Life on the Hill

Broken Romance

2011-09-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

His bride

stumbles in

drunk again

smelling strongly of other men.

She steps

in the door

falls to the floor

and sobs, "I'm just a whore."

And his heart

breaks as she takes

labored breaths,

sobs for her mistakes.

He aches

to hold her

nor scold her

his love is bolder

than the boulder

of the weight of

her sins.

And so begins

the dance of their

broken romance.

Each glance she steals

only reveals his look

of love that heals

as she feels

at peace again.

Again he dries

from red puffy eyes

tears cried a thousand times

'cause she tries and tries

but the lies

and eyes

of idols

passing idly by beguile

with a smile

and then

she's gone . . . for a while.

She turns, returns

as each lover spurns

and rejects her,

infects her,

neglects her,

ejects her.

She recalls the one who selects her.

He fights for her

delights in her

would change the sky's lights for her

because he'd die for her.

He did die for her.

So again he holds

her close

dries her eyes

with his clothes

and anew she knows

her first and only love.

Wholly Bible

2011-08-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thy word is a lamp for my own needs

And a torch for my wrath.

Take a look at the book

Your children forsook.

We casually peruse it,

Selfishly abuse it,

Confuse it,

Lose it,

Fuse it,

And accuse with it.

Exploiting your prophets for profits,

Plastering phrases and rhymes

On t-shirts and signs

Ignoring the lines above and

Below

Because the context disconnects

Your intent from my desire.

These scriptures are a brick

Thick enough to pick up

And smash through

The windows and doors

Of the widows and poor

And anyone who offends

While we defend

Our cut-and-paste passage

And memory verse that assuage

Our guilt and fear that

What we see and hear

With our own eyes and ears

From our own fists and jeers

Might not be thy will as it is in heaven.

Your word is an answer key

To shut up those who disagree

With me in all my glory.

And each story, song, and letter

Serves me better

Cut up with chapters and verses

To bite-sized portions

Which make my distortions

Easy.

We dissect, correct, and collect

Tidbits and scraps

To set our traps

That will prove we already know

And show our holiness and piety.

Still we print them,

Holy Bible blazoned on spine and cover.

But we need to recover what we’ve lost

Under the embossed leather.

To drink in your word,

Not probing or analyzing,

But being filled and thrilled

By what is

Wholly Bible.

Heads Up, Your Career Path Is...

2011-08-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

...Exhausting!

I woke up at 4:30 today. That's PM! We finished out our summer with a 24 hour Secret Service Day. This event consisted of a full day of service projects followed by a lock-in. This is the sort of event that will not take place when I am in charge of a youth ministry. Oh, and I had to plan this event...

Anyway, I'm not just exhausted from this one event, but summers in youth ministry are just brutal sometimes. All the trips and camps and service projects and lessons and more and more... It's enough to drive you crazy sometimes. (If you know any youth ministers, you understand now why they are the way they are!)

...Frustrating!

There were days this summer that I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. Working with teens can be like surrounding yourself with bipolar ADHD kids sometimes. Working in churches has shown me that it is one place where there are plenty of people who are willing to tell you how you should be doing your job. I know that most people mean well when they give such advice, but (despite the many jokes as youth ministers make about our education) we've studied this stuff and there's (usually) a good reason for the way we're doing things.

...Rewarding!

Above all, my job is full of so many moments of joy and awe at what God can do through young people. I have watched these teens grow closer to God and to one another. His love has poured out of them in so many ways. Sure, they're not perfect, but neither am I. No one is. Having the privilege to work with teens and point them toward God is the greatest joy that I have known in my life. I am sad to be leaving such a great group of kids, but I look forward to the many opportunities ahead of me to serve God's kingdom in any capacity.

In two days I will be gone, but the lessons, memories, and friendships will stay with me as God continues to teach me more about loving and serving Him.

2 Weeks Notice

2011-07-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I didn't quit my job.

The fact is 2 weeks from tomorrow will be my last day as a youth intern for the North Davis Church of Christ. I considered myself mentally prepared for this (as we all do with most deadlines, important dates, etc.). How wrong we can all be from time to time. (See how I cleverly turned the possibility of admitting I was wrong into an "Everyman" scenario?)

It hit me yesterday morning when the High School group got back from Mississippi. That was the landmark in my mind. I've been telling myself since we reached the midpoint of the summer, "When they get back from Mississippi, you'll basically have two weeks left." That's preparation right there. But I wasn't prepared for the feeling that hit me when they came bounding out of the vans to hug me and say that they missed me. I was joyful because I had missed them, but under the joy there came the sobering realization that the next time I am separated from them will be for a much longer time with no set return date.

I've said it before, that's the worst part about internships. I have missed the Hillcrest youth so much this summer. They have sent (oh so helpful) texts, facebook messages, etc. saying how much they miss me and asking over and over when I will be back. That has been unbearable enough. But what will it feel like when I have no answer to give to that question other than, "I don't know, I hope sometime soon"? What will it be like to miss these kids and not have the promise of seeing them again?

The path that I have chosen is difficult. I knew that from the start, but I learn more and more just how difficult ministry is. Dealing in relationships is messy because people are messy. Goodbyes with people are just as messy.

I was asked recently if I was still felt unsure about leaving. Is the glass still both half full and half empty? Yes, only the glass has gotten much larger in both cases.

Above all, I am thankful for the relationships I have formed and the things that I have learned this summer and also for the opportunity to return to relationships that have been put on hold.

Blessings,

Matt

The Fine Line Between Complaining And...

2011-07-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

And...

Hmmm...

You know, there may not be a fine line between complaining and anything. I think if we're honest with ourselves, complaining is pretty easy to spot. Probably because there is so much of it constantly bombarding us these days.

Lately, I haven't been able to escape the complaints that Christians are constantly making. On Facebook, Twitter, and blogs a steady stream of whining constitutes so many of the posts that I read. The easy solution would be to stop reading them, yes? Unfortunately, many of these posts are my close friends. I will not pretend that I am not also guilt of such complaining (for example, this post so far), but it still makes me a little sick.

In fact, that I am also guilty of such behavior is most likely the reason it sickens me. The faults we find in ourselves tend to stand out more to us in the lives of others.

What gets me down the most about all of it is that the majority of complaints are aimed at other Christians. Books and articles are published every day "about God" (but really should bear titles like "Why So-and-so Is Wrong and I Am Right"). People compare churches, raising one above the other as the model of Christian community. We tear at each other for...what?

What do we gain by firing these critiques back and forth?

A sense of superiority? Probably.

A greater conviction of our own rightness? Possibly.

A closer resemblance to the Body of Christ? Absolutely not.

It is so easy to belittle that which is different. We all believe that we are right, otherwise we would believe differently. The much harder and more Godly (funny how often those go together) act is to encourage and elevate that which is different.

If someone loves their congregation, community, or ministry, that's great! However, we must learn to love those who do things differently, who look at the world another way, and who may disagree with how we do things. Then we will know what it is to be the Body of Christ.

Blessings,

Matt

Stolen Post

2011-07-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Richard Beck's blog, Experimental Theology. It's a four-fold blessing that he found and it really touched me.

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

I hope that this can bless you as much as it has me.

A Longing to Shut-up

2011-07-18T14:39:00.001-07:00

I came to an interesting realization today. I really want to shut-up.

Zip it

Put a sock in it

Shut my yapper

...you get it.

Why do I want to shut-up? Well, I guess I should be a little wary of this feeling. I have been working as a youth intern for the better part of a year and four months. I've done a lot of talking. So, the swiftly approaching end of the summer offers me an opportunity that probably won't come up much for the foreseeable future after graduation: I get to stop talking (at least when it comes to church, anyway).

Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. Delving into a text and finding a way to present it that is engaging and new is something that I find a lot of joy in. However, I'm still learning. For the past year I have been regurgitating what I've learned almost as fast as I could soak it up. This final year of undergraduate education offers me the opportunity to soak up without having to spit back out so quickly.

The reason I am slightly wary of this desire to shut-up is that I will soon be entering into ministry in a much greater capacity. This break to shut-up will most likely have to last me a good long while.

Good thing I love to talk.

"When You Run..."

2011-07-12T07:03:00.001-07:00

Since I have been running regularly for a little while now, I think about running from time to time. There's a quote from one of my favorite songs of all time (The Weight of Lies by The Avett Brothers) that I think of a lot:

"When you run, make sure you run to something and not away from, 'cause lies don't need an aeroplane to chase you anywhere."

This line usually crosses my mind at least once or twice whenever I go running. Almost every time it does I start to think about the things in my life that I have tried to run from at one point or another...

conflict

work

school

bad habits

responsibility

sleep

God...

The list could go on and on. As I think through all the things that I have run from, two things happen. I realize just how often our response to problems (or things/people/deities that we just don't want to deal with) is running. You'd think after hearing the story of Jonah several times we'd get the point.

The second thing that happens is I begin to see that running away really never seems to pan out. Whatever was demanding my attention that I chose to flee was always still there when I looked back over my shoulder. Sure, I could run for a while and it would be out of my mind, but there always comes a point where we have to look back. And voila! Still there...

So, how do we become people who (to borrow a phrase from some guy who liked to write a bunch of letters) forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead? What can we place before ourselves that makes our running worth something? We are all hard-wired to run (metaphorically). We desire to be about something. However, without purpose that running is useless. I enjoy running, but mainly because the general feeling of being healthier, having to buy new clothes because I shrank out of my old ones, and the time to meditate while I go.

I guess the root issue is about pursuit. Being the pursued in any situation other than love and tag is not a fun place to be. Running with dogs nipping at my heels would be terrible. However, being the pursuer, enjoying the thrill of the chase, and reaching the goals that we set before ourselves...THAT is what we were born to do. So, since someone else already said it better...

"When you run make sure you run to something and not away from."

Blessings,

Matt

The Glass is Half...

2011-07-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

...Empty

My time here at North Davis Church of Christ is already half-over. It's strange to work somewhere for only a summer after working at Hillcrest for over a year. The time has just flown by and I feel like I just got here. I love these kids so much. They are so much fun and they love each other so much. It has been so great to get to know them, but I feel like there is so much I have yet to learn about each of them and I'm not sure I have the time. No, I know I don't have the time to get as close to them as I would want, but I will simply have to work with the time that I have.

...Full

My time here in Arlington is already half-over. I didn't realize how attached I had become to Abilene. I love that place. I have missed all my favorite restaurants, coffee shops, etc. I have missed having disc golf courses that are closer than 30 min away. Abilene is where most of my friends are/will be and this summer has shown me how much I rely on them. Part of me is very ready to get back.

It's strange to feel so torn about being halfway done with my internship. Judging by how quickly the first half went by, the second will probably go by even more quickly. We'll see how the glass is then.

Pantokrator

2011-06-11T16:51:00.001-07:00

Week after week

Our weak voices speak

Proclaiming in your name

That it's you we seek.

We call you omnipotent, all-powerful

the Almighty,

Claiming that in all our might we

Can't hold a candle to you.

We read of your miracles,

Wonder at your parables,

And one day each week we shout,

"These are not just fables!"

But Sunday school ends,

And the worship service sends

Us out to be about our Father's business,

But our attention span is short.

The rest of the week

We speak of our might

And what we might do

Thinking not of you

But of our own hands

Our own demands

Building castles of sand

And declaring them secure.

But the week ends,

And the weekend sends

Us back to the pew and to you.

Maybe this week we'll see that your power

Leaves the building with us.

"Every New Beginning...

2011-05-31T16:46:00.000-07:00

...comes from some other beginning's end. Yeah."

So says Semisonic anyway.

Well, I officially started my new internship on Sunday. We had church then went to lunch at T.G.I. Friday's with whichever youth group kids wanted to go. There were about 25 of us! Then we had a swim party that night to welcome the new 7th graders into the group. It was a lot of fun.

I think my old youth group (it still feels weird to call the kids at Hillcrest that) somehow knew that I had started my new job, because they all started texting, calling, and Facebooking me this weekend. I love them and miss them so much.

I'm beginning to realize how hard ministry can be when it comes to saying goodbye. The sad thing is, that's just the "nature of the beast". Even if I stay at one church for a long time, kids will pass through my youth group and on to college every year. Fortunately, I have found the only remedy I think there is to this: continuing in ministry. The new relationships that I have begun here have already helped to ease the pain of leaving. No matter how many goodbyes I have to say, there will always be more people waiting to be served, befriended, and loved.

And that is something to look forward to.

Stubborn as Mules

2011-05-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

The more I read and hear about Harold Camping's prediction of Judgment Day (tomorrow...I thought about posting this at 6 pm tomorrow when supposedly things would be kicking off...but I decided not to be THAT petty) the more I am astounded by the human capacity for stubbornness. This is not Camping's first prediction of The End. He made the very same prediction in 1994. His first assessment was that the world would end in September of that year. When September came and went, he redacted his prediction to extend until the last day of 1994. Lo and behold, December 31 passed uneventfully.

This time, he claims there can be no doubt. He has cracked the code, which as we all know is what scripture is and was always intended to be. Some people will talk about the Bible being stories, letters, and literature meant to pass on truth about the Living God and the saving work performed for all humanity. They talk of peace, hope, and love. What kind of religion is that? The "facts" clearly point to hidden messages and numerology.

So as the day swiftly approaches, I think about Harold Camping, the stubborn 89 year-old. I wonder what would happen in a world without fanatics like him. Would the world suddenly say, "Hey, this Christianity business makes perfect sense! Now that those wackos are gone, I'm on board!" A nice dream, but I highly doubt that would be the case.

Would we instead be forced to look at our own stubbornness? Would we be forced to acknowledge the ways that we abuse scripture ourselves? Without a scapegoat of higher stubbornness, would we actually begin to fix our own problems? Maybe on Sunday we'll get started...

Blessings,

Matt

Muddled Minds and Marathons

2011-03-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've just about decided to take the marathon training course next semester at ACU.

The teacher, Odies Wright, is a member and active volunteer with the youth at Hillcrest. I talked to him today at church just to ask a few questions about his marathon class. It went a little like this:

Me: "Hey Odies, how far would someone need to be able to run at the start of your marathon class?"

Odies: "Well, I have some who run pretty sporadically. I'd say most come in at a few miles or so. Why?"

Me: "Well, I was thinking about taking it."

Odies: "How far can you go?"

Me: "6 miles. I've been averaging about 13-16 miles per week."

Odies: "Oh you'd be great! I wish all my students started there."

After that conversation, I couldn't really convince myself not to take the class. I've really come to love running this semester, and I think I know why. I have been busier this semester than ever. I thought my schedule was going to be better this semester, but it hasn't quite turned out as I expected (as life tends to do). So the most peaceful times in my week are the times that I run. My running partner recently broke her foot, so I've been running alone for a little bit. I stopped listening to music while I run and spend the time thinking, praying, meditating, or just enjoying the rhythm of running. It has become a very centering time in a crazy life.

I think this has factored into my decision. Next semester looks to be much less busy, but I'm not betting on that again. I always find ways to fill my schedule back up. If I take this course, not only will I accomplish something pretty great, but I will automatically have time set aside for what has been a very important time for me personally and spiritually over the past year.

Now I just have to keep the running up over a crazy summer of interning!

Kingdoms Divided

2011-02-05T21:28:00.001-08:00

*Note: To get the full effect of how I would like this poem to appear, check the note on my Facebook by the same title.

We are all kingdoms
divided.

It makes no sense to deny it.

Although we have a king,
we are slaves to others.

Although we have life,
we are plagued by death.

Although we have love,
we are filled with hate.

What matters is that we fight.

For these wars will pass away
and we will all
be taken up
be made whole
be clean.

Until then,

we are all kingdoms
divided.

On the Sanctity of Scripture

2011-01-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

Since I gained the ability to think critically (whenever that was) I have struggled with the unholy words and deeds that I have heard and seen that stemmed from a so-called adherence to the Holy Bible. I have heard scripture quoted to attack others, to support judgment and exclusion, and even to justify outright evil. The abuse of scripture has reached the point that when people actually sit down to read the text they are surprised by the actual message and its beauty. For example, one of my professors recently shared with us the story of the birth of the Monty Python movie The Life of Brian, which is the story of the guy born in the stable next to Jesus. The writers originally wanted to create a film to make fun of Jesus. However, when they read the gospels for "material" they discovered that they liked Jesus. So they made a movie to make fun of his followers instead.

The saddest part of the situation today is that the people I have seen abuse the Bible the most have been those who believe most whole-heartedly in its authority and inerrancy. The purpose of this post is not to question that belief, but instead to question to attitude of those who subscribe to it towards what they consider holy.

The nature of holiness in scripture, especially in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), is dangerous. The presence of God was fearful and too awesome for humans to hope to survive. The ark of the covenant was deadly to those who touched it. Yet these days it seems that so many people are ready to snatch up the Bible and begin to proclaim that they have mastered it to the point that they have authority to make judgments and claims in God's name.

I would think that when dealing with something that is holy we would approach with more fear and trembling, realizing the gravity of scripture and being more careful that we do not twist and pervert it to our own ends.

Almighty Father, guide us as we explore your word. Teach us to be transformed by it and not to use it as simply a tool or a weapon. Grant us the humility to admit that we are imperfect as are our interpretations and translations. Help us to embody your love and grace as we deal with the Bible and with the world. Amen.

Blessings,
Matt

A Prayer and Blessing

2011-01-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

Father,
We approach this new year with hope. Guide us as we prepare for the plans and challenges of this year. Help us in times of uncertainty and desperation. Be our light and our life, or, more accurately, help us to see that you already are. Bring us low when we are full of our own seeming accomplishments and lift us up when Satan hurls lies at us. Be with those who work. Give them peace and wisdom in their pursuits and give them joy in their toil. Let their work bring glory to your name. Be with those who study. Give them patience and passion. Let their thirst be more for you than simple knowledge. And be with those who have nothing. Let them be comforted by you and let your people come to their aid.
Amen

May you let nothing stand in the way of God's glory, neither ambition nor apathy, great success or despair, others or yourself. May you be more than a light to the world, but also a warmth and the very aroma of Christ that those around you may not only see him but feel him with their being. May you love violently and unconditionally so much that the world cannot help but know that love must come from someone greater.
Blessings,
Matt

December and 80...

2010-12-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

Ah, the joys of Abilene. Today: high in the 80s. Tomorrow: high in the 50s. That has nothing to do with this post...

I'm currently reading a book called The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark. I highly recommend this book. The basic premise of the book is that, as Christians, we should be people who question. This is not really a new idea. A good friend of mine named Paul once said something similar: "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thess. 5:21-22)

It is this time of year that reminds me how crucial it is to live in skeptical holiness (a term I coined which I hope catches on). We accept most of what we see and hear because we are so accepted. We live in a time and place where we can put up displays of the birth of our Savior and play songs about him with only a little backlash. We blend our faith with our culture to the point that it gets hard to pull the two apart.

Christmas is the prime example of this mixing. It is the season of giving. The Salvation Army ramps up its efforts, charitable organizations launch donation drives, and churches step up their game to keep up with the world. It is also the time of year when US spending spikes 80-100 billion dollars.

We swallow some pretty big disparities.

One point that is made in the book is that we have to question the small things as well as the large, because the big things need to be looked at but change happens in the small.

So what?

It's time to put back on our glasses. The world has convinced us that it is backward or old-fashioned to screen things through our faith, but faith is the way we see the world. Isn't it time we owned it?

Land of the Free

2010-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

An odd label given
to a land
of slaves.

We are chained
to our schedules.
We are shackled
to our phones.

Whipped constantly
by the media,
and punished
by our fads.

We buy our way
into prisons
of power
of greed
of pleasure.

We embrace our freedom
in our ability
to have our choice
of so many
masters.

Land of the lock and key,
and the home of the slave.

Building Forts

2010-11-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

He’s building a fort
in his bedroom today
and no one else can come in.

It's his very own.
Now, leave him alone.
He’s going in it to stay.

He’s building a fort
right under his bed
and he’s never coming back out.

It's nice and cozy.
Go away, nosy.
It's only for him, like he said.

He’s building a fort
inside of his chest
where no one but he can see.

Because he’s too old
for forts, so he’s told,
hiding his heart seems best.

A Year Without October

2010-11-07T19:03:00.001-08:00

Well, I have proven once again that I'm not cut out for the world of high stakes, professional blogging. Apparently (as far as my blog shows), nothing happened in the month of October. The truth is, of course, too much happened. This is one of the odd and sad quirks of the lifestyles we lead these days: the busier we are, the less we talk about it.

Obviously, more time spent doing is less time spent talking. Have you ever noticed what happens when we do this, though? We start to make more mistakes. We become less satisfied. Our decisions make less sense to those around us and even to us.

Why?

We stop talking.

All it takes for me to reconsider a really pointless or stupid course of action is for one trusted friend to say, "Matt, you're being an idiot." Once those prophetic words call my attention back to reality, it is much easier for me to think clearly and get back on the right track. This is true of everything from deciding what to eat to decisions about the future, or even thoughts about God.

All judgments on life, love, and faith are better made by more than one brain. Don't let busy-ness turn into stupidity. Never let scheduling take the place of thinking. And finally, don't stop talking. It's much harder to tell just how skewed our vision has become until we actually say it out loud.

Blessings,
Matt

The Groundskeeper

2010-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

There once was a man who lived in a small house by the park in a quaint little town. Each day he would get up early, get dressed, and begin his walk through the park. As he walked, he would pick up trash and make sure the sidewalks were clear of garbage and debris. All the people of the town knew him because of the service he freely gave to them on his daily walk.

When one of the swings in the park broke, the man returned to the park during the evening and worked late into the night to repair it. Everyone knew that if someone got hurt on the jungle gym or scraped a knee on the cement the man would have a bandage or an ice pack ready in minutes. They trusted and loved the man. The park was a warm and welcoming place where all felt safe and joyful.

One day the man announced that he would be leaving for a while. The people of the town asked him when he would be back, but he simply told them that he couldn’t say. Then he was gone.

For a while the people continued to look for him, not quite ready accept his absence since he had become such a significant part of their lives. The people often spoke of him and remembered the times that he had helped them personally and simply reminisced about his daily walks through the beautiful park.

Meanwhile the park grew dirtier.

Trash was left on the ground. The sidewalk became cluttered and filthy. The merry-go-round broke and was left that way.

After a while, the people stopped going to the park. What had once been a beautiful place filled with love had become a dark and desolate place. Some of the people spoke of the “good old days” when the man had cared for the park and life was as it should be. Others grew angry with him, resenting the fact that he had gone and neglected the park. Still others would wait and watch the park, imagining what it would be like when the man returned.

As the people stayed away from the park longer and longer, they grew distant from each other. And so they stay behind closed doors, away from the park, and talk about the man who taught them so much and do nothing but wait for his return.

Wise and Foolish

2010-09-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; and it fell with a great crash. The man was not fearful or worried, for he knew his home was not bound up in a building but in the family of God. Yet, when he sought help from his brothers and sisters they saw not his need, but the time and effort that would be required of them. Though they all had houses on the rock, the doors were shut. The man left the rock and found a spot on the beach. There he built a shelter on the sand. Those on the rock looked down and ridiculed his poor decision, watching and waiting for the storm that would wash him away. Yet, the man was content. For he found a new family among those huddled on the beach. Each knew the suffering of the other and all shared what shelter there was to be found. He found it was better to be among a family of fools on the sand than alone with a house on the rock."

When he finished saying these things, the crowd was outraged. They went away frustrated, for they had come to find safety and comfort, but were given sand instead.

After the Fall

2010-09-11T06:40:00.001-07:00

So the man and his wife walked away from the Garden, heads hung low in shame. Suddenly they came upon a box. Taped to the top of the box was a simple note that said, “On second thought, animal skins are not quite enough. –God”

They opened the box cautiously.

Inside were the most beautiful clothes they had ever seen (though that wasn’t saying much for these ex-nudists). Adam gathered his outfit: pants, shirt, jacket, tie, and nice polished shoes with argyle socks. Eve took up her dress, necklace, and stylish pumps.

They quickly changed into their new garments, after struggling with how exactly to put them on for a few moments.

They looked at each other.

They were amazed by what they saw.

Not only was their shame still covered, but they looked wonderful. They were even attracted to each other. Adam thought about these new clothes and said to Eve, “Now we are worthy. God has given us these clothes so we can be with Him again.”

Eve replied, “That must be it. We no longer feel ashamed and we look important enough to be in the presence of God. We deserve a relationship with Him now.”

Eve reached out and grabbed her husband’s hand. Together they walked on, looking for God so they could show Him that they were properly dressed to be with Him. Their shame was covered and their clothing suggested they were perfect.

From the tree that was shading the box the serpent slithered. He picked up the note that he had written from the box. Laughing to himself, he watched as the man and woman walked. He could rest a while, knowing that they were now further than ever from God.

Finding Sabbath

2010-08-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

As always, school is off at a brisk jog. It isn't sprinting yet, but give it time. Over the past year I have become a big believer in the Sabbath. Not necessarily the Hebrew Sabbath, but just the practice of slowing down from time to time to remember and spend time with God.

Unfortunately I am an American...

We live in a culture that tells us, "If you're not busy, you're lazy."

The sad part is we buy it.

I bought it.

The things that occupy my time are good and all important to me. My time is stretched and pulled by my youth internship, Seekers, and school. That is why I am searching for Sabbath.

Since I cannot and will not drop any of these things that I love, I have to keep my eyes open to the opportunities to stop and rest. I still want to know God and He wants to know me. Finding the time to do that will be an adventure.

I am excited about all the blessings in store for this semester. I am working with a youth group that I love, I am in a drama ministry that has become my family, and I am learning so much about God and my work.

I just have to remember to slow down.

The Have-Nots

2010-08-07T13:31:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about the way we see the world. We separate everything into neat categories.

There are the rich and the poor,

the popular and the unpopular,

the good and the bad,

the beautiful and the hideous.

There are the Haves and the Have-Nots.

Unfortunately, we let these distinctions infiltrate our faith. We see people outside of Christianity as those without faith,
without hope,
without God.

We forget that faith is a part of being human. Whatever we feel to be right, whatever we cling to, whatever we hold dear is our faith.

We neglect the fact that life is not possible without hope. Whatever gets us out of bed, whatever makes us work, whatever we long to see is our hope.

But most importantly, we forget that God is everywhere, in everything, and with everyone.

When it comes to God, there are no Have-Nots. There is no group that is outside of God's love. Therefore, there is no group that should be outside of our love.

Our job is not to implant faith, our task is not to create hope, and our duty is not to deliver God. Each of these actions is beyond our grasp.

But love is greater than hope and faith, as you've heard before. Not only is it greater, but it is what is within our grasp.

We cannot use faith and hope on others. We can love them.

In a world where everyone has the love of God, will we continue to withhold our own?

Spit Shine

2010-08-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

Today marks the end of an era. I bought a new watch.

For those of you who are not familiar with my bond with my late timepiece, I will share the history of that watch.

I received it as my first "real" (analog) watch when I was in the 6th grade. It has been on my wrist almost every moment since that day. That is why I have such a tan-line on my wrist. It suffered dents and cracks for almost 9 years. Today it took its last hit from a basketball before it finally gave up.

I started thinking about that watch.

How quickly do we throw things away when they no longer look "good"?

It had been years since that watch looked good.

But it still ticked.

It still stayed on my wrist.

It still worked.

We so easily forget that things continue to serve their purpose long after aesthetics have faded. We figure that if something doesn't look pristine then it isn't working the way it's supposed to work.

We treat ourselves the same way.

We try to keep ourselves looking nice and put-together so that we appear to be doing everything right. We cover up our flaws to give the appearance of perfect actions. We spit-shine our souls.

But spit-shine still depends on spit.

Whatever we do, we're going to get dirty. We're going to get battered. We're going to be broken.

But God still works.

Where we are filthy, he shines. Where we are cracked, he makes whole. Where we fall apart, he remains the same.

Do not let the bruises and cuts of this life fool you into thinking you are useless. Let God show you that your scars make you something more.

When we are at our most broken, he shows just how whole we can be.

The Broken Heart of God

2010-07-16T08:54:00.001-07:00

He sat on a hill,
Watching as the city
shut down.

Traffic lights stop their
green
yellow
red
exchange
and begin another night
of blinking.

He can't get rid of
the sorrow.

His heart aches for the broken,
the homeless,
the beaten,
the lost...

He thinks of the girl
who knows no father's love.
He thinks of the boy
who chases cocaine's release.

He cries out at God in his soul,
"What are you going to do?
Why are you silent?
How can you watch this?"

No voice booms from the sky,
no burning bush,
no still whisper...

Just a heartbreak.

Deep and immense.

He feels the heart of God.

A quiet voice in his soul speaks,
"Don't you think I know?
Don't I feel the pain of my children?
This is my heartache.
Can you bear it?"

The man buckles under the weight,
the pressure,
the pain
of the broken heart of God.

As he sobs he hears his voice
echoing back,
his soul questioning itself.

"What are you going to do?
Why are you silent?
How can you watch this?"

Summer Book Reviews

2010-07-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well, in addition to teaching, planning/leading trips, going to devos, planning youth parties, and all the other crazy adventures of a youth internship, I have found time in the summer to consume a few books. A quick list:

Searching for God Knows What- Donald Miller
Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry- Doug Fields
Jesus Wants to Save Christians (Audio)- Rob Bell and Don Golden
Velvet Elvis (Audio)- Rob Bell
Contemplative Youth Ministry- Mark Yaconelli
180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day- Billy Collins
Nevada- Joshua Porter
The Know-It-All- A. J. Jacobs
Che: The Diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara- Ernesto Guevara

I've done pretty well, I think, considering the busy-ness of the summer. Now, I'll give my thoughts...

Searching for God Knows What: An interesting book. I won't say that it was my favorite. The author did share a lot of his own personal struggle with faith, but his discussion of stories from the Bible was a bit limited. I'd still recommend it as a good read. It will provoke some thought.

Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry: This book was given to me by Evan (the Bossman). Despite the author being a goober, it was a helpful book. Since I am not a full time minister, a lot of the advice wasn't immediately applicable. I am glad to have been introduced to some of the various stresses and issues of early youth ministry so that I can look ahead.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians and Velvet Elvis: I lump these together because Rob Bell's work tends to have the same effect all the time and it is never old. He takes passages of scripture that I know and applies a new and fascinating meaning to them. He is also not afraid to challenge those parts of our faith that seem to have been hijacked by our culture and twisted away from the original intent of Jesus. He always leaves me analyzing my faith and stretching further and deeper.

Contemplative Youth Ministry: Another Evan pick. I loved this book. My dad's reaction to the title is what makes this book so great. I told him the name of the book and he replied, "Isn't that an oxymoron?" He was joking, of course. However, many people DO view youth ministry that way and that was one of the main thrusts of this book. The author seeks to see youth become more than Christian teens, he wants to guide them to be true Christ-followers. Thus, the job of a youth minister is not to baby-sit and entertain, but to try to practice the presence of Christ that others might come to know him fully.

180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day: Just a book of poetry compiled by my favorite poet. I haven't been writing as much poetry as I used to write, but reading it has given me a lot to enjoy and to learn. Now, I have not actually read each poem in the book yet, but I have spent enough time with it for it to earn a place in this entry.

Nevada: A strange, somewhat gruesome, and very thought provoking book. The book is written as a piecing together of many different journal entries, news reports, police logs, etc. Some of the writings are from the perspective of mentally challenged or diseased people. The author does a great job of capturing a unique identity in each entry. The book itself is about Satan coming to earth and leading a revolution. He gives many speeches that expose many of the attitudes and behaviors of our culture that go against God's purpose for our lives. A warning: this book contains very graphic and wicked violence.

The Know-It-All: The best book I've read since The Year of Living Biblically, written by the same author. This book is the record of his experience reading through the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. A. J. Jacobs is hilarious and insightful. He is socially awkward and not afraid to show it. His failed attempts to apply his newfound knowledge remind me of the Friends episode where Joey buys the V section of the encyclopaedia and tries to bring up Mt. Vesuvius in conversation. Also, he peppers the book with enough random facts that you feel like you've joined him for part of the work.

Che: The Diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara: Don't worry, I'm not turning into one of those Manifesto-quoting, Communism supporting, Che-shirt wearing weirdos. I watched The Motorcycle Diaries with some friends a few weeks ago and got interested in this controversial figure of history. After reading these excerpts from his diaries, I cannot say that I admire him more or less. The writing consisted of a lot of description of battles and tactical decisions with not much mention of motivation and beliefs. I can admire his decision to leave behind studying medicine to devote himself to a cause he believed in. He was not afraid to stand up (even in the UN) and declare what he believed. I will not say that I agree completely with his ideals and I will never say I agree with his methods (or the methods of those who opposed him), but I can admire the loyalty of such a charismatic leader to his cause.

It has been a good reading summer, but I think my brain needs a nice non-thought-provoking fiction.

Leave No Pterodactyls

2010-07-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

One of the mottos of Wilderness Trek is “Leave No Trace”. During orientation before our week of camping and mountain climbing, one of the guides was talking about this motto. She asked if we knew what LNT stood for and gave us the hint that it was not “Leave No Pterodactyls”. I guess she didn’t do so well on her tough spelling tests in the dinosaur unit at school as a kid.

Anyway, I had a lot of opportunities to think about that motto throughout the week. The idea is to make it seem as if no one had ever been on the trail that week. It’s not such an easy job. For a group of twenty people to go anyone unnoticed would be difficult, but especially when you are headed into an area where only animals live. There’s bound to be a trace, but we try.

As one of the men with us pointed out, our lives are supposed to be the opposite. The people we
encounter are supposed to feel God.

But it’s so easy to go unnoticed.

Just as it’s easy to pull up some grass and drop a candy wrapper on the mountain, it’s so simple to pass through the world without disturbing anything.

It’s easy to be quiet.

It’s easy to blend.

However, our volume has the same effect in both cases. The whole mountain of animals knew where we were simply by our laughing and singing (and groaning in pain). Yet, the world only notices less of

God the louder we shout.

It’s easy to be quiet.

It’s also easy to scream.

What’s hard is letting the world see you for all that you are.

What’s hard is being broken for the sake of the broken.

What’s hard is letting God leave a trace.

So the time has come for each of us to stop covering up the trail that He blazes. Let the rocks do the crying out. Our job is not to shout, but to come down off the mountain and let God’s love do the talking.

Life Update

2010-06-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I figure it's about time for a simple post about life.

I am sitting in my host home (aka The Vatican. The people I am staying with are the Popes...get it?) watching some World Cup soccer and just thinking about how great life is right now.

I have been working with the Hillcrest Youth Group since late March and it has been a tremendous blessing. It is such an awesome experience to be able to teach, worship, and simply hang out with such a great bunch of kids.

I am about to leave this Sunday for two trips back-to-back. I will be going with a Middle School group of about 20 up to Camp Champion at LCU this coming week. On Friday morning I will be picked up in Lubbock by a High School group heading to Colorado for Trek. I am going to be one tired youth intern when we return on July 2nd. Luckily things will slow down a little after that, but it will also be July! July? That's so close to the end of the summer. The other interns will have their last day on August 11 (Happy Birthday to me, right?). This summer is flying by.

God has been teaching me a lot of things about youth ministry, relationships, and myself. I have developed a greater passion for teaching and learned a lot more about how to have a little fun instead of diving too deep too quickly (a fault of mine).

Well, I really need to finish packing for this crazy two-week adventure.

Until next time, may God gently remind you that you will always be learning. May your heart be open to the possibility of change. May you continuously be amazed by the hearts of those around you as you catch glimpses of Christ through their lives.

Blessings,
Matt

Tumbleweed

2010-06-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here's another Facebook double dip for your enjoyment:

I will not simply be a tumbleweed.

Can you name the plants that become tumbleweeds? You nerds who can just be quiet for now. Now, think about this sad fact of the existence of tumbleweeds. They remain completely unknown and irrelevant until they die and then they are regarded as having value and interest.

I am not talking about making a name for myself.

I am not talking about being the best or the brightest.

I am talking about living.

When I think back on my activities this past week, month, or year I feel that I spent the majority of my time dead. Doing nothing except waiting for the day that I dry up and begin my bounding, rolling journey as a ghost town attraction and occasional Abilene entertainment. In short, waiting to be a tumbleweed.

Don’t get me wrong. Being a tumbleweed is the inevitable end. We are destined to reach that state of rolling excitement, detached from the earth and thrust into a new life so full of energy and change. I look forward to it.

But…

Every tumbleweed was a plant once. Every plant was created for a reason. The tumbling demise of these plants, while much greater than life in the ground, is not the reason.

And so I will live today as a plant. I will make the most of this day. I will grow and I will stand.

Eventually I will tumble from this earth. Until then, there’s much to do.

Double Dipping

2010-05-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm dumb. I write things on facebook sometimes that could easily be posted on here for those of you who are more likely to navigate this thing than facebook. Here are two recent ramblings of mine:

Best 401k Ever

I have been thinking a lot about the way that we live and share our faith. I think we have been guilty of a fundamental error in thinking. We have treated heaven as the goal of our faith. Think about it. We sing so many songs that talk about getting out of this world and getting a reward. Reward? Is that what it is? Seems to me that someone earns rewards, yet we also say that we cannot do anything to gain salvation. Interesting...

What then? How should we go about faith? Well, I think the answer is simple and one that is often given in jest in Sunday school and Bible classes at ACU: Jesus. Yes, that guy we talk about sometimes. Think about faith like a job. It's not one, it's a metaphor. Don't jump all over the analogy by taking it too far. Why do you get a job? Money, right? The answer is yes. Some of you will start to say fulfillment or purpose, but deep down you know that if the money were not there you probably wouldn't take it. Now, rarely do you start a career or job by thinking about how good the 401k is. The job is started for the paycheck.

Heaven is, by far, the best 401k ever. Forget retiring in Florida, we get to live with the King. Get excited, but stay focused. My question to you is: what's the paycheck? Now, it may be various things but here's what it should be:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8

A relationship with God. We get so caught up in heaven that we forget the real point of grace. Grace was given to us, Christ died for us, not so that we could get into an exclusive (and holy) nightclub. We have been rescued from sin so that we can once again be in communion with God. That is the paycheck.

By all means, keep looking forward to heaven. However, do not let that make you lose sight of the real joy and excitement that comes from knowing and being known by the Creator, the Sustainer, the King, the Parent, the God who loves you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Is Serious

I have been thinking about this for a while and tonight's lesson with the Hillcrest youth finally pushed me to write about it. Our faith is supposed to be serious. The following passage from Luke 9 has stuck with me for a while:

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

This passage seems pretty serious to me. Jesus doesn't seem to be making jokes as these people come wanting to follow him. I think that is the part of this passage that hits me the hardest. These people come to Jesus and say, "I want to follow you," and he basically tells them that they don't have what it takes. Now, I know I'm paraphrasing and probably oversimplifying a little, but when it comes down to it you can't deny that Jesus viewed being his disciple as a serious commitment.

When I look at how I have lived my life for the majority of my 20 years I can't help but feel selfish, whiney, and a poor excuse for a disciple of Jesus. I have loved him, and I have stayed away from doing the wrong thing. So what? I have not loved my neighbor, I have not been salt or light. I have been a good "church kid". I have been part of the family. Yet, as I look at the life of Jesus and see the people that he spent his time with and where he spent most of his time, I see that I have been living a cheap Christianity. I have been playing a game when this is all too real.

We talk about "fighting the good fight", being "soldiers of Christ", and putting on the "armor of God". All of these images are good and the first and last are straight out of scripture. But I don't think that quite gets at what we are called to do.

The battle is over. Victory already belongs to God. We are not fighting, we are not conquering, we are not vanquishing. We are cleaning up.

After every war there is a period of recovery, a time of reconstruction. We are the ones charged with that duty. The war has been decided, but not everyone knows. Many have been left in the darkness in the aftermath of God's victory. How many will we leave there?

Do not take up arms, do not prepare for battle, do not raise the banner high. Go into the chaos of the aftermath of battle and mend broken souls. Care for the sick, the needy, the lost, and the dead. For once you were as they are, but have seen the light and accepted the grace freely offered to all. Above all, love. Love fiercely and gently, love deeply and freely, and love unconditionally.

Why?

Because it will be the difference between life and death.

This is serious.

Worst Blogger Ever...

2010-05-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It's been forever. So much has happened. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I don't want this semester to be over, because that means I am halfway done with college (undergrad anyway). That is gross. Anyway, since it is the end of another semester I figured I would make a list of things I've learned. A top ten list of course.

10. Disc golf is amazing. I don't know how I lived happily before I started playing this sport. It is so much fun. I have made several new friends who I play with a lot. I also enjoy just going out and playing a round or two alone. It's a sport that allows for a lot of meditation.

9. Time management is hard when you become more like Hannah Anderson. I was more involved this semester than I have ever been in my life. Here is a list of all the things I have been involved in (some of these were not all semester long but they sure do make the list look impressive): Officer for Seekers, Creative team member for Seekers, Bible Departmental Chapel planning committee, Minter Lane Youth Volunteer, Minter Lane Worship planning committee, Tutor, Intern for Hillcrest, ACU for Abilene Planning Committee, and had a social life. Busy but awesome.

8. I care a lot less what others think of me. Now I am still aware of others' feelings and do not offend people if I can help it. I have simply begun to be myself instead of the person others want me to be. I don't care if people find out I don't care about sports. I write poetry. I have also come into my own faith more. I do not have to live out my faith the same way as you and that's fine. It's made life a lot simpler.

7. Complaining is for losers. I still complain from time to time, but I try hard not to. People around me always complain about chapel, homework, jobs, etc. Welcome to life. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't necessarily want to, but life is about more than us.

6. My God loves me right now. For the longest time God's love was conditional in my mind. I didn't actually form that thought, but I saw it in the way I treated faith and how I treated others. I focused on my own and others' flaws instead of looking past that stuff to who they really are. I used to treat a relationship with God like it was something that came and went with how holy I was. Now I see that He is with me now, He was with me yesterday, and He will be with me tomorrow.

5. Greek is great. I love it! I have started carrying my Greek NT with me whenever I go to church or a bible study, not to criticize or point out mistakes, but just for me. It gives me a chance to apply my love for languages to my faith. It has been great to be able to share that passion with God whenever I want. Next year I'm going to be taking Hebrew and I cannot wait for what God has in store for me through that and my continuing Greek education.

4. "Garbage in, garbage out" is more true than I ever thought. At a retreat that Seekers performed at this semester one of the speakers gave the standard "get rid of bad music, movies, etc." pep talk. I have heard so many of those in my life and never once listened. So I tried it. I went back to my dorm and did a deep cleaning of my iTunes. That meant deleting a lot of things that I had paid for. That meant giving up watching a lot of junk that was entertaining, but also filthy. Since then, I have noticed that my outlook on life is better, my attentiveness to God has greatly increased, and I am generally less self-centered. The correlation between all of those may not be direct, but suffice to say my garbage intake has been severely reduced.

3. Working with youth is what I love. Even at the times that I am frustrated with church, school, and life in general I always look forward to spending time with the Hillcrest youth. They are a great bunch of kids and in the short time that I have worked with them I have learned so much. I look forward to sharing more of my life and my faith with them and I know that they have so much to teach me. God has blessed me with skills and passion that I am getting to put into practice in new and challenging ways. I love it!

2. Passion is a gift from God. We have a tendency to think of God's will in terms of duty and obligation, but I have come to see that the desires of my heart were given to me by God and the things I have a passion for often help me to grow closer to Him. I love to write, and He speaks to me through my writing. I have a passion for youth ministry and He works through me. Doing what you love is not only healthy, but a part of God's plan for you (unless what you love is stealing things or something).

1. There will never be enough time to do everything you or anyone else wants you to do. I have had to decide between two or three things to do on a daily basis. This used to bother me, but this semester has taught me that it is okay to not do EVERYTHING. I am one person and can only do so much. As long as I do what I do well and with Christ in mind and heart, I'm good.

Well, there you have it. Another semester down.

Until next time, may you be continually reminded of God's love for you. May you come to accept and love yourself the way that God does so that you may love others the same way. May you enjoy life for the blessing that it is. Be cleansed by Christ, filled with the Spirit, and close to God.

Blessings,
Matt

We knew I was bad at this...

2010-02-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

I was simply not made to live a blogging lifestyle. It is a rare occasion that I am in my dorm room and awake longer than the time it takes to get ready either to leave or to go to bed. I am always running to class, work, Seekers, friends' houses, etc. Welcome back to campus life.

Speaking of life, I love it! This semester is amazing. There is just so much to love. I am back in Seekers which is just about the greatest thing ever. I missed it so much while I was gone. I'll be performing for the first time since before I went to Uruguay this coming weekend. I'm so excited to get back into the swing of performing. I have also really enjoyed my duties as Spiritual Director and a member of the Creative Team. We have been working on some new skits that I am pretty pumped about. I co-wrote three of them. Leading chapel and devos has been great.

My classes are either really easy or really interesting so that makes for a good semester. Greek is going really well and is by far my favorite subject. The Bible department hires a tutor for Greek each year and I talked to Marcia (my professor) about it today. She told me that there is a requirement for the tutor to take second year Greek before being able to have the job. However, she also told me that she had been thinking of me for that job and that, basically, after next year it's mine if I want it. By that point my internship will be over with Hillcrest, so I'll have more time to tutor if that happens.

Speaking of Hillcrest, I haven't even technically started working yet and I love that youth group. They are a great bunch of kids. I've had the chance to hang out with both the high school and junior high. some of the youngest junior highers were at camp this past summer. One girl came up to me last night at church and said, "Hey, you were the Voice of Counselor Trivia. I remembered, so I'm awesome." There are a ton of kids and I am having a hard time learning names, but I'll start to worry more when I'm paid to remember them.

I've also really enjoyed playing disc golf. It's a really relaxing sport and it has become one of the ways that I spend some quiet time with God. I just take my discs and either listen to some Christian music or pray while I play a round or two. I've also made a couple groups of friends who like to play, so I go play with them from time to time.

Anyway, life is fast and crazy but in a very good way. I can't wait to go visit Kayla and Darby with Hannah over Spring Break! It's coming faster than I know.

Until next time, may God show you that He can keep up with you no matter how busy you feel. May you see that He is a part of all things and that, if you open your heart, He will use you wherever you are.

Blessings,
Matt

In the blink of an eye...

2010-01-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

Time has lost control of itself. The days are confused and get out of order, or simply don't show up at all sometimes. The weeks shove each other aside in a mad dash to the next month. In case you didn't gather, I feel like this semester is off at a ridiculous pace. Nothing is causing too much stress or anything. It just feels like life could take a break from the caffeine and slow down a bit. I am a lot busier this semester than I've ever been. I am an officer and a member of the creative team for Seekers. I have a job tutoring on campus. I help with the youth at Minter Lane on Wednesday nights and I'm on one of the worship planning committees there. While all of this goes on I am trying to get better at disc golf (I'm in a class for it!), read, write, and enjoy friends (both new and old). It's a clumsy and flailing juggling act that strains the capabilities of my half-organized, half-chaotic mind. Have I mentioned that I love it. I must be getting more like Hannah.

I have also been talking to different churches about internships. I had one phone interview, submitted an online application, signed up for the internship fair on campus, and emailed a church in town about a possible year-long internship. After my phone interview it hit me for the first time just how close I am to living out my passion. The desire to be in youth ministry will soon be more than just a desire. I will be able to put my gifts to use and find new ones along the way. I'll be making relationships and leading young people to God. That gets me pumped beyond all reason. I started off this semester on a note of uncertainty, but I have since gained some perspective and settled back into life on campus. This semester holds a lot of promise and possibility and I plan to make the most of it.

May our Father speak love to you today. May your ears be ever listening for the sound of His singing as He comforts, encourages, and calls you. May you echo the voice of your Lord so that those around you may learn to hear more clearly.

Blessings,
Matt

New Year, Old Territory

2010-01-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since my last post and even harder to believe how much has happened in that month. I think that's what has been keeping me from starting back up the blog. Each time something else happened it would mean the next entry would be that much longer. Instead of a ridiculously long entry, I'll just give the highlights of the past month and probably go off on some tangent.

Well the end of the semester in Montevideo was relatively uneventful, filled with exams and packing. Then we hopped on a few planes for about a day (fun like you've never experienced...). About a week later I was back on a plane with my dad. We went to Utah to ski. We had great skiing and weather, even though the snow was a little low.

When we got back from Utah we had our Christmas celebrations with family and I tried to spend time with the friends I had missed for an entire semester. I didn't get to see as many as I had hoped, but there will be more chances soon enough. My break was cut short by a week by the January intensive course that I'm taking right now, Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament. I have class from 8-5 for a week for a semester's worth of credit. Anyway, it's time for the tangent that will form the bulk of this entry.

I read a few books over the break. I guess I'll go through them one by one.

1. The Messiah of Morris Avenue. This book is a modern day look at the story of Jesus. It is both hilarious and inspiring, encouraging and accusing. One of the most interesting aspects of Jay's (the modern Jesus character) teachings is his ideas on the trinity. He refers to God the Father and God the Mother. The Father is the Creator while the Mother is the Sustainer. Life would not exist without the Father and would not continue to do so without the Mother. As the son, he is the coming together of these two. It is a quick read and will really give you things to think about concerning the church today and what our mission is.

2. unChristian. This book (as many of you may already know) is the result of research into the stereotypes associated with Christians and the church today. The book does not concern itself as much with defending the church against attacks, but instead with offering possible solutions and changes to be effected within the church to make our image conform to that of Christ. Aside from showing a distinct bias toward a certain model of Christianity over others and having a distinct conservative viewpoint, this book provides a balanced look at the issues facing today's church and also features short essays by ministry leaders offering their ideas of how to become the hands and feet of Jesus.

3. The Da Vinci Code. I know, I know. It's been sitting on my shelf for years and I never got around to reading it. I have finally caught up with the world. As usual, I found myself less scandalized by a novel than some. I found the majority of it intriguing. I have always found symbology and things like the Knights Templar interesting. Also, I like the random tidbits that Brown throws into his writing (like the word sinister coming from the word for left handed people because they were considered bad). This book was not life changing. Simply an exciting, action-filled read.

4. The Unlikely Disciple. This book was reviewed by Kayla back in October which is what first turned me on to it. It is written by a journalism student from Brown who decides to transfer to Liberty University for a semester to write about the conservative evangelical side of the "God Divide". It is hilarious, sad, and even scary at times. He pulls no punches in uncovering what he finds wrong with the Christian environment that he experiences, but he also strives to find good in those around him and to humanize the people that his friends and family detest. At times I was proud to be a Christian while reading it and at other times I was ashamed to be associated with some of the behaviors of the author's classmates and professors. A wonderful and well-written book.

Well, that's all for now. I have to head back to my afternoon of more exciting prophets (That actually wasn't meant to be sarcastic. The class has been great so far.)

Blessings,
Matt

A bit of Spanish

2009-12-04T04:54:00.000-08:00

Note: Apparently, blogger doesn't enjoy it when I try to copy and paste Spanish text from Word to here. Word has a nice spell checker that adds accents for me and such (which is next to impossible on a laptop with no number pad), so the Spanish section below is far from correct due to lack of all accents. Enjoy.

Me di cuenta de que no he escrito en espanol. No estoy tratando de mostrar mis talentos o algo asi, solamente quiero mostrar que he estudiado y aprendido algo este semestre. Quiero decirles gracias a todos Uds. quienes han estado orando por mi. Sepan que Dios les escucho y me bendijo muchisimo. Acabo de terminar con mi examen del Antiguo Testamento. Solamente tengo tres examenes mas. Dos van a ser faciles y el otro es Griego que no va a ser dificil pero tampoco facil. Pues, no voy a escribir mucho mas porque yo se que la mayoria no puede leer esto. Estoy divirtiendome aqui pero, a la vez, no puedo esperar volver a los EEUU.

Well, I figured it was about time for a bit of Spanish blogging. I'm sure some of you were expecting it at some point. I'm not going to translate that because that would be cheating (not really, I just have more to say).

The Spanish language is hurting me. Not so much in the act of studying it. It's beginning to hurt my English portions of my brain. Certain words are becoming much easier to say in Spanish: "si" for "yes", "por supuesto" for "of course", "buscar" for "look for", etc. These words are beginning to come to mind before the English such that I sometimes have to pause and think of what the word is in English before I can move on. This has also had quite an impact on my TextTwist abilities. Most, if not all, of you are familiar with TextTwist and so are the people with me this semester. To call it an addiction would not be much of a stretch. I'm beginning to spot Spanish words before English words. Sometimes I will even type them in and enter them and get angry at the game for telling me those words aren't in the dictionary. My brain is breaking.

I think it's time I expressed a frustration from this semester. You've all heard the great things but it has not all be sunshine and daisies. One of the biggest frustrations has been my "Advanced" Spanish "Conversation" class. The words in quotations are presented in this way because those aspects of the class do not exist. There is nothing about this course that suggests 300 level material. In fact, our teacher told us more than once, "There are A's and no other grades in the world." Which sounds like a student's dream, but it also means that our workload was a joke and therefore unproductive. The conversation aspect also did not exist. The majority of class was spent forming simple sentences with different grammar structures one sentence at a time. I had hoped that this course would aid my speaking ability, but all it really did was help alleviate the pain of Latin American Thought (my philosophy class in Spanish). I have gotten more fluent through speaking with locals and others around CasaACU, but I still feel let down.

Now, to end on a positive note (sorry if my complaining [quejar- to complain; another one that comes to mind before the English] got on your nerves). It is now less than a week until I am on Texas soil. I know that I will miss this experience, this place, and these people more than I can imagine, but I cannot wait to see all of you, eat spicy food, drink Dr. Pepper, and drive my truck (in order of importance). I love each of you and cannot wait to tell you about my adventures and hear about your lives.

Until next time, may our God and Father give you hope for the future. May He give you peace and clarity about the past. Above all, may He give you the strength to be in the present that you may be Christ to your family, to your friends, and to your world. Seek Him, serve Him, be Him.

Blessings,
Matt

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Well, even though it goes against everything I stand for when it comes to blogging, I figure it's time for a "What-I'm-Thankful-For" blog (not to offend any of you who support that sort of thing. . .I just don't like trends). Anyway, Hannah wants me to do the ABCs like she did, but I'm not that thankful. Just kidding. However, I want to make mine more specific about Montevideo and my time abroad. Considering I'll be back in the States this time two weeks from now, I felt a little reflection would be healthy. I also prefer top ten lists so here we go.

The Top Ten Things I'm Most Thankful for This Semester:

10. Mate. This drink has revolutionized (enslaved) my life. I love (am addicted to) this new drink and it's just a great way to relax (stay up all night) and share with friends (get everyone sick).

9. Ferias. I wish Abilene had outdoor markets (that's what a feria is). There is a market every Sunday down the street and I've gone most of the Sundays that I've been in town. I normally hate shopping but being outside in the feria atmosphere looking at really old books and knives or just assorted junk is so much fun.

8. Public transportation. I have never used public transportation before this semester. Buses and taxis are part of my daily life now. I never had to use them and so I never thought about how convenient they are. The flip side of this is I am also very thankful for the opportunity to have a truck that I can drive whenever and wherever. I take such blessings for granted too often and this semester has taught me a lot about what a different life I could have without so many of the blessings I have been given without earning them (for the most part).

7. My high school Spanish education. This semester has shown me just how amazing my high school Spanish classes really were. Here's to you, Sra. Croft! I would have never been as confident as I am today had it not been for you.

6. The Internet. Trying to imagine this semester without being able to communicate so easily with the people that I love back home makes my heart hurt. We use the internet so much that we forget how amazing it really is. I have the ability to talk to my family and friends for free and face to face (sometimes a little grainy and jumpy, but still). Even email is a great comfort. I know that I can sit down when I have the time and tell my loved ones what I want to say with confidence that it will reach them quickly. Even though the internet has created the majority of the problems I had to work on this semester, I am still exceedingly thankful for it.

5. Languages in general. This semester I have come into contact with many languages: (in order of intimacy) Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and French (one night). I had forgotten how learning a language made me feel. I remember now why I decided to minor in Spanish in the first place. I tell people that I'll use it for mission trip and such, which is true, but the main reason I study Spanish is my love for learning the language. My desire to learn more languages has been heitened by my Greek class and my encounters with other languages along the way.

4. My life in general. As the semester goes on and as we have adventure after adventure I am forced to stop and marvel at the blessing that is my life. God has given me more than I ever could have imagined. As I mentioned above, I take these things for granted. The very fact that I can attend college is a blessing, how much more that I should have the opportunity to study in another country. I continue to thank God for His ever new, ever increasing blessings.

3. Relationships. I have discovered over the past couple of years and especially this semester that I have a deep desire to form relationships and to figure out what makes them run, change, and grow. This semester I have had the opportunity to form new relationships with classmates, professors, and Uruguayan friends. I tend to get caught up in the friends I already have and forgot the joy of discovering and building new and lasting friendships.

2. My new family. Even more than just being able to build relationships with the people here, I have been able to pour myself into the amazing group with me and I have felt them pouring out their hearts as well. We have truly grown together this semester. Sure, we have disagreements and we get tired of each other (as families do), but those times are far surpassed by the good memories I have. We help each other, laugh together, listen to one another, and love each other. Trying to imagine a week without seeing these 18 other people every day is strange to think about.

1. Where I am with God. This semester has been an adventure into the unknown in all aspects of my life, including my faith. The Bible class I'm taking this semester is Message of the Old Testament. This class has been such a blessing in so many ways. I knew most of the stories beforehand (thank you, LTC), but I hadn't thought about them as ways to connect to God. I had heard sermons and been in classes that tried to get me to do so, but apparently I was asleep. Now, I see that the OT is much more than just boring history mixed with some awesome/funny/disturbing stories. It is the story of God's people trying to figure out how to relate to their God. God has also spoken to me through His creation. I posted blogs about both Iguazu Falls and Ushuaia, so for more specific reflections on those you can look there. God has also been working on my heart and teaching me three important lessons: 1) The world can work without me. My friends and family will function without me and their problems do not need my attention. God will be there with them even when I can't be and He does a better job anyway. 2) Pouring yourself into others has two effects: you grow to love them as they are and you grow to love yourself the way God wants. I am happier with myself than I have been in a while (not that I was depressed or angry at who I was. I just didn't understand quite what God saw in me). I also love the people around me more. 3) My relationship with God is different from everyone else's and vice versa. God is alive and relational. He made us different and He is going to relate to us according to the way we were formed. We can learn so much by watching the relationships of others and learning how they do things, but to copy their relationship would also be robbing ourselves of the joy of discovering the unique nature of our relationships with God. Watch and learn, but don't forget to discover.

Happy Turkey Day!

Blessings,
Matt

El Fin del Mundo

2009-11-16T04:26:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while again, but I've been busy. This entry may be kind of long. Just a warning. I'm going to include some pictures because facebook and I are having relationship problems again.

Free travel week was amazing! Let's start with the days before we left. The other two groups left on Thursday right after classes got out. We had decided to take a day of rest on Friday and leave on Saturday morning. This turned out to be a huge blessing when one of my traveling buddies, Amber, sprained her ankle a few days before we left. Thursday night we decided to take one of the flat screens that's on a rolling stand out into the courtyard to watch a movie. We took mattresses outside to lay on while we watched. I was bringing my spare mattress (no roommate) down and realized that this would be a perfect opportunity to slide down the stairs on said mattress. So, we did that for about half an hour and then watched Harry Potter. The next day we just relaxed. Saturday we left for our grand adventure.

Our driver who took us to the airport was late. Now, I'm not just talking normal South American laid back schedule late; he had fallen back to sleep. He proceeded to apologize for that fact profusely while standing on the sidewalk talking to us...not driving. When we got to the airport the apologies began again full force along with wishing us safe travels. While I appreciate the sentiment, we were cutting it pretty close.

We went through the security checkpoint where we had a little fun. You see, the Montevideo airport doesn't let you carry on yerba (the tea stuff that I'm addicted to now). The Walkers and I both had some with us. However, mine was tucked away neatly in my backpack with the rest of my carry on junk. I passed through without any trouble. The Walkers brought theirs in a mate carrier which is a special case designed to carry the yerba (the tea leaves) and the mate (the gourd you drink from). The security guards noticed it and promptly confiscated the yerba. The checkpoint also missed the two oranges that Wimon had forgotten were in his backpack. Overall I felt pretty safe with such reliable security. . .

We got to Ushuaia and immediately fell in love with the town. For those who do not know, Ushuaia, Argentina is in Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. It is the (disputed) southermost city in the world. The slogan of the city is "Ushuaia, end of the world, beginning of everything." The town is sandwiched between the Beagle Channel and the Andes Mountains. See picture below:

The picture may have lost a little quality, but you can see that Ushuaia is literally sandwiched. The first adventure we went on was a boat ride through the Beagle Channel. We saw sea lions, penguins, and an old lighthouse. See pictures below:

On the boat we met a girl from Seattle who had been living and working down there for a couple of years. We also met a father and son from Brazil. I started talking to them and they were struggling with English so I asked if it would be better to switch to Spanish. They both said yes (or si) and we talked for a while in Spanish. Later, Antonio, the dad, started talking to me again, but sometime between our first conversation and our second he had decided that I could understand Portuguese because he spoke nothing but that for the second interatction. It turns out I kind of can understand Portuguese. With all the Spanish and the little French that I know I could piece together the basic meaning. So there we were, having a conversation in which one of us was speaking his native tongue and I was having to pick apart his language using two others and piece together a response in Spanish. My brain was a little tired after that. That night, while some of our friends were near starving on late night bus rides across boarders, we had king crab (some of us).

The next day we went on a 4x4 excursion through the Andes to some lakes and to be out in nature in places that we would not be able to reach with our little rental cars (they are called Elves if that gives you an idea). We reached a point in the dirt trail where there were ridiculously deep ruts from the 4x4 traffic and the going was slow. A guy walked up and was talking to our driver as we trudged along. Then the guy jumped up on the hood of our jeep and rode there for a while. When we got close to the jeep in front of us he hopped and climbed into the other jeep. . .into the driver's seat to be exact. The driver! The ruts were so deep that he set the cruise control and jumped out to mess around while his jeep drove itself! We got some great pictures and stopped at a shack in the woods to eat lunch. We had the greatest steaks I have ever tasted. I'm not much of a steak connoisseur, but I don't think I will ever eat a better steak. I also shocked one of the drivers when I went to stand by the grill (as men do) and started drinking mate. He literally ran across the group to question me about my mate drinking (seeing as I stand out with red hair and all). Anyway, here my two favorite pictures from the excursion:

The next day we went to some museums around town which were a slight disappointment overall. We still had fun though. Amber, Autumn, Karaline, and I were able to make enough jokes and spot enough English translation errors to make us happy. Our favorites ware the following sentences from a display about Antarctic expeditions:

"Some people belives that Amudsen arrived first to the South Pole because he carried sled dogs instead the ponnies of Scott."

"Scott and his eople died just very near from where it was the tent with provisions. They couldn't arrive to it because of a big storm of several days."

I have to admit, it would be easier to carry a dog than a ponny. There were many such mistakes throughout these well made displays.

The next day we hiked up a ski slope to see the Martial Galcier. Now, the glacier was covered in snow so it wasn't too impressive alone. The hike up, the view, and the fact that it started snowing on us made this my favorite part of the trip. It was so beautiful and it felt so good to back in the mountains. I've decided that the mountains are my home. I know I've never lived in them, but it's where I belong and I'll get there eventually. That part of the trip is hard to express in words, but I have one picture that I feel comes close to getting it (I hope it retains enough quality):

Why wouldn't you want to live near those?

That afternoon we went to the national park and saw even more of God's awesome creation. This trip has taught me a lot about how we are to interact with the world. We are to care for it and enjoy it so that we may see that wonderful things that our God is capable of doing. We are to see these marvels and cry out in joy and thanks to our Creator who made such things for us to see. We are to long for Him as we see the beauty of His creation because we know that He is far more beautiful, far more powerful, and far greater and anything we have seen or hope to see.

I know this is getting long and so I'll leave off here for now. If I feel the need to share more I'll do so soon. Life right now is sort of hectic as we're trying to wind down classes and squeeze out the last drops of our Study Abroad experience. This week we have our final tango lesson (oh joy...), the World Cup qualifying match between Uruguay and Costa Rica (which we are attending!!!!!!), and good old school. I'm loving life down here while I'm also ready to be home. I miss you all and love you.

Until next time, may the God of wonders show you the things that you have been overlooking. May you find joy in the world that He has given you. May you find even more joy in the people that He places in your life. May you find true joy in Him as we walk together though we are worlds apart.

Blessings,
Matt

A deep breath

2009-10-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Brace yourselves, readers. I am actually ahead on school work. Now when I say ahead I mean done before 9:00. If you know me then you know that is a pretty great achievement. It gives me a chance to get another blog entry done so that I can say I've gotten better at keeping up with this thing.

Tonight we had a Halloween party. Yes, we do know that it's not Halloween yet. We are all about to head our separate ways for free-travel week. Two of the three groups are leaving tomorrow. My group is sticking around for a couple of days then heading out. Anyway, we all got dressed up and had crepes and candy. I dressed up as Wimon, the program director and my professor for three classes. There will be pictures tagged on facebook soon, I'm sure (not that you will enjoy them as much not knowing him, but still). Mom, we had quite a bit of fun with those vampire teeth and skeletons that you sent.

We figured out that after we get back from out free-travel week we will only have four and a half weeks left in Montevideo. I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by. I know that after I get back next Saturday it will speed up even more. Well, there isn't all that much to report right now. I just wanted to post a little something for your enjoyment and so I could say I've posted more.

Until next time, may God grant you peace in a land of worry, unity in a sea of individualism, and love in a world that desperately needs it. I love and miss you all.

Blessings,
Matt

Not much better

2009-10-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

The title once again refers to my ability to actually keep up with a blog. I have decided that I am simply not capable of doing so. Although, it would probably be much easier if I weren't in another country where I have a million other things I could be doing most of the time. Don't get me wrong, dear readers, I love each and every one of you very much. However, empanadas and ridiculously good ice cream are sometimes more enticing. I hope I have not offended you with this information.

We went to Brazil! It was such an amazing trip. We went to Iguazu Falls (now the spell-checker wants me to spell it Iguassu, but that is dumb...I like it the Spanish way so that's how it is) and I cannot even describe the impact they had on my life. I'm going to include a few pictures and I hope that they come close to capturing some of the beauty and power displayed by those falls. Our God is an amazing artist.

These pictures look better on my computer, but they are good enough to give a little taste. Anyway, the falls really made me stop and think about how truly awesome our God is. We had a devo the night after we saw the falls for the first time and we talked about the falls and what we felt about God in relation to them. As many of you know I am a fan of strange analogies, so of course I formed one about the falls. The falls are like the macaroni pictures that children make. The point was never the macaroni picture itself. The point was to show it to Mommy and Daddy so that they would give some sort of recognition in return. Now, I'm not saying that God is five years old or that we are his parents. What I am saying is that the falls were never meant to be about the falls. If I were a supreme being with the power of creation at my fingertips, I would definitely create waterfalls like those. The difference between the two is that I would create them simply to look on them and say I had done it. God creates such wonders so that WE can look on them and say, "My God alone is capable of such things and He is worthy of praise." The point of such awe inspiring creations is that we would see them and long even more for a relationship with the Creator.

While in Brazil I felt a discomfort that I hadn't felt in a very long time. We had been immersed in Spanish speaking culture for about two months and suddenly we were in a country that speaks Portuguese. I had forgotten what it was like to know that I could not communicate effectively with those around me if I needed to (of course, I realize that many know enough Spanish that we could have worked it out, but the anxiety was still present). By the end of the trip I was ready to get back to Montevideo to be surrounded by a language that I know. This was the first time this semester that I thought of Montevideo as home. I haven't been very homesick compared others in the group and I've never been a very homesick person to begin with. It was nice to be able to associate such comfort with the place that I am living. It also brought a new aspect to my learning of the Spanish language: it is a place of comfort. When I began to learn Spanish I loved the language and would jump at chances to speak it. The further I got in my studies, the more concerned I became with getting everything right and speaking became much harder because of this preoccupation with being correct. Now I feel that I can speak easier because it isn't someone else's language so much as it is now one of my languages. I still have a long way to go in learning Spanish, but I truly love and enjoy it as if it were my own language.

Anyway, this entry has been kind of strange and introspective, so I hope you have not been bored by it and I hope that I have not come across as self-cenetered or whatever. I'm still working on getting better at this blogging business. Thanks for bearing with me.

Until next time, may the Creator open your eyes to the wonder and majesty that surrounds you. May you embrace His wonders and praise Him for His mighty works. May you realize that, above all, we are the height of His creation and that God longs for an ever growing, ever intensifying relationship with you.

Blessings,
Matt

Been a while

2009-10-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well, my blog readers, I have been negligent. I haven't been updating my blog enough nor have I been writing anything down outside of the blog. This entry will probably be long, or short and disjointed. Regardless, you will know more about what I have been doing.

I'll mention a few things that I forgot last entry about our trip to the ranch:
The ranch is a touristy place so they have some demonstrations and such. One of the things they have there is a model of the old train system that used to be in Montevideo. It made me think of Grandpa Rod (for those of you who didn't know him, he collected model trains and had a model train system set up).
On the way back from the ranch our bus blew out a tire. Now, I've seen flat tires, but this tire was dead. It was in shreds. Now, let's move on.

The main thing that has happened is our trip to Buenos Aires. We spent the afternoon in Colonia, Uruguay, but we stopped at a random farm on the way to Colonia. The owner of this farm is a collector. Of what? You name it. Keychains, pencils, calling cards, ash trays, perfume bottles, and other odd things. He holds several world records (some of which have since been broken). They also make jam. They had most of the normal flavors (strawberry, peach, yadda yadda) and some not so normal (tomato, red pepper, and onion). The onion one was nasty. We spent about an hour there and then we were off to Colonia.

Colonia is the oldest city in Uruguay (?, I'm pretty sure but let's be safe). We drove past an old bullfighting arena that was built in the early 1900s right before bullfighting was outlawed. Now, I'm not going to say that there were signs that said not to enter and we did anyway, but...

Other than that we just explored the town and relaxed for the afternoon. We walked up on an old section of the city wall and sat down by the water for a bit. Then we headed to the Buquebus (the ferry between Uruguay and Argentina). The ferry ride was okay on the way over, but on the way back the water was rougher so we were all feeling a bit queesy on the second trip. When we got to Buenos Aires we went to our hotel and then grabbed some dinner at an Italian place down the block. It was great. The next day we went on a tour of the city that took us by the president's office building (the Pink House), several monuments, both the richest and poorest neighborhoods, and the cemetary. Now, when I say cemetary you have the wrong picture in your mind right away. Think of a city with buildings that are very close together. Now shrink the buildings a little. Now I'll just show you.

This is one of the "streets" in the cemetary. The place is HUGE. There were tons of different statues and types of tombs and such. I came back to the cemetary the next day to take pictures and wander around some more.

We spent some time in La Boca which was one of the poorest neighborhoods when immigrants were pouring into the Americas from Europe. The whole neighborhood is made up of random building materials (scrap metal, mismatched windows, etc.) and painted bright colors. The story goes that an artist decided to paint all the buildings because he didn't think they had to be sad just because they were poor. We also came back there the next day and ate at an open air restaurant with a free tango show.

We went to another tango show with the whole group that was pretty good. The food was really good. I got a steak (because even though beef is supposed to be a staple food in Uruguay our cooks don't cook it for us much) which was delicious. Also I finally got some awesome coffee. My addiction was satisfied for a short time. Some of us saw a few other musical performances: a jazz band and a weird hippie band. They were both pretty good, but not the greatest thing ever. But at least we had some adventures.

Sunday we went to the church that Hannah was with when she stayed in Argentina. We were supposed to go to a market near the church after service but it was raining so we stayed and played foosball and ping pong and ate pizza. The people there were a lot of fun and we had a blast.

I know I'm forgetting things but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading so we'll call it quits for now and I'll try to be better about updating. I love you all. May God put a fire in your heart that you cannot help but be His light to those around you.

Blessings,
Matt

Texan at last

2009-09-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I rode a horse as you can see. Now, I need to explain a bit about the picture. It seems that I am smiling, but I am actually speaking sarcastically to the idiot. I dubbed my horse Wow-I'm-Stupid. He liked to stop walking every once in a while at which point he would get whipped by our guide, yet he continued to stop. Then he would decide that he could fit in a two inch gap between other horses. Needless to say he was not the brightest creature. I am glad to be able to say that I have taken part in this famous Texan stereotype (even if it took leaving the country to get me to do so), but I don't think it's an activity that I will be taking part in again anytime soon. Not that I don't wish cars could be bumpier and smellier, but they are just so much faster.

The estancia was a lot of fun. Aside from the horse ride we got to simply enjoy the scenery and relax for most of the day. We chased some geese like 3-year-olds (don't worry, I led the chase) and fed bread to various types of birds. We were also fed lunch there. Let me tell you about this lunch. There was bread to start with, always a good sign. Then they brought out sausage (an appetizer). Then they brought out piles of beef and chicken. . . mounds of it. And there were some baked potatoes in there. There were too many different kinds of food. If you know me, then you know that I like to get a bit of everything. Well, that made this meal the biggest meal I think I've ever had aside from Thanksgiving. By the end of the meal we were all ridiculously full. That's when they brought out dessert. Crepes rolled up around dulce de leche. Take a moment and let that idea sink into your brain. It was awesome. Then we all threw up. . . not really but close.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to the market down the street on Sunday to check out the book vendors. I thought I might be safe from my addiction to buying books when I came down here, but apparently I love really old books at cheap market prices. I've only bought one so far, but the temptation is growing.

Speaking of addictions, the coffee here is not good. I know what you're thinking: "Wait, I thought you were in South America. Isn't the coffee supposed to be great?" We have been mislead my friends. There is good coffee in some countries, but here it's nasty. The cooks here try to brew it "American style" but it doesn't quite make it (although it is really strong so that part is good). This is one of the factors that has lead to my new addiction to mate. It's not as good as the coffee I'm used to but it is more fun to drink. I found out that there is a website that you can order it from in the States so I'm pretty pumped about bringing this crazy beverage to ACU.

Well, that's about all for now. May you continue to seek the Lord and have the courage to wrestle with your Father. May you be lost in His love, found in His salvation, dead to your sins, and alive in His mercy.

Blessings,
Matt

Soy celeste, celeste soy yo

2009-09-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

The title of this entry is part of a song sung by the Uruguayan fans at the soccer (futbol) game that we went to Wednesday night. It was the most fun I have ever had at a sporting event (it even topped crowd-surfing out mascot from the top of the stands to the bottom at the volleyball state championship my senior year). Imagine an Aggie football game. Now throw in jumping up and down in unison and screaming things at the top of your lungs in another language (sprinkle in foreign expletives as needed). Even though it is a very low scoring game, soccer is one of the most exciting sports to watch. It's amazing the things the players can do with their feet and heads and everything else (but hands of course). Sometimes things would happen that would make Isaac Newton go, "Say what?" Uruguay won the game 3-1 so it was awesome. This week has been pretty hectic as far as school is concerned because I had a pretty hefty work load and we had a lot of planned extracurriculars (soccer, a tour of the legislative palace, and a tango lesson). Yeah, I forgot to mention the tango lesson. . .

If you know me then you know that dancing and I are not on good terms with each other. It said some things that it can never take back and the relationship simply spiraled downward from there. The tango is no different. I am glad to have experienced this piece of culture, but I simply don't enjoy dancing. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am, in fact, terrible at dancing. This boy just wasn't made for that sort of thing. The 7th grade sway-back-and-forth dance is about as far as I make it with dancing (I must admit I have a mean sway). There are quite a few pictures on facebook of me in all my awkward glory (just click on the Pictures of Matt link below my profile picture and click through until you see them). Enjoy.

The legislative palace (yes, it's a palace made of 70+ types of marble and 50+ types of granite) was sort of interesting. I think I listened and took pictures more for my dad's sake than my own. I figure he'd enjoy a little about it when I get back. So there's your souvenir, Pappy (just kidding).

Last night we had our second English Conversation "class" with the church. People who want to practice English come and talk to us. I met a guy there last week named Nicolas who was there again this week. He is an interesting character. Here is a typical conversation with Nicolas:
Me: How are you, Nicolas?
Nic: I am very well. (Explanation of day in Spanglish). How are you?
Me: I'm good. I'm kind of tired, but good.
Nic: Wow! That is interesting.

Nicolas and I have different definitions of interesting. I find people's opinions on religion or other topics interesting. He finds it interesting that I think it's cold outside. He wins some points for trying so hard. Only some.

Well, this weekend we're going to an estancia (ranch) and I think we're going to ride horses which I have never done. It's one of the top stereotypes of Texas and the first time I'll do it is not even in the United States.

Until next time, may our God and Father open your eyes more to His glory and power that you may bless those around you. Have peace, exude joy, be love.

Blessings,
Matt

Mate and more

2009-09-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

The first word in the title of this blog is pronounced mah-tay. It is a type of tea like drink that they drink a lot of in Uruguay (and Argentina) and it's great. The first awesome thing about it is that you drink it out of a gourd with a metal straw thing with a strainer on the end. The really cool thing about it is you drink it in groups a lot. We made friends with the youth from the church connected to CasaACU and we drink mate with them whenever we hang out. It has about as much caffeine in it as coffee but you end up drinking a lot more because you just keep adding hot water to the gourd and keep drinking without noticing how much you've had. It's been a very long time since I've actually truly felt the effects of caffeine because I have a severe addiction to it (see facebook note "Addiction") but mate keeps me up. It's awesome. Enough about my new addiction and on to what you're here for: adventures.

We went to church last Sunday which turned out to be more frustrating than anything else. Autumn (on of the professors) told me that the guy who was preaching that morning was the hardest man to understand. She wasn't lying. Considering the church used to be a coffee factory and the microphone was a bit scratchy, the sound quality was already not the best. I caught a few sentences but the majority of the time my brain got too tired and checked out. Hopefully the next preacher will be a little clearer.

Classes started this week...I had forgotten I was here for school. My classes aren't bad except for one. I'm taking Latin American thought through the Catholic University here in Montevideo and it is going to be the hardest class I have ever taken (and possibly ever will take). Our professor is German but he lives in Montevideo and speaks Spanish without any noticeable accent, except when he says some phrases in English then he sounds German. It's a very strange combination of languages and ethnicity that comes together in that room. The worst part about the class is that it's two hours every Tuesday and Thursday when it only counts as a 3-hour course. Basically I am in class an extra hour per week. My brain keeps trying to check out after an hour and a half so it's a constant struggle for that last 30 minutes to pay attention.

We haven't been out much this week because it's been raining like crazy. We did go down to the beach and played some friendly futbol with our church friends and drank mate (of course). On that trip I made a deal with Martin that I would only speak spanish to him and he would only speak english with me. That has been really great practice for me and for him. Spanish Conversation is a lot of fun too. My teacher, Amelia, reminds me of Senora Croft in some ways and she looks like Edna Mode from The Incredibles.

Well, I'll post more when I've had some adventures. Until next time, may God continue to bless you in ever changing ways that you may spread His love and glory.

Bienvenidos: The Longest Blog I Have Ever Written

2009-08-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a crazy week but I finally have some time to get down to typing this thing out. Welcome one and all to the longest blog I ever hope to write.

The days before I left the country were awesome. I have the greatest friends that anyone could ask for and hanging out with them before I left was wonderful and sad and great and everything. The notes provided quite a bit of entertainment for the trip as well. Even though it was a hectic few days with meetings and trying to see everyone, it was a good time.

The trip got off to a slightly rocky start. We weren't able to check in for our flight because we couldn't prove that we weren't planning on staying for less than 90 days at a time in Uruguay. Which some of you may think, "Yes, you are silly boy," to which I say, "Nay." We are in fact traveling to Buenos Aires and Brazil at opportune times throughout the semester so that we are never in the country for more than 90 days at a time. ACU is sneaky like that. Eventually, through lots of calls and a fax or two we got through with the help of our sweater-vest sporting "Buddy" Nasir. Then, we were off to Miami (yes, Hannah, we sang the Will Smith song a lot). The Miami airport is the worst. Nothing was open except two or three places which were overpriced (though delicious) and the Starbucks was closed. The place we ended up going had coffee...but wait, it was ALL decaf. Needless to say, Miami (and the state of Florida for that matter) has been docked several hundred life points.

We got on the plane to Buenos Aires and settled in for a nice long flight. Now, we had learned that the flight would not be 12 hours as we were led to believe. It would be 8 1/2 hours with a three hour layover in BA followed by a two second (not much exaggeration) flight to Montevideo. The Lord was with us, however, and the captain told us shortly before we took off that the plane had been rerouted through Montevideo. Considering the majority of the people on the flight were headed to BA we kept our celebratory dancing to a minimum.

After we arrived in Montevideo we took a bus to CasaACU. We had lunch (four varieties of empanada followed by dulce de leche empanadas for dessert) and immediately fell in love with our new home. Then, we were given a scavenger hunt to get acquainted with the neighborhood around Casa. Given that we had not had much real sleep in the past 2 days it was an interesting adventure. A girl tried to sell me perfume, but that was about all that happened that was worth comment. That night we went to a restaurant by taxi. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I will forever remember the rides there and back. Taxi drivers have no fear whatsoever. Pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way, so you look both ways or die...immediately. Sitting in the passenger seat having a casual (if broken and awkward) conversation with a man who is almost killing innocent bystanders and switching lanes like a middle school girl changes boyfriends is the craziest experience I've had in a while. Now, to talk about my favorite part of the trip so far: the FOOD!

At the restaurant I ordered chivito al plato. This is an Uruguayan dish that consists of a heart attack. First, a bed of french fries is laid down. This is topped with a very thin steak. The steak is then covered with cheese and a slice of ham. Picture this in your mind. It should resemble a mountain. Now, hold that picture and add a fried egg. Who knew eggs were such a useful condiment? This meal was the most delicious thing I have eaten in a while. I really need to find a local gym...

Today we went down to La Ciudad Vieja (the Old City). We visited a few museums and a cathedral along with looking at quite a few plazas and street vendors. After we finished with the scheduled activities we were set loose to return at our leisure (well, before curfew anyhow). We had been exploring in groups of 3 or 4, but we met up with a few of the other groups and decided to walk down to the Rio de la Plata (it is the biggest body of water that is not an ocean that I have ever seen). There we walked and talked and generally looked like tourists. A few of us met four Uruguayans who were sitting on the wall by the edge of the water. They were really nice and spoke English very well. Luckily, the guy with them did not speak English as well so I talked with him in Spanish a bit. The first thing we learned from them that surprised us is that we don't have Texan accents which made us happy. Then they said something that I don't know if I will ever hear again and never expected to hear ever. After we spoke in Spanish a few times with them one of the girls said, "You are so Mexican." She was referring to the way we speak Spanish, but it was still hilarious. After we explored a little bit more we walked back to Casa.

Some of us went to the store after we got back to buy stuff for dinner. We decided on pasta with spinach sauce and leftover empanadas. We fed a group of nine for around 5 bucks. Take that Oxford! Plus, we had enough pasta leftover for some (if not all) of us to eat it again another night. We had a blast cooking together and generally being weird. After dinner we decided to try out La Cigale, an ice cream shop just a few blocks from Casa. It was amazing. They had a bunch of flavors including raspberry, tiramisu, strawberries and cream, and so many others that I'll probably try before I leave. After our ice cream adventure we came back to Casa and watched the Goofy movie. Now I need to get some sleep on a mattress I'm convinced is made of phone books stuffed in cloth. When I sit on it I don't sink...at all.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post more before I have so much that it gets to be this wordy, but, let's face it, that probably won't happen. If you made it all the way through then congratulations.

If you had not plowed with my heifer...

2009-04-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have always loved the story of Samson. When I was little I loved it because he was like a superhero. I love it now because of the message I see in it. Samson was a Nazirite and so had many restrictions placed upon the way he lived his life. He eventually broke all of them. He was arrogant, rebellious, and vengeful. Everything you look for in a good family film as well as a children's bible story, right? He was married, but his wife was soon given to another man. He stayed with a prostitute and then he lived with another woman, the famous Delilah. Samson is most well known for his incredible feats of strength when the Spirit of God would come upon him. My favorite, of course, slaying 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey. He also brought down an entire temple as his last act. This man was, as the kids say these days, ballin'. All of these things are no longer my favorite pieces of this story. The greatest thing that I see in this story is that God was willing to work through this disobedient, unruly man. Samson did just about everything wrong that he could, but God did not look at him and say, "Well, this is a lost cause. I might as well move on." God had a plan to fight the Philistines and human stubbornness and stupidity couldn't even come close to stopping it. That's a very comforting thing to remember when I look around me today at all the craziness and malice in the world. Samson was a failure most of his life, but when he earnestly cried out to his God, God answered.

Joshua stopped the sun, why can't I?

2009-04-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, as some of you may have predicted, I have fallen severely behind schedule. Life is just plain busy. That does not absolve me from being behind schedule but it is one of the main factors leading to my slacking. I did finish Numbers today. I've been imagining what it would have been like to listen to Moses give speeches about the Law. I don't know if I could have done it. I find it hard enough to read, but imagining listening to this man who many believe had a stutter ramble on...it boggles my mind. This may be slightly sacrilegious, but it's how I feel. Deuteronomy is going to be a little more exciting, but what I am really looking forward to is Judges. I know I have a ways to go to get there, but there are some pretty great stories there. I'm especially looking forward to rereading the story of Samson (my second favorite figure from the Old Testament). You can expect a post devoted to his story (I know you're just brimming with excitement at that thought). He might be one of the few men in history who compared his wife to livestock and survived. Well, I realize this post hasn't been very interesting, but I promised updates so there ya go.

5th day update (on the 7th day)

2009-03-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I read through Genesis all the way. It was in Bible Bowl, so it was more of a superficial read the first time. There is one theme that has jumped out at me throughout the book of Genesis: deception. Husbands pretend to be brothers of their wives. Brothers deceive their siblings (sometimes for revenge, sometimes for blessing). At first I was a little frustrated at all of the lying and trickery, but I've realized something that makes me appreciate this first book of our religious tradition. Christ's message is all about grace which we as Christians tend to focus on. We forget that the grace came from God in the first place and that it has always been around. I think it's beautiful that the patriarchs of the great nation of Israel, the very people of God, were cheats and liars. Their flaws are representative of the flaws of all humans. God chose to establish His people through humans. If these men were flawless and perfect, they would not be human. These men were considered righteous and they were as screwed up as you and I. The Bible is characterized by an over-arching message of grace and hope through God and it only makes sense that these would be presented in the first book.

I've been keeping up with my reading well, but then again I haven't reached Leviticus. I am excited about getting to the stories of my third favorite man from the Old Testament:Moses. Well, that's all for now.

Give Me the Bible

2009-03-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

I just finished the book The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (Kayla, I saw it one time when you had it and then when I was at the Book Rack over Christmas break I was able to get it on store credit). If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you do. It is a very interesting and compelling look at the Judeo-Christian traditions from the view of an agnostic man. That being said, I've decided that I need to read the Bible. I don't mean that in the sense that I need to read a little each day. I have felt for a long time that I need to read the scriptures of my faith in their entirety. I think it's a shame that there are books in the Bible that I have never even turned to in my Bible let alone read them. Today I sat down and planned out a schedule to read the entire Bible. Now, in case you didn't know, the Bible is a really big book. I decided that ten chapters per day was a fair amount considering the time I need for school, Seekers, and a little fun (not that reading the Bible isn't loads of fun). A few days will have different amounts (I decided twenty psalms would be about ten chapters and Revelation got split differently) because when I got the the end of the schedule I found a number of days that I couldn't resist. I have always had a strange thing with certain numbers (maybe more about that in another post). I am going to read the entire Bible in 111 days. I know it sounds like a long time and that's because it is a long time. The length of this undertaking will give me more time to absorb each section of scripture while leaving me with a light load each day so I don't get burned out. I'm going to try to posts updates about weird/interesting/funny/amazing things I find, but don't hold your breath since my blog track record is terrible. Well, that's all for now.

-Matt

All Roads Lead to Home

2008-12-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

I'm still not sure about the title for this post. I couldn't seem to find the right phrases to capture the essence of this post. I would never let myself title is Home Sweet Home. I thought about working in something about the home front, but let's face it that would be lame. My personal favorite was Homeward Bound (ah, those movies are terrible) but then I realized that I'm already here, so I would either be lying or making a statement that I was trapped here. Anyway, I'm sure you're just dying to see what exactly this post is going to be so let's get on with it.

I didn't know just how much I enjoyed spending time with my new friends until they were all so far away. We've seen each other almost every day for the past few months that I think I'm going through withdrawals. However, I have enjoyed getting to see my old friends. I had a lot of catching up to do with a few people and I really miss them. I still have to get around to hanging out with some more people, which I haven't been working at as hard as I should have (some days I have more conversations with people in other states than my friends here...oops).

The freedom of college life is fun, but there isn't much better than home cooked meals and a nice bedroom all to myself. Plus, I get to build fires all the time (well, when it gets cold enough...stupid Texas weather). I'm enjoying a fire right now in fact.

Christmas is coming up pretty slowly. I'm used to getting out of school with only two or three days until Christmas, so I'm having to get used to this. Trying to eat healthy...healthy-er at least...is pretty difficult right now with all the toffee, popcorn stuff, and other treats that seem to just pour in over the holidays. I mean, I'm an Anderson and we know how to snack.

I'm sort of boring myself with this post now so I hope it hasn't been that way for you. Since I'm pretty sure that only my family reads this thing there's no need for a cheesy Merry Christmas ending or anything because I'll be seeing you then anyway.

Adios

One down...

2008-12-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

Wasn't I just moving into the dorm a few weeks ago? How is the semester over already? This semester has flown by and it has been more fun and more exciting than I ever thought it would be. I think it's time for a highlight reel (except in words and not film). We'll do this in a Top 10 format just to build up some suspense. Some of these things are going to be events, some of them are going to be just thoughts, and some are whatever I want.

10. I'm really thankful for Midway. This semester has been a breeze and I know that I have the AP program at Midway to thank for that. If only the rest of my college career could be so easy...

9. I'm increasingly grateful for the gifts that God has given me, especially my family. I have been blessed with generous parents and sister who feeds me.

8. I've been able to read a lot more than I have in the past year. I like books.

7. The Presidential Scholarship people are considering removing the on-campus living requirement. What more do I have to say about this?

6. Last year was rough without my two best friends at home. Now I get to see them all the time. Sometimes our schedules conflict but we always make time. I love them so much.

5. Seekers of the Word is the greatest thing in the world. God is showing me so much about myself and about worshiping Him. I'm gaining such great experience for youth ministry.

4. Seekers performed at Middleton prison (as you know from the previous blog) and it opened my eyes to the power and grace of God. He truly is our savior and He is EVERYWHERE.

3. I miss Kayla and Darby so much. Seeing them over Thanksgiving was awesome and I can't wait to see them for Christmas. I love you two. That being said, having Hannah here has been so great. I didn't realize how much I really missed seeing her crazy red-headed self in the halls at school and at home until I got out here. Needless to say, I meet a lot of people because of her. I love my Hankie and I'm glad we still have one more semester here together.

2. I love all of my Seeker friends. We are the most unique group of people that I have ever met and it's great. I'm getting closer to the ones I already knew and building new friendships with everyone else. We do almost everything there is to do, from a 12 hour Lord of the Rings marathon to murder mystery parties. That's just one more way that God has blessed me through Seekers.

1. I love my fellow freshman Seekers. We really started hanging out a few weeks ago, but those few weeks have been the most fun I've had in a long time. We determined that we've spent about 43 hours out of the past 72 together. That's ridiculous. In one day we went to the zoo, gathered and ate pecans on campus, went to four fast food restaurants (in a sort of progressive dinner thing that we made up), and watched a double feature at the drive-in. They are awesome friends and I'm going to miss them over the break.

This doesn't really cover everything from this semester (I have to save some for stories over the break) but, as I said, it's the highlights. The main thing that has happened this semester is I have grown in my faith and feel more blessed than ever before.

A Tale of Two Posts

2008-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

It seems that I'm not that great at keeping up with this blogging thing yet. I'll get there eventually (though hopefully not to the point of obsession as is the case with one sister of mine...ahem...Kayla). Anyway, I have really two different events and topics but I don't want to post two times in one day because that is a little excessive. Which means that you, the lucky reader, will now receive two posts for the price of one.

Post #1: Now and Later

This post has nothing to do with that candy. It's disgusting and I hate it. That said we'll now move on to the actual topic.

Last weekend I went with a few friends from Seekers to help out with a Disciple Now weekend for Mansfield Bible Church (hence the Now part of the title). It was an awesome experience. There I was going in to be a group leader for complete strangers not knowing what age group they were or how many of them there would be. Needless to say I was a little nervous. When we got there I found out that I would be leading a group of senior high boys and that most of them were juniors and seniors. My first thought was, "These guys are pretty much my age. They're not going to want to listen to me. They don't even know who I am." Right before I got in the car with the youth intern Cody to go to my host home where the boys would meet us I found out that the other group leader who was supposed to be helping me would not be coming and that Cody would help out a little but he also had to "float" from group to group. It's at these moments that I can almost hear God chuckle and see him wink at me with a smirk that says, "Hey, you're the one who thinks he wants be a youth minister." Cody starts to tell me about the group of guys that I'll be leading. They've all grown up in the church and haven't really struggled with big things like drugs and sex. They're problems are more with the fact that the God they worship is their parents' God. They haven't taken their faith into their own hands yet. I told him that what he just explained was the story of my life. At this point God says, "See how I did that?" Well when I met the guys for the first time I realized how much a few months of college changes a person. Sure, I felt a little disconnected with these high school boys, but I also felt the maturity and capability that I've gained. The weekend was amazing. I had such a great time with those guys and they asked me if I would come back next year. I honestly hope that I can. God showed me that this really IS my purpose in life, both right now and in the future. I caught a glimpse of the joy and humility of serving God's youth.

Post #2: Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

The title is a little harsh on the other places that will be mentioned. I have felt God in those places, but not with the same clarity and assurance as the place that I'll focus on. Enough vague prefacing, on to the post.

Surrounding me were many dressed in white. They sang over and over the same praises to God their Father, King, and Redeemer. John's descriptions of heaven in Revelation are moving, but I didn't expect to find a scene that was so similar to those passages of scripture anywhere on earth. Not only did I find such a scene, but I found it in such a place that makes so much sense when I look at how God works. I'm talking about worshiping with the inmates of the prison in Middleton. This semester I have been noticing more and more that it is much harder for me to find God in the conventional places than it used to be. Now when I say "find God" what I really mean, of course, is that it's harder for me to open up to Him. Sunday and Wednesday worship at Southern Hills is good, but it lacks the power that worship used to have. Freshman Devo has gone the way that most scheduled devotionals go: worship, prayer, speaker, worship (repeat as necessary). I was excited at the prospect of Seekers performing at the prison. Most of the older Seekers said that this was their favorite performance. I was ready for God to work through me, but I didn't suspect that He had plans to work ON me. We performed and then sat down to take part in the rest of the service with the men. Seven inmates were baptized while we were there and the worship was truly a celebration. Each song that we sang was sung at least three times through, but the enthusiasm never died down. We could have sung the same song the entire night and everyone would have been perfectly alright with that. The words coming from the lips of these men were not simply meant to rhyme and flow well with the song. They were singing to the one that set them free. These men knew what it meant to be redeemed. They danced, yelled, sang, clapped, and did anything and everything to show God just how much they loved Him. That's when it hit me. God isn't about schedules and routines. God simply wants whatever we can give and He wants and deserves it all. Church was never the place to find God. He's everywhere. Inside that prison I caught a glimpse of heaven on earth and I know that there will be no greater party than the Judgment Day after party. I can't wait to praise with those men again. They already have their white clothes and they know how to worship, they're just waiting to go home.

College Life

2008-11-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

I sit here watching Fun with Dick and Jane on the good old TBS and I think to myself, "What better way to spend my time than create a blog like my sisters."

I assume that the way to begin a blog is to describe the circumstances under which the blog was created. The simple description is that I am in the dorm and bored.

The first months of my college experience have been amazing. Despite the slightly-less-than-appetizing Bean Food (don't believe the rumors, it's still not great) and having to get used to living in the same room as another person, I have been having the time of my life. Obviously, I miss my family and friends but I know that ACU is the place for me.

The biggest change in my life has been Seekers of the Word. I don't think that I have ever felt more at home with any other group in such a short time. Throughout my experience in high school theater there was always a part of me that was dissatisfied with the program (even before politics and annoyance crept in). I see now that the piece that was missing was ministry. I now have the means to use the talent and passion that God gave me to directly serve Him. Seekers has been a huge time commitment with all of the practices and trips, but I can't think of anything more fulfilling that I could be doing with my time.

The biggest surprise in my first semester has been my increasing gratefulness for Midway. I am so thankful for the education and the level of challenge that I received there because it has made my classes seem so much easier in college. I know that my classes will get increasingly more difficult but it's nice to start out with this pleasant surprise.

Well, I have no idea if this is in any way entertaining or informative or whatever these things are supposed to provide to readers, but it's my first post so cut me some slack.