|
| ...the joys of blogging... 
I posted something a few days ago but for your sake kept it private. Trust me, it wasn't anything fun to read. Just me being me about grades. Ew, grades.
On the bright side, I take my last two finals tomorrow. Yeay! Physics work went quite well today. Those quizzes can be buggers sometimes. I worked this morning and it went about like usual. Then I had dinner with Andrew (need I say anything about how incredibly enjoyable it was?) and after that the quizzes were flying like hotcakes. It was beautiful. I think I set a personal record. Therefore, I decided to allot myself some time to write instead of fretting over perfect scores in a class I am in no danger of making a B in. Yeay for easy four hour credit classes. Happiness, to be sure.
Ah, these next few days are going to be fantastic, I can feel it. Tomorrow I will be finishing school work for my freshman year of college (that went very satisfactory, if I do say so myself). After that Erin and I will have some fun time, if she comes back by then, and I'll treat Jacob to dinner and dessert. Good stuff. Tuesday I'll drive Erin and Andrew down to Houston so I can take their blood - I mean.. .they're giving blood... And the drive to Houston is always fun with Andrew in the car. Not to mention I get to drive his car back. He taught me how to drive a stick shift. It's great - nerve racking, but great. And later Tuesday Jacob and I will head back home to Houston for good, for the summer, and tackle the adventures that await us there.
For anyone reading, because I think there may be only two of you (Travis and Nathan) who actually read this... My little brother, Steven, is having back surgery Wednesday morning. If you could pray for him, that'd be fantastic.
| | |
| I had a really good conversation with Farai today. We typically have fun conversations (in the middle of math class) but today's left me with a particular smile on my face. What's strange is that I really don't know why. He always asks me impossible questions. Today's question was "Who are you?" The end result, after him telling me that I was being particularly difficult was - and I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget - "I am a fallible, sinful child of God who is constantly seeking to better know and carry out His will." We decided that the ultimate answer to who you are should explain why you do the things you do. So there you go.
I got a Qur'an today. I figured it wasn't a bad reference book to have around, although I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with it. It might be interesting to read some of it, but that may not happen, we'll see.
School has got me down recently. I have enjoyed school but right now I'm ready for summer. Just a few more weeks, only a few more tests.
There's only one sad thing about summer. Andrew will be leaving me. He's going to be in South Carolina for an internship. I don't know what I'm going to do. Just wait for him to come back, I guess. Then we'll have one more semester and he'll leave for the real world. To be completely honest, I didn't think we would make it this long. I've never had a relationship last this long before. I figured it would be over before we had to think about him leaving. But it's not over. In fact, it's going quite well. I'm not too sure what to do about that. I've been saying that we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it, but it's getting pretty close. I'll miss him this summer, that's for sure.
On a brighter note - because we really should end with something happy - God loves you and it's a beautiful day outside.
| | |
| I just got back from hearing John Piper speak. That was pretty incredible, I have to say. My fear when I go hear big-time, popular pastors speak is that it won't hold true to the gospels. I know this sounds crazy, but it's often times true. This man preached directly from the bible, and it was very challenging. It wasn't just more of "be a good person, do good things, love God". All of which is fantastic, but we've heard it many times before. I think he was the first person I've heard speak that really, truly, gave modern day American Christians something to chew on.
He spoke about Paul. In directing most of his commentary on Paul, he was able to keep a more active audience. People will want to listen to you more if they don't believe you're directly condemning them. They will hear what you say and come to the conclusion themselves that what you're saying Paul does is something they would like to do, too.
Anyways, to the point... The main verse he focused on was the last verse of 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.
The whole thing goes like this:
"Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable."
That last sentence holds much more importance than I ever gave it. My paraphrase: If this is the only life we have, if there is no life after death, then we should be pitied above all men. That's what he says of Christians. They live in such a self deprived way, in such a sacrificial, serving manner, in a life full of imprisonment, sufferings, and constant persecution, that they should be pitied above all men because of it. Wow. If I'm not living in that manner, which I must confess at this moment I am not, then I have no right to call myself a Christian. I am not fully following Christ if I do not live a life that should be pitied if there is no eternal hope.
Disclaimer: Now, don't hold all of what I say to be the words of John Piper. He spoke on that verse, amongst others, and this is what I took away from it.
In a nation where we worship money and where everyone has money, can you think of a better way to show Christ's sufferings, and therefore Christ himself, to other people? A person who completely denies the values that this nation holds dear is quite radical. The American Dream is rubbish. We get educated, so we can get a job, so we can have money to buy nice things. Rubbish. Where's the person that lives in complete self depravity even though he doesn't have to? Paul didn't have to suffer; he didn't have to preach; he didn't have to be jailed; he could have walked away, but he didn't. He suffered to show Christ's sufferings to others. Christ suffered. We should live like Christ.
He made several fantastic points.
My mom recently has expressed how uncomfortable she is with the idea of me putting myself in danger. The missionary field can be, should be, dangerous. She wasn't happy with me going to Mexico, and she'll be even more upset if I ever go to China or India, I'm sure. It seems I'm not alone. Piper was asked to speak before they were sending off some missionaries. They asked him to say something to comfort the parents of those going away. He pointed out wonderfully that God never said it would be hard for a missionary to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. The parents are the ones in real danger, because Jesus warned that it would be very hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. Trust me, I do those words no justice, he put it quite well. It was one of those things that made you smile, yet held so much truth that it shocked you at the same time. It is more dangerous to be a rich American than a poor missionary in the middle of Africa, in the midst of angry natives. It is more dangerous to live in comfort and safety than to work in the missionary field.
I hope I never forget what he had to say. The hardest part may be just putting it into practice. Jesus did not call us to be moderate, to simply not be a "bad" person. Being extreme in America is not smiled upon. We're all supposed to be middle of the line people. Jesus was a radical. We should live like radicals, extremists, ardent enthusiasts.
| | |
| Spring break really was an amazing experience. It was undoubtedly the most memorable of my life.
It started off in Mexico. A certain part of me has always realized how fortunate we are here in America. I couldn't completely grasp that, though, until I witnessed poverty first hand. I still haven't completely grasped it. A larger part of me now realizes, however, everyday, just how silly most of what we really care about truly is. Here in America we judge wealth by excess. You are in poverty if you are getting by. Take a minute and think about that. How completely ridiculous is that? Someone may be well fed, have a place to live, a high school education, and a place to live, and we think they're poor. We think someone is poor if they can't afford a tv, or the newest clothes. We think they're poor if they can't go to college. That's stupid. So little money in life is actually needed to get by. We are so wasteful. There are people in this world that would cry at the sight of a twenty dollar bill and you carry around two in your pocket every day. Do you realize this? The four dollars you spend on a movie tomorrow would be enough money to feed someone in mexico for a at least a week.
The book we are reading right now for english only emphasizes all that I came to understand recently. It's about a girl that moves from her native culture to a more modern home, in order to be educated. She doesn't know how to work a light switch or a toilet. These things are not necessary to survival. There is so little you actually need to live. Our brains and the ways we view things are distorted.
As if all of that flowing through my head was not enough for the spring break, I also attended a swing dance workshop. Lindyfest was stinkin amazing. I didn't know dancing could feel so wonderful. I've been dancing for a year but I have never felt anything so good. There were so many fantastic dancers there, and lots of guys I just had great connection with. My follow reached whole new levels. I could just feel the creative juices flowing through the room. It was great. I didn't have a bad night of dancing. Not after the first, which was just "eh". Everyday, from friday until sunday, was spent having some of the best dances ever.
Dancing makes me very happy. Especially dancing like that.
So, to sum it all up - I have a strong desire to work with people in other nations and to dance. How those two fit together with my math degree, I have no idea. We'll figure that out when the time comes.
| | |
| Get ready for an amazing spring break. I'm so excited. There won't be a single day wasted, I assure you.
Trip to Mexico and then Lindyfest - directly after another. Does it get any better?
With lindyfest being free, it's just that much better. Really, it's amazing. There will be crazy-insane dancers there, excellent instructors, and dancing all day, everyday. Wow. I haven't been told when they want me to volunteer or what they want me to do, though. The coordinator of all that has kind of left me in the dark. Heh, and I'm leaving today. Hopefully she'll get back to me.
I'm thinking I should say more, but I can't really think of anything to say. Lucky for you.
| | |
|
