Words of Wisdom From The Pope

For the past two nights at wrestling class, our normal teacher, Nick Dinsmore (U-Gene) has not been there. He is off in Australia doing a wrestling tour of the country with a few other wrestlers. However, while he's been gone, we have been working with another wrestler named Paredyse. He is an extremely skilled wrestler as well and it's been good to learn from someone who's teaching style is different. But last night, we had a very special visitor.

If you didn't know, the company that I'm training with is the official training site for TNA Wrestling (Where Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Hardy, and others currently work). Last night, we were visited by one of the recent TNA Superstars, "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero. From the moment I saw The Pope, I knew something was different about him. He was this massive man, but he was so kind. He even stayed for an extra 30 minutes after our class was over in order to help us keep perfecting the various skills we were learning. He showed us a lot of tips and techniques and encouraged each of us to keep going. The coolest part for me though was when everyone else left. 

(Top Left: The Pope D'Angelo Dinero. Top Right: Paredyse. Bottom: Me with Paredyse.)

I walked over to shake The Pope's and Paredyse's hands and thank them for teaching us. When I did, The Pope asked me what I did and how I got into wrestling and everything else. I told him my story and he said this to me:
"Isn't it our job to just be immeasurably more than what this world thinks is possible? And we do that through the power of Christ Jesus which comes down into us. Everyone is trying to be the next John Cena, but that's not who you were created to be. That's not who I was created to be. You need to be the best you that you can and I'll be the best me that I can be and that's when something amazing really happens."

It was so inspiring for me to hear from someone else their journey of faith and how, with Christ, we can be so much more than what people expect of us. What a great truth! I may never get to see The Pope ever again, but he inspired me and I'll never forget him. 

What about you? Do you live life day to day and live in such a way that is dull and boring, just going through the motions? Live by faith! Do immeasurably more than what anyone can expect. See where God is working and join Him in His plan for your life. When you do, amazing things will happen and people will know that there's a God in Heaven who really is who He says He is. 

Be immeasurably more, and to God be the glory.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Till next time homies, 
Peace and much love. 

There's Blood Everywhere!

Last night in class, I was on my A game. I was nailing moves, making puns, and wrestling like a maniac. I was getting compliments, feeling good, and really understood what was going on. Tonight was a different story...

I was feeling good, but the new moves we learned were a bit more intense than what we've been doing, and we learned a lot of them. Tonight, we went over the suplex, the back drop, the sunset flip, the small package, the roll over, and others were on the agenda for the night. For the most part, I've been able to keep up and keep moving forward, but tonight was a lot of information and a lot of difficulty all rolled into one. And for the most part, I was doing well. I didn't hurt anyone else (which is now my main goal), but I did take a few small bumps myself. Nothing seemed too extreme until I got in the ring with the only and only Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore. 

Things were going well, and I was taking and delivering the moves as they should be. That is, until we went for the big move - the back drop. For those of you who don't know, the back drop is a move where a wrestler bounces off the ropes while the other wrestler in the ring bends over and then grabs the first wrestler and throws them, flipping them over their head. As stated previously in the blog, I'm not good at doing flips, but I'm getting better. Tonight was not one of my "better" nights. 

Dinsmore went for the backdrop and while I was in the air, I forgot which move it was we were doing. Flipping over someone's head is not a good time to forget. I flipped (I think), and then landed. As soon as I hit the floor, my knees thrusted into my chin and forced me to chomp down on my tongue, which caused my tongue to explode with blood inside of my mouth. I could feel my mouth filling up, and I had to keep swallowing to keep it all down. The cool thing is, I didn't give up. I kept moving through the match and finished. Even though I wasn't feeling great, even though I had to keep swallowing the blood, I finished. And that made me feel really good. 

 

(This is a picture of one of the rags I used to clean the blood off my tongue. In total, I used five of them and I also spit three sinkfuls of blood before I used this rag. There was quite a bit more blood than anything I would have expected to come from biting my tongue.)

There are a lot of things in this life I would have simply quit at that point, but this isn't one of them. I'm sitting now in a recliner with a pillow propping up my neck because I can hardly turn my head. Just a few minutes ago, I still spit up some blood, but I cannot wait to get back in that ring.

In our lives, tough things will come our way. Sometimes those things will be tiny. Sometimes those things will be horrible and seem like they're going to ruin our lives. But no matter what, we can't let it keep us down. We might have to take a break, but then we need to get back up and get back to life as normal. All I know is that no matter what we ever face, God is right there with us, and He will pull us through. It might not make sense to us how He handles certain things and we may never really understand why bad things happen, but I know He's right there with us. 

Don't ever give up. No matter how messy or beat up you get. Just know that God is right there with you and He won't ever let you go. 

"For the Lord your God is living among you.
    He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT) 

Till next time homies, 
Peace and much love.

That Stuff is Fake!

Since I've begun taking classes at Ohio Valley Wrestling, people always give me the same reaction. "Oh. You mean the fake wrestling?" People have it so engrained in their minds that everything we do is 100% fake and that we land on feathers and mattresses and don't ever feel pain. I can tell you that is not the case.

Flopping to your back and landing on wooden boards underneath a wrestling mat is not a pleasant experience. Taking a forearm to the neck is not my favorite thing. And getting slapped across your torso will light you up and leave your chest looking like ground beef. Still, people try to tell me everything we do is fake. So I decided I needed to show you what it's really like.

Check out the video below of me being chopped in the chest by Robo - an amazing wrestler who I attend class with. There is absolutely nothing fake about what you will see.



What do you think of that? Not pleasant, right? Definitely not fake. When you watch, you can't help but understand that it is real pain we are facing.

What about your Christian life? When people look at you, do they understand that Jesus is real and life-changing, or do they look at you and say, "Oh. The fake stuff?" Live in a way in which the world can't help but look at you and see something real.

Don't be a part of that fake stuff. Make it real.

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:13-16 NLT)

Till next time,
Peace and much love