Assignment #6

Today we went to the bowling alley to help with the special olympics.  At first I was really nervous and I didn't know what to expect.  I was afraid that I was going to be with someone that had anger problems or something, but I hadn't ever spent much time with a person that had a disability and I didn't really understand what I do now, that you just have to love on them and they will love you back.  At first it was kinda awkward and I was a little shy.  But when they started to bowl, I began talking with them and having fun.  Most of them are better bowlers than me!  As I started to have fun with them and cheer them on and talk to them, I saw that they're just awesome people that God made and that they have personalities and thoughts like everyone else and I don't have to be afraid of them, they just want to be loved and talked too.  Most of them are just like little kids and they are really fun to be around.  All the guys in my group were awesome.  Mike, one of the guys in my alley, was really funny and would always make jokes and stuff.  James, an older man, said the whole time, "Everyone is doing great today!" And Jared and Ivan didn't talk much, but they would always high five me and smile when I cheered them on.  At the end of our time with them, one of the guys in my alley, Mike, went up to me and told me that he really appreciated that we came here to spend time with them and have fun with them and just talk with them.  It really made me happy that I had made their day by being with them and helping them do what they like to do.   

Assignment #5

This week, for spiritual emphasis week, Andy Braner spoke about asking ourselves questions like: What is it that I believe? etc.  I learned alot from everything he said this week but one thing that stood out to me the most was on Wednesday, when he asked us the question, "Behave?"  How do we behave?  Basically, the way we behave or act is the result of what we feed our minds with.  If we feed our minds with good things, good things will come out.  If we feed our minds with unrighteous things, unrighteous thins will come out as a result.  Andy gave a great analogy about this.  He said, "You are what you eat."  If you eat alot of fat, greasy things, then you'll turn into a fat, greasy person.  If you eat your vegtables, you won't (usually) become a fat, greasy person.  Just like if you are constantly listening to music that has bad words in it, then that is what you are filling your mind with and what will eventually show up in your actions or words.  Then, towards the end of the chapel, Andy asked us what are some spiritual junk foods that are in our lives.  I had thought about that alot and I realized that there are so many junk foods and things in everday life that we are numb to and don't even think about.  For instance, video games.  I had gotten Call of Duty for my birthday one year and one day my brother played it.  A few days later, my mom heard him in his room playing with his army guys, saying the d word.  I had played the game before and heard that they said that on there and it didn't bother me until I heard my brother say it.  Video games themselves are not bad things, but they can cause others to stumble.  Also if you are constantly playing them, they can become addicting and they can make you lose focus on what is really important.  Another thing that is a spiritual junk food in my life and many other people's is T.V.  What we watch on television or on YouTube, or whatever can also really shape how we act or what we say.  Our spiritual food should not consist of worldy things, " Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.(Romans 12:2)", But we should feed on the thing that really matters in this life.  That question really convicted me this week and I am making it a goal to go on a spiritual diet.  The Jesus' flesh and blood diet!  " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are bad, your whole  body will be full of darkness.  If then the lighen withen you is darkness, how great is that darkness"