"Farewell Pikeville.. On to the Next Chapter in Life"

For 20 years of my life, I had never heard of Pikeville. In fact, the first time I heard of it, I said to myself, "What the heck is a Pike(S)ville? Where is that even at?" In the summer of 2008, I was faced with a roadblock. Not knowing where to go to play basketball and finish my education I got on knees and put it in God's hands. In a matter of time I started to hear from different coaches. One of the first coaches and schools I talk to was Happy at Georgetown. Haa Can you imagine me at Georgetown instead of Pikeville? That’s a joke right. Anyhow I got in contact with another guy, and he happen to be Kelly Wells. I can tell from the first conversation that this guy was different. It was something about our conversations that instilled hope that this could be a good fit for me. On top of that Coach Wells and asst coach at the time Coach Riley drove 7 long hours up to good ol Michigan to watch me play in a summer league game. The day they were there I played good in my game and afterwards I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. Since I didn’t know what to do, Coach Wells ended up staying an extra night. He said he wasn’t leaving until he got me. I prayed real hard that night to God and the next morning I woke up and knew what I wanted to do. We all sat down in my house with my Mom and I ended up signing the papers to play for Pikeville. The excitement was all over Coach Wells face. I believe he may have done a Michael Jordan fist pump. Haa I knew that I had made the right decision without even ever checking out the campus or city of Pikeville. (crazy right) :P



Coming down to Pikeville in 2008 it was a different change for me. Surrounded by mountains, having terrible cell phone service, 4 restaurants to eat at and no mall in town I was a little shell shock. I thought to myself, how am I going to survive here two years. As time went on and I begin to meet more people the more comfortable I became. One thing I noticed about the campus and city of Pikeville everyone was so generous and nice. That’s a big change coming from up north. After time, Pikeville became my home away from home.



One of the main reasons I came to Pikeville was to play basketball. In my junior season I went on to being 2nd team All American and 1st team all conference with many other accolades. That season for me was remarkable. Coming from a Division 1 and leaving there on a bad note, I had something to prove. I believe I proved everything bit of what I needed to and then some. Going into my senior year of ball I tore 3 ligaments in my ankle. This really prevented me from playing at the level that I was once at. Not being able to play how I wanted I went into a semi depression. Many people didn’t know because I stayed positive on the outside but all along on the inside I was hurting. Somehow through all of the pain I manage to get through and leave my all on the floor but most importantly basketball landed me a college degree, so you know that made Momma proud! : )



Right before graduation I was offered a job opportunity to work at the college to be an Admissions Counselor. Wanting to continue my basketball career overseas but still plagued by injuries I felt like this could be a good opportunity for me. A job fresh out of college is hard to find these days. I prayed about it for about a month straight, talked it over with friends and family and a month and a half after graduation I was back on the hill. Another great thing with working at the college, I was able to play semi-pro basketball for the East Kentucky Energy in town so not only did I have a great job, I was also playing the game I love. Being an Admissions Counselor taught me a great deal of lessons. It brought into my life new responsibilities, decision making, learning how to be more precise, and definitely a great deal of patience. God opened a door way with this job and I have met some great students and people in one year. I am forever thankful for my co workers and the relationship(s) we built. This job done a lot for me and I am forever grateful for the experience. :)



It saddens me that my time in Pikeville has come to an end. I am very connected to this place. I've had some great times here and some bad times. I came here at the age of 20 and now 23, I have matured a lot. I know God led me here for a reason. I pray as I leave this place that the way I lived showed a representation of Christ. I know I could have been a better witness for God but I did the best I could. I always wanted to be a positive factor for everyone and I tried. One thing about me is I will life coach you and give you advice no matter if I know you or not or what time of the day or night. Funny thing is when I first got here and people begin to know about me, I use to hear, "hey that’s the Christian boy." That makes me smile because I always want to live a life for Christ and show others that they can too!



I have many great memories here and I will forever cherish them. Pikeville, you have been good to me and I am thankful for all of the people that I have connected to during my time here. It has been a real good pleasure being here. I ask that everyone stay in contact. I'm only a click away, search engine away on facebook. Don’t be afraid to write on my wall or say hello. I will miss you all!!!!!!



p.s. I will no longer have the 606 # so if you text or call I will not get it. God bless you and I wish you all nothing but much success in life!



Love,

Joshua "scotty" Samarco

"You Forgot!!"

(This is a message from God)

Its time for you to wake up!! I want you to see what has happened since you started living your own way and taking matters into your own hands. The truth is the battle started when you stopped coming to Me for everything and started going to the people in your life. You put man/woman over Me; your God! Whenever you try to do things on your own it never works out. Can you not see that? It may start off looking good, looking hopeful but in the end if I am not at the head of it, it shall fall.

Everything in your life that is not built around Me and focused on me will fail. Think about every foundation, relationship that you've built in life that I was not in, it has either failed, had miserable moments, ups and downs or fall outs. When I call you my own, I mean it. You are my child sent down from Heaven and I do not make mistakes. Your life is in divine order so when you start to go your own direction, I always have to send a road block your way to get your attention again.

The reason why you are going through what you are going through right now is because I am trying to bring you back to Me. You know the pain you are feeling right now is the way I feel every time you sin against Me. Its nothing new to Me. I get My heart broken every day but you know what I heal and forgive. I know what to expect from people. They are going to mess up but what gets Me the most and hurts Me the most is when they know better and still do wrong.

Life is much easier than what you have been making be. If you stick to your first mindset and keep your eyes on Me then you'll be fine. But you know you always think life has to be about you so you start making your own decisions for yourself. One day you'll realize that its not always about you and your feelings. You will have to sacrifice and endure for someone else. One thing that you need to focus on more is making the right decisions.

The poor decisions that has been made, how about we just wipe them away and start over. You know the saying, "joy comes in the morning," well that morning doesn’t necessarily have to be a time. It's whenever you decide to wake up from your current situation you are in. So let this message be your wake up call! Its time for you to come back into the mighty presence of the Lord!!

How much longer are you going to keep trying to do things your own way? You see it never gets you any where. So, how about you stop right where you are, pray to me, cry out, ask for forgiveness, repent and truly mean it, give your life back to me and get right.

The time is now and I am depending on you to be a voice for me. Let others see how I can change your life and make you into a Godly person instead of the sinful person that they know you to be. You will be life changing and powerful by the new way you walk and talk. I have all the confidence in the world in you. Now lets go on to greatness!

I love you!

Love,
God

"If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." -2nd Chronicles 7:14

"Where Am I??

Lost.. Lost up in the world. Lost up in the things that I shouldn't be caring about.. Worrying about.. What has happened to my strong mind? With time.. The evolution of man kind began to wear down on me. Those lonely Friday and Saturday nights in the house alone, no one there to pick up the phone besides the ones that’s looking for different clubs to roam. I was over that but this time I said to myself it will be a little different. I'll just take a seat in the club, no I'll just stand by the wall or post at the bar. Intertwined with two different worlds fighting in my mind I seen something walk across so gracious yet so fine. So, this time the gravitational pull got a little stronger and I told myself I don’t know if I can hold on much longer.

The battles and trials and the miles that I've walked can all be gone in one second, for a moment of pleasure. This life it is not fair. I never have fun anymore. All of my friends talk about me. They say, "you can still be saved and club." "You can still drink and go to Heaven." "You can have sex. I still do. All I ask God to do is forgive me." …… I listen to them but I know what's right. God saved me out of the darkness of the night. That Holy Ghost power leads me into making the right decision, but every time I sin I get weak with a blurry vision. Each test that I lose, a part of me dies, a part of me cries. I am trapped by what to do and what not to do, by what's wrong and what's right, by how much can I get away with and still be considered saved.

I have noticed that everyone I know wants to half way do it. They all think they can live the way they want to and make it to Heaven. Who is the fool here? The person that does what they want everyday and ask God for forgiveness before they go to sleep or the person that steps out on faith and tells of God's amazing grace? You see if you can hold on a little while longer, God will step in and make you stronger. If you can get through your everyday nights, God will give you the strength to fight. You will receive the power to say no but first you must sow.

Don't let your friends hold you back or stop you from living a life for God. Everyone that says they're a Christian and saved will not make it to Heaven but you my friend know what to do and can make it. Stay strong and on fire for the Lord. God has a special plan for you. Never forget it! God bless!

2 Peter 2:9 " The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come into repentance."

"I Will Wait For You" This powerful poem is a must see!!

God is going to work it out for you!!

Don't be afraid to say no. Don't be afraid to be by yourself. If you need alone time to get yourself right then my friend give yourself that. Don't allow yourself to latch on to another human for emotional support. God said, that is what I am here for. See you have allowed yourself to latch on to humans and you see where that has got you. So ask yourself this, "when is the last time I latched on to God??"

What you must understand my friend is God will never do you wrong. While you keep trying to figure out love and life on your own, God is already got it figured out. It is us who has lack of patience which causes us to go for what we know. Thus again we find out what we know is nothing at all. When we take matters into our own hands usually we come out hurting. When you put your all into the hands of God you come out smiling.

I've learned that God has a lesson for us all and through that lesson lies our blessing. See if you never went through anything then how could you grow? God said I allowed you to go through that so I could let you see what I saw. Ha how good is God? He allows us to go through things in life just to better our lives.

My friend, do not rush at all. It is in rushing where you miss out on building on key steps for your life and relationships. If God say its for you then it will be for you but in order for it to be for you, you must first walk up right with God. Never allow yourself to get in the way of what God is preparing for you. So step back for a change. Try something different. Don't always go for what you know. If you are scared then you are lacking faith. Have all the faith in the world and smile because God is working it out for you! Be blessed my friend!

Words of Wisdom

The time keeps ticking. And me, I'm no longer beating to my own drum. No longer do I do it my own way. Ha. That got me no where. Stuck in a hole with no one to dig me out. It all started with me. See the man is the head of everything and the woman reacts off of the man. Women are unstable when it comes to their feelings. They easily act off of their emotions. You have to work hard at keeping them happy but ya know if you make them feel special and make em feel as though they are the only girl on the planet then you'll never have any worries. That's the key; putting in the work to make em feel special. If you do what it takes you will not have any breaks. If you want that relationship to go how it started then you have to put in the work. Do not hold back. When God places something on your heart to say, do, then you have to do it. Step up to the plate and give your best swing. You might not hit a home run but if you get to 1st base then that's progress. You'll make your way around to home plate. Just play it smart and make great decisions and you'll be fine. Life is about learning from all of your failures and mistakes. You'll be a liar to say you never failed or never made mistakes. We all have. Its a part of life. What you have to do is apply to your life what you've learned and you'll become a much wiser person. Keep getting better. Life is all about progression and being the best that you can be. Stay real!

Scotty

Man... I Cant do this Anymore.. I give up!!

These words picture the page. I sit in rage. Mad from the outcome. Am I still saved? Ah, I look around. Arms strapped across my body. Man, I done went insane. This time I acted out of anger. So regretful. In that moment I was so hateful. They ask me, "What was you thinking back there?" They must didn’t see  what I saw. I fought to change but still things stayed the same. People still judged, people still hated, people betrayed, no one getting saved, no encouragement just a bunch of debates. Was everything I was doing wrong? They act like the way I was living was a sad song. I did it all for you. Laid my life down for my friends. Still none of em changed. What did I not show them enough to believe in the One? Its been 6 years and still they're trapped. Doing the same routine on the same map. Now I done back fired. Walked up in there with a drink in my hand. "What are you doing?"

I'm rocking to the beat. Is something wrong, is my outfit to neat? I thought this was the place to be. So then tell me why it's all eyes on me? "Hey aren't you the guy that sends out those notes on facebook?" "Hey are you MrMotivation25 from twitter?" I keep it moving. I got my cup in my hand, two step; I'm just grooving. I'm trying to have me a good time. Sip..Sip.. "Man this some good wine." Looks like I'm apart of the crowd this time. Done being on the mic. No one hears me any way. This is good bye today.

So I take her home. Looks like I found me a good one. Me and her, we going to go at it all night to her favorite song. I think this is the life. Back at it baby tell me where to stop. Dang I was missing out. All those college parties. All of those hotties. What was I thinking Scotty?? I should have been living it up. Shoot everyone believes their saved and going to heaven anyway. I should have been joined this party. Club after club, drink after drink. I guess I didn’t think.. It really don’t take all of that to be saved. Hey I can just ask God for forgiveness and He'll forgive me.

Everyday living. A lot of sinning. Sometimes talking to God. Doing what I want. Messing with whoever I can. Thinking that I am the man. That’s what its all about right. "PLEASURE!!"- Doing whatever we want and asking for forgiveness at the end of the day. This is what we have come to. For one second if you thought I have stopped living and being on fire for God then this note did what it had to do. FOOL YOU! Because this is what the devil is doing. Fooling you! Will you come out of your sinful lifestyle or will you keep doing whatever you want? The choice is in your hands. Remember tomorrow is not promised and life is too short so what shall you do? My friend its time to get saved, be baptized, and start living right! I am praying for you. Keep praying for me. God has something special in store. Do you believe???