Update time.

This past week rocked.  Tuesday went exceedingly well (a real first for me).  Flowers, dinner, etc.  I've got it bad.  But not without a very, very good reason.  As proven by my behavior of late.

Got one of my few papers turned in Thursday.  Great feeling.

Friday saw Kara again cuz she has a remarkable memory for important things like keys.  Oh well, turned out good.  Got to hang out with her and eat for free.  And finally saw her roomie again.  And laugh at her for all kinds of things.

And Saturday.  ROLL TIDE!!!  If you did not watch the Bama-UT game, you missed it.  The Tide dropped 92 on the former #8 team in the nation.  Notice I said former.  It was simply amazing.  There's nothing else to say, for the joy of crimson cannot be expressed.

That is all.  ROLL TIDE!

The Shadow of God is, simply put, an amazing book.  If you have an interest in Judaism, I recommend it.  If you're not the scholarly nerd type like me, don't worry, it's historical fiction, which is something you really don't see much in literature on Judaism.  In 15 stories, it covers Judaism from the Babylonian exile under Nebuchadrezzar up to the destruction of the Second Temple of YHWH in the Roman War.  Big stuff

Life has been great.  Classes going well, workload isn't bad (c'mon, my homework is reading Paul's epistles and writting short abstracts on them, cuz that's a subject so foreign to me), getting to see Kara as much as can be expected.  I always wouldn't mind more, but I'm pretty sure that would be true regardless of how often I went.  Oh well.  Yea yea, laugh it up, this is me talking about that kind of stuff.

As a choice few know, I'm in the midst of a bit of a battle over what I'm gonna do with my life.  If anyone has any prayers, ideas, or outright Old Testament-style prophecies they'd be willing to offer, please do.

That book has me thinking about something.  It depicts the pious Jews as being, even in their humility, proud of being a nation wholly owned by God.  Better stated, they love it.  What zeal.  For instance, it narrates the old story of the men of Israel gathering to listen to Ezra read the law after the return from Babylon.  They then rush home to put into practice the next commanded holiday of the calendar.  In one scene, they take what shelter they can from a storm during the gathering.  While of course many of the details are conjecture, the point remains.  There are Christians who won't drive to church in the rain.  I'm guilty of similar stupidity, but please people, let's realize who we are.  We have been grafted into the family of God.  Start acting like it.  Though we have no physical homeland, our faith is a fulfillment of every promise and foreshadowing in the Scriptures.  We'll never be able to earn it, but try anyway.

In closing, I have a week until a certain holiday that involves lots of red and pink.  That means me thinking about sappy stuff.  I may need more prayer here than about the career stuff .

P.S. A message to guys: don't bother thinking too much about my good friend Abby.  She gets motion sick.

Definitely been awhile.  Someone was threatening me, so here I am updating. 

Exciting times.  Since my last update, Bama beat Texas Tech in dramatic fashion, Texas beat USC, and Auburn was laid waste at the hands of...yes, the Wisconsin Badgers.  Life is good.

Back in Ttown.  I think I'm gonna like my classes.  I know I'm gonna like my schedule.  There's certainly something to be said of 2 day work weeks.  Yea, I said it, 2 days.  Only Tuesday and Thursday.  Booyah.

Well, more to come soon, thanks to incessant nagging, but I'm off to Birmingham

Since someone is being pushy about my xanga, I might as well update while I have a chance.  Good heavens, I'm still alive after last week.  That sucked tremendously.  However, the weekend rocked.  The formal was fun, and I got to brag to Kara how awesome 'Bama is while we walked around campus (yes, I said it all you Samford kids, 'Bama is indeed better).  In related news, yes I am no longer single; sorry ladies.  I'm dating a girl whom I've known my whole life pretty much, yet haven't known for the past 14 years.  Wrap your mind around that one for awhile.

The next two nights should be crazy tight.  Tonight, the Tide takes on the Irish of Notre Dame on the hardwood.  If I still have a voice or any energy come the final buzzer, then I have failed at life.  College basketball rocks.  Tomorrow, I see Kara and her family (first time in many many years), and go see Narnia.  Exciting times, exciting times.

Random rant time, heads up: I know full well not everyone is inclined to study theology, but come on, if you call yourself a Christian, know what it means and where we've been.  It's rather sad to watch "Christians" be outgunned by atheists, agnostics, etc.  We actually follow the religion; shouldn't we be the experts?  Sometimes I expect some megachurch somewhere to start an actual country club.  So many Americans have that mentality already, so why not.

Jan 2, 2006: Bama vs Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.  It's go time.

PS to Abby: As funny as your suggestion for my "funeral" was, it does not win the contest.  It wasn't creative, it was just gruesome.

If I don't make it through this week (which is a distinct possibility), the person who comes up with the most creative thing to do with my shattered body gets to keep my stuff.  Isn't it amazing how everything, I mean EVERYTHING school related comes up at the same time?  Thankfully, listening to Roy Moore speak today helped me out with my paper (which is due later in the day than I thought it would be, yay).

Going church shopping here in Ttown has forced me to think about how much I miss my old church.  Not the one I was playing guitar with this past year, but the one before that.  A lot of you know at least the basics of that story.  I desperately wish things had worked out differently, but I have to remember how blessed I was despite, cancel that, through the circumstances.  Soli Deo Gloria

Timing has definitely worked out for this weekend to completely wipe away the suck of this week.  BCM formal is Friday night.  On a side note, mad love goes out to those who supported and/or attended my speaking role in freshman week at BCM.  As I was saying, fun times ahead to help me get through my mountains of work.  Kara is getting to come into town, so we'll be hanging out a bunch.  w00t.

On a very light note (get ready for corniness), we decorated 203 for Christmas the other night.  O dear, it's freakin' amazing.  Live tree, wreath made from a VW hubcap, yard snowman, idle no wake sign, and the final count of lights including the tree and icicles: 1501.  I think I got a tan from hanging out there.

In the wise words of one Davis "Bubba" Storey, "I could kill me some Christmas right now."