Until I Write Again

That title makes it sound like I'm taking a hiatus, doesn't it? Well, I'm not. At least, not intentionally. Writing thoughtful posts takes time--something that is increasingly hard to come by. Thus, with several book reviews and numerous other posts in my drafts folder, and my most recent real post several weeks old, I sit down to do what I generally (once before?) do when I haven't finished a real post in a long time: write a few scattered thoughts.

I got a cell phone last month. I put it off as long as I could, but I finally caved. Part (most) of the reason was that I got a job. I now qualify under one of the Eight Marks of a 21st-Century American College Student. For those curious to learn the complete list, the other seven are the humerously pervasive (iPod, coffee addiction, Facebook) and the sadly pervasive (swearing, alcohol, etc). For those further wondering, I did make the list up.

Did I mention that my commute is about 50 minutes? I'm on track to drive as many miles this summer as I did over the first 20 months since I bought the car. The large upside to this is that I can listen to a lot of good messages over the summer. It takes almost a week to listen to one when I commute to school during the semester.

My half day of summer vacation passed quickly. I finished finals around noon on Friday the 11th, and started my co-op job on Monday the 14th. Yeah, I'll have a few other days off, but those are for specific reasons (holidays or trips). There's no reason to feel sorry for me, though. I'm grateful to have obtained a job, and should gain some valuable experience. So what did I do with my half day? Changed the oil in my car, went to the park with my brother and sisters, and went to get frozen yogurt together afterwards. Then, of course, there was New Attitude, but that deserves its own post. (Hopefully I'll finish it before the summer is out.)

Lastly, on a humorous note, some people visit my blog through strange ways (i.e. Google searches). Among the hits that I've received over the last few months were those that resulted from the following searches:
--"Mike Bullmore"
--"Bob Kauflin"
--"benefits of reading and meditation on scripture"
--"render to caesar what is caesar's, and to god what is god's"
--"rushing waters define"
--"burnished bronze defined" [bet you wouldn't have guessed that my blog is Google's result #2]
--"what exactly does the first quest of jesus talk a" [huh?]
--"dord" [big surprise]
--"i am dord" [o... kay]
--"dord defined" [now that one's pretty specific...]

Thought Collage

This is going to be a bit of a random post. Don't freak out. I can be random. Just ask my sisters. (Then again, don't. Some things are best kept among family.)

We have snow on the ground. Yeah, I know, I thought I was "getting older" and beginning to understand why so many adults. . . (how shall I say this?). . . don't appreciate snow. But there are Christmas lights up throughout the neighborhood and we put our Christmas tree up over a week ago and the temperature was in the 60s last week. It just didn't feel right. I guess I enjoy snow between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day--and maybe a couple of weeks into January. By then I should have had plenty of time to get in some sledding and a snowball fight or two, and snow will only mean that I have to dig my car out to go anywhere. Seriously, I only need to make so many snowmen to be able to say we officially had winter.

Also, as another unintended follow-up post (ooh, is this a trend? don't count on it), I thought I'd post a verse which relates to our need to remember that all wisdom comes from God: "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him." (Proverbs 26:12, ESV) That's a significant statement, considering how much Proverbs says about fools. (Take 1:7 as an example: "fools despise wisdom and instruction.") When I'm able to answer someone's question or share what I think is good advice, I often feel wise in my own eyes. Hey, knowing something is inherently better than being an ignorant fool, right? Wrong. The fool despises wisdom; one who is wise in his own eyes is either satisfied with a counterfeit or desirous of the glory that only God deserves.

Finally, a question. I mentioned a number of months ago that I was thinking of posting short book reviews. The thought has crossed my mind again, so I figured I'd toss the idea out here again to gauge interest, because a large part of the reason I'd post them would be to recommend the good ones. (If you're wondering what kind of books I'd review, a couple of my more recent reads are The Cost of Discipleship and Living the Cross-Centered Life.) Don't be afraid to give a thumbs-down if you have no interest in reading reviews here.

For those of you gearing up for finals: study hard and trust God. For those of you who aren't: consider yourselves fortunate. And trust God.