It's been a long time since I have posted... I guess I am overdue.  Today has been a rough night to say the least...actually life has just been really tough lately.  One thing I am realizing more and more every single day is that our life for the most part just isn't always fun.  It's not even close.  Today I just found out about a student at Mickle who commit suicide.  I guess from what I heard he hung himself.  I dont understand taking that kind of action.  I never met him but I wonder what it would have been like if I had.  What if I had a chance to sit down and talk with him and see what he had to say.  I wish I knew exactly what it was that made his life so hard that he felt his only way to ease his pain was by ending his life.  Man, life can suck!! Seriously, living here we have to deal with death, war, depression, drugs, breakups...it all hurts.  I realize more and more as my life goes on that the only thing we have to hang onto is faith.  There is nothing in this world more important than faith.  No matter what youre going through, no matter how hard, when the weight of the world is crushing you underneath it, the only thing that keeps you going is the faith that something better lies ahead.  The thing about it is that theres only ONE thing in existence that offers that kind of hope, and thats God.  I mean think about it, you can sit there and turn to anything to try and make things better, but when it comes down to it, those things fade away and all of a sudden theyre not enough anymore.  But God offers you a light at the end of the tunnel.  No matter what this life brings, no matter how hard, no matter how badly it makes you want to quit...God promises us a light at the end.  It's all we have, and I truly wish Stephen got to hear that before he died.  Maybe it was all he needed to hear.  I hope and pray that he's with God now.  I am planning to have a serious club monday morning about this situation.  If any Mickle students are reading this I strongly encourage you to come. 

Hey everyone,

If youve read my last entry or have at least had an in depth talk with me about my life at the moment you'll get the idea that I'm in the middle of a journey to figure out who the heck I am supposed to be in life.  I've been secluding myself for the past couple of weeks and really limiting my time with people, and it gets boring, but at the same time, I am understanding more about myself then I ever would have imagined.  Somewhere in the silence that I am surrounding myself by, I am hearing God's voice, and experiencing the relationship in a way that I can only describe by saying "WOW!"  I would say a few months ago when someone asked me how my life has changed since becoming a christian... i failed to see what about my new life was different.  it was a bad thought, i was always a pretty moral person growing up, i didnt like the thought that i had to think about what it was that has changed in my life, but now i see what it is.  Its probably the most valuable feeling that our souls can possess.  It takes this world of uglyness and greed and war and creates an inpenetrable wall for those things to break you down.  that thing is peace.  I recently read a quote by an unknown author that said "having peace doesnt mean that you are free from the madness of the world, it means that in the midst of all the madness, your heart remains calm."  talk about amazing!!! my life right now is messier than it has ever been before.  I'm struggling with friends, family, my job, my faith, my future, and plenty of other things, but in the midst of all this i have peace.  a feeling that nothing will bring me down and that the wheels on my train are in perfect allignment with God's track for my life.  and while ive been spending 90% of my time by myself, i have felt what i feel i should do with my life.  I should aspire to change the world.  I am going to persue college and get a degree in education.  These next 4 or 5 years i am going to continue doing campus life.  after i graduate college i am going to look into joining the peace corps or spend a great deal of time doing missions work.  There's a big stinkin world out there that i am oblivious to, i need to experience it before i can ever try to understand how fortunate I am. also over the course of my life i am going to write a book.  what about? the experiences of whats going to be happening during the next 10-15 years of my life, because i know they are going to be incredible, and someone out there may benefit from hearing about it.  Its amazing how things have suddenly come together just because i have isolated myself from the distractions of everything surrounding me.  who knows what my future will actully bring, all i know is that i am going to treasure my time to myself from now on, because i have figured out more about myself in the last month, than i probably have in my entire life combined.  props to you if you read all this.

Trey

Alright so ive been doing vacation bible school at st marks the past couple of days and it has been the best thing ive done all summer by far.  I have had so much fun hanging out with these kids its unbelievable.  My major in college is going to be elementary education and being with these kids has honestly just made me want to be an elementary teacher more and more.  Its amazing.  kids at such a young age are so simple.  they are excited by everything and are comfortable with anyone.  you tell a kid of that age about God and its instant love for them.  and then if you try telling someone in high school about God they have to think about it so it makes it complicated to show them.  i remember a service at lincoln berean where pastor clark read a passage in the bible that said we should be more like children in the sense that we can take a gift and no matter what it is, its the most exciting thing just because its a gift.  he related that to accepting Christ as a free gift, to where we should just be able to accept it, and not make it complicated, just accept it and let it change us.  that sermon really hit home for me this week.  I only have 2 more days left of VBS and i kinda wish it went all summer.  but hopefully next summer i can do it again.

Hey everyone, We just got back from bonnaroo and im not gonna lie, it was one of the best experiences of my life.  Being in a place like that where there are so many drugs and just such a different world of people really makes a person like me feel sheltered and completely seperated from the real world.  But i have come out a changed person.  a better person, someone who now feels they can handle being around people who live sad lives.  i feel like i am stronger for it, and makes me appreciate having the life that i have and even appreciate why its so beautiful to live it morally.  i have also decided that pot is the most disgusting thing ever, and i have no idea why people smoke it. it makes people seem dirty and it makes very attractive girls not so attractive anymore.  i inhaled more of that crap than i did real air the last 5 days.  aside from all of that though, the concerts were amazing.  we managed to get front row for dave matthews band, alison krauss and union station, and the allman brothers.  haha how we managed that is a funny story, but to sum it up quickly, eric kicked down the gate and we bum rushed the stage. haha, so we can thank eric for the amazing seats we had.  we were also really close the front for jack johnson.  its just crazy how if you think you love a band now, wait til you see them perform.  i know that dmb takes a whole new image after you see them live, their show was the best show ive ever seen.  or even heard of for that matter, and we were there in front of 90,000 people.  its hard to go to a place like that and not come back changed in some way, fortunately i didnt come back a stoner.  i went in curious as to what it was like to do drugs, and after seeing these people whose lives revolve around it, ive lost any curiousity towards it.  its a sad thing.  me and eric were talking about it and he said something that really got me thinking.  he said that if he was performing there and all these people were getting high for his show, hed be insulted b/c it makes it seem like thats the only way to enjoy it, or they feel they need to enhance it.  that makes sense to me.  me eric and sean were there strictly for the music.  whiche means we went in appreciating that about the band.  90% of the people there seemed to appreciate the music a little, but really appreciated the drugs that made it better....RETARDED! ok im done now.  to sum up my entry, theres no hope with dope.

Trey