I know this is really is not a 'blog' but as of right now I am scheduled to work during the Super Bowl. This is possibly the first time that I can remember that I will not be able to watch the game, but work does take precedence in my life right now. To be able to balance God, school, football, and work, I must sacrifice some things, including the SUPER BOWL, in able to be successful and to achieve the things I want to do.
Once again this may seem like one of the most pointless blogs ever written, but it is times and scenarios like these that I am able to sit back and realize what is most important in my day to day life. Plus ... who even likes the Cardinals and Steelers ;)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A little motivation
Utenited ....
Most of you may not know what Utenited is and therefore I will give you some background before I share my thoughts a little more:
Utenited is a non-denominational group of college students who meet on Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm in the Heritage Center for about an hour to worship, socialize, and listen to a short message that we can apply to our lives. At Utenited we believe that college students juggle school, work, friends, clubs, and that a Tuesday night break from all of that is a dose of what we need from our stressful routines.
When entering college in 2007 at the University of Utah, I knew I wanted to live in the dorms to get the whole college experience. Ben Robie and I decided to be suite mates since we had been friends with each other at South Mountain Community Church. When we got to the U., we had an idea to start up a group for students, but wanted something different than other existing Christian groups. At first we thought of modeling it after a college group that was once held at our church. So, we contacted David Figge, who once led this group. He was game to meet with us and listen to our ideas and desires to start something that would nurture and invest in our college peers. I did not know much about David, only that he had once led this group and he himself was still a college student at heart.
After meeting with David, we knew we wanted him to be a part of our new group. Eventually we all had the passion that this group would grow into something bigger than us and would need more than 3 to make it happen. There was a calling from God to start something up here that could really affect the lives of students on campus. We decided that Ben would lead worship for about 30 minutes, David would talk for about 10 minutes, and we would close with a final song. With all of this in place, at this point, we decided to try our first "soft-starts". There were about 5 people total who attended our soft starts in a little room downstairs in the Heritage Center. Our first official launch was the second Tuesday of October '07, and we were so excited since we had about 10 kids show up and we used this cool little speaker system with a mic and Ben's guitar. We laugh now.
Long story short ;), I can happily say that we have grown, immensely. Today we average about 80 attendees every Tuesday night, thanks to Him. We have upgraded room size, picked up more vocals, a pianist, a drummer, and base player to go along with Ben and his guitar. Oh yeah, and a better sound system. My role during this past semester though is changing. Due to the growth of Utenited and fellow Christian students stepping up to help, I have now taken on a different role with my teammates. I have been given the opportunity to meet and fellowship to the athletes on the football team.
This point here brings me to the overall idea of this blog.
God is truly amazing. A year and a half ago I was a new student up at the University of Utah who walked on to the football team and had no idea where I was going with my life. Now, through all the struggles and roller coasters I have been through emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, I have come to notice how great my God really is. I have met so many people and developed so many great relationships since Utenited started. Truly I am so blessed. Unfortunately I spent too much time thinking about how mistreated I was in both football and the dating world.
Last night, at Utenited I felt something that I had not felt before, it was not pride in what I had accomplished, but it was realizing that through God, you really can achieve anything. As I sat back and sang the songs with 70+ other Christian students, I realized what God had done through Ben, David, and I just a year and a half ago. It's a great joy knowing that you have helped provide, through God, a way for Christians not only fellowship with other Christians but for them to grow closer in their walk with Christ. Most importantly it introduces other students to our God and show them how He really can be everything you need in your life.
Through all of this, I am encouraged with what God is doing in my life and the lives of so many college students. There are billions of people out there who know nothing about God, and if we were able to affect 80 people in a short time, IN UTAH, what can't we achieve? If we just trust in Him our goals will be reached ...... all we need is a little faith and patience that He will achieve what is best for us all.
Living for Him
Most of you may not know what Utenited is and therefore I will give you some background before I share my thoughts a little more:
Utenited is a non-denominational group of college students who meet on Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm in the Heritage Center for about an hour to worship, socialize, and listen to a short message that we can apply to our lives. At Utenited we believe that college students juggle school, work, friends, clubs, and that a Tuesday night break from all of that is a dose of what we need from our stressful routines.
When entering college in 2007 at the University of Utah, I knew I wanted to live in the dorms to get the whole college experience. Ben Robie and I decided to be suite mates since we had been friends with each other at South Mountain Community Church. When we got to the U., we had an idea to start up a group for students, but wanted something different than other existing Christian groups. At first we thought of modeling it after a college group that was once held at our church. So, we contacted David Figge, who once led this group. He was game to meet with us and listen to our ideas and desires to start something that would nurture and invest in our college peers. I did not know much about David, only that he had once led this group and he himself was still a college student at heart.
After meeting with David, we knew we wanted him to be a part of our new group. Eventually we all had the passion that this group would grow into something bigger than us and would need more than 3 to make it happen. There was a calling from God to start something up here that could really affect the lives of students on campus. We decided that Ben would lead worship for about 30 minutes, David would talk for about 10 minutes, and we would close with a final song. With all of this in place, at this point, we decided to try our first "soft-starts". There were about 5 people total who attended our soft starts in a little room downstairs in the Heritage Center. Our first official launch was the second Tuesday of October '07, and we were so excited since we had about 10 kids show up and we used this cool little speaker system with a mic and Ben's guitar. We laugh now.
Long story short ;), I can happily say that we have grown, immensely. Today we average about 80 attendees every Tuesday night, thanks to Him. We have upgraded room size, picked up more vocals, a pianist, a drummer, and base player to go along with Ben and his guitar. Oh yeah, and a better sound system. My role during this past semester though is changing. Due to the growth of Utenited and fellow Christian students stepping up to help, I have now taken on a different role with my teammates. I have been given the opportunity to meet and fellowship to the athletes on the football team.
This point here brings me to the overall idea of this blog.
God is truly amazing. A year and a half ago I was a new student up at the University of Utah who walked on to the football team and had no idea where I was going with my life. Now, through all the struggles and roller coasters I have been through emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, I have come to notice how great my God really is. I have met so many people and developed so many great relationships since Utenited started. Truly I am so blessed. Unfortunately I spent too much time thinking about how mistreated I was in both football and the dating world.
Last night, at Utenited I felt something that I had not felt before, it was not pride in what I had accomplished, but it was realizing that through God, you really can achieve anything. As I sat back and sang the songs with 70+ other Christian students, I realized what God had done through Ben, David, and I just a year and a half ago. It's a great joy knowing that you have helped provide, through God, a way for Christians not only fellowship with other Christians but for them to grow closer in their walk with Christ. Most importantly it introduces other students to our God and show them how He really can be everything you need in your life.
Through all of this, I am encouraged with what God is doing in my life and the lives of so many college students. There are billions of people out there who know nothing about God, and if we were able to affect 80 people in a short time, IN UTAH, what can't we achieve? If we just trust in Him our goals will be reached ...... all we need is a little faith and patience that He will achieve what is best for us all.
Living for Him
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Jan. 26th, A great, succesful day
This past Monday, yesterday, might have been one of the most stressful, yet fulfilling days in my young life. We had our first conditioning workout of the offseason at 6 am, and boy was I excited to get back into running ;). After the run, I got ready for class at 8:35. After my first two classes I was able to take a short break and go to the Student Union and work on some math homework, grab a quick bite, and get ready for my last class. So once I was done with my last class I went home, did some laundry, laid down for about 30 minutes, and then was off to my lift for football. Our lift was great, we had to max on a lower body squat lift, do some accessory work and then do a "GTFO". A GTFO is a workout in which the coaches throw a group of absurd lower body workouts together, out of nowhere, and practically look for kids to quit. Fortunately, I did make it through this workout and decided after, no matter how badly my body hurt, that I was going to go run some routes with one of our quarterbacks and catch some balls. The workout was great, I was able to get some quality reps in and was also able to work through the pain, thus hopefully getting better. After the workouts I drove my friend home who had missed the Trax bus while finding out that my wide receiver coach was returning, which was great news. Once returning home I was able to grab some dinner before heading out to my new bible study that I am in with some fellow athletes. The bible study was great and am really excited to dive into this since I have a lot to learn and am open for more of God in my life. After the bible study I was finally able to finish my homework assignment for math, turn it in online, and got an A on the assignment too.
WHAT A DAY :)
WHAT A DAY :)
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