Done With It

I spent the better part of my day yesterday in two parts:  First, picking out objects of no particular consequence (computer speakers, picture frames, and a couple small desk organizers). Second, returning both the picture frames and computer speakers.

Upon very brief comparison (literally a minute), I discovered my older speakers actually have much better bass capabilities than the ones I had purchased not two hours before (yet the older ones were manufactured over ten years ago).

As I walked through the store on my way to leave, this thought crossed my mind: We don't make anything.  Anything!  Alright, maybe we make some food.  But where did we get the ingredients from?  The store!  Positively every tangible thing we consume comes from the store.  The concept of clothing, especially, came to mind as I saw a woman examining jewelry who wore the average pair of jeans, and a couple layers of shirts and a scarf.  And the next thought crossed my mind: Why don't we make our own things anymore?

Granted, some probably still do.  But the mainstream mentality is to just buy it, and be done with it.  But maybe that's the problem: We're too anxious to just be done with it.  Why?  What great thing awaits us on the other side of "being done with it" than something else that you also just want to be done with?  And chances are, you're actually not done with it. Like me, you'll probably end up having to go back to that store just to return your purchases that you thought would enable you to be done with it in the first place.

As I informed my dad that the picture frames were going back, he reminded me that he owns a router, and that the router could make exactly the picture frame I want.  I may take him up on the offer.

Now all I have to do is go buy the materials to make the frame.

Will You Watch Me?

Our pastor included this story in his Christmas Eve sermon, and I liked it.

A couple weeks before Christmas, a little six-year-old boy had just lost his mother, and both he and his father were devastated.  One night shortly before Christmas Eve, the boy asked if he could sleep in his dad's room with him.  His dad let him, but as they tried to fall asleep, they couldn't.  They both kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, the little boy thinking about his mother, and the father thinking about his wife.

Finally, the little boy turned to his dad and asked, "Dad, will you watch me?  I think if you watch me I'll be able to fall asleep."

"Yes, I'll watch you," the dad answered, and soon his son fell asleep.  But the dad still couldn't fall asleep.  Slowly, he got out of bed, walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. Staring up at the sky, to God, he asked, "Dad, will you watch me?  If you watch me, I think I'll be able to fall asleep."

And in the darkness, the answer came to him like a whisper.  "Yes, son, I'm watching you, and I'll never leave you."

12 Days, 12 Hidden Meanings

Just a note on this post: None of this is via my own research or trifle epiphany.  This information is compliments of GodTube.

We're all familiar with the famous carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", and many historians hold that there are actually hidden instructional tools for 16th century Christians in each of the twelve verses.  Whether this is actually true, or simply urban legend, I found the hidden meanings quite intriguing.

1) Partridge in a Pear Tree:

Christ, sacrificing Himself for us.

2) Two turtle doves:

The Old and New testaments

3) Three French Hens:

Symbols of the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love

4) Four calling birds:

The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

5) Five Golden Rings:

The first five books of the Bible, otherwise known as the Pentateuch.

6) Six Geese-a-laying:

The six days of creation (recall that He rested on the seventh).

7) Seven swans a-swimming:

The seven spiritual gifts: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, compassion.

8) Eight maids a-milking:

The eight beatitudes Jesus teaches about in Matthew.

9) Nine ladies dancing:

The fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

10) Ten Lords a-leaping:

The Ten Commandments

11) Eleven Pipers Piping:

The eleven faithful apostles (Judas Iscariot was ultimately unfaithful).

12) Twelve Drummers Drumming:

The twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

Living in Wait

Oh dear season of Advent, your finale will be a bit longer in coming for me this year.  Oh, Christmas will still come as scheduled, yes, but I'm awaiting something with more imminent tangible effects.  I had the phone interview with YouthWorks on Friday, and now I'm awaiting the penultimate yes or no, which will either be followed by the quintessential scream of gratitude and joy, or the resolved expression of a different plan God has in store for me than what I wanted for myself.

And amidst this all, I wonder why the things that happened to me today happened.  I dipped my toes into the dark side a few days ago, but now I really have succumbed to its evil plan.  I was actually on my boss's good side today - a first since working this job - because I actually got people to apply for credit cards.

God, either this is some sort of added surprise, or you're letting me cave to the dark.  I really hope this isn't letting me cave to the dark.  I don't want the dark.  I've been fighting it.  But there's the key.  I've been fighting it, and not just giving it over to let You handle it.

Living on the Edge

It's my dad's birthday today.  To celebrate we had salad (his special homemade kind with romaine, bacon bits, tomatoes, and ranch dressing), and pizza.  My mom opened the lid of one of the pizzas, and immediately went, "What?  No sausage, pepperoni, or mushroom?"  If you know my dad, you know these are his three favorite pizza toppings.  No, tonight he decided to go for ham, pineapple, and bacon, to which my sister commented, "Livin' on the edge there, dad."  And it quickly became the running joke of the evening along with the other joke that he turned ten years older than he actually is.

I think somewhere hidden in the depths of all places named retail (or possibly just in the glare of the fluorescent lighting) there exists some sort of supernatural siphon of commercialistic monster that slowly drains you of any resistance to its will.  I could feel myself dying, cell by cell, today as I swiped things across a scanner.  I suppose it did not help that I was tired.  But still.  I felt more disgusted with myself today than I ever have before: Because I'm actually succumbing to their will, and I even prefaced it for some of my customers as being for my own selfish gain.

Selfish gain my ass (and there's really no other way to word it as to evoke the same disgusted meaning, else I would've).  It's so incredibly overrated.  And don't you dare tell me otherwise. If I keep up this behavior, I'm gonna have to smack myself pretty soon.  Selfish gain, however, is not to be confused with gain.  Gain is not bad.  After all, to die is gain.

If commercialistic siphon monster be the stuff of earth, then I'll just have to go take a nice long dip in God's ocean to replenish what the monster continues to suck out of me.

Punctuation for Boredom

I wish there existed a punctuation mark that denoted boredom.  We have periods for endings, commas for pauses, semi-colons for continuations, colons for possibilities, exclamation marks for excitement, and question marks for queries. But what about boredom?  We don't have anything to denote boredom.

I'm still anxiously awaiting my finals results.  (C'mon people... grade faster!)  No.  I can wait. It's just a bit disheartening to log in day after day just to look at a bunch of blank space that you know could contain grades.  Then again, it's quite possible that you've experienced this phenomenon yourself, so I'll cease blabbering on about it.

I was once a bigger fan of Twilight than I currently am.  However, I will say with a fair amount of certainty that the band Muse (a group I learned about mostly via Twilight) is growing on me. Not sure if I'll explore beyond their MySpace page, but what I've listened to is interesting.

I walked into work this morning (yet again...) feeling as though I live there (yet again...).

Thanks, retail.  Thanks a lot.  Yes, you've paid me for my time, but you've also knocked any semblance of a Christmas spirit out of my consciousness (among other things I shant mention right now).  It's the thirteenth, and in years past I would have been more than pleased right now to make cookies, break out Christmas lights, and go tree shopping. Now?  I could care less.  The gusto just isn't there.

But then again, there are more important things than traditions that revolve around stuff.

But the gusto seems to have been put into writing the novel.  A new subplot popped into my head just a couple days ago, and it actually fills out a lot of what I've been looking for.

And I still wish there were a way to punctuate boredom...

To (Youth)Work(s) for God

My sister was playing devil's advocate with me the other night about the YouthWorks position I'm applying for.  But when you're on God's side, any devil's advocate question tends to fall flat, because He's already presented you with what anyone else will see as a con, and you're willing to accept it, deal with it, or work with it.  It doesn't completely shut you down as other things might.

This is what I'm facing if I get this job:

- Really, really long days (6:30am - 11 or midnight, with no break)

- Lots of paperwork

- Meeting lots of new people (not all of whom will be keen on meeting me)

- Working for minimum wage. (And I probably made more this past summer than I will this coming summer if this happens.)

But then again, this is what I'm facing if I get this job:

- Really, really long and fun days.  Doing things I will enjoy.

- Befriending fellow staff, moreover fellow Christ followers.

- Meeting and serving countless youth, and their advisors.

- Sharing my witness with (quite possibly) hundreds of people.

If I get this job - it will be the first job I'll be truly honored and privileged to have. There has never been a question in my mind - I want this job with a passion.  The positives outweigh the negatives a million times over.  Because I'll be working for a higher purpose than my own selfish gain.

Three Semesters Down, One to Go

I love how in a heartbeat (and I've mentioned this before) I can go from about ten things to get done, all needing to be done in about ten minutes, to having absolutely nothing to do and a whole month to do it in.

Fall 2008 is officially over!  I submitted my final project this evening, and now I can have a whole month away from school.  Though I guarantee you in about two weeks I'll be complaining of the boredom that has overtaken me due to lack of better mental stimulation.  Though, maybe this break will not be as mentally draining (if you understand the meaning) as ones past. I should love to work with Photoshop (just to make some fun stuff this time), work on more of my story, and read more Bible.  Yes, Bible.

And yes, I used to think reading the Bible was boring.  No more.  Life is too short, and too in need of guidance to ignore it.  That, and when the Spirit gives me the desire, why deny it that? It is perhaps the one thing I've read with the most fervor, the most desire to know. 

I finally scheduled the phone interview with YouthWorks.  I am getting very, very excited.

I use the word "I" too much.  It's making me feel very self-centered. The plan is to be God-centered.  We'll have to work on that.