Month of June is great because:

• June 7th the Eurocup starts (Holland plays June 9th)
• June 9th WWDC starts (iPhone 2.0)
• June 22 is my birthday
• June 22 Top Gear starts
• last and also least: Summer school starts June 2nd

Tagz: life, Apple, iPhone, Top Gear, school, Holland

So I went to Atlanta two weeks ago and as a foreigner I have seen Atlanta plenty of times (the airport that is). I have never gone to Atlanta for the fun of it except for one time visiting the Coca Cola museum.

Anyway, I had a list of things that I wanted to do in Atlanta and I have formatted this list to make it easier for you:

• visit Apple store.

As you can see I spend a lot of time making up this extensive list!

So we decided to leave at 10 in the morning and packed 2 cars with people and were on our way around 10:30ish or so. I was the chauffeur for car number 2, after winning with RockPaperScissors against another chauffeur contender, and drove that car for the remainder of the day (and night)

Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop. I am a man and so I had to act excited about this huge manly store stuffed with manliness. Really I could care less about fishing, boats, camo and hunting for that matter. As a foreigner I (thankfully) missed the whole redneck stage but before you get angry I can see why it’s cool to hunt/shoot animals. Anyway my manly adrenaline soon was gone after walking into the store. It was replaced with another manly adrenaline which is called hunger.....luckily I was not desperate enough to try the fried catfish (blah). So after looking at all these manly equipment we decided to move on to our next target.

Our next target was called “The Cheesecake Factory” (good solution to fight hunger). While on our way there I looked up the address for the Apple store on my Blackberry (which I want to replace with an iPhone) and discovered something interesting. I found out that both the cheesecake factory and Apple were in the same mall (Perimeter Mall) so I could ease my mind while partaking of some delicious lunch.

The Cheesecake factory was great. I hate to give out ratings so I wont.....but if I was forced to it would be a good 8/10 stars. The waiter was excellent and did a great job of supplying me with a stream of Pibb Xtra (I always drink a lot while eating...like a lot a lot). Funny side story: I was wearing my Dr. Pepper shirt and asked for that first while pointing at my shirt but they didn’t have it since they were a Coca Cola place. I like Mr. Pibb the best but Coca Cola changed it to Pibb Xtra adding a little bit of cinnamon and cherry flavor to it. RIP Mr. Pibb. But really I could go either way with Dr. Pepper and Pibb Xtra. I try to stay away from soda/pops as much as possible but I don’t mind it once in a while. I have never been a straight up pepsi/coca cola drinker but don’t mind Dr. Pepper, Pibb Xtra, Mountain Dew or Sunkist. So anyway the cheesecake factory...I had a pork BBQ sandwich and afterwards split an oreo cheesecake with a friend. It was some good food..especially compared to the pizza slice at the Braves game that night which was somewhat good.

Anyway after stuffing ourselves with food we decided to hit the mall which includes the infamous Apple store. We hit a sport store first and I almost bought another UNC cap but they didn’t have my size (Yes someone ruined by current UNC cap). I also like to buy an NBA jersey on of these days. Not sure which one thought. Maybe if Detroit is in the finals I might pick one up. Right now I would actually want to buy a Holland shirt (van Nistelrooy). Anyway next stop: Apple store

Now just to give you a little background: I have been a Mac user for 3 years now and I am a fanboy! I love everything that Apple does and I don’t care if I am under Steve Job’s dictatorship.....I mean it’s actually a blessing to follow and do everything that he tells me to do including buying all his products ;-). I have also worked for 1.5 years at an Authorized reseller/service provider so I am deep into the Apple culture. But I have never been to an Apple store and so I really needed the experience to enlighten me even more in the ways of Apple.

So anyway I walked into the store and it was an instant cloud 9 for me. They had at least three of each product set up in the store and the first thing I really wanted to play with was the Macbook Air. I have seen and touched it before but not in an elaborate fashion. So I checked out the MBA and the only good thing going for it is its size. Everything else is not a positive thing. In my mind the only way I would ever buy a Macbook Air is if it has a bigger HDD (which there is a 160GB iPod) and if it were cheaper. I would consider buying one if it were $1500 with a 160GB hard drive. But I don’t have that money at this point and right now it is $1800 with only 80GB of space. The second thing I did was played with the iPhones. I have played with the iPhone before so there was nothing new. But somehow it never grows old which I am sure it will if you were actually an owner. I have determined that I don’t like my blackberry and I will actually save some money switching to AT&T so it’s worth considering since a lower bill each month will help out, especially when I’m back in school (yes I will have to justify the iPhone purchase somehow ;-)). After that I did want to buy a couple of accessories because I am in the Apple store so I decided to pick up a Nike+ sport kit for my iPod Nano and a remote control for my Macbook. I recommend everybody buying the nike+ ipod sport kit if you own a nano and run! You don’t have to buy the special Nike+ shoes because you can just order a little pouch that you can tie to any shoe through your laces! So anyway I have tested it out once and it’s awesome! After you run you can sync it with the website online and it keeps track of all kinds of data including mileage, calories, times etc. And you can see a nice graph of how you did compared to your last runs.

After picking up the two aforementioned items a lady came up to me and asked if I wanted to check out...I said yes and she came with a little wireless card swiper (I recommend it for Church) and we processed my credit card right on the spot where I was standing. Of course I wanted a bag with my purchase or else it wouldn’t be a complete Apple store run. Overall it was a good experience and a lot of helpful people there to accommodate all the shoppers. Obviously I don’t have to tell you how smart it was for Apple to build brick and mortar stores besides their slick online website!

After that the boys and girls split up. The boys wanted to go to the Braves game to watch the batting practice. The girls wanted to go to Ikea. Well you can guess what I decided to do....yes I went to Ikea with the girls. I love Ikea. Ikeas are all over Europe (no duh it’s Swedish) and so I felt at home when going through it. Everything is set up just like the European store and even the products were all the same. Not sure about the price differences but it was nice to look at all the stuff and have an idea of how not to design the interior of your house :P. Of course sitting on some of those comfy chairs was very nice. We kind of had to rush out at the end since we didn’t want to miss too much of the ball-game that we paid for.

So getting to the stadium was.....painful. But we did make it and only missed the first two innings and we did order some good tickets earlier that day in the Apple store :P. I couldn’t care less about baseball but it was fun to cheer for the Braves even though they lost by one point. That night we drove back and I got home at 2 in the morning. I was tired....but still made it on time to Sunday School the next day :P. Good times in Atlanta and I definitely wouldn’t mind to go back again and visit the Apple store :P (Although Charlotte is a lot closer so I might have to make a trip up there first).

Tagz: Atlanta, Apple, fun

I haven't posted here for a while so I am going to summarize some of the things that are going on in my life.

1. I am still single. w00t!
2. I love my new place. w00t!
3. I am taking 1 summer-school class (Math in the second session, I am not allowed to do anything the first session)
4. I will be back for sure in the Fall to finish up my 23 credits in one year at BJU! (w00t)
5. I am still loving life.
6. I am slowly learning how to cook, do laundry and pay my bills at the same time while listening to music and clearing out the dish washer.
7. Bachelor's life is still not overrated as opposed to married life ;-).

Tagz: fun

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine and I told her:" When I don't know what to do, I do what I am best at and that is running away from God". But what I really need to do in those situations is the basics and not walk away from God. Sometimes we have to get back to basics.

What I am about to say are the key elements to being a successful christian. Anybody who want to get back on the right track need to get back to basics. Anybody who is on the right track need to continue doing these basics. The basics are easy things to do and therefore there shouldn't be an excuse why you aren't doing these three things:

1. Pray
2. Read God's Word
3. Based on 1 and 2 do what is right and don't do what is wrong.

Having said that I am not perfect. But I do have a choice every day to either make these basics a part of my life or occupy my mind with everything but these essential basics. So next time I don't know what to do and want to give up I just got to go back to basics. Just like you should go back to basics when you feel your life is out of control and off track!

Tagz: Bible, God, Prayer

NOT Phil!!! You are correct. Now I know some of you call me Phil and that's fine. If you are already set in your ways then I am not going to try to change that, in fact, I will still love you in the same amount as before and maybe even more. But let me just throw it out there for some of you who aren't set yet. My name is Philip so don't call me Phil. If you insist on using a different name you may use Flip (Has been my nickname since age 6 or so), PvR (Scott Taylor started that) or Holland (my society at school started that). Those are the three approved names plus the conventional Philip. If you really get mad at me you may use my full name which is Philip Hugh van Reijn. In other situations some other appropriate names may include but is not limited to jerk, dude, man, dork, geek, sir, mr, captain, boss (I have heard them all, even babe).

Tagz: Name, Nickname

Just to preface this post. I am tired and when I am tired I start thinking and that usually gets me into trouble ;-). But anyway this is something I have struggled with for a long time. So I am just trying to pick up all the pieces and try to make sense of it. After I make sense of it all I can go on with my life and live happily ever after. But I am afraid that I wont solve this puzzle tonight but I would like to lay down some of the pieces here.

As you can see I titled this "mixed bag of emotions". And by emotions I mean....a mix of them :P. I have been praying lately for God to keep my emotions in check. It is so easy to focus on what my emotions want and lose focus on what God wants in my life. Well there you have it Philip, you just got to pray more and then you can live happily ever after. But wait.....there is more.

Some of my emotions are good and God definitely puts His blessing on those as long as they are handled the right way. But then I have emotions that come from the past. Emotions of failure. It's like those emotions don't want me to move on and they keep reminding me how often I failed in the past. There's a huge battle going on in my life. In one sense I want my (good/bad) emotions to disappear so that I can move on serving the Lord without being in this constant struggle. On the other hand I know I can't control my feelings so I have to deal with them.

Well I already know the answer. I talked to someone last summer and explained my struggle and all she said was: You have to trust God and move on. I lack in that area big time. I keep making the excuse that I can't fully trust God since I know I failed many a times before....why would it be any different this time?

Now don't go thinking that I struggle with this just because I am single. This struggle runs a lot deeper than that! God certainly forgave me of all my sins that I committed in the past but those sins sure like to pop up once in a while and remind me of my failures. I just have to trust God that I can do it with Him and that I don't have to make the same mistakes again. All I need to do is focus on Him and keep on serving Him with all that I have and I will be victorious.

Tagz: Emotions

Here are some pictures of my crib: CLICK HERE

Tagz: Appartment

I have a choice everyday whether I want to walk by the flesh or walk by the Spirit. I pray that we will both chose to be filled by the Spirit every day this week.

I am reading in Isaiah and I wanted to share this with you since this is exactly how I feel. Isaiah is having a vision and this is what he says in Isaiah 6:

v.5 Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

This is exactly how I feel. The more I look at God by reading my Bible and listening to Sermons I see how sinful I am. But it doesn't stop there with me or Isaiah:

v.7 And he [the seraphim] touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

God forgave Isaiah's sins. Just like God forgives my sins. But there is more and this is what God asks:

v.8 Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me. 9 And He said, Go...

God uses sinners showered by his grace to serve him.

I noticed that giving everything to God reveals a lot of weakness in my life that I need to work on but at the same time the more faults I see in my life the bigger the shower of grace is in my life.

Tagz: Grace, God, isaiah

It’s the end of 2007 and so this is a good time to reflect what all has happened over the past year and looking forward to a new year.

2007 was probably the year that I grew the most spiritually. A lot of things happened this year that helped me internalize God’s truths. I am just going to list some of my highlights here.

One thing that I wont forget is the hardest decision I have ever made in my life and that is the break up of my engagement. The week before that final decision was very rough but I thank God for Scott who talked and especially prayed with me and for me that week. I also thank my family for their support of my decision and their prayers. I also want to thank the few friends that did stick with me after that. I knew I wasn’t the popular kid after making such a decision but I learned to stand up for what I know is right and trust God for His will on my life.

This summer I went through a dip. I made some bad decisions and strayed away from what I knew is true. Sometimes when I hit a wall in my life I wish I could go back into my old sinful lifestyle that seems to be so much easier than being a Christian. But that only makes me more miserable and feel empty inside. So after I realized that I was not going the right direction I turned back to what I know is right. I then internalized the truth of discipline and started working on that. So far my devotions and prayer-time are done in a consistent fashion. I am not perfect so once in a while I skip them but I am growing in God’s grace.

Another lesson that I learned this year is the importance of friends and the local church in general. We are the body of Christ and that is why I should start acting like a member of that body. I strongly believe in accountability and encouragement. So I have been trying to be an encouragement to my friends and keep them accountable. I am so thankful for the new friends I met this year and they have helped me out. I want to thank Leighton that is holding me accountable in my scripture memory. I also want to thank Shirley who has always been there for me and talked some sense into me when I needed it :). Anywho I learned the importance of praying for fellow members in the body of Christ and try to pay attention to different needs in other lives that need prayer.

I think I have a goal set for 2008. Something that God laid on my heart. I want to be an encouragement warrior this year. I want to be selfless and be an encouragement for others. I want to see my friends and people in my environment be on fire for the Lord. I pray that this will be true. These might seem like cliché and utopian, live in a perfect world type “wishes” but we need to start somewhere and for me it starts with me. Happy new year and may you grow in grace in this new year :D.

I tagged the people that I want to thank. If you aren’t tagged don’t be offended, I still love you :).

When I look into the world, all I see is sin ruling people’s lives. I see people destroying themselves by following after their own lusts. I see families broken up by sin. I see people trade the truth for their own lies.

I am reading/studying Revelations and I see the world continuing in their denial of Christ even after all the supernatural events that occur after the rapture and during the tribulation. Then this verse sprung out at me in Revelation 11:15

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever

Even when I look at my sinfulness in my life I just can’t wait for Jesus Christ to return and reign over me, without sin serving him, and the world!! There is still a lot of responsibilities for me here on earth but oh how I can’t wait fir Jesus to return and set things straight! Jesus will reign forever and ever amen.

Tagz: Jesus, Bible

And so I’ll leave you with some thoughts for the weekend. I am learning a lot lately about God, His mercy, His sufficiency and contentment! There are so many things that I want in my life. None of them are necessarily sinful but Satan can still use those desires and turn them into a stumbling block. So if I don’t focus on God, I will slowly go down a road of bitterness, discontentment and fear.

So what do I need to do if I just don’t know what to do with all these desires in my life? Get back to the basics: Do what I know is right and don’t do what I know is wrong.

Some of the daily basics that I easily forget:
1. Pray
2. Read God’s word
3. Meditate on God throughout the day (for example: scripture memory)

So what is going to happen with some of my desires after I get back to the basics? They will still be there but I no longer have to worry/be anxious about it since all I need is God. God will bless me as long as I wait on Him!

Tagz: Prayer, God, faith

Here I am laying on the ground: hurt, wounded, bleeding and eating dust. I wish I could say that this is the first time that I am in this position but it’s not. Not even the second or third time…to be honest with you I lost count. I wish I could get up and go on in my life-long journey in this wilderness but I am scared. “Scared of what?” you might ask. Well hanging over me at this moment is a big giant who has been chasing and beating me down for the past I don’t know how many years. His name is Sinful Habit, Sin for short. I don’t have the strength or courage to get up from my humiliation and face this giant again. Sometimes I get a few punches in and then I run away and hide from the giant but he always seems to find me and beats me down to the ground again.

But wait! There is more to my story. I didn’t mention this before but in the same scene of me lying on the ground and the giant hanging over me is another man. This man always follows me and helps me get up from the ground every time the giant defeats me. This man, Jesus Christ, not only helps me get up but He also restores my health, treats my wounds and gives me strength again. He also gives me a way to defeat the giant. He provides me armor to defend myself and a sword to kill giants. “Why don’t you use the sword to kill the giant Philip”? good question! I haven’t figured that one out myself. But meanwhile I am thankful that Jesus is there every time I lay defeated on the floor.

Tagz: sin, God, faith

Not sure where I want to go with this thought. But I was just thinking today about how happy I am. Not exactly sure if I can blame my happiness on my circumstances and that is why I give God the credit for my joy. Now what does waiting have to do with all of this?? Now don’t get me wrong waiting on the Lord is a good thing but waiting anxiously on something is a bad thing and that is the kind of waiting I am going to talk about.

It seems like we are always waiting on something. Waiting to get a driver’s license, waiting to graduate from high school, waiting to get a car, waiting to get done with college, waiting to get married. I can list a lot of “I can’t wait for….” phrases. But why do we always want to go to that next step?? Maybe it is because we are discontent…. maybe we should stop waiting and look at what we have now for we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. So lets focus on the Lord today and wait for Him to bring tomorrow :)

I think that’s why I am happy because even though I can’t wait on a lot of things to happen I can however meanwhile learn to know my God better! And guess what? We don’t have to wait on anything to take that important step of walking with the Lord.

Tagz: God, Content

So I have been trying to start exercising on a regular basis. So even before the summer started I was determined to start exercising but to be honest I really didn’t do much over the summer, just the occasional tennis (ok maybe I only did that twice but..ya know). So I have a nice iPod nano with music on it…I have some shorts and even bought some jogging pants in case it gets colder outside. So I got everything I need to start running at least twice a week but where can I buy the motivation??

And yes eating a 1 pound burger is definitely an incentive to start running/jogging twice a week :P

Tagz: Running, Excercise , iPod Nano

I know you gotta regularly update your blog just to keep it interesting. And so once in a while I go to my blog and hit the “write post” button and stare at a blank square box which I can fill with anything I want! So you would think it would be easy to let my mind flow and come up with some creative stuff once in a while. Well you are wrong since sometimes it is hard to put some stuff on the blog since my life isn’t always exciting unless you wanna hear that I worked again today…just like yesterday…and the day before yesterday etc.

Anyway I haven’t really done a lot of things this week that might excite you.But yesterday I did see a friend of mine who I haven’t seen since before the summer so that was really exciting. We went and had a picnic at Timmons park. I brought a blanket and we had a good lunch together :-). It was pretty hot outside but not too bad. A little breeze would’ve been nice but all in all it was a great lunch and it was good to get some updates from her.

Last Saturday I got my car back with a new sports clutch in it. My old clutch was almost a gonner and I got this new clutch installed for a good price so I am back on the road again racing..driving safely!

I am doing great in my devotions and I haven’t felt this happy in a long time :).

Anyway I am going to try to join the 1 pounder club this Sunday afternoon. How do you join the 1 pounder club and how does weighing 1 pound make you healthy you might ask? Well good question. But the 1 pounder club is not a health club! And you probably will gain weight joining this club ;-). So the process of getting into the 1 pounder club is quite easy.

1. You go to Fuddruckers with the C&C group
2. You order a 1 pound hamburger (with optional Bacon, duh!)
3. You sit down and eat the 1 pound hamburger.
4. You joined the club!

So seeing there are only 3 steps to take it should be easy for me to join it right? Well we shall see on Sunday!

So anyway I need to clean up my room sometime….

Tagz: Cars, Clutch, 1 pound club, College Class

I am enjoying my new position here at iPlace as the Senior tech (since I am the only Tech I am basically my own boss ;-). The responsibilities can be overwhelming at times but God keeps reminding me that I need to depend on Him and not so much on my own skills (or lack thereof).

Many of you asked me about CVS. CVS is still around (we are btw open 24/7 :P ). But no seriously I am still on the payroll which is nice! I will work there once every month or so. This way if I need some extra hours I can call my boss and let him know of my needs.

I am sitting out of school this semester. Even with my full-time job and new position at work I still don’t think I can come back in January but I reserved a spot anyway since I am trusting the Lord to take care of me :). I only have 26 credits left so I am really hoping to get that one full semester done in the Spring and that way I can finish up being a part time student in the fall :-). It’s sad to see everyone graduate before me even though I started earlier but I am not in any rush and some of us students just have to take it more slowly because of finances :). It is all about God’s perfect timing.

As far as such is concerned… I keep attending church, reading my Bible and pray :-). Life is good and even though we aren’t in heaven yet God still gives us a chance to enjoy our lives while we wonder upon this earth :P.

Tagz: iPlace, CVS

So here is just a small summer update and just a general note on life. I’m still working at CVS and iPlace and will continue doing so. I am not ready to go back to school financially so pray for me. I’m not in a rush…so whatever the Lord has for me this fall is fine with me.

This summer has been such a long summer. I’ve only been here in G-vegas doing the same old thing every week but still it feels like I have done so much. Where do I start? Well for one my dad, step-mom and step-brother (Harmen) came and visit me from holland. My sister also came seperately with one of her kids (Bryony) from Holland to visit us. I haven’t been in Holland for 4 years now and so I got homesick big time when I had to say goodbye to my family when they had to return back to Holland. It was hard but then I remembered all the good friends from school and church I have here.

Anyway now here comes the hard part. I have a lot of mixed feelings between being homesick, finishing school, friends and the future. It seems at times I understand where I am coming from and where I am going to….but then something comes along the way and trips me up!?! I just don’t get it at times.I felt like everything was going my way and then BOOM it’s gone. I sometimes question why I came here to the States just to see my life being screwed up! But then again going back to my past isn’t the solution either, it feels like I’m stuck between a rock and hard place. But why would I question God? He brought me here for a reason and then I think about all the good things He brought in my life while being here :).
So I leave my current circumstances in God’s hands but what about the future? I got pretty much nothing planned which really scares me. I have these “what if” questions in my head. But then again why should I worry about things that hasn’t even happened yet? I guess letting go of the past, present and future and let God is the only conclusion I can come to when looking at my life =).

Tagz: CVS, iPlace, God

Well not really but I am here in Gainsville, GA up in a cabin with my family. It’s great cause my Dad and my Sister are here from Holland and this is the first time in many many years that all my siblings are together. We are here till Tuesday and this cabin is great. There are some big TV’s in here, a hot tub on the deck, a grill, a lake and wifi. What more can you ask for but to relax on the couch with my ibook + wifi relaxing with your family ;)?

Tagz: family, fun