Stories. Our lives are comprised of stories in and all around us. We are writing our own stories as those around us are writing their own. Often times our stories overlap with others stories. We should all learn to share our stories so that they can be used to impact others. I have developed a love for stories and storytelling.
Ever since I was a child I have wanted to write stories. Starting with my first journal I have always tried to write fiction stories but, I could never finish them. I have recently decided to start a second blog dedicated to posting these unfinished stories. Sometimes I will post stand alone stories that have no ending, sometimes I will post short stories that have endings, and other times I will post different parts of one story. My goal is to share these stories with the blogger world in a hope to inspire and encourage others to become storytellers. I also hope to learn ways that I can perfect my stories.
If you look on the right side of this blog, under the heading "Life is an adventure", you will see a link to my storytelling blog. It is entitled "Stories from the dust" for these are simply stories from a man who was made out of dust. You can also click on this link Stories from the Dust to view my other blog. I hope you enjoy the stories as they are posted.
Here's to the art of storytelling and using stories to inspire others! Here's to taking part in writing stories like our Creator, the Great Storyteller.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
College Students do not need another book discussion group.
Heaven is for real but, another book study is not. I thought as I walked back from the book study that no one showed up to. It was our second night leading a discussion group on the book Heaven is for Real but, tonight not even our Pastor or my Co-leader came to participate. This has been my reoccurring thought since we were assigned this intern responsibility: College Students will not attend another book discussion group.
At one of our recent intern meetings our Pastor presented us with the opportunity to lead this discussion group on this controversial book. The interns all felt skeptical about leading a group on this particular book but, we listened to the will of our Pastor and planned out who would lead what. The first night our Pastor went to the group which allowed the two interns leading to discuss the book with him. Tonight was the second night and no one came out for the discussion. As I returned to my apartment I thought through all the possible reasons why people would not have come out: they were too skeptical about the book, the promotion was lacking, or even that the week before finals week was one of the busiest and most stressful weeks of the semester.
As I analyzed this situation I realized why I was not passionate about this discussion group. It was not completely because of the book choice. It was not because of my busy week. It was simply the fact that college students do not need another book discussion group. We live in a busy world of overbooking where we are surrounded by textbooks and discussion groups. When we aren't studying or involved in an extra curricular activity, we are spending quality time with those we are closest to. College students, also known as millennials, do not need another book discussion group but, instead they need a place where they can simply be.
In our crazy, busy, hyper-connected world we are filled with different groups and events to be a part of. We do not need the Church providing more events and groups for us to join. We need the church to love us. We need the church to provide times where we can simply be in one another's presence. We need to be able to relax. We need to feel free to ask questions, explore answers, do fun things, and simply be. We need to experience God's love in the presence of one another so that we can be energized to go out and serve others. We can not give our best serving others if we do not stay energized. Book discussion groups won't always energize us. Simply being in the presence of God and others can.
These are just the thoughts from a drained, recovering chronic overbooker.
At one of our recent intern meetings our Pastor presented us with the opportunity to lead this discussion group on this controversial book. The interns all felt skeptical about leading a group on this particular book but, we listened to the will of our Pastor and planned out who would lead what. The first night our Pastor went to the group which allowed the two interns leading to discuss the book with him. Tonight was the second night and no one came out for the discussion. As I returned to my apartment I thought through all the possible reasons why people would not have come out: they were too skeptical about the book, the promotion was lacking, or even that the week before finals week was one of the busiest and most stressful weeks of the semester.
As I analyzed this situation I realized why I was not passionate about this discussion group. It was not completely because of the book choice. It was not because of my busy week. It was simply the fact that college students do not need another book discussion group. We live in a busy world of overbooking where we are surrounded by textbooks and discussion groups. When we aren't studying or involved in an extra curricular activity, we are spending quality time with those we are closest to. College students, also known as millennials, do not need another book discussion group but, instead they need a place where they can simply be.
In our crazy, busy, hyper-connected world we are filled with different groups and events to be a part of. We do not need the Church providing more events and groups for us to join. We need the church to love us. We need the church to provide times where we can simply be in one another's presence. We need to be able to relax. We need to feel free to ask questions, explore answers, do fun things, and simply be. We need to experience God's love in the presence of one another so that we can be energized to go out and serve others. We can not give our best serving others if we do not stay energized. Book discussion groups won't always energize us. Simply being in the presence of God and others can.
These are just the thoughts from a drained, recovering chronic overbooker.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Malfunctions that create stories
There are many times in our lives where everything goes according to our plans. There are many other times in our lives where our plans turn into break downs, wrecks, and malfunctions. We go through our lives making plans and when all seems well something happens. This evening I was with a group of friends visiting my incredible girlfriend and as we were leaving we accidentally got the vehicle stuck in a ditch right outside her house. Fortunately we were able to call someone to tow us out quickly but, this was something that did not go according to plan.
This event brought to mind a time not too long ago when Brianna and I were leaving a nice Mexican dinner date and her vehicle spontaneously broke down. Or another time when we were driving her father's car back from Pennsylvania and the ignition died. This has led to an on going joke that I am bad luck for other people's vehicles. All of these events were unplanned but so accurately symbolize how life goes.
No matter what our plans are they cannot prevent wrecks, malfunctions, and break downs. Plans get changed, things come up, and where we thought our life would be three years ago may be drastically different now. We live in a world where "break downs" happen all around us and cause us to analyze how we are living our lives. Break downs do not have to be bad things but, they can be adventures that create stories to tell to others one day.
So here's to the malfunctions that make life more interesting and help us create inciting events and exciting stories.
This event brought to mind a time not too long ago when Brianna and I were leaving a nice Mexican dinner date and her vehicle spontaneously broke down. Or another time when we were driving her father's car back from Pennsylvania and the ignition died. This has led to an on going joke that I am bad luck for other people's vehicles. All of these events were unplanned but so accurately symbolize how life goes.
No matter what our plans are they cannot prevent wrecks, malfunctions, and break downs. Plans get changed, things come up, and where we thought our life would be three years ago may be drastically different now. We live in a world where "break downs" happen all around us and cause us to analyze how we are living our lives. Break downs do not have to be bad things but, they can be adventures that create stories to tell to others one day.
So here's to the malfunctions that make life more interesting and help us create inciting events and exciting stories.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Noah
This past weekend I was able to view the much anticipated and highly controversial movie Noah. I went into the movies with the expectations that there would be many artistic liberties because many of the Christian reviews I had read did not enjoy the movie. I was still rather excited to see an action-packed adaptation from Hollywood; after all it did cast Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Anthony Hopkins. After walking out of the theater, I was very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.
Now I would like to address the big qualms that Christians have had with the film. There was an uproar that Aronofsky, self-proclaiming atheist, made the decision to have God be referred to as "The Creator" throughout the entire film. Though that is true, I found it to be more of an accurate understanding of what they may have called God (Although if Christians truly wanted accuracy in the name then it would not have been in English). I found that it was a beautiful way to view God because He, after all, is the Creator of all things and that would make sense that they would view God in that way. Another issue that was raised was that there was an Environmental agenda in the film. Now this is something that I would say was prevalent but, at the same time it did not take away from the overarching message of the movie. If we read Scripture we see that God does have a care for creation and was not going to destroy the World, just its' inhabitants. The movie showed how corrupt the world had become which we clearly read in Scripture was the case.
Another issue that was presented was the rock, Tolkenesque, creatures that helped Noah build the ark and fight off the tribe of Cain. These were considered the "Watchers" who were fallen angels who had tried to help humanity after the Fall. The only reference in Scripture that I could find to back this up for the story of Noah is from Genesis 4:15-16 which says, "Then the Lord said to him, “Not so!Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden" (New Revised Standard Version). I wonder if they took this Mark that the Lord had given Cain and turned it into these "Watchers." Either way it was one of the artistic liberties that they took and I find it to be okay because it does not take away from the overall message and ultimately their story shows that God is loving, merciful, and forgiving.
The final issue that I have found people had with it is the way that Noah was portrayed throughout the entire film. As the movie progresses we see Noah as this passion driven, obedient, confused, and possibly crazy older man who believes that He must kill himself and his family to eradicate evil from the world. This is certainly not a concept we see in the Biblical Narrative but, nonetheless, it is an interesting concept to explore. One of my favorite aspects of the film was that Aronofsky was not afraid to make it intense, raw, and even show things that the Bible does not explicitly show. He showed Noah dealing with the conflict of why God would kill everyone except for His family. Even though He was obedient to the Creator, He wondered why they should not be killed for the wickedness inside of them. After the flood in Genesis 9:20-21 we read that "Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent" (NRSV). This could lead one to believe that Noah was dealing with a lot and still having this "wickedness" in him it would make sense that this confusion would lead him to drunkenness.
Overall I felt that the movie beautifully showed God's care for both creation and humans (through the acts of Emma Watson's controversial character), God's promise to never destroy the earth again, and God bringing about the flood due to the wickedness of man. Though this film has many artistic liberties I find that it is a rather enjoyable film that really looks at how intense, raw, and thought provoking the time likely was. I am sure we can all agree the real Noah would not have been a happy-go-lucky guy knowing that his family were the only ones not dying below the water depths. There would have more than likely been an internal conflict that He had to deal with.
Noah turned out to be a very enjoyable movie just as a movie in and of itself. The artistic liberties added were an interesting interpretation and adaptation that made for a great story. Is it imperative that they got all of the facts right? No. Can it lead people to further investigate what Scripture says? Absolutely. Most movies that came from books lead many viewers to the original book. Does it show God's love and care? Yes, along with the confusion of man when dealing with matters of God.
I hope this gives you a reason to want to watch Noah because I would greatly encourage it. Don't listen to every negative thing you hear. Go out and watch the movie and then make your own decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSaJE2rqxU
Now I would like to address the big qualms that Christians have had with the film. There was an uproar that Aronofsky, self-proclaiming atheist, made the decision to have God be referred to as "The Creator" throughout the entire film. Though that is true, I found it to be more of an accurate understanding of what they may have called God (Although if Christians truly wanted accuracy in the name then it would not have been in English). I found that it was a beautiful way to view God because He, after all, is the Creator of all things and that would make sense that they would view God in that way. Another issue that was raised was that there was an Environmental agenda in the film. Now this is something that I would say was prevalent but, at the same time it did not take away from the overarching message of the movie. If we read Scripture we see that God does have a care for creation and was not going to destroy the World, just its' inhabitants. The movie showed how corrupt the world had become which we clearly read in Scripture was the case.
Another issue that was presented was the rock, Tolkenesque, creatures that helped Noah build the ark and fight off the tribe of Cain. These were considered the "Watchers" who were fallen angels who had tried to help humanity after the Fall. The only reference in Scripture that I could find to back this up for the story of Noah is from Genesis 4:15-16 which says, "Then the Lord said to him, “Not so!Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden" (New Revised Standard Version). I wonder if they took this Mark that the Lord had given Cain and turned it into these "Watchers." Either way it was one of the artistic liberties that they took and I find it to be okay because it does not take away from the overall message and ultimately their story shows that God is loving, merciful, and forgiving.
The final issue that I have found people had with it is the way that Noah was portrayed throughout the entire film. As the movie progresses we see Noah as this passion driven, obedient, confused, and possibly crazy older man who believes that He must kill himself and his family to eradicate evil from the world. This is certainly not a concept we see in the Biblical Narrative but, nonetheless, it is an interesting concept to explore. One of my favorite aspects of the film was that Aronofsky was not afraid to make it intense, raw, and even show things that the Bible does not explicitly show. He showed Noah dealing with the conflict of why God would kill everyone except for His family. Even though He was obedient to the Creator, He wondered why they should not be killed for the wickedness inside of them. After the flood in Genesis 9:20-21 we read that "Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent" (NRSV). This could lead one to believe that Noah was dealing with a lot and still having this "wickedness" in him it would make sense that this confusion would lead him to drunkenness.
Overall I felt that the movie beautifully showed God's care for both creation and humans (through the acts of Emma Watson's controversial character), God's promise to never destroy the earth again, and God bringing about the flood due to the wickedness of man. Though this film has many artistic liberties I find that it is a rather enjoyable film that really looks at how intense, raw, and thought provoking the time likely was. I am sure we can all agree the real Noah would not have been a happy-go-lucky guy knowing that his family were the only ones not dying below the water depths. There would have more than likely been an internal conflict that He had to deal with.
Noah turned out to be a very enjoyable movie just as a movie in and of itself. The artistic liberties added were an interesting interpretation and adaptation that made for a great story. Is it imperative that they got all of the facts right? No. Can it lead people to further investigate what Scripture says? Absolutely. Most movies that came from books lead many viewers to the original book. Does it show God's love and care? Yes, along with the confusion of man when dealing with matters of God.
I hope this gives you a reason to want to watch Noah because I would greatly encourage it. Don't listen to every negative thing you hear. Go out and watch the movie and then make your own decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSaJE2rqxU
Friday, March 28, 2014
Cascade Pichon, Haiti
"Play futbol? Futbol now?" our team was asked by the little boy by the name of Kento. "Not yet, we have to work but, we will play futbol at quatre." our leader responded showing Kento and his friend, Deff, her watch as the rest of us continued to lay bricks. Immediately Kento and Deff nodded and joined the rest of the children in helping us move bricks from one side of the construction side to the other where they were needed. As I looked up from my work I saw the Haitian men, women, and children all working together as diverse equals to build this school to help further the education of their young. The phrase our translator told us that morning kept repeating itself in my head: The education of women in Haiti decreases the mortality rate by 80%.
This was day four of working towards building a school in the rural village of Cascade Pichon, where my team and I traveled to for our Spring Break. We had ventured out of the large town of Port-Au-Prince, traveled a seven hour trek up some of the roughest and most bumpy roads of mountains, and finally arrived in the little rural village surrounded by beauty. Every morning we would wake up, walk out of our tents, and witness the amazing view of mountains and waterfalls. We were treated with an incredible Haitian breakfast (typically noodles, rice and beans, or chicken/goat) every morning before taking our trek to the top of the hill where the school was located.
Working on building this school we witnessed an amazing work ethic among the Haitians that put all of us to shame. We helped lay bricks, carry sand from the holes they were digging, shoveling and mixing the cement they would make, and carrying bricks to where they were needed. We witnessed the Haitians creating bricks out of all natural elements with the exception of bags of cement that they would add to the concoction. All throughout the week Genesis 1 flowed through my mind. We were witnessing humans participating in being the image of God, of co-creating with God to build His Kingdom here.
Everyday when we would leave the work site and get cleaned up, we would go out to play with the children. Of course we would play many games of futbol (Soccer in English) in which the Haitians would always beat us. Whenever we weren't playing futbol, we were teaching them how to play games with frisbees, teaching them to thumb wrestle, tickling them, or helping teach them English as they taught us Creole. There was one particular student who seemed to have an extra fascination with learning the English and Spanish of every word that he could think of. By the end of the week we learned that this intelligent boy had a purpose he was striving for: he wanted to be a translator one day. This boy instead of spending all his time playing games was finding ways to achieve his dreams...and he was only 12.
All of these kids-- Dyseon (Joshua in English), Bovina, Alex, Fresno, Deff, Kento, Maritha, CJ, and more-- have left a tremendous impact on me. I want to return to Cascade Pichon to learn what happens to them. I want them to be able to gain an education and go on to live out their dreams. Our translator, Bob, once told us "In America we work to make things perfect. In Haiti we work to make things possible." I want to make a good, well-rounded education possible for these children. Each one of these people are the future of Cascade Pichon and I pray for sustainability there and that they will develop into strong leaders.
Now I have been home for almost a week and it has been a hard transition. In Haiti life was one of simplicity and here immediately I am thrown back into the complexity and business of America. I had arrived home early on Monday morning and was immediately thrown into one of the busiest weeks of my semester. In Haiti I was making a difference that I could see. In Haiti I found purpose and excitement. But overall I miss that simplicity. I honestly miss not having a cell phone. I miss event time and focusing more on being relational.
My goal now for life is to take what I learned from Haiti and apply it here. I know this is not something that will happen overnight or something that I can do alone. I need God to be the one who sustains me. I need God to lead me and guide me. I cannot strive for this life of simplicity without God. It will take me time to change patterns and ways of thinking in my life, but I know I need to do it. I do not feel fully connected or that I have fully processed my trip right now. I do know, however, that I need to change this. I will change this with the help of God.
I was affirmed of a calling to work overseas one day long term while I was gone, but until then my prayer is that I will be able to learn to live simply and love others here in the States each and every day.
Bovina and her crew
The kids and I at the Construction Site
Our village from atop the mountain
The construction of the school by day 4
This was day four of working towards building a school in the rural village of Cascade Pichon, where my team and I traveled to for our Spring Break. We had ventured out of the large town of Port-Au-Prince, traveled a seven hour trek up some of the roughest and most bumpy roads of mountains, and finally arrived in the little rural village surrounded by beauty. Every morning we would wake up, walk out of our tents, and witness the amazing view of mountains and waterfalls. We were treated with an incredible Haitian breakfast (typically noodles, rice and beans, or chicken/goat) every morning before taking our trek to the top of the hill where the school was located.
Working on building this school we witnessed an amazing work ethic among the Haitians that put all of us to shame. We helped lay bricks, carry sand from the holes they were digging, shoveling and mixing the cement they would make, and carrying bricks to where they were needed. We witnessed the Haitians creating bricks out of all natural elements with the exception of bags of cement that they would add to the concoction. All throughout the week Genesis 1 flowed through my mind. We were witnessing humans participating in being the image of God, of co-creating with God to build His Kingdom here.
Everyday when we would leave the work site and get cleaned up, we would go out to play with the children. Of course we would play many games of futbol (Soccer in English) in which the Haitians would always beat us. Whenever we weren't playing futbol, we were teaching them how to play games with frisbees, teaching them to thumb wrestle, tickling them, or helping teach them English as they taught us Creole. There was one particular student who seemed to have an extra fascination with learning the English and Spanish of every word that he could think of. By the end of the week we learned that this intelligent boy had a purpose he was striving for: he wanted to be a translator one day. This boy instead of spending all his time playing games was finding ways to achieve his dreams...and he was only 12.
All of these kids-- Dyseon (Joshua in English), Bovina, Alex, Fresno, Deff, Kento, Maritha, CJ, and more-- have left a tremendous impact on me. I want to return to Cascade Pichon to learn what happens to them. I want them to be able to gain an education and go on to live out their dreams. Our translator, Bob, once told us "In America we work to make things perfect. In Haiti we work to make things possible." I want to make a good, well-rounded education possible for these children. Each one of these people are the future of Cascade Pichon and I pray for sustainability there and that they will develop into strong leaders.
Now I have been home for almost a week and it has been a hard transition. In Haiti life was one of simplicity and here immediately I am thrown back into the complexity and business of America. I had arrived home early on Monday morning and was immediately thrown into one of the busiest weeks of my semester. In Haiti I was making a difference that I could see. In Haiti I found purpose and excitement. But overall I miss that simplicity. I honestly miss not having a cell phone. I miss event time and focusing more on being relational.
My goal now for life is to take what I learned from Haiti and apply it here. I know this is not something that will happen overnight or something that I can do alone. I need God to be the one who sustains me. I need God to lead me and guide me. I cannot strive for this life of simplicity without God. It will take me time to change patterns and ways of thinking in my life, but I know I need to do it. I do not feel fully connected or that I have fully processed my trip right now. I do know, however, that I need to change this. I will change this with the help of God.
I was affirmed of a calling to work overseas one day long term while I was gone, but until then my prayer is that I will be able to learn to live simply and love others here in the States each and every day.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The Struggle of Overbooking
Since the beginning of my freshmen year of college I have struggled with habitually overbooking. When I stepped onto the University grounds I knew that I wanted to invest myself in as many ministry outlets as I could. As I have progressed through the years I have gained a good reputation which opened up more opportunities to become involved with. In the recent months I have known that I struggle with overbooking and I had made the decision to prayerfully commit to opportunities and drop ones that I feel would no longer be as beneficial to myself or my ministry.
As I am progressing through this Lenten season I have received many leadership opportunities for next year, which happens to be my senior year. Due to my fast I have found a significant amount of time that I can dedicate to thinking and praying and trying to determine what positions I should take. As I have been praying about this syndrome of overbooking I have simultaneously found that it is hard to determine which responsibilities to recommit to and which new ones to take.
One of my goals of this Lenten season is to find an even balance of my time and learn how to discern which roles to take in the upcoming year. As I prepare to embark to Haiti for this next week my prayer is for a life of simplicity in my decisions. I pray that God would help me to get the most out of senior year without falling back into overbooking.
Here's to leadership positions. Here's to simplicity. Here's to missions.
My next thoughts from the dust will be on my trip to Haiti.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Lent
Another year has brought us to the Lenten season. Fastnacht Day was come and gone and led us to the eventful day of Ashes. Now in day two people worldwide are struggling in the beginnings of their fast. Today I would like to ask, why do we give things up for Lent? Is it merely to impress others? Do we want to show that we can give something up? Does fasting intrigue us? Would we feel guilty if we did not give something up? Is it simply tradition? There are many reasons why we may give something up, but there is one reason that should actually matter. What is holding us back, what has become like an idol? Lent is a great time to refocus on who we were made to be. If you choose to give something up, you do not go and replace it with some other form of distraction, but you use that time to spend with God and your neighbor. You find ways to better yourself in your walk with Christ.
Wherever you are in your views on Lent, just remember each person is on a different journey; but we can still support one another in love as we strive to become better people for Christ. The item that I have given up has already, in day two, given me more "free time" that I am dedicating to studies and devotions with Christ. I hope to become more present with people, more present with Christ, and above all more loving. I would like to end with a poem written by John Wesley:
Wherever you are in your views on Lent, just remember each person is on a different journey; but we can still support one another in love as we strive to become better people for Christ. The item that I have given up has already, in day two, given me more "free time" that I am dedicating to studies and devotions with Christ. I hope to become more present with people, more present with Christ, and above all more loving. I would like to end with a poem written by John Wesley:
O grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell, but Thy pure love alone!
O may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown.
Strange flames far from my heart remove!
My every act, word, thought be love.
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