22

twin-tea too.

pleased to meet you.

i may forget your name a few times over the next few weeks, and possibly the next couple months.  i hope you'll forgive me when i do.  nothing personal.  it's only that i just spent a year with 21, and you look so similar.

you and i have come a long way to get here, to meet each other here.  i'm looking forward to befriending you in this year that we'll know one another.  i'm sure we'll have some great times.  i'm also sure there will be terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.  brace yourself.

don't get comfortable.  there will be changes.  the upcoming months are translucent at best.  be sober and vigilant.  keep your eyes wide open.  left turn yield on green.

there will be many goodbyes.  too many.  it will be bitter.  and sweet.  and sour.  trust me.  i know.  19, 20, and 21 taught me a lot about them.

let's take on some humility.  cut ourselves down to size.  some of our ventures won't be so glamorous.  but that is okay.  our perfect savior was dusty and homeless.

are you ready for this?  it's gonna be quite a ride.  i hope that you'll bear with me through the messes, the joys, the failures, the sorrows, and the laughter.  i'll try and do the same for you.

now, let's go.

In my many years

of German classes, there have been a few phrases that have really stuck in my mind for whatever reason.

Some of them are silly and frivolous:

"Ohne Rechner geht's auch nicht."
It doesn't work without a calculator.


"Eine kleine Kuh, machte immer 'Muh.'"
A small cow always said "moo."


"Hinter Hermann Hannes Haus hängen hundert Hemden raus."
Behind Hermann Hanne's house, a hundred shirts are hanging out.


Then, there are some that are a bit more serious and profound.  Most of these come from my German professor at Belmont, who was one of my favorite professors, ever.  One of them is bouncing around in my head tonight.  I forgot the context, but I'm pretty sure it was in my class about divided Germany.  Maybe it was the mood I was in when my professor said it, and I'm sure her native German accent and earnest tone helped, but it really struck me:

"Ich verstehe, wer ich bin, und ich verstehe, warum ich so bin."
I understand who I am, and I understand why I am so.

take a bite.

your flesh doesn't want to.

there's just so much.

so much history in the community in which you find yourself.

years of pain, loss, brokenness, suffering, sin.

doubts, confusion, questions.

there's also laughter, understanding, growth.

leaps, bounds, smiles, healing, maturity.

so much going on.  then, now, and to come.

it swirls around you.

it's over there, it's over here, it's in you.

sometimes you see it from afar, sometimes you see it happening in front of you,

and sometimes, you're very much a part of it.

it's just so much.

all of this - you're called to share in it.

eh, minus the sin part.  that will happen, though.

rejoice.  mourn.  bear burdens.  it's a command.

it's not easy, and you can't do it alone.  you're not really programmed for it...

but there's Christ.  and he's got a helper.

ask for his help.  it's him doing his work, anyway.

---

romans 12:15
galatians 6:2

Dwight D., Ed.D.

fiff T. fore  [cards in a deck]

whoa.  this man.

in a world of absent, distant, abusive, neglectful, and just plain terrible fathers,

i got pretty darn lucky.

or blessed, really.

i've only known him about 38.888888888888% of his life,

but those twenty-one years have been filled with some really quality stuff -

corny puns and math lessons making the list.  the bottom of it, though.  winkface.

i praise Jesus for the rest.

happy birthday to my favorite male quinquagenarian!  [<---from whom i inherited this nerdiness.  i say this out of love.]

"Valentime's."

-me, age 5

I have been single for the past 21 February 14ths, and I'm okay with that number.  For now.

Ausfall.

our flesh and our cultural milieu are telling us to do everything we can 

to be better than everyone else.

i have listened far too closely.

gross.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

-Philippians 2:3-4

diem insolitus

lazy saturday meets

just plain weird.  and a bit sad.

but good stuff mixed in.

humanity at its best and worst in minutes.  both still needing a savior.

it would be a difficult day to recreate.

it was almost like watching a movie -

a very indie movie.

bizarre.  pizarro, francisco.  discovered peru.

i am off my rocker.

i am.  i'm in a spinny office chair.

my sleep/eat schedule made no sense,

and now all i want to do

is eat carrots and celery in my sleep.

i'll stop sounding like a schizophrenic now

and go to bed

without carrots or celery.

but, that's okay.  i'll probably dream about them, at this rate.