I'm sitting outside today....

Funny thing about those mountains... Late at night, my grandparents and I would sit outside and just hang out. We'd watch the sky, and sometimes we saw these unique planes coming out of the mountains.  It was a military base, you know? My grandmother always used to tell me, "Don't believe what they tell you. They're already making the planes, they're just testing them here." What a theory, right? It makes me giggle.

So, we'd leave LA, and driving through Arizona was really cool. It's so hot, it looks like there's water on the ground! We'd finally get to the Fountain of Youth, I'd meet my friends, and we just had the best time.  We had curfews, but mostly we could run all over the place.

Sometimes, we'd sneak out past the perimeter and ride our bikes or skateboards a couple of miles away to this big hole where everyone's trash went. We'd scavenge around, mess with animals, and find stuff.  Sometimes there'd be other men there, which was a little weird, but whatever. We'd also go out into Arizona and collect those huge red ants and little black ants.  Man, those battles were fierce! They would rip each other apart. With hindsight, I guess it was a little morbid. 

We did a lot – hiking, riding ATVs up on the canal, driving around in golf carts. The Fountain of Youth was an amazing place, and a great Easter memory.

Easter's an amazing day. We can't forget what it's really about, but it also brings families and people together. I know for some, Easter's hard. It's hard when you can't give your kids what you want to. I've been there too.  But remember, it's about Jesus.  The rest is just for fun.

You never know where life will take you.  Those Easters at the Fountain of Youth were amazing.  Sometimes we'd go fishing at the Salton Sea, or my grandmother would take me to this bar where there was always a motorcycle gang hanging out. I won't say their name, but they were awesome to me.

It's funny, as an adult, I love bikes and that crowd, but I can't ride motorcycles – I'm terrified of them! I love looking at them, and I still love shooting pool and playing pinball.

Now I'm here in Angola, enjoying the birds.  Thank you, Jesus. I'm glad You're here and that You did this for us. To everyone in the world who has it harder than I do, He loves you, and I'm sorry the world isn't different.  I'm thankful, but I also feel for all of you.