random story

once upon a time in a little village outside a bigger village outside a city which was on the outskirts of the upper peninsula sat a yupper. this yupper was a generous man having set aside from his own wages 27 cents to help feed the poor, 45 cents to help orphans and a whopping dollar to buy himself bubble gum. he sat chewing his newly purchused treasure like a cow and throughly enjoyed himself. but as he chewed the gum grew stickier and stickier until his mouth was completely shut. soon our friend discovered that it was not bubble gum that he purchased but rather bubblegum flavored cement (sold at any decent convenient store or respectable hardware store for you cement enthusists, it comes highly reccomended, even including a money back gaurantee). of course our upper friend now read the package of the cement and decided that A he was thoroughly dissatisfied B he should get his money back and C he needed to blow his nose. He immeidietly ran back to the convient store which had offered him the gum and ran directly to the manager and said,"gygygygymmmm!!!!! hd!!!!!!!." the manager gave him a dirtly look and thought that maybe this man was some kind of immigrant that spoke a language not requiring and movement of the mouth. he had minored in anthropology and had heard of such things. naturally he responded by saying, "el no comprendo" just in case the strange man also spoke spanish. this only succeeded in making the yupper angrier and he started to humm savagely. the manager then got annoyed and realized that maybe the humming man could not open his mouth. This amused the manager so he opened his mouth wide to rub in the fact that he could while our friend could not . the manager lived happily ever after and had many more cheap laughs at other's misfortune. the yupper got a sinus infection.

dillema

one of these days im gonna figure out what im doing for the joint weekend of the mlc trip and the camp retreat. how could this happen 2 years in a row? i remember going to the retreat last year telling myself that i would go on the mlc trip this year with it being my senior year ie the year before college. but now i really really really want to be at camp. i thought my experiences of last weekend would have curbed this some as i was there helping out in the kitchen with the rest of the bar and doing crazy stuff like disc golfing, watching tyler uproot whole trees, and talk about Jesus. but ever since i got back i have much more of a "need to be at camp feeling" not nearly as bad as when i was home during the summer but its definetly there. college, though, seems less important now i have fewer questions about college. i know 2 of my roomates and possess a much greater certainty in my goal to serve God as a teacher. im much less concerned now in how im going to be treated by the faculty or how amazing the grounds look or how i cant step on the luther seal. these things just pale in comparison to the fact that in order to serve my Lord as a teacher, mlc is something i need to do.

as for right now, im not really sure what im gonna do. i know for certain that im going to go to school at mlc and i also know for certain that i want to work at camp phillip this summer. for this weekend camp seems to be calling me, or maybe its just the memories of last year watching jake bases try to order a pizza with elliots phone. i guess i just dont know.

ill pray about it and for all yall out there. the best thing though is that whatever happens im gonna have a rockin weekend. i guess if anybody has any suggestions or anything, well thats what a comment is for.

childlike me

why as kids do we long to grow up? seriously. i know theres alot of awesome things and priveleges that go with being an 18 year old senior but with those come responsibilities, pressures and doubts. like college for example. ive pretty much decided where i want to go and what i want to do and Lord willing ill help hundreds of kids become closer to God. but with the certainty of that i know i will never be a stunt pilot, a rock star, or my greatest childhood ambition, an astronaut. Ive had to trade dreams for reality. i also miss possesing a child's innocence. granted im not sure if i ever was an innocent child but i remember facing far less temptation. i could go to school and not feel urges of rebellion or lust but every day of school seemed exciting and fun, even if i hated homework. as ive become older, school has grown more monotonous and tiring. for example i come home from school ready to sleep, while my 8 year old brother comes home to build space ships out of legos and play soccer with his friends. that also comes down to energy. kids just seem to have so much. i remember when i was little i used to wake up at sunrise and run through everyone's bedroom yelling "its morning its morning" and pull back the curtains to let the sun shine. pretty crazy but its true.

finally i miss having the faith of a child. Christ tells us that we need to have a childlike faith completely trusting without doubt. when nathan was younger and terrefied of water. we would go to a swimming pool and he would jump into your arms, despite how scared he was. his eyes would close tight and he'd cling as hard as he could but he trusted you completely to be there for him. so too should i trust God completely, and yet somedays i dont. But even then, God is still there for me no matter what, and no matter how far i turn from him.

so how can i be a child again? unfortunatelly, that is impossible. im never going to be 5 years old again no matter how much i wish i was and throughout the rest of my life im going to possess sinful thoughts, desires and sin in ways that would never cross the mind of child. as we grow into a larger world of adults, our sins grow with us. but what can i do to keep whats left of a child inside of me. the only way i can think of, is to keep the best things of childhood close to my heart. to always look at the world in a sense of wonderment and awe, to be energetic and laugh, even when i dont want to because energy and laughter compound onto themselves. temptation is much harder to bring back to childhood. im not the same person i was in kindergarten or third grade or preschool. i should not be, but i still need to trust in God as completely as those do to help me avoid temptation and stay on Christ's path set before me. i can never be a child again but that doesnt mean ill ever growup.

this thing

List five of your idiosyncrasies and then tag five friends to do the same.

1. My mom doesnt let me drink mountain dew.

2. I have every camp phillip staff t shirt for the last 5 years.

3. I think the most comfortable clothing is pajama pants that i cut into shorts.

4. I have owned 2 guitars but i can only play one song.

5. The first words i ever said to tyler shinnick were, "hey, you want a dew?"

werner
shinnick
ali
blake
becca

dennis you were missed (dennis deyoung that is)

this weekend rocked. tyler shinnick picked me up on sunday to go to a styx concert in elkhorn and to stay at some girl's house that ive never even met before. he arrived at 11 or so with a van full people that i had heard stories about like midget and zuberbier and their girlfriends. i was greeted by the site of tylers pants being covered by some very patriotic boxers. zuberbier also sat in his boxers. i had chosen briefs for the occasion and decided to spare the van of the site of my tighty whities. these guys are traveling geniuses and had brought a cooler full of mountain dew, and by full were talkin like 40 some cans as well as ice and food like licorice, chips, brownies, cookies and some amazing scooby doo fruit snaks. the trip can be pretty much summarized in dew, farts, burps, pda, and classic rock. we took the senic route which passed such scenic places as the dick bong recreation area (actually the state's largest managed prarie) and an intersection between bushnell and shag bark lane, of course we stopped to take pictures of both.

eventually we did get to where we were going laura lundgrun's house, sorry i dont know how to spell it yet. Laura and her mom were totally awesome and fed us lots of food and were totally nice. so nice that me and laura are now life long friends. so then we went to the styx concert a few hours early and after some deal with a line we took our spots on the left but still front row. after standing for a while some security guard told us about this jewish rule that you needed to have a chair to wait in the front of the stage. seriously the fact that we had gotten to the fair 4 hours before the concert started and the fact that we had waited in line and ran to get our spot before others meant nothing because we didnt have a chair to sit on. this rule was gayer than elton john singing about teletubbies with theresa heinz kerry and rosie odonell at the democratic national convention. and as tyler shinnick put it,"if i wanted a bunch of gay rules to follow id be at school, not a friggin rock concert." defeated, we retreated to the grandstandsand and waited for the show to begin. eventually the show started and once again styx rocked the house. unfortunately dennis deyoung is no longer in the band and they have replaced him with some chipmunk named lawrence. lawrence actually isnt that bad but compared to dennis deyoung is not a comparison. the only problem i had with the show was that it was short, especially compared to the one i went to last summer in jefferson, possibly cuz of people sitting down and just an audience that lacked an energy. but at the end of the day, i saw one of my favorite rock bands of all time and got to see tommy shaw and james young, those guys rock.

eventually we did get back to tyler's van and tried to drive to some place to eat. if you asked me if we sped at this time i honestly couldnt tell you. the lights on tyler's dashboard refused to turn on so we just followed laura because she knew what she was doing (we hoped) and listened to styx and drunk mountain dew. we got to a family restraunt that served 24 hours and had supper. laura pretty much paid for everyone. did i mention were now lifelong friends? that night we watched wayne's world, good movie, stunk up the basement, played a game using names of the human anatomy, and eventually got some sleep.

this trip was amazing. i met some of the coolest kids ever and i am on confident that i will see them again soon and also in heaven. tyler and i talked about the first time we ever talked to each other. we were in the dining hall and i said to him, "hey, you want a dew?" not ever joking. finally i saw styx, one amazing rock band. i am so thankful that those guys took the time to pick me up, i definetly owe them all alot.