evangelism

'we' being the boys of 58B have enjoyed some younger company for most of this week, (being the school holidays and all that), and have been frequently visited by some of the local lads.

what follows is a transcript of a conversation between me and the boy i shall refer to as 'tuni'.

tuni: 'you're a gangsta, eh, ow?'

me: 'no'

tuni: 'yeah, i knew you were a gangsta...'

me: 'why's that?'

tuni: 'cause you got lots of marker pens'

alas - my vivid collection gets me in trouble once again. heh.
take it easy kids, and have a nice weekend

my good friend willy

and it just don't stop.

flip.

i'm not exactly sure where to start. too much to say, too much to do.

well, i guess i should start at the beginning.
wednesday afternoon, i had a full tank, and a some fresh oil + filter, thanks to my buddy sam.
was visiting the boys group boyz, to get some enrolment details for church camp.
then i went home and had some KFC, and also went to visit some other people from my church, but they weren't exactly willing, so 8.00pm on a wednesday night, whats a young fulla to do? go to maraetai. yea-uh!
now maraetai, for some reason holds a special place in my heart, i've had some good times there, and if you got on a calm night, you can just sit still before God and let your soul be refreshed. but this night i was still somewhat agitated, and after about 10mins, i decided to head back.
I'm gonna have a biased opinion but i don't think i was driving recklessly.
obviously a lot of contributing factors went into the accident, some of which would consist of: my driving, new vehicle, tiredness, God's sovereignty.
But i'm still blank as to why my car left the road?

i did feel the laft rear wheel hit the gravel, which in turn caused the other rear wheel to be dragged into its path, and by this stage my whole vehicle was skidding sideways along the road side at about 90-100kms.

i looked up and saw the powerpole coming about 80metres away, and it was lined up perfectly with the centre of my vehicle, there was no chance of me stopping, or changing my path.
at that stage - the whole world stopped - or at least slowed to a fraction of the speed it was was moving, - just like an action movie.

Two very vivid thoughts entered my mind:

1. ' This is it, i'm going home!'

2. "Oh no, not my car!'

as you can see, i was still very selfish, even in the midst of calamity.
the biggest thing was, that i seriously thought, God was gonna take me home, and as daunting as i know that day will be, it was actually very reassuring at that particular time. I believe that if all of the above had happened and i didn't know jesus, or trust him as my saviour, i would be a very shook man. very very shaken.

but i think having that perspective throughtout the rest of the accident and in the coming days, it granted me a better position to really deal with all the situations around me, i didn't have to stress, because i realised God's plan was to keep me here, and there was obviously nothing i could do to influence that.

now, those that know me, will also note, that i thrive on a bit of adrenalin, so actually hitting the pole, was somewhat enjoyable? (if that makes any sense). i mean, not enjoyable, but it's one of those things that will probably only happen once in your lives, if that, i wanted to be able to experience it. i don't really know if i can communicate really what i want to, so just don't think i'm a sick dude or anything.

obviously after the impact, i couldn't breath, my first impression was that i had given myself the stitch, which i later corrected to be rib injuries.
about 1 minute after it happened, a dude came down the road from his house across the road, took one look at the car and said ' wow, uh, just stay in the car, i'll go and call an ambulance'.
as soon as he ran off, i opened the door of my car and got out. (direct disobedience once again!) i must be inherently sinful or something?
while stumbling for breath, the neighbour on the other side of the road came down and supported me to her letterbox, which i leant on whilst struggling for breath, by now my ribs were starting to get quite painful. I also had to partake in conversation, about lots of weird and wonderful things, although to my benefit, mono syllabic answers and grunts usally surficed.

once the ambulance arrived, i don't recall much of that trip to the hospital, except to be floating on a wave of morphine. the hospital was the same story, i was conscience that people we're looking after me, so i really didn't worry about anything until the next day.

to round it up, kids always wear your safetly belts, drive safe, live your lives as you wouild if you knew God was coming back today, because you don't know when you'll meet him.

I really just wanna praise my Saviour and my Lord, because it's only by His wonderful grace that i'm still amongst you brethren today. He was my strenght, my sustainence, my provider,
I was was looking forward to sharing eternity with Him, and still am, but have to stay here for another while.

i also want to thank all you fullas out there but most notably,
my parents:
thanks for staying strong on the phone, i didn't give you guys anything back, but managed to use your strength to strengthen me, sorry for all the drama i've caused. thanks for bringing me up in the ways of the Lord.

scott and jono:
who needs a wife when you've got flatmates like these? you guys were awesome, from being my first visitors, to taking care of my car, co-ordinating everybody else. if i had a medal, you guys would get it. thanks heaps eh?

brother sam:
this guy man, you could walk into world war 3 and he'd be beside you cracking jokes and pulling your arm. when i needed to smile he made me smile, chur bro. thanks man.

louise:
can't forget my souls sista, even thou she was in japan, she rang me everyday, to see how i was getting on? i was awaiting those phone calls with upmost anticipation. thanks bud.
you encouraged me so much. sorry you couldn't have been here, but thanks for being strong from your side

andrew mac:
the macdaddy, this guy comes in, finds out your level and just chills, it was cool to just spend time hanging with him.

if i write a few things about everyone, i'm gonna be here all day, so don't feel neglected if your name comes in this next list, i valued your support as much as the other fullas, but i really need to got get some painkillas, so here goes:
thanks:
nathan and sarah, for the reading, krizia and sarah for the soul, hamish, for the 'slam', chur bro.
scott(again) and sarah, willie and alex- thanks for cds, election stuff + gromer. the brown family, harrington and roi, the boss, mike thanks for the chocs. jimbo, that audience with a guitar was talked about throughout the ward, chur dude - rock on.
shane, mark tasker - he carried all belongings out of the hosp. chur dude. thanks to everybody who txted, hopefully i responded, and of course everyone who prayed. i can't thank you enough!

i've probably neglected a few people, i'll blame it on the morphine.

so yeah, i better go. i'll end with a mastercard line.

6 fractured ribs = painful
1 punctured lung = painful
1 written off car = pain in the wallet
God being glorified throughout all of the above =priceless.

rideage.

hey yo's.

got four spare seats in my car for a trip to rotovegas this weekend.

departing 1730 hrs friday 16 Sep, and returning to akld +1600 hrs saturday 17 Sep.

potentially doing some hard labour on saturday morning.

let me know if you want to come, and bring your cds.

cheers,

carl.

when sponsors don't think

this brief moment of hilarity was pointed out to me in the manukau courier this morning.

Your team in the National Provincial Competition, The Counties Manukau Steelers, now have a major sponsor in Western Bay Finance.
which brings me to the following announcement:

'Ladies and Gentlemen, Proudly show your support for

'The Western Bay Finance Ste(a)lers'

I wonder if thats where all your interest goes on your quick loan? hmmm.

cheers dudes.

carl.

res_cued

ballpoint on paper 22/07/05

wack rappin'

harrington, a bassline please?
inspired by nathan's creative literary genius, nas, kayne

Yo, I just wanted to say that there’s more to life than this,
Not trying to sound like will smith with a percussionist.
But there’s something out there you just can’t miss
You gotta ask questions like my man ‘jadakiss’ (why?)

So I know you kids like 50 and his gangsta rappin’
But who really believes that he’s out there packin’
Ice, rim’s, hoes and whatever else goes, but bro, I know,
you know that it’s all a big show.

Yo, young boys, come in here and listen up close,
you want a life that gives you the most.
Something about which to your fam you can boast.
Put it in 5th and go coast to coast.
Well ease off the drink, stay away from the weed.
Yo don’t wanna be my age and can’t even read
School can be hard and teachers even mean,
Its not fun being locked up when you’re seventeen

This one right here, be going out to the girls whose only ten,
Grown looking girls, who follow they friends,
Watching the videos, and do what they see,
Yo kanye, I wanna be a dancer on mtv. Can you help me?
Look after yourself and u can become a star,
Gaining popularity, leaving people in awe.
The next pretty young thing, the updated version,
But whatever you do, don’t hang with the wrong person
Used to be the life of the party, now has the party in a pill.
Re-releasing her album just to pay the bills.
Friends grew tired, family grew cold, had so much potential
Now she’s ugly and old
She still craves the attention, like she’s addicted to meth,
Leans in for hugs, people hold they breath,
Cause she smells of corrosion and death.
All that she had, just got up and left.

Life has so much, but can end up so wrong,
Stranded alone like a lil’ king kong.
That’s why to you I’m singing this song
Cause a time like for ever, for ever ever, for ever ever,
For ever ever, is really quite long.
Theres a fire that burns for all of eternity,
it wants to light you on fire for all of infinity,
sounds like a long time, well yeah most definitely!
I’ll throw in a shamless plug for a place called trinity.

I’m not saying its easy, its always pretty hard.
You always gotta keep yourself on guard.
So bring it before my holy brother Jesus
He’s got the answer you always have needed.
He’s won the battle, got the wounds that have bleeded
Between us and the Father He has forever interceded.

Theres the truth, let it be told, so our youth can grow
They turn to him to survive, to gain control.
Nobody said you had to be gangstas or whores.
Turn to jesus the choice is yours
Ghetto children, like an oyster is the world
Like a lion crouched on all fours.

So go on sunshine, do your thing,
Submit your life to your king,
Legions of angels will stop and sing
Unto Him, unto Him, unto Him.

any ideas are welcomed in the comments, peace dudes.

the mark of the beast

yo peeps, sorry its not a good image, but here's my new wagon.
will try to put another one up shortly. or better yet, just
come round and visit sometime. peace out. holla!