123 Dusty Meadows

C.S. Lewis quote

2010-03-30T17:04:00.002-05:00

"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?" C.S. Lewis

Elephants in Thailand

2010-03-29T11:55:00.002-05:00

Elephants

My international business professor told me a story about an elephants in Thailand. I thought it was awesome. So I decided I'm going to become a mahout. These mahout's spend their entire lives with elephants. Sometimes the elephants even outlive their mahouts. (Elephants can live up to 80 years!)My professor is inspiring.

I'm probably not going to do it, but class doesn't get over for seven more minutes and I needed something to do with my mind.

An article

2010-03-11T11:06:00.002-06:00

I read this article by Tony Woodlief on his blog Sand In The Gears.

I was going to link to his article, but I was afraid you wouldn't read it, so I copied and pasted. Hope that's legal.

By Tony Woodlief:

John Hinderacker at Powerline (I got there from Instapundit) has this observation about the latest slaughter of Christians in Nigeria:

“So where is the outrage? I don’t know what denomination those Nigerian Christians were, but Lutherans are the most numerous Christian denomination in Africa. I’m a Lutheran, but I have never heard a single word from any church source, local or national, about the mass murder of African Christians. No one seems to care.

No doubt readers can refer us to some Christian sources–evangelical, most likely–who have tried to draw attention to the plight of Christians in Africa, the Middle East and Asia who are being exterminated. But any such effort has wholly failed to gain traction in the “mainstream” Christian community.

Why? I can’t explain it. Maybe ‘mainstream’ Christianity is dead, except as an appendage of secular liberal opinion. Maybe, as the world’s largest religion, Christianity has become so diffused that New World Christians don’t much relate to their co-religionists in Africa and Asia. I don’t know. What I do know is that it is much more dangerous to publish a cartoon of Mohammed than to slice apart a Christian with a machete.”

I suspect most of us Christians living in the relatively safe West are here because we haven’t the faith or strength to be martyred like our brothers and sisters elsewhere. But do we have the faith and strength to remember them in more than a passing prayer?

As for the difference between Muslims and Christians on the point of violence, I don’t know what to say. They are called to force the world into bloody submission; we are called to turn the other cheek. They are called to strap bombs to the chests of their sons and daughters; we are called to obey the civil authorities.

Still, I don’t know how I could witness the slaughter of my family and friends without taking up a gun or blade or rock and spilling blood. Which is one reason why, I suppose, I live here and not there — because I haven’t the faith to die as these martyrs daily die.

Funny.

2010-02-23T16:31:00.002-06:00

Basketball Prank

Soccer Prank

Forgotten or rejected?

2010-02-18T00:20:00.003-06:00

Dear Lord,

You are real. I'm sure you are well-aware of that by now. I wish I was well aware of that. I wish I was more aware of that. I'm sure my actions would pain you far less.

Lord, what cuts deeper...

non-believers that reject you
or...
believers that forget you?

I bet both sting like nails. Do you remember the cross? Do you think about it still? Do you cringe when you see nails? Was that the worst pain you ever experienced? The sword they slashed into your side, The crown of thorns, the whipping, the bloodshed.

Which hurts worse:
The nails being driven into your hands
or...
The fact that I forgot you existed today?

I fear your answer.

Lord, I'm sorry.

I believe in you. I accept you; Your call, your will, your love. You are not forgotten tonight. I remember your love. Your pain. Your sacrifice. It lead me to here.

To this place.
To this conversation.
With you. In you.
And to this:

I love you too.

Extreme

2010-02-17T23:49:00.002-06:00

One of my friends told me that I'm incredibly extreme in my personality, in my judgments and in my demeanor. He said, "There are great things about you being extreme, great good comes from it, but well...I'm glad I don't have to date you."I guess he was trying to say that I'm moody or something. Jerk.

At first I was offended.

And then a couple seconds later I was flattered.

Then, I realized he was right.

Discipline

2010-02-12T00:26:00.002-06:00

A blonde-haired little boy came into the bakery today. His eyes were bloodshot and drooping, his cheeks were rosy red and his shoulders stooped low. His hands messily wiped a concoction of tears and snot from his face. His mother followed a few steps behind, she glanced at me while prodding her son through the doorway, her eyes told that today had been long for the little fellow. The boy looked up at me, pitiful, wide-eyed, craving mercy's kiss.

I smiled at the boy.

Only a few minutes had gone by before the mother could handle her discipline no longer; she embraced him and gently kissed him on the forehead.

I smiled again, I remember that feeling well.

2010-02-09T00:01:00.002-06:00

A continuation from my last post...

Expendable God

What do you do when you are faced with the reality that the crap you are buying is expensive? Faced with the reality of the cost of which these purchases come to your parents.

If you are me. You try to pay for it.

You work, pull yourself up by your boot straps, stop living off your parents dime. Take some pride in yourself. Be Independent.

There’s a little nobility to it, don’t you think? I can respect that.

“I’ll work for my own crap. I don’t need to waste my parents money anymore. I spent so much money that I’m embarrassed. I Can’t let that happen again. I’ll work hard, day and night so that I won’t be a burden to them. I don’t want them to have to pay for this crap anymore.”

...I think they call that guilt.

When I was faced with the reality of the cost at which my crap has been paid for, the first thought out of my mind was

“I’m embarrassed.”

Then I thought about my father, and how much this must have hurt him

and I was ashamed.

Instead of asking my Father what he wants me to do, I do what feels right. I do what will redeem me in my Father's eyes. I make it right. I work for my stuff.

I work day and night, without rest, because I want to make it up to him. I want to pay him back for all the stuff I’ve bought. But no matter how hard I work, I can’t make enough to even cover the costs of the stuff I’m buying. I get depressed. I realize I haven’t seen my father in months. This is independence.I’m hopeless. Prideless.

I can't pay for this stuff.

...............................

I’m still not finished.

An Expendable God

2010-02-03T00:43:00.002-06:00

God is so big. I think about him in his bigness all the time. He is bigger than the universe, which in itself has bewildered me. I am bewildered by the thought of God.

God is graceful. His grace is so big. So vast. He says he has covered all of my sins. Which were both big and vast. My sins are endless. Just as the Lord’s grace is endless.

Sometimes, I don’t try very hard because I know that God’s grace is so big it will cover everything I could, would, and will ever do. I would never actually say that out loud, of course, but I might write it down.

I fall short daily. And I’m a good Christian. (I would never actually say that either.) I can’t imagine how often the bad Christians fall short, let alone the non-christians. BAsed on my limited amount of research, I would estimate that the amount of people that screw up every day is astronomical. But not as large as the grace of God. Its bigger than the universe. I measured it.

Sometimes, I subconsciously think that my sin might go unnoticed. I know God is watching, but on the other hand, Its not like I’m the only one. I’m one of four billion. Its not like I’m the worst either. I figure as long as I just blend in with the rest of the sinners and don’t do anything evil to really separate myself from the pack--the grace will keep on flowing.

Paul talked a lot about how encompassing the grace of God was for the world. He knew that people like me would take advantage of it. Its easy to do when you can’t really see or feel the consequences.

Its like spending your parents money. You get what you want when you want it, but you have no concept of what the crap you’re buying actually costs. You may see the price tag, hand over the money, but you didn’t feel the cost. You didn’t feel the cost, because you didn’t work for the money. Your parents did. To you, the stuff is

free.

I haven’t finished this yet.

Style

2010-01-25T17:05:00.004-06:00

Last Christmas, I recieved jeans from a trendy store. They had holes in them. I have openly mocked hole-laden jeans for many years, but I had a secret desire to fit in with the people that wore the hole-laden jeans. They were ahead of the curve, socially adept, awesome. I got a pair. Christmas was merry. I was cool, everyone loved me.

I wore them today.

Today the wind chill was somewhere near Alaska on a thermometer and I could feel it. Who would want to wear complete jeans, capable of protecting one's body from near deathly cold temperatures? The lame people of course.

I returned to openly ridiculing people that wear these "stylish jeans" at 3:15pm this afternoon when I urinated ice crystals. Hole-laden jeans are lame. I don't care what the cool people think.

Others

2009-12-16T22:00:00.001-06:00

I haven't had much to write as of late. Schools out, so maybe that will change soon. Until then, a blogging friend of mine has resumed blogging, and resumed excellently at that. Take a gander.

Conservative Bible Project

2009-12-04T10:51:00.002-06:00

I read this link from Tony Woodlief's blog.

It tied my mind in knots.

How can I know the Jesus of the Bible, without people's biased interpretations of who he was. Yet, the gospels were written by men. Men of biases. Doctors, fisherman, brothers, fathers, sons. People containing biases.

I wish he would come back so that all these ridiculous liberal/conservative voices in my head would just shut up.

I just want to know him. I'm tired of what people say about him.

Why on earth would God decide to use people to record the most glorious appearing this earth has ever seen? Did he not know what would happen.

Maranatha.

Competition

2009-11-18T11:56:00.003-06:00

I have been watching this group of people all semester and this has repeated itself basically everyday. Girls are so bizarre.

"Competition"

She leans in from the left, rests her arm on his. "Incidental".
He smiles, Black hat backwards, diamond glistens.
Her friend from the right, leans in too.
He’s surrounded.
They all laugh, except
She from the left, is prettier.
She from the right is not.
He in the middle looks left, forgets right.
She from the right looks at She from the left.
She from the left, leans more.
She from the right, leans less.

She from the right, looks on
While he and she laugh.
Now She from the right sinks in her chair.
Low, she sinks.

She from the left giggles again.
Daggers, to the heart of her friend.

Bathrooms

2009-11-06T10:37:00.004-06:00

I really appreciate the person who first decided to display gender-specific signs at the entry to bathrooms. Whoever that was saved me from a dire mistake today.

Choosing a bathroom was not intended to be a fear-based ordeal. All I have to do is go in the bathroom the guys go into and avoid the one the girls go into. I used to be able to pretty confidently assess the gender of an individual by the clothes they were wearing and their demeanor. Now, I just look at the sign.

Today, I tried to us the person-identification technique. The person-identification technique failed. But the sign, praise be, saved me.

My message for you, The sign technique works, because people nowadays are like...whatever.

Large sharks RoCK!

2009-11-04T11:02:00.002-06:00

This shark is Ridiculous

Greater

2009-11-02T22:11:00.004-06:00

Occasionally throughout my walk with the Lord after long times of wandering, I make decisions like: "I'm going to return to the Lord and follow him faithfully, from this point forward and never fail and be superhuman. Amen." (I usually end with amen. Its kind of like saying Ah Ye-Uh!, but its to God.)

You would think a decision like this would only need to be made once.

I was speaking with a brother today who provided me with some encouragement after some intense times of wandering. I, being encouraged, wanted to make my declaration to the Lord, "From this day forward, I will follow my lord faithfully and truly. I will fight in this war against the enemy and I will be victorious. I will be faithful."

Its been six hours, and I've lost count of my betrayals.

Its curious to me the spiritual warfare I am experiencing now. Its quite strong. It stings more, it hurts more; I'm more desperate than ever. Wandering aimlessly was easier than this.

Part of me thinks maybe the declaration route wasn't the way to go. Part of me thinks that a sneak attack on the enemy would have been more effective. As if maybe I could have snuck away and wreaked havoc on him when he least expected it. Its not as if he was expecting anything out of me to begin with. I haven't posed any sort of a threat. I'm the underdog. I'm hopeless. Maybe If I wouldn't have declared my intentions, I would not be under the siege that I am right now.

Instead, I shouted. I charged. I waged war.
Because I am in no need of my battle plan.
No need to organize my schemes.
I need only raging, reckless fury.

The Fury of my faith.

Because I am not the underdog.
Nor am I weak.
Because The LORD does not enter battle quietly,
but with trumpets.
Because swords penetrate from his mouth
and I am with him

Amen. Ah Ye-UH!

The enemy heard me coming. He was ready. He knew where I was weak and he took advantage of me. He hurt me. Part of me hoped that he might just lay down and let me win. But he's the enemy. He is against me. He hates me. Because I am a constant reminder of something greater.

Someone greater.

Greater is the one who is for me, than the one who rallies against me.

Which is why I like trumpets.

1 John 4:3-4

3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

An essay on opinions

2009-09-17T15:16:00.002-05:00

I'm linking to a very well written essay by Tony Woodlief on people's opinions and how they relieve themselves of these bottled up opinions. It was challenging and very enjoyable. My favorite quote from it was:

I understand that in a constitutional republic, people are afforded certain liberties to speak their minds. But we are also afforded, please let’s remember, the right to zip it. To keep a stiff upper lip. To grin and bear it. Because for the most part, our opinions are usually much more fascinating to us than to everyone else.

2009-09-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

I love taking classes with Ellie. Especially when we get to sit together. Meteorology is the first class we have gotten to take together in college. These are today’s notes for Meteorology:

AAAHHHHHHH YEEEEE-AHHHH!

Can I link to your post on my blog?

Because I love your post. And I link to things I love.

just say... mmmmmmyesss myes of course.

Ellie, its no big deal i don’t need to. I was just asking,

I really loved your post.

(permission granted)

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-YYYYEEEEEEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(Ellie's awesome post)

Ellie's notes look a little better than mine. She has meteorology terminology mixed into her doodles. She also knows what is going on.

I'm blogging.

Face it.

2009-09-16T11:43:00.002-05:00

I'm in Biology right now and I'm paying attention. We are learning about the bones in people's faces. It's really interesting to see all 0f the bones that make up your face. Two hundred and fifty people are touching their faces in unison, digging around for all of the bones we are learning about. It's slightly entertaining.

My friend Baskin

2009-09-15T09:01:00.003-05:00

Ellie, and I went to a brand new place in wichita yesterday by the name of Baskin Robbins. I deeply appreciate Ice cream. This was my dream ice cream come true. Cookies and cream, and Mint chocolate chip combined! Baskin Robbin's is my friend.

Premium Churned Light Mint OREO® Ice Cream - 2.5 oz Scoop

Pledging Pundit

2009-09-10T21:03:00.002-05:00

This video has sparked quite the fury in people. Ellie and I just spent thirty minutes looking at comments from a very passionate crowd of American folk. Ellie found this comment posted by
rick2580, to be quite funny. I thought it most definitely blog worthy.

I pledge to get a 1972 Buick and turn the engine on and let it run out of gas

I pledge to take a bath with bottled water and then burn the bottles

I pledge to buy a device that flushes my toilet 24 hours a day

I pledge to turn on all the lights in my house and then drive to South America and back in my 1972 Buick

I pledge to fill plastic bags up with other plastic bags at the supermarket and throw them away when I get home

Rain Rain.

2009-09-08T10:40:00.002-05:00

Its raining today. Rain is beautiful. It resides in the category amongst my favorite things in the world. I am soaked right now, as are the majority of my books. I don't mind. Lightning just struck. The thunder is still rolling.

I'm learning about storms and weather in my meteorology class. I wish my professor could portray the beauty of rain and weather amidst his mathematical logarythms and scientific babble. Its really a shame that the weather, rain especially, be reduced to a science. As if its outcomes could be controlled. As if this raging, uncontrolled beast is solely some sort of chance spun onto this earth by a universe of gravitational forces and rotating spheres.

As if its not beautifully designed to bring life. Mysterious. Wondrous life.

What a beautiful science this could be.

2009-09-03T08:50:00.002-05:00

I have a problem with overcommitting.
Which is why I decided to blog today.
Because I’m committed to blogging.

Schedule for 9.3.2009-9.4.2009:

5:30-7:15 Great Harvest
8:00-9:15 Meteorology
9:30-10-20 Spanish
11:00-12:15 Historical Geology
12:30-2:00 Historical Geology Lab
1:00-3:00 Client at school
3:30- 7:30 Close at Great Harvest
6:00-8:00 Football practice
8:00-10:00 Study for Biology
10:00pm-4:20am SLEEP
5:30-7:30am Great Harvest
7:45-9:15- Study For biology
9:30-10:20 Spanish
11:30-
BIOLOGY TEST!

My best friend Ellie thinks I’m over committed to blogging.

Pssh.

Apology, sort of.

2009-09-03T08:36:00.003-05:00

Its been nearly 2 months since I last posted. My apologies, dearest readers. But I'm glad you have had a chance to read and re-read all of the things that I have already written. At a later time I might provide a study guide to allow you to get really familiar with my material.

As to my current lack of postage, I have few excuses because I have had nothing better to do than blog for you. My apologies.

As for today, I am too busy.

Fav's From the Fourth

2009-07-05T11:25:00.004-05:00

Here was the top three quotes from this years Fourth of July.

#3

This smoke is making my eyes throw up.

#2

We should point this at the people!

#1

Emmie! you're not wearing any underwear!

Happy Fourth OF July!