Kalaqua=Amazing...

2006-09-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

FYI... I think everyone knows this, but my blog has been moved to www.ryandelk.com or www.theblogofdelk.wordpress.com...

2006-08-20T11:37:00.000-05:00

Hello All. The coolest thing happened yesterday. After an awesome day of mowing (more on that later), Jonathan and I were finishing up our last yard when I saw this digital piano on a trash pile. I was like "Hey Fronz I call that piano!" And we drove over, I grabbed it, and all the cables and stuff that went with. After I plugged it in, I found that it worked and came complete with a sustain pedal! So yeah then on top of all that it has touch-sensitive weighted keys. Okay, now I want to tell you guys about something awesome that happened at camp. I brought my guitar and a bunch of worship music to camp. We found a piano and Chris and I just told people that we would meet in the chapel for some worship etc. We started playing and it began with just Chris and I singing but then everyone came around the piano and we all just sang a bunch of worship songs. It was truly an awesome experience. As we were singing, something dawned on me. Worship doesn't have to be singing hymns in a church service, it can be anywhere singing anything. I believe that when us 15 or 20 teenagers were singing around the piano at Camp Kalaqua on Friday, God received just as much worship and glory than if we were in a church service singing hymns dressed in suits and ties. One of the songs we sang, Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall, is one of my personal favorites. Here are the lyrics:

I once was fatherless, a stranger with no hope; Your kindness wakened me, Awakened me, from my sleep Your love it beckons deeply, a call to come and die. By grace now I will come And take this life, take your life. Sin has lost it's power, death has lost it's sting. From the grave you've risen VICTORIOUSLY! Into marvelous light I'm running, Out of darkness, out of shame. By the cross you are the truth, You are the life, you are the way My dead heart now is beating, My deepest stains now clean. Your breath fills up my lungs. Now I'm free. Now I'm free! Lift my hands and spin around, See the light that I have found. Oh the marvelous light Marvelous light

Wow. Seriously, that has got to be one of the most powerful worship songs I have ever sung. It so perfectly depicts what every human being longs for. All I have to say is Wow. Okay, now back to mowing. I don't know if you guys have ever mowed lawns for a long period of time, but if you have, you know that you have a buttload of time on your hands with nothing to do. So yesterday, I decided that I would use the time for something useful...praying! And something I prayed a lot about was OCC. If you guys don't know what OCC is its a ministry out of First Baptist Church Winter Park and they bring in 150-300 inner-city kids every Saturday morning and feed them breakfast and just hang out with them. God has used it in a really powerful way over the last couple of years to reach a bunch of kids who might have otherwise never been exposed to the gospel. Well, they have been having some trouble with the insurance policy at FBCWP and so it might not be able to meet there anymore, so yeah, if you guys could pray for that all to be worked out...

That would rock

2006-08-18T20:14:00.000-05:00

So yeah, Kalaqua was, as expected-amaaazzing... Between Blobbing, being Blobbed, and Basketball, I stayed really busy. In all honesty, it was a total blast. It was awesomegetting to forge new friendships, repair broken ones, and strengthen old ones. And on top of all that, I got to sleep with Ryan Killoran, I mean, what more could a man ask for... The first week of "real school" starts this week, and I'm actually pretty excited. Hopefully BIble Study will get kicked off this week, and Basketball will start soon, so my life is getting busy quick. But I think that that's a good thing...I don't really enjoy down time...

Not at all, in fact

2006-08-15T15:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not posting for a while, but school started Monday, and we are putting a Basketball Court in our backyard, so between those two things I have been really busy. I must say that going back to school has gone alot better than I expected. There are alot of changes at Geneva this year (i.e. new teachers, students, etc.) which always proves to be challenging, but all in all this is shaping up to be a awesome year. I think what I am excited about most is continuing to work on the things that I began last year, like Bible Study. Its going to be really hard to consistently do it every week, but I think that it will be well worth it in the long run... Oh, and for the next 3 days, every High School student at Geneva is heading over to Camp Kalaqua for some "bonding time."

Its gonna be a blast

2006-08-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

This is Chris... I'm over at Ryan's house right now blogging for him while he makes me lunch. Just in case anybody doesn't know, my name is Christopher Randazzo. I go to the same school as Ryan, we are in the same band, play on the same basketball team, and yet somehow we hate eachother - I'm not sure how that works. (Friends in the 21st century I guess). I have 5 bro's and the coolest sister ever. I think you are supposed to write about what you are doing, did, or are going to do. So I just spent the night here at Ryan's house with Zach after we all saw The Princess Bride with Ali, Katie, and Caroline. And right now I'm missing "meet the teacher" so Ryan and I can work on our sweet band songs. I'm so looking forward to this school year: basketball, classes, friends, soccer, baseball, God, and band. I also play in my church band - I play keyboard now, but when my bro Marco leave for Palm Beach Atlantic in a few weeks, I'm going to move into lead vocals, and if I learn to, I'll play acoustic guitar. I just got a job at Panera - but I'll never tell which one - I'm in Pridefully Humble, and I'm trying to play soccer. That is going to be the challenge; that and keeping up my grades, especially in Jane's pre-calculus class. I've heard bad things about that class. I've been really worried about trying to keep my priorities strait. Cuz I'm trying to balance being in a band or two, playing sports, working, and putting God first and foremost in my life - but that's pretty hard. So that's my goal this year - is to do just that - keep God first and foremost in my life. Instead of blocking my schedule and filling in the spaces with God, I'll be trying to give God my best, and then find time for work, sports, and schoolwork. Unfortunately, my grades may fall apart, and I'll have to abandon something. I know it wont be God or fellowship with other believer, it won't be my band, and it wont be work. So soccer would have to go. Also, another thing I just recently learned about this summer is paradigms, and how looking at something can be completely different through different eyes. One example is how I read this book called The Ultimate Gift. And the main character learns about the gift of work when he goes to a farm. I thought I understood the point, until I got a job at a (plant) nursery and I was basically weeding, watering, and re-potting plants, all the while being left completely to my thoughts. The hardest part about it wasn't the work - it was actually easier when I had a long task to complete and I could focus on it. But working in FL heat in the 8 hottest hours of the day is really hard work, and I think I understand the importance of hard work - something I don't think I would've learned if my first job was working at panera. Okay... All that's on my mind now is food. So I can't think about anything else to talk about since lunch is so heavily imprinted on my stomach, mind, and probably soul.

I heart lunch

2006-08-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here is my attempt re-writing the blog I wrote last night (If you have never re-wrote something before, let me tell you, it is aggravating to no end). Thank you, Mrs. Martin. Last night, I went to TNL (The youth ministry of UPC). As most of you know, I play guitar in the worship band there. Yesterday however, we had to make some changes and I got to play bass (Which was sweet because I haven't played it in a long time). Anyway, that's beside the point. What I really want to write about is something that I realized while I was on stage. So we were playing on the 2nd or 3rd song and I really felt like we were playing to an empty room. It seemed as if no real worship was taking place. Yeah, a couple people were singing, but not many, and those that were seemed like it was half-hearted. Then a light-bulb went off in my head...That's all okay! I realized that as long as I am performing to the best of my abilities, then the songs that we play are pleasing to God. And, on top of that, it doesn't matter who is listening! I should play and worship the same if I am performing in front of thousands of people or just playing in my room! As I thought about this more and more last night, another light-bulb went off in my head. This time, it was something that Paul (My Youth Pastor/Small Group Leader/Band Director/Incredible Musician) had been telling me for a long time. Worship isn't about looking cool or sounding good (Although this can make it less distracting for the people worshiping with you), its about telling God everything that he has done and means to you. God doesn't care if we play a C instead of a C#. God doesn't care if I'm wearing an American Eagle T-shirt. God doesn't care if I'm playing a $2000 Taylor Guitar. But what God does care about is where my heart is when I play. If I'm thinking about whether I not I look cool, then I will never be able to truly lead worship, because that will always be in the back of my mind. After we got off stage, Paul led a awesome discussion on "Back to School." He talked about what kind of impact we want to make this year and also about what kind of goals we have for the upcoming year. It really got me thinking about what I plan on accomplishing during the next school year. Then he asked us to think of a few goals of our own to keep us focused during the year. Here are a few of mine: 1. Continue to lead a 10th Grade Bible Study 2. Make all the new kids coming to Geneva feel like they belong 3. Keep my cool on the basketball court, no matter how bad the call was 4. Find new and creative was to use my musical gifts for God's glory Anyway, it really got me thinking about the school year coming up, because I hadn't really though about it at all. So if you don't have any goals for the next year, I would really encourage you to make some.

That's All Folks

2006-08-06T20:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I just wrote this massive blog and it just got whiped-as in gone forever whiped...

How agrivating

2006-08-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday and today I have been taking a Speed Reading class at Geneva. It's been really awesome to see everyone that I haven't seen in a couple months. During the last two days, we have read the book Dibs In Search Of Self, in which a young boy, Dibs (Whose real name has been changed to protect him) is believed to be retarded. His family has basically given up on him in everyway. His mother tells the therapist, Virginia M. Axline (Also the author of the book), that that she is willing to allow Dibs to participate in the therapy sessions because she believes that this the only good that can come from her son's life. I won't give away the ending, but believe me when I say that you all should buy and read this book. But anyway, the speed reading class is really good, and I'm becoming a faster, mroe efficient reader. Which is good, of course. A side note: David Stoker and I have built a website that will eventually have the music/chords to a hunder or so comtemporary praise and worship songs that are great for youth group bands, etc.

Pretty cool, huh?

2006-07-30T20:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of bloggage. But I've been on vacation for the last three weeks and it was incredible. It was great getting to spend time with my extended family and get out of the rythmn of normal life for a while.

Yum, Live Crabs

P.S. For more pics of the vacation, click here

2006-07-07T15:34:00.000-05:00

On Wednessday, I returned from an amazing trip to the North Georgia Mountains. It was, as always, a blast. We played hours of volleyball, basketball, football, and frisbee. We went hiking and slid down giant slippery rocks. Oh, and I learned how to play the Banjo, which was totally awesome. My parents sold one of their mountain houses, so my father and I drove back the moving van to Orlando. It was a ton of fun getting to hang out with him, even if my butt was totally sore from the extremely uncomfortable and un-shock-absorbant seats. We played this awesome game that we play every road trip. Each one of us picks 3 songs, and then we scroll through the radio channels of whatever hillbilly town we're in until we hear one of them, and this whoever chose the song wins. And I won with Move Along by the All American Rejects... Everytime I make the 10 hour drive to North Georgia I am reminded of how much God totally rocks. I mean, it is so much fun just being in God's creation, 3,000 feet above sea level, in the middle of no where, with bears and tons of other wildlife.

Not to mention an awesome family

Trying to cut braces out of my mouth after I broke them off on a lollypop

One of the many volleyball games we played

Banjo Concert

2006-06-29T17:38:00.000-05:00

This week has really been filled with basketball. I've been at camp everyday, and then on Wednessday, we went straight from there to a game vs. The Community School. We won on an inbound play from me to Corbin. It was pretty sweet if you ask me. We had camp again today, and then practice afterwards. I'm going on vacation tomarow, to the awesome North Georgia Mountains with my Mom's family. And let me tell you, I really need the break because I am totally exhausted. My great-grandpa bought a mountain up there 60 years ago. He picked out the best lot, and built his house. Since he owned the whole mountain, he decided to keep the 5 lots surrounding his house so make sure he always has a good view. On one of the lots, he built a tennis court that we can play on...totally awesome. So we are going up there to hang out with all my Mom's extended family for 5 days. It's going to be awesome. I probabally won't update while i'm up there, unless I can drum up some internet-access. But don't bet on it because there aren't exactly alot of WiFi hotspots in Rabun Gap, Georgia.

If you know what I mean

2006-06-26T19:23:00.000-05:00

Saturday- I spent most of the day at New Smyrna Beach with my family. I have to say that we had a blast. I skimboarded with Sarah and Kyle for almost 3 1/2 hours. If you don't know this already, New Smyrna Beach is awesome for skimming anyways, but on Saturday it was better than ever. Sunday- We had yet another awesome service at UPC. The worship band did an amazing arrangement of "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord" with this walking Bass line, it was pretty sweet. Then I went to TNL where we are going through a series based on the popular TV show Lost. Monday- I mowed yards with Fronzi until 2:30, and then hung out with the family for the rest of the day. This weekend I realized how lucky we are. I mean how many teenagers in Third-World countries would kill for a weekend like this? But for almost everyone in America (and certainly everyone that I know) this would be an average or maybe slightly above-average weekend. For some crazy reason, I take the life that I live for granted.

And I definately shouldn't

2006-06-23T22:21:00.000-05:00

These last two days, mom my has given each of the Delk kiddos to do whatever we want with our rooms. But, of course, we have to do all the work. So I have been painting, framing and hanging posters, and setting up my sound system. Some pics my new and improved crib:

The Owl Mirror

You like?

2006-06-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I left the house at 6:55 for a 7:37 tee-time at Deer Run Country Club with my dad. We played 18 holes and then had lunch in the clubhouse. It was awesome getting to spend some time with him, because we have both been really busy lately. Then I met with Paul, the Youth Pastor at UPC, and we hung out for an hour or so. Then I went to TNL, where Paul led a discussion on why we, as Christians, need to allow God to make us uncomfortable. When we are comfortably sitting on a Lazy-boy, in our Air-Conditioned house, drinking Mountain Dew (A Delk family favorite), and watching the World Cup, we are not forced to rely on God for our every need. We feel like we can keep our lives running smoothly as long as everything is going our way. But when God brings hard times upon us (Losing a loved one, Losing a job, etc.), we finally get it through our dense little minds that we can't make it on our own.

And that's why being uncomfortable rocks

2006-06-20T09:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry everybody, but this another David Crowder post... My sister downloaded the song Foreverandever etc. off their new album A Collision, and it pretty much rocks. The lyrics of the chorus have really hit me these last few days: I'm finding everything I'll ever need By giving up gaining everything Falling for You for eternity Too often in my life I start believing the world's lies about what's important in life. I begin to strive for popularity, acceptance, wealth, and success--All the things that the Bible tells me aren't important. These lyrics explain the true fulfillment we will find when we "give up gaining everything". In other words, if we stop trying to obtain popularity, acceptance, wealth, success, etc., and "fall for Christ for eternity", then we will be truly satisfied. But as we all know, it's easy to write about in a blog, or preach a sermon on, but it's so much harder to assimilate into our already-full lives. Really, this whole issue comes down to whether or not we are willing to trust God to fulfill the promises that he's made to us. But why is this so hard for us to do? Has God ever given us reason not to trust him?

I don't think so

2006-06-19T15:55:00.000-05:00

So my grandparents left today, and my parents got back yesterday. They loved Hawaii, and brought us a bunch of stuff. Including a Ukulele for me. So I am now a Ukulelist or whatever you call it. But I have to say that I really like playing it alot. I got online the night I they got back and learned a bunch of chords. Then I just played all the worship stuff that I know from Youth Group Band on the Ukulele. I feel a Ukulele solo coming at TNL...

I heart Ukuleles

2006-06-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

So I am pretty much addicted to David Crowder. He (and is band) is one of the most talented music groups around, secular or Christian (though I don't really now where to draw the line). They have been together for almost 9 years, and their veteran musicianship bears witness to that. Not only are they great musicians, but the lyrics are so powerful, true, and relative to what I think and feel. One of my favorite songs is Intoxicating on his album Illuminate. Check out these lyrics:

Intoxicating You are to me Illuminating You are to see Truly breathtaking You are to breathe Sending my head spinning You are, You see And I've lost my mind, I'm sure I'll find Need to apologize for my Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition But with You this near I'm dizzy Inebriating You are to me Completely captivating You are, you see Sending my world spinning You are, You see

And now I find a blurry line Here between You and I Raise the cup, drink 'til I'm full

Sing 'til I can't, 'til my voice is gone And my head is spinning... ...If I'm out of my mind it's You, You 'Cause I'm crazy in love with You, You Inebriated by You, You 'Cause I'm head over heels with You, You

The next song on the album is entitled How Great and here are the lyrics of the 1st verse:

I'm so bored of little gods

While standing on the edge of something large

While standing here, so close to You

We could be consumed

What a glorious day

I give up, I lay down

Rest my face upon this ground

Lift my eyes to Your sky

Rid my heart of all I hide

So sweet this surrender

Wow

2006-06-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

Date: 6-16-06 Temp: 84 (Thank goodness) Home Team: Oviedo NL Visiting Team: Longwood All-Stars First Pitch: 7:35 PM (EST) Let me just get this out right now...they lost... But they still played well. Kyle started at Catcher today and did a great job. After that, he was moved to Shortstop before coming in during the 4th inning to Pitch. He did a good job pitching as well. He struck out 2, walked 1, allowed no hits, and no earned runs. Batting, he had a strikeout, a walk, a hit, a fielders choice, 3 runs, and 5 steals. Here's what a fan told Kyle before he went up to bat: "Hey Kyle, get on base so we can mess with the pitcher. Becuase it sure will be hard to pitch with you as a blur in the corner of his eye." Kyle proceeded to steal every base, including home... We left the house at 5:45 this afternoon, and just got back around 10:45. Five hours at the ballpark, nice...

Kyle Catching

Me and Kyle after the game

I love you man

2006-06-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

Date: 6-14-06 Temp: 97 Home Team: Oviedo AL Visiting Team: Oviedo NL First Pitch: 8:08 PM (EST) Kyle Delk is starting at Shortstop for the Oviedo NL All-Stars. After the starting pitcher allowed 5 runs to score with no outs, Kyle Delk comes in to pitch. 4 innings later... Oviedo AL won the game, 10-0, but not without Kyle Delk showing them who's boss. He pitched 4 complete innings, allowing only 2 hits, and no earned runs. He had only 3 walks, all coming in the 4th inning. He pitched only 14 pitches in the 1st, 11 in the 2nd, and 5 in the 3rd, and 31 in the 4th. He threw 28 balls and 13 strikes, for a total of 57 pitches, a remarkable average of 14.25 pitches/inning. Okay so maybe I'm a little biased. But what can I say, he's my brother! Yes, they lost, but Kyle played like the All-Star that he is. Next Game: Friday, June 15 7:30 PM

Go get 'em buddy

Kyle taking some BP before the game

2006-06-14T09:08:00.000-05:00

I pretty much have Baseball Fever. My brother is on the 10U All-Star team for Oviedo Babe-Ruth and his tournament starts this Thursday. He's just an all-out incredible baseball player. He loves it. He loves playing baseball, watching baseball, and anything that has to do with baseball. (He logs on the MLB.com every morning and checks all the scores from the games that he wasn't allowed to stay up to watch the night before. And as if you didn't know, we are HUGE Braves fans, so our family never misses a game.) So this is a really cool experience for him to have the opportunity to play in an extremely competitive tournament and learn alot about the game at the same time. (As if that wasn't enough, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are going to Omaha. Oh yes, GT is headed to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska [They play Friday at 7:30 on ESPN2]). So anyway, back to my brother. He's first game is on Thursday vs. the other Oviedo 10U team. If they win, they advance to the next round and play Saturday morning at 11. If they lose, (And let's hope they don't) they play Friday at 7:30.

Let's Go Oviedo

2006-06-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

It's a rainy Monday here in O-Town. Today I got up early and mowed some yards with Jonathan. And the whole time I was mowing, I was just thinking how stupid it was that it was raining, and how much easier our jobs would be if it wasn't raining. For all you non-lawn-mowers, mowing in the rain is a royal pain. Especially blowing because all the grass and dirt sticks to the driveway and side walk...ugh... But anyway, I was really mad that it was raining. But then I realized that I should really be glad that it's raining. Because without rain, no grass would grow, which means there would be no business, which means no money for me, which means Ryan is poor. Not good. So actually, the rain was a good thing. But after I thought about it some more, I discovered that the real reason I was mad was not because it was raining, because I don't hate rain, but because it was raining at a inconvenient time for me. I was mad because God was in charge, and not Me. Which is totally ridiculous, because if I was in charge of my life, I would be in a world of trouble.

And that wouldn't be good

2006-06-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

There has been a request for the Sippy-Cup, and well, here it is. The very one that was brought to my by my beloved mother last night.

Haha

2006-06-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

Wow, what an awesome day. For the summer, our church (UPC) has switched to just one service (At 10:30, which means more sleep!!). So anyway, since there is only one service, the whole congregation is worshiping together rather than in two separate services. In other words, 600-700 christians worship together under the one roof every Sunday morning and I get to experience it. The worship at our church is really enerjetic and upbeat, and with the whole congregation together, everything is taken to the next level. So today our worship team did this amazing version of Chris Tomlin's Indrescribable and it gave a whole new meaning to that song. When we sung the chorus for the last time, all the instruments dropped out and we sang the last stanza of the last verse five or six times. Here are the lyrics:

Incomparable, unchangeable

You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same

You are amazing God You are amazing God

Wow, step back and think about these words. As I and 600 other christians sung these words this morning, it seemed like maybe, just maybe, we actually believed what we were singing. When we finished the song, our worship leader (An extremely talented Singer/Songwriter named Jonathan Noel, http://www.jonathannoel.com) broke down and began to cry. He understood the reality of the words that we were singing. He understood how truly incomparable, unchangeable, and amazing our Lord and Savior is.

Amen brother Jon

2006-06-10T07:21:00.000-05:00

Last night, my sister Sarah and I were in my room reading (I was reading The Genesis Code by John Case, great book) and I heard my mom walk by my door. So I said, "Hey Mom, could you bring me some water, just like old times?!?" (When I was younger, every night I would ask my mom to bring me some water before I went to bed) So my mom comes back with a sippy cup that has monkeys all over it. And she says, "Here, just like old times!" And she hands it to me, all the while laughing her face off. They she says, "Oh, and...CHEERS!" And she pulls out another sippy cup just like mine. My mom pretty much rocks...

2006-06-09T15:42:00.000-05:00

So here's my first post on Blogger, how exciting.

This summer, I haven't really done anything that exciting. But I have learned some pretty important stuff. Something I realized this week is that if you just take a little bit of time out of your day to do something for someone else, it pays off.

But this isn't always as easy as it seems. Almost always, when you do something for someone else, it means that you have to sacrifice something. Maybe its time, maybe its money, or maybe its missing the big game. Though while you are helping someone out, it might not always seem like you made the best decision, the reprecussions of your actions are sure to pay off. Even if its just a simple "Thank you" from your neighboor, or just a nice note. Or maybe you don't even get recognized for your actions and it seems like no one even knew what you did, but someone is always watching.

Just remember that.