There are a lot of things going through my mind right now. Here are a couple of them:

• Honesty in relationships (not just dating, but normal friendships, acquaintances, etc). Jack led a discussion during CCG about relationships and interaction between people and ultimately, God. Time and communication were the biggest attributes we agreed on for a good relationship. Trust is important as well. What really got me thinking was a conversation that Isaac, Jack and I had after group. The gist of it was that Isaac thinks that it'd be a good thing if the second or third time you meet with someone, you were totally honest with them about who you are. For example, suppose I saw this guy at church, said hi, learned a couple things about him. The next week I go up to him and talk to him. I am honest with him and say something along the lines of "I'm JC, I'm a good person, but I tend to struggle with trying to control those that I form relationships with. I don't have patience with shallowness. I listen until I know you and then try to give some godly advice - sometimes asked for, sometimes not. Do you want a friendship with me?" That, from what I understood from our conversation, is what Isaac wants.
  My response to that is that I don't think it's realistic. If I was the guy who someone did that to, I would probably be stand-offish, thinking that all they wanted to do was dump their problems onto me. I think there's a place for small talk. There's stages to relationships that if you skip those stages, you might be in trouble later on. There's the awkward, get to know someone stage. The "We have something in common" Stage, the hang out a lot stage, and hopefully, the life long, I can confide in this person stage. Some people I talk to won't get past the getting to know stage, others will have something in common with me and there will be the few that I'll get close enough to to confide in. (and that's pretty much excluding the romantic stage with the opposite gender).
  One last thing is that if we call ourselves Christian, we all have a relationship with Christ in common. That can break alot of the awkwardness out of meeting someone.


• The other thing that's been on my mind is the principle of non-contradiction. Something that is A and Not B, Cannot be B. I just wrote an essay to a quiz on that. I cannot be me and be you at the same time. I can't be in Seattle and Eugene at the same time (as much as I'd like to be). Apples can't be oranges. This principle is foundational to logical thinking. Just something i'm mulling around in my head courtesy Fundamentals of Philosophy

1/18/2006 4:11 PM

I’m not necessarily depressed or melancholy, but it’s been raining a lot here in Eugene and this is rather appropriate. Plus, if you’re going through a tough time, maybe this will help you.

Lyrics to Keep Singing by MercyMe

Another rainy day
I can’t recall having sunshine on my face
And all I feel is pain
And all I want to do is walk out of this place

But when I am stuck and I can’t move
when I don’t know what I should do
When I wonder if I’ll ever make it through

I gotta keep singing
I gotta keep praising Your Name
You’re the one that’s keeping my heart beating

I gotta keep singing
I gotta keep praising Your Name
That’s the only way I find You

Can I climb up in Your lap?
I don’t want to leave
Jesus, sing over me

I gotta keep singing

You’re everything I need

Yesterday was amazing, weather wise that is. I woke up just before Reece got back from working out. He offered a ride and I took one look out my window and accepted. It was pouring and there was a large puddle well on its way to becoming a lake in our parking lot. The rest of the day I watched the rain come down and down and down. EBC has a pond and it was filled to overflowing. The creek behind our apartment was close to overflowing and did overflow in places. When I got back to the apartment most of the parking lot had about 6 to 8 inches of water. Apparently the storm drains were clogged, ‘cause once the rain stopped in the late afternoon, the maintenance people were out there and the lake drained away. It was pretty cool.

Today hasn’t been that wet. I actually got to walk over to the post office (sold a couple of books on half.com) and Fred Meyers. I’ve seen the sun a few times as well.

School has been going well. I’ve got such an interesting schedule… Monday was a holiday, so no classes. Instead, we had a party. I think we had eleven people here, counting me and Reece… That included a baby! *grins* Having a little one around was fun. Elora had a thing for licking wood though.



Let’s see, what else… Oh, yeah, Monday afternoon I did some homework and laundry at Jack and Lisa’s. They had me and the M’s over for dinner. Yumm! For not using meat, Lisa fixed a wonderful meal. She might have me sold on eating more veggie based meals… Not that I’m willing to give up my meat… We played this game that apparently has three different names: Scrooge, Gnertz and Blitz! It was fun though.

Speaking of food… I discovered a good way to make macaroni and cheese. When you add the powder and the butter, include a good chunk of cream cheese. Very creamy and tasty. I also put just a tad of salsa in it. mmmm… Hey, Mom, why haven’t you ever put cream cheese in your macaroni?

So I’m trying to decide whether to go to My Coffee right now or wait until tomorrow… I’d rather not walk anymore today. Besides, I think it’s time to just lounge. I think I’m going to watch a movie.
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I waited. But I am now at My Coffee and I uploaded a lot of pictures to my Flickr. Enjoy!

1/11/2006 8:43 PM
I suppose it’s high time I post something on this blogger. I could try and write a day by day account of the week at Jen and Chera’s, but I don’t feel like writing that much. So I’m going to give you a brief synopsis.

First was the getting to the Portland airport. My car busted, so I had to bum a ride to church and then after church I had to find a ride to Portland. A gentleman whom I don’t know very well offered to take me. He and Isaac then took me to my friend’s in that area and returned to Eugene. I then spent the evening talking and playing games with Scott and Sandy. That was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed reconnecting with them. Left their apartment early Monday the 2nd, and then spent hours in airplanes and airports.

Finally I got to Detroit and was picked up by Jen, Chera, and Tom. I wasn’t very good company in the car since I was so tired. The rest of the week went by fast. I felt like I spent a lot of time in Jen’s PT Cruiser…

A few odd and end thoughts about this last week:

- Jen and Chera and their family are very joyful. They were almost always smiling or laughing.
- Emma is a huge dog!
- I’m not fast at Egyptian war. Neither is Tom.
- Wasn’t Michigan supposed to have snow?
- I really like their house and location – even if you have to drive to get anywhere.
- I stayed in a room in the basement and slept on one of the four beds they had down their.
- The rest of the basement was filled with boxes and a three legged cat.
- Random thought: I hope they turned off the propane stove…
- Swing Kids is a really good movie.
- Small town libraries are the best! I forgot how homey and welcome the atmosphere can be.
- My RI signature tee now has Michigan across the front.
- I make a pretty good monk.
- Detroit Airport stinks (at least the terminal I was in).
- I liked playing games with everyone.
- Millie (their other dog) has a fascination with little red dots.

All in all it was a great trip and a good visit.

I got to the school on Monday to register. I opened my mailbox – stuffed – to find my grades. I almost didn’t want to open the envelope, but I did. Totally blew me away – 3.81. I don’t know how I did it, ‘cause I crammed for the finals and the papers were done quickly, but I did it. What kills me is that the Independent Greek course I did would have been an A if I had started earlier on my translation… *laughs* Oh well.

This term is a very interesting schedule. I’m taking two correspondence Bible courses: Minor Prophets and Major Prophets. I have three classes on campus, though one of them is a module (Evangelism and Church Growth) that doesn’t start until middle of February. Fundamentals of Philosophy is a Tuesday/Thursday class and Apocolyptic Lit. is a Monday/Tuesday/Thursday class. So I have nothing on Wednesdays and only small groups on Fridays. Very strange schedule.

So I spent today (Wed.) working on homework and my external study. Tomorrow my two hour class is canceled so I’m planning on going to the coffee house and posting this.

Now it’s time to head to bed. Sleep tight world.