Restraint

now my last post was about gun control, but this one is about restraint. I do not want to sound like a hypocrite, but i do not think that some restraints would be a bad thing. however i am talking about only on semi-automatic assault rifles(ar 15's). there is no need for someone like me to have an ar 15. i use a gun to hunt and if i cannot get the job done with a regular hunting rifle then, i have no business hunting. i understand that some people like to use them for target shooting, and that is fine. all i am saying is that there really is not a need for having one.

Control

with everything that has been going on, i just had to post about gun control. i am an avid gun collector/shooter, and i am sick and tired of hearing all the ignorant people that say guns should be banned. how stupid can you be? i mean don't take this the wrong way, because i do feel terrible about what happened at sandy hook, but seriously? banning guns all together? if that happens then every criminal on the street will have a gun from the black market and every law abiding citizen will be defenseless. i personally think that if guns are banned the crime rate will go up. all the criminals will be more likely to try something when they know that everyone is helpless. this is the truth and people should really think about it. i can promise you one thing though. whenever they knock on my door to take my guns, they are not going to find someone willing to give them up. i love to hunt and without guns, i cannot go out and hunt unless it is with a bow. hunting is a way of life and some people live and get their meat from using a gun. i am one of these people and i never want to see the day that i cannot own a gun.

My Inspiration

My great grandpa dave chapman is probably the person i look up to the most. he is 95 years old, and  the most amazing man you will ever meet. his mind is still sharp as a tack, but his body is wore out. however, no matter how wore out his body is he is still mobile and gets around even if he has to use his walker. he is one man who just does not have any quit in him. he still came to the farm every morning to work until he was 92 years old! yes i said 92! i still cannot fathom that and i experienced it. he has been through so much, from losing his wife of so many years to staying in the hospital for long periods of time. he was adopted when he was younger and moved back and forth from taylorsville to iowa. this never stopped him though. he went on to be a farmer and have 7 kids. he now has over 70 descendants. he is a god fearing christian and still attends church as much as he can. up until two years ago he still drove to church! i have never heard one person say anything bad about him. he is the true definition of a man and i admire him so much. i really do not know what i will do when he is gone. i love him and i need to make the most of our remaining time together.

The Body is The Temple

In 1 corinthians 6:19-20 the bible says "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." I have always remebered this and i have worked to make my body the best it can be. Ever since I was 15 i have worked out, and in the past two years i have busted my butt in the weight room. i have been lucky enough to see the results, and have built my body up very well. i have gained a lot of strength from doing this, and i am very thankful for that. i have been in good shape and always been confident about my body. the gain of strength actually allowed me to compete in powerlifting. last april when i competed in asheville, i won in my division. i was very excited, and glad to be able to thank God for helping me get to where i am. it was a huge accomplishment for me and i actually set some records in my division. the win motivated me even more to improve my body and physical shape. i still work out every day in order to try to be the best that i can be.

Should I Have?

i often wonder if i should have played high school basketball. i love to play basketball, and always played when i was younger. i played all the way through middle school, even for the east middle school team. I liked to play, but it was so hard to do with football being pretty much year round. once i was at the high school i decided that i was not going to play, and instead focus on football and be in the weight room a lot. my parents really wanted me to play but i did not have the desire. they understood because basketball starts as soon as football season is over so therefore i would not have had any break at all. i often think and ask myself if i will regret it. the deeper i think about it though, and the more i look back i realize that i probably won't. the reason for this is because being in the weight room, and focusing more on football helped make me a better athlete in the long run.

School Lunch

our school lunches are really getting old. i am so tired of having the same choices every single day. i wish they would just let those who can drive leave to go get lunch. i mean don't get me wrong i am very thankful for the food we have, but i just wish we could have more choices. i used to love the buffalo bites, but now they aren't even cooked all the way. they are more like rubber than they are chicken. it is disgusting and i am getting to where i cannot even eat them anymore. honestly i hope i do not have th have a third next semester just so i can go get my own lunch. to top all of that i can go to McDonalds and get better tasting food for half the price. It is pathetic!

The Future

Well i am accepted to the 2 year Agriculture program at NC state university. I've always wanted to attend school there, but i have had trouble deciding if i should go for 2, or for 4 years. i really do not like to be away from home, but i realize i must in order to get the education that i need. the main thing that influenced my decision is the family farm. my grandpa told me that if i would go off to school he would give me his part of the farm so i could run it. this is an opportunity that i just cannot turn down since i do want to farm. the 2 year program will be more than enough education for me if i do end up farming for the rest of my life. if i went for 4 years i just think it might would be a waste of time and money if all i end up doing is farming. i would hate to feel like i wasted all of that for nothing when i already know enough to farm as it is. going for 2 years will gave me an education in case i need something to fall back on. i also will be able to double major in 2 years so i could possibly learn just as much as i could at the 4 year program.

Church and My Beliefs

First of all I'll start out by saying that I am a God fearing Christian. I am a member at Three forks baptist church. I was saved at the age of 8. i am an active member and when i am not attending three forks i go to lebanon baptist with michaela. i enjoy going to church and i am thankful for God sending his son Jesus Christ to die for me and save me from my sins. I honestly do not understand how someone could live without him. I don't see how anyone could even be happy or have peace without knowing Jesus as their personal savior. I am so thankful that i do and i will continue to try to witness to others.

Life of a Farmer

Farming is not what it seems. Most people think it is just a job but to a real farmer it's a lifestyle. i am so thankful to actually live this lifestyle. everyday i am able to work to provide food for others. a lot of people in this country has forgotten where their food comes from, but i have not. providing food for the world is my way of giving to others. farming is truly a passion of mine and i love doing it. I've tried to think if there is any other job for me, but honestly i don't think i'd be happy doing anything else. i really love working on our family farm and i plan to keep on doing so.

English

For some odd reason I do not like english class. I am really good at it though, and I love to read. It really makes no sense to me but I guess it is just the writing part. I'm actually a good writer but I just do not enjoy to write. I have really tried to enjoy it and I often wonder why I do not. I guess it is just something that I will never understand, but maybe as I grow I will have a better understanding of it. This is my last public school english class and I hope to make the best of it.

Football

Football has been a huge part of my life. It is still so hard to believe that it is over. I put so much of my time and effort into it. When I was little football was fun and it was not time consuming at all. However, the older I got, the more time consuming it was. The last four years football almost seemed as a year round job. Practice all the time even when it wasn't season, and then weight training every day. Then to top all of that, getting up at 6 in the morning to come train before school sucked. I often think what good is it now? Then I think about all the great memories I have.

It takes a friend to be a friend. That was a thought that Mrs. Munday discussed with our class today. I agree 100% with the saying. In order to have friends you must be a friend and vise versa. Also, one must have friends that are good to them in order for them to be a good friend back. I am so thankful for my friends. Every single one of them means something apecial to me and I would not trade anything for them. Especially my best friend that I have "officially" been with for 7 months, but oh how great that 7 months has been. She means a lot to me and I love her. Michaela Bumgarner has been a great friend/girlfriend to me. Honestly, she is all I could ever wish for.








 







The Life Cycle

The other day I was working and I just happened to think about the life that an average human lives. The average human goes through a couple different phases of life. I work on a farm, and the funny thing that came to mind is that a cow, in a way, has the same life cycle. Babies take bottles and so do calves. Then, eventually a baby starts eating real food and goes through a toddler stage. Calves also do when they are weaned off the bottle. Toddlers continue to grow and then goes through the elementary years. A calf grows and is put in a pen and fed and taken care of, kind of like elementary kids. Then there is the junior high stage. A calf is turned out in a pasture and learns how to take care of itself. A pre-teen becomes a teenager and then enters the high school stage. Calves that end up being heifers has a bull put in with them which will soon lead to their adult hood. It is kind of the same as high school. Teens then grow up and become adults. Heifers end up having calves, which in turn makes them a cow(adult), and then they enter their adulthood. I personally just found it interesting how similar our life cycle is to a cows.