Desde mi mente a la tuya

Lets wait and see...

2012-02-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here I am waiting
Abide in me I pray
Here I am longing
For You
Hide me in Your love
Bring me to my knees
May I know Jesus
More and more

Come live in me
All my life
Take over
Come breathe in me
I will rise
On eagle’s wings

-Hillsong Australia

Remember that song? I sure do. I remember leading that in worship more times than I can count. It's a great song.

Recently the truths of the above song/scripture have been more and more relevant in my life. Well, the word of God is always relevant... this part has just meant more to me recently.

I've been trying for about almost two years now to get a position as a Worship Director in a local church. I've sent out my resume to many churches, some of which declined right after my initial e-mail. I've spent a few hours on the phone with potential churches, learning about them and giving them my life story. I've even had a couple of interviews. It's been an exciting experience but...

I'm still not in a worship position at a local church. I'm still waiting.

I felt the call into full-time worship ministry when I was 17 years old. Someone very wise told me that when God calls you to do something, he doesn't take away the call... even if it takes a while for it to come to fruition. Thus I have been studying, practicing, and serving in worship since then so I am ready when God has something for me.

About 6 months ago I felt the Lord leading me to continue my search and I've had some interesting prospects since then, but nothing has panned out. I guess my prayer is that God will come live in me, breathe in me, lift me up on wings of eagle's (so to speak), and help me to know Jesus more and more. My desire and passion for Him has grown exponentially through this experience and I'm really looking forward to the future. Looking forward to what God has in store for Vanessa and I. Looking forward to the exciting ministry opportunities I'll have here in Springfield and at JRA (my church). Looking forward to growing and becoming a better husband, worshipper and man of God. I am really excited for the future even if I have to wait on God's timing.

This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time.
- Habakkuk 2:3 (The Message, emphasis added)

Don't overlook the obvious here, friends.
With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day.
God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness.
He is restraining himself on account of you,
holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost.
He's giving everyone space and time to change.
- 2 Peter 3:9 (The Message)

Like I said, it's been an interesting process... I'm not sure what the Lord has for us (or when for that matter).

Lets wait and see...

A Closer Look

2011-12-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

I was using Stumbleupon and thought that this was really cool. Here are some pictures from an electron microscope taking a closer look at some everyday items. (source A CLOSER LOOK)

Used Q-Tip

Used Dental Floss

Velcro

Toilet Paper (unused of course)

Salt and Pepper (one of my favorites)

Postage Stamp

Pencil Lead

Toothbrush bristles

A Needle and Thread

A Mascara Brush

A Guitar String

An Electric Shaver w/ Cut Whiskers

A Cigarette Lighter

Pretty crazy how these items look under the microscope...

Looking forward to the past...

2011-11-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'm coming home to Washington for Christmas and I'm really excited. It's been over two years since this picture was taken and I haven't seen Kevin or David for that entire time! I miss all my friends in WA a lot and I'm really excited for our trip.

As I've been thinking about what this trip will hold, I've realized that not everyone is going to be the same. We won't have the same things to talk about, the same inside jokes (well, maybe some), and people will have changed... a lot... I know I have.

I'm also bringing my wife home with me. She's only visited once and it was before we were married. I'm excited to "reintroduce" her to my extended family and for my immediate family to get to know her better. I don't know if excited is the word she would choose though. Gotta love those awkward "I don't really know you that well but we're family" moments. I know I've had my fair share over the past few years.

I think that this trip will be a struggle for me. I left WA in a bad place. I was dealing with a lot of depression, anger, and was completely burnt out on a lot of things. God has brought restoration through a great church, a loving wife, and good friends who have spoken life into me. I am, however, nervous about physically being in a place where all that was happening in my life. It's been a long journey and I don't want to go back to where I was.

I think this trip will be a challenge for me and also a great time of family, friends and a great Christmas season.

Instead of me going see everyone else, I'm making everyone come see me. It sounds a little selfish but I've got 8 days or so and I really want to see some people. Come on over to my mom's place on Tuesday the 27th from 3-10pm. We'd love to see you!

StumbleUpon

2011-10-12T15:00:00.001-07:00

Why haven't I done this before!?!?

StumbleUpon is now my new favorite hobby. So far today I've found a Binary translator...

"01000010011001010110111000100000011010010111001100

1000000101001101010101010100000100010101010010001

00000010000110100111101001111010011000010000100100

001001000010010000100100001"

A Funny "Boring College Class" Bingo board game:

Pardon the french*

And this wicked sweet video:

I think I found a new past time. check it out at stumbleupon.com

The Big Flush - Too Soon

2011-06-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

I came across this article on Fox News and I thought it was so funny. I can't believe the people in Oregon would waste that much water just because some dude took a leak in the reservoir.

The fact that they find dead animals, paint cans and even dog poop bags in the reservoir when they clean it (twice a year), tells me that a man urinating (which is sterile) in the water is not going to affect the health of the general population.

My favorite part is the quote from the Admin of the City Water Bureau:

"Nobody wants to drink pee, and I don't want to deal with the 100 people who would be unhappy that I'm serving them pee in their water."

Come on! Man up! I deal with angry customers every single day. The worst thing that would happen would be a couple people yell at him and he has a couple long days at work. BIG DEAL!

Anyway, thought it was funny. Just thought I'd share my thoughts.

ATMs and Airport Kiosks

2011-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

The more I hear this president lie to our country, the more glad I am that it's almost 2012. I am hoping/praying that Obama will be a one-term president.

He has no grasp on what is happening in the job market these days which is evidenced by his most recent comment on why jobs have recovered from this recession as quickly as expected.

Check this article here: Revenge of the Machines?

Ahh the good ol' days

2011-06-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Man, I miss the good ol' days of great kid's entertainment on TV. There's nothing like it on these days. Here are some of my favs from back in the day...

Bobby's world, Doug, Saved by The Bell, Clarissa Explains it All, Animaniacs/Pinky and The Brain, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Rocko's Modern Life (which is on netflix!!) and Tiny Toons. It doesn't get much better than that.

I'm gonna go watch a few of these on Netflix pretty soon. Now that I'm feeling all nostalgic, I gotta get some good kids entertainment from back in the day.

What are some of your favs from back in the day?

KoL

2011-05-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Man, I am such a nerd.

When I came back from Mexico, everyone was on the tail end of being addicted to this game. I tried to get into it back then but just couldn't really enjoy it. The other day, I decided I would start a new account and start playing again.

This game personafies everything geeky about me. 1337 Speak, Epic Quests, extremely funny and rediculous game play. I love it.

Anyway, just thought I'd share about the newest game I'm into. I also just got a Wii which i'm pretty stoked about. Anyone know of any good Wii games that I just have to try?

Joplin, MO

2011-05-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

As you can see in the video above, Joplin has been devastated by the most damaging tornado since modern recording began in our country. With 30% of the city damaged/destroyed by the storm, there is so much to do. God is helping that community through great organizations like Convoy of Hope.

I believe that it is our responsibility as believers to respond to this tragedy and others like it in any way we can. Our donations of food, clothing, and especially money can really make a huge difference. I've heard statistics on the radio that for every $1 that someone gives to Convoy of Hope, they are able to get $7 worth of material into the hands of victims.

I have seen shameful exploitation of this tragedy as well and it makes me sick. Our purpose as Christians is to shine the light of Jesus to these people by meeting their physical, emotional and medical needs.

Westboro Baptist Church is planning a protest in Joplin on Sunday with sayings like "Thank God for 125 Dead in Joplin." It sickens me to see the gospel perverted in this way. They believe that this tornado is an act of God's vengeance on these people for accepting the homosexual community. As Galatians say, if they preach a gospel that is not the true gospel, it is no gospel at all. Please pray with me that God will turn the hearts of these people so they do not cause more pain in the lives of these victims.

Here are some ways you can help with relief efforts:

My church is planning trips with aid, materials and supplies. You can see and support their effort at www.love417.com.

Convoy of Hope is a local group that will be needing donations as well. You can donate to them by calling 417-823-8998, by texting CONVOY to 50555 (this will donate $10 automatically, adding it to your phone bill), or by going to their website at http://www.convoyofhope.org/.

For those of you in the Springfield area, there is a concert at Remmington's tonight with After Edmund and Brenton Miles for $5. All proceeds go to Convoy of Hope.

Finally, You can order a shirt to help with relief at www.bigfishtees.com.

Thanks.

Casual Friday...

2011-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just started a new position at work. I'll be working in the "complaint department." AKA: Receivables. I deal with returns, defective merchandise, incorrect orders, items missing from orders... basically all the fun stuff.

This is the first job I've ever had where there is a "somewhat strict" dress code. I'm wearing dress slacks, a nicer shirt, and some black shoes every day. This is a new thing for me and frankly, I don't like it. It's not that I'm not thankful for my job, I just don't like to be uncomfortable. If I had my way, I'd be in shorts and a t-shirt every day, or at least jeans. Considering I work in a CALL center where I don't interact with anyone but my co-workers, you'd think I could wear whatever I wanted. Oh well...

I LIVE for casual Friday. The only thing that really changes is getting to wear Jeans and not having to tuck my shirt in, but it is GLORIOUS. It's the small things I guess.

Who would have thought such a small thing like changing into jeans would make my life so great. It's like the highlight of most of my work weeks. Not that the weekend is coming, not that work is over, but that I get to wear something other than my stuffy dress clothes to work! Hooray!

Maybe, I get a little too excited, but can you blame me? It's casual Friday!

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I do, however, look forward to the day when I will work somewhere without a dress code. Until then I suppose I'll keep looking forward to friday.

Nobama, NO TRUMP...

2011-04-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Just read this great and uplifting article about this joke of a man who might run to be the president of this nation. I will never vote for him.

Trump is running around posing as a conservative with the country's best interest in mind, when in reality he is a manipulative business man that just wants to do this for his own personal gain. He would be just like the others if he got into office.

I hope that people actually take time and THINK about what this next election means. Our current president is turning our nation into a crap hole one giant "big government" legislation at a time. We don't need another one.

"Find the conservative and vote for the conservative."

No one is perfect but you've got to look at what is going to get us to where we once were and where we want to be.

Poop.

2011-04-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Man, what would we do without smartphones. iPhone in particular.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I'm such a geek

2011-04-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

I definitely can't wait for the day when I'll be able to use a completely customizable PC. In other words, I won't have an IT department to worry about.

I'm very particular about the way I enjoy my PC to be set up. I don't want a lot of crap on my screen and I want things to work the way I want them to work. Take my work desktop for example:

Click to Enlarge:

I have a dual monitor set up (which is definitely a plus) and I managed to snatch two large screens. We all have a 17" standard and then a bigger wide screen monitor and switching between the two sizes was gross. I snagged another widescreen from an empty cubicle (which I'll have to give back sometime) so that they were both the same running at 1440x900. Sweet.

My other problem (as you can see by my disgusting amount of windows that are open) is that I need to have many programs running at the same time to be able to take orders. Unfortunately, since our system is so antiquated, I have to run my order entry program in multiple sessions of Internet Exploder instead of using tabs.

In order to fix this, a buddy of mine here (also geeky) found a freeware program that adds a task bar to both monitors. When a window is open on one screen, it will show on the task bar for that screen and vice versa.

The other thing that was really getting at me was that by default, you can't set your monitors to have different wallpapers or a panoramic wallpaper. I solved this by downloading DisplayFusion. It's a great little program that has all kinds of features available in the Pro and Free versions. I have a panoramic wallpaper now and I can even set each monitor to have a different wallpaper if I'd like.

Long story short, I have my desktop set up the way I like it within the confines of our IT rules (sort of).

Does anyone else have any cool desktop mods/accessibility programs?

Biblical Curse Generator

2011-04-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

A friend at work shared THIS site with me today. I thought it was pretty hilarious. You can't beat a good biblical curse against your enemies. Although it does bring a little Proverbs 26:4 to mind which says:

"Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself."

Although, a comeback with biblical KJV goodness can't be beat. Thoughts?

Busy. Busy. Busy.

2011-03-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm busy.

My wife and I have this crazy schedule right now and it's been hectic. On Monday-Wednesday we go straight from work (I get off at 5:30) to The Eggroll (Jr. High Life Group), Worship Rehearsal, and then to Realife respectively.

Thursday is our night to spend together (which doesn't always happen) and it seems like we have something or another going every weekend. Man, how did I get myself into this!?

I don't want to complain. Just vent a bit. I enjoy the things we're doing a lot. I definitely cannot wait, though, until I get a schedule that lets me off sooner.

Praise God that he helps me get through each week. I'm thankful for a wife who supports me and loves me even when our life is CRAZY.

I finally switched over.

2011-03-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

My wife was complaining about the laptop running slow for her the other night and I always know what that means... Time to reformat!

One of the downfalls to this is having to backup the machine and inevitably deleting something that I forgot to backup (usually something that my wife needs for work or something of that nature). I sat down with the wife and we found everything *crosses fingers* that she needed to backup. Thus began my adventure towards freedom from the tyranny of Microsoft Corporation into the loving arms of open-source Linux goodness.

I did some searching and found what I thought would be good for our little Eee 1005ha and came up with eeebuntu 3.0.

It was quite a fuss to get it installed. For one, I had to actually download the thing and at 800+MB my slow DSL connection was not happy. It took a couple hours for it to finally download (well, two episodes of Bones to be somewhat more precise) and once I finally got it downloaded I actually had install the stupid thing.

The problem with our little netbook is that it doesn't have a CD drive. I had to figure out how to get my linux distro onto a flash drive and install it via USB. This wasn't really a problem, I've installed Win7, WinXP, and OSx86 via USB in the past.

I went ahead and downloaded an easy to use tool called Universal USB Installer which made it super easy. I just selected the ISO file and told it to unpack to my pendrive. The program basically made a Live CD of my thumb drive and made it so I could boot my linux distro from the drive itself. Super simple. A nice change from my usual stumbling around with new software or OS's.

My only problem after that was actually getting the stinkin machine to boot from the drive. I could do it on my desktop but for some reason it wasn't being kind to me on the Eee. The common thought would be to change the boot sequence in the BIOS and set it to boot from a "removable disk." I did this, even telling it to not boot from anything else and every time it would boot into my Win7 installation. Finally I decided look into the other setting and found that I could change the "primary hardrive" from the actual HDD to the thumb. Did that and it booted/installed first try with no problem.

So now I'm running Ubuntu 9.10 (upgrading soon to 10) since the Eeebuntu distro was out of date. It's been interesting and I've had to get used to a lot already. Terminal? File system? Unix based?

More adventures to come...

Hackint0sh

2011-03-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

A while back I ventured into the world of the OSx86 Project and installed OSX Leopard on my PC. It worked well on my desktop with one small caveat. I had to make sure I didn't install any updates directly from Apple because it would normally mean a re-install of the system (not necessarily a short process with my hardware setup).

I then tried it on my laptop, and ASUS Eee 1005ha and got it to work "fairly" well with the exception of the sound and the wireless being a little buggy.

It was a fun experiment overall but I eventually got tired of the bugs. I've been looking into it again and, from what I can tell, the real way to do it is to build a system that is completely compatible with the hacked version of the OS. I'm really interested.

I took the liberty of building a system on Newegg that would be compatible with the OSx86 hacked OS. I think it would be fun to build it but unfortunately I don't have the money to build the machine. Anyone want to donate $175 for me to build a bare-bones computer kit?

More to come later.

Attributes of God

2011-02-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today in worship we spent a moment reflecting on how God has been so good to us, and some of the main things that we love about being in a relationship with Him.

We used to do this in our VBS (Vacation Bible School) with the young ones to help them focuse on who God is in our worship times. This morning, as I lead worship in Realife, I had the students close their eyes and focus in on the Lord. I then asked them to think of something that they are very grateful for in regards to Christ's involvement in their life. Is it His mercy? His compassion? His unfailing faithfulness? His unending love that he generously lavishes on us every day? I was very pleased to see students really taking a moment to ponder which of these "worship words" means the most to them, right now, where they're at. We then all said together "God, thank you because you are..." and the word the student had chosen.

Today I'm challenged by them, to think of why it is that I love God so much and be thankful fo the things he's done in me.

Our God is a Mighty God.

Thanks to Lynn Lendzion for being a true example on what it is to lead and worship with the heart of a child.

I've been inspired.

2011-02-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've been looking back at a friend's site lately and I've been inspired. I was always under the impression that my blogs had to be really long and thought provoking but I really think I was misguided. I know there are long blog posts and people who are really creative in this area. I'm not.

I would prefer to just share my thoughts, funny ideas, and every once-in-a-while share a great thought with the 2 people who will read this. Sounds good to me.

Maybe I'll be on here a bit more.

A Milestone in the Betrayal of Marriage

2011-02-25T09:58:00.001-08:00

"The President has made his decision. The Attorney General has now made his announcement. Mark your calendars for yesterday. That day now represents a tragic milestone in the betrayal of marriage."
-Albert Mohler (AlbertMohler.com)

Picked up this article from our pastor about the President's recent decision to abandon the defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA, 1996).

It numbs me to the core to think that I was so ignorant to vote for this man. I listened to the speaches, spent time doing research, and thought I had all my ducks in a row when it came to my choice of presidential candidates. I knew that neither of the two options were really the best but it sickens me that I did vote for our current President.His radical stance was either 1) not plainly obvious in his campaigning and I just missed it or 2) heavily disguised and my "political prowess" was not up to par. Either way, I voted for him and I regret it.

Anyway, I am very unhappy about this latest decree from our president. He is slowly but surely encroaching with his Liberal/Socialist agenda and I can't wait till the 2012 election so we can vote him out.

"The most immediate meaning of this announcement is two-fold. In the first place, it means that the constitutionally appointed defender of the nation’s laws, the Attorney General of the United States, has now been ordered to cease defending this single law in the courts. That alone is almost surely sufficient to spell the doom of DOMA in short order.
In the second place, this announcement means that President Obama and his advisers now believe that the full legalization of same-sex marriage is both inevitable and without major political risk to the President and his plans for re-election. That, in itself, represents a moral earthquake. The President clearly believes that a sufficient number of Americans will either support or accept same-sex marriage — and this comes just a few years after a majority of the states passed constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage, and most by huge margins."

Google Chrome

2011-02-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

It looks like Google Chrome has made some impressive updates to it's extensions/add-ons. I know I'm probably way behind on this but I really enjoy this techy/geeky stuff. I've been using it at work and it has all kinds of handy extensions for tweeting, facebook, gmail, and other time wasters (not that I spend a ton of time on them of course).

I've also been "re-discovering" iGoogle and have found this SWEET theme. Love it.

I'm thinking of replacing Firefox with Chrome which is a big deal if you've known my love for Firefox over the years.

Thoughts?

Proximity.

2010-02-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever come so close to accomplishing something, only to have it fall back in your face at the very last second?

The other night I was at Realife at the Wilson's Creek Campus of my church and Pastor Scotty was preaching the word to students during our "Minute to win it" outreach. If you haven't seen the show or haven't heard of it, minute to win it is basically a series of games that seem pretty easy but you only have one minute to accomplish the task. The draw for our realife students was the idea of winning a 26" flat screen HDTV. Not bad right?

Well, as I was saying, Scotty spoke about having come so close to something only to lose in the end. The thing that struck me was when he spoke of the two thieves on either side of Jesus at the cross.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43 ESV)

What a powerful passage. I had never really looked at it from the perspective of being so close, and losing it all. The first criminal was so close to the one act that changed all of human history. His salvation was being won there and then. The sins of his past, whatever he had done to deserve his death on the cross, were being paid for once and for all just feet from where he hung, in his last minutes of life.

This man was about as close as anyone could get to salvation and yet he chose to mock the one who created him and turn his back. The second thief on the other hand, ended up seeing his salvation.

There come moments in the lives of people where they must decide to accept or deny Him. In those moments they are SO close to winning the prize... and yet some choose to say no. The sad truth is that the moment they had may have been their minute to win it and they have turned the other way.

Something to think about.

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Untitled from Ben Thorne on Vimeo.

God's Provision

2009-09-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Lately God has just gone over and above anything we would have hoped for as far as providing for us. We realized at the beginning of the summer that once school started we would need two computers so that we could both be doing homework together. We had my laptop but we needed another machine. I decided to build us a desktop and since I receive some money for books from an account my Grandfather set up before he passed away, I had some extra money and we were able to get a really sweet computer that does everything I could have wanted (including playing CS:S)

Well, we were super thankful to be able to get a new computer but, about two days after school started, my laptop crapped out on us. God came through again because we had just recently found out that we'd be receiving some money from an education account my wife's parents had set up for her a long time ago. It was great and we were able to buy a new netbook which has been great.

I've been amazed this summer at how much God has provided for us. I am sure that He is fulfilling his promise to provide for those who tithe and it has been an important part of our relationship and financial dealings.

God is so good!

On another note, God has also provided some great opportunities at the WilsonsCreek Campus that is starting up in 2 weeks through James River Assembly. We're going to be 1 church in 2 locations. We're so excited to be playing worship, working with youth, and being able to help with this new adventure our church is following God in.

25 Things...

2009-08-20T10:08:00.001-07:00

Slothephant

2009-08-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

So the other day we were at a get together of the new Wilson's Creek campus Realife students. They introduced all the life group leaders (us included) and allowed the students to ask us random questions. One of the questions Vanessa and I received was "If you could combine two animals, what would they be and what would you call it?"

Thinking quickly on my toes I decided to combine and Three-toed Sloth and an Elephant and of course it would be called... A Slothephant. It would be the worlds largest/slowest animal. Completely useless... :D

My challenge is to see who could make the best drawing or photoshop picture of what they think a slothephant would look like. Help me out people!

A poop story

2009-08-19T10:09:00.001-07:00

My wife told me this story the other day and I just about died laughing. She works at a daycare here in town and this is just one of the funny things that happens working with 3 year olds every day.

The other day Vanessa was outside with the kids she works with when little Bobby (that's what we'll call him) came up to here and said "Miss Vanessa, I need to poop!" while doing the potty dance. Vanessa saw that it was pretty serious so she took him inside to use the restroom. While she waited outside the stall she could here Bobby get up on the toilet and pretty soon she heard him grunting as he began to say "Go down poops! Go down!"

As if this wasn't funny enough, he heard the beeping of the answering machine from the nearby office and they had a whole conversation about what an answering machine was for and what it did. Finally Vanessa asked if he was done and they were about to leave. She told Bobby to close the door and turn off the light. He turned the light off and was about to shut the door when suddenly he flung the door open, turned the light back on, and ran towards the stall saying "Oops! I forgot one!"

Bobby finally finished up, looked at his forgotten turd and says "Actually, it was two!"

I love how excited kids get about the most simple things.

I lol'ed a little. :D

Grandpa

2009-08-07T20:57:00.001-07:00

Growing up, one of my favorite memories was going over to my Grandpa's house for family get-togethers. I loved Grandpa's because it had so much cool stuff and so many cool places to explore. His little yapper dog Brandy would always great us at the door and we would usually head to the rec. room to play pool or mess around on the piano. There was also an awesome little play room downstairs but you had to go down quick because there was a snake that lived in a hole that was in the wall on the stairway. Well, this is what my older cousins told me and the other younger cousins when we were little. We spent just about every Thanksgiving and Christmas there and had some great times. Grandpa is the one who got me started in music when he got me a electric toy drum set when I was just a few years old.

After Grandpa re-married, him and Sarah moved into a larger house they built that had a huge 5 acre yard, a three car garage (great for playing pool) and the best part of all... a riding lawn mower. We used to beg Grandpa to let us ride the lawn mower around the property. We'd even hook up the little trailer it had and let the little kids ride in that. We used to play baseball in the back yard (big enough even for the older cousins to wack a few balls out there).

One of my fondest memories was one week when Jared and I got to stay at Grandpa's while mom was away. I remember that first night we went out to make a bonfire and cook hot dogs. Grandpa tried and tried to get this fire to light but for some reason it just wasn't happening. Finally he gives us this frustrated look and says "Boys, don't ever do what your Grandpa is going to do." He grabbed a tin can, filled it with gasoline and poored it on the weak fire. The fire blazed 15 feet into the air, much to our delight, but even after 2 attempts, the fire was not happening. We ended up going inside only to look out about 30 minutes later to see a nice crackling fire out in the fire pit.

On Wednesday I got the news that Grandpa's fight with Alzheimer's had finally come to an end. It was somewhat of a surprise to me because I don't always get that many updates about him since I live out of state. For some reason I just haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I loved Grandpa but we had mentally been preparing for his passing for a while now. He had gotten to the point where he didn't remember anyone and it was hard to see such a brilliant, funny, and hard working man not be able to do anything for himself anymore.

John was a great man. He loved his family, especially his kids, and always took good care of them. He set up a fund after he retired to pay for the books of all his grandchildren in college and we're still benefiting from it. His legacy will live on through his sons, daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He really was a great man.

I think the reason I can't really get it out of my head is that it just makes me think about how little time we have on this earth. You may be young, in your twenties or thirties, and think there is a lot of life ahead of you, but you never know what tomorrow holds. I don't say that to be harsh or mean, I just know that life is precious and we should cherish every moment. Most importantly though, life is not life without a relationship with Christ. The bible says that all have fallen short of God's expectations and that the punishment for our sin is eternal death. It doesn't seem fitting for me to talk about my Grandfather and his passing without letting everyone know that if you're not right with God, you need to be. Christ has offered us the free gift of salvation from that death that we all deserve. All we have to do is put our hope and belief in him and turn from our evil ways and He will save us.

I can't comment on my Grandpa's spiritual state. I don't know if he believed in God or not or if he had ever made the decision to follow Christ. I do know one thing, if you're reading this and you're not right with God, maybe he's trying to speak to you through this. God has a plan for your life. Why wouldn't you want to make it right with God? We never know what tomorrow may hold. Now is the time. Don't wait.

I will miss you Grandpa. I can only hope and pray that you made the decision that will carry you into eternity with God. I also hope that my friends and family will do likewise and see you through this time of mourning.

R.I.P. John Robischon

You can see my grandfather's obituary here.

Too long

2009-07-09T09:31:00.001-07:00

I know it sounds cliché but I really have been meaning to update this blog. It's been a crazy couple months and I just haven't had the time (or the energy for that matter) to be writing.

In May the big day finally came. I married the love of my life, Vanessa Joy, and we got to honeymoon in Minnesota. It was a beautiful wedding and you can check my facebook for pictures. We thought we might have problems with weather but God totally pulled through for us.

We were excited to move into our own place. We're renting a house from Evangel and it's been really affordable. It's a two bedroom, one bath house with a huge kitchen and living room. It also has a garage and a covered back porch which we love. God has been really good to us in that we've had a lot of household needs provided for. One of the best things was the grill we got for free. I was pretty stoked to have my own BBQ after only a month of being married.

The past couple months have been kind of difficult in that Vanessa and I have been pretty sick. Vanessa had strept throat right after our honeymoon and we've both had our share of stuffy noses, coughs, and colds since then. It hasn't been fun but I think we're both on the other side of the hill now.

Recently we had the privaledge of surving at our church's 4th of July celebration, I Love America.

It was an amazing event with around 120,000 people in attendance and 121 people who gave their hearts to Christ. It was full of fun games, great food, and an AWESOME fireworks display. We loved it. Our church, James River Assembly, has been great for us because we're getting to serve, grow, and develop great relationships with christian friends in the area. We're so thankful for a good church that cares for our growth and well being.

Hopefully in the next couple months I'll be buying a netbook with a built in webcam. I think I'd like to spice up my blog with a few video blogs. Sounds like great fun eh?

Like Tetris?

2009-03-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

You won't anymore, check this out...

Devil Tetris

I loled a little.

Our First Place

2009-02-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

The other day, Vanessa and I went into the office in charge of married housing on campus here to check on the status of our application. The place we had originally applied for still had a ginormous waiting list so we decided to look at the actual houses that Evangel owns. We looked at a couple of them and it looks like (not for sure yet) we have our first place.

The first place we looked at (bottom photo, courtesy of google), has a huge kitchen a garage, and a screened in back porch. All things we loved. The second place we looked at (top photo, again courtesy of google), looked like it was a lot better taken care of and as if it had been recently re-done. We did some debating and pros and cons lists and decided that the one with the garage would be our best bet.

We're excited to start this phase in our life and I can't wait to be in our place together after the wedding!

More pix to come!

Check this out...

2009-01-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

So I was checking Woot.com tonight (as I do almost every night) and the side deal that they have every day caught my eye. It took me to this site and I was surprised at how cool it was.

Freerice.com has a little trivia game and for every answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to help hunger. Yesterday they had over 77 mil. grains of rice donated. Pretty cool. I played the game for ten minutes or so and donated like 750 grains of rice. Not a bad way to waste some time, get a little smarter, and help people.

I like it.

Andy's

2009-01-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Last night Vanessa and I went to a friend's birthday party. It was a great time. We went to Friday's for dinner and that was an awesome time. I also got to experience my first ever hockey game. It featured the Missouri State University Bears and Minnesota State Mankato. I'm not a huge sports fan but it was probably one of the more fun sporting events I've ever attended. Hockey is intense.

That's not really what I'm writing about. After the game, Vanessa, our friend Andy, and I went to a place here in Springfield called Andy's (no relation to our friend). At Andy's they serve frozen custard which is almost like ice cream, but it's not exactly the same. I'd never had frozen custard until I came to Missouri. If you haven't had it, you're missing something amazing.

Last night we went to Andy's and I ordered something new. I ordered a pint of the "Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Take Home" and I thought I would eat it and take some home for later. I opened it up and it was hard and not soft serve like I was expecting so I couldn't eat it. Before I could even mention it to my friends, the guy behind the counter asked me if I was expecting some soft serve when I ordered it. Kinda sheepishly I turned to him and said "yeah, sorta." Well he ended up getting me a large cup of the soft serve version and let me keep my pint of ice cream all for the price of my original pint. What great service! I was really impressed because most places won't do that.

Anyway, just thought I'd rant about how much I love Andy's. It has quickly become my favorite desert place ever. If you're in the MO area you should definitely look it up.

I'm back.

2009-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Back at school for another semester. It's been very interesting so far. I've been extremely busy in the short time I've been back, but before I get to that... Christmas.

Over the break Vanessa and I traveled to Seattle and then to Lacey of course to spend some time with my family. I really enjoyed "showing off" my beautiful fiancee to my family and allowing her the chance to meet them and kinda figure out where I grew up. It was a rather uneventful time since we were quasi snowed in for a lot of the time we were there. It was also at lot of fun to see everyone at home and to see how the construction at Faith Assembly is going.

After we left Washington (the day after Christmas) we moved on to see Vanessa's family in Georgia (after a night in the Kansas City airport). We had a great week with Vanessa's family. We spent a lot of time working on the wedding. Again, I enjoyed my time with her family. I think I'll like being a part of it in a few months.

Well, now I'm back and things are busy. I decided this semester that I would stop playing guitar in chapel here at school. I'm doing this so I can play on worship team at church. I'm really excited about this opportunity. To be able to see how the worship ministry at a church of over 10k people runs and works is going to be great. I love their philosophy and I know God has blessed them and made them so fruitful. I'm excited to see how God uses me.

I'm still doing the RA thing and getting ready for the wedding (May 10). We're on our way with a new semester and then to the best day of my life. I can't wait!

Belief

2008-12-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I doubt myself. Ok, I doubt myself many times. I doubt my ability to cope with life. My ability to be a good husband someday, a good father. I have doubts about being able to make wise decisions in life, that I can accomplish what God has for me. The point is... I doubt.

I often times find myself thinking these thoughts, without reason or provocation.

The other night, we had our floor devotionals (devos). We have them almost every week and it's just a time for guys on the floor to come together for a short bible teaching and sharing time. This week, devos consisted of me and the devo leader of our floor. Slightly disappointing I must admit, but God is still good.

Flip (Philip), our devo leader, decided that we should have devos instead. We watched a NOOMA video (if you've never seen them, you need to). The video we watched was called "Dust,"(Part: 1, 2) and it talked about how Jewish boys we're educated in the days of Jesus. The basic idea was that only the best of the best of the best we're chosen to follow a Rabbi because he thought they had what it takes to become a Rabbi one day. After following their Rabbi all day on those dusty, dirty roads, the disciples of that Rabbi had to have been covered in dirt. They developed a say that said "May you be covered with the dust of your Rabbi." In other words, follow your Rabbi so closely that the essence of who he is rubs off on you, that someday you may be like him.

I had heard a lot of this before, but it was a cool reminder. Here's the part that struck me though. Jesus went out to select his disciples and said to them "come and follow me." When he chose them, you see that some were fishermen, tax collectors and so on. This means that were already labled as not the best of the best of the best. And yet, Jesus decides to take them. What's he saying to them? He's saying, "I think you're the best of the best of the best. I think that you can be like me one day."

I never really thought about it in that light before. When I became a follower of Christ and he wiped away my sins, he said to me "I think you can be like me one day." God believes in me! He believes I can not only cope, but thrive in life. He believes I'll be an excellent husband and father someday and that the chains of my past are broken in His name. He believes that I can make wise decisions and accomplish his plan because He wouldn't ask me to do it if I couldn't do it. God has faith in me.

Sometimes that's easy to forget. I have faith in Christ which is super important of course. Sometimes we just need to remember that God has faith in us.

Thanksgiving Break

2008-12-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

The whole family,
originally uploaded by thornebm.

Thanksgiving this year was an awesome experience. Vanessa and I were able to drive to South Carolina to spend the extended weekend with her family. I have to admit, I really felt like I was part of the family which was really nice.

We left on Tuesday at around 2:00 PM and began our drive from Springfield, MO to Colombia, SC. Needless to say, it was a long drive. We drove 14.5 hours and arrived in SC at around 5:00 AM on Wednesday.

After some much needed sleep, we all went out shopping for a while and then went on to Olive Garden. Dinner was awesome and we got a discount because Vanessa's brother Tim works there. We decided that we wanted to register for our wedding, so that day we registered at Target and at Kohl's. We had a nice evening at home after that.

Thursday brought thanksgiving. Another Chaplain and his wife joined us for dinner and we had an excellent feast prepared by Vanessa's mom. I ate too much as usual but it's kind of to be expected right? After dinner we went to the state park that is right by the apartment there and walked a couple miles to burn off some of that dinner. The evening was full of wedding talk and planning. I'm so glad Vanessa's parents are supportive of us in our decision to get married. They have already been a huge help.

Friday was awesome because we got to go to the zoo. We got to see lion cubs and monkeys. It was great. I also got to feed a Giraffe! It was awesome. The zoo in SC was definitely way cooler than the one in WA.

Friday afternoon Vanessa and her mom went to do some wedding shopping/idea gathering and us guys went to the Harley Davidson shop. I found a Harley I liked but decided not to take out a line of credit so I could buy it just to be wise financially.

Saturday we got up early and drove to Charleston and it was probably the highlight of the trip for me. We took a bus tour of the historic part of Charleston and it was amazing. We got to see all kinds of old houses, historic monuments, and cultural places. It was very interesting to learn all about the history of that old city and see different kinds of monuments.

After our tour we went to a restaurant called Sticky Fingers. It was phenomenal Bar-B-Que. It was Memphis style and man, the name really stood true. It was finger licking goodness right there.

That evening we went back home and got to go to a steak house as our final hoorah before we left. Vanessa and I left at 6:00 AM CST and got back to school at around 8:30 CST. It was a long drive and we had many of bathroom stops but boy was it fun to travel with the person you love.

Here are some more pictures for you to enjoy from our wonderful thanksgiving trip.

The Dark Knight

2008-11-22T00:23:00.000-08:00

One word:

AMAZING

Engaged!

2008-11-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it finally happened. After all our talking, planning, and praying... Vanessa and I are engaged!

She was under the impression that I was going to wait until Thanksgiving this year to talk with her father about getting his blessing. Of course, I had something else in mind.

I called her dad on Saturday and talked with him about getting his blessing to ask Vanessa to marry me. The funny thing is, he had talked with her earlier that day and had asked her all about me and how she felt about getting married.

Well, Saturday evening we went on a date to Olive Garden. We had a wonderful dinner together and I later found out that she was expecting something. When we went to bowling with 8 of our friends after dinner, I think her thoughts of us getting engaged were squashed a little.

We bowled two games at lighthouse lanes and then I pulled everyone together. With eight of our close friends there, I said "Vanessa was telling me that her dad asked her about me on the phone today, but what she doesn't know is that I also talked to her dad and asked for his blessing to ask her to marry me." Then I turned to her and told her "Vanessa Joy, I love you with all of my heart, I want to spend the rest of my life with you," (got on my knee) "will you marry me?"

And... SHE SAID YES!!!

That's right, right in the middle of the bowling alley. It was great. Check out some pictures here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Launchy

2008-11-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

So, I was surfing one day and found this great program called Launchy. When I was reading about it, the people said that once you use it, you won't know what to do without it. So, I figured it was worth a shot.

I DL'd Launchy and got it all configured and man is it great. It is a program that lets you launch any of your programs with just a few simple key strokes. I configured mine to pop up with the shortcut key "Shift + Enter" and it's great. It is pretty intuitive and knows what programs you're looking for. You can even go to specific directories, which is great for someone like me who uses a lot of keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse.

Check out the link above and maybe try it. Its a great little tool.
Screenshot by Launchy.net

2008-11-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

My friend Kevin shared this one with me. You've got to wonder sometimes eh?

Teenager changes name to Captain Fantastic

A teenager has changed his name to Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined.

I owe

2008-10-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Mario.

2008-10-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

I downloaded an SNES Emulator to play everyone's favorite classic game... Mario.

Ok, so maybe its not everyone's favorite but you can't beat Mario. Its definitely good times. I went ahead and downloaded Mario Allstars so I can play the Mario 1-3 and the lost levels from the first version. I've been playing with my Saitek p2900 and loving it!

2008-10-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm still up. I would just like to point out that I love Firefox. I am constantly amazed at how adaptable and easy to use it is. Especially when compared to Internet Exploder.

I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed.

Random Thoughts

2008-10-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I just can't believe the amount of things that are going through my mind every day. Hence me writing a blog at 12:30 AM. I seem to be swimming in my own thoughts and the shore is quite a ways away.

Recently we (Vanessa and I) have been planning our wedding. The biggest thing for me, though, is that I haven't actually asked her to marry me. I'm waiting for the blessing of her father, and I just can't seem to get up the gusto to call him and ask. It shouldn't be that big of a deal. I know that he will most likely approve, I know that she wants to marry me, but it is by far the most scary thing I have ever had to do.

Something I've recently learned about us is that I should never be quick to be angry. Every time there is some sort of scuffle, I learn something new about my love that I wouldn't have known. It's not like I think that us disagreeing on things is wonderful, but it helps me appreciate her and know how to respond to her in love. God knows best and its true that we should not be quick to anger, you might learn something in your patience.

Things have been crazy, but God is so good to me. I love it.

2008-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been reading a friend's blog with some regularity. I thought it would be a good idea for me to start my own. I thought this would be a great way for me to share my ideas and thoughts on life with my friends because most of the time, I can write my thoughts much more clearly than I can speak them. Kinda funny how things work that way.

I recently deleted my Myspace.com account and I've decided its time for me to move on from there. Its funny how many of our trends are now internet based. I mean, I guess blogging is a trend as well, but I just never got into it.

You lose one only to pick one more up.