Life in the Question

In for the Long Haul

2007-06-17T16:32:00.000-05:00

Wow! I have just finished the first two weeks of PA school and "wow" sums it up pretty appropriately. It has been fast and intense to say the least. The first week was spent doing all the business stuff of orientation. Of course, we also met the other 48 people in our class. I have to say the first week, except for some boring orientation lectures, was pretty exciting. I am very excited about the class they put together. There are people from all ages of life and it makes for a very good group dynamic. We all have different experiences which are going to be wonderful when we need someone who has experience in particular areas. I have to say that there are not many baseball fans, especially Tiger fans, but the program director is a fan of the "D". He used to live in Michigan and really loves Tiger baseball, which is good because I have someone to share the excitement of the season with (like Verlander's no-no! How about that?).

The second week turned out to be a whirlwind. I really felt like I did not know which way was up at some points, but I am starting to level things out and I think I really am going to like this PBL curriculum. PBL means problem based learning, and it is basically a self-taught curriculum aiding by facilitators and supplemental medical lectures and classes. It is a totally new way of learning for me, but I really think it is going to work; it will just take some time and a whole lot of effort. It seems to me to be a very Rabbinical teaching method (is that right?); at least it is a very Eastern and not Western mode of teaching. It is good to struggle through this because it is teaching me how to think and not just what to think. It is going to be the hardest educational proccess I have ever gone through, but I am ready to go through it!

A note about my new city: I love it here! Winston-Salem (or "The Dash; because of the cool hyphen) is a perfect place for me. Mountains 2 hrs. to the West, Oceans a few to the East, golf courses galore, lots of city parks with running trails, and a cool little downtown that is quite awesome. The city commision does events for the community every Thursday-Saturday night throughout the summer that are very fun. The restaurants around here are grand. And there is a nice little brewery about a mile from my home that makes an exceptional stout. Oh, and I can buy Oberon down here!

I am sorry for the long delay between posts, but I have had to slow down my brain before I could type a blog. I will try and at least give a weekly update on here; try being the operative word. So, I hope all your weeks are wonderful. I will be in class and doing research/studying all week along with training for my first marathon that I plan to run in November. Until next time: Go Tigers!!

Tanglewood

2007-05-25T12:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first opportunity I had to play golf in my new home state of NC. I chose to play at Tanglewood Golf Course in Clemmons, NC. They played the 1974 PGA Championship here; which was won by Lee Trevino with an overal 73-66-68-69-276 (-4). Now they play the Senior PGA Vantage Championship at the course. So, this course has been graced by the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, etc. It is a very nice course and I had fun.

I decided to walk 18-holes because it is a little cheaper. So as I finish the second hole a gentleman in a car is catching up to me quite easily so I wait at the tee to let him play through if he wishes. Well, he asked me to throw my clubs in his cart and join him. I did. Then I proceeded to hit the play on the par-3 3rd hole! Anyways, I play the next 20 holes (that's right I played 24 holes!!) with Tony DeRocca. He is an 82-year-old man who is a ranger at the course on the weekends. He wanted to play as many holes as we could and I willingly obliged. We finished at dark around 9:00pm. Tony lost his wife seven months ago to ovarian cancer and was about as cool of an 82-year-old as there is. He was very good at golf too. We had a great time playing together, and I loved hearing his stories about him watching the PGA event there and seeing Nicklaus and Palmer. It turns out he also played a round of golf up in Pittsburgh a while back whit Jim Leyland, by asking him to play along. For the Tiger fans who read this you will know why that is cool. (Leyland is pretty bad at golf by the way)

So it looks like I may have a golfing partner in North Carolina. Tony is going to give ma call when he wants to play and hopefully I will be able to join him. I love meeting nice people!

Finally Here

2007-05-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

I don't know if anyone is still reading this because it has been so long since I have made a post, but I thought it was about time to fire up the blogger again.

I am officially moved in to my new place in Winston-Salem, NC. I even recieved mail! I sent it to myself because the postman at the office advised that I do that - so the carrier knows I am there. Getting mail from yourself is not great, but it was still fun to get mail in my new state. This also allowed me to meet my postal carrier. I happened to be getting back from a run when he was at my door. He seems like a nice guy. (Like most people in the South)

My apartment is great. It is a single bedroom unit in an huge, old family mansion. The place has been converted in to five single units and it works very nicely. I love how my place turned out and it will suit me just fine over the next two years of my life. One of the best parts is that I have a great screened in porch off the back of the house for my use. It will be perfect for grilling, drinking coffee on in the morning, and enjoying the nice weather down here. There are always little things I keep thinking of that I could do to fix the place up a bit, but that will all work itself out eventually.

I have been getting used to the area and now am just waiting until more of the students from my PA class move in to town. It is nice because I came down here knowing a handful of people who live around the area, but it is still kind of quiet. So, I can not wait until I meet the forty-six people that will be in my class the next two years.

I am fully planning on checking out the NC golf in the weeks before classes start. I also am getting used to running down here, because there are hills! It is not flat like Allendale, or Grandville.

I will post again, hopefully soon, and let you know what else is happening.

Pasedena

2007-04-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

My plane returned to Michigan early this morning. By early I mean 12:44am. I was flying back from LA, so the time change really threw a kink in the time thing. Oh well...I would gladly have a little jetlag as the price to pay for a vacation to visit two great friends who live 2,000 miles away.

It is always nice taking a vacation and exploring and area that I have never been to before. This trip was no different. It was awesome actully. I loved seeing Nick and Whitney and catching up on life and seeing how they have adjusted to their new surroundings and atmosphere. It is clear to see that they belong out on the West Coast at Fuller. I loved enjoying the culture, cuisine, and activities with my friends and seeing their love for their new place in life.

Some of what we did and enjoyed are the Huntington Gardens, Huntington Beach, K-town for some great food, the Rose Bowl, Holluwood, plenty of golf, wonderfully prepared food and restaurants and inexpensive wines and beers, the cigar bar, and great times conversations and catching up with my two favorite California People. Thanks again, Nick and Whitney, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to host me on this trip!

A Place to Lay My Head

2007-03-27T08:11:00.000-05:00

Well, after many hours pouring through the pages of CraigsList, I have found the place I will call home for the next two years. It is a big, old house that has been made in to five separate units. I am going to attempt to attach some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Remember, you are free to visit anytime!

Funny Video

2007-03-26T11:56:00.000-05:00

Hey all...I don't really know all your political beliefs or your posture regarding the "War on Terror", but this video is a must see. I ran by it thanks to an email from my brother. Let me know what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-KWYYIY4jQ

Only Light Can Do That

2007-03-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

Well, up until my last post it had been quite a while between posts. Now, I am posting twice in less than twenty-four hours! I just wanted to put a quote on my blog to share with everyone. My brother sent this to me today and I absolutely love it. It is by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - so you may have heard it before, but here it is.

"…And the other thing is, I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that…"

~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(From “Where Do We Go From Here”, Annual Report Delivered at the 11th Convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on 16 August 1967 Atlanta, Georgia)

Easy Button Jesus?

2007-03-11T19:23:00.001-05:00

So, staples came out with an adverstising slogan a little time back. I am sure everyone is familiar with "The Easy Button", which in my opinion, was a fun advertising campaign. The other day I saw the Easy Button in a whole new context. I was walking through the mall here in Grandville and I saw a gentleman with a t-shirt that had an Easy Button on the center of it. Then I read the text around it. It said this: Jesus is the Easy Button. Then it had a picture of a big red button with Jesus typed in the center. I laughed, but was actually really discouraged. This is not the message Jesus wants to send to the world. He is not a a choice, or decision we make in order to gain the perfect life. It is just not true. Acutally, I think it may be opposite. When people truly live the way Jesus taught - life becomes harder, because He called us to do the very tough things with life. Friends I have, who love Jesus dearly, do not have all they want. People still get sick, some lose jobs, some can't get jobs, some of there family members die unexpectedly, some are scared of the future, some give up everything to serve the poor, and the list goes on. Jesus is not their Staples. You know, the life Jesus calls us to is curvy. Nothing is for sure - changes come and knock the wind out of Jesus followers' sails. In fact, at church today Rob Bell talked about this very thing. I encourage you to download and listen: MHBC Teachings check out the March 11th sermon. So, my message to those who read this that are confused by the sometimes weird messages that Christianity may send, like Jesus the Easy Button, is this: Jesus is a radical lover of everyone in the world who would do anything - even die - to bring them all in to a relationship with Him, and He calls His followers to be radical lovers of everyone as well - because love can change the world. And that is hard, not easy.

Why Hurry?

2007-02-07T21:31:00.001-05:00

Today I was sitting at D.O.C. Eyeworld waiting for my visit with the optometrist. As, I was waiting to be called in I could not help but watch intently the actions of a middle-aged fellow in the store. He was obviosuly an important man; at least he thought so. He wore one of the annoying ear-piece attachments for cell phones and he was talking very loudly and quickly for the whole place to hear. He seemed to think it important for everyone to know about his business meeting coming up. He had obviously just picked out some glasses and the lady who was helping him was trying to fit the glasses to his face and check prescriptions, but this man refused to hang up the phone. I was quite confused by this. Why couldn't the phone be set aside for 15 minutes? People need to slow down sometimes, don't they?

Maybe my schedule allows me a lot of time that other people generally do not get. However, I have found that slowing life done is a beatiful way to live. I work 12-hour shifts on 3rd shift and it leaves me a lot of time off during the days and with 4 days off per week. I have a lot of time to live slowly, and, let me tell you, it is awesome. I spend many hours per week in local coffee houses drinking espressos, coffee, and Americanos while doing nothing but reading, watching, and listening. I do this for hours at a time and it is wonderful. I take hour-long runs. It is rejeuvanating. Every other week I eat a wonderful meal with great friends, and we take as long as we want.

I guess I am just saying that I wish the world would slow down a little. Life is more fun that way. I understand and value hard work, but we all need to rest. To really rest.

Whiter Than Snow

2007-02-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

The Psalmist talks of being cleansed in Psalm 51:7. He is speaking to God asking to be cleansed with hyssop and being made whiter than snow. Obviously being white is in reference to purity and a new beginning.

Well, this weekend has given me a new understanding to being made whiter than snow. West Michigan was struck by a lot of snow, bilzzards, and basically craziness for the entire weekend. The result: a lot of white snow, and a lot of white-out, blizzard-like conditions. The net-effect is beautiful, white snow that goes on as far as the eye can see. What a beautiful picture of the way Jesus cleanses our impurities - they are all washed out until nothing is left but the purity and sterility of whiteness. Thanks be to Him that we are able to start new and continue to begin anew each time we mess up. It is so wonderful that we all have a new shot at being the type of people God dreams us to be, because of the selfless sacrafice of His son, Jesus.

Nostalgia

2007-01-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

What is it about the past - the good times of the past - that make me want to grab them so tightly and never let them leave?

Do you ever have those moments when an event or a conversation makes you feel like time has just been rewound and you find yourself feeling like you are in the right place, but at a time long ago? Like when friends visit from far away for a weekend job interview, friends suprising you for a lunch of Pad Thai after a red-eye flight from California, having conversations with someone whom you have not done well staying in touch with, family being gathered up for the holidays, and etc. And all of these moments bring you back to a time when the situations above were common occurences. For some reason, time has a tendency to change things. But seared in my memory is the way things used to be; and when those moments come back so vividly, it makes me want to be back in that time - even though I can't, because time has moved on and new chapters need to be written.

I really believe that the future holds excitement and that new memories are being made with more to come, but even at some point in time these new memories will be looked back at with the same nostalgic feeling as the old memories of today! Does that make sense? It just seems like the good times from past history are always right at the edge of my memory begging me to let them back, and trying to convince me that things can not be better than they were.

I don't know if I am making any sense here, but I know what I am trying to say - not that that helps you. I just have been blessed to know the people I have known, and to do the things I have done, and when life begins to move in new directions I must learn to convince myself that the future can be just as good as the past. That old memories don't have to die. That nostalgia is okay, but it is also okay to move in a direction that expects the new to trump the old, but respect it enough to give it the space the memory requires.

Chesterton

2007-01-25T01:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finished reading Chesterton's Orthodoxy. It was a great autobiographical telling of how he - self-proclaimed agnostic by the age of sixteen - came to having faith in Christian orthodoxy. It is fairly easy to read and entertaining as well. I kept wondering why I had not read this classic work sooner. I could talk a lot about certain points in the book, but it would be over-bearing here. However, there is one section I really want to share.

Near the end of the book Chesterton gives a few reasons why he ended up accepting Christianity. The final reason, or "solid and central ground", for him choosing Orthodoxy, is the part that I wish to type out here.

"I have another far more solid and central ground for submtting to it as a faith, instead of merely picking up hints from it as a scheme. And that is this: that the Christian Church in its practical relation to my soul is a living teacher, not a dead one. It not only certainly taught me yesterday, but will almost certainly teach me tomorrow. Once I saw suddenly the meaning of the cross; some day I may see suddenly the meaning of the shape of the mitre. One fine morning I saw why windows were pointed; some fine morning I may see why priests were shaven. Plato has told you a truth; but Plato is dead. Shakspeare has startled you with an image; but Shakspeare will not startle you with any more. But imagine what it would be like to live with such men still living, to know that Plato might break out with an original lecture tomorrow, or that at any moment Shakspeare might shatter everything with a single song. The man who lives in contact with what he believes to be a living Church is a man always expecting to meet Plato and Shakspeare tomorrow at breakfast. He is always expecting to see some truth that he has never seen before."

Sorry for the length of that quotation but I thought it worthy of sharing. I just love how this was the most solid reason for his "conversion". It is awesome that each day God is suprising us with truths we could not see before but are able to see today. It is wonderful, terrifying, exciting, and humbling to be involved in faith with such a suprising God. I pray that, each day, my eyes and ears would be more open to accept more of the truth God has for me.

Two Gospels?

2007-01-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

I read a book recently by Rick McKinley. He is the pastor/founder of Imago Dei church in Seattle, WA. The book is called This Beatiful Mess. It is a very easy read, but good enough to pick up on Amazon. Basically he addresses the idea of Heaven being here and now but still to come. That is always a topic worth thinking about (I think). So read it if you want.

The point here is about and idea he touched on late in the book. He was saying how people seem to live as if there were two gospels revolving around Jesus. I want to talk about this for a while. These gospels seem to be seen like this: The Gospel of Jesus (his ministry while on Earth, what he did, said, and taught, and his message for followers to live like him), and then The Gospel about Jesus (first hand accounts of what Jesus did and what that meant to people; ie. his atoning sacrafice on the cross). These two gospels (or so-called two gospels resonated within my experiences) The problem is that I don't think there are two gospels (or shouldn't be), but I have seen what appears to be to types of Jesus gospels during my life.

I think what Jesus did and what we think that means needs to be, and has been, folded into one gospel; but the problem is that people have relied to heavily on one aspect of Jesus and not the whole combined ministry he led. Therefore, we get these two sides of the Christian believer spectrum. There are thos who focus on what Jesus' life (more like death) meant - the ability for believers to go to Heaven. And there are those who focus on what Jesus did and try to emulate that. Both sides important, however, bot sides seem to neglect a lot of what the other side says. This is probably not new to a lot of people. It just really frusterate me. I want to see both of these work out together and flow into one another as they are supposed to. Maybe it will take a lot longer for this to come about, but I see potential in this upcoming generations of leaders and I pray that we can unite and bring Heaven into this beautiful mess more and more!

A Shout Out

2007-01-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

Hey I read a blog today from my friend Marlin Vis. Marlin and his wife, Sally, are currently living in Jerusalem doing peace-keeping type work. He keeps a wonderful blog of his experiences there that I highly reccommend, but his post today was worth sharing with everyone. Here is the site link, www.marlinsallyvis.typepad.com, and the post is called Friday Prayers.

I hope everyone's New Year is going well. More posts to follow...hopefully tonight.

A Third Way

2006-12-19T06:04:00.000-05:00

In the Old Testament of the Bible there is a passage that says something to the effect of repaying evil with "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth". I was taught, growing up in the conservative church that I did, that the death penalty and war are necessary and even - in the case of the deaht penalty - good. The passage I talked about above was always used to justify these teachings. Recently, I have begun questioning my beliefs about the ideas of redemptive acts of violence. I find it to be hard to believe that death in any form, or violence, will ever make a situation more heaven-like. I have never tried to theologically justify my stance, but I just knew that Jesus would not stand for violence in any way, so I accepted that much and tried my best to stand for peace when I had a choice.

Recently, at Mars Hill Bible Church, Rob Bell began teaching a series called "Calling All Peacemakers". This series has been blowing my mind and making me think. It has also been giving me a root and basis for believing in the idea of striving for peace - not pacifism. This past Sunday was the most powerful to me thus far. Rob talked about non-violence and shared how the movement of non-violence was literally initiated by Jesus over 2,000 years ago. I finally began to understand some things.

In Matthew 5 Jesus starts the chapter with the old passage I was talking about. But He says, "You have heard it said, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth', but I tell you - do not resist an evil doer." Resist here meant to stand against in a militaristic fashion. So, basically Jesus was saying do not resort to violence. He was setting the stage for what He was about to share with the world. The Jews of that day were terribly oppressed by the Romans. They thought they had only two choices - do nothing (pacifism) or to use the same or more violence (redemptive violence). Jesus came preaching a third way; a beautiful idea of non-violent resistance. He gave the Jewish people listening to Him three practical ways to oppose oppression that they faced. These ideas were time appropriate examples but also preach to our day about the way in which we need to approach evil. He says "if someone slaps you; turn to them your left cheek as well". A slap was done with the left hand and was a sign of disrespect from a person who assumed they were better than the other. When Jesus said to turn the other cheek it would have caused the oppressor to actually hit the person now a sign of equality amongst the two. It was a way to assert common humanity and gain respect. Secondly, Jesus uses the common practice of a Jew being sued for a garment as insurance of paying a debt that was owed. However, these debts were usually accumulated by scandolous methods. Jesus says to give not just the outer wear but the inner wear too. Basically, give all the clothes you have. This would render the oppressed naked. In that day the shame was not upon the one who was naked but on the one who viewed it. So, basically, Jesus is giving the people a way to turn the shame back on the oppressor and call out the injustice that they do. There is one third example Jesus gives and it is about going an extra mile...I will let you read that one. Basically, all these examples take the third way. They do something non-agressive to prove a point and to make a difference. They assert humanity, turn the shame on the oppressor, unmask the evil, and give the oppressor a chance to change. They are methods of non-violent redemption.

This method eventually led Jesus to His death. He would not retaliate with violence even when His life was threatened because, He knew, and wants us to know, that acts of violence with redemption as the point are nothing but a myth! Violence begets violence - every time! In fact it always escalates and causes more destruction with out ever solving a darn thing! That is why Jesus' third way needs to be followed it is the only way progress will be made and Heaven brought to earth more quickly. There are many throughout history who have caught on to this beautiful way to "fight". People like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ghandi, and "Tank Man" (1989 Tianeman Sqaure). I hope many more will. I pray that all followers of Jesus will get there. I pray that I may do my part too!

When we are presented with a troublesome situation let us always ask, "Is there a third way here?"

Confusion is all Cleared Up!

2006-12-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

Totally Confused

2006-12-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

Choices are great. Great choices are better...

Inability to make decisions is not good. Inability to make decisions when there is a deadline is worse.

Styx??

2006-12-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

I like "classic rock". Ocassionaly, I find myself listening to The Eagles, Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, John Cougar, AC/DC, Aerosmith, and all those other really sweet bands. I also listen to the Styx once in a while. Today I heard "The Grand Illusion" and pondered the lyrics. Here read what they sing so well:

Welcome to the Grand illusion
Come on in and see what's happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But don't be fooled by the radio
The TV or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But they're just someone else's fantasy
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on Earth's this spell we're under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are

Now, to me, that is a great way of describing this American culture we live in. People are always pushed to succeed and be better. However, being better will never be enough - it is the Grand Illusion. This illusion drives people crazy, kills their souls, and is a cyclical evil - it always wraps back upon itself to further decieve! I wish everyone could see who they really are. We are all wonderful creations of a loving God. I think knowing this sets my heart at ease, and would do wonders for the rest of the world as well.

Let's stop chasing after that Grand Illusion...

The Time Has Come

2006-12-07T17:26:00.000-05:00

Well...

I was going to make a nice serious post about something very intense. You know the philosophical (is that a word?). But, today I just got a call from Wake Forest University. They accepted me into their PA program for the class of 2009! This is exciting news. So now the decision time has arrived. I am trying to make a choice between Wake Forest University and The University of Iowa. In about two weeks I owe both schools a monetary deposit if I wish to attend there. I really do not know how to make this decision? Any input is welcome! Like if your extended family has a vacation home in NC that I could use, or anything handy like that would easily help way my decision. Just kidding about the house, but I would love to hear anyone's advice. I will keep you all posted as to the choice I make!

On another note: this afternoon I put Braveheart in my DVD player. It has been almost 6 months since I have seen this film. This is a long drought for me not seeing this movie. It is my absolute favorite movie, and I believe one of the best films ever made! It made me think about Mel Gibson's release of Apocalypto tomorrow. I have to say, I am excited about this movie. I don't think the film culture as a whole is quite interested in Mel's stuff right now, but I have never been disappointed by his films and I think this one will be a great one! We shall see...

I just want to leave you with a quote from a good friend. I think it will end up in a book someday!

"Balance is a point visited between extremes."

What do you think about that?

Take care all...

Then There Were Two

2006-12-04T04:52:00.000-05:00

There are two separate pairs I wish to address here.

Numero Uno being about my search for the right Grad school. Saturday I returned home from North Carolina (raise up!). I was there for my sixth and final interview. This one was at Wake Forest University. It was a good day of interview activities. I really like the school and their method of teaching; which is done by Problem Based Learning. I really liked this format and was able to see it taking place. All around it was an impressive weekend, and I hope they offer me an invitation to go to their school.

That being said, Iowa is still there - in the running! So it comes down to two (if WFU accepts me) schools. I am wondering how to make this decision. I have drawn out lists of pros and cons of each, but it is hard to tell yet. I just hope the decision I make is right. Oh, and by the way, I am so ready to get started!

The second pair is the pair of teams who will compete for the BCS national title game. So, the experts have decided that OSU will play Florida. Wow, kind of weird how Michigan fell in the polls two weeks in a row and they did not even play a game! You think the pollsters did not want to see Michigan in the championship game? Hmmm.... Florida is a good team, yes, but that doesnt excuse the fact that Michigan is too; probably better. The only way to pick the national champion correctly is to have a playoff. It would be so easy and awesome. Who wouldnt want to see that? Oh well, I hope UofM crushes USC! I also can't help but think that Florida is going to be dismantled. Oh well, I guess they don't want to see a good game there at the polling places.

Have a good one!

So Much To Be Thankful For

2006-11-22T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!

It is the eve of one of my all-time favorite holidays. Turkey Day (aka: Thanksgiving - this name is a little more appropriate, but the prior is more descriptive.) Why, is this in your top 2 of holidays, you may ask? Let me explain...

The food is wonderful. I mean seriously, who wouldn't want to eat turkey, mashed potatos, gravy, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, pies, stuffing, and many other awesome foods all day long. Also, football to watch during the week! Seeing family is nice (most of the time). Taking a nice, long turkey-induced-coma-like-nap is always a plus in my book as well.

On a more serious note...Thanksgiving is a great day because it reminds me of the blessings that I have. I always have enough to eat, I have never been in need of anything (my needs are always graciously provided for), I have never had to fear for my safety, I have a loving family devoted to one another, and so many more inumerable blessings. I say this, not to boast, but to help myself realize that this is not life for everyone. Looking at the whole population of the world I am in a minority. I do not know exactly why I was born into a great home with many opportunites all around me for success. However, I do know that I was not put in this situation to see how great my life could be. No, I, am called to use what I have been entrusted with to level the playing field for all of God's kids. People need love and help, and Thanksgiving always reminds me of that! I need to use my blessing to continually bless others.

I have a friend who once suggested the idea that I post a picture of a homeless man prominently in the middle of my bulletin board at home. I have done this and whenever I see it, I can not help but know that he is my responsibility. I pray you all enjoy your turkey and the many things you have to be thankful for. Let us all spend this next year creating blessing for someone to celebrate with thanks next Thanksgiving!

Go IRISH (that is weird to type, but seriously - GO IRISH!)!

Falling

2006-11-19T20:48:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone (everyone who reads this at least)!

It seems as if it has been too long since I have updated my blog. I appologize for that and hope to remedy that with this blog. First of all, some news, I have been accepted at the University of Iowa for PA school. Now, this is very exciting. I really did not know what to expect after the interview. I felt that I did well, but they are the second best PA school in the country, and only accept 24 students per year. So, needless to say, I am happy with the news. However, with the news comes a dilema. I still have not heard from George Washington and I interview at Wake Forest on December 1st. I need to let Iowa know by the 8th of December if I am going to attend their institution. Hmmmm...what to do, what to do? (I guess it is a good dilema, right?)

I also just want to throw it out there that I am so ready for Thanksgiving! I love this holiday! I have been missing people a lot lately. Life has transitioned in unbelievable ways for me over the past 5 months and the transitions have left me with a feeling of "missing good friends". However, come Thanksgiving I am about to remedy this in some sense. I am going to my good friend Coleman's house for the holiday weekend! I am so excited for this.

Recently, I have learned about a poet name Rainer Maria Rilke. I have begun reading some of his poems and loved them! I wanted to share one of his poems with you because I loved it.

Autumn

The leaves are falling, falling as from far,

as though above were withering gardens;

they fall with a denying attitude.

And night by night, down into solitude,

the heavy earth falls far from every star.

We are all falling. This hand's falling too -

all have this falling sickness none withstands.

And yet there's One whose gently-holding hands

this universal falling can't fall through.

I don't know really, but for some reason this poem really is awesome to me! I think it is the last line. I think it is because I have felt this One catch me - and keep me from falling through before! Let me know if you like it.

Until next time...

Oh, and by the way, good effort Michigan! You played hard (not necessarily wel, but hard). We will see what happens now...

A Couple of Movies

2006-11-12T09:51:00.000-05:00

I waited for this weekend with some anticipation. It wasn't for any football games being played; no, that is next week! It had to do with some movie releases. I love movies! I love watching and looking for truth that cannot be hidden in any good story. I think that in some way every well told, or acted, story speaks to some of the truth about this life. This weekend I was anticipating three movies to be very good!

The movies I was waiting for were: A Good Year, Stranger Than Fiction, and Babel.

I have only seen A Good Year and Stranger Than Fiction. I still have today though.

I just wanted to mention that I have been highly pleased with the films. A Good Year with Russel Crowe was good. It wasn't brilliant, but I enjoyed it and I found a lit of good stuff in it. The story was great and it was a weel made movie. The points it teaches are also important and truthful.

It is, however, Stranger Than Fiction, that I really want to talk about. I loved this movie. It was brilliant. It quite possibly legitimized Will Ferrell's career as an actor. The story was unbelievable. It was totally full of truth. There was humor as well as a very serious storyline. There were so many points where I really saw this story speaking of "The Story"! So basically, I just want to encourage people to go see this movie. I promise - you will not be disappointed.

Iowa and More

2006-11-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

The past few months I have been deeply immersed in the interview process to gain admission to Physician Assistant school. The whole experience has been one of nervousness, excitement, and lots of travel. I have never flown as often as I have done in the past few months. It is actually very fun to arrive in a new city and go to an institution of higher learning to be evaluated as to whether or not I will do "well" in some school's program. I have actually enjoyed myself!

Today I am in Iowa City, IA. I have an interview at the University of Iowa. This does not sound so exciting because it is in Iowa, but UofI is the second highest ranked PA school in the country - right behind Duke. So, needless to say, I want to do well. After this interview I only have one more left. The last one will be at Wake Forest University at the end of November. Among these two schools I have also had interviews at: Rosalind Franklin University, Drexel University, Central Michigan University, and The George Washington University. It has been fun!

So, as I leave you today, I will be exploring the Iowa City/Coralville area, and then doing the interview thing. For all you skeptics of Iowa, I just refer you to an old movie quote: "Is this heaven?"..."No, it's Iowa!" So, I guess they have been confused before!

Dying for Heaven

2006-11-06T04:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight at work I was "pulled" from my normal floor (Cardiac Intermediate Care) to The Lacks Cancer Center which is mostly a palliative care facility. Normally, I would not appreciate having to move from my floor to a new environment where I feel a little uncomfortable. However, tonight, there was a reason for me being moved floors.

One of my patients on the new floor was, sadly to say, ready to die. I have never really been in the prescence of someone who is dying and knows it. This night was a class in the school of life that I have not been enrolled in yet. How do you respond when someone asks if it is time to go yet? What do you say when they tell you they are ready to die? Do you act excited for them, or sad? How are you supposed to emote? How do you interact with family members? All these questions were moving through my cognition and I had to arrive at the answers in "real time" as best as I could. It was interesting and sad and HAPPY all at the same time.

Well, to add more on to this I have to mention heaven. This patient was a follower of Jesus. This makes death a little easier, I believe. However, in my own life, recently, I have been struggling with the idea of heaven/hell. Is heaven really a place with shiny streets and nice mansions? Maybe heaven is more like a place/feeling/attitude during life on earth that will continue on into eternity? I don't even know what to say about hell. This patient tonight, however, helped answer a few of my questions. Heaven is anticipation! Heaven is waiting for Jesus. Heaven creates a reason for faith in eternal existence. Heaven gives my patient peace!

I don't know really how to describe what I watched during the wee hours of the morning as my patient was releasing the hold on her life. I do know that she told me that she is ready to go to heaven. She kept asking me is Jesus was here for her yet (I wanted to tell her that he is always here. But then she would have thought she was dead. It was weird trying to convince her she was still "here" while, at the same time, speaking of "eternal" things.). This made an impression on me. Heaven is many things, and yes, one of them is a place of glory and perfection for those Jesus loves after they die. It can be that simple or that complex!

She is still hanging in there, but probably not for too much longer. That is not sad for her; so it is not sad for me. She gets to see Jesus soon and I am happy for her.

Back in the Woods

2006-11-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

Today I started working part time with a tree service company. The company, by the way, is called T&G Tree Service (have to give the advertisement). I worked for this company for about 4 years before I quit to volunteer at YoungLife camps for the past two summers. I have some time in my schedule now, thanks to my job at the hospital. So, today I ended up back in the woods with a Husqvarna chainsaw roaring in my hands.

The point of this is simply to say that there is something I love about this job. Maybe it is being in nature, maybe just cutting down a tree, maybe it is the money (I get paid well) - who knows! But I do know that, if it didn't beat up the body so badly and get old kind of quickly sometimes, I might do it as a career.

It was a fun day cutting stuff!

Up above I left you with a little sample of what I do... Notice the saw tied to me! I have spurs on my boots! Yup, it is fun...

Wrong Turn?

2006-11-01T00:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it is a crazy night at the hospital. I am in the middle of my 12-hour shift (7p-7a), and so far it has been going very quickly because it is wild on my floor tonight. However, I have some time now so I am going to do a little "blogging" (I guess that is a word...).

First of all, I want to point you all to Justin Beck's latest post called "Waves". I found it wonderful and very truthful. Thanks Beck for your insight!

Now, for my post. As of late I have been reading a book called "Globalizing Theology". It is edited by Ott and Netland and reads much like a Theological textbook. Each chapter is written by a different contributing author which gives it a fresh feeling all the way through. The main idea, I would suppose, throughout the book is one of creating a great sense of unity in the Christian community at large. The contributors realize a lot of this unifying can be done by allowing every individual culture to do their own theologizing instead of just being expected to choke down, the often inappropriate, theology done by the church in the West. They argue, rightly so, that every culture has to do its own theology to make it more contextually correct for the adherents. Anyways, enough of the introduction (who reads those anways?).

To my point...

In one chapter Van Engen writes about "The Glocal Church". There is a paragraph that talks much of the idea of unity of Christians and how the early church had a mission of making the unity of the Kingdom of God even greater. Let me share with you this quote and then some of my thoughts and questions.

"'...from the outset [Christianity] possessed a strong sense of the essential unity of all believers and a desire to give that unity tangible expression in a body bound together by a common faith and love'. This is the astounding quality of the early Christian church. The Christian church was not anything like the exclusivist, introverted, secret mystery religions of the day. Rather, Christianity, from the very earliest times, ..., percieved itself as a radically inclusive religion that aimed to proclaim its message and extend its fellowship to both men and women, slaves and free, Romans, Jews, Greeks, barbarians, and ALL persons who would recieve it."

Now, if you are like me, you read this and said, "Awesome! What happened?". The early church grew rapidly because it wasn't exclusive and secretive like the religions of the day. They understood that the Kingdom of Heaven wants everyone. And for a while everyone was getting in on ground level. However, reading that quote I feel like it described my idea of the Christian church to a T. Listen: "...exclusivist, introverted, secret mystery religion..." - does that sound like a church you have ever experienced? Because it does for me. I am not bashing the church, but I think it has a tendency to miss the "come-on-in" attitude that the Kingdom of Heaven proclaims. It just struck me as so real and true of the churc today and it made my heart a little sad.

On my way in to work tonight a good friend read me a quote. I have been chewing on this quote in my head all night. He said, "Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The disciples messed up and began proclaiming Jesus." I think this fits with the prior thoughts a little as well. Did the church stop proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven and, therefore, turn into one of those secret, exclusivist religions? I hope not! I hope we can learn how to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. Just a thought though: can you proclaim Jesus without proclaiming the Kingdom of God? Are they not the same embodiment? Let me know your thoughts...

I hope this wasn't too long. I trust that I made some sense and you all could follow a little bit of my rambling. Until next time...

My Own Blog

2006-10-29T01:30:00.000-05:00

Well, everyone - here is my blog site. I have delayed starting this for some time now. Although I really wanted to have a site to share my thoughts; I really didn't think I would update it enough to make it fun. Oh well, I am going to try anyway. I have enjoyed reading many friends blogs and I hope some people will enjoy reading the ocassional posts I make.

This first post is going to be quick and simple because I am at work and I really should be, well, working!

I simply want to say: Thank-you Detroit Tigers! I am not able to express how fun this past season has been. Yes, we lost in 5 games to St. Louis in the Series, but still - we were in the World Series. Come on now! For as long as I can remember I have been watching the Tigers play ball during the summer. I have always loved it, but this year I was able to watch them play in the summer and fall and it was spectacular.

Looking forward to Spring Training already. What changes are going to be made?

Well, many more posts to come. At least that is the plan. Time to work.