March 04, 2006
I'm Off
3/2/06
Well, it's a little after two in the afternoon, and I'm actually and finally on my way to Mexico. I really don't know what to expect, what I'll find, or what I'll do, but I'm on my way. As with all things, it's in God's hands.
I'm on the train at the moment, just left Martinez, CA, and am on my way to Bakersfield, where I'll meet up with Chuck. In the morning we're taking the bus to Los Angeles, where we'll take a plane down to Mexico City. We're going to spend the night there at a seminary, then drive something like 600 miles down to San Cristobal de las Casas. Then for the next two weeks we'll be going about, I'm not 100% sure what yet. I know for a couple of days we'll be meeting up with a team from Illinois that's coming down to build a retaining wall for a church that is kinds of slipping down its hillside. Couple fo the names of the places that I can remember as being on our list are La Ceyba and Simojovel. On the last day Chuck is going to do the tourist thing with me and take me to Palanque, which, I think, is a famous Mayan ruin site.
I don't really know what else to say at the moment. I'm discovering that typing on the train can be a little bit of a challenges as it rumbles over its tracks. I have five hours before I reach Bakersfield though…so I'm glad I have my computer. I am only able to bring two carry-ons, including my camera bag and computer stuff, so I had to pack somewhat creatively. Actually, I picked up a cheap duffle bag, put my camera pack in that, and was able to pack half my clothes around it. Between that and the small suitcase that I had, I was able to make it all work. I just sure hope Chuck was right when he said we'll be able to wash clothes somewhere, else I pity the person sitting next to me on the plane ride back.
Life in general - it's going pretty good. God's really blessed me with the work on campus - and I thank him for whoever the generous law school benefactor is. It's so nice being able to pay your bills without having to squeeze out every last penny to cover them all. Now if I was only able to do this full-time, I'd be sitting pretty, and would possible be able to swing a small mortgage. Not quite yet, but my goal at the moment is to be back in my own place by my birthday.
I'm happy for my friends, but sad that they're all going to be leaving. Andrew and Lynette both are accepted at at least one school now to get their PhDs. Where you get in and where you don't is so weird. For example, Anya just got rejected by…I think it was someplace in Texas, but she was accepted at Harvard and Yale. It's a weird world. At least Sale will still be around, but Stanford law is really working him over. IN a couple years I'll be calling all my friends "doctor." We'll maybe in a couple after that I'll be there as well. Who knows. Actually, I would be just as happy if I could just go directly in writing, and create a couple of best-sellers. I'd even settle for subsistence writing. It's like that joke, when the writer died…I'm forgetting the background, but the gist of it is that he was able to choose if he wanted to go to heaven or hell, and was able to preview each. First was hell, and in it, where he would go, it was a tiny room cramped full of people chained to a desk and forced to type all day. Heaven looked the same when he got his preview of it, and when he said, "Hey, what gives" to his guide, he said, "Oh yes, they're the same, but in heaven you get published." So yeah, I'd just like to get published. Bestseller wouldn't be bad though either.
Really, I don't know what these next few years will bring me in my life. Right now I'm just kind of focused on getting a job, paying of my bills and student loans, and if at all possible, getting a house. Even a tiny little one - just something to call my own, just something to get my foot in the door. Hopefully, in a couple years, I can go back to school. If I don't though, it's not the end of the world. I have plenty of smart friends that love me, and I don't need to prove anything. There are a lot of expectations and pressures though when you go to an Ivy League. That's not the expectation that I need to live up to though - the expectations that I need to live up to are God's. Still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life that will serve Him. I have decided to get more involved in my church though. I'd been thinking that I was going to be moving pretty soon, so I'd avoided putting down much in the way of roots. Been kind of thinking about one of the things God's said to me though, and part of it was to step into my calling now, and I felt that part of that was to get more involved at church. So, I've started teaching Sunday school again (the "young professionals" [i,e, the 20-30 age group], which is a far cry from the 5-8 year old group I did the last time I taught Sunday school). I've also set up a blog site and e-mail group, which I'm still trying to get everyone used to using and contributing to. Setting up that stuff was easy, but teaching is a challenge, that's for sure. I've never really wanted to teach, like in a school, but I might need to at some point. I've always hated any kind of public speaking, but I've always tried to stretch myself. I guess that's why I do half of what I do. Anyway, the Sunday school thing is not a project that I'm doing by myself at all. Bruce and Dave had started a separate Sunday school for our age group at the end of last year, and I'd said I'd be willing to help out if he wanted. He did ask, once we got into this year, so…anyway, I'm trying, since I plan on staying in the area now, to really work on building the community that we have at church, as well as making it ready to grow. I've taught three times now, and will start up again the week after I get back from Mexico. Planning on working our way through Foster's "In Celebration of Discipline." I'm thinking about another book for after that, called, "Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals." It comes highly recommended by Glen, as it takes on all the hard issues directly. I really thin Sunday school should be more than just getting together and sharing what you think about something - it should be about learning, about growing, about being prepared to take on and live in the real world. I don't know what I can do, but I'm going to do whatever I can. Also, I'm planning on doing a half-day retreat when I get back - use the same format for the one I organized for Chi Alpha, and perhaps go up Mt. Diablo. Would love to do a beach trip, or an extended trip, but I want to start here. If possible, I'd really like to start up a once-a-month potluck kind of thing in our group. That's a little bit more difficult though, since I don't have my own place to start with and invite everyone to. We'll see if changing that is in God's plans for me though. For me to get any kind of place would be a real miracle, so really - if I get in someplace, it'll totally be God.
I'm thinking that pretty much covers what's going on with my life at the moment. I'm not going to put any of the "personal relationship" kind of stuff on the web - though, there's not really too much that I could say anyway. I don't know which would be a bigger miracle - finding a woman of getting a house. I guess it would have to go to finding the right woman - with enough time, money enough usually comes to get a house, whereas there are no guarantees when it comes to finding a wife. If I could have two miracles, personal miracles for myself, those would be them. I don't stress over it anymore though - what is, is, and what will be, will be. I'm trying to live in the now, because that's where I am. And right now, I'm on the train, bouncing along a track (you would think a flat rail would make for a smooth ride, but nooooooo), and I'm going to have a little late lunch, then sit back and watch a movie or something. Adios.
Well, it's a little after two in the afternoon, and I'm actually and finally on my way to Mexico. I really don't know what to expect, what I'll find, or what I'll do, but I'm on my way. As with all things, it's in God's hands.
I'm on the train at the moment, just left Martinez, CA, and am on my way to Bakersfield, where I'll meet up with Chuck. In the morning we're taking the bus to Los Angeles, where we'll take a plane down to Mexico City. We're going to spend the night there at a seminary, then drive something like 600 miles down to San Cristobal de las Casas. Then for the next two weeks we'll be going about, I'm not 100% sure what yet. I know for a couple of days we'll be meeting up with a team from Illinois that's coming down to build a retaining wall for a church that is kinds of slipping down its hillside. Couple fo the names of the places that I can remember as being on our list are La Ceyba and Simojovel. On the last day Chuck is going to do the tourist thing with me and take me to Palanque, which, I think, is a famous Mayan ruin site.
I don't really know what else to say at the moment. I'm discovering that typing on the train can be a little bit of a challenges as it rumbles over its tracks. I have five hours before I reach Bakersfield though…so I'm glad I have my computer. I am only able to bring two carry-ons, including my camera bag and computer stuff, so I had to pack somewhat creatively. Actually, I picked up a cheap duffle bag, put my camera pack in that, and was able to pack half my clothes around it. Between that and the small suitcase that I had, I was able to make it all work. I just sure hope Chuck was right when he said we'll be able to wash clothes somewhere, else I pity the person sitting next to me on the plane ride back.
Life in general - it's going pretty good. God's really blessed me with the work on campus - and I thank him for whoever the generous law school benefactor is. It's so nice being able to pay your bills without having to squeeze out every last penny to cover them all. Now if I was only able to do this full-time, I'd be sitting pretty, and would possible be able to swing a small mortgage. Not quite yet, but my goal at the moment is to be back in my own place by my birthday.
I'm happy for my friends, but sad that they're all going to be leaving. Andrew and Lynette both are accepted at at least one school now to get their PhDs. Where you get in and where you don't is so weird. For example, Anya just got rejected by…I think it was someplace in Texas, but she was accepted at Harvard and Yale. It's a weird world. At least Sale will still be around, but Stanford law is really working him over. IN a couple years I'll be calling all my friends "doctor." We'll maybe in a couple after that I'll be there as well. Who knows. Actually, I would be just as happy if I could just go directly in writing, and create a couple of best-sellers. I'd even settle for subsistence writing. It's like that joke, when the writer died…I'm forgetting the background, but the gist of it is that he was able to choose if he wanted to go to heaven or hell, and was able to preview each. First was hell, and in it, where he would go, it was a tiny room cramped full of people chained to a desk and forced to type all day. Heaven looked the same when he got his preview of it, and when he said, "Hey, what gives" to his guide, he said, "Oh yes, they're the same, but in heaven you get published." So yeah, I'd just like to get published. Bestseller wouldn't be bad though either.
Really, I don't know what these next few years will bring me in my life. Right now I'm just kind of focused on getting a job, paying of my bills and student loans, and if at all possible, getting a house. Even a tiny little one - just something to call my own, just something to get my foot in the door. Hopefully, in a couple years, I can go back to school. If I don't though, it's not the end of the world. I have plenty of smart friends that love me, and I don't need to prove anything. There are a lot of expectations and pressures though when you go to an Ivy League. That's not the expectation that I need to live up to though - the expectations that I need to live up to are God's. Still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my life that will serve Him. I have decided to get more involved in my church though. I'd been thinking that I was going to be moving pretty soon, so I'd avoided putting down much in the way of roots. Been kind of thinking about one of the things God's said to me though, and part of it was to step into my calling now, and I felt that part of that was to get more involved at church. So, I've started teaching Sunday school again (the "young professionals" [i,e, the 20-30 age group], which is a far cry from the 5-8 year old group I did the last time I taught Sunday school). I've also set up a blog site and e-mail group, which I'm still trying to get everyone used to using and contributing to. Setting up that stuff was easy, but teaching is a challenge, that's for sure. I've never really wanted to teach, like in a school, but I might need to at some point. I've always hated any kind of public speaking, but I've always tried to stretch myself. I guess that's why I do half of what I do. Anyway, the Sunday school thing is not a project that I'm doing by myself at all. Bruce and Dave had started a separate Sunday school for our age group at the end of last year, and I'd said I'd be willing to help out if he wanted. He did ask, once we got into this year, so…anyway, I'm trying, since I plan on staying in the area now, to really work on building the community that we have at church, as well as making it ready to grow. I've taught three times now, and will start up again the week after I get back from Mexico. Planning on working our way through Foster's "In Celebration of Discipline." I'm thinking about another book for after that, called, "Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals." It comes highly recommended by Glen, as it takes on all the hard issues directly. I really thin Sunday school should be more than just getting together and sharing what you think about something - it should be about learning, about growing, about being prepared to take on and live in the real world. I don't know what I can do, but I'm going to do whatever I can. Also, I'm planning on doing a half-day retreat when I get back - use the same format for the one I organized for Chi Alpha, and perhaps go up Mt. Diablo. Would love to do a beach trip, or an extended trip, but I want to start here. If possible, I'd really like to start up a once-a-month potluck kind of thing in our group. That's a little bit more difficult though, since I don't have my own place to start with and invite everyone to. We'll see if changing that is in God's plans for me though. For me to get any kind of place would be a real miracle, so really - if I get in someplace, it'll totally be God.
I'm thinking that pretty much covers what's going on with my life at the moment. I'm not going to put any of the "personal relationship" kind of stuff on the web - though, there's not really too much that I could say anyway. I don't know which would be a bigger miracle - finding a woman of getting a house. I guess it would have to go to finding the right woman - with enough time, money enough usually comes to get a house, whereas there are no guarantees when it comes to finding a wife. If I could have two miracles, personal miracles for myself, those would be them. I don't stress over it anymore though - what is, is, and what will be, will be. I'm trying to live in the now, because that's where I am. And right now, I'm on the train, bouncing along a track (you would think a flat rail would make for a smooth ride, but nooooooo), and I'm going to have a little late lunch, then sit back and watch a movie or something. Adios.
