Thursday, July 15, 2010

Greenbrier in American Samoa ?!?!?!?!

That's right. These are a couple of kids from when I was in Samoa, and yes they are wearing Greenbrier jerseys. Just thought you guys might like this.

O yeah forgot to mention these guys are only JV players (either a freshman or sophomore.)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A couple of Pics from Samoa

Just thought everyone might like to see a couple of pictures from our trip. (Sorry about the size, I tried to get the pictures as large as I could)

Picture of entire Camp
My Group
Our Team

American Samoa - Day 6

Wednesday 06/30/2010
09:18 p.m. ISLAND
03:18 a.m. CST

I realized today, that tomorrow is our last day. I knew in my mind, but it didn't really hit me until today. This week has been amazing, and I have learned a ton about myself, our team, and this place.

I am truly sad to leave, because I feel that I am starting to get to know the kids, as well as they are starting to know me better. My group throughout the week has been awesome. I have learned so much from them, I just pray that they have learned something from me.

I pray that tomorrow is an awesome day. I hope that we finish on a high note tomorrow. I have faith that we will.

Kind of short tonight, but its been a long day. Going to get some sleep, so I will be ready for a great day tomorrow.

Goodnight and God Bless.

Thought of the day: It's okay to be content sometimes. (Huge struggle personally. Tough pill to swallow, but very true.)

American Samoa - Day 5

Tuesday 06/29/2010
10:24 p.m. ISLAND
4:24 a.m. CST


Today was a great day, and a rough one all at the same time. We had a great day at practice, but personally I was a little uneasy because I kept thinking about our team member who is leaving tonight. I am continuously praying for him as he is dealing with all of the emotions attached to this situation.

Camp was great and the kids were great. I have truly been blessed this week with an experience that I will never forget. From the feel of this week, the kids are absolutely having a ball. I pray that the week continues to go well.

Huddle:
We did things a little different today, Brian and Jeff (our team member who is leaving tonight) talked to the kids. Jeff shared his story and his current situation, and Brian talked about the same situation. Brian focused on Exodus 17 when he spoke to the kids. This passage is where the Amalekites were defeated by Moses holding his staff in the air. His main focus was on the fact that as long as Moses held his staff in the air, Joshua and his army were winning. If you are familiar with this story, then you know Moses grew tired, and could no longer hold the staff up by himself. Then he asked Aaron and Hur to help him hold the staff up. Brian's speaking point was that we are all going to have times in our life where things are too heavy for us to hold up on our own. In these situations we should know that God is with us, and we shouldn't be scared to ask for help.

This really hit home with me. When things get tough for me I usually become very quiet, and don't want to ask for help. I think we all struggle with this, but all on different terms. Next time your having trouble and it starts to feel to heavy or overwhelming then think of Moses' story.

Thought of the Day: Never be to prideful to ask for help.

Goodnight and God Bless!

Monday, July 12, 2010

American Samoa - Day 4

Monday 06/28/2010
9:37 p.m. ISLAND
3:37 a.m. CST


Another beautiful day, and another great day of camp. It's days like today that I often question myself and ask, "am I really doing what God wants me to do." I was at camp today and just couldn't contain myself. I love, and I mean love working with young people, and seeing them excel in what they are doing. I think that the fact that our camp is centered around football is just icing on the cake.

Huddle:
Today we talked about commitment. In my group I hit on different areas of commitment (friends, school, family, our relationship with Jesus, etc.) I built on one of my earlier topics of "starting and finishing something." If you are going to start something, then you need to be willing to be committed to it throughout the entire process. I feel pretty strongly about this, because I think our culture has a serious problem with this. We also talked about a relationship with Jesus, and the level of commitment you have to have. As a person, it's not just a walk through it's something you have to work at and nurture.

Bad News:
One of our coaches found out today that one of his previous players committed suicide. The majority of people in this world aren't coaches, so I think we sometimes don't understand the relationships players have with their coaches, or coaches with their players. I know this situation is one of those extremely close situations, because the family has asked for him to speak at the memorial service. I can't fathom the thoughts and feelings of this person, but I know it is probably a struggle. He was able to book and earlier flight, and leaves out tomorrow night. I pray tat God is with him during this situation, and my prayers tonight go out to my friend, and his player's family. I pray that God helps them through this situation, and helps to ease their pain.

Goodnight and God Bless!

American Samoa - Day 3

Sunday 06/27/2010
10:04 p.m. ISLAND
4:04 a.m. CST

Today was another great day in Samoa. Got up and went to Church this morning. Brian did an amazing job this morning. His message covered Phillipians 2. I have personally covered this set of scripture before, but it was great to get another perspective on it.

The greatest and hardest piece of this scripture is, "then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."

How great would this world be if we lived like this? How many times do we wish this could happen?

I feel that I have done this before, or felt this way before. This is a daily struggle everywhere. In our world, I think we can see this in all phases of life. Whether we're in church, school, work, etc., it just seems like we have trouble getting on the same page.

Brian made a great point when talking about this. A lot of times we ask the question, "How can you serve me?" instead of, "How can I serve you?"

How many times have we caught ourselves asking this? We see something and we try to figure out who should be the person who is responsible for the situation instead of thinking how can we maybe help or even find a situation. If you ever want to try to grab a deeper look on this issue, the check out Philippians 2: 1-8.

Personal:
I have had a lot on my mind during this trip, and even before I left to come here. God has definitely been working on this guy. I just have a lot of situations I am trying to sort out.

The worst thing about scary situations is the simple fact, that we generally know what the solutions are to these situations. This issue is hard, because we don't want to be the person to have to make the tough decisions. I have a couple of these exact situations currently going on, but don't know what the solution should be.

As I go to bed tonight, I pray that God will help me sort these out. Not necessarily to just give me the answers, but to help clear the water.

I thank God for another amazing day in American Samoa, and on this earth!

Goodnight and God Bless!