Very Cool Time Lapse Video

I would love to be able to make things like this!

So cool.

Summing It Up

I posted a blog on May 27th of last year. I copied and pasted it into wordle and this is the bubble cloud of words.

I think this pretty much sums it up.

Purpose

Please finish this sentence.

My purpose is…

thoughts?

My Desktop

Here is a screen shot of the windows I had open during class yesterday.

Four of those are class-related and yes…one of them is a chat window.

Maybe I should pay attention a little more?

A Sunday Afternoon…

In Minnesota:

I am studying ::: (sort of)

Drinking some hot chocolate ::: (because it’s freezing here!)

And I’m watching football. Overall it’s not a bad Sunday afternoon.

I miss home ALOT and I’m ready to get back, but it could be worse. I’m thankful for the opportunity, (plus this hotel bed is really comfortable).

Oh yeah….it’s SNOWING here too! SNOW! Can you believe it?

Are you jealous?

andy ::

Something to Check Out…

If you’re a leader, or a human, you may have a tendency (like I do at times) to make decision that include other people with the motive of how it will effect us. I want to be loved, validated, accepted and appreciated and sometimes, unfortunately, that desire may sneak in and become the driving force behind why I do some of the things I do.

The gang over at Deadly Viper have dome some pretty cool writing on this over the last week. Check it out and let their words sink in and challenge you. Ask yourself, “Why do you do the things you do?” and be honest. It may be painful to answer, but it’s the best thing you can do for yourself in the long run.

A Message for Courtney

Day 3

It’s a little after 5 here in St. Paul, right now. One hour behind what I am normally used to in Ohio. So the stomach is starting to growl and the eyes get heavier a little earlier than usual while I’m up here. It’s draining to sit in one classroom for almost 9 hours in one day learning about the same thing and do that for four and a half days. As week one hits “hump day” and we find ourselves on the latter end of the week, here are 10 things I’ve learned:

1. Hermeneutics (the study of interpreting the Bible) is more complex and complicated than I originally anticipated. (and I anticipated a lot)
2.  Minnesota’s weather can turn on a dime. (Sunny and making me sweat one day, near freezing and rain within a day and half – with snow on the forecast within a few days)
3. The accent up here is very cool.
4. Cheese & Broccoli soup is better than cream of chicken soup.
5. You can watch the entire first season of 30 Rock in the time it takes to drive up here.
6. I am in a group of very passionate followers of Christ.
7. I am not the smartest one in this group. (That’s an easy one).
8. I miss my family, my home and all of my friends more every day.
9. There are lakes everywhere! (Minnesota is known as the state with 10,000 lakes…it’s true!)
10. I want so desperately for people to understand that God loves them that this trip is worth it because sometimes people tend to misrepresent a hope and love that is so real and it turns people off. I want to make a difference in that.
11. It’s really cold up here. (I know that’s an extra one. But it’s simply TOO cold to be only the 3rd week in October!)

I’m over halfway done with week one
and even though the sky shows no sun (it’s cloudy)
I will wake up and greet each new day
with the hope that I’ll be smarter when I go away

oh my goodness, did that just rhyme? did i seriously just write four whole lines and somehow they rhymed??

ok ok, i did that on purpose. sadly, i spent way too much time on that too.

that’s just how tired I am!

Practical vs. ?

Over the first day and almost a half of school, I’ve found that there is a LOT of conversation and discussion on some very deep theological issues. They seem to take a huge chunk of time that we could be spending on other things, but I realize that this is what we are working towards…understanding these issues.

And from that, I find my dilemma.

I want to be able to take this stuff and turn into a practical, actual way to tell people about an amazing God that is so easily and commonly misunderstood. My hope is that from the deep, theological, philosophical conversations comes a bright light, piercing and penetrating of the fresh new way to see God, His Word and His passion for our lives.

In what ways have you found a chasm between what you want to know and how to make that knowledge practical?

Day 1

So, the first official day of my graduate school career has come and gone and I survived. The way the school works for me is that I have 4 quarters a years. Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. During the Fall and Spring, I spend 4 weeks working online, 2 weeks on campus and 4 more weeks online after that. Winter and Summer, all 10 weeks are online.

So, this is my first quarter and I had 4 weeks to do stuff online and the next two weeks I am in St. Paul, Minnesota where the Seminary is located. Since I got all through the year, the way they have classes scheduled is in such a way that I am only scheduled for 2 major classes this quarter.

Every day of this week, all day, I spend on one class. Next week, everyday, all day I spend on the second class. So it’s literally nearly a work week’s time worth of one class each week.

This week: Hermeneutics. Learning how to properly interpret Scripture.
Next Week: Transformational Leadership. Pretty self explanatory. Leadership that transforms.

So day one was good. Lots of crazy stuff to think about. Met some cool people. I’m tired though. Very tired.

Just a little snippet….here is my lovely new Student ID.