Learning Life lessons with Dogs

Look, I graduated!!! :-) This was the only picture I had with both of the dogs in it, and it also proves the point that I'm trying to make. You know what's fun about this picture? Lindy was trying to kiss my face, but she didn't do it because I graduated. She would have done the same thing reguardless of what I was wearing, what I accomplished, etc. She did it because she loves me. (Lindy is the white one, Binks is the black one)

When I went off to college, they cried every time I came home. I had been playing fetch with them every day during my 4 years of High School, and I do every time I come home. Now during the summer, it's almost twice a day! The routine is Binks plays with me, and Lindy just sits next to me. She brings me sticks, eats grass, or sometimes just sits and stares at me while I pet her. Binks and I have been close ever since we got him as a puppy. I would play with him before and after school. I could rough-house with him and also just put my arm around him and talk to him as if he were an old bud. He wags when I come close to him still, and I know just the right spot where he itches.

I came home tonight thinking to myself, "I worry way too much. Why do I worry? God makes it all work out, he's never failed me, and Jesus even told us not to worry about today. So why do I do it?" As I parked my car feeling frustrated, out came Lindy to the front lawn. She wagged her tail, got a big smile on her face, and was just excited to see me. I was only gone for like 4-5 hours, but it didn't matter! I went to pet Binks, and he looked up from his nap, wagging his tail and when I would reach to pet him, he would put his arm around mine so that my hand would touch his head as he laid back down.

It came to me. They love me because I'm Scott. I don't have to be perfect, I don't have to have it all figured out, they like me because I'm me. I then got to thinking...that's how it is with God, isn't it? At the end of the day when we come to him, he is just happy to see us. He loves us because of who we are.

God works in mysterious ways. After all, he just used a couple of mutts to teach me about his love.

There is a God, and I am not him.

One of the most honest and profound quotes I have heard recently, came from the Movie Rudy. In this movie, the main character asks a priest for some advice. Rudy is concerned he is not praying hard enough and that everything that he is working for amounts to nothing. The priest looks at him and says, "In all my years of ministry, I have learned two things. There is a God, and I am not him."

There is a God, and I am not him. After all those years of ministry, that is all he learned? Why didn't he tell Rudy the stories of the great men of the Bible, quoted some of his own sermons, quote scripture, etc. Why did he just say those two phrases? When I sat down and thought about it, what he said is probably the greatest advice anyone could give. There is a God, and I am not him.

Even if you take the two phrases separately, they are two of the most amazing phrases you can utter. By admitting there is a God, you realize there is a power above yourself. In a society where the teaching is that it's all about us and how to fulfill ourselves, it takes a person of great wisdom and humility to admit that there is something greater. That leads to knowing that you are not God. We make ourselves to be of great importance with our superiority over intellect and life, and we get prideful. Yet if we let our Pride get to ourselves, God will answer us like he answered Job. "Where you there when the earth was created? Did you cause the rain to fall?" It's like us creating an ant farm and the ants going, "Hey, look at what we did! Obviously this was our doing! We can lift really heavy objects, we are very attractive, smart....Why....We are amazing!" To us it seems silly because we could crush them all with one blow and we are ultimately superior. Yet...Isn't that how God sees us? Yet he loves us anyway?

I picked the hardest New Years resolution this year. To be less selfish. This may have to be my resolution next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. What I do know is one thing. There is a God, and I am not him.

I love to laugh.....HA HA HA HA HA!

I don't know why people think God doesn't have a sense of humor. I think he has one. I think that he had a good joke with ole' Scott this week. For instance a couple things I prayed before I went to camp included issues concerning patience and whether or not teaching is the career I want to go into. To answer the question of Patience, I was a cabin leader for NINE SEVENTH GRADE BOYS!!!! What did I have to be patient about? Things that broke in our cabin include a screen door, a lamp, and light fixtures. The first night my cabin got talking to by all three ministers. One of those ministers had to talk to our cabin over 3-4 times the whole week! I would say that my patience definitely got tested. Now, what about teaching? I co-led both a small group after Worship AND our Family Group in the mornings. I found out that I enjoy talking, and I am pretty good at answering questions and getting a point across. Nice stuff, huh?

Despite all of this, the week was pretty cool. Three boys from Tom and I's cabin accepted Christ or made a decision to Re-dedicate their lives! There were some issues of obedience later that night...But we are all still proud of all of them. I feel that this whole week was a great experience, and we all learned a lot. It was really weird because I was an adult leader and just a year ago I was a student. I think I've matured enough where I could be considered an adult. Huzzah for Maturity!

The reasons the guys in my cabin think I am cool include: My Beautiful Hair, My impression of the Lollipop Guild from Wizard of Oz, the shortness of my Family, and saying all 50 states in under 20 seconds. They apparently video taped me doing the Munchkin song and they said that they were going to put it on You Tube and their Myspace accounts...So I may be famous! Well, I better be going. Have a great rest of the day!

Kids and Wrestling for Jesus

It's kind of funny if you think about it. I read blogs, xangas, and things like that, and I wonder why people don't update. Then I look at mine and it's like, "Is there like nothing happening?" I think it's the whole, "Let's blog when I feel like it" mentality. Perhaps even a, "I'm not going to say something unless I think other people should know about it" type of thing. I try not to vent or get really personal on a blog unless it's something that I want people to know about, or a specific person or group of people I want to talk to. I'm just weird. At least I'm not as weird as Gaffigan. He's not as weird as the people in the Looney Bin. If you ask the people in the Looney Bin they'll say, "Well, at least I'm an Orange."

For those of you that didn't get that last line, it was off of a Comedy Album that I think is hilarious! I think it may be his only clean album, but it's still good! The album is Jim Gaffigan "Beyond the Pale" if you want to check it out.

A lot has been happening. I did SACK week (Sports and Arts Camp for Kids) or Vacation Bible School for those of you that know it that way. It was fun. I was a leader for B'Wood Boys which was basically arts and crafts for boys. Then I was a co-leader for a 2nd Grade Bible Study. If I learned something at SACK week it's that I have more patience with kids now, and I am not too nervous about the whole teaching thing. It was kind of funny. We were talking about stuff in their Bible Study time, and I really wanted to go deeper in the lesson. I had to tell myself, "Scott, they're in Second grade!" When I taught on Friday, I thought I asked questions that were simple enough. Either they didn't want to speak or I confused them. I asked them, "How can we use our gifts and talents to help people?" They had some good ideas. I liked the one about how if someone was a good wrestler, they should teach wrestling or name a move after Jesus! I smiled at that one. Can you imagine? "Here comes the Masked Menace and...Wait a minute...He's going to use the Jesus Pile-Driver! He Jumps....BOOM! That's gotta hurt!" LOL, I don't care who you are that's funny right there. Git R' Dun!

Summer Camp is coming up next week, so keep the leaders and students in your thoughts and Prayers. I think I am going to go eat now. Have a great rest of the day and be safe!

To my Dad on Father's day

This post is mainly for my dad, but you are welcome to read it.

Dad,

When I was younger, I had a really high voice. I would answer the phone and they would be like, "Hi Kathi!" I was so upset that I would yell in my high squeaky voice, "I'm not Kathi! I'm Scott!" Then when I got older, my voice got deeper. When I answered the phone people started to say, "Hi Keith!" Although it is kind of frustrating that no one knows my name, I had a little smile on my face when I was mistaken for you. As a matter of fact when people call me Keith at church or somewhere else, I usually don't correct them.

I remember growing up all the stuff I did. Setting napkins on fire, cutting holes in the seats, and yelling and hitting Sarah whenever she sang. I remember that when I was being disciplined, you always let me know why you were doing it and that you were doing it because it was for my own good. Although I didn't like having to continually say Please, Thank you, Excuse Me, or continually open doors for people, those very traits helped me to gain friends and become a man.

Thank you for the late night talks about life, for my dashing good looks *wink* *wink,* and for being blunt, honest, and predictable. I mean that in a good way :-) Also thank you for helping me to think logically and for teaching me that nothing is funnier than flatulence.

Happy Father's Day!

Messenger

I am not ashamed to say it...I am a fan of Lois Lowry. I just don't know how she comes up with these stories of Alternative societies. Well...She is a two time Newbery Medal winner, so I guess she knows a thing or two about writing. I wish I could really go in depth with all three books that I read. The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger were all very thought provoking.

All the books sparked a certain reaction out of me, but Messenger had a very interesting tone. They lived in this society that prided itself on being, "Selfless." Those that were disfigured, blind, or in some way or another thought weird in our society, were admired in this one. Everyone was given a name based on their personalities. For instance, the name of the Blind Man was Seer because he could see better than most people, the head guy of the town was named Leader, the teacher was named Mentor, etc. They had this thing called a trade mart where they would...You guessed it...Trade for things. This is where it gets interesting. Over time, people were trading things to improve...Themselves. Mentor had a huge birth mark across his face, and eventually it was all gone. He was no longer bald, and was dating another woman (his wife passed away). The interesting thing is that once they started changing physical characteristics of themselves, they became selfish, mean, and crude. The town that was open to everyone and accepting of everyone, now had many members that wanted to close it's doors....Permanently. The price of everyone becoming so self-involved was drastic. One person had to give his life to heal everyone and everything...Do you see the symbolism?!? If you don't, just think about it.

I want end with a quote from the book that I thought was very profound.

"He saw Forest and understood was Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark struggles for power that had disguised itself and almost destroyed everything. Now it was unfolding, like a flower coming into bloom, radiant with possibility."

Summer, Family, and other things

First off, let me congratulate my Great-Grandparents for 69 years of Marriage! To quote my Great Grandmother, "It's a good start!" It was a lot of fun seeing all of the family again. I miss everyone already, but I'll see them in the future...Sometime. Emily gave me a pinkie promise that she would visit me, and you can't break a pinkie promise or your feet will grow larger than your head when you hit age 14. I almost convinced her of that too, but my dad had to tell her I was lying. It's okay though. I guess I shouldn't tell lies to small children anyway. But to get back on track, congrats to the Great Grandparents, and we all love you very much!

Our quartet and Power Point also went very well. People were asking us where they could buy our CD's! To tell you the truth, we will probably record a couple of songs in the near future because they didn't get our song on the recording of the ceremony. I don't think we could sing professionally though. There was a lot of yelling and heated debates in all of our practices we did. But we had fun and it was all good.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on. I'm working, trying to get some money for college, life, and the Mission Trip I'm taking with the College Ministry at my church. By the way, if anyone wants to go to a Crawfish Dinner on June 17th, just contact me and I'll give you all the information. But I guess I should be going. Have a great rest of the day!

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!

Prom 2006

This is going to be a long Blog, so you can do a couple of things. You can get comfy, grab a snack, and get ready to be dazzled by my amazing story-telling abilities, you can skim to parts you like, or you can take it in parts, or you can not read it and just be like, "Well, I bet it was nice." For those of you that wish to continue, Good for you!

For those of you that didn't know, I attended Prom last Saturday. It was a lot of fun. Let me start off by telling what happened at the start of the day. In preparation, I did a couple of things. I bought a camera (disposable...I found that these tend to work just as well) and then washed my car. I got that cleaned inside and out, and took a picture to show myself how pretty it is. My mom picked up the corsage, so all of that was taken care of. Then I got ready later on in the day. Nothing real special guys have to do to get ready. Although I did polish my shoes and make sure I wasn't offensive in any way.

I was then off to pick up my date. To be honest, I was kind of nervous. For one, I was using mapquest to find her house and for those of you that don't know this, I am really bad with directions. You know what happened?!? I FOUND IT! I even arrived in good time and apparently "Perfect Timing" as I was told. Brownie Points for Scott! I got up to the door, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. Then I went into the house. My date was right there and she looked very pretty, attractive, nice,...all those adjectives and more! For some reason I got too nervous to compliment her in front of her parents, but I did once we got done taking pictures!

After we took pictures, we headed off to her friend's house to take pictures there, and then go to dinner. That was a lot of fun because we both had good friends in the group, and it gave me a reason to be silly and act like a goofball...in a dignified manner of course! After all of the pictures we went to dinner at Mere Bulles. I ordered a Filet Mignon Oscar Style. No words can describe it. To tell you how good it was, I took one bite and uttered these words..."I'm in Love." I felt like hugging the waiter. It was awesome.

Then it was off to the dance. Our group had a Limo, except for me and my date. By the way, my date's name was Stephanie just in case anyone wanted to know. If she gets upset with her name in here, I'll fix it later. Anyway we got to Prom and entered the room. The music this year was actually pretty good. I never recognize the decorations or anything, but I'm not the only one. We danced almost the whole night. Minus the part where I presented Stephanie and the couple times when old man Scott had to sit down because he was tired.

After Prom, we went to Blair's house for a little get together after prom party sort of thing. I hope that sentence was confusing! There was food, drinks, but a good calm atmosphere were we could just relax. Apparently we could have brought an extra set of clothing to change into, but we never got the memo. Boo! Neither Stephanie or I really cared though. We were like, "We look good, so who cares?" Near the end of the night...or rather the next day I guess, the party started to die down and everyone got tired. We all ended up watching the last bit of Jumanji. Well, some did. A lot of people fell asleep. I kept myself awake because I was driving.

Then we finally decided it was time to go. I drove Stephanie home and we said our goodbyes and reflected upon the evening. We both had a great time (I believe I can speak for both of us) and it was a lot of fun. Of course I got lost in the neighborhood trying to get home again, but that was expected.

So Stephanie if you're reading this, thanks for a great time at Prom. I had a lot of fun, and it was really cool to spend time with you. I'm sorry that I was unable to make it to church that Sunday. I woke up at 9:15 and was like, "Oh Crap." Since we had to leave for Martin right after the first service, I watched the service online. I heard that you did see my family though, so props to you!

There's stuff that I left out, but I didn't want this blog to take up the whole page. Contact me if you want to know anything else, or whatever. I hope you all have a great day.

Updates

I need to get some sleep somehow. I don't know why, but I haven't been having good sleep lately. It could be due to weather, stress, allergies, I'm not really sure. The past two to three nights I have gone to bed, I have had a really big stomach-ache where I either can't sleep or I have to get up and take a pepcid so I can sleep. It's crazy. My dreams have been getting weird too...But that's another story.

Today was an interesting day. It was our last day in our English Class. Our professor wasn't there right away, so I thought it would be funny to write on the board "Fifteen Minute Rule" and then write each minute that he wasn't there. He did come in, accused other students of putting it on the board, and then got kind of shocked that I did it! After that, I didn't rub it in his face that he was late or anything, but the others did! Then during that time I was accused of being a brown noser, told that I shouldn't try to be a good student, and accused of being mean to the professor. It was all in fun! Then we went to math. I would definitely teach math if I didn't have to take all those upper division level courses. I've been helping people in my class with it, saying stuff like, "She's making it to complicated...Do it this way." It does affirm my wanting to be a teacher though! Cool stuff.

For those of you who don't know, I will be attending Prom this weekend. "But Scott, aren't you in college?" The answer, yes I am! So what?!? I'm going with a good friend of mine, and it's going to be a lot of fun. She's a really sweet, nice, easygoing person, and Prom is going to be off the hook! I'm excited and kinda nervous...But I'll be okay. I just need some sleep...

Well, I am going to go eat now. I hope you all have a great day and I will blog...Sometime when I feel like it again!

Easter-What we believe

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
-Romans 3:23

"But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
-Romans 5:8

"For the Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
-Romans 6:23

"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the Heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation."
-Romans 10:9-10

"For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"
-Romans 10:13 (With reference to Joel 2:32)

College Ministry of Brentwood Baptist

I have mentioned the College Ministry in some of my previous posts, but I believe that it is deserving to go into detail about certain aspects of this ministry and also to tell of how it is affecting my life and how it is affecting the life of others.

First off I want to say that I am really blessed to be part of this ministry. It has grown in many ways over the years, and even in the short amount of time that I have been a part of it. As a Ministry, we even had a meeting several hours ago discussing the directions it should take, what should be different, what should be added, and generally discuss our thoughts, concerns, and praises for the ministry. Every person that came to the meeting was able to voice their opinion and to be there for insight, guidence, and support. The atmosphere was such that an individual could express how they were feeling, without the fear of being rejected or judged. We were able to discuss the good and the bad and realize that the ministry nor us are perfect. I was very happy to be a part of it.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the leaders of the College Ministry, and a special thanks to John for convincing me to be a part of it. I have grown a lot in the past several months I have been a part of it. It has made the transition from High School to College much easier, and I am excited to find out what God has in store for me in the future and within the ministry.

I would also like to apologize if I said anything that detracted from the purpose of the meeting. I realize that some of the subjects hit a nerve in me, and it was no reflection on the leadership. I felt that some of what I said may have been irrational, and it was directed at no one in particular. If that kept anyone in the group from being able to share, I apologize.

I wish you all the very best and I hope that everyone has a great week.

P.S. If you want to learn more about this ministry, go to www.brentwoodcollege.com

Life and Storms

I have some good news before I get on to talking about the current situation here. I declared my Major today! In 3-4 years...or more depending on the situation...I may be called Mr. Scott or Mr. Lemons! By a bunch of Kids! It's a Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Special Education, Majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies K-6. I'm really excited! I looked at the classes I will be taking, and they all look really cool. I was worried about how I was going to deal with kids, discipline, etc. but it seems to cover all of the concerns I have. I've wanted to teach for a long time, so it doesn't surprise me that I selected education. Some reading this may be like, "You're not going to make any money!" A couple things to say about that. If I wanted to make a lot of money, I wouldn't have chosen this field! You don't go into it for the money. I have a gift for saving money/being cheap and using it well, so I don't think it will be a big deal. Plus I know teachers who are doing pretty well, it just takes time and sacrifice. However, I am happy with the major I choose, and I hope it works out.

On a more serious note, I must say that I have never seen anything like this weather before. It seems like all of Tennessee is in a warning of some kind. Severe Thunderstorms, Tornado watch, Tornado Warning, etc. It's absolutely crazy. Then you hear about all the damage that is being done, people injured, a couple fatalities, and hail ranging from like the size of your thumb to the size of SOFTBALLS! It was unbelievable to see that on the news. I can't imagine what that must sound like or be like with that size of hail falling from the sky. They showed some pictures of them, some close to about 3 inches! Isn't that crazy? The weather here in Murfreesboro can't make up its mind. We had a moment where it was hailing, some moments where it was completely silent, then to some rain with thunder and lightening, and like now, back to nothing really happening. All of what I'm saying depends on where in Murfreesboro you are at. I am really thankful that nothing extreme has happened, and we should all pray for the people in Sumner County and other parts of Tennessee that were hit hard and that are still in the midst of a storm.

Springtime and other things

Spring is my favorite time of the year. The weather is nice, school is almost out, and it brings back memories of running through the grass, sitting outside with friends, taking random drives, and eating ice cream without people looking at you funny. There is just one problem with Spring...ALLERGIES! It's crazy! If I smell a rose, grass, or even just breathe, I just feel all stuffy. When I woke up this morning, I was alarmed at my voice. I have been sounding like Marlon Brando ever since I woke up. I wanted to shout out, "I could have been a contender! I could have been somebody!" to my professors...But I refrained since I had a test. Although that would have been sweetly awesome!

I may have been offensive to some people today. I had a tuna sandwich and doritos for lunch. I keep thinking back to that Jim Gaffigan comment when he's like, "Do you know what tastes good on fish? Anything that covers the flavor of fish!" That's funny. I know I put relish and Mayo mixed in with tuna for my sandwiches, so he can't be too far off.

I need to finish up my English Paper. Leave it to me to try to defend a topic that almost no one agrees with. I'm trying to convince my audience that local school boards have the power to censor books. My professor told me that, "Everyone is against you." Teachers, society, Supreme Court, etc. So am I going to change my stance? Ha ha ha. That would be easy and a good choice...So I'm not going to. Let's make my paper hard and impossible! That's the way to do it.

For those of you that want to know, I'm not a book burner or anything. I feel that some books are so inappropriate that they should not be taught in schools or accessible in schools (they can be taken out of the schools and the school's library, but the student can still get the books from a public library). Then you get into the question of what's appropriate and not, how you judge that, etc. The Supreme Court was even split on the decision of whether or not school boards have the power, but all that people see is , "Hey, they ruled in favor of them not censoring books!" Just let them ignore the fact that it was a 5-4 decision with justices such as O'Connor, Rehnquist, Chief Justice Burger (at the time), and Powell dissenting...Sorry this is probably getting boring or just sounds like me ranting. If you want to more about this, write a comment or contact me. Have a good day!

Weather

It has been so nice outside lately. I was able to do homework and study outside last week. It was really cool. I was even proud of the sunburn I had! It was kind of like a reminder that despite the cold weather and dark skies, the clouds clear and the sun shines once again. Even directing traffic this morning, the weather turned out to be unusually good. I love standing outside of the Church at like 8:00 in the morning. It's a cool temperature and people are just starting to arrive. You have moments of silence to just think about everything, and then at close to 9:00, it becomes a hustle of cars and people.

It's interesting to see how people react while driving their cars or crossing the street. You can hear how parents interact with their kids, how the ministers and deacons act while heading into church, and then the youth and the Senior Adults. It's really interesting to think about. Where else would this group of people get together? It's like what we talked about in Life groups in College and in High School. Only God could bring these types of people together!

Here's a thought to ponder. Pastor Mike Glenn said something today that I thought was really cool. You know when you are training for something or trying to get in better physical shape? I don't really know either, but stick with me. When you are lifting weights and you have mastered lifting this particular weight or if it becomes too "easy," the trainer or spotter adds more weight. By adding more weight, it increases strength. When troubles or struggles come your way, that's like God adding more weight. He's doing it to increase your faith or spiritual strength.

Good thought to think about. All that talk of lifting weights made me hungry. I'm going to get some cookies.