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| Man, I have tons of studying to do. So I think that means I should just update my xanga instead.
Lately I've been hearing from different people about how they don't understand what the deal is with swearing/cussing. Most people do understand that it's generally regarded as unprofessional in the workplace and "not nice to say around grandma." However, some people say it's okay to swear occasionally while other people think swear words should be removed from our vocabulary altogether. I know people on both sides can be pretty adamant, but I have no qualms about what I think is the Bible's position on this, so I'm not going to start some debate about that. What I have been thinking about though is the replacement words we come up with... like... oh fudge, freak, you motherfather, piece of ship, etc. (I happen to think fudge is a very nice replacement word btw and use it myself on occasion haha).
I used to swear a lot. I wanted to stop and eventually got myself to only cuss when I was really, really, really mad. (The replacement words helped with this). Then I got myself to not swear out loud at all, but my mind was still swearing all the time. Then I would only swear in my mind when I was mad. Then I learned to take myself out of those situations that make me mad and eventually was able to not swear in my mind at all (although I still use the replacement words).
For the people who think swearing is bad, what about replacement words? I know and have heard that it's really about where the heart is more than anything, but my issue is still just about the replacement words (and besides... the bible says the heart is wicked anyway right? haha). And what about the swear acronyms? (wtf, stfu, gtfo, omfg) Some people use them all the time as a replacement, but then say that they are only shortening replacement words (like wtf really just means what the freak). So replacement acronyms for replacement words to replace actual swearing. Yeah. Or what if I said I wished everyone during worship would just STFU (sing to feel uplifted) and those that don't can GTFO (greet their friends outside). Is that okay?
HAHA. Alright, back to studying I go. =P
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| So I'm sitting at work(disclaimer: this may or may not be true) with a holy hangover from the Hillsong United concert last night. Drinking the spirit never felt so good. =) But I couldn't sleep last night because I couldn't stop singing United songs in bed (haha), and now I can't think straight at work (may or may not be true :). It's a good thing I'm all caught up with my work (true!)... maybe God has blessed me with a light work day so I can reflect on last night! haha.
The concert was awesome. Last year I stood in the pit right in front of the stage, but this year I stayed up on the balcony. It was a whole new perspective where I could see the roaring thousands of people praising God. And Brooke Fraser (who wrote Hosanna) was there this time too! (she wasn't there last year).
One thing that I wanted to mention though was the organization of the lines before the concert. It was madness! (or at least not as organized as last year). Doors were supposed to open at 6pm, but I remember it being well past 6:30 and the line still wasn't moving. And there were like 4 different lines when we got there. We had to stand in one line to exchange our tickets for wristbands, then we had to stand in the huge main line. There was also another line for "will call" people who had ticket printouts and another huge line for who knows what.
As we were lining up in the main line I see Barry and he comes over and gives me a big hug (or so I thought). He had his arm around me and was whispering "just keep walking, just keep walking" as he pushed me into the line where he was standing. My group followed, and suddenly people behind us were yelling "HEY! they're cutting in line!" and Barry just keeps looking forward. Then a volunteer organizer came up to us...
organizer(to me): "Were you guys here already??"
me: "uhhhhhhhhhh"
Barry: "They're with us" *turns around and looks forward again*
organizer(to me): "you guys were here before??"
me: "uhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
me: "we're with them" *points to Barry's group*
from behind us: "They're cutting!"
organizer(to me): "so you guys were already in line??"
me: "uhhhhhhh we're with them" *points to Barry's group, turns around and looks forward*
I always seem to expect people to be able to save places in line. But I know it always sucks when people cut in front of you. But is it really a big deal? If people are trying to spend time together and build relationships with one another then isn't it better that they have the ability to stay together? (I know I might be reaching a little with that excuse haha). So I have a question. When is it okay to cut in line and when is it not okay to cut in line? And is it really a big deal?
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| When I first came back home after finishing school in socal, everything seemed to become a little watered down. In socal, growing was easy... but up here, I felt like I wanted to grow, and needed to grow, but couldn't. Church was unsatisfying. And my laziness didn't help. I began to visit other churches regularly, aimlessly, not knowing where God really wanted me to be. I began to tell people how I was planning on leaving my church... and how convenient it was that, as my church was moving to a newer, futher location, another church was starting up much closer to home. I thought it must be a God thing, how he has perfect timing, etc.
Apparently, that never happened. In visiting other churches, I had a chance to see various strengths and weaknesses. Of course, no church is perfect. But each one has purpose. Just like we are given gifts in different areas for different reasons, churches have their strengths in different areas for different reasons. Someone told me recently (I forget who it was) that they haven't found a church with people who live out God's word as genuinely as the people at my church do. I would be hard pressed to not agree with that.
Over the past year or so, my growth has been steady. Serving at my church has been a blessing. The youth are awesome. I've also been going to a small group outside of my church whose vision seems to go hand in hand with my church's recent vision since the move. I've learned about compassion, community, steeping Jesus and being steeped in Jesus. This growth seems to be building up to something...
Jesus didn't start his ministry until he was 30. A little bit of research also shows that David didn't become king until 30, and Joseph started serving Pharoah at age 30. There seems to be something special about turning 30... is there something special in store for me? I've told quite a few people a while back that if I don't have a girlfriend by the time I hit 30, I'm just going to do the celibate thing. Could that be it? (haha)
WELL it's a good thing I'm only turning 25 this year. I've still got a long way to go. =)
PS -- speaking of birthdays, mine is coming up in a couple of months. Just like the past couple of years, I will be celebrating my birthday with the same certain someone who has the same birthday as me (May 21st) and whose name I won't mention so that I can steal the spotlight (hey, it's my 2-5, the quarter-century mark, kindof a big thing for me). We will be celebrating it the weekend after (May 24). Just a heads up.
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| Hello Cupid. Thank you for your annual reminder of how it sucks to be single. Now go away.
Actually, it is not my intent to xanga about the worthlessness of V-Day to singles, as I might have done in the past, because I don't necessarily agree with the above statement. Even though I just said it. Which doesn't make any sense, I know. You see, just as Paul told the Corinthians, "being single rulez." (1 Cor. 7:8, paraphrased) God's word tells us it is better to be single, right? So really, the tables have turned. Do YOU believe that?
Thank you God, for making me single (for now). I pray that you would be with the less-fortunate unsingles out there suffering through the horror that is V-Day. Also please remove the pink borders around Google Docs and Merriam-Webster online as they are a bit distracting and ugly.
In your Son's name, Amen.
Happy V-Day. That is all.
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| Man! I'm still up at almost 2:00 in the morning because I've been doing homework for class... and I just found out that it's not due this thursday (tomorrow), it's due next thursday! AND the whole time I was doing my homework I was thinking, how can our professor expect us to do so much in such little time! BLAH.
Well I guess since I always stay up late it's not so bad haha. But I could have been doing so many other things! Like I could have just procrastinated even more and did my homework next wednesday night instead! I could have just stayed at the hot pot thing with some friends and played some bang or bohnanza(sp? and why don't they just call it beananza? since it's about beans) but instead I left early to finish up my homework. I could have just played some C&C3 or FFXI or refined some of my Starcraft skills. I could have even gotten some Wii in... haven't done that in a while. But no. Doing homework early instead of procrastinating and playing video games? That's so not me.
Oh well. tomorrow, time to LAN it up with some friends and take on the 4 people vs Derrick starcraft challenge, just like last week =) And just like last week, I'll come out on top again. Yeah, that's what I said.
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