Lately I have been in the computer lab writing papers... a lot. Because of this I have really taken to listening to music as I read or write. I always start my paper writing marathons off with this song, a new favorite of mine, If Today Was Your Last Day by the band Nickelback. Although I don't endorse Nickelback or any of there other songs--really a contradictory statement because I am endorsing this song--but this song really speaks to me. Take the time to watch it, I believe you will find it to be a powerful video. Just to clear something up so I don't get a bunch of nasty comments. Theres a phrase in the song that says "leave old pictures in the past" that sounds like something else very derogatory. It is a cuss free song people! :)
What would you do if today was your last day? If a secular band who lives only for there glory can say this how much more as followers of Christ should we be able to say this. Get out and do something out of the ordinary this week. After all today could be your last day :)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Some Pictures of Life at School
My buddy Jon and I on our way to a conference
My Jello map of the Holy Land
My neighbors Isabel and Noah in their Halloween costumes
Dressed as High Priests in Pentateuch class
And me with my nephew
Saturday, October 31, 2009
I Heart My Roommates
My roommate Aaron is going on missions trip at the end of calendar year and I wanted all of you to be apart of it. Sending Aaron on this trip has turned into a whole house effort as we have all decided to help him raise money and do whatever else is necessary. Please love Aaron as you would love me :)
Dear Family and Friends,
I am ecstatic to announce that at the end of 2009, I have been given an opportunity to go on a mission trip to the country of Nicaragua. I will be serving in a small village named Darío, a few minutes outside of the capital of Managua, and in the capital itself.
Nicaragua (previously a war-torn and still a 3rd world country) is a place with a great need for aid, food, and people with the willingness to serve. I am going to be serving with the Solano’s, a missionary family previously involved in providing food, medical help, schooling, and local outreach with Compassion in Action after hurricane Mitch, in anyway I can. I am meeting with the Solano family, who are natives of Nicaragua, and they will be giving me direction for what needs to be done during my visit. I'll be doing full time missionary work with them, daily physical labor, music, and giving all that I can with my talents and giftings. I have never had the opportunity to be on a mission’s trip or serve overseas and as such I am excited for this unique opportunity. Not only will I be able to help with missionary work, but also this will be life-changing and I believe it will give me a new perspective outside of the American culture.
I've been praying and thinking on this decision since the end of August 2009, and as things stand, the family in Nicaragua has everything organized for me to go, and they are simply waiting for me. But the major challenge right now is my financial situation. So here I am as a full-time bible college student asking for your support, prayer, and financial blessings. My living expenses (between December 21st-30th) for those days are a secondary cost, but my primary expenses for my flight costs and preparations still weigh heavy on me.
Mathew 25:40 states, “Truly I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” And with the Joy of the Lord as our strength, I hope and believe in faith that together we can further the Kingdom of God, reach hearts who are willing to hear the true gospel and provide for their needs with the love of Christ.
Again, thank you, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email or cell phone. I look forward to updating everyone with where I am exactly with my goals and how I am doing in this. God bless.
Sincerely,
Aaron Esparza
P.S - the flight dates are not final, but depends on when I can get a ticket. It may be from the 18th to Jan 7th. It just depends on when I can go.
Ticket general price will be estimated 1000$ for a round trip. Passport and visa will be estimated 200$ for both (will need to expedite to make sure it comes in time). For cost expenses in Nicaragua...I cannot estimate right now, but I know God will provide.
If you would like to donate to the "We love Aaron and want to send him overseas so that he can do awesome things for the Lord and serve God with his giftings and passions so that he might become a better tool for the Lords work in the future and honor God in all that he possibly can" fund (I came up with that all by myself, can you tell?), please send your donation to:
Andrew Pratt
MSC #437
8435 NE Glisan St
Portland, OR 97220
United States
Dear Family and Friends,
I am ecstatic to announce that at the end of 2009, I have been given an opportunity to go on a mission trip to the country of Nicaragua. I will be serving in a small village named Darío, a few minutes outside of the capital of Managua, and in the capital itself.
Nicaragua (previously a war-torn and still a 3rd world country) is a place with a great need for aid, food, and people with the willingness to serve. I am going to be serving with the Solano’s, a missionary family previously involved in providing food, medical help, schooling, and local outreach with Compassion in Action after hurricane Mitch, in anyway I can. I am meeting with the Solano family, who are natives of Nicaragua, and they will be giving me direction for what needs to be done during my visit. I'll be doing full time missionary work with them, daily physical labor, music, and giving all that I can with my talents and giftings. I have never had the opportunity to be on a mission’s trip or serve overseas and as such I am excited for this unique opportunity. Not only will I be able to help with missionary work, but also this will be life-changing and I believe it will give me a new perspective outside of the American culture.
I've been praying and thinking on this decision since the end of August 2009, and as things stand, the family in Nicaragua has everything organized for me to go, and they are simply waiting for me. But the major challenge right now is my financial situation. So here I am as a full-time bible college student asking for your support, prayer, and financial blessings. My living expenses (between December 21st-30th) for those days are a secondary cost, but my primary expenses for my flight costs and preparations still weigh heavy on me.
Mathew 25:40 states, “Truly I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” And with the Joy of the Lord as our strength, I hope and believe in faith that together we can further the Kingdom of God, reach hearts who are willing to hear the true gospel and provide for their needs with the love of Christ.
Again, thank you, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email or cell phone. I look forward to updating everyone with where I am exactly with my goals and how I am doing in this. God bless.
Sincerely,
Aaron Esparza
P.S - the flight dates are not final, but depends on when I can get a ticket. It may be from the 18th to Jan 7th. It just depends on when I can go.
Ticket general price will be estimated 1000$ for a round trip. Passport and visa will be estimated 200$ for both (will need to expedite to make sure it comes in time). For cost expenses in Nicaragua...I cannot estimate right now, but I know God will provide.
If you would like to donate to the "We love Aaron and want to send him overseas so that he can do awesome things for the Lord and serve God with his giftings and passions so that he might become a better tool for the Lords work in the future and honor God in all that he possibly can" fund (I came up with that all by myself, can you tell?), please send your donation to:
Andrew Pratt
MSC #437
8435 NE Glisan St
Portland, OR 97220
United States
Monday, October 26, 2009
A Recent Encouragement
"Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you. For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others."
-Ecclesiastes 7:21, 22
-Ecclesiastes 7:21, 22
Sunday, October 25, 2009
My New Room Mate
This is Matt. He's my new room mate. Not only is he my room mate, we share the same room. To be honest I don't really know him that well because I only met him in one of my classes, but he seems like a pretty good guy and I am excited to get to know him over the course of the year. He's in his final year at Multnomah and has plans of going on to do seminary. I asked him to do his most creepy face and this is what he came up with. Enjoy.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Blitz Trip, Part 2
Friday we all woke up and headed to Magic Mountain for a fun filled Friday (alliteration :) ) of roller coasters and socializing. On the first ride of the day (Tatsu), I somehow managed to lose my cell phone despite it being in, what I thought was, my most secure pocket. At first I was a little bummed out; it wasn't a very nice cell phone, but it did have hundreds of numbers on it that I wasn't overly excited about trying to replace. I then realized a few more positive aspects about losing my phone. One, I had all my numbers from August previous backed up, two, it gave me an opportunity to put aside and avoid the hundreds of text messages I send and receive a day, and three, I didn't have to worry about losing it on a ride the rest of the day! I was free! I love theme parks (hate the lines though), and for some reason the park was empty. I was able to go on so many rides over and over and over again. As the day wore on my body began to hate me (quite literally it would scream at me and tell me that it was tired of my brain crashing against the inside of my head).
The highlight of the day was by far the time I spent with Mark Staples. During October Magic Mountain puts on a thing called "Fright Fest"; everyone seemed to love it, that is except me. I hate scary stuff; not because I'm scared of it, I just hate what its about. Life is scary enough, why would I want to scare myself purposely. I've been in some pretty scary situations (walking through the La Boca for instance), why would I ever want more of that for no good reason??? Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox. Back to Mark; Candace wanted to go run around the scary mazes (yes Candace I am totally calling you out on this one), which left baby Roman with Mark and I. During thses few hours Mark and I talked about all sorts of life. It started with me asking him questions for a class assignment, but quickly lead to him and I talking about all sorts of life and dreams.
I went to bed that night knowing that I was suppose to be up at 7:15 A.M. for a 8 A.M. departure, but happened in reality was far from that... please enjoy the following exchange that took place Saturday morning.
Andrew: What time is it you guys?
Boys: 9:21
Andrew: Very funny guys, what time is it really?
Boys: 9:21
Andrew: No really, great prank, but what time is it...
Boys: 9:21, we told you already...
Andrew: Wow, I'm pretty sure this wasn't suppose to happen. I think they left us.
I never realized how inconvenient it was to not have a cell phone until this point. I tried using one of the kids cell phones to call Mark and Joel, but neither of them picked up their phones which lead to us texting a girl on the bus. Once I was finally able to talk to Mark we definitely also had a conversation where he thought I was joking about being left behind. Fortunately my good friend Jake had driven himself separate from the group and was able to turn around and pick us up. Overall things turned out quite well. I got an extra two hours of sleep, and was only 30 minutes late getting home. I also got a full breakfast and the opportunity to catch up with Jake for 7 hours. I take full responsibility for sleeping in and causing trouble, but it leads to the question "how do you leave 4 people behind?" Great question. I don't have an answer for you :). But I can say this, I'm the first person in 16 years that Mark has left behind!
After getting home that night I realized that I needed to leave the following morning to make sure that I would get home in time for work Monday. Because of that my good friends Nikki and Amber stayed up with me all night eating Wafflehouse and laughing away the night. They then dropped me off at the airport and I began the intense 1500 mile, 5 airport trip home. Phoenix to L.A. to San Fran to Kallamath Falls (most boring airport of all time) to Portland. All in all a very unrelaxing trip that was crazy fun!
The highlight of the day was by far the time I spent with Mark Staples. During October Magic Mountain puts on a thing called "Fright Fest"; everyone seemed to love it, that is except me. I hate scary stuff; not because I'm scared of it, I just hate what its about. Life is scary enough, why would I want to scare myself purposely. I've been in some pretty scary situations (walking through the La Boca for instance), why would I ever want more of that for no good reason??? Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox. Back to Mark; Candace wanted to go run around the scary mazes (yes Candace I am totally calling you out on this one), which left baby Roman with Mark and I. During thses few hours Mark and I talked about all sorts of life. It started with me asking him questions for a class assignment, but quickly lead to him and I talking about all sorts of life and dreams.
I went to bed that night knowing that I was suppose to be up at 7:15 A.M. for a 8 A.M. departure, but happened in reality was far from that... please enjoy the following exchange that took place Saturday morning.
Andrew: What time is it you guys?
Boys: 9:21
Andrew: Very funny guys, what time is it really?
Boys: 9:21
Andrew: No really, great prank, but what time is it...
Boys: 9:21, we told you already...
Andrew: Wow, I'm pretty sure this wasn't suppose to happen. I think they left us.
I never realized how inconvenient it was to not have a cell phone until this point. I tried using one of the kids cell phones to call Mark and Joel, but neither of them picked up their phones which lead to us texting a girl on the bus. Once I was finally able to talk to Mark we definitely also had a conversation where he thought I was joking about being left behind. Fortunately my good friend Jake had driven himself separate from the group and was able to turn around and pick us up. Overall things turned out quite well. I got an extra two hours of sleep, and was only 30 minutes late getting home. I also got a full breakfast and the opportunity to catch up with Jake for 7 hours. I take full responsibility for sleeping in and causing trouble, but it leads to the question "how do you leave 4 people behind?" Great question. I don't have an answer for you :). But I can say this, I'm the first person in 16 years that Mark has left behind!
After getting home that night I realized that I needed to leave the following morning to make sure that I would get home in time for work Monday. Because of that my good friends Nikki and Amber stayed up with me all night eating Wafflehouse and laughing away the night. They then dropped me off at the airport and I began the intense 1500 mile, 5 airport trip home. Phoenix to L.A. to San Fran to Kallamath Falls (most boring airport of all time) to Portland. All in all a very unrelaxing trip that was crazy fun!
Blitz Trip, Part 1
So the last five days went by in a whirlwind; after almost 10k air miles, and a 7 hour road trip, there is much to report. The week started off with me flying out to Washington D.C. where I met up with my friend Dani Richards for a quick 14 hours of fun. When I arrived we walked around her campus which is located quite literally next to the White house.
As previously mentioned the point of my trip out there was to see a movie that I promised I would see with her. We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and it was a very cute movie. We both had read the book growing up and looked forward to seeing how the movie would portray the madness. On a related note I paid $10.75 to see the movie...where is this world going. After the movie we went out and enjoyed some Middle Eastern food; Dani grew up in Saudi Arabia and she enjoys sharing her love of the Middle East with her friends. This is a picture of me eating a Favelli (sp?). It was pretty good.
From there we roamed around the city causing all sorts of trouble before returning home and heading to bed about 4:30. It was great fun hanging out with Dani, she has become a good friend despite this being only the third real time we have hung out. She leads one of the Christian groups on campus at GWU, and asked if I would come out and teach one Thursday; an opportunity I will positively take her up on.
After 2 hours of sleep I boarded the metro and returned to the airport to catch a flight that would eventually take me to LAX via Chicago. God continues to give me grace when it comes to traveling; I seem to keep getting the last seat on most flights. On a side note I'm notorious for being a hard sleeper and waking up very disoriented; I fell asleep on my second flight next to a big black man, and definitly woke up freaking out because the big black man next to me had turned into a little old lady. In reality I came to find out via a flight attendent that no, he hadn't turned into an old lady, he had just switched seats with an old lady who was bothered by the noise the engines made. Whew!! Once in L.A. I rode the public bus down to Santa Monica where I met up with Red Mountains Youth Group. It was so much fun getting to see all the kids I spent the whole summer with; it was bitter sweet for me as I was excited to see them, but not as excited knowing that I would have to leave them again. I was able to spend a good majority of my time with Craig (a young man that I got pretty close with over the summer), and it was great to catch up with him and talk about life.
Another fun thing about the trip was getting the opportunity to spend time with a few kids who I didn't really know previous; specifically I had the pleasure of rooming with three 10th graders that I hardly knew. These three boys would later become part of a grand adventure I never imagined would happen :)...
As previously mentioned the point of my trip out there was to see a movie that I promised I would see with her. We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and it was a very cute movie. We both had read the book growing up and looked forward to seeing how the movie would portray the madness. On a related note I paid $10.75 to see the movie...where is this world going. After the movie we went out and enjoyed some Middle Eastern food; Dani grew up in Saudi Arabia and she enjoys sharing her love of the Middle East with her friends. This is a picture of me eating a Favelli (sp?). It was pretty good.
From there we roamed around the city causing all sorts of trouble before returning home and heading to bed about 4:30. It was great fun hanging out with Dani, she has become a good friend despite this being only the third real time we have hung out. She leads one of the Christian groups on campus at GWU, and asked if I would come out and teach one Thursday; an opportunity I will positively take her up on.
After 2 hours of sleep I boarded the metro and returned to the airport to catch a flight that would eventually take me to LAX via Chicago. God continues to give me grace when it comes to traveling; I seem to keep getting the last seat on most flights. On a side note I'm notorious for being a hard sleeper and waking up very disoriented; I fell asleep on my second flight next to a big black man, and definitly woke up freaking out because the big black man next to me had turned into a little old lady. In reality I came to find out via a flight attendent that no, he hadn't turned into an old lady, he had just switched seats with an old lady who was bothered by the noise the engines made. Whew!! Once in L.A. I rode the public bus down to Santa Monica where I met up with Red Mountains Youth Group. It was so much fun getting to see all the kids I spent the whole summer with; it was bitter sweet for me as I was excited to see them, but not as excited knowing that I would have to leave them again. I was able to spend a good majority of my time with Craig (a young man that I got pretty close with over the summer), and it was great to catch up with him and talk about life.
Another fun thing about the trip was getting the opportunity to spend time with a few kids who I didn't really know previous; specifically I had the pleasure of rooming with three 10th graders that I hardly knew. These three boys would later become part of a grand adventure I never imagined would happen :)...
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