MULLET SEARCH!

This weekend was one of the most fun I have had in a long time! I suppose the obvious question is, what was Mullet Search? Every year the College Ministry at BBC rents a cabin in Gatlinburg and goes into town for a "scavenger hunt" Each group gets so many points for finding a mullet, and extra points for getting a picture with someone who has a mullet...Or fits one of the descriptions on the list. It's really fun. Just for the record, we don't make fun of Mullets...We embrace them for what they are. The true Mulleteers who wear these come from every class and background, not just the stereotype that people pick them out to be. They wear them proud and loud. To those who have Mullets, we salute you!

This trip was also awesome because of the people on it. I know that a lot of people were thinking, "Why would a college ministry do this? It doesn't seem very spiritual or...Enlightening." When you get a group of people who are comfortable together and are honest enough, really true and important conversations will go on. We had conversations going to Gatlinburg ranging from the syntax of Grace to the validity of Scripture to acceptance and witness in today's culture. At the cabin, I had a long conversation with almost everyone there. We would talk about how people are wired, the purpose of this ministry, dating, marriage, and a lot more. We also had some silly times of playing Monopoly for hours, playing Scrabble, sitting in the Hot Tub, and something that I think is amusing...Watching "Singing in the Rain" at 3 in the morning!

This trip was fun and enlightening at the same time. We got some great pics of Mullets, we ate very well, and we had a great time.

To Mom on Mother's Day

This post is for my mother. Anyone else may read it, however this is really directed toward one person.

Happy Mother's Day! You have been a mother for like 22 years now! How does it feel? It's kind of hard to write about my thoughts on this day, so I will do the best I can. Growing up I remember that you would make lunch for me, drive me places, talk to me after school, and we would go down to the store and around town together. You would always call me "Bud" and tell me that you were proud of me and that you loved me. There were many times when I complained about doing chores, I just wanted to be by myself, or I didn't want any help...But I still appreciated the fact that you would always be there to lend a hand. You would put Sarah and I on your top priority and you taught us how to value people and take pride in what we do. Going through tough times of moving and going to college, it has been an inspiration to both of us.

I remember answering the phone growing up and people being like, "Is this Kathi?!?" I would get so mad that people thought I was you! I was a boy! A boy with a high voice, but still a boy! Now when people say that I remind them of you, I take it as a compliment.

You are a great mother and Sarah and I love you very much. Thank you for all that you do!

Death be not Proud

Death be Not Proud is written by John Gunther about his son, John Gunther Junior, who suffered a severe brain tumor at the age of 16-17. This kind of illness was such that all the doctors felt he could die at any minute. Neurologists and doctors from all over the country try different methods to see if they can cure or prolong the illness, and the parents do everything they can to help Johnny out. The most miraculous part is that Johnny lived longer than anyone expected, and his whole attitude astounded everyone that came in contact with him. He would always tell the nurses and doctors, "I hope I'm not causing you any trouble." He had a passion for knowledge, keeping up with school, doing experiments, helping with his dad's novel, and even taking an entrance exam to Harvard...And being admitted! He was very intelligent, spirited, and loving.

In Johnny's own words he states, "Live while you live, then die and be done with it...Get yourself off your Hands. Happiness is in Love. Accept disappointments. Relieve oneself by confession of sins. I am growing up at last...Be spontaneous and aware. Love!" Johnny wrote all of this in a diary that his parents gave him. The final words he wrote were an ancient Hebrew toast, "L'chaim" which means To Life.

His mother concludes the book in what I consider a beautiful conclusion. For the sake of the shortness of this blog, I will only quote the last part. She wrote:

"What does it mean? What can it mean now?...It means obliterating, in a curious but real way, the ideas of evil and hate and the enemy, and transmuting them, with the alchemy of suffering, into the ideas of clarity and charity. It means caring more and more about other people, at home and abroad, all over the earth. It means caring more about God."

To conclude about the book, I will leave you with Johnny's, "Unbeliever's Prayer" that he wrote May of 1946. Whether you agree with it or not, it is still thought provoking.

"Almighty God forgive me for my agnosticism. For I shall try to keep it gentle, not cynical, nor a bad influence. And O! If Thou art truly in the heavens, accept my gratitude for all Thy gifts and I shall try to fight the good fight. Amen."

Finals: Conclusion

Warning: This post will contain some bragging. I got all of my grades in. Here are the results...I got three A's in World Civ II, US History II, and College Algebra. I got two B's in Physical Science and Research/Argumentative Writing. That makes my semester GPA about 3.5 and my yearly GPA 3.78! Heck yes! I must give credit where credit is due. Praying before tests, exams, papers, and for professors helped, with support from parents, family, and friends, and last but not least, thanks to the crazy voices in my head who told me to get to work and stop procrastinating!

I can't believe I made it through a whole year of college. It seemed to go by fast, yet it also seemed like it was two years in one. I found out that God still wanted me to go to Brentwood Baptist, participate in the College ministry, be in a Praise Band for the BCM, and pick a major in Elementary education. To be honest, the major still scares me. I'm not sure I can do it. I know that no matter what, I have good support. I always wanted to go into Education, I just hope that K-6 is the right place for me.

Thanks to the members of BCM in Murfreesboro for being kind to me this year and being supportive, thank you to members of Brentwood Baptist for helping me grow into the person I want to become, thanks to my Professors for being compassionate and understanding with me in my first year of college, thanks to my friends for being there, and thank you to my family for the continued support and making me feel like I can always come home.

I have been told that my posts are too long, so I will try to wrap this up. I will leave everyone with this thought. If girls take time and money and time is equal to money, then girls equal money squared. So if money is the root of all evil, that means that evil equals the square root of money. If all that is true, does that mean that girls are evil?

Finals: Part Two

First let me start off by saying, "I'M FREE!!!!" Now that I got that out of the way, I will begin telling about the couple of finals I had today. I have to start talking about last night. I knew that I had finals the next morning, so what did I do? I played Text Twist for a while, surfed the web, watched TV, then I was also in Brentwood from 5:30-9:30...So needless to say that my procrastination skills were awesome! It wasn't good motivation that my exams today didn't start until 1:00pm.

I woke up at 9:30 this morning and got everything ready. I ended up going to school real early because I knew if I stayed around the house, I wouldn't study. So what did I do what I got there? I went to the Periodical room and read the Tennessean. After that did I study?!? I went and had lunch where I looked over some Physical Science notes. Lucky for me, I did study Tuesday and Wednesday before I left, so it wasn't too bad. I was just thinking that I knew it all, and I prayed that nothing frightening would be on the tests!

I got to my Physical Science class, and the test was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Sure I had a lot of guesses here and there, but it could have been A LOT worse. That gave me time to look over United States History notes. I ended up getting a lemonade and buying a hat...Obviously not taking the hint that this is valuable time to study! I got to the US History exam and once again, it wasn't that bad. Some questions made me want to jump out the window and there was a good amount of well...This one seems the best...Type of mentality toward my questions. The good news is that I got a paper back that I have been desperately wanting to see my grade on in that class, and I got a B+ ! Two points away from an "A" though. Darn my silly quote issues!

As far as finals go, that's how it all went down. I mean down in the sense of that is the sum of it all. So I am going to clean tomorrow, and then perhaps do a little "Scott Dance" in honor of finals being over. Do you want to see that dance?!? Who wouldn't?!? In the meantime, I must go.

Finals: Part One

The day finally came. The first day of May and my first day of finals. I had a great schedule lined up of College Algebra followed by World Civilizations II (1500-Present). I studied a little bit the night before, yet was plagued by distractions. Forrest Gump was on TV, the computer was calling out my name, and...I just plain didn't want to study. I did make a note card with all my math equations on it, and I read over my notes and found ways that I could answer the various essay questions. Once I got all that figured out, I fell asleep.

My first exam started at 10:00am, so I had to make sure I was up early, I had all my pencils, etc. I had a bad dream the night before that the bookstore would be closed and I wouldn't be able to purchase an exam scantron. Luckily they were open, so I got two of them. I was right about getting the extra exam. I figured someone would forget, and the last thing you need during an exam is to realize you forgot your sheet. I gave the extra exam out, a pencil to someone who forgot, and then I started. It wasn't too bad. I enjoyed math this year, so I knew I could do well. I forgot to study for the "easy" stuff so I left off some technical things on my card. Overall, I think I did very well. Although I was tired from doing all that math.

After eating a sandwich, I went to my next exam. A guy in my class was like, "Hey, do you feel ready for this?" We both agreed that we didn't give this exam as much attention as our midterm. We both had good grades in the class, and we knew part of this was multiple choice, so there wasn't a whole lot of incentive to study. But lo and behold, the essays came! I wrote three pretty good essays if I can say so myself. I wrote about "The Great War" and the causes and consequences, Tradition and Modernity among cultures and....the big one. This question is what the professor described as, "The Essay that will make you cry." I did not cry, I just sighed heavily. The question was, "Which has been the stronger force since 1500: democracy or authoritarianism?" Let me just say this...Holy Crap! Luckily I've been preparing for this, so I had a good answer. Yet, it literally pulled together everything I learned in the course. Smart job on the professor, but it was a pain to write.

When I got done with the exam, my right hand was literally shaking. SHAKING! I could not put a coherent sentence together to save my life. I left the exam thinking, "Russia...Stalin...British protecting crown jewel India...Colonization...2nd Industrial Revolution...Ottomans...Mao..." While I was thinking that, I could only say, "Meahaiodu alieujfll aliefj." I got home and told myself, that I would wait a day to start studying for my next finals. I then made myself a couple of steaks (I'm not kidding), some mashed potatoes, and some green beans in honor of completing my first exams.

I am in the process of studying for my next finals which are this coming Thursday. They are Physical Science and then United States History II. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. In the meantime, I should stop procrastinating and study. Good night!