A year to remember...

So 2005 is just about over. Wow. It's been a wild one.

I would have to say that of all of my 21 years, this would have to be the most memorable. So much happened this year. There was good and there was bad. I made mistakes and learned from them and I accomplished a lot as well. Some of the best memories I have ever had will come from this year. I went into it just as I did any other year - crap; another year of disappointments is coming. Well I sure did learn my lesson there. I started the new year in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with two dear friends of mine and one goal in mind. Have fun. I wanted to make the most of this past year. I didn't want to miss out on anymore opportunities or pass up on any chances. I wanted to seize not just the day but the year as a whole. At times I faltered and stumbled and I fell short, but in the long run I think I accomplished my goal. About 6 years ago now I had a chance for something amazing - something that I wanted so badly. I passed up on it. I told myself at the beginning of this year that if I ever had that chance again I wouldn't miss it for the world. Well I got it. And I grasped it. Sure -- it didn't wind up as I thought it would at the beginning, but at least I got it. This year has been a year of answered prayer. Of gifts. Of opportunities and happiness. It was a year of sadness, loss, heartbreak and let-downs. It was a year of joy, memories I will never forget, a relationship I will never forget and wouldn't give up for anything, the making of new friends and the loss of old ones, a year of changes and adjusting, a year of patience and hostility, a year of giving and a year of receiving, a year of tears and laughter, a year of spiritual ups and downs, a year of lessons learned, a year of death and a year of life, a year I found out I will be the uncle to a nephew, a year I got what I've always wanted, a year I lost it, a year of second chances, a year of third and fourth and fifth ones too, a year of first-times and last-times, my last year at home, a year of love-gained and love-lost, a year of falling in love all over again and again and again for the first time, a year that God loved me and stayed with me, a year I was taught about grace and forgiveness, a year I met Jasmine -- one of the most beautiful people I have ever had the privilege of meeting, a year I rode and got rocked by a mechanical bull, a year I finally got to go to an amusement park with that special someone, a year I finally cracked and made a scrapbook -- that's right, a year I had my first one-month, a year I had my first break-up, my 21st birthday, a year of kisses, holding hands, dancing under the moonlight and sweating to death, a year of weddings, a year of looking dead sexy... :) ... a year of humility, a year I probably spent more money than any other, and so many other things I would probably never finish this list. All in all -- it was an amazing year. One that will not be forgotten. Although I am not where I thought I would be right now with who I thought I would be with, although things have changed recently, although some things just didn't go as planned -- I've been blessed. With another year with my wonderful family, meeting new friends and forming bonds that will stay with me forever, crying tears of happiness from just a touch -- a look. I'll never forget it. Ever. Thank You for making it possible.

...and thank you. Even though it didn't go like I -- we thought, if I could go back and know what I know now I would do it all over again.

Love.

believe. LIVE.

- david

tag (i'm it)

well bernie dake has tagged me. after reading phil laeger's blog i realized that i have to post 5 things about me. i don’t think there are any rules but if i do it wrong just let me know. okay.

1. um…i have tourettes…


2. i love to hug people…it’s really nice


3. i sucked my thumb until i was 15…cause i have tourettes


4. i can’t stand stepping on lines/cracks when i’m walking and if i do i have to step on another line with the other foot in the same place on that foot. yeah, i’m weird. it’s my tourettes. well…that and ocd.


5. i’m gonna miss my family, friends, and home a lot when i move in january. STOP CRYING MOM!!!!

okay. now i tag john copeland,  cristina bell, booth jewett and God.

later all.

believe. live.

- david

lavatory lesson #1

so today i was in the bathroom and i started to think about things. just things in general. i have found that the bathroom is a good place to think because it’s usually quiet and you have time to yourself…generally 2–5 minutes to do some quality contemplating. now the metaphor i am about to make may be a stretch, but hear me out.

why is it that most people don’t like to use public bathrooms. for guys it isn’t so much an issue because if it’s just a, well, “number 1” we get in and get out…it’s done with. but we don’t generally welcome the idea of having to really use the bathroom in public. is it the unsanitary conditions that scare us? maybe it’s just thinking that what was there before you could be so appalling and destructive that you won’t even set foot inside a stall. i think it goes beyond that. i think it’s fear of what other people will think of us. we don’t want other people to see what we’re doing. we don’t want people to walk out of that bathroom and say “oh i gosh you won’t believe what someone just did in there!” or for it to be a nice peaceful quiet when you accidentally let one slip out and everyone hears it. why do we care so much about what other people think? the fact is that everyone goes to the bathroom. everyone has to – i have yet to meet the blessed person who never has had the need to release bottled-up pressure or rid themselves of the waste that their last couple of meals has produced. we all do it. we have to. it’s required of us. before we were even thought of it was set in stone that everyone has to use the bathroom and if we don’t, well, it won’t be pretty.

now here’s my twisted metaphor…

Christians do the same thing. no…i don’t mean Christians use the bathroom….even though they do…but what i am saying is that Christians are too scared of what other people will think of them. we are too afraid of breaking the silence of life and letting on that we believe in God or that we live a Christian life. we just blend in and do what the world does as to not stand out. but isn’t that the opposite of what we should be doing? why do we care so much about what others think of our beliefs and witness? we shouldn’t. when i was doing my devotions recently i read matthew 10:22-23 in which Jesus says “And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to Me.  But those who endure to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I assure you that I, the Son of Man, will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.” you see, if we endure all that the world can throw at us because of our faith and allegiance to God we will be rewarded with an eternal life with He who has promised us this. a lot of times we won’t even be persecuted or made fun of. a lot of times we don’t even share our faith with other Christians. well that just doesn’t make sense. why should we be afraid to tell another believer that we ourselves are believers? we shouldn’t. as Christians it is our duty to god that we spread His word. we must show our allegiance to Him and preach His name whenever we are shown the opportunity and even when the opportunity fails to present itself. before we were even thought of here on earth it was set in stone that everyone has to use the bathroom and if we don’t, well, it won’t be pretty. make sense?

believe. live.

- david

the long and winding road (aka interstate 70)

so yesterday was hard. very hard. funerals always make me so sad…i know that they are supposed to be a time of remembrance  and reflection and joy of a person’s life but i am always sad. i have really only been to three that i remember. i remember aaron hawk’s, my aunt patty’s and now my uncle jimmy’s. i fell apart at all of them. the thing is, i didn’t know any of them all that well. i knew them all, but it’s not like i talked with them regularly or anything like that. i didn’t only cry at their funerals but i cried when i found out that all of them had passed. i’m just an emotional person when it comes to that kind of stuff. i remember where i was every time too. with aaron it was valentine’s day and i was sitting in songsters when major mark bell came in and announced it. with my aunt patty it was new years day and my uncle, cousin and i had just gotten back from golfing. with jimmy i was reading my devotions on my couch and my mom called me and told me. i guess those things just stick with you. i don’t know. it was really hard to see my uncle’s family and friends all so devastated. he and his wife had only been married for about a year. he was his son’s best friend and he had so many other close friends. it is weird to see grown men fall apart at seeing a friend laying there in a casket…peaceful, motionless, gone… my uncle was a race car mechanic and a really good one. there were some race car drivers who showed up for the funeral. if there is a courageous athlete i would say that it is a race car driver. nothing affects them or slows them. but to see them go up and say their last good-byes to my uncle and just break down…it’s sad. my dad was the first one to go up after major Fitzgerald finished the message at the service. he walked up and leaned down and kissed my uncle on the forehead and told him goodbye one last time. that was it for me. i was gone. i can’t imagine what that must feel like. i don’t want to know. please continue to pray for my dad and my uncle’s family in the days to come as the recovery from this will not be easy.

over the past couple of days i have realized a couple of things:

1. there is nothing good about the state of ohio.


2. the same can be said for interstate 70.


3. snow + mountains + freezing temperatures + driving at midnight = crap


4. you really find out who your true friends are when you need them most. thank you to all of you who left me messaged, prayers, e-mails, comments, etc. it meant so much to me and my family.


5. friends and family are everything. cherish them because in the end your true ones and the ones who honestly and earnestly care will be there. don’t let those go.


6. i hate starbucks coffee. their drinks are okay i guess…but their coffee sucks.


7. honda crv’s make my butt hurt when i ride in them for hours on end.


8. never stop at a travel plaza across the street from a prison. people escape to them…(ask me for details…)


9. my mom is not someone to be sarcastic with at 6 o’clock in the morning.


10. major fitzgerald is an amazing person.


11. i don’t like the new york mets.


12. i’m addicted to coffee, yet caffeine no longer has an affect on me.

again, thanks guys for all of your prayers. you’ll never know how much they mean to me and my family.

…and after 4 months of working on it, i’m almost done…finally…

breathe…just breathe…

later.

believe. live.

- david