My friend made me a list of things I should do with my life and because my new found hobby is adventure and living a better story I agreed to do my best to complete this list. Let it be known I have every intention of completing this list.
Now, my friend made me a list that she knows I can accomplish but will require me to escape my comfort zone. She said I just have to cross them off as I go about life and that I can do them in what order I want. I will blog about something on the list when I complete one of them.
Here is the list that my friend wrote:
1. Spend a day with someone else from an entirely different culture.
2. Spend one night homeless.
3. Find a place that you can call your own that allows you to think by yourself and relax (preferably with an excellent view).
4. Take a girl that you are interested in out on a casual date, just to take that first step to get to know her (and be honest about your intentions and what you are doing).
5. Sing karaoke at a public place.
6. Go swing dancing (or try a style of dancing that interests you).
7. (While we're on the topic of jazz) Visit the Jazz club in St. Paul, it's off Wabasha and it's underground!
8. Write five encouraging notes to five people you don't know.
9. Try to eat 6 saltine crackers in under a minute (It's impossible).
10. See how many licks it takes to get to the middle of a lollipop.
11. Memorize 3 quotes that inspire you and are totally different from each other (this one's kinda lame I know).
12. Try a new class like Yoga, Kick Boxing, Pilates etc. just once.
13. Create a raft or flotation device and test it out on some sort of body of water... there's at least 1000 of them, you should have no problem with that.
14. Go to a book store and make a list of ten books that describe who you are or who you want to become and why.
15. Watch a sunrise from a top a building (so much cooler than on the ground).
16. Watch a chick flick you swore you'd never watch.
17. Catch up with a friend from high school that you never talked to much in high school.
This is the list. Have a different idea or a suggestion? Leave a comment below!
March 29, 2010
March 21, 2010
Home Bound
Seven o'clock rolls around and I wake up at six forty-five getting the best sleep I have gotten the whole week while at New Orleans. I could tell I got a good sleep because I felt like I did and because I had super crazy hair.
When I got up I almost automatically went into my normal routine of putting on my work jeans, my "I <3 N.O" t-shirt, and my green bandanna but then I realized that it was part one of the travel home.
The group was in for a twelve-hour drive today which is the longest Bethel will let us go for one day. We got gas and set our course for Hannibal, Missouri which is the home of Mark Twain.
Mark Twain isn't even his real name. It's Samuel Clement or something like that.
Long story short, we made it there, hence why I am able to write about it now. I navigated the whole time for two different drivers. We ate at Subway.
To keep the driver awake during the final stretch we played a lot of rap music, and we played a christian rap CD that the guys from the church gave us. Some of the songs they sang, some were other guys. It was pretty good.
I went to bed that night tired from all the car riding. I went to bed watching the National Geographic Channel which was doing a documentary on two beaver families. One family was the wily old veterans while the other was the young in-love beaver family. The young family didn't do so well building the home for the winter but they made it which was a relief for me watching because I was rooting for them.
Day two of the journey consisted of us waking up at five so we could get to Bethel by the afternoon. I drove seven hours all the way through Iowa to Bethel. It was a good time but I am still never going to get a minivan. Also, Iowa is definitely on the top five list of top boring states to drive through.
I did miss one exit but just turned around to fix it.
The GPS can be deceiving sometimes.
And that is the end of the journey. A week in New Orleans, The Big Easy, or The City Care Missed.
Some Information:
I stayed here
This is the church
I worked through this
When I got up I almost automatically went into my normal routine of putting on my work jeans, my "I <3 N.O" t-shirt, and my green bandanna but then I realized that it was part one of the travel home.
The group was in for a twelve-hour drive today which is the longest Bethel will let us go for one day. We got gas and set our course for Hannibal, Missouri which is the home of Mark Twain.
Mark Twain isn't even his real name. It's Samuel Clement or something like that.
Long story short, we made it there, hence why I am able to write about it now. I navigated the whole time for two different drivers. We ate at Subway.
To keep the driver awake during the final stretch we played a lot of rap music, and we played a christian rap CD that the guys from the church gave us. Some of the songs they sang, some were other guys. It was pretty good.
I went to bed that night tired from all the car riding. I went to bed watching the National Geographic Channel which was doing a documentary on two beaver families. One family was the wily old veterans while the other was the young in-love beaver family. The young family didn't do so well building the home for the winter but they made it which was a relief for me watching because I was rooting for them.
Day two of the journey consisted of us waking up at five so we could get to Bethel by the afternoon. I drove seven hours all the way through Iowa to Bethel. It was a good time but I am still never going to get a minivan. Also, Iowa is definitely on the top five list of top boring states to drive through.
I did miss one exit but just turned around to fix it.
The GPS can be deceiving sometimes.
And that is the end of the journey. A week in New Orleans, The Big Easy, or The City Care Missed.
Some Information:
I stayed here
This is the church
I worked through this
New Orleans : Day 6
This was the last day of working in New Orleans. It would be a shorter work day and then the day would end with what they called, "The Closing Ceremonies" which made me automatically think of the Olympics.
I imagined all of the teams walking down the street holding the flag their group is affiliated with and then we would all circle up with the Olympic song playing. I couldn't really imagine it past that because I wouldn't know what else we would do.
Maybe pass on some sort of torch to something?
So this day I helped clean the church where our group had eaten breakfast and listened to people speak because they were having some sort of inspection next Tuesday. I helped change light bulbs and that was about it. It took us awhile to find a ladder, because in New Orleans all the ceilings are super high and so are the light bulbs. Then we had to replace all the light bulbs in the exit signs because they were all burned out.
We didn't have any new light bulbs for the exit signs so Bill had to go get some but when he came back he didn't come back with enough so we just put one bulb in all the exit signs instead of the two it required. This was weird for me because I would think you would do a good job instead of just going half way with it.
The closing ceremonies consisted of us filling out some forms and having some people talk and that was it. No fireworks or torch passing like I had imagined.
After the ceremonies we hopped in our vans, ate some food, and drove down to the Lower Ninth Ward which is where the levees broke and everything started flooding. It was pretty desolate, all the houses pretty much got demolished because they had a lot of damage I guess.
There were some newer houses though, supposedly the new ones where the ones donated by Brad and Angelina and they looked cool but they didn't look like true New Orleans style housing. They all had solar panels for roofs and funky architecture.
We also stopped by a memorial showing how high the water got everywhere
After that, we ate Domino's Pizza, the new and improved formula, and it was a lot better in my opinion.
Later on, we went back to the French Quarter which is where Bourbon Street is and we saw how the night life differed from the afternoon life was like there.
There was loud music, lots of people, lots of beads, and that was about it. I think we saw a drunk guy so our group walked a little faster and faster to get away from him. It is kind of weird how fast all the guys in the group went into super protective mode. It was like a flip of a light switch. All of a sudden we form a perimeter around the girls and get ready for whatever.
I spent the rest of the night just chatting it up with people on my team which I enjoyed.
That was my Friday, my last day in New Orleans, we were set to leave the next morning at seven which will be continued in the next post.
I imagined all of the teams walking down the street holding the flag their group is affiliated with and then we would all circle up with the Olympic song playing. I couldn't really imagine it past that because I wouldn't know what else we would do.
Maybe pass on some sort of torch to something?
So this day I helped clean the church where our group had eaten breakfast and listened to people speak because they were having some sort of inspection next Tuesday. I helped change light bulbs and that was about it. It took us awhile to find a ladder, because in New Orleans all the ceilings are super high and so are the light bulbs. Then we had to replace all the light bulbs in the exit signs because they were all burned out.
We didn't have any new light bulbs for the exit signs so Bill had to go get some but when he came back he didn't come back with enough so we just put one bulb in all the exit signs instead of the two it required. This was weird for me because I would think you would do a good job instead of just going half way with it.
The closing ceremonies consisted of us filling out some forms and having some people talk and that was it. No fireworks or torch passing like I had imagined.
After the ceremonies we hopped in our vans, ate some food, and drove down to the Lower Ninth Ward which is where the levees broke and everything started flooding. It was pretty desolate, all the houses pretty much got demolished because they had a lot of damage I guess.
There were some newer houses though, supposedly the new ones where the ones donated by Brad and Angelina and they looked cool but they didn't look like true New Orleans style housing. They all had solar panels for roofs and funky architecture.
We also stopped by a memorial showing how high the water got everywhere
After that, we ate Domino's Pizza, the new and improved formula, and it was a lot better in my opinion.
Later on, we went back to the French Quarter which is where Bourbon Street is and we saw how the night life differed from the afternoon life was like there.
There was loud music, lots of people, lots of beads, and that was about it. I think we saw a drunk guy so our group walked a little faster and faster to get away from him. It is kind of weird how fast all the guys in the group went into super protective mode. It was like a flip of a light switch. All of a sudden we form a perimeter around the girls and get ready for whatever.
I spent the rest of the night just chatting it up with people on my team which I enjoyed.
That was my Friday, my last day in New Orleans, we were set to leave the next morning at seven which will be continued in the next post.
March 18, 2010
New Orleans : Day 5
Thursday. Today was a busy day. We all did the usual routine of getting up early in the morning and eating breakfast then we went off to work.
My groups assignment for the day was to clean up the lot next to the very house we were staying at.
We moved a lot of rocks and got to use a sledgehammer at one point which made me feel very manly. I basically became a landscaper for the day, moving around a lot of dirt and therefore getting very dirty.
Mom, I will need new socks when I get home because mine are pretty much ruined.
Also, my shoes that I have worn so dearly for the last two glorious years are on their last breath. I will have to move to those newer shoes sitting in my closet.
That pretty much took until quitting time where we then had to drive to have a prayer walk around a community.
Basically all we do is walk around the neighborhood in a group of five or so and prayer whenever we feel called or pray with people that come out and want prayer.
We prayed over some water, a house with a lot of dogs, an abandoned school, some houses, and a woman named Donna.
Donna had a shirt on that said, "I was blown and f*#@$* by Katrina, what a whore" which kinda pushed me away at first but she was very kind. I silently prayed her unsurpassable worth and how she was a creation bringing heaven on earth. We walked around a community that was being built up before Katrina and because of the hurricane it hasn't been restarted since. So in some places were foundations and others were older houses. Supposedly the water there was about six feet high after Katrina.
After that we went to a block party and ate hot dogs, chips, and water.
After that we went back and showered which was nice because I was feeling really dirty then. I had become tanner by way of dirt.
We hung out for awhile then the guys of our team "serenaded" the girls of our team with an acoustic version of "Down" by Jay Sean. It was ok, we messed up the rap part of the song.
After that we all came down and ate some craw fish. It was kind of spicy and made my lips tingle. For those of you who don't know what craw fish are they're basically like shrimp and they don't have that much meat.
Throughout the rest of the night I watched people color Hello Kitty posters and played some Uno which was pretty relaxing.
Well friends, tomorrow is my last official work day. I'll be back on Sunday.
My groups assignment for the day was to clean up the lot next to the very house we were staying at.
We moved a lot of rocks and got to use a sledgehammer at one point which made me feel very manly. I basically became a landscaper for the day, moving around a lot of dirt and therefore getting very dirty.
Mom, I will need new socks when I get home because mine are pretty much ruined.
Also, my shoes that I have worn so dearly for the last two glorious years are on their last breath. I will have to move to those newer shoes sitting in my closet.
That pretty much took until quitting time where we then had to drive to have a prayer walk around a community.
Basically all we do is walk around the neighborhood in a group of five or so and prayer whenever we feel called or pray with people that come out and want prayer.
We prayed over some water, a house with a lot of dogs, an abandoned school, some houses, and a woman named Donna.
Donna had a shirt on that said, "I was blown and f*#@$* by Katrina, what a whore" which kinda pushed me away at first but she was very kind. I silently prayed her unsurpassable worth and how she was a creation bringing heaven on earth. We walked around a community that was being built up before Katrina and because of the hurricane it hasn't been restarted since. So in some places were foundations and others were older houses. Supposedly the water there was about six feet high after Katrina.
After that we went to a block party and ate hot dogs, chips, and water.
After that we went back and showered which was nice because I was feeling really dirty then. I had become tanner by way of dirt.
We hung out for awhile then the guys of our team "serenaded" the girls of our team with an acoustic version of "Down" by Jay Sean. It was ok, we messed up the rap part of the song.
After that we all came down and ate some craw fish. It was kind of spicy and made my lips tingle. For those of you who don't know what craw fish are they're basically like shrimp and they don't have that much meat.
Throughout the rest of the night I watched people color Hello Kitty posters and played some Uno which was pretty relaxing.
Well friends, tomorrow is my last official work day. I'll be back on Sunday.
New Orleans : Day 4
Wednesday. Happy St. Patty's Day! Today was a typical same old schedule where we get up at 6:45, get dressed, and walk the one block to the church to eat breakfast. Today was some egg and ham thing which I didn't really like so I ate other things.
After that we listened to some lady talk about poverty but she never really got on the topic of poverty which was weird. She kept telling us that she wasn't a good public speaker so I didn't really pay attention.
Instead, I read the Bible because she had passed out Bibles. I went to one of my favorite funny Bible verses which is Hosea 3:1 because it has "sacred raisin cakes" in it depending on what version you read and because sacred raisin cakes seem funny.
I then started reading from Colossians and the next thing you know I had already read a chapter which was weird because the Bible has always seemed to drag on when I read it.
I haven't read the Bible in a long time. I only hear it on occasional Sundays and a couple times in class. Reading the Bible this time though was interesting, different, and poetic. I don't know whether it was from taking a long break from reading the Bible or from reading lots of books about the Bible.
Maybe a little of both.
Next thing you know the message is over and we are on our way to work.
It was chilly in the morning and rained just a little bit so for the first part of the morning we were working in mud. It heated up though and got nice out.
The first half of the day I cleaned off a curb that basically had not been cleaned in a long time judging from the build up of mud and weeds on the street. I found a pile of fire ants which I was told to stay away from so I did. Supposedly those things are nasty.
The second half of the day I watched a chainsaw guy cut up a massive tree and we helped roll away the pieces to the side of the road. It was a very large tree, so much so that two big pieces are still sitting in their original spot because they were too heavy.
After working we took a little break and then hopped on the vans and went to go play with little kids again. I played frisbee with some guys and then we got in our circle groups.
I am on the blue team and on our team today was Josh and Orlando.
We played a relay game where we would run around the circle with a football or a baton. I slipped going around the circle in the same spot I slipped twice the day before. Naturally, I was embarrassed but I got back up and ran harder for one reason only.
We have a chant everyone does before the games. The leader goes, "click, click" and we shout, "we don't quit!". We chant this many times among other cheers.
So I don't quit, Josh doesn't quit, Orlando doesn't quit.
All of us never quit.
We slip, we get back up. We fail, we try again, and again, and again.
I want to say that I have gone through life with a kind of quitting attitude. Where I set my limit and then when I reach it I can start to slack off when I know I can do better. I want to start the "click click we don't quit" mentality of my life.
I want to say I'm off to a good start so far. I've never been on a mission trip. I've never been to New Orleans and I've never really put myself out there as much as I have down here.
Here's an example:
One of the games we had to do was to make up a team cheer with everyone. We had to include our team name, blue, and our motto, all people are sinful, in our chant.
There was also green with God loves me, red with Jesus died for me, and yellow with I need Jesus to be my best friend.
For our chant we had a few people say, "all people" in a cool beat pattern and then Orlando and I came in with, "are sinful!". Our part was fun because we use get to use our falsetto voices for the "sinful" part. My leader said it was funny to watch because I had my crazy hair and my head would go back when I would try to scream sinful in a falsetto voice.
At the end we did this little dance thing were we would all get in a big circle arm in arm and then the leader would scream, "leg up," and we would all raise our leg. Then the leader would yell, "and stomp," where we would start stomping on the ground. Next the leader would scream, "let me see you (insert dance move here)" and everyone would reply back with, "what's that you say?". We would repeat that three times and then we would do that move as we would make a smaller circle then go back and return to our original circles.
I got to be a leader on this one and we did the spider-man. Other leaders chose the superman, the stanky leg, the cockroach, and the funky chicken.
All things I would normally never do and all totally worth doing.
We got ice cream after dinner and now I'm just waiting for the dryer to get done with some laundry. I'll be back on Sunday y'all.
After that we listened to some lady talk about poverty but she never really got on the topic of poverty which was weird. She kept telling us that she wasn't a good public speaker so I didn't really pay attention.
Instead, I read the Bible because she had passed out Bibles. I went to one of my favorite funny Bible verses which is Hosea 3:1 because it has "sacred raisin cakes" in it depending on what version you read and because sacred raisin cakes seem funny.
I then started reading from Colossians and the next thing you know I had already read a chapter which was weird because the Bible has always seemed to drag on when I read it.
I haven't read the Bible in a long time. I only hear it on occasional Sundays and a couple times in class. Reading the Bible this time though was interesting, different, and poetic. I don't know whether it was from taking a long break from reading the Bible or from reading lots of books about the Bible.
Maybe a little of both.
Next thing you know the message is over and we are on our way to work.
It was chilly in the morning and rained just a little bit so for the first part of the morning we were working in mud. It heated up though and got nice out.
The first half of the day I cleaned off a curb that basically had not been cleaned in a long time judging from the build up of mud and weeds on the street. I found a pile of fire ants which I was told to stay away from so I did. Supposedly those things are nasty.
The second half of the day I watched a chainsaw guy cut up a massive tree and we helped roll away the pieces to the side of the road. It was a very large tree, so much so that two big pieces are still sitting in their original spot because they were too heavy.
After working we took a little break and then hopped on the vans and went to go play with little kids again. I played frisbee with some guys and then we got in our circle groups.
I am on the blue team and on our team today was Josh and Orlando.
We played a relay game where we would run around the circle with a football or a baton. I slipped going around the circle in the same spot I slipped twice the day before. Naturally, I was embarrassed but I got back up and ran harder for one reason only.
We have a chant everyone does before the games. The leader goes, "click, click" and we shout, "we don't quit!". We chant this many times among other cheers.
So I don't quit, Josh doesn't quit, Orlando doesn't quit.
All of us never quit.
We slip, we get back up. We fail, we try again, and again, and again.
I want to say that I have gone through life with a kind of quitting attitude. Where I set my limit and then when I reach it I can start to slack off when I know I can do better. I want to start the "click click we don't quit" mentality of my life.
I want to say I'm off to a good start so far. I've never been on a mission trip. I've never been to New Orleans and I've never really put myself out there as much as I have down here.
Here's an example:
One of the games we had to do was to make up a team cheer with everyone. We had to include our team name, blue, and our motto, all people are sinful, in our chant.
There was also green with God loves me, red with Jesus died for me, and yellow with I need Jesus to be my best friend.
For our chant we had a few people say, "all people" in a cool beat pattern and then Orlando and I came in with, "are sinful!". Our part was fun because we use get to use our falsetto voices for the "sinful" part. My leader said it was funny to watch because I had my crazy hair and my head would go back when I would try to scream sinful in a falsetto voice.
At the end we did this little dance thing were we would all get in a big circle arm in arm and then the leader would scream, "leg up," and we would all raise our leg. Then the leader would yell, "and stomp," where we would start stomping on the ground. Next the leader would scream, "let me see you (insert dance move here)" and everyone would reply back with, "what's that you say?". We would repeat that three times and then we would do that move as we would make a smaller circle then go back and return to our original circles.
I got to be a leader on this one and we did the spider-man. Other leaders chose the superman, the stanky leg, the cockroach, and the funky chicken.
All things I would normally never do and all totally worth doing.
We got ice cream after dinner and now I'm just waiting for the dryer to get done with some laundry. I'll be back on Sunday y'all.
March 17, 2010
New Orleans : Day 3
This will be my Twitter-like blog. It will be shorter.
Breakfast at seven. Work at nine. Mowed a lawn at ten.
Found lots of cockroaches under wood piles. Those things can survive atomic bombs?
Worked more at different location. Took bathroom break.
Met a family who lost their 22 year old from a shooting. Bill prayed for them...with his bluetooth earpiece in.
Cleaned up trash. Walmart run. Played games with little kids again. Grass stains. Wanting to play disc soon.
Shower. Dinner. Yum. Petted Muscles, neighbors dog. Made up new game we call Hoodball.
Played Hoodball. Drove over 24 mile bridge. Got Sonic. Cherry Limeade. Yum.
Tired. Going to bed. Twitter journal.
Breakfast at seven. Work at nine. Mowed a lawn at ten.
Found lots of cockroaches under wood piles. Those things can survive atomic bombs?
Worked more at different location. Took bathroom break.
Met a family who lost their 22 year old from a shooting. Bill prayed for them...with his bluetooth earpiece in.
Cleaned up trash. Walmart run. Played games with little kids again. Grass stains. Wanting to play disc soon.
Shower. Dinner. Yum. Petted Muscles, neighbors dog. Made up new game we call Hoodball.
Played Hoodball. Drove over 24 mile bridge. Got Sonic. Cherry Limeade. Yum.
Tired. Going to bed. Twitter journal.
New Orleans : Day 2
Monday, today we got up and ate breakfast around seven.
We ate and then listened to some pastors talk about stuff. I would have been paying attention but I was so tired from everything we did from the day before.
The part that I did pay attention to was boring and I didn't like it. I guess when you listen to a lot of good speakers and read a lot of good writers everyone else seems second rate.
They used war terminology at times which I don't like because I don't think God, war, or violence should be used together all that much. I also felt weird because I didn't close my eyes when we prayed which I blame Boyd for but it was weird when I did close my eyes because I would doze off to sleep.
In the early afternoon they shipped us off two blocks down the road to the "hood." What we did after that was all the same. We separated into teams and cleaned up abandoned lots. I picked up lots of glass, trash, and weeds. Our team leader was a guy I call bluetooth earpiece guy.
I later found out that his name is Bill, he is from Nebraska, and he doesn't like my Texas Longhorns hat. Bill wears his bluetooth earpiece all the time and it bugs me. He gave a sermon with it in, he prayed with it in, he talks to you with it in. I want to tell him to take it out because I can't take him seriously when he wears it but I refrain from that and just pick up my trash.
After we returned from the "hood" we took a quick break then hopped back on the vans to some local neighborhood where we played games with little kids.
After that, we went back to the church where I climbed a tree to get a kickball to play four square with some of the team members.
Then, I took a shower and laid on my air mattress getting some rest before the even more planned activities. I went back where we heard more sermons, sang more songs, and prayed more prayers. If I were to use a spiritual cup analogy I would say they sucked it all out of me because I was tired, physically and mentally, from all the church we were doing.
We were scheduled to mop and sweep the church when the service was over so we did that then watched a bunch of guys play basketball. I went to bed tired and got ready for the next day.
We ate and then listened to some pastors talk about stuff. I would have been paying attention but I was so tired from everything we did from the day before.
The part that I did pay attention to was boring and I didn't like it. I guess when you listen to a lot of good speakers and read a lot of good writers everyone else seems second rate.
They used war terminology at times which I don't like because I don't think God, war, or violence should be used together all that much. I also felt weird because I didn't close my eyes when we prayed which I blame Boyd for but it was weird when I did close my eyes because I would doze off to sleep.
In the early afternoon they shipped us off two blocks down the road to the "hood." What we did after that was all the same. We separated into teams and cleaned up abandoned lots. I picked up lots of glass, trash, and weeds. Our team leader was a guy I call bluetooth earpiece guy.
I later found out that his name is Bill, he is from Nebraska, and he doesn't like my Texas Longhorns hat. Bill wears his bluetooth earpiece all the time and it bugs me. He gave a sermon with it in, he prayed with it in, he talks to you with it in. I want to tell him to take it out because I can't take him seriously when he wears it but I refrain from that and just pick up my trash.
After we returned from the "hood" we took a quick break then hopped back on the vans to some local neighborhood where we played games with little kids.
After that, we went back to the church where I climbed a tree to get a kickball to play four square with some of the team members.
Then, I took a shower and laid on my air mattress getting some rest before the even more planned activities. I went back where we heard more sermons, sang more songs, and prayed more prayers. If I were to use a spiritual cup analogy I would say they sucked it all out of me because I was tired, physically and mentally, from all the church we were doing.
We were scheduled to mop and sweep the church when the service was over so we did that then watched a bunch of guys play basketball. I went to bed tired and got ready for the next day.
March 14, 2010
New Orleans : Day 1
I am currently laying on an air mattress in New Orleans at this place called "The Yellow House." I'm here in a room with all the guys from the Bethel team while a group of guys from San Antonio, Iowa, Kansas, and Harvard (the school) are in a room to my right and left.
If you want to stereotype a Harvard guy right now I will tell you they snore, and snore loudly.
We entered the southern states yesterday and got to our hotel around 5pm. We immediately went to our rooms where we were welcomed with big beds and a very fancy looking shower. You know it was a cool shower because the first thing we talked about when we got back together for a meeting was the showers.
We then decided to jump in the outdoor pool which the hotel said would be cold but us being the Minnesotans we are we thought that they meant southern cold and not northern cold. So we all jumped in and then got out right away because it was cold, very cold.
For dinner we went to a pizza buffet place.
After that some of us went to Wal-mart. It was an experience, for me at least.
I should have noticed from the parking lot that this was not going to be a nice Wal-mart. Shopping karts were scattered everywhere. On the inside only about five checkout lanes were open so the lines were long and no self checkout lanes were open. The people working there seemed very impersonal, almost like they didn't want to interact at all which was different than what I was used too. I forgot that Minnesota nice is non-existent in Louisiana.
That night we played the game Mafia and we were to loud because the room next to us called the front desk and they had to tell us to get quieter.
And that was yesterday, and today I was a tourist, camera and all. Walked around downtown New Orleans, saw a bunch of "Who Dat?" t-shirts, and walked by a lot fortune tellers. Does anyone know what "Who Dat" actually means? I also saw multiple stores basically selling sex and a male wearing fishnet leggings and a skirt that was way to short.
It's been quite the culture shock so far to say the least. More to come later.
If you want to stereotype a Harvard guy right now I will tell you they snore, and snore loudly.
We entered the southern states yesterday and got to our hotel around 5pm. We immediately went to our rooms where we were welcomed with big beds and a very fancy looking shower. You know it was a cool shower because the first thing we talked about when we got back together for a meeting was the showers.
We then decided to jump in the outdoor pool which the hotel said would be cold but us being the Minnesotans we are we thought that they meant southern cold and not northern cold. So we all jumped in and then got out right away because it was cold, very cold.
For dinner we went to a pizza buffet place.
After that some of us went to Wal-mart. It was an experience, for me at least.
I should have noticed from the parking lot that this was not going to be a nice Wal-mart. Shopping karts were scattered everywhere. On the inside only about five checkout lanes were open so the lines were long and no self checkout lanes were open. The people working there seemed very impersonal, almost like they didn't want to interact at all which was different than what I was used too. I forgot that Minnesota nice is non-existent in Louisiana.
That night we played the game Mafia and we were to loud because the room next to us called the front desk and they had to tell us to get quieter.
And that was yesterday, and today I was a tourist, camera and all. Walked around downtown New Orleans, saw a bunch of "Who Dat?" t-shirts, and walked by a lot fortune tellers. Does anyone know what "Who Dat" actually means? I also saw multiple stores basically selling sex and a male wearing fishnet leggings and a skirt that was way to short.
It's been quite the culture shock so far to say the least. More to come later.
March 13, 2010
Squeaky Windshield Wipers, A Sex Sign, and a Kia Minivan
We made it to St. Louis last night at around 2am and now its 8am and we're back on the road already. We all are a little short of sleep so the people sitting behind me are currently sleeping, or attempting to sleep.
I currently am holding the position of navigator which chooses the music and helps keep the driver company. I don't even navigate because I'm in the car that doesn't have the GPS so basically the car I am in just follows the first car.
Yesterday we departed from Bethel at 5:00pm. We drove non-stop to someplace in Iowa. We stopped in what seemed like a sketchy place, even for Iowa. It was dirty and had a bunch of cars going by blasting rap music.
Along the way though we drove by a store by the name of Purely Pleasure. It had one of those big signs that displays the time and temperature but also displayed other sayings such as, "sex is great and our toys are too.". It was in the middle of nowhere too but I assume that since they have a display sign they are doing alright. I imagined the owner of the shop; wondering what his life must be like. I also wondered if he likes his job.
But this brings me back to an Iowa gas station in what seems like a sketchy area. We all had to use a bathroom in this gas station which had an "out of order" sign on it but everything worked so I don't know what was out of order. This gas station sold a lot of liquor, like wall to wall liquor.
Some guy was restocking the shelves and I was standing there waiting for someone to get done in the bathroom. He asked me if I was from Texas because I was wearing my UT Longhorns hat. I told him no that I'm just a fan. He smiled and I smiled and I got the feeling, or the impression, that he was a very friendly guy. He left though to go restock some more and now I am wishing I made some more small talk with him.
After that Iowaian ( Iowaean, Iowaite, Iowation?) gas station the weather got pretty bad, it rained, poured, visibility was low and we had to pass many semi-trucks which is scary in good weather if you ask me. We took another small break a couple hours later and that is when it was my turn to drive.
Before I drove though we got gas. And before I drove I sat in the back seat listening to a squeaky windshield wiper going back and forth which was annoying to the driver and the navigator at the time. At the gas station we checked out this squeaky windshield wiper and I'll spare you the details of the damage but we fixed it pretty easily and because we fixed it we felt manly so we checked the oil to feel more manly.
Then I drove and the rain still was coming down but not as worse as before. I drove this Kia minivan and for those of you who like minivans, shame on you. It was like driving a suburban but it was a lot lower and I don't how those things are safe at all because they have a huge blind spot. This is my rant on minivans. I shall never own one of those things.
I drove until we got to St. Louis and i was surprised I made it that far. My navigator kept me awake and played a random shuffle of music that we would sing along too.
The only event that really occurred was having a rock hit the windshield causing a little dent crack thing.
It's now 9am and we are still heading southbound. More to come later.
I currently am holding the position of navigator which chooses the music and helps keep the driver company. I don't even navigate because I'm in the car that doesn't have the GPS so basically the car I am in just follows the first car.
Yesterday we departed from Bethel at 5:00pm. We drove non-stop to someplace in Iowa. We stopped in what seemed like a sketchy place, even for Iowa. It was dirty and had a bunch of cars going by blasting rap music.
Along the way though we drove by a store by the name of Purely Pleasure. It had one of those big signs that displays the time and temperature but also displayed other sayings such as, "sex is great and our toys are too.". It was in the middle of nowhere too but I assume that since they have a display sign they are doing alright. I imagined the owner of the shop; wondering what his life must be like. I also wondered if he likes his job.
But this brings me back to an Iowa gas station in what seems like a sketchy area. We all had to use a bathroom in this gas station which had an "out of order" sign on it but everything worked so I don't know what was out of order. This gas station sold a lot of liquor, like wall to wall liquor.
Some guy was restocking the shelves and I was standing there waiting for someone to get done in the bathroom. He asked me if I was from Texas because I was wearing my UT Longhorns hat. I told him no that I'm just a fan. He smiled and I smiled and I got the feeling, or the impression, that he was a very friendly guy. He left though to go restock some more and now I am wishing I made some more small talk with him.
After that Iowaian ( Iowaean, Iowaite, Iowation?) gas station the weather got pretty bad, it rained, poured, visibility was low and we had to pass many semi-trucks which is scary in good weather if you ask me. We took another small break a couple hours later and that is when it was my turn to drive.
Before I drove though we got gas. And before I drove I sat in the back seat listening to a squeaky windshield wiper going back and forth which was annoying to the driver and the navigator at the time. At the gas station we checked out this squeaky windshield wiper and I'll spare you the details of the damage but we fixed it pretty easily and because we fixed it we felt manly so we checked the oil to feel more manly.
Then I drove and the rain still was coming down but not as worse as before. I drove this Kia minivan and for those of you who like minivans, shame on you. It was like driving a suburban but it was a lot lower and I don't how those things are safe at all because they have a huge blind spot. This is my rant on minivans. I shall never own one of those things.
I drove until we got to St. Louis and i was surprised I made it that far. My navigator kept me awake and played a random shuffle of music that we would sing along too.
The only event that really occurred was having a rock hit the windshield causing a little dent crack thing.
It's now 9am and we are still heading southbound. More to come later.
March 12, 2010
Preparation
Tomorrow, which is actually today(it's kind of late), I will be heading off into uncharted waters as I make my way to New Orleans.
I am excited.
I feel very supported going on this adventure. For the last week or so I have had people telling me that they're happy for me for going and I got an email today telling me someone I don't know will be praying for me specifically which seems a little awkward but I'm all for it. I feel that my friends and family support me in what I am doing and have been there ever since I told them about how I wanted to go on this trip, to do something with my life, and to live a better story.
I chose New Orleans because I didn't want to go overseas. That seemed like too big of a step and it wasn't a hoop I wanted to jump through. I set a reasonable goal(America), something that I knew would be challenging, but could be completed.
I picked up the application kind of on a whim and I looked at it on my desk for a couple of days contemplating whether I should go or not. In the end, I just went with it, setting the rest of the story in motion.
I don't have any expectations for this trip and I am alright with that because if I had expectations I would probably set them too high, so that they could never be reached. So I come in with no expectations, kind of open to whatever the Lord has planned for me. I think that I just have to keep myself open to what the Lord wants me to do and listen.
As Greg Boyd puts it, "keep asking yourself, 'am I present?'"
It basically means be present in every moment to what the Lord is telling you like right now,
and right now,
and right now.
So I am planning on keeping a journal while I am down there. Actually, the group of people want you to keep one so all of us will probably be keeping one while down there. I don't know if I will have time to post anything while I'm down there but maybe when I come back I will post them.
Anyway, all ten or so people that read this, this is what I am doing for the next week. I will come back with stories...maybe, probably, hopefully, no guarantees but I would bet on it. That sort of thing.
I am excited.
I feel very supported going on this adventure. For the last week or so I have had people telling me that they're happy for me for going and I got an email today telling me someone I don't know will be praying for me specifically which seems a little awkward but I'm all for it. I feel that my friends and family support me in what I am doing and have been there ever since I told them about how I wanted to go on this trip, to do something with my life, and to live a better story.
I chose New Orleans because I didn't want to go overseas. That seemed like too big of a step and it wasn't a hoop I wanted to jump through. I set a reasonable goal(America), something that I knew would be challenging, but could be completed.
I picked up the application kind of on a whim and I looked at it on my desk for a couple of days contemplating whether I should go or not. In the end, I just went with it, setting the rest of the story in motion.
I don't have any expectations for this trip and I am alright with that because if I had expectations I would probably set them too high, so that they could never be reached. So I come in with no expectations, kind of open to whatever the Lord has planned for me. I think that I just have to keep myself open to what the Lord wants me to do and listen.
As Greg Boyd puts it, "keep asking yourself, 'am I present?'"
It basically means be present in every moment to what the Lord is telling you like right now,
and right now,
and right now.
So I am planning on keeping a journal while I am down there. Actually, the group of people want you to keep one so all of us will probably be keeping one while down there. I don't know if I will have time to post anything while I'm down there but maybe when I come back I will post them.
Anyway, all ten or so people that read this, this is what I am doing for the next week. I will come back with stories...maybe, probably, hopefully, no guarantees but I would bet on it. That sort of thing.
March 01, 2010
Journal Entry | 2.20.2010
I wrote this on February 20, 2010 (hence the date on the title). At that moment I felt like God was impersonal and that I was using Him as some sort of tool to make me look better. Anyways, I figured out that God isn't to be made into some tool but rather we're supposed to have a relationship with Him and that's what I've been working on in my life lately.
An Impersonal God
Right now I'm laying in a sleeping bag getting ready to sleep on the ground of an infant playroom in some church.
I'm at a prep retreat for my mission trip to New Orleans during spring break. It's a little sleepover thing where we learn about what were doing and bonding with the team so it's not super awkward when we go down there.
All night long we've been sharing our stories of our lives. We made a time line of our walk with Jesus where we wrote down five significant events that impacted our lives.
I wrote down accepting Jesus in my life when I was seven, my youth group leaders in grade school, NLA, Baylor, and Bethel. I then had to deal with telling everyone in my group about it. I wasn't worried about it really but after I was done giving my little spiel of words I was disappointed in my speech. I was cliche and bland, made generalizations, and it was just disappointing to say the least.
Before I started writing this I was in the sleeping bag playing a card game on my iPod. I have won this game fifty times since the end of January which basically means to me I have a very boring uninviting life.
That's what I should have said in my little speech. That my life right now is a complete and utter boring mess and I signed up for this trip to jump start me living a better story. Or at least it was when I signed up for it.
Right now, months after signing up for this I feel very distant from God. Well, distant isn't the word. I feel lost, out of sync, stranded, and alone. I feel I have made my relationship God into a political self-help book God. That I'm just using Him as some big tool for me to write about and argue about. Jesus seems to have become impersonal to me or better yet I have become impersonal to God.
I've been reading about lifeboats lately. How we all seem to be trying to persuade everyone that we are worth keeping on the lifeboat and that they should throw someone else off when it starts to sink. We find our worth from those people and try to make ourselves look better through it.
I'm reading about how Jesus came in and said,"Who needs a lifeboat?" It's about finding our worth and love from God only and how that should be enough.
I never want to be considered some thoughtful person or philosophical writer or some creative artist. I don't want that to happen to me. But people tell me I am these things and I find worth in that so I try to personify that type of personality. Always seeming to ask the tough questions with the easiest of whim. Always contemplating life challenges and it's meaning. All I need next is a smoking pipe and one of those big leather arm chairs where I can sit next to a roaring fire and feel important as people come up to me and ask what life is truly about. Yes, I don't want that.
I would rather find worth from my personal God, my dance partner going through life together. I think that is about it. I mean, I like writing my thoughts online but I don't want to be considered some amazing thinker. Just a guy, living out his life, striving to be that beautiful reflection of an intimate Jesus who together are living a better story.
I have now just finished a chapter in a book about this. It is "Searching For God Knows What" by Donald Miller and it goes through his journey also.
Funny how things work like that.
An Impersonal God
Right now I'm laying in a sleeping bag getting ready to sleep on the ground of an infant playroom in some church.
I'm at a prep retreat for my mission trip to New Orleans during spring break. It's a little sleepover thing where we learn about what were doing and bonding with the team so it's not super awkward when we go down there.
All night long we've been sharing our stories of our lives. We made a time line of our walk with Jesus where we wrote down five significant events that impacted our lives.
I wrote down accepting Jesus in my life when I was seven, my youth group leaders in grade school, NLA, Baylor, and Bethel. I then had to deal with telling everyone in my group about it. I wasn't worried about it really but after I was done giving my little spiel of words I was disappointed in my speech. I was cliche and bland, made generalizations, and it was just disappointing to say the least.
Before I started writing this I was in the sleeping bag playing a card game on my iPod. I have won this game fifty times since the end of January which basically means to me I have a very boring uninviting life.
That's what I should have said in my little speech. That my life right now is a complete and utter boring mess and I signed up for this trip to jump start me living a better story. Or at least it was when I signed up for it.
Right now, months after signing up for this I feel very distant from God. Well, distant isn't the word. I feel lost, out of sync, stranded, and alone. I feel I have made my relationship God into a political self-help book God. That I'm just using Him as some big tool for me to write about and argue about. Jesus seems to have become impersonal to me or better yet I have become impersonal to God.
I've been reading about lifeboats lately. How we all seem to be trying to persuade everyone that we are worth keeping on the lifeboat and that they should throw someone else off when it starts to sink. We find our worth from those people and try to make ourselves look better through it.
I'm reading about how Jesus came in and said,"Who needs a lifeboat?" It's about finding our worth and love from God only and how that should be enough.
I never want to be considered some thoughtful person or philosophical writer or some creative artist. I don't want that to happen to me. But people tell me I am these things and I find worth in that so I try to personify that type of personality. Always seeming to ask the tough questions with the easiest of whim. Always contemplating life challenges and it's meaning. All I need next is a smoking pipe and one of those big leather arm chairs where I can sit next to a roaring fire and feel important as people come up to me and ask what life is truly about. Yes, I don't want that.
I would rather find worth from my personal God, my dance partner going through life together. I think that is about it. I mean, I like writing my thoughts online but I don't want to be considered some amazing thinker. Just a guy, living out his life, striving to be that beautiful reflection of an intimate Jesus who together are living a better story.
I have now just finished a chapter in a book about this. It is "Searching For God Knows What" by Donald Miller and it goes through his journey also.
Funny how things work like that.
Frisbee Kingdom
I got thinking about summer because spring is just around the corner and that means school is almost over and that means summer is coming.
Last summer I got into this schedule of playing ultimate frisbee with some people from high school. It was fun. We would run around in our bare feet throwing a frisbee in the air. We would applaud our good throws, of which I had few, and we would encourage people to keep trying when the bad throws occurred.
It was a nice little fun time of playing frisbee. It was never highly competitive or stressful, we just played it cool and didn't care about rules as much as having fun. We had a little frisbee community you could say.
This one time though of my friends yelled down to some complete strangers, asking them to come join us for some, "disc" as we called it.
To my surprise three guys came up right after their hockey practice to come play with us. I guess they were just waiting for their ride home and that ride was late. There were nice guys and I have forgotten their names but they played everything cool. They were better than me at "disc" too which made me feel terribly nonathletic.
Those guys came back two or three times to play with us because before they left we told them what days and times we play and they said they would be back. I really enjoyed that, how our little disc community was so inviting of everyone, we didn't care how good or bad we were, just as long as you had a good time and got to play around with some friends. It is what I imagine as true community, looking out for each other, always inviting for more people to join.
Sometimes after we were done playing some disc we would go to SuperAmerica and get those big 44 ounce slushies because Minnesota does get hot, and humid, and we get tired, and sweat. One time though, we had a huge Vitamin Water van pull up blasting the latest popular song and two people got out and gave us free Vitamin Water. I've never been a big fan of Vitamin Water but when something is free you don't mind anything.
There were two people practicing soccer at the field across from us so we grabbed two more free Vitamin Water's and gave them those because communities share their gifts too. One of the Vitamin Water guys starting throwing the disc around with us too but he didn't stay for long because he had a job to do.
And that is our little frisbee community. A community where our faults are forgiven and the main goal is to always have fun. We look out for each other, scour the car for loose change so someone can get a slushie, give them a ride home, and we share our gifts with strangers around. We invite strangers to come play some "disc" and invite them to come back whenever they want.
It's a frisbee kingdom, bringing a little bit of heaven on earth.
Last summer I got into this schedule of playing ultimate frisbee with some people from high school. It was fun. We would run around in our bare feet throwing a frisbee in the air. We would applaud our good throws, of which I had few, and we would encourage people to keep trying when the bad throws occurred.
It was a nice little fun time of playing frisbee. It was never highly competitive or stressful, we just played it cool and didn't care about rules as much as having fun. We had a little frisbee community you could say.
This one time though of my friends yelled down to some complete strangers, asking them to come join us for some, "disc" as we called it.
To my surprise three guys came up right after their hockey practice to come play with us. I guess they were just waiting for their ride home and that ride was late. There were nice guys and I have forgotten their names but they played everything cool. They were better than me at "disc" too which made me feel terribly nonathletic.
Those guys came back two or three times to play with us because before they left we told them what days and times we play and they said they would be back. I really enjoyed that, how our little disc community was so inviting of everyone, we didn't care how good or bad we were, just as long as you had a good time and got to play around with some friends. It is what I imagine as true community, looking out for each other, always inviting for more people to join.
Sometimes after we were done playing some disc we would go to SuperAmerica and get those big 44 ounce slushies because Minnesota does get hot, and humid, and we get tired, and sweat. One time though, we had a huge Vitamin Water van pull up blasting the latest popular song and two people got out and gave us free Vitamin Water. I've never been a big fan of Vitamin Water but when something is free you don't mind anything.
There were two people practicing soccer at the field across from us so we grabbed two more free Vitamin Water's and gave them those because communities share their gifts too. One of the Vitamin Water guys starting throwing the disc around with us too but he didn't stay for long because he had a job to do.
And that is our little frisbee community. A community where our faults are forgiven and the main goal is to always have fun. We look out for each other, scour the car for loose change so someone can get a slushie, give them a ride home, and we share our gifts with strangers around. We invite strangers to come play some "disc" and invite them to come back whenever they want.
It's a frisbee kingdom, bringing a little bit of heaven on earth.
Biker Chic
This one goes out to Josh who told me to blog every hour during my day off even though that probably won't happen.
This one also goes out to my professor who is gone today and cancelled class.
I was in my basic communication class a couple of weeks ago and we were participating in a class activity. We had been given articles from the Star Tribune newspaper. I don't like the Star Tribune. I don't know why but I have been a Pioneer Press guy every since I was a kid so the Star Tribune is weird to me.
Anyways, my group got an article titled, "Biker Chic," which I pronounced "Biker Chick" until someone pointed out that it was "Chic," pronounced like "Sheek" which was slightly embarrassing for me but understandable. I mean, who ever uses the word chic in a normal sentence?
The article was about a new line of motorcycle clothes for woman which is as weird as it sounds. Pink leather jackets, etc. etc.. I didn't relate to it all and was slightly creeped out by it. I explained the article to my professor and the rest of the class telling them how the article was about woman's motorcycle clothing and how their was some convention coming up where you could find these clothes. My professor asked who the intended audience was and I said woman who drive motorcycles or people who know woman that drive motorcycles.
Eventually we got to how this article defines someone. How it defines woman that drives motorcycles and everyone else. I didn't think that this article had anything to do with my life and that it didn't define anything about me but then my professor said something interesting.
He said how we are defined by what we're not.
This struck me. Defined by what we're not. We define ourselves by choosing not to be something, by not relating to something. Biker Chic helped define who I am by telling me who I am not. I am not a motorcycle enthusiasts or a woman clothing enthusiast. That is who I am. So I got to thinking about other people, famous people, and started defining them by what they are not.
For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was defined by not acting out in violence, same as Gandhi.
So I guess defining yourself goes both ways. We seem to be defined by what we are and what we are not. We sit there and make labels for ourselves usually by what we like and are passionate about but we can also labels ourselves by what we are not. I just had never thought of it that way before.
I still don't like the Star Tribune, but Biker Chic made me not like it less.
This one also goes out to my professor who is gone today and cancelled class.
I was in my basic communication class a couple of weeks ago and we were participating in a class activity. We had been given articles from the Star Tribune newspaper. I don't like the Star Tribune. I don't know why but I have been a Pioneer Press guy every since I was a kid so the Star Tribune is weird to me.
Anyways, my group got an article titled, "Biker Chic," which I pronounced "Biker Chick" until someone pointed out that it was "Chic," pronounced like "Sheek" which was slightly embarrassing for me but understandable. I mean, who ever uses the word chic in a normal sentence?
The article was about a new line of motorcycle clothes for woman which is as weird as it sounds. Pink leather jackets, etc. etc.. I didn't relate to it all and was slightly creeped out by it. I explained the article to my professor and the rest of the class telling them how the article was about woman's motorcycle clothing and how their was some convention coming up where you could find these clothes. My professor asked who the intended audience was and I said woman who drive motorcycles or people who know woman that drive motorcycles.
Eventually we got to how this article defines someone. How it defines woman that drives motorcycles and everyone else. I didn't think that this article had anything to do with my life and that it didn't define anything about me but then my professor said something interesting.
He said how we are defined by what we're not.
This struck me. Defined by what we're not. We define ourselves by choosing not to be something, by not relating to something. Biker Chic helped define who I am by telling me who I am not. I am not a motorcycle enthusiasts or a woman clothing enthusiast. That is who I am. So I got to thinking about other people, famous people, and started defining them by what they are not.
For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was defined by not acting out in violence, same as Gandhi.
So I guess defining yourself goes both ways. We seem to be defined by what we are and what we are not. We sit there and make labels for ourselves usually by what we like and are passionate about but we can also labels ourselves by what we are not. I just had never thought of it that way before.
I still don't like the Star Tribune, but Biker Chic made me not like it less.
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