January 2009
31 posts
Fresh coffee in the morning, a two hour drive, inaccurate GPS directions, and North Carolina vibes made for a fun day yesterday. A few of us ventured out to Catalooche Ski Area yesterday to go snowboard some ice coast goodness and, well, it was weird.
Now I know this might sound weird to some, but bear with me on this - different mountains give off different vibes. Copper gives off a different...
Southern Hospitality
Well I made it to Tennessee in 8 hours, which is pretty dang good considering what I was driving through. Going through Kentucky was crazy! I saw a pretty good picture of it on the news, but acutally driving through and seeing it was a completely different story. Downed branches, split trees, caravans of HUNDREDS of tree removal trucks on their way to lend a hand to all of those who were...
Interesting Statistics: Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out facts of 2008 Presidential election: Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29 Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000 Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million Murder rate per 100,000...
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication...”
– Philippians 4:6-7
Bits and Pieces, and coffee mmmmm coffee
I have been going through a bit of an idea dry spell lately…..well…..that’s not true. I have just been lacking ideas that I think are worthy for a blog post, but nonetheless, little ideas keep popping up all over the place in my brain. I am going to give an update/rambling list of what has been going through my mind the past few days:
I am so tired of the kids across the hall...
Still Searchin'
Still trying to figure out this snowboarding thing. I know it’s only been a week or two since I rode, but gosh it feels like a long time. I have figured out that snowboarding has been used as my identity the past 10 years. Someone very dear to me pointed out that I would say things and do things that were purely because I found my identity within the snowboard culture, and not Jesus...
I, Too
I, too, sing America
I am the darker brother They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong
Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed - I, too, am America
-Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
How great...
Blessing Jesus? What?
This thought hit me in church on Sunday when we were worshiping and then the lyrics went something like “May we bless your name” on and on.
I stopped singing and said wait, how in the world can we bless Jesus Christ? I thought he did all the blessing around here. I then consented the dictionary for the meaning of the word bless and came up with this:
Bless - express or feel...
Praying Out of Spite? Yikes.
Yup, Barack Obama is president now. He will now lead our nation through the next four years of whatever comes our way. He will navigate his way through our economic crisis and the war in the middle east. He will show his true colors to the world in times of global attention.
He will go down in history as the first African American president that the United States has ever had, and we should be...
Geez Ballou
Gosh dang it’s hard to be active in Indiana. Here is a recap/rambling of my past month of trying to be active. I will start with the most recent event that happened a few minutes ago.
1) No more climbing close to campus.
Went over to Indiana Weslyan University which is about 15 minutes away to go climb on their wall. When we get there the people are cool, and we have a girl who we know...
A Movement That Cannot Be Ignored
Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations”(ESV).
God is good. He is moving in ways that are uncomprehensible and impossible. He is doing things in, and around so many people that it is hard to keep up with. God is rocking people’s worlds so they may become more like him, a beautiful collapse of self, an...
A Numbers Game?
This thought came to me in class today when I should have been listening about trancendententialism within American literature, but obviously that wasn’t too interesting.
Toms is an amazing shoe company that is really changing people’s lives and having a huge impact on a LOT of people. It is clear that people are down for the cause of putting shoes on kid’s feet and taking a...
The Journal...
I said I was going to post about my journal a while ago, and I figure now is a great time to do so. First off let me say that this whole journaling business came about in a very strange manner. I recieved it as a gift that I automatically assumed I would never use. “Who gets me a journal?” I thought to myself, “I’m never going to touch this thing.” I decided to...
3 tags
This song is titled “Wrong” and is...
6 tags
I Don't Pledge Allegiance...
…to the flag of the United States of America, because it is NOT under God, it is obviously divisible, it’s definition of liberty is skewed, and justice definitely doesn’t apply to all.
The United States of America is not a Christian nation.
I have been thinking about this a ton this week and interestingly enough, my American Literature class has given me some very interesting...
“We should live in ways that don’t make sense without God. God’s...”
– Shane Claiborne
Why do I snowboard?
Yesterday as I was strapping into my board to get on the chairlift, I felt very convicted about something, yet I didn’t know what it was. It was that feeling of a heavy heart, knowing something was wrong, knowing God was trying to tell me something, but I just couldn’t figure it out.
After a few runs it finally made sense and I asked myself - “Why do I snowboard?” Now for...
“Sit back for a second and let the fullness of the word and action called Grace...”
– Anonmyous
Lessons learned, lessons taught
As a snowboard instructor, I have seen hundreds of students pass through my classes as the winter season moves it’s way toward spring. Some are nervous, and some are excited. Some think they can already snowboard well, and others are afraid they won’t ever pick up on the sport. Although I have dealt with a huge variety of students, this one was different.
He came from the state of...
Cold War Kids - We Used To Vacation
This is a...
Resolutions? How about reflections?
It is 12:45am, January 1st, 2009 and already I am tired of hearing about resolutions and “fresh starts.” Although it may be true that it is time to turn over a new leaf (new president, wack economy, a never ending war, increasingly hostile middle eastern conflicts, ect..) that doesn’t mean that we should completely forget about what happened in 2008.
I firmly believe that it is...