O sleep, where art thou?

Sleep, my dear sleep, where art thou? I search for thee in the depths of my bed and in the dark of the night but do not find you. I long for thee all hours of the day with no avail. We were of such fond acquaintance but now we are strangers. Yet, you seem to find me in the unlikeliest of hours and the most inconvenient of times: during a protracted lecture or in the depths of a dreary book. Sleep, my dear sleep, I miss you so.

Rocking it Old School.

A new school year has begun. What does this mean? New courses, new dorm room, new textbooks, and yes, new family group. Family group is the small group of that our church GCC does bible studies in. Generally 10-15 people are in each group and throughout the year you really become a family. In the past I’ve been really fortunate with amazing family groups: Second Serve and GUM. This year, however, I’m not only part of one, I’m co-leading one. Thus far, this has been one of the most amazing, yet difficult experience ever. There’s something about trying to invest, love and sacrifice for people that barely know you and often don’t reciprocate the love. But when I think about it, it’s really an awesome burden; one that I face eagerly.

This year my family group is called “Old School” and our verse is Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

I know God has some amazing things planned for us this year. Please pray for us.

Always remember 9/11/01

I was in the boys’ locker room changing for my freshman P.E. class when a voice spoke out over the speakers, “There’s been a terrible accident at the World Trade Center building…” Though I heard the words, the information or significance didn’t quite process in my mind. In fact, as I headed out to the gym I distinctly remembered a friend asking me, “What is the World Trade Center Building?” To which I answered, matter of factly, “Oh, I’m sure it’s some important business building.”

That hour of PE was an hour of ignorance and bliss. It was an hour during which words like terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and even World Trade Center meant nothing to me. But once I left that gymnasium, I was bombarded with images of the burning towers, terrified people and valiant rescuers, images that are seared into my brain to this day.

While 9/11 is a day in our history that we will never be able to erase, the memory of the brave men and women who ran into those burning buildings and of the lives lost should never be forgotten.

first day jitters

I have survived 14 first days of school in my life, yet this morning when I woke up I had some jitters. A couple of butterflies as some thoughts raced through my head: what if I say something stupid in class? what if I get lost? what if I don’t know anyone and have to sit alone? Sure small and frivolous things but things that crossed my mind as I left my snug dorm room to begin another first day of school.

The day went pretty well. I did have an incident where I actually went to the wrong classroom and took a seat. But as soon as I realized my mistake I handled the situation with ease, nonchalantly picking up my stuff and walking out. I suppose these things just come with a couple years of college education. All my classes seem bearable and atleast slightly interesting and my classes tomorrow should be even better. All in all, this should be quite a challenging yet educational semester.

Add another notch to the belt, number 15.

it's the little things in life.

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that can make us the most happy. I was reminded of this important lesson as I sat in a terminal in Minneapolis waiting for my flight to Philly. There was a four year old boy sitting across from me and he was obviously grumpy and wanted the whole world to know. He was crying and pouting, fighting with all his might to get beyond the grasp of his frustrated and slightly embarrassed mother. She tried everything to appease him, she played with him, gave him milk, pleaded with him but nothing seemed to work. Until she presented him with a box of crayola crayons that is. At the very sight of those crayons his face brightened and his little arms stretched out to grab his favorite.

Now as I begin my Junior year it ever so important to hold tight to this lesson. Sometimes life seems so complicated and serious, but I’ve got to remember that it’s the little things in life that can make us the most happy. Little things like playing a round of golf with my father, eating a nice meal out with my mother, or seeing good friends after a long period of time. It’s these little things that we have to cherish when we’re grumpy and our worlds are falling apart.