The Wheel is Turning, but the Hamster's Dead...

Wow, I suck royally. I haven't posted in what, two days? I feel like such a horrible person. How can I ever make it up to y'all? *sigh* I don't suppose I could blame it on my English teacher? No? Ah well, on with the post then.
So yeah, apparently my lovely five-day weekend turned my work ethic into a gooey, atrophied paste which has made this one of the longest three-day weeks school-wise that I can remember (not that I can remember ever having a three-day week before this one, but that's entirely beside the point). I think I was up until like three or four on Tuesday finishing up my work, although I really have no right to complain since I know people end up doing that on a fairly regular basis (you know who you are and so do I, and so does God, 'cause I keep tellin' Him about ya). Still, it made for a rather tired Ben this week, hence why I did not join certain peoples today for whatever it was y'all ended up doing, a fact which has greatly saddened me and for which I shall beg your forgiveness over on bended knees until you beat me with sticks, rocks, and small children to get me to stop (saying you forgive me sure won't work. I'm not only stubborn, I'm stubbornly sensitive). I suppose it's all for the better though, considering it wouldn't have been very fun having to drag a semi-conscious, vacuous, only pseudo-solid blob of a Ben around with you who's best attempt at conversation would be to drool on you. Oh, and to whoever it was who took Ray's place at the computer, I am greatly sorry I mistook your identity (if in fact I did, which, due to the sneakiness of some individuals, I have not entirely ruled out, although I think it highly unlikely). In my defense, um...I'm a moron? Also, certain elements of your conversation (NOT your initial question, to which the answer is still no, but to references to a certain "promise") rang bells in my cobweb of a brain that set random neurons firing off in a desperate attempt to discover if they were in fact totally alone that by some twisted quirk of fate strung a coherent statement together and stuck the name "Jo" on the end of it. That and it's incredibly hard to tell people apart on IM, especially if they have even remotely similar modes of speaking. I should've strung you along longer to see if I could figure out (a distinct lack of both sufficient "mmm"ing and use of words such as "d'lish" and "tevah" would have quickly distinguished you from Jo). Anywho....I'm going to stop babbling on about this now, 'cause alf of you have no clue what I'm talking about and the half of you that do have something resembling a clue probably don't care all that much except for wondering how on earth I have avoided getting commited on grounds of being certifiabley insane for this long.
Wow, have you noticed that I have a tendency to use more parentheses than God ever intended? I mean, I used parenthetical statements in five out of the eight sentences in my first paragraph. I'm sure that's illegal in most states, well at least in Alabama (speaking of illegal, guess what you can't do with a porcupine in Florida?). AAAGGH! I did it again. I can't seem to stop. It's an addiction, like parentheticrack or something. Now I'm gonna have to join EMA (English Majors Anonymous) or a support group for abusers of the English language or something. Let this be a warning to all of you: keep your children away from quiet, dorky, somewhat intellectual looking individuals, or else they could get hooked on perverted grammar and syntax. Do you want to be responsible for that? Do you want your kids to end up like me? One in five highschool students in advanced English classes is either already addicted to parentheticrack or will be offered it before they go to college. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
While I'm on this thread, I present to you this excerpt from a conversation between to people in my AP English class as evidence that a liberal arts education can do horrible things to you. Observe:
"So, were you born in September?"
"No, I like the color blue."
Make it stop! The surreality hurts my brain, like broken glass being shoved into it....broken glass that's on fire....*whimper*
Hmmm, would it help you guys if I put lines between the various, for lack of a better word, "sections" of my entries? Would that make life easier for all of you? Just let me know and I'll see what I can do. After all, this thing is just as much for you as it is for me. So let your voice be heard and deluge me with feedback.
I think it's trying to escape....fascinating.
That's it folks. That's all I got for tonight. The well is dry and the bucket is gone. Ben is closed for business. I leave you with this:

Today's quote for the day: "It's a shoulder condom".
'Nuff said.


Rock out everybody. Now y'all leave me be, I need to go and rediscover sleep...who knows, maybe I'll find myself on the way down the stairs. You never know.

Den of Opulence

Den of Opulence
Originally uploaded by PlushToy.

They gave it to us all in fifty thousands....
Fifty thousands....
Yes, I know I look drunk but hey, how many of you can say you and another man shared a bed with 67 fifty thousands between the two of you, hmmm?

Waiting with Rockstars in Amsterdam Airports...hmmm, I think I feel a song coming on....

The Rockstar
Originally uploaded by PlushToy.

Well, I've been picking on George a lot, so I thought I'd make it up to him with this. Now there's a picture to print out in 8x10 glossies and sign for your hordes of adoring fans to distract them from their forceful marriage propositions. You are one good looking man bro.

Grumpy Rainbow George

Grumpy Rainbow George
Originally uploaded by PlushToy.

Mmmm, more Georgey goodness. Remember this one bro? You don't look all that happy that I woke you up, although I'd hate to think of what would have happened to me if you knew the rainbow was there. You look like some kind of carebear from hell.

The Three Thrones

Before I begin this post, you must excuse me for a moment, for I have an irresistable urge to run out into the fading light and jump into the arms of a an old friend, far older than bare-foot boy he will lift up in his branches to kiss the darknening sky...that and a pepsi just exploded in the fridge all over my mom and she is none too happy about it. Please excuse me.

Ahhhh, much better. There's nothing quite like the smell of the approaching twilight and the feel of pine bark under your feet under the light of the sun as it relinquishes its watch to the stars....it was enough to coax even me to sing, although the little bird that accompanied me did me greater honor with is voice than I did him with mine. Enough of this now. On to the meat of the matter, namely the purpose and subject of this entry: the three thrones. It is my purpose to describe them as best and as truthfully as I can, hiding neither beauty nor blemish from your sight.

Each throne occupies a different level, and though their respective domains are reflected in the character of each, there is no intended allegory. The highest throne is the Throne of Light, a place of thought-provoking meditations and insight. The light of the sun shines brightly upon this throne, as it passes through a window nearby, an illumination that breeds both easy thoughts and a quiet happiness. Of all the thrones this is the most peaceful, the most beautiful, the most majestic and sublime, and yet it also lacks the truer substance of the other two. It is a throne just as much of insubstantiability as it is of revelation.
The second throne lies just below the first; this is the Throne of Solitude. More isolated than the other two thrones, this throne is cut off from the outside, with only mirrors to illuminate the close, dark walls around it. It is thus a place of deep introspection and study. It is here that one looks at one's self in the quiet of the throne-room and wonders...this throne however is also one of need; it requires the most attention of the three.
The final throne, the third throne, lies deep beneath the other two, hidden away, lost in a shadowed corner. This is the Throne of Vulnerability. It sits in the corner both like a lost child and a tired, yet wise old man. The protective walls around this throne barely exist, being but piles of rubble and stacks of old relics. On this throne one has no protection, and yet is the most alone. It is not cut off like the second throne, but it is secret nonetheless. It is a refuge of secrecy in which one can most easily be one's self, yet you have the constant threat of someone discovering you as you truly are. In the quiet dark of the corner this throne is a place to sit and to simply know and be, for in the shadows you have only yourself until the light reveals you.
These are the Three Thrones: the Throne of Light, the Throne of Solitude, and the Throne of Vulnerability. Take what wisdom from them that you may, and when you come to the place where they lie, choose carefully upon which throne you will make your seat. These are the Three Thrones of the Phillips' household.
The Three Thrones of Porcelain.

Appeasement

George being adorable
Originally uploaded by PlushToy.

Thanks for all of your comments on my last post. Just in case any of y'all were at all worried about me because of that, sorry about that. It sounds worse than I feel at the moment, although it does express the place that Papa has been taking me this past week and just the theme in my life that He has been moving in. Anyways, I'm sorry but it doesn't appear that there's going to be any heavy duty post for tonight, but I love all of you guys too much to leave you with nothing so I offer you this in way of appeasement. Ain't he just the cutest thing you ever saw?

Introspective Mornings

How long will I stand
with this hand
thrust through shattered ribs,
fingers curled 'round a
desperate
beating
heart

My heart

How long am I willing
to bleed and die in silence,
in my self-made darkness
before I find some scrap of courage
large enough to
cry out
to tear myself open in
the late watches of the night
the Angels' hour
before the arms that never refuse to hold
the shattered glass of an empty soul.

The is no beauty in a man
closed inside himself
but there is in a broken one
and there is poetry in the tears I long to shed.

Engagements

My cousin Jason in California just called about 10 minutes ago to tell us that he got engaged this week. Isn't that awesome? He proposed to his girlfriend (Kate) on Valentine's Day (awwwwwwwwwwww...) and she said yes. Of course you know what this means. It means I'm going to have to get a suit that actually fits me, although I'm probably going to have to do that for a certain other wedding coming up in May. We'll see about that one. But yes, cousin getting married. Man, they're really dropping like flies out there. I'm running out of unmarried cousins. That's like the third or fourth cousin in about as many years. Not only that, but they got some crazy baby-making going on. I mean, dang. They're just churnin' em out. Must run in the family or something, and on both sides too. I've got a cousin on my dad's side who got married I think three years ago and who already has four kids I believe. Like I said, serious baby manufacturing.
Good times.

Alright, can someone explain something to me? I'm watching the Duke game and they're playing Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech Hokies. Now for those of you that don't know, a hokie is actually a real thing. A hokie, my friends, is a castrated turkey. Now why, for the love of all that is good and sacred do you name your team after a castrated fowl? Why?
........Stupid hokies.

So I'm going to Holland. Officially. It's awesome. Five months of workshops with Bob Watson, a pre-trip prophetic conference, and a ten day, intensive, prophetic oriented trip where I will be a part of putting on a prophetic conference for the youth of between 11 and 20 churchs in David Koeurts' (sp?) church network. Why does the word "stoked" come to mind all of a sudden?

Brouhaha.

...What? I like the word "brouhaha". It's just a great word, like defenestration or benighted. Can I not just randomly say a word with no context or reason other that I like and it sounds cool? Bah. You speak nonsense. I shall have no other recourse but to come over there and accost you with a dead catfish.

Stupid hokies.

I know something you don't know :P

I think that all of my posts should be titled "Ramblings". Apparently I can't quite do anything but ramble. Maybe one of these days I'll actually pick a topic and stick to it throughout the entire post. Don't hold your breath though, I still haven't found me a focus group and a 12-step program. I know they're out there though...somewhere...






...stupid hokies.

My mind is like....one of those...empty...things...Yeah

Today in English I learned that it is simply not possible to get 15 senior AP students at East Chapel Hill High to all agree on anything, let alone on picking a concrete definition for and abstract concept. So much for progress through a liberal arts education.

Alright, this quote is just too awesome to pass up sticking in here. This was said about me earlier today:
"...sometimes i wonder where in the world you're going to find a woman out there that even comes close to being worthy of you.. and every time i come to the conclusion that there certainly can't be an abundance of such women.. because such a woman would continually have to restrain herself from ripping you apart with her teeth as living with you would probably serve to be most frustrating.."
How true, how true...well at least the last part of it. Hehe. Ahhhh, good times. Good times indeed.

So yeah, not a whole lot on my mind today. I'm doing better than yesterday (had a rough night), but I'm doin' fair today. Helps that I am surrounded by the most incredible, mature, encouraging, and plain awesome people in the world. When it comes to friends, I am blessed above all other men. One of these days when I have more time I may try and do an exposé on some of y'all, although knowing me that will be a monumentous undertaking. Heck with friends like y'all it could take me the rest of my life and I still wouldn't be able to even come close to doing a single one of you justice.

Well, like I said, nothin' much on me mind, hence the rather short and bland post. I'll try and add some salt to the next one. Mmmmm, salt. Can never have too much salt. Alright, I think I shall go work on my video now. Catch y'all later.


Ahhh, sweet Final Cut Pro. Hold me in your 99 tracks of audio and video, real-time rendering, three-way color-corrector, and integrated audio mixing, motion graphics, text editing, and DVD-burning programs. I think I'm in love....

DVD Pro, God, and Trying to Remember a Quote that's Appropriate for all Audiences.

Alright, so I'm going to have to head out for my mentoring meeting in a wee bit, so I won't get a whole lot out now, but I'll finish up later. Savvy? So, um....yeah. DVD Studio Pro is a beautiful thing. It really is. I sit down to a computer that's glowing merrily and I start connecting menus and making buttons and importing assets, and I just start feelin' all warm and fuzzy inside...mmmmmmm....
Have y'all noticed that God has been birthing a passion for His glory, a faith of endurance, and a spirit of expectation for His reward and the fulfillment of His promises in the midst of adversity amongst so many of us recently? Just go and look at the few blogs out there and you'll see it. I can name three off the top of my head out of the eight I know, and those are just out of the people who have blogs. The Father is doing something in the hearts of His people. He is raising a generation that will cry out from the depths of their depression that there is no God like ours and that we will follow and worship Him all the days of our lives. Man, just the thought of that gives me goosebumps. It's the kind of thing that a man could devote his life to praying for, just so that he might be able to see it start before he dies and here we are, living on the edge of it. Never has there been a generation so ripe for the harvest, so ready for a God that will give them truth, justice, comfort, hope, and above all unconditional love. God is moving. This is our time.

Silly Statistics.

Silly French.
Speaking of French, I think the word of the day for today shall be Gallophobia. What is gallophobia you ask? Behold:
Gallophobia (gål'õ-fõ'b˜e-ah):noun-The fear of France or French culture.
Now isn't that just beautiful? I thought so. Well, I gots to go eat and then run off to Barnes and Nobles. Be back to finish up later.

Ahhhh...I love these meetings...Oh, by the way, the quote of the night (that I can remember and George, feel free to correct or complete it if I happen to get it wrong) is from when Bryan was talking about Spaz and said "I mean, I almost understand what he's saying". Ahhh, it was beautiful, as were many other things that were said, and many of the topics discussed, even if we almost made Jeremy cry several times throughout the meeting. Man do I love those guys. Too bad we didn't have time to make use of the massage chairs at Birkenstocks this time around. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

Well, sorry there's nothing particularly amazing for today (not that there usually is, but hey). We'll just have to see about the morrow and what it brings in the way of the random neuron firings that somehow manage to be fueling this blog. Catch y'all later, and remember, never turn your back on a beef enchilada or a naked chinchilla.

Rock out everybody.

p.s. On a more serious note, I would really appreciate it if you'd keep a friend of mine in your prayers who's going through a really hard time at home. Thanks. I know it would mean a lot to them to know that people they don't even know could care enough to do something like that. Well, see most of ya this Saturday, if not sooner. Feel better Jo, and you too Ray if you still aren't over that. Later.

The Grand Opening

Welcome to Ben's Blogging Emporium of Blogginess! To celebrate the momentous revealing of this blog, all blogs will be half price and we'll be running a two-for-one deal on comments. Seriously though, welcome, come on in, look around, and please don't hurt me for not telling you about this sooner. Just remember, if you kill me I won't be able to post anything else for a very, very long time. Well, that said, enjoy the blog y'all.

Oh yeah, and, as always, Rock out.

Life is Good

This has been a very weird weekend.
The best way that I can describe it is that it has been one of the happiest depressing weekends I've ever had. Each day seems to have been a high and a low rolled into one, hence the weirdness of the weekend. I have gotten to spend a ton of time with some of the most awesome people to ever exist over these past few days, I had a serious talk with my dad where he imparted some of his wisdom to me which really meant a lot, I moved naturally and easily in the prophetic on Saturday (which has been on my heart to start doing again), and I got to hang out with Bryan and George, just the three of us for a few hours, which I have been wanting to do for some time now (incidently, Bryan, George, and I should never get drunk late at night together. There's no way we'd survive 'til morning). All in all each day was awesome, but when I've gotten home each night I've felt like crap. I've dealt with issues of manhood, with not doing right by several people or by God, with being faced by the mistakes I've made and the habits I've created where I should have been fostering responsibility, wisdom, and discipline, and with a simple desire to be able to cry (as many of you probably know, I have problems with actually letting out my emotions. I spent a large portion of my life building walls around them and now I don't know how to get back in. The only things that have been able to get me to cry over the past eight years have been my parents and a certain event that concerned my brother. Never take tears for granted. They are expressions beyond words that have healing in their waters. You don't really realize that until you've forgotten how to cry.). Despite all of that though, I have really felt the Father moving closer to me this weekend, in a very calm, Abide in Me sort of way. We really have a beautiful God don't we? He brings us to our lowest, darkest places to bless us most richly, that we might see His glory and have our hearts captured. It's the place where you finally have nowhere left to turn and you feel like life has its hands at your throat that God meets you, when your heart feels like it's dying and at last all of the walls you've built and all of the defenses you've put in place can't hold back your heart's broken scream and you fall and cry out before your God, it's then that He comes. I long for that place. I long for my heart to be broken before Him so that He can touch me, for He sets his table in the presence of our enemies, and there is so much beauty and tender love in that. His power is perfected in our weakness, in my weakness. I am so weak, so very weak, but that only means that God has that much more power for me. I want to rush headlong into my place of darkness and barreness so that He can fill me. "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials" James says, and this must be what he meant. Even if I am taken to the hardest, most painful place I have ever been, my life will still be good, because my God is good and nothing, nothing can ever change that.

I'd appreciate your prayers. God bless you guys.

Eggplant Patches: The Battlefields of the Future

I think I may have found the springboard for my next ramble: eggplant camouflage. I actually spent a good deal of time in my his....ahem, in my social studies class discussing that very subject and the practicallity of making a backpack out of said purple-based camo. I mean, what good would it be if you couldn't fit inside it? Then if you did try and hide in a field of eggplants your backpack would be impossible to see, sure, but you'd still stand out like Bambi at an NRA convention. Heck, a one-eyed, mentally deficient, severely inebriated, one-legged monkey who's completely blind could probably point you out with no problem. Eventually the conversation turned away from backpacks over to the obvious military implications of having camo capable of concealing a person lying prone in an eggplant patch. I believe it went something like this:

"Yeah man, I bet you there was some dude in 'Nam who wished he had purple camo."
"Oh yeah, he just found himself in an eggplant patch and tried to hide but all he had was that stupid green and brown junk, and then some random VC pops up and frags him."
"Ha ha, he'd be like 'Dammit! All I've got is this brown crap. Oh dam..AAAAGGH!"
"Yep, and his last thought was probably "If only I had some purple camo. I've been wandering around in the jungle for months in this mokey-suit and haven't gotten shot at once, but now I end up in the one eggplant patch in all of Vietnam and I'm screwed." (This conversation is completely true to the original...except for the places where I fudged something I didn't quite remember, or where I embellished somewhat, or where I straight up just made stuff up right now. Yep, totally accurate.)

Yep, so these are the sorts of things that I talk about when I have free time at the end of classes. Hey, at least it's better than the English class when I spent about twenty minutes discussing with a few guys what we thought the most horrible way to die would be (that was the same class that I ran into three consecutive people just trying to get out the door. Yeah, I'm graceful).

To wrap it up, here's something that I jotted down at the three red lights on the way to my meeting with Bryan and George. Jeremy was supposed to be there too, but he didn't make it. That's okay though. We love him anyway (he's still fired though). I did polish out the end when I got to Barnes and Nobles, and a wee bit when I got home, but that was just because the lights didn't last long enough for me to write down everything. Anyhow, I thought it appropriate considering the topic of my last post and seeing how posting such things seems to be in vogue amongst my fellow bloggers. Here it is:

Goin' 70 on the backroads
There's nothing to hold me,
nothing behind me
except memories
and a bloody salvation.

I've got miles of road
but my fuel's running low.
Let this be the last gasp
the last run
the last breath
for freedom's sake.

Sunset in the rear-view mirror
as I chase a new dawn,
a new day.
My day
Your day
I'm not running away,
I'm running to you,
running with you

And the freedom's in the motion,
in the journey
not the destination
not where I came from
or where I'm going.
You're interested in the process
in the relationship
and in the darkness
between the dusk and the dawn
we drive together.




Rock out y'all

"Driving away, leaving it all behind..."

I really love just driving by myself at night, when there's hardly anyone out. The world becomes so quiet, clear, and close, almost like a secret that belongs solely to you. Everything consists of your warm, personal tunnel of artificial daylight, of haunting, muted greens and reds, and the occasional searing blue of someone's krypton headlights. There's just something so personal, so private, and so intimate about it that makes it special. It's the freedom of the night in motion, of a sleeping world, and of a God who creates beauty even in the darkness.

Ramblings

And now for the part of the blog where I do what I do best: ramble! Yes, of all my talents, transcribing my longwinded, non-linear and most often logical-to-no-one-but-meself thought process seems to be one of the foremost. I'm serious, my potential to ramble is a thing of legends. I'll start by talking about deep, serious spiritual issues and struggles in my life and a few minutes later I'll end up musing about who invented underwear and what exactly was their inspiration for inventing such a seemingly superfluous layer of clothing (occasionally I'll go from underwear to God, but not nearly as often). Yes, such are the things that occupy my brain. Sometimes I think the thoughts are just fighting it out up there amongst themselves to see who gets to be thought next and it usually ends up confusing me. If this is the case, then it must happen a lot, because I spend a great deal of the time confused. I can proudly say that I am one of the few people I know who can spontaneously confuse themselves on a regular basis. I do have a sneaking suspicion that my frequent confusion is actually an internal safeguard against knowing too much that I shouldn't know. What evidence do I have you ask? Well, I have this annoying knack for walking into conversations at the absolute worst possible moment where the first thing I hear could, not knowing the context of the statement, be taken so many horrible and terrifying directions that it would have the potential to leave me a shattered husk of a man whimpering in a dark corner for the rest of my life; however, before my traitorous mind can fling itself down such dark paths, dragging me along with it to that pathetic doom, I find myself enveloped in a protective haze of confusion. Thus and only thus are my mind's insidious machinations designed to rid itself of me brought crashing down. This is the point where anyone reading this who doesn't know me that well (or maybe even some of those that do) shakes off his or her deer in the headlights look and frantically begins searching for a phone book so they can look up the number of the nearest institution that can spare a padded room to keep this madman off the streets. To those of you for whom this is true, I would like to say that you have nothing to worry about and to offer you this reassurance: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN'S STUFFED ANIMAL TOYS IN FRONT OF THEM WHILE SINGING THE ALPHABET SONG BACKWARDS IN AN EVIL VOICE!!!!
Hmmm. methinks I need to work on my reassurances, no?

p.s. I'm really not crazy. I promise. Well...at least not MOST of the time.

This is my God...

Before this blog goes anywhere else, I feel that I should give credit in it to the one whom my heart loves above all: my Father and my God. You cannot know me fully without knowing my God. Now most of you reading this already know that and the same is true for you, so just take this as what it is, an encouragement to us and a shout-out to our Father.

This is my God:

Isaiah 6
"1 In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

   
   3 And one called out to another and said,
         "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
         The whole earth is full of His glory."

   
   4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke."

This is my God:

Zephaniah 3
17"The LORD your God is in your midst,
         A victorious warrior
         He will exult over you with joy,
         He will be quiet in His love,
         He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

This is my God:

Psalm 23
"1The LORD is my shepherd,
         I shall not want.

   
      2He makes me lie down in green pastures;
         He leads me beside quiet waters.

   
      3He restores my soul;
         He guides me in the paths of righteousness
         For His name's sake.

   
      4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I fear no evil, for You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

   
      5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
         You have anointed my head with oil;
         My cup overflows.

   
      6Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
         And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

This is my God:

Revelations 1
"12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;

   
   13and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.

   
   14His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

   
   15His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

   
   16In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

   
   17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

   
   18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

This is my God:

Matthew 11
 27"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

   
   28"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

   
   29"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

   
   30"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

This is my God:

John 15
13"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

   
   14"You are My friends if you do what I command you.

   
   15"No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

And this, this is my God:

Romans 8
"14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!""

And may Papa bless this blog.

A Message in a Bottle

How fitting that my second entry on this thing should be made from school. *sigh* I suppose I shouldn't exactly be complaining since we had a scheduled two-hour delay this morning (Yes, even the school system can occasionally do things in our favor), so I finally got a full night's sleep for the first time since....nevermind since when, I can't remember.
Hmmm, I wonder how long I can keep this blog a secret...more or less the only reason I got it, aside from the fact I thought it might be fun to do, was because George suggested several times (like maybe twice) that I should get one, so I figure this way I can always say that this is his birthday present if I can't find one by May 5th. Which is quite possible. Y'see, I love giving things to people , but I'm horrible at getting things for people. Really, I am. It's horrible. Horrible I say. Hey, who's blog is this anyways? If I say it's horrible then it's horrible. So hush. Yeah, that's right. Now run along, I have statisitics to study.

The Time has Come...

So it begins.