So much for THAT idea...

Well, readers, so much for writing 9 posts before tomorrow! :-p It's ok, though... I'll definitely have more than enough to write about once I make my move to school...in 20 days!!!!!

 I honestly cannot believe that in less than 3 weeks I'll be moving more than 1500 miles away to live for two years. Yes, I'll be back home for Christmas and summer, but that's still a long time! Thankfully, I'm already "in the loop" with a church family back there... thank God for facebook! The pastor and his daughter have made me feel most welcome, and I'm really excited for August 22nd, because that is the Sunday that I'll get to meet all these fabulous people that I've only seen on facebook and heard about through friends. 

Thankfully, I know 2 people already. They are Master's Commission students from this church, and I got to meet them just a couple weeks ago. I'm really excited to see them again, and to start this great adventure that God has planned for me!

Just Because

In the year 2009, I wrote 43 posts. It's July of 2010, and I've written 33 so far. This will be 34, and the little bit of me that's competitive and OCD makes me want to write as many posts in the first 7 months of this year as I did in the entirety of last year. But I still want to make these posts meaningful, so here goes.

You've probably heard the expression "boys and their toys." This can be used to reference classic cars, tools, generally anything with an engine, or video games. This post will be about the latter.

I know there are too many articles and books written, and too many studies done, and on and on about people who spend their lives in games. We are all familiar with the evils of continual gaming; I remember a Lizzie McGuire episode when Gordo got caught up in a gaming community. I'm not going to get on the soapbox about lifelong gamers... I trust that since you're reading a blog, you're not struggling with intensive gaming. :)

However, I want to spark a curiosity in you about playing games in general. Or even watching movies or TV in excess of 4 hours a week. Why? Why spend your valuable time, made even more valuable by my presumption that this is your free time, playing a game? Why lose yourself in an alternative, imaginary reality when you live in an amazing reality? Why watch a screen when you can live your own adventures? Why listen to special sound effects when you can make your own soundtrack? Why blog when you can just talk to people?

I know. Not all of my questions and reasoning is fair. Great values can be found in some films and shows, and playing games can be a good bonding experience. I understand all this, and yet something in me holds out as a "purist," so to speak. Really, face-to-face interaction produces better relationships, and focusing on a screen during your interaction detracts from the bonding experience. I wish there was a part of me that could accept a happy medium, but right now I can only think in black and white, and I'm not even describing the extremely extreme!

Sorry if I'm rambling, dear readers, but this is what is battling in my head, and maybe you have some thoughts that can clear me up... thanks for reading.

In the Midst of the darkness, I'll look for the Light...

I leave in 30 days. I just met with a neurologist today, and he mentioned seizures. I have so many things to do at school, and nothing can be done until I get there. My room looks half-naked, because I've packed up what is staying into boxes to go downstairs. My grandpa gets confused so easily.

There are so many dark things around me these days, in the midst of this summery sunshine, and I have been thinking that I need to focus on all the things that God has given me right now that I can appreciate them in the now. So here's my list.

I love...

• red nail polish on my toes
• the smell of pineapples
• blue skies and sunshine
• having a job that pays well
• getting to see my sisters
• my mom's dinners
• my dad's birthday cake
• shopping with my sisters for my dad's birthday present
• my new jeans that my BFF helped me pick out
• thinking about my new school
• seeing my grandpa smile when I hold his hand
• petting my dog
• folding clean towels
• visits with friends 

There! Just by making this list, I have realized how much I have to be grateful for! Thank You, Jesus, for my life. I know that You hold me in Your hands.

It's Official!!!

It's official now! I just got the email from my college... I'm a junior!!! Woot!!!! There were some concerns that not all of my credits would be applied towards my degree (the downside of transferring out of state and to a private school), but it is officially official that I've done 2 years of college already! Thank You, God, for working some miracles! I'm so looking forward to seeing Your hand in more of this adventure!

This is what happens when you sit at a desk all day with no job...

I'm working for at a conference right now, as a temp, and my job is to sit at a desk and radio for help when people need help with their exhibition booths. So after checking facebook multiple times, and checking my email at least once an hour, and reading for approximately two straight hours, I have decided to put some of my thoughts on this blog.

Please note: these thoughts, separated here by an extra line or two, are not at all related. They are just in the same post because I have a thing with posting four or five posts in the same hour. My OCD gets the better of me sometimes! ;)

So here are my thoughts on a few varying topics. Please comment and agree or disagree, support or tear apart. I would love to hear from you, and I'd especially love to hear your own thoughts!

Topic #1: technology can't make judgments.

At the conference I'm working right now, the bathrooms are ENTIRELY automated. Toilet, sink, and soap. Oh, and a few of them have the air hand-dryers. All automatic. The purpose of these automated objects is to be healthy and germ-free, and to conserve water. Nice idea, in theory. But in practice, these automations tend to waste resources. They are motion-sensitive; how many times do you move in the restroom? Not to be crass, but my point is that when washing your hands, you could be moving your arms to rinse all of your arms, but the soap dispenser will sense the motion and release soap. Not wanted. Not needed. But wasted.

I'm sure most of us ladies have experienced the toilet flushing its own water when we open the door to leave the stall. How does that save water? I'm not on an environmental rampage; I don't agree with a lot of what the environmentalists are selling.

My point is this: technology cannot make judgments. These motion-sensitive machines detect motion and do their task, but because machines cannot "decide" if the motion is the "right" one that requires a course of action. Machines can only respond to their programming, but they cannot judge the motive, intent, or situation.

Topic #2: politics

How can one enter into politics and remain strong in their specific convictions about public policy, but not be too extreme so as to repulse voters? I'm thinking specifically of the conservative party: there are some conservatives who are definitely not liberal, but they are not extremely conservative either. How does an extremely conservative politician appeal to those voters without losing his extreme views? Take abortion. You're either for it or against it. I don't understand how people can say "I'm against it, but I think it should be legal." WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I don't understand how people won't use their place of influence to influence the arenas where they have convictions. I guess this is a matter of prioritizing. If I agree with a candidate on most issues, the big issues, then I'll probably vote for him or her. But what if I don't agree with one of the big issues, but I do agree with all the others, and the alternative candidate is definitely not going to get my vote? I think this is where civil activity comes in, and I would send the first candidate a letter or email and try to persuade him or her to my side on that particular issue. This seems like a case of picking the lesser of two evils. Thoughts, readers?

Topic #3: community

My pastor has been speaking recently about the importance of remaining in community, versus living in isolation. I was reminded of his message during a conversation with my co-workers. The gentleman was saying that he and his wife burned all their wedding pictures, because they realized the wedding was for other people. He said they had a little ceremony of their own after that, and if they had to do it over again, they would have just eloped. There was a time when I would have agreed with him. I have been torn, when considering my own wedding {off in the waaaaaay distant future, just so you're all at ease!} between a grand, cathedral-style wedding, or a small ceremony on the beach with just our immediate families.

After hearing my pastor's messages, and after listening to my co-worker's opinion, I had to reconsider. I definitely could do a small wedding on the beach, but is that really embracing the community that I've been placed into? I would have to shake my head and say "no." Now, I'm sure there are situations when the small beach wedding fits the families and the couple better, and I understand that weddings are seriously expensive, and I'm not condemning people for keeping a budget! No, I commend you!

But my point is this: community is good for us. It keeps us seeking the Lord, both with and for the people we are around. So the next time you have a choice to be alone or be with a group of covenant friends, or your family, or even co-workers, I'd ask the Lord and choose the group.

Ok, those are my 3 topics that have been hovering around my brain for the past three days. This is the last day of the conference, and it is the end of this post. Please comment and let me read your own thoughts on any or all of these topics! :)