back to basics.

Hello!

It's Sunday afternoon, meaning only one thing for me and my horde of faithful readers -- another addition to this building saga. Where it will end, only God knows...

It's been another good week; nothing all that remarkable happened. It went by really fast, which is always nice. Class is great. I'd love to say I've learned a lot, but it would be more accurate to say that I've just gained some fresh perspectives on certain theological topics. Enthusiastic teaching and inconclusive class discussions can only get so far before we need to put down our pens and acknowledge the ultimate inferiority of our own intellect. That's not to say, however, that theology is a useless pursuit; rather, it is just one field of study that necessitates complete humility. God is so vastly beyond all our understanding that no one could ever claim to come close to comprehension... but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

I'm currently (well, when I'm done this) working on our one-and-only essay for the class. It's an exegetical paper on any passage of scripture, written from the perspective of one of the theologians we covered in class. I'm writing a theological analysis of Psalms 12 with the voice of Gustavo Gutierrez (a Latin-American professor and father of 'Liberation Theology'). In other words, I'm analyzing God's promises to overcome injustice from the perspective of the poor. It really is interesting to contemplate the Gospel from the position of the world's oppressed and suffering. Try it sometime.

Work! Yes, I've worked 6.5 hours since my last post. If you recall, I was really nervous to start, and I was especially nervous before/during my first call. BUT I survived... and, actually, it went really well. I raised $65 for my fellow students! I still have to get more accustomed to our 'scripts' and all of that, but my first two days of work were surprisingly fun. Thank you so much for prayers and encouragement and all that good stuff! I'll start working a full 10-hours a week in February.

*scratches head and tries to remember other matters of significance*

Oh! Swimming is almost over. We'll have practices this week and then our final meet on Saturday. Depending on how well I do there, I might have another month of practices and meets, but I'm not planning (er...expecting) to do very well. It's been fun, but I'm looking forward to moving on.

J-Term will be over on Wednesday, which means by Wednesday night pretty much everyone around here will be gone, save a few athletes and friends from faraway. So I'll have a quiet few days until classes resume on Monday. Maybe I'll blog earlier...

Church this morning was good. We went to a different church down the road, called Country and Town Baptist, to support Elise (she was playing in the worship band). The small-town church experience is a lot different from the regular CLA mega-church service, but I liked it. The message was about the importance of church, and how, well, Christians should go to church. "If we miss church and do not 'miss' church, something is wrong."

Hmm.. well, that's pretty much been life lately. Still waking up late, still doing devos, still going to class, swimming, eating, and now working. I'm excited about the start of Spring Semester, but also a little apprehensive about my workload.

Thanks so much for ... everything!
I hope I've once again quenched your thirst for details, but if there's anything you'd like to know more about, let me know!
J.M.B.


added later:
I just realized I never said anything about what I've done between the regular chores. I wouldn't want you thinking that my life is void of fun... oh no, not at all.

Some extracurricular highlights this past week included a trip to a Salvation Army Thrift Store, movies, and waffles. The second semester has found many students scrambling for jobs or pinching pennies more than ever. Wednesdays at Sal-Val (as it's known) are 50% off most items, and it was interesting to note the number of Messiah kids browsing for vintage T-shirts and flannels.

I watched a few movies this week, the highlight being The Secret Life of Bees in the campus theater on Friday. Getting seated after the lights had dimmed caused me to miss the slightly embarrassing girl:guy ratio. Oh well, I have no shame. It was still a really intense, powerful, moving, heart-warming, movie... and I see nothing wrong with that.

After the movie, a few of us went out for late-night waffles. Nothing hits the spot like a very early morning breakfast. But don't worry, Mom, we got back and were lying snug in our beds by 10:00 pm (give or take a few).

Okay I think I'm really done now.
I'm off to the Fiction Family concert. I'm ticket-taking; it makes me feel important.

Another Day in the Life

Dearest beloved readership,

It's only been six days since the last entry, and I'm back with another! By now, I hope all your fears of your favourite weekly reading slipping into irregularity have been silenced. You can now put those nights of fitful sleep behind you, resting assured in the hope of a new blog every Sunday.

This week went by fast. Actually, truth be told, I don't really remember much of what happened. My class doesn't start until 1 p.m., so the days go by pretty quickly. I wake up late (around 10), do my homework for that day's class, go to lunch, sit in class for three hours, head to the pool at 4, run up to dinner at six, sit around in Lottie for a long time (to avoid the frigid cold outside), and then busy myself with a whole host of fun activities come nightfall.

Class is going really well. If you don't remember, I'm in Intro to Christian Theology. There's been a lot of homework, but it's really educational and interesting.. so it's not so bad. We had our first exam (of three) on Tuesday. I got an A, which, I'm sure, comes of no surprise. We have another test on Tuesday.

This weekend is of the long-variety, thanks to a certain Martin Luther King Jr. I was supposed to spend a day in Harrisburg tomorrow volunteering, but no one offered to take my work shift. So, unfortunately, I'll be sitting around all day (just kidding, I'll be productive) before going to my first Phonathon shift from 5:45 to 9:00. I'm done training (all five hours of it), but now I'm just nervous about remembering everything. Think of me Monday night, sitting in a swivel-chair, glued to a computer screen, trying to move a mouse with sweaty palms.

Continuing completely out of chronological order, Friday night I went out with some friends (a different group -- the 'usual crew' had all dispersed for the long-weekend) to see Defiance -- a new movie about Polish Jews during WWII. Based on a true events, the story of three Polish brothers that shelter Jews in the woods of Belarus could have been told more powerfully. It was still really good, and very informative, but it just .. missed something. I'd recommend seeing for yourself.

Here's something that is of no real relevance... to anything, really, but will give you another glimpse into the hard-knock life of a college kid:
After the movie, we faced a most terrible of circumstances: we were hungry. And if that wasn't unpleasant enough, it was almost 1 AM. Surprisingly, there are very few places to get food at one in the morning. When fast food proved to be out of the question (Eat great, even late? ... psh, whatever...) we turned, in desperation, to the only thing we could find: a gas station. Suffice it to say that a dozen powdered donuts and 3 bags of chips later, we were satisfied. Yet still I ask myself: what is this world coming to when a band of 7 hungry youth can find nothing to satiate their appetites in the wee hours of the morning?

Anyways, swimming season is wrapping up. Work is starting up. J-Term is awesome. Volunteering will start up soon (still waiting to figure out my Spring schedule, including work, before I commit). Devotions have been as consistent as my ice-cream consumption (in other words... they've been daily)... (but, then again, I haven't been eating nearly as much ice cream these days... I guess there's just no time for ice cream with all this time spent in the Word)!

In other news, the Philadelphia Eagles just lost the NFC Championship Game. Most people around here are carrying dejected expressions as everybody's favourite birds just lost their shot in the Super Bowl. I'll admit I was a tad disappointed too; enthusiasm for these things is quite contagious.

So that's life: class, homework, fun, friends, God, work (not, by any means, in that order). Thanks again for all your prayers.

If you want anything from me, just ask.
J.M.B.

aannd ... we're back!

Dear readers,

It’s been way too long. A new semester has brought a new schedule and new activities that seem to threaten the regularity of your most beloved blog. For this, I apologize. But I assure you that I’ll be back into the swing of things soon.

Since we last spoke (or.. I spoke, you listened), I spent two and a half wonderful weeks at home for Christmas and fun with family, friends, and a little special someone. It actually felt like a vacation. When I was younger, I’d hear Grandparents staying at our house say that they were on vacation, and I could never really fathom that spending time at 1 Dalecroft Circle could feel like a vacation. But that’s exactly what it felt like for me! No schoolwork and plenty of time to spend with the people I love most. And then there was Christmas and New Year’s! Jinkeys, it was grand!

One of the greatest things about the break, actually, was the little digital recorder that I received for Christmas. I recorded a good five or six songs over the break with a whole bunch of talented people. (If you’d like to request a copy of any of these acclaimed cover songs, just send me an email. Go for it… ask me. They might be worth something one day. ha..)

But, as a wise (and seemingly pessimistic) person once said, “all good things must end.” So I left all the joys of home behind and looked forward to all the joys of school ahead of me. … Now, before you spill your coffee or knock something over at reading such a paradoxical proclamation (“joys of school”), I just want to assure you that I do, in fact, find joy in my schooling. Yes, you may gasp, laugh in my face, or call me a liar, but I will not deny that I really do love school.

I’m currently in the midst of J-term, which is essentially an entire semester crammed into three weeks. We take one class for three hours a day over 15 days. The homework abounds and the reading is unending, but I’m taking theology and learning a lot. Classes consist of a lot of deep thinking and inconclusive discussions, but my teacher is great; he’s only 25(ish) and really enthusiastic about the material.

I’ve also started training for my Phonathon job. I have one more session later this week and then I’ll hopefully start working next week. I’m pretty nervous, though, about my first few calls as there is a lot to remember and a very high likelihood of rejection… So I’d appreciate prayers for that.

Speaking of prayers, I feel like I should dedicate at least a portion of this blog to something very exciting that’s been happening recently. Basically, I’ve really started to focus on spending more personal time with God. It’s one thing to spend your college years in a wonderful, safe, nurturing environment, but it’s quite another to try and live your faith actively. And actively is how I want to live. I’ve been more faithful with my devotions than ever thanks to a very reliable and encouraging accountability partner (thanks, kk). I went down to the Agape Center with a friend the other day and collected some ‘literature’ on serving opportunities around the community; I’m planning to fit some volunteering into my schedule for the Spring. I figure my priorities have been shamefully self-centered recently and that definitely needs to change. Which gets me thinking…

A lot of people say college is the “time that people define themselves.” I can attest first-hand that this is true – people fill their time with all sorts of things (everything from video games to dance classes) in hopes of solidifying their identities. But I’ve talked to a few people who feel really discouraged with this new college lifestyle, that it’s not as fulfilling as they’d expected. Admittedly, I felt myself sharing many of those sentiments earlier on this year. I was busy, but I was feeling sort of aimless; I’m in a perfect little bubble, surrounded by the nicest people and given the greatest opportunities, but it doesn’t feel quite right to spend all this time and energy focused solely on myself. I mean, the goal of ‘tertiary’ education might be to beef up my resume and gain lots of valuable experiences, but I don’t think that my greater purpose as a Christ-follower needs to be compromised in the meantime. On the contrary, I feel like all of my goals for college (good grades, lifelong friends, rewarding experiences, adventures abroad) need to first be rooted in a desire to seek God and see his work accomplished through me. And if I can do that and have a fulfilling, enriching, and challenging experience at college, then this mammoth investment called Messiah will be worth every penny.

So that is that.

In other news, swimming is great. Well, truth be told, I haven’t been going to any morning practices lately… but it’s just so darn early. I just barely touched out another guy at our meet on Saturday to win the 50 free. There was no one really good in the event, but it was still pretty fun to win something and to add points to the team’s score. And I got a personal best time, which is always fun.

Class is going well; we had a test today that was way easier than I expected it would be. Or maybe I was just surprised by my own razor-sharp intellect. Yeah, I’m going with the latter.

Anyways, I think I’ve pretty much summed it all up. As I said before, if you want to hear those songs I recorded (there’s one each with Mom, Emily, Sam, and Katrina), just let me know. And if you want to know anything else about anything, there’s not a lot I don’t know. Haha.. just joshin’.

Love,
josh

p.s. the mysterious aforementioned accountability partner, enigmatically dubbed “KK,” is actually Katrina Kobayashi… who is actually my girlfriend.

You Are Not Forgotten

Hello!

This is just a quick posting to say "hi" and "I'm sorry." It has almost been a month since my last posting, and even though I am back at school now, I couldn't find the time yesterday to write up a posting. I apologize. My negligence is completely unacceptable. If you are reading this, then I feel especially bad because that means you have been checking the page and seeking the usual riveting tales of adventure that characterize my life. And I have failed to deliver.

Right now, I need to run off to class and lunch and everything, but hopefully I can start on a full post tonight.

I have not forgotten you, my devoted readership. Stay tuned!

j.m.b.