Snowed in

In my current living arrangement, I have to park in the street.  Not a good thing when it snows 8 inches.

  

Old Man Oakland

During my 4+ years as a Young Life leader, I've met a few people that have thought I was younger or older than I was at the time.  My freshman year in college, some high school kids thought I was the father of small child I was walking around with (who happened to be Luke Granger).  I've also been mistaken as either a junior or senior in high school several times.  And then just this past year, a sophomore in high school.  And now, just this past Sunday, this conversation happened with a Red Barons coach of one of our younger teams as we watched the 8th grade team play:

Coach: So do you have a boy out there playing right now?

Me: Umm no...I just graduated from Michigan State.

Old enough to be the father of a 13 year old?  I've never been more honored.

Wow

The new MacBook

What Teachers Make

First things first: Shan and I tried this pumpkin seed recipe this weekend and they turned out GREAT.  Highly recommended.  

During pre-game at our football game Sunday, I was asking one of our players about his weekend.  In typical  8th grade fashion, most of his answers were pretty vague, so I kept asking more questions to really figure out what was going on.  He then said, "Dude, you're just like Tom Brokaw."

What caught me off guard was not his attempt at mocking me, but that he even knows who Tom Brokaw is.  So I asked how he knows about him.  His reply:

"You ever watch South Park?"

Me: "That's how you know about him?"

TV loving 8th grade boy: "Yeah, South Park's taught me most of the stuff I know."

Uh oh.

It was surprising to hear this, but I suppose I shouldn't be all that shocked.  TV offers a lot of information, which is awesome as long as its true.  Which I also suppose is not always the case.  So for all my friends that are teachers or will be teachers, you've got your hands full.  Thank you fighting the every day battle to teach kids.  You make a difference every day.  

The Good Ole Days

I filled up my gas tank yesterday and paid $3.47/gallon. I don't think I've paid that "low" of a price in a LONG time. So naturally, I was excited, which is also the first time I've been excited about the result of my latest trip to the gas station since, well, I'm not sure.

The second thought that immediately came to mind is that I yearn for those "good ole days" when $20 was all it took for a full tank of gas, and maybe a pop to go with it.

I've spent a lot of time over the past few months wishing for a second-coming of those "good ole days." Things that were true in my good ole days (note: these span a LARGE number of days)

• my girlfriend and I lived in the same zip code
• Gas was cheap
• I didn't have to buy my own groceries
• I didn't have to buy my own anything
• the Atlanta Braves were winning pennants every year

There are several others, but for sake of your time and mine, I'll end there.

So what if my Good Ole Days span approximately 11 years of my life. They all represent something, serious or not, that I don't like as much about my present life.

However, I've been learning something lately. And by something, I mean:

Past = past. Present is what's important. Be present in where you are, all the time. Future is worth hoping and praying for. Where we are going defines us more than where we've been.

Now, the thoughts that God presents to me in my head are presented much more eloquently than I've just typed to you, but I think you get the point.

I just realized that elaborating on these thoughts to the point that you'd actually understand them would take more time than I'm willing to give to my blog, and probably more time than you're willing to read (which I know is a lot :) So for brevity's sake, here's my point:

Rejoice in what God has done in your life and where He's taken you and led you to/through. Be fully present in the situation and life and with the people you're currently surrounded by. Let the direction you are heading in be more defining of your character than everything that's behind you.

(sorry if you think any of that has nothing to do with previous words in the post)

And my sincere apologies for giving you the most random, poorly thought/laid out post of my brief blogging life. Thanks for tuning in :)

As soon as I start feeling old...

I was at pizza lunch for Grosse Pointe North last Tuesday and was hanging out with some guys.  I asked what grade they are in and found out they are freshman.  One guy responded back to me by asking, "are you a sophomore?"

As in, a sophomore in high school.

Do I really look that young?

When is the day that being asked if you are younger than you really are becomes a compliment?

New alarm

For the longest time I've relied on my cell phone to wake me up each morning.  I haven't used a traditional alarm clock since high school.  But these days, I'm waking up to something new each morning.  I've waken up at the same time each morning, give or take about 10 minutes or so, for the past week or so to a much more "natural" noise, if you will. 

What is it you might ask?

"If you guessed "a squirrel jumping onto the a/c unit" then you're absolutely correct.

(p.s. if you do a Google image search for "squirrel" some pretty funny pictures show up)

Right around 8 every morning, a squirrel leaps onto the a/c unit that sticks out of the window.  The particular squirrels that live around my house don't really practice quiet landings, so their arrival wakes me up every morning.  It kind of sounds like someone pounding on my bedroom walls.

I might have to put up a "No Parking" sign today.  Or line the a/c unit with tacks.  

I'm only sort of kidding :)

Beautiful weekend for football

This weekend I was part of two fantastic football games.  Saturday afternoon Shan and I, along with some of our friends, spent the first half of our afternoon sitting in good ole Spartan Stadium.  It had been way too long since I was there for a game, and this past weekend was probably my best opportunity this season.  

I don't think I've ever seen it rain so hard for so long, and but I can't imagine having as much fun in a rainstorm as I did.  We gathered all the rain gear we could find, picked up some free tickets from a friend, and found our seats perfectly located in row 3 of the upper deck.  And it was great.  The pageantry of college football is unlike anything else, and "Thunderstruck" will always bring about an adrenaline rush.

So we sat and stood and yelled and cheered and sang the fight song over and over for 3 and a half hours.  Not surprisingly, we left a little soaked, but I don't think all the rain gear in the world had a chance that day.  And after 43 carries and 282 yards from Javon Ringer, we left satisfied with a 17-0 shutout of FAU.

Last night was the opening game for the Grosse Pointe South Red Barons.  I've been helping out with coaching this 8th grade team for the past month and I've absolutely loved it.  We had a bye the first week, so the anticipation of a season opener has been on my mind for a while.  We opened away against Macomb, one of the better teams in the league.  With about a two dozen loyal and loving parents watching both teams, we kicked off under a relentless blanket of rain.  After 3 quarters of sloppy but hard-nosed football, we held onto 13-0 lead.  Unfortunately I had to leave early to get to a YL meeting, but I'm excited to hear a full report at practice tomorrow!

Hopefully after reading this you'll get a taste of how great these games were.  I really don't think there are any words to describe how much rain fell on my head and how much joy was in my heart.  

9/11

Today it's been 7 years since the events of September 11.  I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard.

I was sitting on the left side of the classroom in my normal seat for Schu's math class.  Right in front of his desk.  The bell to start class had just ring and our teacher was just getting ready to get up and begin class.  Suddenly one of our assistant football coaches briskly walked in the room and whispered something in our teacher's ear, then walked out just as quickly.  The room was silent at this point because we all thought class was about start.  Our teacher walked over the t.v. in the in the corner and turned it on, I think to NBC.  He walked quietly back to his desk and we all sat their in silence for the rest of class.  Not one person said a word for about 86 minutes.  

The rest of the day was weird.  We talked at lunch about whether they would attack us, in Northville.  No one really knew what was going on and how serious this actually was.  It was hard to really focus on anything that day, and especially the rest of the week.

Where were you?  What were you doing when you first heard?

Other events that I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard about it: OJ's bronco chase, OJ's trial verdict, Princess Diana's death, MSU beating ND in overtime in 2005...I'm sure there's more, but I need to get some work done!

Putting the Giant in Little Giants

UPDATE:  our new guy is actually 205 lbs, not 165 as originally reported.  Yikes.  Welcome to the team!

Real life Little Giants

So I've been helping out with the 8th grade football team for a couple weeks now and I love it.  We have a fairly small team both in numbers and physical size, but I think we've got a handful of good players and several hard workers that should make for a fun season.

From my very first day, I noticed similarities between this team and the fictional Little Giants.  We've got our own version of Ice Box (although it's a guy) and a QB that reminds me of Junior.  And with several first time football players, I feel like I'm living in the movie (although sadly, none of the coaches are anything like Rick Moranis).

Last night we had our first scrimmage.  I saw some good things, saw some bad things, but unfortunately didn't get to see a whole lot because it started late and was shortened by rain.  But the most exciting story is that we have a new football player.  Our very own Spike, if you will.  He's 5'11" and 165 lbs, which makes him the bigger than all the other kids (except for one shorter, heavier linemen) and one coach (myself).  Should be fun coaching him up!

Our first game is Sunday the 14th and I can't wait!  Being able to combine my passion for kids and football is such a blessing.

Creatures of habit I guess

I was at a coffee shop tonight waiting for my friend to show up when I received a phone call.  It was this girl calling about an ad I put up on allMSU for a textbook I've been trying to get rid of.  Unfortunately for her, I had already committed to selling to it someone else.  I ended the conversation by saying "well thanks for calling, have a great night."  Her reply was "okay thanks, talk to you later."

How often do we say things and have no idea what we're talking about?  Obviously, there's very little chance she's going to talk to me later because she doesn't know me and really has no reason to ever call me again.  Every now and then I'll accidentally say "you too" when someone says something to me.  A couple weeks ago I was at Subway and the guy who makes me a sandwich at Subway and says "thanks, enjoy your sandwich."  

"Thanks, you too!"

I bet he didn't like me very much when I said that.

Great way to spend an afternoon

Just got back from the Grosse Pointe South football scrimmage.  Beautiful day for football.  Met some kids.  Ate a couple free hamburgers.  It was great.

Some parents were handing out t-shirts there.  I think they are shirts that parents have bought because each shirt had a last name on the back.  The front of the shirt says "Who's Your Devil?"  Wonderful slogan if you ask me.    

I'm not sure who my devil is, but I'm excited to find one to be!

Also, there are some 5 year olds that dress better than I do.

New friends

I finally met the rest of the family when they returned home from vacation Thursday night and it was great.  I ended up hanging out with two of their girls (age 4 and 6) for about an hour.  Here are some highlights:

• Fished a tomato out of their fish pond for the 4 year.  She then rinsed it off in the hose and ate it.
  
• Pushed the 4 year old on the swing for about 10 hours.  It was only 15 minutes but it felt like that.  She's a tough negotiator when it comes to "number of pushes left until the new guy can leave."
  
• I was challenged to go all the way across all the monkey bars (about 8 feet).  Somehow I made it without completely splintering both my hands.
  
• Watched them both dribble the basketball and do their best moves.  They both used the word 'cool' to describe it about 57 times each in the span of 2 minutes.
  
• Listened to the 4 year old stress out about her packed schedule the next day.  She wasn't sure how to fit in "playing on the swing" while she was already planning on sleeping in, coloring in bed, jumping on the trampoline, more coloring, AND riding her bike.  I could only offer my sympathy.
  
• And finally, as I began to walk away from the house to go running, I had this final exchange with the 4 year old: 
  

Her: Are you leaving your car?

Me: Yes...I won't need it to go running!

Her: If you leave it in the street, it'll get stolen.

Me: Well, that's where your dad told me to park it.

Her: Well, you should listen to him I guess, but if you, it'll get stolen.

Me: I think it'll be okay, it hasn't gotten stolen yet.

So as I started to jog away, she yelled this:

"I'll pray for ya.  God bless ya!"

Should be a fun time living here :)

'Tis the season

Every year, during this very week, the air is filled with the sounds of whistles, pads hitting, yelling coaches, and the click-clack of cleats on pavement.  Yep, it's the official start of week of high school football practice.  It's also the official start week of all the other fall sports, but there's something different about football.  Maybe I'm just biased though.

I live about a pitching wedge away from Grosse Pointe South HS, and just a little further away is their football field.  Today is the first day of full pads and it couldn't be any nicer of a day.  So all morning I've had memories of the glory days back in high school replaying in my head.  It's been quite a long stroll down memory lane. 

I still miss playing football.  The heat.  The camaraderie.  The lights.  Maybe I'll watch Friday Night Lights this weekend.

In other related news...I might be an 8th grade football coach!

Clever license plate?

I saw this license plate last night and thought it was funny.  Then I realized that the car was a BMW and not a Jag.  I'm not sure if that fact makes it funnier/more clever or kind of dumb.  

Trees

One of my favorite things James Granger has taught about is in Mark 8:22-25. It's now one of my favorite stories. It's about a blind man who receives his sight back from Jesus by way of His spit. In the midst of the process, Jesus asks the man what he sees and he responds, "I see people, they look like trees walking around."

The idea is that we too see people as trees. Simply put, we see people as boring and emotion-less objects that are there to be looked at, ignored, or exist simply to get in our way, rather than unique creations made in the image of God.

It's been tough transitioning to Grosse Pointe. I feel out of place. Every day, every car here looks like it's been washed and cleaned, everyone dresses nice, and everyone has a dog to walk in the evening. Men in suits and bluetooth devices in their ears walk around at lunchtime. Most houses are huge and look nice and the ones that aren't huge still look very nice. I'm sitting at a Panera right now and in order to follow my rule of buying something whenever I sit down at a coffee shop/something like that, I bought a bagel, the cheapest thing on the menu (for $1.70 nonetheless!) It's a community where I feel like everything is more expensive and nicer than what I bring to the table. Obviously, it's full of great people with great hearts who love Jesus and people that need to be saved by Jesus; it's not really different than Mason, Northville, or East Lansing. But still, my first impressions are only what I see.

Through my first few days in Grosse Pointe, I'm fighting and praying to see people and not trees. I'm praying for God to put people in my path that I can love and whom can love me. I'm excited to see what happens.

And there are plenty of actual trees here too.

Drama on the 18th at Michigan's Adventure

I went to Michigan's Adventure (I actually just realized it was Michigan's Adventure rather than just Michigan Adventure.  I had to go back and correct all of them) for the first time with some friends yesterday.  It was a lot of fun, and will probably be more fun next time because I'll actually bring my swim suit.  I didn't realize it was 75% water park...oops.

One highlight was t-boning a random guy on the go-karts.  It was entirely his fault for poor driving and not knowing what to do with a slow car: get out of the way for faster cars :)  Oh, and for trying to needlessly cut me off on a curve.

We also went putt-putting.  It had been a while since I last hit the mini links, so I wasn't expecting great results.  And I certainly wasn't expecting to shoot a +26.  Yep, 26 over par.  I don't know if I've played a tougher course than this one.  Most holes had a crowned finish to it so putts had to be hit at the perfect pace to go in.  There were also lots of little pieces of bark sprayed all over, presumably from other players walking through and such.  On almost every hole my ball made a detour for the worse after hitting a piece of bark, stopping behind obstacles, running into hazards, and occasionally jumping off the hole entirely.  I finished the day with one par and one dramatic birdie on the par 3 18th.  It was about 12 feet uphill into two pipes that trickled down to the hole.  Somehow I made it into the better pipe in 1, and sank a 10 footer to birdie.  

+26 sounds a lot better than +27, right?

(Sorry about no pictures.  I tried to post a picture of Shivering Timbers - an old wooden coaster that was my favorite, but Blogger wouldn't let me)

It's working now...here's a picture of the beach we stopped by after the park.

Experiment = failed

This morning it took about 20 minutes to sweep up a bunch of the mayflys (or fishflys as they call them around here) that had died overnight.  These little things just fly into your house and die on you.  Great.  They were in a bunch of areas: the kitchen, where they got in, a few in the living room (where I had lights on while I was doing stuff) and a few found their way into the bathroom (where there was a nightlight that I didn't notice before).  It's not fun to find 15 of these things laying in your bathtub when you want to shower.  

Add to the list a half-dollar sized cockroach and huge centipede to the list of insects that have joined me at some point in time for some period of time since I've moved in.  I'm glad to say they no longer live here.

So I put some duct tape on where I thought all the mayflys got in.  I turned the lights on in the kitchen and within 5 minutes a bunch had gathered on the window.  I checked in 5 minutes later and found about 10 had made their way in.  So I went crazy and duct tapes practically the whole window.  Needless to say, this problem needs to be fixed.  I'm hoping this will be the final time I spend any time thinking or worrying about this.

It'll be a much longer summer if it's not.

Back in action

So this morning I played some flag football.  One of the guys in Grosse Pointe that I know brought me and I was able to meet some cool guys and play the sport that I love.  It's been over a month since I've done anything even slightly physically demanding.  It felt really good to run around out there.  I played fairly cautiously because I was nervous about my still healing orbital.  The doctor told me to wait 5-6 weeks until I do anything that could involve contact, and it's been pretty much 5 weeks on the dot.  So I'm at the bare minimum. These two pictures are of my shoe that completely fell apart this morning.  Guess I'm in the market for a new pair of shoes now.

I walked around a little more today.  I found the Village, which is a cool place with ice cream, coffee, Panera, Borders Books, and a Moosejaw.  I'm writing this from Caribou Coffee, which might have to become my new favorite coffee shop (mostly by default because it's really close).  I think there's a Beaners somewhere around here, but it's not within walking distance.

By the way, places within walking distance of my house is my new favorite concept.  Kroger and CVS/Rite-Aid fit are both really close.  I bought a few groceries from Kroger and I'm already missing Meijer.  Guess that'll be another new thing I need to get used to in my new home.

I'm to Michigan Adventure tomorrow!  My first time there...should be fun!

New Roommates

Well I've been here in Grosse Pointe for about 24 hours.  Today I had lunch with a guy who is a recent GP grad and MSU-bound.  He's excited to be a leader in East Lansing and it was great to spend some time with him.  Then I spent the rest of my day getting organized and putting some things away in my new home.  I walked around the downtown for a bit, bought some milk, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and red vines.   Took a couple long phone calls from two great friends, and figured out that my internet will continue to be questionable and my tv doesn't work.  BUT...I do have some new roommates.  About 300 mayflys found their way into my little apartment and are now glued to whichever light I leave on.  I'm not sure what to do about this other than avoid looking up.  

I guess I've got an alternative answer for the "what's up?" question now.  Especially if my name was Luke Granger.

Home (Bitter)Sweet Home

Well I made it to Grosse Pointe.  After a few long days of moving out of East Lansing and re-organizing and re-packing in Northville, I'm here.  The family I'm living with has this apartment above the garage that I'm living in.  It's spacious, clean, and now that the air conditioning units are running, comfortable.  Maybe I'll post some pictures in the next few days.

It's been a tough transition for me over the past week or so.  I've gone from the comfort of living in East Lansing to the excitement of living in Ecuador, transitioned for a week or so in Grand Rapids/East Lansing/Northville, and now into the unknown of Grosse Pointe.  

I'm excited and anxious and completely unsure of myself all at the same time.  I know about 5% of the people I know in East Lansing.  

I'm a little tired, so maybe I'll finish this post tomorrow.  I know I'm a little behind on blogging...I'm hoping to write something about Ecuador really soon too.  The truth is, life has happened pretty fast in the past 6 weeks.  Hopefully I'll catch up.

But for now, I've got a new home.  I'm missing the old like crazy already, but I'm holding onto the promise that it'll be great sooner rather than later.   Good night!

Bienvenido! (I think that means welcome!)

Well, after a long day of traveling, I made it to Ecuador all safe and sound. It was a fairly uneventful trip and I even saw a famous celebrity on the plane to Ecuador. I also remembered how cool it is to watch clouds out of the window. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's really cool flying through and above clouds. When flying over the Pacific it looked like each cloud was its own little island of cotton candy. Or marshmallow. Anyways.

I was kind of bummed that I couldn't fly in during daytime to see everything we were flying over. But it was worth it when we approached the city. The overhead view of the city lights was spectacular.

So funny story. For the past 2 weeks Shan and I have been laughing about our eventual meeting in the airport. We were envisioning some sort of dramatic embrace, where I'd walk through the airport and see her standing there with a sign waiting for me. Suddenly, the lights would dim and then shine directly on her. I'd drop by bags and start running in slow motion, while the some sappy acoustic guitar song would play in the background. Or something like that. So I landed, walked briskly through the hallways, sped through customs, and was fortunate to walk into baggage claim and immediately spot my bag. So I continued to follow the crowds until I saw where everyone was waiting for their loved ones. There had to have been 150 people waiting with signs and smiles. I kept looking for Shan and my sign but all I saw were people that didn't look anything like her and were holding signs for Eduardo, Victor, and Julio. I frantically searched for her but couldn't find her. I wandered around for 10 minutes and finally just stood int he middle of the crowded hallway by the door waiting for her to walk in. And waited. And waited. 25 minutes later I had to text her (not sure how much that costs...). Turns out they hadn't even left yet! Her host mom said that they could wait for a while since it usually takes a while to get off the plane and grab my bags and such. I also landed about 15 minutes early. So while I waited all by myself in the middle of the Quito airport, Shan was at home watching Juno with her sister. Fortunately, she only lives about 3 minutes away. So we eventually found each other and it was fine. We're still laughing about this.

I know yesterday I said I wouldn't be online at all, but I'm currently at the University killing time while Shan goes to her last class. Not sure if I'll be on again though anytime soon. I'll be in touch sooner or later though!

Ecuador!

I'm leaving in 5 minutes for the airport! I can't believe I'll actually be in Ecuador tonight....
en
I'm not sure how often, if at all, I'll blog from there. I'd like to, but at the same time, I'm also looking forward to being internet-less for two straight weeks. There's something appealing about being away from a computer and the rest of the world for a while so that I can really enjoy the culture, being with Shannon, and soaking in what God has put in Ecuador.

So on that note, see you all in 2 weeks!

My Half Birthday

When I was a little kid I'd always joke around that I was the only one who had their half-birthday celebrated with fireworks (along with all the January 4'ers out there). It was cool. And I always followed it with a plea for half of my normal allotment of presents. I tried again this year and was swiftly denied. I think I'm now 0 for 18.

Anyways, I've always loved the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays for two reasons: 4th of July parades and fireworks. I love them because they are so timeless. It's not like easter egg hunting and trick-or-treating, favorite pastimes that become less cool and fun as you get older (unless you're me). Of course, now that I think of it, I do appreciate those kinds of things that are usually for the younger audience. After all, one of my favorite moves is A Goofy Movie. Does anyone else enjoy these holiday traditions as much as I do?

I went to my first 4th of July in Mason. It's weird to me that I've never been around for the holiday. It was quite the experience. Practially the whole town comes out for the parade, which is ingredient #1 for a great 4th of July parade (for the record, Northville has a GREAT parade). I loved it. Some of the highlights:

• About 92% of the entries were tractors
  
• I received my own mini flag to wave around from a Colonel
  
• Several "USA USA" chants
• A decent collection of Starbursts and Watermelon Dum Dum suckers, which are infinitely better than the parade staples (Tootsie rolls, Now N Laters, and Super Bubble). I did bring home a lot of those too

One of my favorite games to play while watching fireworks (well, the only game I've played) is to name the fireworks. My favorites are (see if you can picture these fireworks; they're classics):

• Paparazzi (the one with all the flashes of light with no sound)
  
• Gettysburg (flashes of light with sound)
• Death Star (any huge firework, kind of the like the one I posted)
• Weeping Willow (self-explanatory)

I tried to take pictures of the fireworks with my phone, but as usual when taking pictures of fireworks, they didn't turn out. Here's a decent one

A worthwhile way to spend 7 minutes...

Watch this:

Faith, eh?

It's been quite the rollercoaster ride over the past week.  And not the Millennium  Force kind; more like the Jr. Gemini: full of highs and lows, but generally pretty low the whole time.  Or maybe the Corkscrew: dizzying and a ride I would never like to take again.  I digress....

I ended up deciding not to go to YL camp with Grosse Pointe.  I still don't feel well, can't really be on my feet at all, and just generally don't feel like myself at all.  It was a hard decision, but I think the the right one.  And I've been comforted and encouraged by friends and I've seen my decision reinforced by the fact that I'm either:

1. in bed

2. in bed fast asleep

3. in a chair at the computer (by the way, we don't have wi-fi at my house in Northville and it's kind of a hassle to switch the internet cables...so I'm stuck on our (cough) Dell (ick) desktop using (ugh) Windows (ahh).

4. on a couch watching tv.

A friend of mine wrote in an email: "Now you really get to see how that 'faith' thing works, eh?"  And he's completely right.  Small parts of me still say that "the trip won't be the same, the follow-up is hurt dramatically, you needed to be there, you're letting people down"...yada yada yada.  But lately the voices telling me "it'll be okay, camp will go on, kids will still meet Jesus, and you'll have your time in GP" are becoming louder and louder.  And those are obviously all fueled by a faith that has been growing stronger than ever.  So why lose it now?  

At this point, I can't think of this as anything but another opportunity to grow.  One of the ways I've seen my faith grow is when God gives me a reason to lose faith and I don't.  And I'm not looking to blink anymore.  Partly because it hurts my eye to blink, but mostly because I trust my Lord :)

The cry of my heart

It's been quite the summer for me thus far.  I graduated college and began walking into a life that no longer had a predetermined route for me to take.  My life was about to change/transition into something new.  I was done with college, nearing the end of my time in Mason, and Shannon was taking off for two whole months to another continent.  

Before she left, Shannon and I decided that we had an incredible opportunity to draw closer to our God while she was gone.  And I really think we have.  I began trusting Him and relying on Him more than ever.  And I've been in so many situations and circumstances where God was my only comfort.  It's been crazy.  I've been praying to Him like I actually believed He was glued to every word I spoke (or thought).  I asked Him for guidance about what to do about a job, and He provided a red-haired friend and an opportunity.  Then I asked Him what to do about that, and He gave me great friends to tell me why I would be great at it and several reminders of why I love being a Young Life leader.  He gave me affirmation and a renewing of my passion.

Then I asked Him to grow my heart and take care of Shannon.  While she's been gone, we've been able to chat through Gmail most days, and we've been able to share our hearts while she's gone (hooray technology!).  Though it seemed impossible to grow closer while she was gone, it's happened.  And she's been through a lot of crazy things, but she's still safe.  It's not distance that has made our hearts grow fonder, it has been God.  I believe that with everything I have.

So over the past few weeks, Shan and I have been talking about me going down to Ecuador during her last few days there.  It wasn't that we missed each other so much that we couldn't wait a few more days to see each other, but that the opportunity to travel together was too good to pass up.  When else would be able to see a place like Ecuador, especially when one of us is already there?  So we discussed it, and ultimately asked God to make it happen or not make it happen.  And asked again, and again, and again.

So what happened?  I started looking at plane tickets and realized that, given my current financial situation, it was affordable.  I talked my good friend whose life situation 3 years ago is almost identical to mine, and he thought it was a good idea too.  After talking it over with Shannon again, we decided to go for it.  

Then I asked God for a round trip ticket that might include the same flight back as hers.  It was too expensive for her to change her flight, and I really wanted to be able to fly home with her.  It'd be kind of weird if we didn't.  But seriously, would that even be possible?  And then God happened again.  I found exactly what I was looking for, arriving when we wanted me to and flying home with the same itinerary.  So after freaking out about our luck (or our Lord), I went ahead and bought the ticket (with only 2 remaining at the time!).

At the time, I was also pleading with God to find a subleaser.  Since I was going to Crooked Creek with GP YL, traveling for 2 weeks, then moving by Aug. 1, I figured a subleaser would make sense.  And it would also help with paying for the plane ticket.  As it got closer to today, the day before I leave for Colorado with GP, I became more nervous.  Then, a few days ago, it appeared I had found someone.  But after a few days, several emails, and the advice of some friends, I decided it was a scam.  Kind of a long story that really doesn't deserve much blog space.  So after that conclusion, I was pretty down.  I asked God one more time for a subleaser as a last ditch plea.  And then He showed up again!  I was watching the NBA Draft and suddenly received a phone call.  After a brief conversation, it became known that this guy was

A. a real person

B. just as desperate to find a place to live as I was to find a subleaser

So we quickly reached an agreement over the phone.  I have a subleaser now!

AND...after buying my Ecuador ticket, I needed to set up an appointment to receive any shots and medications I'd need for my trip.  I called as soon as I could and booked the ONLY available appointment this week.  Which was huge since I need at least 2 weeks before I leave for the immunizations to be working.  And my appointment was exactly 14 days before I'd arrive.

So at this point, I'm a little overwhelmed; I feel pretty exhausted even writing all of this down for you to know about!  My relationship with God is hotter than Hansel right now.  I've seen God show up so many times over the last 2 months it's ridiculous, and especially over the past 8 days.  My only response is to stop what I'm doing, pick my jaw up off the floor, and praise Him.  For who He is, for what He does, and for how much He loves me.  

I hope all that makes sense.  I'm still feeling pretty woozy.**  Thanks for taking time to let me share my life with you.  

I'm hopefully leaving for Colorado with a ton of high school kids tomorrow afternoon.  So I'll be in touch in a week!

Where has God been showing up in your life?  I'd love to know!  Leave lots of comments.

P.S.  So on Tuesday night I was playing basketball and took an elbow to the eye.  The result: 3 stitches, a bad concussion, and a fractured right orbital.  I wasn't really praying to God for that to happen, but I've had this incredible peace about the whole situation.  I know it'll be okay.  And I'm anxious to see how God uses it.

Maybe I'll post some pictures sometime soon!  

In other news...

I just bought a plane ticket to Ecuador!

Great Expectations

*Just for the record, this post has nothing to do with Charles Dickens or Gwyneth Paltrow.  I've never read the book or seen the movie.  Come to think of it, I don't know anyone that has ever read the book or seen the movie.  At least as far as I know*

So as I'm sure EVERYONE is aware, the Celtics beat the Lakers, which means my favorite player (Kevin Garnett) won his first title.  He's been my favorite player for a long time now, and I'm truly happy he won.  It might be lame that I'm genuinely excited for a basketball player who makes more money per week than I will in my life, but there's something cool about seeing a man who has worked his tail off, made the most of my God-given abilities, and is passionate and respectful achieve his dream.  

I read a Bill Simmons article about his thoughts on the last game, and I read this quote about Paul Pierce, the Finals MVP.

"We spend so much time complaining about sports and being disappointed that our favorite players never end up being who we wanted them to be, but in Pierce's case, he became everything we wanted him to be."

(Throughout his entire career, Paul Pierce has been much maligned for selfish play and attitude, but over the past few years, and especially this, he has played incredible all-around basketball and been a great teammate and leader.)

My first thought after reading this quote: "good point Bill, because I do that too."  My second thought after reading this quote: "That seems true of my life."

Over the past few years of being a follower of Jesus, I've become frustrated at the chasm between who I really am and who I really want to be.  Like one of my favorite Jars of Clay songs, those two people were worlds apart.  And that frustration was the building block of a wall that prevented me from ever becoming everything my Creator created me to be.

Complaining and disappointment are normal.  But just because they are normal doesn't mean it's good.  Complaints and disappointments are inevitable products of trying to do-it-yourself attitude.  I thought that I could just work on some things, change my life around, and be more like Jesus.  But at some point I reached this conclusion that I just couldn't do that.  I couldn't change without Him.  It's not to say that I am allowed to sit on the couch and wait for Jesus to wave a wand over my head.  

I'm 22 and graduated from college.  There's an obvious life transition that is about to happen, and I feel Jesus changing me.  From the inside out.  It's a cool thing.  I hope you can experience that.  Jesus is changing our hearts all the time.  We just have to let it happen.

Snappy Casual

So I was in Grosse Pointe last night for our pre-camp meeting.  I was wearing my REI soft shell, and one of the girl leaders complimented my jacket by saying it was "snappy casual."  I think I know what that means, but it's definitely something I've never heard said to me.  Maybe it's because it's a Grosse Pointe thing, or maybe it's because I just don't have that many snappy casual things in my wardrobe.  Nonetheless, it was a top 5 highlight of my day.  

The others included, in no particular order: eating free Panera, talking to Shan on gmail, receiving unexpected phone calls in the midst of a long and boring drive which makes that drive much less boring and long, and finding out who is in my Crooked Creek cabin.

I'm in trouble...

4th one down on the left side....shoot

*UPDATE* "If my life were on SportsCenter..."

By gutter ball I meant a ball thrown where I didn't knock down a pin (like when I had a couple 7-10 splits and managed to bowl the ball straight through the middle).  No need to over-do my embarrassment.

Overtime

We're only a few more minutes away from the 2nd overtime of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  It's one of those games that you sit on the edge of your seat, and only when play momentarily stops, you realize you've been holding your breath for the last few minutes.  

With about 35 seconds left in regulation, while the Wings were up 3-2, my friend Mike says, "does pulling the goalie ever work?"  

2 seconds later, the Penguins scored.  

If the Wings lose this game, feel free give him a dirty look or two.  But he's a good guy, so don't overdo it.

Does anyone want my Mac?

So I can buy a new one?

If my life were on SportsCenter...

...these would be the 5 best plays of the past week or so:

 

5. Great hustle by Jay Granger sparks a late inning rally

4. Bowled a strike in my first throw in nearly 5 months at our Mason YL bowling fundraiser

3. Hit a 30 foot bunker shot to within 7 inches of the pin

2. Channeled my inner Bill Russell to block a shot (12th of my career), rebound it, and start the fast break

1. Jay Granger scores the tying run in his baseball game

And these would be in the SportsCenter Not Top 10:

5. Lost 3 in a row in ping-pong to Tony at TWL 

4. My bowling scores from today: 107 (good warm-up), 128 (pretty good but could improve), 96 (choked on the last ball to break 100), 76, (fell apart at the seams)

3. Contributed a 1-10 shooting performance to an overall team effort of (approximately) 4-55 shooting in a 12-4 loss at IM West

2. Bowled almost as many gutter balls over 4 games (13) as I did strikes (14)

1. I hit 0 out of 9 fairways last week

Blogroll

So here's a list of all my friends' blogs that I read and why I read them.  There are other blogs by people that I'm not friends with (although I'm sure it'd be fun if we were were friends), but I'm already thinking that I'll be too tired of typing to include those as well.  So that'll probably be another day:

• Shannon: Shan's currently in QUITO, ECUADOR for a study abroad.  How cool is that?!  Not sure how often she'll be able to update, but I'm really excited to see pictures and hear stories of a place I have never seen before or really know all that much about.  And I just think she's awesome (sorry for that shameless plug).
  
• Emily: Emily is a great writer and is able to capture each of the individual moments of life that make this life so great.  She tells lots of stories and tries her best to "rewind the best parts."  I'm sure one day she'll rewind back to when we were teammates and how awesome that was.
• Dilyn: Not sure if she'll be able to update a lot from up north, but I hope so.  Dilyn is a faithful women of God and wants to become even better.  Most of her posts are about her pursuit of that.  And music.  It's a really interesting blog for someone who doesn't like bacon.
• Dana: This is a good place for deep, thought-provoking blogging.  Dana really looks for God in every situation or experience she has, and often writes about them.  And she likes Harry Potter a lot.
• Woj: We all know how life is a struggle at times and so does Woj.  She enjoys that struggle, and that's what her blog is about.  Often inspiring, I might add.
• Katie B: It's more interesting to read Katie's blog (well, it was always interesting) now that she's a new mom.  Katie does a really good job letting you into her life and the joys of this new life she is currently experiencing.
• Sween: A newbie to the blogging world!  I like Sween because she is a great observer of her surroundings.  I'm excited to hear about what she sees around her and how God is working.
• Kristin: Just recently hopped on the blogging bandwagon, but one of the few on the "I will wholeheartedly seek after Jesus" bandwagon.  Her blog is about her life and how Jesus is in control of it.  And how she loves that.
• Mark: This is Mark's blog that he does through work.  I like how he weaves stories from work and his personal life.
• Alison: I like reading Alison's blog because each post is seriously straight out of her heart and mind.  It doesn't really go through a filter, and because of that, it is incredibly honest and therefore profound and fun to read.
• Laura: This young lady's blog is cool because she is a mom to 3 of the coolest guys you could ever meet.  I typically finish reading her blog either laughing, smiling, or re-thinking how I approach my life.  Or all 3.
• Drew: Drew writes with his heart on the keyboard (okay that was kind of gruesome sounding...I wanted to convey how he is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and blogs that way, but I don't think that's how I came across).  Anyways....
• Coryell: A great read because Cory is a deep thinker and wants so desperately to know Jesus and be more like Him.  However, Cory updates his blog about once every 9 months, but the archives are good reads.

Somewhere about halfway through I ran out of witty things to say, so my apologies.  Time to go work out!

Conjuntion Junction

Well it's been kind of crazy and busy the past week or so, and I have a lot of blogging catch-up to do.  Now that life has slowed down a bit, I should be able to get to everything this week.

I've upped the number of blogs I consistently read to 22.  In fact, I'm kind of a blogging nerd these days, if you will.  Armed with my new favorite application, Evernote, I now keep up on several friends' blogs as well as several others from random people I don't know that I found through Noel's blog.  Evernote lets me clip anything interesting that I find and organize it for later; it's basically a glorified note-taker.  And I'm obsessed.  Most of these blogs are personal blogs of several of my good friends.  I love it.

Have you seen the first Matrix movie?  Remember the scene on top of the roof right before Trinity and Neo save Morpheus?  She calls Tank to upload her with the ability to fly a helicopter, and in a matter of seconds, she knows how to fly a helicopter.  That's how I feel life is like right now.  Because of the internet, we have limitless amounts of information only seconds away from us.  I can look up basically any sports fact to settle any argument or debate.  Just last night I looked up how many milliliters are in a cup because I needed to measure out 1.75 cups with a nalgene.  "Google" has more usage as a verb these days rather than a noun.  It's crazy.

So my favorite thing about blogging is the ability to stay connected with people.  Sure, it's a great outlet for me to gather my thoughts concerning life and God and make sense of both, and to share funny things/stories with others.   But it's also a great way for my increasingly scattered (geographically) speaking friends to keep in touch.  

We all want to be connected to others in community.  I'm glad blogs are around to help make that happen.

A quick way to make a $1

Prize money goes to the first person who can tell me why the first paragraph is always 1.5 spaced.  It bugs me.  I suppose I'm not too obsessed with my the aesthetics of my blog, but the least I can ask for is uniform, single spacing.  So if you know if/how I can fix it, I'm all ears :)

Just making sure

It's pretty late right now, and I'm not too sure why I'm still awake.  My average bed time if I've been at home has been right around midnight.  I was talking to my friend earlier today how late 1 and 2 AM feels these days.  It was normal to be awake that late during my college years (because that was SO long ago), but these days if I wake up on Monday, I'm going to bed before the clock turns Tuesday.  But not tonight my friends, because I'm wearing my rebel hat.

Well, not exactly.

Anyways, today was a good day.  I woke up for church (a small miracle considering my sleep patterns of the last 7 days), had a solid session of frisbee tossing in the park, and made the highest quality omelette of my life tonight (of the 5 total I've cooked myself).  I also helped my friend Mere buy a new Mac today off eBay.  Walking her into the land of Mac was quite the honor and privilege.  Welcome to the club MLA.

Looking back to look ahead

So I realized that when you save a draft then eventually post it, Blogger will post it with the date and time you originally saved the post.  So it's not magic that I went grocery shopping today but was able to write about it on Tuesday.  Although that would have been cool.  It's kind of like that April Fool's joke from Gmail.  Anyways.

For today, I'm going to go with the Top 10 Reasons why I'm excited about this Summer:

10. Playing catch in the park by my house

9. Golf.  Lots of golf

8. Sleeping in 

7. Lots of reading

6. Tigers games (tbd)

5. Going to the grad parties of the seniors I've known for 4 years 

4. TWL Work Weekend

3. Spending quality time with friends without having to simultaneously study

2. Transitioning to Grosse Pointe

1. Sending Shan off to Ecuador...then welcoming her home!

Vitamin C is still playin' in the background...

I'm a few days into summer vacation / realizing I'm done with college and it feels great.  Life has really slowed down and I like that.  I can go to bed before midnight without feeling pressured to wake up before 8 to keep studying.  I can sleep in past 11 without having to miss a class.  

The last few weeks have been so memorably crazy.  I put the finishing touches on my first 4.0 semester of my life, was baptized with my friends and in front of my friends, and I attended my last YL leadership and college graduation.  But during my slower, quieter week, the highlights have been:

• buying enough groceries at one time from Meijer that I couldn't go in the U-Scan 12 Items or Less lane 
• interviewing in Grosse Pointe
• buying a new rain jacket 

There's still a lot of random things I want to do, but I've got the time now to get those done at my own pace.  

To further comment on graduation, since it feels like it deserves more words, I'm planning on posting a few Top 10 lists.  If you have any suggestions for one, let me know.  I'll lead off with top 10 things that I will miss about college:

10. The Gallery at Snyder Phillips

9. Hanging out at Gone Wired

8. Mondays and Wednesdays with Sween

7. Being able to do things I don't want to do (e.g. study for a test) with people that I love

6. Friday night leadership

5. Springtime on campus

4. Walking down the banks of the Red Cedar in the fall

3. Izzone

2. Mason Young Life

1. Being within walking distance of a community of people that love me

I made that list in a surprisingly short amount of time, so I'm probably missing key things.  I am allowing myself full permission to edit that list if need be in the future.

Enjoy the sun!

Sportsmanship

If you've got 5 minutes, this is worth watching. I'm not sure if "sportsmanship" fully captures this. Pretty cool I think.

Drab

So I finally went and bought my cap and gown today.  So what if I'm graduating in 9 days?  It does feel good to cross that off my to-do list, considering the facts that I love to cross things off lists and that it's been on there forever.

Part of the process involved telling the nice lady helping me out which college I'll be graduating from in order to pick out the correct colored tassel.  Apparently each college has its own color, which I previously didn't know about.  But anyways, I said "Business College" and she checked her list, and found the correct one.  As I anxiously awaited the announcement of what color tassel I'll be wearing, I found out that I will be wearing the color "drab."  Yep, that's right, drab.  And that's pretty much the only word to describe this color.  Maybe puke could work.

So in 9 days I will proudly walk around in a green cap and gown with a drab colored tassel.  And I couldn't be anymore excited.

Driving with the windows down

The other day I was sitting at a red light singing along to some Jars of Clay (self-titled album, probably a top 5 CD of all time...but that's a story for another time).  Anyways, as I sat there, another guy pulled up next to me blasting some music full of lyrics which I couldn't understand.  Because his music was at least 43 decibels louder than mine, I couldn't hear my music anymore.  Yet, I kept singing along.  I know all the words to "Love Song for a Savior" and there was no way that Mr. I Play My Really Bad Music Really Loud So You Can't Listen To Your Really Good Music was going to rain on my karaoke parade.  It's a good thing I had the song memorized.

I used to be all about memorizing large chunks of Scripture.  But for some reason, I've kind of just stopped doing that.  I think it's because sooner or later my mind twisted the idea into another kind of homework assignment that was simply added onto my To-Do List.  It's obviously bigger than that, but that's how my undergraduate (but not for long!) mind works.  

I'm hoping to rekindle the passion to memorize large chunks of Scripture.  Keeping God's Word in our hearts is such an advantage that we can have over the world.  It's always helpful to know all the words when loud music and other distractions pull up next to us.

Parking Spaces

So I met with two different groups today in the Business Library.  I think of all the places on campus, excluding my dorm rooms, I've spent the most time here.  There's something about this place that I love; maybe it's the environment that makes me feel all grown-up and professional.  Or maybe because it's quiet enough to study but everyone's okay with soft conversations too.  At the main library, the only sound levels are crickets chirping or house party.  And, unlike the main library, it's not 150 degrees.

But anyways, 2 visits also means 2 times finding a parking space.  Parking spaces in the Shaw Ramp are like fresh meat in piranha pools.  Just like the rest of business it seems, it's highly competitive.  During slower times of the day, like right now, it turns into finding a spot that is closest to the stairwell you want to take.  And pretty much every time I'm in that situation, there's one spot that is "kind of close."  These "kind of close" spots are nice, but they're always far enough away to make me feel like there's something closer.  And 9 times out of 10, there isn't, and by the time I come back, someone else has wisely filled the spot.  

I'm typically not okay with settling when something better is out there, but I also don't think that desiring more is healthy either.  So that got me thinking...where does settling stop and greed begin?

I'm way too tired to keep thinking about this, so I'll just leave it at that.  If I think of it, I'll post again with some more thoughts.  But for now, I'm sleepy.

Can anyone REALLY vote for a guy like this?

UPDATE:  Obviously I will look into other things than just candidates' bowling skills.  Also, I don't believe bowling ability is a reflection of leadership ability :)

I haven't done much research into the Presidential candidates for '08, but this information has to count for something, right?

from Obama bowls for Pennsylvania voters: "Obama did improve, nearly getting a strike in one frame, and in the seventh, picking up a spare, giving him a score of 37."

Welcome back to my life, 5-iron

Today has been a really good day.  It's not that I don't have other good days that are worthy of a blog post, it's just that today I was able to do some things that I don't normally get to do.  Plus I still don't want to study, so thus, this blog post.  

I just spent the last hour and 7 minutes watching YouTube videos, including both the 97 and 98 fights between the Red Wings and Avalanche, the "Loser Must Retire" match between HBK and Ric Flair from a little while ago, and an old Converse commercial.  I'd love to show you all of those little pieces of pure gold, but I also don't want to waste an hour and 7 minutes of your day.  So here's one of them:

Some of the other things I don't normally do but did today and had fun are: 

1. slept in until 11:03
2. had lunch with Kelsey and Audry
3. took a nap (yeah I'm a bum)
4. ate two cheddarwursts (sounds gross and ridiculous to list as a highlight...but they were SO good)
   
5. went to the driving range

The trip to the driving range today deserves its own commentary.  It was somewhat of an impulse decision by T-Mo, Tony, and I, and a great one at that.  I've had this brand new set of irons sitting in our house collecting dust every since I brought them from home (a Christmas present).  I've only hit them twice, and I've been anxiously anticipating when I could take them out again.  And today was the day.  My first shot was a 9-iron, and it was probably the best "first shot of the spring" of my entire life.  About 120 (into a stiff breeze) and straight as an arrow.  More importantly, my best club of the day was my 5-iron.  I haven't been able to say a sentence like that in a long time.  For the best few years, my 3-wood and 5-iron have been dead to me.  But I hit both of them today and I felt really good about it.  Maybe it's the new irons, I don't know (I really think it is, actually).  The only problem is that I couldn't hit my even irons (4, 6, 8).  Although my last shot (has to be a good one) was with a 6-iron, so I guess it wasn't all that bad.

It was a good day because it felt "college-y" and "out of college-y."  I had lunch with some old, out-of-college people (smile) and talked about jobs, but I also slept in.  I hit some golf balls in the classic "post-work" part of the day (6 PM) and also took a mid-afternoon nap.  

This isn't that surprising since I've been riding the edge of college and post-college for a while now.  

Stuff

I spent most of Monday without my cell phone, having accidentally left it in Grand Rapids after visiting with Shan's family for Easter.  So that means that I also spent most of Monday anxious and uncomfortable and slightly (okay, moderately) less equipped to go through the day without my cell phone.  And right around 4 PM I realized how ridiculous I am.  How can I be that worked up about not having my cell phone?  It's just a cell phone, right?  Obviously I'm less reachable and unable to communicate with people, which are both important things.  And it's incredibly inconvenient.  But really, it's not a big deal.  The day will still happen.  And it did.

I wish I wasn't like that.  I wish my heart wasn't tied so tightly to things that it doesn't need to be.  I thought about some other things that I would be at least slightly upset that I didn't have with me / didn't know where it was for at least a day.  Here's a brief list, in no particular order:

• MacBook
• Bible (either of the 2)
• Wallet (including everything it contains)
• Keys
• REI jacket
• North Face winter hat

Class is starting so I need to wrap this up, but I guess the point of my rambling is that I was also able to think about the other things my heart really cares about.  Like really cares about.  Like God.  And people.  And relationships.  And MSU basketball (just kidding...kind of).  I'm hoping to go through the rest of the week and the rest of my life focusing more on the important things rather than the unimportant.  

(Not that wallets and car keys are unimportant)  

All this makes me think of this verse, and I'll leave you with it.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Co 4:18