College...then and now

First week at USF...



and...Graduation



good times :)

2010 was a whirlwind of experiences

I have not written in my blog for over a month. wow. I can't believe it. This entry will be about my christmas break and the rut I faced as well as looking back at 2010 with extremely high hopes for this year and the future.

Where to start...

Well, I turned 21 last year and I had some friends not make it to my birthday (intentionally) and it really drew a scar of trust towards friendship in general. It was the worst birthday I ever had, yeah my 21st. Luckily, I did have friends that were there on my birthday to support me and be there for me. One in particular was so nice and listened to me cry on my birthday over the phone about how I felt that I had drawn so far away from my friends. Well, a whole year later I am happy to say that I am going to try and re-do my 21st birthday and those friends are coming this time (we worked stuff out). It is amazing the people that come and go, the fights you have and the friendships that grow stronger all in one year's time.

I go on a mission trip every year and last year was the most spontaneous trip I ever did. I was growing closer to the Lord every day last spring. Out of no where, my church announces that they are going to Haiti over spring break....and I the only thing to ask myself was "Why not?" It was perfect, spring break, I had the money, time and energy. It was a rough living condition for the Haiti trip, but I can handle anything. Made some new friends (American and Haiti) and learned that the Haitian's are the nicest people out of all the countries I have gone to. I did question my motives for going, which was brought about by a unforgetful conversation. But in the end I learned that you don't have to feel "called" to go. I also met my brother in Christ, Jeff Dupont, 17, in Haiti. =)

Sadly, I only did one show in 2010. I choreographed "The Magical Land of Oz." As of right now, I have not performed on stage in over a year. shocking. usually I do 3 shows a year and at least 1. I didn't perform once. It was a weird phase with a combination of "college" and performing becoming an idol in my life. Well, with that time in my life that is now in the past and I have learned from it, I am happy to say that I am currently in the show "Bye Bye Birdie." This opportunity was actually brought on to me - so I know it is from God. I am going to bring Him glory through this. I am excited to be a witness to the cast.

Another big milestone this past year. I finally had a talk with my parents that has been long overdue. I have a huge struggle in my life and I reached out to my parents for help. They were more than supportive. This past year I grew a lot as a person and experienced. How much I have grown stronger in a year is absolutely amazing but I couldn't have done it without Christ. and believe me, it was hard.

Girls! girls, girls, girls. I met a beautiful girl right at the beginning of the year who I had an instant connection with. We grew a liking for one another but she had a long distance relationship going. We talked about it and agreed that there was a mutual connection but we needed to give it time with everything. Nothing ever happened though. I am happy to say that we are still friends and she is a great Christian encouragement.
Then...I met another girl who I didn't want to like but ended up being crazy about her. She also had a long distance relationship (don't ask me why, but I hope this never happens again - no long distance relationships.) Needless to say, we had so much fun together but she was a wildchild and got me into trouble - a lot. However, they were good times that I will always remember. That didn't end so well because there was a lot of blaming going on...we are currently not friends. However, I am relieved that it is "over" (even though it was never "on") because I feel like I am back to my old self that wants to accomplish things and stay out of trouble. lol.


This summer was amazing! I went on so many amazing trips like the GTD Slammed trip in Georgia. That trip had so many good memories with friends and inside jokes. Middle school camp was amazing. Me and my best friend got to be camp counselors for 9 middles schoolers and 2 of them accepted Christ!! and....I finally got to be a camp champ and be on the winning team!! - blue. I also worked out a lot this summer. Also, this summer....I got a Marketing job!! After volunteering with the Office of Student Programs, I went to apply for a position and picked up the wrong application but I learned that a marketing job was available (that was God.) I applied and got the job!! I was the Director of Marketing for USF Homecoming Superbull XIV. It was so exciting!! I had a $25,000 budget and got to come up with slogans, designs, how to market it to the students, I had my own title and email address! It was great. I had so much fun with that job. Homecoming was absolutely amazing and all the events leading up to it. I heart USF. lol.

On the subject of jobs, Homecoming lead to another job with CAB. Currently, I am the Internal Relations Director for CAB at USF. I absolutely love it and I am going to bring glory to God through this job.

Did I mention I moved into an apartment? and have the most awesome roommates?? =)


Fall semester: was amazing! It went by so fast. It was like every weekend I went away on some trip. I blew all my money and partied too much. lol. It was also a semester full of meeting "new people" so I got burnt out on that and really just wanted to hang out with my close friends. This is also the semester where I learned why kids in college party. You don't know until you experience it. Honestly, this fall semester I had the time of my life and made some great college memories that I will never forget.

Christmas break: this was a "dark" time of my year. The whole year I had been trying so hard to be a good christian and grow in Christ. It all boiled down to a big rut where I just wanted to be blah. I got sick of trying and fighting the fight. I didn't do my devotion for like a month. I got sick of some of my friends. I was just lazy and ....yeah.

With all that said I am happy to say that I feel like I am "back." It is a new year and I am excited for what God has in store. I just bought NYC tickets for a grad trip with me and my best friend. I am also doing a show right now!! yay, I get to perform again. And of course I graduate this may!! ahh so crazy. but I want to enjoy my last semester of college and create even more memories. I also want to bring glory to God through my work and school and my showsss.

I am just so excited for this semester, summer and fall and the whole sha-bang. I really feel like I can start new and be focused! (no girls or partying to distract me)

oh and did I mention that I found my leather jacket?! :)

before chinese food with my aunt playlist

Thank you Jesus

As I am updating my blog background and song I start to hear yelling and arguing going on outside of my neighborhood. It was kind of scary because it sounded like a bunch of guys about to get in a fight and maybe even start shooting (I don't live in a bad neighborhood so this is odd). So I turn the TV down and start to listen, then I go to look for my dad who cannot be found in the house ( I thought he was taking a dump). I find my dad and my brother next to the window listening to the whole thing in complete silence. Haha, so funny to see. But then I start listening and start thinking how blessed I am in life to have a family that loves me and doesn't have hate or anger in their lives. I could have been born into an under priveleged family that is full of hate and anger but God gave me a loving family that encourages opportunities. I also started thinking how one thing leads to another. Even though you may not be a drug addict whose life is going downhill, it could start to by just one sin. God has saved us from all that and given us hope. When you start to want all of the shiny things of this world think of all the crap that comes with it.

I also praise God for my dad not being like that as much anymore. My dad used to get beaten when he was a kid and I know that he has a lot of emotional damage from that, so he loses his anger very quickly. I got verbally abused by my dad when I was younger. I know that "verbally abused" is me trying to be technical about what happened, but that is it. It never got to the point of physical abuse (close but never happened). My dad has gotten a lot better (thanks to God) and I am really proud of the progress he has made.

Listen to Sing a joyful noise

I is nervous

This week is Thanksgiving break and....I am home for about 4-5 days. I am nervous that I am going to fall into my lazy comfort zone and not "live" for Christ everyday like I would at school. I really pray that I can stay consistent in the word and not fall to any temptation while I am home. (this will also be a preview/practice for Christmas break).

Lord, give me strength and let my eyes stay focused on you and all you have done for me.

the 6:53 playlist

Who's who in the cast:

Keith DiRienzo (Hercules)

All the praise and glory goes to my heavenly father. God has given me the gifts and abilities to be on stage and I just want to thank him so much for giving me my passion for the arts. Enjoy the show!

This is what my bio description will be for the next show I do. I have come to a point where I just want to give full honor and glory to God with everything that I do, first - theatre. I have heard of athletes who use their sport as a platform for their faith....that is what I want to do with acting!!

So now I just need to start praying for theatre opportunities and time to do shows. =)

Oh and I was a little ambitious by putting "Hercules" as my character. Yeah, I have a big dream that Hercules will become a Broadway show some day and that I get the lead, and....that all the songs are magically in my vocal range. lol

More cool vids and all that jazz

the reason for part of the title is because I just got done watching Chicago. :)

You make beautiful things and never fade

a little excerpt from my night at church :)



Psalm 37

1 Don't worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land
and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart's
desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like
the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine
like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don't worry about evil people who
prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper-
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will
possess the land.

.
.
.

23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

So, last night I was praying to God for some sort of opportunity to arise that deals with minsitry and hopefully kids/theatre. Well...this morning our bible class had a special speaker: R.C. Hagans. He works for "ChildCry" which is a ministry of Times Square Church. So I got to talking to him and he said that he moved from Alabama (i think) to NYC and he lives in Harlem/North Upper West Side area. Here is the real kicker - Time Square Church is in the biggest and on of the oldest broadway theatre in NYC. Holy crap on a stick. Keith, could you ask for a more cool thing in the world? Church in a broadway theatre?

It was just cool to here him talk about all this stuff (mission trip to India, his church). And I give all the praise and glory to God for putting me in that room today. I got his contact info and he said if we are ever in the city he would give us a little "tour" of the church when no one is in it. Yesssss. So stoked especially because I will be taking a trip to NYC after I graduate from college! and....eventually move there in a couple years!!

Oh and I got a zip hoodie today for free too.

My passion is to bring you glory

Okay, here's the deal: I love performing. God has blessed with the talent, ability and personality to perform on stage in front of a live audience. I have always known this and really kicked up a notch after high school. I did show after show, gig after gig. It was great and I really started to master my own level of performance level and being comfortable on stage. However, when I started USF I kind of had to stop because I don't have time for it anymore at a university level of education. Also, this whole "break" from performing did come at a good time because it kind of became an idol in my life, so it was good to put in on the back burner and focus on my relationship with God.

But now, I miss it. Everytime I go see a show, I think "oh jeez, here come the water works" because I wish I was up on stage with them singing and dancing. And....I am always usually working with kids all the time, once again ever since I started USF, I just kind of stopped. I miss that too. The kids kind of keep me in check. I miss teaching kids and encouraging them about the bible. I miss teaching kids with two left feet how to dance and act on stage. I miss it - my passion.

I wish that I could just combine all of these things into a big volunteer opportunity like: direct a dance show at a church in a christian based environment for children. This would be perfect! I get to work with kids. I get to come up with choreography. I get to encourage kids in their walk with Christ. That would be awesome. I really need to start praying for an opportunity like this in my life. I would bring all glory and honor to God. I know that now. Before, I will admit that performing was an idol in my life and I liked the praise from the audience after a performance. I thrived on the clapping to my star power. Well, screw that - I now realize that God could have made me deaf, dumb and blind - but no....he gave me this beautiful, artistic, creative talent and personality and I can use it to bring glory to His name. Let's do this. In the "who's who in the cast" section of the program, I am going to put a big thank you to my heavenly father instead of boasting about what shows I have done. =)

Party cause you're in college

This blog post will be about a subject that has been on my mind lately: partying.

Okay, here's the deal: I completely understand why people party so much in college. I know exactly how they feel. This thursday one of my roommates went home and then the other was out for the night. I hate being at the apartment home alone. Sometimes when I am there all by myself, I won't even go up stairs, I just stay in my room until I fall asleep. So I was home alone. I realize that having the apartment to myself is the perfect time to be quiet and spend some time in the word, but it was too quiet - creepy in fact. So what do I do - go out! I went to a car show with some friends for like a half hour and it was really lame. So, then I was like what now? Go out after that. I went out with some friends to the bull for the night. I really didn't even feel like going out but I had nothing else to do.

When you are in college and it is the weekend, what do you do? party. Seriously, sometimes it feels like there is nothing else to do. You are not going to to do your homework. All of your other friends are partying. You can't spend time with your family because you are off at college. You don't want to stay at your two-story apartment alone and watch a movie. So - you party.

oh and one more thing...it is the biggest distraction. I don't recommend it but if you want to put something in your life on the back burner that you are trying to avoid dealing with (your relationship with God, a break up with girlfriend/boyfriend, school, family, friends, being lonely, being single, your life in general) then....go out and party you will forget your troubles I promise. The only thing is you better keep on doing it because you will run into your problems sooner or later. Partying only provides temporary happiness, distraction and the "high" you get from going out.

This thursday I found myself in a pre-dicament (I don't know how you spell that word). But I found that I wasn't going out to have fun anymore, it was becoming a lifestyle. It was just something to do to distract me from boredom. That is when you run into a problem. When you go out with your friends every so often to have fun that is great. But when it starts becoming a weekly thing, that is when it starts. Then the next thing you know, you are going out every night = lifestyle. Which also gets you what you want - a big distraction in your life from something. You may not even know what you are trying to stay away from but when you don't go out for fun anymore and you just go out to "forget your troubles" you have entered the party lifestyle my friend. Congrats. I hope you get what you want.

It's a me, Mario!

So, everyone fall semester I throw a huge party at my house. In highschool, every year for my birthday all my friends would just come over and act a fool. Then when I got into college I had a huge party over the summer for freshman year.





Freshman year

Then I had a toga party at my house to welcome in the new freshman that just moved up from high school.



Sophomore year: "Freshman Toga"

Then last year I had a halloween party. My first time throwing a halloween party! :)



Junior year: "Monster Mash Mixer"

Then this year I had another halloween party! Probably one of my most favorite yet (besides the toga party) because it was a mario themed party! So much fun! and I got to be Luigi!



Senior year: "Super Mario Bros. Halloween Bash"


Every year, I try and throw a huge party towards the beginning of the school year just to kick things off and have everyone come together to bond. It is so much fun because we get to dress up and act a fool. Also, we all get to re-unite and see people that we haven't seen in forever. I just love doing this and one thing.....no alcohol! It is so cool to see everyone come ever year and have a great time with no alcohol. Mission accomplished. See.....Christians are fun! especially my crew =)

Currently listening to...

It is 11:59pm on a Thursday night and I have fake tanning lotion on. I went to a Sushi place with some of the guys and tried a Saki-tini. i'm a fool. now I am listening to.....

Epic fail?

So, I had bible study with a bunch of my guy friends at my apartment tonight. After they left my friend Scott called and told me that he thought his car was stolen but really it was towed (thank you to ON50 for not having a lot of guest spots). So, we figured out where it was and how much it costs and the whole bit.

Scott gets a ride back to his house with my friend Josh and then I was gonna go pick him up. Before I went to pick him up I got really excited. I have no idea why. Lately, I have been asking God to just use me as a servant in every opportunity and this may be one! I have a track record for ministering to people in the ghetto (which is where this towing place was). I updated my facebook, grabbed my camera and my bible and then I was out the door to give Scott a ride. It is funny that this all happened this week and at this time.

1. I have a huge test tomorrow that I need to study for
2. But I usually stay up late, so being out in the ghetto isn't hindering my sleep too much
3. I am on a "TV diet" (not watching TV shows/movies for a whole week) and I was wondering what I was gonna do after the guys left....no TV - just go pick up my friends car that just got towed.

Sooo....needless to say that I was a little too excited and was ready for something spontaneous/be used by God. However, I felt bad for Scott who wasn't too excited because it cost a ton of money to get his car and we weren't sure if it was in the same condition.


I pick Scott up and we are on our way. He calls his girlfriend Whitney and she thought he was kidding about his car being towed. Nope. Then we talk about how we are just gonna witness these people to death when we get there. We stopped by the bank. Then we get to the most sketch place in the world...Automotive towing. All chained up and no one there to let us in. We call and figure out that the guy was gonna be there in like "10" minutes. So of course while we are waiting, we decide to look sketch ourselves and scope out the hood. It was pretty legit. Then we parked....and prayed with one eye open (while the doors were locked).

The guy finally gets there and lets us in the office. Our mission tonight was twofold: stay calm/have a positive attitude and witness to the tow people. So, before Scott pays we go check out his car. Looked alright from what we saw and then Scott asked me how we were gonna witness to them and I said that I wasn't sure and I was just praying about it.

We go in for Scott to pay and they just have death written on their faces. The cold shoulder. Not a pint of happiness. It was like give me your money and get out of here, when really we should have been the death face people because we had to come all the way here to get a car that YOU TOWED! So, it isn't looking good ministry wise. Scott talked to them a little about why he got towed ( to try and start a conversation) but nothing really sparked. After Scott pays I said "Have a blessed night" to the one girl. She said thanks. I thought it might help because it worked last night with the lady at taco bell and I got free cinammon twists. haha.

We walk to get Scott's car out of the place and we were both just kind of like....well we didn't witness. We failed. How do you witness to someone like that? They just were not interested at all. Then we left and called it a night. So....now what? We didn't witness...sorry God?


The reason that I titled this blogpost "Epic fail?" is because yes I "feel" like we failed to complete our mission but we really didn't. God provided us with an opportunity - to take baby steps, to learn, to try, to be positive, to bring glory to His name, and to overcome trials. Did we stay calm and have a positive attitude? Yes we did. That right there is being a servant of God. Doing His will. Did we lead someone to Christ? No, we didn't. Did we witness at all?.....maybe.....from what it looks like to us - we did not witness at all. But how do we really know? Do we know what was in that person's heart? or what they thought of us? No. We could have made a HUGE impact on them and not even known it by not cussing them out and trying to fight the bill that Scott had to pay.
Just because you necessarily didn't lead someone to Christ doesn't mean you failed. It is all in God's plan. It was a baby step...for us and for the people. It may not have been the right time in their lives to even hear the gospel. Their hearts may not have been ready. You can't change someone's heart, only God and the work of the Holy Spirit. These people may come to know Christ 20 years from now. Who knows. Just pray that God's will shall be done.
Fail? No. Things did get accomplished especially us being servant's for God to use us however he wants and to learn that it takes one step at a time for everything.

In love with my Creator

It is 12:38am as I write this blog. And I am listening to the acoustic version of "Up and Up" by one of my favorite bands, Relient K. Today, I just thought about how awesome God is and the He created this whole universe and all the abilities that I have, he gave me. The fact that I get to listen to my favorite band in my room is awesome. That fact that I am breathing is awesome. The fact that I have an amazing healthy body and nothing is wrong with me, is awesome. The fact that there is a redbox less than four minutes away from my house to rent a movie with my family, is awesome. The car I took to get there, is awesome.

Sometimes I think that I am this amazing person who has these "set of skills" that I have acquired. If you talk to me, I joke a lot about myself in an arrogent way but I realized that even though I joke about it, some of it is true. For example, I think about how I love to go on stage and perform. I am not the one who is the amazing talented person that can dance or act, God gave me those abilities and he can take them away. My passion for performing, I really need to start using for God's glory and that alone. Not for my own selfish praise and glory (which is what most performers are taught to acquire).

This whole blog post just kind of sprang up out of no where. But last night I was at Howl-O-Scream with some of my friends. We went in this one haunted house that was just like death. It was called "Taste of Blood" and it had dead bodies, blood and "evil spirits" everywhere. There was just darkness all over and in the middle of it you come to this guy who is the "ruler" of the house and he is on like this high pedestal kind of thing and he says "I have your souls for eternity...muahhahaha". All of this sounds cheesy but I am going to make a point, I promise. That haunted house reminded me of what it would be like to be in hell for eternity. It would be like 20 billion times worse. Just death and darkness all over and no way out. Just think about....no light, hope or love ever. Just satan and a eternal pit of darkness, forever. And people are going go there. The path to hell is broader than heaven. Which is sad but true. God has only called on His children. I am so grateful that I am one of His children. I really want to be a servant to God and obey His will for my life, because it is the only way. All other ways lead to death and destruction.

I think that some people think that living a life without Christ isn't so bad. And you may be right...for a temporary moment. You have to realize that one thing leads to another. Gossip turns into hate, which turns into fighting, which turns into murder, which turns into death. That is an extreme example. Don't think you can withstand death and destruction. Yes, we live in the civilized country of America but what happens when we are no longer free? When things start to get serious. When you start to realize what is important in life. When all of the superficial distractions and partying, and relying on yourself are gone. What do you have left? I would hate to rely on myself a mere human, to be in control of my life. My selfish desires and human nature will drive myself into destrution. I would rather rely on higher spiritual power, the creator of the universe, the prince of peace, our God who loves us so dear and is always there for us. Forever....he will never fade. He is the only thing that is eternal and he wants us to join Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. I need to stop keeping my faith a secret and start telling more people about Christ. I don't want anyone to experience that haunted house for eternity, that would break my heart.

Ask for opportunities

So, tonight in our Romans group bible study we talked about a lot of cool stuff. One thing that came up was asking God to have opportunities to be used as a servant for Him through out the day. I usually just say to God that I am here to be used for your Kingdom today and if you place an opportunity in front of me I will be used by the Holy Spirit. Well, I told my group of guys how I will say that to go God sometimes in the morning(which I did this morning). After bible study was over I got to be used by God in my own apartment at 1:00am. Even though it was just me encouraging my roommate, I still got to share a lot of wisdom with him that God can give us.

Kind of cool. Can't wait for tomorrow :)

Lose the tude dude

So, I just came back from an event at school with some of the Greek organizations on campus. When I was there I didn't have the best attitude (cause I thought the event was really lame) but I was just judging everyone and not being a Christlike example. Sometimes, I think that we all get caught up in our own little world and think that our views are the only correct ones. I need to make sure that I don't get too comfortable with my own little group of friends (or the same type of people) that I forget there are so many different types of people out there that dress different, listen to different music, and maybe have a different sense of humor. Usually I am really good at being interested in people other than my own little norm, but tonight I just failed at having a positive attitude toward them. Now, I am not saying that I need to go make friends with all of these multicultural people and then blow off some of my best friends. No, that is what I don't want to do. Right now I am working on strenghtening the relationships with my friends that I currently have while being warm and welcoming to everyone that I come across paths with (not just in my own litte "church" setting).

I just don't want to be someone with an attitude that gives you skank looks, not cool dude!

You're a social superficial fool

So I have noticed that I am becoming less superficial (which is a really good thing) and less into my social life which is something that I have blogged about before. One thing that I learned after years of being superficial and a very social person is that you are always going to be pushing the limit.

Hear me out:
Say you are really into the way you look and try to be more hot and attractive at this party then at the last one. You are just going to keep doing that an obsessing about your outer appearance and how people perceive you. It will be a never ending battle and you will never be satisfied. I am not saying to not care about how you look because I am the kind of person who wants to look better and better as I go on in life...but in a way that is like "Keith, you look good and very happy." Not like wow you look like you have been working out...new clothes?.....that is the superficial response that I don't want. Another thing with someone who has a huge social life. You are just going to keep living for the party. You are just going to keep pushing the limits of how many times you can get noticed by people, talked trash about, tagged in a facebook pic and how many "friends" you have. I put "friends" in quotes because I think our generation has lost the definition of that term somewhere.

Just some things to think about. I know that I used to/still am concerned about the way I look but I am trying not to be so superficial about things. One of the things about being superficial is that it is one of those things that isn't really a sin but holds you back so much. Most of the people that look put together with their clothes and hair are probably really superficial (not to judge but this is coming from someone who is always "put together").