Inspiration (things I wrote on the Spring Break Trip)

Sunday

So it’s Sunday the 14th, the second day of our Spring Break trip, and I figured I would write some “inspiration,” as one of the other guys put it. This is my first ski trip to be an adult. I went to Florida last year, when I was 18. During that awkward age range of 18 to 21, you’re not a scout anymore, but you aren’t really an adult, either. We call us “tweeners.” We have to follow all of the adult rules now, but we can’t do things like drive other scouts around, and we’re still kinda treated like youth. Ok, this is really boring to talk about. But I don’t really have anything interesting to say. The first two days of the trip are really long and boring, unless you’re really good at keeping yourself entertained, in which case they’re really long and only slightly boring. We went to Pizza Hut last night for dinner, though, and that was pretty cool. I stayed up pretty late, so I’ve been sleeping almost the whole way until now.

It’s beautiful out here, if you know how to appreciate it. That sounds weird, but I think you would understand if you saw it, or if you’ve ever been to New Mexico. You look out the window, and you see a fence just past the road, and then there’s just a huge open area beyond that, usually with slightly rolling hills. (Occasionally, you may even see some roll into each other ;) ) There are little bushes and short trees every now and then, sometimes there are a lot. You might even see some cows. In the distance are mesas, and sometimes mountains. They’re the kind that seem like they’re everywhere except within 50 miles of you. Even the ones that look like they’re dead ahead somehow manage to move before you get closer. The sky is a perfect blue, dark straight above, and lighter the closer you get to the horizon, with all kinds of clouds. The beauty in all of this is in the different colored grass and dirt that paint the plains, the high cliffs and flat tops of the mesas, the blue mountains, so distant you can barely see the tops, the glorious palette of clouds, and even in the lone windmill, etched against the perfect blue sky. We’re even starting to come across patches of snow, adding another element to the gallery of nature’s artwork. When you’re in a place like this, it’s not hard to see how all of Creation points to God. Nature has its own way of praising Him. You know, maybe God has a hobby. Maybe He’s an artist, and the earth and sky are His canvas. He’s painted us a masterpiece, wherever we look. But then again, maybe it’s not just for us. Maybe God just enjoys creating beautiful things. I mean, it’s not a hobby if you don’t enjoy doing for yourself as well. I like to think that God just enjoys having a beautiful creation.

(2^nd entry, in notebook cuz the computer had died)

I finally saw Fireproof, yesterday in the van. It’s pretty awesome. If I had to describe the movie in one work, it would be “powerful.” It’s very moving. It seemed like, once a sentimental moment was over, there was another, equally moving one! If you haven’t seen it, I not only highly recommend it, I will get a copy and either take it to your house or invite you over to mine to see it! It seems like it’s a movie about marriage, and it is, but it’s also so much more. It’s about faith, hope, love, God’s grace, becoming a Christian, pushing through trials, pride, lust, anger, frustration, and hot sauce and tomato juice. It’s got sad moments, scary moments, unbelievable moments, and hopeless, joyful, frustrating, hilarious, and inspiring ones. It’s got great characters, great quotes, and the best life lessons you can learn. It is unquestionably on my list of favorite movies, and one I would watch again if given the chance.

Now there’s probably a lot I left out about Fireproof, but I didn’t intend for this to be a movie review. I had the urge to write a note to someone in particular a few minutes ago, and I think it may have stemmed from seeing Fireproof. Well, actually, I first wanted to text this person, but I realized I couldn’t, because I don’t know her yet, so I figured I’d write a note. Figured it out yet? I suddenly had wished that I had someone to whom I could just say “Thinking of you, and I love,” but, alas (I always wanted to say that), I have no such person. It is not my time yet. However, I know you’re out there, whoever you are, and, though you may never actually read this, I just want you to know that I am thinking of you, and I love you, or I guess I will when I meet you. I think you’re beautiful, especially when you smile, and I love holding your hand. The time we will spend together will be the best of my life. I’m so thankful for you, and especially for the fact that God has already picked you out for me, and me for you. I want you to know that I will treasure you always, for as long as I live. I would say that I can’t wait to meet you and be with you, but actually, I can, because you are worth the wait.

[In case you’re wondering, the reason I wrote about nothing in particular at first, then later about something that I had done the day before, it’s because I didn’t originally intend to write about the movie. I was just going to mention it, and then move on. I got caught up with writing about it, though, because it’s just so good!]

Thursday (Monday through Thursday was spent in Durango, Colorado, on the Durango Silverton train, and skiing. We stayed in a National Guard Armory, and I didn’t use my laptop any. This was also written in my math notebook, the same one I write all my math note blogs in. It’s the only entry from those few days because we were always so tired when we finally got back to the Armory.)

It’s our last night in the Armory, so I figured I’d write a little real quick. It’s hard to believe that three days of skiing are already over, and we’re getting ready to head back. I had a ton of fun. My ankle really didn’t affect me much at all. In fact, with the help of an Ace wrap, I ran two miles at the Rec earlier. Going down Pandemonium kind of messed with it a little, though. I’m pretty mad that the video cut off halfway through, too. I videotaped my run, and I think that’s why I fell twice. It was really fun, though. It’s ok, cuz we’re going to get a helmet cam next year, and I’ll take it down some slopes as fast as I can go. But for now, enjoy the video of me falling twice. Oh, and the epic fail Sparta snowman one. More later.

Friday

It’s the last night of the trip. Skiing is over, and the only eventful thing left is DQ for dinner tomorrow. We’re in Roswell, New Mexico, tonight. We went to Cline’s Corners today. It’s this really big and elaborate gift shop place in New Mexico. I got this funny postcard. I also solved a Rubik’s Cube! I had instructions, but it still took some innovation on my part. We stopped at the UFO museum this afternoon. It hasn’t changed much, but I still thought it was pretty interesting, for the 30 minutes we got to spend in it. They didn’t have any cool bumper stickers in the gift shop, though. We went to Ci Ci’s after that. I haven’t been there in a while. It was nice. So was the Dr Pepper. After that, we went bowling. I started out with two strikes in a row…and then my normal game kicked in, and I started getting twos and threes. I picked it up near the end, though, and had 60 points on the fourth frame of our third game when we ran out of time. That’s pretty good, for me. I usually don’t break a hundred. So now, we’re in the VFW hall, where we stay every year. They have a DJ going in the bar next door until two in the morning. It’s going to be a long night… Anyways, enough with the boring stuff; here comes the inspiration.

I start to think that it’s been a really good trip so far, but then I realize that it’s almost over. That makes me sad. It also makes me think, though. You know, if you’re always looking forward to something big, you’ll miss everything that comes before it. I think I’ve already said this before. The thing is, I had been looking forward to Spring Break for a long time. I don’t know exactly how long, but it felt like a really long time. I can’t get on the internet. This makes me sad, because I can’t work on my support letter without getting on my email with the computer. Anyway, I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, but it still seems like it’s passed by too fast. It feels the same as things do when I’m looking forward to something else. I guess I’m subconsciously looking forward to something bigger. Summer, maybe? I’m definitely looking forward to summer, much more than Spring Break, but it’s farther away, so I’ve put it off as a goal for right now. What I’m looking forward to, in order of appearance, is Spring Break, then Abby’s birthday, if I get to go, then Deborah’s graduation, again if I can go, then Parents’ Weekend, then March to the Brazos, Dead Week, and Final Review. Then it’s summer, and I’ve made it. Whether I get to work at camp all summer or not (something I’m very hopeful for), I have three months off. No classes, except for maybe one or two online, time to work on my Scout, no Corps, CAMP!!, and I get to grow my hair out! Don’t worry, I won’t let it look like it did before, but it will definitely look more like a normal person’s hair. OK, I’m sorry. I said I would write some inspiration, but, unless you’re just trying to make it to the summer, it’s probably not very inspiring to you. Maybe this is. We’re about to do what our Scoutmaster calls “Thorns and Roses.” It’s this cool group thing where you sit in a big circle, and everyone names a thorn, a rose, and a bud from the trip. A thorn is something you didn’t like about the trip, that you hope to change next time, a rose is something you liked, that you hope to keep the same, and a bud is something that you wish would have happened, and hope to make happen next time. It’s really cool, because you get to see what everyone liked and didn’t like about the trip, and you get to share how you felt. For me, I think that a thorn was definitely my hurt ankle, which really wasn’t that bad at all, how quickly the trip seemed to go by, and not getting to take my dad up to the top of the mountain yesterday (we ran out of time). My roses were skiing, especially filming the black, and joking around with Dustin and Roy, two really funny guys on the trip. A bud would probably be…I don’t know. Maybe not spraining my ankle next year…