Events of Tomorrow

I'm going to Nashville tomorrow for Pre-Enrollment Days at FWBBC! I am so excited about deciding what courses to take and stuff. It's gonna be great. I get to move up there in 21 days! I'm not gonna lie. I am really looking forward to a little independence. It's gonna be great. Interestingly enough, I'm ready to be back in school too. I miss learning.

Please remember my youth group in prayer tomorrow as they're flying home from Honduras. I'm so ready for them to be back! I haven't talked to anybody since last Sunday.

Well, I'm going to watch a movie with Jacqueline, so this is gonna be all for tonight.

I Can't Say....I'd Faint

Have you ever just wondered "Who came up with that word?" You know. Those words like bologna. Who comes up with this stuff? Then again there are those words that just make sense.

Dictionary.com's word of the day:

sesquipedalian \ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn\, adjective:
1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.

noun:1. A long word.

And here's another one that I was reminded of:

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, noun:
Fear of long words


.....how ironic, right? Somebody would pass out from fear just trying to tell someone what their fears are! "I suffer from 'hippopotomon...' *thud* "

Jumping Subjects

For those who have interest in my activities and have forgotten since I posted them a few days ago: a few reminders...and some new stuff

KEEP PRAYING FOR TEAM HONDURAS!!! They are coming home this Friday...YAY!

I'm moving to Nashville in 23 days! Sooooooo excited!

Going this weekend to get student ID, class schedule, and stuff. I'll be out of town when Team Honduras comes home =(

I actually remembered the useless information that I forgot Sunday, but I'm gonna wait till next Sunday to post it.

I actually figured out how to get notifications on my comments last night, so that was exciting. =)

And I think that's it for tonight. Adios!

Notifications?

I was just completely shocked to find that I had comments on two posts that were over 4 days old! I have been kinda waiting for a comment from somebody....anybody really, just to see if there was actually somebody reading this stuff. Then lo and behold, as I was saving a draft for later this week, I discovered comments! Shouldn't I have gotten some kind of notification telling me that they were there? I mean, I guess it's possible that there was one that I missed, but I honestly didn't see the comments until they were there for four days. So my question is, if there's no notifications to tell me that I got one, how do I sort the new ones from the old ones when I have several? A little insight from a seasoned pro, please?

B Batteries

No, folks, that's not a stutter. For this weeks random fact, I had thought of one early in the week, but I forgot it, so this is a last minute pick. It's surprisingly hard to come up with random facts in conversation when all of the people you talk to left the country. Please continue to pray for them. I talked to Rebekah today, and they really love it there. They will be travelling back Friday, so please remember them in prayer.

So anyway, on with the story! Ever wondered why there are AAA, AA, C, and D batteries, but no A or B ones? Well, as it turns out, there are! They used to be common, but they're just not used anymore. Several battery sizes were standardized by the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) in the early 20th century, but the industry has generally used fewer and fewer designs over the years. This cuts down on costs for the manufacturers, retailers, and even the users. So now, all of the A and B batteries hold their place on a dusty shelf along with the others that are no longer used, like E and N batteries.

Tune in next week, and I might remember the useless information I was going to tell you in the first place. Then again, I might not. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Risk, Report, and Random Hostility

Hola! I have had a surprisingly good day. I think I've relaxed more than I have any other Saturday this summer. I didn't have to mow today (even though I'll have to mow it Monday) because it rained, and I actually didn't have a long list of chores to do here either! So, I accomplished all of the stuff I had to do, but didn't really have to do anything. It feels good. Okay, so I might be a tad on the lazy side; I'm a teen, okay?

Recently I've been playing Risk on Facebook, and other than the obvious things you learn, like strategy and logic, I've learned (or been reminded of) a few other things. So, I thought I might share a few of those lessons here, because some, though obvious in some ways, aren't really things you think about that often.

1. We have millions of soldiers in our armed forces who are just regular people fighting for the freedom we take for granted. I talked to a guy today who was a tank commander in the army. Let's not forget about them!
2. If you try to kill somebody, they typically don't like you very much.
3. There are a lot of people out there who need Jesus Christ in their lives. It's shocking how much foul language, anger, and bitterness some people will show just over a game.
4. Some people are just CRAZY!
5. Don't gamble. I realize that in Risk, it's kinda the whole point of the game, but I'm talking about money. I've discovered that when you really need a good dice roll, you get ones and twos. Thus, if there was money on the game, I'd be a very poor man. Well.....poorer than I am now.
6. A simple game can be very addicting.
7. One mistake can cost you everything
8. The person with the best plan doesn't always win.
9. The person with the most armies doesn't always win either. (a lot of the game is not making enemies until you're strong enough to kill them...I'm not really sure how that applies to life)

Well, I guess that's all of the game related insights for the night. Don't forget to pray for Team Honduras! And until next time, this is Caleb Jones saying "Don't touch my pizza!"

Sincerest Apologies....Not

Ok, so I didn't post yesterday. Sorry about that. I watched a movie instead. I didn't really have anything to write about anyway, and I still don't have any reason to believe there's actually anybody reading this. So, to make up for not posting yesterday, I'll actually post 2 paragraphs (notice I didn't say 2 blog posts) today.

My youth group left this morning for Honduras. For those of you who are geographically challenged, that's in Cental America. They had to leave the church at 3:00 this morning to make it to the airport for their flight at 6:00. Please continue to pray for them as they minister to the people there. Honduras is one of the poorest nations in Central America, and they will be working in a dump...literally. Pray that they all rest well, because I'm sure they're tired from their flight, and grumpiness is not the best way to show Christ's love. Pray that noone will get sick from the unusual foods and the water. Pray that they will reach somebody with the Gospel message! That is what it's all about, isn't it?

Team Honduras

Mary and Scott King (sponsors)

Nathan Gedeon

Rebekah Gedeon

Sam Temple

Jessica Barnett

Short

Well this will be a short post, because I really don't have anything to say. It hasn't exactly been a great day, if you know what I mean. If you're just looking for something to read, here's a good post by Robert Hruzek. Until next time...

Team Honduras

Well, it was another fairly un-eventful day. I should be going tomorrow to try to get my shot again. Maybe I'll actually get it done this time, and have my medical papers signed by next Friday when I go to pre-enroll. There are only 33 more days until classes start! I'm so excited. Of course, I'm going to miss all of my friends here in Olive Branch (except Jessica), but I have a few friends in Nashville, and we already have some fun stuff planned for when I move up there. Plus, I will get to make lots of new friends. That'll be fun.



Please remember my youth group in prayer. They are leaving this Friday for a mission trip to Honduras with World Gospel Missions. I really wish I could go, but I'm not going to get to, so I figure the next best thing is to pray for them! They will be working in a village built around a dump-like area where many families basically just scavenge the dump for a living. They will be ministering to the children in the area, primarily. I am not really sure exactly what they will be doing, because none of them speak much Spanish; I guess they will have to do their best to show God's love instead of telling about it. The team members going are Scott and Mary King as sponsors, Nathan Gedeon, Jessica Barnett, Rebekah Gedeon, and Sam Temple.



Well, it looks like that's all for tonight....until next time....Buenos Noches!

Ummmm.....Cheese

Hmm.....what to post about today.....I really have no idea.
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The health department in Olive Branch only gives shots on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I will have to go back again and get my shot, and then go to the doctor's office for the FOURTH time to get my college medical papers signed by the doctor.
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Does anybody even read this? If you've actually read one or more of these posts and you know it clap your hands!
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That was random.
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Seriously, nothing interesting happened today. I got up at 7, went to the health department, then the doctor, then Chick-Fil-A for breakfast, then Kroger, then I came home and did nothing for most of the day. I mowed part of the yard this evening, went to Kroger again, and here I am again - doing nothing.
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Why do we say "Flossing your teeth" when, technically, you're flossing in between your teeth?
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Well, for the sake of not forcing you to read any more of my random thoughts, I'm gonna post this and find something else to do.


PS - If you decide to clap, please do so in a comment so that I actually know you clapped =)

Useless Knowledge....Or is It?

Well, those of you who know me know that I know a little bit about anything there is to know about. Notice that I said "a little", and I also said "know" several times, but that's totally irrelevant. Well, almost daily over the past few weeks I've been telling people random tidbits of information to go along with the conversation we were having at the moment. So I'm gonna try to come up with a new one every week for the blog, cuz lets face it, I would not be able to handle the pressure of a new one every day, and most aren't that interesting. =)

So for the sake of not rambling on all night I'm gonna tell you now. Tonight's random fact was that the rules of chivalry state that a kiss on the hand should always be initiated by the lady. For a man to initiate it is completely rude, and when it is preformed, you don't actually kiss the hand itself. You should cradle the lady's hand in yours putting your thumb on top and actually kiss the knuckle of your thumb. So, I guess it's all about show.

And yes, this actually did come up in a normal conversation. Thanks Nathan!

O Say, Can You See?

I was listening to a radio interview with a missionary from a relief organization called Rivers of the World this morning on my way to my Saturday job, and he started talking about the kids he met. He said that one thing he always liked to do with local children was to ask them to sing. He would pull out his video camera to record so that he could watch all their faces later. And he said that no matter where he was, whether a jungle village in Africa, Peru, Brazil, or anywhere else, they would always sing the same thing! When he said that, I was a little confused, because the last time I checked, they don't speak the same language everywhere. But then he said that the children, no matter where they were from, when they were asked to sing, would sing their National Anthem! How cool is that?

After they talked about this for a while, they mentioned America. What if a stranger came into a classroom here and asked a kid to sing? What would they sing about? Well, I certainly don't know what they'd sing, but I do know one thing; It wouldn't be the Star Spangled Banner! I find it sad that in one of the greatest nations in the world, where we enjoy so much freedom, we can't even take the time to appreciate all that we have been given. When Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to that song, he was watching a battle going on; He was waiting and searching through the smoke to see if our beautiful flag was still flying. He knew that as long as the flag was waving, there was still hope. We hadn't surrendered yet!

I was talking to my grandmother just yesterday about how I don't even know the other 3 verses to the anthem. She was telling me about some people who didn't even know the words to the first verse that everyone sings! I find it really sad that in a country that has been blessed in so many ways, we can't even honor our country and our forefathers by singing the National Anthem with pride. And I personally think that the language it was written with is pretty cool. Why don't we talk like this anymore?

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Ebenezer

No, not Scrooge!
I was practicing my songs that I was gonna sing tonight, and when I got to the second verse of "Come, Thou Fount", it says "Here I raise my Ebenezer". I had one of those moment where you can't figure something out, but you know you're supposed to know the answer. But still, I could not remember what "raise my Ebenezer" meant for the life of me! So I went on a little quest to find the answer. (The Internet is an amazing thing, folks) When I found the answer, I felt really dumb because I did already know this. It's just one of those things that you know, but you don't remember. Anybody with me there? Oh well...

The term comes from 1 Samuel 7:12-14

12. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called it's name Ebenezer; for he said, "Till now the Lord has helped us."
13. So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Samuel 7:12-14 -- ESV)

This passage talks about a time when the Ark of the Covenant was in the hands of the Philistines. All kinds of bad things were happening to the Philistines while they had the Ark, so they decided to give it back to the Israelites. Then Israel repented of their sins and gathered together. When the Philistines heard that there were so many in one place, they attacked. The children of Israel were afraid and cried out to God and he gave them the victory over the Philistines! So Samuel set up a stone as a monument, and named it Ebenezer. That literally means "Stone of Help".

So if I'm interpreting the message right, the song is basically praising God because He is the only one with the power to save us. and thanking Him for all of His help and His blessings.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home:
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand'ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, bought me with his precious blood.

An Average Day -- A Blessing from God

Well, it's been a rather interesting day! I had to go get shots today so that I can actually go to college next month. Shots are always fun. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I'm going back on Monday for more *groan*

My sister, Jacqueline, and I also got to sing for our church's senior citizens group, the "Primetimers". It's funny because they told her that they wanted us to sing weeks in advance, but they didn't tell me until last Sunday. Of course, she forgot to tell me too, so we had a week to come up with several songs to sing. I'm gonna be honest with you here....we didn't start anything until last night. In the end it all worked out all right. We sang "You Alone", "Jesus, Lover of my Soul", "Nothing but the Blood", "In Christ Alone", and we led them in singing "The Love of God", "Come, Thou Fount", and "Mansion over the Hilltop". So by the time we were done, my fingers were a little tired from playing the guitar, and my sister was starting to lose her voice so we didn't even sing the last song that we had planned.

At the end of the night, they took up an offering to donate to me and Jacqueline for our college funds! It was really unexpected, and I was so thankful for their thoughtfulness! I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but FWBBC is EXPENSIVE!!!! They were really a blessing to me tonight, and I think I speak for my sister also when I say Thank You!!!

Rejoice!

We had the privilege of having the Rejoice ministry team from Free Will Baptist Bible College at our church last night! It was amazing. They were all really good, and I enjoyed it - as always. After the service was over, my Dad told me that they needed a bass singer in their group. I think he just might have been trying to tell me something. =) It was really cool to have a group from the college visit and actually know some of the people in the group! I'm so excited about getting to go to FWBBC this fall! It's gonna be awesome! There are only 38 more days until classes start.

Need's a Haircut!

So I've recently become a fan of a guy named Josh Wilson. The first time I heard him was when they played "3 Minute Song" on our local Christain radio station, K LOVE. I really enjoyed the song, because I've always had trouble expressing what I'm trying to say in ways that other people will understand, and it's infinitely more difficult to explain how much God means to me when He is so awesome that He just can't be described. So anyway, I decided to look into this guy just because I typically check out an artist before I spend my hard earned money on their music. Of course, I checked myspace, just because you can usually find music there, and I actually liked his other stuff too. It's a little different than my other music, but hey, variety is good, right? Then I checked YouTube because music videos are always fun, and sometimes you can find different stuff from different sources. What I found on YouTube was actually what convinced me to buy the cd. See, I found this version of "Amazing Grace", and I personally think it's pretty awesome. I play the guitar a little, but the loops and stuff along with the actual playing is just cool. So I showed it to my parents because I'm always trying to prove to them that the music I listen to is not bad just because it has a little rythm. My Mom's response - "He need's a haircut". I guess some people are just hard to please!

A Random Kind of Guy...

So, those of you who know me well know that I'm quite random sometimes. But I always seem to amaze myself with the thoughts that pop into my head, or the connections I make between totally unrelated subjects, or the things you find in my trunk.

Last Sunday, I was getting ready to come home from church, when my sister's boyfriend, who is visiting for a few days, tried to put his trumpet into my trunk. Not a big deal, right? Wrong! You see, when we bought my car, it didn't come with a key to the trunk simply because the previous owner had inherited the car and didn't have one. This has never been a problem because we always just popped the trunk with the lever inside the driver's door. However, like many trunk popping mechanisms, it has a lock on it. So when I went to pop the trunk for Thomas to put his trumpet in, I found it locked with no way to unlock it.

So since I am now locked out of my trunk, I start to wonder if there might be anything I actually need in there. Of course, I have the "normal" trunk items like a spare tire and a jack. Then there are other things like an air compressor for in case I have a flat tire, but that's where the ordinary ends. There is also a rabbit cage in there, which is kinda odd because we haven't had a rabbit in almost two years. Then there is a coat. Actually, one of my nicer jackets and the warmest one I have.

Now, it's pretty obvious why someone would keep a spare in the trunk, right? Because it doesn't fit in the glove box! *rimshot followed by crickets* Oh well. My Mom always told me that there were too many comedians out of work for me to crack lame jokes. Maybe one day I'll learn. So if you have a spare tire, you're gonna need some way to lift the car to change the tire, thus the jack. But why in the world would I have a rabbit cage in my trunk? Well, the answer is simple. It was given away to someone with a rabbit, and then they moved and it was given back. The reason it was still in the trunk was that apparently, I'm just too lazy to get it out.

Well, since we're on the subject of laziness, who carries a coat in their trunk in the middle of July? and in Mississippi! Oh yeah, that would be me. You see, Spring is Mississippi is a crazy season. One day it's 70 degrees; the next day it's 35. I personally don't wear a coat all that often because I'm pretty warm natured, and cold doesn't really bother me that much. The only reason for the coat in the first place was that my girlfriend was always cold. Ergo, I need to have a coat nearby if at all possible. Unfortunately, by the time the coat got into my car the relationship was coming to an end anyway. I'm a little slow like that =)

I guess my point here is that if I had a rabbit cage and a jacket in my car, who knows what else could be in there? I look forward to the day when I will get to open it and re-discover the treasures within! It'll be like Christmas!!

PS - I tend to use weird words....like "Ergo"

Kung Fu Master

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this is a video that I made with Jon-Marc a couple of years ago. We were doing a few spoofs that day just for fun, and while we were shooting some commercials to go in the middle of the main show we did this one where I got hurt.

Now, I wasn't actually supposed to injure myself. The idea of the video was for Jon-marc to be over-dramatically trying to sell karate lessons while I performed the karate that he taught in the background - badly. (we didn't have actual scripts for any of the videos) Then when he made the point about balance, I was supposed to fall. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a convincing but fake fall turned into a real and very painful one. One thing that I find funny is that Jon-marc knew that I was supposed to fall, so when he heard the huge thud, he didn't even know I was hurt.

In the end, I wasn't really hurt badly. I blacked out for a couple seconds, but really, I just had the wind knocked out, and I was sore for a while. So for a bit of pain, and a fair share of embarrassment, I have gained a video that has brought a smile to many faces. So was it worth it? You tell me!

In addition to all of that, I e-mailed this video to a friend of mine from camp, and being the "techy" guy that he is, he edited it for us making it look more like a commercial.

Well, I hope you got a smile or a laugh out of watching my pain, but even if you didn't, I had fun making it!

I'm Thinking of Something....

So as a younger teen that graduated early and can't seem to find a job for the life of me *gritting teeth*, I tend to spend a lot of my free time online, much to the dismay of my parents. More recently, even sites like Facebook and Myspace are running out of new content to keep myself occupied with. Now, I'm not saying that there's nothing there, but moreso that I'm very picky with the things that occupy my time, I guess.

So as I was scanning over my Facebook profile today I found a game that I played there with a few of my friends. The game was called "Thinking of Something", and the point was obviously to simply guess what the host of the game was thinking. It's a pretty simple concept that's been played in various incarnations over the years, such as "Twenty Questions". Now I always enjoyed things like this because I'm fairly decent as long as I'm given something to work with. As for my friends, it seems, it was fun for a while, but apparently after a few games, when we got to one they couldn't figure out, it got old. I personally think they could've gotten it. They were actually very close to the answer when they quit, but the fact is they did quit *deep sigh*.

So, all of that to say that because my friends are quitters (I love you guys!!!), the game was never finished. Now I was proud of this object that I thought of because it was not expected (obviously). So I am posting it here so that all of my *counting*....zero readers can attempt to finish the game so that I can start another

I'm thinking of something...expensive
Make a guess!

Thomas Holloway asked, "Is it... a necklace?

Turns out, nope.

Jacqueline Jones asked, "Is it... a car?

Turns out, you're getting warmer!

Here's a hint: it is mechanical

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... the car on that car game were you buy ur car and stuff?

Turns out, nope.

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... ok a donut?

Turns out, nope.

Here's a hint: a DONUT?!?!?!!!

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... plane?

Turns out, nope.

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... a phone?

Turns out, nope.

Here's a hint: It is very durable

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... submarine?

Turns out, nope.

Here's a hint: It has cameras

Here's a hint: it rolls

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... a hitachi robot?

Turns out, nope.

Here's a hint: It's not a robot, but it does have robotic arms

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... a satillite?

Turns out, you're getting warmer!

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... that thing that they ride on the moon?

Turns out, nope.

Sam Temple asked, "Is it... is it somthin in outerspace?

Turns out, nope!

Here's a hint: it recently took a picture of "bigfoot"

PS - Obviously since I have no readers, I am hoping to acquire a few by inviting you to join this game....plus, let's be logical, if you're reading this, then I have succeded in luring in at least one! =)

Into the Future

Well, it looks like it's that time. Time for me to step into blogging. As we live in the "Information Age" where an online presence can be beneficial (almost crucial) to your success, I have decided to start gradually working on mine. Since I've long since mastered Gmail and Google Reader, it seemed like time to go ahead and take the next step (as defined in a post by Luke Gedeon). So here it is: The beginnings of an almost-sure-to-be-feeble attempt at blogging.