Grace. Giving. Worship.

The One who spoke and brought the world into existence by the power of His word, 

who was of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,

who walked the ivory palaces in glory,

who knew no limitations of time and space,

who heard only continuous praise in the corridors of heaven, 

who reigned in sovereignty and lived in perfect harmony with His father ----

this One became poor for us.

humbling Himself,

making Himself of no reputation, 

confining Himself to the womb of a woman,

becoming flesh and blood,

living in subjection to earthly parents, 

taking upon Himself the form of a servant. 

He had no place to lay His head, no home of His own.

He borrowed a boat, a donkey, an upper room.

He rescued a coin from the mouth of a fish to pay His taxes.

And He used a young lad's lunch to feed a multitude. 

He was despised and rejected of men,

reviled and  accused of having a demon,

of being of Beelzebub's kingdom.

He became sin for us - forsaken of the Father.

And because He loved us in all our poverty of spirit, soul, mind and body,

He WILLING became poor 

so that through His poverty we might become rich!

THIS IS THE GRACE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR MODEL OF THE GRACIOUS WORK, THE MINISTRY TO WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED: THE MINISTRY OF GIVING!

WORSHIP HIM! 

With blessings,

Matthew

Life. Blah, blah,blah.

Its been awhile since Ive been on this ole blog. I miss it but man, life is crazy. The last 10 months have been sad, hard, painul, rejuvenating, awesome, challenging, new, old and full of experience. Its been a busy season for me and theres no signs of stopping. The new year started with a BANG and I never saw coming the events that took place. Or maybe I did? Saying goodbye to someone is never an easy thing but sometimes its what you have to do at that time. Ive learned a lot about myself and others as well.

It was around Thanksgiving time last year that my life really started to change. I weighed close to 265 pounds!! I didnt know had this had happened. I mean besides the fact that I ate horrible food and never exercised, I could mentally comprehend how I was so blind to this. I had had a lot of ups and downs the first few years outta highschool and I never took time to deal with them properly thus overeating and not physically or mentally for that matter taking care of myself. This was me summer of 2012.........

Most people would say I wasnt that bad or wasnt that out of shape BUT ill tell you what, not being able to tie your shoes without losing your breath is never a good thing. I had to make a change so I started working out and eating right. Its been about 9 or so months since Ive started this life change and Ive lost close to 70 pounds!! Ive never felt so great! I hope to continue this lifestyle for as long as I can! This is me a month ago and I am still making progress!!

Its been a long journey but its been worth every step and every pound!! Lately though Ive hit a bit of a wall training wise but hope to use some new workouts to break those walls down. Im by no means giving up. 

My biggest goal currently is to compete in the 2014 Idaho Ironman and finish in under 12 hours! I have a long ways to go but am up for the challenge!! 

So yeah thats been my last 10 months! Ive missed this whole blogging thing and have lots on my mind as of late so I hope to get more of thoughts down. Hope whoever reads this is doing well and finds great joy and freedom in life.

Blessings,

Matthew

Music

I need to play more. I need to write more. I need to try more. I need to tour more. I need to record more. I need to practice more.

Who do I work for......

I have been so blessed by God to have been given and entrusted with two jobs that have provided for me in numerous ways!! It blows my mind thinking about how lucky I truly am. But now with this I have come to realize a couple things. The biggest of which is that I need to change my attitude and thought process on work and a job. Long story short is I work for God at the end of the day.

Lately Ive been throwin a couple of curve balls if you will in my working situation and environment. Ive come to the conclusion that while yes God has provided these jobs for me they may in fact not be the jobs or even job that God really has for me. Now I know you may be thinking what the heck is this guy talking about. I believe God has something great for everyone and in my case I believe he has a bigger better job for me out there somewhere. So what do I do?? Staying where I am isnt the only answer. Sometimes to progress in life we have to make ourselves uncomfortable and change something. This could be a little change or a HUGE SCARY FAITH BUILDING change. For me I believe it is the big scary uncomfortable one.

Trusting God in this isnt easy and it wont be. But it is faith building. It will only grow me more so than I thought possible. And most of the time I look at this as a bad thing almost. Change is scary. Who would want to face a fear when it can be avoided?? However when that fear is faced and met head on itll snap about a change so big and so huge and so great that the fear is no longer a fear but merely a starting block for something much greater.

I know I tend to ramble on but this all makes sense to me. I work for God. If God is telling me to do something as my boss then man I better get my butt in gear and do it!!

I dont know what the future holds for me and that is super scary for me BUT I know that God has great plans. I know what I want deep down inside and I know that God has my best interest in mind and that he will always provide. I have to do my part though as well and work hard and be faithful, even in the rough hard not so fun times.

So heres to new beginnings and better things that only God knows of. The first step in faith is trust. I trust that things will be just fine and that God is gonna provide and lead me on.

I hope this finds you well dear friends.

Matthew

It's been awhile........

I didn't even realize that this was still around. It's been awhile to say the least. I started this in 2010 as away to cope and get my thoughts out. I think it's time I got back to this. To those reading I hope you enjoy or at least take something away from this.

Lately life has thrown me a couple curve balls to say the least. I've hung in though and have managed not to strike out. It may be the bottom of the ninth and I may down by a bunch and have two outs against me but let me tell you what, rally caps are on and my best player just stepped up to bat.

I've realized more and more that as I grow older life seems to be changing right along with me. Dreams change for some and yet remain the same for a select few. Now I'm not saying it's a bad thing when dreams change but I for one believe that the passion that burns deep within my being is meant for me to peruse.

Music has always been a passion of mine. I've had a longing and call to do something with it! Over the last couple years I've worked hard to try and make a career of it. What have I got to show for it?? Well so far two jobs and working 40 plus hours a week. Not a whole lot of time for music one would think. And it's often true, I don't have a lot of time for music. But I'm not giving up that dream or passion.

There is something beautiful that takes when one pours their heart into such an art form that it can bring tears to someone's eyes. For me this just recently happened. I was playing a small dinner party of sorts and one of the musicians was a talented fiddle player. Every note played moved me deeper and deeper into the music. I found myself distracted and lost and hitting wrong notes!! My mind was brought to a place that it had missed and had became unfamiliar with. I can't put it into words but it moved me. It captivated me. It brought me to life. I haven't felt alive for months and suddenly one quiet well thought out note had me tearing up trying to fight back a wall and sea of emotions.

To say music can move someone doesn't do it justice. Music is such a beautiful thing. The way it moves and flows freely and unhindered by drama, slander, hate, violence, crime, abuse, and any other such act is a God given gift.

I can only hope and wish to hear that fiddle again. To hear those notes flow freely and smoothly. To hear them pure and true. For now ill have to settle for playing with good friends and keeping good company while doing so but I wish and pray that someday, those notes will no longer haunt me but rather join me in a beautiful chorus.

Goodnight friends, I hope this finds you well.

Matthew

got it

this is what im trying to say, what is love? tell me. what is it to you?

the heart of it all

i wont give up
i just wish i could put into words what is going on in my head
i guess this is the second part of my rant?
im tired of the same ole same ole
i can feel something breaking through
its never felt more natural
i wish others could see what i see in you
im tired of people being blind to love
im tired of people turning their backs on love