Big News

I still don't like using this thing and am still really slacking on stalking people, but in case you didn't hear yet...

I'm engaged!!

Yep, just thought I'd throw that out there. Tim and I are shooting for July 7th for the wedding, so I gots some plannin to do! I hope everyone else out there in Xanga land is doing well and staying safe! Love you all!!

~Cass

Currently Watching Law & Order Criminal Intent - The Second Year By Law & Order-Criminal Intent see related

This doesn't mean I'm back...

Yeah, so I haven't posted in forever, but I have a break from stuff right now and I noticed that everyone and their brother was filling out this survey thing, so here goes...

Stuff...

What do you think of when you hear...

Cry: baby...you're such a cry baby!
Think: tank

Good: vibrations
Green: mint
White: snow
Bubble: gum
Tooth: paste
Holly: have a holly jolly christmas!
Paste: toothpaste
Carpet: it needs vacuumed
Bunny: foo foo

Currently Listening Define the Great Line Writing on the Walls see related

Another reason to love UnderOath and to have a heart for the homeless...

Our homeless have 20/20 vision.

Posted July 26, 2006

So last September we were on tour with The Used in Canada, and spent a day in a small western town called Kelowna. There I met a homeless man who looked like Tom hanks from Cast Away. He said God told him to sell all that he had and move to Kelowna and live on the streets. We spent a good portion of the day together and I heard some of the most profound things come out of his mouth. I often wonder how those "dirty" people we seem to pass on the street ,and pretend don't exist, can have a far superior grasp on life and how God is wanting to integrate himself into every aspect of human life....they have no distractions! Here I am consumed by motion pictures, strip malls, and social status...and this man with nothing but a backpack to his name is teaching me the very bare bones basics to life and why we were created. In a world clouded by society and it's predispositions, a man with no distractions or goals to climb the ladders of success can truly focus all his time and energy on allowing God to renew his mind and rewire his heart. We had a day off last week in Kelowna as well and as I was driving my scooter around town, I passed Castaway on the street again. I pulled over and said hello and he remembered me from last year. I asked him how life had been and he said to me..."God has shown me that the time of believing in something we can not see is over. That is a childlike mentality, and we must mature past this spiritually. We must KNOW that God exists, and not just hope he does. The time has come for us to allow God to manifest himself in our lives in a way in which we have no choice but to know he exists. To believe in something we hope for is childish, to not believe at all is ignorance, but to believe in something we know is perfect. The root to perfect is FACT! We must know God factually exists in our lives to truly see what he is capable of doing." Although I believe there is some biblical truth to having the "faith of a child", I believe there is something to be learned by what Castaway had to say. The time for hoping and wishing is over...today is a day of knowing and doing. Wishing and hoping doesn't change anything...but an action spawned from an undeniable truth revealed to us by God himself is as effective as any weapon on earth. We must KNOW and we must put what we know into action.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22... 

Until next time friends...be blessed. Timmy

*This was posted by one of the guys from UnderOath in their tour journal. I love it b/c society looks so far down on the homeless, but maybe they're the ones who really have it all figured out. Psalm 46:10 "Be still and KNOW that I am God..." Amen.

~Cass

P.S. here's the website where I found their journal, but beware, you have to spell words to "define" the site. It can be kind of annoying and time consuming, but use the hints and it shouldn't be too hard. Type JOURNAL to read more... http://www.definethegreatline.com/

Currently Listening This Is Who We Are By Run Kid Run see related

<---I'm just too emo for you! haha!

"God isn't into addition; He's into multiplication"

Amen to that. I can't wait for this coming school year, leading new freshman and being an example to my teamates and roomates. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be when I'm at school. I can't say much of the same anywhere else. I know I'm home for a reason and God has a purpose for every situation He puts us in...but i just don't feel like I belong here anymore. I haven't ever since I left for school 2 years ago. Granted, I didn't really feel like I belonged at school my first semester either, but that's mostly b/c I wasn't doing what God wanted or had planned for me, but He staightened me up and hooked me up with some awesome people at church and IV and now I know He's got me where He wants me (reminds me of the song Ken sings..."now that I've got you..." haha). And I'm talking about a physical location with physical relationships, I'm not saying I'm where I'm supposed to be in my walk with Him b/c I know that has to be growing every day until Jesus decides to bring me home...and then what? I want a legacy.

I loved Joel's prophecies over Pastor Mike last night at church. "You may want to take it easy b/c you think you're near the end, but you're not done" Joel pretty much just said that Pastor Mike will never leave b/c he's going to be sowing into a younger generation and leave his legacy of his faith and passion with those still here even after he is gone. I was actually thinking about that a few nights ago when I saw Mack up front at church. I'm not trying to make Kendra out to necessarily be anything special, but it just blows me away that instead of taking it easy her senior year of high school, she promised herself to make new friends and bring new people to church every week and Mack was one of those friends. Even after her being at school for a year, Mack is still there in part because she just took the time to invite him and made sure to sow into those younger than her. I was thinking about that and then last night when Joel was talking to Pastor Mike it hit me again.

It's something that Ron talked a bit about during a leadership meeting this past year too. "Have you been sowing into and encouraging new leaders for the coming years?" Honestly, no, I don't think I did or have. I believe it's only by God's grace that pretty much every guy in my Bible study this past year is now on the leadership team for this coming year. I don't think I had anything to do with that. I didn't sow into them individually, they just let Jesus work in them and I love all the leadership that is coming up for this year. It was exciting (and yet really sad for all the IV veterans) that by the last few months of the year, the Bible study I led and all the freshman were the ones doing work and reaching out to the campus. They all had such a great heart for this school they were at less than a year!

Now, I'm not saying noone else was doing anything, for all of you older kids who are maybe getting offended now. I'm just saying I saw all of the freshman step up and I'm so excited for their passion to reach the campus this coming year. All I know is that I want the freshman this year to have that same passion and I want to be able to bless and teach them as much as I know they will me, just like this past year. It was not merely a Bible study this past year, it was a group of friends haninging out and talking about Jesus. How much cooler could it get? I want more of that, Jesus!

~Cass

Currently Reading Wild at Heart : Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul By John Eldredge see related

I'm doing some things this summer that I told myself I would never do.

1.) Working at a fast food restaurant (i.e. McDonalds)

2.) Working the 10pm to 6am shift. Wasn't I just making fun of Ashley for having those same hours at Target and I said I would, and I quote, "NEVER do that!"??

Gah, whatever, I need money and God is providing me with ways to get it, such as coming home to babysit and to make Happy Meals at 3 in the morning with my the most amazing girl ever. I think it might actually be a bad idea to have Juls and I work together...we might cause too much trouble. Muah ha ha!!

Seriously tho, as I was telling the IV leadership team and peoples...this summer did not/is not going AT ALL as planned. But then again, it keps things interesting and it forces me to trust God. Despite all my doubt and worrying, He has pulled through every time and I can't be thankful enough. Jesus, you rawk!

~Cass

P.S. I'm reading "Wild At Heart" in order to better understand the heart of a man. Actually, it's a great book for understanding a woman's heart too, but the second book, "Captivating," is more for that. At any rate, "Wild At Heart" is a good book.