Happy New Year

I've got a resolution, but I started a few weeks ago. Here's another. By the end of this new year, I want to be enrolled in a college of God's choosing. HAHA!

Here's a resolution for you. If you read my blogs, leave a comment. Otherwise, I assume that no one reads them, and they start to get less user-friendly. Kudos to Katie who comments most times she reads.

Shout-out to D. Andrew and Katie who both had rockin' parties for New Years.

Results of Reading Wrong

Here was my problem weeks ago, when God and I ran into trouble. Yes, it takes me this long to figure these things out.

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." -Proverbs 15:22

"for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers." -Proverbs 24:6

Waging war = large undertaking. My particular undertaking, as I recall, was my college and major. When I looked at that verse, I saw that to have victory, I needed many advisers, so, like I tend to do when I get/think I get a word from God, I ran with it. I got myself a bunch of advice from all different kinds of people, and guess what happened? First, I questioned my path. Alright. Second, I questioned my intelligence. Bad. Lastly, I questioned (to God) whether or not I could do what God wanted me to do. Worse.

See, I skipped over the first part of the verse, "you need guidance." That "guidance" isn't a multitude of counselors. It's also not, as is beat into me over and over again, a prophecy. "Guidance" comes from God, and those whom God is speaking through. Friends who God speaks through a lot won't ALWAYS have God's plan for you in mind. Even if they do, THEY aren't YOU. It's YOUR life, so listen to God on it. It sounds simple, but for me, it was profound.

Once you get the "guidance" and put together what Proverbs 15:22 calls your "plan", THEN you're ready for your advisers and counselors. 'Cause that is where they'll be able to help you the most. In the DETAILS. The big picture, the plan, the overhead, is for God to give to you. And for you to seek Him for.

Can you tell I'm back in my Word?

Searching

I'm searching for the inspiration which used to drive me onwards.

Straws

I got this straw-enhancing kit for a Christmas present. What can I use it for besides mixing alcoholic beverages?

Dah Mexican Can Dance!

I haven't blogged because of these pop-ups. They come in hordes, then vacate after about a minute.

Another reason is because I've been gone. To Andrews, West Texas. This year, I was patient enough to learn the story of Papa Bill's birth. It was also one of those precious few times in the year that I spend the night with my brothers. I've made an observation. They haven't changed in the way they pick on the other siblings to get what they want. All I could think of the whole time was that their humor was still so foolish and childish, while I, for one, have worked on mine enough to make fun of them trying to be funny at someone else's expense, rather than in a smarter way.

Then I got sick. Being bedridden for 24 hours is not all it's cracked up to be. I won't go into the details of what was coming out of me, but, suffice it to say...

Last night, Saturday night, after coming all the way back from West Texas, I went with Katie, Michelle, and Emily to Emily's brother-in-law's Mexican restaurant (the spelling of restaurant threw everyone into confusion that night). We got to this restaurant, which lay within the domain of Dallas, and were soon entertained with some Mexican dancing. The first few songs were fun enough, but what I expected to be a 20-30 minute show ended up being a two-hour one. I wish that they'd had a place for us to dance. I'm almost always willing to dance, even if I'm sick. Anyway, 'twas a magical and lengthy evening, and I most assuredly slept in till 2:00 PM this afternoon, since I had no meetings or anything to get to at church.

My Troubles Are Going To Have Troubles With Me

"Then I started back home
To the Valley of Vung.
I know I'll have troubles
I'll, maybe, get stung.
I'll always have troubles.
I'll, maybe, get bit
By that Green-Headed Quail
On the place where I sit.

"But I've bought a big bat.
I'm all ready, you see.
Now my troubles are going
To have troubles with me!"- I Had Trouble In Getting to Solla Sollew, Dr. Seuss

The whole story, the main character is trying to get to a land where there are no troubles, or at least very few. He spends ages and ages risking his life trying to get there, and when he finally arrives, he finds that the "very few" problems mentioned about this safe haven included the key to get in not fitting.

He hears about another place where there are no problems, but instead of trying for this easy way, he goes back to face his problems, and this time armed with a bat and an attitude.

I love it, 'cause it so ties in with Christianity. We have all these problems around us and think "OH GOD, DELIVER ME!". We take God as an instant ticket to easy street, when He has the tools sitting there for us to use.

We need to get TICKED at the crap the devil tries to throw at us, and all the junk in our lives, and go in there with our "bats" (or better yet, our Sword of the Spirit) and beat the crap out of what has wormed its way into our lives. We have a full suit of armor, and all the devil has are "fiery darts", which we can easily quench. GO ON THE OFFENSIVE WITH YOUR CHRISTIANITY! Don't say, "It's a shame that she/he's getting back into sin." Tell them, "HEY! What happened to that man/woman of God I saw before? What happened to the DIFFERENCE I could see in you and in the people around you, because of what you were doing?"

Don't stand back. Stand up.

All of our lives are "too busy" and "too hard". Are you gonna let that control you or are you gonna take the authority that God has given you and set things straight? God never intended for your life to be too full for Him to be actively working in every inch of it.

End of Semester

The semester is over. How can I explain with words the events which have transpired? Here are some pictures from the school that I only have to work at for one more semester. Notice that it's EASY to get pictures of people asleep in class.

Paradigm Christmas Party

Ah, Finals week. It only comes twice a school-year, and even before it comes, you can smell the coffee and stress in the air.

I recently found that Hulu was featuring a tv show called The Legend of the Seeker which had a similar description to a book series called the Sword of Truth series that I read back in my book-reading days (when I had time for it). As I watched it, I found out that it was, in fact, based on the book series. I didn't know it was possible, but seeing that sword action and intense action inspired me to take up Tae Kwon Do stretches and workouts again. I've been very sore every day of the week, and I like it.

Anyway, on to tonight's news. Once a year, Paradigm hosts a Christmas party. This year's theme, "Western", was the crappiest theme so far. Fortunately, I like a challenge. For the last few weeks, basically since they announced the theme, I've been working on my costume. It paid off tonight, the $15 investment yielding a prize over ten times this cost, in the form of the new iPod Nano. Our small group also competed, and was the second-best, but, as we all know, junior highers are tough to coordinate. Still, they did awesome for how much practice they had.

And thanks, Bri, for the Moleskin. I've been needing it.

Bible Begone

I made this last night when I thought of a verse (I was supposed to be doing homework).
Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I left my Bible at school. That Bible is what inspires me to do most things. On the bright side, I was given a new Bible at school today. I got the highest grade in our Jesus class, so I won a study Bible. This thing is huge and full of little knowledge nuggets.

The Mock Trial

I made the prosecution look like a bunch of fools. First, we brought up witnesses to discredit all of the prosecution's witnesses. Then it was my turn. I played the part of the "modest Christian guy", who says phrases that others may mistake for swearing. For example, "Got dandruff! Some of it itches!" and "Got down, sat on a bench!". Then I whipped out the picture of my keyed car, and the prosecution had absolutely nothing to answer to this, except for wild accusations of Photoshopping, which were completely unfounded based on available evidence. I made fun of them the entire time I was up there by answering their questions. It was joyous.

Laughter

I don't like to post blogs that are just quotes, or lyrics from songs, or stupid crap like that, 'cause I think it's unoriginal to do so. However, I did find this quote from Dr. Seuss to be awesome, and to put into words some thoughts I've had in the past.

"Have you ever stopped to consider what has happened to your sense of humor? When you were a kid named Willy or Mary the one thing you did better than anything else was laugh....

A strange thing called conditioned laughter began to take its place...

[It depended on] financial conditions. Political conditions. Racial, religious and social conditions. You began to laugh at people your family feared or despised-- people they felt inferior to, or people they felt better than... You were supposed to guffaw when someone told a story which proved that Swedes are stupid, Scots are tight, Englishmen are stuffy and the Mexicans never wash. You discovered a new form of humor based on sex... Your capacity for healthy, silly, friendly laughter was smothered."- Dr. Seuss

Also, to give you guys an update, the mock trial has gone on with the prosecution's witnesses, but it looks like I'll finally be able to testify tomorrow. Problems with God-junk haven't been resolved yet (look back to previous blog). I have to show notes from my thesis research tomorrow. Let's hope that that goes well.

Conflict

My DAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! But really. So, started out my day with some Dual-Credit, which is always a blast (NOT). During this class, Newman told me that he wasn't sure where my camera is. FANTASTIC! Then came Physics with my blog's most talked-about teacher, Mr. Harber (*everyone in the room cheers*). He gave us a review which I politely informed him was impossible, and he told me to take a zero or drop the class if I needed to. Then Mrs. Horan and I had a talk, and Physics and Pre-Cal were put into order, but not before the mental toll had settled in.

Mrs. Horan also pulled me in after all that and talked to me about whether the whole medical thing was really up my ally. Math and science are my biggest struggles, and that is not doctor material. She told me to have an open mind, and reconsider things at the end of my freshman year. I hadn't questioned my intelligence in a long time, but I did today. Why can't I understand this crap if I'm gonna be doing it for the next eight years of my life?

After all this, I went to Chik Fil A, 'cause we all know that those lovable cows know how to bring mental, spiritual, and emotional healing to our beings. I was in the drive-thru, and the individual in front of me paid for my meal and gave the message, "Jesus loves you." Honestly, it shut up my questions. Most of the New Testament is built on that phrase. Surely it has a place in all this.

On the other hand, the mock trial began today. Tyler testified, but we didn't get past him, so I'll be testifying tomorrow. It's gonna be fun.

Prepping For Mock Trial

I stayed home from school today, to avoid getting sick (it can happen when you stay up way too late and stress out). It was a good choice. I'm getting caught up in a lot of things. Anyway, our mocks trial was moved to tomorrow. Since I'm pretty sure that none of the prosecution reads my blogs, here's one piece of evidence in our favor.
The story is that Tyler keyed my car, but I hadn't pressed charges. I'm thinking that they'll try to deny his actions, but that's when my attorneys will whip out this picture. On the downside, I don't think we'll have time to put together our video evidence. But rest assured, we had it all planned out and ready.

I was thinking with God the other day, and a certain thought came to mind. People always want miracles to happen. But it's all for God's glory, right? The way I was thinking is this: God isn't particular about whether the miracle is done on its own, through someone, or even a sort of pre-miracle. Like, when you swerve on the road, and your brakes happen to catch, as opposed to the breaks not catching, and you whamming into a tree, breaking several parts of your back and neck, then a bunch of people coming together and laying hands on it, and all of a sudden it comes into rightness, and everyone praises God for it. The miracle was when you didn't have to go through all that crap, and you didn't have car and hospital bills to pay for the trouble. It's all for His glory. Make sense?

Mrs. Newman was taking pictures of our small group with my camera, and she accidentally took it with her back to her house, so I'll get it back tomorrow. It has pictures of our small group in action. We have fun. It was a good discussion yesterday. I didn't have to get stern and serious, 'cause the guys weren't acting up at all. We talked about how doing little nice things for people could make a big difference (Mark 4:something, about a mustard seed growing without the sower knowing).

Trish's Birthday

Once a year, Trish has an event which she is powerless to stop from happening, unless she were to end her life, but this is not likely at all. Today marked the nineteen-year anniversary of her birth. She did not want pictures taken this night, which was good, because I temporarily lost my camera anyway. We first went to Firewheel (where I picked up the book I'm supposed to have read and have notes on by Thursday, and it's LONG), then, after some shopping (and Emily and I writing letters to Santa at Macy's), we drove to Applebees. Cassia and Spiffy (her boyfriend, who was loads of fun) were to follow me from Firewheel. I got lost the last time I drove back from Firewheel. It's fun to get lost, but not as a group ordeal.

We made it there with minimal trouble, and Trish got to have a birthday song sung to her by the Applebees guys/women (a first for Trish). Then we headed over to Pastor Nick's house, where we watched Elf and drank hot chocolate/coffee (mixed, not separate). I drove Bri home, and, upon her inquiry about what I should have done today, I told her my troubles. It took the car ride to skim over it all. Of course, it's past one A.M. and I had that coffee earlier, so I'm still wired.

I found these lense-less glasses in my car today. Should I keep wearing them?

Costumes & Mock Trials

Preparations for the Paradigm Christmas party have begun. I love making costumes (rather, impressing people with the grandness of my costumes). Let's hope that my costume is good enough to represent a bunch of middle schoolers.

Big news in school. Our Government class, which typically has nothing terribly interesting going on (our most talkative and fun class, despite Caleob sitting to my left), is having a mock trial. The class last year had one too (I spelled "too" as "two" the first time), but this year, we have a lot of outgoing overachievers involved, and a bigger class. I am the defendant who is being accused of shutting down Tyler's kidneys during a fight. Unlike last year's class, we plan to bring in photographic/video evidence against the prosecution. This shows promise.

Baby Got Back

That's right, I got my camera back. Of course, it didn't come back with its case or memory card, but luckily, I had a spare card, so it's functional. Now, hopefully, I'll be able to capture all the things I've been wanting to capture lately. Like pictures of myself.

Paradigm seemed to be kinda low-tone last night. I felt out of it. I still kinda feel out of it, but I'll probably feel into it tonight, 'cause it's the annual Childrens Church workers party. A good part of why I keep working there is because of this party. The first year I went, I won a $25 gift card. The year after, I got free movie tickets. Last year, I got a $5 Starbucks card and a few goodies. It's also catered by Carino's, which is Italian, my favorite.

Here are a few more pictures I took today:

My priority wall, so I won't get stressed when I think of all the things I have to do.

Some people in Poetry have fancy driveways.

Alexandra was trying to get a ride from me, but I was reluctant, so I drove away.

My car friend. I haven't named him yet. Any name suggestions?

Clogged Pipes

God has definitely been on the mind. I'm still working on figuring out some things. In our prayer team meeting today, Megan Wood said she had a vision. In it, our prayer team was in a circle in the gym, praying it up, and gradually a bunch of the rest of the school joined in. Funny thing about it was, she said that she only saw (with recognition) two people: Hannah Horton and I. Everyone was drawn to Hannah's passion, and, as for me, people were drawn to me just being real. It was nice to hear.

I also went to the dentist today, on account of my swelling. Ever heard of a submandibular duct? (Sub=under, mandible=lower jaw) Mine was clogged. In fact, it was clogged enough to make my face swell up like it did. So all that crap about an "abscessed tooth" or "a chip off of a wisdom tooth" was crazy talk. Does that crap belong in a believer anyway?

Good Monday To You, Sir

I'm feeling incredible right now. Here's what happened, a'ight? I was asking God the other day what on earth to do about my One. I kept hearing the song from Jason Upton's cd where he sings, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love." I was like, "But God, they already know that I'm a Christian. I've already informed them of this," but the song kept coming back to me.

So today, I woke up to my alarm (there's a wonder in itself) and went to Starbucks to get some AIDS coffee (5 cents goes to AIDS kids). I got one for me and one for my One, and also a bag of Flaming Hot Cheatos. I left the coffee in my One's locker, the Cheatos in Sydney's locker, and wrote notes about Paradigm on each of them. I also texted Jordan and informed him about how good the day will be if he gives it and any discouragement that comes with it to God, and he was excited too. My One and Sydney were both overjoyed to get gifts out of the blue. My One texted me later that she'll go to Paradigm after school gets out.

Galations 5:6b, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Throughout the day, I felt a lot like I did last year. I'm pretty dern excited.