What will I do to forget about myself and love others?

This question is pointless unless I come up with an answer.

HAHAHA

I am just so.... happy!!

"Spektor also tipped off listeners that she has begun to pen and compose a Broadway musical that should be out in 2011 or 2012. “I love theatre and I love old musicals like Sound of Music, Mary Poppins,” Spektor said. "

Not only is she creating a musical, she loves Sound of Music and Marry Poppins!!! I love those movies. 

Owl City covers "In Christ Alone"

Link: Owl City covers "In Christ Alone"

different, but very encouraging to see his faith.

Dissapointing failures

Link: Dissapointing failures

greaterthings:

Dads suck

Now obviously not all of them, but man have we dropped the ball as a gender. Like honestly, where do we get the idea that we can just up and leave? Or the notion that financial support is the…

When reading the books of Samuel and Kings I noticed that they all pretty much sucked as fathers. Even the greatest King in Isreal’s history, David seemed to raise at best a mediocre son who turned his heart from God and then had other apostate children. In the OT, people seemed to raise their kids similar to how birds raise their chicks. Just feed them until they are old enough to fly, and then let them take off without a second thought to their character. That is the only thing they consider. Now you could point to the spoils of being princes as partially corrupting them, but that is not an excuse. After seeing such failure, being a father seems very daunting. Definitely not a thing to take lightly. I need to prepare myself if this is what God has in my future.

It is starting to get chilly! Need to find some winter gear. I marvel at every bit of weather, and the Minnesotans just don’t know how to appreciate it.

Weather is only gloomy if you let it be gloomy. Rejoice in all of God's creation. Find something extra cool in the grey days!

I would sleep through this morning's snow!

And it is very difficult to type when my fingers are super cold. I should probably invest in gloves

Spring Course Schedules are up!

kenleigh:

Can’t wait to meet with my advisors tomorrow so I can actually put mine together!

I’m such a nerd.

I really enjoy piecing together the “perfect” schedule each semester. Actually participating in that schedule usually gets a much less enthusiastic reaction. But I enjoy the puzzle-like process of it.

I just hope and pray that spring schedule works out as well as this semester did. If I can get this semester’s schedule, minus the night class, that would be fantastic. :) But I have to take 15 credits each semester to keep my scholarship, so I figure that’s not likely. But we’ll seeeeee! Woo hoo!

I know exactly how you feel. I can’t wait to plan out next semester!

Scars...

Dear Lord, there are some lessons that I have learned from past mistakes that I don’t want to have scars from anymore. It seems like these aren’t fading. I thought they were, but boom, there they show up again. Lord I hate these scars. What they are, what they remind me of. Have I actually forgiven myself of these actions? Is that a Biblical teaching? I know God forgives me, but must I forgive myself. I feel like I should, but I don’t feel that I can. Lord, work in me. Melt me, mold me, fill me.

oh, that makes sense, kinda

I just found out last week that the reason people buy new clothes is because they are tired of their old clothes. From TV and stuff I knew people, especially girls, liked to get a new wardrobe and throw out all their old clothes (hopefully an exaggeration of regular life?), but I never considered the reason why. I get new clothes on birthdays, Christmas, and when my mum would take me to the store. Outside of that, it is rare for me to get clothes unless there is a specific event or purpose for them. But people just get tired of their clothes. I guess it makes sense, but it is still a little odd for me. I don’t want to catch this feeling of dissatisfaction with my current clothe set. Why should I get tired of my clothing. It still fits, it still serves its purpose of keeping me comfortable and covered, and outside of some orange stuff, they don’t look terrible on me (I don’t think so at least). But thank you Sunny for showing me the reason behind people’s compulsions to get get new clothes.

Shuttle

So I’m waiting for the shuttle and they say 10 minutes. Call back in 15. They say 10 to 15 mins. Call back 15 mins later. They apologize and get there in 10. Finally I am able to join the team at Perkins. I am not blaming the shuttle, or bashing it even, it was just a series of events that led to me sitting on the curb for 40 minutes as I waited for the shuttle. It was 1 o’clock and I only had a cookie and had biked and was getting hungrier and more impatient. (I found out I can easily slip into emotionality and depression when I am hungry) Instead of getting upset, I took joy in the challenge God had presented before me. There were no serious consequences of me waiting, just a little lesson in patience. So that made me happy.

And while I was waiting I was reading Job and needless to say my small dilemma was nothing compared to the problems of Job. So that was a little humbling. It is so easy to get upset over the little things (especially when hungry), but I have got it good! Plus, this was a little answer to prayer. I asked God to help challenge me, and although it sounds trivial, I almost let myself get really peeved. Thanks God for the challenge and for the perspective.

Live intentionally

but without forcing out spontaneity. Pray for guidance

I wrote earlier of patience, but I want to clarify that there is never too much patience on God, only that we shouldn’t be too patient with ourselves, that we should be pushing ourselves to new heights. A strange mix of not being complacent with ourselves and being content with all that God has given us. Hmm…

Misguided patience

"Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord”

I think I let patience take the place of action. I have been stagnant spiritually. I don’t like it. I seem to have remembrances of messages talking about those dry spots in our walk, and that they are to be endured. Patience is definitely necessary, but what if God is waiting on us? We ask God, what should I do? and we wait, and wait, and wait, and do a bunch of other stuff while waiting and get distracted. (When I say “we” I am talking about myself. Don’t worry about it) I think the walk with Jesus is much like a sport, in particular a running sport. If we keep doing the same old thing, we adapt and plateau. The bar needs to be raised higher and higher. We need to let God challenge us, but we also need to challenge ourselves in pursuing God and in doing his work.  Challenges are necessary to grow. People always say they grow the most when they go through a valley/drought/ challenging time. Let’s stop waiting for God to really change things up and throw some hammers ourselves into the gears. Waiting does not normally mean standing still.

Obsession

I want to be obsessed on God, not bread. Porqué estoy concentrado sobre las cosas irrelevantes.

Caves

greaterthings:

I like caves.

There are so many cool aspects to a cave. They can be explored, they possess hidden treasures, they are grand and beautiful. 

But right now I like them because they are dark. There is no sunlight in a cave. They are long, capable of disorienting. They can be narrow and tough to squeeze through. 

I like caves. I wish I could be in one now

agreed

10-10-10

so much wholeness today. Thank you God for numbers.

Yay!

To Save A Life for the second night in a row.

Yay! weekend!

Which Movie?

I am hosting a movie night at my place for XC. I was originally going to choose To Save a Life. I love the movie, but it is a little less applicable out of the highschool setting and into a Christian college. Still love it, but… idk.

So either stay with that movie to spread its goodness or just choose some comedy like Hot Fuzz or a running movie like Chariots of Fire, Steve Prefontaine: Fire on the Track, or Without Limits.

1600 miles away from home, 30 minutes away from college, 1 hour of being absolutely lost in some forest/neighborhood

I eventually got found, since I am here and all. But it was quite the experience. Lessons learned:

1. Don’t trust myself. 


2. Listen to others


3. Run with the group (don’t be injured)


4. Don’t trust people who say that they got lost too.


5. Mailmen are smart and kind (female ones too)


6. Trust God


7. Thank God

I love that Rahab is an ancestor of Jesus. How awesome is that?!!!!

YES!

I really love Tenth Avenue North a bunch more after having met them. I worked backstage for their concert. Them and their crew are so awesome. They had a John McCain poster cutout which was hilarious and scary sometimes. Anyways, awesome concert, awesome people. Tyler and I were sitting in the seats during the sound check and Mike (lead singer) was walking through to get a little closer to the sound guy, and 2 seconds later when he was walking back he apologized for having accidentally farted just as he walked by. What a great sincere guy. Famous or not, I held my breath for a few seconds. Anyways, they are such a Christ focused group (along with Addison Road and another band who I forgot the name of).

One thing that lead singer girl for Addison Road was talking about was how God really didn’t follow her plans. This got me thinking about how there are always those times when life is out of control and it just sends us back into God’s arms because there is nothing else we can do. I’m going to backtrack a sec, but just hang on. In church today at Hope Community the message was mostly on sin and other stuff and was overall really good. One thing that I have been recognizing to work on in my life is just daily dying to my own desires and putting God first. I get so pumped and focused at chapels and stuff, but back in my dorm room I just lose it all. So connecting this back to losing control, maybe God is just sending wakeup calls. So using the analogy of us being the driver of our life, Jesus/God/Holy Spirit is sitting there in the back seat. He is always there quietly giving us direction/advice. But day to day as we travel our normal routes we just kinda block him out and tell him, “Don’t worry, I know what to do.” After awhile we keeping choosing our own routes wherever we go and God is getting a little ticked. So he lifts his pinky a mountain rises up directly in the road. We are so confused and lost we instantly turn to the back seat and seek his advice. (okay, I am not saying that God causes all our problems, but he definitely doesn’t stop them, and for good reason) So maybe we need to listen up a bit more. God has some great detours planned for us, but we just like to turn up the radio, read the billboards and ignore Him. God has such a better future for us, but He also has day to day steps to get us where we need to be. Watching Family Guy isn’t going to enrich my life. Playing through all my video games isn’t going to make me grow closer to the people around me (possibly under rare circumstances). So David, when you have such little time in your life, start focusing on what is the right thing to do, not the okay thing. For although watching TV or movies are not really considered sins, I believe it can be as much a slap in the face of God as lying, cheating, etc.