I Need Another Book

I finished "The Magicians' Nephew" by C.S. Lewis today. It's
the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It was pretty
good, but not incredible. It seemed slightly geared toward
children. I do really like the magical imaginary worlds that
Lewis comes up with. It's really cool to be able to retreat to a
place like that in you mind. I'm not sure if I'll continue in the
series. Maybe once I can get them at home, if we have them.
But now I need to find another book. I really don't want to buy
one. Especially when we have so many great books at home
that I can get for free. Maybe I'll go to our school library or
something. Whatever I do I need to do it before I leave for choir
tour.

In my theology 2 class today, we talked more about Calvinism
verses Arminianism. It's good stuff. I really like my teacher. He's
a real down to earth, thoughtful guy. He's probably only in his
thirties but he's really smart. And he'll listen to your thoughts or
ideas with respect and try his best to help you understand. I agree
with most all of his views too. He holds to the calvinist viewpoint.
The more I hear him talk about it the more I'm sure that that's what
I believe. We have a pretty good class. People just ask questions
freely and truly try to understand God's word.

So I'm trying to stop popping my joints. hehe Bet you're glad to hear
that. It's pretty hard to get out of the habit. But I'm going to prove
to
myself that I can do it if I try hard enough.

I'd just like to say that sleep is great. I'm so thankful for this
particular
goodness that God has given to mankind. It's like, you can be in your
own little world, away from all that's annoying and worrisome. This
is most certainly something that one can look forward to every day.
Even if you have nothing else going for you.

And with that, I'm off to bed.

Roommate Woes

I don't know what it is but Darren's been getting on my
nerves lately. It's kind of hard to explain but you've probably
all experienced someone like him before. For example,
he tends to exaggerate things and even stretch the truth
just to get a good reaction from people. Also, he's not very
sensitive to other's feelings. I know I have my huge faults too,
but right now it's a lot easier to see his.

I'm tired of trying to act like something's funny or act a certain
way just to "please" or satisfy his humor. Know what I mean?
I'm just going to laugh at what's funny and not at what's not.
He's not going to rule over me. Another thing, I'm tired of
letting him look down on me, just because I don't like his R&B
crap or I don't think a perverted movie is funny. Or because I
like healthy cereal and not the sweet stuff all the time. This is
probably sounding really immature and dumb. But I'd just like
to vent a little. I'm really not that upset, I just want to be free of
what he or others think of me.

We had our second to last choir rehearsal before tour today.
I don't think we have our songs down very good. I really really
hope we don't have to cut some of the good classical ones.
There's this latin one that's so pretty. And some others called,
Australian Bush Songs. I will be so disappointed if we have to
cut those for tour.

We are going to ride our bikes to school tomorrow. Hopefully
we'll manage on the busy roads alright.

Sean is leaving for school very soon. I'm very happy for him but
also very sad for me. Life will never be the same. We'll never get
back to our happy carefree childhood again. There will obviously
be good times ahead, but nothing the same.

--->something clever<---

As I was telling Sean, God becomes so great and exciting
when you are able to separate Him from going to church or
doing the right thing. I get so tired of thinking of God in such
a legalistic way. It becomes so freeing when I remember
Him as a relationship. He's so much cooler when He's not
limited by mere Sunday school like stories.

It's also extremely freeing to have an eternal perspective.
These are some thoughts that I like to dwell on because of
the hope that it gives me.

I went to Hillsong church, the one in Hills. It is one of their
main locations. It's pretty big. It probably holds a few thousand
people. I'm not so sure about that church. Here are a few of my
complaints:

1. It seems like they are more focused on numbers and events
than real spiritual growth.

2. They don't seem to take their "message" directly from the Bible.
They seem to take their own ideas and conform the Bible around
them.

3. They put a huge emphasis on supernatural physical healing.
They said that Christ died to free us from our sins and also from
our physical ailments quoting "...by who's stripes you are healed."
I've never heard this before, and thus don't think I agree with it.
I'm certainly not denying God's power of diseases, but I don't go so
far as to say that Christ died to take them away. What's the point of
that? God could have done that without dying. Please let me know
if I'm off my rocker.

On the free shuttle to Hillsong, we met a girl from Fayetville Arkansas.
Isn't that crazy? We just happened to sit next to her. She said she
noticed our accent and decided to ask where we're from.

I've been trying to remember that God's agenda is what's important,
not mine. Especially when praying and during my quiet time. I must
listen more. But it's hard to hear Him. At least my mind tells me so.

The Evil Within

I was listening to Chuck Missler today again while
trying to get home. He talked about the rise and
fall of nations. The cycle was, Bondage to Spiritual
Faith to Great Courage to Liberty to Abundance to
Complacency to Apathy to Dependency and back to
Bondage. I found this a very interesting thought.
Especially when thinking about my own country.
Apparently the only culture that we know of that
didn't follow this cycle was Niniva. The extremely
evil city which Jonah was called to. It was given
another hundred years after the whole city miraculously
repented. I pray that God will have as much Mercy on
America. It's scary to think of America's future when I
know that God is a just God, and won't refrain from
judgment forever.

Today was "Open Day." A promotional event for prosp-
ective students. It was kinda fun. I volunteered to help
set up the booths and such. So I had to get up before
breakfast to get there by 8:30. The choir did a "work-
shop" (practice with people watching) and a short per-
formance. Our first one. It went well over all. We could
have done much better. We're all still getting used to
the songs. I got a glimpse of what tour will be like. We
are leaving a week from today. I can't wait!

The other day I was standing at the bus stop on a fairly
busy sidewalk. I got my iPod out and started browsing
through my music. Something caught my eye to my right
(a car or something) so I looked up and stared for a few
seconds. I was still holding my iPod out in front of me
when a lady walked by and bumped my hand with my iPod.
She nearly knocked it out of my hand but I was able to
squeeze hard enough to hang on to it. I looked up and
saw that it was just a short innocent oriental lady. It sur-
prised me that she didn't even bother to look back, but
kept walking. Right after it happened I became very angry
inside at the woman. Didn't she care that she had just
bumped into me, hard? Not to mention nearly making me
drop my iPod.

I was surprised at how angry I had become. I began to think
about how important the iPod had become to me. If someone
were to do so much as to suggest being without it's use, I
would become very possessive. Could this be a sign that my
iPod has become a god to me? I'm afraid it's a possibility.

Now that I think about it, it reminds me very much of Golem
on Lord of the Rings. I was all fine and happy until the moment
I realized I might possibly have to be without my precious. Then
I turned into something different. Something, dare I say, evil.

Productive Day

Darren was planning on getting a bike today. He found a good
deal at K-Mart. $120 for a descent mountain bike. So anyway,
Wendy was going to take him to get it, and she said she wanted
me to have one too. So she bought it for me! I wasn't expecting it.
She's like, oh it's fine, I've been working a lot lately. She's very
kind. So we both got new bikes today. They're pretty nice. Granted
they're K-Mart but still, they're not bad to get around on. It's going
to be sweet, we can take them on the trains if we want and go to
the city and ride around. No more killing ourselves by walking!

I felt like a got a lot done today. It was a good day. I went to the
immigration department downtown and got a stamp in my passport
so I can work now. I think I will apply at Coles which is a grocery
store near our house. I hear they're hiring. It will be so nice to have
a little bit of an income. I always feel bad spending so much when
I don't have an income.

Since I typed the last paragraph a few minutes have elapsed. I've
been trying to think of something a little bit more meaningful to write.
I can't think of anything. It seems like I haven't had too many deep
thoughts lately. Maybe I just need to sleep.

It's interesting, I've noticed that I've been having a lot more dreams
lately. At least dreams that I remember when I wake up. I think this
means that REM sleep is still occurring at the time that I awake. And
I think that means that I'm not getting enough REM sleep because
my body hasn't finished by the time I have to get up. Maybe I should
be getting more sleep. The Body is amazing isn't it, how it takes care
of itself?

I'll bet you're glad you read that last paragraph.

Cultural Contrasts

Choir practice was fun today. We practiced our three songs
that we will be singing for "Open Day" which is Saturday. It's
basically a promotional day for all the prospective students.
We are supposed to have all the songs memorized. I know
them fairly well but I will need to work on some of the words
before then. Of course I'm in the front row so everyone can
see that I don't know the songs as well. But it shouldn't be a
big deal.

I can't wait for choir tour. It's going to be so fun. We will be
riding in a big coach bus. And we'll be stopping every night
to do a show. Apparently we all pitch in to set up and tear
down the equipment. This is something I've always wanted
to experience. I'm glad my parents talked me into joining choir.

Man I'm experiencing the different mindset of the Australians
more and more. For my multimedia class last week our teacher
told us what we needed to bring for this week. And so being
the good student that I am I did it all and had it ready to turn
in. But then today when she asked who had completed the
assignment, only myself and one other American student had
it done. And the teacher didn't seem to find this a bit odd. I
thought it was due today! It's like really laid back. She's like,
"Well just turn in what you have." And then for the entire class
time (except for a brief demo on a program) everyone just
worked on their assignment that I thought was due today. And
it's not like it was hard at all. I probably spent less than a couple
hours on it all week. Come on people! So after I talked with her
about what I had done she gave me some suggestions on what
to do next and I did it in class. Then I went to her again and was
like, "So uh, is there anything else I should be working on?" And
she said I could just turn in what I had and leave. So I left like an
hour early. I mean yeah it's nice to be all laid back and lazy
sometimes but we could be covering so much more ground if
we were just pushed a little.

It's also funny how many breaks they have. I think there are a
total of three weeks off all semester. I heard last semester they
had two weeks off in a row! I mean I can't judge all of Australia's
higher education system with just this one little experience, but
it sure seems that in general Australians aren't quite as driven
as Americans.

This is obvious to many of you I know. But you know how God
saw that Adam was lonely in the garden? There's so much truth
to that with regard to the soul's of man even today. I have such
an intense desire to improve upon my life by having a close friend.

A Visit With My Family

Hello all. Today was good. I got to talk with my family for a
long time this morning. I talked with them using iChat which
is a chat program for mac. Sean put his computer at the dinner
table and I was able to join them for dinner (by audio). It was
really cool.

My Christian artist in the industry class was today. That class
is kind of confusing to me as far as what we are expected to
do. But there aren't any tests or papers. It's great. Today we
talked about copyright policies and how and when we will
need to worry about that stuff in our careers.

We had an ASC meeting tonight. Dr. Johnston is such a cool
guy. He works so hard on our behalf and is genuinely
concerned with our well-being. He's also just such a real guy.
He shows his concern or worry or excitement on his face.

He makes these jokes that are so bad but everyone loves it.
Like this one time, one of the students was telling a story about
how someone drove by and threw an egg at her, and Dr.
Johnston says, "Well it looks like the yoke was on you." Or tonight,
this girl was using meat for some type of illustration for her
devotional and at the end he said, "That was a real meaty lesson."
You know the type. And one of the things that makes it so funny
is that after one of his bad jokes he always gets this really
embarrassed, apologetic expression on his face, like he knows
it's terrible but he just can't help it. It's hilarious.

It somewhat reminds me of my Dad's humor. Which by the way
I was able to experience a little bit this morning while talking with
my family. I had forgotten how fun it can be to laugh with my family
at my Dad's jokes.

Fluff

Nothing terribly interesting happened today. I was able to
talk with Sean a couple times. Once before I went to school
and once in the afternoon. It was good. My classes went
well. I don't really have anything to say about them. They
are all still pretty easy, although I will soon start to have
things to turn in (at least major things).

Once again today I waited a lot. I know I say this a lot, but I
just can't seem to get over how much I find myself doing it.
I do listen to Chuck Missler on my iPod a lot so that helps.
But it's still hard to be patient. In order to be on time for my
6 o-clock class I have to leave about and hour and a half
early. This is because of the rush hour traffic. For awhile I
was worried that I wouldn't make it on time to class. I'm
never quite sure how much time I should allow for transpor-
tation. But it all worked out fine. I must confess that I once
again had little trust in God during this time. Even for some-
thing as simple as getting to class on time I seem to have
trouble putting in God's hands. But I am working on it, day
by day.

The Borne Supremacy is coming out here in Australia on
Thursday. And Matt Daemon was in Sydney last night. That'd
be cool to go down and see him. I'd really like to see that
movie at some point. I'm trying to decide if I should just wait
and save my money for The Village or just see both of them.
I should really get a job to help pay for some of these expenses.

Thought Provoking Class

My apologies for those who aren't that interested in politics. That is
the topic of most of this post.

Today our Australian History class was really interesting. We talked
about the mindset of Americans vs. the mindset of Australians, and
other countries. Then somehow we started talking about Bush and his
foreign policy and how he handled things after 9/11. Our teacher is
very knowledgeable. He doesn't like Bush (at least his foreign policy)
and he has his own ideas on what should have been done after 9/11. It
was very interesting to hear his thoughts. He doesn't seem to be just
your average liberal Bush hater type person, he actually knows a lot
about history and rise and fall of nations.

Here are his ideas on what should have been done after 9/11. Instead of
bombing Afgahnistan we should have sent a lot of foreign aid to it,
showing our good nature (he's British btw). This would only help us in
that part of the world (theoreticly). Then put an enormous price on Bin
Laden's head, like a billion dollars. That would have caused the
Russian mophia (however in the world you spell that) to get involved
and find Bin Laden. This would have given us what we wanted without
getting too heavily involved in the region (I guess). Even the
Afganistans would help track him down.

He seems to kind of forget about the whole Al Quada thing that we wiped
out in Afganistan. Not sure what he says about that.

There was obviously a lot more to his clever scheme but that was the
interesting part. In a way it sounds like a liberal using the old
globalization card. Because he also seemed to downplay the idea of
force on our (the US) part. I'll at least give him credit for a very
thoughtful way of handling the situation. Whether or not he would have
actually done something like that in Bush's shoes I don't know. But he
has interesting thoughts.

He's also a talk show host by the way. No wonder he can communicate so
effectively.

AHHH! There's so much more I want to say. I could go on forever about
other interesting things we talked about in that class this morning,
and what I felt about it. I really wish I could have gotten it on video
to show my family. There was so much I learned and want to explore
further.

I want to say that it was cool to feel such a since of solidarity (if
that's the right word) with some of my fellow classmates regarding our
political views.

I always feel so inadequate when speaking about politics and foreign
affairs (or however you want to classify this). I feel like there is
always something I'm not taking into account. And also that I won't
represent my view point with accuracy. I guess I'm talking about an
inability to communicate how I really think about it all.

I don't know what triggered it but today I felt my first real since of
homesickness. It's like, "Oh yeah I remember that place called home. I
had some good times there."

A Lost Mate

I went to an extension of the Hillsong church today. The same
one I went to last week. It was once again very loud. It was
rather charismatic. More than I remember. Like there'd be
times when everyone would just cheer and clap and yell. If
they were songs I knew I think that I would like it more. I want
to find a more traditional church. There's bound to be one in
the area. The pastor emphasized our ability to be what we
want to be. And how we shouldn't restrict ourselves to become
what we want. He loosely based it on a passage in the Bible.
It seems as if he needs to take his lessons more directly from
the Bible and less from the voices of the politically correct crowds
of society.

Jon, my homestay brother is a nice guy. Whenever we first meet
in the morning he greets me saying something like, "How you
going mate?" Whenever I leave for school he says, "See you
later mate, have a good one." He's always very kind to me. He's
letting me borrow his suit for choir (which fits very well btw, thank
God). He always seems to have an attitude of helping me out and
showing me or correcting me kindly when I'm not doing something
right. He's never condescending and always talks in a way that
makes me feel like he genuinely wants to help me out. Even when
I've put the bottle in the trash instead of the recycle bin or played
stupid move after stupid move in chess. I know this is probably
sounding dumb, but there's something about him that stands out.
I think he must be gifted in the area of teaching.

However he is very lost spiritually speaking. He often does things
with his friends which I know aren't pleasing to God. I don't want
to go into detail of what he does. There's no reason to. I just want
to mention that he needs prayer. And that he makes me sad.

40 Cent Ice Cream Cone

Darren and I got up at about 7:30 this morning to meet Dr. Johnston and
the convention centre in Darling Harbor. He was going to take us to
some aboriginal thing to learn more about them. The aborigines are the
group of indigenous people in Australia. It was sort of part of out
Australian History class but it wasn't required. It turned out to be
just a shop owned by an aborigine. The owner talked for maybe half an
hour about different aspects of his heritage. It was mildly
interesting. He talked about the boomerang and the digaredoo (sp?),
which is an instrument native to the aborigines. If we had known what
it was going to be like we probably wouldn't have gone. It was so hard
to get out of bed this morning. I need to start going to bed earlier.

Darren and I walked around Darling Harbor after that. It was really
fun, even though we were both pretty tired. It was a beautiful day, one
of the first warm days we've had here. It's hard to describe all the
different things we saw there. It's such a fun place to be. Being a
Saturday there were quite a few people there. While we were there, a
plane flew overhead. It made a smoke trail that read "frogger.com.au."
It was really cool to see him spell it. The site turned out to be a web
design business. Not a bad way to advertise.

We stopped at McDonald's and got their 40 cent soft serve ice cream
cone. That's such a great deal. I'm going to be doing that more often.

So after that we came home. It always takes awhile to get home from
downtown. But I usually bring my iPod, so it's not too bad. I listened
to PFR on the way there. Kingdom Smile is an amazing song. I had
forgotten how incredible it was till I heard it today. Listen to that
song. Kingdom Smile by PFR. Don't forget now.

By the way, who was it that told me about iPods being illegal in
Australia?

I wanted to get home earlier to catch Sean online. But I didn't get
home until about 11:45 pm CST. So I called home to tell him to get on
iChat, expecting someone to be up (on a Friday night). But I guess I
woke most everyone up. Oh well, I got to talk with them for a while.

I know this isn't the most original thing to say, but I can not believe
how fast the time is going here. It really seems like we just arrived
here last week and yet it's been a whole month! Amazing. It kind of
makes me sad. There's so much to this experience that I know I will
miss heaps when it is over.

More Walking

Today, the only thing i really did was go to the city with a couple
friends of mine. We went to the Hyde Park Barracks museum.
It was basically a history museum. Australia began by England
sending their convicts over here. And the building that this
museum was in used to be a barracks (prison). There's
obviously a lot more to their history but I don't feel like going
into it all. The museum was alright. It was a lot of reading.

Afterwards we walked downtown for quite awhile, just look-
ing in different stores. I never really get tired of going to the
city (except for the walking part). It's always such a cool
place. There are so many things to see. And there's just
something exciting about the whole atmosphere.

I hate that feeling where you feel like you should get started
on a certain homework assignment but you just keep putting
it off thinking you'll have enough time. In fact I hate it enough
that I usually have to get the assignment done so I don't have
to worry about it anymore. But there's that time in-between
when the hatred hasn't built up enough that you keep putting
it off and worrying about it. I think I'll reach the point where I'll
feel the need to start it enough pretty soon.

Darren and a few other friends of mine are going to the Great
Barrier Reef for the first break. They're going to stay on a boat
for awhile and go scuba diving like every day. I so want to go
with them. That would be amazing. But it costs so much money.
I guess I'll just be content with what I have. I'll be going on the
choir tour during that time, and I'm really excited about that too.
But I'd still like to go scuba diving. Maybe it'll work out for my
honeymoon someday. There are so many cool places to go and
things to do here. It's easy to get this feeling of "this is a once-in-
a-lifetime experience so we have to do everything fun while we're
here." But of course that's not possible, so I'll just do what I can.

Man this time zone thing is really annoying as far as communication.
I've been wanting to talk with Sean for quite a while now on iChat.
But we're never on at the same time. Mainly because of the time
zone difference.

I saw a poster on the wall of an office at school yesterday. It was a
picture of a huge elephant that was balanced with all four feet on
a beach ball in the ocean. The caption said something like "Life
is all about balance." How true that is. There are so many areas
in life that aren't wrong until they, in some way, take up too much
of you.

Video Scavenger Hunt

Today was rather long. I got up early to be at school for
choir. Choir was good as always. I'm starting to feel like
I have a handle on some of the music. Or at least as much
as the others. We are supposed to have all of our music
completely memorized for tour. But that'll be cool because
then we can just focus on dynamics and delivery. It shouldn't
be too hard to get it all down.

I then waited around at school till my multimedia class at 12:30.
It's kind of a cool class. We are learning a lot about the whole
process of creating an interactive project such as a website. I
think this should be pretty helpful to me in the future.

I then waited for a few hours at the school (it just wasn't worth
it to go home because of how long it takes) for the scavenger
hunt to start. A couple ASC students organized it. Not too many
people showed up, probably only about 10. But it was still fun.
There were all sorts of crazy things to do that we got points for.
Like jumping jacks in the middle of a mall, screaming "I love
George Bush!" in a public area, and singing 99 bottles of bear
on the wall in a public bus. We did most of them and got them
all on video camera. I did the Bush one. No one really did much,
it was just kind of quiet and people looked at me and then did
nothing. It was a lot of walking so I'm pretty beat.

As usual, it was mostly fun because of who we did it with. We
had a pretty fun time just talking and goofing off together. I felt
like I got to know some of them better than I had. Good times.
One fun thing was when we talked about ways that we had
noticed that the Ausies talk differently than us. I'll give you some
examples.

When greeting someone they say "How you goin?" Which is
similar to our "How's it goin?" But still, it takes a little getting
used to. They say "heaps" all the time. Where we say "tons"
or "a lot" they say heaps. Like, "We have heaps of time" or
"That car has heaps of power."

Trash = Rubbish
Cell Phone = Mobile
Gas = Petrol
Mall = Shopping Center
Cookies = Biscuits
Friend = Mate

Anyway, it was fun to discuss this with other Americans who
have noticed the same things.

Trivial Times Not So Trivial

I can't wait to see Michelle when she comes. Of course I can't wait to
see my parents either, but Michelle in particular. I kind of like her.
Her recent email sort of made me miss her more. I can identify her
individual characteristics. She's very bright, kind, funny and
considerate. It makes me sad that I can't be with her for more of her
childhood (if you can still call her a child).

It rained a lot again today. It was good. I got to sleep in and wake up
to it. To hear the sound of the rain tapping the window is such an
inviting way to enter into the day. Wendy was kind enough to take us to
school at noon. We (the students) had our lunch together. It's
unfortunate that all the American students tend to sit apart from the
others. It's not always the case, but generally. It's easy to complain
about but hard to move.

Tonight Darren and I rode our bikes in the rain to the Concord house
where the ASC meeting was being held. Thankfully we didn't get soaked.
The meeting went well. It's always fun to see everyone. They are
usually a pretty entertaining and informative time. Some of those guys
are so funny (including the director) and we spend a good part of the
time laughing.

These days are going by so quickly. I can't believe it's already been
nearly a month. But at the same time it seems like I'm always waiting.
Waiting for the bus, waiting for class to start, waiting for class to
end... It makes me wonder what I'm living for. It's so easy to think
that all this time of waiting is meaningless and the only good times or
times worth living are on our breaks or the weekends.

But the truth is God planned every moment in my life. That's something
I need to work on, enjoying every moment God has given me. The majority
of my life is the not-so-fun-times anyway. So obviously God
purposefully put those times in my life. I need to change my attitude
from just getting by to the next cool thing to using every moment to
further God's Kingdom. Certainly not an easy task.

The Rain Tells My Mood

Today I had my Theology 2 class. It was good. It's usually
pretty interesting. But it's three hours long so it kind of drags
sometimes. Today we talked about the person of Jesus. We
talked some about the trinity too. But mainly about Jesus
and the different views on Him. Stuff like how much of a
human he was and how much of God he was. Basically
we concluded that He was both fully human and fully God
at the same time (I could have told you that). But there was
apparently much debate about it back in the day. Personally
I think it's one of those things we just have to trust God about
because our minds can't handle it.

Normally I have to stay at school all day Tuesdays, but since
the school is paying for most of our bus passes now I went
home in between. It's so much nicer than staying at school
being bored all day.

It rained today. It was much needed. Australia is experiencing
its worse drought in its history right now. Unfortunately they
usually get it in the cities on the coast but not in the farm
lands, which are inland, where they need it most. Anyway,
the rain was very nice. I love the rain. Especially when it
matches your mood. You know? I'm sure it would have been
even better if I had made the time to walk in it. Maybe some-
time when it rains I will go down to the bay. That would be
beautiful.

I tried out a program on my computer called iChat today. I
hadn't done it before. Man, I tell you what. It was so sweet.
I talked with Sean using the voice chat. It was like I was talking
on the phone. We didn't have to wait for the other person to
stop talking before we talked. It was always on. I used my
internal mic. As soon as we turned on the voice chat, it all
worked like a charm (not that I would know how a charm
works). We didn't even have to change any settings. Macs
are great.

I was listening to Chuck Missler a lot today as I was on the
busses. I'm listening to his lectures on Genesis. They're pretty
interesting. He was talking about light and some of its prop-
erties. That's such an incredible subject to think about. He
talked about how it has organic (as in whole) properties in
that it seems to "know" exactly what all of its other particles
are doing at all times. Because light seems to be made up
of individual particles, it seems that we, or our world as we
know it, is actually digital not analog as one tends to think.
We (man) is discovering that the universe is actually finite.
This also contributes to our suspicions of a digital universe.
Isn't that incredible? To me that shows that there's so much
more order in the universe than I had thought. What's more
is to think that God has the capacity to control every individ-
ual component (whatever they may be) is absolutely phen-
omenal. It's a fascinating subject. I hope I'm understanding
and explaining all of this accurately.

Monday Come Around

Today was pretty good. In my Australian History class,
we learned about Australian Politics. It was fairly
interesting, but I didn't really understand a lot of it. Our
teacher is good, but I don't think he likes Bush. He's
like talking about how Bush "stole the election" in 2000.

One interesting thing that I did learn was that here,
liberals are considered conservative. Kind of an interesting
twist.

I just got done watching an episode of the X-Files. Some
of those I'm not too sure about. I kept thinking of God's
presence and his will for my life. So I ended skipping a
couple till I found one that wasn't so questionable. Am I
making any sense tonight? I'm pretty tired.

Choir was pretty cool today. I'm not really sure how to
describe it other than we are singing some cool beautiful
songs. I can't wait till tour. It'll be so great because we'll be
on the road and singing like every night. There is even a
small band that will travel with us to accompany us. I think
it'll be a great chance to get to know some of the Ausies
better. I need a suit for our performances, so I think I will
borrow one from Jon (my home-stay brother). I hope it fits.
I really don't want to buy one.

I did a lot of waiting for busses today. I was kind of getting
worried about varies things and how it would all work out.
It's a long story and not really that interesting. Of course it
worked out fine in the end and I realized how dumb I was.
But through it I saw once again that God is in complete
control. It's kind of frustrating when I look back on it because
my response was so me. Trusting God in all is tough.

I wonder if we'll ever see why things happened the way
they did.

A Chat With Sean

So I went to Hillsong today. It was really loud and up-beat.
Almost like a rock concert. Everyone was jumping and
getting into it. I'm not sure I like it a lot, but I might end up
going to it because it's so close and we can just ride our
bikes to it. I like hymns. I enjoy the praise songs also but not
all the time. The hymns seem to be more meaningful and
perhaps complex, musically. I must mention that "Meant to
Live" by Switchfoot was played. But it wasn't for everyone
to sing to, it was more of a "special" (which is good). They
played it really well. I enjoyed it.

The sermon was pretty good, but he didn't seem to use the
Bible to back up all of his points. I mean he used the Bible
a lot, but some of the things he said seemed to just be his
ideas and then he would talk like it was absolute truth. It's
not that they were contrary to the Bible (as far as I could tell)
but they just weren't directly supported in the Bible passage
we were talking about.

Tonight Darren and I played ping pong for awhile. It's pretty
fun, especially when we start getting good. While we were
playing we talked about guy stuff. I'm afraid I can't go into too
much detail because of the mixed crowd. :) It was quite fun.

Wendy keeps asking us if we want to go to her church or
some to their Bible study. But both Darren and I were kind of
turned off to her church after we visited it that first Sunday.
Too charismatic for our liking. Anyway, I feel kind of bad every
time we say no to her offers. Darren doesn't seem to care as
much, he just says, "No I don't think so." heh It's kind of nice to
cut to the chase but at the same time I feel bad. Oh well, no
since in pretending I want to be involved in her church when I
don't.

I had a good chat with Sean today. It was great to get caught up
again. He told me some about his time at camp and all he learned.
I was reminded of many truths through our conversation. The fact
that every aspect of our life must be given to God because he
wants our whole being. The fact that God is speaking to us every
time we open the Bible. And the fact that God really has a plan for
our lives and that our potential is much greater than we realize. I
know we've all heard these things before. But I'm just telling you
that I've realized these truths again today in a much more real way.
I could go on talking about each one of these things and why they
have become real for me for quite awhile. But I won't. It's late and
I have classes tomorrow.

I want to tell you about something that the pastor said this morning
that stuck out to me. He related a parent starring at their child in
awe and enjoying their kids' wonder at life with God and His children.
God enjoys seeing us being filled with wonder in and for life. I found
that to be quite a powerful description of God's love for us.

Thoughts of My Future

First of all, I apologize for the terrible formatting with the
pictures. For some reason blogger has some issues with
that.

Those pictures were of our visit to the Olympic park yester-
day and a little excursion Darren and I took today. It was
quite fun. We took the bikes and rode towards one of the
harbors nearby. It's always such a beautiful experience to
go to the water. There was a nice little park there too.
There was a "punt" there, which is a flat boat that runs
constantly back and forth from one side of the harbor to
the other. It's even big enough for cars to be transported
on it.

We found a little church when we were out called Hillsong.
It's not the huge one you're thinking of. Those are further
away. But this one is close enough that we're going to try
it out tomorrow.

This morning we went to some markets. They're like these
huge warehouses full of food and other junk. Like a giant
garage sale. I found a cool retro jacket for about 3 US
dollars. Not a bad deal. I think my grandma would have
enjoyed the food markets. There's like all sorts of fruits
vegetables and fish.

I really like it here. Sydney is a great place. When we were
out riding our bikes around the water we saw some really
nice apartments. And I was just thinking that I wouldn't
mind living here. It would be so cool to live in one of those
apartments with a BMW and drive to work in the city.
Especially if I had a great job, like a successful new media
design business that my brother and I start. Sean could
play in the Sydney Symphony in the Opera houses. Man
that'd be the life. It could happen too.

But wait I just thought of a problem with that dream. We'd
be pretty far away from family. Hmm...

I don't know, in a way I'd like to be in a more solid career,
like a doctor or engineer (just as examples). Money would
be less of a concern and I think I could see myself in a
more for-sure job if you know what I mean. If I could push
myself to get through the schooling I think I would enjoy
being in the science field, or medical, or something.

But I do of course still love creativity. Especially when Sean
and I can work together and come up with something
extremely powerful. A possible solution would be for me
to do the other career as my main and then be creative with
Sean sort of on the side. This way there wouldn't be as
much pressure to live off of our design job.

me_beach

me_beach
Originally uploaded by mrdennis.

aquatic_center

aquatic_center
Originally uploaded by mrdennis.

darren_bike

darren_bike
Originally uploaded by mrdennis.

Sorry I can't figure out how to post multiple pictures at once. I'll tell you about these in a bit.

IMG_1649

IMG_1649
Originally uploaded by mrdennis.

This was supposed to have been posted a long time ago. Oh well, here it is. Hopfully I'll be putting more up soon.

Not a Terribly Interesting Post

I woke up at 8 today. For some reason I couldn't sleep
any later. That's always kind of frustrating. Wendy (my
home stay Mom) took Darren and I to the Sydney Olympic
park. It was pretty impressive. There was like so much
stuff that was built just for the Olympics when they were
here. I can't imagine what they spent on it. I figured the
boost to the economy would repay them, but (if I heard
her right) Wendy said they were still in debt big time. All
the buildings had this flowing feel to them. Like, all the
architecture contributed to the Olympic theme. Fun to see.

They had an Aquatic center there. It was huge. We didn't
get to see inside very well because they charged even to
look at it. But we did get to barely peak in. There was this
really nice pool with a slide. It was kind of like the pool at
the Salina country club except it was a lot bigger and
indoors. And the same pool even continued outside under
the wall. Wendy said there were several large spas too.
We hope to go back there sometime with friends.

When Wendy was driving us around and showing us the
different sites I was sitting in the passenger seat. She kept
pointing at things right across my face. Know what I mean?
It was kind of funny at first, but then it got annoying. heh Like,
I don't mean to be disrespectful and I appreciate the many
kind things she does for us but man, she talks a lot. She likes
to tell us all about things. When we went into the information
building she kept handing my these big brochures and saying
things like "Here, you might interested in this. So I ended up
carrying way more than I wanted to. I know it sounds like kind
of an immature complaint, but oh well. I just felt like venting a bit.

We got the bikes out today. They're BMX trick bikes. Darren and
I had fun just riding them around the neighborhood. It's a law to
wear a helmet on a bike here, so as soon as we find some we're
going to start using them to get to shops or the Concord house to
hang out. It's so much faster than walking.

Jesus' Plea For Mankind

I forgot to post yesterday. But not a lot happened anyway.
I found out the dates for sure of when my parents and
sister will be coming. I'm so excited about that. I can't wait
to show them around. We're probably going to go to New
Zealand while they're here. Sweetness. It might be kind
of awkward if and when they come to my classes. But
that's alright. People will just think it's cool.

Darren and I went to the Concord house last night to watch
a movie. He keeps teasing me about the girls there because
they called and we do stuff together from time to time. He's
probably just jealous. Hey, I can't help it if the ladies can't
stay away from me.

So Darren and I were talking about what to do this weekend.
And he kind of starts getting on my case about how I don't
like to get out and do stuff very often (it wasn't anything
serious). But I totally do. I think it just looks like I don't when
compared to him. It irks me that he makes it sound like it's
something wrong I'm doing when I want to have a quiet
evening at home. We're just different that's all. There I feel
better about myself now. A lot of this stuff is just me talking,
trying to get this stuff off my chest. I hope I don't bore you too
much.

I finished C.S. Lewis' "Till We Have Faces" today. It's a great
book. I must say I was a little disappointed in the ending. I
guess I was expecting a little bit more clarity on what the
book was about as a whole. I believe it's totally my fault that
I didn't think it was an amazing book. What I mean by that is,
I think there was some that I didn't understand and had I
understood it, it would have had incredible meaning. Of
course I wish I had understood it better. Maybe I'll read it
again some day. By the way, it's definitely worth your time.

I'd like to share an incredibly powerful thought that Chuck
Missler brought to my attention. The Bible teaches that man,
by his very existence has ample evidence to declare God as
the Almighty, worthy of all our praise. Man has no excuse not
to. When man does not it is a choice he makes to deny God.
When God became a man to communicate His love and
desire to make us one of His, He didn't always speak in the
most clear of ways. He often spoke figuratively or in parables.
Jesus apparently spoke this way because He knew it would be
somewhat difficult for us to understand. This would only make
a better case for man before God the Father when man
chooses not to believe in Him. Jesus spoke in the manner in
which he did as an act of love and compassion for us.
I want that love.

Tuesdays are Long

I took the bus to school with Darren today. I'll be doing that most
every school day now, since the school will be paying. I'm so glad that
matter is taken care of.

Taking the bus everyday, you start to recognize everyone on it and
where they get on and off. I suppose by the end of the semester I'll be
able to tell you exactly when people get on and off. It's kind of
interesting watching people on the bus. I'm not sure what it is. It's
like we're all in this together. Trying to get to our destinations as
fast as possible. It's like the part of our day in between our real
lives. I find it interesting to think about what everyone might be
thinking. We're probably all worried about keeping a face that shows
that we have it all together.

So today was my really long day. I had class from 9 to 12 and then from
6 to 8. So I have a long waiting time in between. I brought my computer
and a book. It wasn't too bad. I kept myself entertained. I went to a
music practice room to learn my part in our choir song. It was kind of
weird at first to sing in a room, alone. It's kind of like talking in
the middle of the forest with no one around. It just seems weird. And
what if someone were to hear you. Anyway, I made good progress in
learning my part. It was actually kind of fun. I decided to pull out my
computer and record myself with Garage Band. You might laugh, but I had
time to kill and had nothing else to do.

For lunch, I went to a bakery with Gavin, Cassie, Heather and Andrew.
It was a nice little place. We had a good time. Although I was needing
a nap and didn't contribute much to the conversation. They started
talking about voting and politics. I kind of got the feeling that maybe
only one other person in the group was going to vote for Bush. It ticks
me off.

It's funny how much America is copied here. Sydney is pretty western
(at least from what I've seen). I mean, all their movies and TV shows
are the same as ours. Except they're behind. Movies don't come out
until like a month after they come out in the US. And, you know the
show "The Apprentence"? They haven't even seen the ending of it yet, so
they don't know who won. So I made it a point to let everyone know who
it was.

Other US shows they have are Australian Idol, Big Brother, Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, and The Price is Right. Except it's
their own versions. Some of the people were saying that their fashions
are way different than the US but I haven't noticed much difference.

By the way, sorry about the poor text formatting. I don't know of an
easy way to fix it.

A Good Day

Today was a normal Monday. It was a really nice day outside once it
warmed up a bit.

I believe I've discovered what it is God wanted me to know. I can't say
what it is though. It's personal. God is so good to care about me and
the status of our relationship. It's easy to think I am rather
insignificant in God's eyes, and that he is sort of distant sometimes.
But it's not true. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our
lives. I am truly loved.

A good thing happened today. We had a meeting with all the ASC students
(US students). David, the president, heard our concerns and decided to
give us homestay people a ten ride bus pass per week. I was so thankful
to hear that. Now I can take the bus everyday without worry about
spending so much.

I talked with a girl named Caroline today. She is very nice to me. I'm
not sure why. Even when I really didn't know her she was kind. It's not
like a mushy nice or a fake nice, it seems genuine. It seems odd to me
because I never expressed any interest what so ever in her.

For choir, we are to have our part in a song memorized by Thursday. I
really need to work on it. So I need to find a piano. I had forgotten
how fun it can be to sing in a choir. There's just something about
being in a group and singing as one voice, communicating the same
message. Music is certainly deeper than what you hear.

Communication With God

I don't want to type much tonight because I'm so tired. I can't really
blame it on anything though. Today was another lazy day. It was great.
Played video games, read, and watched the "tellie" (as the Australians
call it).

This morning Darren and I went into the city to go to the Wesley
church. I'm not sure if it's part of the Wesley denomination as we know
it. But it is a part of Wesley mission, which is a big ministry
organization here in Sydney. The church was good, I liked it. Mainly
because I liked the sermon. There's a name for the style but I can't
think of it. It's where a certain scripture passage is read and
expounded upon. And the pastor didn't seem to worried about offending
people. I mean, he would say, "Some Christian do this" or "This is what
we should work on."

But an interesting thing happened towards the end of the service. The
pastor said something like, "Before we close, there are two people I
feel God wants me to talk to today." It was a pretty big congregation,
probably about 4 or 500. First he pointed to a guy and asked his name
and gave him some verses he felt he needed to share with him. Of course
I was sitting near the front. I was thinking, "Oh great I hope he
doesn't talk to me next." But he did. I really didn't think he would.
He said something like God had laid it on his heart to speak to me. So
he said that God has been trying to tell me something, and that he will
be trying to tell me something. He didn't know what or how he would,
maybe sometime when I'm reading the Bible or by some other means.

Basically it caught me off guard and it was kind of freaky to be
singled out like that. I really don't know what to think of it. Up
until that point I didn't consider this church as being terribly
charismatic. Not that God only communicates like that to charismatic
churches, but you know what I mean. That sort of thing just doesn't
happen in my home church. The two verses he mentioned were 1Samuel 3:10
and John 10:27, which both talk about communication with God. It was a
really weird experience. I've been thinking about it all day. I've
never had something like that happen before. I guess its just weird
because I've never really thought about God as communicating like that,
and being so...real. I know that sounds kind of bad. But up until know
it's all kind of been in my head. Don't get me wrong I didn't just
discover God and become a Christian. That's not what I mean. I don't
know, it's hard to explain.

I mean, what if God really is trying to give me a particular message?
What would it be? How would he do it? All day I've kind of had an extra
sense of God's presence and been thinking about Him really
communicating with me. It's exciting and scary at the same time. I hope
I'm not falling for something that's not real.

Sorry if I didn't make any sense the last few paragraphs. I'm just
trying to communicate all of these thoughts in my head. Time will tell
what will become of this.

Alcohol? meh...who needs it

Today was a good day. I really didn't do much of anything. Which is why
it was so great. It was so nice to have a break from the busses and
trains and city. I mean, getting out and doing things with friends is
great, but it seems like I've been doing stuff none stop lately. So I
stopped today.

Tonight we had T-bone steak with mashed potatoes. It was really good.
It could have been better with A1 sauce but that's alright. When you
live in another culture you have to learn to live without some of that
good stuff. I tried alcohol for the first time today, in the form of
red wine. Before I drank it I thought, you know this might be pretty
good, kind of like sparkling grape juice. I was totally mistaken. It
was repulsive. I hated it. It tasted like really strong medicine. So
while I was there I decided to just go ahead and gag myself.

It reminds me of when I tried coffee for the first time as a kid. I
remember it distinctly. My Dad offered some of his to Sean and I. I
remember thinking it was a really grown up thing to do, so I was hoping
I would like it so I could drink it and feel important. But, it was
terrible. I ran to the bathroom and washed out my mouth in the sink.
Now I can tolerate coffee but it's still not that great. I don't know
if I'll ever like wine. I don't plan on trying it again any time soon
so I probably won't acquire a taste for it.

I called home today. It was great to talk with everyone again.
Michelle's so great, I asked if she would make a sleeve for my computer
and right away she agreed to. I'm so thankful for her.

I'm looking forward to going to church tomorrow. It seems like it's
been so long sense I've gotten some real spiritual insight. We went to
Wendy's church last week. I kind of had my guard up the whole time so I
didn't really feel like I learned anything. Plus, I'm not sure I agree
with what was said in the sermon. He talked about how we shouldn't
judge non believers for living immorally and not even confront them
about it. But that we should just let the Holy Spirit convict them.
Heaven forbid we offend anyone here. Anyway, I'm hoping tomorrow will
be better, we're going to a different church.

A City Excursion

Today was the start of my weekend. It's really nice, I don't have any
classes on Fridays. Some people in our group even got Thursdays off. So
I slept in today. I didn't really have anything planned today. I kind
of just wanted to stay home all day and relax playing games and
reading. Wendy suggested I take a tour of the Sydney Olympic park. So I
called some friends to see if they wanted to, but the friends I called
planned on going into the city. So I just went with them. It ended up
being pretty fun once we got to the city.

We went to the contemporary art museum. It was very
contemporary/modern. It was interesting but not that great. There was a
lot of weird stuff that didn't make any sense. Like pictures of a group
of people standing out in the woods staring at a couple refrigerators
hanging by rope from trees. Or, a huge movie projected on the wall of
nothing but close up yarn panning across it with this weird bass sound
in the background. Maybe it means something but I sure don't get it.
That's where I think many artists fail. If nobody gets it, what's the
point?

One of the exhibits was some type of political statement with Bush as a
cowboy. I'm not sure what the statement was but I don't think it was
pro bush. One of the girls thought it was great. It kind of ticked me
off. It's annoying when people are wrong but don't realize it.

After that we went to a little cafe place at the Opera Houses for
lunch. That was cool. I couldn't take enough pictures of that place. We
than went to a huge garden (I can't think of the name, it's a famous
one though) and walked around for a long time. It's sounds boring but
it really wasn't. It's such a beautiful place. It's also cool because
it's right next to the city. So you have grassy knolls, trees and
flowers and then, abruptly, there are sky scrapers.

We then went back to the Concord house (dorm) and played cards and
watched a movie.

Wendy belongs to a charismatic church. She always talks like their
church is doing things and looking at things in the bible that most
other churches aren't. I'm not sure what to think about all that stuff
they apparently do. Like speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands
and supernatural healings. I mean, I believe in God's healing abilities
of course, but I guess I just think it's done more through man
(doctors) and medical means. I don't know. Is this a lack of trust in
God? Does God not do miracles like he did in the Bible because of the
advancement of man's technology? Maybe he does do miracles like he did
in the bible and I'm just not seeing them. After all God is always the
same. I don't know. Just some thoughts.

Thoughts While Learning to be Patient

It seems like lately my days are filled with nothing
but waiting. Waiting for transportation waiting in
between classes. I only had two classes today
but I spent all of it at school. Simply because it's
too expensive to come back in between. Anyway,
I shouldn't complain so much. I have it good. I have
it very good actually.

I'm tired of typing about things that nobody really
cares about so I will try to spare you all the pain-
staking details of my everyday life. I do however
want to mention this experience. A bunch of us
had "the best fish and chips (fries) in the
universe" and ate it together near the water. It
was to celebrate Darrick's birthday. He's a good
friend of mine. Afterwards we wanted to do
something together in Concord which is the
suburb that we live in. So we went to the bus
stop and waited. And waited, and waited. It
never came. After awhile we went to a nearby
house/dorm and played card games. Than we
came back to go home and it still didn't come.
We probably spent at least an hour waiting for
that wretched bus. Eventually we called our
home stay Mom to get us. She didn't seem to
mind. She's always really nice. I'm so glad
that's over with. It's been a long day.

Some of us American students have started
playing "Would You Rather" when we're
together. It's a game where you make up
something, anything, and ask if you'd
rather do it, or do something else that
you make up. It could be positive or
negative. Derrick always comes up with
the most off the wall ones. He is so funny.
I'm not going to try to explain it to you.
You really have to be there to realize
how funny it was.

Can you imagine what it would be like
to see yourself as God sees you? Obviously
we can't know, but it's an interesting thought.
I'll bet there's so many things we underestimate
or overestimate about ourselves. Like, we probably
underestimate how much we're loved, but at the
same time we overestimate God's acceptance of
the sin in our lives. We also probably underestimate
our potential.

After we die, I wonder if we'll get to see what could
have happened had we had more faith. Hmm,
probably not because that would just be depressing.
I also wonder if we will be able to see things more
clearly in heaven. Things like what held us back
from serving God better. What our little hang ups
were that we just couldn't seem to get past. You
ever wander if God looks at us individually and just
sighs because we're doing what we always do?
You know what I mean? Like we as individuals
have a certain way of thinking, and when starting
to think about how we could further God's Kingdom
we just fall back into the same thought pattern that
leaves us in a ditch, the rut that we're always in.

Life and Love and Why

Today was good. We got to sleep in because we didn't
have to be at school still about 1. So Darren and I went
shopping in the morning. Nothing really happened all
day so I'll skip to the evening. Instead of coming home
after school we went over to the Concord house,
which is near our house. I was really hungry by that
time. We ate there with everyone. It was so good. And
it was fun to be with friends.

Afterwards we talked for awhile and than played phase
ten. Nothing of much significance happened during
this time. Just a nice time with friends. Finally Darren
and I started the half hour walk home. We both had our
iPods so we listened to them all the way home. I
listened to Glenn Beck. It was interesting. He talked
about iRobot and how the technology that you see in
that movie isn't that far off. He also talked about other
technology that's predicted, like cars that don't need
a driver, computers that are as smart as the human
brain, and other stuff. Computer screens and
keyboards are also predicted to become obsolete.
Instead of screens an implant in your eye will suffice
and your voice will replace a keyboard. Pretty cool stuff.

I heard that my rebate for iPod and Powerbook from
Apple wasn't excepted because my purchase
apparently wasn't classified as an educational
purchase. I was really ticked when I heard that. I
need to call Haddock computer to straighten things
out. I better be able to get the rebate.

I'm always thinking about the day that I will meet
my wife. I have this idea in my head of this girl
that's awesome in every way. I hope I'm not setting
my standards too high. Sometimes I wander if
the girl I imagine is really out there. I wish I
could meet her now. It seems like life would be
so much more bearable with someone like that.

But sometimes I also think that we tend to idolize
a love relationship. It will be good, yes. But things
will still go wrong. Even she will let me down. I
guess God's the only one that will truly fulfill. But
will that fulfillment ever fully develop in this life?

I have to get up early again tomorrow to catch
the shuttle to school, so I need to go to bed.

God is Good

Sorry I haven't posted any pics like I said. I'm still trying to figure
out how to do it.

Today was a very long day. I got up at 6:30 in order to walk down
the street to catch the free shuttle to the school. I think that'll work
out, so I won't have to take the city but more than about 2 or 3 times
a week.

I had theology class today. It's interesting. Right now we're talking
about man and the different parts that he's made up of - Body, Soul
and Spirit according to one theory. So far we haven't gotten into
anything too controversial. But we will soon get into whether or not
one can loose their salvation. It should be interesting.

Man I'm really tired right now. I'd just like to say that PFR is
probably
the best band that has ever existed in the history of mankind. If
you haven't heard them... man you haven't lived. The song "Forever"
hits me every time I hear it. It basically talks about being able to be
with Jesus and embrace forever. Our tears will forever be gone.
I know it sounds clique and common. But if you'd stop and think about
how amazing that'll be... sigh.

OK I want you to stop reading this where ever you are. Think about
the fact that we as Christians will someday be face to face with the
one who made mountains, who hung the stars in the sky.

I can not wait.

I'm so thankful to God right now. Every time I think about where I am
and all the great experiences I've had and am having, I get all excited
again. God is good to me.

Another example of God's goodness to me is found in my sister,
Michelle. I love her so much. She's so good to me. She encourages
me and tells me things like I'll be a good Dad someday. It makes me
feel good. I can tell she believes in me even when I don't. I hope my
poor attitude about life that I have sometimes doesn't rub off on her.
But I don't think it will because she's too smart for that. She already
seems to have a zeal for life that I never had. I'm so thankful for
her.

When Leslie and Brittany came over last night we were talking about
our families. I tried to tell them how much I appreciate my sister.
They (at least Leslie) seemed to have trouble understanding my
feelings. As if the idea was somewhat foreign to her that one could
love their sibling so much. I don't think she came from the most
warm fuzzy family. I guess that's why. It proved to me once again
that I have been extremely blessed in this life.

Church, Choir and Friends

Yesterday was Sunday. I didn't update the blog so I will fill you in.

Darren and I went to our hosts' church. It was a charismatic church
called "Glorious Gospel Church." Glorious referring to the gospel of
course. :) I wasn't really prepared for it. It was quite different than
what I'm used to. The whole service was quite loose. People would just
yell amen or whatever in the middle of the sermon. Also, people would
sing the scriptures, coming up with it all on the spot. The people were
really nice and anxious to welcome us into their church. I don't know
how many people I met. All asking the same questions - where are you
from in the US? what are you studying? how long are you here? etc.
Towards the end I just wanted to put my head down and bolt towards the
door. It finally ended.

Later that day Darren and I went for a walk. We went to check out the
closest harbor to our house. It wasn't very far away. There's even a
beach which will be fun when it gets warmer. It's been pretty chilly
lately. Anyway that was fun. He took his iPod and I took "Till we Have
Faces." It was so peaceful. Such a lovely place to sit and read. By the
way, that book is awesome. It's such a beautiful story. There is a
character in it that is just so pure with beauty, so much different
than what you often see today on the screen or wherever. I will try to
include a picture of this experience in this post.

Today I started my second week of classes. It went just fine. It's so
nice, I don't have to buy any text books. There are some that are
"recommended" but none required. I can get what I need in the library.
My one class went well. It was about different ministry opportunities
that we can get involved while over here.

I also started choir today. I talked with David Johnston the
director/president of the college about it at camp on the weekend. He
said that'd be great if I wanted to join even though it was a week
late. So I did. My parents really wanted me to and I also decided to
join because of the opportunity to meet more people. Another plus is
that we get to travel a little on "tour." I'm looking forward to it.

The practice went really well. None of the songs were very difficult
musically. One was in Latin or something so I was a little lost. But I
will learn it quickly. So far they have been classical style. However
I'm told the "fun" ones are the contemporary ones that we haven't
gotten to yet. They are gospel style. They even include a Kirk Franklin
song. Mmmm, I'm not so sure about that. Oh well, I'll see what they're
like before I judge too much.

Tonight a bunch of people were planning on going to the Lycart (sp?)
house to hang out. I would have gone but I didn't want to pay for the
bus ride (our week pass expired on Friday). So anyway I was settling in
for a relaxing and probably dull evening at home when I saw a couple
girls walk in the house. It was Lesley and Brittany. They live in the
Concord house (not a far walk) and didn't want to spend the money for a
bus ride either. I was kind of surprised but glad to see them.
Basically we just talked for a few hours. We were going to play a card
game but instead we were just lazy and sat there. It was nice. It made
me feel... um... appreciated that they came over. Don't get all worked
up. We're just friends. (I always have to put that little disclaimer on
there when I talk about girls too much. You understand.)