MAN WEEK!!!! ROAR!!!

This has been a great week. I’ll start with TGIF, where we learned a few MMA and self-defense moves from an ex cage fighter. I’m no black belt or anything, but let’s just say you don’t wanna mess with me. Those few hours taught me a lot about tearing people’s hands open, breaking arms in several places with one quick jerk, and the number one rule of defense against random strangers. It’s groin shots. We were literally told that that is the first place to go. Then the eyes and throat. But groin first. Yeah. It was still fun getting to fight the other guys and not get in trouble though. The weekend came and went, and thus man week came into existence. This week has been dedicated to helping us Link Year guys become men the way the Bible says we should be. All of our classes have been separate from the girls’ this week, allowing the opportunity to talk about otherwise awkward subjects like the purity all Christian men should have, pornography and the complete revulsion we should feel toward it, or even the way should be viewing and looking at (or refusing to do so) our ladies and women all around us. We also got an extra hour of sleep all week. So all that stuff. Joe White’s house was awesome, too. We had a slam dunk competition on his trampoline, and then we got a lesson from Joe White himself on the weight that pornography and lust on our souls, hearts, and minds. Definitely the best talk of the week. I have been procrastinating doing this blog all day, so I have to cut it short so it’s not late. Peace homies!

Tough week... Also What Is Wrong With Me??

It’s definitely been a while. Hey peoples!! In case you can’t tell, I’m kinda stuck on what to say here. It’s been way too long. Christmas was awesome, I got to spend a ton of time with my family. They’re awesome peeps. It was amazing just sitting and hanging with my brothers. I absolutely loved it. So much so, in fact, that I didn’t want to come back to Link Year and all the work, growth, and learning involved. Once I got here, though, I was super pumped for everyone to get back. It was great seeing everyone after being away for so long. This very first week back has been tough, but sooo beneficial. On Monday, we had a normal day minus bible study. In small group time, we went and saw a plane that had landed in the wrong airport, and got an interview because one of our students was on the flight. We then went back to Adam Martin’s house to watch the news and see if we made it. The guy who was on the plane did make the cut, but none of the rest of us did. We talked about our breaks and since I played a bunch of video games, that was a heavy topic for the day. The talk was convicting and even though I wanted to argue against everything that was said, I did realize the validity of the points being made. The rest of this week so far has been great as well. Our guest speaker was Ted Cunningham, the lead pastor at Woodland Hills, a church here in Branson. He spoke on marriage relationships and what they looks like, from how our relationships with our parents will be, to how to tell your kids about sex. He is great at what he does, and did very well with what he came to do at Link Year. I feel like what he had to say was received very well, especially because it’s second semester and we can date now. Another topic was distancing ourselves from being under our parents’ authority, especially because of this relatively new idea we call adolescence. This idea is barely a hundred years old, and brought with it a huge slew of problems. Many people fail to ever actually grow up and become independent because of this extended childhood. Couple this with overbearing parents, and we have a generation of lazy, unemployed adults completely dependent on their parents. Definitely a good speaker, and I can say I loved and agreed almost completely with just about everything he said. There’s a reason Donyes keeps bringing him back. Until next week, my faithful readers (or lack thereof)!

P.S. Looking at my previous entry, I don't even understand the reference in the title... I have no idea what kinda junk I was talking about...

Another Home Calls...

And so goes another exciting week here at Link Year. Last week’s T.G.I.F. we got to go see The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug! It’s an awesome movie, as any would have to be with that many goblins getting their heads cut off so cleanly. No spoilers here, mainly because I feel asleep for maybe 15 minutes and was confused ever after. Still really good, though! Jefferson Bethke and his wife came to speak to us, in quite an impromptu fashion, then went with us to see the movie, so that was cool. I slacked all week and rushed through my precepts this weekend, which was super stressful. Sunday evening our small group had dinner at Adam Martin’s house, watched Man of Steel, and had sleepover! It was pretty cool, especially since the hammocks didn’t have hot water in the showers for some reason. But Monday was a normal day, with the exception of going to Adam’s and having another sleepover, this time including free haircuts. I tried a Mohawk, but didn’t like it a ton. When we finally decided to move out of Adam’s house, the timing was perfect, because there was hot water again! Since the Institute left a week earlier than us, we got to use their classroom, which is on campus and is kinda sweet. The speaker for the week was a house church pastor named Bret Jenson. He’s really cool. Though he spoke on some great things, mainly focused on fighting a spiritual war in the physical realm, I was mostly impressed at his involvement in our community here at Link Year. He came to breakfast (which most of the students don’t even attend), lunch and dinner with us all three days he was here. He was at the Fort and led a great Q&A, full of discussion including all the attendees. He and his partner-in-ministry even came and talked amongst us during the breaks in class. I’m not at all surprised he’s come every year to speak to the Link Year students, he’s great. Donyes needs to continue to invite him every year. Tomorrow is the last day before we take almost a month away to be with family over Christmas. I love Link Year, but I’m absolutely ready to be home for a while. So I’ll be reading Mere Christianity and writing an 8-page paper over it while I’m home- in L.A. Fun. Until next time!

P.S. If you get the title reference, you're cool. ;)

So Many Feelings About This One!!!

So, in case you didn’t know, this is a very special week! It’s called Link Year Gives Back, and is essentially a week of missions in the Branson Area. It is so exciting to be exposed to so many ministries that are so close to where we live!  To be completely honest, we have so much free time I could’ve found out about some of these and just volunteered, but I now know about them! After a fun weekend (I think) that I seriously don’t remember at all, came Monday. Monday was a very normal Monday, with the basic Monday schedule. With the exception that I didn’t go to elective because I went to the airport with my small group leader, Adam Martin. Tuesday, however, was a completely different story. On Tuesday…..I got an extra hour of sleep!!! It was great, really. After the hour came and went, we got up and headed to the Ala Moana to discuss the plans for the day. Because of weather, we went into the community and shoveled driveways and walkways. I went to Brian Wang’s neighborhood and we even got to invite a girl to the Fort! Later on in the day, we went to a home for the elderly. We just sat and talked with them for a while, got to know them, and even sang Christmas carols! It was definitely a good time. On Wednesday, there was no extra hour of sleep, much to my disappointment, but we went to the classroom to be greeted by the Mayor of Branson! She spoke to all of us for a while, encouraged us, and asked a few questions about who we are and what we plan to do in life. She’s kind of a cool person. Afterwards, we went to a Boys And Girls Club. There were donuts and delicious hot chocolate waiting for us there, and it was great. The guy running the place talked to us about the impact we were gonna have on the kids without even seeing them, when they see the work we’ve done there. He also told a really inspiring story about a kid who have all the right ingredients for a troubled teen, one who would possibly end up in a serious prison, and how Christ molded him into the person he was meant to be through his engagement and involvement in the Club. After hearing all this, we ready to do some hard work and have fun doing it. I joined the group that would be doing dirty, outside work. Our first task was to move a greenhouse without taking it apart. Easier done than it seems, actually. We really just lifted it up and moved it over a fence. After that we got to take apart the platforms it was on and burn the wood, so a really good day. There was also some really good snow on the ground, so we had a few snowball fights. I love it here, just saying. I tended the fire for a while and talked with a fellow link, Derek. I left before lunch there to be interviewed about Urban Entry. I’m confident about most of my answers, but I also feel like some of them were delivered rather less good than they could’ve been. We were then given the assignment to go out into community on our own and perform a random act of kindness, or RAK. I got food because I missed lunch, but then went with Vito and Emily to the Walmart. I ended helping an old lady load her groceries into her car, including a 50 lb. bag of dog food. Then I went to work at Hollister for a few hours, also knocking of a day of Advent. The time passed very slowly, and I was so tired, but I did talk a bit to a coworker I hadn’t met yet and I really want to get to know him more and I really hope to be able to show him Christ’s love and make an impact on his life. I’m so excited for this!!! I’m encouraged to go to work now! But back on topic, Thursday, we went to ministry called Jesus Was Homeless and bagged meals for the housed homeless of Branson. The term housed homeless is used to describe people living permanently in hotels because apartments are too expensive on their salaries, so they can only afford the weekly rates of about $200 in the hotels. These people work on the strip, and so the added lure of the hotels is their proximity to the places the people work. Many of the hotels don’t have kitchen areas and so the families live on fast food and microwaveables. It was fun there, all the volunteers are great people.  Josh Ong’s mom was also there, so that was cool. Once that was done, we went back the classroom to watch the video projects over one of the seven pillars we should’ve been working on for two months. No one did, they were all done this past weekend. A lot of them were so funny, others really deep and insightful, but they were all done really well and were amazing. Most of us were free to go after that, but a few students got to out and hand out the food bags we had made earlier and hand them out. I was amongst those lucky few. It was great seeing the happiness in the kids eyes, the gratefulness in the adults, and the joyful serving hearts of the volunteers. I really did love doing, and I got to see Robin, someone I usually only see on Monday nights, so that was cool too. It was great, but we got back just before this blog was due, and I always write about the entire week so I’m turning this in late. But only eight minutes late, thankfully! Also, in Word this post is three pages long. That may make it the longest post so far. This week was great, in case you can’t tell. Until next time peeps!

I've Really Missed This Place

It has been so long since I’ve written a blog post!! I think the past few weeks have had some of the deepest meaning to me of the entire year. Urban entry taught humility, love and to have a teachable heart through all of life. Thanksgiving break taught me how easy it could be to fall into temptation without the Link Year Bubble, and the impact I have on others, particularly those younger than me. And how much I’m gonna miss Link Year in May. I think it would be the best graduation gift ever if Donyes told us Link Year was officially expanded into a two-year program. So I got back on Saturday to start working at Hollister, what a joy that was, and the island was dead. I hung out the entire next day with my buddies Link Vito and Link Hannah Grace, so fun. Until my life happened and everything went awkward. But whatever. Everyone else got back on Monday, to great fanfare, and we all met up in the chapel to do advent calendars! On these calendars we have nice things to do for other people for each day leading up to Christmas. If you’re on mine, you’ll know in a few days! Tuesday was our Monday and we had accountability and small groups. Wednesday we had Brian Wang as our speaker for the week (Wednesday and Thursday) and he taught on the three things we should understand as we follow Christ. First, we need to deny ourselves. Basically, this means we should put others before ourselves. Second, we need to be completely dedicated to following Him. I can’t say that any more clearly than I just did… Third, we need to willingly be obedient to His commands when He gives them. No questions asked, just as Abraham did when he was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac. And thus is the rundown of my week. Until next time peeps!

Side note: It snowed today!! After class though, so we didn’t have a snow day, it only messes with our TGIF.

Incredibly Tired, But So Full Of Energy!!!!

This has been an extremely amazing week here at Link Year, full of growth, perspective, and of course relationship building. I’ll start with our very first work day, which we had last Friday. In order to  keep our student tuition as low as possible, we have one day a month where us students work maintenance on K-Kauai. The guys and girls went to different areas to work, so no one would be distracted, and us guys began to work on the lower fields and making the ground and soil loose and clean enough to plant grass. The lower fields are quite large, so we were busy from 8 until noon. It was freezing at first, but later got really hot. So that was the only thing interesting about about Friday, until I began doing precepts and got to the day about reconciliation. It talked about righting wrongs and reconciling relationships, especially when you are the one doing the wrong and hurting the relationship. Jesus said that unrighteous anger is murder in your heart. This rocked me very deeply, and I felt terrible for all the anger I’ve felt at others and all the anger I’ve made others feel towards me. I have been trying to reconcile for a few different things I’ve done and said lately, and will continue at that as long as I need to. So there went my weekend. Monday was accountability and bible study, probably one of the best yet. We also started our new electives. The one I chose is a book study of “Just Do Something”. The book tells us how Christians are always trying to live their lives according to God’s will, but though He has a plan for you, you don’t know it and will never find out until you take chances and fail a few times. The speaker this Tuesday-Thursday was Shay Robbins, men’s director for K2 Kamp. He spoke to us about intimacy with God, Spiritual gifts, and how God speaks to us. It’s been awesome hearing him speak, but I’ve been so tired lately I could barely pay attention. I got some decent notes, though! The most amazing part of the week was the Q&A with Adam Donyes after The Fort. We got quite a few insights, learned a bit about Donyes, and saw how much spiritual warfare really is going on around us. It’s triggered a huge increase in communal prayer, and is only making us more excited for how awesome Urban Entry is going to be! By the way, I can’t wait for Kansas City! It’s going to be amazing and give huge amounts of perspective. Thanksgiving is going to be the week right after, and I’m gonna miss all my Linky friends so much!! I also got a job at Hollister this week. Blah. This may be my last post for a few weeks, so whenever I get another chance to post, I’ll see you then, I guess. Later!

Stress......But Tons of Fun!!!

Blog time!!! This week has been pretty exciting, for many reasons, as you’ll soon find out. If you have the patience or interest to read through this thing. So let’s start with TGIF! In last Friday’s activity, we (the guys) got to ask one of the lovely Link Year ladies out on a date with a $20 budget! I asked out Link Victoria and we went to eat at a café in this really fancy hotel next to the lake. We saw Christmas decorations inside, sat and looked out over the water, and walked around the grounds. It was kinda awesome. I’m nowhere near the best date, but we had fun. After a weekend of hilarious haunted houses and slacking off of homework, I had a super stressful Sunday night. On Monday, Link Selby’s parents ordered a charter bus for all of us students to come down to Tulsa and attend a private concert by Steve Moakler. Their house is beautiful, and Link Selby’s room is covered in pictures, I think mostly from Kanakuk. It’s a little ridiculous, but it is Link Selby. The concert was a lot better than I expected! I really only went to maximize my moments here at Link Year and hang out with my fellow Linkys, but I enjoyed the concert a lot too. The four-hour ride there and back was great as well. We got back around 2 and I was in bed around 10 minutes later. Mostly normal week since then, with Pastor Marvin Daniels speaking to our class on Tuesday  and Wednesday. He spoke on morality, living above the standard of the world, and being “insulated not isolated” from the rest of the world. We got to play a game of sorts where we go to a side of the room based on whether we agree or disagree with a statement, such as “Abortions are bad unless the mother is raped or could die from the pregnancy”. The arguments got pretty deep and intense, but ultimately brought us all closer together as a family. Because once a month we have a work day to make Link Year tuition cheaper, Friday’s TGIF was moved to this morning! We split into groups and went around campus learning various skills such as how to change tires, how to write “Thank You” cards (we wrote some to Link Selby’s parents), and dancing lessons! It was pretty fun, and a lot of our dancing was hilariously atrocious. Overall, a really great week, one that I will certainly look back on at the end of the year. Until next time, later peoples!