So last week I got to spend the week at Rocky Mountain Friends of Florida College Camp in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I must say it was the highlight of a lame summer.
Sunday was the day that all the campers got there, so I spent most of the day introducing myself, carrying around luggage and getting (re)acquainted with all the campers.
Monday we embarked on the Team's Course; an all day experience that strives to develop communication and teamwork on our team: the Spleen Machine. It was a bit rocky for the first half but at the end of the day we breezed through the last obstacle: the meat grinder.Tuesday was a sports day...The Spleen Machine got beat 2-0 in soccer but we had fun doing it! In the afternoon the kids had time to do archery, wall climbing and bike riding. Although I am a fan of the bike riding myself (it is some serious offroad mountain biking--switchbacks on dirt trails and hills that make grown men cry) because of my ankle I just decided to watch the kids do archery and climb the wall. I ended up spending most of my time cheering people on while they climbed the rock climbing wall.Wednesday was Wild West day. After playing 3-ball(a game similar to baseball), the Spleens were 1-1 in sporting events. In the afternoon we played the Wild Wild West game...a spectacular game filled with gold rushes, scalping and other such activities.Thursday we played an old favorite: VVOOLLEEYYBBAALL!!! Josh Fisher and I particapated in this one...but unfortunately the Spleen machine was defeated. That afternoon we played a game invented by the Sonlight Staff--Indiana Jones...a definite great game!Friday (the last full day, tear), we spent playing crazy games. Including a game invented by yours truly that involved running around with a peeled orange beneath your chin and then having one person on the team eat it.It was a great week...we had two bible studies every day. We studied the Heart of David--the poet, warrior, etc...The late night Bible study--a singing out by the campfire with a short devotional; we spent the time learning about the Psalms of David. I learned a lot about David and a lot about myself through the studies.After such a bummer of a summer I would have to say that GOD had a hand in my week at camp. I had been really down on myself--kinda woe is me. But one family in particular blew that attitude out of the water. Jake McNally and his Sister AnneMarie were there. I remember Jake from 4 years ago when he was a crazy kid. He would be bouncing off the walls, never letting me take a nap, throwing things at me and such. This week I saw an always positive, upbeat, humble, down to earth often quiet kid. And his sister is outgoing, always upbeat, kinda crazy, has a smile that lights up the room...such a cute little girl.The thing that strikes me most about the McNally's is that their mother has cancer...and yet they are always smiling, always upbeat and positive. It really put my situation in perspective, made me realize that perhaps I am not so bad off afterall.

I thought it couldn't get any worse...

So this summer has been a bummer (I know, thanks Dr. Suess). I mean I destroyed my ankle--three and a half weeks later it is till swollen. And then there was not finding a job. But I decided that I should at least tell the world the couple positive things that have happened to me this summer.
I have decided to go back to Florida College in the fall. I ended up getting all but about 200 dollars worth of my tuition paid for in scholarships and one loan--which for a 12k school is very good. Plus I have 9 hours of music classes...so my schedule can't be too terrible right. I also got an invite to be the director of the Math Lab--so I could keep working as a math tutor--which is a lot of fun if you are a nerd like me.
I also get to go to the best summer camp ever--Rocky Mountain Friends of Florida College Camp. It starts the 23rd of July and goes through the 29th. A week of sports, soccer, archery, mountain biking: with long hill climbs on dirt trails and switchbacks--pretty hardcore! Plus there are three Bible studies every day and a campfire singing every night--goodtimes.
Well, it's short but proof all things aren't terrible here in Colorado--after all it is the prettiest place on earth!

Pretty much my entire summer world was turned upside down last wednesday. I can no longer do yard work, lift weights, play softball, or waste my time looking for a job for at least another 4 or 5 weeks. I thought I was just supposed to be wary of the contact sports, but little did I know that tennis would be my downfall. On one of my lethal (almost literally) jump-serves--which I aced by the way--I came down and realized that instead of landing on the flat part of my right foot, it had bent inward under me. It was pretty painful, to say the least, even to a guy who played half a society football game with internal bleeding. Right away I noticed swelling, it looked like I had a second ankle bone right next to the normal one on the outside of my foot.
A visit to the E.R. the next day revealed I had sprained it badly...badly enough that when the ligament connecting to the top of the ankle pulled away it pulled off a small (less than a millimeter) piece of the bone. So they put a splint on it and sent me home to sit around and read, and watch movies, and sleep, and read, and watch movies, and read some more...it was horrendous.
Today I had an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor, who confirmed that it was "only" a bad sprain and that the total recovery time would be six to eight weeks (at least five to six weeks too long). He was merciful enough to give me a walking-boot. Which means I can be up and around a whole lot more. The unfortunate thing is that my ankle was still swollen, black and blue and very tender...so putting weight on it will take a couple days as will walking without the crutches.
During the past week I have realized what it feels like to be helpless. I couldn't walk right, stand right, I was barely able to clothe myself, I relied on others to bring me what I needed. It is times like these that make me stop and count my blessings, at least it will "only" take 6 to 8 weeks to heal. And I don't have to totally relearn how to walk. My younger brother was on crutches for two months and when he was off of them he had to relearn how to walk.
Oh yeah...friday I had an interview at Kohl's, I went even though I was on crutches with a bandaged up ankle, and they sent me a very nice letter today...it said that they weren't hiring me.

Blah, blah, blah

So when I started this blogging thing I figured that I would just have random great, magnificent ideas about what I should write about...and since my last epiphany about lizards, rats, komodo dragons and other such adventures no epiphanies have come to me. So I really have no idea what to write about butI figured the fan club would like to hear what my life is like, so here goes.
I have picked up and filled out probably 20 jop applications in the past month...and so far I have had one job interview at Babies R Us. And after that interview nobody has called me. I kinda feel like I am wasting my time and gas driving 15-25 miles to some place, getting and application, taking 30 minutes to fill it out, and then taking it back in whether or not they have a "Now Hiring" sign in the front window...and wondering what "hiring" means these days.
Other than that I have been working out every day...a great stress reliever. I was in the gym for two hours today and would have been there longer were it not for the parentals calling and wondering where in the world I was.
I have also been doing lots of yardwork, got 7 or 8 new trees planted this week and there are at least 7 or 8 more to plant, and always weeding to be done. Since it is Colorado and it doesn't rain I haven't had to mow all five acres yet...probably wont this summer unless we get hit with that hurricane or something.
I have been playing softball on thursday nights. Me, a friend a year younger than me and a friend two years younger are playing with the "old guys" (average age about 35) this year. For some reason we are 6-1. Our closest game we won by 8 runs. The one we lost we lost by, ahem, 22.
So there you have it...that is life for me this summer...thrilling, I know, I had you on the edge of your seat the entire time and then you fell off when you fell asleep...

Story Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So today as I was riding with my mother through the veritable metropolis of Parker, Colorado and found myself randomly reminiscing about the following memories.
P-town--as many refer to it--was home to about 12,000 when I moved out to the country--12 miles east into the middle of the arid grassland in 1995. After vacillating between numbers one and two on the nation's fastest growing counties list for many years, it's population has grown to 40,000+. Among the many residents who moved in was the Grace family, and they also attended church where I do at Smoky Hill Church of Christ.
The Graces had an affinity for reptiles. As many on this earth can tell you, I do not share this same attraction for these creatures I did enjoy visiting their house for a couple reasons. The family had not just one or two reptiles, but a room full of lizards, snakes--from bull snakes to anacondas, 7-foot long iguanas, and komodo dragons.
Now one of the pleasant things that always seemed to happen while over at the Graces was that somebody other than myself would pick up some creepy crawly creature and put it right behind the head of an innocent, unsuspecting, unwary young female. Well, you know how the story goes, she turns around, screams, sometimes cries and we all cry because we are laughing so hard.
Now if you know as much as I do about these reptiles you know that they are animals and have to eat somehow. Now in order to feed some of their collection the Graces had bought rats. Now you may say that simply having rats is not something that in and of itself is terribly exciting...but just you wait. Now as Eric (who is 6'6" and weighs almost 300 lbs), the father, did not want to keep the rats live all the time; the rats were stored frozen in the kitchen directly above the fridge, and directly beside ice used to cool beverages.
I often went to get ice and just asked the simple question, "Anybody need a rat for dessert?" That simple question all too often was the impetus for 10 teenagers crowded around the freezer. After a while I learned another fun ice trick from Eric; be kind and get ice for people who are comfortably seated...I would simply take their glass and act as though I were getting ice cubes in their glass and come back, hand them their glass innocently. It was priceless when some people realized that in their cup instead of ice cubes in their Dr. Pepper, there was a frozen rat.
I feel so blessed that was able to participate in this kind of good, clean fun! In case anybody was wondering--as much fun as the shrieks of horror were, no I will not ever own a room full of snakes, lizards, newts, chameleons, frogs, turtles, crocodiles, alligators, pythons, anacondas, asps, vipers, and komodo dragons.

Listen to the Whispers

Well, here I am back in Elbert County, Colorado. For all that don't know it doesn't look like a desert, ahem, but it looks like a very hilly Kansas with a great view of the Rocky Mountains. Much different than Florida, which is hot, wet, and hot. I haven't seen a misquito since I got back to Colorado and probably wont for another three weeks. I live close enough to the mountains that I can still see the snow that is up there (some of it doesn't ever melt) and close enough to play up there year around.
It has been quiet around the house without the dog following me around...it is kinda sad not having the dog around, or the roomate around, the little brother (who is still in school), or even Naomi--to purr at me, attack me, and shove my orange juice off tables.
I made it through finals...some of them barely. I did do well on history, which is my major so I guess I can relax a bit. Now I just need to figure out what in the world I am doing next year. I am leaning towards Florida College, studying liberal arts (a lot of the details are in my last blog). I have been praying about it a lot and the signs are pointing there as far as I can see.
In bible class this past week we studied Elijah and his interactions--often not so friendly--with Ahab. In chapter 19 of I Kings we read the story about when Elijah is hiding in the cave and the Lord tells him to come out of the cave. Verses 11 through 13 tell how the Lord spoke to Elijah. First came a great wind that tore apart the mountains, then an earthquake, then fire...but the Lord was not in any of these three things. Then came a gentle whisper--which the Lord was in. This passage really started me thinking. We all mostly look for big signs in our lives for God to tell us where to go, or what to do. We often wait to change our ways until someone close to us(perhaps ourselves) is harmed or dies, or we hear touching stories about these things. When we start looking only for these things we become just like the people following Jesus in the New Testament. They saw signs and wonders all the time and still did not believe what he claimed. Before we condemn the people in the New Testament just because they needed to see him risen with the scars in his hands...consider what God has given us.
It seems like when we are making decisions we sit around and wait for something to come to us, we wait for an epiphany, or someone to slap us in the face and tell us what to do. I believe we would be much better off if, in our trials and indecisions we just pray to God. Perhaps he wont come thundering to us with an answer, but he will answer. I think we should just pray and listen for the whispers...whether God whispers or thunders, if we are really listening to him we will hear what he says.

All I can say is, it's about time!

Well, I made it; two papers and two tests in two days. That is one of those things I am confident in saying I never want to do again for as long as I live. I got a grand total of 3 and a half hours of sleep last night and felt surprisingly awake for classes today. The jury is still out on where I will be at school next year. I pre-registered for classes here at good ol' FC. If I come back I would have three main subjects of study; History, Music and Bible. My history classes are: An intellectual American History class that meets once a week for three hours and a World Wars class that meets twice a week. My music classes are: Twentieth Century music, conducting, chorus, band, private voice and chamber choir. I am also signed up for Book of Job--with my favorite bible teacher Mr Peeler--and Epistles (Galatians, Philippians and Philemon). I will say that any schedule without Physics with Calculus on it is better than the schedule I have this semester...so next semester's is looking exquisite. I still need to file my state taxes, then I can finally call it a week, and sit around and relax for a day or so. After a day of relaxation I should probably get started on those two homework assignments for physics class that were due today. I have been pretty stressed out about things lately: school this year, school next year...in chapel today we sang It Is Well with My Soul, and it forced me to put things into perspective a bit. Although my week has been difficult, and for the remaining two weeks of school and week of finals I will be working my fanny off; there is something more important out there. As long as I am seeking God's will I do not need to worry about the things of this world. So despite all the tests and papers I know that they are only temporary, I have a greater home prepared for me.
"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul."