The Unfinished Painting

Short Essay

2010-01-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a short essay I wrote for an application prompt: thought I might share it.

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." - GK Chesterton

In life on earth, there are no certainties. Time changes, powers shift, plans fall through, and people's opinions sway. In such chaos, people always are searching for answers. What we, as believers, know is that there is only one true Answer - one unshakable Rock we can hold onto. That rock is our Lord and Savior. What does that mean for us, as humans in an unpredictable world? It means we have eternal certainty. We may not know what will happen in our lives, but we do know our eternal destination. We also know that in our love and devotion to God, He will use us as willing vessels to carry out His plan and bring Him glory. This is our highest calling as Christians; to be used in this way.
How should this effect the way we make plans and respond to life's unpredictability? Should we despair when things don't go as we've planned, as some do? Should we "man up" and be resourceful, living with the motto "When life gives you lemons...", as others do? Perhaps, we, as believers, are called to a greater attitude. We know that God has a infinitely wise plan for our lives. We might be wise by human standards, and know how to make good decisions and plan ahead well, but what happens when God has a different plan for our lives? What happens when the certainties we built our plans around falls through? This doesn't have to be a life plan, either. This can be as simple as being stopped by a red light that we wish we could have made it through. Our fallen nature's reaction is usually to grumble and complain. "What an inconvenience. This isn't how I wanted it to happen!"
Is that the right attitude to have? The Bible would tell us otherwise. Through His word, we know that God does nothing without reason - His omnipresent, all-wise reason.
With that in mind, how should we react when something unexpected and "inconvenient" comes our way? Should we wonder if we're doing something wrong? Should we try to fight it so we can have our way in the end? No - we should not see these changes as setbacks. We should see these unexpected turns as God working in our lives. He is very involved in our lives, and He will interact with us however He sees fit. If we run into a something we see as a setback, our reaction should be to stop, take a look at our circumstances, and go to God to decipher His will. A change doesn't have to be inconvenient, rather, it should be seen as all part of God's plan for us - the greatest adventure we'll ever have.

God bless!

Exposition

2010-01-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

A couple people wanted to know what I was talking about with Shaeffer's philosophy about civilization. So, without further adieu, here's another thing to ponder on.

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

Here are the stages.

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage

I think we're about to topple out of Apathy and into Dependance.

What do you think?

Allegiance to a Nation

2010-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

No, I do not usually do policically-themed posts. And this one is not. I simply feel I must say something in response to the uproar everywhere.

Dear citizens,

Why do you whine about the government? That is neither "patriotic", as you claim to be, nor is it going to change anything. // I've got news for you, people. America is on the decline. Wake up and smell the apathy. Wise minds in the past knew it was happening. Unless you think you know better than Francis Schaeffer, here is my suggestion to you: Make your patriotism that of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Nations rise, and nations fall, but God remains the same. I think it would be in your best interest to latch onto the One and Unchanging instead of angsting over a nation in it's death throes.

That is all.
Peace.

Vote!

2009-12-24T08:31:00.001-08:00

So I just submitted a design to Threadless. I think it has a pretty good chance! I get several thousand dollars if I get this printed, so I'm counting on you all! ;)

(Make sure to check the "I'd buy it as a tee!" box before putting in the number score.) :)

Trust

2009-07-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

I suppose it goes without saying that it's been too long since I've written something. I guess I've just been lacking motivation, and whenever I come across something I want to blog about, I always forget I want to blog about it until it's too late and I've forgotten.
Whatever the case may be, I'll just spill part of my brain on here to fill some space.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be having a meeting with an MCAD counselor, continuing to look for a job, and (God-willing) be getting my company's website up. Lot to do, and I'm pretty excited. The job thing is still weighing really heavy on me, though, so if you all could be praying, I'd really appreciate it. :)

Lately I've been preaching to myself a lot about trusting in God. It's something I do from day-to-day, but it's not perfectly easy sometimes. There's a LOT in my future/near future that's unknown. I know God has a plan for my ultimate good, but I'm sort of the planner/Mr. Fix-It who likes to have everything figured out. Not the most awesome combination. I have to remind myself daily that my view of the world is not like His. They say hindsight is 20-20. I can look back and see ways He's worked that I deeply appriciate now, but they were hard - and I did not appriciate them at the time. God's got a 20-20 view of past, present, and future (and probably other dimentions we have no idea even exist), so it goes without saying that His plan is better than anything I could cook up.
Advice? Remind yourself of that fact daily. It's easy to get caught up in worry (a struggle I have, personally) and doubt, but He will see His work though to completion. There are situations where we can get frustrated or upset ("God, what are you doing??"), but don't let those define your interaction with Him. It's not wrong to have questions for God, but it is wrong to question His judgment. Trust in the Creator who made the world, gave it life, sustains it, and loves it. It sounds like a good idea to me. :)

'Night, all. Leave some comments so I know people actually read this. :P

Nate

Consider Yourself Warned

2009-06-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lately, it has been my habit to lay awake late at night letting my mind run on overhaul. It kills any hope of early bird rising, but it's also a time where my mind can work in the quiet. I've had a lot of extremely weighty issues I've been grappling with. I usually jot them down so I don't forget it.
On a seemingly unrelated note, I've realized I'm been really bad about updating my blog.
The solution?
I'm now going to be jotting down my late night thoughts here for your consideration/commendation/comdemnation. I know I run the risk of actually exposing how much of a freak I am to the general public, but I take consolation in the fact that all the freakiness is Jesus Freakiness.

My thought for the night:

I've always been intrigued by things extra-terrestrial. Here, by extra-terrestrial, I don't mean I'm obbsessed with aliens or sci-fi novels. I mean I'm intrigued by things that are not of this earth. Specifically, what it was like before the creation of the world, and what the end of the world and beyond will be like. Revelation is one of my favorites books of the Bible, if that gives you any idea of what I mean.
People often wonder what hell is like. Is it dark? - Like a giant, floating, black void of pain? Or rather, is it like the commercially popular picture of an underground, stalactited, flaming pit?
I myself have reached the conclusion that it is complete separation from God. The Holy Spirit, His very presence, everything. That probably first strikes you as blasphemous. God is omnipresent. There is no place that God isn't.
I absolutely agree with God's omnipresence. I am in no way saying that there are places He can't control. I do wonder, however, if there is a place that He has purposefully removed Himself from.
To the unbeliver, what is it they want? Ultimately, they do not want God. Hell is giving them what they want - no God. I find it interesting to read about The Void (in the first couple verses of Genisis where God's spirit hovered over the Void - also referred to as waters or depths). I wonder if the Void was a place devoid (Ah ha) of God's presence, and He filled it with land, light, and life as He filled it with Himself.
While that was a little off topic, I brought up The Void to give you a mental picture of what I think hell is. It is worse to be alive and without God than to be dead.
And we will be alive. When we die, we get new bodies whether we go to heaven or hell. A friend of mine raised the objection that a human soul can not exist without God. It would literally cease to exsist. Again, this is all my musing and wondering - I wonder what the implications of a new body would be. Are the new bodies actual self-sustaining, eternal bodies? This would seem to be Biblical. The Bible says we will be constantly rejoicing and worshiping God in heaven - because we want to. We don't get reprogrammed to be robotic worshipers in heaven. We are very much free (free indeed!) and what we want to do with that freedom is love our amazing God.
So if those in hell have self-sustaining bodies - then that, my friends, is true torment. Living - being very much alive - completely without God. I believe one would be able to look back on his life and see all the times that God gave him a chance. All the times where the evidence was clear. All the times that he spit in God's face. And he was wrong, and it is too late.
That, my dear readers, is true hell.
Praise God for His amazing, undeserving, and matchless love and grace! I am so grateful that I will not have to face hell - whatever it might be like. I have a better place to look forward to, and I am - to put it lightly - stoked.
Challenge for the night: If you too feel this way, I would encourage you to make it plain in your life. I am also growing in this. We have a better place. This earth is nothing compared to our futures. As that is the case, we should live our lives solely for the One who we'll be with forever. Whatever we can do, whoever we can witness to - it's all living future-minded. If people think we're freaks, it's sweet, 'cause we want to be different. If they hate us and kill us, then we have the last, gloriously happy laugh, because we are in heaven. Praise God.

'Night all.

Project: Typography Video

2009-05-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is a project I've been working on with a friend for Desiring God. It's currently on the front page, and I heard something about DG wanting to distribute it to catholic churches around the nation because of Obama's recent address. I'm actually not even 100% happy with it, just because we had to leave out several of our favorite ideas due to time restraints. It gets the point across, though. That's the important part.

Phewfta.

2009-05-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, my grandpa had a bad stroke a couple weeks ago. I've basically spent the time between then and now at the hospital, trying to do homework, running errands, seeing family members, getting back home for two days to get class stuff done, and making sure my mom remembered to eat and sleep. :P It was an insane two weeks in Kansas.
My grandpa passed away Tuesday night. His last breath couldn't have been sweeter. He was surrounded by family who were singing worship songs, and he opened one eye to scan the room, finally landing on my grandmother. He squeezed her hand (you will never find two bigger lovebirds than those two... even at 86), and breathed his last. The visitation and funeral were very sweet and honoring. The theme was how much of a difference he had made in other's lives, and "He's now in a better place... And we're jealous now!" haha...
So, needless to say, that's dominated my last two weeks.
On a school note, I've finished all but one class, and that final is on Friday. I graduate in 10 days, and I just keep getting more and more pumped for that.
I'm really getting interested in an illustration major, and I'm continuing to look at MCAD quite seriously.
The weather is GORGEOUS. I can't get enough of it.

I've become very upset with complacency as of late. It seems like the entire younger generation is just bogged down in self-worth, petty high school and college drama, and stupid frivilous things. And the worst part is, they don't care. They're fine with it! They don't actually know anything else.

Life pledge: Wake up youth to their own situation. Get all that passion and potential directed in a way that makes a difference.

Make no mistake, I'm guilty of this at times, too. We all are. It just saddens me to see all my peers lives be consumed with such "important" nothing. Absolutely nothing of worth. This has got to change. We're going to be the driving generation behind how the nation works in a few years, and we'd better get ready and shape up before that gets here.

[End rant]

Glasses came a few days ago. Feels way better reading and at the computer now.

My camera is/has/will be out like 24/7 from now on. Yes, yes, yes, Spring!

Hope you all are doing well. I want prayer requests in the comments. Love ya!

Guessing Game

2009-04-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who don't know, my grandpa had a stroke on Thursday morning (or Wednesday night, we're not sure). My mom and I basically threw clothes in a bag and left in the car for Kansas. Got here late Thursday night, and we've basically been flying by the seat of our pants ever since. At this point, he seems to be somewhat aware of his surroundings, but he can't really do anything. No talking, swallowing, motor skills, he can't move the right side of his body at all, and can't communicate. We're not really sure what's going to happen. The stroke was massive, and I don't think anyone's expecting more than 3 weeks for him. My family is doing pretty well all things considered. My grandpa hasn't had the best health as of late, and is quite old, too. I think we've been expecting this kind of thing for quite a while. Still hard, regardless. Pray that God's will would be done. If he recovers by a miracle, glory be to God! If He goes to be with Him, rejoice and give glory to God. :)
Again, this is a time where everything is up in the air. This just happens to be probably the busiest month in my life. I'm volenteering at a conference Wednesday to Sunday (so I'll have to find some way to get myself back home on Tuesday), I have an open house in a little over a week, I graduate the week after, there's various dinners, ceremonies, and millions (it seems like) of open houses the next month and a half. *deep breath* My life is crazy right now.
Prayer would be awesome. I'm doing great right now, don't worry. However, I would very much like to make it to the month of June without getting sick from exhaustion or something like that.
So... That's about it for now. Excuse my unusually lax grammar and spelling... I'm really tired right now. :P
Keep praying, and I guess I'll see you when I see you.
God bless!

What??

2009-04-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. I can't remember the last time I felt this way.
I keep thinking I'll wake up, and it will all have been a dream.
I've heard people talk about this, but I never thought it would happen to me...
That's right.
Spring break.

After a couple weeks of leaving sleep on the back burner, I have a chance to rest. Incredible! The end is in sight! Just another month!
The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. The biggest time-consumer was my project with Trinity for their spring Gala Formal/Fundraiser. If I didn't have Seth helping me, I would have been dead.
Also, I think I did class and school sometime. That part is a little bit fuzzy. Not complaining.
So now you know why a lot of you haven't seen or heard a lot from me.
But I am alive, never fear.

Other notes? I'm not getting my grades at NWC back. That's pretty frustrating. Evidently a ton of people have had trouble with those particular professors (and NWC in general after half of the staff left). I'm not sure if that's encouraging or not. On one hand, it means it wasn't a fault of mine. But on another, it's really not giving a place voted in the "Best Christian Colleges" a great name. And I still don't get my credits (for college, anyway). I'm still using them for high school. I don't think this will end up being much of a loss in the end (hours of work last year aside), because design degrees don't need geography and such. Oh, well.
God's been good to me through this. The whole situation was actually an answer to prayer.
I was reading 1st Peter 1:6, and decided that I wanted to know joy in trials. Not "know" as in head-knowledge, but "know" as in heart-knowledge (through experience). Granted, this trial is nothing like being hunted down for my faith, but combined with the loss of my job (because I told my boss "Church is more inportant than my job" when she kept bugging me about working Sundays and Wednesdays), it's been hard. I can see the ways God has answered my prayer, though, and He's given me joy in Him through it all. So I can say with utmost conviction: Glory to God in the good times and bad!

So, here's an intereting fact. I was born with large pupils. Here, by large pupils I mean "Bambi Eyes". This always gave me great vision (we're talking in the 10/20 range). However, given that fact (added to my light blue eyes), I've always been sensitive to light. You know how everything is almost unbearably bright when you get your eyes dilated? That's approximatly what everything is for me. Anyways, to make a long story short, I had an eye appointment a couple weeks ago. It would seem that being so sensitive to light isn't really good for your eyes (great Scott! No kidding!)... My right eye is slacking on the job a bit. My left still has great vision, but the right is slightly lower than normal. 25 or 30/20 may not seem like real bad vison (and it's not), but considering that my left is at 10/20, it's a pretty noticeable difference. Because of that, I've been getting a lot of tension "headaches". I say it that way because it's not so much headaches as it is a general tightening up of all the muscles in my face (oh, that's much better?).
So anyways, I'm trying several different things to see if I can relieve some of that. Nothing has helped so far. That being said, there's a possibility of me getting glasses. I'd probably only wear them for driving, reading, computer, etc, but I think it would be one of those "The more you wear them, the better" type things. I guess I'm not super-opposed to idea. I wouldn't need them for sports or anything, and really, what screams "Artist" more than this:

Eh? Am I right?

Anyways, we'll see what happens in the next week or so.
Other notable things?

More senior pictures!
A lovely lady named Amy that goes to my church is an excellent photographer. She was looking to add more senior pictures to her portfolio, and I was fortuneate enough to be one of those thanks to the combined brainstorm of Hannah and Taylor Curry (thanks!).
It was a lot of fun. Amy is absolutely hilarious. She had the funniest little things she would do. If she was trying to decide how she wanted us to post, she'd move us out of the way and strike several poses until she decided on one she wanted. Quite entertaining to watch. Also, after several pictures, she'd randomly burst out in a loud, fake-sounding laugh. This never failed to make us crack up, which was the whole point.
Anyway, I think they're going to turn out well. She's going to Azerbaijan this weekend (lucky!), so I should have some copies in a little under 2 weeks. Definitely looking forward to it!

Also! I just got a haircut/color. It's longer on the sides and bangs, with spikeage galore in the back. It's all red and burgundy and blonde, too. Definitely crazy. Interesting comments. One person imformed me that red is kind of "the color" for anorexics. Well, isn't that nice. Honestly, I could really care less. I know I've ranted on it before, but I really have very little patience for little social/fashion boxes. Who you are is not what you look like or who you hang out with. Furthermore, I think it's a waste to try to fit into a certain "group", if you will. It limits your expression and who God has made you to be. If you look at certain parts of my life, I could really fit into anything. I'm geeky. I'm artsy. I'm sportsy. I'm social. But, I couldn't possibly pick one of those and join a clique. They're all me. Don't let your nature be contained by what the world has made into neat little "people packages". You're awesome when you're you.
As a side note, this goes for the church, too. I love it when "different" people are loved and make an impact. Some churches frown down upon tattoos or piercings or weird hair or funky clothes. I say, lighten up. Look at these guys:

Would that not have some churches all up in a tizzy? Yes, it would. However, those dudes are some of the most awesome Christian guys I've ever had the pleasure to stumble upon. Great music, too.
Anyway... End rant. God loves you for your heart. Don't let people scare you into being "normal".

This should be a great weekend. The Maunday Thursday service is tomorrow, and several people will be hanging out at the Blackburn's for a "Flowover" (official Overflow) beforehand. Good stuff.
I've also decided I want to do paintball this weekend. So we'll see how that works out.

The weather is AMAZING right now, and looks like it will continue to be so. Helloooo spring!

This is getting pretty long, so I'd better scamper off now. Post with a prayer request or (and?) something God has been teaching you.

Love you all! Peace.

Nate

Design Work

2009-03-24T22:59:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it's been a while. :P I keep forgetting to update this for odd reasons (thanks a lot, Twitter). Anyways... I thought I give you all a look at what I've been working on a bit... Namely, GUI design.

GUI means "Graphical User Interface". GUIs are basically everything you see when you open an application. Computers have them, phones have them, iPods have them, etc.

My project I've been messing around with lately is modding iPod Touch and iPhone interface. I've just completed one which I'm quite happy with.

Here's a normal iPod interface:

And here's what I've cooked up:

Basically, instead of a lot of icons everywhere, I've got 8 pages with one big icon each. Some of the icons are folders, which open up to show all the applications inside.

For example, when I push the Information icon shown in the picture above, it opens this:

Which is all my applications I've seen fit to put in my Info folder.

Anyway, there's also some of my normal applications (the most-used ones) as large icons, too.

Etc...

Here's a video of what it looks like live...
Quality isn't the greatest, because LCD screens are hard to record well on video.

So... yeah! If you've ever wondered "What's Nate actually do when he says he's designing?", that would be one of the outlets. Other include matte paintings, which I will be posting once I start finishing them (they're massive).

Hope you all are doing well. Let me know how I can pray for you!

- Nate

Retreat Notes: Part 1

2009-03-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well, the retreat was super encouraging. Here's some of the summaries:

Colossians 3: 1-17 was the main text for the weekend.

Session 1: Kempton Turner

Kempton started by referencing to Revelations 20: 11-15. This mainly talks about the wrath of God, and the judgment that will be on unrepentant sinners on the last day. You all know about the word picture of "The Lake of Fire". This is used quite a bit. The point of the passage is to get you in the right mind concerning the just God we serve, and His intolerance of sin.
Have you ever thought about God's wrath as a full cup? Revelation 14: 10. All those who do not serve Him with their everything will drink it. It's not a pleasant thought. But! Praise the Lord. He had a plan from the beginning.
Luke 22:42: Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's not often we see Jesus so distraught, so we know this is a serious moment. What's the reason? He's not bothered by the extreme torture He's about to endure, or the betrayal that is inevitable, or the denials by His closest followers. It was the wrath of God. He was about to take every sin that has ever been committed, and that ever will be, into himself. He was about to take the full force of God's wrath. That sounds scary enough as it is, but I have no doubt that we can't even begin to understand the full extent with our human minds. Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” There's the example of the cup, from Jesus' own lips. He took it. He drank the cup that was rightfully ours.
This should floor us. Yes, we've heard this before. Most of us have heard it all our lives in church. This shouldn't take away from it's power. Don't be desensitized about the incredible gift we've been given. Be blessed with the knowledge, and glorify Him!

Session 2: Kempton Turner

Colossians 3: 1-4 was the main text for this session. Things above? What does he mean by that? In this passage, Paul is calling us to focus on things that help us to love Christ even more. In whatever you do, ask: “Does _____ help me to treasure Christ more deeply?” Things that make us take our minds off of Christ shouldn't be followed after. If we are forced to put our faith in only a certain section of our life, we should rethink our priorities. We’re called to live by the truth that “Christ is all, and in all”
"For you have died..." This is obviously not referring to the flesh. That still is incredibly prevalent in our lives. Joe puts it this way: "Paul means that insofar as we are in Christ, we have died to the world, because Christ is holy. This means that because of Christ, we do not have to be ruled by sin anymore. We are free in Christ to be completely unresponsive to temptation, just as some people are unresponsive to physical stimuli. Our lives are “hidden with Christ in God”; this passage simply calls us to reflect that reality in our flesh, by His grace. It’s not easy, but Christ is sufficient for these things."

I'll finish tomorrow. I'm pretty tired right now. God bless!

Retreat!

2009-02-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

I am ooouuuta here! Hope you all have an amazing weekend, and I will update about the retreat with my notes when I get back. Love ya!

Fragments!

2009-02-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

I'm going to shoot off a quick update here, but I don't have a ton of time. Let's write it in bullet points! Or, shall we say, 'Brooke-esque'? ;)

I have the weirdest family. Jesse, in particular, makes me laugh like you wouldn't believe. Today I was sitting and talking with him, and I made a comment about how nothing felt good when you were sick.
Jesse responded "That's not very patronizing, now is it?"
I raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Are you sure you know what that means?"
He responded in a tone that can only be described as goofily sarcastic, "Of course I do. It means comfy."

I will clarify here that he knows exactly what patronizing means. He's very smart, but still a goof ball. You kind of have to be there, though, cause his facial expressions are what really put me in stitches.

Moving on.

Speaking of sick. I am. However, I am striving to defeat said sickness using only the sheer power of my mind... And a couple shots of pure vitamin C. That is some strong stuff, I'm telling you...
As of now, I'm feeling much better than yesterday.

Did you know that the king of hearts is the only king without a moustache?

I'll be gone 'til Tuesday in Kansas. I was looking forward to 60 degree days, but apparently it's going to be colder there than it will be here most of the days. Figures. :P

Did you also know that American car horns beep in the key of F?

Amy Lee announced that she's working on a solo CD, as well as a new Evanescence album. *dreamy sigh* :P

I've decided I'm a mega geek. Or nerd. Or both. The word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo", cause I'm sure you all have always wondered about that.

My classes are super lame right now. I literally have not learned a thing this semester, other than reading the entire training book for Samurais. That was pretty sweet, but I'm not sure how that's going to help me solve business problems. Oh, well.

So if I was to apply for a second job, where would I apply? (Besides Caribou. :P)

And a few more to prove my geekiness:

Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.
The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
Dueling is legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.

That's all for now, folks. Love ya! Leave a comment with a prayer request.

Test?

2009-02-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update:

I'm taking the ACT again on Saturday morning. I'm hoping to bump up my score a bit in the hopes that I can get in the "Big scholarships to New York design schools" category. Prayer for it would be awesome. :)

I'll probably do a longer update later this weekend.

Post some way I can be praying for you.

Love you,
Nate

Ownage

2009-02-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

I absolutely had to post this. It's an article posted on a site I frequently read.

5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Wuss

We all understand that action movies are cheesy escapism. After all, could one commando really take out a whole compound full of bad guys?

Actually, yes. It turns out the history books are full of stories of soldiers doing things so hardcore they'd hesitate to put them into a film for fear of killing the realism. Like these five, for example.

#5. Simo Hayha

Who Was He?

Simo Hayha had a fairly boring life in Finland. He served his one mandatory year in the military, and then became a farmer. But when the Soviet Union invaded his homeland in 1939, he decided he wanted to help his country.

Since the majority of fighting took place in the forest, he figured the best way to stop the invasion was to grab his trusty rifle, a couple of cans of food, and hide in a tree all day shooting Russians. In six feet of snow. And 20-40 degrees below zero.

Of course when the Russians heard that dozens of their men were going down and that it was all one dude with a rifle, they got pretty scared. He became known as "The White Death" because of his white camouflage outfit, and they actually mounted whole missions just to kill that one guy.

They started by sending out a task force to find Hayha and take him out. He killed them all.

Then they tried getting together a team of counter-snipers (which are basically snipers that kill snipers) and sent them in to eliminate Hayha. He killed all of them, too.

Over the course of 100 days, Hayha killed 542 people with his rifle. He took out another 150 or so with his SMG, sending his credited kill-count up to 705.
Since everyone they had was either too dead or too scared to go anywhere near him, the Russians just carpet-bombed everywhere they thought he might be. Supposedly, they had the location right, and he actually got hit by a cloud of shrapnel that tore his coat up, but didn't actually hurt him, because he's the freaking White Death, dang it.

Finally on March 6th, 1940, some lucky Russian shot Hayha in the head with an exploding bullet. When some other soldiers found him and brought him back to base, he "had half his head missing." The White Death had finally been stopped...
...for about a week. In spite of having come down with a nasty case of shot-in-the-face syndrome, he was still very much alive, and regained consciousness on March 13, the very day the war ended.

The Best Hollywood Could Come Up With:
Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) from Shooter

In Shooter, Mark Wahlberg plays a reclusive, worn-out ex-sniper trying to escape the ghosts of his past. Bob Lee is called in by the FBI who want to know if he (hypothetically) wanted to murder, let's say, the president, how would he (hypothetically) do it? They claim that he's "the best there is" because after years of training with long-distance shooting, he successfully killed 70 men in the desert with one of these:

Why it doesn't Compare:
Aside from the obvious fact that Hayha killed over 10 times as many men after only the most basic military training, he did it in 40-below weather, in the middle of the forest. And he did it all with one of these:

#4. Yogendra Singh Yadav

Who Was He?

Yogendra Singh Yadav was a member of an Indian grenadier battalion during a conflict with Pakistan in 1999. Their mission was to climb "Tiger Hill" (actually a huge mountain), and neutralize the three enemy bunkers at the top. Unfortunately, this meant climbing up a sheer hundred-foot cliff-face of solid ice. Since they didn't want to all climb up one at a time with ice-axes, they decided they'd send one guy up, and he'd fasten the ropes to the cliff as he went, so everyone else could climb up the sissy way. Yadav, being awesome, volunteered.

Half way up the icy cliff-o'-doom, enemies stationed on an adjacent mountain opened fire, shooting them with an RPG, then spraying assault-rifle fire all over the cliff. Half his squad was killed, including the commander, and the rest were scattered and disorganized. Yadav, in spite of being shot three times, kept climbing.

When he reached the top, one of the target bunkers opened fire on him with machine guns. Yadav ran toward the hail of bullets, pitched a grenade in the window and killed everyone inside. By this point the second bunker had a clear shot and opened fire, so he ran at them, taking bullets while he did, and killed the four heavily-armed men inside with his bare hands.

Meanwhile, the remainder of his squad was standing at the top of the cliff staring at him saying, "Dude, holy crap!" They then all went and took the third bunker with little trouble.

For his gallantry and sheer awesomeness, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military award. Unlike the Medal of Honor, the Param Vir Chakra is only given for "rarest of the rare gallantry which is beyond the call of duty and which in normal life is considered impossible to do." That's right, you actually have to break the laws of reality just to be eligible.

It has only been awarded 21 times, and two thirds of the people who earned it died in the process. It was initially reported that Yadav had as well, but it turns out that they just mistook him for someone less hardcore. Or they just figured no real human being could survive a broken leg, shattered arm and 10-15 fresh bullet holes in one sitting.

The best Hollywood could come up with:
John McClane (Bruce Wilis) from Die Hard

Why it Doesn't Compare:

McClane has a fairly impressive resume of hardcoreery, climbing through elevator shafts and killing terrorists with his bare hands, much like Yadav, except Yadav took more bullets in 10 minutes than McClane did in the entire series without even slowing down. Plus, he was freaking 19-years-old!

Try to imagine a high school Bruce Willis screaming, "Yippee ki-yay!" as he killed people with his fists.

Exactly.

#3. Jack Churchill

Who Was He?

An allied commander in WWII, and an avid fan of surfing, Captain Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill aka "Fighting Jack Churchill" aka "Mad Jack" was basically the craziest soldier in the whole dang war.

He volunteered for commando duty, not actually knowing what it entailed, but knowing that it sounded dangerous, and therefore fun. He is best known for saying that "any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed" and, in following with this, for carrying a sword into battle. In WWII. And not one of those sissy ceremonial things the Marines have. No, Jack carried a freaking claymore. And he used it, too. He is credited with capturing a total of 42 Germans and a mortar squad in the middle of the night, using only his sword.

Churchill and his team were tasked with capturing a German fortification creatively called "Point 622." Churchill took the lead, charging ahead of the group into the dark through the barbed wire and mines, pitching grenades as he went. Although his unit did their best to catch up, all but six of them were lost to silly things like death. Of those six, half were wounded and all any of them had left were pistols. Then a mortar shell swung in and killed/mortally wounded everyone who wasn't Jack Churchill.

When the Germans found him, he was playing "Will Ye No Come Back Again?" on his bagpipes. Oh, we didn't mention that? He carried them right next to his big freaking sword.

After being sent to a concentration camp, he got bored and left. Just walked out. They caught him again, and sent him to a new camp. So he left again. After walking 150 miles with only a rusty can of onions for food, he was picked up by the Americans and sent back to Britain, where he demanded to be sent back into the field, only to find out (with great disappointment) the war had ended while he was on his way there. As he later said to his friends, "If it wasn't for those dang Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years!"

The Best Hollywood Could Come Up With:
Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert DuVall) from Apocalypse Now

Why It Doesn't Compare:

Well, truth be told, they're pretty much the same person. They're both at home on the battlefield, they have the same philosophies of war and both of them seem to be immune to mortar fire and bullets. Churchill's basically a crazier, Scottish version of Kilgore. With a big freaking broadsword. Like if Kilgore was played by William Wallace from Braveheart on crystal meth.

#2. Alvin York

Who Was He?

Born to a family of redneck farmers from Tennessee, Alvin York spent much of his youth getting drunk in bars and getting into crazy barfights. When his friend got killed in one of the aforementioned barfights, he swore off the liquor, and became a pacifist. When he received his draft notice in 1917, York filed as a "conscientious objector" but was denied. They shipped his butt out to basic training.

About a year later, he was one of 17 men designated to sneak around and take out a fortified machine-gun encampment guarding a German railroad. As they were approaching, the gunners spotted them and opened fire, tearing nine of the men to pieces.

The few survivors that didn't have nerves of steel ran away, leaving York standing there taking fire from 32 heavy machine gunners. As he said in his diary,

"I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush, I didn't even have time to kneel or lie down. I had no time no how to do nothing but watch them-there German machine gunners and give them the best I had. Every time I seed a German I just touched him off. At first I was shooting from a prone position; that is lying down; just like we often shoot at the targets in the shooting matches in the mountains of Tennessee; and it was just about the same distance. But the targets here were bigger. I just couldn't miss a German's head or body at that distance. And I didn't."

After he killed the first 20 men or so, a German lieutenant got five guys together to try to take this guy from the side. York pulled out his Colt .45 (which only had eight bullets) and killed all of them with it, a practice he likened to "shoot[ing] wild turkeys back home."

At this point lieutenant Paul Jurgen Vollmer yelled out over the noise asking if York was English. See, in WWI, no one really took the Americans very seriously, and everyone thought of them as the rookies. Vollmer figured this crazy/awesome/daring soldier must be some kind of English superman who was showing these sissy Americans how it was done. When York said he was American, Vollmer replied "Good Lord! If you won't shoot any more I will make them give up."

Ten minutes later, 133 men came walking towards the remains of York's battalion. Lieutenant Woods, York's superior at first thought it was a German counter-attack until he saw York, who saluted and said "Corporal York reports with prisoners, sir." When the stunned officer asked how many, York replied "Honest, Lieutenant, I don't know."

The Best Hollywood Could Come Up With:
John Rambo from Rambo.

Why it Doesn't Compare:

Sure, Rambo takes on a huge chunk of the Vietnamese soldiers guarding a POW camp and slaughters them all. But that was a good 10 years after the war ended. It's not like they were expecting some guy to come charging into the camp, mowing everybody down.

York pulled his hardcore-ery off in the middle of a war, while outnumbered every bit as badly as Rambo was. And York's the one who was a pacifist.

#1. Audie Murphy

Who Was He?

When Audie Murphy applied to the Marines in 1942 at the tender age of 16, he was 5'5" and weighed 110 pounds. They laughed in his face. So he applied to the Air Force, and they also laughed in his face. Then he applied for the Army, and they figured they could always use another grunt to absorb gunfire, so they let him in. He wasn't particularly good at it, and they actually tried to get him transferred to be a cook after he passed out halfway through training. He insisted that he wanted to fight though, so they sent him into the maelstrom.
During the invasion of Italy he was promoted to corporal for his awesome shooting skills, and at the same time contracted malaria, which he had for almost the entire war. Try to remember that.

He was sent into southern France in 1944. He encountered a German machine gun crew who pretended they were surrendering, then shot his best buddy. Murphy completely hulked out, killed everyone in the gun nest, then used their weaponry to kill every baddie in a 100-yard radius, including two more machine gun nests and a bunch of snipers. They gave him a Distiguished Service Cross, and made him platoon commander while everyone apologized profusely for calling him "Shorty."

About half a year later, his company was given the job of defending the Colmar Pocket, a critical region in France, even though all they had left was 19 guys (out of the original 128) and a couple of M-10 Tank Destroyers.

The Germans showed up with a crapload of guys and half a dozen tanks. Since reinforcements weren't coming for a while, Murphy and his men hid in a trench and sent the M-10s to go do the heavy lifting. They got ripped to shreds.
Then, this five-and-a-half-foot-tall kid with malaria ran up to one of the crippled M-10s, hopped in behind the .50 cal machine gun, and started killing everything in sight. Understand that the M-10 was on fire, had a full tank of gas and was basically a death-trap.

He kept going for almost an hour until he was out of bullets, then walked back to his bewildered men as the M-10 exploded in the background Mad Max style. They gave him literally every medal they could (33 in all, although he had doubles of a few, plus five from France and one from Belgium), including the Medal of Honor.

After the war, he came down with Shell-Shock, and was prescribed the antidepressant placidyl. When he became addicted to the drug, rather than enter a program like some kind of sissy, he went cold-turkey, locked himself in a motel room for a week and got over it. He wrote an autobiography entitled To Hell and Back, and later became an actor.

The Best Hollywood Could Come Up With:
Audie Murphy (Audie Murphy) from ‘To Hell and Back’

In To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy plays Audie Murphy, a hardcore war hero who proves his worth on the battlefield with his awesome hardcore-ery. The movie was the highest-grossing film Universal made, a record it held for 20 years until the making of Jaws. That's right, they actually needed a movie about a giant, man-eating, shark to top Audie Murphy's awesomeness.

Why it Doesn't Compare:

When some Hollywood producer wanted to make a movie based on Murphy's autobiography, he was determined to have Murphy play himself in the film. Murphy was afraid people would see the complete insane awesomeness the story had to offer, and think he was embellishing or trying to cash in on his fame, so he actually had them take parts out for fear that they wouldn't be believable to a Hollywood audience. Seriously.

Lazy?

2009-01-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

As I sat working on a paper, I realized I hadn't updated in, approximately, a long time. Time to change that.

So! Life's been a whirlwind. Albeit, an organized one. There's been a ton going on, but it's been routine. My weeks consist of school, work, Bible study, and soccer.
However, there was an event to break the monotony.

Seth and I decided to go to Chicago. This trip was under the guise of attending an Adobe seminar, and, though the seminar was quite good, I think the main reason we went was just because we could... Cabin fever was setting in, I'd never been to Chicago, and that was enough reason for us!

It was a pretty exciting experience. By far the highlight for me, though, was not the city (though it was awesome) or the seminar (though it was enlightening). It was the people we met. Namely, the homeless. We met several. The one who sticks out the most was a young man just slightly older than us. He was a really neat guy. He'd lost his job, been on the streets a few months, and was trying to get enough money to travel to Columbus and get back on his feet. Unlike the others, who were either bitter or lazy, he said he had gained incredible perspective being on the streets. He even recommended we try it for a week sometime.
Anyway, we talked to him for over an hour, and were able to pray for him and share truth with him. It was an amazing blessing. We gave him some money in exchange for his email (heh, heh).

So! Since then, the routine has been the norm. Life is enjoyable. Definitely looking forward to Spring.

I've found something odd lately. I've always known I'm pretty different, for better or worse. What's hit me lately, though, is how I have never met anyone with a personality even close to mine. I can't figure it out. I have next to nothing in common with most guys, which is weird enough as it is, but more so than that, maybe my mind works differently. It's really hard to describe. I don't struggle with the same things as most guys, I don't really find a huge rush in "machoness", either. For example, tackle football, arm wrestling... You know, the usual testosterone-pumping-it'll-grow-hair-on-your-chest type stuff. It's always slightly entertaining to be in a situation where that happens.

Setting: A snowy yard.

Guy 1: *throws snowball at guy 2*
Guy 2: *throws snowball back*
*a wrestling match breaks out, admist much roaring*
Girl: *rolls eyes* "I don't understand guys at all." *questioning look at me*
Me: *helpless shrug* "I don't either."

Maybe that little illustration helped you get the idea. Orr, maybe not. Either way, that seems to be my predicament. I don't understand girls (who really does, anyway?), and I don't really seem to be much of a normal guy, either. So then, the pertainent question is: What am I?
And the question that follows is: Am I the only one like me?

The answer to that question is eluding me at the moment. However, there is something I do know. My identity, whatever that may be, is safe in Christ. My personality is something unique He has given me to use for the advance of His kingdom. Maybe I can't relate perfectly in personal matters and interests to the people I know, but God is my constant.
Someday, I'm sure I'll find someone like me (hopefully, it'll be my wife), and until then, when it happens, and for the rest of my life on earth and beyond, God will be there for me.

That is not to say I somehow don't enjoy the people I know. I love 'em more than you could imagine. In deeper matters, I love talking over things, praying, and supporting. All I'm saying is, in those deeper matters, I haven't found someone to match my interests, struggles, and dreams.
I am aware that having that is not a "must", as the whole Christian walk is defined by unity in differences. I am perfectly happy if I never happen upon someone like me, but I think it would be pretty awesome if I did.

SO. That turned into a ramble. Don't mind me, people. My mind just unloads when I start writing.

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Love you guys.
Nate

...And Still, the Seasons Change.

2008-11-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

Well, now that way more people have blogs, it's actually worth it to update. :) So here we go.

Life's presented a lot of new things to me lately. I'll just recap in bullet points for the last few months.

〮New Job
〮New Classes
〮An awesome guy's group (finally!)
〮A lot of responsibilities and leadership in youth group
〮A little side job? (We'll see if we get it off the ground)
〮A vision for the future is forming

I'll stick with those for now. Time to elaborate.

Most of you probably know, but I've left Panera, and I'm now doing close to full-time at Buckle, which is amazing. It seems to be much more "my type" of job, as the whole thing revolves around meeting people and helping them. I love it.

As for new classes, I don't have loads of them, which is quite a change. It's nice to not be totally stressed about school for once. I'm quite enjoying Physics (and probably being a mega geek at times).

My guy's group is the most incredible thing ever. No joke. I'm so blessed to have these guys who share the same passion for God as I do. It's amazing to be able to encourage each other, and so helpful to have the accountability they give. God's going to use the group for amazing things, I know it.

In the youth group, I've been asked to basically be in charge of the finances and giving that comes out of the Sr. High ministry. I wasn't expecting anything, so I was pretty surprised when I got pulled aside and asked by Grant on behalf of himself, Thomas, and Kempton. I'm excited. It'll be an awesome opportunity to spread my passion for missions and giving to everyone else.

Side job? Well, Paul, Ryan and I are looking at starting a tee shirt company. Who knows if we'll get it off the ground, but it'll be fun, and a learning experience either way. I'm starting to churn out designs and such, so I'll update you when I have them. Here's one for your consideration:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/natieboy26/daringaviator.jpg
If you have any awesome ideas for shirts, want to buy one, have input, or anything else, let me know! It'd help us to get this started, and we'd appreciate it.

Plan for the future? Dead serious? Well, it's forming as much as it can. I've decided to take a gap year, and launch myself into ministry, work, and maybe some elective classes if I get the chance. In the college search, I keep feeling led to be closer to home. I don't know where that would be yet, but I'm also feeling like maybe I want to do a 2 year degree. I'm sort of at the point where I'm just ready to be done with school, and get on with a life. We'll see what God has.

That should bring you up to speed. Now here's what's going on now, and in the near future...

Right now, we're in the middle of an... awesome... diet. :P My mom is beginning to start her treatment for lymes, and she needs to go on this Allergen diet to figure out if she'll react to anything over the course of the treatment. Our family is doing it with her, so she doesn't have to be the only one to suffer. haha. It's actually a fairly exciting part of the diet, cause we get to add a new thing each day. Granted, we can't ahve it after the 24 hours again, but it's a welcome change from (some) fruit, (some) vegetables, rice (and everything you can possibly make out of it), unflavored chicken, and other tasteless substances. Ah well. We end before Thanksgiving, thank goodness. :P

Looking at buying a graphics tablet sometime within this week. I'm pretty excited. I've wanted one for a long time. For those of you who don't know what you can do with one, just check this out:
http://fc10.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/319/0/9/Chronoscape__highway_to_hell_by_alexiuss.jpg
Yeah, I know. Impressive. That's digital painting. So anyway, after looking into different ones, I've been advised that the only ones really worth an investment are made by Wacom. As it usually goes, those are the most expensive. :P Ah well, so was my laptop.
So the only decision I have now is, silver or black? :P
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=oyenwcrn3tm&thumb=5
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=jeuyyyx2z12&thumb=5

God's really been moving and working in my heart lately. He's giving me a huge desire (even more than before) to reach out to the hurting and lost. Before, I thought maybe he wanted me to go back to Ireland for an indefinite amount of time. Lately, though, I feel like He wants me here, in the states. It's a blessing to feel a certainty in this area. Depending on how my mom's treatment goes, she could be pretty sick this coming year. It would be a good thing for me to be relatively close to home, so I can help out at any given time.
So if not overseas, how will I serve? Well, through ministries in the church, witnessing to coworkers, blessing other believers, teaching others. You name it. God give me strength. Be praying for me, everyone.

Also, another way you could pray: I'll be general, but you can certainly ask for details when you see me.

In the past few weeks, I've been feeling God move in my heart. It's basically one of those things where God lets you know His plan (a very general version), but then says "Wait." Now, most of you know this, but I'll fill it in for the others. When God has told me "Here's what I want you to do." or "You're ready.", I have a really... really hard time waiting. I want to leap into action at any confirmation from God. He's telling me to let it happen in His time, though. So pray for my patience.

You all are such blessings to me. Thank you for your friendship.
2 Corinthians 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

God bless you all. Hope that was a long enough update for you. ;) Post some way I can be praying for you!

Oofta.

2008-08-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Last night before school starts. Wowee! It was a fast summer. Incredible, though. I'll never get over the experiences I had. My prayer is that the call that God has put on my heart with a passion will not die in the routine of school this next year. All in all, I'm quite ready for school to start. I need to catch up on sleep. :P This shouldn't be too terrible of a year, work-load-wise. It'll be nice to have time to work and look into the future. On the work note, I've applied at a couple places, so we'll see what turns up. I think I'm ready to move on from my job.
Hope you all are doing amazing. Love you all. Call me to talk sometime.

Nate

Wow...

2008-08-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

And I'm back! The trip was absolutely incredible. I'm really not sure what all to say. I sort of feel like I don't belong here. There's so much going on over there. God is moving is amazing ways. I saw adults and kids saved, lives changed, people blessed... I want to be back in the middle of it all. My prayer is that God would help me find opportunities to serve as much as I can here this year. Also, it seems that God is really putting it on my heart to return next year. There's such a need for youth leaders there. I feel like this may be where God wants me. This year will be full of prayer and research. Pray for me if you think of me. I'm still trying to get caught up with everyone here, so give me a call or something. I'd love to hear about people's summers. :)

God bless,
Nate

And Off We Go!

2008-07-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

We leave tomorrow!! I am packed. I am full on sleep. I am completely and absolutely stoked!! haha. Prayers from everyone for safety, unity, and softened hearts of those we're ministering to are much appreciated. I'll be taking tons of pictures. Look forward to seeing you all when I get back. God bless. Love you all.

Nate

Particle Work

2008-07-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I haven't actually had a graphics post yet...time to change that I guess... I did this last night. Critique?

It basically started as messing around with particles, and then sort of evolved from there. I really like it. I'll try to post art more in the future.

Here's the full view link:

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/natieboy26/universe4.jpg

Some Discouragment

2008-06-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Why are people so blind? Some are so hard. Some are so frivolous. It bothers me how some can't see past their comfort-circles. Why can't they look past the next weekend? The next fun time? Life is so much more. God, open their eyes. I can't open their hearts without You. My own strength is pitifully insufficient to strike a light in their eyes. I've tried. I'm frustrated with the World's shallowness. So shallow. In the last couple weeks, I've been stepping back to view my life and other's lives from a disconnected point of view. The more I think about it, the more it strikes me how fleeting everything is. I see others, I talk to others, who have headlight vision. Seeing what is right before them with no eternal or future perspective. I am in no way looking down on anyone. I myself, and any other sinner on earth will and do struggle. I plead with God to work in these people's lives through me. I'm weary of trying. It seems like everything I try fails. God, you're my strength. Help me persevere in reaching out to others. Help me to be real with everyone, and not have faces I put on for different people.

You've been exposed to my mind on this Sunday evening. Like I said, I'm in no way degrading anyone. I'm just feeling discouragement right now about my seemingly (from my earthly view) unsuccessful attempts to share Christ with the unbelieving, and to put an Eternal vision in other's eyes. God works as God works. I've planted seeds. Even if I don't see effects, it doesn't mean their won't be any.

Add your thoughts. I want to know I'm not alone here.

Time to Rebel With a Cause!

2008-06-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

So, tonight's setting up went well. The media team has their equipment all configured and ready to go. I'll be getting up at roughly 5 to get there early and prepare. Really looking forward to it. It was nice to see the Harris's again. They're great guys. My day tomorrow will be crazy, but I'm looking forward to it.
Anyways, not a lot else to say. It's an absolutely gorgeous night out, so I'm going to scoot out and take some pictures before I hit the sack.
Love ya all.

Nate

Time Again!

2008-06-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Finally! After a week at camp, and a crazy past few days, I have time to update...

Worldview was absolutely amazing. There's no way I could even sum up my favorite lectures. I have soo many notes. In short, I would say that I liked the speakers more this year. They made everything highly entertaining, but very thought-provoking and sound at the same time. Great, great week. Made a lot of new friends.

Last night I had a funny experience involving mountain biking. Ben Schlottman and I decided to go mountain biking yesterday evening. We have some pretty intense trails near my house that I just found out about. We started out on those, and then started on the Expert trails...which were insane. Majorly steep slopes with huge huge rocks and tons of logs to bump over or jump over. The sign said it was 10ish miles. Right as the sun was setting, we came to a sign, which we figured was near the end of the trail. However, we soon found out that it was a halfway one. The ten mile distance was to the halfway point...not the end. Sooo we had to bike ten miles back through the woods in treacherous conditions by the light of the almost-full moon. It was rather entertaining. Would have stunk if there was no moon, though. We would have had to stay in the middle of the forest until morning. And yeah. We survived. Would have made for a funny story to get stranded in the woods.

Other invents include me ordering my camera! I'm excited. I ended up getting a package that comes with the Rebel XT body, a 28-88 lens (I already have a 40-150 that I can use, too), 3 filters, 2 tripods (short and tall), 2 batteries and a charger, a memory card, a memory card reader, a case, software, caps, neckstraps...etc. Got a great deal on it. I'm guessing it'll be here by Thursday. Hope so, cause I'll need time to learn to use it before the conference on Saturday...haha

My grandparents are coming up tomorrow. They'll be hanging out with up until Sunday I believe. Not a ton else on the horizon. Still researching Ireland and working on my study. Getting more excited by the day.

Hope you all have an amazing day.

Nate

Stormy June Evening

2008-06-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, I thought I was busy during the school year. Seems summer is going to be no different. This week has kind of blurred for me. Probably because of lack of sleep and high amounts of activity. Whatever the case may be, life moves ahead!

Saturday marks day one of the many goodbyes I'll be saying. Ben leaves on a morning flight to training camp. I still can't believe he'll be gone for almost 2 months! Claire leaves on Monday. Her first missions trip. She's really excited.
Later Sunday afternoon, my sister and I drive up to Northwestern for Worldview Academy. I loved going there last year, and I'm excited for the alumni classes that I didn't get to take last year because I wasn't, in fact, alumni...

We get back Friday, and I'll have about a week to go crazy making money and selling things in order to get a new camera. I wish I didn't have the time restraints that limit me from getting a really nice model like the XSi, but I'm sure a previous model like the XT will work just fine for me with the things I'll be doing for now.

That weekend, Hannah leaves. It'll be her third trip in that many years. After planning on going to Turkey, and seeing God change the plans she had made, I'm excited to see her go to Romania. God has some amazing plans for that girl, I can tell you that much. I'm going to miss her. I'm going to miss everyone! I think it'll be easier when I'm on my own trip, but I still have to get through a month to get there...

The Rebelution conference is June 21st. This is also the date of my awesome small group leader's wedding. I'm so excited for David. I'm trying to pull it off so I can do both. We'll see.

Ireland is drawing closer. We had another meeting last night to discuss more specific details of the first week our whole team is together. We don't have many details for those of us who are going early yet, so I don't have much to say about that. I'm so excited for the trip. I don't think I can wait another month.

Anyways, as I write this sentence, the light rain is turning into a downpour, and I'm hearing hail. Time to go make sure all the windows are closed up.

Love you all, God bless.

Nate