Wanderings Around the Road of Life

Lent (Like...from the dryer?)

2010-02-17T11:22:00.001-08:00

Hahahahahahahaha - is what I'm thinking as I write this right now. I just had the most amazing "dumb blonde conversation with someone about Lent.

I'm not going to name them, because they would be very embarrassed. But I was on the phone earlier with them, and for some reason we got on the subject of Christian holidays. So, knowing that Lent started today, I asked them "Are you going to observe Lent?" They paused for a second, and then asked me in a completely serious tone: ''Like, from the dryer?" Insert really long laugh, making them feel like an idiot, and you have one really funny story. Anyways, that's my segway into my thoughts about Lent.

As many of you know, Lent is a part of a Christian's year when they chose to give up a certain aspect of their life that really isn't helping them, and most likely is harming them, in order to better focus on God. I gave up pizza one year, soda another, and video games more recently. Through all those years, it's really given me self-discipline that's lasted until this day. I gave up pizza and soda, because I was beginning to get unhealthy, making me feel like crap, therefore blaming God that I wasn't feeling like I should be all the time. I gave up video games because...well...you know what happens when a guy plays too many video games. People start to hate him, and he loses all contact with reality. Lame. By giving up those three things in the past, I've been able to become a better person.

THAT'S what Lent is all about. Kinda. Lent is supposed to focus your mind on God, and by giving up something that has gotten in your way, you can now have more room for God. God is supposed to take our whole lives. More like we're supposed to give Him our whole lives. Lent is an awesome chance to help out with that. Each year, focus on something that if getting in the way of God, and cut that out of your daily life. each time you think about that one thing, just tell God simply "thanks for taking this out of my life, so that I can focus on you more."

Now don't think it's going to be easy. If it's easy, then you cheated, and picked something that really didn't matter in the first place. The whole idea behind Lent is that you're making a sacrifice. You're sacrificing a worldly idea, possession, practice, what have you, to focus on the Eternal Father. What's going to matter in 200 years from now - soda or God?

You see, God is there for you through everything that's going on, so when you're in your weak moments during Lent, it's a GREAT opportunity to ask God to help you. We all become so dependent on ourselves that we miss the fact that God is the one who really matters, and when God is in the picture, then we are able to accomplish a lot more than when we're on our own. Simple, really.

So this Lent season (it's not too late to start!!) just give something that you see is in the way of you and God. Don't think of it right now, pray about it and God will show you something. You know it's the one thing you won't want to give up when all of the sudden, this happens:

"What's getting in the way of my relationship with God? Food, clothing? It's not shopping is it, God, please not shopping. It can't be shopping. I swear it doesn't get in the way. ANYTHING BUT SHOPPING!!!"

You need to give up shopping, if that's the case. Insert whatever thing in here that is eating at you, and you get my point. If it's something that you really don't want to give to God, then it's the one thing that you need to give up for Lent.

Just trust God with it!

Apple...LOL

2010-02-08T12:25:00.001-08:00

I love Apple computers, and the company for that matter. It creates edgy things, appeals to the younger generation, and creates amazingly good products. With the introduction of the iPad, it shows us that we're just coming closer and closer to Star Trek reality.

Yes, I'm a Trek-y. Not hardcore go to conventions and spend all my money on silly outfits that the World finds weird and uncomfortable to look at, but if it's on TV, I'll probably stop what I'm going to catch an episode.

As a little kid I always thought that all those buttons and devices were pretty amazing. I would set up my mom's typewriter, find a few calculators around the house, borrow a couple old phones, and put them all on a desk in the family room in the back of the house and pretend that I was in charge of my own star-ship. Silly right? Well I didn't think so, I was a kid. So leave me alone!! (just kidding)

As technology progresses, everything in those star-ships are becoming a possibility, some slow, other fast, but they are arriving one by one. Take the iPad again for example: remember the captain signing off on certain orders on notebook-sized device? Enter iPad. It has iWork, Apple's word processing. spreadsheet, and presentation available for $10 each on the iPad through their app store.

Each time you go into the grocery store and DON'T have to open the door, it's like you're stepping through a door on the Enterprise, but without the cool "swoosh" sound effect. But nonetheless, they are there. Doctors have now started using needle-less injection instruments, and we can't forget the walkie-talkie cell phone, that, back in the early Star Trek days, would have been so futuristic people would have thought it was a fake plastic toy "communicator." Finally, you can even buy a voice-activated light switch that will turn your lights on and off on command, and even respond with a computer's voice.

I'm just waiting for apple to come out with the iCar (there are no rumors about this, I'm just saying it would be totally awesome). Think about it - a car that you could probably turn on and off, roll down the windows, turn on the heater or AC, and lock and unlock - all with your iPhone. crazy. What if they started branching into other things like household appliances?? Dream big, Apple, we're all waiting.

Well, all this to say that there are some pretty cool things out there today, and a lot we can do. I'm excited to see what the future has in store for us in 5 years. I'm actually going to make a list of things that I would like to see happen in 5 years, and I'll post it later. You should make one too. This isn't one of those "things I want to change about myself" lists, it's a FUN list. Just jot down a few cool tech-y things that you want to see in the next 5 years, and then look back on that list and see where it stands.

Number

2010-01-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

Lots of people I talk to are telling me that the quality of things in America have started to suffer.

"People don't care much anymore."

"I'm not a special customer."

"All of the sudden, I'm just a purchase number."

And your point? Isn't that what we've always wanted? Over the years we have cried out for things to be faster. We have pushed for self chekout lines at stores, insist on using the drive through window even though we have enough time to go into the store, and we complain when our dry cleaning isn't ready in 5 hours.

America, this system that you have created is YOUR fault! If you wanted things to be all about you, then you needed to have given some thought about making everything more personalized. If you want someone to remember your name, you have to give them time. Let them talk to you, let them put facts to a face. If you just want to hurry through your day and get everything instantly, then you're going to have to put up with just being another number.

We created computers so that our lives would be faster. With computers, everything seemed better. But now look:

In the taco bell line, you're given an order number.

In the DMV office, you're given a waiting number.

When you shop online, you're given tons of different purchase and tracking numbers.

At universities, you're given a student ID number.

Banks give us routing and account numbers.

We all have different license numbers.

This number system isn't their fault, it's the fault of a society that has evolved a need for speed, literally. Keep this little fact in your mind: we say that humans aren't machines. Tu

Slowing down is hard to do, I know. But if you try is sometime, then you will probably find that, though your numbers will always be there due to the set up of our current system, the number itself won't matter so much anymore.

I go to a local coffee shop quite often. Most of the time, I'll stay and talk with the barista (no, it is NOT Starbucks) for at least a good 10-20 minutes. Seems like a lot of wasted time, right?

Time is only wasted on things that don't really matter. You have to chose what matters, then you will find that you've wasted no time at all.

Trust

2010-01-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot on my mind recently. Lots of new developments in the area of "the future of my life" have been popping up all over the place, it's almost become overwhelming. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't know what one to choose and which ones to turn down!

This brings up a great point that everyone should be able to get from life. Trust is a huge deal when making life changing decisions. Why? Well because the future is unpredictable, we all know that. The only way that we can keep going is by putting trust in things. Trust in family and friends to remain by our sides, trust that the laws of nature will hold up (and hold us down to the earth), trust that when we choose to do something, it will turn out in a way that is close to what we expect, and most of all, trust in God to be faithful on His Word about being by our side 24/7.

I've had to put a lot of trust out there recently, as I still have no clue what I'm going to be doing after I graduate. Granted, I still have a year left after this semester is up, but for me and my personality, not knowing about huge events like this way in advance really gets to me.

I've had great conversations with God, with my parents, friends, co-workers, and employers about what I'm going to be doing. I'll spare you with all the details, because my main reason for writing this is because I wanted to share thoughts and verses about trust and about the future that my parents have shared with me.

The first verse that Mom gave to me is from Jeremiah 29:11-13. It reads

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

This verse is awesome, because it lets us know that God is in control of everything. When we don't know what tomorrow holds, He does. And the best part is that He does what's best for us (even though it may not seem like it). He won't make us do something that's destructive to ourselves, because He thinks "thoughts of peace and not evil." The part of the verse that really gets to me is when God tells us that when we call on Him, He will LISTEN!! When we seek after Him, we will FIND HIM!! I'm not saying that God is going to appear in physical form, we actually have to look. Enter the part of the verse about "seeking." If we just lay around waiting for God to show up, we're not going to know how He comes to us, because we're not looking for Him. But if we actively seek Him out, we will find the answers we want. Just keep in mind that not every answer will be instant, and not every answer will be exactly like we think it will be (most likely than not, it won't be).

The second verse Mom shared with me is from Proverbs 3:5.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Again, God is telling us that He will guide us down the path that is right for our lives. The great thing about scripture is God tells us the same things multiple times, but always in different ways. It's as if He knows that we won't get it the first time. The part of this verse I like is "not on your own understanding." Why? Here's the deal. God is and always will be. He knows everything about us, and knew everything about us before he created a drop of rain, a grain of sand, and a cell of a plant. He knows what's going to happen tomorrow. So by using this knowledge, it seems crazy and down right stupid to make decisions based on our own experiences alone. Yes, we will use what has happened to us to make choices, that's what the whole life experience is about. But we also have to lean on God, who knows infinitely everything about the Universe to help us see the things that we can't.

Now it's Dad's turn to help me out. He gave me 1 Corinthians 14:33

"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace....."

Wow! God is telling us right here that He doesn't want to confuse us. Why? Great question. Let me make an illustration about sheep and shepherds. We've all been through this before, but let's take a look at this relationship from a different angle. A shepherd guides his sheep to a certain place to graze, and certain place to drink water. What would happen if he confused his sheep by scattering them all over the place, took them to rocky soil, and made them drink salty water without warning? Those would be some very confused sheep. They wouldn't know if they could trust the shepherd anymore to lead them to the right places (granted, sheep aren't the smartest animals and we could get into a debate about sheep brain capacity, but just work with me here). The sheep would start leaving the flock to look for their own food, their own leadership, and their own paths to water. Those sheep wouldn't last long. It's the same way with God. He's not going to take us down some useless dead end road, and He's sure as not going to give us something that will harm us in any way. Though it may SEEM confusing at the time, we still have to remember that God does everything for a reason , and his reasons are good and sound, not horrible and confusing.

Through these verses, it's easy to trust God. I know that at times in your life you get discouraged, and want to just throw everything down the drain. Life will get like that, and that's just something we have to deal with. The main solution to conquering frustration is to be in constant prayer with God, and constant communication with Him through The Word. You're not in this World alone, though at times it may appear that way. Your friends and family may abandon you and you could possibly even be rejected by society. I'm not saying that's going to happen tomorrow, so don't get scared. But if that ever happens to you, or if you ever think that you can't get through something that's happening in your life, let me give you a verse of my own that I love and cherish. It's a classic, found in Philippines 4:13, but a never failing arm to lean on:

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me..."

Christ came and died so that we may live. He suffered through this World just like us. Yes, He was sinless, and yes He is one with God. But the most important part of this is that we can understand that Christ knows what it's like to cry, to hurt, to laugh, to live, to learn, and to die. We lean on Christ to get us a free ticket into heaven (which is a miracle in of itself), and we can also lean on Him to get us through this life and into the next. Just ask Christ for strength, and He'll give it to you in some (constructive) form or another.

Thank you for reading this extra long post. I just felt that it was definitely worth writing down, since it has got me through this seemingly hard time. If God can get the enslaved Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, he can most certainly find something for me to do after I finish my schooling at FPU. May God bless you, and may you learn to lean on Him everyday for everything.

Haiti

2010-01-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

I feel the need to create an additional post today in honor of Haiti.

Haiti has been a broken country for a long time now - politically, religiously, and now geographically.

Even though it is said that 80% of Haitians professed some sort of Christian faith, still over half the population also professed that they practice Haitian Voodoo, a religion that spawns from African Voodoo, but is also mixed with Roman Catholicism. It centers around admonition of the dead, but incorporates other aspects such as a head god in charge of other smaller gods.

Haiti has had major issues with it's government in recent years. With the return of Aristide to the presidency in 2000, Haiti's politics turned downhill. Aristide's campaign was marked with accusations of corruption, and in 2004, Aristide was thrown from his seat in what is known as the 2004 Haiti Rebellion. Brought on by rumors of election fraud, various murders, and Aristide's demands that France pay Haiti $21 billion US dollars, brought great public unrest. The US intervened and brought Aristide out of Haiti, though they were accused by Aristide himself of kidnapping the unpopular president. The United Nations sent in a peacekeeping force that has remained in Haiti to this day.

And not many in our generation will be able to forget the devastating earthquake loacted right ouside the capital Port-au-Prince on January 12th. Thousands have died, bodies line the streets, and are piled in makeshift cemetaries. The living search the piles and piles of dead, trying to find loved ones. Others are desperately still searching the rubble in hopes to find those close to them still alive. Many nations have sent relief groups, but that doesn't even come close to helping mend the grief that the Haitian people are feeling.

So why does something like this happen to a country already broken? We cannot tell. there is no logical explaination. All we know is that God is out there, and God will help the people of Haiti. Knowing that God does everything for a reason is slightly comforting right now, but at the same time, we still have to ask the question why? Is it because they need to see the need of a savior? Is this a possible Sodom and Gomorah lesson for Haiti? We can't tell, because we can't see into the future.

There are many organizations that are in Haiti right now helping. Here are a few of them. Click on their names to be directed to their websites:

World Vision
Samaratin's Purse
Google
Help Haiti Now
NY Daily News (Lots of other Links to websites with information)

I don't care if you don't have lots of money to help out. A donation of 5 dollars feeds people in impoverished Africa for days at a time. Think now what $5 can do for those who just lost everything but the small scraps of torn clothing on their backs. I know donating to large organizations can seem unpersonalized, but does that matter? If we're really truely helping, do we NEED to get credit for everything we do? Do we NEED people to see us donating money?

Please pray and give what you can. Haiti needs us right now, and we need Haiti.

Worried Too Much

2010-01-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

So Life is supposed to be fun. That's what they all tell us. Life is supposed to be long. They tell us that too. They also tell us that life is unexpected. It can end at any moment. So why are we worried? If life is supposed to be long, but we can die at any moment, not knowing what moment that is, then why do we worry? This baffles me.

I worry about losing those that I love. What I don't do, however, is worry about the day that I die. Why? Well for one thing, nothing left here on earth is going to matter after I die. That's probably the other reasons too.

I find it hilarious (in a sick sense) that people today worry so much about what they eat to the point that it kills them. The problem there isn't the food that they had eaten, it was the worry. Scientists are always coming out with breaking news about how something is no longer healthy for you. Most of those situations happen to old methods or products that were once generally thought healthy for you. For example: sweetener was supposed to help people lose weight. It took away all the "bad stuff" that real sugar contained. Now it is said to cause cancer. So basically, people have spent all this time making sure that they all use sweetener instead of real sugar, just to find out that they might have health problems because of it. More worry arises.

What I'm trying to get at is the fact that we as people worry woo much about how we live that they miss every opportunity to actually live.

You get it? Great.

I challenge everyone to scale back on their worry. Yes, you can still count calories if you're trying to live healthy. Yes, you can still fret every now and then over a big job promotion. But if the worry is starting to get in the way of friends, family, and most importantly, God, then I'm pretty sure it's time for you to give up on whatever it is you're worrying about and start to focus on life.

Family

2010-01-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

I love the word family. It connects to feelings of belonging, love, connected-ness, care, and many many other good warm feelings.

But the best part? You have more than one family.

I have my family that I was born into. My mom's family and my dad's family. All together they make one great big support center of love, respect, advice, and concern. We do things like pray for each other, laugh, cry, learn, spend time at family reunions, birthday parties, christmas, and adventures in life lessons. We are there for the more personal situations. The deep, life altering decisions of careers, spouses, and choosing which path to take in life. They give me wisdom, they teach me things about life that I haven't yet been able to realize and discover for myself. They give me warnings. And most important of all, they are just there. There to listen, there to talk, there to love, there to live alongside of me.

Then I have my family of friends. We also laugh, learn, cry, and go through things together. This family of friends I can relate to on a different level, however. They are my age, they're going through the exact same things as I am, at the same times. My parents and grandparents have great, sound advice in hindsight view. However, my family of friends will help me see things in a different light than my parents. Why? Because they are part of my generation of thought. There is nothing wrong with my parent's thought, but there is the fact that they can't relate to my generation as well as I can.

Then there is the greatest family of them all. I'm part of a family of the dead and the living. At first, that sounded gruesome to me, just thinking about it. But let me explain. Since time began there was God, and God has a family. There are members of that family that lived thousands of years ago. There are members of that same family living today. Christ's family, God's family, will one day be united together in heaven, a new heaven, better than the one now. What's better than heaven? Just wait. I find it just awesome that I'm going to be able to talk to Joseph, to Moses, to Adam, to the prophets, to the original disciples. I find it amazing that I'll be able to sit at the same table as my Savior, and worship God in person, face to face. What an amazing opportunity to be part of a global family.

So there's family. Pure, honest family. No matter what kind of family situation you are in, there is always a family that you can belong to. You just have to find it. And really, it's not that hard.

As a closing thought: When I go home to my parent's and brother's house, I sleep better than anywhere else. Why? I feel safe, comfortable, and at HOME.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

Food

2009-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

So my most recent joining of TasteFresno.com made me think so much about food today, that I have to write it out to get it out of my mind so I can get back to work.

Working at a German/Russian slanted school in a Hispanic area of town, across the street from a really good Asian cuisine restaurant, I get a lot of different types of food choices. This morning I had Zwiebach with home-made jam for breakfast. Lunch was Chinese food. Dinner will most likely be Italian.

Living in America, we have TONS of different choices on what to eat. Why? Because we do. This is what makes our country so great: there are so many cultures and people groups living right within our boarders, that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to travel to a certain place to experience what their lives are like, and eat their tasty and interesting foods.

If you stopped one person on the street and asked them their favorite restaurant, they would know exactly where it is, why the like it, and why everyone has a wrong opinion. We are very particular about our food, and this comes along because of our freedoms. We are free (due to constitutional rights as well as financial ease) to say "I would rather not eat rice." In other places throughout the world, saying that meant that you were probably going to die due to self-starvation.

I guess what I'm getting at is: America, we have all this wonderful food just waiting to be tried! My policy is not to reject something as not tasty unless I have for a fact tried it and told myself that it was unappetizing. We have the money, we have the means to travel, we have the adventurous spirits, so why don't we get out of our McDonald's Double Cheeseburger routine and go down to a small Mexican, Thai, Mediterranean, French, German, Italian, or one of many other types of restaurants instead? Let's get out of our normal, boring routine and try something that we haven't. Maybe you'll discover a new favorite food, or a new worst enemy. Either way, you found out something else that you can talk about around the water-cooler tomorrow.

Time

2009-11-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

There are tons of things that I can do with my time. So what should I spend it on? This is a question that I constantly have to answer.

I am one of the worst at maintaining relationships. I have this thing about making so many friends that it makes keeping up with them all very difficult. I also have this thing about making friends who don’t get along with other friends of mine. This makes things “fun” to deal with sometimes, and a lot of my time is spent either helping mend relationships, or giving out advice that people really didn’t want in the first place, but they really need to hear.

Managing my time isn’t something that I do very well. I have a calendar on my phone, my iPod, and my computer at work and at home, but do you think that keeps me organized? Nope. The thing is, I don’t remember to write things down like I need to and I lose track of what I’m doing. So when I sometimes think that I have all this extra free time, a lot of the time there is something that comes up from three weeks back that I totally forgot about. This makes budgeting time pretty tricky, seeing as I plan to work on something in a time slot that is already taken.

I also seem to bite of more that I can chew - all the time! It’s a mix between my needing to be busy all the time and my need to please people. I hate letting people down, that gets me in such a bad mood. At times it would be nice to have a small “I-don’t-care” attitude for situations like that, but the thing is - I really do care! This really takes up a good chuck of time, time that I could be used to work on previous commitments. I’m constantly trying to improve in that area.

So this is where I am - in this constant “not enough time” phase. The quote “I have all the time in the world” seems so untouchable, unreachable to me. I’d love to one day know what “all the time in the world” feels like. Next weekend sounds like a good time to do that…or am I already doing something?

The Season of Fall

2009-10-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Autumn is my favorite season. It becomes cool, starts to rain, and the earth turns so many vibrant colors it's hard to keep track of them all. It's also a time of transition. I love the fall because I can look forward to seeing family at Thanksgiving.

The air is cooler, more crisp and fresh, and easier to breathe. The smell of woodsmoke fills the valley (The Honey Lake Valley), and the first snows of the mountains and rains of the valleys come, finally bathing the earth after a long, hot, dry summer. Cow herds move from their summer pasture to their winter grazing grounds, and plump Canadian Geese fly overhead as they head south for the winter. Seasonal things like the Pumpkin Patch, Hickory Farms, and Christmas Tree patches start to open for business, and for some reason, people smile more.

I always start my life over in the fall. When I sense that summer has finally passed, and that the fall season is now upon us, I check my life to make sure I'm still where I want to be. I don't start with the New Year, since that never works. I like to get an early start, get ahead of the crowd.

Fall is simply amazing. Though my favorite time of the year is Christmas, by far the best time of the seasons is fall.

Holding onto the Past

2009-09-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday Night, there's a Bible Study / Discussion time at our house. We watch a Brad Bell film, about 10 minutes long, and then talk about how it hit us, or what we can take away from it. This last week's was titled "Today." It talked about embracing the future and letting go of the past.

There was a quote that I really liked. It went something like: 'if you're too busy holding onto the past, then you're arms aren't free to embrace today.'

I thought, "man, how much did I miss today because I was thinking about something that I did yesterday or last week?" I could have enjoyed the moment that I was in instead of worrying about something I couldn't change.

The other point that he made was that if you're one of those who says "I can do that tomorrow." "I'll get around to them tomorrow." One day, you're going to wake up and tomorrow hasn't come, it's now yesterday, and you missed it.

Now I take one of those phrases that people have quoted for years. "Live today like it's your last." A lot of people can take this as do something crazy. Don't do something TOO crazy, you'll probably regret it later. I'm more talking about living and enjoying life NOW instead of waiting until tomorrow and possibly being too late.

I'm going back to what my great grandfather said: "I enjoyed my life. I did what I could and enjoyed it." He had no regrets, because he didn't make any. If you live in the moment instead of someone else's moment, then you will have no regrets.

You're going to be able to look back on your life and say:

That's MY life.

Most needed update

2009-09-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well I have again neglected my blog, every time I sit down to write on it something seems to get in the way.

School started already, we're just about two weeks into classes.

I've been excited about this year for a long time already. Since the day I realized that campus was very very lame without all the awesome people (say...the third week of summer), I have been awaiting the start of the school year.

It seems as though there are going to be many amazing things happening this year. It's one of those weird feelings you get, like knowing there's going to be a storm. I can just sense that lives are going to change in amazing and spectacular ways. I'm letting God take the whole year and just mess with it, see where He takes us.

I have my coffee and my music, so work should go by pretty quick. I'm hoping that this year I've balanced everything pretty well so as to not get too busy and stressed out. We'll see. Cross my fingers.

In the World recently:

Senator Kennedy died. A heartbreak for the family indeed, and as well for America. The conservatives might not think that way, however. I'm indifferent. He did a lot of questionable things, but he was a good leader and believer in the things that he lived for

Burkina Faso now has 150,000 more homeless people because of a recent flood. I stand back and ask God how he lets such an already impoverished country take blows like that. Then I remember that there is a purpose for everything. Since this just happened within the last two days, there hasn't been near enough time to see God's plan in work.

Japan had it's most recent election, making this the first in many year that the democratic party has won the vote. They plan on trying to be more independent of the United States. They can at least try, yes?

The United States is becoming more and more dependent in China now. We are billions of dollars in debt with that county, and they are making some changes that, I believe, will make them the next World Super Power. My history professor is so serious about this, that he is starting to tell us the Chinese names for certain events in history. He also gives the the old Chinese and new Chinese name for everything, just so we will be educated. Not that I'm going to be able to remember these, but at least I'm writing them down.

That should be all for now. I'm going to get back to work (aka, check my Facebook again).

Technology

2009-07-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

A couple days ago was furniture moving day at the University.

I just wrote that and realized that I haven’t explained what my job is.

I work at Fresno Pacific University as the Summer Housing and Conference Coordinator. My job is basically to check in groups who stay on campus overnight and make sure they have what they need. I then check them out when they are done and clean up after them. I also make sure everything is in line for students who live on campus over the summer either for work or for summer school.

ANYwho, my job falls into the Residence Life Department, and this morning we received a shipment of new furniture for the living areas of the modules (residence halls). I was supposed to be up at 6 to receive a call from the guy driving the furniture truck. I set my alarm for 5:30, it went off, and I decided to go back to sleep and wait for the call to wake me up.

Welllll the call never came and I ended up sleeping past the initial off-loading of all the furniture. Needless to say when one of my coworkers called me asking where I was at 8:45, I was a bit put off with myself.

This made me realize how much I rely on alarm clocks to get me going in the morning. If it weren’t for the simple function on my phone, I would be so lost, and probably without a job. I just think it’s interesting how so many of us rely on a little gadget to tell us when to start our day.

Back before there was such a thing as a digital clock, even a wristwatch, people were able to get up exactly at the time that they needed. They relied on the rooster or the sun to wake them. Children were woken by their parents instead of a screeching beep. If you hit mom, you were in trouble. If you hit the alarm clock, it’ll just try to wake you up again in 5 minutes and not think anything of it.

It’s interesting how we have fallen back on our technology to the point that without it, we are out of luck. This flows into the world of computers, cars, elevators, phones, and many many other things. Since this post is already a bit long, I’ll let you answer this question for yourselves: have we relied on technology too much?

God v. Science??

2009-07-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

The biggest question/issue I get from those who don't believe there is "God" is that it cannot be proven.

Welllllll DUH. The mere fact that we as humans aren't even able to look upon God without dying is one little reason. So not being able to see God and live through it might hinder the ability to tell others that He in-fact does exist (with concrete "I actually saw Him" evidence).

HOWEVER, to the person who doesn't even believe there is a God to look upon in the first place, I finally received some insight into a great explanation as to the differences in beliefs. "Finally" isn't really being truthful, it's more from my Earth Science Class that I took Spring Semester last school year. Sooo, what, 5 months ago?

I have had a couple people mention to me they don't believe in any form of "God" because science can't prove it. This is another "duh." Science is the study of concrete things that we can see, touch, smell, etc. An atom is VERY small, and the naked eye, it is invisible (meaning NOT able to be seen by the naked eye - this doesn't mean it isn't there). With a high-powered microscope, however, we do know that atoms are present in the chemical makeup of everything on this planet. So, now onto the reason for this note.

My professor (yes it was Ron) told the class this profound statement: Once you introduce God into science, you can no longer call it science (don't quote me on that, because I didn't write the exact quote down, but that is the jist of what he said). This doesn't even have to be about God. Once you introduce the notion of "ghosts" you can't even call it science. Since science is about the concrete, once you introduce something that cannot be physically seen, then you can no longer use the scientific process.

For example:

Animals are present on earth - science
Animals are complex organisms - science
Animals had an origin - science
God created the animals - no longer science

You see, the "science" of God has it's own category - theology. So we can change the last example to:

God created the animals - theology

So no, there is nothing concrete to prove God is out there. There also isn't anything that can prove that God does NOT exist. Science cannot prove (either way) anything about God.

As the age-old comparison goes, "we cannot see the wind, but we can see the effects of the wind." We cannot see God, but in each of our lives, in our own ways, we can see the effects of God's presence.

We as Christians believe in God by something we call faith. Faith, just like God, is also invisible. Other invisible things include emotions like love and fear. With faith, I know that there is a God. With faith, I know that He sent His Son to pay the price for my way into Heaven. By my invisible faith (deep down in my gut), I believe that I will die and, when said dying does happen, I will be taken to see God (finally) in heaven.

So as for the epic argument: "is there a God, or isn't there a God?" I must tell everyone: I can't change that opinion in your mind unless you want it to be changed. I believe that there is a God. You believe that there isn't. One of us is wrong. I believe it's you, and you believe it's me. We aren't going to get anywhere, because I have faith that God exists, and you have faith that He doesn't.

The real answer will lay within your soul, in your heart, at the core of who you are. What do you honestly believe? The question isn't "what do you WANT to believe." I want to believe that the World will one day be at rest, I want to believe that I will wake up in the morning and the World will be fed and given drink.

Nope, the question really is "what DO YOU believe?"

So, what do you believe?

Can't wait until winter

2009-07-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of the hottest all summer long. I hate the fact that going outside instantly makes me feel like I'm about to melt.

I can't wait for winter to get here. I don't know if it's the heat, the fact that "Christmas in July" is on Disney Channel, or that I want a cup of hot chocolate, but I just can't wait for it to get here.

The A/C in my apartment is set to 60 degrees, I'm looking sadly at my warm jacket hanging all lonely in my closet, along with all the awesome long sleeves shirts I own.

I guess it isn't just the weather that I miss the most, it's the memories that come with "being cold."

Naming a few: Hot chocolate after a day of sledding with my brother or friends, walking on a crisp morning, hearing the crunch of snow as I head down the road to get the paper, the haze and smell of wood fires burning in fireplaces, the sound of melting snow dripping off the trees onto the ground, and most of all, knowing that when it gets cold, I'm closer and closer to being able to see my parents and brother, as the semester ends and Christmas break begins.

Winter isn't all about Christmas to me. For some people it is. I actually enjoy January and February more than November and December. The holidays are over, and I can finally enjoy the winter months in peace, without having to worry about planning anything.

I also love to bundle up. For some reason, being all toasty warm inside my jacket while it's freezing outside is fun. I'm a little odd, so that may be why.

So this year when you hear me say "it's cold," I'm not complaining, I'm actually very happy that my nose is a bit frozen. Again, a little odd, but everyone has their own kind of character.

Happy Almost June

2009-05-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaaand I haven't posted on this blog for six months. Oops. There was this thing called second semester that seemed to get in the way. This summer hopefully there will be more up.

So we're over half a year into Obama's Presidency, and we can see that all going "oh so very well." You know that a President has lost their zing when the tabloids start running stories on their "Gay Cover-Ups." We'll see what else happens in the course of his term, and we'll also see if these out of the park theories on his being the Anti Christ come true. Hoorah.

I noticed today that one of the only things in life that I can't seem to go without is Mac N Cheese. Here's why: Two nights ago I made the last box of good Mac N Cheese (Kraft). There was one box left of the kind that I found out tasted nothing like Mac N Cheese. It was some weird brand from the Mexican Market across the street. Sorry Mexico, you have squat on America when it comes to Mac N Cheese.

This box of Mac N Cheese was HORRIBLE. Well, for lack of something else to make for dinner, I ended up eating anyway, but not without a bunch of additives: basil, oregano, salt, twice the butter, 1/4 of a block of cheddar cheese, and a whole lot of milk on the side to wash it down with. Case in point: I will eat Mac N Cheese one way or another.

So I went to sleep. I got up in the morning and ate some cereal and remembered that I had no more Mac N Cheese left. There were a few other things in the cupboard to eat for dinner, so I made a (hard) decision to not go and buy more. Well, the day went on and my lack of Mac N Cheese issue would not leave my head. I then realized that I had an addiction. Mac N Cheese were my cigarettes. I could not live without it. So off I went, to the store.

Now the other funny thing about me is I'm frugal with my money when it comes to small things like boxes of Mac N Cheese. I refuse to buy Mac when it's a dollar or more. I can't make myself come to buying it. It's SO WEIRD. So for example today I went to Vons (because sometimes they have great sales, and it isn't very far away). They were on sale for $1 each. I almost died. If they were 98¢ I probably would have bought a couple. Well, no worries, there was a Savemart across the street. They too, were "on sale" for a dollar a box. Now this was getting serious. I had NO intention of paying a dollar or more for a box of Mac N Cheese. Then I remembered Wal Mart, just down the street.

Now. The Wal Mart "just down the street" has got to be the lamest Wal Mart I have ever been to. Everyone and their Chulos, Bruthahs, and white trash uncles are there - WITH their food stamps. I swear I'm probably one the select few who do not own a single food stamp who shops at that particular Wal Mart. After I had navigated through the sea of people talking in different languages (yes, we're still in the US), I find the Mac N Cheese isle. 50¢ a box. MY WAIT WAS OVER. I grabbed a few and headed to the front of the store.

Here's where my patience gets tested the most.

Not only do the people in line have food stamps, they also have coupons, and pay the change with pennies. If they happen to have a $100 bill, they will at times use that, but only when the cashier is unable to make change. Then, for some reason, the customer claims "that is all I have" when they probably have enough food stamps to choke a small rhinosauras. The cashier then must turn on the blinky light switch and wait for their supervisor to come over and help them. There is a whole LIST of other Wal Mart experiences that I will post at a later time.

So I wait in line for about 15 minutes. I'm the second in line. The people in line were already there before I was standing in line. They were just buying diapers. The lady behind the counter looked annoyed and the lady standing in line looked like she just woke up from a long trailer trash hoe-down at the nearby rv park. I don't judge, I just observe.

30 minute after entering the store, I exit with my Mac N Cheese and pack of gum. Yes, the sneaky pack of gum. The ONE grocery item that you never have on your list the seems to slip it's way onto the belt every time you're standing in the checkout counter. Whoever invented chewing gum and then decided to display it at the front of the store by the register was the most genius man alive. He should die happy if he hasn't already.

The thing about my Mac N Cheese is that I have no plans on making it tonight. I just know now that I can be at peace knowing that I can, at any time, open the cupboard door and see that I can make myself a box of Mac N Cheese. It's about the principle of it all, I swear.

...Breathing... ..... .....

2008-12-31T00:46:00.001-08:00

How often do we actually notice that we are taking a breath? More often than not, you have noticed it when you needed more than what you had, when you were out of breath, gasping for breath, holding your breath, and so on. The point I’m getting at is not about breath, but it’s sort of tied to it.

What if we stopped to notice our breath? Wouldn’t we also notice something else while we’re stopped? Maybe you’ll notice the pretty flowerbed that you usually walk or jog past in the mornings. Maybe you’ll notice the person standing just ahead of you is an old acquaintance that you would have just passed by hadn’t you stopped to take notice of something else.

That’s why I love photography. I get to stop and take a look at something, see that it’s good and capture it for others to stop and stare at. It’s a wondrous thing to be able to do. I love seeing contrast, nature, interaction, and objects in normal life amplified by photography. I get to stop and think about all the aspects of a shot. “Oh, I want that pine tree in this shot; the angle on that pop can is great right here” and that makes me think of aspects of the object that I’m taking a picture of.

Photography isn’t the only thing that can let one stop and look around however. Fishing, hikes, bike rides, camping trips, canoe days, all these things let you stop and take a long look at what is around you. Day to day, you can also just stop and notice that you’re taking a breath, and then look at what is before you. Life can be amazing if you pay attention to it enough and in the right respect.

Advent Conspiracy

2008-12-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

As I was shopping around for Christmas gifts this year I had only three people in mind to get something for. Then it jumped to four, then five, seven, ten, and it finally rested at 15.

Land sakes, I spent a lot of money on other people this year!! I totalled everything up to around $150, which, for a college student, is a big chunk of change.

I reflected back on a video that I saw in a church I sang at with a group from school.

The website and video are called The Advent Conspiracy. Check it out and see for yourself.

This is meant to be short and simple, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I love what those people are doing!

Oh Climate Change, oh Climate Change...

2008-12-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

...how much a joke you've come to be!

Global Warming has been re-named to Climate Change. Oooo that was clever. Give the same concept a different name, maybe people will like it better. That’ll work great, just like flatulence instead fart, currently not alive instead of dead, and God of Global Warming instead of Al Gore. Those all make everything so much easier to deal with.

The only thing being accomplished by changing the name to Climate Change is now instead of just two words, there are now four words that most Americans hate. Here are my solutions to stop this “Global Warming”, this “Climate Change.”

First, shut Al Gore up. The amount of hot air that guy spews out of his mouth has got to be bad for the environment. But not only that, if he would stop giving his presentations, he wouldn’t have to fly his private jet all over the place with only himself and his crew onboard. According to a press release from the Nashville-based think tank The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, in the past year Mr. Gore’s home, located in Nashville’s upscale Belle Meade area, consumed 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2007, enough to power 232 average American households for a month. (you can read the full report here.) Oh, by the way, that's 19.33 homes each year.

I found an article on algore.com that explained the kWh claim was off by 30,000. Ok, we'll give them that. With the new figures included, that still comes out to 199.3 homes for a month or 16.6 homes each year. The other stuff on there doesn't matter, the Gore spokeswoman gave a statistic, therefore giving us a good figure of what the kWh of the Gore's Tennessee home is (183210 kWh). The reason that the Gores give for the exsesive energy use is for securty, since he was a former vice president. Well that may be, but I'm sure that they need more security from those opposed to Global Warming (i.e. more than half the country).

So what do others say about Global Warming? Here’s Paul Becker from the Muskogee Phoenix:

"I’m telling you global warming is a myth. However, please check the Internet (Al Gore’s invention) and ask about greenhouse gases. You will find that there are five. The most plentiful is water vapor making up 35 to 70 percent of all greenhouse gases. Mankind’s total contribution to all greenhouse gases — this includes cars, trucks, manufacturing plants, boats, planes and any pollution producer you can name — the total is less than 1 percent. Mother Nature provides the other 99 percent. It’s on the Net. " To get the full article, click here.

Only 1 percent you say? Well if nature is handling the other 99, then we don’t have much to worry about do we? I mean it’s good to be active in cleaning up the industry that we have now, but why dwell, worry, fret, and moan over something that really isn’t as big of a deal as it is made out to be. Ever heard of the term exaggeration? Global Warming is such a thing.

I think that it should rightly be renamed “A small increase in miniscule green house gas emissions.” And with a name that long, people will start to talk less and less about it, just because of the inconvenience the name poses.

I guess the good thing that comes out of this whole deal is the fact that we are taking initiative to clean up our planet. Cleaner cars, more efficient homes and businesses, and a healthier attitude brings a possitive light on the otherwise lying and scheming aspects of Global Warming

Homeward Bound

2008-12-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I head on home for the Holidays. Excuse me, for CHRISTMAS (since I can say it).

I can’t wait; I’ve been waiting since I left from Thanksgiving to go back. I love my hometown, the people, the places, the little quirks. There really is nothing like home.

I love back home because I’m familiar with it. I’m familiar with the streets and places of the valley city I’m in, but not the way of living, the lifestyle by which everyone operates. It frustrates me to no end sometimes when the people I live with or are around me view things differently and have absurd opinions on things. Those of us from small MOUNTAIN towns (which are very much different from small SAN JOAQUIN towns) really can’t relate to most other people. We have a certain code of conduct that doesn’t make sense to most, and other lifestyles and such just don’t make much sense to US. I’m glad, then, to be going back to a place where everyone lives in the same manner – simple, relational, considerate, and laid back.

I love the smells of home: the pine trees, dew on fresh cut hay, crisp mountain air, sagebrush. The way I describe it: clean. I love being able to look out every window of my house and see either the lake, the close-by mountains, the light blue sky with puffs of clouds as accents, or the mighty oaks.

I want to stress the sky for the moment. My least favorite color now that I have moved to the city is smog. Driving to school and seeing a brownish-grey and it not being clouds or wood smoke is not very appealing to me. It doesn’t make my day any better at least.

Seeing the blue sky as I pull into my home each time I return, stepping out and taking a deep breath, I know without a doubt that I truly am home.

Tomorrow

2008-12-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

Don't you realize that? Everything's always about tomorrow. “What are you doing tomorrow. I can do that tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day.”

There’s a saying I heard from a friend in Oklahoma (yes, Michelle, it’s you) that goes, “Did you know that tomorrow never comes?” Live in today!! Before you know it, there is going to be a new tomorrow.

If we live in tomorrow nothing is going to get done, you won’t feel as if you have accomplished much. If we live in tomorrow, everything will seem distant, out of reach. If we live in tomorrow, we won’t get to see today.

How about if we all just live in the moment right now. Stop what you are doing (including reading this) for a few seconds and look around you. I’ll wait for you.

Ok, so what did you notice? Did you see something that you haven’t noticed in a while? Did you realize that you DO like the color of your walls after all? Were you able to reflect a bit on your life? This may all seem a little cheesy for a person to do, but that’s called living the moment, whatever the moment may be. Try it more often; it made me a happier person.

Thoughts on Obama

2008-12-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Well it's official. Obama will be our President. The votes are in and this is who America has chosen. For matters of understanding, please know that I am a registered republican. Use that to help you form a better opinion of where I'm coming from.

I did not vote for Obama, however, here are a few things to keep in check:

Obama is now our President. Sit tight, we are not going to explode.

Don't bash the man, he deserves our respect.

Don't say things like "now we have a president from the middle east," or "well, here comes socialism." Just because your candidate didn't win doesn't mean the nation is going to crap for brains. Yes, there are going to be changes. KEEP IN MIND: America is all about change. If a nation, a superpower like ourselves, didn't change every so often, we WOULD explode. Ancient Rome didn't change much, and guess what...they collapsed. Ancient Egypt, Myceanea, Minoa, Greece, ect were all the same way as well. I applaud America for changing so often and being able to go different directions very fast-like. It shows that, as a nation, we are strong, and will endure.

Probably the worst thing to say in accordance to Obama would be "McCain would have done it different/better." HOW DO YOU KNOW??? McCain isn't going to be president for the next four years, so get that in your brains right now. We don't know what McCain WOULD HAVE done because he WASN'T elected.

And finally, if you didn't vote, please don't argue, because you obviously didn't want to voice your opinion in the first place. If you didn't vote in this election, YOU GET TO SAY NOTHING for the next four years about Obama. Those who were decisive enough to get up for ten minutes, go to the polls and vote are the only ones who get to say anything. Excersising your right to vote is also excersising your right to have an opinion. If you didn't vote, you obviously didn't have an opinion.

I'm personally going to pray for Obama, just because he is now going to be our president. He doesn't need a bunch of whiners to deal with, and I will most certainly (try) NOT be among those who are. It's called respecting authority. You always didn't agree with your parents, but you still respected them. I'm not saying Obama is your Daddy, don't take that out of context. I'm just saying give the man in charge the respect that he deserves, and especially the prayers that he will need.

Maby people don't realize how much pressure the President is every single day. You cannot claim to know this unless you are one of four people: Jimmy Carter, George Bush, William Clinton, and George W. Bush. If you are not those people, you do NOT know what it's like to be president, thank you very much, so don't claim that you would be able to do better.

People of the United States of America: I decree you to support our next President. Those of you who did not get their choice, remember this: you didn't always get a cookie when you were younger, but you still had enough respect for your parents to not tell them how lousy of a person they were. Give the same respect to our leader. It was a hard road to get where Obama is now, and now that he has won, let's give him what he strived for: the utmost respect of the nation he will serve.

That's all, I'm done

Less on the stupid...

2008-11-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

So yesterday could have been a really stupid day. I woke up for classes as usual because the academic calendar said that we had classes. Come to find out, once I drive the 15 minutes to school that the gates are locked and we had the day off. No big deal about waking up early, but the used gas was kinda makin' me a upset. I go home and find that my computer crashed and had to go through the whole "safe mode" thing so I could fix it and delete the problem. That took all day. I then find out that I won't be able to rent a car because I'm not 21, so I'm out of a vehicle for most of next week while my truck's in the shop. All those things put together make anyones day a pile of...poop.

BUT like I said before I COULD have had a really stupid day. Instead of focusing on all the stupid parts that I mentioned above:

Going to school I saw the fall colors of the trees. I got to talk to a couple people while waiting for coffee that I haven't got to talk to in a while. I got to spend the whole day at home with family. I got to talk to my mom because I called her with my problem. I was able to have a few moments to relax instead of worrying about school.

So I guess my point here is if we always focus on the crappy parts of the day, we can always have a bad day. There's going to be crap in every day in some form. If we focus on life's joys throughout the day and always think of those, life will be happier.

Eventually this will solve world peace and hunger...ahahaha. Had to throw that in there.

So look for the good in today and leave out the bad. Today will be a good day.