squirrelzdrummer's Xanga

Big News

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:33:02 GMT

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

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

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:39:41 GMT

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...

THE BEST...

Friend I ever had...my sister, Kena

Teacher I ever had was...o geez, Mr. Hudson or Mr. Frank

Concert I ever went to...Emery and UnderOath both put on amazing shows, they need to play together

Game I ever went to...hmmm, Florida Tech vs. Tampa in SSC Soccer Semi-Finals in 2006 ;)

Class in school...Zoology (in Hi Skool and Invert Zoology in college)

Best pet I ever had...chocolate lab, Alex

Best Birthday... i'll go with 20th, clubbing w/ roomies, surprise bday party with friends, first date with Timmy :)

Best vacation... bahamas trip freshman year w/ marine bio class (i think it was supposed to be educational, but more of a vacation)

Best book I 've read... The Bible, the perfect sunday school answer

Best movie I've seen... o man, i'm in a RENT mood right now, so we'll go with that

Stuff...

Name: Cassie

Nickname: I guess "Cassie" is actually a nickname, also CassieMom, Cass, more?

At 7 my hero was: i like jess's answer, my daddy :)

Now my hero is: Jesus, again, perfect sunday school answer

What I do when I get bored: stalk people online

My out look on life right now is: i'm trying to enjoy God and the people He's put in my life

When I see a hot guy/girl I say: (sorry to make you all puke, buuuut) o look, it's tim! since he's the only hot guy there is ;)

The best thing happening in my life right now: besides Jesus, being with the man of my dreams

I remember...

Fav. subject in school: Science

The person I went to when I got hurt: my mommy...or the ER, I was there a lot

First pet: Elmo or Ernie or some weird named dog, i think

The chore I hated to do: all of them

Fav. room in my house: when we lived in D.C., the playroom where we painted the walls

The adult who took time to listen to me: mommy and daddy

Fun thing we did as a family: cruise where tweety bird tucked me in bed

The first thing I wanted to be when I grew up: i think i always wanted to be a marine biologist

Fav. thing to eat: tacos? i dunno

Fav. uncle or aunt: Uncle Daryl, he took Ken and I on roller coasters!

First person I thought was cute: haha...josh wilson

Friend who got in trouble with me: prolly emily heskett

Future...

What do you want to do in 10 years: married, some kids, teaching in an inner city school, leading a youth group

Where do you want to live in 10 years: big city, NY, Maimi, Portland, someplace in Italy?

How much $ do you want to be making in 10 yrs: enough for food and shelter

What values would you look for in the person you marry: have to love Jesus and be named Timothy Lawrence Gonyer ;)

How many children do you want: 2 or 3

When are you going to allow your children to start dating: till they can drive themselves to their dates, so like 30

Private school or public: public

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

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

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 16:27:18 GMT

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/

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:40:44 GMT

<---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

Friday, June 30, 2006

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 19:36:06 GMT

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.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 23:51:53 GMT

I thought about what I wrote last time and I can picture at least one girl I know, who has always done bad at choosing guys, telling me, “O yes, Cassie, I have a boy that I can respect!” Meanwhile, me and everyone else in the world know that it’s not true and I’m sure she knows somewhere deep down too, but she’s too delusional right now to notice. Sorry, that was harsh, but we girls can be pretty crazy sometimes, admit it! So how do you know if you have a man you can respect or how can you be a man of respect? Actually, we should all be worthy of respect, so this goes for girls too.

#1 on my list of why a guy should be respect, and again, I’m gonna brag on my man ;), love God. There is nothing more worthy of respect and attractive as a man who is completely in love with Jesus. Why? Because chances are if he’s completely in love with Jesus, he’ll know what it truly means to love all people and to love you with the kind of love that Jesus had for his bride, the church, and that was that He loved her so much, He died for her. Jesus gave everything He had for His bride, so if a man loves Jesus, and I mean full out, not ashamed, in love with Jesus, then chances are he’ll know how to love you the right way and be worthy of your respect.

When Kendra first met Tim, she told me, “He loves God way more than he’ll ever love you!” And as weird as the statement may sound, I’m so glad for that, because he’s learned through his relationship with Jesus what it means to love others and how to treat his sisters in Christ. There’s another one, see how he treats his mom and friends that are girls (other than you, if you’re a girl). I had always thought Tim was pretty cute (come on, have you seen pics of him?? lol) but it wasn’t until I went to his house and saw the way he treated and honored his mom that I knew there was something different about him and worthy of respect. If a guy treats his mom like crap or even just indifferent, chances are he won’t think much of you eventually either. Hey, I just call ‘em how I see ‘em.

Back to the loving God thing. The coolest thing about a guy who loves Jesus is that he’ll want you to have that same love for Jesus. I’m not talking about missionary dating, I’m talking about a brother and sister in Christ encouraging, praying for, and keeping each other accountable. Yes, you need someone of the same sex to hold you accountable, but one of the things I respect so much in Tim is that he asks me what God is doing in my life, how he can pray for me, and what I’ve learned in my quiet time. He and I have been reading through Mark together over the summer and periodically checking up on each other to see what we’ve read and what we thought. It’s so awesome to have a guy care enough to want me to grow in my relationship with Christ. And again, I respect him for it. And yeah, he prays for me, which is awesome. If you've noticed the heart shaped shell necklace I wear all the time, the shell is from one night when he and I went to the beach back when we were just good friends and he was praying for and asking God about me and found the heart shaped shell. It's an awesome reminder of his prayers for me.

So I know there’s probably a billion other ways a guy can earn respect, but for now, I’m sticking with two important ones: does He love God? and does he treat his mom with honor and love? And despite the fact that these last two posts have probably made it sound like I think Tim is perfect and so is our relationship, but I don’t think that. I know he and I are both imperfect beings being perfected by Jesus, hopefully more and more each day. Amen!

~Cass

P.S. I wrote this during my 4 hour layover in Detroit, but I'm home in Ohio now.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:35:12 GMT

Assuming I get through two finals, a night of work, a two hour drive, and a long plane trip, I will be home in Ohio Saturday night. O, that's also assuming someone from my family picks me up from the airport since rumor has it if my family is having too much fun on their vacation, they won't come pick me up. Meh, I can be like Tom Hanks in Terminal and just stay at the airport for a while...no big deal.

I really haven't had any desire to write on here anymore, if that wasn't obvious. Maybe I will when I get home, but I've just been trying to hang out with people here before I go and I've been moping around eating lots of ice cream b/c I miss Tim. Ok, not really, but I do miss that guy. Erica and I went to Orlando this past weekend to watch him play baseball and hang out, it was a lot of fun. My profle pic is from our random stop at Ron Jon's on the way to his first game. "Barbara Manatee...manatee, manatee!!" I'm really glad when I put that pic on facebook that Jess got what I was thinking and sang the song already! You rock, man!

But, yeah, at the risk of sounding like a little middle school girl "in love," I wanna brag on my man for a bit. Guys and girls, hear me out. Girls, don't ever settle for less than what God wants to bring you. Take this into all areas of life, but especially when it comes to who you date. Trust me, I've played the whole dating game, had some bad boyfriends and some even worse guys who I was "talking to" or what ever that phase is right before dating. When you're in a relatiohsip with someone, wether you mean to or not, you share a part of yourself with them. That will almost always be emotionally, but, let's be honest, a lot of times it is physically too. Why do you want to settle for less when it comes to giving part of yourself away?? Look for a guy who you can not only see yourself loving, but respecting. Wait, scratch that, don't look at all, let God bring him to you. And guys, be the man of God that He intended you to be and give her someone to respect. Be a man, fight for her. And girls, make him fight for you. Don't play hard to get, but girls, honestly, don't make it so easy for these guys, make them work to win your heart, make them pursue you! If he's the right guy, he'll stick around to try to win you.

During my year break from dating, God really laid that word, "respect," on me. I know I had never been with a guy who I respected. I remember when my family came down for Thanksgiving this past year and I was talking to Kendra about guys b/c I was just over liking one guy and then we started talking about my friend, Tim. "I could never date him though," I told Kendra, "I just respect him too much to be with him." Yeah, looking back, that statement made no sense, that should be the very reason why I want to be with him and, now, it definatly is. I was in the midst of reading "Boy Meets Girl" by Josh Harris when I told her that and guess what I got to next in the book? The story of one of the girls who decided that she not only loved the man who wanted to court her, but she respected him and that made a beautiful courtship and, later, marriage. I was blown away, I had just told Kendra that I couldn't date this guy because I respected him too much and yet, that's what I needed...a man to respect.

Wow, I really didn't intend on writing all of that, but there's so much more that I want to write about him because God has just totally blown me away with how awesome He is and how much He has blessed me with such an amazing guy. The lesson for today is, though: Girls, don't settle for less and Guys, be the man that God intended you to be, a man of respect.

~Cass

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:28:58 GMT

I got frustrated with Jess's super hard quiz, so I decided to make my own. Yeah, what now! ok, I'm done.

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=060613142952-244057

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 23:21:39 GMT

I overheard one of my roomates talking about a vision a man once had. In it, he saw Jesus praying. He approached Jesus and asked Him what He was praying about. Jesus said, "I died so that they could have free will and now I'm praying that they will give it back to Me."

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 11:57:26 GMT

I heard this song on the radio while I was home, but didn't know what it was called or anything until I saw the lyrics on Cassey Spencer's MySpace. So, yeah, awesome song right here:

"MY JESUS" by Todd Agnew
Which Jesus do you follow,
Which Jesus do you serve
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Why do you look so much like the world

Cause My Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars,
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
or do we pray to blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sands

My Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars,
He loved the poor and accosted the rich,
So which one do you want to be

Who is this that You follow,
This picture of the American dream,
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side,
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion,
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins,
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part,
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him

My Jesus bled and died He spent His time with thieves and the least of these,
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable,
So which one do you want to be,

Cause My Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet,
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
And, I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus
but I'm not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You,
love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I wanna be like you Jesus
I wanna be Like my Jesus

~Cass