Whuz up

So I downloaded a new blog template. What do you think? Post your comments and vote on the poll.

Less than a week before school starts again. Waaaaahhhhh

Christmas

Our family opened presents on Christmas Eve day to make room for all that we had planned on Christmas. After opening presents, mom, dad and I went to the mall to go for a walk there. Well actually they went for a walk while I went shopping for a present for my Girl Friend and some stocking stuffers for mom (she fills all of our stocking and we forgot to get her something. So ashamed). After lunch we watched the movie Cristian had gotten, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Then was supper and after supper we watched my movie, Narnia: Prince Caspian. Unfortunately Candlelight service was canceled at church so we didn’t go to that that evening.

Then Christmas day arrived and with it a bunch of new snow. Unfortunately part of the plans had been to go up to Lynden to visit my moms parents and bring grandpa to see grandma. It’s a long, sad and complicated storry but basically mom’s parents (who have been married for like forever) aren’t able to see each other very often because of health reasons. Dad took the van down the driveway to see if he would be able to get all of us out but then the van got stuck in our own driveway but with a lot of shoveling, some very cold body parts and a lot of help from the neighbors truck we finally got the van unstuck. Needles to say we didn’t try to make it to Lynden after that. By late afternoon the roads had cleared enough that we were able to get out and bring my dads parents over to our house for an early supper and a short visit. It was an interesting and different Christmas but different can be fun too.

Essay responses

I haven't actually submitted these to WSU yet. I'm going to wait until after christmas to give me more time to look these short responses over and to have my family look them over. So if you see anything, please feel free to comment.

Leadership/group contributions:

• When I was fourteen I was involved with the Vacation Bible School at my church. For three hours a day for five days I was in charge of ten five and six year olds. For the last two summers I have been involved with a Christian day camp for kids in which I was in charge of up to twenty children as well as two other teen workers. This past Christmas season I organized a group of teens to carol at a retirement home. I have also been in charge of an after school club at a local elementary school.

Knowledge or creativity in a field:

• I have played the violin for over eleven years and enjoy playing a variety of styles including classical, old time country-western, swing, and celtic. For the last year and a half I gained an interest in drawing and have taken a class at my community college in drawing. I have drawn a number of scenes such as portraits, still lifes, landscapes, buildings and Japanese Manga. I also enjoy photography and have had the privilege of photographing landscapes and wildlife in places such as Yellowstone, Glacier, and Crater Lake national parks as well as along several backpacking trips through the cascades.

Dealing with adversity:

• In 2001, my father left his electronic engineering job to purchase a woodworking business which, for years, struggled financially. I worked for my dad so that he wouldn’t need employees. Two years ago, dad sold the business to start an electronic engineering company. Unfortunately he recently realized the project he had worked on for two years was not coming together and he is now looking for work. To help financially, I work with children during the summer to pay for my personal expenses. Through this challenge my family has bonded together and I have learned to be a hard worker.

Community service:

• I am a member of the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association—a group of musicians who go to different nursing homes and play old-time music for the residents. This past Christmas I organized a group of young people to bring cookies and carol for the residents of a local retirement home. During the past two summers I have helped with a day camp that provides very low cost child care service to various communities including smaller outlying communities throughout Whatcom County. This school year I have been in charge of a free after school program in a local elementary school.

Handling systemic challenges:

• I have the privilege of coming from a multi-racial family. Ten years ago our family adopted a little boy from Guatemala named Cristian. Growing up, some of my best friends were our neighbor’s grandkids from Nigeria. Some of my best friends that I’ve met in community college have been from Taiwan and Thailand. Even though I know lots of people from other nationalities, I have been blessed to not have witnessed discrimination personally. However I have attended a diversity panel at my school to hear about discrimination that others have witnessed. I look forward to Washington State University’s international atmosphere.

Goals/task commitment:

• One of my biggest goals has been to become a better public speaker. I appreciate my homeschooled upbringing. Unfortunately it lacked the opportunity to give speeches. To overcome this challenge, I have spent two summers teaching stories to groups of up to sixty children. I have also spoken several times in front of my church of over one-hundred-and-fifty people. I have already taken a class on public communication in running start and plan on taking another one this spring. When I was eleven our family bought a home business in which I sometimes worked up to thirty hour work weeks.

WSU application

Well I've been filling out my application to WSU and I thought I would share with you a few of the wonderfull short essay questions that I've been answering.

Knowledge or creativity in a field: Describe any of your special interests and how you have developed knowledge in these areas. Give examples of your creativity: the ability to see alternatives; take diverse perspectives; come up with many, varied, or original ideas; or willingness to try new things.

Dealing with adversity: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to address this challenge. Include whether you turned to anyone in facing that challenge, the role that person played, and what you learned about yourself.

Community service: Explain what you have done to make your community a better place to live. Give examples of specific projects in which you have been involved over time.

Handling systemic challenges: Describe your experiences facing or witnessing discrimination. Tell us how you responded and what you learned from those experiences and how they prepared you to contribute to the WSU community.

What Does Mama Say?

Christmas is comming

I decided to finally install a christmas background. After trying on almost all the themes from the website, I decided to go with this one. It is a bit feminine, but I decided that true men don't have to protect there masculenity.
Bellow are our family christmas photos.

A perfect day

This morning, Janel, Cristian and I decided that instead of spending the day cooped up inside we would get out and do some Christmas shopping. But instead of trying to brave the roads ourselves we decided to take the bus which goes along Northwest. So we trucked out to the end of our road and took the bus into Cordata station. Unfortunately the bus was 15 minutes late so we had to wait out in the cold. From Cordata we took the bus to Wal-Mart. After we had finished there we walked back towards Cordata station making a Starbucks stop on the way. From Cordata we then proceeded to take the bus to Bellis Fair where we did some shopping, then eat lunch, then did some more shopping and ran into Chris. After we had finished shopping we saw Madagascar 2 at the theater in the mall and then did some more shopping that we had forgotten about. After that it was back on the bus to Cordata then back to Northwest where we got off and walked home. It was a fun excursion. At times it was a bit cold but it still made for a fun, very full and tiring day.

Choir

Best of luck to the choir on Sunday.

Woot school is out. Sometime I'll have to actually write something intelegent but for right now this will do.

Oh, p.s. I actually wore a tie twice this week. (something very, very amazing.)

I'm going in

Yup, tomorrow begins finals week and if I don’t come out of finals week alive, well, Cristian you still don’t get my computer. This is going to be a killer week. Here’s my schedule

Monday – School is mostly review. I’ll probably skip my physics class (oh my gosh). Today is also CEF after school club

Tuesday – I have two tests (Math final part 1 and econ final chapter test)

Wednesday – 2 tests again today (math final part 2 and Physics final

Thursday – Econ final and a AIA architects award show. I’m just attending so it’s not like there’s anything to prepare but still it’s supe fancy and it involves food. Also there will be people in high (salary giving) places there if you get my drift.

Friday – study study study for the ACT

Saturday – Be in Lynden by 8:00 for the ACT. In the evening I’m going to a company diner at Janel’s work (logos). The only thing to worry about here is that I’ll go to sleep and my face will fall splat onto my plate.

Then I already have a lot planned for my winter break so maybe sometime I’ll blog about that. That is if I make it through this week.

Kristin Chenoweth sings

This is especially for Hannah who has to take philosophy text quarter. Something to look forward to.

Another rant

Ok so I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve done a good rant and since ranting is what I’m known for I decided I’d have a good rant. My target of ranting for the day is Praise 106.5 this Christmas.

1) Let’s start with the music. A lot of it isn’t Christian. When I turn to a Christian radio station I don’t expect to hear songs about Santa Clause. I know that praise has started playing more and more non-Christian music throughout the year but it seams like they’re especially getting bad during this Christmas season.

2) Their promo clip thingy. It goes something like “We’re celebrating the reason for the season: Hope, Love, family, and faith.” It’s like did you forget faith and just decide to tack it on at the end? The reason for the season is Jesus Christ. Pure and simple.

3) Their “Drive through difference” program. When I first heard about this I thought it was an awesome idea. When going through the coffee drive through you leave enough money to pay for the person behind you as well as a little print-out poster for them. I thought “what a marvelous way to witness to people around the Holiday season.” So then I go to there website at look at the poster. Not a mention about God or Jesus. It’s all about “I just wanted to bless you and do an act of kindness for you in the Christmas spirit.” I was so ticked off.

Does this type of thing make anybody else mad?

Late work?

This is for all of you who, like abbie, procrastinated to the very last minute about getting homework done over thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving

About twice a month I try to get together with a group called the “Old Time Fiddlers Association” which goes around old time music at retirement homes. Well last Tuesday we were at Alderwood Health Care just off of Northwest. There I up on a bulletin board they had posted little paper leaves that the residents had made. On these leafs the residents (with a little help from the staff) had written things that they were thankful for. On these leaves were written things like the name of passed away spouses and good health, but one that caught my eye read “salvation.” I found it very touching to see that written there. It reminded me of how blessed I am to have such a godly heritage. God has blessed me with four amazing grandparents and two superb parents. I am so thankful for the influence and upbringing that they all have given me. Indeed I have much to be thankful for. (And my friends and siblings aren’t half bad either.)

Thanksgiving comics

What's in your playlist?

Ok so I got this from a friend. Here are the instructions:
1. Put your iPod/Playlist/CD Player on random shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

So here’s my list. There were more but I only posted the ones that came out funny.


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Hold On – Stellar Kart

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Zero – Hawk Nelson

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
California – Hawk Nelson

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
I heard the bells on Christmas day – Steven Curtis chapman

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Jesus is life - SCC

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Something’s gotta give – LeAnn Rimes

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Flowers – Brad Paisley (look up the song, it fits my life perfectly)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Skin (Sarah Beth) – Rascal Flatts

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
The night before Christmas – Steven curtis chapman

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
My blanket and Me – from the Soundtrack “you’re a good man Charlie brown”

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Take Me – Hawk Nelson

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Happiness – The Charlie brown CD again

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Post Cards – Cindy Morgan

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
God’s will – Marina Mcbride

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Remembering You – Steven Curtis Chapman

OT storries

For after school club we’ve been teaching the storry of Elijah. I love getting to teach these old testament stories. You glean so much more application from them when you teach them vs. when you just read them. I don’t know about you but sometimes some of those OT stories seam to just become history when you’ve read them for the 10th time. So I really enjoy getting to teach the storry of Elijah.

BTW. Please pray for me. While it’s just over a week until our long thanksgiving break, I have three tests and a bunch of homework due before then. On top of that I’m sick. So please pray.

Well after seeing the choir at church perform last Sunday I thought about my choir outfit and how I should have joined the choir so I could show it off. Notice the black footwear, the black neckpiece, black pants, white shirt? Check the choir dress requirements. It’s all up to snuff.

Post election day

Well It's post election day and all I can say is "where's that monkey? I need to shoot something." (from pirates of course.)

I all seriousness though, on the way to school today I was thinking of Christians in countries where the outcome of who becomes may decide weather they live or die. While I doubt Obama's willingness to uphold our religious freedoms, I doubt it will come to life and death.

In the end God's glory will be upheld. As Jesus said in the gardne, "not my will but thine."

Verse of the day

Man cannot live by bread alone
But he can on coffee

Deuteronomy 8:3 - the College is about to kill me verson

Ok so the video is a little (like a lot) weird, But I love this song.

Voyage of the Dawn Treador Ending

This is part of the ending of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Since the end of the summer I've been reading this book and finally finished it last night and was struck by this part.

“Please, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Before we go, will you tell us when we can come
back to Narnia.”

“Dearest,” said Aslan very gently, “You and your brother will never come back to
Narnia.”

“Oh, Aslan!” said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.

“You are too old, children,” said Aslan, “and you must begin to come close to your own world now.”

“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And
how can we live, never meeting you?”

“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.

“Are-are you there too, Sire?” said Edmund.

“I am” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by
that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by
knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there”

School

School is exhausting. Some days are highs other days are lows. But I’ve finally come to realize that God guides me through them all. Not every day is going to be a low and I need to stop zeroing in on the few bad things and look at all he has given me. But school is exhausting at times. I also found out that to transfer to WSU I’ll have to take the SAT. I had formerly thought that I didn’t. Well it turns out the only date I can take it to get it back before my application to WSU deadline is the Saturday before finals week. AHHHH… the thought of it makes me shiver.

The biblical perspective on why Barrack Obama should be president.

Matthew 5:39 but I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Not only will Barrack allow terrorist to attack our nation, he’ll make friends with them too.

Matthew 6:1920 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where
thieves do not break in and steal.

Better be storing up your treasures in heaven because all your earthly possessions will be taxed away.

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Better be prepared to die… can you say nuclear war?


So as you can see It’s obvious that it biblical to vote for Obama

Praise God

For the last 6 month my Grandpa has had to live in an assisted living home while my Grandma’s had to stay at home. During the last 6 month they’ve only been able to see each other a few times (complicated storry). During the last six month there’s been some progresses and some down hills. Some ups and some heartaches. But today I learned that he’s back at home with Grandma. Praise God. Now we have no idea how long this will last. He could go back down hill at any moment. But praise God he’s back.

Why did God create colds?

Why did God create colds? To let us see how inviting death really is and how much we can’t wait for perfection in heaven where there are NO COLDS. Don’t worry though, I’m not considering suicide… yet.

A blog game

Wah. School starts tomorrow. Well, anyway. I was thinking of trying to get a storry going. Kind of like that game that Chris H. taught us this summer but with just writing. So here’s how it’s going to work. I’m going to start with writing a sentence. One person (and only one) is going to respond by commenting with a link to their blog. Then on their blog they are going to post the next sentence. One person (and only one person) will respond to that post with a link to their blog and so on and so forth. So, you may be asking, why make it so complicated by going from blog to blog? In this way I hope that people will not read the whole storry until the storry is ended. That way the storry will be more random and funny. So how will you know if you’ve found the latest segment in the storry? You will know when you find a line of the storry that has no comments on it. So here’s a couple rules.

1 Never respond to a sentence that already has a comment (Please keep it a single storry)

2 Only write one sentence

3 As initiator of this game I retain the right to determine when the storry is over. At that point I will post a comment on whoevers blog the storry was last posted on and then I will write a blog post here with the complete storry.

You guys ready? Here’s the first sentence.

One day three blind pigs walked to the store.

Good News Clubs

This fall I get to do two Good News clubs and I’m so exited. Today at the training I got to see one of the families and one of the kids (Audrey) that came to one of our Day Camps this summer (her mom is teaching a Good News Club.)

Another hike

Well yesterday (Sunday) our family (all but mom) went for a one day hike up to the base of mount baker (It felt like we were right there). It was a fun trip, a lot of uphill and after the backpacking trip earlier in the week it left our family very tired, but we had a blast anyway. I've uploaded some pics from the trip to my flickr account

Tina Fey as Sara Palin on Saturday Night Live!!!

Ok, so I know it does make fun of Sara Palin, and I'm a huge Sara fan, but, hay, its funny.

If the vid doesn't work try this link

Follower

So in case you hadn't noticed, I added a follower bar to my blog. If you guys don't sign up as a follower I will be offended lol j/k. All you do is go to your dashboard and at the bottom there's info on followers.

Another awesome vacation

I love the outdoors. Seeing all that God has made for us to enjoy and subdue makes me so grateful we serve such an awesome God. Well this backpack trip was our hardest yet. It was only 4 miles, but it was over a mountian so it was 1800 ft. elevation to the top then a 1700 ft. elevation loss to the lake. So that's 1800 ft up in 2 miles. With 35 pound packs thats difficult, but well worth it. I've updated my flickr account with pics. of the trip here.

Job

Well I’ve got a (very) part time job working at my college doing tours of the campus for new students. It won’t be much (3 hours a day, two days a week for two weeks) but still it’s paid and it’s with friends. My first day is tomorrow so hopefully that will go well. And then on Wednesday my brother, dad and me are leaving for a backpacking trip so I’ll be gone until Friday night.

The alter call - part 1

I found a few posts on a blog about children’s ministry that I thought had a lot of thought provoking ideas. I would really like to get a discussion going about these things. Here’s a couple inserts from this blog.

… rather than altar calls, the children’s worker give invitations. He suggests that the leader invite the child to come and seek counsel after the meeting is over. This allows them time to think about what they are doing and to come on their own initiative – rather than being influenced by others.”… Many times the methods used in formal children’s ministry settings can limit a child’s true response to the gospel. This occurs any time the child is put in a position of feeling that he must respond in order to please teacher or go along with his pears… The gospel, rightly presented, has its own appeal. The Savior has His own drawing power. This is the divine work of the Holy Spirit in wedding human need and response to the winsomeness of Christ.” The children’s worker in today’s evangelistic setting must be willing to accept this “divine work of the Holy Spirit.” Altar times cannot be forced, pressure-filled, events in the lives of children.

and on a little different subject…

“If we provide small children frequent opportunities to say, “yes” to Christ in accordance with their limited comprehension of Him, we shall never err by hindering them from coming to the Savior, nor by being responsible for their making a mere profession before the Spirit has prepared the heart.

Thoughts from devotions

For my quite time I’ve been reading through 1 Corinthians. I’ve been reading the first few chapters where it talks a lot about wisdom from God vs. earthly wisdom. It talks about how God doesn’t give mind to weather a person is wise by this worlds standards. He didn’t pick me because I’m specially brilliant (you don’t have to say duh). It also reminded me that we shouldn’t be thinking things like “If only Bill Gates became a Christian. He could do so many great things for the Lord.” God uses those who are poor in the eyes of the world to do his work. And the third thing I learned from this section was that it’s impossible for us to “win over someone for God.” 1 Cor. 1:18 says “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” and in 2:4 “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of Power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” It’s so good to know that when we’re sharing the gospel with a child, or with a friend from school, that it’s not our responsibility to share the gospel in a way to save them. It’s our responsibility to share the gospel, and let God do the rest.

He's A Pirate (Tiesto Remix)

Thou Shalt Laugh6

Comedian Mike Williams Stupidity Is A Gift Part 2

An awesome summer

Well I’ve had an awesome summer. But CEF is over now. I’m actually really sad that it’s over. I’ll miss working with the kids and my co-workers. You guys are the best. Now I have about a month before I start my second year at Whatcom community college so I’m trying to decide weather to get a part time job or just do projects around the house. Here were some of my favorite kid quotes from this summer.

(When child has been once again acting up)
Teacher: "(child), look into my eyes"
Child: *looking briefly into teachers eyes* “ewe”

Then there was another kid who was five year old who would randomly through temper tantrums and at the top of his lungs scream “You odiot You odiot.”

So here's some pics. of our team. Sorry that I can't show any pictures of the kids online.

Love this comic

Whats up

Well we just finished our second week of camps. Both weeks have gone extreemly well though we've had fewer kids than expected. The first week we had 15, the second we had 16. But God can work through big or small groups however he feels. Next week our team is joining with the other team to do a day camp at a larger church. Please pray for us. It will be a big change going from 15 to as much as 150 kids. Please also pray that janel and my team will be able to bond as a team. We have had some issues with "stepping on toes" so to speak.

Down for a while

I'm afraid that CEF has taken over my life. Well sort of. I'm just super busy this summer. So I won't be blogging very regularly. I may update with cute kid quotes and pics of my costumes, but it won't be very regular. However I hope to start back up in the fall.

The whole picture

We’ve probably all seen an image like this right? On one side is sinful man, on the other is Holy God, in the middle is the pit of death with the Cross of Christ as our only way across. What’s the first word that comes to your mind when you see this image? Salvation right? Well I think all too often we as believer tend to forget that this is the cornerstone of our faith. It doesn’t have to do with only our salvation, but the very way we live our Christian life. Oh I don’t mean that we totally forget a bout this image or what it symbolizes. Instead we focus only on one aspect. We need to take in the whole picture, and see how all the pieces fit together in a totally cool way that God designed.

A focus on Sinful Man
Too often we focus on us-the sinful man. Indeed the bible does call us to examine our lives and root out the sin, but as Romans 13:13-14 points out, we are not only to take off the sinful man, we are to also put on Christ.

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in
lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

God has given us a desire to be fulfilled, content, and happy. If we’re not looking to God to fulfil that, then I can assure you that we will look somewhere else.


A focus on the Cross
The cross is one of the most well known and well loved symbols. The cross represents for us the cost that was paid to take away our sin. However we forget the words of Matthew 6:24-25

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and (B)take up his cross and follow Me.

What? You mean we have to take up a cross too? Yup. You mean just being thankful for the cross is not enough? Yup. Suppose a fireman were rescuing you from a burning building. Your legs were broken and you were completely incapable of saving yourself. You are extremely thankful that the fireman is saving you, but as he carries you through the burning building, you find out that burning buildings tend to be hot. Quite hot as a matter of fact. All of a sudden you don’t like where the fireman is taking you. “Why this seams to be the hottest part of the building” you tell yourself. “Why in the world is the stupid fireman taking me here?” You start to kick. You don’t like this. You want down, but the fireman hangs on to you. He’s strong enough that no matter how hard you pull, you can never get out of his arms. Finally he stops and turns you around so you can look at him. He explains to you that this is not only the quickest and best way, it is also the only way out. You see being thankful for the Cross is not enough. We must also not shrink away from the molding and shaping that God is doing in our lives. However it is not us who are doing the shaping, but Christ. However as the saying goes “we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way.” In our focus on the cross, we must not forget that God is Holy, We are Unholy. It is God who is molding us; we are only his vessels.

A focus on Holy God
Ever heard a little boy who dreams of being a baseball player some day declare “someday I want to be just like (famous baseball player)”. You see it’s only natural for us as human beings to long to be like someone who we view as “the best” in a category and God most certainly rules in the Holiness category. It’s simply unnatural for us to study God and not long to be like him. As much as a 7-year-old boy longs to meet the best baseball player in his town, so also as we get to know God, we also want to draw closer to him.

Camping trip

We had an awesome time on our backpacking trip. We hiked 5 miles in. Made camp. Stayed there a couple days, then hiked all 5 long miles back out. This first pic is of the lake where we stayed at night.




















This is a pic of the lake from a mountain that we climbed (there was no trail so we bushwacked it). In case you can't tell, that is really far and really steep.

Here's a little marmet that we saw. We also saw a TON of dear. They seamed to be everywhere in that valley.

Schools out!

Woot! Well schools out. It’s so nice to get one year of College down. However, it’s hard to think that I still have 6 more years to go. The problem with community college is that it’s just prerequisites. It doesn’t feel like you actually learn any life skills. I’ve learned this year that if you want to get anything out of community college you really have to study to apply it to life instead of just studying to get a good grade. Well, anyway. WOOT! It’s summer! Next week my dad brother and I are going camping then it’s gardening work around the house until I start work in CEF in three weeks. I can’t wait. It’s so exiting. I just wish the weather would hurry up and turn nice.

economics

Now thats what I call economics

My bad spelling

Bees: A Spelling Quiz



Score: 30% (3 out of 10)

To try for yourself click here

Carrie Underwood - I'll Stand By You

Social Darwinism

Here is an exert from my history term paper on the European colonization during the late 1800's

Charles Darwin, who was born in 1809 into a wealthy family, possessed a love for plants and animals. In 1831 he began a trip around the world as a ship’s naturalist. It was on this trip that he made several discoveries that led him to write the book On the Orgins of Species by Natural Selection in which he set forth his ideas on natural selection and the evolution of living beings. Darwin’s belief that slowly, over millions of years, plants and animals have changed from very simple organism, to what they are today, flew in the face of many Christians who believed that God had created the world in seven days. However others embraced the idea of Darwinian evolution. Evolution not only affected the world of science, it also affected the very ideologies that men live by.

Ever since the time of Darwin and, one could argue, even before the time of Darwin, the idea behind Social Darwinism has reared its ugly head. Darwinism only fueled and created an excuse for man’s behavior of do what he has to to look out for number one that has been prevalent since the dawn of time. Many soon took the theory of evolution so far as to exclude God completely from the picture of life. And when men feel that there is no God to answer to, why shouldn’t they just look out for number one? If this world is all that there is, then live life to the fullest here before it’s all over. Immorality has plagued our world since the Garden of Eden, but evolution has given an excuse for such practices as Euthanasia, Anti-Semitism, and many other immoral movements. The theory of evolution has given man the “right” to take natural selection into his own hands. Should those who are old be allowed to live and take up valuable space and resources on our planet? How about those who are dumb? How about the handicapped? And so Social Darwinism opens up a whole world of issues about morality and what is right and what is wrong.

Bob Smiley's Snow Ski Bit

Clean Christian Comedy

A very random update on me

Well today I registered for classes for next fall. Man. It’s hard to believe that it was only a year ago that I was first signing up for Whatcom. Time flies. Signing up for classes was actually a relief in a way. I had been planning on possibly having to take a class during the summer which would have 1. meant that between school and CEF I would have practically no free time this summer and 2. I would have to quit the softball team. But it turns out that classes weren’t going to align the way I thought they would. So while it would have been nice to get more classes finished, I’m also very relieved that I don’t have to do summer school.

Here’s the very random part. Did you guys know that you can watch TV shows and movies online? I probably shouldn’t be suggesting this stuff because it’s probably illegal, but there are some great movies you can watch on Youtube such as American Outlaw, The Newsies, and the Goonies, and many more. Also television networks are posting there shows online. I really enjoy watching Extreme Makeover: home edition (it’s my favorite show).

It IS possible for our team to win!!!

Woot. Our team one its softball game yesterday by one point. Unfortunately I think the umpire was partial towards our side. There were several instances when the opposing runner and the ball reached the bag at the same time and the umpire called him out instead of giving the tie to the runner like he should have. But, still, we won!!!

A History Lesson

No I didn't learn this in my history class this quarter, I got this in a chain email.



Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head

Now it gets really weird.Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln , was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln , was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Now hang on to your seat.Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called ' Lincoln ' made by 'Ford.'

Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And here's the kicker...
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe , MarylandA week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

Different members, one body

Here’s a little example from what I’m learning in economics

Ann can produce either 8 loaves of bread, or 4 bagels or any linear
combination in-between in one
day.


Ben can produce 3 loaves of bread, or 3 bagels or any linear combination
in-between in one day.

Cal can produce 1 loaf of bread or 2 bagels
or any linear combination in-between in one day.

So, who is the most efficient producer of bagels? Ann you might say. She can produce the most. But in reality it’s Cal. Lets look at an example. Say we need one bagel and as many loafs of bread as possible. If you have Cal make the one loaf of bread, thinking that he is the least efficient maker of Bagels, you are wrong. You will end up getting 3 bagels from Ben and 4 bagels from Ann for a total of 7 bagels. But if, however, you have Ann produce the one loaf of bread, Cal will produce 2 bagels, Ben will produce 3 bagels, and with her left over time Ann will produce 3 ½ bagels making for a total of 8 1/2 bagels. So in actuality, Ben is the most efficient producer of bagels, and Ann is the least.


I know this is a stretch, but when I first read this I really thought to myself of 1 Corinthians 12:12 which says For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. This doesn’t really sound encouraging at all I know, we see our work in the church as being small, and someone else might even actually be able to do this better than me, but this is where I can serve best, and by serving here, I allow someone else to serve somewhere else. So just a quick little (I hope) encouraging thought.

First Softball Season

Woot! We had our first softball game yesterday and we... well... let's just say we had fun.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Setting our Sights

In life we quite often tend to focus too much on the negative. I find that when I work with kids, all too often I’m correcting them to much and forgetting to praise them enough. But I also see this is my own life. I focus too much on hating evil and the sin in my life that I don’t focus on righteousness and my righteous savior. Hebrews 12:2 says Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Now you may be thinking “so what’s the difference between focusing on staying away for sin, and focusing on righteousness?” And indeed I am not trying to make a big doctrine out of this (as I am so known to do). And I am certainly not trying to say that there is no place for focusing on the negative and our sin problem. Anyone who’s ever worked with kids knows that no matter how much praise you give a child, there still remains those times when a stern word of discipline is needed. So we also need to be aware of the sin in our own lives. But in so doing, we must remember that it is impossible to take off wickedness, without putting on righteousness. I think far too often our attempts to live a holy, set apart life end up being our attempts to overcome sin on our own. And as I’m sure we can all testify to, that doesn’t work so well. So again, my point is not that we should be aware of sin in our lives, but that only through God can we have righteousness. Because God is righteousness. Any attempts to put on our own form of righteousness will be futile.

Poll

Well it looks like Mickey Mouse beet out Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 5-0-0. Good job Mickey! The new poll has to do with what I’ve been learning about in physics. Is a glass of water more valuable or a glass of diamonds? Post what you voted for and why below.

A few thoughts on cat baths...by The Cat

No, no, no, NOOOOOOOO

Holy Smolly, you call that warm?























But... but... but I thought you loved me























Traction. I'm loosing traction.

Lambs 2008 - 2

Baby lambs

Well one of the sheep lambed today. Aren't they adorable?

Wooot!

Wooot! As of right now, the Mariners are ahead of their division. Of course they’ve only played one game and this may be the last time all season they’re ahead-but for now, they’re ahead.

An update

Spring break is almost over *Sniff* *Sniff*. Well in case anyone was interested, here are a list of things I did during my break.

- Put rocks along the far end of the pool
- Put pavers on the close end of the pool
- Move one of the flower gardens back towards the house
- Redo some of the siding on the garage
- Redo some of the facial board on the garage

I’m very proud of myself that I actually did something with myself during this break.

I don’t know if it snowed at everyone’s house, but it certainly snowed at mine today. As in sticking snow. As in here in practically April. I say we all drive our cars and hurry up this whole global warming thing. I’m tired of this cold.

Laughing Baby

A Quote from Stephen D. Eyre's book Drawing Close to God

I can even turn my own spiritual pursuits into a substitute for God. I remember spending a good part of one morning in serious study of the Scriptures. Suddenly I had a strong sense that God was sitting in a chair beside the desk. I felt a pull on my heart to put down my pen, turn to face him and just sit in quiet heartfelt worship. My response to this sense of call was irritation. I had determined that this was to be a study time. I wanted to wave away this call, grumbling, “Not now, God; can’t you see I’m studying the Bible?”

Attending church and all sorts of religious activities can have the appearance of seeking God when in fact it is another means of avoidance. Rousing worship services full of inspiring music and moving prayers are not enough to overcome this. Nor is being doctrinally correct a guarantee that we are OK. In fact, all of these can be dangerous, because they allow us to cherish the illusion that we are spiritually growing when in fact we are in spiritual darkness.

*Note: this is not an "official" recommendation of this book. I've only gotten through the second chapter

Cute Kitty

The fur on this kitten, born Sunday in Sacramento, California, seems to spell out "I (heart) (dot)." That's especially cute because the kitten's mother is named Dottie.

Brian Littrell - Wish

Good Friday

New design

Well I’ve updated the look on the blog so what do you think? I know that the music thing is messed up. It’s supposed to be much wider, but you guys will just have to deal with it until I find the humbleness to go on my knees and ask Abbie how to put it on the bottom of the page.

Out of school - for now

WOOT! I'm finished with the Winter 2008 quarter. Only one more quarter until summer! This quarter was a drag. I haven't received my grades back yet, but I know I didn't do well in physics. I probably got either a b or a b-. That teacher was so frustrating. Well know I get about a 12 day break before Spring quarter begins. I'll probably spend most of it doing yard work. And to all of your amazement, that was actually my idea.

In case any of you didn't know, I will be working again in Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) this summer. But this year I will be working with my sister, and in a smaller team that will go to smaller church on the outskirts of our county. I can't wait until this summer!

E.R. discovers the flaw of post-modernisem

Photography tips - Part 2

If you use a monotone voice to communicate with your friends, they’ll probably think you’re boring, likewise, if you use a boring foreground your audience will loose interest. Dave Gaffney in his book “50 tips to great outdoor images” says that "there is nothing more striking than an image with wildflowers splashed across a foreground". There are many cool effects you can use with your foreground. You can use it to draw the eye into the picture (like the example on top). Frame the picture (like the example on the bottom). Or just create something exiting in the foreground (like Dave Gaffney says).

Would you want to talk with a person who rambles on so much you forget what his or her main point to begin with was? Of course not! Likewise you shouldn’t include so much in your photograph that your audience looses track of your main object. On his website, ethanMeleg.com, Ethan Meleg, one of Canada’s leading photographers, says that every time he takes a picture he reminds himself that “less is more” There are many instances where you can cut things out of you photo. Maybe you take a face shot instead of the whole body. Maybe you just focus on one flower (Bottom) instead of a whole field (top).

Softball season is comming

Softball season is comming...

Any idea where I can get some?

More companies

Bible soft

If only

If only life was that easy

Basic photography tips - part 1

Well these are just some basic tips for setting up a photograph that I put together for a presentation I have coming up in my speech class. Any tips/suggestions would be appretiated. I would especially like it if someone had a really cool idea for an intro and/or conclusion.

Tip #1 Use odd numbers of objects

Our brain is almost magically attracted to odd numbers. Whether it be points in an essay or a photograph, our appreciates odd numbers. See how much more pleasing the pic. on the top is to the eye?

Tip #2: Use the rule of thirds

This is another almost “magical” brain trick: imagine your photo divided into three sections, now use those lines that divide the sections to place your main objects in your photograph on. Notice how in the photo on the top the silhouette and first wave coming in are both placed along lines? Now not every line needs something on it, but the major elements of your photograph should be placed along one of these lines.

Now when doing face shots like the one on the bottom, your main element is the eyes, so you want to place those along one of the lines (presumably the top one).

Contentedness

…does not come from earthly pleasures

Ecclesiastes 4:8 there was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless—a miserable business!

It comes from delighting in the Lord; he is the desire that our hearts long for.

Psalm 37:4Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.


Therefore we should not try and find our joy in earthly things, not that those things are necessarily bad in themselves, but instead our contentedness comes from the Lord. He is steadfast and will always be our greatest joy.

Hebrews 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Not only will he never leave us, but he will never be anything less than our greatest joy.

I think that every time we sin, we’re saying we want to find contentedness in the world and not in God. So even though we all know it, and I stand condemned as perpetrator of this, I exhort all of you to not find your contentedness in these worldly possessions, but in the Lord.

The Movie We've All Been Waiting For

First Hike of the Season

Most of you probably know that our family LOVES hiking. Last Monday was our first hike of the season. Here are a couple pics.

Carol Burnett in Get Smart (part1) 1967

Carol Burnett in Get Smart (part 2) 1967

Carol Burnett in Get Smart (part 3) 1967

Valentines Day Comics

It's like I tell my mom, I can get four year olds and their forty year old mothers to like me, but it's those da-gone ones in the middle that are a bit more difficult.

Happy Valentines day you guys

And just when you thought you had heard every doctrine

Well here's yet another one to add to my long list of doctrines. Actually this one has to go to the credit of Mike Huckabee. Again, this is only for humor, not a true biblical stance.

Ecclesiastes 10:2The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

See I always knew being Republican was biblical.(this is only for humor. The above mentioned bible verse was not referring in any way to American political parties. The bible was written long before American politics came into being.)

The Motions lyrics

The Motions
Matthew West

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break, At least I'll be feeling something'
Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me wholeI think I'm finally feeling something'
Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

Video Located here

A dorky post

You know you're desperate for a post when all you can think of is a few dincky pictures of your room.

Am I a geek?

Things I’ve learned from my communications class

Groups such as the Ku Klux Clan are not hate groups, there unhappy groups

Serial Killers are just people with difficult needs to meet

Your not lazy your motivationally deficient

It’s not a lie it’s a counterfactual proposition


I am seriously not making this up. This is what we learned in class. Does anyone else find how far we’ve taken politically correctness disturbing?

Letterman: Barack gives the Top Ten

Well atleast Democrats have humor, but not much else.

Why Christian rock music is like eating food sacrificed to idols

After having posted several non serious doctrines, I thought I would tackle a little more serious subject. Not that music is serious, but compared to discussions about ties… I realize that a lot of you are going to disagree with me. Some you will say I’m too liberal on this subject, others will say I to conservative. But anyway, this is my position on the topic of Christian rock. Since I will be indirectly/directly addressing 1 Corinthians 8, it might be good for you to really quick read that that chapter (don’t worry it’s short.).

My belief is that Christian rock music is like eating food sacrificed to idols: its ok for some people, but not others. Now is there specifically anything wrong with Christian rock music? No. I don’t believe that the music itself is the problem. With that said, is Christian rock wrong for some people and in some circumstances? Yes I believe it is. I think most of us have probably been in situations where we’ve seen people “rockin’” out to Christian rock. Now is rockin’ out to a wholesome song wrong? No, not really. What gets me is when people and churches start calling this worship. But you say, “can’t I worship God while I’m rockin’ out?” Yes you can. You can also worship him while you play basketball or washing the dishes. But I believe there is a difference between worship and Worship. worship (lowercase) is the act of living a set apart life for God. Worship (upper case) is the act of coming before a holy God and confessing our unworthiness and his Holiness. Now are some people able to Worship while listening to Christian rock? I believe some are. However I believe that there are many how aren’t able to. And as 1 Corinthians 8:9 says “be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” I think it’s fine for some people to listen to Christian rock, but when Christian artists, Christian radio, and Christian churches start to say that Rockin’ out is Worship, I disagree. I think we see a lot of churches today that only play Christian rock music, and deceive many people into thinking they are Worshiping, when all along it’s just an emotional roller coaster ride. Now there may be some in those churches that can worship to that music, but referring back to 1 Corinthians, it’s important that the exercise of our faith does not become a stumbling block to others. I think many churches today have lost true worship and have replaced it with over-hyped emotionalism. And when we deceive ourselves and try to lie to God and say that we’re worshiping - that is, confessing God’s holiness - when all we’re doing is pleasing our flesh, I believe that’s an awful sin.

In summary, I believe that Christian rock is ok for some people, but those people should be careful when and where they listen to that music, and that they never tell someone else that Rockin’ out is Woship. 1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

The lost awe effect – part 2 - Jesus vs. Moses.

A quick summery of Pastor Dax’s Sunday school class on Hebrews 3.

After saying that Jesus was better than the prophets, and better than the Angels, the writer of Hebrews goes into this section of saying that Jesus is better than Moses, the Israelite’s beloved hero. Hebrew 3:2 says…

He (Jesus) was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

To understand what the author is talking about here, we must look in the old testament to Numbers 12 where God is rebuking Aaron and Miriam for there opposition to Moses.

"When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Numbers 12:6-8


First we see that Moses was Faithful in all my(God’s) house, In Hebrew 3:6 we learn that “Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.”

Next we see that that God spoke to Moses face to face and with clarity instead of riddles, but even more awesome is the fact that when Jesus spoke, it was God who was speaking.

Third and finally we see that Moses saw the form of God. But Jesus was the form of God.

Moses was an Israelite celebrity, he was entrusted with bringing the law to the people, but Jesus was even more awesome than he.

Two embarrassing incidents (and three dollars worth of quarters later)

Well the first one happened Last Thursday. It was a very rainy day, and as I was going to school, I turned on the headlights in my car. When I got to school, I thought I turned off my lights, but somehow I left the parking lights on (the light switch in that car is really weird. It’s a knob that you pull out to turn the lights on and back in to turn the lights off, but if you push it back in to far it turns the parking lights on). So by the time I came back out to my car the battery was dead. I had to call my parents (with a pay phone) to come and pick jump my car.

The second embarrassing moment happened Tuesday (yes the Tuesday right after the Thursday battery incident [my Tuesday/Thursday classes must be bad luck for me]). I got to school. Went to one of my classes. Came back out to the car to drop off some of my stuff before heading off to another class, but after unlocking my car, I set the keys down on the seat, dropped off my stuff then locked and shut my door. The second I shut that door I felt my pocket for my keys. Nothing. I turned around and there they were, sitting just feet from me. How can something be so close and yet so far away? Again I had to call my parents (with a pay phone) and have them unlock my car. Yes in-between these two insidents I wasted $3 on phone calls (did you know that those stupid pay phones don’t give your money back if you reach an answering machine?)

To lay all my humiliation out before my blogging sphere I should mention that this is the second time I have locked the keys in the car. The first time was in Santa Clara California a few years ago when dad and I were on a business trip. Yes this was before I had my own keys and yes I was using dad’s keys and yes they were the only pair of keys that we had. We had to pay someone to come unlock the car for us.

The lost awe affect – part one – Entering the holly of Hollies

I actually posted this post back in July, but now I'm going to call it part one in a short series i'm going to do.


Hebrews 10:19-22 therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.


Some people think that the New Testament portrays God as a much more reachable and down to earth God than the God of the Old testament. I Love how this verse uses Old Testament examples to remind us that God is just as powerful now as he was in the Old Testament, and yet God allows us to pray and commune with him. This passage is so awesome.…we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place… the Holy of Holies was a place reserved only for priests; and only after they had been ceremonially cleaned. This awesome passage says that we can enter the Holy of Holy’s. All the ceremonial washing, all the set apart line of priesthood, all the special things that the priests would do has been replaced by one thing: Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ we are able to enter into the Holly of holies: the throne room of God.In the holy of Hollies is the Ark of the Covenant. The same ark that Uzzah reached out to steady, and was struck down by God. How amazing is it that we have access through Christ to this powerful God? I know you all know how awesome of a gift it is to pray to God, but I just love how this passage reminds me of just how amazing that gift is.

Swiffer

My favorite commercial

God is good

Well this quarter I actually have two of the same instructors I had last quarter [math and PE]. I’ve only had one Speech class, but I already really like my instructor. However I can’t imagine him EVER giving a formal speech. I can’t imagine him in a formal tux. He’s bald. Has a pirate’s goatee about three inches long, and wears a necklace. But he has a great sense of humor

My physics teacher, however, is another beast. He is convinced that evolution is a fact, global warming is real, and the Democratic Party is awesome. I am told by a former student of his that the class will have to watch All Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth [aka an inconvenient lie]. I also feel that this teacher thinks of his students as a job – and a job he doesn’t particularly like at that. Before classes began I checked with the college on what books I would need. They said I there were no required texts. I get to class the first day and the teacher tells us that while the text isn’t required all the homeworks are going to be out of it. Furthermore, the college bookstore doesn’t carry this book so the only way to get a hold of it is to check it out for two hours at the campus library. Fortunately I was able to find an inexpensive copy of the book on Amazon.

On Friday [the second day of class] I was walking towards my physics class, totally dreading it when I realized how awesome our God’s planning is. He wants me to be tested by tough situations like a teacher who totally sucks, but he has given me three other classes that I really like. So I am being challenged, but not to the point where every day I dread going to school. I realized that both this quarter and last, God has given me one class that was a challenge [last quarter it was English], and all the others were great. How awesome our God is.

Oh, P.S. Thursday I lost my bank card. I was quite scared at first, but the card is canceled, by balance is what it should be and the bank is sending me a new card.

5 things I did during my break

Well tomorrow I go back to school for my Winter Quarter at Whatcom Community College, but I thought I would real quick update you all on what I did during my break. I had a very nice, long break [Dec. 12th- Jan 1st].

1 The first large project I undertook during my break was to straighten up the garage and fix up the game room by painting the ping pong table.

2 Next dad and I built doors for the bookshelves in our family room. That was actually a lot of work.

3 For Christmas our family just stayed home by ourselves to celebrate. It was a very nice family day.

4 After Christmas Janel and I invited a bunch of our friends over for ping pong and games. It was a lot of fun.

5 For new years we had my grandparents [dads folks] over. We did puzzles most of the might.

Lately our family has been doing a lot of redecorating around the house [for which I am very thankful]. We bought new carpet, a new couch and chairs for the living room, new dining room chairs, new molding, new shelves, and refinished old shelves. It’s been very nice. I’ve also [as always] been decorating my room. I should post some pics of my room sometimes.

Well it’s off to bed for a good nights sleep before it’s back to school tomorrow.