November 24, 2011

The Trip: Video Blog Day 3

Here is some video from the last full day that we were in Florida. Check it out!


November 22, 2011

The Trip: Video Blog

Hey here is a video from the first two days of our trip in Florida! Check it out.


November 20, 2011

The Trip: Day 1

So today my parents and I are going down to Florida together for the first time since the news about the big move. So far, it’s been a blast! I thank God for the family that He gave me because if it wasn’t for them, this transition time would be a million times harder. They are crazy fun, crazy weird (just like me), and crazy on fire for God. I Love you guys =)

So today is Sunday and we had an awesome church service this morning, in which Jerry Sheveland spoke and I was privileged with chance to lead His people into worship. After church I got to hang out with one of my bests friends for a while and then I went home to pack! By the time I was done packing, my mother was fairly close to being done too, except for that she started an hour or two before me! (I had to pick on here a little bit) Getting to the airport went great and we got through security with a few fun experiences... anyways. (I have been taking video most of the day so I will have to share that with you too!) I am on the plane RIGHT NOW and it is ten at night and we won’t be landing until like one in the morning or so. It is definitely going to be a late night, but tomorrow we are going to check out where I will going to school and I believe we are also going to see where we are going to be living as well!

It’s been a good day of traveling and I look forward to telling you about tomorrow and everything I will be seeing! Goodnight.

Faith: The Power of Prayer

God is so awesome, and He loves to reveal himself in interesting ways. Since knowing about the possibility of my parents (and me) moving to Florida, God has shown up in ways so obvious that I COULD NOT ignore Him. In the process of seeing all these signs I never once considered that maybe, maybe they were meant for me to see. They were only there to affirm my parents right? Yeah well... I guess not! haha The day I started to pray I got NERVOUS. I got nervous because I started getting excited about how God could use me there. I know it sounds weird to be nervous about that but, the conflict I faced was that I was feeling lead to go, but I wanted to stay here where I was comfortable, involved, appreciated.

Appreciated? See what I realized is that I could be way more than just appreciated but I could be used by the living God to further His kingdom! Don’t get me wrong, I know that I can and am called to be a light wherever I am, but there is something miraculous about being in the very center of where God wants you that is energizing, and electrifying. If I could challenge you with one thing it would be this:

Pray for God’s perfect plan in your life. Pray crazy prayers. Pray with a sincere heart. Try to dream as big as God does, because as soon as you give up “normal”, He will use you to do bigger and greater things than YOU could have ever dreamed.

Just REMEMBER: The Power of Prayer can, and probably will change your life in radical ways. But through Him; We can change the world.

November 15, 2011

Faith: Florida?

Let’s get right into this. I am moving to Florida with my parents sometime around the end of December. My dad took a job as The Executive Director of International Ministries for Converge Worldwide. Converge is a denomination made up of right around 1000 churches around the United States and is based out of Orlando, Florida. I never thought in a million years that I would end up in Florida!

One day after school my dad picked me and was driving me to work and when we got there we were a little early... So this is what my dad says to me, “How would you feel about living in Florida?”. Well that really caught me off guard!!! I made him explain and it went like this.

Converge called him and told him that he was a candidate for this new role. At this point they had been looking for someone for about nine months I believe. In the call they asked to him to just pray about applying for the job (now let’s understand that applying does not mean that he is taking the position. There were so many other things that had to happen before it was official.) After praying for a while (this is the short version) he turned in his resume to the board. Long story short, he ended up being the person God has chosen for this position. This is where I start to wrestle with the idea of moving there with them!

NO WAY!... That was my first reaction, and it was actually my reaction for probably 2 months or so. If there is anything to be learned here it’s; don’t shut off your mind to praying about something because it may be God’s perfect plan for you.

Not to long ago my dad challenged me, “Shane, I know you don’t want to move to Florida and I totally understand why but have you actually prayed about possibly going? I will support you no matter what decision you make because I know you will be in the center of God’s plan for you.” Well that put me in a pickle!! So i started to pray. I thought about the idea and eventually I started to feel lead there. But even then my most common prayer went something like this, “Florida? Now?...FLORIDA???”

Faith: The Beginning

About three months ago my family and I started on journey that has now exploded into something amazing, and God has definitely directed us to new and different things. I want to share this with you.

A while back I had tried blogging and I actually really enjoyed it but I had a hard time keeping up with writing for a few different reasons: I was busy, and I didn’t always know what I should write about. Lately my life has been changing majorly and I’m pretty sure there is no way that I will run out of things to write about! Here we go.

I am seventeen and I was born in Minnesota. For sixteen of those years I lived in the same house that I do now. I grew up with my dad as the lead pastor of my church which had it’s own experiences, but most importantly, I grew up in a home that loves and strives after God’s plan for our lives. I really respect my parents for helping me experience God on my own terms. God is not looking for us to follow a bunch of His rules and regulations, but instead to experience Him in a real and relevant way! When Jesus really got a hold of MY heart, I realized that he loves me and that he DOES have a plan for my life working for His purposes. God has blessed me so much with the friends that I have and opportunities He has given me, but recently I opened my heart to God’s plan for me and was forced to come to an extreme realization. My friends, my stuff, and the experiences I have had was not God’s future for my life. That was just The Beginning.