Now Wait Just One Second!

Now, I'm just as excited about new year's as the next guy, but I really don't see why we celebrate it as a holiday. Okay, so maybe that's not true. I am probably not as excited as most people. But, for those of you that were counting down the seconds until New Year's Day, you're just going to have to count one more second. It looks like because of the earth's rotation, the experts have decided to add a second to 2008. Go figure.

12 Days of Christmas

Have you ever wondered what in the world the 12 days of Christmas have to do with Christmas? My aunt sent me an interesting email that explains what exactly the song means.

 

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

 -The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

 -Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

 -Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

 -The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

 -The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

 -The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

 -Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching,  Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

 -The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

 -Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,  Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.

 -The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

 -The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

 -The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

 So there you go....the 12 days of Christmas

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone  

Tag....I'm it

So, I am confused....I was tagged by Tabetha to do one of those list [insert number here] things about yourself things, but I really have no idea if I'm supposed to do 5 or 7 things. So I guess we'll....who's we? me and the ants in my pocket? I'll just start and see how far I get before it becomes difficult to think of something. Now, whether there's a list of 2 or 5,781, you'll at least know why. I'll try to make it at least a little bit interesting anyway.

1. I graduated high school at 15 and waited a year before starting college, thus making me a 16 year old freshman lovingly known as "the kid". However, contrary to popular belief, I am not a genius. I was just very motivated and had little to do besides schoolwork.
2. I have a heart condition called "Insignificate Mitro Regurditation." Don't bother trying to google it, though. It won't bring up any results. That is the name that my doctor wrote down for it when I was diagnosed, but every other description of my condition I have found calls it "Mitral Regurgitation." Either way, it's not serious. It's a common teen thing that basically means that my body grew faster than my heart and sometimes it can't keep up. For instance, if I'm lying on the couch, and I hop up, the blood sometimes doesn't reach my head fast enough and everything fades to black for a few seconds. I have only fully fainted once.
3. I climb. If it can be climbed, I will climb it. I don't know why, I just enjoy it. One thing that is great about climbing up to a perch high up somewhere is that there is a great view, and one of my other favorite things about it is being able to get away from everything. There are not many people that follow you up.....
4. I had 3 sets of teeth on my bottom jaw. After I lost my baby teeth, I started losing what we thought were my permanent teeth. In fact 2 of my front teeth came in behind my other teeth kinda like a shark. Needless to say, the dentist removed the extras so it wouldn't mess up my mouth......I don't know what good it did though. I still had to have braces. 
5. I am very musical. I love to sing, play guitar, and just listen to music. I have a knack for learning music quickly. I sing in the FWBBC Choir, and have won several awards at our national convention

I think I will have to stop there. I really have no idea why you would need to know this stuff, but then again, who really knows why we do anything? I guess if nothing else this got me to actually post a blog. 

Now....to choose my victims...... *suspenseful music*

In hindsight, it would've been good to comment on the blogs I read. Mainly because I can't tag any of those people because they have no idea who I am....

1. Jacob
2. Derek
3. Paul
4. Jon-marc
5. Rebekah

Now....would someone who actually reads this please enlighten me? Am I supposed to comment these people to let them know they were tagged? I'm almost positive they don't all read this....

Count Your Blessings

I have not had the best week so far, and I'm only two days into it. I may not be the wisest person you've ever met, but I have learned one thing: when nothing seems to go your way, count your blessings. I am reminded of the old hymn that says "Count your blessings; name them one by one. Count your blessings; see what God has done." It's a lot harder to be upset about things going wrong when you're being thankful for the many things that go right. So, I thought I'd just take a few minutes to do that. This is my submission to Luke's group writing project.

I am thankful for:

1. My salvation
2. A family that loves me.
3. Friends that are there for me no matter what.
4. My church
5. This country and the freedom we have been blessed with
6. The opportunity for an education / my school
7. All of the small things I sometimes take for granted (warm bed, food, etc.)

Obviously there are many many many more things that I could add, but for the sake of keeping it short and sweet, I'll stop there.

Rigged Election!

I think most would agree with me that the election for the President of the United States is an important event. The President holds a lot of power that could be very useful or very dangerous depending on who holds it. As most of my readers probably know, I did not vote -- not because I didn't deem it important, or because I thought my vote would not count. I did not vote because I can't. I am sixteen years old, so I am not allowed to vote for anything.

The question that I have is, simply, "Why?" Why shouldn't a 16 year old be allowed to vote? Why do we have an age limit at all? I am in college, but it is assumed that since I am young, I am also ignorant. You don't think I'm stupid because you seem to believe that in two years I will know enough to vote, but I would like to point out that there are adults that don't even know what they are voting for. I heard some statistics the other day from a survey of teens at a concert with questions like "How many senators are there?" and "Who is the Speaker of the House?" Not all that surprisingly, most teens failed miserably. However, another study was done of adults (around the age of 40 if I remember correctly) and they did only marginally better. So why does our culture assume that adults automatically know more? Along with those statistics was an article, and the main purpose was to say that if you are ignorant of the issues, you shouldn't vote.

Well, criticizing the system is useless if no solution is offered. So if you can't decide who can vote based on age, gender, or race, how do you decide who can vote? My answer is in the form of another question. Would it be too ridiculous to require a test on the issues and the candidates positions? Sure, it might be inconvenient, and politicians have that ability to dodge the issues sometimes, but it would get people involved. If you don't know what you're voting on, you can't vote. Period. People would be required to know the candidates, so candidates would be required to make themselves known. Then, as far as inconvenience goes, would you rather have to take an hour or less out of 4 years (35,064 hours), or have a president that you completely disagree with because a bunch of ignorant people voted just because they always vote Democrat, or always vote Republican?

I am not ignorant. I may not know everything, but if I had the opportunity to make my voice heard by simply learning a few more things, I would. So if someone who is capable of voting is refused a vote, does that make the election rigged? I think as a citizen of the United States of America, I should have a voice. Is that too much to ask?

Trivia Matters

No, that is not supposed to say "Trivial Matters." That is exactly what it is supposed to say.
This post is about a website called FreeRice.com. It's a trivia game, but for every correct answer, sponsors donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. I like trivia games, so I've played a little and won over 2500 grains of rice. In total, over 46 billion grains of rice have been donated. I think it's a pretty neat idea, so go ahead and stop by. You could feed a few hungry mouths, and you might even learn a few things. The categories include English Vocabulary, English grammer, countries on the map, world capitols, multiplication tables, and several different languages.

Have fun!!!

Pulling Hair By The Handfulls

Oh my goodness. I have been sooooo busy lately. I haven't really posted anything worth reading in forever. I have 17 credit hours of classes, and I'm working 10-15 hours a week, so I'm really busy. I am so behind in my reading it's insane. There's just so much!!! I also haven't practiced my guitar since my lesson Thursday which is not necessarily good, but I will have some time to get caught up with that before my next lesson. It's pretty cool how much this place causes you to think though. I've developed some interesting theories about a few things. I might have to tell you about one in a later post.
I was in a wedding this weekend, so I was running pretty much non-stop from the time I woke up Friday until classes were over Monday. It was worth it, though. I enjoyed the wedding and it was fun to get to spend time with one of my favorite families in the world. To all those crazy Gedeons out there, I love you!

320 Pictures

If you know anything about FWBBC, or the students, or the societies, then you need to go to 320Pictures.com and watch the videos from Rush night! There is some pretty hilarious stuff there, plus most of the videos that 320 Pictures have done to date. Only one of the society videos is there, because 320 Pictures only made the Bryan video, but it is pretty good. So you should watch them...because I said so.

What do you think?

[These forum posts have been removed until I can get permission to have them here....I will have to admit that I actually forgot to get permission. Thanks for the reminder Luke, and I will try to have them back pretty soon if I can.]

8 Minutes Late

Well, this is going to be my Sunday post even though it's technically Monday. If you have a problem with it then you can just let me know...and then get over it...because by then it will be too late. =)
The FWBBC Choir is singing a song in Latin for "Christmas on Richland." It's rather interesting singing in a language that you neither speak or understand. I will note, however, that it is challenging and I do love a good challenge. The song is "Gloria" by John Rutter. The song is on YouTube if you are curious, but it's in three pieces: The First, Second, and Third Movements. If you get a chance, you should listen to them. They are very interesting. I enjoy singing them even if I don't know everything I'm saying. One of the students is supposed to be bringing the translation tomorrow, so that will be interesting.

Random of the week...umm....I can't think of anything at the moment as I am near braindead, so I am going to go to sleep, and maybe I'll think of something by next week.

Short and Sweet

Well, this post is just here to say thanks to all of those that prayed. Keep praying, please. Also, as far as news, I am back in Olive Branch for the weekend. Bro. David and Mrs. Kendra are going to be here tomorrow!!! I'm excited. You couldn't tell, could you?
Upon request, the "Old Testament Survey: Law and History" blogs will be posted here. The first one should be up pretty soon, for those of you that are interested (a.k.a. Paul)
Well, I'm going to bed because I am pretty tired.

A Call To Prayer

This is a call to prayer. Stop what you're doing. This is dead serious. The campus of Free Will Baptist Bible College is under direct attack. This school year is only three weeks old and already there have been broken bones, strained muscles, heart failures, unexplained illnesses, and tonight a girl was found unconscious face down in the garden. There have been conflicts and attitudes already also.
God is working on this campus. This student body has so much potential to impact the world for Christ. One of the opening services during the first week was over four hours long. God is working and I believe that Satan is worried about what might happen, so he is trying to discourage in every way possible. I don't know of anything to do other than pray. We need your prayers. Please join me and the rest of the student body in praying for the school year.

Pray

1.) That all of those who were injured or sick will be healed
2.)That all of the tensions and attitudes will be righted
3.)That God would help the individuals overcome any personal struggles that they might have
4.)That there would be a revival among the student body and even the denomination as a whole
5.)That we would not be discouraged or distracted from the work God wants to do through us this year

I don't know what else to say. We need your prayers. The student body will be holding a prayer for the school year and all of the things that are going on tomorrow at 7 PM. Please join as we lift up our concerns and put everything into God's hands.

Thank You

OT Survey Blog

The first blog post for my Old Testament Survey class was due today, so I was going to post it here as promised. However, it is not actually viewable to the public. So when my teacher said "blog", he really meant "discussion forum." For those of you who were looking forward to reading the posts, I am sorry for getting your hopes up. If you still want to read them, just let me know and I will copy and paste them here.

Have a nice day!

Ketchup

Well, like I said yesterday, I'm really really sorry about not posting in a while. I've been pretty busy with classes and whatnot. So Sunday's random fact that I forgot to post is that your ears never srop growing. Even when the rest of your body reaches full size, your ears keep on keepin on. I guess that's why older people tend to have big ears. It's amazing how well that fits in with the aging process. As you get older and your hearing grows dim, your ears are still getting bigger to catch more sound and make it easier to hear.

As you probably already know, it is September 11th, so don't forget to pray for our troops around the world, and remember the families of all of those people who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Also, I think it's a great opportunity to say thank you to all of our police officers and fire fighters that work so hard to make this country safer to live in.

I would also like to say Happy Birthday to Jon-marc. He is turning 19! It's pretty crazy. He also happens to be getting married later this month. So congratulations!

Well, I have a job interview in just a few minutes so this will be all for today. You should leave a comment, so I will have a reason to come back and post again....just saying...

PS - The title is "Catch Up"....just in case you didn't catch that....

Wow

Yikes! I haven't posted in four days! For those of you that read this...or used to...I'm sorry. I haven't had a really reliable network to connect to, but I will try to post something tonight or tomorrow.

Fun Day

I awoke this morning to a phone call from Jon-marc. I was supposed to go shopping with him this morning, but I completely forgot. So I got ready and went to the mall to meet him and he wasn't there yet, so I waited. Then after a little while he called me to tell me that he was on the side of the road changing a flat tire. He said he didn't need help, so I thought I'd go to Chick Fil A to get some breakfast since I had ran out without eating. I put Chick Fil A in the GPS and told it to go to the nearest one. It was a few miles away, but I was hungry and I had plenty of time, so I went for it. I drove for about 10 or 15 minutes, and got to the address, but there was no Chick Fil A in sight. Being utterly devastated, I headed back to the mall. About halfway there, I got another phone call to tell me that he had changed the tire, and driven to a gas station to wash his hands, only to discover that his spare was leaking.
Since he was going to have to go buy a new tire, he told me not to wait on him, so I just went back to the college. I was here about 20 minutes and he called and said he was ready to meet me at the mall again, so I left. We shopped and I completely depleted what little money I had left in the bank, but all in all, it was a pretty good day.

Silence and Name Change

Interesting day...I got less than five hours of sleep, and strangely enough, I am not really tired. I don't have anything to do for the afternoon, but tonight is the block party. That will be fun.

Jacqueline was telling Thomas (her boyfriend) that he talks all the time, so he decided to stop communicating for the day. Then when he told me, I said I would be silent with him. As it turns out, he was actually not allowed to write or text either, but I only vowed silence, so I am still being quiet.

Isn't it great how people associate new people with other people? I am thinking of just changing my name to "Jacqueline's brother," or maybe "That sixteen year old." What do you think? Isn't name changing rather expensive? I'm broke...so maybe I'll just keep Caleb.

Events of Late

Well, sadly enough, it seems that I haven't really been posting very regularly lately. This is because for some reason when I moved away to college, I got a LOT busier. It seems that the schedule of reading over a dozen blogs and news sites and posting my own daily is a little much when added to 16 hours of coursework. I think I might try posting in the afternoon like I am today instead of at night, but I'm not really sure how well that will go either. I guess if it comes down to it, I might just have to switch to posting every couple days or once a week or something.

College is pretty exciting. I am really enjoying it. I am incredibly tired, but I love it! I'm struggling a little bit with remembering everybody's names, but I will learn them eventually. I was telling a guy named James today that people keep saying "Hi Caleb" and I say "Hi" back and then walk away wondering who in the world I just talked to and why they know my name.

I am in the Free Will Baptist College Choir! The tour schedule looks like it's still pretty open, so if you want us to visit our church you should fill out a request form. The choir is going to be really really good this year. There are more guys than there usually are, and we have a good bass section, so we are going to get to do some harder songs. We have only had two classes, and already it sounds amazing. I can't wait!

I did get to test out of the computer class that I had. I actually missed the test when it was scheduled, but the professor let me re-take it, and I passed. That was exciting. It's one less $90 book to buy. Speaking of which, I just remembered that I was supposed to go to the administration office to get that dropped from my schedule so I don't have to pay for it, so I guess this is it for today. I'm off to get that done before the office closes! Have a great day!

Words

Well, I was writing a blog post last night and the student center closed, so I had to desert it before I finished. Since it kinda still applies, I'm just going to post it tonight because I really don't feel like coming up with something.

Umm....blah blah blah...yadda yadda....
Okay well, I don't really have time to write a full post and I can't think of anything to write at the moment. I just didn't want you guys to think I deserted you. It's not that...I just don't have time for you. Oh wait, that sounds bad too. Oops.

So my advice to you is, Go read this post by Luke Gedeon and demand that he give the rest of the story...because I would really like to know what happens!

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes...W?

The random fact for this week is the one I actually promised I would give last week until I panicked and forgot about it, thus posting another random informational tidbit that was unexpected and nobody really needed to know.

Now, if you understood that, then that's amazing. Good job. If you didn't, you will just have to understand that I have had a very confusing and tiring week.

Anyway, for those hangman buffs out there...if you ever wanted a guaranteed win, Image via Wikipedia don't use vowels. Or to put it more precisely, don't use "normal" vowels. See, there are actually two words in the English language that have a "W" for a vowel. If I remember correctly, they are Welsh loan-words. The first is "Cwm" and that's a cirque-like geographical feature. The second one is a "Crwth" which is an ancient stringed instrument similar to a lyre.

These are the best hangman words ever. I even warned the players that it was an unusual word, and that they should guess unlikely letters, and still they didn't get it. But you know, it's an easy win, plus you get a chance to make them think you have an amazing vocabulary. And that's last week's random fact given this week because last week's was actually rather random.

Not surprisingly, the spell check caught them....yet another indication that spell check is not reliable.

Exhausted

The purpose of this post is this: to make known the fact that I am exhausted and am not posting tonight...or maybe I am so you can read this. I am still going to try to post the random fact thing tomorrow if I can think of one. By the way, if anybody knows anything pointless, feel free to let me know. I'm always up for learning new stuff

If Geniouses Ruled the World

So this one is going to be one for the more nerdy people to love, and for the mentally challenged to fear. Lately, I have started posting things that my friend, David Lorimer, has been posting on Facebook. I think this might be partially due to the fact that I just recently started actually reading them. Anyway, his latest caught my attention, and personally I think it's amazing. It's not really what he said, because he only wrote one sentence. The really interesting part is the link. So go ahead and take a look while I ponder what the world would be like if geniuses controlled everything.

I Want My 4 Hours Back!!!!

Seriously. I do. All new students were required to take the CAAP Test today. I guess to determine where we are all at, maybe. The proctor basically just told us that the score didn't matter at all. They give the test again before you graduate to see how much you've learned. The problem was basically that, because he told us it was a pointless test, it was treated like a pointless test by almost everybody. During the last section of the test, he told us that when we finished, we could leave, so about 80% of the students just filled in circles and left. I don't understand why it was required, personally. I think they probably could've just used the ACT scores, but I don't make the decisions. :)

I am so behind on the blogs I read that it's ridiculous. The Internet in the dorm is not all that reliable, and I can't always connect, so I can't just read blogs all the time. However, intermittent Internet connectivity is better than none at all. I did enjoy my classes today. I only have two on Thursday. Freshman Orientation and Speech. Both classes should be fairly easy, but the Speech class is fun.

Leave Presents!

I started classes today. Out of the Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes I have, Psychology was probably my least favorite, but today was only introductions and such, so that may change. One of the requirements for my Old Testament Survey class is that I write a blog every week on a specific topic that the professor will give us. I'm kinda excited about that. Maybe that can count as a good reason for this blog. It has given me some practice with that sort of thing. I will be getting the link to the course blog up as soon as I get it, so make sure to check that out. There might be some interesting insights on the topic of the week sometime.

I think that's going to be it for tonight. If anybody that reads this hasn't posted a comment or something, go ahead and leave me a link to your blog so I can read it sometime. Buenos Noches!

Recent Happenings

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I came in pretty late, and found out that my room mate was already asleep and I didn't want to wake him up messing with my computer. There wasn't a lot to tell anyway.

I finished my registration process yesterday along with applying for a Stafford loan. It was a pretty crazy morning, but it all worked out. Today I had to take a Bible placement test. They basically told us that it doesn't matter what we score on the test. It's just to see where we are at. It's a good thing too, because being the laid back guy that I am, I was just slowly reading and answering the questions without even thinking about the time limit. I didn't even get a chance to fill in probably the last 10 answers. Add that to the fact that my cell phone rang twice in the middle of the test, and you have another interesting morning. My cell phone always rings at the worst possible moments. Ya know, I have heard rumors of a magical "Silent" feature, but I'm not sure I believe it exists. Actually, I just never remember to do that.

This is pretty fun though. I'm really enjoying it so far. My sister had a major blond moment yesterday that I'm feeling rather obligated to tell you about. We were in McKay's (a retail store that sells books, movies, and CDs at ridiculously low prices) looking at the books, and Thomas gave Jacqueline a hug. Technically, the college has a "No PDA" rule. For those of you who live under a rock don't know what PDA means, it stands for "Public Display of Affection". Anyway, when he hugged her, I said "Pu-dah!" Now, obviously "pu-dah" is not a word, so both Jacqueline and Thomas turned to me and said "what?" I said "Pu-dah." They asked what it meant and so to answer, I asked "How would you spell that?" Jacqueline answered without hesitation, "P-D-A" then there was a pause for a second or two and she burst out laughing. She said "I didn't even get that until after I said it!" It was funny. It may be because we are sleep deprived, but who cares? I say "More powdered sugar on my pancakes, Mommy!" (you're not supposed to understand that one)

While I am on the subject of McKay's, I'll just say that that place is going to be the death of my budget. But then again, where else can you get 2 Ted Dekker novels and a Mark Schultz CD for under twenty dollars? It's great....

Bad Memory

So, before I start this post, I just think you should know that I am writing from the dorm of the FWBBC. We do have wireless internet (though it's not really that reliable) in the dorm. There are also some other changes. Both the dorms got flat screen TVs and cable, and they have completely re-done the Common Grounds (the campus coffee house). It's pretty sweet.

Okay, once again I forgot I was supposed to come up with random pointlessness (I had a good reason this time. This week's been crazy!) so you are going to learn how to tear a phone book in half! Somehow we got into that conversation today. I don't even know how.

Well, if you decided not to read the link, then youImage via Wikipedia should throw out your decision and go with mine. Because I'm not going to tell you when you could just click once and read somebody else's typing. Basically, it's not so much about strength as you might think. It's really all about technique. Now, obviously Olive Oil wouldn't be able to do it, but you don't have to be a Popeye either.

So don't be a wimp. Go impress your friends, and tear a phone book. If you can't, keep practicing. To be honest, I've only tried once, but I got it ripped halfway, and I'm pretty scrawny, so all of you body builders out there should have no problem.

PS - I just remembered that I had a list of random stuff I could do in this kind of situation. I made it just in case I forgot about this again. Guess what. I forgot about the list too. I need to work on that.

"Best Way To Get Rid Of Germs"

So, being criticized for not having a link in my other post this morning (....or...yesterday morning....wow it's late...no, early...well, I guess it depends on where you are....I need sleep!) I am going to post the original here. I can't link to it, because the original was on Facebook, and it would be worthless for those of you who aren't friends with David Lorimer. I'm going to assume that that's all of you.

When I was in about 6th grade or so, this nurse did a demonstration about germs.
Using glow-germs (those cool powder things that glow under a certain light), she
demonstrated how germs spread and how hard they are to remove. She put a little
on each of our hands, and told us to go wash. We washed long and hard, using
lots of soap. But when we returned, she shined the light again, and we saw there
were germs still on our hands.I have thought up what we should have done. When
we were sent to wash, we should have licked our hands clean with our tongues. If
the germs came off, she wouldn't know how; and if they didn't come off, then why
should we be worried about having germs on our hands?! :) Ok, why did it take me
over 11 years to think of this? I guess I'm slow.(sometimes it takes me awhile)

So there it is. A post filled with useless links and a more detailed account of the germ theory I posted earlier. And now, I am going to bed. Did you know they start church services an hour earlier in Nashville than in Olive Branch? It's crazy.

Germ b Gone

I just read an interesting post by a friend of mine about how to get germs off your hands. It seems his theory it that if you can't wash the germs off, then you should just lick your hands. If the germs come off on your tongue then your problem is solved. No more germy hands! If they don't come off, then why would you worry about having germs on your hands? They aren't spreading anyway!

Just to clarify, I am aware of the fact that licking your hands is not the best way to keep them clean, and I am sure the original writer is too. I just thought it was kinda funny.

It Never Ceases

Disclaimer

I'd like to start out this post with a disclaimer. I have lost my right contact and I'm spending the night at my aunt and uncle's house, so I don't have another one. I cannot see well, so any spelling or grammer (wow, I misspelled "Grammar") errors that are not caught by the spell check are not my fault. Ok, maybe they are, but I'm going to blame them on.....Jon-Marc! Yeah...he will do.

Thanks Luke!

It never ceases to amaze me that I never cease to be amazed at anything and everything. For instance, I asked for some feedback on the benefits of blogging and Luke actually answered. I don't know why, but I never really expect people to answer my questions. I guess that would be a good question for my imaginary psychiatrist. On that note, I may need to talk to somebody about the fact that I have an imaginary psychiatrist. Anyway, I'm not going to rewrite what he wrote simply because I don't feel like being redundant, and I put a link right there. So go ahead and read it, and I'll wait. *humming the theme song from Jeopardy*

Oh, you're back already? Sweet. Well, I guess my main reason for blogging was to get a little experience in communication. The fact is, I often have trouble expressing what I'm actually trying to say in ways that other people can understand. In fact, there have been cases where I described what I was saying to one person until they understood, and then they translated into "normal people" English. It never ceases to amaze me how simple people can make my thoughts sound when I can't make them come out at all. haha

Anyway, like I said, at the least, it's some experience. I'm practicing writing. I'm learning to communicate. I am learning some basic HTML coding. I'm talking to people I didn't talk to otherwise. I stay much more informed just by reading the blogs of the people who read mine. A point Luke made was that a lot of convincing my dad will be about what he values personally. I think to try to sum up what he wants right now in a sentence would be something like: "I want Caleb to continue his education, and seek God's will in his life, and then follow it." That's an overly condensed version, but you get the idea.

I think a lot of his objections have to do with the fact that he doesn't identify with techy people. I think all he's ever known has been to expand your network of contacts and information sources by meeting people. He doesn't use his computer for that, so I don't think he really realizes that it's a possibility. If he wants to find information on the Internet, a lot of times he will ask me to look it up. So I think he would rather me be working more, or something. I'm not really even sure. I don't really understand. I am posting my blog at night, when I wouldn't be working anyway. You have to have some break from work or you will go crazy and die young (not to be blunt about it or anything)

I think it will just take some time for him to understand. I don't know. Maybe he never will. We will just have to wait and see.

Crazy People

It never ceases to amaze me how crazy people drive! Of course, I can't guarantee that the people who watch me drive don't think the same thing...

College!!!

I am officially moved into the dorm of the Free Will Baptist Bible College! I'm so excited! Classes start Monday!

Advice, Oh Wise One!...

Okay...You will just have to do.

I really don't know what to say. I got 5 hours of sleep last night, and I have been running all over today. It's been pretty busy. On the plus side, I am all packed and the car is loaded for the move tomorrow. I am really really excited. Ya know, people are just not helpful. I'm all excited, and not really all that nervous, and then 500 people tell you that they would be worried. They would be nervous. They would never leave home at 16. Then they smile and say good luck like that just magically fixes all of those doubts that they just planted in your mind. I am still much more excited than nervous, though. It will be a pretty awesome experience, I think. I have heard so many funny college stories that I.....umm....well, lets just say I've heard a lot, and I'm ready to participate.

A friend asked me the other day if I was ready, and I said "No, I'm not. It's more fun that way." I think I might have shocked her a little, but then when I explained what I meant, I think she might have understood a little better. I told her that there's no way I could possibly prepare myself for every experience and situation that I am going to be in, so if I honestly tried to, and convinced myself that I was completely ready, I would end up freaking out when I got to the first situation I didn't plan for. So I was basically saying that I've prepared as much as possible, but now it's time to expect the unexpected.

So for those older, wider wiser, more experienced folks that have done this before, I would really appreciate any advice you might have. I read a lot, so feel free to be as eloquent as you want. I don't really even care if you write a whole book, as long as you give me a free copy. So tell me what you know about everything - Scholarships, classes, money management, driving in a crazy city like Nashville......the best ways to eat a pizza! Just tell me something! Thanks!

[Note from the Author: How unusual! I just ran the spell check, and it found no misspellings!]

Scatterbrained

I am so ready to be moving to Nashville to go to FWBBC. This week has been pretty crazy getting ready for the move, but it's going to be worth it.

I got a key to my trunk today! As it turns out, the stuff in it was exactly what I thought it would be!

Has anybody noticed that my blogs never stay focused on one subject? I think it might be because I just start typing, and then name it when I'm finished, and you end up with multiple subjects.

I guess that's all for tonight. I'm supposed to be getting off the computer. *sigh*

Feedback...The Good Kind

I seem to have my best writing inspirations while doing the most unrelated things - like mowing. I guess doing a chore that doesn't really require much thought leaves room for my mind to wander, and thus we come to inspiration. My problem is that I never can remember what I was thinking later when I actually try to write it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm thinking about more than one thing at a time, or maybe it's just my bad memory. Whatever it is, it is rather frustrating. I had thought of a really good topic for today's blog while running errands all over town today, and now I don't remember it. I started typing this in the hopes that at some point, it would come back to me, but that doesn't seem likely at the moment.

So, I need feedback. Not the kind you get when you get the microphone too close to the amp, either. My Dad does not see the benefits of posting a blog. He thinks my time would be better used doing something else. Now, I might add that I am posting in my free time. I need somebody to give an awesome sermon on the virtues of blogging and then let me know about it. So pull out all the stops and get to thinking because there have to be a lot of benefits to blogging. I figure, you know, I don't really write about anything that's all that important, but at the very least, it's experience, and I'm learning. But like I said, drop me a comment with a few pluses, or feel free to write a full blog about it. Just make sure to let me know! Gracias!

Where Did I Put That?

How many of you have ever lost something? Yeah. That's what I thought. I lose stuff all the time. But shockingly enough, my sister loses her cell phone even more than I lose other stuff. Sometimes it's fun to take it, and wait a few minutes until she starts frantically searching. She always just assumes that she left it somewhere, and you can keep her going for as long as you want to. In fact, I've pulled several cell phone related pranks on her (like changing her language setting to Portuguese), but that's another story. Anyway, the other day, she was looking for it, and accused me of taking it, but I genuinely didn't know where it was at this time.

Now, you may think losing a phone is a simple fix, right? You just call the number and let it ring until you find it. The problem with this theory is that Jacqueline tends to have her phone on silent all the time. So there I was in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, wondering if I knew where her phone was when it hit me. *thud* OW!!

Why haven't any cell phone manufacturers made a cell phone that has a low jack feature? You call your number, but add a code on the end so that it will ring even if it's on vibrate or silent. Of course the code would have to be set by you, otherwise people would be calling you with that number added, and that would be a total fiasco. It doesn't seem to me like it would be that hard to do for a company with researchers paid to make this stuff work. What do you think? Does anybody else have the tendency to lose their phone? Has this already been done, and I am just oblivious to it? I think it would be a nice feature.

Malarky

This week, instead of one long story on useless information, I'll just give you a few from last night's game of Malarky.

1. Covered bridges are covered to protect the wood because it rots faster when exposed to sun and rain. That's why the newer steel and concrete bridges aren't covered. It has nothing to do with people getting stabbed! haha
2. Grocery coupons say they have a cash value of 1/100 of a cent because before the law was passed that says they have to say that, people could literally just turn in their coupons for cash. So the businesses were basically just printing currency. Say, if you had a coupon for a dollar off your chicken strips, but you didn't need any more chicken, you could just take in the coupon and they would have to give you the dollar.
3. Modern day farm plots are circular (instead of squares) because the irrigation systems are stationary on one end, while the other end rolls. This way, it travels in an arc around the whole circle and all of the plants get water.

Well, I can't remember any of the rest, so I'm going to assume they weren't interesting. Tune in next week for an English lesson on vowels!

"So People Don't Get Stabbed"

I just had the most fun ever! We had the youth group over for a back to school cookout thing. We did hot dogs and s'mores, and played a really funny game where you strap 3 people's legs to a huge wooden foot and they have to walk in them. It's really fun. My team won (of course) and we actually made it all the way to the finish line before the other 2 teams were a quarter of the way there. It was awesome! Then we played with the dog and hung out outside for a while, playing with the fire and throwing a Frisbee around. Then we all jumped over each other's shoulders a few times, and some other crazy stuff (as the adults sat and talked about how we have too much energy)

Then we decided to go inside and play a game called Malarky where you ask a question that nobody should know the answer to, and everybody has to make up an answer and convince others that they are right. I seem to do well at this game for some reason. I can make up a convincing story pretty quickly, and I know enough random facts to throw a few in to make it convincing. The other players just said I was a good liar. I don't think it's a compliment.

Anyway, Sam is a complete nut, and he didn't understand the game. It's really quite simple, but he was being difficult, and it was absolutely HILARIOUS!

He was reading the wrong answers, and voting like a crazy person, and showing his card, and forgetting the answer. It was ridiculous. You've just gotta love Sam. Then on the last round, the question was "Why are covered bridges covered?" and Cody thought that I said "Ridges" instead of "Bridges", so his answer about safety was making sense (though not convincing) up until he said "So people don't get stabbed". We all burst out laughing and he just let it go. Then when Mrs. Neva gave her answer, he exclaimed "OH! You said 'Bridges'?" The game stopped for about 10 minutes so we could laugh. You know how they say that laughing is a really good exercise? We all lost a few pounds tonight! It was so much fun! Kind of a "Last hoorah" before college. I can't wait, but I'm going to miss these guys so much!

_____aholic?

I've never understood how you can just add "-aholic" to the end of a word to describe an addiction to that particular substance or activity. Obviously it comes from the term "alcoholic," but when talking about an addiction to alcohol, you're only adding "-ic" to the end. So what about words like "Shopoholic" or a new one I read earlier - "Twitterholic"? Why do we add half of a completely unrelated word (alcohol) to a term to describe the addiction? It just doesn't make sense to me. Can anyone shed a little light on the situation? I am starting to think that half of the English language is just made up of words mashed together in ways that don't necessarily make sense. We just do it because it sounds cool. It's probably another reason English is one of the hardest languages to learn.

I Forgot...

Well, I completely forgot about the blog until about 5 seconds ago, so this should be interesting. I'm currently experimenting with Twitter. I've heard a lot of stuff about it and it seems to be an interesting idea, but I can't get it to work. It won't let me check my e-mail contacts to find people, and it won't let me upload a picture either...I keep getting "error" and "cannot display web page" messages. I guess that could be my Internet connection, though. For some reason it does slow down late at night, although I don't know why. I guess I will just have to try again later. If you're on twitter, just leave your URL and I'll try to get you added to my list of people to follow. Mine is https://twitter.com/cjones08.
I get to go have another shot tomorrow. It will be the second of a 3 shot series. The next one is in 5 more months.
I had to get up this morning to take my brother to the orthodontist only to get there and find out that my Mom was mistaken and his appointment is tomorrow. So I will get to go back to Southaven again. *sigh* That's at least the second time she's done that.

Compilation of Randomosity

Mrs. Neva made fun of me for knowing "a lot of nothing". :'(
The Grove is awesome, but the youth group makes it better!
Cody and I wanted to go bowling but it seems we were out-voted. Maybe next time...

<- A really really funny piece of flair from Facebook!

The Phantom of the Opera was rather interesting. I will have to see the old version.

Only 9 more days until I move!

I uploaded a few new pictures to Facebook, so if you were just dying to know what I look like, they are there. I might actually put on on my blog in the near future. I guess we'll just have to see about that.

I am completely jealous of Team Honduras. We all knew I wanted to go, but their presentation Sunday night was almost depressing because of the fact that I wish I could have been there with them. They climbed the most massive tree in the history of ever (exaggeration) and if you didn't know, I will and do climb anything and everything.

I guess that's enough random thoughts for tonight.

....The End

320 Pictures

I just spent like, 2 hours of my life watching crazy videos made by FWBBC students. It was completely amazing. I can't wait to be a part of the ones they make this year. I've already been invited to be in them! I am so ready to move. I am really really excited about going back to school this year. It's going to be great. Only 9 more days until the move!!!

Ugh

There's not a lot to say about today...so here's a verse to get me through it. Maybe it'll help you too.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28 [KJV]

Useless Info

Pick a number!
A three digit one!
Hurry!
....Ok, so the rush isn't necessary.
Now make sure that the first digit and the last digit are at least 2 numbers away, for example: 4&6 or 1&8
I'll go with 397
Now reverse it.
793
Now subtract the smaller from the larger.
793 - 397 = 396
Now reverse that.
693
Then add the reverse to the difference of the first and it's reverse!
396 + 693 = 1089

It doesn't matter what the number. If the first and last digits are 2 digits apart, you come up with 1089 every time!

I see that you're skeptical, so I'll do it again. It's kinda almost semi-entertaining.

701
107
594
495
1089!

ok. One more time for proof of concept here.

815 - 518 = 297
297 + 792 = 1089

Well there's your useless information for the week. Thank you Jacqueline for showing me the trick.

What a Day!

Ever just have one of those days where nothing goes right? The first line of Josh Wilson's "Pull Me Through" describes my day pretty well.

Everything that could go wrong is going wrong;
Everything that should go right is going wrong too.

The day started out with my mom waking me up at 8:00. Now for a 16 year old guy, that's almost a crime on a Saturday. Never mind the fact that I would've probably had to get up by 8:30 anyway. That last 30 minutes is precious! Anyway, she was waking me up to connect her video camera to the DVD writer so that she could record something off onto a disk. The problem with this is that it seems she has lost the cable to do so. Now, as much as I love technology and confusing wiring and such, it's not what I want to do the second I roll out of the bed. So I work on that for about an hour and finally she comes to the conclusion I had reached in about 5 minutes: You can't wire two devices together without a wire to go between them.

So then I proceeded to get ready for my job. I always mow the music leader's (from church) yard on Saturday because it was pretty much the only job I could find for the summer. After I got almost ready to go I started looking around, and I couldn't find my shoes for the life of me. I looked all over the house at least 3 times. Then finally I found them in the far corner of my room that I never even go into. So I put my shoes on and realized that somewhere in the process of looking for my shoes, I had lost my belt. After searching the house once again I found the belt, grabbed my stuff, and left. After I locked up and went to the car, I realized that I had forgotten my cap. I left it at home last week and got sunburned even more than normal, so I didn't want to make that mistake again. So I had to go back inside to get it.

Well usually, my friend Sam helps me, but this week he was out of town and I had to mow the whole thing by myself. I don't know the exact acreage, but it's a big job. A house, a separate apartment, 2 fences, and *dramatic theme* a pond. Yes, by the dramatic music, you probably know what happens already, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I mowed and mowed and mowed, then I weed-eated weed-eated weed-eated.Then I mowed some more: back and forth. You get the idea.

[Intermission]
*Lights dim*
*Dramatic music swells*

"And now back to our regularly scheduled....uhh...blog post"
*Curtain opens to show a small pond and a teen on a riding lawn mower*

So there I was. Riding a mower around the pond. All of the hard parts already behind me, the only part left was the small peninsula on the south side. I rode the length of the peninsula as I always do, and then as I was going to turn around I realized (dun dun dun) I'd gone too far. I had gone too far down the slope on the end of the peninsula and I couldn't turn around. My rear wheels were just spinning with no traction, but luckily I wasn't going down yet. So I set the parking brake (wouldn't want it to roll in) and got off to adjust the rear wheels to a different angle on the hill to get some better traction. This I did successfully, but alas, when I got back on I still couldn't quite make it out. Thinking I could do the same thing I had just done, I set the parking brake and got off again, but the moment my weight left the mower is started it's descent into the depths of the abyss (or, ya know, the shallow end of the pond). Sadly enough, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't keep it from going in. So I watched as my employers mower (which costs more than my life savings) slipped down the slope at an increasing rate and landed half submerged in the water, still running - barely. It died due to water intake, I guess, but that's not really the point. I was forced to go inside to Bro. Scott and admit my mistake and explain to him that his lawn mower was in the pond. I felt really bad about it to say the least. Luckily, he didn't seem to be mad. That mower has apparently been in the pond at least 2 other times.

So after we changed the oil...oil filter, fuel filter,and the air filter, and I mowed the rest of the yard, he was gracious enough to still pay me. So I left his house with the payment for this week's mowing plus another 101 dollars that I had from previous weeks that I hadn't had a chance to deposit yet. I went to Lifeway because we had a 25% off thing that we were sent in the mail, and I was going to look around some. So I was there a while, and I got ready to go home. It's amazing the looks you get when you go shopping in the local Christian book store with grass and oil all over you. I was ready to go, so I took my purchase to the register, and he scanned it and the coupon and gave me the price. I reached in to my pocket and my hand hit the bottom. I had lost my wallet. The man that was checking me out gave me a kinda weird look like "Why aren't you paying me?" So I had to explain to him that I had apparently misplaced my wallet, and that I had had it only a few minutes before. He told me that he could hold my stuff until I found it, so I went outside to search the car. I ended up finding it, but I was starting to wonder how many things could possibly go wrong.

I didn't have any more major problems for the rest of the day (or they were so traumatic that I blocked them from my memory), but what was so interesting to me was the fact that I was ridiculously giddy through almost all of this. I think maybe I'm sleep deprived. I might add that this blog post has kept me up an extra hour. The things I do for the entertainment of my imaginary friends.

It's sleep deprivation and it's sweepin' 'cross the nation!

Procrastinators: Leaders of Tomorrow!

Phew! After 5 days of work, I have finally finished my project for this week. My sister had a job babysitting for our cousin in Nashville this week, so she has been out of town. My job was to clear her room of all of her stuff (in her absence and without her knowledge), pull out the old carpet, and replace the flooring before moving all her stuff back in. It was not really a big job, but I had to do it myself. In typical procrastinator fashion, I moved all of the stuff out Monday, stripped it to concrete and scraped the rough spots smooth Tuesday, painted primer Wednesday, and actually laid the floor Thursday. Then today I put down quarter-round, and the transition piece to the other flooring, and moved all of the stuff back in. Now that may not sound like procrastination. In fact, when you lay it out like that, it sounds like it was planned, but lets just say I was only doing a little each day, and only to keep my parents off my case. I could've had in finished by Wednesday if I had wanted to.

I guess my point is that procrastination isn't normally a problem if you know what it's going to take to finish. If you know a project will take 2 hours, and it has to be done by 6, then you can start at 4! The problem with this philosophy is when you run into a bit of a snafu. You can't always predict how long it will take to fix your problem. So it's always a good idea to do the important things first, blah blah blah, yada yada. You know what I'm talking about. "Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?" and all that jazz.

All that to say this: My name is Caleb Jones, and I'm a procrastinator. I wait until the last minute to finish what I'm supposed to do, and will probably continue to do so until I end up learning the hard way. (which reminds me of another dc Talk song...they were a good band!)

Another Updates Post

Well, because of lack of an idea, this is going to be pretty basic. It is starting to look like the posts I put the least effort into thinking through get the most comments. It is kinda interesting actually. The post with the most comments is not even about anything. It is just a compilation of a few random thoughts. Although I do realize that, at 3 comments, it is a little early to start developing a pattern, you have to consider that I only have 4 confirmed readers of my posts. That particular post tops the others at a response from 2 people. Isn't that exciting?

Only 14 days until I move to Nashville. I will be starting classes at the Free Will Baptist Bible College on the 25th. I am incredibly excited.

An interesting character has arisen on Facebook recently. It seems somebody has started an account as the mascot of the college: FWBBC Flame! It's rather interesting because nobody really knows who it is. It seems like most of the students think it is another student playing a joke, but I am almost fully convinced that it is a staff member. I had posted on the wall that maybe we should consider staff members, and the mysterious flame replied on my wall that I made a good point. I guess this could be to throw me off the trail, but I doubt a student would think of that. Besides, all of the pranksters seem to have been accused already. Another clue is that the birthday for the account is August 1, 1942. That would be the year and month that the college was founded. I don't think a student pulling a prank would think of that either. So I will continue my quest for the identity of the Flame. In the meantime, I think this will be all for tonight!

Why I Believe in Homeschooling

Well, tonight I have copied and pasted a note for your reading pleasure. It was written by an acquaintance of mine, David Lorimer, and it is about his views on homeschooling. I think it is pretty good, but you'll just have to read it yourself. He is a little bit long-winded with this one, so it might take a few minutes to read.
And for the record, I was homeschooled too.

I believe in Homeschooling. Why on earth would someone homeschool? Shouldn't education be handled by those professionally trained? Don't homeschoolers just cop out of school? Don't homeschoolers have some kind of problems? And what about sociability?I am prepared to address all these concerns, and more. But first, a little bit about me.

I am homeschooled, and the middle of 5 siblings. I was homeschooled from K-12, then attended Kentucky Mountain Bible College. I found homeschooling to not only agree with me extremely well, but I believe it is one of the best things that ever happened to me.In this essay, I aim to express my reasons for why I believe in homeschooling. I do not intend to answer all objections or concerns regarding homeschooling. I do not write about every individual person's experience; I write about homeschooling as a theory and a model. I understand, perhaps more than some, that homeschooling has been much misused, and abused.That said, let us proceed!

Biblical Responsibility
The Bible makes it very clear that the responsibility for the education of children rests with the parents. (Deut 4:10, 6:7, 11:19, and many more). It is not the government's responsibility to educate your kids! You will not find one verse that indicates the government should educate children. The parents are Biblically responsible. Though the parents may choose to delegate the education, they still retain the responsibility. The Biblical model for education is in the home. I cannot understand why anyone would send their children to be trained by a pagan system. "If you send your children to Caesar, expect them to return as Romans." - Respondent, Homeschool Alumni Reunion 2008

Values Transfer
One of the greatest benefits to homeschooling is the transfer of values from the parents to the children. Because the entire educational process is directed by the parents, values are taught and demonstrated. This is true of any education, of course, which is why it is so important to watch carefully what your children are being taught! A large percentage of homeschoolers are Christians. I believe it is because of these first two reasons, the Bible, and Values."If there's something that's very important to me, am I going to let a stranger teach that to my kid!?" - Sarah Phillips

Philosophy of Education
One's philosophy of education makes a HUGE impact on their view of homeschooling. I will not expound all my thoughts here. Let me summarize. I do not believe education is about information. Our modern education system is very information-based. I believe education is training on how to think and how to learn. It is training for life. It is, as William Law set forth, an attempt to reverse some of the aspects of the Fall. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Prov. 9:10; Prov. 1:7). I believe that homeschooling best accomplishes the objective of training how to think, how to live life, how to be a good citizen, and how to be a right person.

Centrality of the Home and Family
We've often heard it said that the family is the building block of society. This is clearly described in the Bible, and has been observed by sociologists the world over. What better way to have a strong family than to have the family together, the better part of every day, with education in the home! Another benefit here is that the child's role-models become parents and older adults, instead of the popular jocks and cheerleaders. I believe in strong families, and so I believe in family-based education.

Socialization
But aren't homeschoolers socially handicapped? No, I've never met a homeschooler ever that I would say had major social problems. What most people notice is a difference in socialization. Our society's definition of socialization is based on the ability to lower inhibitions, talk about nothing endlessly, flirt, and politic. On the opposite side, homeschoolers tend to learn a socialization method that is more reserved (often interpreted aloof), respectful, thoughtful, and deeply-based. This disconnect produces a problem where both sides don't understand the other, and both think the other needs major social help! (yes, homeschoolers think the same thing about you.) Which is better? Personally, I believe the homeschooling approach is. Let me take up an example. Our society's socialization is evidenced very well at a day care. Here, very young children are taught to socialize and make friends with other children. Unfortunately, a very negative approach develops. Yes, they have learned to walk into a room full of people they don't know and be able to function. But they learn this walking into a room full of new people and claiming their space, and defending it from others (the politics has begun). "Mine," "mine," is a word heard ever so often. They also learn another dangerous lesson here -- that is, if it is lying around, it is fair game ... Think about what happens when people grow up with this idea ... On the other hand, homeschoolers learn their socialization from their parents and siblings. Thus, they are taught early to respect older people. They learn authority and respect. They also learn private property, as well as sharing. They must get along with siblings, but their own space is protected, and their self is developed. They learn to interact in a family setting, instead of a war of peers.Another item of socialization where homeschoolers excel greatly is cross-generational. Most youth only know how to socialize with a limited group of peers. Their goal is to be popular with the popular people. Put an average youth in a room full of octogenarians and see what happens! On the other hand, homeschoolers are at ease with all ages, because they have been raised in a community of all ages. Homeschoolers tend to view their "peers" as multi-generational. This can be very intimidating for an older adult, when a younger teen regards him as a peer! Homeschoolers don't tend to "fit" with their generation, because they tend to "fit" a little more just below their parents' generation. Is this bad? I don't think so. It produces mature young citizens."Questioner: But aren't you concerned about socialization?Homeschooler: Oh yes, we're very concerned about socialization. That's why we homeschool." (Natalie Wickham)

Educational Outcomes
An argument against homeschoolers is that they tend to be critical. It is indeed true. When one is truly taught to think, he is taught to not believe everything he hears, but to test it and try it, and see if it is indeed true. Homeschoolers are taught critical thinking. Because of this advanced training, they will challenge their teachers, which is where this reaction arises. Teachers (or "learned adults") are not often prepared to defend their beliefs and statements. They are used to everyone simply believing them without question. They do not like to be "attacked," as they perceive it. "Why, I am a professional, and that young kid had the audacity to challenge me, as if what I said might not be true!" If only they would learn their trade, career, or belief well enough to defend what they present, what great benefits they would find! If people were honest, they would admit they are intimidated by homeschoolers, because they are forced to give homeschoolers answers, not just platitudes. Homeschoolers have been taught to seek for truth. They have learned the important practice of critical thinking. If they have any weakness, it is a lack of tact.Homeschoolers are taught to find answers. A classroom school education reports that the student did well, passing with a 95%! A proper homeschooling education reports the same, but then requires that the homeschooler return to his lessons, and discover what 5% he did wrong, and how it is to be made right. The classroom student will never learn the percentage he missed; the homeschooler may learn it better than the 95% he knew well. The outcome of this is obvious. Homeschoolers learn to push themselves to higher levels. They learn not to give up. I heard a homeschooler say recently, "If it's wrong, I'll find the answer; if there is no answer, I'll find the answer."It is true, that across the board, homeschoolers do better on standardized tests than their public school contemporaries. They excel in all fields, from engineering to the arts. They tend to have more purpose, and more success, in life. They are not weak and wishy-washy. In fact, they are often chided for being too opinionated. They generally outclass their contemporaries in a way that has made them the target of whatever censure their offended peers could come up with.

Worldview
It can nearly all be summed up in worldview. A homeschooler's worldview is shaped by his family, instead of by the government or body of equally-immature peers. His thinking is shaped from day one by those who have gone before, who know more, and have more experience. But most of all, by those who care the most. The homeschooler does not receive a brainwashing of pagan God-denying bologna, parading as "great education". The homeschooler receives a building of precept upon precept, of real science, real thinking, and real faith. His life is not controlled by government money, availability of "good teachers", or political pressure. His life is controlled by the very people God gave him to: his parents.

One may rightly challenge:
"Ok, this is all well and good, but I know several homeschoolers that don't fit this description. In fact, they are lazy, unprepared for life, co-dependant, and ignorant. This is what homeschooling does!"I will answer:You are right. There are several homeschoolers exactly as you have described. They are a great tragedy, and I have no defense for them. But they are not a failure of the idea of homeschooling. They are a failure in implementing homeschooling. I agree that their poor education is inadequate, and their lives will be the poorer because of it.However, I will answer this: For every homeschooler of this type that you present, I will present an entire classroom school worthy of the same condemnation. And I dare say, I will have some to spare. What is more, for each homeschooler of this type that you present, I will present two who are of the type I describe. And I dare say, I will have many to spare.

In The Light

"In the Light" happens to be one of my favorite DC Talk songs. I just never seem to get tired of the lyrics.

I keep trying to find a life
On my own apart from you
I am the king of excuses
I've got one for every selfish thing I do

Tell me what's going on inside of me
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

I wanna be in the light as you are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh Lord, be my light and be my salvation
Cuz all I want is to be in the light

The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control

Tell me what's going on inside of me
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

I wanna be in the light as you are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh Lord, be my light and be my salvation
Cuz all I want is to be in the light

It seems like every time I listen to this song, I'm reminded that I do stuff all the time that I shouldn't do. I try to do the right thing, and many times, I just end up messing up big time. Paul described his struggle with this same thing in Romans 7.

(15) For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (16) Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. (17) So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (18) For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (19) For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (20) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (21) So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. (22) For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, (23) but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (24) Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?( 25) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. - Romans 7:15-25 (ESV)

This is a problem that all Christians struggle with. The world expects us to be perfect because we're Christians, but we all stumble and fall. No matter how much we try, we will never be perfect until we get to heaven. So until then, we can only claim the promise given in 1 John 1:9, and look forward to that day when Christ will deliver us from our sinful nature.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

iStink

Well, for today's post (which I'm sure you're all dying to read) I'm going to explain to you how much I stink at Halo. Yes, I realize you don't care; I'm telling you anyway.

I went to Sam's house, and we hung out for a while. We didn't really do a whole lot. Ya know, normal boredom activities: hacky sack, TV, beating him at pool, eating, more TV, more hacky sack (which I stink at). Then he decided to play Halo. I had never played before, so when he asked if I wanted to play, I said "Yeah. Teach me how, and I'll play." Apparently, his idea of "Teaching me how" was to put me in a tiny arena with him, some rocks, a couple of bunkers, and some attack vehicles. Then he proceeded to kill me repeatedly, never letting me live long enough to learn the controls well. *sigh* I was sniped, machine gunned, lasered, missiled, and grenaded (and probably a few more things). Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I really stink. It's hard to learn to play against a seasoned pro. On the plus side, I did kill him 3 or 4 times. =)

[ Note from the Author: Yes, I am aware that many of the words used to describe his attacks are not actual words]

Raining Cats and Dogs

I received a rather interesting comment today. Matthew told me that he read over my blog, and that I had actually learned to communicate with words. I'm not sure if he was implying that I didn't know how to previously, or that other people don't know how to. Either way, it's a compliment, I guess - even if I don't know what it meant.

A funny quote from a cartoon I saw today:

"As a lazy tailor would say, 'Suit yourself' "


And now for the Useless Information for the week, I will tell you of the origin of the phrase "Raining cats and dogs"! I heard somewhere that the phrase came from medieval times when houses had thatch roofs. They would basically pile a bunch of straw on top of the house and it would shed water when it rained. The story says that during cold weather small animals would crawl into the straw to stay warm, and when it rained they would end up falling through the ceiling. And so started the adage: "Raining cats and dogs". It almost makes sense until you start to think about it, but in the end, you have to realize that it's just crazy.

The truth is that nobody really knows for sure where it started (like so many other things) but there are a few theories. The most likely is that in the filthy streets of 17th century England, many times heavy rains would carry along the bodies of dead animals in the flood waters. Jonathan Swift described this in his poem "A Description of a City Shower", and the first appearance of the current version was in Jonathan Swift's "A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation". The fact that he described the streets flowing with animals, and then used the phrase "Raining cats and dogs" a few years later makes a pretty good case for the theory that poor sanitation is the source of this popular adage.

Like I said before, nobody really knows how it was started, but these are just a couple theories. There are actually several ideas, but in the end, it doesn't really matter who started it if you're outside when the clouds open up and you're getting soaked!

Yikes

I don't even know what to say today. I was mowing all day with temperatures over 100 degrees. In fact, the heat index here was 116 this afternoon! So, I am completely exhausted. I got to hang out with Sam some today, and I talked to Rebekah for a while. It seems like the mission trip went really well. Nobody got deathly ill while they were there, and they all definitely enjoyed it. I wish I could've gone with them, but alas, it was not meant to be. :(

I went to FWBBC to sign up for my classes yesterday. I ended up with 16 credit hours for my first semester, so that'll be pretty crazy. I also have to find a job, and I might sing in the choir or play basketball. I don't really know yet. It's looking like I'm going to be pretty busy even without all of the extra-curriculars. My class schedule is as follows:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday:

U.S. History
Old Testament Survey: Law and History
General Psychology

Tuesday
Microcomputer Applications
Freshman Orientation
Fundamentals of Speech

Thursday
Freshman Orientation
Fundamentals of Speech

And I will have chapel every day, Christian Service, and a guitar class thrown in there somewhere. It's gonna be great. 19 Days!

Pennies

I've been gone all day to Nashville, so tonight you're getting an e-mail that I found in my inbox when I got home.


You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc.. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about. Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Image via Wikipedia Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely. As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure... How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? 'Look at it.' He said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words 'United States of America.' 'No, not that; read further.' 'One cent?' 'No, keep reading.' 'In God we Trust?' 'Yes!' 'And?' 'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin, I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful! When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient...

Events of Tomorrow

I'm going to Nashville tomorrow for Pre-Enrollment Days at FWBBC! I am so excited about deciding what courses to take and stuff. It's gonna be great. I get to move up there in 21 days! I'm not gonna lie. I am really looking forward to a little independence. It's gonna be great. Interestingly enough, I'm ready to be back in school too. I miss learning.

Please remember my youth group in prayer tomorrow as they're flying home from Honduras. I'm so ready for them to be back! I haven't talked to anybody since last Sunday.

Well, I'm going to watch a movie with Jacqueline, so this is gonna be all for tonight.

I Can't Say....I'd Faint

Have you ever just wondered "Who came up with that word?" You know. Those words like bologna. Who comes up with this stuff? Then again there are those words that just make sense.

Dictionary.com's word of the day:

sesquipedalian \ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn\, adjective:
1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.

noun:1. A long word.

And here's another one that I was reminded of:

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, noun:
Fear of long words


.....how ironic, right? Somebody would pass out from fear just trying to tell someone what their fears are! "I suffer from 'hippopotomon...' *thud* "

Jumping Subjects

For those who have interest in my activities and have forgotten since I posted them a few days ago: a few reminders...and some new stuff

KEEP PRAYING FOR TEAM HONDURAS!!! They are coming home this Friday...YAY!

I'm moving to Nashville in 23 days! Sooooooo excited!

Going this weekend to get student ID, class schedule, and stuff. I'll be out of town when Team Honduras comes home =(

I actually remembered the useless information that I forgot Sunday, but I'm gonna wait till next Sunday to post it.

I actually figured out how to get notifications on my comments last night, so that was exciting. =)

And I think that's it for tonight. Adios!

Notifications?

I was just completely shocked to find that I had comments on two posts that were over 4 days old! I have been kinda waiting for a comment from somebody....anybody really, just to see if there was actually somebody reading this stuff. Then lo and behold, as I was saving a draft for later this week, I discovered comments! Shouldn't I have gotten some kind of notification telling me that they were there? I mean, I guess it's possible that there was one that I missed, but I honestly didn't see the comments until they were there for four days. So my question is, if there's no notifications to tell me that I got one, how do I sort the new ones from the old ones when I have several? A little insight from a seasoned pro, please?

B Batteries

No, folks, that's not a stutter. For this weeks random fact, I had thought of one early in the week, but I forgot it, so this is a last minute pick. It's surprisingly hard to come up with random facts in conversation when all of the people you talk to left the country. Please continue to pray for them. I talked to Rebekah today, and they really love it there. They will be travelling back Friday, so please remember them in prayer.

So anyway, on with the story! Ever wondered why there are AAA, AA, C, and D batteries, but no A or B ones? Well, as it turns out, there are! They used to be common, but they're just not used anymore. Several battery sizes were standardized by the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) in the early 20th century, but the industry has generally used fewer and fewer designs over the years. This cuts down on costs for the manufacturers, retailers, and even the users. So now, all of the A and B batteries hold their place on a dusty shelf along with the others that are no longer used, like E and N batteries.

Tune in next week, and I might remember the useless information I was going to tell you in the first place. Then again, I might not. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.