What?! You're not happy with that last post? I thought you'd be happy to see some words instead of other people's pictures. Waddya want? A review of the last movie I watched? Nah, you're not going to get that. Oh, an expose' (someone get me the alt code for e with the accent!) of my local dealings? Well, okay, I'll give you something.

It was a dark and stormy night... Well, a slightly cloudy afternoon... And I was working the day watch in the computer lab. Suddenly someone came in. No, it wasn't a damsel in distress, though I wouldn't have minded that. No, it was something far worse... It was a fellow student, (We'll call him the Leech). The Leech was worried. He wanted to vent about the paper his teacher was about to read. I listened to his woes and knew that I had to do something. First I thought of dynamiting the building, but... I didn't have any dynamite. Then I thought of running outside and screaming at the top of my lungs, but that wouldn't really do anything... I was stumped. The Leech was about ready to fall asleep while I thought about these possibilities, but the clock struck 3:30 and he steeled himself for the conference of doom. Unfortunately, I couldn't restrain him.

So yeah that was my day.

It is Monday and I have projects due this week and next, tests to study for and improv performances to go to.

Father & Son

Father & Son
Originally uploaded by dalertafamily.

Wow.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle
Originally uploaded by Image Zen.

I've been there, but I didn't see it like this... Wish my trip didn't have gray skies. Plus I really like this picture!

Today is pick on JC day and I am enjoying it. Yeah and I (Cassy) too enjoying picking on him... -- See what I mean?

Good evening! I had a good day. I went to Barnes and Nobles to spend my gift card that I received from my uncle and aunt. Spend it I did! On Star Wars: The Unifying Force and Crime and Punishment and Humongous Zits. I think it was well spent.

Today was beautiful. I sat in my car in the parking lot for a few hours soaking in the sun and reading Star Wars. *grins* Twas a good feeling.

Another good feeling was getting A's on my book reports. I was very happy about that!

I think that's all for now.

It's going to be an interesting weekend. I'm in my friend Jame's wedding and rehearsal is tonight at 5:30. Then the wedding is at 2pm tomorrow. They have me in a TUX!!! It's a black jacket and pants, with a purple bow tie and vest. It's going to be quite interesting... I'll post pictures if I get any.

Yesterday I ate at a Mongolian Grill. I've fallen in love with that type of food now. They have a Oyster Garlic sauce which, when combined with a Chile sauce makes the meal divine! *grins*

Then we went over to Josh's sister's. She fed us a special rice recipe, mashed potatoes, and stirfried salmon. It was heavenly! I haven't had very much salmon that I really liked, but this hit the top of the list.

I also have two book reports due the first part of the week, not to mention catching up on Greek homework. I also have a Ministry Interview to finish transcribing and then condense into a 3 to 4 page paper. That's not due until March, so there's not a lot of hurry, but I'll be grateful for getting ahead later on.

I also want to watch an episode of Stargate SG1:Season 4 sometime this weekend.

I'm still sick! *growls* Sickness always get me down, 'cause my defenses go down and then I get stuck in a selfish rut. Self-pity, etc. This time is a bit different, 'cause I've recognized it and I am fighting it. The struggle is to constantly let God take control. I keep trying to do things my way and my way just doesn't work.

It's interesting, though, that even though I'm in a down spot, I'm still seeing God showing things to me. I preached a sermon today for Pulpit Speech about Christmas and focused on Joseph. I wasn't sure how to start it, but as I was listening to someone else, the idea of the nativity came to mind. I then told about pulling the pieces of the set out and how we focus on the wisemen or the shepherds and especially Mary and Jesus, but Joseph gets set up next to Mary, almost as an after thought. Then I talked about Joseph's side of the story and the hurt he must have experienced when his fiance told him she was pregnant. But, even though he was hurt, he obeyed God when he was told to marry her and care for this child. The application was obedience. The teacher liked it and I got some good comments from the class. But God showed me that He gives me ideas even when I'm down.

Okay, I copied this over from an email 'cause it's covering what is happening in my life. So April, this is pretty much what you received (minus some personal stuff).

This weekend was a blast! Even though I was sick, it was good to see family. Since I've been in Eugene, each year my uncle and aunt and their kid have flown from MA to OR (Sunriver) to stay for a week in a condo. Declan Thomas is one of the cutest kids you've ever seen! He's 3 now and is speaking in complete sentences and expressing himself very well. He is a manager, though. "JC, you sit here. Daddy, you sit here." Quite hilarious actually. When I was leaving to go back home, he said that he wanted to go to college. We got a chuckle out of that one.

My parents came down from Madras and so I got to see them again. It was a very good family time.

Oh, news on the internship front - I don't know if I told you, but Michigan is a no go. Since I've been back on track with God, I prayed a lot about this decision and discovered that I made it out of my own reasons and not God's. I withdrew my name from that church and, after prayer, I submitted it to a church in Everret, WA. Do you remember Nate Poetzl, the college pastor at Onyx house? Well, he is now the senior pastor at New Life Center (www.nlcenter.com) and he and Mr. Burke were emailing about the possibility of me interning up there. I just got an email from one of the other pastors and he's going to call me either on Tuesday or Thursday. I am stoked! I really feel like God's drawing me up there and if this works out, it'll be a great experience.

Classes are going good as well. I'm really enjoying Ministry Leadership, Discipleship and Mentoring, Pulpit Speech II and Theology II. The three former classes are great because they have to deal with my major and I'm doing very well with them. The last one I'm enjoying because it's Independent Study and by getting to talk it over with Mr. Burke and then testing over just the book is really helping me to learn. I will definitely be doing this with Theology III. My hardest class is Greek and that's because I don't have the time to review as much as I want to . It's driving me nuts.

I'm thinking that I'm going to go down to California with Josh for spring break. We'll see how that works out though. It's still kinda in the air.

I learned something yesterday. God has awesome timing. I was feeling horrible, both spiritually and physically, and had succombed to sin. First my friend Josh came into the room and started to talk about spiritual things. He then noticed that I wasn't looking too good so I got to vent. Then he prayed for me and I felt the load released. Then, at the dorm meeting, Mr. S. started us doing something to get us focused on Jesus. We closed our eyes he wanted us to think of the last time that God showed his grace to us and the love that we had for him in that moment. Then we spoke that love out to Jesus. "I love you Jesus because ____" Wow! That totally took my eyes off of me and onto Him. I needed that time badly...

Heh. I just discovered a new feature of t-mobile. See, I have a camera phone and I've taken a few pictures, but since I don't have the connector to put them on my computer, the appeal is rather dim. Until now. Pictures!!! I now can send them to this site and you can view my various attempts at photography with a camera phone. *grins* Be prepared for the unexpected!

Okay, I suppose I owe you a real update...

I look at my calendar and it says February. Is it really the month of my birthday? Yep. I celebrated the sunday before by hanging out at Jason's for awhile and then seven of us headed over to Putters to play some minature golf. I didn't win, but I had a blast! I've found a new fun thing to do.

I led youth group last Wed. It was great! I got to talk about trust and in the course of the discussion we got to pray for a brother and sister who have a brother who is disowning the family. It was really cool. I felt God working and I think there was a breakthrough in the youth group as far as being able to share personal things. So yeah, I'm happy about how it turned out. I'm leading once in March and once in April.

I have such a drive for ministering now. All my classes are focusing on one or more aspects of being a minister and it's been a joy to learn from them. I had an interview with Pastor Tony for one of the classes. I asked him 10 questions and recorded what he said. I've been trascribing them and it's cool to listen to the wisdom that experience brings. It helped me to see what ministry is and that I'm not getting myself into a cakewalk.

It's also cool to hang out with friends. Yesterday I worked on papers from 9:30am to 4pm. Got them done, but my brain was shot for anymore homework. So Josh, Ryan, and I went to Walmart to exchange pants, and then over to Hollywood video to bug a friend. It was great.

I can't wait to see where God leads me this week.

Okay Josh, if you really want to see an update, here ya go!

Updated!