So, it never ceases to amaze me how fast time goes by. I feel like it's a total lie that time will ever slow. But I'm not complaining! Life is great right now, it's just amazing to me how much there is to do.
Lets see what's happened since Saturday when I last posted...
Had some great conversations with Amy, Tanner, Josh B., Joe, and Siona.
Seen two ridiculous movies.
Read several hundred pages for my history classes, had four exams, and lived through endless pages of science questions for my DS.
Started a new Bible reading plan.
Played a crazy game of ERS.
Visited a potential graduate school I'm thinking of applying to.
... well that's some of what's happened this week. The conversations have been a huge blessing! It's been inredible to talk about so many different things throughout the week. Last night I stayed up until almost 4am talking to my friend Josh about his life. He is an MK from South Africa. We watched Hotel Rowanda, and then he told me about his experiences there in Africa, and then just about life. It was incredibly encouraging to me. I was super tired, but I feel like knowing someone better is always more important that getting rest. If I could have the depth of conversation we had last night with every conversation, I would have no problem staying up late often.
I think it's amazing how often you can hang with people and be around people and still not know them well. There's guys I've known my whole time here at Masters and yet I still do not know them well. It takes time and honesty and trust to get to know a person. There are less than five people on campus that I would say I know well, and yet I still learn more about them everyday. I feel so encouraged when the Lord gives me the opportunity to know some of my brothers better. When you know someone more you can pray for them better, minister better. But it's hard work to know someone. It's scary, too. The closer you get to people the more of them you see - and more frightening is that you become more exposed to them.
And yet, walking with my brothers the more I get to know them the more I hear about the Lord in their lives, and the encouragement that comes from learning about how my God has worked in their lives is just astonishing. Our God is great! Amen! No one has had the same experiences, and yet my brothers have all been saved by the same grace that I am justified by. I think about Galatians 3.28. I am so blessed to have brothers, and sisters, in Christ. What has made my time here at Masters has not really been the school at all, but the people that are here who love the Lord. My time here would not have been the same if I had not known those whom God has placed in my life. So, I am thankful to the Lord for the friendships that he's given me here. And, if you're reading this, you know how thankful I am for you!
To close: Happy Birthday Gramps!!
Sunday, February 24
Saturday, February 16
Valentine's Day
Well, it's Saturday, and I've been at my homework for the past 3 hours. I decided I could use a break... and what other great thing to do during a quick break than write a blog?
Thursday was Valentine's Day - and what an amazingly fun day it was! Thursday morning Amy and I gave each other 'sweet' cards before walking to class. All I'll say is that they are hysterical and nice. I had lunch with Steve Severance (Kent's dad). It was a really encouraging lunch and he asked some great questions. My best friend and I went out to figure out some things for the night. Came back from that, and Amy had surprised me with a journal with Russian writing (!!) and candy. So sweet! She totally surprised me =) Amy and I had night class together - our favorite class - Dr. Roland's "Early National Period of the United States." We were going out after class, so we went to class all dressed up! Went out to 'our' Starbucks for our thursday night ritual. Met up with my best friend and his girlfriend and...
Went to Hollywood! What a blast and great way to finish the evening! We all went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre (the famous theatre with the handprints in the concrete) and saw Jumper!! We had all been to the theatre on the outside - never on the inside. What a pleasant surprise - the theatre was amazingly beautiful on the inside. An old 1920s movie house restored! The movie wasn't incredible, but our time together was. We got to roam around the Kodak Theatre region and take goofy pictures. Stopped at McDonlands on the way back for sundaes, and then made it back to Hotchkiss about 1.30am.
I had an amazing time throughout the entire day! It was such a blessing to spend so much time with my girlfriend, and then to catch up with my best friend and his girlfriend. For Amy and I, it was great to return back to Hollywood - that's where we had experienced 'russia' last semester. So many great memories in Hollywood. (shout out to my family - Hollywood! in the Taurus). Well, I need to get back to school... but that's a little recap of a great day!
Thursday was Valentine's Day - and what an amazingly fun day it was! Thursday morning Amy and I gave each other 'sweet' cards before walking to class. All I'll say is that they are hysterical and nice. I had lunch with Steve Severance (Kent's dad). It was a really encouraging lunch and he asked some great questions. My best friend and I went out to figure out some things for the night. Came back from that, and Amy had surprised me with a journal with Russian writing (!!) and candy. So sweet! She totally surprised me =) Amy and I had night class together - our favorite class - Dr. Roland's "Early National Period of the United States." We were going out after class, so we went to class all dressed up! Went out to 'our' Starbucks for our thursday night ritual. Met up with my best friend and his girlfriend and...
Went to Hollywood! What a blast and great way to finish the evening! We all went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre (the famous theatre with the handprints in the concrete) and saw Jumper!! We had all been to the theatre on the outside - never on the inside. What a pleasant surprise - the theatre was amazingly beautiful on the inside. An old 1920s movie house restored! The movie wasn't incredible, but our time together was. We got to roam around the Kodak Theatre region and take goofy pictures. Stopped at McDonlands on the way back for sundaes, and then made it back to Hotchkiss about 1.30am.
I had an amazing time throughout the entire day! It was such a blessing to spend so much time with my girlfriend, and then to catch up with my best friend and his girlfriend. For Amy and I, it was great to return back to Hollywood - that's where we had experienced 'russia' last semester. So many great memories in Hollywood. (shout out to my family - Hollywood! in the Taurus). Well, I need to get back to school... but that's a little recap of a great day!
Monday, February 11
The Weekend
Saturday: Slept in until about 9:30am. Had brunch with my roommate. Then, studied in the library for over 5 hours. Have to make a 50-piece bibliography for one of my history classes. Not a super hard project, but just annoyingly long. Amy came and visited me, and we decided to go off campus to study. We found this place called "Bridgeport." It's a subdivision in Santa Clarita where all the colonialesque homes are situated around a massive manmade water feature. We found a park bench to do homework on for several hours. Once the sun went down we just hung out and talked - and watched bats fly by. Went to my last basketball home game as a college student. Then, we finished watching Bourne Supremacy.
Sunday: Went to church, taught our 3rd and 4th graders outside because it was a gorgeous day, then had a sunday school meeting. Drove down to Orange. A beautiful city! Walked around downtown and visited antique stores, then my sis Sarah and her friend Rae met us. We had dinner at a bagel shop. Went to a beauitful Lutheran church to hear Azusa Pacific University's choir and orchestra. Amazing! I've heard them numerous times, but I never get tired. This concert was especially Christ-centered, and it was incredibly encouraging. Loved it! It was cool to get to show Amy APU's choir because she'd never heard them before. Amy and I then headed over to Downtown Disney. We got there right before the fireworks went off! Amazing. Hung out there for about an hour. Two great days!!
Sunday: Went to church, taught our 3rd and 4th graders outside because it was a gorgeous day, then had a sunday school meeting. Drove down to Orange. A beautiful city! Walked around downtown and visited antique stores, then my sis Sarah and her friend Rae met us. We had dinner at a bagel shop. Went to a beauitful Lutheran church to hear Azusa Pacific University's choir and orchestra. Amazing! I've heard them numerous times, but I never get tired. This concert was especially Christ-centered, and it was incredibly encouraging. Loved it! It was cool to get to show Amy APU's choir because she'd never heard them before. Amy and I then headed over to Downtown Disney. We got there right before the fireworks went off! Amazing. Hung out there for about an hour. Two great days!!
Saturday, February 9
One Way Out: Prayer
Yesterday was a great day. It was jampacked with things from when I woke up at 7am until I went to bed around 2am. The day started off normal - chapel, class, lunch with friends. Then, Amy, Betsy and I decided to go for an adventure. Now notice I don't say hike... but adventure. We were going to climb to some radio transmitters above the 14, but decided that it was too late in the day to begin such an obstacle as that. So, we found some hills/mountains that are near the school that we've always dreamed of hiking on. These geographic features are not part of a park, or have any trails. We would have to trailblaze up and down these mountains if we wanted to achieve our goal: reaching the top. We made it up the mountain without too much difficulty. A few scrapes here and there, some dirt in our shoes... nothing too eventful. Towards the top of the mountain we got stuck and had to hike down and hike up another ravine before we could reach the crest. We made it to the top of the mountain, and we got to look out all across the Santa Clarita Valley. Beatiful! Squished a bug and claimed the top for BAM and Hotchkiss.
Here's where the fun began...
We headed back down the mountain only to deadend at a cliff with a 30' drop. Now, hiking down to this deadend had been quite eventful in itself. We had slid down a steep hill for about 40', kept outselves from rolling down sandy areas by holding on to bushes. We truly felt like we were on an adventure deep in the brush of some other country. We were a little dissapointed to reach a deadend, but headed back up to the crest again. Headed down another ravine. This was crazy... fought our way through brush and trees. Clung for life to bushes to keep ourselves from sliding down 20'. I slipped over a small hill and fell about 6'... got a nice spanking on a rock. But, our spirits were still high.... until we reached another cliff. Another deadend. This dropoff was even bigger than the first. We had to hike back up to the crest, but we had skidded down such a steep embankment that it would be very difficult to get out. Betsy started to get upset and worried that we'd have to be helicoptered out... but the three of us sat down and prayed for a while. Almost immediately Amy found the trail we had come up on not far from where we were. We headed back down the mountain and made it down safely. We got to the bottom and praised the Lord together.
It was amazing to climb a mountain thinking we could conquer all things, and then come off the mountain praising the Lord and giving him glory for giving us strength and wisdom. Not the lesson we expected to learn yesterday.
After that Amy and I had a nice talk at In N Out (something we were craving on the hike). Went to a Ghetto party and played Old Maid (yea, kind of ironic). And then watched parts of Bourne Supremacy. Such a great day. We got to see the Lord give grace in ways we couldn't expect.
Here's where the fun began...
We headed back down the mountain only to deadend at a cliff with a 30' drop. Now, hiking down to this deadend had been quite eventful in itself. We had slid down a steep hill for about 40', kept outselves from rolling down sandy areas by holding on to bushes. We truly felt like we were on an adventure deep in the brush of some other country. We were a little dissapointed to reach a deadend, but headed back up to the crest again. Headed down another ravine. This was crazy... fought our way through brush and trees. Clung for life to bushes to keep ourselves from sliding down 20'. I slipped over a small hill and fell about 6'... got a nice spanking on a rock. But, our spirits were still high.... until we reached another cliff. Another deadend. This dropoff was even bigger than the first. We had to hike back up to the crest, but we had skidded down such a steep embankment that it would be very difficult to get out. Betsy started to get upset and worried that we'd have to be helicoptered out... but the three of us sat down and prayed for a while. Almost immediately Amy found the trail we had come up on not far from where we were. We headed back down the mountain and made it down safely. We got to the bottom and praised the Lord together.
It was amazing to climb a mountain thinking we could conquer all things, and then come off the mountain praising the Lord and giving him glory for giving us strength and wisdom. Not the lesson we expected to learn yesterday.
After that Amy and I had a nice talk at In N Out (something we were craving on the hike). Went to a Ghetto party and played Old Maid (yea, kind of ironic). And then watched parts of Bourne Supremacy. Such a great day. We got to see the Lord give grace in ways we couldn't expect.
Tuesday, February 5
New News
Well, I suppose most of you who read this already know... but I have a girlfriend now! My good friend Amy and I became 'official' last Thursday. We've been great friends for a long time - we did theatre together 10 years ago, and then became close friends here when I transfered to Master's College last spring. It's been so much fun strengthening the friendship that we already have. There's no girl that I can talk as freely about the Lord or Christ or grace or the Bible with, and there's no girl who I enjoy being around more. We've done so many fun things together: going into San Francisco, visiting a Russian Church in Los Angeles, been on numerous hikes, and the list goes on. So, needless to say, I'm super excited!
These past couple weeks have been pretty ridiculous at times, but I've learned so much through the times the Lord has placed before me. I've been refreshed in seeing the Spirit work in guys lives on my wing - being reminded that my God is alive and active. I have seen Scripture come alive numerous times. Ephesians 3.20-21 "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Praise the Lord! I have seen the love of Christ displayed to me in many of friends, especially Tanner, Josh T., Josh B., Josh T., Siona, Joe K., Amanda, Jody, Caroline, and Valinda. It's been so humbling to see their care and love for not only me but for those I love as well. It's been amazing to get to teach Sunday School (3rd and 4th graders!) with Amy and to teach our children about the truths of God's Word. These last two sundays the Lord has let us teach on subjects that have been on our hearts lately. I have seen the utter grace that God gives in all circumstances. From who the Lord let me be roommates with, to the timing of certain friend's returns to the dorm; from the encouraging converstation, to the challenging prayer. The Lord is ever pushing me on towards knowing him more. To see how previous trials that seemed random teach me so much in some current trials! Praise the Lord! I've been refreshed to hear the gospel preached on sunday night and to be reminded of the implications of Christ's love for me and his forgiveness of my sins and what that means in my relation to my brothers.
So much is going on... and I am so excited to continue to see where the Lord takes me in my walk with him. James 1.2-3 says "Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." What an encouragement it has been to have joy in Christ when all things seem wrong AND when all things seem right.
I'll leave you with a great quote from a song by Hillsong:
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades.
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame.
And the cry of my heart, is to give you praise.
From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out.
These past couple weeks have been pretty ridiculous at times, but I've learned so much through the times the Lord has placed before me. I've been refreshed in seeing the Spirit work in guys lives on my wing - being reminded that my God is alive and active. I have seen Scripture come alive numerous times. Ephesians 3.20-21 "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Praise the Lord! I have seen the love of Christ displayed to me in many of friends, especially Tanner, Josh T., Josh B., Josh T., Siona, Joe K., Amanda, Jody, Caroline, and Valinda. It's been so humbling to see their care and love for not only me but for those I love as well. It's been amazing to get to teach Sunday School (3rd and 4th graders!) with Amy and to teach our children about the truths of God's Word. These last two sundays the Lord has let us teach on subjects that have been on our hearts lately. I have seen the utter grace that God gives in all circumstances. From who the Lord let me be roommates with, to the timing of certain friend's returns to the dorm; from the encouraging converstation, to the challenging prayer. The Lord is ever pushing me on towards knowing him more. To see how previous trials that seemed random teach me so much in some current trials! Praise the Lord! I've been refreshed to hear the gospel preached on sunday night and to be reminded of the implications of Christ's love for me and his forgiveness of my sins and what that means in my relation to my brothers.
So much is going on... and I am so excited to continue to see where the Lord takes me in my walk with him. James 1.2-3 says "Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." What an encouragement it has been to have joy in Christ when all things seem wrong AND when all things seem right.
I'll leave you with a great quote from a song by Hillsong:
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades.
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame.
And the cry of my heart, is to give you praise.
From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out.
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