Update

Back-to-School Bulletin

My Life Of Late - Encapsulated

I had my last day of work at Cracker Barrel on the 12th. I finished in style on 2 hours of sleep, was a half-hour late for work, laughed deliriously the whole day, and came out to find my parting present was a car rolled in toilet paper. Amanda showed up that evening and we spent several glorious days together constantly in each other's presence...including but not limited to Cafe Du Monde and the Aquarium of the Americas...priceless haunts from our childhood(s). I went to a Chi Alpha leadership retreat last Tuesday through Thursday, reforging friendships/alliances and seeking God...preparing for a semester of bringing God glory and impacting the LSU campus. Then Thursday through Sunday my friend Jacob, who had flown in from Minnesota (and lost his bag in flight), drove all around the State of Louisiana, finally ending up at our good friend Cody Berry's house, spending several days of fun in the sun, pool time, movies, music, food, video games, conversation, staying up late, and ...pillow talk...what??. Just kidding...sort of. On Sunday we drove back to Slidell, but that day consisted of many stops: Lafayette to see Amanda and go to church with her, Hammond to drop Cody of at Zeke's so he could go see the Air Force recruiter the next day, and Betsy's house...Amanda's best friend...one of the most welcoming families I've ever encountered in my life. Yesterday (monday) was spent pulling a large splinter out of my leg and draining the blood and puss from the wound, while today I had a dentist appointment and am packing to go with Jacob back to LSU tomorrow.

Book of Hosea

What an intense book. It has been on my mind lately, since I read the first few chapters. The prophet Hosea is commanded by God to marry a prostitute, Gomer, and love her with all his heart. Whenever she cheats on him, he is commanded by God to restore her and bring her back to himself, lovingly chastening her. The purpose of all this is to serve as a reminder of our relationship, as children of God, to God our Father...who is also, notably, our husband. (The Bride of Christ married to Jesus, the Husband.) He is a jealous God, meaning whenever we sin and go back to the world, we are "cheating" on our Savior's love, our one Love, and not being faithful to Him. Yet He calls us back. As Chapter 2 points out, He lets everything else fail us to show that our other worldly pursuits, our "lovers," were all in vain. He unveils our spiritual nakedness and must sometimes severely discipline us...but it is so that our spirits can be saved.

Movies

The only ones I saw this summer were Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest, Lady in the Water, World Trade Center, and Snakes on a Plane.

Pirates...A worthy sequel to the first movie, even better in some ways, I saw it twice, which is saying a lot. The best movie I've seen this year, probably. The Kraken is great CGI. The undead pirates are much scarier than the last. The hip-shaking, drunken Sparrow is funnier than ever. The ending kiss is terrible...but very important for the third movie, no doubt...
Lady in the Water...Thought-provocative, but not a very good movie. It is famed director M.Night Shyamalan's fifth film, following the slightly overly-criticized The Village. Lady was apparently a bedtime story Shyamalan told to his kids that became longer and longer, until he felt it would become a movie. Um...no. It would have been better as a book. Worth a try, maybe.
World Trade Center...very "real." Plays out in documentary style. About 2 police officers who were buried in the rubble for a couple days and eventually rescued. No fun to watch...not enteratining. But a good movie experience. Very emotional...but not intentionally so. Very focused on the families...on how everyone in America was affected by the tragedy. I say go see it.
Snakes on a Plane...I didn't know what to expect going into it, but the movie is obviously poking fun at itself. The movie is Terrible with a capital "T." TERRIBLE. The acting, the dialogue...fake as a three-dollar bill. But it's so bad that it's hilarious. Very violent movie, but my friends and I laughed insanely at every snakebite, it was just so ridiculous. Of course, the very concept of time-released snakes shutting a plane flight down is pretty wacky...but trust me, seeing it on screen is just like a drug trip. I recommend seeing it...it's the kind of "bad" movie we'll tell our kids about years later. Okay: you know how most disaster movies have great special effects (especially 1970's ones) but terrible acting? That's Snakes. On a Plane. Except it's intentionally terrible to create some sort of morbid curiosity. I don't know if I ever did take Samuel L. Jackson seriously, but after this flick, the hopes of doing so were squeezed to death by a boa constrictor.

Love Part 275

One of the more common Hebrew words for love used in the Old Testament manuscripts is Ahav. I love this word because I did a word study on it, and it "implies an ardent and vehement inclination of the mind and a tenderness of affection at the same time" according to Spiros Zodhiates Lexical Aids to the Old Testament. So love can take an almost violent form, it's so intense...but yet it's tender enough to ensure the person being loved it caressed, nurtured, etc. I'll leave it at that. Just think about it. This definition makes sense with regards to so many things: sex (that's honestly the first thing that came to mind), God's love for us (loving us as we are but enough to also make us change), and humans yelling at each other because they're concerned for each other. Et-cetera.

What is the Will of God? (Some Thoughts, All Interrogative)

If we want to know the will of God, will we eventually know it? Because aren't there things in our mind will and emotions, not submitted to God, that could prevent us from even wanting to know the Will of God? So how do we even know whether or not our selves even want to know God's will? Is it just that we must...pray not to know God's will, but...to want to know His will? Or to want to want to know his Will? Is this confusing? (Yes.) And then isn't rebellion against God rebelling specifically against something you know He wants you to do? So, if you don't know God's will, is it true that not obeying His will is not actually rebelling against Him? Or can you rebel against your knowledge?

Blog Recommendation

I have a lot I want to blog about. I don't have the time right now. I have been and will be spending time with the family and friends I love so much, recently and then 1 a.m. or some later dark hour of night rolls around and I've no energy left for a silly blog post. But remind you I have stuff stirring in my spirit...the Book of Hosea ...some thoughts about September 11, 2001 ...the Hebrew word in the old testament used to describe both the vehemence and tenderness of love...

For now, I must recommed a a post on Stephen Christian's blog. Stephen Christian is the vocalist for the band Anberlin, which I love, as most of you know. But I'm not recommending this post by virtue of its author being a rock n' roll star. After all, the most amazing things are usually uttered by the nameless, faceless ones. But isn't that what rock n' roll is all about, kicking against the status quo and saying exactly what your heart intends to say, whether that be blackest night or brightest dawn?

Anyhow, it's The Modesty Writers Guild, and it's entitled "Questioning the Western World's Rite of Passage to Manhood," and it's about, well, what it sounds like it's about: what it means to "be a real man."

Out of the Teens

Praise God, I've finally joined my girlfriend and entered the twenties.




That was supposed to be funny. The internet's major downfall is its inability to utilize the stressing of voice in certain places.



I turned 20 years of age this past Saturday, August the 5th. The party began Thursday, when my family took me to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. It had been years since I'd been...one of my favorite places to go as a kid. Then we went to one of my family's favorite restaurants, Lebanon's, in uptown New Orleans. Try the Lamb Kebob...delicious. Please don't get skittish about me suggesting eating an adorable little darling sheep. I think they're so cute, as well, especially on a bed of humus sauce and fresh lettuce. The servers came and sang happy birthday to me and lit the cake my grandparents bought. I went to the bathroom and overheard several servers near the kitchen talking about wanting a piece of my cake. I wheeled around and said, "Oh, would you like some cake?" They were so embarrassed. I brought them each a piece. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Friday night after work, my friend Natalie called and told me to come to the park. I got there late and I was blown away. She and James had decorated the gazebo for me with balloons and streamers and several people showed up to help me eat the food. I also got pirate party favors, since I've been obsessed with the Pirates movies, of late. I got a Shrek cookie cake! The po-po showed up in their cars and made us leave, said the park was closing down. I didn't get home till late and had forgotten to ask off work, working a full shift on 2 hours of sleep. What a birthday celebration...complete with guests telling me such things as "Is the KKK running this establishment?" and "If I don't get some biscuits right now, I'm about to have the SHAKES!!" Lordy-a-mercy. I fell out laughing twice in the kitchen. I've learned a lot this summer working in the restaurant industry: people are STRANGE.

That evening I had my third cake and got a bunch of DVDs as presents. I went and got the LOTR extended's with my money!!! Woo!

I also celebrated my birthday by joining the cult / high school emo kid / stalker / pedophile world of Myspace. DON'T check it out at right here.

One more week of Cracker Barrel! Amanda's back from her cruise, I miss her! Chi Alpha retreat in a week.5! School in 3!! Woo!!