Inspiration

I tend to gravitate to inspirational messages, here's something I heard on a commercial and had to track down:

Nobody ever set their sight on second place.

Who aspires to be almost remembered?

There’s a reason there are no giant foam fingers that say "we’re #3"

No one wants to tell an average joke,

make an underwhelming entrance,

go out with a whimper,

No one ever stood in front of the mirror with a hairbrush pretending to be the tambourine player.

And there are definitely more kids dressed as batman than robin.

We all aspire.

It's been a long time comin'

Why am I back? Well a few reasons.  One being that life of the unemployed is just so demanding, I mean I have shopping to do, tv shows to catch up on, books to flip through.  The second reason is pure inspiration from this guy.  If you haven’t read anything by Jon Acuff, I strongly encourage you to do so.  I find myself laughing out loud every time I read his blog, no matter where I am- alone in my room or in a very public coffee shop.  His take on Christianity is very real because it is infused with average Joe stuff, current events, even entertainment references.  Did I mention, he's HILARIOUS.  I’m not kidding- this guy knows what’s up.  If 'thou shall not covet' wasn't a commandment, I'd totally would.  Anyways, so here I am, blogging again.  What’s my first post in a year’s time going to be about? No pressure.

Well, I’ve recently been spending a lot of time at different local coffee shops and book stores and there’s something I’ve noticed...  When the people around me are talking about God and faith and church stuff, my heart always swells up.  Humanity is not completely doomed like I thought! What’s more, when it’s young people, my heart swells to the point of bursting!  As I write this, there’s a group of 7 elderly people discussing what’s going on in their church.  These people are graying and retired, so there's not much else to do but spend quality time with God.  But when it’s a young person! My gosh! What do you mean, they didn’t need to get drunken blackouts and the haze of youth out of their system?! Nooo.  Earlier today (I told you I spend a lot of time at coffee shops) the girl beside me pulled out her heavily annotated Bible and began to journal.  Part of me wanted to lean over and ask what she was reading; what was the message God was placing on her heart. This is all good and great.  But then why is it that sometimes when I pull out my Bible in a public place I screen the people around me.  I mean I wouldn’t want to offend anyone.  Sometimes I feel like I’m living in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.  So then I just go on and on in my head about what’s acceptable these days, why should I care about, wait,  I should be able to read, speak, wear the Bible, wait wait, I wouldn’t want to cause a scene of sorts or receive atheist glares. It’s exhausting. So I came to my own conclusion... to use intellectual judgementalism (whoa, Religious Ethics and Moral Problems reference). It's a concept that points out being PC can dilute matters to no opinion at all.   But, you aren’t going to save the sluts that walk to class in a miniskirt or the alcoholics that enjoy a beer or two on a Friday night- and shouting that they’re all going to hell across grounds [college campus] most definitely will not bring people to Jesus.

With that being said, you rock that Jesus flare.  

Beautiful the mess we are...

It's a real wonder how God works.  In the midst of tragedy, confusion, and lose, the work of the Lord is found at it's best.  I can't get myself to blog about the recent death of a friend but I will list some characteristics that made him one of a kind, there will only ever be one Kerolos Makhloof:

- Always smiling

- Knowledgeable about the Word

- Active Christ seeker, no matter the circumstance or environment

- Epitome of goofball 

- Acceptor of the differences of those around him

- Humble in his wisdom

- Giver of sound advice

- Embodiment of happy

- Carefree of worldly desires

- Removed from triviality 

- Reconciler

- Role model brother and friend

- Server of his community- church and school

- Defender of his culture

- Discourager of nonsense

- Strengthener of faith

As you can see, the list is endless.  I hope that years from now, I will still remember how amazingly God worked through Kerolos and continue to strive to be a little more like him.  

Fad

Earlier this year there was a new 'fad' of drinking 4 lokos, an alcoholic energy drink that I've heard will make you go crazy/ not allow you to sleep.  Now, there's Smirnoff's ICED campaign where you take a knee and down their beverage.  It's the 'cool' thing to do.  I don't get it.  How can there be fads on alcoholic drinks, more importantly why?  Who even has the time to come up with such silliness, get a real job.  Some things I will never appreciate as a young adult-- I think I'm okay with that.

Netflix Shmexflix

I am by no means trying to bash Netflix here. Actually, I love the concept and Netflix has served me well in the past; first year of college Kelly had a subscription and it fulfilled our Wednesday afternoon escape. Five of us would climb up into one bed (well two pushed together) to watch whatever was delivered to us earlier in the week before our 5 o’clock dinner. But the fact that it has taken out all rental stores out of business is not okay.  Part of the fun was strolling around for an hour without a particular movie in mind, sifting through the aisles and reading the back of the dvds.  I feel like with Netflix you have to know what you're looking for- thus eliminating the possibility of finding a classic, old movie that you have forgotten about.  Anyways, a rental store was going out of business near home so my best friend and I thought it would be a good idea to buy the dvds.  $40 [each] later, we sat in the car trying to justify what we did, something of a norm for us- well that's what happens when Netflix becomes a monopoly.

who puts the STUD in studying?

JESUS of course!! The Center for Christian Study, also known as THE STUD, has been my little haven this semester. The small library consists of two wooden tables, a stretch of windows that outlook the Blue Ridge Mountains, and shelves of books about religion and faith. Not only did this bring me peace in my time of stress and reminded me that "this too shall pass" but the staff there are more than generous. During exam week, they spoil us with 3 free meals a day, God bless them.

Hey Y'all

I've been made fun of my usage of the word ya'll, but I am far from the southern belle or Georgia peach.

BUT...
I've come to realize that there are more country songs that are 'bearable' on my list.  Rather, there are more and more country songs that I actually enjoy.  I thought Wagon Wheel and Fast Cars and Freedom would be the exceptions to the rule. 

Here's my new obsession:

Note: Lady Antebellum does not count, as I've explained to numerous folks before, they realized they weren't country enough for CMT, so they finally hit mainstream