Ok this will probably be the
longest most pointless post I will ever do.  I have seen so many of those
surveys as to things you have and haven't done.  Many of the items are
pointless, so I decided to instead post random facts about myself.  There
are a lot of people here that don't know me all that much, so I think this
could be good.  I know most of you won't ever read this and that doesn't
bother me one bit. 

• I don't like to read that
  much other than the Bible, mostly because I have to read long boring
  documents at work.
• I have been to Canada, Bahamas, Mexico, Peru, and
  Russia
• I have tripped up the stairs
  more than I can remember, and have fallen down them several times. 
  Once I was sliding down a really long banister and halfway down (20ft up)
  I almost fell to my death, instead I grabbed the banister pulled myself
  forward only to fall off the banister and begin to roll down the stairs. 
  Then another time I went to jump down the stairs, but I miss calculated
  how far it really was and ended up landing on my butt and bounced the rest
  of the way down.
• I have had a bear attack my
  food while camping.  This was when I learned that black bears are
  camera shy.
• I once got 218 mosquito bites
  while canoeing in upstate New
  York (Week long trip).  It took a long time to count those
  things.  There were so many of them
  I didn’t eat one night because you couldn’t eat without getting eaten
  yourself.
• I have had stared death in
  the face on several occasions.  I'm basically a walking miracle
  several times over.  God obviously has a plan for my life or I
  wouldn't still be here.
• I have fallen 30ft' landed on
  a set of drums, and had a high hat stand miss my butt by a an inch (Talk
  about being thankful)
• I have tripped over my own
  two feet and have fallen on my face numerous times.
• I am probably one of the most
  accident prone people alive.
• The only bone I have ever
  broken in my body was my toe.  I was running through the house as a
  kid and my foot ended up kicking the sofa moving it about 2 feet.  I
  never knew the toe next to the big toe could swell up so large!!!
• I have run sound/lights for
  hundreds of concerts.
• I have had a 200lb speaker cabinet
  fall square on my chest and lived to laugh and tell about it.  In
  fact it didn't even hurt, I just laughed.
• I have come to the
  realization that church is hazardous to my health as 99.999% of all my injuries
  have happened either at the church, at a church event, or while serving in
  ministry.
• I almost choked to death
  while all my friends who were trained in CPR and First Aid sat there and
  watched me.  I ended up saving my own life because nobody else
  helped.  It's hard giving your own self the Hymlec (sp?).
• I was at the World Trade Center
  the day before it was attacked the first time.
• I once lost feeling in my
  right pinky finger for over 3 months while trying to get my pager that
  fell 40ft behind a wall in the WOWCenter Sanctuary.
• I put 30,000 miles on my
  brand new Acura TSX last year.
• I
  love to watch chick flicks and because of this my guy friends never let me
  pick the movies anymore, and yes I have cried at a chick flick.
• I
  am extremely ticklish, and don’t worry I can dish it out so stay away!!!
• I
  have been completely embarrassed to the point I wish I could have disappeared.
• I don’t think I grew an inch
  from age 17.
• I can’t stand to see girls
  cry
• I like to help people
• I have a hard time saying no
  when there is a need.  (I am getting
  better at this.)
• I am a loyal friend

Ok I actually saw this and it
all does ring very true to life so I'm going to post it for everyone's
enjoyment/encouragement. 



1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just
like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.


5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. If not for you, someone may not be living.

8. You are special and unique.

9. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

10. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.

11. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most
likely turned your back on the world.

12. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably
won't get it, but if you believe in yourself, probably, sooner or later, you
will get it.

13. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude
remarks.

14. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when
they know.

15. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are
great.
 


Remember, to the world you might just be one person, but to one person you may
be the world

This was another action packed weekend full of adventure, excitement, and sorrow. For those of you that don't know keep Megan in your prayers as her mom passed away this weekend.

As many of you know, a bunch of us danced at the talent show and well we had a blast. It was the first time Matthew Norris has ever danced in his life and he did a great job. As a matter of fact I'm proud of everyone that dedicated their time and were able to put up with me in learning the dance. We had so much fun practicing and made many memories during that time. God is great because we were offered the opportunity to dance at 2 Passover Seder's coming up and also for a youth outreach. Everyone on the team is soooo excited at the opportunities that are before us. Now we just need a name for our group, so if anybody has an idea for it let me know. The talent show was a blessing to be a part of and to watch. Oh I also ran sound this weekend by myself for the first time (well at Tikvat that is...) I guess it went ok as I didn't have any complaints other than being late that morning.

Afterwards, since God blessed us with such beautiful weather, Snow Pea, the M's, N's, Deirdre, and I went to Belle Isle (I think that's how you spell it). We spent the afternoon jumping from rock to rock and bathing in the sun. God never ceases to amaze me with his beautiful creation. Oh yeah we can't forget the hero story.... I'm really not sure why Mary seems to be the focus of all the stories but for some reason whenever something happens she is smack dab in the middle of it all.

...We were about to go meet up with Amy and the gang when it happened. Jane was leading the way to meet everyone and Mary was right behind her. She took a step on this rock, and well needless to say the rock didn't want her standing on it, so it moved throwing Mary's balance off. I had this quick decision to make…

A) Let her fall, and get out of the way before I got wet.

B) Save her.

Considering the timeframe I had to work with I had to think fast. I didn’t have time to phone a friend as my cell phone was in my pocket, and I couldn’t use my 50/50 because there were only two choices. I could have asked the audience but then I would have to explain the whole situation and there wouldn’t be enough time. Needless to say, despite the cat throwing and the locking me out, (read previous posts for a cross-reference), and the not warning me of branches as she let go of them and they hit me in the face… I was there for her in her time of need. I quickly stepped forward and grabbed her before she fell into the nasty, muddy, and possibly disease infested, stagnant sewage water. It wouldn’t have been fun falling into that mess, and besides we had to hang out with her the rest of the evening. I didn’t want to have to smell her too. (Just Joking!!!!!)

We met up with Amy, Genevieve, and Luciano (sorry if I didn’t spell it right). I’d like to take a quick minute to thank Amy for sharing her strawberries and grapes with us. They hit the spot enough to tease me and make me even hungrier. A few minutes later Rebecca, Vinnie, and Jennifer showed up. We all sat around wishing we brought a guitar but it was all good. We ended up leaving to get some dinner and well on the way back I pulled a Mary, but where was she in my time of need??? Nowhere to be found.. hmmmmmm….

Foot stayed dry, but the leg got a little wet.

Anyways, later that night we went Go-Cart riding and some played miniature golf. Doug and Kelly met us there and well needless to say we had a blast. For everyone else out there you need to watch out for the ladies they are extremely competitive and dangerous when you put them behind the wheel of a go-cart. Joanna took me out in a corner laughing the whole time. Then my go-cart barely went around the track and the guy had to turn it off and start it back up. Everyone out there was aggressive which made for a fun evening. I think the best part was the last time we went on the course. We could only take out 10 cars and there were 11 of us that wanted to go so I doubled up with Judy for our last run for the evening. I was taking pictures while we drove around. During the first trip around we had a huge NASCAR style wreck with about 5 people in the second turn. Joanna was facing us going the wrong direction and Judy and I were in the wall. Snow Pea spent most of his time trying to pass Judy and I. Jane was the speeder for the game lapping everyone at least once. I remember at one point there was an accident (it might have been one that we created), and when that happens they slow down all the cars, but somehow Jane came flying up behind us and passed us. I think she was cheating personally. I would watch behind us as Judy drove letting her know which way people were coming and she did a great job at cutting people off. I think she gets it from Joel. Well we were taking the last turn with Snow Pea on our tail. He tried to pass us on the right so Judy cut him hard causing us to spin into the wall and making him wreck into the side of us. His facial expression was priceless….

His facial expression was priceless….

Judy couldn’t stop laughing…

Wow this is the second time that I have sat down to post and have had absolutely nothing to say....

I do have one funny story to tell. A bunch of us were at the Norris's house practicing for the talent show coming up and were about to cook hamburgers and then it happened....

Now the exact order of the following is a little fuzzy, but it all did happen. No names were changed to protect the innocent. No animals were harmed during the duration of the night’s actives.

• A night out on the town - $75
• First Guitar - $450
• Dinner for an army of dancers at the Norris house - $120
• Watching the face of your friend when you show up in the room with her favorite cat with a knife to its neck… PRICELESS!!!!!!!!
  

So what really happened? I guess I should preface this with a little story about a knife and well a cat. The Norris's have a small army of cats about 30 of them I guess you could say. Flipper is the coolest cat and I so want to take him home with me, but that's beside the point. I asked Mary what Melody’s favorite cat was and she told me it was “Handsome.” Yes that is the real name of the cat, and I didn’t make it up. Anyway I walked into the kitchen with the cat in one hand and my knife in the other and asked Melody, “Do you like thin filets or a thick cut?” Her reaction was simply priceless! After dieing laughing and walking outside to put the cat down, Melody locked me out of the house. No big deal, as there was a nice little fire going so we could cook dinner. Eventually, the door was unlocked and I went back in the house where I found Melody sitting on the couch. She was still mad at me, but things quickly changed when somehow the small details concerning Mary telling me which cat was her favorite seemed to mysteriously come out of my mouth. Melody was no longer upset with me, but was now upset with her beloved sister Mary. Well needless to say, Mary was now mad at me and I found myself locked out of the house once again. Matthew, Mark, and myself (yeah I know it should say I, but well I needed another M) were still outside watching the fire burn down to some coals when Mary comes to the window picks up one of the cats and next thing I know... I see a cat going airborne flying at me. I began to move out of the way, but thought it would be good to try and catch the cat. It was a good thing I did because if I wouldn’t have caught it, we would have had a flaming fur ball running across the yard. I never knew Mary could toss a cat that far. Matthew wasn’t joking when he said she’s the strongest member of the family. Let this be a warning to all that read this post… NEVER MAKE MARY MAD!!!!!

I must say that Mary does make the coolest pillows!!!  She made me this great lime green shag pillow!!  ME Designs ROCKS!!!!!!!!

For once I can honestly say I don't have anything to share
with the world. This past weekend was a lot of fun, but I'm sure you have
read everyone else's posts already. It's odd to be at a lost of words
because normally I love to talk. Have you ever found yourself really
wanting to do something, but afraid to do it in fear of how it will affect the
current situation. I know that sounds really vague, but you run through
everything in your head and it sounds like a great idea then you begin to
second guess yourself. Where is that red easy button when you need
it?!?!?!

PS. I guess there is a lot I could say to the Xanga world, but well some things you have to keep private maybe one day the world will know...

PSS. Here is the layout of the appartment I'm thinking about getting.

Talk about having decisions to make.  Yeah I know we all make decisions every day of our life, but have you ever felt overwhelmed by them?  I find myself in one of those places where I have plenty of opportunities but don’t know what to do.  Sometimes I wish God would just lay out my whole life ahead of me and tell me what decision I need to make and when I need to make them, but I know that wouldn’t work.  It’s situations like this where we seem to draw closer to Him as we begin to rely on Him to help us through the uncertainties of life.  If we knew everything, we wouldn’t have that dependency upon Him and would more than likely screw up our lives as we try to make things work on our own power and abilities.  Although it sounds like it should be easy, I find it to be one of the hardest things to do.  Nobody wants to make a decision that they will later regret especially when it comes to your future.  Everyone desires to have the life you dreamed about when you were young, but is that what God has in store for you?  Have you ever wondered what should I be doing or am I doing what God wants me to do?   I really doubt I am the only one who has though/asked these questions.  Well here’s one I’m sure everyone out there has thought of at least once… “Who am I going to marry?”  Is it the person you have a huge crush on, but have problems talking to them and sharing how you feel about her/him?  Sometimes I feel like I will be the founder and president of the UMJM (Union of Messianic Jewish Monks) any other takers?  Ok that last sentence was said in joking (but if it comes about you heard it first here I got the copyright on it).  I say all of that to say this….  I seem to find myself at a crossroad of decisions looking to God for the answers.  Should I move to Charlotte, NC in pursuit of working with a ministry?  Should I take an offer and change jobs yet again for a possible addition of $20k/yr and work 10 minutes from my house?  Should I stay at my current job where I am learning and growing as my company keeps sending me to training and I have a world of options ahead?  Should I move out and get an apartment with one of my best friends or should I wait a bit longer?  Do I keep holding on for that special someone?  Only God really knows the answer to all those questions.  My job is to learn to trust Him and listen to His voice no matter how long it takes.  It’s not an easy path to walk down, I just simply have to remind myself, I am not the first and won’t be the last person to deal with these very same issues.  While some of you may laugh or think my life questions seem to have the obvious answer, I find it hard to decide and don’t want to do it without God.  Money isn’t everything, but it can be hard to turn down.  Ok so I have given everyone a small glimpse into my life for a brief second.  I will leave you all with a thought… 

Maybe you will get what you wish for, and get everything you can imagine.  Life can and often is full of surprises, just remember that the journey is often times what you make it.  Learn to hold on and enjoy the ride as you let God direct your path.

This weekend was a blast, somehow I ended up being the only guy hanging out with 5 girls.  We drove around in the Norris van as I flew around the back like a rag doll.  Without naming any names as to who was driving, it was a Norris girl and it wasn't Melody and there is only one of them that has a license other than Malcom and well he wasn't there and again I was the only guy.  I guess I should preface this with I wasn't wearing my seat belt.  Normally I do, but this time for whatever reason I wasn't.  We went to Panera Bread to eat lunch and we all ended up getting the same thing to eat except for our driver I mean Mary (oops did I just say that out loud?).  Then we were off to the mall until I got sidetrack and saw a Starbucks.  I was almost in heaven until my hopes and dreams were shattered by people telling me they support the gay/lesbian community.  We didn't however find it written on the cup anywhere.  Any who, Melody wanted to go to Nordstrom and shop.  The girls wanted to get me a black skirt and a halter top.  They think it was my idea, but we know the truth.  After having fun playing the guessing game with all the prices at the store we began to walk around the mall. When we left the store to venture out in the mall, it began snowing and we walked around in the wonderful white wintry mix.We went to several stores and I tried on a hat while the girls continued to shop.We walked around until we finally went to Express and the fun began.The girls decided they were going to make me into their little dress up doll.Each girl went and found a different article of clothing I had to wear and well they came up with the following outfit:

I’m not sure what’s up with this one…

We had a blast and continued to run around the mall playing in the snow and trying to catch the big snow flakes on our tongues.On the way out from Nordstrom’s I tried on another hat.We ended up leaving the mall area after having a ton of fun being stupid.We left there and headed to Steven’s apartment.We ended up passing it at first and turned around to go find the apartment, so I got out of my seat to help Mary and Jane find it.Needless to say me not in the seat, talking on my phone, while trying to find the apartment was not a good combination.Marry hit the gas and well, I flew back, but ended up grabbing the seat belt that was hanging down only to have it swing me around and into the glass.My back hit the side as did my elbow and well that still hurts.We stayed there for a little while then left for home.Driving home in the heavy snow was wonderful.I had to break out the Christmas Tran-Siberian Orchestra cd.We were all totally into it, when the snow stopped and the rain began.Oh well maybe some lasting snow another day….

**NOTE Mary really isn't a bad driver...

Well I think it's time for me to break the blogging silence and begin talking to the world once again.

This was an awesome week of worship at the Throne Zone conference.  Originally I didn't plan on attending, but our church rented them our fiber optic backdrop curtain for them to use for their stage setup at the Founders Inn.  I was called by Michele (the wife of Keith Duncan founder of His Call Ministries the Throne Zone Conference) to come over to the Founders Inn last Wednesday because they couldn't get our fiber optic curtain working.  For those of you that don't know what a fiber optic curtain is, have you ever been to a concert and see the backdrop that twinkles and looks like stars in the background?  Well that's it.  We have a 30' by 30' fiber optic curtain that is really big and really heavy LOL.  It took me probably 30 seconds to fix their fiber optic curtain and I was about to head out when I got stopped again.  Next thing you know I am running lights for the conference, working the registration booth, and being their onsite technology person.  I say all of this as if it were a by accident thing, but I have known Keith and Michele since I was 17 and used work with them a lot doing lights and sound as they started out doing nights of worship and conferences.  Some of you might have seen Keith Duncan on the INSP network.   Anyways, the speakers and worship leaders that were at the conference were, Paul Wilber (I think most of you know him.), Lindell Cooley (Worship Leader during Brownsville Revival and wrote songs such as ‘I Need You More’ and ‘Can You See The Lamb’, Ron Kenoly (with Integrity Music), Dr. Myles Munroe( Bahamas Faith Ministries International), Tommy Tenney (Author of God Chasers), Dr. Chuck Pierce (Author of ‘When God Speaks’ and mighty Prophet of God www.glory-of-zion.org, and Ray Hughes (Prophet/Evangelist).   Needless to say it was a power-packed weekend of prayer, praise, and worship.
 
God is awesome and never ceases to amaze me.  I have been asked to work more with Keith and His Call Ministries more and possibly full time one day with the ministry.   For those of you that don’t know me very well which is probably the majority of the people reading my posts,  I have many years background in pro-audio, lights, video, and computers.  God has been preparing me for years for ministry and I have taken every opportunity to learn what I can.  I used to travel all up and down the east coast overseeing all the technical operations for many concerts and conferences.  Our church used to have a small touring group called Xtremedge Productions.  I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many conferences I have been a part of and helped plan.  After a while, it all becomes second nature and something you love doing.  Traveling is something I miss greatly as ministry is in my blood.  Do I love working and making lots of money?  I would be lying if I said I hated it, but traveling around doing ministry is my passion and desire.  Who knows what God has planned for my life?  I try not to spend so much time dwelling on it, but rather putting it in God’s hands and learning to trust Him day to day for direction as to where I am to go.  There are very few people that “REALLY” know me.  In fact I can probably count on one hand those that know my heart and what I am about.  I like to have fun, but more than that I like to do ministry.

Ok, I'm not necessarily back yet, but I couldn't resist sharing some of the beautiful pictures I got to see while in Colorado.

This was taken around sunset near Estes Park.



Mr. Squirrel, who possed for a picture for me.



This Elk was right outside the van door.  He would have stayed longer if Colleen would have stopped screaming.

More beautiful Mountain pictures.



God just keeps on amazing me!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year!!! 

For undisclosed reasons I will be taking
some time off from posting/updating my Xanga site.  I will however
keep in touch with everyone.

Words of Thought:

Erick Hoffer:

The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do
unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We
are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we
forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to
sacrifice ourselves.

Hillary Rodham Clinton:

In the Bible it says they asked Jesus how many times you should forgive, and
he said 70 times 7. Well, I want you all to know that I'm keeping a chart.

Lord Chesterfield:

Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it
forever.

Reinhold Niebuhr:

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved
by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any
immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we
do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by
love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend
or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love
which is forgiveness.

Sidney and Suzanne Simon:

Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed
by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is
rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity
to understand and accept other people and ourselves.

Sir Francis Bacon: