"Who is important here?" and other interesting questions.

In the dim light of a fancy restaurant, I sit, enjoying a wonderful meal. I look over, and see a cute couple, early twenties, dressed fairly well, their faces illuminated by the single candle in the middle of the table. All of the sudden, I see a weird glow on her face, followed by one on his face. Upon closer observance, I realized that they were both on their cell phones. While they were engaging in occasional small talk with each other, they both seemed to be a lot more interested in the person with whom they were communicating via mobile device.

I sat and watched them for a while, and it seemed like perhaps 75-90% of the time, they were staring at that little rectangular portal to the outside world. It was starting to really bother me. "Why would you come to this incredible restaurant, pay a ton of money for this meal, have a beautiful person sitting across from you, and then sit there and text the entire night?"

I started getting angry, but then I decided to take a more introspective look into the problem that I was seeing. I had to ask myself: "do I do the same thing sometimes in different situations?" I know for a fact that I am guilty as charged. I've been in plenty of situations where I've been with REAL people, yet I choose to sit there, and contentedly peck away at my iPhone, talking with who KNOWS who, usually about small and mundane things.

I believe that this is something that everyone has experienced. You're in a conversation with someone at a gathering, and you are sharing something, and all of the sudden the hand goes for the pocket. They look at the phone, and start composing a reply. Their head nods, and you hear the occasional "mmhmm" as if they were saying "Oh I'm still listening" But you know where their attention REALLY is. It can be somewhat belittling, because essentially, the person is saying, "what this other person is talking to me about is more important than what you have to say".. OUCH!

We live in and interesting day and time, in which our "worlds" have become more and more digital. But I would challenge each and every one of you to not forget the art of true conversation. I think it is something that has been slowing fading away.

If you ever go out to eat with my Grandpa Norm, you better believe that by the time you leave the restaurant, he is going to know the first name, occupation, and favorite baseball team of just about everyone within a 20 foot radius of your table, just by making "small talk". You'll never see him sitting alone at a table, pecking away at a mobile device.

I believe the art of "small talk" has been largely lost in our generation. But those who know how to truly communicate and network with people will go far in life.

This is why I would like to make a challenge, to each and every person reading this. Next time you are with someone, and you feel that familiar vibration in your pocket, ask yourself, "Who is important here? Is it the people I am physically with? Or is it this person who I am texting?" Even if what you are saying via text is "important" Are you considering the preciousness of the person you are with by spending all of your time on the phone?

Well like it says in 1 Timothy 1:15 "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save inconsiderate texters; of whom I am chief." AT (Andrew's Translation) ;)
I'm probably the worst at doing this. But I think it is something that each and every one of us could look at in our lives. Just ask yourself, "How can I show the people that I am with that I truly care about them?" "What decisions and changes can I make to make them feel more important."

Even though our society has only become more and more self-centered, I believe that we are called to be different. To be a light.

So next time you have the urge to be an "inconsiderate texter" think twice about it. Maybe, just MAYBE, you can put that message off till later. It doesn't matter if they are talking about the most boring and mundane subject in the world. What can YOU do to make them feel important and loved?

Thanks for reading!
-Andrew

Life Update 04-28-09

I thought I’d check in and give you all an update on what’s been going on in my life.
I am coming to the end of my first year here at Charis Bible College.
It’s been a wonderful experience, one that has caused me to grow tremendously.
I’ve been leading worship at my church for the past few years, and it has been great, but when I started at Charis, they decided to appoint me as the worship leader for our live worship chapel sessions twice a week.
While I know God has had me here to receive the teaching, I also came to realize that just as importantly (if not more), He had me here to receive the experience of leading worship 3 times a week instead of only 1 time per week.
And through this time, he has also given me many songs which have been awesome to write and teach to the people.
Overall it really has been a wonderful, (although sometimes stretching) process. But hey, you can’t grow without being stretched right?

I am just recently coming out of what was probably the hardest time of my life so far.
Without going into too much detail, I lost someone who was not only a very close friend, but was also the one person who I believed that I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
I believe that I had taken all of the right steps throughout the relationship, and had thrown myself wholly into it.
But in the end, it turned out to be a case where the feelings I had were not mutual when I thought that they were, and it didn’t work out.
So needless to say, the past 2 weeks or so have been terrible. There are days when everything is fine, then there are days when everything seems to remind me of the person, and it’s hard to move on through the day.
One bit of advice that my father gave me through this situation is this:
He said: “Son, you are in a place right now where yea, there may be pieces of you lying all over the floor, but this now gives you an opportunity to pick yourself up off the floor, get direction from God, and piece yourself back together in the way that God wants you.”
So that is what I’ve been focusing on doing. Getting direction from God, and restructuring my life.
Another opportunity that this trial has presented me with is the chance to reassess my relationship with God.
The relationship that just ended was unlike any I had ever been in before, in this way.
Every time I’ve been in a situation where I liked a girl and we would start to talk, other important things in my life would get pushed to the back burner. Relationships with close friends, family, and most importantly, God.
But in this situation, it was entirely different. Every one of those aspects that usually got pushed back, stayed in balance. My relationship with God was actually strengthened throughout the situation.
But now that that relationship has fallen apart, He has spoken a word to me, telling me that I need to focus even more now on my relationship with him, and take the time that I was investing in that relationship, and put it all into my relationship with Him, and into worship.
So I’ve been focusing on investing my time more and more into that.

Now, I’m at a point where I’m approaching the end of this first year at Charis, and so I’ve been seeking Him for direction on what He would have next for me.
When I was visiting my sister Sarah in Nashville last September, we were talking about the future, and she mentioned a worship school in California.
So I looked it up, and after praying about it, I decided to apply.
My best friend Luke also applied, and we were both accepted.
So this summer, Jun 17th – July 10th, Luke and I will be driving out to Redding, CA to attend Bethel School of Supernatural Worship.
I’m very excited about it, because I know that God has so much for me to learn out there. Worship, both at Charis, and at Family Life, has been amazing lately, and only getting better and better. But I know that He has a higher level that He wants to take us as a church to. And I know that I’m going to get the experience and wisdom to take our worship to that next level when I’m out in Redding.

My life has always been interesting in that I don’t usually get the next step on what I’m supposed to do in my life until I am in the step right before that.
So right now, I’m finishing Charis, and I know that the next step is worship school, but I’ve recently been praying about what God would have me to do in the fall.
Now Charis has a 2nd year program, which is called the “School of Practical Ministry”.
And while I know that it is a wonderful course, I don’t feel that that is God’s direction for me for this next year. It may be something that I come back to do in the future, I don’t feel that it is what He has for me for this year.
Now ever since I was young, I have been interested in Law Enforcement. I think it is something that a lot of young boys want to do, but it is an interest for me that hasn’t subsided as time has gone on. I am still very much interested in it, so because of that, I’m researching a career in Law Enforcement, getting details about it, and going on ride-alongs with different Police Departments in the area. I have recently tried a ride along in my hometown. And there was definitely something that “clicked” there for me. There is definite interest, so we’ll see what He has in store.
To become a police officer, you have to be at least 21 years old, so I have at least a year and a half or so before I could actually become an officer.

So I am praying about possibly going to College of Dupage in the Fall to begin criminal justice studies.
We’ll see what He has in store, but for now, I’m just walking it out, in little Baby Steps. =)
That’s what’s been up with me. I’d appreciate your prayers just for clear direction and guidance throughout all of these situations.
I’ll try to post more often just to keep y’all updated with everything that is going on in my life.
Blessings on you all!
Love ya.

To run 3 miles...

*I know this is a long post, but please take the time to read it, it's worth it!*

12-16-08

10:45 PM: …it had been a somewhat typical Christmas break day for me, until now…

7:30: woke up to get the trash out in time and take Johnny to school. Came back home, crashed back into bed.

12:15: Mom wakes me up asking when I was gonna get up.
She then said “did you see that?” and pointed next to me. On my office chair right next to my bed was a tray of what HAD been a hot breakfast in bed about 30 minutes prior.
She said she didn’t wake me up for it because I was in such a deep sleep. J
Well she warmed up the omelet for me, and I ate my breakfast, then rolled out of bed, threw some gym shorts and a shirt on and left for work. (Work being at my desk that is 4 feet from my bed…)
Worked for about 3 hours at which point I had to leave to pick up Johnny.
Well I went outside, and realized that a full scale blizzard had begun, leaving about 2-3 in of snow on the driveway. So I took about 15 min and cleared that, then fishtailed my way over to get John.
Came home, back to work for a few hours, then the kids came in, begging to watch an episode of MacGyver. We took an hour and watched that, then had a family meeting, then I went back to work.

Back to 10:45…
I knew I needed to go over to X-Sport and get on a treadmill, my normal 2-3 hour a day work-out schedule hasn’t been the same since thanksgiving, and I was really feeling the long hours at a desk, and big meals with no way to burn it off. So I decided to get my butt over to X-Sport and put 3 miles in.

Now I just FINALLY got my own room, (which I’ll post about later) so while my room is clean, I’m still missing a few things. One of those things being my running headphones. (they are really nice because they don’t fall out of your ears from the impact of running). And I REALLY didn’t want to be on the treadmill for 30 min with no headphones. So I took about 20 min looking all over the house for them, to no avail.
The thought ran through my head a few times “just run tomorrow…”Then, very determined, I finally decided, heck with it, I’ll run and just pray while I’m running.

11:15: …I make my way out to the car, and as I approach the door, my heart sinks, the in dash display read “Key in ignition”…
Sure enough, I had left the key in, and totally drained the battery.
My car didn’t even TRY to start! I then realized that to add to the problem, I had parked my car at an angle in the driveway turnaround, making it so that there was a snow bank about 3 feet tall to the right of my car, and 2 pine trees to the left. But I was DETERMINED to get over to X-Sport and run!
So I grabbed a shovel, cleared out the area in front of my car, put it in neutral and tried to push it into a better area so I could get a car next to it to jump it.
Well after 15 min of grunting, pushing, pulling, and slipping the whole way, I gave up on that idea.
Now this whole time, the thought kept attacking me “Is all this really worth 3 miles?” But, I was DETERMINED to get my car going and get over there!
I then decided to attack the snow bank to the right of my car.
So I shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled… and after about 15 min on back breaking shoveling, I managed to make enough room on the grass so that I could get a van within range of my jumper cables.

11:59: Finally on the road for X-sport.
When I looked at the clock, I was amazed. I looked back at the hour that had just gone past, and thought about how much effort I had put into getting over to X-Sport! To tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure what could’ve stopped me from getting over there one way or the other…
I then thought about the level of determination that I had been functioning at. I wasn’t going to let anything stop me!

But then, as I fishtailed my way along on my way to the gym, I had a thought that made my heart sink…

How much effort and determination do I put into having my personal time with the Lord every day for a significant amount of time?
How small does something have to be for it to take precedence over that time?
Is it a text? An important work email? A phone call? Hunger pains? Sleepiness? Video games?
I realized how caught up I can get in my “life”, and how sometimes I let that take precedence over the one who gives me LIFE.

I mean COME ON! If I wouldn’t let ANYTHING get in the way of me and the gym (which is such a trifling thing) what on earth have I been thinking, sometimes letting tiny things get in the way of the absolute most important thing there is?!

Looks like I need to get a better grasp on priorities eh?

This leads me to my question to you…

What is it that prevents YOU from getting alone with God? From having that 1 on 1 personal, intimate time with Him? What are those distractions that pull you away from that?

I challenge you to take an introspective look at your life. Your priorities. Your level of determination.

I know I will be taking that look.

If I can do it to run 3 miles, I KNOW I can do it to spend time with my very best friend…

Thanks for reading.

-Andrew

Hillsong United =)

Wow... I'm kinda speechless about the experience that I had last night.
We went to see Hillsong United at their "This Is Our God" Concert.
It was seriously one of the most AMAZING concert experiences that I have ever been to.
The worship was SO amazing, I think I'm still a little hoarse from all the singing =)

Then this morning I bought their new album, "This Is Our God"
I listened through it during work today and it is one of their best albums yet!
I can't wait to get the chord charts and start learning some of these songs!
Wow...
Go buy the album.
It's WELL worth the money!

Testing 1,2,3....

So yea... my blog has pretty much been dead! haha
But now that school is done and i've GRADUATED! I can start to get some things taken care of that have somewhat fallen aside =)
So be looking for more posts as time goes on...
Peace out,
-Andrew

AMAZING Video =)

My friend Andrew Smith just put together this amazing video from a photoshoot we did a little while ago... Check it out!


Photography in Chicago from Andrew PC Smith on Vimeo.

Dominican Republic Vol. 3

Wow.. I just realized that I never posted the third video from our trip to the DR!!!! well anyways. :P here it is:

Life...

Life is well... how should I put it...
A myriad* of different activities and responsibilities that all require a whole lot of my attention...
Needless to say its hard to keep up with everything.
Just a quick update for those of you who aren't totally up with what is going on in my life.

I am currently working to complete my senior year at Valeo Academy, a small private school that my parents have my sister Natalie and I going to this year. Coming from the background of homeschooling for my whole life (i.e. school out at 12ish, and no homework... EVER) This is a bit of shock treatment, going to school for 8 hours a day, then coming home with 3-4 hours of homework every night, yea, lets just say I have a new (forced) best friend :P

Basketball season is starting up really soon here, we are in training camp right now which is proving to be the hardest one i've ever had to go through, and we are really just beginning. But I am super amped about the upcoming season, I have a lot of confidence in our team... I really think we can go all the way this year.

I've also been leading worship at our church, Family Life Christian Center, it is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Preparing the sets, (trying to) schedule rehearsals... But I really enjoy doing it and people are getting blessed.

So yea, things are kinda stressful, but hey, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me right? =)


*. You may be asking where the heck did you get a word like Myriad? to tell you the truth, I'm not all that sure... it might have come from the fact that I just did 25 crazy old word definitions for modern lit... I'm not sure :P

been workin' out :P

I'm tellin' you guys... all this hardcore working out and exercise pays off!!!! :P lol

Very Very Powerful...

Check this video out... It is a VERY powerful drama.

Stayin' Alive...

Hey everyone!
I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that we are still alive down here! lol
The hurricane went by late sat. night, early sunday morning. But we were so high up in the mountains that all we got was a TON of rain and winds up to 13mph... lol

Our internet has been down here since the night of the hurricane, so my uncle hooked the computer up the phone and i'm on right now using this ancient method of connection called Dial-up. If you dont know what that is you can look it up in your family's Websters 1828 Dictionary. ;) lol
But its better then nothing...
Oh yea! Here is the 2nd video from the trip...

Thanks for the prayers everyone!
-Andrew

"Historic Hell Storm..."

We are somewhere in the middle of the right side of that divided island that Mr Dean is starting to go past... Its supposed to go past us south of the island but there are sustained winds of 155 mph and gusts of up to 184 mph... lol
So yea, keep us in your prayers!
We are high up in the mountains so we will only get a lot of rain and some strong gusts, and my aunts' house here is built of solid concrete, so we dont have to worry about anything... we just dont want any bridges to go out, cuz then we'd be stuck up here for a while...

We were out doing some painting today and then the first stages of rain started to come in, and the paint doesn't stick too well in the rain.
We also visited a graveyard today, it was insane! there are just a bunch of concrete containers that hold the bodies... I'll post a video later :P

Anyways, the worst of the hurricane is supposed to hit during the night tonight, so if you remember, keep us in your prayers =)
Love yall

Getting To the DR, and Crazy Drivin!!!

Update... and a small world

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well down here in the Dominican Republic... I made a video of the trip down here, but I am still waiting for it to finish encoding, so I will get that up asap...

P.S. Today we were working at a school down here called Jarabacoa Christian School, and Natalie was working with one of the teachers in the school, Miss Elmer, and after talking for a while they found out that she grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin with our friend David Jay. Apparently she was "going to marry DJ's brother" lol so that was pretty sweet, meeting her down here!!!
Natalie was like "DJ is now one of the worlds biggest wedding photographers!" And she was like "no! Little David???" lol
Just proves that just when you thought the world can't get any smaller, it still does =)

Here is a pic of us and her after a LONNGGGG day of hard work

Crazy way to start :P

Well, I thought that right now I'd be down in the Dominican Republic, at my aunt's house getting ready for a big day of work tomorrow...
Instead I am in the lobby of the Holiday Inn right by the Miami Airport, using their "business center" which is a computer on a desk in the middle of the lobby... :P But I am very thankful.

Ok so we made it to Miami fine...
And we went right to our assigned gate after we grabbed some Uno's "to-go" pizza, (both me and Nat said to each other at the same time after taking a bite... "you can tell were not in Chicago anymore" lol)
But our first plane broke (thats what they said) so they said that they were going to bring another plane to another gate for us... so we went to the counter right there, gave the lady our boarding pass, and asked her where we needed to go for the new gate.
Our original gate was A10, and she said the new gate was A17, so we went right over there, waited for about an hour, then it was finally time to board, they called our group, we handed the guy our boarding passes, and they wouldn't scan! So finally he was like "go check with them at the desk". So we ran over there, and she was like "oh, this is the gate for Santo Domingo... You are trying to go to Santiago!" She was like "let me check your real flight" so she checked, and it was supposed to take off at that same minute, on the OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT!!!!!
So she called, and they said "yea send them over, we will hold the airplane" so me and Nat take off sprinting across the airport, and it was seriously about 3 miles, so after about 20 min of running, we get to the gate, and I look and the plane is still there with the ramp out to it, so i say hey we are the ones that they are holding the plane for!!! And the dude there was like "oh I tho thorry thirr... iths too late"
So yea... we missed our plane because of the stupid gate switch, and the lady who gave us the wrong gate...
At least they made it somewhat right... They bought us dinner, paid for the night in the hotel here, and gave us money for breakfast...
Anyways, our flight leaves at 10 tomorrow.
Pray for us!!!
-Andrew

Outta here... (at least for a while)

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you all know, (for those of you who didn't already) that I am going to be out of town for about 2 weeks.
Natalie and I are going down to the Dominican Republic from the 13th to the 25th on a missions trip. My aunt and uncle are the directors of a school for troubled kids down there, so I'm gonna be doing a ton of work, construction, fixing computers, networking, leading worship, feeding the homeless, a whole ton of stuff.
So PLEASE keep us in your prayers,
pray that it will be a very profitable time down there, and that many people will be blessed and touched by the way that God works through us.
Blessings,
-Andrew

We ride we ride...

This basically describes it,
Today I bought my first car, its a '93 BMW 740il in AMAZING condition.


The sweet thing about it is that my car is kinda like Sarah's Car's daddy! lol its the same color, same year, just bigger because its a 7 series.
Its a huge blessing that came at just the right time, because me and Natalie are going to be starting school on the 27th, (which is a whole other story in itself which I will post later) but we'll be able to take this car there and back every day.
God is so good!!!!

KIDZ RULE!!!!! ||Camp Day 2, and Airsoft...||

Kids totally rock... lol today was the second day of camp. And it was so amazing compared to yesterday!!! One of the group leaders had to be in the drama, so for the rest of the week I have to be the head leader of Group Metallic Silver!!! The kids voted today and the official name for our group is The Silver Surfers.
The kids in the group are so cool!

Thursday is Team Spirit Day, and our whole team has to come out and do a cheer about our team, so we started practicing some stuff, and I found out that like half of my kids are like gymnasts or break dancers!!! lol so like its gonna start out with some kids running opposite directions on the stage, then in the middle one kid is gonna spin and do a backflip and the other girl is gonna to a roundoff. Then a bunch of kids are gonna do the worm, lol and then one kid is gonna breakdance and even spin on his head!!! lol its gonna ROCK!!!!

The highlight story from today was we were bball in the gym, and I looked over and one of my girls (who has autism) was standing against the wall crying... I went over and asked her whats up, and she said "I can't make the ball go through the hole!!! lol so I took her over to the hoop and showed her how to shoot it right, and at the end she made 4 out of 5 baskets in a row!!! She was so excited she was clapping! =)



So then later tonight, Marky had his friend Jason over, so I took them outside and we played some airsoft! The boys loved it! lol so we got some shots of us after that...

Camp Day 1, and Shopping!!!

Well today was the first day of the 5 day day camp that Natalie and I are helping out at, and my younger siblings are all attending. Its 8-5 for us EVERY DAY this week.
Today was pretty hectic because we had registration going on, so I was going around helping lost children find their groups, so it was basically damage control :P
lol one memorable moment from the day was when I was leading the volleyball section of the sports part of the camp, and a 5 year old group came over, and they were all fine except for 1 kid who was just bawling his eyes out...
And the group counselor didn't seem to be doing anything about it, so I went over and I was like "buddy, whats the problem?" He mumbled a bunch of incomprehensible words, so I asked the counselor, I'm like, "whats wrong with him?" And he said "Oh, he doesn't have a partner." and this was causing the whole group to cease to function because of this kid, lol so I went to the kid and I'm like "hey, I'll be your buddy!" Immediately he stopped crying, looked up at me and was like "really???" I was like yea! So he grabbed my hand, and that totally stopped the whole problem! :P
lol later throughout the volleyball game he kept running over to me and saying "your still my partner right?" lol it was so sweet! =)

So we have another big day of that tomorrow...

Then later tonight, me and Bryant went over to the mall, cuz I wanted to grab some new shoes.
I found some sweet Pumas at Finish Line, then I stopped by AE (my second home) and grabbed a belt and some new boxers :P


But when I looked at the inside of the belt, I got a pleasant surprise... lol check it out... It's my new favorite belt! lol

Is It Official?

Does this...

...Officially make me a geek? haha lol
I have 3 computers set up here, 2 are mine one is the church computer that I work on all the time.
Oh yea, and I use this SWEET program called Synergy that lets me share a single mouse and keyboard between all three computers, and its as simple as just moving the mouse to the screen you want and you are immediately controlling that computer. :) Pretty amazing I know... :P

Oh yea! I just recently finished building my new computer! Lovingly dubbed "Natasha" or "Tasha" for short... hahaha :D
Here are a few shots of her...



So yea... good stuff... :)
For those who know.. or care...
Its has a Dual-Core 2.13 Ghz processor
2GB Dual-Channel DDR2 RAM
A 256MB XFX NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT