So, I am sure it would be a good idea to start out like any professional "journaler" and delve right into the topic discussed in the subject. Well, whoever said I was a professional? On February 15th I did in fact play "Song of Love" at West County Bible Church and it went fine. A little question that has arisen as I look back, however, is why do sore throats seem to hit at the most inopportune times? Oh well. Honey water seemed to fit the bill quite nicely. ('Twas also the reason I am sure my father was probably looking for his Starbucks mug for the next few days... Sorry 'bout forgetting it in my car dad!) I must admit that as of late the thing I am learning I enjoy so much more than sitting down with someone and playing guitar is sitting down and just talking. God has made community such an awesome thing, and I guess you could say that is what I am really excited about right now. The church I played at was pretty small (like maybe 100 people) but they had community. It was so cool. Now that I am out of ideas to keep stalling, onto the main topic of this post...

What is decided you might ask? Well, just about 10 minutes ago I submitted my housing forms and my deposit to none other than..... you guessed it... drum-roll... and another drum-roll for sheer annoyances sake... John Brown University! Here I come Arkansas! The plan is, at least as of now, to room with Andy Andrus in their hall known as Walker. From what I understand (that paired with the fact that I did visit), Walker houses 170 students and doubles as the student "center" if you will. Being a freshman, it could be hard to get in, but the fact that I am staying with Andy Andrus should make it an almost guaranteed thing to be there. So, I am very excited that this whole college thing is coming to a close. The decision, that is. Truman, while a great school, is a bit harder to switch between programs. Going into JBU the plan will be to major in digital media and hopefully get a minor in music and business. (Let's see if that holds true to my thinking in a year... Even 6 months). Also, I think the classes simply are better at JBU. I will miss certain aspects of outreach that take place in a secular environment, but it will be awesome to have Christian professors. So, after the obligatory spell check, I will leave you with a picture of Walker.

Decided it was time to finally post an update. I have been busy as of late with college application stuff and school. (Not to mention work... Well, just did, but still....) I am looking most heavily at Truman and John Brown University. JBU is in Arkansas and I visited there last weekend. I am sure that I either want to go there or Truman. Both offer the environment that I am looking for. Truman is closer which is cool, and it is a non Christian school. I think it would be cool to have Christian professors, but the outreach aspect of a secular school really interests me a lot. So that is sort of what I am sorting through right now. As far as music goes, I have three new songs, one of which I played in our church service last month. It went well except in first service they forgot to give me a mic at first, so I was up there and had to get one of the music guys attention. So that was pretty funny. In the second service, I forgot the words to the second verse so I faked some sort of harmonizing with the guitar for an extra mesaure. But overall it went well. I do not have any prospects at the moment, but will be looking into some coffee house type stuff soon. Dan Hartke (Our Sr. High music worship guy) gave me a sheet with some contacts for that. So we will see where that goes. Also, I will be playing "All For Me" at a church coming up the third weekend of this month at a local church. (I have to find out which one it is exactly). So, when I find out, I will post it here. I am also excited about the new Shane Barnard cd coming out March 1st. It is a more acoustic album, and I loved the two new songs he shared at his concert at Missouri Baptist back in August. I believe their names were "Glorious and Almighty" and "The First Chapter". So, make sure to check out their site for more information soon! As usual, thank you for stopping by, and keep pressing on into the Lord!

So, it has been awhile since I updated this. The talent show went quite well thanks to God and only Him.... After being pretty sick the week before it was only by His grace that I was able to play and (somewhat) sing. As a result of playing here, I have gotten some amazing opportunities to share Christ with people. God is doing some awesome things and I am very excited about what He is to do in the future. This past Sunday I played a song that I wrote in our "big church" church service. I had written it a little over a week before, so I did not quite know the words. In second service, I sort of forgot the words to the second verse so I started to sing then acted like I was just harmonizing with the guitar. I added that extra lines and the people on Powerpoint realized just in time and changed the slide. So that was pretty funny. Finals finished this last week so hopefully I will get a chance to do some more work on the site. Matthew 7:13-14 is a very good reminder that says, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Aspire to follow this straight and narrow path, for it is the one thing that really matters... There are some who succeed in everything but the one thing that matters. Stay strong in Him!

So check it out! I now have tickets to go see Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King on opening night! (December 17th at 12:01 AM). So, I am pretty excited about that. Well, that is about all that is new. I will be back at school tomorrow for the first time in 5 days. I had the whole fever/flu/sick thing. But hey, that's life. I am just glad I am finally over it! Well, that is all for now. I need my sleep, so take care and God bless!

As promised, I finally found out some details on the "Big Deal Talent Show". I will be playing on December 18th (Thursday night). Not sure what time, however. Unfortunately it is not free, which translates to $5.00. Anyways, I am very happy that this is on the 18th and not the 17th, as the 17th is opening night (technically opening morning I suppose) for one of the greatest movies of our time... That is right! Lord Of The Ring: Return Of The King! So, I will still be able to attend it. Yeah! So, I s'pose that is all for now.

As the title suggest, I am still here and alive! So yeah. What to talk about... Well, I had a wonderful thanksgiving and all with my family in Rock Island, Illinois. Also, this past week I found out that I made it into the talent show. This is a huge answer to prayer as I was unsure if they would let me play a Christian song. ('Cuz I go to South High of course, a public school.) I will be playing the song All For Me. It will be either on December 17th or 18th, I find out tomorrow. The only problem that I will have is if it is the 17th, that is the opening day for Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, so I will have to decide if I can still go to the opening showing. On another note, God is doing awesome things with the demo cd that I recently finished. I am starting to think I should have called it "Songs from the basement", as they were pretty much written in my basement and then recorded on my trusty Tascam mixer. It has taken me by surprise how many kids have asked for a cd from me. Including people I need to still give it to, the list totals around 120. I realize this is ALL from God. If this can witness to kids from school, that makes me very very excited. Anyways, please realize that I do not and cannot take any credit for this. The cover of the cd is very plain, but at the bottom says "For the glory of Him". That is what this is for. Anyways, thanks as usual for stopping by (and putting up with my overuse of the word anyways.) I will post an update when I know the date of the talent show. God bless!