Ohhhhhhhhh snap!!!

I'm such a sucker for flashy trailers...

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/wanted/wanted_large.html

What? No rumble at the Anselm??

The setting: New Hampshire debates on Saturday night. It's intermission, and both the Republican and Democratic hopefuls meet up on stage between debates

I haven't actually gotten to this part yet (yes, I TiVo'd the whole thing and yes, i'm a nerd), but I've seen clips of it in a segment ABC World News did. Said segment is the topic of this post. The segment was basically a discussion of how wonderful it was to see all the Democrats and Republicans smiling and talking, and how we all wish we could know just what was being said to prompt the smiles and friendly exchanges.

I'm confused...

What in the world did everyone (or at least ABC News) think would happen? A knife fight?? I mean come on, it's a minutes long meet and greet on national television. I don't think the fact that a few smiles were cracked amongst acquaintances while network TV cameras were rolling is anything to write home about.

I guess they had to give that smugly dashing David Muir something to report on to appease all those female viewers...

Hm. Redo.

Hmmmmmm... I'm not pleased with the entry I posted yesterday. I was in a sort of dramatic mood. I guess all the stuff I wrote is true, it just reads more dramatic than it should.

I guess what I want to say is last year was a very rich year. It seems like each year life just gets better and better as I grow in my walk with God. As Brian Regan says, "Can life get any better?? I submit that it can NOT!!" Last year was definitely not easy, not hardship free, but just...richer. In many ways I'm a completely different person than I was last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. That's one thing I love about being a Christian. As I learn to trust and know God better, He is constantly moving and shaping me, helping rid myself of old flaws, showing me new ones, maturing me, disciplining me. The fact that life and the future is so uncertain used to be such a huge source of anxiety. Now I find that reality exhilarating. Who knows what the next step is for me. It could be here it could be there. How long will the "next step" last before the "next step" after that begins? Who knows if I'll even make it to the next step?! Not even the next 30 seconds of my life are guaranteed to me, or to anyone for that matter. How awesome is it that God is faithful and in control whether the circumstances in my life are great, exciting, and fun, or difficult, slow, and painful.

"And that's all I have to say about that."

That "end-of-the-year" post...

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..."

Ecclesiastes 3.1

Well, 2007 has come and gone. Time is so strange. I can think back to an event from mid January of last year and the images and memories are so fresh it feels like yesterday. Yet when I think back to my last quarter of quarter of college that ended just 6 months ago, there seems to be an enormous gulf of lapsed time from then to now.

I don't really believe in new year's resolutions. If I need to change something, I should change it immediately and not drag my feet waiting for some "magical" time of the year. And anyway, a new year passes every single day; we just don't stop to celebrate it until our birthday or January 1st. Still, I must admit there is something unique about this time of year. For me, it's a refreshing, painful, and hopeful time all rolled into one.

Refreshing because it's typically been time away from school and work. Time to spend with family and friends relaxing, celebrating, sleeping, eating. The enjoyable things of life.

However (at least with me), time to relax means time to think and reflect, giving rise to a remembrance of some of the painful events of the year. I can't and don't live life plagued with regrets, but it's impossible not to consider the hardships from the past year that have molded me to be the person I am right now. There is the sadness over my flaws and the consequences they carried, a sadness over missed opportunities with people and pursuits, a sadness over the time wasted on meaningless pursuits, and sadness over the pains that came into the lives of the people I love.

Yet these trials in life give me an opportunity to better know and trust God, whose grace is ever sufficient. Thus this time of year is also hopeful, as I look back and see His faithfulness in my weakness, and look forward to the great adventure that is living this short life for Him. Who knows where I'll be in a year. If you told me on January 1st of last year that I'd be living at home again and working full-time for a Christian non-profit, I would've thrown a brick at you then kindly requested you get out of my presence. So who knows? God is loving and faithful. He always has been, He is now, and He will continue to be. And in my uncertainty over the future, that's all I can cling to. And that's more than enough.

It's okay to look...at something other than these commercials

In general, I think online relationship/dating websites are sketchy, but that aside, what the heck is with those match.com commercials??

If you've seen them, you already know what I'm talking about. If you only watch PBS or you're one of those anti-TV snobs and haven't seen them, the commercials are basically a single continuous shot of a reasonably attractive individual smiling and chuckling at the camera. No dialogue. Then at the end of the commercial "It's okay to look" and then "match.com" are thrown up on the screen. I guess someone thought the concept was a good idea because well, the commercials air on national television, but I have no idea what the commercials are trying to communicate, plus I think they're just plain awkward. Are they laughing at someone? With someone? Are they themselves looking for someone? Are they the hotties us unattractive people can only hope for? One of the above! All of the above! None of the above! Who knows?? The viewer must simply endure 15 seconds of discomforting semi-silence. Furthermore, the assumed goal is to get the viewer to go to match.com and do whatever it is they want you to do there. But there is nothing inherently motivating in these commercials. I don't think many/any people jump off their couches onto their computers to check out the website after seeing these ads. Or maybe they do...?

Changing gears to a Cheryl's thoughts mashup...

Christmas was good time spent with the family. Hiking is fun, I should do it more often. Pakistan is not in good shape. "Once" is a really really good movie with good music (that Ireland place puts out some great musicians). It's going to be hard getting back into a regular sleep schedule when work starts up again.

What an enigma it is that an unfathomable God, high above you and I in every way, would seek to reconcile a rebellious and lost people back to Himself.

I will never fully grasp the weight of that truth, but I am forever thankful for it.

He is good, and He is worth it.

May this Christmas be a time that we all reflect on the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of God, that pursues us even when we do not pursue Him.

Merry Christmas!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only son of the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1.14

A vignette

It was halfway into a week of family vacation, and we found ourselves at a petting zoo. It was standard fare, the scent of hay and animal feces in the air as young children awkwardly petted and poked skittish goats and rabbits. My family dispersed, each strolling around seeking out the perfect dirty animal we'd like to spend a precious five minutes with. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, my mind and thoughts drifting to what we might be eating for lunch that day as well as how divine I looked in my knee-length blue and white paisley culottes. You know, that clothing invention that miraculously merges shorts and a skirt. As the thoughts swirled about my mind, I found myself near a grey and black goat with matted hair and one misshapen ear. Its glassy black eyes were dull and unblinking as it slowly munched and munched on some grassy hay.

"I'm glad I'm not a goat. What a sad existence,"

thought I, and adjusted my stance away from him with an air of superiority. Moments later, I felt a light but increasingly stronger pressure pulling at my culottes. I looked down in annoyance only to find Mr. Grey and Black eating my beloved culottes! All my pride and courage left me in an instant and a panic flashed through my veins. Paralyzed, I just stared at the goat as more and more of my culottes disappeared into his munching mouth. Finally, I did what every child has been programmed to do from the beginning of time...

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I now had the attention of every female above the age of 25, but only one came running. She knew her daughter's shrill voice and had put on her first responder hat. She quickly summed up the situation and in one fluid motion shoved that dirty animal away and extracted my clothing from its mouth. She stood back triumphantly, knowing she had saved the day. I stood speechless, thankful to her for saving me yet again and thankful my heart rate was slowing to normal. The goat stood munching, munching, munching, unaware of the trauma he'd just caused. The intensity of the situation dropped to a manageable level as I realized with disgust that my culottes were now slimy and green. My mother also came back down to earth at that moment and said,

"Well, I guess we better get you cleaned up. Why did you just stand there?"

It was an exhortation and a gentle rebuke, one that I will never forget. For after my mother worked her mother cleaning magic on my culottes, I vowed I would never again stand helpless and let a goat get the best of me.