enough. I have been stopping short of that amazing place in personal devotion, not quite getting there, either from lack of time or motivation. I really need a way to get poured into on a more regular basis, Sunday is not enough and Wednesday night... don't get me started. I have wonderful friends, but even they do not challenge me very much sometimes. I really need more friends that are male to share my heart with. In my life I can think of a small handful of people that I share my heart with. Mark Wolbert is on vacation and even he dosen't challenge me very often. Jonathon is never around and we live to far apart. We might move in together after I graduate, but we will see about that. I need more strong men in my life who are my age. It will be good to have Eric Grenniger on campus.

Wow, a long post... this happens when I don't post for a while. I'll try and get better.

Alaska

Wow, for those of you who don't know, I will be going to Alaska on Aug 11th and coming back on Aug 16th. Charisa Nicholas and I will be going up there to visit her parents church and I am pretty excited about it. I have never been to Alaska and I have always wanted to go. I am really blessed, the two states I most wanted to visit, Alaska and Montana, I will have visited this summer.

I also heard that I am speaking at the 8:30 church service in Ketchikan. Charisa and I are even in the church bulletins already.

Wait, hold on, ME???

I have never been asked to speak at a church before and somehow I don't think it will be the last time. Usually when I get to do stuff like speak or lead worship, it is at PSCC Youth and there it seems sometimes that I am kind of the last resort.
Oh, no one else can do it, so we will ask Samuel.

It really blesses me to have been asked to speak somewhere, it means that they want me to and that they are waiting to hear what I have to say. I don't know why, but I have some self-confidence issues about being in front of people. I keep waiting for someone to say,

Stop Samuel, you actually don't know what you are talking about.

Call it irrational fear or whatever you want, I like to think of it as my wanting to please everyone and have them like me. I know that this is not the right thing to be feeling or to think about, but it is there. But to be asked, speaks to my heart and really goes a long way toward lessening that fear. I am very blessed to fly to Alaska and I want to bless them as well.

Bruce Clapp, my intership host Dad in Aberdeen asked me if I would consider coming back out to Aberdeen to lead worship for them. That also really blesses me. I am not an incredibly confident musician and Aberdeen has been a really challenging place for me to lead, because I would try and do it out of God's plan. To be asked to come out and lead suggests that they trust me in music and in worship, which is nice. I always hear that God has a timing for everything and I guess that I am starting to see that.

So pray for me as I embark on this adventure, God only knows where it will go.

Go Camp 2 days later

I am ready to start another Go Camp this week. I had a nice day off yesterday and I am energized to get going again!!! It was an amazing week and thanks to all of you who came out to our final Sunday, it was a real blast.

The week was great, but not because of any amazing Holy Spirit encounters (although He did show up) on my part. Instead it was more of a reinstatement of what God is doing in my life. I got to Aberdeen on Friday and we had a staff meeting to pray and talk about the week. I was still hurting a bit from Fergen's death, but God worked through that. Then Teen Leadership Training started and the week was off to a flying start.

Whenever a Go Camp happens, the enemy attacks it. Usually he will attack the kids, but this year he attacked the staff. All of us were exhausted, especially in the first couple of days... when we shouldn't be tired yet. We pressed through it and I ended up not being very tired at all for most of the camp. Afterwards, I was exhausted and fell asleep on the beach, I have the sunburn to prove it.

So many things happened, I can't begin to tell them all... we had about 4-5 kids give their lives to Jesus, 4-5 more get there prayer languages and dozens of rededications. The numbers are cool, but the best part was that God was there. We had amazing teaching from Ryan Loffer, Doug Marks, Jake Broady, Kit Hackett, Zoanne Wilke etc...

I got to do worship a handful of times and it was great. I really grew as a worship leader in this arena because I would learn I was doing worship about 30 minutes before we started. I like more time to prepare, but God does His thing no matter what I do.

Eric Grenniger and I were in charge of Young Warriors, the boys 10-14, and we just poured into them. They slept in the sanctuary with us guys, but in a seperate little nursing mother type of room. Every night I had to tell them a bloody ER story and a joke before they would go to bed. This is what I did last year as well and they remembered it and wanted it again. We had a good group of guys and I rode them hard sometimes. 3 of the 6 were special needs kids so that presented some challenges, but we got through them fine. Most of the guys were in the Hands team with me as well so I got to boss them around even more!

I felt kind of bad sometimes because I was hard on them, but in retrospect and after talking with Jake about it, it wasn't such a bad thing. They needed that kind of hard yet loving attention. Eric and I let the boys pray for each other and stuff and they all really warmed to that and liked it alot. It was a huge win for us as a staff to see these guys blossom.

I wish that I oculd have been in some of the performances because I really like doing that kind of stuff, but I had to be at the funeral on one of our big performing days.

I am going to post some of the thoughts I have post-Go Camp on the leaders blog, feel free to read them Here

Aberdeen

I will be in Aberdeen for the next 10 days staffing their GoCamp. It will be fun, but it will be interesting as well. So I will not be online for the next bunch of days.

Eric's memorial is on Saturday the 15th at 10:30 am. I will be leaving Aberdeen to go to that, so pray for the people going to his memorial.

Pray for me in Aberdeen as well. Last year was really cool, hopefully I won't be too cynical for this year to be cool as well.

The 4th and the aftermath...

Well, the 4th went off pretty well, I didn't kill anybody and Sarah, Matt and I got to speak castellano a lot (sorry Nikki). My mom really went all out for this and made a ton of food which was very delicious. Joseph BBQ'd, something he loves to do and we played a rousing game of Mafia (way to go Sarah for fooling everyone). The fireworks were so fun, it was a 30 minute show that seemed to never end. There would be something that looked like a finale, but the show would keep going. Jonathon and his novia Brittany came out as well and he brought a ton of fireworks. If there is one thing Jonathon likes to do, it is celebrate the 4th.

The van was amazing, especially when we ran out of gas and had to coast on fumes to the gas station... that was a highlight. We made it though and I only fell asleep once on the way back to Tacoma from Southworth.

I went to work out yesterday at Competitive Edge at about 4:30 pm and when I finish my workout, I check my phone and see that I had 2 voice messages from Mark Wolbert, 1 text message from him and another missed call from him... He needed me to lead worship at youth. I was planning on going back to my room and showering, getting dressed and then showing up a little late to youth... NOT.

It was great, I put together a list, called it in and Jonathon Kvamme put together the stage and got the words on the computer. Welcome back to the Kvamme family, by the way. The Lord really used it last night, I don't know how, but He did. Nikki got to play piano and I was very grateful for that because it added so much and she was a backup in case I turned into a blubbering mess before the Lord. It was great.

Amazing love, how can it be

That You my King would die for me

Amazing love, I know it's true

And it's my joy to honor You

In all I do, I honor You.

Jesus, You are my King

Terrible news

I just found out this morning that a good friend of mine at PLU, a fellow O-Lineman, died yesterday in a tragic accident.

He will be sorely missed and I don't know how this team will be without him.


Man, I never got to tell you how much I loved you, or how much Jesus loves you and for that I am really sorry. I remember all the good times we had in Montana; the horseback riding (you falling into the water), sailing (again you in the water), V-ball (somehow you had energy to play) and my bachelor party. I love to compete with you on my team because you never give up and you won't back down from anything, even Nose Tackles who way as much as your bench press. You are an inspiration to all of us and your work ethic spoke volumes of who you are. You told me once that your definition of an EMAL man was someone who really cared and looked out for his friends and stood by them. You exemplified this in all of your life. Your frineds are a testament to who you are and the steadfastness with which you apporached relationships. You are one amazing leader and I wish that you were able to play your last year of football. All of us in EMAL nation will miss you and how much fun you were to be around.

internet problems.

I have been having technical difficulties for the last while and I have tried everything I know how to do, yet I am too lazy to take my computer in to get it fixed...

I feel like I haven't posted here for a while and it is probably true... For clarification sakes, my bachelor party was in Montana and the band that was playing at the bar we went to noticed the large group of guys standing around and asked if there was a bachelor party going on. All the guys thought it would be funny to shout my name and say that it was my bachelor party. No, I have not proposed to anyone yet.

Last week I coached at a football camp put on by my O-line coach Trevor Robetrts. It was a blast, so much fun! the kids were all 9-13 and they really worked hard. I was very tired at the end of it because it takes a lot of energy to coach, especially kids that age. What a good time though.

I also started to work out at Competitive Edge again. I am paying $70 a month for them to kick my butt and get me ready for the season. I really enjoy the workouts, because I know I am getting better and that I am putting myself in position for the most success I can have in my last year of football ever.

I also found out that when I am cynical, it is because I am trying to avoid pain. I have lots of woundings in my heart (don't we all) and it is less painful to be cynical about them than it is to deal with them properly. I have been praying Psalm 139:23-24 and it is very tough sometimes, but I want God to take care of the little things in my heart that hurt so that I won't be cynical anymore.

I will be going to Aberdeen for GoCamp starting this Friday!!! I really am looking forward to it, even thouigh I know I will be exhausted. God is going to do some wonderful things out there and I am happy to be a part of it.

Shout out to Eddie, even though she is gone, we all still love her. I can't wait for you to get back so we can hear what God did in Vietnam.

Sorry for the length of time between posts, I will try to get better.