Unspoken Broken

Way back in January I made it a goal to try to take one picture a day. This lasted about a week. The idea was that I would generate blog ideas and post some good shots. But once I lost my daily internet access and the charge on my camera I gave up. But hey, these are the daily photos from six days of persistency.

The "New" Apartment

Best Milkshakes Between Tacoma and Portland

A Good Plan(ner)


Pete's Sweet Ride


Red Express O


White Guys Can Only Jump When Out of Focus

Alphabet soup?

Seeing as that I'm slightly behind pace to reach the thirty book goal, (Darn you Brothers Karamazov!) I need a new challenge to boost enthusiasm. Thus the alphabet list. My new goal is to read a book for every letter of the alphabet. The rules are simple. A-Z, no author repeats, titles beginning with A or The will count for the second word. (The Kalevala = K) Numbers will count as they are spelled. (1984 = N) I may decide to throw X a curve ball and just choose a title that has the letter in it. So here's my list so far:

A: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
B: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patherson
C: Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
D:
E: Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, but Nobody Wants to Die: Or The Eschatology of Bluegrass by David Crowder
F: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
G: Guliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
H: I Am Legend by Matheson Richardson
I:
J:
K:
L:
M: Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
N: 1984 by George Orwell
O: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
P:
Q:
R: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
S: The Shack by William Young
T: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
U:
V:
W: The Watchmen by Alan Moore
X:
Y: The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michal Chabon
Z: Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...brains by Ryan Mecham

Thought for Food

• What am I going to do without Bella Carollie?
• First Tomatoes, then Jalapenos, and now Hot Pockets?
• Can Jimmy Buffett write a song that doesn't involve food or drink?
• How much must I pay for invisibility?

Grit and Grime

In an effort of grand exploration I went for a float down yonder river. It was grand. It was exploratory. It was hot. It was muddy. I was barefoot. I made it home and tried to convince my roommates that the most Christlike response would be to wash my feet.
"What Would Jesus do?" I asked.
"Jesus would wash your feet. But society would deem that....weird," Dale responded, "I'll pass."
John was my only remaining hope and I continued to press the argument. John, get in here and wash my feet!" I yelled this time hoping my pastor like enthusiasm would elicit a response.
"No."
"What Would Jesus Do?"
"Jesus is in here sitting on the couch watching TV."
You just can't beat that argument. These days even Jesus can't resist the Simpsons.

On Summer and Roosters

1. I read much faster when it isn't for class.
2. I've underestimated mustard for quite some time now. We have some catching up to do.
3. Contrary to popular belief Christian Slater isn't a smuck.
4. Tillamook Ice Cream is really really good.
5. Doctors should recommend ten hours of sleep. Society would benefit.
6. The Corn Flakes commercial is deceiving, Roosters don't crow once, they crow until the sun has reached the highest point in the sky.
7. My neighbor has a Rooster.
8. The city doesn't discourage Rooster enthusiasts.
9. The city probably should.
10. Rooster enthusiasm is rather selfish.
11. The alarm clock has rendered city Roosters obsolete for some time now.
12. Roosters should probably go back to their roots: egg making.
13. If doctors recommended ten hours of sleep Rooster enthusiasm would decline.
14. Society would benefit and I wouldn't hate my neighbors.
    

Prostrate Fate

The problem with class extensions is that there is still the deadline to meet and procrastination to defeat. To stare seven papers in the face with only three days left to prepare ponder and process only proves that I am a foolish foolish man.

Why I Am Not An Active Blogger

• I do not own the internet.
• I value spare time.
• Facebook
• Cooking for yourself is difficult.
• The Multnomah Bloggershere hates fallacy driven posts.
• Creativity + Academics = Maybe Next Time
• I cannot spell.
• I am often on the fence.
  
• I am literally "between" my job.
• I once ran for president
• took dating nominations
  
• and tire of tooting my own horn.
• I went to Germany again, which has become an annual post stopper.
• I buy books faster then I read them.

Bucket List

Click to Enlarge

That Thing Going Around

I've been a little under the weather lately. I'm suffering from a classic case of privileged amnesia. Basically, I forget just how spoiled I am. Usually chicken soup is a good solution, but in extreme cases like mine the broth is cold and unsatisfying. Bed rest isn't much help either. The privileged amnesiac is sensitive to bed sores and prone to late night pillow fluffing and sleeping on an arm. Drinking plenty of liquids can help; however, alcohol is not recommended. The best prescription is a strong dose of humble reflection, but I like to throw in a little sarcasm and public self ridicule. My petty complaints could all be worse. That pain in my stomach (literal, not figural) could have been appendicitis, but it's probably just gas. My two hour drive to Portland could have been a two hour walk for water. My bad hair cut could have been a freak chainsaw accident. My speeding ticket could have been a loss in the Iowa Caucus. A little perspective confirms that my snivels are slim in comparison to real complaints. After all, I still have my head. And, despite the haircut, I'm not Hillary Clinton.

My Demographic

Usually I loath all things church marketing (see toungue speaking t-shirts), but I managed to drive past a pretty creative church sign. It read:

JANUARY SERMON SERIES:
NEW YEARS RESOLU-
BLAH BLAH BLAH!

It pretty much restored my hope in church creativity. All while making me wish I had put a bit more effort into my resolution avoidance. I'm sad to say all it took was a little competition and I was salivating at the mouth with ambition and goals. Anyway, here is my BLAH BLAH BLAH...

1. Read thirty books. (15 classics, 15 others)
2. Go on at least three dates.
3. Keep track of money earned and money spent.
4. Get at least a 3.5 GPA.
5. Follow up on Post Graduation Plans.
6. Make bike riding a habit.
7. Lose 20 pounds.
8. Start a mourning routine.
9. Check two items off my things to do before I die list.
10. Don't move back home. (Dad's house)

Extended Adolescence and the Church

I stumbled upon this article by John Piper. Essentially it describes the phenomenon of extended adolescence and how the church should respond. Which I just don't see happening. Everything I've experienced leads me to believe that "Adultolescents" will continue to be one of the most neglected groups within the church.

Piper writes:

How might the church respond to this phenomenon in our culture? Here are my suggestions.

1. The church will encourage maturity, not the opposite. “Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).

2. The church will press the fact that maturity is not a function of being out of school but is possible to develop while in school.

3. While celebrating the call to life long singleness, the church will not encourage those who don’t have the cal to wait till late in their twenties or thirties to marry, even if it means marrying while in school.

4. The church will foster flexibility in life through living by faith and resist the notion that learning to be professionally flexible must happen through a decade of experimentation.

5. The church will help parents prepare their youth for independent financial living by age 22 or sooner, where disabilities do not prevent.

6. The church will provide a stability and steadiness in life for young adults who find a significant identity there.

7. The church will provide inspiring, worldview-forming teaching week in and week out that will deepen the mature mind.

8. The church will provide a web of serious, maturing relationships.

9. The church will be a corporate communion of believers with God in his word and his ordinances that provide a regular experience of universal significance.

10. The church will be a beacon of truth that helps young adults keep their bearings in the uncertainties of cultural fog and riptides.

Mark2.14

As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth.
"Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

Oh, To Hear That Call.

To Drop Everything.
To Follow.

Top 10

Posting your top ten books list seems to be in vogue and in an effort to stay hip I will contribute mine. However, I am in no position to list books in any sort of order. So I will step out in true trend setter fashion and post my favorites from the last year. In mind boggling order they are:

1. The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer
2. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
3. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
   
4. Hurt by Chap Clark
5. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
   
6. The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborn
7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
8. Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students by Richard R Dunn
9. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky

Combustable Class

When I took this semester off from school I had no idea I would be trading my pen and paper in for my steering wheel. These are some of the notes from my recent lectures on the road:

• It is possible to rake from atop an electric scooter.
• If in a hurry, you may honk twice at an intersection. Once before the light turns green and again after it has turned green.
  
• Jesus can purchase billboards.
• Honor students can't fight.
  
• If you have the right of way you must yield to others.
• If you don't have the right of way, and you haven't taken it you are holding up traffic.
• To change a diaper in a moving vehicle, set the baby on the dashboard.
  
• It is easier to find a Starbucks then a parking space.
  
• Yellow ribbons can reproduce, but must not crossbreed with black ribbons.
• Eye contact with the driver next to you will earn you the finger.
• Oregon drivers can't drive.
  
• The merging speed is 45mph.
• Only hemroids can tailgate.

The Vine and the Branches

I Knew Star Wars Was Prophetic

It's for real.

The Dicotomy of Deutschland

Feb. 19, 2007

It is 8:40 in the morning, day four of our excursion. I've noticed quite a lot of differences between ministering to the high schoolers here and the middle schoolers back home. A lot of it just goes with the differences between middle and high school. I'm not sure if the rest is cultural, significant to only army brats or what. One difference is that there is no defiance here. The students are always happy to comply and you never have to tell them anything twice. The staff here equates that to the fact that they are the student leaders. Anothere difference is that there is no need to probe the students to open up. None of them are shy and they aren't afraid to let you know who they are. As I've watched them interact I've noticed that they have formed a bond, but it doesn't look to run very deep. This is just my assumption, its hard to say with much accuracy without really knowing them. My guess is that with moves every two to four years it would be difficult saying goodbye if you have connected with them at that deep of a level.
Today is the last day of the retreat. Every part of this weekend has really come together. The highlight has to be Saturday's chapel. Rob, our youth min teacher, spoke about forgiveness. He opened with a clip from Lost, so you knew it was going to be good. The clip highlighted Sawyer and the letter he has carried around with him since he was a child. In the letter he writes to the man who killed his parents. He promises to find him and kill him. Rob then shared about what had happened to him and his parents' death in an auto accident. He then pulled out a letter of his own, written to the man who killed his parents. Rob read his letter to the group. He wrote that he hopes to find this man so that he will know that he has been forgiven by both Rob and God. Rob then invited the group to work out the issues that they have been holding on to and to work on being able to forgive themselves.

The Faushing Parade.

A German cell phone.

My Bratworst and B...sprite.

Coolest bathroom ever.

We had a Vday shindig.

A German Journal

Feb. 17, 2007

It's 11:23pm American time, or 8:24am in Germany. I can't change the clock on my cellphone for some strange reason, so I've developed a system the reveals the time here in Germany. I call it "The what time is it over here?" system. I take the American time and subtract it by three hours, then i switch the pm to the am. It's weird thinking that if I were home I'd probably be avoiding my homework by aimlessly wandering the dorms as opposed to having just waken up. I am no longer chilling in a castle, nor is there any hot water. Lame. I need to shower like Rosanne needs marriage counseling. We have finally met our students and have kicked off the camp. We spent most of the day yesterday working on last minute arrangements and awaiting their dinnertime arrival. it's been a blast over here so far, I defiantly have to come back. Maybe I'll jump at that summer internship. It'll get me back in time for wedding season, unless Jon has something he's not telling me about.

I got locked in the bathroom.

The view from the bathroom window.

Tempting, I know.

I guess when its overcast you can smell the rubber.

I spent a lot of time in that bathroom.

The German Memiours

Feb. 15, 2007

I write from atop a zebra bed circa the Rocky Horror Picture Show from within a German "castle." That's right, a castle. It's more like an ancient mansion then a castle, but it has the spiral staircase, chandeliers down ever hallway, that drafty castle feel, and more rooms then my dorm building. I went for a wander last night and got lost. Apparently this place was built in the 1600s by some bishop. It is currently seven something in the a.m. I'm not really sure because my cellphone is dead and set to American time, which is probably two or three in the am. (Its actually ten pm) I have a whole new respect for jet lag. I've always underestimated its powers, but now I know the extent of its grasp. We flew out yesterday, or rather, day before yesterday at 1:30pm (Portland time) and arrived at eight in the morning (Germany time). But I'm pleased to sacrifice a days worth of sanity in order to say that I've witnessed a sunrise and two sunsets within 24 hours. Although I was to disoriented to fully appreciate everything I'm impressed with what Germany has to offer. The cars are all incredible and the vandalism is beautiful. I have no clue how the people here navigate the roads but they sure do know how to drive. I feel as if I was born for these roads.

The Exit signs here rock.

The "castle" of residency.

The Rocky Horror Picture Bed

Your average castle driveway.

I guess Ashton is a cell phone mogul.

Contentment.

How long has it been since we have focused on what is there instead of what is missing? We call it contentment. It is being completely absorbed with a moment. Ignoring want or need. We often confused contentment with complacency. Which makes its quest a rare occurrence. But it still manages to catch us off guard. A moment beside a waterfall, a child's giggle, a rush of wind through the hair, and a warm cinnamon bun give us all a reason to pause and breath in. We are content. But we soon move on, looking forward to bigger and better days while continuing to pay our dues. Contentment becomes that pause between heartbeats. It is no longer that whistle while we walk but rather that distant bleep on our ever crowded radar screen. Paul says that contentment comes "through him who gives me strength." It is divine adequacy, being dependant on God and not the circumstances of our lives. It is much harder these days to be dependant on either. Dependence on a God who is neither finite nor definable is a difficult task. Likewise our lives never climax. The next stage of life is always greener.

Is contentment in a world that constantly thirsts for more attainable?

It is a world of discontent and I walk it well. In high school I couldn't wait to go to college. In college I couldn't wait to go to "big boy college." And now... Now I'd like to be married, or at least know who I'd like to marry. I'm sure that will be followed by the quest for kids, and finally retirement. Where I will look back at life and wish I could do it again. But this time I won't exhale.