Playing COD = Conversation about God?!?!?

I am an avid gamer.  Some of you know that some of you don't.  In fact it was some of my youth that first introduced me to online video games.  I love to play.  I especially love to play Call of Duty.  I enjoy all the aspects of the game but I really enjoy the online multiplayer part of it. 

The only problem that I have with the online part of the game is the fact that anyone with a microphone can say anything they want to.  They can use fowl language, pick on each other, or just sing into the microphone. I can deal with it because I can mute it and I'm an adult but when you are online and someone has bought Call of Duty for their 10 year and they are cursing into the microphone, it just doesn't feel right.

You can't imagine how many times I have heard little kids cursing and talking about people's mothers, sex, and using the N word.  It is horrible.  I usually mute other players unless I know them.

Recently I have become friends with 2 other gamers.  They are both in college and I enjoy playing with them because we play as a team and they don't curse every other word.  We often play for hours on end and have great conversations about life and what's going on with each other.

The other day I was talking with one of them and he said to me,

"Hokie (Hokie708 is my screen name) what do you do for a living?"

I was a little scared about this question at first because not that I didn't want to admit that I worked for a church and with youth, but I didn't want to scary him away because he didn't really know me and we were just having a good time while playing a video game.  Ultimately I decided that I was going to be truthful and let the cards fall were they may.  I said;

"Cuddie (Cuddiesforreal is his screen name).  I work for a United Methodist Church in Raleigh NC, and I am the Director of Youth Ministries."

"Really? said Cuddy, "And you play video games?"

"Yes I do!" I said, "And I really enjoy playing games, in fact I actually have had some great conversations with my youth while playing video games.  They have a tendency to get so involved in the game that they are very relaxed when I talk to them about other things going on in their lives that they don't seem to care how much they share.  I guess in a way it is a great way for me to minister to my youth."

"That's pretty cool. I went to youth group when I was in High School and I really enjoyed it.  I loved my youth pastor and am really thankful for the advice he gave me over the years.  I miss it."

"Have you been to church lately?" I asked.

"No, you know the college thing, but maybe I should go.  Do you think God is mad at me for not going?"

"No, I don't think God is mad at you, I just know that he wants to be in relationship with you and if we step away from church for too long it makes it harder for us to come back.  You should go or maybe there is a bible study or Christian group on campus that you can get involved with." I said.

"That's a good point.  I am going to have to think about that.  You know that I am going into the Army after college right?"

"Yep, you mentioned that." I said.

"I am excited but a little scared at the same time."

" I am sure that it is scary.  I tell you what, why don't we take a break from playing for a minute and let's pray about it." I said.

"That sounds good, let's do that."

So we spent the next few minutes in prayer together.  I prayed for him and then he prayed.  Who would of known that in the virtual world of video games, God was right there with us.  We met because of playing a video game online and now we have a connection that is greater than playing video games together.  Thank you God for being there and thank you for allowing me to share with someone I don't really even know!  I hope we continue to be in contact for a long time!

Tuesday Night Lights

Yesterday I went to my first High School Lacrosse match.  Casey a freshman, started for the Varsity team last night.  She did a great job with a some tenacious defense!  She looked great with her white headband and her lacrosse stick wrapped in pink tape.  It was a great game, close at the half but in the end Millbrook was victorious by over 10 goals!


After the game was over Casey came over and gave me a big hug and told me all about it.   She was grinning ear to ear when she ran off the field and was so excited to be in the game and even more excited to start.


I was really proud of her.  Although she is only on Varsity right now because of an injury to another player, she is taking advantage of it.  The fact that she started leads me to believe that it will be hard for them to send her back down to JV.  Casey has a great work ethic and when she wants something she goes after it!  I don't know if I know of another teenager that has their life planned out the way that Casey does.  She is going to go far in life because of that planning and her work ethic.


I don't know much about Lacrosse in fact I have to ask Scott a lot of questions when I go to a game.  I told them last night that I have 4 years to understand the game so I am going to make them count!


It was fun to sit underneath the lights on a Tuesday night when it was near 80 degrees and watch someone that is passionate about their sport.  I hope there are a lot more nights like last night!  I can't wait to watch her again!

I can barely walk today but I love it!

Monday nights are awesome and a lot of fun!


 A couple of years ago we started to play pick up basketball.  It started out with myself and some of the youth but it quickly evolved into adult pickup basketball.  We come together around 7:00 pm and play basketball for over 2 hours every Monday night.  Last night we had 17 people show up to play in our little gym!  This morning when I finally got out of bed I could barely walk until after I got a nice warm shower.  My body is very stiff after we play and often I consume a lot of Ibuprofen on Tuesdays but it is definitely worth the pain.  The thing is it's not the actually playing that is worth the pain.


Don't get me wrong I love to play basketball and I definitely need the exercise but what I truly enjoy is the relationships that have been built from playing pick up basketball on Monday nights.  I have met a lot of men in the church through playing basketball on Monday nights. I love working with the youth of the church but it is all consuming sometimes.  There isn't much time to get to know people within the church because of the time and attention that is required of me by the youth.


I love my job and I love my kids but I really love playing basketball with the adults of the church.  I enjoy having adult conversations and learning a lot about the other men of the church.  This has been one of the outlets for me to truly get to know some other gentlemen in the church.


This adult pickup basketball has also been a gateway for some families to join the church.  Men have come and enjoyed themselves and gotten to know people and have then brought their families to church on Sunday.  It has been an interesting way to get more people involved in the life of the church.


I am very thankful for the friendships I have formed while playing pick up basketball on Monday nights.  God gives us so many opportunities to get to know people and invite them into relationship with him, why not do that with a basketball in your hands? 


So warm up my heating pad, get me some Ibuprofen, and make sure there is warm water for my shower because I plan to play a lot of basketball!

Put me in Coach

I watched a one minute video yesterday on someone's Facebook page.  It was of a bus driver that pulls onto a bridge and sees a lady hanging on the side of a guard rail ready to jump into the highway and oncoming traffic.  He pulls the bus over and asks very nicely if she needs anything.  He slowly walks down out of the bus and toward her, very calm and collected.  He asks her if she would like to come on this side of the guardrail.  She seemed to be in a distraught and confused state.  When she says yes, he helps her back over the guard rail and sits down on the ground with her and just talks until help arrives.

Later when he is being interviewed about the experience he says that it was meant to be, that he was supposed to be there in that moment to help this lady.  He says that he played football and:

"When you sit on the bench and the coach calls your number you have to go in and make a play and you gotta do what the play calls for and I think that is what I did."

The sports analogy is very interesting because many of us have played sports or watch sports.  How often in a game have we seen an injury happen or someone get into foul trouble and a player who doesn't play much comes off the bench and has an amazing game.  When all seems lost that player steps in makes a huge impact on the game.  They know what needs to be done and them make it happen.

I think this is a great way to think about helping others and stepping outside the box.  We go through our normal lives everyday and nothing extraordinary happens.  It's kinda like we are sitting on the bench waiting for our opportunity to make a difference to step up and be the hands and feet of Christ.  The question comes are we ready to take the field?  Are we ready to step up when we are called to do so?  Can we be thrust into the game of life and do whatever it takes in that moment?

Just like that player that sits on the bench and waits for his or her shot, we have to be ready.  We have to be ready for when we get called into the game.  We may not know when or where it will happen but when it does I know that we will know what it is we need to do. 

So make sure your water bottle is full, your laces are double knotted, and you have stretched thoroughly because you never know when you will be called into the game! 

When Life gives you Lemons...

I throw them at people!!! 


Ok no I don't, but don't you feel like that some times? 


Don't you feel like it would just be easier to throw the lemons at people?



I think we all do.  The expressions references lemons as the bad or unexpected things that happen in our lives.  They reference those things that happen and make you stop and say really?  Did that really just happen?  Did the opposite of what I want to happen happen? 


The rest of that express is make lemonade.  Which means to make something good out of the lemons that life has handed you.  It means take that sourness that life is throwing at you and make something sweet.



I think that I get my love the taste of lemons from my Dad.  I think most people grow up eating Oreos or Chocolate Chip cookies.  Sure I had plenty of those but I can distinctly remember my Dad always having Lemon cream filled cookies in the cookie jar growing up.  I loved the taste of that sweet lemon cream that was covered by that lemon cookie crunch.  I would eat way too many of them which of course made my Dad mad.


On top of that I would always drink the orange juice after school which didn't help anything because Dad always said that was just for Breakfast, but that is another story...


I quickly realized that I also loved the taste of lemonade.  The sweet and sour taste of lemonade has become one of my favorite things.  On top of that I was introduced to lemon meringue pie and this ice box pie that Coleen makes that is AMAZING!!!  I have even been known to take a lemon out of my sweet tea and eat it.  Needless to say, I love lemon. 


This weekend I was throw a bunch of lemons, I mean lets just say about 45 dump trucks came by and poured lemons all over me.  I was buried under a mountain of lemons.  It was a very hard weekend.  It felt like all I could see was the porous yellow skin of the lemon.  And although one lemon doesn't weigh very much, 45 truck loads of lemons is very heavy on your chest. It was hard.


Although the weight, sight, and smell of all these lemons was tremendous, I could still feel God.  I could feel him lifting me up and I could hear him as he tore those lemons off me.  He reached in and pulled me out and put me back up on my feet.  I stood there realizing that God would never leave me, but I looked around and there in front of me were still piles and piles of lemons.  Then it started to happen, God sent juicers.  He sent people, places, and things that started to juice those lemons.  He had people that I haven't talked to in years contact me and squeeze lemons.  He put me in places where the atmosphere wouldn't allow you to be squashed by the lemons of the world. Places were people were smiling and happy and filled with his love.  They too squeezed and juiced lemons.


After all those lemons were squeeze and juiced, he sent in people to sweeten the lemonade that had just been made. People that fill my life with love and caring.  People that don't allow the lemons of the world to drag them down.  These people swooped in without even knowing it and sweeten up my lemonade.


When life gets you down, and you are covered in lemons and you want to give up or start chucking those lemons at people, you need to remember that God is with you and even if the load of lemons is heavy and feels like it is too much for you to bear, God will send juicers so that you can still make lemonade. 

It is always Darkest before the Dawn

I have a friend that I miss quite a bit.  When I worked at the YMCA there were basically two people that I would talk to every day. They were Shannon and LeeAnn.  LeeAnn was the Associate Aquatics Director at the YMCA and Shannon was my partner in crime with the children and teens.  Often my conversations with LeeAnn would center around tic tacs.  I don't know why I remember that but it is such a vivid picture in my head.


Recently LeeAnn was in a horrible car accident.  A gentlemen under the influence ran a red light and smashed into the side of LeeAnn's car as she was entering an intersection.  It was a horrible accident.  I found out about the accident by some facebook posts made by LeeAnn's fiancé Ryan. 


I remember  waking up that morning and seeing the post.  I was in shock and disbelief that this had happened to her.   This is the post that I saw the morning after the accident:


 "Update on LeeAnn was in a car wreck were a drunk driver hit her. She has a fracture at the base of her scull, four fractures in her lower spine, a concussion and a lot of bumps and bruises. She just asked me to pray for the man who hit her. Please pray for us"


It was scary to read.  The part of the post that really hit me though was where LeeAnn told Ryan to ask for prayers for the man who hit her.  She was selfless in her thoughts even though she was in a ton of pain.  LeeAnn's faith has always been something that has never waivered.  She has always stood firm in her beliefs and this accident only showed how strong they are.  Instead of asking why did God allow this to happen to me, she praised him that she was alive, and that her wounds would heal.  She also asked for prayers for the person that was the cause of her accident because she was thinking about the pain and suffering that that man and his family would have to go through.


I think in the world we live in it is too easy to blame God for the bad things that happen.  We forget to thank him for the life he has given us and the world that he has created for us.  Instead what we need to do is when all hope is lost, when our world is at its darkest place, we must cling to the love of our Lord.  We must hang on until the dawn.  When dawn comes, that is when the light comes.  The light of the world who will shine through the darkest parts of our world and lift us up when we are down.


LeeAnn still has a tough road ahead I am sure but God will see here through.  Her family will be there for her and the light of the Lord with shine through her. I don't ever wish something like this upon you but I hope that we can all cling to our faith when the world is at it's darkest.

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life, for me...

and I'm feeling good!

It's a new year!  2014 brings about many opportunities for each and every one of us!  2013 is behind us, some of us have great memories of 2013 while some of us are glad it is over. I don't know where you stand about last year but I invite you either way to look toward 2014 with wide open eyes and hearts filled with hope and love.  God has great plans for you this year and it is up to you what you do this year. 

There will be plenty of opportunities to do things for people to show people that you love them.  There will be opportunities to share God's love and make a difference in the lives of the people around you.  What you do in 2014 is up to you.  Where you go, who you spend your time with, and what you buy is all up to you.

Make the most of this new year.  Everyday, tell the people you love that you love them!  Show them that you love them through your thoughts, words, and deeds.

Perform an act of random kindness. The next time you go through the drive thru, pay not only for your food but the food of the person behind you. 

Don't forget that the generous things that you do around Christmas time can be done all year round.  Donate food and clothes to those in need.  Volunteer at your church or a local charity. 

Overall treat people the way that you want to be treated and I guarantee that your 2014 will be awesome! 

Make 2014 special because you are special and you need to share that with the world!

Happy New Year!