I was tagged by Maya Strang for this “5? meme - But I’m gonna rock it GUY style!

5 cars I love, but can’t have:
2005 Shelby Mustang
Bentley
Lamborghini
Mercedes CLK
1930’s Ford Pickup (restored of course)

5 Movies You’ve Seen Recently:
Open Water
Constantine
In Good Company
Pacifier
Paparrazi

2 movies I wish I hadn’t seen:
Pacifier
Open Water

5 Nice Things That Happened To You Lately : (In the last week)
My wife brought me a blanket when I was cold
Tyler & Madeline took Kristy and I out for a nice dinner
Rob gave me a nice compliment
My mom sent me an email saying that she missed me
The sales manager from the dealer that I bought my truck gave me free floormats

5 CD’s I recently bought:
Ella Fitzgerald: The Best of the Songbooks
Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway (Yeah, you read that right!)
Michael Buble: Come Fly With Me
Jack Johnson: In Between Dreams
Seal: Seal

And finally, 5 reasons I love my wife:
She’s georgeous both in and out
She’s compassionate and thoughtful
She loves adventure and getting away
She wants to have MY kids
She’s virtuous, loving, caring, insightful, prophetic, courageous, DANG smart, funny, came with a GREAT family, love to cuddle, isn’t afraid of the future, dares to confront, stands for righteousness, prays hard…really hard, loves my family, loves me unconditionally….

DANG! She looks good!

I tag Jeff Jackson.

Friday night was fun. Kristy and I headed out to Cocoa Beach, FL to stay the night at a hotel there. the reason? Saturday morning at 9:30am we experienced our first beach wedding. When I heard about this wedding, I didn’t know why they were doing it at 9:30, but now I do. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HOT IT IS IN AUGUST ON THE BEACH? The sand was blazing hot, but so was the wedding. Hot like, “cool” hot. It was a fantastic wedding. Probably the fastest I’ve ever been to. 15 minutes and we were done. We had breakfast at the reception and cake to-boot. Can it get any better? Really!

Here’s a picture for your enjoyment. Congratulations Randy & Vieve! You two are beautiful.

Oh, and Kristy and I we’re all dressed up Florida style. Here’s a picture of us on the beach.

The rest of Saturday we spent on the beach playing in the water and gettin’ some sun. Can you say raccoon eyes? Yeah. But they’re gone now.

Sunday, Kristy ended up with a migrane on the way to church so we chilled at the house most of the day. Wow. A chill-day makes for a relaxing time. But what did I do most of the day? Work. Yeah…for some odd reason, I actually enjoy/prefer staying caught up on things at work if I can. I don’t often work on the weekends, or at night anymore, but sometimes it feels good to get caught up a little. It’s like Kristy’s grandpa says, getting caught up on email “is like peeing in a black pair of pants. Nobody will ever notice but MAN it sure feels good!” — Where does he come up with those thoughts anyways?

Our cell group is about to launch a six-week series on finances. For some reason, I’m really excited about this series? Why? I think that somewhere in the back of my mind, I actually think that because of this, at least one marriage will go smoother, become closer and might even save a couple or two from pending disasters. If money is the heart of most couples problems, it seems that the best thing to do is hit it head-on and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re all going to get out of debt!

Well, this will do it for now. I’m off to bed. Thanks for reading, whoever you are.

So when I started my blog, I didn’t really think much about it…what it would mean, what it would say, who would follow it, if people would follow it. All I knew is that it was an outlet for me to talk about things that are on my mind. Well, thank you to all who have encouraged me to do this. Your comments and feedback are valuable to me. And on to my next blog…

It's a great day. Hailey Smith is chowin' down on some birthday cake. Happy one-year birthday Hailey.

This past weekend, myself and 211 men gathered for one reason: to encounter God. Now that I’ve let a couple of days pass, I stand in greater awe of God’s massive love for us. Moreover, I have a greater disdain and clarity on satan’s plan and strategies. To say that he moves around, seeking whom he may devour is exactly his intentions. Throughout the weekend we all watched as lie after lie was exposed, attack after attack spoiled and plan after plan halted in it’s process. We stood united. We stood for each other. We stood for nothing less than God’s fullness. We stood to be free and we stood, strong and tall, to be accounted for. Our heads held high. Our identity, calling and destiny clear.

Personally, I experienced something new for me. I’ve always felt and at times said, that there was an apostalic call on/in me. This weekend, I realized that it is no longer a feeling, it is what I am here for. I can’t even begin to explain the joy and delight that I received from watching six men that I care deeply about (Josh, Cameron, Ryan, Tyler, Shawn and Won) go after God with everything they had in them.

I’ll never forget Tyler raising his hands and shaking his fists at God as if no matter what, he’s standing for battle–Take that God. He’s yours and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop him.

I’ll never forget Josh’s comment about this weekend: (paraphrased) “I decided that I’m going to be serious about this weekend and be obedient to whatever God asks me to do.”–If only we all would approach our time with Him with this attitude!

I’ll never forget Ryan’s heart of compassion and deep committment to being all that He has for him–even if he doesn’t know what it is right now.–Faith is defined as ” Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.” Sometimes the first step is the hardest.

I’ll never forget Won’s confession of renewed faith and passion.–Sometimes its necessary to be raw and adventurous in the faith. It always works out for His good!

I’ll never forget Cameron’s smile on his face when he looked back and saw Won, Josh, Tyler and Shawn on their faces before God.–That was pure joy!

I’ll never forget Shawn’s conversion from fear to love. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4:18) The fight is fixed and you win Shawn.

In my own experience, I’ll never forget the revelation that my insecurities about myself are only lies of the enemy. And if I will deal with them, I will be able to hold my head high, stand tall, and look in the mirror every morning with confidence and strength. There is only one me, Kyle Chowning. I should stop trying being other people and focus on maximizing who God has called me to be.

To the Chowning cell…be alert and watch out. God is taking us to a new level. The battles are already won. All we have to do is claim it and WALK in faith that He has so much more for us than we could ever imagine. It is our full intentions to live in Him fully. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 –

Welcome to the journey. It won’t be easy, but it’s going to be good.

After writing here for a week, I’m starting to realize why people do this thing they call “blog.” For some reason, I never thought of it the way I do now. I suppose it’s like Nascar. I didn’t think it was all that great until I watched, listened and tried it myself. Once I made the effort, I was able to grasp the enthusiasm as my own and started adjusting my schedule around “the race.”

Anyway, here’s what I’ve realized. This, a blog, is the very essence that the show Cheers was built on. This is where I can go that everybody knows my name and if you don’t like what I have to say, it’s okay. Why is that a good thing? Sometimes you just need a place to talk about nothing, go as deep or as shallow as you’d like and not be concerned about your presentation. This, my friends, is my work in progress and I’m finding a little more freedom in it than I thought I would. Now my only problem is, it seems that I could write forever.

This weekend is our churches men’s retreat. We call them Encouters for more obvious reasons. By the way, 212 men going after God for 48 hours. Seriously! Don’t you think that God has big plans for a bunch of hungry men? I do. — So, in preparation for this event, I felt like I needed to fast for my guys. I don’t know why or what for, but I have high expectations and hopes that each of them will experience something they never have before. That kind of encounter with God doesn’t come casually…only by sacrifice, obedience and humility before Him. In thinking about how long to fast, I asked the Lord to reveal an amount of time. 1, 2, or even 3 days, I didn’t care, I just wanted it to be His time. While driving to work today, I was listening to some passages in 1 Kings 19 (there’s that wonderful Bible on CD workin’ it for me again), and there was a part in there about “a day of fasting.” I guess I wasn’t quite paying attention until I stepped out of my truck and it hit me, I am to have my own “day of fasting.” So Friday is a big day…big expectations…big hopes and large victories. I’m looking forward to the weekend.

By the way, when God says that reading the Word will renew your mind, He really isn’t kidding around with that. It seems that for the past week, all I’ve done is played catchup on my Bible reading and as a result, I’m seeing things differently, my perspective is changing and my passion is rising.

Random thought of the day: I’m only 29. I wonder what God has in store for my 30’s?

This is a great shot out of the plane oon the way home from Texas. I LOVE camera phones.

We had The Living Room tonight. As always, God was there in full force. I have the priviledge of playing acoustic guitar…something that I’m no expert in but certainly enjoy. Thanks Rob for helping me get back into this music thing. Your grace and encouragement run deep.

Did you know that blogger can receive your cell phone pictures in your blog? You can post to your own blog from your phone! Check this out. Be looking for new posts from my phone.

Had a great time in Texas this past week. It was good to see my family and spend some time with my new nephew. Truth be told, he didn’t warm up to me until the last day. I’m not sure why but it seemed that once I stopped trying so hard, things naturally progressed. Funny how that works.

My sister is staring at surgery again. This time they think they can get the brain tumor out completely. Amazing. I pray everyday that this would just go away. God is jehovah raphe right! Sometimes this whole thing is a bit surreal to me. It just doesn’t seem like this is supposed to happen to me and my family. I guess that’s my young naive self realizing that I’m not that naive anymore.

I’m off to bed. Early morning and now a late night. Good night!

I can’t figure what to name this post, so it’s “untitled.”

A range of emotions and feelings today. One that I’m fighting the hardest is that of inadequacy…simply realizing that I rely upon myself, my own wisdom, my own ways….which incidentally God declares foolish…way too much. Although I know there is a lot of grace for the journey, but I can’t help but wonder how I can become less so He can be more. Do you know I mean? It’s funny, I fight my flesh SO much on the idea of obedience.

I actually fight thoughts that I could be TOO spiritual…like somehow being all that God has called me to be would make me have less fun in life. Or that I may have to give up things that feed my flesh for something less fulfilling. Or that if I pursued too hard or too much, I might actually realize that there is more to my calling than what currently meets the eye. What would that look like? Honestly…it FREAKS me out. I think that I’ve held this idea of my eventual destiny at a place that allows me to peak but not actually look at what it could be. If so, Lord forgive me. All of these hesitations are simply disobedience to what you have for me.

John 15:5 says that “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” This pretty much sums it all up. What am I waiting for? How could I want anything less? Honestly, I don’t think I do…I just am chisling away at old habits of half-hearted devotion to the great I AM.

–

You know what really has my attention right now? Check this out…

Matthew 28:18-20 (The Message)
“18 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: 19Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 20Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

Now let me set this up. I constantly hear people gripe and complain about what the church IS NOT doing for them. It comes in all shapes and sizes…from complaints about the Pastor, music, teaching or lack thereof, and so on. However, consider this…

verse 18…God authorized and commanded Jesus to commission you (Christians) to go out and train (defined as teaching a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time) everyone you meet in the ways of God. Then when they’ve been trained, instruct (defined as give a personal direction, information, or authorization) in the ways that we’ve been tought. — If this is God’s commission to us, what are we doing with it? Are we discipling people? Are we taking this seriously?

Logically you can conclude that I am disobedient to God’s commission if I am not participating in some form of discipleship. Obviously there is grace for our circumstances, but then again, don’t we often disguise grace with laziness? I do. It’s easy to call on grace when I simply don’t want to…

Today is a significant day. After months of diligent prayer, one of the guys in my cell group decided that his life was meant to be lived out for God’s purposes. In short, he commited his life to Christ right there in the Chipotle parking lot, right after lunch. I mean really! Does it get any better than that? God is faithful if we are obedient. Thank you Lord for allowing a handful of guys to be part of the puzzle that brought Josh to you. We are humbled and thankful to be used in such a glorious way. Josh, enjoy the journey. It won’t be easy and it won’t always make sense, but I promise that it’ll be the greatest adventure you’ll ever take. Embrace Him for he will never leave nor forsake you.

On a completely separate note…I absolutely LOVE the Bible on CD. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m a bit behind on my reading and being able to listen to the Word to and from work is helping me get caught up in a major way.

Tomorrow is a short day at work then I head out to spend some much needed time with my family. It’s been too long since we’ve all been together. Mostly, I’m excited to spend some time with my nephew. I haven’t seen him in about 15 months. What’s sad is that he won’t even recognize me. I guess I’ll have to make this introduction one to remember. I’m also excited about seeing my sister. Last time I saw her she was in a hospital shortly after her brain surgery. Although that’s a topic all in itself, it’ll be good to be brother and sister again. I miss her. She doesn’t know this but I think she’s pretty funny. Plus, I’m DANG proud of her. She’s choosen to be optimistic in light of her tumor. Only God knows what the future holds but like His word says, let’s not worry about tomorrow for it will take care of itself. And as always, being spoiled and having fun with the parents is memorable. You can always leave it to dad to make the most fun out of spending 4 days at the house in the middle of East Texas. You can bet there will be lots of card playing, food and time at the pool. Maybe I’ll get caught up on a few books this weekend!