I had 10-12 off today so I took a bit of time to read, nap and I tried to go for a walk, but it was too windy and cold, so I kicked a bit of dirt at some swans and headed back. I was on dishes from 12-2 so I didn't get to see any of the lunch rush which was kinda sad because I didn't get to interact with the customers, but it's still fun in the back because you can joke with people. Class today was with Kelly instead of Arden which was interesting because first off Ben was so tired that it took him 20 minutes into class to realize that it wasn't Arden (they don't even look that much alike) and Kelly's just a character straight from Kentucky with lots of random Southernisms that seem so out of place here. He's a good guy though even with his random laugh and confusingly simple questions. I didn't agree with everything he had to say, but I really liked the way he started off his closing prayer: "Lord help them to forget everything I said today, but to remember everything You said." I think that's a really good point for all of us, because I know I get lots of stuff wrong and even when working in God's service I can mess it up.
After class, I wasn't on clean up duty so I just chilled for a bit, reading some and listening to music, then about an hour after we closed I went down to see what people were up to and saw that there were still a few customers hanging about- three college age kids. The girl came up to me and told me to sit down. I asked her name (Mary Ellen) and she promptly asked for my life story. "So Ben, you were born and then what happened?" Not even kidding. I didn't know what to say... I think I mumbled something about being a rambunctious kid and going to school to learn my multiplication tables when she got distracted by some of Paul's antics. Anyway, she and her friends Ciaran and Kev were just chillin and happened to be messing around with a tract that we have here. It starts off with a quiz asking if you have perfectly kept all 10 commandments, then helps us realize that none of us have and don't deserve heaven... but wait! Jesus passed the test and wants us to take his perfect 10 out of 10 score! Isn't that awesome!? You know, that kind of thing. Anyway, they didn't really read it all through and kept getting hung up on how impossible it was to keep the Commandments. We tried to talk to them about it, but they kept joking and eventually one of their favorite songs came on and they sang and danced and were gone. I guess it can't all happen in an evening, but I prayed for them and hope they come back and maybe can continue the conversation more seriously. They're a good bunch though, lots of fun to talk to.
After everything was really closed up, some ofus went into town to get Butler's chocolate (to die for) then a bit of shopping. I found where I can buy a new memory card, and I think I'll do it Saturday when I can go to the ATM to get euros. Ben and I hung out with Paul most of the time. Paul is a sweet guy and he looks and sort of acts a bit like Dustin Montgomery- one of my favorite people I haven't seen for a while. Consequently, I like Paul but I hope to get to know him better so it's not just the Dustin in him that I enjoy. You know how it goes.
I'm gonna try to get to bed earlier tonight.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
First day of work
That's right, I hate coffee even signed a contract saying that I wouldn't drink any during my years in college yet here I am working in a cafe. Basically all we did today we get trained on various jobs and I got stuck with the simplest ones. I started working the counter with Scott who ran the till (cash register for you Americans) while I got out cookies, iced brownies, and learned a bit about how to make some of the more basic drinks. In the first few hours from 10-12:30 things were chill with a few groups of adults of college kids trickling in, but the lunch rush hit with the boys from the local Catholic schools (the Jes and the Bish) and there was a line out the door for about 45 minutes and things were busy. It wasn't quite as overwhelmingly crazy as the rumors had it, but maybe today was a light day... we'll see.
Anyway, during the lunch rush I worked the floor which meant i hung out by the counter to deliver plates of food to the boys. I would look at the names on the docket and (if I knew how to pronounce it) would go around shouting it until I got a response. Worked pretty easily and none of them tried to mess with me or tried to steal the food. I had to tells some fools to stop throwing junk, but not much. Cleaning up tables when people were done and thus and such. It was a good time because you get to be out among the people and the more open ones will strike up a conversation or joke with you. Things quieted down pretty rapidly and we cleaned up from the rush while we got more tricklers. Now typically we would go to class after lunch at 3, but today Arden wanted us to get better trained so he canceled class to let us work more. As things wound down, it got easier to have conversations with people, some stimulated by the free specialty drinks we happened to have because Paul was teaching his cafe wizardry to Ben. It was a good time.
Later tonight we're going over to the interns' house in Salthill to watch an Irish comdey show called Black Books... apparently it's hilarious and I'm looking forward to it.
Update on the camera: I looked around on the internet and contacted some people and it would seem that I have two options: to send the card to Olympus for repair or to get a new one. Except Olympus keeps asking for my zip code as if I were in the US... not really too sure if I can mail it from Ireland. So later this week I might just have to go find a camera shop and buy a new xD card. Lame. Sorry about the lack of photos, but it's not like I could have my camera on me while I'm working so I wouldn't really have any for today anyway.
Anyway, during the lunch rush I worked the floor which meant i hung out by the counter to deliver plates of food to the boys. I would look at the names on the docket and (if I knew how to pronounce it) would go around shouting it until I got a response. Worked pretty easily and none of them tried to mess with me or tried to steal the food. I had to tells some fools to stop throwing junk, but not much. Cleaning up tables when people were done and thus and such. It was a good time because you get to be out among the people and the more open ones will strike up a conversation or joke with you. Things quieted down pretty rapidly and we cleaned up from the rush while we got more tricklers. Now typically we would go to class after lunch at 3, but today Arden wanted us to get better trained so he canceled class to let us work more. As things wound down, it got easier to have conversations with people, some stimulated by the free specialty drinks we happened to have because Paul was teaching his cafe wizardry to Ben. It was a good time.
Later tonight we're going over to the interns' house in Salthill to watch an Irish comdey show called Black Books... apparently it's hilarious and I'm looking forward to it.
Update on the camera: I looked around on the internet and contacted some people and it would seem that I have two options: to send the card to Olympus for repair or to get a new one. Except Olympus keeps asking for my zip code as if I were in the US... not really too sure if I can mail it from Ireland. So later this week I might just have to go find a camera shop and buy a new xD card. Lame. Sorry about the lack of photos, but it's not like I could have my camera on me while I'm working so I wouldn't really have any for today anyway.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A slideshow of pictures is not worth 1000 words per pic...
...Or else I'm gonna be here forever.
No really, now i have time to actually write stuff, so this is what went down. We moved out of our dorms in Upland a little later than we expected, but had a super lunch at my house of lasagna and fruit salad and such... thanks mom! At the Indy airport, we met up with Vance Maloney (the prof in charge of the trip) and he saw us off, while apparently I missed seeing my roomie Reno and my good friend Ellen getting back from their respective JTerm trips. Not cool.
Our flight to Chicago was one of those itty bitty planes that from the door I could see right over the top... no standing up for me! It didn't help that O'Hare decided they weren't gonna be an airport for an hour and we got to cool our heels for an HOUR on the runway in Indy before taking off. I mean really- actual flight time between Indy and O'Hare has got to be like 25 min tops and it literally took us two hours from gate to gate. Lame. Not to worry, we had a long enough layover planned so that we still made our connecting flight after tromping through the endless corridors of Chicago's largest and busiest airport.
The next plane was a sweet 767 that happened to be carrying about half the people it could have carried, so we each graciously had two seats to ourselves. Oh yes, I spread out and napped like a king... if kings nap. Although there was this guy in front of me who insisted on sleeping with his reading light on (not too troublesome since they're well focused) until his sleeping head lolled into the light and his white hair reflected blindingly and sporadically into my seat. Anyway, I slept over Canada and Greenland and woke up to a hot crescent roll and strawberry yogurt as I saw the west coast of Ireland come into view. Most of it was covered in clouds, but as we descended into Dublin (and we had circled around to come at it from the east) I could see out my window the familiar landmarks of Sugarloaf, Howth Peninsula and Bray Head, hiding my wonderful home of Greystones.
Customs went simply enough in Dublin as long as we sent Kelsie (armed with her innocent charm and passport picture with pigtails) to go through first and convince the surly customs agents that we weren't up to no good. We got our luggage quick and found ole Brian King and his Transylvanian wife waiting to whisk us away in the little red coach to Galway. For a while, I was filled with glee about being back and looked aroud the country with excitement, but after 5,000 sheep and millions of green blades of grass I was remembering my body clock and nodding off.
We made it to Galway and found ourselves being led through the most foolish labyrinth of corners, fire doors and ramps to our rooms where everyone sat around and chatted endlessly while I contemplated the fact that I hadn't pooped since Upland. Awkward? Nope, I was too tired. Most of the rest of that night was a haze of jetlag, but we went out with Maren (an American intern here) to keep ourselves awake. We fed the swans in the harbor and went shopping for breakfast foods, then we had dinner with our professor Arden Autry and his wife June. Arden is way cool and kinda reminds me of Dr. Harbin only less business like. I was already joking with him by the time dinner was done.
Sleep was glorious and I might have been lost and confused in the middle of the night, but who knows with me, right?
Monday is typically the second day of our weekend, so the three of us spent the day exploring. We went out for lunch at a place called Finnegan's then walked to Tesco on the north side of town for dinner foods, came back to An Tobar Nua to drop off the food and headed down to the sea for a bit of tourism. Most of the pictures are from this part, such as the Spanish Arch, the swans up close this time, the prom(enade), the panorama of Galway to Salthill, etc. We went out to dinner for fish and chips at McDonagh's and it was good food, but a lack of seating forced us to sit awkwardly with random people at a table. Apparently that's normal: something I had missed last time.
Later that night we met up with Cat and Scott (two more American interns) and we went to a coffee place and got the inside scoop and jokes and such... a good time.
Today was our first day with the cafe open, but we didn't work. We went to staff devos which was really good, then closeted ourselves in a room with Susan while we reviewed procedures and rules for like three or four hours. Tough. Killer. Lunch, then intro to classes with Arden, classic beginning of class stuff with syllabi and all. Now we have a bit or time to ourselves to have our dinner then Bible study at 7.
Congrats if you actually read this far.
PS There will be no more pictures ever. Just kidding, but really, for the time being my computer decided it would be funny to destroy my memory card and now I get some error about write protection whenever I try to take pictures. If any of you have any idea how to fix it let me know.
Much love
No really, now i have time to actually write stuff, so this is what went down. We moved out of our dorms in Upland a little later than we expected, but had a super lunch at my house of lasagna and fruit salad and such... thanks mom! At the Indy airport, we met up with Vance Maloney (the prof in charge of the trip) and he saw us off, while apparently I missed seeing my roomie Reno and my good friend Ellen getting back from their respective JTerm trips. Not cool.
Our flight to Chicago was one of those itty bitty planes that from the door I could see right over the top... no standing up for me! It didn't help that O'Hare decided they weren't gonna be an airport for an hour and we got to cool our heels for an HOUR on the runway in Indy before taking off. I mean really- actual flight time between Indy and O'Hare has got to be like 25 min tops and it literally took us two hours from gate to gate. Lame. Not to worry, we had a long enough layover planned so that we still made our connecting flight after tromping through the endless corridors of Chicago's largest and busiest airport.
The next plane was a sweet 767 that happened to be carrying about half the people it could have carried, so we each graciously had two seats to ourselves. Oh yes, I spread out and napped like a king... if kings nap. Although there was this guy in front of me who insisted on sleeping with his reading light on (not too troublesome since they're well focused) until his sleeping head lolled into the light and his white hair reflected blindingly and sporadically into my seat. Anyway, I slept over Canada and Greenland and woke up to a hot crescent roll and strawberry yogurt as I saw the west coast of Ireland come into view. Most of it was covered in clouds, but as we descended into Dublin (and we had circled around to come at it from the east) I could see out my window the familiar landmarks of Sugarloaf, Howth Peninsula and Bray Head, hiding my wonderful home of Greystones.
Customs went simply enough in Dublin as long as we sent Kelsie (armed with her innocent charm and passport picture with pigtails) to go through first and convince the surly customs agents that we weren't up to no good. We got our luggage quick and found ole Brian King and his Transylvanian wife waiting to whisk us away in the little red coach to Galway. For a while, I was filled with glee about being back and looked aroud the country with excitement, but after 5,000 sheep and millions of green blades of grass I was remembering my body clock and nodding off.
We made it to Galway and found ourselves being led through the most foolish labyrinth of corners, fire doors and ramps to our rooms where everyone sat around and chatted endlessly while I contemplated the fact that I hadn't pooped since Upland. Awkward? Nope, I was too tired. Most of the rest of that night was a haze of jetlag, but we went out with Maren (an American intern here) to keep ourselves awake. We fed the swans in the harbor and went shopping for breakfast foods, then we had dinner with our professor Arden Autry and his wife June. Arden is way cool and kinda reminds me of Dr. Harbin only less business like. I was already joking with him by the time dinner was done.
Sleep was glorious and I might have been lost and confused in the middle of the night, but who knows with me, right?
Monday is typically the second day of our weekend, so the three of us spent the day exploring. We went out for lunch at a place called Finnegan's then walked to Tesco on the north side of town for dinner foods, came back to An Tobar Nua to drop off the food and headed down to the sea for a bit of tourism. Most of the pictures are from this part, such as the Spanish Arch, the swans up close this time, the prom(enade), the panorama of Galway to Salthill, etc. We went out to dinner for fish and chips at McDonagh's and it was good food, but a lack of seating forced us to sit awkwardly with random people at a table. Apparently that's normal: something I had missed last time.
Later that night we met up with Cat and Scott (two more American interns) and we went to a coffee place and got the inside scoop and jokes and such... a good time.
Today was our first day with the cafe open, but we didn't work. We went to staff devos which was really good, then closeted ourselves in a room with Susan while we reviewed procedures and rules for like three or four hours. Tough. Killer. Lunch, then intro to classes with Arden, classic beginning of class stuff with syllabi and all. Now we have a bit or time to ourselves to have our dinner then Bible study at 7.
Congrats if you actually read this far.
PS There will be no more pictures ever. Just kidding, but really, for the time being my computer decided it would be funny to destroy my memory card and now I get some error about write protection whenever I try to take pictures. If any of you have any idea how to fix it let me know.
Much love
Monday, January 28, 2008
Failte go Gailhimm
Welcome to Galway! I don't seem to have lots of spare time here, we're about to leave again... but for those of you who really want to see pictures, here's a slideshow of the past few days with captions... enjoy!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Goldfish
That's what I forgot to mention. I was wary about posting this in the recent aftermath for fear of a plague breaking out and it being traced to the mysterious appearance of goldfish in the DC. I suppose the danger's past now and I can let you all in on the joke now that it all officially went well.
Taylor Daniel Barkley has this fun trick he does when he's bored at dinner. He gets some wax paper and puts it over the top of a glass full with water, then flips it upside-down on the table and pulls the paper from underneath it. Then most people are confounded as to how you get the glass up, but it's really quite simple. Anyway we did this hydro-flipping often until it got boring and I said, "How funny would it be if there was a goldfish in each of these glasses.
After much planning and no action, I finally went out and bought fifteen goldfish and with the help of two other guys, hydro-flipped them at various locations about the Dining Commons. It went off beautifully! I saw people taking pictures of them with their cell phones, groups of guys pranking each other with them and one birthday celebration tablecloth foiled by the awkward fish-in-a-glass. I also heard from one of the most reliable sources I know that a man from BroHo swallowed one whole on purpose. Girls with compassionate hearts (and a want for a pet) smuggled the fish out of the DC and are now in debt to me 28 cents per fish. Just kidding, free gift, babes. I overheard people talking about it in class the next day and one girl telling my friends how excited she was about her new fish "Gus".
It was quite possibly one of the most amusing jokes I've pulled and definitely one of the most talked about. Of course nothing tops TPing Enya's yard but whatevs. Any ideas for other fine jokes?
Taylor Daniel Barkley has this fun trick he does when he's bored at dinner. He gets some wax paper and puts it over the top of a glass full with water, then flips it upside-down on the table and pulls the paper from underneath it. Then most people are confounded as to how you get the glass up, but it's really quite simple. Anyway we did this hydro-flipping often until it got boring and I said, "How funny would it be if there was a goldfish in each of these glasses.
After much planning and no action, I finally went out and bought fifteen goldfish and with the help of two other guys, hydro-flipped them at various locations about the Dining Commons. It went off beautifully! I saw people taking pictures of them with their cell phones, groups of guys pranking each other with them and one birthday celebration tablecloth foiled by the awkward fish-in-a-glass. I also heard from one of the most reliable sources I know that a man from BroHo swallowed one whole on purpose. Girls with compassionate hearts (and a want for a pet) smuggled the fish out of the DC and are now in debt to me 28 cents per fish. Just kidding, free gift, babes. I overheard people talking about it in class the next day and one girl telling my friends how excited she was about her new fish "Gus".
It was quite possibly one of the most amusing jokes I've pulled and definitely one of the most talked about. Of course nothing tops TPing Enya's yard but whatevs. Any ideas for other fine jokes?
End of JTerm
Today I had lunch in Michigan at an Arby's. Four hours on the road and one giant RB sandwich... that's the way it should be. No, I accidentally skipped class because our room is possessed by a demon who turned our alarms off then back on again so I woke up to my phone vibrating on the other side of the room. Lame. Anyway, Josiah needed to renew his driver's license in Michigan so I went with him instead of showing up to class an hour late.
I leave for Ireland in three days: 65 hours and 35 minutes actually. We had our last meeting with Vance today and it's really coming down to it and I think it's starting to sink in that I'm going back. We're getting picked up in Dublin on Sunday morning by none other than the great Brian King who will take us to Galway undoubtedly with fun useless information about the countryside. Vance gave us Euros so we can take trips to the Aran Islands or Dublin on random weekends.. what a joke! as long as he thinks it's educational, it's paid for! Is that ridiculous or what?! Hey, I'm not complaining. So yeah we'll see how things go when we get there. Hopefully you'll hear from me and there might be pictures of my new home. Maybe.
It's sad to have to leave and move out again. I don't think I'll get to see Taylor and Reno before I head out and I have to leave JoHat just when we've spent a month as roommates with one class a day. Sadness. Hopefully they'll Skype with me, but it will be good to be away too. Living above the bookstore will be nothing like the wing with all its goodness and all its badness. No sweet times watching movies, breaking duck pinatas, playing four square or video games, but also no ridiculously loud guitar practice across the hall and no more dorm drama in general.
I have a speech tomorrow and I'm procrastinating. Goodbye.
I leave for Ireland in three days: 65 hours and 35 minutes actually. We had our last meeting with Vance today and it's really coming down to it and I think it's starting to sink in that I'm going back. We're getting picked up in Dublin on Sunday morning by none other than the great Brian King who will take us to Galway undoubtedly with fun useless information about the countryside. Vance gave us Euros so we can take trips to the Aran Islands or Dublin on random weekends.. what a joke! as long as he thinks it's educational, it's paid for! Is that ridiculous or what?! Hey, I'm not complaining. So yeah we'll see how things go when we get there. Hopefully you'll hear from me and there might be pictures of my new home. Maybe.
It's sad to have to leave and move out again. I don't think I'll get to see Taylor and Reno before I head out and I have to leave JoHat just when we've spent a month as roommates with one class a day. Sadness. Hopefully they'll Skype with me, but it will be good to be away too. Living above the bookstore will be nothing like the wing with all its goodness and all its badness. No sweet times watching movies, breaking duck pinatas, playing four square or video games, but also no ridiculously loud guitar practice across the hall and no more dorm drama in general.
I have a speech tomorrow and I'm procrastinating. Goodbye.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Somnambulistic Kelptomaniasis
I just made that term up, but I think it describes my alarming new condition well. Those of you who know me well know that I am a restless sleeper who talks, shouts, kicks, walks, dances, and now steals things in my sleep. Yes that's right, I'm a sleep-thief. Last night I woke (or rather came to full consciousness) when I found myself trying to climb back into bed... not an unusual occurance for me, but this time I realized that I was clutching a long round bundle that I did not recognize. Still half asleep, I tried to stuff it under my bed, hoping it was part of Reno's stash of things under there. This morning I remembered it and got it out to find that it is a ThermaRest camping mat, all rolled up in a drawstring bag. I have no idea where it came from and I'm pretty sure it's not Reno's. So if you happen to live here on 2nd East and are missing your camping mat, I have it and I'm sorry... really, I don't know what I was thinking!
In an unrelated note, if you happen to be sleeping in the same room as me in the future, I suggest you hide your valuables and search me in the morning.
In an unrelated note, if you happen to be sleeping in the same room as me in the future, I suggest you hide your valuables and search me in the morning.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Gratitude
It's been hitting me lately how incredibly blessed I am and I get tempted to think that these things are my doing and that I somehow have something to boast about. So here's to putting the thanks where it's due and boasting in nothing but Christ... here's some amazing things that have been done for me:
The call back in high school to move my life more in the Christian sphere and commit to working at a church camp and to go to a Christian college- one of the biggest and best decisions of my life that's precipitated a lot of great stuff.
The work at LH that has changed my life and my view of ministry
The crazy amazing experiences at Taylor- Ireland as a freshman, the best roommates I could ever ask for, caring friends, sweet jokes, solid classes, fun profs, opening to new perspectives
More recent and specific things: the directorship for this summer... totally not something I deserved in any way but something I will humbly answer the call to (also need to work on not feeling prideful about that one... the title gives me more excitement than it should).
The way Ireland part Dos is working out. I talked with my wonderful friend Devon who is in France right now and comparing our experiences with setting up study-abroad trash, I have no right to complain about Vance's amusing little foibles, or anything else. We got to to tailor the semester to our needs, schedule-wise and class-wise, all the while TU is doting on us through Vance who wants us to experience Ireland and plans on sending a driver to take us places for free... travel in Europe is so hectic and it's just getting handed to us for a bit. Good things like that.
The way I really enjoy my classes and therefore do well. Back in HS when I hated school, I kinda sucked, but when I get into stuff like this World since '45 class I'm in now, I look into outside stuff just for fun and end up getting 100% on tests... yeah that's right. Again, watch the pride there Ben.
It's all not me at all. If you look at me, raw me without any help, I'm pretty lame and I know because I've been there before when I rejected the greatness of God and the blessings he's thrown out.
I'm just been hit with a fit on thankfulness and I wanted to share that and kind of send a nod to God while reminding any jokers who might read this (like Josiah who reads it as I type... everyone's jealous of your cutting-edgeness, you know it)
So that's that, I could update you on what's been happening, but really it's just classic JTerm stuff: sleeping, classes and what not. Went on a pick-a-date quite randomly when I wanted to hang out with some Foundation friends, had some good times with that and such afterwards.
12 more days til Ireland. The countdown is ticking away!
The call back in high school to move my life more in the Christian sphere and commit to working at a church camp and to go to a Christian college- one of the biggest and best decisions of my life that's precipitated a lot of great stuff.
The work at LH that has changed my life and my view of ministry
The crazy amazing experiences at Taylor- Ireland as a freshman, the best roommates I could ever ask for, caring friends, sweet jokes, solid classes, fun profs, opening to new perspectives
More recent and specific things: the directorship for this summer... totally not something I deserved in any way but something I will humbly answer the call to (also need to work on not feeling prideful about that one... the title gives me more excitement than it should).
The way Ireland part Dos is working out. I talked with my wonderful friend Devon who is in France right now and comparing our experiences with setting up study-abroad trash, I have no right to complain about Vance's amusing little foibles, or anything else. We got to to tailor the semester to our needs, schedule-wise and class-wise, all the while TU is doting on us through Vance who wants us to experience Ireland and plans on sending a driver to take us places for free... travel in Europe is so hectic and it's just getting handed to us for a bit. Good things like that.
The way I really enjoy my classes and therefore do well. Back in HS when I hated school, I kinda sucked, but when I get into stuff like this World since '45 class I'm in now, I look into outside stuff just for fun and end up getting 100% on tests... yeah that's right. Again, watch the pride there Ben.
It's all not me at all. If you look at me, raw me without any help, I'm pretty lame and I know because I've been there before when I rejected the greatness of God and the blessings he's thrown out.
I'm just been hit with a fit on thankfulness and I wanted to share that and kind of send a nod to God while reminding any jokers who might read this (like Josiah who reads it as I type... everyone's jealous of your cutting-edgeness, you know it)
So that's that, I could update you on what's been happening, but really it's just classic JTerm stuff: sleeping, classes and what not. Went on a pick-a-date quite randomly when I wanted to hang out with some Foundation friends, had some good times with that and such afterwards.
12 more days til Ireland. The countdown is ticking away!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The changes changed!
Who woulda thunk it huh? I have a few stories to tell this time. First, I'll wrap up the stuff I left hanging last post...
I went to the camp reunion at LW up in northern Indiana with some interesting driving conditions, found some good times with old friends, playing in the snow and playing Rock Band (I am not good at the drums). Then Mark said he wanted to talk to a few people and he pulled aside Dom and I and we went down into a large cold room and he just laid it out as matter-of-factly as possible that Dom and Hannah were gonna be directors at LW and I was a director at LH! Then we started wondering about my potential co-director and we realized that Brittany was up for the job and so after all the confusion over the semester about who would be my co-director was wrapped up with the original plan and it's a very good feeling to know what's going down. I've got the curriculum saved on my computer and I'm starting to look through it so I can eventually come up with a plan for Bible studies and all that but for now it's JTerm.
Things are going well on the wing: it was sad to see Taylor and Reno go, but having more time is really way fun because I can hang out and do stuff and I think I must be more personable when I'm not stressed because I feel like friendships are improving already. Josiah's the roomie now and it's fun to watch him meet all the freshies and reconnect with old friends, all the while he and I are hiding coasters or Magnum Bar sticks amongst one another's stuff. It might get out of hand, but it's JTerm and things should get out of hand. Like DC pranks? Maybe...
Vance finally tells us things about Ireland. Sort of. Apparently we can leave whenever we're done with this class and my parents my be taking us to the airport since Vance still hasn't bought the tickets (I mean seriously?) We get to meet with Michelle, CJ, and Sarah who were there last semester and they will tell us all about, so that's exciting.
There's the refresher of events and resolution to changes as it goes. Here's something ridiculous and altogether strange and random.
The night before I went to the camp reunion and moved into school I had one of the most vivid dreams of my life. It started off like any normal dream withh all the trippy stuff going on, but somehow the plot wound down to me realizing that someone thought it would be a funny prank to book a hotel room in my name to get me in trouble. I went to the hotel to straighten things out only to find that it was in fact a nation with Draconian religious laws who were very strict. This is where the dream got weird and very real. When I told the guy that I hadn't booked the room he goes, "So you lied to us?"
And I reply, "Well no, because it was someone else told you I needed a room, but I didn't lie."
He says, "But it was untrue that you were staying here and that is an affront to God who is Truth and therefore you are guilty of blasphemy and are condemned to death."
I took the news well and naturally tried to defend myself but seemingly resigned myself to giving in to their law... I guess I wasn't feeling like a trouble maker. I thought things were vivid before like I was watching a hi-def movie, but now I was actually acting in it and I could feel things. The noose around my neck was rough and cold and the hangman told me I could have a few moments to make my peace with God. I asked how long I had and he smiled and told me he'd surprise me which was the scariest thing I'd ever heard. At this point I think I was actually awake but fully convinced I was on the gallows minutes from my departure from this world. I talked with God about my life, my failures, and my thankfulness for him. Finally I said, "Take me, I am yours" and suddenly (in real life) my heart rate shot up with tons of adrenaline and something made a loud noise and I was sure, I mean 100% certain I was dead. Then there I was in my bed sweating with my heart beating like I had just run five miles.
I had had vivid dreams under the influence of the painkillers I had for my surgeries and they seemed incredibly real but paled in comparison to this. I thought about it for a while and recognized that God speaks to us in our dreams and I wondered if He was preparing me for my actual death. I mean, when I made my peace with God in my dream is was sincere and for real and I really felt comfortable with the idea of dying.
As I drove up north that next day and hit patches of black ice at 70mph while a semi jack-knifed in front of me, it seemed like I was right. But obviously I didn't die that day (and as you read earlier, got a sweet job for the future) but I realized that contemplating death so seriously was actually pretty good for me. Granted it was a dream that started off like any normal nonsensical dream, but it definitely turned into something different that was an education that I never could have gotten reading about, or even witnessing first hand.
Death is usually shunned in society as something morbid and strange to talk about but it's something we're all gonna go through, talk about the elephant in the room, y'know? Most stories like this end up with someone finding a new perspective on life and living better and all that, but when I had my time to talk with God, I felt like things were good and all in order and that He and I were just bringing all that to the present. When I say "I made my peace with God" I really mean that I just took time to acknowledge that it had been made through Christ and that I was merely taking a few minutes to take comfort in that. It was great.
I went to the camp reunion at LW up in northern Indiana with some interesting driving conditions, found some good times with old friends, playing in the snow and playing Rock Band (I am not good at the drums). Then Mark said he wanted to talk to a few people and he pulled aside Dom and I and we went down into a large cold room and he just laid it out as matter-of-factly as possible that Dom and Hannah were gonna be directors at LW and I was a director at LH! Then we started wondering about my potential co-director and we realized that Brittany was up for the job and so after all the confusion over the semester about who would be my co-director was wrapped up with the original plan and it's a very good feeling to know what's going down. I've got the curriculum saved on my computer and I'm starting to look through it so I can eventually come up with a plan for Bible studies and all that but for now it's JTerm.
Things are going well on the wing: it was sad to see Taylor and Reno go, but having more time is really way fun because I can hang out and do stuff and I think I must be more personable when I'm not stressed because I feel like friendships are improving already. Josiah's the roomie now and it's fun to watch him meet all the freshies and reconnect with old friends, all the while he and I are hiding coasters or Magnum Bar sticks amongst one another's stuff. It might get out of hand, but it's JTerm and things should get out of hand. Like DC pranks? Maybe...
Vance finally tells us things about Ireland. Sort of. Apparently we can leave whenever we're done with this class and my parents my be taking us to the airport since Vance still hasn't bought the tickets (I mean seriously?) We get to meet with Michelle, CJ, and Sarah who were there last semester and they will tell us all about, so that's exciting.
There's the refresher of events and resolution to changes as it goes. Here's something ridiculous and altogether strange and random.
The night before I went to the camp reunion and moved into school I had one of the most vivid dreams of my life. It started off like any normal dream withh all the trippy stuff going on, but somehow the plot wound down to me realizing that someone thought it would be a funny prank to book a hotel room in my name to get me in trouble. I went to the hotel to straighten things out only to find that it was in fact a nation with Draconian religious laws who were very strict. This is where the dream got weird and very real. When I told the guy that I hadn't booked the room he goes, "So you lied to us?"
And I reply, "Well no, because it was someone else told you I needed a room, but I didn't lie."
He says, "But it was untrue that you were staying here and that is an affront to God who is Truth and therefore you are guilty of blasphemy and are condemned to death."
I took the news well and naturally tried to defend myself but seemingly resigned myself to giving in to their law... I guess I wasn't feeling like a trouble maker. I thought things were vivid before like I was watching a hi-def movie, but now I was actually acting in it and I could feel things. The noose around my neck was rough and cold and the hangman told me I could have a few moments to make my peace with God. I asked how long I had and he smiled and told me he'd surprise me which was the scariest thing I'd ever heard. At this point I think I was actually awake but fully convinced I was on the gallows minutes from my departure from this world. I talked with God about my life, my failures, and my thankfulness for him. Finally I said, "Take me, I am yours" and suddenly (in real life) my heart rate shot up with tons of adrenaline and something made a loud noise and I was sure, I mean 100% certain I was dead. Then there I was in my bed sweating with my heart beating like I had just run five miles.
I had had vivid dreams under the influence of the painkillers I had for my surgeries and they seemed incredibly real but paled in comparison to this. I thought about it for a while and recognized that God speaks to us in our dreams and I wondered if He was preparing me for my actual death. I mean, when I made my peace with God in my dream is was sincere and for real and I really felt comfortable with the idea of dying.
As I drove up north that next day and hit patches of black ice at 70mph while a semi jack-knifed in front of me, it seemed like I was right. But obviously I didn't die that day (and as you read earlier, got a sweet job for the future) but I realized that contemplating death so seriously was actually pretty good for me. Granted it was a dream that started off like any normal nonsensical dream, but it definitely turned into something different that was an education that I never could have gotten reading about, or even witnessing first hand.
Death is usually shunned in society as something morbid and strange to talk about but it's something we're all gonna go through, talk about the elephant in the room, y'know? Most stories like this end up with someone finding a new perspective on life and living better and all that, but when I had my time to talk with God, I felt like things were good and all in order and that He and I were just bringing all that to the present. When I say "I made my peace with God" I really mean that I just took time to acknowledge that it had been made through Christ and that I was merely taking a few minutes to take comfort in that. It was great.
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