wicked sleepy

Sooooooo exhausted. I love me some retreat, but combined 2-night sleep total of 8 hours (2 of which were on a hotel lobby couch) just doesn't cut it. Yet the Monday after is always fun. I'm even more laid-back than normal. Terribly relaxed and talkative. Not good for trying to study for two tests.

Retreat was good. Played some hacky sack. Had some good guy time with Robert Lee and Yogi (quality guys). Good conversations. Didn't get a lot out of the main talks, but good stories. Plus I love me some road tripping. Even if my van was the quiet and chill van, we had some fun and good talking.

This week's challenge: balance work and fun. I've got a really hard test and a mediocre one (art history, not hard, a lot of memory loading). But by no means am I the person to let a few tests deter me from gallivanting during my birthday week. No, sir. Not I. Two Covenant friends are coming down to go out to lunch. Can't wait. Been forever since I've seen either of them. But that is not all. Oh no, that is not all. The rest is in the works.

Still reading Hebrews. Nothing too poignant. It's mostly about Jesus and his position as priest. It is interesting that Paul says, "For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another." (8:7) It just always catches my attention when something God has said or done seems at fault. I realize often in is just "anthropomorphic" or whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night, but it definitely catches my attention.

And now....the pictures. It was terribly tempting to throw something down the 15 floors to the lobby. Notice the couch in the bottom right corner (also known as a bed to some people).

Sportin' the leather jackets. That's how they roll in Gatlinburg.

Everyone starts getting a little goofy late at night.

Gettin' in the zone with some hacky sack.

Singin' to anyone who'd listen in the lobby. A good way to say goodbye.

To the books. Goodnight, all.

sitfr tead

Well, good times were had last night. For those of you who couldn't figure out the word scramble, I went on a first date. The short and sweet of it: I took a girl named Eleanor out to dinner and then just hung out for most of the night. If you're like me and want all the little details...

So, I hung out with my sister last Wednesday for a few hours. Having decided by this point that I was going to ask Eleanor out, I did my best sad puppy dog face to try and convince Crissy to let me borrow her car. Being the ever so sweet and kind sister that she is, she agreed so I was all set. I did a little research on ye olde internet to find a good restaurant, and then I called her Sunday night to ask her out.

I went over to my dad's house to kill some time yesterday before the date and to ease the nerves. Turns out Crissy had gotten in an accident on Friday, so my dad had to do a little work to take out the freshly popped airbags and newly dented fender. The Eclipse wasn't looking its best, but it was night and I wasn't too concerned.

After picking Eleanor up and opening her car door, we headed over to Birdi's in Decatur. It was good, really quiet since it was Tuesday, but good. An hour later my sister called, so we left Birdi's a little early to drive Crissy home from her dance class. I then proceeded to drive to a closed Paolo's Gelato in VA-Highlands and a no-longer-existent Jake's. Two strikes. We gave up on dessert and then just spent the next few hours on a bench swing at Agnes talking.

So yeah, altogether good times were had. As for what I'm doing next, it's all uncharted territory. But I'm excited! I took a few pictures, but she made me promise not to post any of her so I must abstain for now.

Thanks for all your prayers, encouragement, and excitement! Goodnight.

'til her daddy takes her t-bird away

So the past couple of days I've been reading Hebrews. One thing that has come up several times is the idea of Jesus' humanity. I think my conception of Jesus is a little too narrow in one sense. No matter how many times I read it, I just can't really envision the temptation and related suffering of Jesus. The end of chapter 2 says he "suffered when he was tempted." Maybe I have created a pedestal, but the idea of Jesus suffering through temptation doesn't register.

This may be why I feel like I'm always missing something from communion. First of all, on a related tangent, I have no tangible or identifiable concept of how communion is a "means of grace." That phrase just makes me feel lost. Like some fire from heaven should come down on your head when you eat your bread and drink your wine, and if you don't get the fire, well, maybe Christianity just isn't for you. I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but I never have quite known what I should get out of communion. Part of me never can grasp the thought of Jesus suffering. It feels too surreal. Too ungodly. Too fake. Thus, communion usually serves as a time for me to meditate on how I need God, how God has helped me, but not necessarily how he has saved me. If that makes any sense.

What is communion to you? How do you see it as a means of grace? How do you spend your time and thoughts during communion? How do you reconcile the humanity and divinity of Jesus? Does it help you to know Jesus was tempted? I'm curious to know.

On the lighter side, I had a grand weekend. I went to a concert of one Matt Terrell and accompanists (really, they had their own things going) at Eddie's Attic. This also served as occasion to spend time with Leah and Melinda. Pretty much two of my favorite people in the world.

Saturday and Sunday were both really laid-back chill days. However! Sunday I also got up the courage to do something I've never done before. If it were to be in the Sunday newspaper word scramble, the words might look something like: sitfr tead. I'm way excited! Way, way, way excited!

give a penny, take a penny

Alrighty. So I'm going to start something a little different here. I like what I've got with pictures and a little recap of my week and such, but I'm going to mix it up. One thing that I've been thinking about lately is spiritual growth. Last year, as I new year's resolution I said I wanted to be more intentionally spiritual in my friendships. Here's a small step toward that. As a forum or outlet, I'm going to put thoughts I have about the scripture I'm reading. Feel free to write or email me or call to tell me your own thoughts. I'd love to hear and learn and grow! If nothing else, even if noone responds, it gives me a chance to really put some thought into what I'm reading and allows you to better understand how I think. With that disclaimer/explanation, here I go!

Last night, I read Titus 2 which is about what should be taught to different groups. I've basically just been moving through the New Testament by reading a chapter each night. In Titus 2, the first thing that struck me was the apparent strangeness of some of the teachings. Like verse 3 says older women should be taught not to be addicted to much wine. I would have thought surely it'd be the men, especially the younger, who needed to be taught such things. Not that any group is above any particular sin, but I wonder if the stereotypes or groups acted differently then. Why did he group them in such ways?

The second big thing that kind of struck me was the instructions for slaves. Why doesn't the Bible denounce slavery? I realize it was a different time. Slavery looked differently than my pre-civil war connotations might picture. The Bible doesn't necessarily encourage slavery, but how can equality and community be real when there are slaves? Also, Paul gives the instructions for slaves so that, "they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive." That just makes me cringe a little. Once again, this may just be a misunderstanding of slavery at that time, but it just makes it sound like Christianity's dirty little secret. "Keep your slaves under control so we don't scare anyone away."

Lastly, and this is a whole different can of worms but I'll throw it out there, the passage made me think about the ever present distinction between men and women in the Bible. Should women be allowed to teach? What distinctions, if any, should be made between men and women in the church? Maybe I'm a fiery liberal, but I just don't see a need for the divide. Sure I see passages in scripture that clearly delineate boundaries, but are they normative? I realize men and women are different. They often have different needs, personalities, the list goes on. Yet, what makes their capacity for ministry so different. I mean, nearly a millenium has gone by. Slavery existed then. The society was definitely more patriarchal than now. People have learned, grown, improved. Why should we uphold standards that reflect a past time and mentality?

Wow, this has been entirely longer than I thought it would be. Please, please, please share your thoughts. If xanga's too public for you email me or call. Heck, even facebook message me if you have to. I'm looking for answers. I want to know how you think about this stuff.

Goodnight. Thanks for putting up with my new outlet.

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

Soooo it's been a nice weekend. A good mix of the restful and the crazy after a pretty blah week. Friday night was filled with an open mic that included, but by no means was limited to, karate, ballerinos, meowing, and poetry. And after open mic a cameo appearance at the F*** Hallmark party. There's nothing quite like eating a few anti-valentine's day cards while eating some broken heart-shaped cookies. Saturday morning and even early afternoon consisted of a buttload ton of laundry and studying. Massive quantities of both. Somehow I've managed to accrue enough clothes to last me through the first five weeks of school. Though by Friday night, I was down to the last clean pair of boxers and orange socks. The orange socks are about the equivalent of the blinking fuel light on a car. They're dearly loved, but only make cameo appearances from time to time. After such rest, I spent from 7:30p.m. - 2:45a.m. at Dance Marathon. It's a fundraiser of sorts with tons of dancing, competitions, and fun.

Too much thinking lately. As much as I like thinking, the thoughts of late have been very jaded and closed. That never helps anything. First of all, I've been all to quick to see the bad spots in my life. The things that aren't quite as good as they could be. The friends who don't call. The interviews that don't pay off. The rain that doesn't clear. So, if you so desire, feel free and I would even encourage you to not let me do this. Point out the good things in my life. Tell me about the good things in yours (it helps, it doesn't just make me jealous, I promise).

A nice little surprise today. A friend of friends from Covenant who has transferred to Emory and came to All Souls. So I spent most of lunch talking with her, reminiscing, and seeing how her post-Covenant life has been. Here's a tribute to days gone by.
Friends from freshman year that you got to spend random amounts of time with in later years.
Roommates that have interests completely different from your own (notice the Jackie Chan t-shirt, yeah, he was obsessed) and the ensuing Your Momma Wednesdays and dance party Sunday nights in the room. The kinds of friends you can't help but spend lots and lots of time with. Camp, school, you can't get away, and yet you don't really want to.

spicy week

Phew. So it feels like this last week and a half has just been jam-packed. Granted, jam-packed for me isn't half as loaded as it may be for many of my friends. Nevertheless I've been in go-go-go mode. Last Friday I went to College Night at the High Museum with two Georgia Southern CCF girls. It was a wee bit awkward at first considering I'd only talked once (besides online, which doesn't really count) to one of them and the other I'd never met. But once the ice broke it was fun. Then Saturday was my chill day. I left my apartment for all of 1 hour. Once again I found myself at All Souls on Sunday. I'm feeling it may be a permanent fix. It grows on me more and more. Monday, for an added bit of culture, I went to the ballet (Bolero and Carmina Burana) with my family. The rest of the week has filled to the brim with interviews, homework, meetings, time with friends, and other such business.

One great thing about this week - new music. I've been supplied with any number of different upbeat and fun CDs. I mean, I love my music, but it's all really ridiculously chill. So the new stuff has been quite welcome at a time such as this (Friday afternoon, excited, energetic).
I'm starting to like CCF Thursday night Bible studies better. We've started this new this called Cafe CCF which is after the regular one. It's more coffee-shop like, and last night we even had small group discussions. I always love small-group discussion supposing that the group listens and has somewhat intelligent opinions.

In lieu of having no terribly current pictures I'll leave you with a little Flamingo football fun.

Damien attempting to hop, moments before being obliterated by someone at least a foot shorter.

The sweet taste of success.