Busy Times

So the last week or so has been one of the busiest times of my life. I kept thinking that this semester was going to be a chance for me to relax as I neared the end of my college life. Well that plan didn't work out too well for me. First off, the plan was to take 4 elective classes that wouldn't be too stressful for me. Instead I signed up for what may have turned out to be the 4 hardest classes I could possibly chosen. Real smart, right? Not really. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Last weekend was awesome! My good friend, David Godzisz, hosted a Disciple Now for the church at which he is the youth pastor. He asked me to come for the weekend as the main speaker and brought up some good friends from Georgia to do the music (The Tim Johnson Band... awesome!!). David had ~36 students there and by the end of the weekend, we had seen 5 salvations!! How incredible is that?! God showed up in a big way!! 

But then, right off the heels of that incredible weekend, Sarah and I attended the funeral service for a truly wonderful woman, Amy Rudolph. She had been battling brain cancer for many years now, but recently, she stopped responding to treatments and passed away Thursday night. It was a great service and I am confident in the knowledge that her husband, Mike, is a man of God who understands that sometimes the Lord gives and sometimes, the Lord takes away. 

Then, sunday night, I helped another great friend, Josh McDonald lead worship for a new college bible study at NC State hosted by Apex Baptist Church (which happens to be the church that planted our church 18 years ago). It was awesome! There wasn't much expectation for a crowd, but God showed off again and we had a great crowd and a wonderful time of worship. I really hope that group takes off and I anticipate hearing great things from them in the future. 

So all of that, and now I've got to jump back into the daily grind of school. It was such a spiritually exhausting weekend, but I was so glad to be a part of everything that happened. 

Here's how you can be praying for us:

-I need a job. I've got a couple of leads, but I need something to hold me over for the next 4-6 months before I get a full-time job. 

-Sarah needs extra hours in the day. She has been revamping the logo/identity for our church for the last 3 weeks and she has been truly exhausted these last few days. In fact, last night, I think she went to bed at about 7:30. So if any of you girls out there want to whisk her away for a day or two, she would love to be away from any sort of responsibility for a while!!

-We're still seeking God's direction for after graduation. I don't know what God has in store for us, but I'm sure it's going to be big!

We love you guys!!

Ben and Sarah Niemann <><

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

p.s.

Here's a taste of the Tim Johnson Band. This video was not shot at the D-now this past weekend. And you can't really tell, but they are more awesome because of the chick drummer. That's right, their drummer is a girl (who is awesome, by the way!). Sarah and I both love these guys and hope to get to partner with them in the ministry more often in the future!!

So close to the end!!

So I just finished a summer class on Friday which means two great things:
1.) I am officially done with my major. I am not quite done with school, but I don't have to take any more History classes and I'm finished with my Biblical Studies major too! All I have left is a few elective classes and the 2nd half of Greek. Which brings me to number two.
2.) I am SO close to graduation. And it even appears that I have a little more steam left in the tank. I thought I was too burned out to finish, but I actually did well in my summer class. I don't know why I never took a 2 week intensive before, it wasn't that bad.

Our anniversary is coming up!! August 12th is the big number 2! I know that doesn't sound like a ton, but to us, it means 2 years that we've lived together and we haven't killed each other yet. We've come close a couple of times, like that one fight we had where Sarah hit me with a rolled up magazine.
I've also got a birthday coming up on September 15th. With Sarah's guidance and counsel, I made a wishlist, so here goes: http://www.kaboodle.com/ogkbassist/birthday-wish-list.html
I don't think I've done a wishlist since I was 5, but it was fun looking for stuff. I don't expect anyone to buy me stuff just because I've created a list, but at the same time, I'm not stopping anyone from getting me something either. Ye do not have because ye do not ask!

Hopefully, we're getting the car fixed this week! That will be so great! It's been really frustrating and embarrasing to have to drive around a one-eyed car. I keep telling Sarah to just run into people when they cut her off so we can get our insurance to pay for it. But she hasn't done it yet, so I'm just gonna have it fixed.

No word from Lifeway still. I'm starting to believe that it is a dud. But keep praying! If I don't hear anything by the end of the month, I'm going to start sending out more resumes. I'll be looking for a job as a youth pastor or a college pastor. What I'd really like to do is be a BCM or Campus Crusades Director. So if you hear of a job opening, let me know!!

Love you guys!!
Ben and Sarah <><

Cat Fight

Ok, so do you remember the days when you were younger and dumber? Well this is an example of my younger and dumber days (like 3 years ago). Duke and I found these mascot uniforms at the college where we worked for camp. We probably shouldn't have been looking for them in the first place (we found them in the back of some half-way locked storage room), but we definitely shouldn't have taken them. Ha!

So in Madisonville, TN on a Saturday night, we went to the parking lot at Walmart (where about 50 drunks park their trucks in a circle and continue drinking), and had a fight. The crowd was hillarious, they were cheering us on in a drunken roar (no pun intended), and clicking pics of us on their camera phones. Some had even picked a winner and were cheering for us. 

Fun times.

Sarah has finally arrived!

So today, Sarah has been featured on a church marketing website called Church Marketing Sucks. Now, this does not mean that they think her work sucks. On the contrary, it is a site geared towards the development of a better visual face for the church. It has long been time for Christians to step up to the plate and be as good (if not better) designers than seculars. So the nod to Sarah's work is a compliment. She designed a CD for the band at our church (the other pieces are the work of other designers). You can see it here: http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2008/06/church_marketin_94.html
And if you click on her CD (the piece they featured), it will take you to her flickr.com profile so you can see more of her work. She's super talented and I am incredibly proud of her!

P.S. I finally got a concrete date for an interview. Tuesday the 8th, I am going to have a conference call with some people at LifeWay. Pray that it goes well!!

Love you guys!
Ben <><

Good things come...

To those who have to wait a few more weeks. At least I hope good things are coming. I got a call from Lifeway today and it was basically to say that I have to wait at least two more weeks before I will hear anything. I honestly believe that God is trying to hold me down and teach me some patience. I've been trying to wriggle myself out, but apparently He's gonna keep showing me the importance of this lesson until I learn it. I am coming to the realization that I am the kind of person who wants immediate gratification in all my pursuits. In school, I want to hand in a paper or a test and immediately know what my grade is. And with this job, I wanted to turn in my resume and know instantly whether or not I was hired. It's been since February and I am getting SO antsy. Oh well. I guess I can wait a little longer. Even still, my mood is optimistic.

My Georgia Bulldogs blew it this past week. They lost the NCAA College World Series to the Fresno State Bulldogs in Game 3. Fresno St was a huge underdog and we should have won in grand fashion, but this time the underdog pulled out a stunning upset. Sad.

Love you guys!
Ben (and Sarah) <><

"I [Darius King of Persia] issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
Daniel 6:26-27

pawleys

pawleys - me and benny @ our house, originally uploaded by sweetgoodness.

i'll be putting up some pics of our beach trip on my flickr over the next week. check it out.

sarah <><

BitterSweet

Ok, I want you to know that this update is going to be both exciting and sad, so prepare yourself.


(This is the good part)

We just got back from vacation and it was AWESOME!! Sarah and I went down to Pawley's Island in SC and stayed with her family in a house on the water. It wasn't on the beach, but a creek separating the Island from the Mainland. But we had a total of 3 houses in the mix: Ours, on the creek; a condo on the beach; and another house on another beach. There were a ton of us down there and we had a stinkin blast! Here are some pics...






















This is me showing off my wicked Bocce Ball skills!!
(not really, I think I only won 2 games out of somewhere near a billion games)







The next few pictures are the WONDERFUL house we stayed in.
Here it is from the front:






And then from the back:







The patio, where most of our hang-out time happened. Many a funny story was told from those rocking chairs.







The dock, which overlooked the "creek:"





Lonnie and me talking on the dock. Lonnie is Sarah's aunt's sister who flew in from Dallas, TX. We talked a lot about philosophy and religion and life and tons of stuff. I look forward to see what God does with the planted seed. Pray for her.







Us driving home:







Ok, now this is where things begin to get bad. If you have a tendency to sadden easily when others are in sheer peril, I suggest you read no further. What lies ahead can be described as nothing but horrific.



Seriously...





Turn back...




Or Else....





Ok, I've warned you.





This is what happened Tuesday night when I tried to back out of one of the beach-house driveways and didn't see the fence pole (which just so happened to be the same height as the bottom of my window. It was dark, I was trying to back out into the close lane, Sarah was talking to me, then next thing I know, our bumper is sticking up and our headlight is laying on the ground. Best thing about it, I did it right in front of her uncle and her cousin's boyfriend. How embarrasing!







That's right, it broke the bumper. BROKE IT!! It didn't just crumple, it cracked all the way through.






It also ripped it away from the car and gave us a nice dent over my driverside tire. Luckily, the damage didn't compromise my tire. It's purely cosmetic, so I'll most likely leave the dent untouched to remind me of the horrific event (and because we can't afford the body work).






Yeah, for those of you who are asking, that's a shoelace.








But the bad news didn't stop there. When we finally got home, my friend Rion brought a box to me that looked like the box in which my Xbox 360 was sent back to Microsoft. They sent me a nice letter. Here it is:







It's basically a long letter telling me that they couldn't fix my Xbox. Great. The funny thing is, if you look real close at the letter, you can see that they actually claim exemption from responsibility if your Xbox is broken due to an "Act of God." I didn't realize that Bill Gates was a believer. That's good news I suppose.




But at least they know I'm enthusiastic about my Video Games.



Love you guys!



P.S. I got a call from Lifeway!! I haven't talked to anyone yet, as cell signal was nill at the beach, but I will be talking to the guy on Monday and hopefully setting up an interview date.

The most useless update ever...

So we've been really busy lately, which is the reason for the long period of silence. I am calling this the most useless update ever because it deals primarily with things that are probably of the least importance to anyone. Seriously. I'm not even kidding.
1.) Team Business time lost the Call of Duty Tournament. We went out first round. I think it was BJ's fault, he thinks it was my fault, but we both agreed that it was Josh's fault. ;-)
2.) My Xbox is broken. I had to send it back to Microsoft to get it repaired. There is a 50/50 chance that I will be able to get another working one without having to pay for it. In the meantime, I'll probably be reading more.
3.) I have to take Greek II again. Yeah, sad day. I didn't do well enough the first time through, so I have to re-take it this summer, which changes my plans.
4.) We still haven't heard anything back from Lifeway. I'm hoping that it normally just takes them months to contact applicants. I really want to work there.
5.) I was offered a job as Pastor of Media Services (?) by a man that I had only known for 2 minutes. Shady? Maybe so. I think I'll probably pass.
6.) Random. I ran into a friend of mine at a Zaxby's about 200 miles from here. We were both traveling different directions, stopped at the same exit to gas up and eat, and ended up having lunch together. Hmm. Weird.

The most important part of this post is that Joy and Shawn Price's wedding was PHENOMENAL!! They had such a great ceremony, including "O Fortuna," a horse drawn carriage, a bride with a near broken hip, and beach-worthy sunburn for everyone. It was great!We love them and can't wait to see how God blesses them in the future.

I love you guys!!
Ben <><

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Love Is Here - Tenth Avenue North

Good news and even better news

First, I want to say a big thank you to our ol' Uncle Sam! We got the first of our two rebate checks in this week and we are pumped. Why are we pumped? Is it because we get money? Well, yes. But more importantly, it's what we're doing with the money. As soon as our second check comes in, which should be within the week, we are going to pay off our car. Now that in itself is great news! But what is even better is that by paying off our car, we are relieving ourselves of the last bit of debt we have. That's right, no more school, no more car, no more payments on anything except our normal bills (i.e. rent, utilities, etc). So what are we going to do with all of our money? Probably start looking forward to the future, as in buying a house. If the Nashville thing works out, it would be nice to start out by buying a house instead of renting anymore. For us, this is definitely an area where God has richly blessed us, seeing as how before we got engaged, I (Ben) had almost $10K in debt hanging over my head. He is so good to us!!

Second, another update on the workout progress. I have been playing soccer and Frisbee and running and lifting weights and occasionally, I'll even pull out the ol' ab wheel. The good news is that I have gotten myself into a new lifestyle with very little trouble. I eat better, I eat less, and I workout A LOT more than I have in a long time. The better news is that up to this point, I am at least -20 from my starting point. Praise God! It was actually shocking to see the scale at my last weigh-in. I didn't actually believe it at first.

Sarah is starting to work on her online portfolio for Lifeway, so as soon as she gets that online, I'll put up a link so you guys can check out her work. She is very good at what she does.

Last thing, and this has nothing to do with anything, but it may be one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I credit my friend Josh Webb for finding this, as I found it on his blog. I hope you like it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttz5oPpF1Js

So it's official...

...I am over one of the longest periods of sickness ever in my life! I don't normally get sick that often, but I think when I do get sick, I make it worth it. Since Thursday the 17th, I've been feeling terrible. I didn't think I would ever get better and I was to the point of almost wielding a sledge hammer against my own face to relieve myself of this terrible feeling. But as of today, I feel good (not great, but good is a wonderful place to be).

...Team Business Time is registered for the local Call of Duty 4 Tournament at the Wakefield Play-n-Trade. I think we have a good chance of winning. My only fear is that we'll get pummelled by a group of 8 year old kids. The tourney is on June 1st, and if you want to come out and cheer us on, that'd be great! The team is: Me (Shamgar BN), BJ Walker (Reklaw JB), Aaron Ladd (BlueTick 26), Josh Kelly (Rohan Kelly), and Steve Mizell (Pain v2). Those are our Xbox GTs, so if you don't already play with us online, you're welcome to come find us and play!

...My running/Dieting/Weight-loss plan is going well. Even though I was sick this week, I am -10 lbs since a week ago today. I am behind in my running schedule, but that is understandable since it was hard enough to simply breathe properly through my nose for 10 days. If I keep this up, then maybe by summer, I won't be too ashamed to go to the beach sans shirt. Here's to hoping.

...Sarah and I have begun Spring gardening. Our apartment has a little garden area in front that has been overrun with ivy as long as we've lived here. We spent a while today ripping all that out and then tomorrow after church, Sarah is going to begin planting flowers. She tried to explain to me all the different types of flowers she'll be putting in, but honestly, they're just flowers to me. H. I realize that sounds like the ultimate "guy thing" to say. Oh well.

I'm sure there's more, I just can't think of anything else.

Love you guys!
Ben Niemann <><

Worldviews Gone Wild

So here's the deal... Expelled is the non-Evangelical approach to the issue of Intelligent Design in the world of science. Ben Stein does an incredible job of searching for some of the top scientists involved in the debate and journaling their response, both the good and the bad. What I liked about it was that Stein, who as far as I know is not an Evangelical, begs the question, 'Why aren't theories of Intelligent Design included in the debate about the origins of life?' He makes some thought provoking points, but the best one is that people haven't quite followed through the consequences of a Darwinian society to its end. People don't understand that in a world where man lives on the philosophy of "Survival of the fittest" and the "Will to power," the end result will be a very dark place.
Often, at least from what I can tell, the general public is willing to accept either the philosophical idea of survival of the fittest or the scientific evidence of evolution, but not both at once (at least not in either's pure form). At the point where both Darwinian evolution and Nietzschean ideology (which is one of the philosophical consequences) are allowed to be developed to full bloom, our society will probably see nothing short of another Hitler-esque figure rise to power.

Go see the movie! It is very good, worth the time and money spent!!

Oh yeah, the results are in...week one: -8!! That is a very good start!

Must see movie!

We watched Dan in Real Life a few days ago with our friends Wes and Laurie Couch and I have to say, it was a great movie! With Steve Carell in the lead, I definitely thought it was going to be a slapstick kind of movie. Turns out, it was actually a pretty serious movie. Very funny, but serious still. If you've not seen it, go rent it tonight!

A couple of things...

So last night the world witnessed one of the greatest basketball games of all time in the NCAA Championship game. The Kansas Jayhawks weren't in any way a dominant force, but they came out on top and celebrated a national championship! The best news for me is that I called it!! That's right, my bracket had KU winning the whole thing and it happened. I finished in the 99.5 percentile in the nation with my bracket and finished first place in the SEBTS challenge. I won a $50 gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods. I already know what I want to buy...

Which brings me to my second topic. I have come to the realization that I will be 30 before too much longer and it's time for me to start getting my health back in order. I am by no means obese, but I have put on at least 40 lbs. since high school. I have past the point where I can say it's muscle mass, so it's time to take action. I've been running and working out lately. My money is going to a Nike+ kit which will begin tracking my progress for me. It's a great idea from Nike and Apple (it goes with my iPod). If you've never heard of it, you should check it out.

So here's where I need your help. Any time you see me, talk to me, e-mail me, or whatever, ask me if I'm keeping up with my workout. I am a great starter, but I need help to stay motivated. I will start to chart my weight loss with a system of + or - for how much I've changed. So as of today, I will say I am at zero and then if I lose 5lbs, I'll call it -5. That way, I don't have to tell everyone my embarrassing body weight. I'll probably update that every time I post, since I usually post about once every week or two.

That's about it for now.
Peace,
Ben <><

Video Resume

So recently, I applied for a job at Lifeway in Nashville, TN. When I sent in my application about a month or so ago, I put together a website to show a few of the videos I've done over the years. Here's the link for anyone who's interested in checking it out.
http://bensvideoresume.blogspot.com

Enjoy!