And now the stocking begins

I listen to songs by a guy who has the power to glue me to my couch with his lyrics. Tears inevitably ensue. I wrote tears stained lyric guy an email today and told him all about the affect he has on me and am hoping he writes back. Like I’m a 12-year-old girl I am hoping. This guy who writes the tears songs got me into trouble today. I was walking from my house to campus, singing some “tears lyrics” that went something like this; “For the love of God and in the name of Jesus, the groom who gave his life to love his bride.” It was these lyrics that drove me to what I did next. I gave my name and address to Elder Johnson and Elder Meeks. I don’t know why they called themselves elders because I am betting they are younger than me. It was probably a tough call though being that there was a chance that they were older. Maybe they call themselves “elder” until the person looks about 30 or 40, like asking for someones ID at the liquor store rule. Anyway, the elders wanted to talk to me on my walk about missionary business, I assume of the LDS nature, and of course I didn’t have the time to, so they are coming over to my house some time. Here’s the deal: every Christian tells you “DON’T give your name to THEM! They keep track of these meetings and they’ll stock you the rest of your days!” I think I buy into that; I really do as much as I don’t want to. I would email the guy who writes tear lyrics to blame him for all this but I am way to embarrassed. He’ll start thinking “AH you DORK! They’ll stock you the rest of your days!”
Now for the other hand. The other hand reminds me of what really motivated me. The love of God and the name of Jesus! Does it matter that I am now cursed? It could be that nothing good will come of this. It could be that way. However, it seems to me that good came when I gave the elder boys my name and address. I am convinced that God smiles when someone does something in his love, for his name. It’s like God’s love doesn’t extend to Mormon missionaries. So we’ll see how this goes. For the love of God and the name of Jesus we will.

say sorry

It’s inconvenient but I have started student teaching which takes up more time than I thought it would. It’s to bad because I really wanted to dedicate some time to this blog being that I just started it. Needless to say blogs will be few and far between.

Expectations are like socks

Having a direction in life can make all the difference. I found an incredible peace while flying home from Kansas City because I have direction. Expectations are terrible things when placed on another person. They are just terribly confining, much like the socks I am wearing right now. I don’t like socks at all but I really do like warm feet. Some people don’t like socks or shoes and they just go barefoot but I find that if I do that I think about my feet a lot more than if I was just wearing socks, and who wants to be thinking about feet all the time, so I wear the socks, preferably non-cotton ones.

Expectations though, they really are a curse. Your career, for example. That’s a hefty one. I find that there is an expectation for me to have a career. Being that I graduate soon people just kind of expect me to start “my career.” I am not really a career kind of a guy. I want to go a work at a bookstore that has a little café in it that my wife makes the best coffee on the planet in. I know I can’t work at a bookstore, drinking my wife’s coffee, for the rest of my life but I can figure out what I am going to do for the rest of my life while I am there. Sure as hell I can. And I can learn how to live my non-career life for the kingdom (as they say) and while my heart is nourished because hey, I want to be sanctified. Doing that would not be fulfilling the expectations that a feel over me but, it sure would give me joy. I know it sounds a lot like “Do what feels good” but I assure you it is much more healthy than that. It’s that I want to be apart of this world that is trying to give care to all the other parts of the world. I plan on taking some time to learn how to do that and the word “career” just isn’t a part of that plan.

Mother Teresa

Most recently my epiphany is a quote by mother Teresa directed at Mr Nouwen. As Nouwen describes it: "When I first visited Mother Teresa of Calcutta a few years ago and asked her how to live my vocation as a priest, she simply said: 'Spend one hour a day in adoration of your Lord and never do anything you know is wrong and you will be alright.'" That's fairly beautiful I think. Both encouraging and still challenging.

I'm like a junior high school student

It's pretty weird how something can inteste me. I am like a junior high schooler. A ton of things intrest me but nothing very much. That isn't entirely true but in the case of Johnny Cash maybe. I watched "Walk the Line" ya know and ever sence then I have needed to know the facts from the fiction. If you have seen the movie you may know what I mean. I was whatching it and thinking "He did THAT! How come I don't know about this?" The man had an amazing story. So I have been reading a bit about him and really find his faith intreging. I don't even own an album by him (though I had a roommate that claimed Johnny Cash as his best friend, so I listened to his music, whether it was a recording of Cash or Jacob singing a Cash song). Anyway, read this (unless you don't want to know about the movie at all): "His favorite verse, he often said, was Romans 8:13: 'For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.'A paradox? Not to Cash, who encountered death shortly before accepting an altar call. His brother Jack, two years his senior, fell on a table saw, cut from ribs to groin. 'Mama, don't cry over me,' he said, as Johnny and the rest of the family stood by. 'I was going down a river, and there was a fire on one side and heaven on the other. I was crying, 'God, I'm supposed to go to heaven. Don't you remember? Don't take me to the fire.' All of a sudden, I turned, and now, mama, can you hear the angels singing?'She said that she couldn't, and Jack squeezed her hand.'Oh, mama, I wish you could hear the angels singing,' he said, and died."I got that from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/011/4.60.html so maybe read it if you are at all interested.