Glad That's Over...

Well Finals are finished, and I came out with a 3.765. That makes me happy, I got a B in CORE, which was the only one I was worried about at all. I qualify for laureate society which is really cool in case I want to take more than 17 units sometime.


This week I'm in Modesto, I think. I tend to be going all over the place. My first four days were mostly in Fresno, and yesterday was in San Luis Obispo. Fresno was a lot of fun. I went to Hunter and Sarah's wedding. They're so awesome, I love them both, and wish them the best. Party at Christina's for Staff 05 was a lot of fun, sitting chatting about life and plans and the summer, and it was good. I miss those people, they are so great to be around.


Yesterday, I was doing a good deed for my brother, helping him move out of San Luis, and what do I get in return? A speeding ticket from San Benito County. I was on that little stretch of 156 between 101 and 152 where the speed limit is 55 instead of 65. Man, and I had a clean record, well now traffic school for me. It's kind of funny... the night before, I filled out my staff application and wrote that I had no moving violations, ever. Hmm... oh, well.

Have a Merry Christmas!
-Z

Dead Week...

Well, I guess that's accurate. I feel dead. It's supposed to be the week when we are all getting ready for finals, and there is no homework, just studying. Psh, yeah right! I've been up later this week than any other week this semester and have or have had many projects and essays due, as well as a couple of tests.

Last night I stayed up until four reading Bruchko. I intended to wake up at seven and start working on an essay for it, but I was barely conscious enough to set my alarm, and forgot to set it to AM. So I started my day two hours behind schedule and five minutes late for an IJM (International Justice Mission) meeting. Nobody else was there except Christina, who is president, which is a bummer, but then I didn't feel because I didn't just walk in on a bunch of people. I did end up writing the Bruchko essay, and I think it came out all right. (I got a 46/50 on my Miracles essay by the way, my highest essay grade of the year.)

On to noon, Calc test today, optional however. He drops the lowest test score, so I wasn't too worried, my lowest test score was an 88 I think. So I sit down to my test and do 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10 in 20 minutes. Number 5 had me stumped for some reason. I know this stuff! I know I do. It says "Change the order of integration and evaluate." So I sit there for 30 minutes trying to convert to polar. Why? I have no idea. Then it occurred to me to read the directions again. It said change the order not change to polar. Dang it! Oh well, the test took me two more minutes, then I turned it in. What a waste of a half hour.

Today in discussion group there were some pretty interesting questions about how to deal with contradictions in the Bible. Someone accused me of using generic cop out answers, but he had no argument against them. Then he would say "Yes, I agree with you, but..." Sheesh, if you agree then stop arguing with me. Essentially he was trying to argue that we cannot lead people to believe in God unless we can describe Him in purely scientific terms, stuff they can understand. But God is not within the bounds of science, he cannot just be given chemical properties and name and that's that. There's this very important part of Christianity called faith, and without it there's nothing. If those who we try to minister do not have faith, and refuse to have faith, then they are lost. That faith is how we can understand Him to the extent that we do. Yes, we would be able to convince a lot more people of Christ's saving grace if it was something that could be put into simple words and calculations, but if it was that simple, would it be worth it. I don't think so, I think there's a reason why we can't fully understand what He has done for us, because it's that great, it's beyond human thought. Well, maybe I'm just repeating myself now, but that's how I feel on the subject. So pretty much, God is Awesome and I can't explain it.

So yeah, back to essays, projects, and such.
-Z

Winter Retreat...

Once again, I apologize for the wait, since I know there are a whole bunch of you who eagerly await each of my posts. Since my most recent post, I've been living in snow, and plenty of it. It's white all over the place and I love it. I know this might just jinx me, but I have not fallen yet, and I'm very proud of myself for that.

This weekend was the Winter Retreat at Camp Spalding for the High School group at Whitworth Pres. I had a room of only three guys so we had some really good discussion and bonding. I also led a small group of about twelve guys that was focused on a deeper understanding of our relationships with God than the typical camp "get saved" sermon. I feel like this was a great opportunity for me to open up with these guys who I am going to be with for the next four years, and form relationships with them. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them as the year goes on.

This weekend was also a good growth experience for me. I grew closer to God and came to realizations about burdens that I am carrying, burdens that I should have given to God long ago, but refuse to give them up. I spent many hours in prayer about these things, and I ask anyone who reads this to also pray for me. I thank God for the opportunity that he provided me with this weekend, and know that He has worked through me and through these young men to strengthen them and me.

Two weeks 'til Christmas Break (that feels so good to type since all of my childhood it was 'Winter Break' at public schools). That means one week until finals. I'm kind of looking forward to them, I mean, they're better than doing tons of homework--I'd rather take a test any day. But this week is anything but a dead week (unless of course they mean it will kill us). There is plenty of work to be done because profs want to catch up on all the material right before finals.