Dear Dad,

I tried calling earlier today to wish you a happy father's day, but I got Mom instead. After talking on the phone briefly with her, I realized that saying "Happy Father's Day" over the phone, or the typical card from me and Hilary wouldn't cut it for me. As you know, I'm a terrible conversationalist when it comes to talking with you and Mom, and anything I would have wanted to say probably would've gotten lost in translation as I try to speak up, or while you and I go back and forth. That being said, I had to think of an edifying way to "Happy Father's Day" without ruining it anymore than I already have. So from a distance, here is my "Happy Father's Day" and a message of thanks. I couldn't think of any other way to show thanks without this week coming back up in discussion, except for writing out this post. Here it is...

While Mom has taught me so many valuable things such as cooking, sewing, and how to treat a girl (which are VERY important skills :P), without a doubt, you've blessed me with something much greater. From a young age, you drilled me to think critically. You gave the boy wanderer who could never settle in to one thing nor stick with it, the ability to strategize and plan ahead. From teaching me how to do my homework, to studying, or how to budget my training time on and off the ice, you always pushed me to think more carefully, so that I don't waste energy, time or resources.

The biggest example of this would have to be chess. I remember my 7th birthday. I was sitting on our old blue gray couch in our home in Long Grove, IL and there was a box sitting on the coffee table. After prying open the box and emptying the contents, before me sat a chessboard, a standard USCF (US Chess Federation) chess pieces, a clock, and the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer which became one of the two movies (the other being Mighty Ducks) our VCR player probably hated playing because I would watch them over and over again.

While my chess game has definitely deteriorated due to lack of play and practice, the life lesson behind chess that you taught me was always "What's the next best move?" Notice that it's not just the next move, it is the next BEST move. While that might seem kind of obvious that in chess it's not just about making random moves, I just felt the need to emphasize that.

I've definitely made blunders and will, without a doubt, continue to have my faults, but you've always been there to challenge me whether I wanted you to or not. You've kept the reigns in tight, but even now, I can't help but question my own moves and motives. You've definitely given me one of my greatest strengths, but sometimes I definitely overuse this thoughtfulness to my disadvantage. It's why I'm writing this today, because I know I won't be able to talk properly or coherently and the thankfulness that I'm trying to convey will get lost on its way out of my mouth.

So Dad, I hope that you, Mom and Hilary enjoy what Mom is cooking up tonight. She kind of told me what was on the menu, but I'm not sure if it's a surprise or not, so I'll just be ambiguous by saying that I hope it's delicious. Thank you for everything that you do in my life. I know that I royally suck at showing it, but I really am thankful and blessed to have you as a driving force in my life (as much as I fight it), and especially thankful to have you as my father.

Love,

Matt

Empty Wall, Full Bucket

So yea, I haven't posted or written or had much of a creative outlet for that matter for a month. I guess it's time to let some of it out instead of getting angry in Halo, Lost Planet 2, or tennis. This month has been really uneventful. Aside from work related things, studying and LSAT's, life has kind of been boring (minus the random adventures at night with friends :D). Tonight was pretty fun. Went out to dinner with Kelch at the place we didn't plan on going and ended up on the roof/balcony of XIX in center city at the Hyatt. Although it was already dark by the time we got there, it was cool seeing the city at night with all the lights. It was especially nice because of all the clouds and the impending storm that's on its way. I really wish i had my camera to take pictures of the city with lightning in the background.

So here's where the empty wall, full bucket comes into play. I have made a summer bucket list of sorts. I don't really know all of what's on it, or where it'll take me, or the adventures/stories that I'll have, but I have an empty wall in my apartment. I plan on taking pictures and capturing all of this... literally... ALL OF IT and throwing it on my wall so at the end I can look at it and just be blown away by what God has had in store for me. So hopefully by the end of summer, I'll have a full wall and empty bucket. :)

Sailboats, Sunsets, and the Deep Blue Sea

I love those moments in life where you can just sit and stare at your surroundings and ask yourself how anyone can doubt that God created the beautiful world we live in. Maybe I'm just a little too optimistic but I love being out on open water. Racing around at night while the sun is setting with 30 other boats around you is such an amazing sight. Of all times I forget to bring a camera home with me, I forgot to bring one this week. The weather is amazing, and just cruising around having the sun shine down on you and reflecting off the water is a great way to kick off summer. I don't know... I kind of just have a vibe that this summer is going to be a good one. :)

God is Moving... DUH!

So I took a little vacation this weekend. Not that I went anywhere exotic or too exciting, I just wanted to get away for a little bit. I ended up in Syracuse to see a friends final thesis which was a fashion show. It was really amazing to see and you could tell how much time and work the designers put into their outfits. I stuck around to goto the zoo and hangout for a little bit longer, but for me the memorable part of the trip was Jojo's senior night. Sounds weird right? I mean I'm not a part of their church nor do I know more than five people that go there. Maybe that's why it was such a blessing to see and hear.

I think that we sometimes take for granted the people around us and the circumstances surrounding us. Hearing from complete strangers that I do not know, and how the church and how God have been moving in their lives was really blessing. Granted hearing two of my friends speak about how God moved in their life was amazing, the one thing that really blew me away was this one guy I went to middle school with. We were never really close so we haven't kept in touch since I moved away six years ago. Hearing how God has shaped, transformed, and used him was a great blessing. I know I will never truly understand the vastness of God and his power, but this weekend I definitely got to catch a glimpse, and it was so blessing. :)

Finding the Sacred in the Secular/ In the Sun

I reaaaaaaally need to start posting more frequently. Lately I have been seeing God working through so many people and in so many things. It could be something so simple as the beautiful weather, a few friends trying to check up and make sure that I'm okay or something like that. The two things that I really see God through are music and small interactions between people. I call this "Finding the Sacred in the Secular" because first off, I feel that God uses anything around us to speak to us. In my case, it's some of the secular music I've been listening to. I'm going to link the song at the end of the post so you guys can listen to it if you want, but I promise you it has nothing to do with the fact that the song has the word God in it. I just find it very easy to relate to, and through that relation God uses it to speak to us and convict us of great things.

The other thing that I see God in, is through small gestures that one would really not think twice about. But if you're open minded to these things and constantly try to listen for anything He has to say, you can get extremely blessed. In my case, an example I've been wanting to write about but got the chance to, took place two weeks ago at the Hillsong United concert. After the concert (which was amazing! :D ), the usual taking pictures with friends commenced. While I was taking pictures with friends, I heard someone scream my name and then I saw a body flying in my direction. I caught the person and struggled to hold onto my camera, and realized that the girl I had in my arms was from my home church. She's currently in high school, but when I was in high school and she was in middle school, she loved to do random things like jump into me, or onto my back and stuff like that. It was great to see her and a bunch of the little kids I know that have grown up soooooo much. But the thing that amazed me was that this little girl who I haven't seen in a long time, still had the faith to completely jump into me knowing that I'd catch her.

A few of you probably see where this is going but I'm going to continue my thought anyway. I honestly wish for that kind of childlike faith. To simply be in amazement of God and jump anywhere for Him, knowing that He will catch me. It's such an exciting thought. I desire for that kind of faith again! :)

Laugh all you want at me for over thinking about these things, but to be honest, if you try it, you might be surprised how God can bless you and speak into your life! :D

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a...

As a kid, there were so many things I wanted to be when I got older. Some of them are utterly ridiculous, and a lot of them I've experimented with only to later find that it was not my calling. Here's a small list (a.k.a. what I can remember) of some of the things I wanted to be when I grew up...

An Inventor- I wanted to be the crazy guy like Edison, or da Vinci, and create all this crazy stuff and do insane experiments, and have my contributions be something beneficial to society. To my memory, this was the first thing I ever wanted to become.

A Skater- After watching Mighty Ducks when I was seven, I wanted to learn how to skate. I've been through hockey, figure skating, and speed skating, and after ten odd years of training for it, it just wasn't for me.

An International Businessman- Upon entering college I entered school, I changed to International Business. My first year at AMI Revolution, God revealed to me how much I could do I followed this path.

Something something Advertising- My current pursuit. I really enjoy playing with the words and creating the pictures for the campaigns I get to work with.

A Lawyer- Something my parents want more than me. I could see myself doing it, but I'm really not sure how I feel about this yet. I guess it's something that definitely needs prayer.

While these things I listed are more of career pursuits, there are some other things that I've wanted to be...

A professional video gamer, an artists/designer for manga, pro chess player, musician, friend, husband, father, and *insert a bunch of random things to fill up this line*.

Today I add to my list... Passion inspired and now God driven... a photographer. While I have been playing around with cameras for a while, ( and while I am really still not that good at it) I really love photography and taking pictures. While I was killing time before going out to dinner with Marvel at Chima today, I was sitting around the bookstore and paging through photography magazines. I could not help but sit in awe, with my jaw dropped, as I saw all the amazing landscapes, and scenic views, that people have taken. The variety of colors and scenery that I got to look at was an amazing reminder of God's creation. It really made me want to travel, explore, and capture these things. To be able to show people scenes of God's creation and the beauty surrounding them throughout the world, seems like such an exciting thing. I really hope I get a chance to do this and continue to improve at it :)

Here's something I took when I was still using my D60 and an 18-55 VR AF-S lens. I love the smile on this boy's face as he's jumping up and trying to get the hula hoop over the tower of buckets. Also the contrast of the basketball court and the shadows on it is really nice :D

Pray Unceasingly / If It's Love

So I realize that I haven't posted anything in over a month and I know deep down inside, my huge readership is heartbroken but relieved to see that I am back writing. The past month has been insane. This month, I've had the weirdest sleep schedule, eating schedule, and pretty much anything else you can think of is just weird. I'm not saying that any of it is a bad thing. It's just...different? A lot of stuff has been going on and scary enough O-Show is later today.

This weekend was probably one of the most trying weekends for me spiritually. SO many things that could have gone wrong did go wrong. While I will not go into details because some of it involves personal matters for some people, I could not help but think of Murphy's Law.

Amidst all of this chaos and confusion going on this weekend, it became truly apparent how amazing God is and how He brings people together. Throughout the day, I've seen close brothers and sisters and relationships get tested. Whenever God blesses, there is always a spiritual attack close by. This past day was definitely one of those days. Even with all these things, God has shown me and taught me so much. To start, I feel that I have gained a better understanding of pray unceasingly. While it's simple to say pray as much as you can, today I tried to pray at every idle moment possible to calm my heart. I kept asking God for love, patience, peace, and kindness. And while, yes I know it is a basic thing to ask for the fruits of the spirit, I honestly felt that this weekend, it was something I was in desperate need for.

Today we closed Overflow with prayer as we usually do. Looking at the faces of my brothers and sisters, it was very easy to tell that we were all worn out and stretched pretty thin. But here's where God really blessed me. Aside from all of the struggling with one another and some bitterness, closing prayer was probably one of the most blessing prayer times I've had in a long time. To shout out and cry with brothers and sisters after knowing that only by God could the day have been completed, is something I will never forget. Today was such a desperate day for prayer, and God DEFINITELY answered and blessed me.

Another thing that I've actually let rot in my unposted blogs was this thought for the past two weeks. I entitle it If It's Love after a great song by Train. Sometimes things get tough and people feel like they're a burden or sometimes the activities may seem like a burden. But even though so much stuff has been going on, I can honestly say I don't feel burdened. If it's love, ITS SOOOOOOOO EASY to give it your all for whatever it is! And even while this epiphany was tested this weekend, I still firmly believe this. If it's love and God is love, we got this :)

I'll leave the video here for your viewing entertainment... :D