Soooo.....I havent blogged in a long time.....and this title has absolutely nothing to do with the actual blog.....but I am quite sure that most of you have said this at one point in your life.
There is one reason I am posting this blog and one reason only. That is to tell you that I will be blogging much more often in the future....I promise. This first blog is only the beginning! So as Scar from The Lion King once said/sang, "Be Prepared!!!!"
Peace out.
-Harry
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Batman and Robbin'
Well, as all of you may know...and should know that The Dark Knight is coming out tomorrow in theatres everywhere. It's the follow-up to Batman Begins from a couple years ago. But if you have not seen it, you better go watch it right now....and then go see Dark Knight soon. It's gonna be amazazing (yes, I copied that from Benchwarmers, so what). So yeah.
On the same yet seperate note (yeah that doesn't make sense), tomorrow me, my bros., and some other guys are going to see The Dark Knight at 7:oo o'clock. Can't wait. So yeah, it'll be an awesome time of fellowship and fun, and I strongly urge you to do something similar with other close friends because it creates good company among you...as well as friendships.
And now for other news. I'm going to "Camp" next week starting Sunday. So I won't be blogging for a week (I've been slacking anyways). But I am excited because God is gonna be there, and alot of awesome good friends are there that I only see few times a year. So yeah, just pray for me in my trip and peace out.
-The man formerly know as John
On the same yet seperate note (yeah that doesn't make sense), tomorrow me, my bros., and some other guys are going to see The Dark Knight at 7:oo o'clock. Can't wait. So yeah, it'll be an awesome time of fellowship and fun, and I strongly urge you to do something similar with other close friends because it creates good company among you...as well as friendships.
And now for other news. I'm going to "Camp" next week starting Sunday. So I won't be blogging for a week (I've been slacking anyways). But I am excited because God is gonna be there, and alot of awesome good friends are there that I only see few times a year. So yeah, just pray for me in my trip and peace out.
-The man formerly know as John
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Separate Peace
So, maybe some of you have heard of the book from which I stole this blog's title from. Not that it matters, but I think it holds a lot of meaning.
The book in and of itself was not that great. But now that I think of it, and how life is everything BUT peace, it holds a lot of meaning. I won't go into all the gory details, but sometimes we just get so caught up in life and the rush of things, that we start to lose something. And that's Peace.
Remember the saying, "Stop and smell the roses"? Yeah well maybe it's time we do that (not literally). But we should just slow down a bit, and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Like PEACE.
There's this Nooma video called Noise, and it brings forth an amazing point that most people won't think of. It talked of how we, as people are always surrounded my noise, such as Music, Movies, TV, Traffic, Radio, Everything. That we hardly even know what quiet sounds like. Is it that we are afriad of the lack of noise, because somehow the noise of our everyday lives becomes our home and comfort? Think about it. Why do you think ipods are such a big hit? Because you can listen to them anywhere, anytime, all the time. Try to think of the last time you rode in your car, or read a book, or did homework without music or the TV on. Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it?
Just yesterday I was drving the truck home from VA Beach which is about a 35-40 min. drive. But i did this without the radio, my ipod, or my CD's playing. I just sat there. And drove. I cannot tell you how much better i felt when i got home. My head was clear and my mood was good and i felt cleaner. I'm not saying music or anything is bad, heck it's my life, but sometimes we should let the silence be golden. Because do you know what I was able to accomplish in the silence of that drive? A conversation with God. Yes. I prayed almost the whole way. And i did this because nothing else was distracting me from talking to Him.
So I'm here to challenge you, to turn the volume on Life down. You just might experience something you've needed for a while.
-Harry
The book in and of itself was not that great. But now that I think of it, and how life is everything BUT peace, it holds a lot of meaning. I won't go into all the gory details, but sometimes we just get so caught up in life and the rush of things, that we start to lose something. And that's Peace.
Remember the saying, "Stop and smell the roses"? Yeah well maybe it's time we do that (not literally). But we should just slow down a bit, and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Like PEACE.
There's this Nooma video called Noise, and it brings forth an amazing point that most people won't think of. It talked of how we, as people are always surrounded my noise, such as Music, Movies, TV, Traffic, Radio, Everything. That we hardly even know what quiet sounds like. Is it that we are afriad of the lack of noise, because somehow the noise of our everyday lives becomes our home and comfort? Think about it. Why do you think ipods are such a big hit? Because you can listen to them anywhere, anytime, all the time. Try to think of the last time you rode in your car, or read a book, or did homework without music or the TV on. Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it?
Just yesterday I was drving the truck home from VA Beach which is about a 35-40 min. drive. But i did this without the radio, my ipod, or my CD's playing. I just sat there. And drove. I cannot tell you how much better i felt when i got home. My head was clear and my mood was good and i felt cleaner. I'm not saying music or anything is bad, heck it's my life, but sometimes we should let the silence be golden. Because do you know what I was able to accomplish in the silence of that drive? A conversation with God. Yes. I prayed almost the whole way. And i did this because nothing else was distracting me from talking to Him.
So I'm here to challenge you, to turn the volume on Life down. You just might experience something you've needed for a while.
-Harry
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tornadoes, Twisters, and Trees
So, as most of you may know, a sum of about 6 tornadoes hit the Suffolk area 2 days ago (April 28). Some were small ones that had no effect on human lives, but 3 of them anded up being devastating. One very large one swept through 2 neighborhoods called Burnett's Mill and Hillpoint. A couple kids from our Wed. night cells lived in those suburbs. Some were completely safe, home and all. But others lost a part of their houses or the whole thing.
My good friend Kaylin Ramos and her mom, Sis. Janyne, were both at Sal's (which used to be at the end of a strip mall that got ripped to shreds) when the tornadoes hit. Kaylin was getting a pizza before she left her shift at the pizza place, and was about to take it to her mom who was waiting in the car just outside. They were both fine and escaped with only minor injuries. Kaylin hid in the bathroom when she saw it coming and Sis. Janyne took cover on the floor of her car. Kaylin and her mom both went to the hospital because Kaylin had neck muscle spasms, and her mom had been hit in the head and caught some glass shrapnel. Both were luckily ok.
There were 3 main families from the church that lost thier homes or part of thier homes. The Chappells, the Griffins, and the Mariners. They are all safe now but are staying in hotels or friend's homes because thier homes are either gone or half gone. So keep them in your prayers.
I am writing this blog not only to let everyone know what has gone down in Suffolk (which, ironically, has been pinned the name "the town where nothing happens"), but to help stop and realize the depth of this "disaster" if you will. And disaster indeed.
But, as I was on my way to church from my piano lesson today, I realized something. God has taught me something through all of this chaos and disaster. He created it all. And it really makes you wonder, why God would let such a terrible thing happen? My answer: Because he loves us.
This might seem a little harsh to some people. Especially ones directly affected by the twister, but when you think about it, we needed a little "shakin' up". I mean God doesnt just throw tornadoes at unsuspecting innocent people everyday, but sometimes we need a little eye-opener. This is definately an extreme eye-opener. We need to get off our tails and get going. We've been sitting around as Christians, and have done NOTHING. We needed this disaster to realize how much we have, but don't always need. So now that we have this realization, we can start a movement for Him. It's a miracle no one got killed, and I think that was part of God's plan. To give us a jolt, but not have anyone die.
In closing, the trees that I see that were hit by the tornado make me realize something. They look like toothpicks now. Big large Oak trees just transformed into tiny splinters. It made me realize, if God can create such magnificent scenes of nature, and also take it apart by a tornado, then He is so much bigger than anything we have happening in our life right now. It just goes to show us. God has something brewing.
So may we see that God has awakened a new realization in us, and may we let him not only stir the wind, but stir our hearts to make an even bigger impact on our world than these tornadoes had on our city.
The Wannabe Rob Bell (referring to the last paragraph of this blog, for those that have seen the NOOMA videos),
Harrison Peaks
My good friend Kaylin Ramos and her mom, Sis. Janyne, were both at Sal's (which used to be at the end of a strip mall that got ripped to shreds) when the tornadoes hit. Kaylin was getting a pizza before she left her shift at the pizza place, and was about to take it to her mom who was waiting in the car just outside. They were both fine and escaped with only minor injuries. Kaylin hid in the bathroom when she saw it coming and Sis. Janyne took cover on the floor of her car. Kaylin and her mom both went to the hospital because Kaylin had neck muscle spasms, and her mom had been hit in the head and caught some glass shrapnel. Both were luckily ok.
There were 3 main families from the church that lost thier homes or part of thier homes. The Chappells, the Griffins, and the Mariners. They are all safe now but are staying in hotels or friend's homes because thier homes are either gone or half gone. So keep them in your prayers.
I am writing this blog not only to let everyone know what has gone down in Suffolk (which, ironically, has been pinned the name "the town where nothing happens"), but to help stop and realize the depth of this "disaster" if you will. And disaster indeed.
But, as I was on my way to church from my piano lesson today, I realized something. God has taught me something through all of this chaos and disaster. He created it all. And it really makes you wonder, why God would let such a terrible thing happen? My answer: Because he loves us.
This might seem a little harsh to some people. Especially ones directly affected by the twister, but when you think about it, we needed a little "shakin' up". I mean God doesnt just throw tornadoes at unsuspecting innocent people everyday, but sometimes we need a little eye-opener. This is definately an extreme eye-opener. We need to get off our tails and get going. We've been sitting around as Christians, and have done NOTHING. We needed this disaster to realize how much we have, but don't always need. So now that we have this realization, we can start a movement for Him. It's a miracle no one got killed, and I think that was part of God's plan. To give us a jolt, but not have anyone die.
In closing, the trees that I see that were hit by the tornado make me realize something. They look like toothpicks now. Big large Oak trees just transformed into tiny splinters. It made me realize, if God can create such magnificent scenes of nature, and also take it apart by a tornado, then He is so much bigger than anything we have happening in our life right now. It just goes to show us. God has something brewing.
So may we see that God has awakened a new realization in us, and may we let him not only stir the wind, but stir our hearts to make an even bigger impact on our world than these tornadoes had on our city.
The Wannabe Rob Bell (referring to the last paragraph of this blog, for those that have seen the NOOMA videos),
Harrison Peaks
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Breathe Your Breath
So it's been a couple days since I have blogged. And so I have taken the time to sit down and compile these thoughts.
-Do not fart when you are in a chemistry lab.
-Wear sunglasses when the sun is in your eyes.
-Always wear a helmet when attempting something stupid.
-Breath your own breath.
Well, that's enough philosophy for today. Now to some reall stuff.
In chemistry today, we tasted numerous fruits and vegetables from a variety of sorts. I ate some plums, apples, oranges, pears, pickles, lemon, lime, and the worst ones, radishes, parsley and onions. Do not ask me why we did this spontaneous taste test. Mainly because I myself do not know why. Btw, my chem. teacher, Mrs. Smith, is probably the craziest old lady I've ever met, and might possibly be mentally retarded. I dont know, but yeah so we ate all that stuff. Then to get rid of the bad taste, we ate cheddar cheese Sun Chips (inc.).
You're probably wondering, "where is he going with this?". Well, I'll tell you where I'm going with this. Our breath stinks. More precisely, MY breath stinks. no matter how much I brush my teeth, I always gewt the feeling that my breath stinks. And sometimes it really, does, and sometimes it doesn't. But, the crazie thing that got me thinking was..."Does my breath stink spiritually?" Think about it. When you have really bad breath. Like after you onions like I did, or radishes, your breath smells like a trash compact. But you yourself is the last one to know it. Like, you could go the whole day with bad breath and breathing in people's faces when you talk to them or laugh really hard, and not realize it til you get home. It's happened to me before. It just happened today.
Now, let's think for a second. Say you go a whole day without spending time in the Word, or praying, or doing devotions and whatnot. By the end of that day, your breath is gonna stink (think analogetically here, folks. meaning spiritually). We won't notice it until we get home and realize, "Man, today was a horrible day. And it was because my spirit man didn't get his teeth brushed". I know for a fact that I have gotten almost the same reaction from people when I have bad breath and talk to them, as I have on days where I haven't read my Bible, and people just didn't seem to want to be around me. It made the day horrible because everyone was avoiding me and my bad breath. Now, I'm sure people don't literally think to themsleves, "I dont think he did his devotions today. I'm not talking to him". No, I think it's more a psychological thing. People don't wanna talk to dumb people. And I don't act the same on days I have Read, as on day where I have not Read. And I think that's why people react the way they do on each day. I've also noticed that on days or weeks where I have hit my devotions hard, I get along with my brothers, friends, and even parents MUCH better. And i think there's a direct connection with that there.
So, in closing of this blog. Please brush your teeth, read God's Word hungrily, and please, for the sake of all of us.
Breathe your own Breath.
Signed as An Unworthy Peasant,
Harrison
-Do not fart when you are in a chemistry lab.
-Wear sunglasses when the sun is in your eyes.
-Always wear a helmet when attempting something stupid.
-Breath your own breath.
Well, that's enough philosophy for today. Now to some reall stuff.
In chemistry today, we tasted numerous fruits and vegetables from a variety of sorts. I ate some plums, apples, oranges, pears, pickles, lemon, lime, and the worst ones, radishes, parsley and onions. Do not ask me why we did this spontaneous taste test. Mainly because I myself do not know why. Btw, my chem. teacher, Mrs. Smith, is probably the craziest old lady I've ever met, and might possibly be mentally retarded. I dont know, but yeah so we ate all that stuff. Then to get rid of the bad taste, we ate cheddar cheese Sun Chips (inc.).
You're probably wondering, "where is he going with this?". Well, I'll tell you where I'm going with this. Our breath stinks. More precisely, MY breath stinks. no matter how much I brush my teeth, I always gewt the feeling that my breath stinks. And sometimes it really, does, and sometimes it doesn't. But, the crazie thing that got me thinking was..."Does my breath stink spiritually?" Think about it. When you have really bad breath. Like after you onions like I did, or radishes, your breath smells like a trash compact. But you yourself is the last one to know it. Like, you could go the whole day with bad breath and breathing in people's faces when you talk to them or laugh really hard, and not realize it til you get home. It's happened to me before. It just happened today.
Now, let's think for a second. Say you go a whole day without spending time in the Word, or praying, or doing devotions and whatnot. By the end of that day, your breath is gonna stink (think analogetically here, folks. meaning spiritually). We won't notice it until we get home and realize, "Man, today was a horrible day. And it was because my spirit man didn't get his teeth brushed". I know for a fact that I have gotten almost the same reaction from people when I have bad breath and talk to them, as I have on days where I haven't read my Bible, and people just didn't seem to want to be around me. It made the day horrible because everyone was avoiding me and my bad breath. Now, I'm sure people don't literally think to themsleves, "I dont think he did his devotions today. I'm not talking to him". No, I think it's more a psychological thing. People don't wanna talk to dumb people. And I don't act the same on days I have Read, as on day where I have not Read. And I think that's why people react the way they do on each day. I've also noticed that on days or weeks where I have hit my devotions hard, I get along with my brothers, friends, and even parents MUCH better. And i think there's a direct connection with that there.
So, in closing of this blog. Please brush your teeth, read God's Word hungrily, and please, for the sake of all of us.
Breathe your own Breath.
Signed as An Unworthy Peasant,
Harrison
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Late-night Blogness
Hey, it's like 12:45 right now and I'm writing this blog. So most likely, it shall be brief.
Ummm.....Yes today Connely had a show, but not the normal night time show. It was at 3:30. Outside. On a very small trailer. With a five channel sound system. Fun. Don't ya think? But it wasnt so bad. We prayed that it wouldnt rain on our equipment and God answered in the positive. As soon as we shut the trunk after packin up afterwards, it started coming down. It is so funny to me how specific God is, and humourous as well. It was like, "Don't worry, it won't rain till all the stuff is in the van and shut in". Like God did with Noah. God didnt let it start raining while he was only halfway done with the ark. It was just neat.
Another funny thing. before the show as we were setting up (groggingly and painfully cuz we really didnt wanna play this show), i was testing the keyboard(it wasnt even plugged in, i was just testing the feel of it), and the stand just gave, and the keyboard hit the ground (with the snyth on top of it as well i might add). It scared the living stuffing out of me. It was silent for a couple seconds and then out of nowhere I was just like "Oh, sh**". Which as bad as that is, it was completely appropriate for what happened. No other word could describe the shock and horror of that moment.
Which brings me to cruciality of this blog. Words are....well......WORDS. Nothing more, nothing less. Who decided what word was vulgar and what wasnt? I mean i am not about to go around cussing my head off or anything. The opposite quite actually. But sometimes, words are supposed to be used for what they are. When i said what i said, literally, it was just like "oh crap", but crap would not suffice. Ergo, a little bit more came out. Which i belive is fine, when done correctly. Please, I'm not encourageing you to cuss when you stub your toe, or break a bone, or even just for if you leave your keys in your car. But. it's going to happen. Because we are human. So don't beat yourself up about it. Just live your life the way God wants you to. And while sometimes God wants you to do something that might hurt or maybe something has to go wrong.....sometimes it just requires a little bit of letting off some steam.
Ummm.....Yes today Connely had a show, but not the normal night time show. It was at 3:30. Outside. On a very small trailer. With a five channel sound system. Fun. Don't ya think? But it wasnt so bad. We prayed that it wouldnt rain on our equipment and God answered in the positive. As soon as we shut the trunk after packin up afterwards, it started coming down. It is so funny to me how specific God is, and humourous as well. It was like, "Don't worry, it won't rain till all the stuff is in the van and shut in". Like God did with Noah. God didnt let it start raining while he was only halfway done with the ark. It was just neat.
Another funny thing. before the show as we were setting up (groggingly and painfully cuz we really didnt wanna play this show), i was testing the keyboard(it wasnt even plugged in, i was just testing the feel of it), and the stand just gave, and the keyboard hit the ground (with the snyth on top of it as well i might add). It scared the living stuffing out of me. It was silent for a couple seconds and then out of nowhere I was just like "Oh, sh**". Which as bad as that is, it was completely appropriate for what happened. No other word could describe the shock and horror of that moment.
Which brings me to cruciality of this blog. Words are....well......WORDS. Nothing more, nothing less. Who decided what word was vulgar and what wasnt? I mean i am not about to go around cussing my head off or anything. The opposite quite actually. But sometimes, words are supposed to be used for what they are. When i said what i said, literally, it was just like "oh crap", but crap would not suffice. Ergo, a little bit more came out. Which i belive is fine, when done correctly. Please, I'm not encourageing you to cuss when you stub your toe, or break a bone, or even just for if you leave your keys in your car. But. it's going to happen. Because we are human. So don't beat yourself up about it. Just live your life the way God wants you to. And while sometimes God wants you to do something that might hurt or maybe something has to go wrong.....sometimes it just requires a little bit of letting off some steam.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
College, Piano, and Tuxedoes
So, today, school was whack as usual. But I feel I must explain some interesting things that happened after school.
First, I took my best friend Chris home. I will most likely blog about him in the near future. Then i went home and read some. Following after that I went to get a tux with my mom for prom. My mom wasnt feeling well so we got it done as quickly as possible. I'm wearing a Jean Yves Black Mirage Tux. It's gonna be amazing. I am going to prom by myself though. Which stinks, but what can you do? So we did that then went to Ross and TJ Maxx. I got some sweet shorts and sunglasses for cheap which i later got criticized for by Nick. But whatever. Then we came home and had dinner and me and my mom researched options for Liberty's academic majors and whatnot. After confirming my intentions about getting my major in Speech Communications, we researched Worship Studies major for a possible double major. Later, Jason comes and helps convince me not to make that mistake because the program isn't fully up to speed yet so yeah.
Then, we talked about scolarship options and SAT's and all that jive. As of late, i wanted to stop taking piano lessons in a sense, and just take music theory lessons because my theory is horrible. But I told Jason and he flipped, and went on a whole spiel about not giving up and doing the right thing for Liberty cuz I really want to try out for one of the worship teams at Liberty. I really dont know if I am skilled?...if thats the right word....or good enough to be on one of the teams. And if you havent figured out what I play, I play Piano. I've taken lessons for about 9 years now. I play and lead worship at my church from time to time. So yeah, he's once again convinced me to stay on track with the lessons.
And in closing, I think that even through all this criticism of the day, and the wierdness of my life, only one thing, and one thing only prevails in my life. And that's God.
Also, I am a huge Frank Peretti and MAJOR ted Dekker fan(Christian fiction authors) and have read many novels from both. But I encourage you to google the movie called House coming out this year. It was based on a book Co-written by both. It's gonna be freakin sweet. Check it out.
Signing off as....
Harry Peaks the "Pianokid"/"Pianofreek"
First, I took my best friend Chris home. I will most likely blog about him in the near future. Then i went home and read some. Following after that I went to get a tux with my mom for prom. My mom wasnt feeling well so we got it done as quickly as possible. I'm wearing a Jean Yves Black Mirage Tux. It's gonna be amazing. I am going to prom by myself though. Which stinks, but what can you do? So we did that then went to Ross and TJ Maxx. I got some sweet shorts and sunglasses for cheap which i later got criticized for by Nick. But whatever. Then we came home and had dinner and me and my mom researched options for Liberty's academic majors and whatnot. After confirming my intentions about getting my major in Speech Communications, we researched Worship Studies major for a possible double major. Later, Jason comes and helps convince me not to make that mistake because the program isn't fully up to speed yet so yeah.
Then, we talked about scolarship options and SAT's and all that jive. As of late, i wanted to stop taking piano lessons in a sense, and just take music theory lessons because my theory is horrible. But I told Jason and he flipped, and went on a whole spiel about not giving up and doing the right thing for Liberty cuz I really want to try out for one of the worship teams at Liberty. I really dont know if I am skilled?...if thats the right word....or good enough to be on one of the teams. And if you havent figured out what I play, I play Piano. I've taken lessons for about 9 years now. I play and lead worship at my church from time to time. So yeah, he's once again convinced me to stay on track with the lessons.
And in closing, I think that even through all this criticism of the day, and the wierdness of my life, only one thing, and one thing only prevails in my life. And that's God.
Also, I am a huge Frank Peretti and MAJOR ted Dekker fan(Christian fiction authors) and have read many novels from both. But I encourage you to google the movie called House coming out this year. It was based on a book Co-written by both. It's gonna be freakin sweet. Check it out.
Signing off as....
Harry Peaks the "Pianokid"/"Pianofreek"
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