theChampy

Heavy.And.Light

I had the opportunity to attend the third annual Heavy And Light this year. I have attended all three, and they keep getting better every year.

Born out of tragedy, the night is meant to express the heaviness and lightness that life brings, and the hope for tomorrow that keeps us going.

Some of my favorite artists, Aaron Gillespie, Aaron Marsh, Zach Williams, Stephen Christian, and Mat Kearney, were there playing acoustic versions of their songs and sharing their hearts.

We felt the solemnness as TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski spoke of his friend Zeke’s suicide and interviewed Zeke’s girlfriend about the tragedy.

We laughed when spoken word poet Anis Mojgani began his poem with “You have been given a direct order to rock the f—k out.” He said the word, it was funny.

Perhaps the most pivotal moment came for me when a man named Aaron Moore, a local counselor, took the stage.

As Aaron spoke, I realized that I could relate in full.

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The.40

The number 40 is significant in the Bible.

A few examples:

• Israel spent 40 years in the desert
• Moses was 40 when he left Egypt, then he went back to egypt to rescue the Israelites 40 years later
• Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting and enduring temptation
• Jesus was on the earth for 40 days His resurrection before He ascended to heaven

40 represents a time of testing, of trial, of waiting. But it doesn’t end at that. There is always a period of redemption, renewal, or revival at the end of the 40 days.

I just spent 40 days fasting from social media, namely Twitter and Facebook. In the beginning, everything was going smoothly. I was really okay without it.

The second half was definitely rougher. I wanted to see what people wrote to me for my birthday, I wanted to know what was going on in the worlds of Facebook and Twitter.

It was a temptation, it was a trial, but, I was able to make it to the end. Through a strength that wasn’t my own, I went without.

And I survived. When all was said and done, I was okay. And I learned that there are things I spend so much time on that I don’t need to. Things that distract me that I don’t need to devote so much attention to.

So, there is the redemption, the renewal. I have a newfound appreciation for the convenience and connection that social media provides, and at the same time, I have been reminded that I don’t need them to play such a large part of my life.

I hope that made some sense. Sometimes it’s hard to express what’s in your heart in a way that is understandable.

Just know that this experience has been trying and rewarding all at the same time. And I’m thankful that I could share it with you.

Merry.Christmas

It’s Christmas Eve. Wow, that came fast. It seems like yesterday I was worried I wouldn’t be able to eat Christmas foods because of my wisdom teeth surgery.

I love Christmas. It’s always been my favorite holiday, maybe because my birthday is so close to it, so there’s a lot of celebrating.

But this year, I haven’t been in the “spirit” of the holiday as much as I normally am. Maybe it’s the busyness of life, juggling a full time job, a social life, and ministry.

So, today I am taking the time to reflect on what Christmas means.

The overwhelming realization that God in flesh was sent to the earth to be the Savior of all mankind.

That He was born to die an unimaginable death because He loves us and wanted to be with us forever, and this was the only way to make that possible.

So today, I can wholeheartedly wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, because I know what makes this holiday so meaningful and full of joy.

My prayer is that your life is full of love, joy, and blessings during this very special time.

I leave you with the words of the angels, spoken to the shepherds who were given a privilege very few had. The privilege of seeing the Savior at his birth, lying in a manger:

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord…Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:10-11,14

Merry Christmas

A Birthday Reflection

Every year on my birthday, I pause to take a look at the past year of my life and ahead to the next.

I turned 24 today, and the last year of my life has been eventful, fulfilling, and even trying.

From my graduation one year ago to finding out my closest friend is moving away, God has guided me and brought me through moments that made me laugh, cry, and cling closer to Him.

At the end of this year, I can say that my walk with the Lord has grown deeper, my friendships have grown richer, and I have made new friends along the way.

Did I do everything perfectly? Not by a long shot. But every mistake was a chance to learn, to grow, and to move on.

I am thankful for every experience of the last year.

And if you are reading this and you walked through any number of those experiences with me, thank you for being a part of my journey.

As I look ahead to the next year, I am older, wiser, and stronger.

And I have every intention of continuing to grow.

Disclaimer: My Facebook/Twitter fast is still in effect. The link to this post was published through the wonders of technology, allowing me to share it with you without logging in.

The Halfway Mark

I’m halfway through my Facebook and Twitter fast.

At this point, I expected to be on the verge of clawing my face off if I didn’t send out a tweet or a Facebook update.

Surprisingly though, it’s been pretty smooth.

Sure, there have been moments in the last couple of weeks that would have normally triggered me taking out my phone and firing up Tweetdeck or Facebook, but I’ve just powered through them.

It’s taught me to be okay with an awkward silence, or find a way to make conversation when such a moment arrives. Or find something else to do to cure my boredom.

I’ve also learned that I did depend too much on them. I’ve missed a few birthdays because I didn’t take the time to remember them or write them down. I just trusted Facebook to tell me. And without using Facebook, I forgot them.

There are people whose contact information I don’t have because our only interaction was through Facebook. So for 40 days, we won’t have any contact, and that’s my fault for not finding another form of communication.

Mostly, the last 20 days have shown me that I can survive without Twitter and Facebook. I don’t need to know everything that is going on in the digital world. I am content knowing only what I’ve been told through other forms of communication.

With all of that said, I’m expecting the next 20 days to be more difficult. My birthday is next week, then Christmas is shortly after.

This may sound ridiculous, but it feels good when people take the time to wish me Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas on my Facebook wall or tell me on Twitter, and I won’t get to see that until the 27th.

The temptation will be great, but I’ll be able to power through. I know I will, because God has not brought me this far to let me fail.

So, I thank you for your prayers and support up to this point. Please continue for the next 20 days.

P.S. If you came here through a link on Twitter or Facebook, it is because updates to my blog post automatically to Twitter and my Facebook status is updated by Twitter. I did not sign in to post this. Ah, the wonders of technology. :)

A Call To Die

A call to die. Sounds harsh. Sounds like a book I would not pick up, let alone start working through.

Yet here I am, beginning a 40 day journey with some of the students at my church through this book, A Call to Die.

The premise: To live, you must die to self.

Matthew 16:24 says “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

To call someone to take up a cross in that time meant death. The cross was not a pretty silver charm on a necklace. It was the most brutal form of death.

So, what does this mean? We are called to follow Christ no matter what it may cost us, to deny our selfish desires, and when we do that, we can follow Him, join Him in His work in the world.

Exciting? Absolutely. Easy? Not so much. So that is what this 40 day journey is about, dying to self daily and following Christ.

Here comes the kicker. This is not a casual read, it’s a commitment. And one of the commitments is to fast something for 40 days.

And as soon as I realized that, I knew exactly what it was that I was supposed to fast.

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On.Your.Mark - Catalyst Part 1

First off, an apology. It has been almost a month since I got back from Catalyst and I have not written about the experience.

So here goes…

Going to Catalyst this year was a no brainer after last year. Catalyst 08 was my first experience, and it was life changing. It came on the heels of some things God had been revealing to me, and God orchestrated it at the last minute.

The funny part about last minute plans and having an actual plan is that there is more time for distractions to pop up when you aren’t running around last minute.

Before I left, distractions were popping up everywhere, even at the last minute. My fervent prayer was that God would remove those distractions and overtake them with what He wanted to speak to me.

He did just that. Last year’s conference largely focused on leadership principals, but this year was focused on the leader.

The theme was “On Your Mark”. We always focus on the “Go!” or the “Get Set”, but we largely ignore the first step.

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Triathlons & Life

First off, I don’t know what gets into me that inspires these random athletic quests of mine.

A few years ago, I decided to run the DIsney half marathon. I was a gym-goer, but not a runner. 5 months later, I was running 13.1 miles through Disney parks.

Then, just two months ago, I got the crazy idea to participate in a sprint triathlon: 1/3 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride, and 5k run. I hadn’t worked out regularly for months. Crazy, right?

So, on October 24, I found myself at the water’s edge at Ft. Desoto at 7:55am. My wave would start swimming at 7:58. I was nervous to say the least.

And just like that, we were off. Swimming in salt water, against the current, with about 50 people swarmed around you is very much different from swimming laps in a pool, as I quickly discovered.

Swim finished, I climbed out of the water to jog to my bike. First thought: “Wow. My legs are tired already. How am I going to finish this?”

I quickly pushed the thought away and went to my bike, climbed on, and went, trying to ignore the signs telling me how far I had gone. I just wanted to look forward and finish.

10 miles done, and I’m dropping off my bike to start running 3.2 miles. After half a mile, I was convinced I couldn’t go further. The tightness in my calves was like nothing I ever felt before. I started walking.

When I felt rested, I’d run until the tightness reared its ugly head, then walk for a bit. It was during this run/walk time that I had a thought.

You see, when I ran the half marathon, I had a running partner. We trained together and pushed each other through it. In this case, my training partner wasn’t there.

I was struck with the importance of having someone there to go through this with. Someone who could push me, encourage me, finish with me. Someone who I could do the same thing for.

The same thing applies to this life. We were made to walk/run through it with others. That’s why we desire friendships, why we want to be in love.

Someone to walk through life with. Someone to push you, to encourage you when you’re convinced you can’t go any further.

And God plays that role as well. He wants us to walk through life with Him. And as friends and significant others may walk in and out, He remains.

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

We’re also told that He will never leave us or forsake us. We are not alone, and we were never made to be alone.

So, I finished the triathlon. I ran through the finish, powered by a burst of strength I can only attribute to the One who was running beside me the whole time.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for walking through life with me.