the truth is

Here’s your chance to ask me any question you might have ever wondered about me!

I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Dont hold back, I’ll answer anything!

did you know

Did you know the dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle?

Do you know any fun or interesting facts?

Share them here!

Destination: Canada

Well, from the title you might be a little confused.. and that’s ok because I am about to explain. Last week I started thinking about some things that I want to do while I’m still young and I decided to pick one or two and do them. What I ended up picking was “Go on a random road trip.” aaannnndd “visit Canada.” So on Tuesday morning I set out to conquer the north and here was my road map:

I drove for 8 hours straight and spent the night in Cincinnati, OH. I woke up at 5am and decided to grab breakfast at Ikea!

I hit the road again and didnt stop until I reached Canada… literally.

And so I did it, I went to Canada. I didn’t stay very long, just long enough to drive around the city of Windsor, ON for a couple of hours. It was beautiful and awesome and so many things put into one.. but then I had to leave, and start making my way back to Birmingham. After maaaaaany obstacles, including getting snowed-in in Kentucky by a passing blizzard, I finally started making progress towards getting home. I was so delayed by the snow storm that I ended up having to miss the Alabama-Texas game, and get updates from my friend Lindsey. (Let me pause to say.. Roll tide) and then I finally made it home! So from Tuesday to Thursday I drove all the way from Birmingham to Canada and back. How about that?

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done? This was definitely mine!

would you rather

Would you rather go skydiving or scuba diving? Why?

For me, I would rather go skydiving.. I know with scuba diving you can see some awesome stuff that would probably blow my mind.. but there’s something about the rush of skydiving that I just cant get over until I actually do it myself.

life after death

I’m not quite sure what I want this post to be about. I basically just wanted to send out an update about how me and my family are doing after my dad passing away on the 23rd. His funeral was definitely the hardest part of the process so far, and since then I have had my good days and my bad days. I happen to be writing this post on one of the rougher days I’ve had. I cant even explain why exactly. I went to church this morning, and tried my hardest to focus, but this overwhelming anxiety has been coming over me all day. I’ll be surrounded by my family or friends and feel completely alone. This has happened a few times in the past couple of weeks, but nothing like today. But I hate to focus on the bad, so I’m going to switch to a positive note and then get back to being busy, cause that’s definitely the best medicine I’ve found so far. Ok, positive note… I am 2 classes away from my Associates in Religion.. and I am diving immediately into my Bachelors to try and get that done as soon as possible. I think I am going to try and get my Ministerial License in May. Lots going on in the next couple of months, so just keep me and my family in your prayers. Thank you guys so much for your love and encouragement. It means the world to me.

friends, family, and a funeral

Well today was the day. December 28 was my dad’s funeral. I have barely had a chance to even stop and breathe these past few days. There is so much involved in planning that I dont even think I could really even start to grieve until today. My dad was a good man and even though we didn’t have the best relationship in the world, I now realize what a blessing he was to everyone around him.

I want to thank my friends from the bottom of my heart. I have had so many phone calls/texts/facebook comments from you guys and I want you to know that I appreciate them so much. It is so comforting to know that I have your support and your prayers. I want to give a special thank you to Jenifer. Thank you so much for being there for me. You said you would be there if I ever needed you, and today I needed you. I dont think you will ever really understand what that meant to me.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it takes a certain event happening to bring people closer together? That’s definitely how this has been for me. My family has come together and we are as solid a a rock. My friends have given me so much support that I can barely even believe it. It’s hard to believe how built up I am because of you guys. Thank you so much.

Where do I go from here? Who knows. But I do know that I will have your love and support with me.

hospitals and hand grenades

Rest in peace Billy Clayton Burton. April 12, 1961 – December 23, 2009. You were more of a father than a son could ever dream of having.

Well life has been kind of rough these past few days. On Monday I got a call from my family saying that my dad had gone into the ICU and that he wasn’t doing too well. (For those of you who don’t know, my dad had been having health problems on and off for the past year.)

So for the past 3 days I had been (more or less) living at the hospital.. even sleeping there. We got some pretty bad news this morning that my dad wasn’t getting any better. The doctors had done everything they could do and my dad was just not recovering from his sickness. We had some tough decisions to make as a family, but we decided that it was best to back him off of life support and let him start celebrating his life with Jesus in heaven.

It’s crazy how being at a hospital and dealing with this stuff with my dad has made me feel like a hand grenade has gone off in my life. I feel like I’ve been blown apart and scattered across the ground like schrapnel. My family is strong and that’s a good thing. We are pulling together and trusting in the Lord.

I know that my dad’s life was a testimony to God’s goodness. He loved us more than we know and he had sacrificed so much so that we could have everything we ever wanted. I hope when I grow up that I am able to give even a portion of what he has given to everyone that was around him. I am so happy that he has gone to a better place, but this is going to be the toughest thing I’ve ever been through.

I just want to say that I appreciate everyone who is keeping my family in your prayers. We love you so much for all the support you have been and are giving to me and my family.

hero

I just found out that my good friend Jeremiah McLean‘s wife, Monique McLean, is in the newest Skillet video – Hero. The song talks about us needing a hero, and it shows a fireman, a guy in the army, and a nurse (Monique). The video is trying to show that even the people that we classify as heroes in our every day life need a hero themselves – Jesus. It’s so easy to just go from day to day and not think about how much of a hero Jesus was. He was the ultimate sacrifice – living a sinless life, and still choosing to lay it down on the cross for our sins. I just found it so powerful and wanted to share it.

strength

I miss lighting.

I miss being connected. I miss feeling needed. Right now I wish that things could be like they were before, but I know that will never most likely not happen. I honestly feel like I can’t go back to where I was. So instead, I’ll make a new way. I’m going down paths I never thought I would take. And I’m nervous. Maybe I was too comfortable where I was and the Lord just couldn’t use me like that. I will come out on top because I refuse to let circumstances keep me down. I can do all things…

servant

Over the past few days I have had tons of time to think and pray. I got to spend a weekend in the woods with an awesome group of guys last weekend. As we were hiking through the trails I began to pray and the Lord really started laying some stuff on my heart. I have come to realize that I am so far from where I want to be. God challenges us to live up to some pretty tough standards but I have decided I want even more than that. I want to be like Jesus. Always giving of myself and never expecting in return. It’s easier said than done because I am one of the most selfish people I know. If I were to look back at all of the things I have done in my life, it’s a good possibility that 99% of them would be because I expected something in return. Maybe it wasn’t something physical, like a gift, but I know that I thrive off of gratification. I guess my prayer for today is “Lord make me humble.”

A pretty cool guy named Jesus once told his disciples:

“If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

What would it be like if I was a servant of all?