There are 5 weeks left before I head off to the Philippines. I am very excited. So with 5 weeks left lets look at the 5 things I am looking forward to in my first week in the Philippines fro some fun. 

5. A good nights sleep. Lets face it, I have trouble getting a good night sleep when I first go somewhere and in a new environment. It happens all the time. I look forward to being able to sleep a full night quickly in the Philippines. Maybe the drastic change in time zones and the over 40 hours of travel time will change this.

4. Durian. Many people do not like it. I tried it once and it was not bad. Maybe getting another taste of this wonderful fruit will be great.

3. Warmer weather. I can still feel the sting from last winter. Should not take long for me to get this in the Philippines. Average temperatures is about 80 degrees. 

2. Mangos. YUM. I LOVE MANGOS. Ok all caps letters should be enough here. Mango. Such a wonderful fruit. Mango. Taste so great. Mango. (Ok, I’m like those dogs and squirrel) Mango. 

1. Spending time and getting to know the people I will be calling family while I am in the Philippines. Ok, this is the most serious item on the list and it has to be number 1. I am blessed to be able to serve alongside 2 wonderful people that have a great heart for God and His people. I am looking forward to getting to know them more. 

So there we have it. (mango) A list of 5 things to look forward to in the Philippines. I can not wait to see what God does when I get there. 

Learning the guitar has not been easy. There are times that I play that I enjoy it, other times it is frustrating as I think I am not doing it right, or a mess up a note. Overall it has been a rewarding experience.

When I did my last mission trip, many people had a guitar with them. They used them during debriefs, church services, and team worship sessions. It was nice and I started to want to learn how to play. I have never played a musical instrument before and it seemed easy enough. One of the girls on my team had a travel guitar and she allowed us to use it with two rules. One, we never try to tune it, two, always put it back when we were done. She provided some chords for us to use. When I had time I would pick up the guitar and just try to play chords and such.

I currently have Baby Taylor. It is a nice guitar and has treated me well. I know a few songs and have struggled learning more. Now, I help out at  couple youth groups each week. The kids are amazing. There is one youth in general that has brought their guitar in on occasion and has even done some of the worship at the group. Lately I have been asking a lot of questions of them about how they learned and how do you get a strumming pattern. Strumming has been a downfall for me. They have very patiently spoken with me and even have demonstrated things for me. I was able to video record their hands as they strum a song that I have wanted to learn. 

The last couple of days I have been practicing, not the song I recorded from the youth but a different song, it is “Happy Day” you know the song, it goes. Oh happy day, happy day, you washed my sin away, oh, happy day, happy day, I’ll never be the same, forever I am changed. It is really upbeat. I struggled at first and even when I didn't have my guitar in hand I would find myself at times strumming along. This morning it hit me like a rock. I was just sitting in the family room just going at it. However, when I caught myself thinking about what I am doing I would mess up and it would sound bad. Yet when I just let the rhythm move through me it was wonderful.

Being a logical person, I was over thinking everything. When I stopped thinking so much about the strumming and just let it flow things went well. I am sure more songs will be coming soon. But, how many times do we over think things? When God tells us something, how often do we over think the process and make it more complicated than it has to be? It happens, even to me. However, when we step out of the way and allow God to work through us things just turn out to be oh so wonderful. 

It is funny how something I learned while playing guitar can apply to our lives each and everyday. If you are like me learning guitar, keep at it, it will come to you, just keep practicing. 

I pray today that someone finds encouragement in what they read in this blog. Thank you for reading.

I can remember as  young boy in church. We were told of Heaven and the streets of gold and how amazing it will be. We were also told of hell and being on fire all the time and feeling like there were worms crawling over you. I do not like worms so that was enough for me to go yes, I want to be saved, I do not want to go to that bad place. 

My early relationship with God was one based on fear. Step out of line and there would be a flood, or the earth will open up and eat you, or the best one, get struck by lightning. I can see any people with the thought of if you mess up and make God mad He will stick you with lightning. Well, I am still hear and God has not struck me with lightning so I guess that is wrong.

When I reached my early twenties that is when my relationship with God changed to one out of love. Knowing that God loved me no matter what I did and when I mess up and make a mistake, God is right there to pick me up and dust me off and continue walking. This is the type of relationship God wants to have with each of us. 

When I joined the world race it was a crazy step of faith for me. An eleven month mission trip around the world with people I do not know. When I left in August 2011 with the 40 plus people that were on my squad it was an experience. We had people from all walks of life. There were those that you can tell they were walking with God daily, they had a deep relationship with God and had a understanding of who He is. I will admit I was jealous of there relationship, it was something I did not have and something that I wanted. I wanted a really deep relationship with God. 

I remember one day in Rwanda that, with permission, I went out on my own. I found this small trail that was hardly used and went down it. It was here that I took the time to pray and hand over the hurts of my life, from the people that I know, to God. I also prayed that day to have a deep relationship with God that was very strong. When I finished the walk I looked up to see down the entire valley and how beautiful it is. Now, my relationship with God has grown over the years but, is not where I want it to be, and thats a good thing. There is more that I want to learn about my God, there is more of His presence that I want to feel and be part of.

After the race ended in June 2012, I was already neck deep into the plans of getting back to the Philippines. For over two years I have been praying now to get back to the country that I fell in love with. It has not been easy. It was hard to watch other missionaries that I know just pack a bag and go. I wondered when my breakthrough was going to happen. Then the end of August 2014 happened and it fell into place.


I was apart of a missionary website and someone emailed me saying they wanted to make friends that love the Philippines. After talking to them a few times they invented me to come see the ministry they are apart of. It was like everything came together at once. My prayer team and I agreed it was like God opening up a door and not waiting for me to run through it, He threw me through it. The next thing I know I had purchased my plane ticket, had housing all set up, and was on my way to the Philippines. 

It was not that God forgot about me, I needed to wait to go to the Philippines until it was the right time. Things still needed to be set up. God needed to put other things into place before He could put me in it. For me it was a faith growing time. In the face of people telling me to give up, I pressed harder into God knowing that one day I would go to the Philippines. 

I want to end this post with this. God is a loving God, He is not waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us with lightning. He is a God that is there for you no matter what and will pick you up when you fall down, He will carry you through the hard times in life, and has promised to never let you go. When we pursue a deeper relationship with Him, He is smiling right back at us and ready for us to get to know Him more. He is not playing hide and seek, He is right there waiting for us to turn and say I want to know You more. Also, God does not forget about you. You maybe waiting for something in your life, it could be a new job, a spouse, or any other breakthrough. He has not forgotten. He is getting everything into place, every heart, every circumstance into place to put you into it at the right time. When that time comes it will be better than you have dreamt it to be. My encouragement to you is if your waiting for a breakthrough, even if it has been many years, to not give up, to keep praying for it. Many people stop praying for it when the breakthrough is just around the corner. Keep praying, keep pressing in. God loves you and He will take care of you.