Thank God for Mid-terms
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: jiggity-boo to you too
Think about it, what are mid-term exams? So I don't know a college student who doesn't groan before them, or yelp with delight once they're over. So why say jiggity-boo? Sometimes you need to say something silly to bring yourself back to what really matters, which is: love, laughter, and sweet here-after, hope and joy and kisses too. It matters whether you're as close to God as you should be because let's face it, we'll never be close enough this side of heaven. It matters because I've noted that every time I ask for faith I find myself tested, but I keep asking because I find myself stronger thereafter. Faith matters because it keeps us holding on. Love matters because this side of the other side, it's the nearest thing to heaven we'll ever find. and then you need to ask yourself what those you left behind would say were you to suddenly slip off the face of this earth. Well I have to say it because people have asked me that on occasion, IE, "Say, what would happen if I killed myself?" seriously, years ago someone asked me that. I know the guy well, so I pithily replied that he'd probably screw up. Now I know why he asked, but I gotta say this: people who commit suicide have got to be either tormented or sick and selfish. People have said that nobody is worth crying for, and the one who's worth it won't make you cry. Well I've been around with people worth crying for, and they did make me cry, but nobody is worth killing yourself over. Yes, a person can be worth dying to save, but you'd better not pull the trigger yourself. Thus end my ramblings on that topic.
On a brighter note, I actually have only one mid-term. So I have to say that yes there are head-aches in life. There are things that get you down, but through it all God has pulled me up out of every mire pit I ever saw or fell into, and overall, life is great.

So.....
Mood:  down
Yes, school and other things really are that crazy around here. I'm not sure whether to feel like Jock the barn builder, or Jock the bridge builder. Think about it. Bridges aren't the easiest things to build at times, and sometimes you wonder whether what's on the side you left wouldn't mind burning the bridge just to slow down your return. Social situations are like that in my observation. Sometimes what's said doesn't catch the bridge on fire until the next day, and then you have to run back through the flames just to stop the fan. That's the frustrating business.
On the other hand, school is actually going quite well, though I'll be kissing the ground for relief when I'm finished. I like it here, but school is getting a bit old in a student capacity. Then too, it's interesting learning how to manage one's own finances rather than being completely funded from your parents. It's been a great experience, but I'll be glad when I'm finally teaching, with a regular salary, God willing.
Keeping up a good spiritual life is also a struggle sometimes, especially when you try to do the right things. Neglect your spiritual duties, and you will suffer for sure. Neglect to pay your tithe, and you will learn quite well what a mistake that is. But God is goood, and I'm certain that things will get back on track.

The Rains came down-and the floods came up
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: nothing
Topic: On Rain and Shine
It seems like only yesterday that I worked for a man from New Orleans. At that time he told me that the city was built below sea level. In my line of work, as ghastly as it sounds, hurricane season can be quite profitable, and yet looking now at pictures of the horror that is New Orleans the morning after, I can think little of dollar signs. What's a man to say really? How can those of us inland on high ground relate? What is our excuse for not being able to help? You can say you've never made a difference, but chances are you have at sometime. You may say that the little you might give could never make a difference. Give what you can anyway, small termites can wreck a big house if they work together. Thus each of us can take a bite as we can, no matter how small it may be, and together we can watch this tregedy be overcome. Oh, by the way, does anyone remember this? "The wise man built his house upon the rock.....the foolish man built his house upon the sand."

Yes, this house is built on a rock, and yes, it is quite old. It has faced hurricanes for decades and survived them in fine fashion, but let us never forget that building our house on the Rock means more than a solid foundation, it means building our spiritual house on the Rock of God's love, for unless we do, our future is a sure of destruction as that of the houses of New Orleans.

Speaking of I 95...
Mood:  special
Now Playing: what is that steady hum in computer labs anyway?
Topic: travel-time laughs
Where should I begin? Let's begin with Sunday July 21. I left NS about 2:00. When I left Collegedale in June, I left Monday about 2:00, and got home to Nova Scotia on Wednesday afternoon. This time I left a day earlier from NS and got to Collegedale on Wednesday afternoon.

Why the day longer? that's where we enter I 95. I left Calais Me., early in the morning, around 5:30 Tuesday. first thing I noticed my window fogging up. I could not get warm air from the heater, so decided in Bangor, to purchase a new thermostat for my vehicle. At a rest stop outside of Bangor, the new installation was the work of about five minutes. Ok, still not getting warm air, but the outside temp had risen, so no more fog. About ten miles from Worcester, Ma., this time on 495, my radiator blew up in a cloud of steam so big I had to pull over. (It was in the middle of a traffic jam). It's a good thing it blew up, because another lady was stopped right in front of me, and she needed help. An off-duty officer was with her, but had no tools. We got her on the road, I put what water I had with me into my radiator and limped another mile. This time I discovered a creek below me. Three gallons of water later, I made it into a truck stop. There I waited about an hour for things to cool down, put some more water in, and limped into an auto-parts store in Worcester. $214:+ later, I had a new radiator ordered for 7:30 Tuesday morning. By 10:00 the next morning I had the new part installed, the old one shoved in the back of my van, 1.5 gallons of new coolant in the machine, and by 10:00 that night, I was in Virginia. By 2:00 Wednesday afternoon, I made it into Collegedale.
What are my conclusions from this whole experience? God makes sure our angels are with us when we ask Him. #2: when we ask to be used by God, we can be sure He will use us. #3: God protects us even when we don't know it. I pulled into the parking lot at Amanda's, and got out of my vehicle. When I went back in to go somewhere, I noticed the front left corner shimmied when I turned to the right. All those interstate miles at high speeds, and that vehicle never shook once. #4: It's nice to be in a place where you feel you belong.
I really do love the South. Sure it's hot, and muggy. The bugs are bad, the snakes are poison, the roaches are big, and the constant noise of trains is something else. However, I'll take all that in stride just because the Southern people are truly a joy to be around. Six years living in Alberta, and I never felt at home. Six months in Tennessee and I felt great about it. Maybe it's because I have North Carolina roots from pre-revolution days, but I think it's because I like being around polite people who don't have an attitude reflective of Severe Intestinal Evacuation Stoppage Disorder. Anyway, so goes my week. It's been great, and it's even better to be back with Amanda and feeling like I belong
Cheers
Charles

It's a long road from which there is no turning
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: school days are back
Life's highway is kinda like I 95, always under construction. As far as I know, I'm supposed to graduate in May of 2004. Phew, that's a relief. Maybe now that I'm graduating I can actually start teaching other than as a student.

Looking back over the past two years, the Lord has blessed me greatly. When Christ says "Ask and it shall be given unto you" He means it. When I met Amanda, I was praying for someone in my life who could be a true help-meet. God sent me this and more.
So what is the "more" part? When I began dating Amanda, my higher education situation was in shambles. I had completed the requirements for a degree, but I knew not where to go from there. I prayed for guidance. When you turn your life over to God in where your life is to go, and ask Him to open the doors he wants you to go through, and close the doors He doesn't want you enter, you can rest assured that exciting things will happen. Where I had attempted to get a teaching degree before, doors closed in my face faster than the turnstile at an airport. When I transferred to Southern, those doors that had closed suddenly opened as if by an unseen hand. Those doors are still opening before my eyes, and I see God's work each day in mine and Amanda's relationship.

I asked God for someone I could simply get along with. He sent me someone I fell completely in love with, no regrets, no wondering if I could do better, just complete thankfulness that when I turned it over to God He sent me better than I had ever expected.

It seems like only yesterday, but it was 1992, when a pretty discouraged 18-yr old prayed, "Lord, give me this mountain." I spake then only of higher education. Five years thereafter I began to climb, and I've been climbing ever since. Well it looks like I'm nearly to the top, but I've learned this along the way: there are pitfalls avoidable only by holding fast to the hand of God, there are rocks that cut your feet along the way. Press on, for while the dreams we have on this earth can come true when we entrust them to God, our dream is eternity with God. Press on, looking ever upward, there are thorns along the path but there are flowers. Press on and take the hand of those who stumble beside you. A song from the past says, "hold on, we're on our way." I believe in a different version, the one where God says, "Hold on, I'm on my way." He's coming, let us be ready.

Loaves and Fishes
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: breezes outside my window
Topic: God multiplies; we divide
So, you may say, why write a blog on loaves and fishes? There are reasons: the age of miracles is not through, and I watch miracles happen. Furthermore, I have watched this week unfold with miracles for me. At the beginning of this week, I began cutting hay. The fields I cut in have not been maintained very well, they are clay, and yet they continue to yield, year after year. When I began to cut, the grass wasn't very heavy, so I prayed for loaves and fishes. I was expecting about 35 bales of round hay, I believe I actually ended up with much more than that on the one field. I had prayed for God to multiply the hay, and He did. I went into another field expecting to bale about six bales. I believe I left about 13 in that field. So the point is: ask God for BIG blessings, ask for the impossible. Ask for God to give you what no one else can. Ask God to bring you the things you cannot find on your own. Ask God to bring you the things you think you could find on your own, because He knows where they are already.
So as the topic says: God multiplies our feeble resources much more than we could ever do, and our doubting hearts want to divide those things which we see as impossible. So instead of asking God to give us just enough to get us through, let us, like Caleb of old who asked Joshua, "Give me this mountain." let us beseech God, "Give me this mountain." He will give us what we ask in His name.

Sabbath Afternoon
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Nothing-ok, phone conversations in the background
Topic: Camp-meetings
Wow, this is the last day of Camp-meeting. Unfortunately I have a rough time making all the meetings, but those I managed to get to were excellent. Elder Dupres (is that how you spell that name?) gave an excellent mini-series about Esther. Today's service was on the topic of Christ on the cross, and the wonder being not that He did not come off the cross, but that hearing the taunts of the crowd, He refused to use His power against them. As I was leaving camp-meeting this afternoon, I spoke with a good friend of mine whom I have known for many years. Sometimes without realizing it, you begin praising God's blessings, and realize that others have the same experience, and that God's blessings are there for the asking. Then you find yourself counselling one another, and comparing notes that say to ask God for BIG blessings. Let us all be in heaven, God willing, and let none of us get there and find a box of unused blessings that were there for us.
On another vein of thought, I have to find groomsmen for my future wedding. Here's what the game goes like: call my brother, who says, "have to talk to my wife, but we'll try" talk to a good friend, "have to talk to my wife, but I have a brother down there, so don't count me out for getting there" Ok, two talked to, three more to go. I believe marriage is going to be great, how can it not be, with God at the heart of the relationship? My nephew's fiance tells me that her future mother-in-law has told her that she has to read four books before they get married. I have a better idea, find the oldest couple you can, who have the longest marriage, (and the happiest) you can think of, and ask them what works for them. Don't ask your parents. As Bill Cosby said, they won't tell you the details. Other people will.

Friday is great
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: bird songs--from outside my window
Topic: God's blessings
This is Friday and I'm loving it. Of course a great deal of this involves the fact that my fiance is here. Wow, it's hard to believe: Tuesday morning she was my girlfriend on her way up from Tennessee, and by that evening, I proposed, she said yes, and 40 seconds later she was wearing my ring. Yes, it really is as simple as all that, and I'm the happiest guy alive. The best part of being with Amanda is that she is an unmitigated blessing. Really, she doesn't play games, she's Godly, kind, loving, and she listens. Come to think of it, I pray each day to be as good a man to her as she is woman to me. To those of you reading this, I say that there are no best 'ways' to find a mate, there is only one 'best' way, and that is to pray for God to bring someone to you, and leave it up to Him.