Well, it was my birthday on Saturday. I want to say thank you to all of you who made it such a wonderful day. Thank you to Julie for calling, for Mom and Dad for all the books and the new shirts. Thank you to Laura who tried to call to wish me a happy birthday but couldn’t reach me. Sorry Laura, I dropped my phone in the dishwater and it didn’t start working till late in the evening (I’m at work right now but I’ll try and call you tomorrow, Tuesday). Thank you to the Garrets who had me over for lunch the next day and who had a cake and a card for me.
Most of all thank you to Janille. Thank you for the wonderful package you sent. For the cookies (they’re so good!!!), the card, my new belt, and for completing my Harry Potter collection with Tales of Beedle the Bard. For those of you who haven’t seen it I will try to describe the card. Janille made a wonderful ‘virtual party’ for me. The card had several pictures of my friends printed off a computer with party hats glued onto their heads. Each picture had a caption. The one with Jason yelling something was him singing happy birthday. Mykal did the cooking and so had a picture of him in the apron. Dusty was popping out of a closet to surprise me and so his picture was him making a weird face. Finally there was a picture of both of us and a special birthday message for me. Thank you so much Sweetheart it was wonderful!!
Thank you to all my friends, my family, and to Janille for making my birthday such a wonderful day. I was approaching it this year with a little bit of trepidation because it would be the first one I’ve celebrated alone. Thank you to everyone for making it so much better than I was expecting. I love you all.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Adventures Living Alone
It is been a while since I have had a post about me and my life so I thought this week I would give everyone an update. I have been living in my little house for about 2 months now. For anyone who has not seen it I have a living area with a small kitchen in the corner, a bedroom, a bath, and a closet. It is very cozy and I absolutely LOVE it. After living with roommates for the last 4 years of my life living on my own is an amazing blessing and reduces the amount of stress considerably. I cannot describe how much I enjoy cleaning up after ONLY myself. I know this might be hard to believe for some of the female members of my family but I actually do try and keep it fairly neat.
I have also acquired a futon, a couple of lamps, a rug, and a small coffee table. My living area now consists of more than a TV, my weight bench, and small kitchen table. It is really turning out to look quite homey and it is a very ‘comfortable’ room. I have not really done anything with my kitchen since I moved in. One of the interesting things that is both depressing in some ways, inspiring in others, and I think is gradually teaching me about myself is cooking alone. I am trying to compose my thoughts on this subject and hopefully will have a blog post about it in a couple weeks. I am still in the market for an office chair but I am hoping Office Max or Walmart might have some back to school sales closer to the start of the semester.
Over the last couples of months I have gotten into the basic routine of general living on my own. Outside the basic routine of simply cooking, cleaning, and going to work I have had the added joy and experience of dealing with, you guessed it, bills. Formerly an apartment dweller, whose rent included all utilities, this has been a bit new. When I was first setting up many of my utility accounts, electric, water, and internet, everyone but the water company did not believe I actually existed. Having never had a credit card, or a credit report, both the electric company and the internet company did not believe I was actually a real person. I had to fax numerous documents to both before they would even consider me for service. On top of that I found out yesterday that the electric company had switched account numbers on me after the first month. I had been paying my bill to the wrong account number!! There were late fees, the accumulation of 2 ½ months of electric bill, and the question of where all my money had gone. After spending almost an hour on hold, talking with a general customer service person and an account specialist I got the situation sorted out.
Today I am heading down to San Antonio to see Janille, celebrate the 4th of July, and have a long weekend with some great company. I have not forgotten about my promise for the 10 most ridiculous lines ever heard in a country song so maybe that will happen next week. I have also been thinking about a lot of other stuff lately so my 7 or 8 readers might be in for several posts not entirely about me over the next couple of weeks. I hope this post keeps you satisfied until something more exciting than boiling over my pasta happens to me >.<. Many thanks to Laura for mentioning me on her blog. I do not know if I will be able to live up to the praise she gave me but I will try.
I have also acquired a futon, a couple of lamps, a rug, and a small coffee table. My living area now consists of more than a TV, my weight bench, and small kitchen table. It is really turning out to look quite homey and it is a very ‘comfortable’ room. I have not really done anything with my kitchen since I moved in. One of the interesting things that is both depressing in some ways, inspiring in others, and I think is gradually teaching me about myself is cooking alone. I am trying to compose my thoughts on this subject and hopefully will have a blog post about it in a couple weeks. I am still in the market for an office chair but I am hoping Office Max or Walmart might have some back to school sales closer to the start of the semester.
Over the last couples of months I have gotten into the basic routine of general living on my own. Outside the basic routine of simply cooking, cleaning, and going to work I have had the added joy and experience of dealing with, you guessed it, bills. Formerly an apartment dweller, whose rent included all utilities, this has been a bit new. When I was first setting up many of my utility accounts, electric, water, and internet, everyone but the water company did not believe I actually existed. Having never had a credit card, or a credit report, both the electric company and the internet company did not believe I was actually a real person. I had to fax numerous documents to both before they would even consider me for service. On top of that I found out yesterday that the electric company had switched account numbers on me after the first month. I had been paying my bill to the wrong account number!! There were late fees, the accumulation of 2 ½ months of electric bill, and the question of where all my money had gone. After spending almost an hour on hold, talking with a general customer service person and an account specialist I got the situation sorted out.
Today I am heading down to San Antonio to see Janille, celebrate the 4th of July, and have a long weekend with some great company. I have not forgotten about my promise for the 10 most ridiculous lines ever heard in a country song so maybe that will happen next week. I have also been thinking about a lot of other stuff lately so my 7 or 8 readers might be in for several posts not entirely about me over the next couple of weeks. I hope this post keeps you satisfied until something more exciting than boiling over my pasta happens to me >.<. Many thanks to Laura for mentioning me on her blog. I do not know if I will be able to live up to the praise she gave me but I will try.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
An Interesting Paradox and its Resolution
As I’ve gone through the Horace and Dott Coffman collection at work a large amount of time has been spent dealing with weddings and funerals. As I mentioned in my last blog post Horace either officiated or provided music for over 1600 weddings and 2200 funerals. Now, many people might think that the funerals, along with the accompanying obituaries, would be very depressing to read through. After all, what could be more depressing than realizing how many people, in just the Church of Christ in Lubbock, have died. The weddings, some might assume, would be very inspirational for this is a time of joy and happiness for those who are participating. I’ll admit this was my first reaction, especially as I sorted through hundreds of funerals.
As I continued in my work an interesting change has occurred in my feelings towards these two different events. No longer did I view the weddings as a release from the dour work of filing obituaries. No longer did I dread the next folder with the title “Funerals Performed in 19--.” Instead it was the weddings that inspired a strange melancholy.
My thinking, as my worked progressed, turned from thinking of the weddings a joyous union of two people into the perpetual question “Did John Smith and Jane Doe make it?” I know it’s extremely pessimistic of me but for some reason I couldn’t help but feel that every marriage I came across had ended in some sort of disaster. The funerals inspired a sense of hope. Within the pages of funeral programs, obituaries, and Horace’s notes were inspirational stories about lifelong Christians. Here were men and women who had remained faithful to God and served the church for decades. Here were men and women who had been married for 50, 60, and even 70 years. Here were inspirational stories about love, perseverance, faithfulness, joy in the face of suffering and thanksgiving at the passing of loved ones.
This was an interesting paradox, at least for me, because I knew that the wedding was a joyous occasion and despite my pessimistic misanthropy some, maybe even a majority, of these marriages had survived, prospered and even continue to thrive to this day. My general attitude toward the weddings changed yesterday when I made a pretty incredible discovery.
As I was going through another folder of wedding programs and notes I came across one that stopped me in my tracks. I had found the program for the marriage of a Ms. Diane Clutter and a Larry Stephens. Here was a wedding that I had first hand knowledge of! That I had grown up knowing and that has been a model of love, faithfulness, and charity every day of my life. I didn’t wonder if Diane Clutter and Larry Stephens had made it I KNEW. Despite the divorce rate, the broken homes we see around us, the single moms, abortions, and inconsiderate and insensitive people on both sides God has always and still raises up among us men and women to serve him and to be examples to younger generations. I’m so proud to say that two of these people are my parents.
It is my prayer that I too might be one of these people some day. That I might live as an example to others and that some day I might enter the Kingdom and hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
As I continued in my work an interesting change has occurred in my feelings towards these two different events. No longer did I view the weddings as a release from the dour work of filing obituaries. No longer did I dread the next folder with the title “Funerals Performed in 19--.” Instead it was the weddings that inspired a strange melancholy.
My thinking, as my worked progressed, turned from thinking of the weddings a joyous union of two people into the perpetual question “Did John Smith and Jane Doe make it?” I know it’s extremely pessimistic of me but for some reason I couldn’t help but feel that every marriage I came across had ended in some sort of disaster. The funerals inspired a sense of hope. Within the pages of funeral programs, obituaries, and Horace’s notes were inspirational stories about lifelong Christians. Here were men and women who had remained faithful to God and served the church for decades. Here were men and women who had been married for 50, 60, and even 70 years. Here were inspirational stories about love, perseverance, faithfulness, joy in the face of suffering and thanksgiving at the passing of loved ones.
This was an interesting paradox, at least for me, because I knew that the wedding was a joyous occasion and despite my pessimistic misanthropy some, maybe even a majority, of these marriages had survived, prospered and even continue to thrive to this day. My general attitude toward the weddings changed yesterday when I made a pretty incredible discovery.
As I was going through another folder of wedding programs and notes I came across one that stopped me in my tracks. I had found the program for the marriage of a Ms. Diane Clutter and a Larry Stephens. Here was a wedding that I had first hand knowledge of! That I had grown up knowing and that has been a model of love, faithfulness, and charity every day of my life. I didn’t wonder if Diane Clutter and Larry Stephens had made it I KNEW. Despite the divorce rate, the broken homes we see around us, the single moms, abortions, and inconsiderate and insensitive people on both sides God has always and still raises up among us men and women to serve him and to be examples to younger generations. I’m so proud to say that two of these people are my parents.
It is my prayer that I too might be one of these people some day. That I might live as an example to others and that some day I might enter the Kingdom and hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The CRS
I haven’t done an in depth post on what I actually do to fill up my time here in Abilene during the day so I felt that this would be an appropriate topic. As I’m sure all of you know I work in the ACU Library in the Center for Restoration Studies. Although I guess the description of what I do, preparing collections of personal materials for research and display, might sound somewhat impressive the actuality of it is quite a bit more humble. Quite simply I categorize things, when no inherent order is found, and box them.
Right now I am working on the Horace Coffman Collection. For those of you that don’t know Horace Coffman was the longest serving minister in a single Church of Christ. His ministry at the Broadway Church of Christ lasted 53 years and the number of lives he touched is simply uncountable. While there he officiated over 1600 weddings and over 2000 funerals. His records, personal files and personal papers that were donated to the ACU Library are, in a word, extensive. The collection, when I began working on it, was about 60-70% complete and yet the shear amount of material that still has to be gone through is enormous.
Looking through this material has been a window into the past for me and in many ways it has shown me where the church as well as American culture has come from. Reading an article to a graduating class, out of a newspaper not by Horace Coffman, from the 1960’s reads like something out of an Ayn Rand novel. In my perception that church has come a long way, at least in some of the literature put out, over the past several decades. Not only do I believe the church is more grace filled and tolerant but I think that it is also more accessible to the layman and the outsider as well.
Despite these positive changes, at least in my mind, there have also been moments of sadness for me. As I’ve read through this literature I believe the church has also lost some great aspects of itself. Probably the biggest one is simply the strength of our A Cappella music. Although in many ways I believe that the church has moved forward in some regards on this topic, not viewing it as a salvation issue, I am sad to say that a negative aspect of this has been a lack of interest in A Cappella music in general outside of worship. Horace Coffman directed many of the Broadway Church choirs in weekly performances at retirement homes and at countless numbers of weddings and funerals. Singing classes, choir practices and other ways in which musical gifts could be utilized were under his direction and I think that that is slowly dieing in the Church of Christ.
Although there are moments of both thanksgiving and sadness as I read this material I must say that the experience is very enjoyable. Despite the fact that in many aspects it is tedious, time consuming and sometimes progress doesn’t seem to be made I have really enjoyed my time so far in the CRS. Although my current work does not take me into the stacks of rare books ACU has centuries old Bibles, the first Spanish protestant Bible, collectible literature and much more. The stacks in the back of the CRS are what I always thought a library SHOULD look like. I am reminded more of the library we see Gandalf searching for information in the first LoTR movie than the ultra modern, sleek and fancy Starbucks and Learning Commons that is only one hundred feet away in another room. The stacks seem to ‘leak’ knowledge and if you are willing to work hard, research and spend time with the material I believe you will be richly rewarded. I look forward to spending many more hours back there learning while I work.
Next Week - The 10 most ridiculous lines I've heard in Country songs
Right now I am working on the Horace Coffman Collection. For those of you that don’t know Horace Coffman was the longest serving minister in a single Church of Christ. His ministry at the Broadway Church of Christ lasted 53 years and the number of lives he touched is simply uncountable. While there he officiated over 1600 weddings and over 2000 funerals. His records, personal files and personal papers that were donated to the ACU Library are, in a word, extensive. The collection, when I began working on it, was about 60-70% complete and yet the shear amount of material that still has to be gone through is enormous.
Looking through this material has been a window into the past for me and in many ways it has shown me where the church as well as American culture has come from. Reading an article to a graduating class, out of a newspaper not by Horace Coffman, from the 1960’s reads like something out of an Ayn Rand novel. In my perception that church has come a long way, at least in some of the literature put out, over the past several decades. Not only do I believe the church is more grace filled and tolerant but I think that it is also more accessible to the layman and the outsider as well.
Despite these positive changes, at least in my mind, there have also been moments of sadness for me. As I’ve read through this literature I believe the church has also lost some great aspects of itself. Probably the biggest one is simply the strength of our A Cappella music. Although in many ways I believe that the church has moved forward in some regards on this topic, not viewing it as a salvation issue, I am sad to say that a negative aspect of this has been a lack of interest in A Cappella music in general outside of worship. Horace Coffman directed many of the Broadway Church choirs in weekly performances at retirement homes and at countless numbers of weddings and funerals. Singing classes, choir practices and other ways in which musical gifts could be utilized were under his direction and I think that that is slowly dieing in the Church of Christ.
Although there are moments of both thanksgiving and sadness as I read this material I must say that the experience is very enjoyable. Despite the fact that in many aspects it is tedious, time consuming and sometimes progress doesn’t seem to be made I have really enjoyed my time so far in the CRS. Although my current work does not take me into the stacks of rare books ACU has centuries old Bibles, the first Spanish protestant Bible, collectible literature and much more. The stacks in the back of the CRS are what I always thought a library SHOULD look like. I am reminded more of the library we see Gandalf searching for information in the first LoTR movie than the ultra modern, sleek and fancy Starbucks and Learning Commons that is only one hundred feet away in another room. The stacks seem to ‘leak’ knowledge and if you are willing to work hard, research and spend time with the material I believe you will be richly rewarded. I look forward to spending many more hours back there learning while I work.
Next Week - The 10 most ridiculous lines I've heard in Country songs
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Life of Pi
Time for a new style of blog post. This one won’t be much about me, even though things are going well here. Here’s a review/analysis of a book I just finished reading.
Life of Pi is a fun and interesting book. Although set in the real world the book definitely has a taste of fantasy in it. The story follows the journey of one Indian boy, Pi Patel, as he tries to make it to Canada. In the beginning of the story he is shipwrecked while he is traveling on a boat full of zoo animals and ends up in a life raft with a full grown tiger. The story chronicles how he survives.
Although the story was certainly fascinating some of the most intriguing parts of the book, for me, were the authors takes on religion. Having just finished a paper on religious pluralism for philosophy I found the books take on the subject interesting food for thought. The main character is a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. The rationale used to justify the position is fairly typical for this kind of discussion but the sections of the book dedicated to his search for God were intriguing, perplexing and thought provoking.
I’ll try not to spoil the ending for anyone who wants to read the book, it’s a twist, but there is some really fascinating symbolism. Although an elementary school kid could read the book and understand it there is quite a bit in the book that requires more than a cursory walk through. The book is quite graphic as well in some of its descriptions of survival on the raft and the interactions between Pi and the tiger. It’s an exciting read, filled with action, humor and parts to make you think. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new read and trying stay up with current American literature. The book is already being studied in colleges and high schools and will likely earn a permanent place there.
Sorry for the new style if you didn’t like it. I’ll try to have a post about myself next week to update everyone on what’s going on.
Life of Pi is a fun and interesting book. Although set in the real world the book definitely has a taste of fantasy in it. The story follows the journey of one Indian boy, Pi Patel, as he tries to make it to Canada. In the beginning of the story he is shipwrecked while he is traveling on a boat full of zoo animals and ends up in a life raft with a full grown tiger. The story chronicles how he survives.
Although the story was certainly fascinating some of the most intriguing parts of the book, for me, were the authors takes on religion. Having just finished a paper on religious pluralism for philosophy I found the books take on the subject interesting food for thought. The main character is a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. The rationale used to justify the position is fairly typical for this kind of discussion but the sections of the book dedicated to his search for God were intriguing, perplexing and thought provoking.
I’ll try not to spoil the ending for anyone who wants to read the book, it’s a twist, but there is some really fascinating symbolism. Although an elementary school kid could read the book and understand it there is quite a bit in the book that requires more than a cursory walk through. The book is quite graphic as well in some of its descriptions of survival on the raft and the interactions between Pi and the tiger. It’s an exciting read, filled with action, humor and parts to make you think. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new read and trying stay up with current American literature. The book is already being studied in colleges and high schools and will likely earn a permanent place there.
Sorry for the new style if you didn’t like it. I’ll try to have a post about myself next week to update everyone on what’s going on.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Graduation and Happenings Since Then
Well, 4 years after I graduated from High School I did it again. This time with my B.A. in Political Science from Abilene Christian University. I also minored in Bible. The last four years were fun and educational. I learned a lot about myself, life, and political science. I apologize for not having a new blog for a couple weeks but I finally got internet at my place and so now I should resume more regularly.
I enjoyed having everyone come down and be at my graduation. I was especially surprised when Julie told me she’d be here since she had to come all the way from Bolivia. I had a lot of fun with everyone and was very thankful for all the help Mom and Dad gave me as I moved into my new place. I’ve started working at the Center for Restoration Studies in the Library. It’s actually kind of cool. There are some boring aspects, like vertical filing for hours…, but being able to hold and look at bibles made in the 1500’s is pretty cool. For Josh and Julie, ACU has the first ever protestant Spanish bible made in 1602. There are many different collections and it’s pretty easy to get lost trying to find something in the back. I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of the summer has in store for me there. My xbox360 is getting fixed up as I write this so hopefully I’ll have it back sometime next week. Rusty, I look forward to slaughtering you online J. I have several ideas for blog posts over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned. Now that I have internet I should be back to my original schedule.
I enjoyed having everyone come down and be at my graduation. I was especially surprised when Julie told me she’d be here since she had to come all the way from Bolivia. I had a lot of fun with everyone and was very thankful for all the help Mom and Dad gave me as I moved into my new place. I’ve started working at the Center for Restoration Studies in the Library. It’s actually kind of cool. There are some boring aspects, like vertical filing for hours…, but being able to hold and look at bibles made in the 1500’s is pretty cool. For Josh and Julie, ACU has the first ever protestant Spanish bible made in 1602. There are many different collections and it’s pretty easy to get lost trying to find something in the back. I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of the summer has in store for me there. My xbox360 is getting fixed up as I write this so hopefully I’ll have it back sometime next week. Rusty, I look forward to slaughtering you online J. I have several ideas for blog posts over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned. Now that I have internet I should be back to my original schedule.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Admission
So, for those of you who don't know, I had applied to the Graduate School of Theology here at ACU. I had hoped to pursue my M. Div. and perhaps my M.A. after my undergraduate studies here. I had signed a lease a new place to live next year, gotten a job, secured a GA position at the school.... All that has been missing has been my actual admission into the grad school and a scholarship that would make it possible for me to go. I know that seems kind of backwards and it is. If I had it to do over again I definitely would have started on this process sooner.
Praise be to God, the final piece arrived yesterday. I have been admitted with an 80% scholarship and the possibility of increasing it if I do well. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me and who have counselled me as I've tried to figure out what to do after my undergrad work. I'm so thankful to all of you and I don't think this would have been possible without you.
Praise be to God, the final piece arrived yesterday. I have been admitted with an 80% scholarship and the possibility of increasing it if I do well. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me and who have counselled me as I've tried to figure out what to do after my undergrad work. I'm so thankful to all of you and I don't think this would have been possible without you.
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