I am sitting in the library with Chase and we are both looking for jobs and applying for them... It is kind of fun, but not really. I think that I would rather poke my eyes out with sharp, infected sticks than go through the "fun" of filling out another online application.
I need to move out of my room this weekend. I am still undecided as to where, but that needs to be figured out soon. My Grandpa has said that he would let me stay in one of his unoccupied houses in Sumner for free. This would be awesome, but it is in Sumner. I drove around there the other day and I got the distinc impression that I am called to Tacoma, not Sumner. I hope to find a place to live in Tacoma soon, there is some hope, it just needs to happen.
Chase and I also went shopping yesterday and I spent $95 on much needed new clothes. I am very happy because I got a pair of jeans, 3 pairs of shoes and a cool flannel shirt, all for under $100!!! I am proud of myself a little bit.
As for the job search... I dunno. There are some cool places that I could work, but it is hard to apply for them sometimes. I am in the process of applying at Pierce County Sheriff, so if I get that job in 4-6 months, I would be leaving any job that I would get now, so it is hard to say I will be there for a long time when I hope that I am not going to be... entiendas? I hope so, because I don't sometimes.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Burn Out...
One of the few problems with being a Man on Fire, is that you can burn out sometimes. I am not talking about God or anything, but I am ready to be done with Campus Safety. I do not have much desire to work anymore and the only thing that motivates me anymore is working with cool people and the fact that I am done in less than two weeks. What is next after that... I still dunno.
Here is a random thought for you... You know how the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but I never really understood that. I know that sin is bad and that it is bad for you, but for some reason it never just clicked for me. I was thinking about this the other day when I had an impression. It was my life back before I came into personal relationship with Jesus. I was an angry, frustrated, power hungry, driven and forceful person that was never good enough for anything. The Lord showed me that my past life was my form of death. I may not die right away from a specific sin or any other falling short of God's Glory (Romans 3:23) but I will suffer spiritual death.
Much like the human body, I think that we can suffer death and still be ok otherwise. Everday, millions, even billions of cells die and are recycled or discarded within a human body. If the body does not have the ability to clear out the dead stuff, the entire body will die. I was thinking about this and maybe this can apply to my spiritual life as well. Everyday I sin, everyday... So the dead stuff in my spirit needs to be removed every day, and often. I don't want the spiritual death to build up in my spirit, so I need to use God's gracious gift of repentance to clear out the gunk. This is a natural process that should require little outside help, beyond the potty training we receive as kids.
Sometimes, spiritual death can be little, a few cells dieing in the natural course of life, but other times there can be a debilitating injury that requires special intervention by a trained professional. This is where the act of confession comes in. A person who we trust to be able to help us, a mentor or a pastor or even some really good friends, is able to heal us by hearing our confession (James 5:16) and praying with us. In this function, massive healing is able to occur to our spirit and we are able to become whole again in ways we did not think possible...
I like this analogy, it has to do with medicine!!! I hope it makes sense and that no one thinks I am preaching excessively...
Here is a random thought for you... You know how the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but I never really understood that. I know that sin is bad and that it is bad for you, but for some reason it never just clicked for me. I was thinking about this the other day when I had an impression. It was my life back before I came into personal relationship with Jesus. I was an angry, frustrated, power hungry, driven and forceful person that was never good enough for anything. The Lord showed me that my past life was my form of death. I may not die right away from a specific sin or any other falling short of God's Glory (Romans 3:23) but I will suffer spiritual death.
Much like the human body, I think that we can suffer death and still be ok otherwise. Everday, millions, even billions of cells die and are recycled or discarded within a human body. If the body does not have the ability to clear out the dead stuff, the entire body will die. I was thinking about this and maybe this can apply to my spiritual life as well. Everyday I sin, everyday... So the dead stuff in my spirit needs to be removed every day, and often. I don't want the spiritual death to build up in my spirit, so I need to use God's gracious gift of repentance to clear out the gunk. This is a natural process that should require little outside help, beyond the potty training we receive as kids.
Sometimes, spiritual death can be little, a few cells dieing in the natural course of life, but other times there can be a debilitating injury that requires special intervention by a trained professional. This is where the act of confession comes in. A person who we trust to be able to help us, a mentor or a pastor or even some really good friends, is able to heal us by hearing our confession (James 5:16) and praying with us. In this function, massive healing is able to occur to our spirit and we are able to become whole again in ways we did not think possible...
I like this analogy, it has to do with medicine!!! I hope it makes sense and that no one thinks I am preaching excessively...
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
What am I going to write about today?
I wonder, what I should tell you dear readers about today... I know that not many of you read this who don't see me almost everday and that you all know the stuff going on, but writing here is a real cathartic release for me and I really enjoy it. So what do you want to know about... I wonder, what are the questions burning in your mind for Samuel to answer?
As far as my future goes... I HAVE NO IDEA!!! I have kicked around some ideas, but they are all different and sometimes they don't seem to add up too well. What if I were to get into Law Enforcement? I think that I would make a good police officer, but do I really want to do that? I would rather work for a Fire Department or an Ambulance company but those jobs are few and far between with oogles of applicants that I would have to beat out for the job.
Pastor Lance told me that he could hook me up at the Costco distribution center in Sumner, so I think that would be a good opportunity for me. I could use that as a stable job and then apply myself to doing other things, like getting my EMT and going to work at Mary Bridge or applying and testing for Fire Service jobs. Maybe that would be the best course... but God is up to something big right now and I want to be along for the ride!!!
Pastor Lance has begun to take me under his wing and mentor me in a real way. Mark will always be my mentor in life, he will always be my spiritual father and never be replaced in my heart, but Lance is my ministry mentor. I am excited to learn from him and hang out with him. He asked me if it was ok to call me and drag me along on stuff that he is doing, so this is an opportunity to grow significantly in my ministry experience and to "learn the ropes" as it were.
Campus Safety is good, but I am ROAD right now. One of my supervisors, who served in the Air Force told me about that, he said that I am Retired On Active Duty; my replacement has been trained and I am just counting the days until I am done. 40 hours a week of the same thing can get monotonous (understatement of the year) but I only have 2 1/2 weeks left so I will press on. I like my job and the people I work with, but I am at the place where I need to be promoted or move out and I am moving out soon! I will miss the ability to go places on campus that most people have never seen or knew existed... I can honestly say that I have been in every single building on campus, sometimes for legitimate reasons.
I would like to study music in a way. I watched the Producers with some friends today and I have fallen in love with musicals! I realize how little I know about music and how much it doesn't make sense to me sometimes. I know the basics, and I am getting better at reading it on a sheet, but I don't know it very well. It is something I love and because of that, I desire to understand it. Why does a certain chord progression work vs. another or what about this melodic line makes it stand out. What do I have to do to this chord to make it a diminished or even a minor? I love music and performing music, but I am limited by my lack of knowledge. I also want to produce and arrange music and a thorough knowledge of what is going on in the song is essential to that.
Part of thinking about this comes from a meeting I had with Anto Marin. He is a friend, who is married to my friend Jenae who graduated with me in December. He has a bunch of songs written and he wants to sit down with me and arrange them and get them ready to record. I love the idea of going into the studio with him, but I am woefully unprepared. I can hear things in my head, but expressing them is another thing altogether; and we are not even getting to my lack of experience in studio recording! My Dad has done it for years and even has his own home studio, but I never took the time to learn from him. This was mostly due to his method of teaching, a lot of watching and little explanation or experience, but I look back and wish that I had got more out of that then I did. Oh well...
This turned out to be longer than I expected...
As far as my future goes... I HAVE NO IDEA!!! I have kicked around some ideas, but they are all different and sometimes they don't seem to add up too well. What if I were to get into Law Enforcement? I think that I would make a good police officer, but do I really want to do that? I would rather work for a Fire Department or an Ambulance company but those jobs are few and far between with oogles of applicants that I would have to beat out for the job.
Pastor Lance told me that he could hook me up at the Costco distribution center in Sumner, so I think that would be a good opportunity for me. I could use that as a stable job and then apply myself to doing other things, like getting my EMT and going to work at Mary Bridge or applying and testing for Fire Service jobs. Maybe that would be the best course... but God is up to something big right now and I want to be along for the ride!!!
Pastor Lance has begun to take me under his wing and mentor me in a real way. Mark will always be my mentor in life, he will always be my spiritual father and never be replaced in my heart, but Lance is my ministry mentor. I am excited to learn from him and hang out with him. He asked me if it was ok to call me and drag me along on stuff that he is doing, so this is an opportunity to grow significantly in my ministry experience and to "learn the ropes" as it were.
Campus Safety is good, but I am ROAD right now. One of my supervisors, who served in the Air Force told me about that, he said that I am Retired On Active Duty; my replacement has been trained and I am just counting the days until I am done. 40 hours a week of the same thing can get monotonous (understatement of the year) but I only have 2 1/2 weeks left so I will press on. I like my job and the people I work with, but I am at the place where I need to be promoted or move out and I am moving out soon! I will miss the ability to go places on campus that most people have never seen or knew existed... I can honestly say that I have been in every single building on campus, sometimes for legitimate reasons.
I would like to study music in a way. I watched the Producers with some friends today and I have fallen in love with musicals! I realize how little I know about music and how much it doesn't make sense to me sometimes. I know the basics, and I am getting better at reading it on a sheet, but I don't know it very well. It is something I love and because of that, I desire to understand it. Why does a certain chord progression work vs. another or what about this melodic line makes it stand out. What do I have to do to this chord to make it a diminished or even a minor? I love music and performing music, but I am limited by my lack of knowledge. I also want to produce and arrange music and a thorough knowledge of what is going on in the song is essential to that.
Part of thinking about this comes from a meeting I had with Anto Marin. He is a friend, who is married to my friend Jenae who graduated with me in December. He has a bunch of songs written and he wants to sit down with me and arrange them and get them ready to record. I love the idea of going into the studio with him, but I am woefully unprepared. I can hear things in my head, but expressing them is another thing altogether; and we are not even getting to my lack of experience in studio recording! My Dad has done it for years and even has his own home studio, but I never took the time to learn from him. This was mostly due to his method of teaching, a lot of watching and little explanation or experience, but I look back and wish that I had got more out of that then I did. Oh well...
This turned out to be longer than I expected...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Mary Bridge
I was hoping to be able to write a long post about how I got this great job at Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital and how I knew it was a God thing and how my life was going to be great after January.
Unfortunately I cannot do that. I found out yesterday that I will not be able to work at MB because I do not have a current EMT license. I am kind of frustrated because I could have worked harder at maintaining my certification and I am now reaping the reward of my laziness. But I know that where God closes doors (and this was a big door and looked great!) He will sometimes open windows, or even a better door!
The Nurse Manager I was talking to at Mary Bridge seemed very impressed with me because of the glowing reviews I got from my references (note to self, put their checks in the mail) and my background. He said that if I get my EMT reinstated soon to call and that they would find me an on-call position. I can still work at Mary Bridge, but not until I get my EMT back.
I can hear your next question, "What will it take to get your EMT back?" Great question and I have been working hard at figuring that out. I made contact with a lady in the Pierce County EMS office and she has given me a list of subjects that I need to pass in order to receritfy. I am hoping to be able to audit the EMT class at TCC that they are currently offering so that I can get those class hours and then pass the EMT Final. I cannot just sit for the EMT test again like I was hoping, but this is the next best thing. I will also need to find a Fire Depatment or Ambulance company to maintain my EMT certification. I would be able to go back to Vashon Fire, but I don't want to live on Vashon and finding time to be on the Island is hard... It might be a good thing though, because the Chief of VIFR was a real mentor to me when I really needed it during High School. I should call him again!
Long story short, I am back to being homeless and jobless in February, but God dosen't care about that. God wants me to worry about it as much as He does, and He has a plan already layed out for February... I just need to walk in it.
Unfortunately I cannot do that. I found out yesterday that I will not be able to work at MB because I do not have a current EMT license. I am kind of frustrated because I could have worked harder at maintaining my certification and I am now reaping the reward of my laziness. But I know that where God closes doors (and this was a big door and looked great!) He will sometimes open windows, or even a better door!
The Nurse Manager I was talking to at Mary Bridge seemed very impressed with me because of the glowing reviews I got from my references (note to self, put their checks in the mail) and my background. He said that if I get my EMT reinstated soon to call and that they would find me an on-call position. I can still work at Mary Bridge, but not until I get my EMT back.
I can hear your next question, "What will it take to get your EMT back?" Great question and I have been working hard at figuring that out. I made contact with a lady in the Pierce County EMS office and she has given me a list of subjects that I need to pass in order to receritfy. I am hoping to be able to audit the EMT class at TCC that they are currently offering so that I can get those class hours and then pass the EMT Final. I cannot just sit for the EMT test again like I was hoping, but this is the next best thing. I will also need to find a Fire Depatment or Ambulance company to maintain my EMT certification. I would be able to go back to Vashon Fire, but I don't want to live on Vashon and finding time to be on the Island is hard... It might be a good thing though, because the Chief of VIFR was a real mentor to me when I really needed it during High School. I should call him again!
Long story short, I am back to being homeless and jobless in February, but God dosen't care about that. God wants me to worry about it as much as He does, and He has a plan already layed out for February... I just need to walk in it.
Friday, January 05, 2007
A Man on Fire...
This new name seems to fit me very well...
I love Firefighting, such a rush and so much fun! I love the pressure of performing a skill perfectly with peoples lives on the line... call me weird if you want to. I have very fond memories of training with Vashon Fire and getting my helmet melted in some of the training fires we did because it was so hot. How many people can say that they have been into a burning building? I can!
One of my favorite movies of all time is Man on Fire, starring Denzel Wahington and directed by Ridley Scott. It is a very graphic and intense protrayal of a bodyguards revenge on the people who kidnapped his charge. It ends with a very cool ending full of sacrifice and reunion. Not for the faint of heart, but a great movie.
I just finished reading a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. He writes an amazing and true story about how the power of prayer can transform a church. He very eloquently states the current starvation in the American Church due to lack of prayer and issues a bold call to wake up!
My favorite holiday is the 4th of July (shout out to all the cool people who came to Vashon for the last one, that trip will live in my memory for a long time!) The reason I love this holiday so much is because I get to light of Fireworks! I love seeing the hard earned money of people go up in smoke, oh but what cool and pretty smoke it is!
My favorite song in High School was Fireproof by Pillar. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! It really helped me to get through some things knowing that I was Fireproof in the eternal sense. I am very grateful that I know Jesus in a better way now than I did then, but I still love being Fireproof!
One of my favorite things to do is to go to the beach and light a bonfire. It is so much fun to just sit and watch the sunset, be with friends and eventually make s'mores. The best ones are when you get about 10 pallets and light those off!
A favorite story in the Bible comes from the 1 Kings 18, Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal.
The best prayer times are those where the Fire of the Holy Spirit is invited. I remeber times in the Prayer Shack with Chad Johnson and Chase Donnely as we prayed the fire of the Holy Spirit on one another. Chase always got worked by God quickly and Chad and I would end up on the floor in Holy laughter, always a great time! I need more times like that in my life.
Finally, my favorite description of a man of God comes from Zecariah 3:2, "...is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" I love this picture! As a servant of God, I am to be burning hot and completely consumed. The only way to stay on fire is for the brand to stay in the fire.
That is where my life is. I want to be a Man on Fire, consumed with passion that expresses itself as service to my King and those around me. I want to remain hot and in order to do so, I need to abide in the original fire, the Fire of the Holy Spirit.
I love Firefighting, such a rush and so much fun! I love the pressure of performing a skill perfectly with peoples lives on the line... call me weird if you want to. I have very fond memories of training with Vashon Fire and getting my helmet melted in some of the training fires we did because it was so hot. How many people can say that they have been into a burning building? I can!
One of my favorite movies of all time is Man on Fire, starring Denzel Wahington and directed by Ridley Scott. It is a very graphic and intense protrayal of a bodyguards revenge on the people who kidnapped his charge. It ends with a very cool ending full of sacrifice and reunion. Not for the faint of heart, but a great movie.
I just finished reading a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. He writes an amazing and true story about how the power of prayer can transform a church. He very eloquently states the current starvation in the American Church due to lack of prayer and issues a bold call to wake up!
My favorite holiday is the 4th of July (shout out to all the cool people who came to Vashon for the last one, that trip will live in my memory for a long time!) The reason I love this holiday so much is because I get to light of Fireworks! I love seeing the hard earned money of people go up in smoke, oh but what cool and pretty smoke it is!
My favorite song in High School was Fireproof by Pillar. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! It really helped me to get through some things knowing that I was Fireproof in the eternal sense. I am very grateful that I know Jesus in a better way now than I did then, but I still love being Fireproof!
One of my favorite things to do is to go to the beach and light a bonfire. It is so much fun to just sit and watch the sunset, be with friends and eventually make s'mores. The best ones are when you get about 10 pallets and light those off!
A favorite story in the Bible comes from the 1 Kings 18, Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal.
It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."
After taunting the prophets of Baal, Elijah turns to his reliable God,"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
I love this story!The best prayer times are those where the Fire of the Holy Spirit is invited. I remeber times in the Prayer Shack with Chad Johnson and Chase Donnely as we prayed the fire of the Holy Spirit on one another. Chase always got worked by God quickly and Chad and I would end up on the floor in Holy laughter, always a great time! I need more times like that in my life.
Finally, my favorite description of a man of God comes from Zecariah 3:2, "...is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" I love this picture! As a servant of God, I am to be burning hot and completely consumed. The only way to stay on fire is for the brand to stay in the fire.
That is where my life is. I want to be a Man on Fire, consumed with passion that expresses itself as service to my King and those around me. I want to remain hot and in order to do so, I need to abide in the original fire, the Fire of the Holy Spirit.
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