Social Media Fast

If you’re reading this, hopefully its because you too have decided to fast from social media for 21 days in order to grow closer to God.

Here are a couple tips regarding these next 21 days.

First off this is going to be really hard.

Secondly we will only get out of this, what we are willing to put in this.

There will be many temptations that the enemy will try to use to keep us from growing and following Jesus whole-heartedly. I suggest deleting all of the social media apps on your phone, tablet, and whatever you normally use to look at social media. You can also deactivate these accounts to take it a step further if you think the temptation to re-download the apps might be an issue.

The biggest question we need to be aware of and ask ourselves is

What will we do with our time?

It’s great to fast and turn away from things that may be distracting us. 

That is a huge and major essential step. 

This next step is even more crucial: we must follow Jesus.

The enemy will want us to spend and use our time with things that are simply “time fillers”.

An example of some of these time fillers for myself might be watching more television, watching more Netflix, playing video games, etc. So think of what some of those things might be for you over these next 21 days. Instead of spending time or wasting time we must choose to invest our time in things of eternal value.

Examples of  ways to spend time with eternal value.

Reading Gods word- One of the most important parts of our relationship with God is reading and listening to His word. (If you have the bible app it will read it aloud to you if you prefer to listen and follow along)

Prayer- I encourage you to write down your prayers. Get a journal. Type them out on your computer or even phone. Start to write them down so you can look back and see in the future how God is working in your life.

Spend time with God alone and Be still (Outdoors is great too)

Join or start a bible study

Find a church to attend

Listen to sermons

Listen to worship music

Read a book! Find some good books to keep with you or download some to your phone or tablet.

Find an accountability partner- Following Jesus and living a life for God is hard and we were never meant to do it alone. Find someone to help hold you accountable and to grow with.

Start a blog- God pulls us through many hard times for a specific reason; so that we can help others who struggle with the same things. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Invest in the relationships and people around you

Write letters to your future spouse or kids

These are just some of the ways you can replace the time you were spending on social media and use it to follow Jesus. There are many more, just be open to how God speaks to you! It’s important to plan out how we will spend our time. It’s will be easy to fill our time with other things if we don’t plan it out.

I’m excited to see how God grows us all as men and women after his own heart.

Here are some great promises we have to hold onto going into this time:

But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. 

And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

Deuteronomy 4:29

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, 

and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33

Trust in the Lord and do good. 
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 

Commit everything you do to the Lord. 
Trust him, and he will help you.

Psalms 37:3-5

See yall July 16^th!

Following Jesus - Social Media Challenge

Do you ever find yourself going through the motions?

Do you ever find yourself, going through daily routines, doing just enough to get by? 

If you took an honest inventory of your life and look at where you spend your time and what you spend it doing, what would it say about your life? What would it say about the Jesus you believe in?

Do you ever wish you were closer to God?

Have you ever found yourself wanting to follow Jesus with everything you have but you’re not quite sure what to do?

I’ve personally found myself stuck in a rut spiritually and have asked myself why over and over again…

Why am I not always fully satisfied in Christ?

What do I need to do in order to be all in for the gospel?

How do I get from where I am to where God calls me to be as a mature follower of Jesus Christ?

______________________________________________________

I’ve heard the quote we live in a era of smart phones and dumb people. Now I don’t agree with this but it did get me to thinking. We live in an age where social media has taken the world by storm. It seems practically everybody is using at least one form of social media. These range from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Vine, Myspace, and the list goes on.   All of these forms of social media are great and have so many wonderful capabilities for believers. They can all be used for the glory of God through spreading the gospel, growing other believers, encouraging other believers, letting your light shine as a testament, etc.  

But at the exact same time, these same social media accounts can be a platform to distract us from the very purpose of why we are here on this earth. They can be used in so many other different ways other than glorifying God. I’m not here to judge why people post what they post and I don’t think you should either because when it comes down to it only two people know the motives of our heart, God and ourselves.

The overall point is I believe it takes a mature believer and follower of Christ to be able to be disciplined enough to know how much time to spend on social media and what to spend it on.

So I find myself here, wanting to grow in Christ, wanting to be a mature believer but yet when I take an inventory of my life I find myself wasting tons of time on social media. I find myself scrolling through newsfeeds, looking at pictures, looking at funny videos, checking out recent posts, the list goes on. If you have a smart phone, tablet, ipad, or even just a computer, then you probably know how easy it is to spend hours on social media. 

Here’s a couple quick questions to ask ourselves as followers of Christ in respect to social media:

When we wake up in the morning, do we check our social media first? Or spend time with the Lord first?

Do we spend more time on social media through out the day or more time in Gods word and in prayer?

You see all of this made me start to think that maybe I could be missing out on what it means to truly follow Christ.

Am I REALLY seeking after Christ every day with all that I have?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, 

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24

I think it’s so easy to miss who Jesus really is and miss what it means to actually follow Jesus because we live in a generation where we often confuse posting on social media ABOUT Jesus as quality time spent WITH Jesus.

You see Christianity is all about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And it’s a LOVE relationship. My man Jesus loves you more than you can even understand and when you do start to somewhat understand, that’s when your life will change. So lets relate this scenario of our relationship with Jesus to a human relationship between a man and a woman. If a man is in a committed relationship with a woman and rarely communicates with her, (Let’s be honest we know it would be the man who failed to communicate) how long would that relationship last? Would you even call that a committed relationship?

Many of us claim to be in a committed relationship with Jesus but yet the only time we spend with him is at church with a bunch of other people. Maybe a bible study, and occasionally we read our bible every once a while. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against church or bible study, they are essential things in a believers life, but if you are in a committed, intimate relationship with someone don’t you want to spend some alone time with them???

 The truth is if our relationship with Jesus was based on our own human standards and logic he would have left us long long ago. But the great news is regardless of how much we’ve put him on the backburner, or how selfish we’ve been, or how we’ve claimed to be in an intimate relationship with him and not even made him a consistent priority in our life, He STILL loves us! He still wants that intimate relationship and he still desires to be our everything.

We have so many promises from God and as believers we say believe them, but why don’t our lives reflect that we truly do believe them?? So often I know what God says in my head but my life doesn’t reflect that I know it in my heart.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In my life I know I’ve reached a place where I need to make changes.

Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hurts our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends on from start to finish.

Hebrews 12:1-2

In order to be a disciple of Christ we must be disciplined. We must be disciplined to His word, to prayers, to His mission all for His kingdom. Following Jesus and having a relationship with Him is something that requires absolutely everything we have.

I’m challenging you to ask yourself if giving up social media for 21 days is something God is calling you to do.

Ask God to reveal to you the things in your life that are keeping you from being wholly devoted to being a disciplined follower of Christ. I know this is a difficult decision and may seem radical but what if we truly realize what Jesus has done for us, anything less than radical devotion to Him seems unfit.

I am planning on starting this time away from social media this Wednesday June 25. I will post another blog post on Wednesday which will include different ways to spend time during this fasting period in order to maximize our growth in Christ. It will also include other tips and warnings on how to make the most of this time.

Pain, Suffering, and Joy

What’s your greatest dream? Have you ever taken time to sit down and think about what God’s perfect plan in your life might be? I know I’ve not only thought about what God’s plan might be but sometimes I’ve thought I already know what it is. Sometimes I confuse my plan with God’s perfect plan. In my mind I’ve always thought that God would have me become an unbelievable baseball player who always bows down and gives glory to God first and foremost. I’ve thought that God would use me to bring many people to Christ through simply being a great athlete. I thought this would be the greatest way to communicate the gospel in my life. Something I’ve often wondered about is why God would ever have us go through trials? Why would a God who loves us let us feel hurt and pain? Why would God let others mistreat us?  I’ve really been coming to a place to understand pain and trials in a whole new way lately. God allows pain and trials in our lives for the opportunity of showing everyone around us how great a relationship with Christ really is. The opportunity to be a witness for Christ through hard times is a way more powerful testimony than obtaining worldly success or being a great athlete.

When things are going great in our lives it’s easy to give praise and glory to God. When circumstances are good, so is our God… right? People who aren’t Christians aren’t really impressed by Christians who are wildly successful, famous, and wealthy. They too aspire to have great wealth, achievement, and fame and probably don’t associate God being the reason for those blessings. Because if God were the sole reason for all of those blessings why aren’t all Christians wealthy, famous, and successful?

God allows us to go through pain, trials, insults, unfair circumstances and poor treatment because it’s our greatest platform to show a world that doesn’t believe in God, that God is real! When we are able to find joy through knowing Jesus Christ amidst all these painful circumstances, the impact it has on people who aren’t Christians is unbelievable. When we go completely against human nature and respond in a loving joyful way when we have bad things happen to us, it screams the gospel of Jesus Christ. People who aren’t Christians are dumfounded by how you could possibly be joyful or loving when they think you have no reason to be. When we are able to honor, respect, and love people who dishonor, disrespect, and hate us, it shows a dying world the love of Christ. This is our greatest opportunity for ministry because people have nothing other to attribute our joy and happiness to other than the sole fact of having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Why in the world would Paul say this in the middle of a trial in his life,

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Why would someone ever take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles?? Because Paul knew that these things were a great opportunity for people to truly see the joy that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. It allowed people to see that his hope and reason for living didn’t come from his circumstances but came from knowing Jesus.

Pain, trials, and insults have always been something I’ve run from and tried to avoid my entire life. I’ve been scared to be hurt and I’ve been scared to feel pain. I’m really praying to be able to use these opportunities in the future whenever I’m faced with them for the glory of God. I also pray that if you are a Christian that the God of mercy and grace will encourage you today. If you are going through pain I pray that you know how much God truly loves you and desires to spend time with you personally through a relationship with Jesus. This relationship with Jesus is the greatest joy we can ever encounter.

Maintaining The Right Focus

One thing about my blog that I want to make sure I always do is use the word of God. I don't want to share my own thoughts or opinions and claim they're right; I just want to share what I read in Gods word and allow His word to be my answers. So here is something that God has really been showing me in my life that I've fallen guilty of. Let's start with a passage out of Matthew where Jesus said:


“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ³ “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? ⁴ How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? ⁵Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. MATTHEW 7:1,3-5


Have you ever found yourself judging other people? Have you ever found yourself thinking you are better than someone else? I know unfortunately I've found myself guilty of doing both of those things. Why is it so easy for me to see what's wrong with other peoples lives? It's so easy to constantly make judgements about people, even if it's only in my mind. Why is it even a bad thing to make judgements about other people? 


Let's go back to Gods word;


"God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?" JAMES 4:12


Reflecting on this verse really shows how God is the only one who actually has the power to judge. God is the one with the power to save or destroy us. Do I find myself trying to be God by judging other peoples mistakes or choices?


Here are a couple verses that really help me maintain positive perspective for what it means to be a follower of Christ and how to stay away from judging people.


"It is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." EPHESIANS 2:8


One thing about this verse that really hits me is the fact that it says it is not of yourselves. This means being saved and receiving salvation has absolutely nothing to do with us but has everything to do with what Christ has done for us. It says our salvation is a gift. A gift is something that is given free of charge. So to realize that our salvation is 100 percent free, undeserved, and not from ourselves is so very important. 


The next verse that really helps me maintain the correct focus comes from James;


"For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws." JAMES 2:10 


This is pretty crazy to comprehend when I really think about it. The fact that it says if I've committed one sin as small as judging someone in my mind, I am just as guilty as someone who has or is currently committing every sin possible. How crazy is it that? 


It goes on to say in James;


"There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you." JAMES 2:13


When I'm able to see how terrible my own sin is and realize the grace that Jesus gives us by forgiving us, it seems pretty clear to me why I should never judge anyone else. Jesus tells us to show mercy to others and forgive them of their mistakes. If I've made one mistake in my life (which trust me I make a lot), it's exactly the same as someone who appears to be making even more and worse mistakes. Jesus says for us to love each other and forgive each other, just as He has loved and forgiven us. How can I accept His love and forgiveness if I'm not willing to love and forgive others?



God has really revealed to me the importance of looking at myself and seeing areas of my life that I need to improve instead of looking at others and trying to make judgements about what they need to do. Instead of putting judgement on other people God has begun to show me to look at my own heart because it's the only thing I can control. Regardless of how I'm treated in life I can only control the way I act, the way I respond, and the way I choose to either love or not love other people. I pray that it will be to love and forgive just as Jesus loves and forgives us.

This World

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." - 1 John 2:15-17

Why is it so easy to try and find happiness in the things we see in this world? Why is it in our minds that we often think we're so close to getting what's going to finally make us happy? Do you ever find yourself longing for something to make you feel good, something to lift your spirits, or something to make you feel better about yourself? I know I find myself constantly looking towards things in this world for enjoyment, satisfaction, and for them to actually satisfy my heart. What happens when we look towards things other than Christ to satisfy our innermost desires? 

"But when you ask God for wisdom, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do." - James 1:6-8

Have you ever felt like your life was unstable? Have you ever wanted more consistency with the course of your life? I know I certainly do and I've been able to realize that it doesn't come from this world. When I try to fulfill myself with things of this world I will always be unstable and unsatisfied with what it gives me in return. I have often times found myself with my main focus on things of this world and at the same time still trying to serve Christ. This verse has taught me that if I want to follow God, my faith has to be completely in Him alone.  

Back on the Blog

Well it's been almost 5 months and a full fall semester since my last post on here. When I last posted it was actually on my birthday when I was baptized at the end of our summer mission trip with Athletes in Action. What an amazing experience that summer mission trip was for me. I was able to live and grow with a whole team of baseball players who not only had a love for the game but also a passion for knowing Jesus Christ. I know our whole team really enjoyed and connected with one another through our summer together in California and Alaska. We were living together, playing the game we loved, and also learning a little more everyday about our creator who loved us before we even knew who He was. At the end of the summer when we parted ways, most of us not only parted ways with a summer ball team but also the greatest spiritual high we had ever experienced. As soon as we landed back in the lower 48 we all were going back to our regular lives. This was something our head coach and discipleship leader had warned us about; the burst of our bubble. We had been living in close community for 2 months now and consistently and constantly growing spiritually. What would happen to this close bubble we had lived in as we entered our normal lives and went back to where we all started? Well I know for most of us it's been tough, going back to where you started can difficult. Especially if everyone around you isn't striving for the same goals and life track of following Christ that we all desired.

When I started back up at school at NC State in the fall I was given a great opportunity. Our FCAIA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Action) leaders Russ and Mary Throckmorton asked me to be a part of a team they had envisioned as being the FCAIA servant team. This team would be a leadership team designed to live in close community with each other, grow spiritually together, and then ultimately serve those around us with the love that Christ has shown each of us. I was extremely excited about the opportunity and looking back it was definitely the highlight of my semester.

I plan to continue writing on what God has been able to show me not only through my summer in Alaska but also through our FCAIA servant team at NC State.

Baptized for my 21st

Wow, what an amazing summer. I really couldn't of asked for a better ending to such an awesome experience. I had the opportunity today after our last game to be baptized a couple hours before my 21st birthday. I know it's pretty typical to celebrate your 21st birthday with alcohol but I really wanted to celebrate the life I've been given in Jesus Christ.

It's been a really crazy week finishing up and I'm really looking forward to sitting down and reflecting on everything I've had a chance to encounter and experience this summer.

The North Pole

We're back up in Fairbanks for our last stretch of the summer and a lot of us got new host familys. We were staying in some dorms at the university of alaska when we were here before but since they found some host familys we are no longer in the dorms. The new host familys just happen to be at the North Pole though. It's a decent drive up here but were definitely gracious to have familys that are willing to take us in. It really is crazy to see how God works in so many different ways and just all over the world. I'm all the way up in North Pole, Alaska and there are people living their lives to serve Jesus Christ. It's really been a great experience to meet people with completely different backgrounds, that live totally different life styles but still have the drive and passion to serve God in everything they do.

I'm having to post from my phone so I do apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. We don't have internet at our host familys house right now but I'm working on a way to post from my computer and get a lot more up.

Love

How often do we use and hear this word in our lives? I think we use this word so often it can make us lose sight of what it really means. What does love really mean anyways? When you hear the words God loves you, it might not mean anything special to you. I think that might happen if we don’t understand what love really is. The love that we know as humans is usually based off of emotions or feelings. The circumstances surrounding us often will dictate our love. This idea is something far from what the bible tells us love really is. The love shown in the bible that God has for us is an unconditional love. It isn’t based off of feelings, circumstances, or anything that we could of possibly done.

1^st Corinthians 13:4-7 says 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

The idea that God has this type of love for us is something almost impossible to understand. The fact that we make so many mistakes in our lives but yet it doesn’t change the way God loves us is really a crazy idea. Another verse that really shows the power of Gods love for us is shown in

Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There’s absolutely nothing in this world that can separate us from how much God loves us. How often do we find ourselves looking for love? Why is it we look in all the wrong places for something God has told us we can only find in Jesus Christ? Why do I look towards baseball, my relationships, or what people think of me for happiness and acceptance? It’s so easy to miss the love that could change our lives when we look in all the wrong places. 

Here's a picture of some of us at the field.

Left to Right

Colby, Marc, Matt, Chad, Harrison, and myself

OIA

We have a term we like to use up here in Alaska. OIA, which stands for Only In Alaska. It’s a beautiful place but you can certainly find some strange things. This picture is with a fans car in the parking lot of one of our games.   

Why follow Jesus?

What would make someone want to devote their life to following Jesus? What makes following Jesus different from other religions like judaism, buddhism, atheism, agnosticism, or humanism? Depending on what you believe or where you stand this question can be very confrontational. I was actually asked this question by a good friend of mine over a year ago and I wasn't sure what the best answer really was. This summer I've learned a lot about why following Jesus is something more real than I could have ever imagined. One point that was brought up to me that I wanted to share was how the world actually views Jesus Christ. In Islam, Jesus is viewed as one of the most important prophets from Allah. Buddhism views Jesus as an enlightened teacher. Other religions view Jesus as merely a man but a great teacher and one of the most influential people in history. Here's the point that was brought up to me that made a lot of sense. When Jesus Christ lived, He openly and repeatedly claimed that He was God. If Jesus claimed He was actually God and the Son of man there are really only 3 options on how He could be viewed. 

1) The first option on how to view Jesus is that he is crazy or psychotic. If a man claimed to actually be God, the creator of the universe, most people would think he's crazy. 

2) The second option of how Jesus could be viewed is as a liar. If a man claims to be God himself in the flesh, I'm sure a lot of people would think he's obviously lying. 

3) The third option of how Jesus could be viewed if He claims to be God himself is  that He's actually right and truly the Son of God. 

It's really weird to me how so many religions or people think of Jesus in a positive light but don't believe He is the Son of God. Claiming to genuinely be God is a pretty bold proclamation. If He's not right about a claim as bold as being God himself, it makes sense he's either crazy or a liar. The other major religions and vast majority of people don't view him negatively though. This really made a lot of sense to me and showed me another reason why Jesus Christ is 100 percent true in everything He says. 

How do you personally view Jesus Christ? If He really was right and is the Son of God, shouldn't we at least read and learn what else He said? If He really was right and there is a God, shouldn't we figure out what He wants from us?

The good news is God wants what's best for you and wants you to be truly happy, and that comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. God already loves you even if you don't know Him yet. 

If you want to learn more or even decide whether or not Jesus Christ is the Son of God, I challenge you to read the book of John. When I read and started to understand the book of John, it changed my life.

Games in Kenai and Palmer

While we're in Alaska we travel all over to play the different teams of the Alaska Baseball League. We spend most of our time in Anchorage and Fairbanks but travel to a couple other places as well. The first stretch of games for us was in Anchorage. We then traveled to Palmer for a couple games and then Kenai for a series of games as well. The weather in Anchorage was pretty warm but when we went to Palmer it was a different story. The field was surrounded by snow capped mountains and let's just say it wasn't exactly warm. Heres a few pictures of a game we played in Palmer.

Arriving in Alaska

Taking pictures of the landscape really doesn’t do justice to how beautiful it really is here. The huge snow capped mountains and ocean shorelines certainly make fore great views. We flew into Anchorage and are staying here for a couple days with another host family. This time I’m staying with 5 other guys on the team with a very gracious host family who is housing all 6 of us.  I think the most interesting thing about Alaska so far definitely has to be that it stays light for like 20 or 21 hours a day. It’s been pretty weird playing 7pm games and having the sun out for the entire game.  

Here are some pictures of the landscape on one of our drives.

San Francisco

We were able to make the drive over to San Francisco while we were in California on our off days. We went as a team and visited a lot of different places in the city. I was actually fortunate enough to go back the next day with my host family and Tyler and go to a Giants game to watch Tim Lincecum pitch. Here are some pictures from the two days.

Cows by the Church

We found some cows on the side of the road in California next to our church. Justin got some video footage as we tried feeding a couple of them.

Golfing on an off day

On one of our off days in California we got an opportunity to go play golf. One of the guys on our team (Marc) and his host brother (Jeff) took my roommate Tyler and I to go play one of the local courses. It was great to go relax and some of the views were pretty awesome. Here are some pictures from the outing.

Last couple days in California

It has been a really great experience at training camp for the short time I’ve been here in California. It has really been an awesome experience in itself just being able to stay with a host family who represents Christ’s love so well. Our host mom who was pregnant and expecting within the next couple weeks actually went into labor two days before we left. Even in the midst of going into labor she was still quite possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met. The last night we were in Morgan Hill we headed over to San Francisco to watch the Giants play with our host dad. We got to see Tim Lincescum pitch and experience a game in ATT Park. It was a great ending to a great stay in California.

Heres a picture of Tyler and I's awesome host family in California.

Playing Baseball

This isn't a term I've been able to use very much in the last couple of months. Some of you may know but I had an emergency appendectomy and fractured a rib in the beginning part of my college season. I have been side lined for quite a while now and actually just got cleared not too long ago. I was able to play a couple games here in California and it was pretty awesome just to be out there playing the game I love. It will definitely take a lot of hard work to get back in playing shape but I am very happy that my health is back in order. I really enjoy all of my team mates and think we are going to get a long great this summer.

Heres a picture of a field we played at in California and one of my at bats.

  

The Prison Visit

Wow! There's not a better word to describe the experience we were able to have in the prison. I definitely wasn't sure what to expect but I don't think I could of prepared myself for it anyways. When we walked in we instantly stuck out (which I'm sure was because we were all in our baseball uniforms), but attention was immediately drawn to us and the softball field. We began to warm up and get ready for the double header softball games and inmates started to come up to us asking questions about where we were from. I think a couple of the inmates thought we were actually prisoners from another prison coming to play softball. As the game started and the day went out we started feeling more comfortable and having conversations with a lot of the prisoners. We started to learn that these inmates weren't so different than us and everyone else in the world. It really made me realize how often we as a society or even christians can look down on these people in prisons and look at them as lower than ourselves. I certainly did when I entered the prison. It took me coming into their environment and getting to know some of them to learn that I was completely wrong. The reality is that we all make mistakes and the only difference between a lot of those guys and the rest of the world is that they were caught. It made me realize as a christian that God views every single one of those guys the same as the rest of the world. We've all made mistakes and we have all fallen short of the glory of God but He still loves us all the same. Unfortunately it's really easy to jump to conclusions about people and try and write them off as lower than us. I think the truth is we are all really the same and the fact that we have a God who still loves us regardless of the mistakes we have made in our past is pretty awesome.

Heres a picture of Chuck taking a nap on the bus ride back after the game.

Witnessing to a prison

One of the really cool experiences of this summer is that as a team we will be going to a local prison to share our personal testimonies and the gospel with the inmates. We actually play them in a competitive game of softball for most of the time in the prison. Our coach told us we will spend time hanging out with the inmates and play with them in their actual prison. It won't be in a specialized area made for visitations, we will actually be where the prisoners are held. I'm not really sure what to expect but I am definitely looking forward to the experience.

Arriving in California

I just arrived in California for training camp a couple days ago. The city we are staying in is Morgan Hill, California. It's about 30 minutes outside of San Jose. We are going to spend some time here getting ready for our summer in Alaska. We play a few games here against some California summer collegiate teams and also spend a lot of time with discipleship. Everyone stays with a host family here in California and usually with another a player. I am staying with another player named Tyler who is a pitcher from The Masters Academy. We have a really nice host family that has two young kids. They have a little boy named Dominic who is almost 4 and a daughter named Bethany who is almost 2. Our host family mom is also pregnant and expecting in the next couple weeks. We might end up having a new room mate before the trip is over.