I'm back in America... kind of.

In about 79 hours, I'll be somewhere in Canadian airspace. I'm psyched.

In other news, I'm totally obessesed with my new camera. I've been taking pictures galore. I've taken about 650 pictures but only kept 175 of them. Of those, only a few made it here.

P.S. Matt Beard is in the 48! Woo Hoo!

So I've taken lots of pictures with my new camera. My apologies if you fall victim to its eye.

Distance home... 3.6 miles
Avg. speed... 50 mph
Temperature...  21 F

If I could grow a beard, I would. The wind goes between my helmet and coat and makes my chin numb. But, who cares about the cold ride home? Grilled cheese, mindless TV, and 7161923201 made it worth it.

Gotta get up in five hours so I can go to work early. Why? Cause I'm going to see Chronicles tomorrow night (read: tonight)!

What am I going to do with nine days?

I'm uberexcited! I leave in 13 days. It will be a little tough while I'm gone, but He's with me.

I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm bursting at the seams with excitement. In my anticipation, may I not to forget to live today while it's here.

"Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. He will choose our inheritance for us,..." Psalm 47:1-4

7:00pm - Arrive
7:20pm - Leave for Puleo's Grill
9:45pm - Return from Hasting's... everything is fine.
12:55am - Walk outside to leave... everything is not fine.

If I ever catch anyone screwing with my motorcycle, they better hope they can run faster than me! I don't know who it was or what their problem is. If you want to stay out of the hospital, pushing someone's motorcycle over is not a good habit to start.

Enough venting...
I'm excited about tomorrow... err, tonight. I've seen them every year for the past 4 or 5 years. We're even gonna look nice! I can't sleep for thinking about it. I can't help it!
I've had 11 hours sleep for the past 3 nights. If I fall asleep as this very instant, I will get 5 hours and 9 minutes of sleep.

So, what?

Complete obedience is not without its trials. My prayer is for clarity, wisdom, and discernment.


On to lighter subjects...
Humpday is past. Today, my favorite twins celebrate a birthday! The week is almost over. Two more days until I can welcome the warm wash of 2 million glows.

The awe I feel for my Redeemer is still as fresh as the day He saved me. He never ceases to amaze me! Thank God I'm not in control.

"There is only one relationship that matters, and that is your personal relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord. Let everything else go, but maintain that at all costs, and God will fulfil His purpose through your life."

"...not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39

It's been a fishy night. I bought a salmon (whole) at wally world last week. Tonight I cooked it and my J-Group came to my apartment and ate it. Lemon, dill, a little butter... was very good.
Went to Steak and Shake (surprise, surprise). When I went to pay, the manager looked at me and said, "You're in here more than I am!" He gave me a big discount! I love that place. I've been there three times in the past six days. It would've been four, but they closed at 9:30pm on Wednesday night for Thanksgiving.
After that, I went to Jason Adkins's apartment. He has a 150 gallon saltwater fish tank. It's captivating. I sat an watched it for a little over an hour. Then, I worked on cleaning it a bit. The best part was feeding the fish. Most of the fish eat plankton. Basically you just pour that stuff in the tank and they scurry around to eat it up. There's an eel named Santa. Santa, the two anemone, and the serpant star eat whole shrimp. With the anemone and the serpent star, you can just hold a piece of shrimp next to them and the tentacles will catch on and pull it in. Santa is a different story.
While the eel is "non-venomous", there is enough bacteria in its mouth that if he bit you, you would have to make a trip to the hospital to get a shot. You feed him by putting a shrimp on a toothpick and holding it in the water. Normally, Santa will swim up and meet you about halfway to get the shrimp. I don't think he was feeling well today cause he wouldn't come out of his hiding spot very far. In order for me to get him to eat, I had to stick the shrimp down in front of his hole. Let me tell you, it's a little unnerving to be almost shoulder deep in salt water, holding a shrimp on the end of a toothpick, and hoping that this eel (who has killed a shark and a ray) doesn't bite you. It all worked out though. All's well and that ends well.
However, it would be kind of unique to say you were bitten by an eel and had to go to the ER for antibiotics.

I'm excited! There's lots of reasons, one of which is that the TV woman said tornados are coming!
I can't wait for this week to be done with. Salmon tomorrow, work, last AO (for the semester), work, who knows, then lights.


Stupid grins are not illegal.

It's 9:46pm on a Saturday night and I'm in my own apartment.

This night has been ultra-wierd.

I needed to take a quick break before I passed out. The fumes from this cleaner I'm using are horrible.
Good news, I got here early, so I'm leaving early. Home to shower this horrible cleaner off is where I'm going. Then, who knows?

Headache's gone... back to work. Tick faster stupid clock!

Am I setting myself up for something not-so-good?

It's only one hour and ten minutes into Thanksgiving and I'm loving it already! At 11:00am, my family is going to Hope Center to serve Thanksgiving meals. Then my family and a few friends are going to my parent's house for traditional Thanksgiving meal. It will be fun. I haven't seen my aunt, uncle, and two cousins in a while. Then, what's Thanksgiving without BBQ! That's right... second meal!

Serving the needy, enjoying family, enjoying friends... you have no idea how ecstatic I am! I am so blessed!

Father, thank you for being so amazing! My provider, my shelter, my redeemer. Words cannot express my gratitude.

What an incredible night! Words cannot express, but I'll try...
Incredible Experience #1:
A few guys came over to the church to prayer walk. I joined them when I got done with work.
"Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now
I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there
forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually." II Chronicles 7:15-16

Incredible Experience #2:
Went to Steak-and-Shake at about 2:30am. Robert was there (He's better than Crazy Carl by the way). When I got through eating he came over and showed us this book he had been reading. Basically he is searching and is having a hard time understanding the concept of a just God of love. We talked about a few things. Fundamentally, he is leaning towards universalism. I explained a little bit about what I believe (absolute truth, literal heaven and hell, sinful man, redeeming saviour). Thank God the line of communication between Robert and me is open. I got the name of the book he is reading and I told him I would read it so we could discuss it further. He seems pretty open-minded and logical. What an incredible opportunity! Pray for Robert. Pray that his mind would be open and receptive to the truth. Pray that I would have the right words to say at the right time. God is AWESOME!

"When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Luke 12:11-12
Tonight was living proof of that.

This is all beside the fact that I had an amazing day! I believe I have a newfound veneration for my Master!

Waiting. Never liked it much.

God has a sense of humor. If He wasn't so nice, I would almost call it a cruel sense of humor (Go ahead, flame me for saying God has a cruel sense of humor). He knows the entire plan, He knows what's best for us, He makes good for us, but our little finite brains can't pick up on the clues. Everyonce in a while, I wish I could figure this thing out, but on the other hand, I rather like flying by the seat of my pants.

Life threw me a curveball. I'll probably let it go this time. Is it a strike or a ball?

Bear with me on this one...
I've been listening to Christmas music and I am so wishing I could dance. It's great dancing music. I tried practicing with the mop, but it didn't quite work.

I got my cell phone and wallet back. I'm legal again.

I think jumping in the freezing cold water in the pool last night is wreaking havoc on my skin. It just feels funny.

Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. You would think he died of old age right? He died the same year the flood came. Makes me wonder if God let Noah's grandfather live that long only so he would die in the flood.

Scent of a Woman is one of my top three favorite movies. Al Pacino's monologue in the end is incredible. Besides the movie, I left my cell phone and wallet. Hope I don't get pulled over tonight. I'm at a friend's apartment right now. Hot tubs in winter are amazing! I decided to shock my body and jumped in the pool twice. That was quite an experience. I might edit in more later.

The McDonald's I ate last night isn't going very well. I'm going to try to be on campus at 7:10am, but this has to settle down first.

The storm was disappointing. I donned my rain suit and waited out in the parking lot for something big to come my way. There was a little wind, a lot of rain, and some lightening. Nothing to phone home about (although home called me a few times to see if I was ok).

Moving right along... A friend of mine suggested something interesting the other day. I pondered it and found it to be quite true. God often shows us a long path in the map of life simply to get us to take one step. I look back and think of the times He showed me a direction, I took a step, then plans changed. Ultimately it was all for the good, but would I have taken that one step if I hadn't seen this lengthy trail? Doubtful. I was motivated to take a step when I saw something that caught my eye. Call it a sort of holy "bait and switch". Sounds deceptive, but it's not really. It's all for the better. (Jeremiah 29:11-13, Romans 8:28-29, Proverbs 16:9)
My goal is to be mobile and malleable. I want to be open to His will and willing to do whatever, no matter the cost. I mustn't lock myself into one mode or plan. His direction for me could change at any second.