Month: February 2017

Free Ride:Ride Free

Free ride, when the open road meets the open air and the result is the feeling of gliding. This feeling is flying through forests without focus on the sides, clarity only in front and shrinking reality behind. 


Ride free, when with friends and family, you talk through struggles and reality. When riding is awesome, but freedom is what we seek! When we seek what is infront, what is good and perfect and just and pure and let what falls to the side, let it fade to the shores. As life shrinks behind us, may we not forget what God has done for us, but may we recognize where He’s brought us and seek together freedom through prayer and encouragement. 

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Today, I spent my afternoon with my dear friends and family, Hunter, Andrew and Stephen. We engaged in an activity together that we all enjoy, and I can only speak for myself, but I would say we experienced freedom through it! I just love biking in general, and the fact of being in nature is always freeing for me, but also, opening up your heart to people you trust, I know, is always a good thing! 

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. -Psalms 103:1

On Tour: CR


This morning, I woke up in NYC on a couch bed with a dude I just met 6 days ago in a room full of friends new and old on the second floor of an Assemblies of God Ukrainian church. If I wasn’t with the Circuit Riders on tour, this probably would be weird, but for some reason, I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. I got a bagel, with locks cream cheese, spent some time in my Bible and prayer and came back for band practice. 

I got to this point after nearly a week of meeting and getting to know people, along with my fair share of insecurities and acceptance issues, but each person here is a world changer. 

I joined this team to unify and reach college students on their own campuses and join with them in believing that God can change a heart to his as well as a nation to him. 

What I’ve found in a place like this is it stretches you, because when you’re believing this for someone else, you have to also believe it for yourself. What I’ve seen in myself is that I spend a lot of my energy focusing on myself. The biggest problem with this is that I get so crippled by this because it takes 90% of my focus off of God and putting it on the thought “I can’t focus on God.”

We’re most free when we throw ourself into God’s love and go from that place in radical service. In those places is where I’ve always found myself full of joy! But what does that look like? How do we get out of that funk? That’s kind of an answer I’ve never been able to answer. What I can say though is that when you push through the times you’re not feeling it and focused so much you can’t focus, keep pushing in and push in harder then ever before. 

I’ve heard the term “break through” and when I literally picture that, it’s always through something really tough in life, and it can only be broken through by leaning into the problem with Jesus’ full backing and using the strategies he lays out for us in his scriptures! 

Words that I’ve heard from God that have been helping me overcome.

  • Perseverance will lead to steadfastness.
  • Serventhood takes sacrifice. Serve in ways that are easy, but especially in ways that aren’t.

And these passages from the Bible!

  • Psalms 121
  • Psalms 91
  • The story of Daniel throughout his life.
  • Proverbs 18:21 and the fact that I get to eat of the fruit/experience the benefit of speaking life.

Btw: if your curious about what crew I’m with, check out crmovement.com 👌

Tumbleweed


Overturn, next place, new town.Tangled up, formed together in one ball.

The tumbleweed’s found tumbling past a young lady fumbling through her belongings, trying to come up with another quarter to finish one more load in the laundromat’s washing machine. She overturns her purse to find a single quarter. Be it luck, predestined or prayer, she found it and was thankful to be able to finish her last load before fumbling home.

Overturn, next place, new town. Broken up, Scorched by weather, rolling.

It found itself trapped beneath a farmers wagon. Not much to grow in a drought such as this. If it wasn’t for hope, he’d be drunk half to death, but he holds onto hope like he holds fast to the plow, and will hold on fast until Christ saves him, rains in or takes him. He cannot loose hope. 

Overturned, next place, new town. Broke free, blown by breeze into the city.

Now, near the end of free life, it blew into the the backyard of a boy. If only this boy knew everything he ever learned about his father was a lie, he might not have so much joy. In ignorance and innocence, he pictures his father bringing justice, a cowboy in the wilderness saving woman from distress. So he jumps on the weed, as if it was an enemy from his mothers stories and his own dreams, praying to some day see his daddy who, indeed, he didn’t know he’d never meet. Be it answered prayer or divine destiny, he’d find joy through God the father, trading his dreams for redemption.

Overturned, no new places, three towns. Six feet under, different decades, one with the ground.

Like the tumble weed, these lives ended just the same. Different places, different cultures, different days, but as each passed on, with hope still seeping from their bones, they joined in one hope. Unified on the other side, they would reach the joy found only through their only hope, Jesus Christ.

“Don’t Stop Writing”


This phrase to me has a lot of significance. My friend, Kami made this wood burned plaque for me by request (she is raising money for her missions trips, one way being wood burnings. Let me know if you want her info to support her and get some awesome art!) and I asked for this message because it has become more than an encouragement to me and has become a mandate.

Let me back up some few years ago. I always enjoyed writing, always disliked reading. I don’t understand it either, but it happened! I would as a child sing songs of my own creation and forget them. If only I could go back and write down all those silly and serious songs, I would fill a book. 

I wrote for school and randomly other stuff, but was mostly inspired to write by an artist, Levi the Poet and others that performed their poetry along with musicians or sound tracks. I was also inspired by different bands and song writers, journals from people long dead and some teachers in school, including my mother.

Somewhere around my 10th grade year, I started writing poetry, but always just for girls I liked. I also tried to start a band that was a flop around that time, but it wasn’t until my senior year where I really started to break out in creativity and write music with my banjo and voice and poems that all were more personal and relatable and introspective and outward viewing as well. Much of my work now a days resembles this style, with verious word pictures and such, and it has all grown from a place of growing passion, longing for authenticity, and mostly just drive to write. That drive came from a realization that as I write, I learn more of myself.

Don’t Stop Writing!

For about one year, I was writing and sharing my work. After hearing it for the first time, probably 10-15 people, maybe more said that quote to me before they said anything else. I quickly realized that that wasn’t a normal response since after that year, I haven’t heard it since. The reason I think that it is significant is because I believe God was encouraging me through his people to not stop writing.

Through the past few years, I have found that when I am actively writing, if it be journal, poetry, music or this blog, I have a deeper understanding in everything I do because I am able to process everything through words on a page (or a screen) and it is my outlet and platform I’ve been able to share love, share encouragement, friendship and Jesus. 

What does this mean for you as the reader? 

Don’t Stop ______!

You can’t give up. If it’s writing, don’t Stop Writing. If it’s loving, don’t stop loving. If it’s serving in some way, don’t stop. 

I believe we all have passions and giftings that are from our creator, and when you find them, use them! If you’re already a follower of Jesus, give your desires and gifts to him and he will bless you with pure intentions and purity in your gifts and passions!

Also, if you’re like me, WRITE! You can’t afford not to at least write something. If you can, write down your thoughts, feelings, prayers, etc. as often as you can without going overboard. You will learn more about yourself, more about how your Creator thinks of you and be able to follow the progress as you grow and learn and age. 

If you’re like me, “Don’t stop writing!”