2TH3 (It's a code! :D )

"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea comma with a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me period as He died to make men holy comma let us live to make men free comma while God is marching on period."


So my phone has this cool voice-to-text feature that will, well, basically listen to your voice and type what you say. Usually, it's fairly accurate, but I guess today was an off day for my phone (or maybe for my voice), because when I tried to get it to type those words from The Battle Hymn of the Republic, this is what it came up with:


"in the beauty of the lilies chris is gonna cost to see, with a chlorine is the connections figures you and me. As he died to make mint whole week, lettuce leaf to make men free come a long time is marching on."

So, this semester, these next couple months, are going to be the start of something really great. For a really long time, maybe even my whole life, I haven't really done a whole lot with what I've been given. Now, I've been given a lot. I'm so richly blessed that if I ever start to complain about what I have and say that I don't have enough or anything like that, slap me and tell me to read my own words. And I mean that. Some people would say that I'm a good person, that I've done a lot, and that I've earned a lot. Either they don't know me and the life God's given me, or they don't have very high expectations at all. And I don't think I'm being harsh on myself, either. I've done lots of stuff, lots of good stuff, even, and you could argue that I've done more than some people. But I could have done more. So much more. But I've always just settled. I've been super excited lately about God using me to minister to other people, doing things that I never thought I would do. But even in those things, I haven't lived up to what I could, I haven't done everything I could do. Sometimes I do just enough to get by, sometimes I go a bit above the bar, but I don't push myself all the way to the max. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to have another day that finishes with "If I had done this," or "I should have finished this, too." Now, I know that change like that doesn't happen overnight, and I also know that I cannot accomplish under my own power alone. But, God is in the business of changing people, and now I want Him to change me. And I've got to put myself into this. I've got to commit to it. I've got to just buckle down and do it. I'll have to lose some sleep, sacrifice some leisure time, even some time with friends. There's one guy I can look up to who does just what I've been talking about. I think he's pretty impressive, and it's simply because he does what he can do. Whatever situation he's in, he does the most he can with what he has, and then he looks on to what's next and how he can prepare to tackle that just as well. That's what I want to be like. And now, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to commit to preparing myself, to becoming less dependent. My life is God's, I just want to follow His plan for my life, but instead of just floating around in His ocean, I'll be going with direction. I've got the direction, I know where I'm going. I don't know God's whole plan for my life, in fact, I don't even know what's going to happen next week, but I know where He's got me pointed right now, so I'm going to go that direction, pushing on, until I reach my destination or God turns me a new direction. Things will be different. A warrior doesn't just go into battle and fight one or two people before going back and taking a break! He charges onto the battlefield and fights until the battle is won or he gives himself up for the fight! I want to be a warrior like that! I'm going to charge into the fight, starting now. I kind of know how to fight, but God will still have to help me keep on. And I know I'm not perfect, but our example in life is Jesus. He's perfect, and we're supposed to strive to be like Him. I don't know how the next months will turn out, but I'm pretty excited, though I'm also nervous, because I know it won't be easy. But easy never makes you stronger, so, bring it.

Done!!

I'm done!! The semester is over! and I can't remember when I've been this excited about break since fish year! The past couple weeks have been rough. Finals were tough, along with other stressful stuff on top of studying. I think they all went pretty well, though. I had three. My last one was Calculus on Monday morning, and before that I had my two engineering classes - materials science and statics & particle dynamics - back to back last Friday morning starting at 7:30. It was rough. Hopefully, I passed all my classes. Yeah, I have super high expectations. Like Brian, who is still making a 4.0. He's ridiculous. I'll be looking for a place that'll hire me while he's looking for the place that wants him the most.

Anyway, school is over, and I get to keep going and going. I'm going to meet up with old friends, make Christmas presents (I want to buy as few as possible this year... we'll see how that works out...), apply for staff for Camp LIFE and raise money for it - I need $1,500 by January 15 - and apply to work at Duncan. I think that's about all I have to do. Oh, and recruiting. I might save that for after the bowl game, when I have my full uniform...

So, God has been teaching me soooo much, not the least of which is how little I actually know. But, I'm finding that He gives me wisdom when I need it. But then again, I guess that's kinda how it works anyway, right? Does anyone have wisdom when they don't need it? Is there ever even a time when you don't need wisdom? I mean, it seems to me that I'm pretty foolish at times, really lacking wisdom, but then at times that I need to be wise, I have that wisdom. I think it's awesome because it's a testimony to the fact that it's God, not me, with the wisdom. If I had wisdom on my own, I would have it all the time, but I don't, I'm only wise when God decides I should be. But, I am also developing godly wisdom by learning and experiencing. It still comes only from God, though. I'm a pretty dumb person, and I'm super thankful for the wisdom God gives me. One thing He's just recently reminded me of is how incredibly big and incredibly loving He is. He's enormous. If you don't believe me, http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire/pr2010013a/. He made all that, and we don't even know how much more. And He's so loving, too. He loves us because He is good, not because we deserve it at all. He loves people who don't deserve anything good at all (that's all of us, actually) enough to sacrifice for us to win us back. He is running after us, pursuing us like a man pursues a woman that he knows he is going to marry. He sets after her with confidence and determination, ready to make any sacrifice, pay any cost, fight any fight, suffer any wounds, just to rescue his beauty, and that's exactly what God does for us, the church, His beauty, His bride. He is relentless.

Stuff like that, I've been learning this semester. There's always something more to be learned about God. Always. It will take us all of eternity to fully know Him, and that's exactly what we'll be doing. I'm super excited, and I hope this has got you excited, too, because you should be.

So, I've slept through about 3 of the last 27 or so hours, so... yeah... Goodnight. If I'm still making sense at this point, wow. I'm surprised I can even spell. I'm using backspace a lot. Goodnight.

Vision

I keep laughing at how great the title of this blog is. It's just so perfect. I'm just going through life, living and learning, and finding out how much I really don't know.

So, I had this vision the other day. It was sometime last week, but I don't remember when. I also don't remember whether I dreamed this, or just thought of the scenario while awake. I actually totally forgot about it until last night.

The first thing I remember is cardboard boxen, at least six of them. We are packing the last one. Filled almost to the top with Bibles, we put in a final layer of textbooks and close the top. Flash forward, there's an SUV, with the boxes in back. It's dark, and raining. I'm walking around the back of the car to get in the driver's seat, there's a man in the passenger, and the area is illuminated by the bright spotlights of a security checkpoint...

So yeah, I just remembered that last night. I don't know what it means, if it means anything, but I think it's pretty cool. Something I just realized is that the driver's side was on the left side of the car. I don't know which countries drive on the right side of the road, but that kind of makes me want to find out...

Ok, so so much has happened since the last time I wrote anything significant on this blog, so if you haven't been  talking to me or something like that, you missed out on a lot. Zambia was incredible. Life-changing. Seriously. It changed the direction of my life. Before I went, I was kind of interested in missions, but not really concerned with them. I just wanted to go on at least one for the experience. Now, however, they are a huge focus of my life. If I didn't think an engineering degree would help me get the gospel overseas, I probably would have changed majors by now. I'm going to talk to my advisor about getting a minor in math so that I can teach math to kids in Zambia. Yeah, if you had asked me about that last year, I... don't know what I would have said... It probably would've been pretty dumb, though...

Anyways, so yeah...

Also, being chaplain is not quite what I thought it would be like. It's hard being in that role and talking to people who have been facing crazy hard things. Some of the freshmen have gone through some intense trials. There hasn't been anything major lately, but whenever something big happens, and I go to them to help or they come to me for support, it's like I take some of that emotional burden on myself. I can feel the weight of it pulling down on my heart. I guess I've never really done anything quite like this, so I didn't know that happens. It makes me think about what others must have felt like when I came to them and just threw all my troubles on them. It really helps just to talk to people sometimes, but it can also be pretty tough for that person. I'm not saying that I dislike it. I love being the chaplain, and I'm so thankful God has put me in this position to influence others and be a role model. I'm so glad to be a part of that, but it isn't always easy. I read the part in James where he says that it's not good for many of them to be teachers because of how teachers are judged more strictly. Because of the stuff he says next, I think James is being pretty specific, but it still made me really think about my words and actions, and whether I'm really representing the gospel like I should or not. Paul says in Titus to do everything in a way that will make the gospel attractive to others. Even non-believers hold us up to a higher standard. If I cussed, or stole something, or started talking about girls the way some of buddies do, they would immediately notice and wonder what was wrong with me. If I insult someone (even kidding around), they'll say something like "Man, and coming from the chaplain!..." As if I am supposed to be kinder, gentler, and more respectful than them. Am I? As a Christian, definitely. I should always be striving to imitate Christ, to love God and to love others. But as a cadet, we all commit to the same set of values. There is no clause in the honor system that says "Only chaplains must be respectful of women..." or anything like that. All of us swear to the same cadet oath, and are all held according to the same standard. So then, why am I expected to act differently? I think it's because, deep down, whether they realize it or not, non-believers know they're missing it. They know "right" from "wrong," even though they deny the existence of God, the only possible source of a universal set of morals among us. It's just how we, Christians, are supposed to be. We're supposed to be kinder, humbler, more generous, more loving. But then, why doesn't everyone want to be a Christian? If we have that stereotype, and it's something that is generally held in higher regard, then why doesn't everyone want that? Maybe they see it like a religion, where it's something that we've committed to, so now we have to do it. We joined the club, signed the contract, said the oath, so now we have to follow the rules. Do we make it seem like that? Do we act like my Mormon buddy did (one of our buddies fish year is Mormon. He's on his two-year mission trip thing right now), who would never go see R-rated movies because he wasn't allowed to, but played Mature-rated computer games with (in my opinion) just as much gore, language, etc, as those movies, because there was no rule against it? We should be living content with Jesus, and uninterested in the fleeting pleasures the world finds so enticing and entangling. We should make the gospel of Jesus attractive by showing others that in it there is freedom, there is contentment, there is a greater pleasure than anything this world can offer. People should expect us to act differently, and wonder why we are so happy with it.

Shine, make 'em wonder what you got, make 'em wish that they were not on the outside looking bored.
Shine, let it shine before all men, let 'em see good works and then, let 'em glorify the Lord.


I've been reading A Pilgrim's Progress lately. It's really cool. I love this part here...


I saw also, that the Interpreter took him again by the hand, and led him into a pleasant place, where was builded a stately palace, beautiful to behold; at the sight of which Christian was greatly delighted. He saw also, upon the top thereof, certain persons walking, who were clothed all in gold.


Then said Christian, May we go in thither?


Then the Interpreter took him, and led him up towards the door of the palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men, as desirous to go in; but durst not. There also sat a man at a little distance from the door, at a table-side, with a book and his inkhorn before him, to take the name of him that should enter therein; he saw also, that in the doorway stood many men in armour to keep it, being resolved to do the men that would enter what hurt and mischief they could. Now was Christian somewhat in amaze. At last, when every man started back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, Set down my name, Sir: the which when he had done, he saw the man draw his sword, and put a helmet upon his head, and rush toward the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them all [Acts 14:22], and pressed forward into the palace, at which there was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, even of those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying-- "Come in, come in; Eternal glory thou shalt win."


So he went in, and was clothed with such garments as they. Then Christian smiled and said; I think verily I know the meaning of this.

Bunyan, John (2009-10-04). The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come, delivered under the similitude of a dream, by John Bunyan (Kindle Locations 425-437). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.


Pretty sweet. Ok, I'm going to the second part of the GO! Missions Conference put on by Breakaway :) I'm excited. I'm going to try to post more (I've heard it's not good to say stuff like this on blogs, but I don't really care). I have the time; I'll just waste less time on other stuff. See ya!

Just a few...

Here are some ways that you can make a difference easily for another person:

1. Deliver fresh-baked cookies to neighbors and others.
2. Collect canned goods for a food bank.
3. Offer a couple of hours of baby-sitting to single parents for a night out in your neighborhood.
4. Volunteer at an agency that needs support help such as Salvation Army and Red Cross.
5. Donate time at a senior center with games and activities.
6. Give blood.
7. Stop by a nursing home, and visit a resident with no family nearby.
8. Leave a treat or handmade note of thanks for a garbage man, delivery person or mail carrier.
9. Clean graffiti from your neighborhood walls and buildings.
10. Organize a clean-up party in your park.
11. Give toys to the children at the shelter or safe house.
12. Send a gift or gift card anonymously to a friend.
13. Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
14. Buy books, backpacks and school supplies for a day care or school.
15. In a note slip a $20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.
16. Roll an elderly neighbor’s garbage cans back up the driveway at the end of trash pick-up day.
17. Purchase a copy of a good book about kindness, put a card in the middle, and pass it on.
18. Pay the toll for the person behind you.
19. If a friend or a neighbor is moving, offer to bring food.
20. Collect personal care items for homeless shelters and safe houses.
21. Take flowers to work and share them with coworkers.
22. Get to work before others and leave a piece of candy, brownie, fruit, flower, etc. at every desk attached with a homemade card.
23. Leave a cake or other food item in a central area anonymously with a “I appreciate you” note.
24. Buy a cup of coffee or snack for someone who’s having a long day.
25. Send a prayer note to someone who is having a rough day.
26. Bake cookies together with your kids, and take them to a neighbor who needs a lift.
27. Pitch in and clean up the yard of a neighbor who is ill, has had surgery recently, or has had a family emergency.
28. Volunteer with your children at a soup kitchen.
29. Leave a bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s front step anonymously.
30. As a house-warming gift for a new neighbor, ask others to pick their favorite quote to write in a nice book welcoming them to the neighborhood.
31. Clean up litter on a stretch of road in your neighborhood.
32. Surprise your spouse with breakfast in bed.
33. Call your mom just to say, “Hello.”
34. Arrange a conference call for the entire family.
35. Offer to wash your dog or a neighbor’s dog.
36. Make nutritional treats for dogs and cats, and give them to neighbors for their pets. Make extra for animal shelters.
37. Plant a tree in your neighborhood.
38. Promote a neighborhood cleanup day for homeowners.
39. Give houseplants to teachers, friends, or coworkers.
40. Select some people in your life who you feel need a special lift and send them a gift: flowers, tickets to a special event, or a gift certificate.
41. Help an elderly neighbor by raking leaves, mowing lawn, weeding flower bed, shoveling snow, wash car, clean house, etc.
42. Visit widows or homebound individuals. Make them a meal, stop in to say “hi”, or help around the house.
43. Spend an evening teaching a senior citizen how to use the computer or internet. You can use the time for painting, drawing, or scrapbooking, too.
44. Adopt a “Grand-friend” – every once in a while, pick up the phone, send an email, write a letter, or go and visit your “grand-friend.”
45. Help an elderly person by picking up their medicine, retrieving their paper, helping them with grocery shopping, taking them “out.”
46. Find a person who is homeless – give them a few dollars, or buy them a meal, or simply just talk to them.
47. Collect food from neighbors, at school, or from churches – give it to a local family in need, homeless shelter, or charity.
48. Volunteer at your local homeless shelter, food bank, or soup kitchen.
49. Gather clothes, blankets, toys, books, or basic supplies and donate to local family in need, homeless shelter, Church, or non-profit organization.
50. Help with home repairs and yard work of local families / homes in need.
51. Tailgating at a sporting event: offer free hot dogs, popcorn, drinks, etc to the community before the game.
52. Give away coffee and hot chocolate during a community event.
53. Sports season is starting at local schools. Provide bottled water or Gatorade after a local team practice.
54. Organize a neighborhood block party.

from KLove

http://www.klove.com/promodetails.aspx?i=7325

Oh man, life is crazy. I don't really have anything to write about, I just don't really have anything else to do. Well, I guess I do, but It's been a while since I've bolrogglgogged. In my last post, I was excited because I was going to leave for Zambia soon. Well, I went to Zambia, and it was amazing. I don't even think I can write about it here, because it just wouldn't do it justice. It would be wrong to try to condense all of that awesomeness into a post or even series of posts on here. If you want to know about it, just set aside an hour or two, or three, and come talk to me and I'll tell you all about it. Otherwise, I'll just tell about stuff from the trip whenever I mention it here, on this blog, on which I post, to here, this blog, right now, and other times, on here. This blogglegog...eroggle.

On a totally random note, I think the movie Courageous is coming out this month, or maybe even in the next week or two. I'm pretty excited about that. It should be really cool.

I'm a junior this year, and it is so cool!! I was having fun basically the moment I got here. It's a little weird, almost like I'm not as much a part of everything, but it's only because we're so much less restrained this year. Less rules to follow, and they're all (or mostly) rules that make sense. Except for having to have the top button done on your clothes. That's kinda dumb. Just the top button must be fastened. And the clothes in your closet have to be in order.

I got to go to first yell last night. It was really cool. Brian Regan (the comedian, not the felon) is really funny.

There's a bunch of stuff that I really need to get done today... including some homework. I need to go get a book for Bible studies with the underclassmen. I had one with the fish this past week. It went really well. Half of it, maybe even more, was spent just chilling with them, giving them a chance to get away from the corps for a while. I think I'm going to show them a funny youtube video next week.

I really like music, but I can't figure out what kind. I guess just about every kind, and what I want to hear at the moment just depends on how I feel and what I've heard lately, and the situation. I love putting in headphones and pretending that your life is a movie and the current track is the background music. Needs more explosions, though.


Everything you just read, or skipped past, I wrote at the beginning of this month, but then I never posted it because I planned on writing more, but never got around to it. Now I'm super busy, so I decided to get onto my blog again. I make so much sense :) Anyways, so yeah, definitely. I'm really tired. I finally got to sit near the front of my materials science class today... and I slept through most of it. And it was a test review. Poop. Anyway, up next is lunch, then canoeing class, then homework/Bible study/Breakaway/sleep. Not necessarily in that order.

Keep your eyes on the lookout and your ears on the... uh, listen up over the next few days and weeks for info on awesome stuff that's going to happen in Zambia. Hopefully we'll have a group from Camp Winchester that wants to go next summer. I'll be sending out an email soon, probably this Friday. If we can get a bunch of people going, that would be super awesome and exciting. Another guy in the band and I are also going to talk to the Aggie Band about it, and maybe we'll get a group from there as well. But, the really exciting thing is something that everyone can be involved in. I'll be sending out more info on this as well, but basically, Family Legacy, the organization that does Camp LIFE, has what they call the Tree of LIFE Childrens' Village. Check it out on their website. It's a home for the most needy orphans, where they are really loved and provided for, and have clothes, food, friends, a good education. It's great. Anyway, it's a series of homes, each housing 14 kids and 2 house mothers. Well, the houses are built off of donated money, and us Aggies here in Aggieland are going to raise the money to build one!! Stay tuned (or following or whatever), and I'll let you know how it goes :) I'm pumped.


Run the Race.

Just wait.

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I don't really know what to say. There's been a lot going on, mostly good stuff, but I don't know what all to write about. Camp is about to start (super exciting!!!), but I can only go to one 3 day camp before I leave for Zambia next Thursday (also super exciting!!!), and then summer goes crazy. Unless I find some time to post stuff from Zambia, I probably won't blog again until August. Sorry, but don't say I didn't warn you. Anyway, I guess I should make this one good... yeah, I got nothin'. Sorry. Oh wait, I never talked about the canoe trip with Brian! So we did go on that trip we were talking about, and it was really cool. We saw a dead cow, and an armadillo, and about a million turtles. And we ate a lot of gorp (by "we," I mean just me). Gorp is good ol' raisins and peanuts. What we had was technically gorpmc, though, which is good ol' raisins peanuts m&m's and cranberries. Plus some other stuff. It was good :) It was a really cool trip, and we went about 76 miles down the Colorado River (from Little Webberville in Austin to Plum Park in... wherever it is) in 3 days. Yeah, we're beasts.

Also, yesterday (Sunday yesterday, not technical yesterday, since it's technically Tuesday. I don't care), my dad and I went to College Station, and on the way back, we stopped by the Texas Boot Company in Bastrop to see  what hours they're open. They were closed, and didn't have an hours sign up, but there were some people inside, so I tried to open the door to poke my head in and ask for hours, but it was locked. The guy that was inside opened the door, invited us to come in and shop for a while (even though I told him we just wanted to look around), and started talking to us. Turns out it was the owner, who had stopped by for a minute because his wife had to use the restroom. They're really cool people. They're Christians, and he's an Aggie (I didn't ask what year). They had actually just opened up a dance hall in the back of the store for Aggies to stop at on the way to games from San Antonio and Austin. I started talking to his wife about Camp Winchester, and Zambia, and it turns out she knows one or two people who went or are going on the same thing I'm going on (Camp LIFE). Then the guy gave me a bunch of coupons for the camp staff. It was pretty crazy, most of all because I know it was God's doing. See, we wouldn't have met them if we had been just a few minutes earlier or later, and we had missed the store the first time around and had to loop around the highway again to get back to it. Also, they used to have a sign with their hours posted, but it got old, so they had recently taken it down... Haha yeah, I know. And then, one more thing. I wanted to tell people about it (I don't really know why), so I told Brian, but then I also wanted to tell Hannah (I don't really know why), but instead of just telling her about meeting the owners, I told her to tell anyone at camp that wanted new boots that I have coupons (I don't really know why). She texted me back to tell me that she needs to get some boots, and she was going to go this week. Haha isn't God funny sometimes? (I mean literally funny, like humorous. God has a sense of humor, and He's way funnier than you are)

Busy bee

Are bees really always busy? Or are they any busier than any other animal?

I've been really busy lately, and it doesn't look like it'll let up until... uh... maybe Christmas? Once finals are over next week, and final review and Jaclyn's grad party, Brian (Sowell) and I are going on a canoe trip. For sure. It's gonna happen... we hope. I think it's possible. And after that, I might go backpacking with Brian (Smith), but it looks like we'll be putting that off for a little bit. But all during May, I'll be visiting churches to ask for money (I don't really feel right just walking up and asking for money, though) for Zambia, along with preparing for the trip itself as well. Also, there's a cncert with my (ex)band, staff training, and then camp starts at the end of May, and then I leave for Zambia in June, and I go straight to Missouri for a family reunion once I get back into the country, and then straight to camp once I get back into the state. Until August, it's camp, with a weekend trip in July to the coast with Brian and Daniel (Sowell) and some other guys, and probably working a couple Saturdays at Truck City. I might have a week off after camp ends, but even if I do, it'll be spent packing for school, which I have to move in for early this year. Once school starts, I'll probably be a sleepless hermit for 3 1/2 months, with maybe 2 weekends off, until Christmas break, during which I might take online classes...

Why do I bring all this up? Well, for one thing, I just basically wrote out all my plans for the next 7 or so months, and I can see how crazy they are (I decided while typing all that that I probably shouldn't take online classes this summer). Also, I want you to catch something I just said. All of those things are my plans. That's everything I want to do. Yes, God is a huge part of almost everything I just said - everything if you count the fact that we do everything for the glory of God - but I'm still the one who made all those plans. Even Zambia, though God is telling to go, I've been planning, and seeing how I can make it work. Does this show a lack of faith, planning out my year for myself? Maybe. It really depends on intentions and motivation. I didn't plan everything because I don't think God has a plan, or that His plan isn't good, though. I think (and I'm figuring this all out as I type, I just started this post without any real direction or intention, I just wanted to post something. I need to go to sleep soon. Anyway, I think) I just did it because I wanted to do those things, and because it's habit. We plan stuff out so that we know what's going to happen, and we can be prepared for it. I guess its not wrong to plan on things, as long as you understand that everything happens only inside God's will. Oh, and as long as you keep your schedule flexible...

Sorry, I can't be calm right now! I'm so excited! Like, you have no idea. God is doing incredible things right now! This guy in my outfit just got saved, and he is totally on fire for Christ now! Its amazing how far he has come in literally less than 24 hours. And the head drum major, who is a key leader of the entire band, is hardcore on fire for God as well, and he was talking about some crazy bandwide praise and worship that we're planning for next year, and our outfit commander is also a strong man of faith, and one of my spiritual mentors. He's chosen some great leadership for our outfit as well. I'm so excited for next year! I'm so excited for tomorrow! God is so awesome!

Ugh

So much to do! Breakaway was amazing tonight, and I really wish I could talk about it, but I've just got too much to do. It really makes me sad, but it reminds me of something my old youth pastor told me fish year, in an email. I had said that I was pretty busy, and he basically said yeah, life gets like that sometimes, where you can't do the things you want to. I want to stay up and pour out some thoughts and feelings, but I need to sleep, because I've got two tests tomorrow, and one more on Thursday. So much studying... Anyway, I could sure use everyone's prayers the next two days, and then I don't even know how many tests I've got after this week. Too many. I'm just trying to get through Thursday right now, so please pray for me in that. Thanks.

Well, this could be pretty rough...