vagrant thoughts on the year

tooth ow sand L. even

the first half i lived in a foreign country.  whoa.

traveled a lot a lot a lot.

watched my bro get married.

i didn't know what to do with my life.  and now i do.

i graduated college.

i said goodbye to many friends, some for the time being, and some a bit more permanently.

i met loads of new people and made many new friends.

i got a job - my first since high school.

not to be a total buzzkill, but many of these events were somewhat anticlimactic.  it's not that they weren't fun or exciting.  they totally were.  they just didn't feel as crazy or sudden as i expected they would.  there were surprisingly few AHA! moments.  but, that is okay.  i'm not complaining.  just thinking.  on the other hand, there were many climactic moments, both good and bad, that were totally unexpected.  eh, it's life.

this has been the most change that has ever been packed into one year of my life.  at this point, it has become the new normal.  and i've grown used to it.  coming from someone who couldn't even rearrange his room as a kid because he'd start to really miss the way it was before, this means a lot.

most importantly, i've seen God's faithfulness time and time again, in the biggest trials i've faced yet.  each passing year, they seem to get bigger, meaner, heavier, only for God to show up in bigger, awesomer, more glorious ways.  like, really.  he's kind of a big deal.  praise him!

so, yeah.  2011.  it was nice knowin' ya.  but you're history now.  and i will treat you as just that.

"No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
far as the curse is found."

-"Joy to the World"

Herr Groves

you leave the heart of dixie for the volunteer state

in hopes of a better...everything.

you find that you are to live with

another goer from none other than reno, nv.

you hesitate at the first [online] impression.

as you get to know this native american latino 3/4 white, 1/4 asian guy, however,

you find a quite a genuine heart

for Jesus, country music, the guitar, good food, and pale ales.

there's a point at which you come to realize that

even if you are unable to make any other good friends in this new place,

you would be perfectly content being friends with just this kid.

the years of being froommates [friends + roommates]

have had their share of joys, inside jokes, laughter, good times,

sorrows, burdens, and struggles,

and you wouldn't trade them for a thing.

a glorious journey, it has been.

this man will be missed.

Stabilitätsmangel

"You're a boy who is tired of saying, 'So long...'"

---

it has been a while since i've spent more than two years [let alone two whole years] physically in the same place, and it may be a while yet.

i'm here or there just long enough for the dust to settle, seeds to be sown, and roots to be grown - a little bit.

much of the time, it's a lot of fun. the newness. the excitement. the journey. the changes of scenery. meeting and befriending new people. it sharpens one's adaptability.

at other times, it's rough. never feeling like you can fully stretch out your legs and just relax. the fear of becoming too invested in a place that you know you'll be leaving soon. friendships cut short. feeling like you've left something cooking on the stove unattended as you drive away.

i will embrace this stability deficiency while it lasts. and it may last a long, long, time. but, i know there's a permanent home prepared for me, and it's not on this lil' blue planet.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

-Rev. 21:14

COM[m]unity

you weren't expecting this. not this night.

you sit in a room with a group of people you've known for a little less than two years, most for less than six months. friendly acquaintances easily outnumber close friends.

what begins as a fairly standard gathering gradually turns into an intensely edifying, Spirit-filled evening.

real struggles, worries, cares, and joys laid out in the open. barriers broken down. tears shed. praises sung. all confronted by overwhelmingly solid truth, and the thickness of His presence.

the words spoken, the people present, all that happened in the way it did - it could not have been a coincidence. it was wanted and willed. a sovereign God was behind it, in front of it, over it, underneath it, in it.

He's too good not to be true.

A Most Happy Birthday

to a classy new member of the family!

Nerdy Infographic

locations of PA schools under consideration

Awakening Sampler

I am supermegaproud of these people.

hyperalgesia

ever since the blustery january of oh nine,

you have felt things more acutely.

in fact, it seems that with each passing year,

your pain threshold

becomes lower, lower, lower.

what? why?

what made the stiff upper lip

so much more attainable in the years prior?

why is it that things that used to be so easy to deflect

now cut deep?

is this a good thing? a bad thing? both? for whom and for what?

the answers aren't easy to calculate.

remember your savior. he knows about this far better than you.

man of sorrows, what a name!

in the face of his sacrifice,

your pinpricks are of little consequence.

you're gonna feel what you're gonna feel,

but don't let it prevent you from putting one foot in front of the other.