Saturday, February 26, 2005

the more I know I don't know

It is strange here sometimes. I am a border. This is a fact. I am welcome in the shared spaces of the kitchen, the dining room at meals and the bathrooms. I am welcome in my room. If i want to enter the house through the front door or the side door I need permission. I enter through my own entrance. My room has no cental heat. I leave the door open for the woodstove to warm me from the kitchen or I turn on the space heater.

I am responsible to make my own lunches from the supplies I keep in my room. I have a small fridge and I recently brought a toaster oven. When I want to store things in the Larger kitchen I have to label them with a sharpie marker as my own.

There are times when I am invited to be a part and I feel like family. For my birthday Debbi made a delicious dinner and I was able to invite my parents and a friend . Occasionally noah or micah will invite me to hang out with their guests and we share meals together. But othertimes it is hard, not exactly belonging here, trying to not feel in the way. The kitchen is the heart of this home and sometimes I feel in the way there when someone has stumbled into a serious conversation and I stumble in and awkwardly out, always feeling that I have interupted, guilty, but knowing it is inevitable that I can't stay in my room entirely. I on occasion require a glass of water or need to use the bathroom.

At school sometimes I feel like i know people and then in the same way I know there is only so far I can go. I do not live there. I cannot at this time live there and practically I think this is where God wants me to be. In the same light I wish that I would be understood in the way that they understand each other. I know though it is a fruitless pursuit, one that just makes me feel farther away the harder I try. It isn't so much that I envy them so much as I envy anyone with a sense of belonging. At home I am from now on always a visitor and here I am just a border, at school I am a friend to some but I feel like I don't really fit there too.

I know the answer doesn't lie anywhere but with me. I know God is pressing in on me to be content where he has placed me. I have so many blessings and I always have him to walk with me.

At the same time though...I wonder...is there a deeper sense of unity we as brothers and sisters in Christ can posses, that goes deeper then just living in the same place or spending time together. Maybe it isn't easy and it won't happen overnight but I think inside we all desire the same thing. The only thing we need to get closer is to deepen our walk with God and as we grow closer to him we will grow closer to one another.

I know it is easy for me to say too much. Part of that comes from this desire I have to be heard that often goes unfufilled. I know what I need to do is to perhaps spend more time talking to God and less time trying to make others understand. Too often others open the door a crack and in my excitement I walk right though the screen door destroying what might have been. I don't mean to, It is a reflex of despiration.

I think thought that now God is allowing me to be hurt and to see that the way things have been aren't the way they need to continue. I am slowly getting my ducks in a row and he is scattering seed about challenging me to call the ducks back in my life. They didn't leave, they are just getting rearranged and perhaps the new formation will be more stable. I don't know. It seems like the longer i am a Christian the more I know I don't know. That is ok by me.

I just hope I haven't screwed things up to far for repair with some people. I just want to do what is right and not end up hurt in the end.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

edify

I had an misunderstanding with one of my brothers yesterday. Not my real brother but my spiritual one. It seems lately when i want to be understood I end up misunderstood and sad.

I want to talk about edification today. It is biblical.
Romans 14:19
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
Some people think it is enought to not say things to offend people, some people think it is enough to say that they were just joking. Man up. If we aren't building up the spiritual body we are tearing it down. If your leg is in pain you don't ignore that pain and say no one else in the body has a problem so you shouldn't either.
If you taperecorded all the interactions you had today what would you work on? There is power in the toungue so listen to yourself. I know I have become too sarcastic and am going to work on it myself. Just because things are easy to poke fun at doesn't make it right. Words have power.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Sports

So I talked to my brother tonight. That was cool. We talked about our lack of basketball skills. Just kidding cause you know he has mad skills on the basketball court. Right.
He said I should talk about sports here. Apparently that is pretty exciting stuff. Ok well I randomly picked pittsburgh to go all the way cause i used to live near there and everyone in my house made me pick a team. I think they did pretty good and I am almost glad they didn't make it cause now I can cheer for the eagles with Havalah cause she really cares about football and they are her team.
Ok last week I went to my first Oswego hockey game. It was bagel night. We were playing the cardinals and when we make our first goal all the students throw bagels they have procured from the dining hall on the ice. Prolly like 200 or so. It was super crowded so I couldn't sit with anyone I know because of the bagel thing I assume. I will prolly go again sometime when it isn't bagel night. If there were actually seats and not bleechers they prolly would have been sold out.
After that I went to see the shaun cassidy fan club an improv group on campus. It was ok but kinda crude. Then Jon and I met up and went to Oswego Idol. The guy who won played his own guitar and sang aint no sunshine when shes gone. It was pretty cool. Then Jon and I went to the Winter Carnival. It was awesome. There was free hotdogs, nachoes, soft pretzels soda and hot cocoa. I got a airbrush tatoo of a barcode and we got our picture taken on a giant chair. We also went on this crazy inflatable obstacle course. The best part...it was all free...even the pictures.
My knee has been bugging me again prolly cause i played basketball like a crazy person on sunday. Thank you Jake and Djere and Noah for making me look good...or at least like maybe I don't suck a bunch. So that involved me coming home early today adn laying on my bed> I can't bend it very far at all and might not be able to go to school without crutches tommorow. It has been hurting since tuesday. I am supposed to start pt on wednesday for it which I have been putting off. I hate pain so that should be just great. I have tendinitis and so they basicly want me to strengthen my quads so that it will take the pressure of of my knee. Oh Joy.
Alrighty that is about it from this corner of my world....

What will tommorow hold? In the words of Napleon (dynamite) -Whatever I want-......Gosh

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

uhh..yeah...can I get a basketball?

Ok so the past week has been pretty hectic and crazy.

Last week was my birthday which was cool. I turned twenty five on the twenty fifth and Mrs Tyler made me fajitas and chocolate pecan pie. Mel called and they sang to me at basic. Lauren greutman also came over to dinner.
Sadly on my birthday timmy went home to be with the Lord. Those of you who don't know timmy he was a little boy from a sister church who we had prayed for. He was suffering from cystic fibrosis. You can read his obit here. So that was sad. I had only talked to him once. We talked about art. I had also layed hands on him and prayed for him during services at his church. My friend Tia is gonna be selling breathe bracelets to support the cf foundation and we are gonna wear them in memory of Timmy.
Ok yeah so that was really hard. Now for the less thick stuff. I started working at lee hall last week. Lee hall is the recreation and intermurals place on campus. Basically I check Id and answer the phone and hand out balls to guys who say this "uh yeah uh can I get a basketball?"
Yeah so that is pretty hard work....right. I also get to do my homework and watch TV when it isn't busy. Once an hour I have to do rounds and count all the people in the facility. Not a bad gig.
Uhh...so what else is new. I have a cold. I have gone through over a box of puffs plus since this nonsense started sunday. I am skipping my classes today cause i look like ruldolph and I had two classes and worked almost five hours yesterday sick and I am tired. I am prolly gonna rent napoleon dynamite and maybe shall we dance. I dunno. Maybe I will do some homework. Jake is sick too. Prayers would be appreciated.
Ok thats it for now...