Long day...Long week

So it's mid-week and let me tell you, I am exhausted from the hectic schedule that KBK has brought to my life. KBK stands for Kids bible kamp and is something that Metro does every year. We have about 300 kids from pre K all the way to 6th grade come out for 3 hours in the morning and have a blast with them. Though playing games and doing other fun things is great, the true purpose of KBK is to bring some kids to know Jesus in a real way. I was asked to teach a few weeks ago and originally I was suppose to be with the 3rd graders then the first week of Kamp which was Monday, I was switched to 6th grade. This was awesome because the 6th graders get to go bowling on one of the days instead of sweating it out in the heat all day. Well, sadly one of the pre K teachers backed out after Monday so guess where I am now? Yep, pre K is where I have been for the past two days and its been really cool in a lot of ways. One, I feel like I know a lot more about pre K kids that i didn't knowing coming into this. You never know, this could come in handy when my kids are at this precious age. Also, to see a little kid seriously and truly worship God or understand things about the bible and everything is something that will really bless you. It definitely has blessed me. Tommorrow is the big water fight and since it is going to be 97 degrees out, I plan on getting soaked so that maybe I can survive the day without a heat stroke. haha. KBK is in the mornings and in the afternoons I have been going to hang out with my youth group buddies. Yesterday we played football and that was really fun. It's amazing how much they make me laugh. I love it. Earlier today I went to watch some of the guys play in a school summer basketball game. That was great because I miss high school sports a lot and its just cool to see them competing and since a bunch of them play football and basketball, I am pumped for the fall to cheer for them. It's gonna be sweet! God is going to do some amazing things through the relationships that I'm going to form this summer with these students and even during the school year. I'm so blessed to be in the situation I am right now. Despite the lack of sleep that I face during the week, there is nowhere I would rather be spending my summer than Metro. What an awesome church just filled with awesome people. The volunteers at KBK have been amazing and love the kids so much that some of the kids drag their parents to church. Funny how God works sometimes isn't it? Well, despite the great time that I am having right now, I can't forget about my roots so I will be traveling to Bolingbrook tomorrow night to work at IKEA for the weekend and to hang out with my dad for father's day so I bascially have the next 4 days packed with mostly fun activities(minus IKEA, whoops). That's probably will be where my next blog post comes from so until next time. Love you all.

In Christ's Name
Joe Canady
Philippians 4:13

My life...the process

So, its been a week and I haven't posted a single thing on here but I'm in some serious need of reflection and to just write out the things that have been happening in my life. One word to describe this week would definitely be difficult. I think I missed out on a pretty significant opportunity that I'm not sure that I will ever get again and that's real scary. That fact and my thought that I sometimes am not the man that God has called me to be to be a little bit down on myself this week...okay not a little, a lot. Now don't get me wrong, a lot of awesome things happened this week that were so cool but there were times this week where I looked around and thought,"Man, I want to be so much more than what I am now," I don't know, I guess its partly that I've been surrounded by so many great people these past few weeks that it has caused me to question my greatness. In a lot of ways this has helped me this week because it brought to attention some things that I need to improve on. Some pretty urgent things that I'm going to start this week will be to improve my life is to hit the gym hard and to start training for my half-marathon. Now you might be thinking that a half-marathon for an 240 pound out of shape dude might be crazy to pull of in 12 weeks but I want this and I'm going to it. I'm actually pretty excited about it. Ask me how I'm feeling at the end of this week. Now if I'm not near death, that means that I'm not working hard enough so kick my butt! Another thing I'm working on is giving more and more time daily to just Gods' word. It's so tough especially when my schedule is so busy, like this week when I have to be up at 5:45am everyday! Crazy I know but ultimately its a decision that I have to put as a priority. My life is going to being to change dramatically if I start taking these improvements seriously st me and trust me, I plan on it. Another thing that i will be doing is blogging every day. Most days I experience some pretty neat stuff. Like today for example, today I went "hoggin: with some kids from youth group. I guess its best describe as going into a creek with a net or your bare hands and catching these huge fish. Oh yeah and when its all said and done, you will be covered with mud. Now what you have to understand is that I'm a pretty big time suburban/city boy and hanging out with fish is just not something that I did growing up. I was very scared of the fish and wanted no part of holding them. ad I know but hey I'm proud of myself for getting into to the mud water at all so yeah. Another thing that happened today was that I gave the message for youth tonight and that was cool. I talked about storms and how God can use difficult situations and trying times for his glory. I love the story behind the song "Praise you in this Storm" by Casting Crowns and I used it in my message today. It's about a courage little girl named Erin Browning who used her battle with cancer to touch so many lives. I encourage you to read it. you can find it here Well as this blog is titled. My life is definitely a work in progress but its a process that I know is slowly but surely turning into something great and into something that will be used for God's glory in some incredible ways. Well until next time, Love you all

In Christ's Name
Joe
Philippians 4:13