Headaches and Stinky Breath

Today is much better than yesterday, although now I have a bad headache and I am procrastinating from doing Psychology and Rhetoric and Research. Not to mention I have an exam on Thurs. in Psych. and I am going home tomorrow night to speak to all the kids in the youth group. Arrrgh!

BUT! I had my interview with two leaders of BigStuf, Megan and the Blogger Guy (Sorry I can't remember your name). They said I'll find out by March 1st if I've made it (aARGH! That's forever and them some!). But the also let me in on a new neat project they are piloting this year. They are now going to start taking college students to Africa for 4-6 weeks! I've always wanted to go to Africa!

Psychology studying is going....well, it's going. Exam on Thurs.
My English paper is BLAH! It's due Mon.

Alot of stuff going on!

Trent

More Thoughts...

More thoughts from a wise amiga:

How is it that I can feel like a champion one day and a complete failure the next? Ah.....truth is I'm a complete failure most days, it's just days like today that I recognize it. I'm glad God loves flunkies. I'm so thankful that he uses filthy rags. I'm so glad He wins so that I don't have to.




Wow, eh?

Trent

Strangled!

Ahhh! Schoolwork and junk at home is strangling me to death!! I've been posting a lot on my other blog "Big Fish" (link to the left) and you'll see a little of the emotion I've been through. I'll be able to post alot more of what has been going on this weekend or sometime next week.

Trent

I Breathe the Mist Floating About the Stars

Within The Room Somewhere
i breathe the mist floating about the stars
i can caress with velvet hands
i breathe the mist
floating within without
this pen between my fingers

Messiah
i know you are there
within without me holding me
Messiah
i know you are there
catching carrying this beautiful mess

escape the pain
within a room somewhere
escape the pain
so deep inside the soul
i have no key
no map to find

I know, I know. I posted twice in a day, let alone a week! Gasp! It's also another song, from the same artist from the same album!! Just seems to relate to me.

Angeltread

crickets rhythmically sing
their mournful melodies
a monotone by request
but they fail they fail
to soothe the mess

hands rhythmically grope
the sheets again for you
and off rhythm the time slows
to make moments eternal
moments eternal

is this some kind of holy test
to stitch the treadmarks off my chest
to get up and walk outside my head
on a holy search for angeltread

now i've lost my fear
so i pray that you come near
with a million sparkly lights
and help me help me through the night

the milky prints of spirits near
i pray that they have lost their fear
a million wisps of sparkly light
weaving through the walls

Hmm...interesting, eh? Leigh Nash is amazing.
Trent

Letting go...

"Jesus Take the Wheel" By Carrie Underwood
She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It's been a long hard year

She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was going way to fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was sooo scaredShe threw her hands up in the air

Jesus take the wheelTake it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Oh, Jesus take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh

I am sure you've heard this song, but until this past weekend, I hadn't. The song relates to me as well as many of the people I know, and it's one of those that brings comfort to me on the road God has me on now.
I think I have a hard time giving up the wheel. I think that in some ways I already have, but I refuse to go where God is telling me to go. Ah, college life. :

Anyways, my youth pastor was infront of his wife as they were going somewhere on the road. A dog apparently appeared out of nowhere as my youth pastor's wife was on the phone with her father-in-law. As she goes to miss the dog (the details are not clear), she starts to spin. Her father-in-law hears her scream "Jesus, help!" as she lets go of the wheel. And so...Jesus did. She landed right in the right direction she was supposed to be going.
Kind of reminds you of Nicole C. Mullin's "When you call on Jesus, all things are possible".
Maybe i need to do that more often.
Trent

Thoughts

It takes a brave person to admit there is a God.
It takes an even braver person to still admit that there is a God when their world has been shattered.
-------
The thought just crossed my mind as God revealed this to me on my walk back to my room.

Day One, You Complete Me

Whew! I had four classes in a row today! Rhetoric and Reasearch, Health, New Testament Survey, Lunch, and then finally MATH *Cue the horror music*! All-in-all, my classes don't seem too bad. I had lit and math homework, which I will go into detail about in a few minutes. Anyways, we had more conversations outside our windows tonight. It was quite interesting. I look foward to many more. I was hanging out in a floor mate's room a few windows down and noticed they had the game "Prison Tycoon"....How many tycoons can you make?!! So, I plan on trying it after play some of Ski Resort Tycoon (HAHA!).
Back to reality, tonight they had an ice cream social (sounds feminine) in the second floor cluster, which was fun. After awhile of watching Juan taunt Patrick I headed back up to my room to work on more homework (already!!!). I actually had fun reading two literature pieces for R+R, they were "Ms. Brill" by Katherine Mansfield and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway. The whole structure and way they told the stories blew me away. So much so I am going to re-read them!! After that, I had MATH homework. Which took me an hour and a half to complete 3 sections and 13 problems!!!

Here's to tomorrow!
Trent

Books, Old Times, and Windows

So I slept wonderfully last night! You know those times when you wake up with a smile on your face and you feel like you're in heaven? Yeah, it was one of those mornings. After coming down from the clouds I went to lunch and then to purchase books for my classes. I ended up spending only $160 some odd dollars!! Much better than last semester! I was in and out in fifteen minutes.
I spent most of the day playing around because classes start bright and early (9:00 AM) tomorrow. Hey! It might not be early to you, but I have 4 fifty minute classes! Anyways, it feels good to be back. I went to small groups tonight, which only ended up being cancelled due to two people not being able to make it, but we spent an hour and a half talking about what-not and iPods.
So now I leave you with the thought of what just happened to me. About 6 of us guys had a conversation out of our windows. Five of us on our floor and one of the guys on the floor above. We tried to get more, but they didn't come to the window. Mike, two windows to the right, hooked up a hanger to a pool stick to reach the other windows. I cannot seem to find my camera right now, so no pictures. :( So hopefully Mom, you are looking for them. ;) What would I do without you?
-Trent

This letter was sent out to all churches who are going to BigStuf this summer. This is the camp that I am wanting to intern at. I thought if I got accepted I would only be doing 11 camps of 12,000 students, but he says so far that 16,000 have signed up!!! WOW! I am so excited about possibility of being able to intern a whole summer in Panama City and also it seems I would go on a mission trip to Africa. So here is what Lanny said:

Hi Campers!
Normally i want to start these blogs or letters and do the
humor, tongue in cheek, sarcastic, lots-of-adjectives, excitement thing. That
last sentence is all your getting this time. God is on the move. Life is short.
We have a mission. Unbelievably, we already have over 16000 people registered
for camp...we want you there....sign up now.God has some incredible things in
store for our interns this summer. We need your sharpest college students to
sign up and do it now. God is moving us into a missions mindset more than ever,
I am headed to Africa in March and again in May. I think we are to play a major
part in making a major difference in thousands of lives in that continent. I
think we are supposed to be making a major impact on lives of college students
who want to go there. Let the ones in your church know. We are sensing urgent
messages to be delivered to students at camp....we need your prayers as we put
the program together. I just got back from Passion 06. Watching 17000 college
students worship and engage as they did was incredible. God is doing some
incredible stuff. Let's all make sure we are in the middle of doing all he
wants us to do to make the most of the days.As John Wesley once said..."Do all
the good you can. By all the means you can.In all the ways you can.In all the
places you can.At all the times you can.To all the people you can. As long as
ever you can."
We are wanting to put a blog up where you can be one of our
prayer partners and voice your prayers for us as we do for you for all the days
now before camp. Be looking for that on our site. Then if you feel like you
should....become one of our every day prayer partners. Actually you can do that
before we ever get anything up on our site.

Thanks
Lanny

More Advice from Mi Amiga

Here's another good quote by a friend of mine:

I am a pretty good giver of advice-I wish I'd take my
own.

A New Year

Well, it's been quite awhile since I last had an update. And the lack of updates is good for me in that college has kept me busy, and bad for you in that you have no clue what is going on with me. I am going back to Lee tomorrrow and will start classes this Wed. I am taking psychology, New Testament, Cont. Math, Health, and Intro to Christian Ethics. I have a tight schedule, but hopefully I will quickly adjust. I will update more as the days progress.
-Trent

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.