Failure is in the Package

It's been a little while, but I've learned a few things lately....actually a lot. I've reminded myself or rediscovered, if you will, that failure is okay. Failure is OKAY. I've always had the mindset that I cannot fail. I must be perfect. Perfect is NOT OKAY. It means you are doing something wrong. Sometimes I catch myself thinking I am near perfection...when I do, I come back to reality. God is great and Perfect. I am imperfect, but made in perfection. I chose it, He allowed it. He still loves me.

Just one of the many thoughts buzzing around.

-Trent

Update next week!

Sorry guys for the lack of updates, things got busy, but I have a lot to tell!
-Trent

Truths

A friend of mine recently posted this, and I feel it says a lot about ourselves:

Wow....*slight grunt*.......I still haven't fully processed all that I want to say, but a lil bit of it is this. I love being a Christian. I mean it-I love it. I love being loved, the way that I am, by I AM. I feel so small-so low. I embody failure-that's not pretty language-that's the truth. And just as true is the fact that I am cherished by the Most High, tears are coming...I don't deserve this. I wish I were more honest. I wish that I didn't hide the fact that most days I don't feel this way. Most days I have joy, but it is shaddowed by fear that God doesn't really care about me, insecurity that I'm not good enough or pretty enough-even for Him, and lonliness because I isolate myself from Him. Most days I'm selfish, and on those days He loves me just as much as He does today-even when my mind just can't quite bend around that. I'm just as Holy, just as blameless, just as pretty to Him on those days as I am during worship services. I'm so thankful, so very thankful today. Jesus, I love you (in permenant marker).

Great news out of Bad

Sorry guys no college update tonight. I am slammed with exams, essays, research papers, and tons of reading. But God is so amazing in taht my friend Krystal Cencebaugh is alive and well! I recieved an email from Mrs. Jordan, a teacher of mine back in high school telling me Kystal was in a horrible accident with fatalities and she was lifeflighted. Well, you can imagine I was freaking out. So I was calling my friends trying to figure things out and I called the hospital and a doctor let me speak to Amy Burnison. She was NOT lifeflighted and there were NO fatalities (Thank God!). Krystal over-corrected and went off the road and into the woods. A tree took off her car roof, but completely missed her head! Amazing!! Around 1 Amy told me that she was getting staples in her head, she had blood in her chest, and a fractured spine. Later on this evening Amy told me she was out of the ER and would be in ICU for the next few days. The next update though came from Krystal!!!!!!!! I called Amy about 8:15 to check and see how Krystal was doing. Amy was whispering and she told me that she was in the hospital and wasn't supposed to have the cell phone on. The next voice I heard was Krystal. I about lost it! I was dancing around the room telling how much she scared us and that we all have been praying for her and we loved the heck out of her. She was so hilarious in that she was totally out of it. I told her she probably wouldn't remember a word I said tomorrow and she said that would proabably be true. So I let her go back to her drugged up state-of-mind. OUR GOD IS AWESOME! So I have the energy to get me through these next few days!
-Trent

Slow Updates

I know I have yet to update you about the end of the softball marathon. Be patient, I am bogged down with essays, research papers, exams, and homework.

Updates and Dillemmas

Well, Videos are now up except for a few which I need to link. I found out that the site I used to upload pictures now only allows ten videos to be uploaded at a time. So, I either pay $5 a month for unlimted movies, find a new site, or start removing a video everytime I upload a new one. I'll figure it out.
Check for yesterday's update soon. I am at home for the weekend, so I can't make any promises!

Trent

Alpha Gamma Chi get's national attention!!!!!

Today I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and the sound of softball! I think they were glad to see such a beautiful morning. They hadn't made much progress since 2:00 AM, but were still moving. After History, Chapel, and lunch, I came to check up on the guys. CBS Channel 12 News was filming people and the event. After I was done for the day I came back to see ABC Channel 9 News broadcasting. Things improved alot today as more deorations and signs went up. The morning talk show hosts for Alive 95 did a special appearance tonight as well.

I just came in and it is now 1:20 in the morning, so I will make this update a Friday update! I've seen about 4 1/2 or so hours of "The Game" today. Anyways, the best part is to come, word was going around about how it would be cool to be on ESPN SportsCenter. About a little past 12 midnight the people in the press box announced we were on the ESPN SportsCenter Top Ten Countdown!!!!! We are being broadcasted all over the world! So check us out every half hour Friday morning. We are #6 (!!!!!) on the countdown!!!!!!!! After hearing that most of us cheered. The players seemed to get a little adrenaline boost. One of the guy's lifelong dream was to be on ESPN SportsCenter, now he is! Cool, eh? Well, I think I might go back outside for awhile; it's only 1:30 in the morning! ;)

Trent "My college and dorm is on ESPN!!!!" Hope

Videos

Will be up when server is up. It's super-sweet.

Pictures

B-e-a-utiful morning!

This was midday 171 Maroon/ 160 Silver Inning 105????

News and some fans.

Players taking an allowed 30 min. break. They accumulate 5 min. for every hour they play.

One of the guys taking a quick 20 min. nap.

J.J. trying to win some prizes while the guys are getting their power naps.

Me and Sarah R. (Can't even begin to say or spell her last name).

When I decieded to go inside, the score was 373 to 355 and it was the 157th inning.

The Longest Game in History Begins

Today at 5:30 Alpha Gamma Chi began their 101-hour marathon. After watching about 3 ½ hours throughout the night, I finally came in at midnight. At midnight they took their first thirty-minute break out 10 or more breaks. The opening ceremony was great as Ocoee Middle School cheerleaders cheered the guys on and the Lee Singers sang the national anthem. The Mayor spoke as well as sponsors were recognized. Paul Conn threw the first pitch as everyone cheered "Play Ball!" At 6:00 the game officially began. The teams are blue and burgandy. I am betting that burgandy will win! It got down to 33 degrees tonight and I froze to death. I came back into the dorm and kept my hoodie and beanie on for awhile. So, the fun begins!

Videos

Video server currently down. It's only a video of us freezing our tooshies off!

Pictures

Everypne huddled up singing the Alpha Gamma Chi anthem.

Dr. Conn throwing the first pitch.

Some news people (Channel 9, I believe) and a boy throwing a ball.

I was cold.

We were all cold. It was cold. Cold. COLD!

As of midnight, the score was 90-90 and they were in the 31st inning! They were six hours into the game and were taking their first 30 min. break.

We are the Champs!

I love our soccer team! The guys are all awesome and I am blessed to know a few. They won 13-0 tonight and are in post-season play-offs. I believe they are playing Berry this week-end (Sorry Luke, You're going down!!!!). We had an awesome time and began a new tradition that every time we get a goal we pull out are keys and tell them to get on the bus! It is awesome. We froze our bottays off and went and grabbed some hot chocolate and pumpkin spice chai latte during halftime (I got the latter).
Trent

Video

http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051025&currentTime=071432

Matt and Mike dancing.

http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051025&currentTime=074822

Park the bus!

Pictures

Matt and Mike in their goofy headwear.

"Get on the Bus!"

Group hug.

Yeah. We just stood the whole game.

Come Thou Fount

A hymn.

Come thou font of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I'm come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above

Amazing, huh? Imagine the song with a violin in the background. David Crowder did a modernized version which is soooo good! This hymn brings me comfort when I am having a bad day or things are trying to keep me from being the man God wants me to be.

Fall Break Retro

DONT GO LOCO!

FALL BREAK RETROSPECTIVE WILL BE UP IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS!

Don't Shun Me...I like to Salsa

Salvador came tonight to Lee and played! Salvador is a latin Christian band that has a humongous group of band mates. Eight people make up the band with a variety of instruments. They Rocked! One of the things I don't think Lee thought through was that:

1. This band is Latin
2. This band is huge
3. This band does salsa

Now I love to dance, but Lee seems to frown upon dancing, but that didn't stop me and hundreds of others. People were dancing all over in the auditorium while Pastor Harper sat in his little corner. It was so much fun, and it all for the glory of God. The opening acts were gospel singers and were very good as well. So that's just a tidbit about my salsa experiences.

Videos
http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051016&currentTime=090922
Here is a spanish song that people seemed to know.

Pictures

The Lead singer and probably the youngest of the band Rocked!

Here's a partial view of the whole band! 8 members! They rocked!

A Hoedownless Hoedown!

A greek sponsered a Fall Hoedown tonight, the only thing is that we could not "hoedown". But the did make up a little with the ton of free food, snacks, cotton candy, popcorn, and prizes. There was a tractor, band, jail, chapel, and tons of games. It was awesome as you will tell by the pictures below!

Alpha Zeta Tau did an excellent job decorating!

Garrett, Paul, Chris, Patrick, and Me in Jail!
.25 cents to get out! :(

Rachel and her man tying the knot! Congrats!

Super Chicks and Hand Waves

Weekend Recap for October 7-9th
Hey guys! This past weekend was a blast! I went home for the first time in 7 weeks (50 days)! It was awesome to see my county, street, house, dog, family, and friends. I got home Friday about 4:30ish and spent the night hanging out with my dad. We had to go all over the county to find diesel. After ending all the way on the other side of the side of the county we found one place that had gas! I can't believe all the gas stations are closed down in Georgia. In Tennessee gas is more than thirty cents cheape. So Friday night quickly came and went and Saturday morning arrived.

I went Sat. morning and hung out with Laura, Jessica, and Billy at Laura's house up in Dalonegha. We had some fun as you can tell from the pictures below! After a few hours it was time to go to Peachtree City to see some concerts!!! I went and picked up C.W. from his work at the corn maze and then drove and picked up Andrew. We then quickly (but safely) drove down to Peachtree City (which took a good while).

We went to see the "Until My Heart Caves In" Tour at an ampitheater in Peachtee which was extremely nice. The first band we saw was Sanctus Real, which rocked! We missed Kids in the Way by ten minutes, but I've seen them before. But the next band was the one I was mainly coming for, SUPERCHICK! They are an awesome band with an awesome message for teens and especially young girls. Their message is so clear and I love their ministry. Adam and Jenni (my old youth pastor) both know Tricia and Melissa Brock. They ROCKED! The one thing that ticked me off was that they had to turn off a lot of speakers due to feedback. :( But they were still sweet! I can't wait to see them again. After their wonderful set was over, I went to meet them at their booth. When I got there I saw the line was so long! We waited for about an hour to meet them, but it was so cool! The security was nuts, they kept staring at me and the guys. I got to talk to Melissa and Tricia and told them I knew Adam and Jenni Deckard, they quickly lit up when I told them I knew them. So we chatted for a few seconds and that was that. I know I will see them again. ;)

So while we waited, Pillar was playing. We didn't miss any of their sets as we watched while we waited. They sounded pretty sweet and rocked just like the other two bands before. I also went and got the signatures of Sanctus Real while waiting for Audio Adrenaline to come on. As soon as Audio Adrenaline came on, we went to the front and rocked through a few songs when the lead singer (Mark) came out into the audience and sang "Big House". He came all around us and walked right infront of him. But that is not the coolest part, I got on stage!!!! I had made a "More Cowbell" sign before I came. Audio A is big fans of the cowbell skit on Saturday Night Live and I found this out when I saw them in concert this past summer. So as he yelled that he needed some volunteers, he saw me holding the sign and pointed at me. So I ran up on stage and danced and sung to "Beautiful". In the video I look so goofy because I couldn't jump very well with my backpack until I finally took it off. Mark gave me a high-five for the sign and I had a ton of cowbell followers cheering me on.

When I finally got off-stage I saw my friend Sarah Brown with Andrew and C.W., she had seen me on stage and had also run into the guys. So I gave her a hug and noticed that the band suddenly quit playing. One of the kids who had gotten onstage did a stage dive when we were getting off and knocked out a girl. Yeah, it was crazy! So they had to stop the set for about ten to fifteen minutes. The girl was okay and Audio A finished their set. I ended up not getting home till about one in the morning, but it was worth it.

Sunday morning, by the grace of God, I got up and went to church. The youth building is totally different as Adam remodeled it to look like a garage. It looks so awesome! It was neat to see Cassi, Jessi, and all my pals. After church I went home to a wonderful meal cooked by my mom. I got to bring leftovers back to college with me!!! After mom took me shopping for some very needed supplies, I pakced up and moved out.
So the weekend was awesome. I loved coming home, but I also missed college life. College is awesome, but I can't wait to see all my pals again!

Enjoy the video and pictures!
Trent "I need more Cowbell" Hope

Video

These are two hilarious videos, the first one is of me trying to jump and pump my hand up with my bookbag on. Boy did I look goofy. The other video is of Andrew trying to figure out the camera and actually capturing me not looking goofy and Mark (lead singer) of Audio A.

• http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051008¤tTime=101504
• http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051008¤tTime=101626

Pictures

We got bored and decieded to watch the Outdoor Channel!

A giraffe's eye view of the ampitheater.

Sanctus Real was the first concert we caught!

It's me and the lead singer. And I look stoned...and so does he....

SUPERCHICK! One of my favorite bands!!!

Good 'ole Tricia Brock!

This chap was awesome!

Me and the Brocks!

Audio Adrenaline ROCKS!

Mark is so cool that he comes out into the audience singing "Big House".

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Me on stage!!!! More Cowbell!

Patrick's Big 2-0!

We celebrated Patrick's birthday tonight at Logan's Roadhouse. We had a great group of more than 30 people show up! Awesome, eh? We had a blast and gave him chocolate and a ton of Little Debbie snacks. We had so much fun that I think I need to show you some pictures!

Trent "I really like to Party" Hope

Videos
The first one is of J.J. and his Harry Caray impersonation and the second video is of Patrick.

• http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051005¤tTime=100612
• http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051005¤tTime=101146

Pictures

It's Pat! He said "thank-you" at least 500 times for all that we did for him.

The whole gang!

Katherine knocked a table over and all our drinks fell off. The waitress came and threw buckets of peanuts on the floor and told us to stomp on 'em as they would soak up the water.

First Video Update

Here's a short clip of me and my first video update! Look for more media soon!
Enjoy!
Trent "I heart the air" Hope

Video Clip: http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20051001&currentTime=055926

A Week in Review

Hey guys! Just an update for this friday afternoon. It was a rough week of two exams, a few tests, and essays. Next week won't be that much easier either as I have a few more quizzes, an essay, and an Old Testament Survey exam. I studied my butt off this week and for some reason my Bio exam didn't show all my efforts. Then in Bio today he talked to us about how when we aren't doing good, we aren't honoring God. So I felt like crap. Then he proceeded to give us a pop quiz on stuff we haven't even started yet. So, I am guessing this the class he does each year to motivate kids. Half of the class was missing since we took an exam last class. So I am a little bummed about Bio right now. THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!

Last night I helped a dormmate with studying for the OT Exam next week. I didn'y miss SURVIVOR and ER though. ;)

Pictures are back up and working! Over the next few days I will be adding pictures to all the past blogs, so make sure to check the past few posts! Also, for your patience, I can now put videos on my blogs! So I will be putting up some neat clips over the next few weeks!

Trent

Videos
http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20050824¤tTime=104740
Rachel and Adina are awesome singers. You'll hear Chris in the end.

http://www.jusspress.com/day.php?userid=30833¤tDate=20050819¤tTime=084226
Here's a 360 Degree view of my room. Granted this is the second day of school and it doesn't look like this now. (Correct video now up!)

Everyone decided to come into our room!

I gave blood to get extra credit in Biology after I took the exam that day. I was not a happy camper!

Thanksgiving So Soon?!

Sunday I reluctantly got out of bed and headed down to ChristWay. After a great early service, I was invited to go to my residental director's (Todd and Michelle) parent's house for lunch, or as they call it, dinner. The food was amazing as I felt as though I was eating a thanksgiving dinner. After stuffing myself for the second day in a row, I did some errands around the house for them. It was the least I could do for such great food. I ended up taking a nap and staying till 5:30.
The whole family and I left to go to youth group to hear Michelle's twin sister Jen speak about her trip to Nepal over the summer. It was awesome and showed me how our churces are too complacent, especially alot of kids back at my home church. It surprised me to see how a nineteen year old kid with down-syndrome had more faith than alot of kids back in my youth group. So God really touched me through Jenn and Ryan. After youth groups I decided to go to the church's "Open Door" meeting where they discussed things going on with the church. ChristWay is in the same boat now as First Christian was when we lost our pastor and ministers. They are starting from scratch as they lost most of their members. The meeting was so amazing as I saw the whole body come together. I am so excited to be at ChristWay and I cannot wait to see what God will do there in the next four years.
Trent "I won't be complacent" Hope

LOST at Paradise

Today was VERY eventful as we went down to Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, GA. It was nice to be home for a day. ;) The only problem we had was getting there. With the help of Mapquest I did a circle while trying to find an exit ramp and landed back at Lee. It really wasn't my fault as I was given no warning of the exit I needed to get off at. So I quickly lost the trust of my pals and I was booted to the back. I kept my mouth shut as we headed down I-75, the totally opposite direction. I knew we were going way out of the way, but I just kept my mouth shut. So we ended up 2 hrs later in Tunnel Hill and I got them to stop at my aunt Cathy's house so we could just relax and let their nerves calm. We had been lost about three or four times by then. So I let them try to figure things out and we were soon back on the road. We took a long way around and ended up getting lost once or twice more. I knew exactly where we were going, but didn't want to cause any more stress. We were heading in the right direction, but just going the LONG way. So instead of taking about an hour and 45 min., it took us about four and a half hours. We still had fun in my truck though!
So finally we got to the nice beach house and found awaiting us a great assortment of food. I ate hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and tons of chips and dip. After stuffing ourselves we went swimming, diving off the dock, and tubing. We had a blast and were worn out. After falling asleep two or three times on the dock, we headed up for dinner. Afterwards, we hung out and I tried to salsa. To my dismay, I just can't get these hips to move!
The trip back was easy, as I lead with no problems through Geoegia, North Carolina, and back into Tennessee. The ride back was relaxing as I rolled the window down as we drove by the Ocoee river.
Trent "The Adventurer" Hope

The view was amazing! Mountains and lakes go well together

It's Patrick!

White Chris and Pat!

Richard and Black Chris (Yes, we refer to them as black and white Chris).

Frightful Friday

So Friday was super-sweet with a nice dinner at the cafeteria. I found that I had no more meals for the week, so I had to use my flex bucks. I figured that I hadn't gone out in a week (surprise, surprise!). So, I decided to get out Friday and go to see the movie "Flightplan" starring Jodie Foster with a few pals of mine. To my surprise, the movie was not as bad as the critics said it would be. It was slow, but really good. After that we headed over to Steak 'n Shake. I am really trying to get the guys to expand their tastebuds to different restraunts because I am sick of shakes.

Trent "Surprise is today's special word" Hope

Walker Arena (Basketball Arena) is being remodeled, and looks awesome! They plan on being done by homecoming. The building in the far back is Atkins-Ellis where Becky, Sarah, Rachel, and Adina live.

Kat and Chris at the movies!

I was walking out of WalMart and there was Pat and Kat. J.J. then did the same thing. This was around 12:30 in the morning....yeah.