This has been a really busy last couple of days. Which is a good thing. And a large pizza can be stretched into food for five meals.
Stayed in my dorm and did homework all weekend, which though productive was a little frustrating. Missed church Sunday morning; while frustrating, I didn't quite feel up to walking down there just yet. Researched my informative speech on the history of the Winter Olympics all day instead; then went to church that night with Louise and Harry.
Pentecostal services are...interesting. It was at this little mountain church way back off several dirt roads, very pretty building, though. Nice green carpet, light finish on the wood of the pews and prayer altars, five identical ceiling fans down the middle of the room. About twenty to thirty people in the congregation; and I was the youngest attendee by about thirty years. Louise had me bring my guitar along, so I was volunteered into helping with the music(which is a bit hard when you don't know the hymns). It was a little off-key, but joyful. Overall the service seemed very simple and down-to-earth; friendly and sincere, though off theologically at times. Shouting was heard often, and one guy marched around the room during the music. The sermon, something about the need of prayer, from what I could figure out, involved a lot more shouting and arm-pumping, with the congregation interjecting their thoughts after almost every sentence, and such a barrage of rather-unrelated Old Testament passages were referenced I couldn't tell if there was a main text it started from or not.
There was also a lot of stories of times-gone-by and news-of-the-grandkids wrapped into a bunch of testimonies, which was interesting to watch. Though I did feel a little unsure of what the proper customs were in reacting to everything...
It was good to spend some time with Louise and Harry.
When I got back it was straight to BCM worship music practice, James Hoover, Mark, Daniel P. and Ricardo helped a lot with getting re-acquainted with playing with other people. Good way to spend two hours, playing music with a bunch of other guys.
Then off to the library to print out a rough draft of my speech outline, then back to the dorm for some sleep. (after about two hours of lying there staring at the ceiling)
Monday started off with Latin, which was good, as usual. Rushed over to the UC to get some food, scarfed that down and hurried back to speech. While waiting, worked on some flashcards I'd been needing to make and read G.K. Chesterton.
Speech was all right. Homework for my Media Management and Planning class the next morning occupied my afternoon, there was a great game of Jeopardy on; going into the final all three players were separated by about $1,600.
Almost no one was eating in The Underground, which was really strange, since typically at 5 p.m. on Monday nights it's packed. Shot pool with Elizabeth before SWAT practice started; I lost both games, 8-ball scratches each time. Practice went pretty well; getting ready for shows to start this weekend. Afterwards we had a meeting in the living room to discuss the direction we're headed, how we can improve things and serve more effectively.
The speaker at the meeting was talking about genetics, euthanasia, cloning, etc. and how we ought to react as Christians, it was horrifying and sickening; the knowledge of the perversity of the world and just...the darkness of it all. And science isn't really my strong point at all in the first place, and then when you start talking about eugenics and abortion and those subjects - I slipped out halfway through, just needed to be alone for a while to pray hard.
Basketball practice went pretty well, it went a little late, got back at midnight, so I missed Jimmy Fallon's first night as Tonight Show host. Fell asleep sometime past one.
Nobody exactly understood the assignment we were supposed to work on over the week in MMP, so we kinda got chewed out for that. That wasn't that great.
Met up with Zach for our weekly Bible study, then went to Westvillle with Mom, Caleb and Amy to go see Nano. Sort of one of those "helping the widows" type thing.
Jessica had an essay she wanted me to edit, so I tried to help with that, did a bit more homework, took a shower, watched a little bit of the Olympics and went to sleep.
I can't remember what was happening, but there was some really interesting dream taking place when I woke up. Those are annoying when that happens. Woke up with DC Talk and Brad Paisley tunes running through my head, which is always a good way to start the day. (That's happened a lot lately. I like it.) Latin went well, more Chesterton reading in the break between classes, found out I missed an assignment while out with the flu, but the rough draft scored pretty well. After speech I had to practice my speech, work on fixing errors and weak spots, at this place in the old Journalism building. Conner was working that shift, it's helpful to have a former classmate edit your work. Reworking that outline and trimming unnecessary details is what I've been focused on most of this afternoon, smacked myself upside the head with the microwave door while cooking dinner. Need to create a PowerPoint tomorrow and meet with my group for this week's advertising project.
SWAT shows on Sunday night at the church where Dad first started youth pastoring and then Monday night at the BCM, the basketball tournament is two weeks away, my speech is Monday afternoon, Latin test on Wednesday morning, and those two 8-week video production classes start in early March. So things have been pretty crazy and busy, but that's a good thing, mostly. And they'll continue to be like that for about as far as can be seen. Of course, that's not very long, this being college and all. But, anyway, right now it's that pre-spring break sense of panic and overstimulation from the project-and test-waves gathering steam.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
The Flu is Stupid
I'm really getting sick and tired of being sick and tired.
This is basically a recap of what I've done this week: "Stayed in the dorm at all non-class times and rather ineffectually did homework."
I've even taken several naps. Went to Grandpa and Robbie's Friday night, spent the night there, took a nap once I got back and then headed right back over there, to get dragged along to the doctor by Robbie(who kind of loved being able to take of a sick young person again), go back home and laid around the house for about three days, I was probably kind of a grouch. Rags didn't really mind, though. It was strange missing class Monday and Tuesday, and trying to not frantically panic over that.
It's been a long week.
This is basically a recap of what I've done this week: "Stayed in the dorm at all non-class times and rather ineffectually did homework."
I've even taken several naps. Went to Grandpa and Robbie's Friday night, spent the night there, took a nap once I got back and then headed right back over there, to get dragged along to the doctor by Robbie(who kind of loved being able to take of a sick young person again), go back home and laid around the house for about three days, I was probably kind of a grouch. Rags didn't really mind, though. It was strange missing class Monday and Tuesday, and trying to not frantically panic over that.
It's been a long week.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Sleep-Deprived Useless Information
THE OLYMPICS ARE HERE. So the TV is on here in my dorm room. Unfortunately, the event currently being televised is something called "team figure skating", which involves a lot of male skaters. Which is why I'm typing up this post at the moment instead of watching.
My braces came off today. So my mouth feels unnaturally large. And retainers apparently take a while to get used to. Lispsth are annoying. (But it'll disappear in a couple days, probably.)
Also, I got a haircut this afternoon.
Tests in Latin and speech tomorrow, gonna need to do a bit of last-second preparing for those.
Dad had a dentist appointment this morning, in the waiting room I overheard this conversation:
Receptionist #1, to Nurse: "Oh, Roger called and said he will be here today."
Nurse, surprised: "Really? Wasn't expecting that, but okay..."
Receptionist #1: "I know, I didn't think he'd be here, either - driving again so soon, and in this weather!"
Receptionist #2: "What happened?"
Receptionist #1: "Didn't you hear? You know he drives a Pepsi truck, the other day he ran head-on into a car. It was on the news. He thought he killed the other guy."
Receptionist #2: "Oh...wow. Did he?"
Receptionist #1: "Nope, just shook up pretty bad."
Receptionist #2: "Huh. So....who is Roger, again?"
Receptionist #1: "You remember, he's the one who was going to church to find a woman."
Receptionist #2: "Oh! Yeah, I remember him."
Tonight will be Jay Leno's last night as host of The Tonight Show. ...Huh? It's possible for someone else to be the host?
Jeopardy is having a "Battle of the Decades" tournament going on right now, past champs from the 80's, 90's and 2000s.
The snow could disappear now, that'd be fine. About three more inches today, I think that's the fifth time since New Year's, the sixth or seventh snow of the winter.
This BuzzFeed post by A British guy trying to analyze the Super Bowl is kinda funny.
There is almost nothing of value in this post....that's what happens when you're a college student on a Thursday night and it's too early to go to sleep.
And here's a Weird Al video for no reason.
My braces came off today. So my mouth feels unnaturally large. And retainers apparently take a while to get used to. Lispsth are annoying. (But it'll disappear in a couple days, probably.)
Also, I got a haircut this afternoon.
Tests in Latin and speech tomorrow, gonna need to do a bit of last-second preparing for those.
Dad had a dentist appointment this morning, in the waiting room I overheard this conversation:
Receptionist #1, to Nurse: "Oh, Roger called and said he will be here today."
Nurse, surprised: "Really? Wasn't expecting that, but okay..."
Receptionist #1: "I know, I didn't think he'd be here, either - driving again so soon, and in this weather!"
Receptionist #2: "What happened?"
Receptionist #1: "Didn't you hear? You know he drives a Pepsi truck, the other day he ran head-on into a car. It was on the news. He thought he killed the other guy."
Receptionist #2: "Oh...wow. Did he?"
Receptionist #1: "Nope, just shook up pretty bad."
Receptionist #2: "Huh. So....who is Roger, again?"
Receptionist #1: "You remember, he's the one who was going to church to find a woman."
Receptionist #2: "Oh! Yeah, I remember him."
Tonight will be Jay Leno's last night as host of The Tonight Show. ...Huh? It's possible for someone else to be the host?
Jeopardy is having a "Battle of the Decades" tournament going on right now, past champs from the 80's, 90's and 2000s.
The snow could disappear now, that'd be fine. About three more inches today, I think that's the fifth time since New Year's, the sixth or seventh snow of the winter.
This BuzzFeed post by A British guy trying to analyze the Super Bowl is kinda funny.
There is almost nothing of value in this post....that's what happens when you're a college student on a Thursday night and it's too early to go to sleep.
And here's a Weird Al video for no reason.
Seasonal Cliche Material
Can't believe I'm writing this...
February is here, and that horrible holiday most people try to forget called "Valentine's Day" will be just a few days away. Seriously, how did that ever get to be a holiday in the first place? According to the legend(so says Wikipedia, which although not considered "credible" for school purposes has been shown to have less mistakes than the Encyclopedia Britannia), St. Valentine was imprisoned for officiating marriages of soldiers and aiding persecuted Christians, and was interrogated personally by the Emperor Claudius; who stated that if Valentine relapsed back into Roman pagan beliefs he would be saved. Valentine refused, and so was sentenced to execution. Sometime during his imprisonment, he supposedly restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter Julia, after which she, her father and all his household converted to Christianity. The night before he was to executed, Valentine directed a note to be sent to Julia, ending it "your Valentine".
We then fast-forward most of the way through the Dark Ages, coming to the somewhat-recognizable medieval English of Geoffrey Chaucer. Apparently a satirist, in creating an elaborate history of a tradition which never existed in the first place for a poem(kinda like S. Morgenstern...), he ascribed the practice of birds choosing their mates on the day of St. Valentine, which is how everyone first associated the day with romantic love. This spread throughout the courts of France and England, gradually becoming a significant enough part of the year that Shakespeare has Ophelia mention it during Hamlet. They really caught on during the early 1800s in England, influenced by the invention of the postage stamp, and we stole the idea from them about fifty years later.
Many single people try to cover up their annoyance by calling it "Singles Awareness Day", both as a mockery of the extremely-hard-driven fact that they're single and also since there's an "Awareness Day" for seemingly every other condition under the sun. (Much like the plethora of college scholarships available to left-handed blue-eyed biotechnology-major students who grew up the youngest of eight or more children, or other such specialized nonsense.)
Whatever you want to call it, the main focus is about mushy, disgustingly PDA affection called "love" or variants thereof, which is a frequent topic of music, from Keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us" to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name ", from Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" to Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen"; as well as many wonderful spins on the subject from Brad Paisley and basically anything Taylor Swift has or will have written.
This leads to the great heartbreak songs of country music, but also could lead to a wedding. There's plenty of songs about that aspect, from Phil Vassar's "Love is a Beautiful Thing" to Billy Ray Cyrus' "Could've Been Me". (The best-ever wedding-related back-to-back songs played on Pandora would be once when "Stealin' Cinderella" was followed by "I Loved Her First", the order of which seemed extremely fitting.)
Weddings, in general, are kind of depressing. Mainly because you have to get dressed up in a suit and stay that way for several hours, as well as being complicated, expensive, they're held in strange churches are easy to get lost in, there's a TON of people around, and generally the stress level is near the steeple. (Or maybe that's my view because I was the ring-bearer THREE TIMES in ONE SUMMER when I was seven....)
Or maybe it's that 94% of the audience stands there awkwardly as two people are blissfully happy and everyone else isn't sure what to do or think. Or that you suddenly see people you used to know and haven't talked to in ages. Or that all these older adults and relatives and everyone smile and say, "It's your turn next!" or "So...isn't it about time this happened to you?" or "He/She sure is a lucky guy/gal." To all of which you grin weakly and say something original like, "Yup...guess so."
We don't really have any way to answer those types of statements....those saying them usually have only gentle teasing in mind, but the words kind of come out as accusing. Because as single people at a wedding, everything screams this fact out loud as clamorously as possible.
Or it could be just because we're in our early twenties and unattached that this message is put on the loudspeakers of our attention. Everywhere we look, we're seeing folks we grew up with break up painfully, move in together, get engaged, get married and have kids. You sort of wonder, "Is this a problem? Is something wrong about me that I'm not doing these things yet?" So we act like it doesn't bother us at all, like we're fine with the way things are and throw up a little at every couple selfie with the following caption:
"(Name redacted) is the best (spouse/significant other/fiance(e)/whatever) in the world and I love her/him more than anyone else can ever love anything because my capacity to love her/him is greater than anyone else's! I'm SO glad that our relationship is PERFECT!!! (Sixteen heart symbols)" (I totally swiped that entire line from the Newlywed in this skit from BYU's comedy group Studio C, Publicly Emotional steals the show and MAKES this video.)
Also, we're like the third wheel on dates, and that's really just.....really awkward. (Strange pause.) Just...yeah. REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. Because tricycles are lousy and don't work well.
Oh, sure, we could ask somebody for a date....I guess. But that would involve...(shriek of horror) flirting. Now, talk about awkward....that can't be self-taught, and no one in their right minds would teach a class on it. And even if they did, nobody would show up. So, we just think, "Somebody oughta do that..." and of course nobody ever does. (YouTube the BYU Studio C video "Flirting Academy")
Besides....if we're talking about something serious, by whichever name you want it to go by - Time-out. You could just call it "dating" if you wanted(Easy to understand that way). Or you could say you were "going steady"(Wonderfully simple and yet so descriptive. As Cynthia Coppersmith explained to Father Tim in At Home in Mitford, "...Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. You go with someone, steadily, and only with them.") Some people prefer the term "courting"(Ugh. I've always really disliked this term. It sounds so old-fashioned and wooden.)
Whatever the terminology is, it's obvious you're with someone. But it just seems like to me, if you're going to do that, shouldn't you have the intention of possibly marrying that person? That narrows the list of possibilities quite a bit, obviously, but just think about it a minute. Number one, if a Christian, you ought not to marry someone who isn't(2 Corinthians 6:14-17). Number two, you should be faithful.
And in his earlier letter to the Corinthians, Paul devoted a whole chapter to the subject, which is a little hard to figure out. Basically his attitude seems to be, "If you aren't married, that's great. Not everyone is supposed to be. I'm not, and it's what God planned for me in order to better serve Him and bring Him glory. Other people can, and they should, because that also brings Him glory. It really just depends."
What he actually wrote was this: "Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will be faced with many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this." (1 Corinthians 7:26-28) Well, that's understandable. And it makes sense that by melding two lives together, that would naturally bring about twice as much trouble and trials into life.
And Paul continues a few sentences later, "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs - how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world - how he can please his wife - and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs. Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world - how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." (1 Corinthians 7:32-35) This is really complicated....everything sounds right. And it is. Just hard sometimes to know which stage of life he's talking about in each part.
So....yeah, it's confusing sometimes. And frustrating, waiting for what seems like forever. So we just act like we couldn't care less, exaggerating our disgust at "those couples" and basically living as though we'd forgotten things like relationships exist. Because it's safer that way. And so we just dial our sarcasm blasters up a couple notches to "extremely scathing" level and snap them out whenever we get a chance. (Talking about young twentysomethings in general here, both guys and girls do it.) We'd never admit that it might be troubling, at least not directly, but occasionally indirectly mention the subject.
After Sunny died, a lot of people offered sympathy and were praying for me. GBC is truly a place where we have a church family, it's such an incredible blessing. It's good to have people watching you, checking on you, praying for you, sort of an extended family with lots of extra grandparent-type people and a variety of friendly older-cousins-whose-relation-to-you-can-never-quite-be-traced. Anyway, the sun is shining, it's a pleasant-though-slightly-hot July morning, and everyone is filing out of the building onto the porch. Mrs. Pickard, one of those grandma/aunt types, and a fellow dog-lover, she knew Sunny well, she gives me a hug as soon as she sees me. "I'm so sorry, Wes. It won't be okay, but you can get through this. Pets are such a huge part of our lives....it's so hard." "Yeah....thanks," I mumble, trying to smile as much as I can(which wasn't much). She sighs. "We really need to find you a wife." Maybe it's cause I was so ripped apart emotionally or something, or maybe because God likes to answer the prayers of older people, but I kind of nod. "That might be a good idea, maybe." Mr. Gundersen is standing there listening, he asks if there's anybody maybe on the radar. "Ah....no, not really. Geography's kind of working against me there. Maybe if it wasn't, possibly, but....nah, not right now." Mrs. Guenther jumps into the conversation here. "Well, ya know, I met Allan in Brazil, so....ya never know what might happen." The other three of us look at her. "Brazil?" "Yeah, it was on a mission trip."
Steve Rogers pretty much summed up my attitude on this topic on the way to the experiment with Agent Carter in Captain America. Amused by his awkwardness, she says, "You really have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?" "Not really. I think this is the longest conversation I've had with one," He turns serious now. "Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on." "You must have danced." He looks out the window at the Brooklyn scenery before replying. "Well...askin' a woman to dance just always seemed so terrifying. And then the past few years....it just didn't seem to matter all that much. Figured I'd wait." "For what?" "...The right partner."
One of these days, I'll come across the right partner. Maybe I already have, and am just too stupid to see it. Or maybe it just isn't time yet. Perhaps she's around some curve some miles off along the highway through the mountains of the future. We'll find out, in time. I mean, the Lord knows, even though I don't.
(Another Captain America reference) Bucky Barnes was teasing Steve before he left as they were on their way to the Stark Expo, saying, "There's three and a half million women in New York, and you'll be the only eligible bachelor left. What're you complaining about?" Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, I'd settle for just one." I don't really mind, I guess, waitin' on a woman...long as she's that kinda girl. But at the same time, I'm still waitin' for you....
February is here, and that horrible holiday most people try to forget called "Valentine's Day" will be just a few days away. Seriously, how did that ever get to be a holiday in the first place? According to the legend(so says Wikipedia, which although not considered "credible" for school purposes has been shown to have less mistakes than the Encyclopedia Britannia), St. Valentine was imprisoned for officiating marriages of soldiers and aiding persecuted Christians, and was interrogated personally by the Emperor Claudius; who stated that if Valentine relapsed back into Roman pagan beliefs he would be saved. Valentine refused, and so was sentenced to execution. Sometime during his imprisonment, he supposedly restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter Julia, after which she, her father and all his household converted to Christianity. The night before he was to executed, Valentine directed a note to be sent to Julia, ending it "your Valentine".
We then fast-forward most of the way through the Dark Ages, coming to the somewhat-recognizable medieval English of Geoffrey Chaucer. Apparently a satirist, in creating an elaborate history of a tradition which never existed in the first place for a poem(kinda like S. Morgenstern...), he ascribed the practice of birds choosing their mates on the day of St. Valentine, which is how everyone first associated the day with romantic love. This spread throughout the courts of France and England, gradually becoming a significant enough part of the year that Shakespeare has Ophelia mention it during Hamlet. They really caught on during the early 1800s in England, influenced by the invention of the postage stamp, and we stole the idea from them about fifty years later.
Many single people try to cover up their annoyance by calling it "Singles Awareness Day", both as a mockery of the extremely-hard-driven fact that they're single and also since there's an "Awareness Day" for seemingly every other condition under the sun. (Much like the plethora of college scholarships available to left-handed blue-eyed biotechnology-major students who grew up the youngest of eight or more children, or other such specialized nonsense.)
Whatever you want to call it, the main focus is about mushy, disgustingly PDA affection called "love" or variants thereof, which is a frequent topic of music, from Keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us" to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name ", from Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" to Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen"; as well as many wonderful spins on the subject from Brad Paisley and basically anything Taylor Swift has or will have written.
This leads to the great heartbreak songs of country music, but also could lead to a wedding. There's plenty of songs about that aspect, from Phil Vassar's "Love is a Beautiful Thing" to Billy Ray Cyrus' "Could've Been Me". (The best-ever wedding-related back-to-back songs played on Pandora would be once when "Stealin' Cinderella" was followed by "I Loved Her First", the order of which seemed extremely fitting.)
Weddings, in general, are kind of depressing. Mainly because you have to get dressed up in a suit and stay that way for several hours, as well as being complicated, expensive, they're held in strange churches are easy to get lost in, there's a TON of people around, and generally the stress level is near the steeple. (Or maybe that's my view because I was the ring-bearer THREE TIMES in ONE SUMMER when I was seven....)
Or maybe it's that 94% of the audience stands there awkwardly as two people are blissfully happy and everyone else isn't sure what to do or think. Or that you suddenly see people you used to know and haven't talked to in ages. Or that all these older adults and relatives and everyone smile and say, "It's your turn next!" or "So...isn't it about time this happened to you?" or "He/She sure is a lucky guy/gal." To all of which you grin weakly and say something original like, "Yup...guess so."
We don't really have any way to answer those types of statements....those saying them usually have only gentle teasing in mind, but the words kind of come out as accusing. Because as single people at a wedding, everything screams this fact out loud as clamorously as possible.
Or it could be just because we're in our early twenties and unattached that this message is put on the loudspeakers of our attention. Everywhere we look, we're seeing folks we grew up with break up painfully, move in together, get engaged, get married and have kids. You sort of wonder, "Is this a problem? Is something wrong about me that I'm not doing these things yet?" So we act like it doesn't bother us at all, like we're fine with the way things are and throw up a little at every couple selfie with the following caption:
"(Name redacted) is the best (spouse/significant other/fiance(e)/whatever) in the world and I love her/him more than anyone else can ever love anything because my capacity to love her/him is greater than anyone else's! I'm SO glad that our relationship is PERFECT!!! (Sixteen heart symbols)" (I totally swiped that entire line from the Newlywed in this skit from BYU's comedy group Studio C, Publicly Emotional steals the show and MAKES this video.)
Also, we're like the third wheel on dates, and that's really just.....really awkward. (Strange pause.) Just...yeah. REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. Because tricycles are lousy and don't work well.
Oh, sure, we could ask somebody for a date....I guess. But that would involve...(shriek of horror) flirting. Now, talk about awkward....that can't be self-taught, and no one in their right minds would teach a class on it. And even if they did, nobody would show up. So, we just think, "Somebody oughta do that..." and of course nobody ever does. (YouTube the BYU Studio C video "Flirting Academy")
Besides....if we're talking about something serious, by whichever name you want it to go by - Time-out. You could just call it "dating" if you wanted(Easy to understand that way). Or you could say you were "going steady"(Wonderfully simple and yet so descriptive. As Cynthia Coppersmith explained to Father Tim in At Home in Mitford, "...Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. You go with someone, steadily, and only with them.") Some people prefer the term "courting"(Ugh. I've always really disliked this term. It sounds so old-fashioned and wooden.)
Whatever the terminology is, it's obvious you're with someone. But it just seems like to me, if you're going to do that, shouldn't you have the intention of possibly marrying that person? That narrows the list of possibilities quite a bit, obviously, but just think about it a minute. Number one, if a Christian, you ought not to marry someone who isn't(2 Corinthians 6:14-17). Number two, you should be faithful.
And in his earlier letter to the Corinthians, Paul devoted a whole chapter to the subject, which is a little hard to figure out. Basically his attitude seems to be, "If you aren't married, that's great. Not everyone is supposed to be. I'm not, and it's what God planned for me in order to better serve Him and bring Him glory. Other people can, and they should, because that also brings Him glory. It really just depends."
What he actually wrote was this: "Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will be faced with many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this." (1 Corinthians 7:26-28) Well, that's understandable. And it makes sense that by melding two lives together, that would naturally bring about twice as much trouble and trials into life.
And Paul continues a few sentences later, "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs - how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world - how he can please his wife - and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs. Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world - how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." (1 Corinthians 7:32-35) This is really complicated....everything sounds right. And it is. Just hard sometimes to know which stage of life he's talking about in each part.
So....yeah, it's confusing sometimes. And frustrating, waiting for what seems like forever. So we just act like we couldn't care less, exaggerating our disgust at "those couples" and basically living as though we'd forgotten things like relationships exist. Because it's safer that way. And so we just dial our sarcasm blasters up a couple notches to "extremely scathing" level and snap them out whenever we get a chance. (Talking about young twentysomethings in general here, both guys and girls do it.) We'd never admit that it might be troubling, at least not directly, but occasionally indirectly mention the subject.
After Sunny died, a lot of people offered sympathy and were praying for me. GBC is truly a place where we have a church family, it's such an incredible blessing. It's good to have people watching you, checking on you, praying for you, sort of an extended family with lots of extra grandparent-type people and a variety of friendly older-cousins-whose-relation-to-you-can-never-quite-be-traced. Anyway, the sun is shining, it's a pleasant-though-slightly-hot July morning, and everyone is filing out of the building onto the porch. Mrs. Pickard, one of those grandma/aunt types, and a fellow dog-lover, she knew Sunny well, she gives me a hug as soon as she sees me. "I'm so sorry, Wes. It won't be okay, but you can get through this. Pets are such a huge part of our lives....it's so hard." "Yeah....thanks," I mumble, trying to smile as much as I can(which wasn't much). She sighs. "We really need to find you a wife." Maybe it's cause I was so ripped apart emotionally or something, or maybe because God likes to answer the prayers of older people, but I kind of nod. "That might be a good idea, maybe." Mr. Gundersen is standing there listening, he asks if there's anybody maybe on the radar. "Ah....no, not really. Geography's kind of working against me there. Maybe if it wasn't, possibly, but....nah, not right now." Mrs. Guenther jumps into the conversation here. "Well, ya know, I met Allan in Brazil, so....ya never know what might happen." The other three of us look at her. "Brazil?" "Yeah, it was on a mission trip."
Steve Rogers pretty much summed up my attitude on this topic on the way to the experiment with Agent Carter in Captain America. Amused by his awkwardness, she says, "You really have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?" "Not really. I think this is the longest conversation I've had with one," He turns serious now. "Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on." "You must have danced." He looks out the window at the Brooklyn scenery before replying. "Well...askin' a woman to dance just always seemed so terrifying. And then the past few years....it just didn't seem to matter all that much. Figured I'd wait." "For what?" "...The right partner."
One of these days, I'll come across the right partner. Maybe I already have, and am just too stupid to see it. Or maybe it just isn't time yet. Perhaps she's around some curve some miles off along the highway through the mountains of the future. We'll find out, in time. I mean, the Lord knows, even though I don't.
(Another Captain America reference) Bucky Barnes was teasing Steve before he left as they were on their way to the Stark Expo, saying, "There's three and a half million women in New York, and you'll be the only eligible bachelor left. What're you complaining about?" Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, I'd settle for just one." I don't really mind, I guess, waitin' on a woman...long as she's that kinda girl. But at the same time, I'm still waitin' for you....
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Winter Weather, Sports and the Creation of the Universe
Snow. Sleet. Ice. Weather. Classes. Basketball. Studying. Jeopardy. Super Bowl XLVIII. Bible study. The Olympics. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Creation debate.
That's pretty much every single topic that's been/is being discussed on campus and on social media sites over the last couple days.
The Super Bowl...uh, wasn't. It was, actually, pretty much like most of the high school football games I covered for the paper. And it didn't even snow! I didn't really care, but I was leaning slightly towards Seattle. But that much was....well, at 43-8, it tied the largest margin of victory ever. (The Cowboys beat the Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.) There weren't any good commercials, and the only one that stands out was the TurboTax Prom ad because it was so creepy. And I watched it alone in my dorm room, eating dry Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Rice Krispy treats and peanut butter from the jar, because that's all the food I had. Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl X was lots better; adorable puppies and kittens playing and napping and looking cute while editing splices together all the best shots and writing turns it into a brilliant mockumentary of a football broadcast. The snow(we got between 3-5 inches) kept me indoors all day; as that was way too cold to walk to church, and the roads were horrendous, so I didn't want to risk Grandpa or Robbie getting in trouble because of the ice while driving across town to watch the game with them.
So I watched most of the first quarter, then practiced my lines for the SWAT skits with Bubba Jacob, came back just as the third quarter was starting and semi-watched the rest of the way. After that it was time to run over Justin and Ja Li Si's one-shot skit for the Monday night meeting, and then it was time to try to get to sleep.
Five of the eleven students in Latin II showed up, so it was a light day; we discussed such important topics as the Super Bowl and Finding Nemo. Speech was canceled because of the awful road and sidewalk conditions, so that was kind of good. Studying in the afternoon, then an early dinner before going over to the BCM. Daniel P., Ricardo and James Hoover have all been wanting me to start helping out the worship team from time to time, so I missed SWAT practice last night because of running over the music. Elizabeth said it went pretty well, though. After worship practice was over me and TJ galloped downstairs to greet our SWAT teammates.
Then it was back upstairs for a few more takes of Justin's skit before the meeting started. The skit went well, and the music went all right, I guess. Never had played with a full band before, that took a bit to get used to.
Off to the dorm to drop off Abby Lee and change into basketball-playing clothes, then Zach and I headed to First Baptist's gym in his orange Camaro for basketball practice. We had eight guys show up this time, so that went pretty well, just enough to be able to sub when needed and tentatively get used to playing with each other. And the recruiting effort to CCF helped, as Connor, Greg, Steven F. and a couple other guys came out to help us practice.
I wake up panicked today just after 8, having a class at 9:30, check my school email and find out it was canceled, which was good. There was black ice everywhere around campus; probably just about anyplace in this area. Elizabeth's car found a patch on the turnpike Sunday and wound up mowing down an exit sign. So I spent most of the morning studying for Friday's tests in Latin and speech, then got some lunch and met up with Zach in Flo's for a look at Ephesians 3. More studying after that, Jeopardy-watching, called Mom. Caleb's foster-puppysitting for Mrs. Jackson, sounds like he's enjoying that, and the pictures are so puppyishly adorable. Rags is busy giving all those (disgusted huff) dogs extremely dirty looks.
Listened attentively to the Bill Nye-Ken Ham debate online, before it disappears from the archives I'm going to need to watch the entire thing. Worldview debates are much easier to pay attention to and follow than political debates, made me wonder what it was like back in the 1800's when debating various subjects was a frequent pastime. Must have been interesting. Anyway, Ken ham did a great job of trying to keep the focus on the Gospel and the underlying bedrock foundation that all the questions would be shot off from. (It was especially interesting, as the fall semester's BCM Monday night messages were a series by Ken Ham on this topic, and also, because Bill Nye is....you know, Bill Nye. The Science Guy.) And Ken Ham is Ken Ham, so....it was really good, definitely planning on watching it again if I can.
The reason I wasn't able to pay sole attention to the debate was because there was a new episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on tonight, so I watched the debate before and after the show, and in the commercial breaks during the episode. Anyway, it was spectacular, like always, had several extremely clever scenes of banter, a Stan Lee cameo(!!!), and plot twists that leave you literally gasping you're so drawn into the plot. AND I SO WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!!!!! And I won't find out for another month, probably to avoid competition from the Olympics. That's probably a really smart move by the ABC execs, but as a viewer it's frustrating.
As I was starting college, I mentioned how the Olympics were a good time to reflect on life, examine what's happened since the last time they were held. I asked several hypothetical questions, wondering what the future would be like by the time they came next. Really meant the 2016 Rio Summer Games, but may as well give as good answers I can to them now for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The answers: 1 - My job right now is a student. 2 - Well....that's hard to know how to answer. If a 4.0 GPA through three semesters is a barometer, then yeah, I guess so. 3 - Pretty much the same now as it was then; just take life one day at a time, try to encourage others when possible and work hard at what I'm able to. 4 - Nope. 5 - Definitely not. 6 - Minime. (That's Latin for "By no means!") 7 - Not yet. (Jeopardy-style answers there, click the link for the questions and a look back eighteen months.)
During the Vancouver Olympics, one night on a pizza run Mom came back with an Australian Shepherd/border collie mix puppy we soon named Skeet, Sport really seemed to like him. He soon grew like a weed and assumed second-in-command position from Sunny. We'd just been back in Beggs for five months once the rebuilding was finished, about a month later we finally got a new oven. I was finishing my sophomore year of high school, it was a year away from Youth Tour, Liesel the bipolar psycho cat had disappeared two months earlier.
I'm not sure how much I'll get to watch this year, but I'm gonna try to tune in as often as I can. The Winter Olympics aren't quite as interesting, usually; because of not having much experience with skiable snow and good ice, but it's always something to see. Speedskating(that looks so wrong...), hockey, snowboarding, bobsledding...tons of cool stuff. (With sarcastic definitions found here.)
Cody and his wife are parents now; their son was born yesterday afternoon. Which is awesome. And I'm used to the fact that people I grew up with are getting married now, I guess; with Alton/JB and Kyle/Mariah over the last year, but it still kind of makes you do a double-take sometimes.
Facebook had its tenth anniversary today; kind of makes you wonder what ideas you or friends or classmates might have that could be something a decade from now.
Depending on the road conditions tomorrow, I may get my braces off Thursday. And then there's those tests on Friday.
That's pretty much every single topic that's been/is being discussed on campus and on social media sites over the last couple days.
The Super Bowl...uh, wasn't. It was, actually, pretty much like most of the high school football games I covered for the paper. And it didn't even snow! I didn't really care, but I was leaning slightly towards Seattle. But that much was....well, at 43-8, it tied the largest margin of victory ever. (The Cowboys beat the Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.) There weren't any good commercials, and the only one that stands out was the TurboTax Prom ad because it was so creepy. And I watched it alone in my dorm room, eating dry Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Rice Krispy treats and peanut butter from the jar, because that's all the food I had. Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl X was lots better; adorable puppies and kittens playing and napping and looking cute while editing splices together all the best shots and writing turns it into a brilliant mockumentary of a football broadcast. The snow(we got between 3-5 inches) kept me indoors all day; as that was way too cold to walk to church, and the roads were horrendous, so I didn't want to risk Grandpa or Robbie getting in trouble because of the ice while driving across town to watch the game with them.
So I watched most of the first quarter, then practiced my lines for the SWAT skits with Bubba Jacob, came back just as the third quarter was starting and semi-watched the rest of the way. After that it was time to run over Justin and Ja Li Si's one-shot skit for the Monday night meeting, and then it was time to try to get to sleep.
Five of the eleven students in Latin II showed up, so it was a light day; we discussed such important topics as the Super Bowl and Finding Nemo. Speech was canceled because of the awful road and sidewalk conditions, so that was kind of good. Studying in the afternoon, then an early dinner before going over to the BCM. Daniel P., Ricardo and James Hoover have all been wanting me to start helping out the worship team from time to time, so I missed SWAT practice last night because of running over the music. Elizabeth said it went pretty well, though. After worship practice was over me and TJ galloped downstairs to greet our SWAT teammates.
Then it was back upstairs for a few more takes of Justin's skit before the meeting started. The skit went well, and the music went all right, I guess. Never had played with a full band before, that took a bit to get used to.
Off to the dorm to drop off Abby Lee and change into basketball-playing clothes, then Zach and I headed to First Baptist's gym in his orange Camaro for basketball practice. We had eight guys show up this time, so that went pretty well, just enough to be able to sub when needed and tentatively get used to playing with each other. And the recruiting effort to CCF helped, as Connor, Greg, Steven F. and a couple other guys came out to help us practice.
I wake up panicked today just after 8, having a class at 9:30, check my school email and find out it was canceled, which was good. There was black ice everywhere around campus; probably just about anyplace in this area. Elizabeth's car found a patch on the turnpike Sunday and wound up mowing down an exit sign. So I spent most of the morning studying for Friday's tests in Latin and speech, then got some lunch and met up with Zach in Flo's for a look at Ephesians 3. More studying after that, Jeopardy-watching, called Mom. Caleb's foster-puppysitting for Mrs. Jackson, sounds like he's enjoying that, and the pictures are so puppyishly adorable. Rags is busy giving all those (disgusted huff) dogs extremely dirty looks.
Listened attentively to the Bill Nye-Ken Ham debate online, before it disappears from the archives I'm going to need to watch the entire thing. Worldview debates are much easier to pay attention to and follow than political debates, made me wonder what it was like back in the 1800's when debating various subjects was a frequent pastime. Must have been interesting. Anyway, Ken ham did a great job of trying to keep the focus on the Gospel and the underlying bedrock foundation that all the questions would be shot off from. (It was especially interesting, as the fall semester's BCM Monday night messages were a series by Ken Ham on this topic, and also, because Bill Nye is....you know, Bill Nye. The Science Guy.) And Ken Ham is Ken Ham, so....it was really good, definitely planning on watching it again if I can.
The reason I wasn't able to pay sole attention to the debate was because there was a new episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on tonight, so I watched the debate before and after the show, and in the commercial breaks during the episode. Anyway, it was spectacular, like always, had several extremely clever scenes of banter, a Stan Lee cameo(!!!), and plot twists that leave you literally gasping you're so drawn into the plot. AND I SO WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!!!!!! And I won't find out for another month, probably to avoid competition from the Olympics. That's probably a really smart move by the ABC execs, but as a viewer it's frustrating.
As I was starting college, I mentioned how the Olympics were a good time to reflect on life, examine what's happened since the last time they were held. I asked several hypothetical questions, wondering what the future would be like by the time they came next. Really meant the 2016 Rio Summer Games, but may as well give as good answers I can to them now for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The answers: 1 - My job right now is a student. 2 - Well....that's hard to know how to answer. If a 4.0 GPA through three semesters is a barometer, then yeah, I guess so. 3 - Pretty much the same now as it was then; just take life one day at a time, try to encourage others when possible and work hard at what I'm able to. 4 - Nope. 5 - Definitely not. 6 - Minime. (That's Latin for "By no means!") 7 - Not yet. (Jeopardy-style answers there, click the link for the questions and a look back eighteen months.)
During the Vancouver Olympics, one night on a pizza run Mom came back with an Australian Shepherd/border collie mix puppy we soon named Skeet, Sport really seemed to like him. He soon grew like a weed and assumed second-in-command position from Sunny. We'd just been back in Beggs for five months once the rebuilding was finished, about a month later we finally got a new oven. I was finishing my sophomore year of high school, it was a year away from Youth Tour, Liesel the bipolar psycho cat had disappeared two months earlier.
I'm not sure how much I'll get to watch this year, but I'm gonna try to tune in as often as I can. The Winter Olympics aren't quite as interesting, usually; because of not having much experience with skiable snow and good ice, but it's always something to see. Speedskating(that looks so wrong...), hockey, snowboarding, bobsledding...tons of cool stuff. (With sarcastic definitions found here.)
Cody and his wife are parents now; their son was born yesterday afternoon. Which is awesome. And I'm used to the fact that people I grew up with are getting married now, I guess; with Alton/JB and Kyle/Mariah over the last year, but it still kind of makes you do a double-take sometimes.
Facebook had its tenth anniversary today; kind of makes you wonder what ideas you or friends or classmates might have that could be something a decade from now.
Depending on the road conditions tomorrow, I may get my braces off Thursday. And then there's those tests on Friday.
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