everything is meaningless.............

Yes, it is.  Well, that is really a conditional statement.  I have recently began to read Ecclesiastes and this is one of the messages Solomon is trying to get across to readers.  He says that everything that is not connected with God is futile.  It is basically like trying to chase the wind.  Think ya can?  Nope!  I guess its just important to remember that anything that is not in, through, or of God is not worth pursuing.  This is something that I have bee struggling with that is thinking that some things are worth going after.  It is not.  If you want more on this, check out Ecclesiastes.

Christmas day..............

Hey everyone!!! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! 

         I hope y'all had a great Christmas........so far!!!  :)  Today I woke up kind of early, I think it was 8:00ish.  I hung out for a while before breakfast with some of the family, then had the Garment(Laura's family) tradition, sausage-mushroom casserole, and my dad's cheese and bacon grits for breakfast.  It was a pretty filling breakfast:).  After, we opened presents and got to see what everyone got each other.  This year we, the Icardis', not including Mike and Laura, decided since we took this trip, not to do big or regular presents.  We did not have as many gifts, which really ended up being fine:) despite some protests.  We compromised with each person buying every other one gift.  Mike and Laura joined us with this, but they gave each other regular gifts.  Our one-per-person gifts were more "supposed" to be stocking-like gifts. Well, they kind of were, but not really:).  So, all that to say, that's how the presents went.  

          Next, we hung out some and some people worked on the Christmas meal, chiefly Laura (who did a good job;)).  Once the meal was completed, we sat down to quite a feast.  I had some wine with dinner (only a little), you know special occasion :), well you may be glad to hear I did not like it.  No reason to worry that I will be an alcoholic.  After, we cleaned up and the guys played RISK.  Oooohhh it was not such a hot game:).   I was the first one out and was not too happy about it, but I got over it:), and then Stephen went, then Tim, and then my dad.  Yes, Mike won. :)  He usually does, but that's life.  Hahahha...got to love it.  Then all of us, besides Mike, played Scategories (again, proper spelling?) and Laura won.  Yes, do you sense the losing streak?  Sorry, I'm putting too much attention on myself here.  Back to the story!!  After that, we talked about tomorrow's plans and now a few of us are watching Batman Begins (one of Timothy's gifts).

          Now, I just want to jump back to yesterday.  Chiefly, to last night.  We went to Mike and Laura's new church, Covenant Life (I think I have already mentioned it).  They had a Christmas Eve service.  I do not think I have ever been to one.  I will tell you what.........this was GOOD!!!  There was a small orchestra, a choir, and an interesting dramatization.  All the music was done by the choir.......all I have to say is amazing.  The choir was made up of children, teens, and adults.  They were good, maybe not amazing, but definitely good.  Finally, the dramatization.  It was taken from the Gospel of John.  If you are familiar with the story of the birth of Christ then you may be wondering the same thing I was wondering, "How are they going to take the nativity from the Book of John?"  It was interesting; it was good.  Fairly good acting, voices, and a minimum yet sufficient backdrop made up the service.  Covenant Life is a big church.  I am not, or have not, been a fan of big churches, but this is one of the times when a big church is so great.  While small churches are great, they just cannot put on Christmas services like Covenant.  So, it was quite a good service.  After, we went into D.C. for a little while and walked around.  We saw this huge dog.  It was like a bear.

         I hope you all have had a great Christmas and have remembered Jesus.  I know it may be hard amidst the gifts, vacation, family, friends, and such.  But I hope, unlike myself in many respects, have been able to take it in and just remember why December 25th is such an important day for all of us.

         You should go read Luke 2:1-7 (I think it is) and just take time to think, remember, and appreciate what Jesus has done for us.  He is Immanuel and He is with us!

W&L reveiw, cold, Subway, and Giant..........

(Ok, the blog was being stupid and I have never published pictures, but here you go)

        Yesterday I went, along with my mom, dad, and Natalie, to Washington and Lee University to check it out.  Picture a beautiful southern state with cool weather, pretty buildings, and a place so full of history you are practically living it.  It is set in Lexington, Virginia.  

         The school has been around since George Washington, who gave a large contribution to the school.  The school's name has quite a history.  First, it was Augusta Academy.  I think after that it was Liberty Hall Academy.  Then it was Washington College.  Finally, it was named Washington and Lee University.  Lee was added to the name because Robert E. Lee was the president of the school and made some big changes there like founding the school of law and the first journalism program in the US.  

         It was a very nice university.  I was not quite happy with some of the features, but over all it was a pretty great place.  We got to see the crypt where Robert E. Lee and his family are buried.  We also saw Lee's office at the school, which was pretty much left the exact way he had it before he died.  Right near Lee Chapel which was right near the school, where Lee's office was, is the final resting place of Lee's horse, Traveller.  Yes, it's kind of funny his horse is buried right near him.  I guess dog's are not man's best friend.  

         After meeting with a counselor, (he's been there since '67), we walked around the school for a bit.  The school is still on my list; we'll see if I get the full scholarship.  At $48,000 a year, that is probably the only way I would be able to go.  I am not set on the school yet, but it is still a possibility.

         After our visit, we headed back to Mike and Lauras'.  But before that, we went on part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was quite beautiful.  It was also cool because there was ice frozen on some of the rocks and some huge icicles that we broke off and threw.  It was pretty cool......literally.  

       After that, we went home.  On the way back we stopped at Subway and I tried their new flatbread.  It was not that great, honestly.  It was full of good stuff, but the "bread" itself was very impressive.  We arrived home and settled down.  We played Scategories, which can be quite a fun game.  

Today has been quite a relaxed day.  We woke up and did some different stuff.  After breakfast and some TV, I did some work on my brother's treadmill.  Then we went to Giant's food.  It is the equivalent of Publix.  I use this loosely, as some will be quick to acknowledge that Giant's cannot at all be equated to Publix.  It's a supermarket, but not at all like Publix:).  Well, anyway, turns out my bro and I took quite a long time to shop.  We were buying Mike and Laura food that they wanted.  My dad and bro, Tim, were also there, but they were buying other things.  Anyway, it took awhile as some things were hard to find.  Finally we made it out:).  

Then we did some other things after we got home.  Tonight my dad and bro cooked dinner and we are going to watch Fred Claus.  Alright, take care all!

Verse for now: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Phil. 4:8

Old, VA, W&L, siblings, and Christmas........

Hey y'all,

I'm sorry I have so neglected my blog.  I apologize if you are a faithful reader, or if you just casually read it, that I have not written on this for a while.  Ok, so much has happened since I last wrote.  As you will see I previously wrote about soccer and I'll touch on that, but there is a bunch more to talk about besides that. 

Currently, I am at my brother (Mike) and sister-in-love:)s' (Laura) house in Virginia.  This morning there was ice on our windows!  It's crazy!  Hopefully it will snow on Christmas!  If you guys think about it, it would be great if you prayed for a white Christmas.  That would be cool.  Literally.  We got in last night close to 9pm or so.  We spent a lot of time in our rental van (from 5:30ish to 9pm that night).  It was crazy. Well we got there, said our hellos and such, and unpacked our stuffed van.  We talked, played some darts and just hung out.  This morning we went with Mike and Laura's church, Covenant Life Church.  It is a church that is under Sovereign Grace Ministries.  And, guess what?  The senior pastor is Josh Harris, yes, the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye.  Isn't that crazy!?!?!?  But yes.  Tonight we're going to have Mike's birthday dinner.  Tomorrow I am going with, probably, just my dad to check out a college, Washington and Lee University.  It's a couple hours away and it looks like a nice college.  It is about $48000 a year so I would need full scholarship if I would even think of going:)  

For the rest of the week  we're going into DC, celebrate Christmas, and do some other things.  It should be a fun rest of the week!  

Well, here's a short update on soccer.  We do not have any more games this calendar year.  Our record ended with something like 3-1-3 (wins-losses-ties), although I know that is not accurate, we have at least two losses, but anyway:).  It has been a pretty good season overall.  

Ok, well, I think I stop here for now.  Don't worry, I'll write soon!  I hope you all have a great few days before Christmas and a very Merry Christmas!

Verse for now: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9:6

sorry it's been awhile since I've posted....

....however, expect to see a post tomorrow, or technically today:), on my blog about Thanksgiving and life.  Be there or..........eat some more turkey!

soccer........

We beat the Rock this afternoon/evening 2-0!!!!

Good job, Centurions!!!

thoughts on Thanksgiving...

Hey y'all,

So, Thanksgiving's in less than a week!  My mom challenged or said that we should journal each night or day during the week up to Thanksgiving, so Thursday the 20th to the 27th.  I'm going to go ahead and just do it here.  I'll start with Thursday and do Friday and Saturday.

Thursday: I am thankful for underarmor to keep me warm and hamburger soup that my mom made!  Also, for a car to get me to soccer practice.

Friday:  I am thankful for coffee at work, a car to get to work, and nice coworkers!  Also, for family and friends who come to my soccer games!

Saturday: (well the day's not over yet, but that's ok) I am thankful for friends!  Also, for food to eat and family! (even when there are difficulties)

Verse for now: "Enter [H]is gates with thanksgiving and [H]is courts with praise; give thanks to [H]im and praise [H]is name." -Psalm 100:4

soccer......

Hey y'all.....

....just some soccer news:

- We won our first game 5-0 against Windermere Prep (I would like to add a disclaimer, this was their first year and the team had only practiced for a week or so.)

- We lost our game against Holy Trinity and they won 1-0, although we should have won (sorry about my angry attitude, now it is ok.)

- We have our next game at Orangewood at 4:00pm.  Hopefully we will win, but if we do not then such is life.

So yes, that's what's been happening with soccer.  If you want to come, let me know, that'd be great!! You should!

Take care!

If you want to check out a blog that will make you think, check out: www.michaelicardijr.wordpress.com

Verse for now: 

"How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.  I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." - Psalm 119:9-10

marriage....oh yes.....sounds good....

Ok, so I was thinking about something while in the shower...

(that sounds weird, but the shower is really a great place to do some thinking:))

...ok, so yes, I was thinking about marriage.  I think it was because I was recently at Aaron and Kristen Lesondak's wedding (yes, I do like weddings, especially helping with them) this past Saturday.  So, I know I've never been married and probably will not be for a while, but I was thinking about it.  I just wanted to say that after thinking about it, I am pretty stoked about whenever I am going to get married.  I mean getting to spend the rest of your life with the girl or guy that you love with all your heart sounds pretty much like the best thing.  Yes, there will be tough times you go through as a married couple, or so I've heard from those who have been married, but true love can overcome any problem (a cliche, for sure).  However, I think its so important, in fact, indispensable that God be the center of the marriage.  I do not think that it can succeed if God is not at the center of the relationship.  And true love can overcome anything only if that love is from God.

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts and here they are in a few points.

-Marriage is great.

-I am going to enjoy when I finally get married.

-God has to be the center of all marriages if they are going to be successful.

Thank you Lord for creating marriage!  May we keep it sanctified and enjoy it through You!

p.s. If you are married and reading this, well you know what it's really like and you'll have to excuse my lack of actual knowledge in this subject:)  I hope you found it enjoyable!

Verse for now: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." - Genesis 2:24

quick really happy and great note.......

Looks like here in Florida.......the Marriage Amendment passed.  Yes, marriage is between one man and one women!!  Praise the Lord that we retained that!!!!!(sad, but yes we've come to that)

only the Lord knows......

...that's what I think concerning this election.  It's a sad thing that we are taking part in this very night.  I do not want people to think that I am not a fan of Obama because of his race or because of anything like that.  But we must look at the most important issues.  I cannot support someone who is in support or will not speak out against abortion(murdering babies, innocent children) and same-sex marriage.  These issues are so important to God.  He loves all people, especially the weak and innocent and marriage(between one man and one woman) is sooooooo important to Him.  

I just do not know where  our country is heading.  It's just.............crazy.  I am just.....arg!  I'm not happy.  

Prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer.......that my friends is what this country is screaming! 

I'm sorry that this is not cohesive.  I'm just rambling.

I mean this should not be about race.....we should in no way discriminate people, but seriously, you should not vote for someone just because you have the same color skin as them.  You should vote for someone because of what they stand for and those stands should line up with what God says.  

I just do not know.

I am currently listening to Obama give his acceptance speech on FOX.  Oh, for the four years ahead.  I just hope that we will not have to experience four sad and devastating years after George W. Bush leaves office.

Well I'll end this post.  I ask that you pray for America and what God is going to do with her.  I can only imagine.

(Obama's done with his speech.  It was kind of weird that his family came on stage at first then left and Biden is just here now at the end of the speech.)

((sorry if this post offends you, but I'm expressing some of my thoughts and such))

Pray!  Pray!  Pray!!

"The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous."

-Proverbs 15:29

vote '08.....

Go VOTE (NOW!!!)

:)

I DID...........

a sticky business....

Hey y'all,

I just wanted to do a part two to my previous post. I was not planning on it, but I had some more stuff to say, or so I found out today. It's about friendships, so I'm considering it part two.

I was thinking today, after making observations at church this morning, again about friends and people. It is so hard to, at least for me, watch certain people have pretty deep conversations and not be apart of it when I want to. Not so much a knowledge kind of deep conversation, but a personal conversation. But this is only, I find, with people that I want to be better friends with. It's like, "I wish I was that other person in the conversation" or "Why did they choose that person to talk to?"

Yes, I think it's as selfish as it sounds. Even if you are in a conversation with a person or in a group, you have this feeling that a certain person does not "like"(I do not like this word in this situation, I guess "care" would be a better word, but I digress) you as much as you would like. I guess you will always have friends who you want to get to know better or be such a friend to a person that you are the one they talk to for advice or the person who they call just to hang out with.

Why do friendships have to be such complex, difficult, easy, and misunderstood all-at-the-same-time in the many phases of life? I was thinking, maybe God is using hard situations where I feel far from my friends or that they do not care for me as much, to help me. You know, like a trial that helps you grow? I do need to remember that I should not worry about friendships (at least not the way I do) because God will work out everything and has decided who of my friends I will know really well and who will be more of less, good friends (yes, now there is such a thing:))

Those are just some of my thoughts. By the way, just a quick update since my last post:
-Friday:
-Went to a work meeting.
-Went to church and worked on the Thrive website.
-Went back to work from about 1pm-4:20pm.
-Went to soccer from about 4:40ish to 6:30pm.
-Watched Numb3rs with Mr. R from 10pm-11pm.
-Saturday:
-Was at home for a lot of the day doing jobs and such.
-That night went to Epcot with my "Aunt" Kathy. I say that because she is not really my aunt. She is actually one of my aunt's friends, but we have called her that for a while. She is so generous. She just came down from Jersey for "some fun" at Disney. She brought some of her nieces and a nephew. There was a couple from England who are long time friends of hers there, also. We had dinner near the Moroccoan display at Epcot in our own little private area. She does everything up big! It was really nice of her. We went from her hotel to Epcot in a limo! (That was definitely a surprise. It ended up being two limos. One, the kids went in and the adults went in the other.) It was a nice dinner and there were fireworks after. Over all, it really was nice! Thanks Aunt Kathy!!!!!
-Sunday:
-Went to church. Got up late so I did not even eat breakfast! (Should have set that alarm clock and woken up to it, Matt!)
-Came back from church.
-Went out and went to a few Halloween stores for tomorrow night's Fall Party!!
-Now I am here finishing this blog I began earlier and it's already 4:40pm!!! Ack!!

Take care all!

Verse for now (you get a bonus, this time I put the verse on my blog!:)) :
Romans 12:9-10
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

fickle and strong friendships......

Sorry I have not written for a while.....

Recently I have been and have been for a while thinking about friendships.  It is an interesting topic.  Friendships exist on many different levels: best friends, good friends, casual friends, acquaintances, etc.  I have struggled in this area.  Sometimes you want to be better friends with certain people and maybe, honestly, not want to be around other people. (I in no way recommend that you avoid anybody, but we as humans do.  We should, however, love and care for everybody, no matter what.)  Such things as friendships are sometimes complex and difficult things.  I do not really understand them fully at all and never will.  We wonder why people react to us in certain ways.  It's so hard because we do not always know if people like us or not. (That's just my  view though.  It's not the best view though because my friends are great and I hold people's friendships sometime by how much they interact with me at a time.) 

Ok, so all this may be jumbled up to you.  I just wanted to write about friendships.  Let me finish up with this.  Friendships can be hard.  They can be downright annoying and hard to understand.  However, worrying about them usually only makes things worse.  Not always, but a lot of the time.  So, be careful not to read too much into things because they probably are not what you think.  Finally and most importantly(this really is the most important part), having a good relationship with God first is important and absolutely key if you want any of your horizontal relationships to work out.  This does not mean that if you have a good relationship with God all your friendships will be peachy-keen, but your relationships will be better and they will work out way better than if you do not have a good relationship with God.  But I better stop.  I do not want to talk for God and do not want to incorrectly portray how friendships work and should work.

Alright, well....in a short summary about life:

-I have officially started soccer and try-outs are officially done.

-My online classes have been suffering due to lack of time spent on them:).  I have improved in my English IV class, but PreCalc still needs some work.

-Work is going fine.  It's a great job.  Things are going to get crazy once I start soccer practices at Airport Lakes Park that is out by the Orlando Int'l Airport.

-I would definitely appreciate prayer that I spend enough time on all my classes and stop procrastinating.  Also, that I would seek God in all areas of my life and submit humbly to His control.  I would really, really appreciate prayer in these areas.

I hope these thoughts have maybe been helpful, if not at least you are getting a glimpse into my mind....though that may not be a good thing:) Hahahahah....I hope that does not scare you!

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Verse for now: I John 4:7...check it out!

Take care kids!

today...yesterday...extras........

So here's a point by point of my last two days.........

-Wednesday morning got up and ate breakfast.

-Wednesday afternoon-ish walked to take care of two dogs.

-Walked to work and was at work from 1:00pm to about 5:00pm.

-Went to church, after eating dinner, and worked on the Thrive Youth website (go check it out: thriveyouth.org).

-Watched debate Wednesday night - Go McCain and Palin!

-Thursday morning got up late(somewhat) and had breakfast.

-Worked on school and got Theology homework done before Theology:).

-Went to Theology Class and came back around 5:00pm.

-Ate dinner tonight and am home now.  Have school to work on now:).

Well, it's not that interesting, but I do not have a lot of time and should be working on school....

So, that's all for now.  

Verse for now: Jeremiah 29:11

Check it out!

quick update....

So, yesterday was a pretty normal day, kind of.  I no longer have work on Tuesdays!!  It is nice so now I have time for other things, like school, soccer, college stuff, etc.  But, I got to go play soccer with Josh H. and Caleb G. up at Sanford with some missionaries and MKs.  It was good to get in some soccer this week because we are off till out last club game on Saturday.  Then after playing soccer I came home after my mom picked me up from church, I had dinner and watched some news.  Then I read and went to bed.  It was a good day in that I got something done, but it was kind of a weird day in what I felt.  I was just not feeling  right.  But anyway, that was yesterday and today's a new day!  Ask yourself this today, "Am I living compartmentally or wholistically?'  If ya have no idea what that means, just ask me!

Take care now!

so.......

Hey everyone, if there's anyone out there reading this:)......

So, I would like to be persistent with this and keep updating it pretty often. I could use some encouragement to if you see that I have not posted in a while. Anyway, so I've started a blog once or twice, but it's never stuck. I want this one to. By the way, if you want to check out a good blog go to mymklife.blogspot.com. Megan, I hope you do not mind me giving a plug for your blog. It's great stuff though!

I thought I'd start my blogging off with a review of sorts. It's a movie/miniseries review. It's about none other than John Adams. This was a miniseries, I guess, created about the life of John Adams, America's second President. It is based off of David McCollugh's book, John Adams.(Original, isn't it?) Well I'm going to do something some reviews may not do. I'm going to give you my rating first, then explain. I give it a three-and-a-half to four stars(out of five) rating. It really was a well put together film. It is broken down into three discs. The first one has two parts, the second has three parts, and the third has two parts. It starts with Adams witnessing events directly following the Boston Massacre and it follows his life up to his death. It gives you an idea of what the Founding Fathers went through and experienced to get our country where it is today. Let it be known that while they were not all Christians, the foundation of America was based on God's commandments. Without Him, seriously, our country would be nothing.

The story takes you through his life as a representative to Congress before the national government was established to his extended time spent in Europe as a delegation for the US to his presidency and all the hardships involved. I cannot vouch for its validity as it relates to actual history, but being based off of a book that was greatly researched one could assume it is fairly historically accurate.

It really is entertaining even if you are not a history buff, but all the more so if you are. The acting, from my little knowledge of good acting, was done well. The people they chose to play the historical figures may not be who you'd think looked like the original people (with the exception of George Washington) but they did a purty good job.

As material and content are concerned, I cannot in good conscience recommend it to people of any ages. It is not full of inappropriate material but there are a few scenes that could have been done without and with which I have reservations on recommending it. It is a shame because it is a good film. But if you are interested in seeing it you can contact me and I can let you know specifics that will help you avoid watching parts you would not want to.

So, I gave it a three-and-a-half to four stars, because it does have some regrettable material in, but it really is worth the time if you interested in seeing, from one man's point of view, what it took to make America what it is today.

I hope this review has not been boring, if anyone read it that is:). No, but I thank you if you took the time to read it, and if you did not, that's ok too.

Well, it's late, but here begins the beginning, hopefully, of my blogging for much time to come!
Goodnight kids!