I'm on a retreat at Gateway's young adult group (VII). So much of me is changing lately. Not just this weekend, but that Men's Summit to now, I'm a totally different guy... I'm turning into a man. Todd L gave me a work, I think I'm going to type it up and put it in the back of this. I have no idea where my life is heading or the person I'm going to be, but for once, I have high hopes. I don't want me to define myself by my past anymore. I'm ready to heal and move on! I'm determined to overcome my depression. I'm determined to move on from current and past circumstances. I'm ready to be a true man of God, even if it means I have to dive out of my comfort zone. No more defenses, no more guarding, no more fighting. It's time to let people in, even if it means I'm going to get hurt again!

Todd Lane's word for me:
I have a word for Schlogan. Now, I feel now this could be a word for others. I know Schlogan, we meet on occasion. So, I'm just declaring that to you that there's part of this that I do know about him. But here's what I felt, there's a significance.. and I know going into this retreat you were like, "You know, I don't necessary know what's going to happen or what God has in store for me." And I felt today that there is something significant about this retreat. Here's what I felt like the Lord began to show me: Your life has been marked by significant events, a lot of them are tragic. So, you are one who has been marked; there are mile markers in your life. And those mile markers have been part of what you carry about yourself. Today is a new mile marker. This weekend is a new and significant shift. So every one of those events that have been tragic and have affected your life, they've been part of building an armor. And you've come here this weekend and your armor is sort of.. and when I say armor, it's not been part of a good armor, but it's part of what you've built around yourself; It's tattered, it's torn, it's frayed. And this weekend, what God is wanting to do, is He's grabbing all of that and He is ripping it off. And He's creating a new mile marker in this day. And as opposed to all events that patched up things on you and began to build things around you. In one foul swoop, He is tearing that one down and He is building a new armor, on you this weekend. And I want to encourage you and anyone else in here, as you hear that and you feel like your life has been marked by events that have been tragic and events that have marked you. That's how you've carried them, you let them mark you. And I want you to embrace and accept this word today. Today is a tearing down or ripping off of the old guard that's been built around you, that's been built around your heart; it's a ripping and tearing down. And then as opposed to a lot of other times of "who built this!?" He's creating a new one. Building it from the feet up all the way to surrounding your head. Guard your heart, change the thinking. Put the helmet of Salvation over you. It's new. This is a significant weekend. This is the mile marker you going to remember now. This is what is marking you. God, today, is marking you. And the armor that you wear now is not the armor of old. It's a armor of new, created fully by Him. And with that new armor, you'll walk in a new way. You'll carry yourself in a new way. How you walk and carried yourself in the old armor might have been how that armor was designed. It could have been clunky, it could have weighed you down, or this or that. The new armor will carry you in a new way. You're going to walk in it in a new way and a fresh way.