Life is a Journey

I am a Star Wars fanatic and I am a follower of Christ. The similarities between the Christian Faith and the Jedi Order have caused books to be written and I find it to be a great way to present my personal journey of faith as Jedi/Christian.

I know I am no longer a Padawan but somewhere in the midst of my knighthood my path got blurred, my faith had weakened, and I had almost lost hold of the purpose of the Jedi. Now equipped with the love of a family, a renewed hope with a purpose I am trying to find the my way back to the Order. My goal and desire is to be a Knight worthy of the honor, blessing and title of the Order. I Knight walking by deeds, words and power as I strive and grow into what the Masters have called me to be.

My Journey has not been easy and I have stumbled, struggled,
faltered, fell, even at times given up. However the Force and many of the Orders Knights and Masters haven't given up on me. So this is were you can join me in the very midst of my journey. That is the purpose of this blog. To be a place where others can join me in the journey that lies in the places somewhere between Padawan And Master. I hope to share the insight and words that touch my soul and catch hold of my intellect and my heart. To expose the things I fear and those things that spur me forward. It is my journey and I welcome you along.

Kenton J Mattos

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Extra Life Fundraiser For the Seattle Children's Hospital

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted something on this blog. Far longer than I realized. Well, maybe this post can help trigger some further postings on my part. But enough with that lets get on to the purpose of this post and the reason you're hopefully here reading my words.

Those of you who know me are probably aware that I love people. Being around them, working with them, serving them, helping them, having fun and enjoying life with friends and family. You are likely also aware of my love for games. Board games, card games, video games, computer games, etc . . . There are very few games I can think of that I wouldn't play with the right people. And in the last year I have gotten very involved in a game called Dice Masters at Olympic Cards and Comics in Lacey, WA. The community of OCC and Dice Masters has been a joy to be a part of. It is my heart to serve and my appreciation for Dice Masters and the community it provides, that have inspired me to team up with ExtraLife.com.

When I learned about the organization called Extra Life back in August, I was amazed and surprised that I had never heard of it before. It takes these things I am passionate about, people and games, and rolls them up into one wonderful package. Extra Life provides gamers with the opportunity to play AND serve.  Every year, gamers from all over the country gather donations, via Extra Life that will be distributed to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The coolest part though, is that the gamers get to choose a local hospital for their specific fundraising efforts to go to. This means funds raised could directly effect kids and families of people I know. How cool is that?

So what did I do when I learned about this organization? Well initially I brought the information to some others in the Dice Masters community I have been regularly meeting with. My hope was that they, being the more driven leader types would take it and run with it. But it didn't happen that way.  It seemed this was my opportunity to spear head something that I was passionate about.

My first step was to join Extra Life as a member in order to raise money. Then I created a team so that others can join with me in the commitment to raise money. Finally, I created an event at Olympic Cards and Comics, in Lacey, who have graciously allowed us to use their gaming area for a series of Dice Master tournaments on November 7th, 2015, starting at 10 AM and going until 6:30 PM.  Each of the tournament events will be included in the WizKids Event System and we will be giving out Promotional Organized Play cards for participation and additional cards for first and second prize winners for each event.

So, if you love to play Dice Masters, or if you have never played but would like to check it out, please come on by. If Dice Masters is not your cup of tea but you would like to donate, please do that as well.  I have a personal goal to raise $100 and our group goal is to raise $800.  If you like Dice Masters but you are going to be playing somewhere else on Saturday the 7th, feel free to join our fund raising team. Lets show Seattle Children's Hospital how cool the Dice Masters Community is by raising way more than $800 for them on the 7th.  I will even take it one step further and say join the team and come play games at OCC even if it is not Dice Masters. OCC has an open playing area with games to demo or bring your own. And If there is not an open table, we will do our best to make room or you can play from home.  Anyone can participate from anywhere.

Join me to celebrate life, have fun and support an amazing cause that is helping to bring hope and opportunities to thousands of children and their families. Check out this video for more information about extra life and why it was formed The Birth of Extra Life.

Now, if you can still read after watching that, I'm sure we'll see you soon at an Extra Life event on Saturday, November 7th,