To a Friend

The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.     -1 Timothy 5:24-25

I love this verse (that may sound somewhat prideful in a minute). Just like you can't keep even your secret sins hidden, neither can you keep the secret the good things that you do either. No, I don't love this verse because it means that I'm going to be recognized for the good things I do (see? that's the part where you could have read into things), I love it because many times, we get the opportunity to see this verse in action in other peoples' lives all around us, giving us a better understanding of who that person really is, where there heart is, and causing us to thoroughly enjoy being with them the next time we see them because we feel like we've gotten away with knowing something about them that they really wish no one did (don't lie. You like that feeling too.)

I saw a perfect example of this just within this past week here at college, and as soon as I did, this verse immediately came to mind, and because of seeing it, I had to tell people just what this person did, and how grateful I am for them. My brother just started his freshman year here at the same school as me. Like just about every other college student on the planet, he doesn't have a lot of money. He and a couple of friends were hungry late one night, and decided to hit up a local fast food joint real quick for some cheap food. As he took his place in line, he stared at the menu and asked himself aloud, "Hmm, what can I get for $4?". Apparently, the guy standing right behind him heard what he said, introduced himself, and offered to pay for his meal. The guy didn't know anything about my brother, he just arrived, yet he was willing to pay for his food. What surprised me was when my brother told me the name of the guy: a friend of mine, and fellow student here at school, who likewise, probably doesn't have a ton of money hanging around just so he can pay for strangers' meals. (Does Jesus' reference to the poor widow giving to the temple come to mind?)

And so because of this, I thought this guy deserved a little recognition. This certainly isn't the first time I've seen him do something like this either, he's truly got a heart of gold. And so I say thank you Sean. You're an awesome guy, I'm praying for you, and I'm expecting you to do awesome things for God with your life. You're already doing some already.

Humor in the Bible: Joseph

I've been reading about the story of Joseph lately (in part due to the last post), and it's really filled me with awe. It's a beautiful story, and I've learned some things from reading it this time around, such as how long Joseph's storms lasted (23 years), and how God used those storms that Joseph was facing for good, but I've also been surprised at the humor withing the story, or at least what I imagine to be funny while reading the story. So I hope you have your Bible close by, or at least Biblegateway open, or something like that, and we'll take a look at the humor in the book of Joseph.

The first thing I noticed regards one of Joseph's brothers, Simeon. Joseph's family is starving and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to buy some of the food that the Egyptians have stored. Now I imagine that this wasn't just some simple trip to the grocery store. The Bible even refers to it as a 'journey' (45:23). It had to have taken a good while to get from the house of Jacob to Egypt. When the brothers arrive in Egypt, Joseph plays a little trick on his brothers, and orders Simeon put into jail until the other brothers bring Benjamin back with them. The rest of the brothers agree, and make the long journey home. Now you would think that if you're brother was in prison, and wouldn't be freed until you returned, you would try to get back as quickly as possible. But is that what Joseph's brothers did? Nope. They waited until they'd eaten all the food they'd bought before they even thought about going back (43:2). Once again this wasn't a simple trip to the grocery store. They had to have bought at least a couple weeks of food. This leaves Simeon sitting in a cell for weeks  wondering what on earth happened to his brothers. This could possibly be explained by 49:5-7, when all the rest (for the most part) of Joseph's brothers are being blessed as Jacob dies, Simeon is cursed. Maybe no on e liked him.

The next thing that stuck out to me was 45:24. Joseph's brothers are going back home once again to tell Jacob how Joseph is still alive and all of the wonderful things that have happened to him. As the brothers are leaving, Joseph shouts out, "Don't quarrel on the way!". Was this a sarcastic referral to the end result of them quarreling before? "Hey guys! Remember that last time you all were really angry, and that stupid thing you did? You sold me into slavery! And now I'm second in command of Egypt! See ya, shepherds!"

The third thing that I found funny is probably due to my overactive imagination. What if Joseph had been doing laundry the day that Potiphar's wife grabbed his cloak as he ran off without it? We just might have the very first documented case of public streaking. I also thought it'd been funny if the sleeves were really tight, and he was able to get everything out but his hands as he's trying to run away while she's hanging on.

Lastly, and probably the most obvious source of humor in the book of Joseph, involves the baker. Joseph's just finished telling the cupbearer how awesome his life is about to get. The baker comes up to Joseph with this stupid grin on his face and all giddy as he tells his dream next, and eagerly awaits what Joseph has to say is going to happen to him. He's going to be hanged. Or as some translations put it, be impaled on a pole. Have you ever seen the face of someone who's bubble was not only just popped, but obliterated? It looks kinda like this:

Even a Murder

Something in the news caught my attention today. It was a story about a murder, and being that it was a story about a murder in China, I was instantly hooked. Upon finishing the story I was shocked. Basically, the story goes as follows: A Chinese woman by the name of Gu Kailai is being tried for the murder of Neil Heywood, a British businessman due to her belief that he had threatened her son "due to a conflict of economic interests" (read "money"). This particular story might not have attracted much attention had it not been for Gu Kailai being married to a high ranking Communist party member, Bo Xilaj, who was about to run for office for an even higher position with more power and responsibility. Unfortunately for Bo, his wife's involvement with the murder has slandered his name, and made his chances of winning office extremely minute. If you ask me, this is where the story gets interesting. Bo was an avid socialist, who believed that China was straying from its original socialist roots towards capitalism. If you take a look at China today, or at the history of socialism/communism in general, you can see that it hasn't exactly been the kindest ideological movements regarding Christianity.

It makes me wonder whether this is God protecting His people who are in China right now. Who knows what would have happened had socialist principles been further instilled and enacted upon the Chinese people? Would we have ended up with even more widespread, and more severe punishment of our brothers and sisters in China? I'm not sure, but the story of Joseph does seem to parallel this story. And though I do realize that I am certainly no expert on this particular piece of news, and probably never will be, and I also realize the danger of applying things from the Bible out of context and to where they don't belong, I think that this actually fits. Joseph's brothers took him and sold him into slavery in Egypt, meaning to be rid of him forever. It turns out that Joseph became the second in command of Egypt, eventually saving the lives of thousands. God had used this evil that man had devised, for good. He used this act of evil to save the lives of thousands. I wonder if this is the same. Maybe God can use even a murder.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  -Genesis 50:20

Here's the link to one of the articles.

Guys Tired of Sandcastles

I haven't posted about it in a while, but we've still been going to hang out with the guys at juvee every Wednesday. Fear can keep you from doing a lot of things, and I think it comes in different guises as well. I was afraid that if I posted about juvee, people would think I was bragging and view it as prideful. This fear kept me from doing something that I love (getting to share the guys stories), and ultimately, I think it kept the guys from receiving a lot of prayer that they both need and deserve. I talked with a friend about this a while back (thanks Austin), and it kind of made me realize how silly I'd been, and the past few weeks have been so good, that I couldn't not share it with people.

We've got a really solid group of guys in there at the moment, both in numbers and in character. The guys look forward to us coming every week, ask about us when we're gone, and have a sincere curiosity about the things of the Bible, last night being further proof of that. Getting to play basketball with the guys last night was awesome. I always feel that the guys are a lot more open with you, we connect better, and that they listen better, when you get to play with or against them (if I would stinkin' hurry up, and learn how to dunk already maybe they'd listen even more!). This seems to make sense, as it's been said that sports, music, and food are the three things that bring people together (I would add complaining to the list, but we'll stick with positive things). We had an awesome time getting to play together. There was about 14 guys, and 10 or so were new, so it was great to start off on such a good foot. The guys all got along during the game (there's been problems before, but hey, it's juvee. What do you expect?), everyone was laughing together, and the games were competitive.

After the game, we all sat down to talk about the Bible, focusing on the story of Noah. The guys had tons of questions about everything. Dinosaurs, the age of accountability, Jesus' death, Revelations, and even mermaids were discussed (one guy  believed they were real). There was really good discussion, and I got to know a few of the new guys really well during that time.

A lot of these guys are really, really close to Christ, they just need a little more guidance to understand some things, and they need people to love them, and role model Him for them. Unfortunately, they need this more outside of juvee than they do inside. What we can do is limited. It's going to be the others outside that truly impact these guys lives. These guys need our prayer. If ya'll could pray for these few things for the guys, the impact might be larger than you think:

1. That the guys will continue to have a curiosity for the things of God, and that they may find The Answer while they're there.
2. For help with a lot of the pain that these guys are dealing with. Some of the stories they tell are unreal.
3. That once these guys get out, that they'll stay out, and that men and women of God around them will see them, reach out, and be an influence, mentor, and friend. 
4. And finally, that people will remember to pray for these guys (and hey, if you wanna pray to keep us guys healthy so we can play together, we're ok with that too).

Thanks for all of your prayers, and keep this guys in mind!

Even MORE Proof God is a Practical Joker

It's finally gotten warmer outside, and we all know what comes with warm weather: spiders. Yep, that's right. In case you haven't noticed, every season has something rather sinister about it. Fall comes with hours spent raking leaves, winter results in bitter cold, spring has allergies, and summer has spiders. It's bad enough just knowing that they're outside with their long hairy legs (considering that description, I guess I should be scared of my dad as well), but add to that that for some reason, they decide that your toes look rather scrumptious as they race towards your feet during that split second you open the door to let the dog go potty before bed.

Oftentimes, you won't see them sneak by your feet into your house. Until the middle of the night that is, when you see a shadow scutter across your ceiling, and wake up to a scene like this:

1. New shirt/pants stickers - Just how many do we need? I peel off 4, and there's 2 more I'll find later that week. It's almost guaranteed that every time I wear new clothes, no matter how good I check them, somewhere (usually my hindquarters) there'll be a sticker advertising my waist size to the world.

2. Camera flash - You know those times when you see someone at the store that looks just like your friend? You decide to sneak a picture, only to discover your flash is on. Don't act like I'm weird, you know you've done it. Need an example? Here.

3. Facebook uploads - Have you noticed half of them are pictures your friend posted of you unaware, mid-chew on a hamburger?

4. Change - What you don't have at the toll both, but all you have when you run out of gas.

5. Spiders love dark, moist places - Good thing we tend to open our mouths when we sleep, huh?

6. Public sneezing - Typically while sitting in a claustrophobic room surrounded by people you don't know. I've found it's best to put your head as close to your shoes as possible, sneeze all over your socks, and then give a dirty look when the people in front of you disgustedly turn around.

7.You have to wear jeans to weed-eat - Unless, of course, you like getting the opportunity to pick gravel out of your shins. Did I mention that there's going to be a heat index of 105 while you're doing this fun character building activity?

8. Boogers - one of God's many ways of keeping your pride in check.

9. Getting hit by a bee the size of a small bird when you stick your hand out the car window - Yes, I've been there.

10. Failed magic tricks - Every small child goes through a phase where they are infatuated with magic. They sometimes go so far as to learn a few card tricks of their own. They'll spend hours practicing so that they can impress their friends. Finally the moment comes, the trick has been perfected, and the friends and family are ready. And the trick fails. Horribly. Leaving a frustrated and humiliated little kid standing there in front of those they want to impress the most. I only have one explanation for moments like these.

These are just a few things I have on my list that I'll share at the moment, and rest assured, there are many more. Until then, enjoy this small list above (and maybe these ones too!), and remain aware, as a practical joker loves to strike when least expected.

Appendexplosion! POW! (A Story with Pictures! Wowza!)

For some reason, horrible experiences tend to be some of our favorite stories to tell. It's been said that bad choices make great stories, and I think the same goes with horrible experiences as well, probably because often they are hopelessly tangled together. One of my favorite horrible experiences to tell is the story of my appendicitis. It went something like this.

The day started out like any other day. Classes, homework, hanging out with friends, and basketball were the norm. However, the night turned out to be a little different. I had just gotten back from eating dinner at the school's cafeteria, and had decided to spend the evening in the library studying for a test. It wasn't long till my stomach started to feel a little funny. As the evening went on, my stomach grew worse, and I decided to call it a night, hoping that maybe I would feel better in the morning. The night went kind of like this.

Over the night the slight discomfort in my stomach had grown almost unbearable. I felt like I was going to explode. So I did what any self-respecting guy would do, I called my mom.

It's important to go into a little background here. When I was about 10, I pulled up a ramp close to my basketball goal, ran off it with the intention of dunking, and ended up lying on the pavement on top of my arm. By the time we got to the hospital, the pain had worn off, and everything was fine, but ever since then, Mom's sworn that it's all in my head whenever I get hurt. I could get stomped on by an elephant, but if she didn't see it, it'd all be in my head, and I'd be told to go dust my room. With this being said, when I called my mom, certain that I was about to die, she told me to take some Pepto Bismol (I didn't) and go back to bed. After about another half hour I called her again, and I was told to just go to the doctor if it hurt that bad (do you see the lack of sympathy here?).

I had won! I'd finally convinced Mom that something was wrong! Though it didn't take the edge off of the pain, it did make me a little happier. There was a doctor's office on the other side of campus I could go to. Because my stomach was hurting so bad it was getting hard to walk straight up, I decided to take the bus.

I was a freshman at the time, and up until that point had walked whenever I needed to get somewhere, so I had absolutely no idea regarding the bus routes. I hopped onto the first bus that came by my dorm, not realizing that it would take me to the opposite side of campus before taking me to the doctor side.

I finally made it to the doctor's office. I shuffled in, waited a little bit, and finally went in to meet him. I told him everything, and he decided he needed to check for appendicitis by pushing my stomach through my spine.

He confirmed I had appendicitis, and I walked outside to find my Granny had come to take me to the hospital. After about three or four hours laying on a table without any meds, they decided to move me to another hospital that actually did surgery.

Granted, they did have a psych ward too, but I didn't need that just yet. So, they took me to the other hospital, where by this point I was expecting my intestines to shoot out of my stomach and hit the ceiling. It'd been almost a whole day since this thing had started, and I'd had no pain meds the entire time. When we got to the other hospital, they immediately stuck me on morphine.

A little while later, they decided it was time for surgery. I was wheeled into the operating room, where I only remember two things. First was that it was very cold. Second, was looking to my right, and seeing a scene reminiscent of Saw with knives everywhere, just before passing out.

I woke up around 3 that night in some other room somewhere in the hospital. My nurse came in, said hi, and left as I fell back asleep. When I woke up again later that morning, a different nurse named Olga (no lie) came in and demanded that I get up and walk.

I tried to object, mentioning something about just coming out of surgery, but that didn't work.

After about two days in the hospital, and another few at home, I finally made it back to my dorm. Apparently , through the whole fiasco, I had forgotten to tell anyone on the dorm much of anything regarding what had happened. I had woken my roommate up early in the morning muttering something about driving to the hospital, but that was about it. When I finally showed back up, I was surprised at all the rumors that had been going around.

It took a little while, both to heal up, and to straighten out most of the stories (I might have let the bear one slide), but eventually everything ended up ok. My stomach healed up, I could walk again, and best of all, I'd I'd say the only problem with my recovery was hearing more funny jokes those first few days after surgery when it hurt to laugh than any other time in my life. It was certainly a miserable experience, and I definitely wouldn't do it again (not that I have a choice or anything), but I did learn a valuable lesson: don't ever wish to prove Mom wrong. You'll only end up in the hospital.

Experiences as a Nursing Assistant

I put my foot in the water, so to speak, into the medical field for the first time last week. I've been training as a nurse assistant for the past four weeks, and finally graduated last Friday. Part of our training involved working at a local nursing home, and the hospital. I loved it. Here's some of what I saw and experienced.

Met some awesome nursing assistants who truly love their job, and being able to serve others, and it shows in their work. Met a resident who was an extremely strong Christian, and is praying everyday for her grandson to find Christ. Got to hang out with two of the coolest old ladies you'll ever meet. Became a professional diaper changer. Had an old lady throw her grilled cheese across the table (it was 'burnt'). Made friends with a schizophrenic lady. Helped a stroke victim strengthen his legs. 'Teased' a granny fro. Watched as an elderly man in a wheelchair, scooted his wife, who is also in a wheelchair, to wherever they needed to go. Painted a lady's fingernails. Almost got pooped on. Washed a lady's feet. Worked on the oncology floor at the hospital, and helped admit a man with colon cancer. Helped aid with the comfort of a lady who was on her death bed. Communicated with a teary eyed, frustrated stroke victim with expressive aphasia (she can't talk), found out what she wanted, and made her laugh and shake my hand.  Gave baths. Had a very old lady ask me how pretty she was on a scale of 1 to 10 ("Well, a 12, of course."). Fed people. Saw a picture of a friend of mine in one of the resident's rooms. And had a conversation with a lady with dementia about how great bananas are.

This has seriously been one of the richer experiences of my life. Even though it was sometimes gross (I have some awesome poop stories), I loved every minute that we were there. I'm extremely thankful for this opportunity. It taught me a lot, and I'm looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future, as well as moving along in the medical field.