Who are we? Who am I?

Recently, I have been doing a re-evaluation of my life, and some of the choices that I've made. Of course I'm not perfect, and I have never made any attempt to claim that I am, or that I'm anywhere even close to it. If anything, I've had a rough life, this is obvious to most who know me. I have been told by total strangers that my face hides wisdom and sorrow that one should never see when looking into the eyes of a 17 year old. Naturally, while coping with these hard times, my choices have not always been the best.

I was contacted recently by somebody who read this blog, and proceeded to contact me via Facebook. The question he posed was a hurtful one; what makes you think you can put yourself above everyone else out there and tell them what God wants. So I wanted to tell everyone exactly who it is that I am. In light of a recent post, I'm going to spare you the details of hearing me complain about the hard times I've been through, but instead simply tell you some of the stupid choices I've made in an attempt to cope.

I am no stranger to a bottle of vodka, or a pack of cigarettes. I have hurt many people to the point that I've hated myself. I've been sexually immoral. I've lied and cheated my way through more things than I care to admit. Through and through, I am no better than any of you.

I don't write on this page to make anyone feel less of themselves. I don't do it to make myself seem lofty and holy. I write on here because I know what life can throw at you, and I'm learning to deal with it. I simply want to help people around the world do the same by sharing a bit of my own struggles.

God tells us that we are ALL sinners, and we have all fallen short of his glory. His glory is perfect, and anyone below God is just that. Below God. No sin is worse than another. My taking a shot and having a cigarette is no better than a terrorist killing thousands with a bomb. At the same time, it is no worse than you telling your parents that you finished your homework when you haven't.

Bottom line. We are all sitting down here in the same doghouse, but there is a light by the door. Or maybe where the chimney should be...I'm not sure which...but not the point! We can all sit here, making a mad dash for the light, knocking anyone we can out of the way on in the mean time, or, we can help one another as much as possible. Getting to the light yourself will feel great, so imagine bringing along 7,000,000,000 (7 billion) of your closest friends.

That's all I've got for today!
--Peace and Love!
--Devin Haegeman

Signs from God.

Perhaps we've all heard the story of the man trapped on his roof in a flood. For those of you who haven't, I'll share it.

A man was trapped on his roof after a flood. A boat came along and offered to help him. He replyed "No thank you, God will save me." The water began to rise again, and another boat came along. Again, he was offered help, and again, he replied, "No thank you, God will save me." Finally, the water was up to his neck, and a helicopter flew low overhead. They offered to help him, but he replied, of course, "No thank you, God will save me." The water again began to rise, and the man drowned. He arrived in heaven, stood before God, and shouted out. "God! Why didn't you save me?!" God, shocked by his outburst, cried out, "What are you talking about!? I sent 2 boats and a helicoptor!"

The point of this story isn't to make you laugh, although if it did, that's good too. The point is, we ask God to do all of these wonderful things for us, and then we refuse to see that he actually does answer them. I myself ran into this problem a while back. My brothers and I have had a really interesting life. Both of them have choose paths of life that are probably not the ones they should go down. I prayed to God over and over and OVER for chances to reach out to them. My older brother David started calling me shortly after I began asking, and would want to hang out or do something. I would always make up some excuse Jas to why i couldn't. Then one night, as I was praying, it stuck me. I was sitting on that roof, the water rising, while God sent boats and helicopters to save me, and I just pushed them away. It was eye opening. Unlike the man in the story, I finally jumped on one of those boats. I realized that God would present the opportunity as long as I could see that he was answering. I took initiative, and was able to re-connect with him. I also realized that the only way God was going to give me the chance to help my little brother, Dakota, was for me to try to get him to open to me as well. I tried, a little hard of heart, and I failed. Then, one night, I realized that I had to let him know that I had gone through just what he is going through before I left my moms house. The funny thing is, that it worked. God sent a boat for him, and this time, I was the one driving it. All we need to do is open ourselves for God to work through us. For without God, we can do NOTHING, but with God, we can do EVERYTHING.

Just some food for thought. Peace and love everyone.

Stop complaning....Please?

It seems that lately, everyone has something to complain about. We sit in our nice homes, surrounded by nice things, people we love and care about...and yet we complain. Two days ago, when a earthquake that hit 7.o on the Rictor Scale hit Haiti, I would say that those people had something to complain about. Yet, watching the news, I see people in the streets, dancing and praising for their lives, praying for those whose condition is still unknown. They have had no food and water for 36 hours. Right now, I could walk less than a minute to my fridge, grab any array of food or drink, and be back here typing in no time. Yet we complain.

I've been dealing with a lot in life lately. My step-mom has had three major surgeries in less than a year. I have lived in three towns, three counties, and gone to three different high schools, all in the past 10 months. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disease that causes me to be in constant, chronic pain. Currently, I have no job, thus no money. To be completely blunt, my life is...wonderful. I have my family, my friends, I have God. Of course, I could sit here and complain about how I feel, or what I can't do, but there's no point, is there? If people can dance and praise in the streets for every life that has been spared after such devestation, why do we sit and complain because we can't afford the latest gadgets?

It is my honest belief that God will provide. For Haiti, for me, for you. For all of us. Many only turn to him in their time of need, and he will always answer (though maybe not how you planned). God is ALWAYS there. We see him in the good times, but blame him for the bad. He will never leave or forsake you. Never harm or hinder you. Never...run out of coffee? (Seriously, good stuff.)