credence

Sword vs. Cross

2010-11-29T16:20:00.002-06:00

Ok so I am guilty I have a tendency to want to get back at people because as everyone on planet earth knows, “I am the most important person ever, and what i think is right.” You better not cut in line in front of me. You better not cut me off on the highway. Or I'll... (get really mad). So this is what I got slapped with Sunday morning. These are my notes so you can listen to it here if you want.

An Invitation to life in the Kingdom Matt 5:3-12

1. When the law said pick up a sword, Love says pick up the cross.

John 18:36 - Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world."

2. Jesus has not given us what we deserve (the sword) he has given us grace (the cross).

3. 381-382 Constantine mandated that the official religion is Christianity, the next year the first person was murdered in the name of Christ.

Matt 26:52 - Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword."

Matt 5:38,39 - "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' " But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

4. People are changed inwardly and permanently by the cross, not the sword. The cross opens people up, the sword shuts people down.

5. 3 Types of Sword Bearers.
a. Sword-bearers who take a swing at your worth.
b. Sword-bearers who take a swing at your possessions.
c. Sword-bearers who take a swing at your time, energy, dignity

Matt 5:40-42 - "And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

6. This text is not saying that you have to roll over and take everything. This is not saying that if you are in an abusive relationship that is doing you physical harm to stay in it, this would be unwise.

7. The focus of this passage is to lay the sword of retaliation down, let God deal with the other person. Don't continue the cycle of brokenness.

1 Peter 2:21-23 - For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Wow I know that I am so guilty of forgetting what has been done for me. I know that I need to remember to extend the cross to others, but sometimes I just don't quite make it there. Hopefully these study notes will be a reminder for me.

All scripture taken from:
English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

You are No One's Rival

2009-12-28T18:10:00.009-06:00

Here's my journal entry from today just thought that I'd share it with anyone who'd care to read it.

12.28.09

O Lord,

I am at the point right now; right here in the coffee shop on Monday @ 4:35p listening to "Unthought Known" by Pearl Jam (from Backspacer), that I am struck with the immense fact that we live in such a fallen world that things truly to the core are longing to be the way that You made them. Things are not bad--or were not originally made evil. You made all things good, "very good" but they are deep down to the foundation cracked and marred, misinterpreted by us. We are truly image bearers of you. You alone made us, made us to mirror You in creativity, love, glory, so that You alone would be glorified by our mere existence. The simple fact that we: live, breathe, laugh, love, cry, scream, sweat, work, whisper, talk, eat, give, take, run, walk, crawl, is the crowning jewel on the most glorious of all Your creations. This speaks volumes about You, Your might & Your worth, it is truly all about You. The fact that we exist is about You, You alone make the sun shine. There is none to rival You. You alone are: Might, Power, Strength. How do we miss this so well, it's right in front of us, the very air that we breathe is such proof of You. Molecules, Science, Chemistry they are all the evidences of the ways that You work, and in Your image we work to try to figure out the things that You speak into existence. O Lord forgive me for missing it so deeply, forsaking what's right in front of me, as if this was all about me. How could I so greatly miss the obvious? I miss it down to my core. But there You are working to restore what we broke. There you are putting right the things that went wrong. How the very essence of creation longs for You, it reflects You. You are so great, not in the very small great that I use all the time like: "Oh those shoes are great." , but in the earth shattering, millions of stars in the sky, how I feel so small standing on top of the mountain, kind of Great. Oh how sad it is that I am so flawed that I am so amused by such passionless things as: technology, computers, busyness, big houses, new cars, and all the gadgets and toys that we ourselves make. We choose the finite over the infinite time after time. You-the infinite chase us down with such perseverance, such purpose. We are so quaint to miss it time after time. You have given such evidences that you'd think it'd be easy for me to see. Coffee, music, art, love, sex, children, family, wine, food, friendships, the very time that I waste not looking for You. There should be nothing left to intrigue me but You. All these things that I enjoy are but gifts You've given to show the glory and majestic power of You.

So back to the song, I think the lyrics of this song were unexpected but very telling for me today.

All the thoughts you never see
You are always thinking
Brain is wide, the brain is deep
Oh, are you sinking?

Feel the path of every day
Which road you taking?
Breathing hard, making hay
Yeah, this is living

Look for love in evidence
That you're worth keeping
Swallowed whole in negatives
It's so sad and sickening

Feel the air up above
Oh, pool of blue sky
Fill the air up with love
All black with starlight

Feel the sky blanket you
With gems and rhinestones!!!
See the path cut by the moon
For you to walk on

For you to walk on...

Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing here...
Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing left...
Nothing left, nothing left
Nothing there, nothing here...

See the path cut by the moon
For you to walk on
See the waves on distant shores
Awaiting your arrival

Dream the dreams of other men
You'll be no one's rival
Dream the dreams of others then
You will be no one's rival

You will be no one's rival...

A distant time, a distant space
That's where we're living
A distant time, a distant place
So what ya giving?
What ya giving?

iMac Hard Drive Upgrade

2009-12-23T13:41:00.016-06:00

Ok so this is not usually a Tech blog but since I am such a Tech person this is what I been up to lately.

I thought that the Hard Drive in my iMac died I was using it and it just froze up one day, so I had to hold the power button to a manual shutdown. (I'm sure all my Windows user friends are saying "see told you...") And to my dismay when I pressed the power button again it sat there for the longest time. It finally read the boot sector off my USB backup drive this is the one I use. When it booted my internal hard drive was missing so I thought great it's dead. So I took my iMac to the Apple Store in Tulsa and they said it would be $279 for the replacement drive & $85 labor. +tax = $395, so I freaked out a little & decided not to part with my life savings. We went around the mall a bit & let the kids play at the little playground thing they have. I text Brent Albert & told him that it was going to be almost $400 & he told me about ifixit.com, I had never heard of them before. (Their amazing by the way) So I decided i'd give it a shot try to fix it myself, which I have now successfully done. I got a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green drive from Newegg. I got the tools I needed from ifixit so this whole process only cost me about $120 (and the Apple drive was going to be 640GB not 1TB) I pretty much followed the ifixit "iMac Hard Drive Replacement Guide" to the letter and they were right on. It is definitely not for a novice but to the average tech-ie it's a nice challenge.

Here's my proof (along with the fact that my iMac still works)

prepped & ready to go.

remove the RAM door first. (it's just 1 Phillips screw)

It's not as hard to pull off with the suction cups as I thought

There are 12 of these Torx T8 screws the 4 on the bottom are longer than the rest.

I flipped the bezel straight up it's still connected to the mic.

you have to remove some tape to take it apart.

with the bezel off there are 8 Torx T8 screws 4 each side of the LCD.

next disconnect the LCD temp plug.

next remove the 2 Torx T6 screws on the LCD data cable

then disconnect the LCD data cable

pickup the Left side of the LCD fist.

there are 4 cables on the rigth you have to disconnect first 2 bottom 2 top

I labeled mine A,B,C,D

There is a tiny black dot on the front so you can reconnect them properly

next disconnect the HD temp sensor cable

the handle is not too hard but it takes a firm grip

remove the handle & move it to the new drive

move the HD temp sensor bracket to the new drive

also move the posts on the other side of the drive

then place the HD temp senor back in the bracket

the SATA power & data cables are standard

then just reassemble and VOILA!! your done.

For me it was fun & a little nerve racking especially when I dropped a tiny screw down into the rest of the innards, luckily I only had to move a fan to get it out. If you have an iMac and want to give it a storage boost this is definitely the way to go. If you want some help or some pointers let me know. Have fun & don't be scared, but do watch for dust when putting the glass back over the LCD.

Matt

Two wrongs don't make a right.

2009-12-16T09:12:00.005-06:00

Let's just start with this so that I don't lose my train of thought, cause I do that fairly quickly.

"Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." -Psalm 51:10

This is from Psalm 51. I know a lot of you just checked out: "Oh, he's quoting the Bible-so boring and dull." -- I know you're thinking it. But hopefully you haven't clicked away to go search for iPods or Christmas presents on Google™ yet. Seriously, take a second and think about this. I'll preface it for you.

Ok David the king of the country is writing this, but he is writing it directly after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. She was out taking a bath (yeah that means she was naked, guys) and he was on the roof, where he should never have been in the first place because the army is out in a war & he should have been leading them...he's the king remember? Not only that, he then sent her husband to the front lines of this war so that he would get killed (which he did). So now he's sitting in his palace after he's knocked up this woman and killed her husband having someone play him harp music with the servants using those big leafy things to fan him, ok so maybe the leafy part's a stretch. Ok I know you're thinking what a jerk; I'd like to teach him a lesson or let's put him on the front lines of the battle. Which is what I'd think too.

But back to the two wrongs don't make a right part. So Nathan the prophet (a messenger from God) hears about it, comes to the palace, and confronts David -- basically tells him what a sack of trash he's being-- and David finally admits it & he's truly sorry for what he has done so he sits down and writes the above. Now when I blow it big time I know that my response is not to immediately sit down and beg for God's mercy. It's usually run and hide for as long as I can until I've done my "time" and then I'll wander back to God with my tail tucked and take my punishment right? Wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right, so a sinful response to sin is just a bigger mess. It'd be like if one of my kids wet the bed and I go in there and see it but instead of cleaning it up I just pull the covers up and hide it. Later it's going to stink pretty bad, huh? In the same way, a sinful response to sin stinks pretty bad. I should have the same response as David did to all of my mess ups. Instead of running and hiding I should go to God and tell him I've messed it up and ask for his help. The same way my son comes to me and tells me he's had an accident and there's a mess. I don't beat him down & rub his nose in it. I love my son so I go in and clean it up for him. David is crying out to God help me! Clean up this mess I've made. Make it right so that you'll be honored. You can go read on the rest of the chapter (Psalm 51) where David talks about how he's messed it up, and how he's asking God for help.

If you want to read the whole story, which is probably equivalent to a lot of rated R movies movies out there, then you can go read 2 Samuel chapters 11 & 12. You can even read it online if you want.

All scripture taken from:
English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

breakfast photoshoot!!

2009-10-26T12:22:00.002-05:00

Me & Keagan hanging out at breakfast time eating oatmeal this morning. Got these photos in a row so I deceided to make a photobooth strip out of them.

the seemingly idle tale...

2009-10-12T08:22:00.008-05:00

I guess that this really should be an embarrassing thing but I just finally finished reading the gospel of Luke (in it's entirety) for the first time in my life today. I was reading the last chapter, just a little bit ago and this one particular section jumped out at me.

but these words seemed to them an idle tale, (Luke 24:11a)

WOW! Seriously you just got through seeing people healed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk & now you think it's an "idle tale". What more do you need in order to believe that Jesus is not a liar? But WAIT! Don't I do the exact same thing? God shows up and totally bails me out of some particular situation (not to mention loving me & giving me salvation), and I'm all thank you, thank you, thank you. Then later I'm freaking out about something different all over again. Where's my faith, where's my trust, where's all my Sunday school answers, "Oh God loves us & he'll take care of us..." -- In my best religious churchy voice

Why do we say that we love and believe in Jesus? But then we live and act as if it's the biggest idle tale that we've ever heard, "oh yeah that'd be nice." I can't really explain how real this is and how real that I know it is in my heart. Jesus really for real came back to life. He talked to and walked 7 miles with two of the apostles, and they didn't realize that it was him because again they were believing as stated above. Then he revealed himself to them, and then disappeared. So then they did; as i'm sure I would do, they freaked out and ran (the entire 7 miles) back to where the rest of the guys were to tell them all what happened. Then again Jesus shows up, and again they all think it's a ghost. So Jesus has to prove it to them so he says "Have you anything here to eat?" -- i.e. Can I raid your fridge? Coming back to life makes you really hungry. So they hook him up with some broiled fish. Then he explains it all to them about Moses and the prophets and how everything had to play out so that it would all be fulfilled. So then he takes them out to the next town and then he; right in front of them, ascended into heaven. Then finally they start to see it's not so idle.

And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:52,53)

So now they know that it's true and they live in response to the fact that it's true. So I really need to live like I know that it's a fact and that it's so true and not carry on and freak out about each and every little situation that doesn't go according to my plan and is not "ok" by my standard.

If you're not getting what I'm saying or are just confused about what I'm talking about read Luke chapter 23 & 24 then think about this section. Jesus is real and true.

All scripture taken from:
English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Last Day Living Logo GRFX

2009-09-03T10:04:00.002-05:00

Last Day Living Logo GRFX, originally uploaded by frame:45.

The Last Message Video

2009-07-30T22:04:00.002-05:00

well I finally finished the video for fuelchurch.tv's sermon series "The Last Message" hope you enjoy.

The Last Message from Matt Yakel on Vimeo.

True Greatness

2009-03-29T22:22:00.007-05:00

Wow, I haven't really taken the time to write in a long time (been way too busy with things that don't really matter). Well John & I went to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas yesterday. There is a big 50-60 foot waterfall, we took some photos & I shot a little video, but it doesn't do it justice. I'm pretty sure that it was the biggest waterfall that I've seen so far in my life.

So we hiked down the trail which goes down into the canyon about a mile to the falls. When your down there looking up at the cliffs seeing just how small you really are, I don't see how anyone can be there seeing how great the earth is and not believe in the Majesty & Power of Christ Jesus, who created everything that I was standing there looking at. It was amazing to stand there and see the work of his hands. I was standing there listening to the roar of the water and I could feel the Holy Spirit infused in absolutely everything. It is amazing to me to think that there are mountains and valleys; rivers and waterfalls even greater than this one that I was standing in front of and that they were all made by our Lord Jesus Christ. The sheer fact of that should be enough to cause us to love & worship him. But even greater than all of this that I was taking in, is that He has given us love and grace and forgiveness. All this great vast earth with it's lakes, forests, mountains, and rivers, yet still he cares for me right here as small as I am.

I know it's not much in return but Thank You Jesus for loving me and giving me forgiveness and grace, only you are truly Great & Mighty!!!!!

Here are the photos so that you can see a bit of what I'm talking about.

The rest of them are on my Facebook page.

this is great!!!!!

2009-02-08T23:57:00.000-06:00

New Podcast Image

2009-01-25T14:49:00.004-06:00

Wow I haven't really done any design for a while now so thought that I'd sit down & crank one out for our new series @ fuelchurch.tv hope that you all like it.

Mercy House Ryan has a new talent!!!

2008-12-24T08:56:00.001-06:00

Time Lapse Studio Setup.

2008-10-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

I can't remember if I blogged this already, but here is a video of setting up our studio at work for a shoot (it's been a couple of weeks).

Time Lapse Studio Setup from Matt Yakel on Vimeo.

Brand Spanking New ESV Study Bible!!!!!!!!

2008-10-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Mike Anderson for the great video. Can't wait to get my ESV study bible. (I should have preordered).

Brand Spanking New ESV Study Bible from Mike Anderson on Vimeo.

fuelcell video up on YouTube.

2008-09-21T23:12:00.000-05:00

Watch LifeShare Live!!!

2008-09-19T19:31:00.000-05:00

i won't run,

2008-08-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

or will i??

chorus:
I wont run when it looks like love
I won’t hide beneath the fear
Of how my past has come undone

I wont run when it looks like love
I can’t spend another night alone
Regretting what I’ve done
So, I won’t run.

Words and Music by Nathaniel & William Rinehart. ©2007 Atlantic Recording Corp. all rights reserved. ASCAP

you can listen to the song here. (Looks Like Love by needtobreathe)

This really hit me the other day, I think that I do run from love. I don't know why it's so hard for me to understand and live out that God loves me just as I am. Sure it's really easy to say. We say "Jesus loves you" all the time. But do I really live that out; do go about my life as a response to that or do I keep running and act any way that I want to.

Ohh! Ok a big example to me is when Keagan is doing what ever he wants to and getting into mischief as usual. Sometimes he ends up getting into trouble. I look at him during this time (yea I'm probably frustrated) but I still love him just as much as I do when he crawls in our bed in the morning and says goodnight and lays down on my pillow.

So why is it so hard to realize that God loves me even more than that all the time, and that I should respond to that with a life of gratitude, and obedience. Just keeping that perspective is the hard part. I guess that's my thoughts for today.

you should download this!

2008-08-11T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Consequences of Feminism

2008-08-01T08:57:00.000-05:00

God please give me the strength to be the Man, Father, Leader that you call us men to be. Thank You.

Just thought that this might help some of you guys out there. It sure gives me a swift kick in the pants.

faith = paycheck 2 paycheck?

2008-07-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

I am guilty of wishing and living for the day that I have "made it" or "arrived" @ that perfect job (that pays me $60,000+ yr). But today I learned that, that is not what God wants of me. I say that I am a follower of Christ but I don't really follow him, I just kinda hang back and watch the path that he has set before me and then I find a nice place to sit down and rest (after such a grueling task of not following).

7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles

Would I really pray this? Well I can honestly say that I haven't. I think that I talk big about how I love God & Jesus, but I do a not so hot job of living out what Jesus asks of us in God's word. Lord please help me with this. I think that I am scared to completely trust Christ with my life here & now, the things that I have and my family. I want to be in control and provide for them.

an unlikely anthem.

2008-07-28T22:12:00.000-05:00

wow there is so much that I want to say right now, but i am filled with this quietness that I can't ignore. I haven't been able to escape the song "ten thousand angles" by caedmon's call today. you can listen to it here.

how long you have traveled in darkness weeping
no rest in language, no words to speak
but there in the wreckage beneath bricks and bindings
love has come, love has come for you

against the night sky of your waiting
your face is like starlight when he walks in
everything worth keeping comes through dying
love has come, love has come for you

so lift up your heart now, to this unfolding
all that has been broken will be restored
here runs deep waters for all who are thirsty
love has come, love has come for you

ten thousand angels will light your pathway
until the day breaks fully in the East
they will surround you and make your way straight
love has come, love has come for you
love has come, love has come for you

Words and Music by Sandra McCracken. ©2002 Same Old Dress Music (admin. by music services) all rights reserved. ASCAP

I think I am beginning to understnad what Chan is talking about.
Thank you Lord for coming for me, I think that's all I can say right now

Man Up Videos are on YouTube!!

2008-07-17T09:14:00.000-05:00

The Man Up! videos are on YouTube. The last one of the series should be up by next Tuesday. If you were there last Sunday we didn't have a video it was part technical (the video was too dark and didn't show up on the screen.) and part timing, we were going to repeat the previous weeks video (which I personally don't like to do by the way) but Shane ended up introducing Ryan as our guest speaker so all worked out well. Anyway all that to say that the week 3 video is NEW!!.

slience is "golden"!

2008-07-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

well I think that it is much more than "golden" it is very hard to do and wonderful @ the same time. It's like this thing that I chase but it is so hard to capture and then when I do it's gone too quickly. Psalms 62 talks about sitting in silence and letting God be my salvation. If only I could rely on that everyday and make that a priority in my life. I am so busy all the time video, music, computers, internet, cell phones, emails, text messages, work, appointments, driving, traffic, money, bills, wow the list could go on.

My good friend Matt Duke just told me about a new book this week. I just ordered it off of Amazon. It's called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I read a couple of pages from his copy. Chan talks about being quiet before God. Wow that is so hard for me to do. I am really excited to read it. I think it will give me some insight on how Christ really wants us to live. I know that I should read Christ's word to us, but sometimes (most of the time) it confuses me or I get distracted. I can understand a lot more when I have someone put it in perspective for me. I definitely think that silence is some thing that I need to work on.

My wife lost a sister last week, I think that is one of the reasons that I am feeling such silence today. She talks a little about it on her blog. I think that it is just now hitting me, I really hope that she can become closer to some of her family.

Anyway guess this post is kinda randoms thoughts collected together for today. Hope you all have a good week.

Fuel Setup Time Lapse Video

2008-07-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

1st Attempt at Stop Motion Video

2008-07-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

Cookies Stop Motion from Matt Yakel on Vimeo.

Man this makes me want a cookie!

It took us about 6 hours on Tuesday to shot all the photos for this video. And it as taken me about a total of 8 hours to edit it all together. Not too bad for my first stop motion video. Hope you like it. Now go buy a cookie.

Super Duper Sunday School Anwser!!!

2008-06-29T23:23:00.000-05:00

Well let's start out with me saying that "Yes I am guilty." Of what, you may ask? This morning was amazing It was our first fuelchurch.tv service in the Civic Center. God is truly blessing us. Shane had a small quite time for all of us who are serving, and I am so incredibly grateful. God spoke to me very clearly during this time.

Shane spoke and read Genesis 18:1-14

Is anything too hard for the Lord? NO

Ok automatically almost everyone says NO! (Sunday school answer)

Ok the real answer and back to my guiltiness, We automatically want to and probably do honestly agree with saying NO! But I know that I am incredibly guilty of living my life (our real answer) in a matter that totally limits God and point blank tells him that these things that I am worried or concerned or distraught about are entirely TOO BIG for you. And that I say that I believe that nothing is too hard for you, but this thing that I have here is different you might not be able to tackle this one.

Don't forget we have our services on iTunes via Podcast so if you want to hear more about the things that God is doing @ fuel then check it out, IT'S FREE!!

Starting with stop motion video.

2008-06-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

I am going to be doing a commercial @ work using stop motion effects, this is the test video for that. Hopefully I'll be able to post more when I get them finished. I think that this one took me about 10-15 mins. to make.

Stop Motion Testing 01 from Matt Yakel on Vimeo.

out of the blue

2008-05-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

as i am waiting for life to happen it is happening all around me,
as i am waiting fro things to begin i realize that they are almost over,
as i am dreaming about the good times that are coming i miss all the ones that are here now,
as i am waiting for times to be better i am missing all the chances to make them better,

i tell myself that things will be ok when i get that perfect job,
i tell myself that things will be ok when i get that perfect car,
i tell myself that when that when that day arrives it will be ok,

i am still waiting for that day,

as i am spending my life living for the future,

out of the blue,

life,

mine,

is happening all around me,

and i am missing it,

as i am spending my time looking for the things that i can get,

out of the blue,

there are so many things that i don't even know what to do with them all,

as i am waiting, out of the blue, it is here,
as i am working so hard, out of the blue, it is passing by,
as i am dreaming, out of the blue, my life is already awake.

Fuel Funday Photos (Courtsey of Angie Duke) !!!

2008-05-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Wow!! What a great day yesterday I was so nice outside. I hope that our church will continue to have cookouts and all kinds of get together times. If you weren't there you missed out on some great food, and fun. Well here are some photos that Angie took with my camera. Hope you like them.

Oh! Also don't forget about the fuelflickr group if you have any pictures please post them. See ya later!

I think this one is my favorite

fuelchurch.tv on iTunes!

2008-04-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hey We're on iTunes

Open iTunes and then click on the Image to subscribe to the Podcast.

The Greatest Gift

2008-04-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

Wow it has been a year and 2 months since my friend Buddy Hughie was killed. He was in the National Guard in Afghanistan, he was a medic; he jumped out from cover during fire to save two other soldiers and was shot in the chest. It still doesn't feel real. It's like i'm dreaming and I know that i'm gonna wake up soon. I miss him so much, we were in boy scouts together and then in high school we were best friends. I wish that everyone in America could understand what the troops have done for us and not complain or grip about the war and realize that there are those who are giving the greatest gift there is to give. well got to go i'll write more later. Here's a video that I put together for his funeral.

Sgt. Buddy Hughie