Calling I am so glad there are people like the people from Extreme Makeover shows. What the do for those people is absolutely incredible. I don't care how stupid it sounds, but I basically just cried for an hour while watching it. It's just.... there are people out there that have such deep, heavy stories of trial. Who I am to ever complain about anything when there are people out there who dream of the life I lead. There is nothing this world holds that can fulfill. It's all about people. I'm not wording all this very craftily or AMAZINGLY. I really don't care, though. Just watch one of those episodes and you'll know of the emotions I'm talking about.

I'm not going to spend my life in a cubicle. I'm not going to spend my life not caring. I'm not going to spend my life not believing. The day is always worth living when you're serving others. I want to do absolutely nothing else with my life. There is no trial that can overcome what I have in Christ, my family, my friends.

So life, bring it on, because you're dealing with a true-blooded, strong optimist. It'll take a lot more than petty problems to get me down.

A man with purpose and a calling,

Jeff  ¶ 2:27:00 AM 1 Comments

  Blast Wo world.... look out.  ¶ 4:31:00 AM 2 Comments

  Stretch I humbly ask anyone who is willing to pray for my family. I'm not going to go into detail, but long story short, there are so many things going on in our life right now. Individual books could be written for each one of the seven of us, talking about our journey through this life. I hate saying that, 'cause it makes me feel greedy or selfish, asking for prayer when I know there are millions of people worse off than myself and my family. However, this past year has been really intense in so many arenas, and there are just so many changes and decisions and trials. I shower you with my thanks and gratitude. God bless.

-Jeff  ¶ 10:55:00 PM 1 Comments

  Jaxon   ¶ 2:06:00 AM 1 Comments

  the clouds, they hang Well.... one more twist to the Carl family's life. My new cousin (son of my new Uncle) was found today, shot dead in his room... suicide. I can't even begin to understand why or comprehend the pain going on in my Aunt and Uncle. Please, please, please pray for them. Plans for this weekend are totally modified. Dad and I are flying to Lynchburg on Thursday, as planned, visiting Liberty Thursday evening/part of Friday, then Dad, me, John + Ally (who were originally planning on spending the weekend in Boston) are driving up from Lynchburg to Philly for the Memorial Service. Mom, Grandaddy, and Ryan are flying to Philly on Friday. Dave and Uncle Tom are driving from NY to Philly on Friday. The memorial service is on Saturday. On Sunday, Dave and Uncle Tom are driving back to NY, getting on a plane, and flying to Florida for a week, Mom, Grandaddy, and Ryan are flying back to FL, and John, Ally, Dad, and I are driving back to Lynchburg, then just Dad and I are flying back to Florida. Hope that all made sense. It's insane, but we're used to insane by now.

Again, please just pray for my Aunt and Uncle as they are dealing with this incredibly immense amount of pain. Even though, I've never met my cousin, he was still family, and NEW family at that. I (and my family) were really looking forward to being a new part of his life and vice versa, but then this happened. It's hard. Pray.

-Jeff Carl  ¶ 2:09:00 AM 1 Comments

  xBlicious I am so excited!! On Saturday, my dad and I drove over to Miami. I had done some research online for some used cars, and there were some dealers we found in Miami. Basically, once I move back to NY, I need a vehicle that I can fit my music equipment to, bottom line. We went to a Toyota dealership, and they had a number of used Scion Xb's and a couple Toyota Matrix's, both of which were valid options. The matrix had a tad more space, but I didn't like it as much as the xB. Anyways, long story short... after back and forths, test drives, talk talk talk, more talk talk talk, and much deliberation... I SIGNED FOR THE SCION!!!

I still can't believe it, but this is my new car, Jaxon!!




Right now, it's still at the dealership getting cruise control installed, but my dad and I are picking it up in a day or two. I'll take another picture with me actually BY IT! I love it so much. Another incredible blessing from God, totally impossible otherwise.

In other exciting news, my dad and I are going on another trip. I THINK this is the last one... haha! We're going to visit Liberty for an OFFICIAL visit, even though we HAVE been there before. So we're flying out Thursday and coming back on Sunday I think. Anyyyyyways...

Yeah, life is good right now. We're waiting to hear from colleges, and then we'll start talkin' about when specifically i'll be heading back up to NY.

ANDDDD Ryan and I did a psycho crazy clean of our room today which was awesome. I just need to do like 5,000 loads of laundry.

Okay, enough blobbling. Didn't mean for this to turn into one of THOSEEEE entries. haha.

Happy night everyone.

-Jeff  ¶ 1:26:00 AM 2 Comments

  Not So Complicated Ok, so I often write in my blog about how much I want to use my music to affect my generation, blah blah blah.... but for whatever reason, this thought just hit me. Those entries are referring to my peers and stuff out there in the world, but I don't give messages to my close friends very often in regards to that. I just wanted to take this opportunity to encourage all of my friends (you all know who you are) to follow their dreams. I don't care how cheesy that sounds. I mean it. Of course, follow God's will, and hopefully his will has to do with your passions (I'm not saying it always does...sometimes he has other things in mind), but I guess even more so than following YOUR dreams, just follow God's will whole-heartedly. Don't sail half-mast. Keep your heads up, eyes upward, hands held high with a smile on your face.

THINK ABOUT IT! We stinkin' have the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!! on our side! What in this world could we possibly be afraid of!? I know this isn't that deep of a thought, but I just want you all to think about it. Just... go be revolutions for your generation. We can't do this single-handedly. We need an army of world changers, and I want to know that I have my best friends by my side. Paths change. Life hits hard sometimes. Problems come. There are rainy days. BUT... in the end, there is ONE guaranteed outcome...victory. So let's take as many people with us as possible. Let's change the world. Who's with me?

-Jeff :)  ¶ 1:14:00 AM 2 Comments

  One in a Million Well.... it happened. My eyes were opened. You know, I'm an optimist. I think everyone knows that, so it's not like I don't think there are exceptions to the "rules," but since being at Belmont, I've totally realized that there's so much more than just going out and "making it." Like I said, I know that's not always the case. I mean, Hawk Nelson was found playing in a coffee shop in Canada, so hey... of course there are those situations.

Honestly though, I am more excited than ever for my future. Through listening to all these absolutely incredible musicians, it's really inspired me to just go on. It's funny, 'cause you'd think that hearing tons of people way better than you would discourage you, but it's just the opposite. It inspires me, because I know those people had their dreams and are now pursuing them. They've earned their talent. haha.

Anyways, I had such a fun time today. It was definitely a good representation of Nashville all in all. I started out my day with preparing for/doing my audition. I was the first one for the piano section to audition, so I was really happy, 'cause I got to get it done and over with first. I think I did okay. My pieces weren't shiny and spectacular, but they represented who I am musically, and it seemed to go well. A couple judges (afterwards) told me they enjoyed my stuff, which later a student told me they rarely ever say to auditionees, so that's PERHAPS a good sign. :)

Honestly though, in the end, just like it's been for all these schools I've visited this week... it's up to God. I feel different pulls to each college, but it'll just need a ton of prayer and discernment.

After the audition, I met one of the other students who is a commercial voice major. His name was Josh Wright. He was really nice and really took time out of his day to spend with me. We basically spent the whole afternoon in the Performing Arts Center listening to the rehearsal for a commercial showcase Belmont is putting on Monday. Needless to say, I was in awe the entire time watching those performers. I loved it. After that, we went to a church where Phil Snowden was playing a worship service. It was amazing. Phil, Dad, and I then went to downtown Nashville and ate dinner at the Hardrock Cafe there. It was great times with great food. Afterwards, we walked below the amazing skyscrapers for awhile, then went our separate ways.

I am completely tired and am going to sleep well tonight. I'm exhausted from this whole week. Lotttttts of stuff to go over in my head, but again.... prayer is all it takes. God's awesome.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement, everyone, while I've been on this trip.

-Jeff Carl  ¶ 1:00:00 AM 0 Comments

  Visits Well, this post isn't anything special. I'm not going to do some really in depth talk into my college visits, but I just wanted to report that things are presently going really well. I'm in Nashville right now. The visit to Greenville College and Visible School went really well. Belmont is good so far, but I have my audition tomorrow, which I'm kind of nervous about.

Each school has very defined pros and cons. I could go on forever about THAT, so it is kind of overwhelming for me as of right now, but we're not making any decisions yet. We're still soaking everything up and processing everything. Prayer would definitely be appreciated.

Oh, and above everything I just said, please keep Adam Weaver in your prayers. He is presently in Strong Memorial hospital in serious condition, suffering from chest and head trauma due to a bad car accident earlier today. After suffering from seizures, he is presently in brain surgery as the doctors are trying to relieve some of the pressure in the brain. Much prayer is needed in this very severe situation.

-Jeff  ¶ 11:35:00 PM 0 Comments