Figure I'll get this whole thing started. I'm Nathan, but you probably already know that becuase you clicked on my blog. I just go by Nathan. I don't really care if you call me Nate some other similar name, just nobody really does.

I was born in Peoria, IL and have lived in Morton, IL my entire life. Morton can be summed up in 3 things: Pumpkins, marching band, Eli's Coffee. We are the pumpkin capital of the world, the high school marching band was 3rd in the nation in 2010, and the only thing to do here is to hang out at Eli's Coffee. 

As you could probably guess, I went to Morton High School. I currently am taking classes at Illinois Central College. I have applied to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for the Fall 2012 semester to study Evangelism/Discipleship. The Lord has given me gifts in those areas that I have yet to fully develop, and so I plan to study and develop them through this major. I beleive the Lord is calling me to missions and I can't think of a better program to be a part of given my abilities and desires.

Outside of class, I work at Littlefield & Lovell Orthodontics in Morton. I actually only started last Monday, but I'm moving right along, learning how to do a ton of stuff. I was in my first real patients mouth today, which was the bomb. This job was actually a huge answer to prayer. I'm going to need money to pay for school in the fall and obviously won't have this summer to work, so God really provided in a huge way with this job. 

School and work now dominate a lot of my time, but with theextra time I do have, I play music. I play guitar, drums, sing, and can work my way around a keyboard. I actually play guitar in a band called Bridge the Sea. So a lot of my playing is either practicing for a show or writing new stuff. 

As far as things I like go, my favorite thing in the world (other than Jesus cus He's numbah one, but really it's becuase of Him and only by Him that this exists and is my favorite thing) is music. I recently decided that if I had to either be blind or deaf, I would choose blind immediatley. I mean, you don't need to see to play guitar or sing or drum or play keys. But if I couldn't hear, that would totally suck. So as far as things I don't like go, I guess the idea of being deaf is at the top of that list. Along with it are glitter, sin, and "lol". Oh yeah, and what would a "Things I Don't Like" list be without papyrus font? I guess it would be a lot more comfortable to look at, but would be inaccurate as to the things that I don't like.

My previous mission trip expererience is limited to the US. But over the past 6 years (from junior high through highschool) I went with my youth group on a week long trip each summer. We were involved with a lot of different orgnizations like Group, Street Reach, and World Changers. I have been on trips focused on teaching through VBS style stuff and others where the emphasis is on serving in tangible ways (construction, painting, etc.). One of the coolest trips I went on was to Memphis, TN where we ran a site for kids to come and hang and hear the gospel in the most poverty stricken area in the city. In the afternoons we then did service projects around the community. It was super cool to see God at work in the hearts of thoses children and in their neiborhood as the children would then spread their joy in the Lord with others. Cool stuff.

Finally, I am excited about going to Honduras for a few reasons. Over the past few months, I have found myself in prayer/conversation with the Lord and He has asked me if I will go. And I've told Him, "Yes, I will go wherever you need me". He then plopped this idea of going to Honduras in front of me, after much prayer, I felt a freedom to go. I think God wants to give me a more global mindset on how He is at work in the world and how the church functions outside of my little Morton, IL bubble. I know he is going to stretch me a lot this sumemer in developing many gifts that I have as well as building upon and using already developed ones in order to reach the lost with the Gospel. 

So I've just written a lot, and looking back, I'm realizing that this tells you really nothing about who I am. Gotta love building friendships over the internet!

Big gulps huh? Well, see ya later.

-Nathan