blogahrah

I saw this visitor to campus being harrassed by these two girls. 
It was terrible and disgusting.  Then he went on a date with the
one on the right.  (The one on the left was too busy making racial
slurs to be asked out, even though she is stunningly attractive).  I talked to this fine fellow afterwards
and discovered that his name was Stuart, and he was a prospective
student. 

Stuart told me that he was homeschooled, but that he was definetly the
most popular of his 11 siblings.  He figured since he was so
popular in high school he definetly would be in college, and was
already making plans for a lot of girls dating him.  He also met Blake,
who taught him something about being cool and living in Brock. 
His favorite color is yellow, and he likes daisies, if you want to buy
him a present.

This post is entitled, “Some Reflections on Chaplainship”, and is dedicated to Debbi
and is not a Fluffy Postâ„¢.  Just some things I was thinking about,
lying in bed, then realized hey, it’s only 1:21 (when this started
being written) and it doesn’t matter if I have circuits at eight. 
Here’s some random, valuable lessons learned.  And maybe you can
learn something too, or have something to think about.

Some things first:

– A lot of work goes into chapel.  (duh)

– If you put a lot of work into chapel, “chapel sucks” becomes a
personal attack, and can really become upsetting.  This isn’t
necessarily all a bad thing; chapel may in fact “suck”, and that may
very well be a reflection of what I or whoever ran/spoke at/led
selected sucky chapel’s ability to do chapel.  However, saying it
at other times is simply a bad thing.

-Stated sucky chapel may not in fact suck.  You may just not like it.

-Love covers over a multitude of sins.  If love can cover that,
can it also cover over a boring speaker, or a unstellar musical
performance?

With that said…I personally became extremely discouraged about
chaplainship fairly quickly.  Chaplains (or at least me) recieve a
good deal of what I call “hate mail”.  It’s not fair to call it
that; a small portion of it really is constructive, and even though it
pointed out flaws or things that could be improved, I really appreciated
it.  Most of it, though, is, “I don’t like how you do this”, or “I
think this is bad”.  Not in constructive ways; simply in ways
people don’t like and they feel the need to express their
opinions.  Again, nothing necessarily wrong with that; but, for
some reason, it’s not just expressed as opinions.  It’s expressed
in biting and/or sarcastic remarks.  Very, very little
encouragement is recieved, and I was hugely, hugely blessed by those
who sent me a smile face or words of encouragement.  It kinda
works the opposite of how its supposed to…those small encouragements
balance out a dozen negatives.  They’re ubercool.

So, it seems people are typically critical.  We all know this
isn’t christian love; I’m not going to lecture about that.  But, I
love God, and I do my best to follow where he’s leading me, whether it
be for or against popular opinion or style.  I would venture to
say that is safe to say about the majority of our chapel speakers as
well.  So, if love covers over all those sins, doesn’t it cover
over our dislike of chapel style, or chapel speaker?  Do we have
to point out how bored we were with the chapel speaker, or can we say
“Hey, it weren’t my style, but dag yo, I’m so glad he cares so much
about God and wants to express it.”  Some people grew a bit weary
of “Light in the xxxxxxx”, thought it superficial, and not what they
needed.  Yeah, I felt the some way at times; but is there a need
to be biting or rip it apart?  I think everyone agrees Billy B is
a solid guy, and we like him.  Let’s praise God for having a stud
as prez and who speaks the truth as some people really do need to hear
it.  People sometimes have a habit of skipping Rohm’s chapels, all
of them.  Is it really the end of the world to sit through
something you don’t like?  Do you even listen to what he
says?  There is a lot of truth there, whether you’re brain is
online with him or not. 

I’m doing a poor job of trying to get out whats in my head. 
Experiencing being chaplain gives a new perspective of encouragement
and criticism.  I have a hard time criticizing  speakers
now.  This isn’t to say if they have a flagrant system error, I
don’t say “Hey now, you be wrong.”  Definitely  done that a
few times.  But God judges the heart…look at the heart of the
speakers.  If someone messses up a word and uses a completely
wrong phrase in chapel…yah sometimes its funny, especially when it
means the completely opposite of what they were trying to say. 
But you KNOW what they were trying to say; why can’t you take that and
run with it.  It could just as easily be you up there lookin like
a tool.

I keep getting off track.  Think about chapels, more importantly,
chapel speakers.  Be broken enough not to whine about it, to see
if they are genuine in their passion, and rock-solid in their
truth.   Pray for them!  If they’re not the most
exciting speaker, get over it and listen to what they have to
say.  It’ll build your character.  There’s better things to
whine about.  For me, I whine about things like Foundations class,
which really undermines my point anyway.  I’m not saying all
chapel speakers really are worth listening to…just, think about if
they are a little more thoughtfully, with a little stronger dose of
thought, and a lot stronger dose of love.

Jon Kragel is next years chaplain for Class of ’07; I don’t know what
the other ones are, but you’ll all find out soon.  Jon’s email is
jrkragel@cedarville.edu .  That’s especially important after next
year gets rollin.  Bless his chaplainship; volunteer to do
things.  Be friendly to him.  Send him encouragement. 
It’s difficult being a leader; things I would casually discuss with my
friends suddenly must be researched for hours in order to make sure
every word I would speak in front of my class was completely accurate;
how dare I presume to misinterpret God’s word when a little more study
would have shown the truth.  How dare I give God less than 100% of
my passion for doing it and my mind in speaking the Truth. Think of how
those who speak have to deal with that burden.  And love each
other.

I really want to solve the world’s problems.  All of them. 
And now I will begin, by reconciling those with opposite viewpoints,
addressing each in turn.

Come on kids.  Is this really a big deal?  The cows want us
to eat more chicken, but they’re clearly idiots.  They can’t even
spell “chicken”, not to mention “more”.  How do they expect to
gain any respect?  Stupid animals. Mike Ballentine and Ranch on
behalf of the Texas Beef Council have the edge with spelling, and even
cleverly draw you in to their advertisement with smart tricks like
making “Watch your curves” curvy.  I bet they used Microsoft’s
WordArtâ„¢ to do it.  It’s the best tool ever.  Clearly, eating
beef wins this round.  Sorry cows.  It’s a compliment.

I think we can throw this next one in the same category as the next and
kill two whales with one harpoon.  I mean, hug two trees with one
arm.

This one is a little more difficult.  Honestly, my first thought
is, yeah, chicks dig guys who save whales.  The girl hugging the
tree is lot better looking then the guy taking out his agression the
already dead tree.  But then I think about it again, and realize
oh no, I hate trees.  One dropped me once, and I broke my
arm.  We should burn down all the rainforests.  On the other
hand, I like whales.  But on the other other hands, actually, I
don’t like whales at all.  What have they ever done for me? 
I’m at a loss.  I’m going to go with my form of problem
solving…WWTGD?  (Clearly meaning, “What would this guy do”?)

This will be me when I’m old.

EDIT: Yeah you’re supposed to edit at the bottom.  But I’ve lost
all faith in the human race.  Not only did no one recognize
specifically what this is, but no one even completed the thought. 
Sigh.  Pretty depressed about this.

So, uh.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting……

(wait for it)

(One of) my dream girls, Natalie Portman, and I have just had our first
child. She’s jewish too, so its ok. Here’s a picture of him/her/it/me.

I’m so happy.

I think its a girl. Bearded ladies are so appealing.

Special thanks to Saucey for making this happy union possible.

I have a new pet! I’m really excited. Here’s a picture of his new home.

Now that you see his beauteous new home, let me tell you about his old home. It was a nasty place, filled with terrible food and cyclic loud noises. He and his mouse friends lived in constant fear of traps, big feet, and food so foul, it could kill them if they took a single bite. He’s probably pretty grateful I rescued him. Or maybe it’s a she. I’ll let you know if I get around to checking.

Anyways, as you probably figured out by now, the place he used to call home is Chuck’s. No, I’m serious. I don’t know why everyone thinks I’m lying, nor do I get why they think its so nasty. He’s really quite clean. And fat. He was living the high life, a life in the lap of luxury, where food just came to him. He has exquisite taste, as demonstrate by his residence underneath the desert table. That’s how else you can know I’m not lying; half of Cedarville University saw me and Ben Nickum dive underneath the curtains of the table (do tables have curtains?) and emerge a few minutes later with our prize pets. I think Ben fed his to a snake already. But, mine’s my new best friend. Probably my only friend. I have a few tentative names, but feel free to put your 2¢ in.

Sadly, Chuck’s was out of those little suggestion cards, so I’m gonna snag one later, bring it back and print out a picture of my mouse on it and put it back in. Word on the street is that there were 4 mice caught today; one by a Chuck’s worker, one by me, one by Ben, and one rumored caught by some CedarBoyâ„¢ who remains unknown at this time.

Here he is, all cute and cuddly up close. Yeah, he really is cute. He cleans himself a lot too; maybe I’ll take a hint.

(And that “Currently Watching” nonsense, I was in that play in high school. It was dumb)

No, I didn’t go to Elliv. But I’m sure you looked beautiful.

In other news, for a long time our Dean of Students, Kirsten Gibbs, looked really familiar, which was strange because I didn’t know her at all. I didn’t even know who she was. Just seeing her around made me raise an eyebrow. Something was oddly familiar. Since this is Cedarville, I don’t know how many of you will understand the true significance of this, but hey, why not?

There ya go. Kirsten Gibbs, or should I say, MOLLY SHANNON, you have been found out. We know where you are hiding. But I suppose I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt; maybe they’re just identical twins. We’ll go with that. I wonder if the administration reads our blogs. That would mean they have no life, too.

In other other news, by special request, here is the Maribeth Editionâ„¢ of Cedarville Girls Who Are Not Dating Meâ„¢.

Maribeth Phillips

And here’s a picture of April (who’s a Maddox RA) getting her engagement ring out of the toilet.

So, this post is a tribute to my dad. And to me, as well. But mostly to him. He’s a stud, really. He did all of the things I dreamed I could do, but never will get to do. Or at least, that I haven’t done. Like shrooms, which I posted about awhile back. And lots of other assorted drugs. He was a teenager in the ’60s, which I’m very jealous of. He went to jail, drove a sweet van, and snuck into Canada at night (not to avoid the draft, just because they wouldn’t let him in during the day). Here’s a sweet action picture of him

We go to the movies together and make fun of things and people. I guess that’s not really funny, and it means we’re terrible people. That’s alright, we find it funny ourselves even though no one gets us. When he’s really angry, he threatens to crush me with his wallet (yeah, we’re both rich jews, but he’s got a few years on me) or he wishes upon me that “I have one just like me”. That came true for him though.

Here’s the two of us together, looking beautiful. Well, he was beautiful. Back in the day. When he looked like me. Also, I’m graduating high school in my picture, which he accidently forgot to do.

Oh, and silly children we are; I almost forgot to mention, yes, he’s awesome, and I love him, and I thank God he’s my dad. Even though he’s the reason that I’m the way I am, so you all might not be so thankful, eh? Eh?

I must avoid the fireballs called down on me by those who disagree.

It’s quite pleasant that the week is over.

I have a hot date tonight. Well, I’m going out with my sister to dinner.

Really, I’m kind’ve upset about my computer game situation. I’m getting really out of practice. I haven’t had time in awhile, and it’s ripping me apart. This time last year, I had multiple 12+ hour gaming sessions during the year. This year maybe I have one 10 hour set. It’s pretty sad. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder. I’m sorry.

I made a new friend today.

I call him Toad.

Also, I support Andrew Trip and his xanga.