Put it in, take it out.

Something I've noticed lately, quite recently actually. To the point, the more you put into your devo's the more you're going to get out of them.

For example, this is a devo I did, its not dated but i'd say its from late october early november.

"Chapter 2: 14, 15

Observation: Paul gives instruction thats ballin awesome.

Application: I need to lead my life without complaint, but with thanksgiving.

Prayer: Let me live joyfully God, Amen:

thats my devo. weaksauce.

I didn't put any time into this, it just scribbled down stuff...like...ballin...awesome? Really? I wrote that? yes.

About two weeks ago, I was hit with a fire. I was reading 1st Samuel and I was enthralled, it got to me, and I couldn't - not read it. My devos got surprisingly deeper the more time I spent on them.

Example:

1st Samuel 30: 3-6, (v6) "...But David found strength in the Lord."

Observation: David and his men were sent back to Ziklag because the Philistine commanders did not want an Israelite on the Battlefield for fear they would turn on them. When David and his men reached Ziklag they found that the Amelekite had raided Ziklag while the men were gone. The women and the children were gone. David and his men wept until they did not have strength to weep anymore. The men were talking about stoning David but "...David found strength in the Lord."

Application: When down and out, when facing death, David found strength in the Lord. In all situations David found strength in the Lord. I need to be like David and give all situations to the Lord.

Prayer: (Sorry, this part is personal. I'm not gonna share this with the world wide web, but you get the point.)

The more time I spent on my devo's the more I got out of them. It was like a fire. The more time I spent in my word, the more the fire grew, and the more the fire consumed. Its amazing.

Spend time in your word.

=Anthony

Our Song

Once upon a time my greatest friend and I were talking. (We're both hardcore looking forward to marriage so we kinda talk about it frequently.) Well, the subject came to songs. Songs? You say. yes, songs. Think about it, every relationship has 'their' song. I was in a relationship once, and our song was "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Cliché I know, but it was our song.

Thats the Idea. Its your love song between you.

But here is the real reason I'm writing; Do you and God have a love song?

This idea may seem strange at first, but if you take the perspective and put it that, "God wants a relationship with you". It starts to make more sense.

I'd have to say my 'song' with God is "Came to my rescue" by Hillsong United.

It gets me. Every time.

Think about it, whats your song with God.

=Anthony

Strother...

I went to the Dentist today, it's been a while. I actually kinda looked forward to going, i've never had problems with them so I don't have any reasons not to like them. The Dentist was nice, first time i'd seen him in 5 years, not that I haven't been to a dentist in that long, just that dentist had been 5 years. ha

My teeth are clean, and pretty, no cavities.

My car died today, it was legitimately sad. :(

Techno makes me feel better, DJ Hixxy gots the stuff.

=Anthony

Onesie upon a time...

I had a great idea. Footed pajama's, onesies, awesome. Sean and I share a room, we both drive 1990's aqua green cars, we are a team. WE wanted to get onesies for a long time cause they're that awesome. We looked online and found some....$40. crazy. One day we were helping out around the church. We discovered that there were some for 10$ at target! 8 hours later we had some. :)

Not to sound to dependent on one thing, everytime I take my onesie off, I feel bad. Not emotionally bad, I just feel like i've lost that comfort for the day....I wonder if there is some way to conceal a onesie under regular clothing....

=Anthony

Why not?

Job 1:8

"Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

I was doing dishes when this verse came to my mind. I remember something along the lines so I looked it up and read it again, and as I was reading it, the thought came to my mind; why can't the verse read, "Have you considered my servant Anthony?" Do I make Jesus proud? Does he say that about me? Have you considered me?

Thank you Jesus.

"Have you considered my servant (insert your name here)?"

=Anthony

In my head, in my dreams.

That title really has nothing to do with what i'm writing.

Generation Y wants to be rich and famous, in one way or another. I have 8 followers, the Gen Y complex I have makes me feel like i'm a little famous. No joke. When I saw that I had 8 followers, and knowing what Gen Y is, I thought, "I'm going to be the greatest blogger on the internet..." Really Anthony?! Really?

Yeah.

Thats silly, I know. But do you know what is even more sillier than that? (sillier?!)

Going to Safeway at Midnight, in onesies, to get chocolate milk...wait! Thats not silly, thats flippin' Genius!

Thats right, team Dino went to safeway and acquired chocolate milk for the kingdom. Rawr. Buying the onesies was probably one of the greatest idea's i have ever had. I slept amazing last night too by the way, Nothing is more secure than a onesie...buy one. :)

=Anthony

The words of a friend play into this...

..."I friggin' Love Jesus" - Phil Garrey

So, this is the devo I did today. I liked it so I thought I would share it with all my avid followers...(phil.)

I'm reading in 1st Corinthians 7, and the verses that stuck out to me the most were 32-34a.

S! "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs -- how he can please the Lord. (33) But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world -- how he can please his wife -- (34) and his interests are divided." 1st Corinthians 7:32-34a (If you read the rest of 34 it says the same thing for woman, I just chose to write about men, cause writing about women would be kinda weird....)

To follow the heavily praised S.O.A.P method, this is what I observed.

O! A married man has to please more than one person. He has to please his wife and the Lord. He has to be a good manager of time and resources. A single dude has to please the Lord. He can rely fully on the Lord, (Not saying a married man can't) and not have to worry about a significant other.

A! Me being a Single dude, giving a year to Lord was hard. I liked a girl, she liked me. My interests were surely divided. I realize I couldn't have juggled both a relationship with a girl, and a relationship with my Lord; Someone would have had to have gotten the back burner. So, for this next year, It was decided that we would be good friends (this girl and I, not Jesus and Me...well, Jesus and me are good friends..augh! You get the point!) and I'd focus on my internship. Good move. Having one focus makes things a lot easier. Would I have liked to have both area's work out? Yes. I can't wait to be married. Its one of my biggest goals is to have a wife that loves me. :) But for now, Me and Jesus be home boys!

P! Lord, I give you my life. I trust in you to provide for me, to provide everything I'll ever need, yes, that includes a wife! Thank you Jesus for looking out for me. Amen.

peace and love chaps!

-Anthony

I believe I can fly, I do, I do.

Say it. Its like saying you believe in fairies. If you don't, someone will fall from the sky...onto their face.

Too late! I did fall onto my face, but in my defense I made it twenty feet through the air before I did. Don't believe me? Let me explain.

Years ago, when I first lived on Whidbey Island I would take big trash bags during windstorms and run around with the bag pulling me. I weighed nothing so I would get a glide a few feet if I jumped. Woah! Thats exciting right? Well, things haven't changed that much; I'm still don't weigh anything, and It's still windy. What has changed? The size of the bag.

Brian Silveira, Nathan Ross, and myself went to Fort Casey yesterday the Wind speeds around 30 M.P.H. gusting upwards of 40. It was good stuff, so we busted out B. Silvs SUPER Kite. It has a 6 foot span of awesome that can make the 220 lbs. Brian stumble. I weigh 130 lbs., so what does that do to me? It drags me and tosses me and makes me its play thing. I got owned so hard.

During this whole thing we managed to come up with the ideas: "Jump off that picnic table and cut the kite so it pulls you." and "Lay on the longboard and get pulled!"

Well, the first one ended up with a massive faceplant after a 20 foot glide. Fun stuff.

The second just ended in the separation of body and board.

To put this in perspective...have you ever watched a western film where someone is getting pulled behind a horse? Same concept.

Everyone should try a SUPER Kite.

Meanwhile,

B. Silvs 11 foot Kite is being fixed. If the 6 footer makes him stumble, the 11 footer makes him fly.

Compare that to me. The 6 footer makes me fly, the 11 footer? I'll die.

Its been good knowing you all.

Here comes the good 11 footer times. :)

-anthony

Oh woah, oh-what a working man..?

I love being productive. It makes it feel like i'm not a waste, knowing that i've done something. Well, here is a brief view of my day; I woke up before noon! Well, thats not that exciting cause that happens everyday...I don't think i've slept past noon. Then I got my car fixed and I went to the base and I went to the bank, and I got gas and I got groceries and I got stuff done!

Hanging with Jack, Chris, and listening to techno!

Movie Tonight-Good day!

-anthony

Hmmm, formal?

Anthony? Tony?

"...I'M NOT TONY!..."

I use to despise the name Tony. If you called me it, when I was younger (like 4-7), I probably would have cried with rage. Screaming thats not my name; my parents would keep calling me Tony even when I said stop. If I despised the name so much, why do I go by it now? Good question.

Probably because I wanted to seem cooler in Middle School. Tony. Its edgy.

But!

Anthony has that sophisticated ring to it. Which should I go by? Anthony for sure.

Here's the sad part though...EVERYONE knows me by Tony. Maybe I should move to Boston with the lead singer of Augustana where no one knows my name. Then I could get away with going by Anthony. Yeah...i'm moving to Boston...

-Anthony

Too much.

Here is some easy steps to realize you're addicted to facebook:

1.) You hit refresh to see if you have any red tickets in the bottom corner. You don't need to refresh your page for them to show up, they do automatically. Clicking refresh does nothing for you, but gives you false hope.

2.) You think of random things to put as your status, even though you just updated it. "...dropped the soap in the shower...:O " Oh no!...nobody cares, really.

3.) You've done ever quiz from three different quiz applications, you're on your 4th. You've invited all your friends to quiz along...none have.

4.) You have a new profile picture everyday, just so people will notice.

tbc.

-tony

Benefit #2

Last night, I found another benefit of being in an apartment full of guys. Gallons of Ice Cream. At my house, we get pints, the occasional gallon, but at the Intern Power Apartment we buy gallons. At my house, you get 2 scoops, whatever the size, thats all you get, 2 scoops. (I could have Ice cream for breakfast!) But at the Apartment, I can have like 5?! I did, and It was quite satisfying.

All you can eat Ice Cream, benefit 2.

-tony

Blog-i-tize me Capt'n!

Today I realized just how awesome it is to be in an apartment full of guys. How awesome? You say, Very awesome. I bust open my door after getting off of work. The guys great me in the living room, they're just chilling on the couch. What do I do? I take my pants off...cause I can! Then...I use the bathroom with the door open! What an awesome experience! jealous?

Tomorrow, Angel's Skool of Harrrddd Knockz starts. Wish me luck, I'm devoting the next year to Jesus, and his will in my life. It's going to be shocking, mind-blowing, humbling, intense, revealing....anything God wants is going to happen, basically. I can't put a cap on the amount of descriptive words Jesus is going to use. Keep Sean Welch, Micah Welch, Chris Mason, Shanel Girton, Jimmy Edens, Brookes Decker, and myself in your prayers! Much appreciated.

Hopefully I'll be doing a weekly/bi-monthly video blog on events going on, the way the internship is. Not for the internship, just for fun for myself. I'll be real in the videos, it'll be amazing. ;)

I wish I had a pet Piranha.

I wish I could touch my toes easier.

I wish the soundtrack to my life was techno.

I wish upon a star...

-tony

Interstate has been pwn3d.

Today, records were broken. On the amazing road, driving completely safe.

Oak Harbor to Bellis Fair Mall....55 minutes.

Nate Ross, Chris Hutchinson are a blast to chill with. We drove to the mall, hung out, window shopped....uh....(something manly) fought people! yeah...we fought bunches of people...

It was quite an adventure. :)

-tony

Did you seriously Just call me?

"...that is soo lame..."- Nate Ross

I woke up today and looked outside and realized it was a nice day. I got the urge to have fun. Shocking huh? Well, I did have fun. Dirtbiking, rally racing, hanging out. Good stuff. I do have to say, the Ross family is Legit. I hung out with Nate Ross. We dirt biked for a good two and half hours, then we took my car rally racing through the same trails we had been dirt biking. It was good stuff. I was filthy when I got done so I went home and showered. Showers are amazing. I was going to take a nap but I had to run video for the 6...psyche! I didn't have to. I'm tired. I'm talking in fragments. Typing in fragments. Whatever. XD

-tony

Does that mean...?

I just had a crazy idea.

"...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose..." Romans 8:28

I know God won't cause bad things to happen to people, like God causing someone to be sick. He doesn't roll that way. He's our father and wants the best for us, so why make us sick? So, if all things God works, are for the good of those who love him...does that mean he won't stop bad things from happening? Some things need to happen, like someone getting sick, for it to be the best? Does that make sense?

I don't know, just a crazy idea I had while I was munching on my cap'n'crunch.

-tony

Watch this!

Then I fell. It would have been amazing. It would have been epic. For some reason it didn't work out, and I ended up hurt and on my back.

What?! I fell off my longboard. I was doing this amazing slide but it wasn't so amazing cause I fell. Now my Tail bone hurts. ugh! Anyways, I had a blast tonight with Micah and Brian. I went the fast I have before, and I didn't slow down. Awesome, i'm getting better. Who reads this anyways?

Anyone?

-tony

There is nothing worse.

I've decided that there is nothing worse than waking up feeling bad. First, I woke up with a stomach ache which is lame. :/ Second, that stomach ache yanked me out of a dream I was having. It was an amazing dream. I don't remember it, but I knew I had something amazing. Now I feel like i've lost something, ya know that feeling in the pit of your stomach? Yeah. Like you've lost something amazing? I wish I could get it back...

-tony

This isn't my first Rodeo, Cowboy!

Two posts in one day?! Barely anytime between them?! That's crasi! Maybe I should wait till the end of the day before I do a blog. Recap on the days events? Nah, I like it like this. This time, I bring you the dashing lumber-micah eating a pickle. Exciting stuff.

-tony

This is the first thing I can remember.

Thats the song playing on my computer. The other day I was playing some video games on my xbox 360, no big deal. My roommate Chris Mason asked if it was alright if he played some DDR when I was done, no one objected.

This is what I live with, I took it like a ninja on my cell phone so the quality is bad. You get the gist of it though. :) Enjoy!

-tony

Exceptionally outrageous...

"...they make God sound like casper..." get it?...Holy Ghost. :O

This is the first of many, hopefully, to follow. I don't have amazingly witty writing, but i'll try my best to keep you readers entertained.