Well, I suppose that's how life goes, just like a box of chocolates. You never know just what you're gonna get.
I started talking about getting my first real job today. Disregarding the paid yardwork for neighbors and childhood one-hit-wonder franchises, I've never really made serious money, and that could be about to change. Talked to the manager at Nautilus and he seemed interested. Ending up taking my name and number, so he could call at any moment and that's pretty exciting.
I'm trying out a few more places tomorrow. Just want to find a place that'll take me, that'll give me some work experience, and where I can make a bit of money here and there. Schedule is important, I don't know how many hours a week I'd work, but I'm sure most people are reasonably well understanding of student schedules.
You know how they say that after you've done something a certain number of times, it becomes second nature, like a subconscious habit. I'm just about there for journaling. It's nice. I think about it throughout the day sometimes, just thinking of ways to help it better capture my life, of things to fill it with, and of its random commonplace connections. People ask me about it a lot, really. Always call it a blog, which I somewhat resent, but it's still all good. When they ask why I do it, I usually just say because it's a place to write. Now, that's true to a certain extent, I honestly do love writing, but it's also great for organizing my life. It occasionally makes me feel like I'm in some Stranger Than Fiction flick, where my life is being narrated, but I've got control over it. I'm literally authoring a legacy, which is pretty sweet when you think about it. It helps me get to know myself better as well, it's like a spiritual mirror. I don't know if you get what I'm saying, but it's like a window into myself. There's really no direct way to say it that bypasses metaphor, and it's a very unique experience, beyond words (maybe,) and it's just awesome. It kinda splits me into two pieces (schizophrenia? SPD?) and I get to know myself. Get acquainted. We don't always agree, but we do tend to get along well, fight relatively little, and are alike in more ways than we can count on our fingers. Combined. Which adds up to about ten. Throw in the toes and we might get somewhere.
So.. about today.
Midnight started and we were playing ping pong. Back and forth it went, in between rounds played around with some ten pound dumbells and some foosball and some silly games as well. Watched some Jackass. Wound up awake until sometime around 3 or 4. I woke up at 4:12, 4:36, 5:42, 6:21, 6:46 (*phone's alarm clock went off for some reason*), 7:20, and then finally 8:38 when I finally crawled out of bed. I was freezing all night long. Laying halfway in the hobble, halfway out, itching up a storm, freezing my toes off and ribs out, and drifting in and out of consciousness. Not the best night of sleep to say the least. The reason I could give you so many times is because I remember pretty clearly checking my phone, praying I could get up and move on with my day. After the first twenty-minute-ish powernap, I felt energized enough to get up. Or maybe that was just the amount of motivation it took for me to want to get out of there. I mean if you have to pull the blanket up over your head, wrap yourself up like a mummy, roll up into a ball, and flex and relax to keep the blood flowing, you know you're doing something wrong. The ironic part (part of my own Spartan nature) was that there was constantly a sleeping bag an inch or so from my head. I guess I enjoyed the struggle. Sounds like me. It was a great night, if you can rejoice in those sufferings like I in my crazy state of mind must love to do.
*This violated a mutual pact established by myself and my phone. I provide for its general welfare and it doesn't choose to randomly wake me up in the middle of the night.*
That's the kind of pact you can't have with your kids. Parents really draw the short stick on that one, folks.
So, basically life's good and we go downstairs and eat some delicious breakfast. Brown toast, butter and jam. Scrambled eggs, salt and pepper, pepper and salt?. Chicken Pot Pie, bowl and a spoon. I didn't eat the utensils, but for the sake of parallelism bear with me. Great breakfast. Washed down with a couple of glasses of milk and the day moves on. Just like that.
Brush my teeth with a graciously gifted toothbrush. Write my name on it, because nights like this are sure to follow eventually, and head out to drive towards church. Hear some fascinating stories about iceboxes, colonial scandals, and General Rochambeau and their ties to the Foltas and had a thoroughly enjoyable, snowsight laden, voyage to New Life Fellowship. Thank you, Mrs. Folta!
Headed in, headed upstairs. Chilled with the small group. Chatted it up. Learned a valuable lesson regarding the superiority of "alternative yes's" over straight up "no's," further indirect elaboration upon the concept of liberating bondage, and valuable time of fellowship and study all for the glory of God. God bless Arturo Araya!
Church service. Caught up, found out how things have been with the "t-shirtin' business" and reunited with some regular pals. Gathered round, stood with family, and worshiped the God of all creation, Simply put, that was a thrill in and of itself. Glory be to God!
Service: Two Sermons for the Price of One.
I) Sermon One: Regarding the "Four Ships that take us to God's New World."
A) Worship
i) Giving Everything up to God... more than just Sunday morning songs.
ii) Our chance to give something back, pleasing God rather than ourselves
B) Stewardship
i) Taking care of financial, proprietary, and blessed gifts.
ii) Not really ours. It's God's anyway, he just lets us have it so we can enjoy giving it.
C) Discipleship
i) One we often fail to complete. We've been told to make disciples, not just be them.
ii) Dedication the the service of the Lord. We're slaves regardless, why not serve God?
D) Fellowship
i) Utilizing the joy of community gathered to glorify Christ.
ii) A lot of people's favorite.
II) Sermon Two: Romans 7
A little rough from a preaching pastor's point of view, but you can read it yourself to get what you can from it. I'm tired of making an outline, it's almost midnight, give me a break.
So yeah, that was a really good sermon. Darrell continues to impress. I enjoy his speaking style as well, he seems comfortable, passionate, understanding, wise, and a strong deliver of even stronger Spiritscribed messages. Spiritscribed, another word invention. Written by the Spirit. Looks cool to me. Might want to use it more often. Similar words: Spiritscribe (verb), spiritscript (noun), spiritscripted (adverb/adjective), and the list can be however long as you want it to be. Word's better because it's made up, anyway. More meaningful that way. More powerful. More memorable. Enjoy.
Service ends. Introduce myself to the visiting family and the new man in back, Lance. Set him up with Ryan as well. Lance is a cool guy, from Elizabeth, searching for a church home, visited Long Hill, willing to make the 25-minute commute, enjoyed service, looking for smaller church, seemed genuine, courteous, friendly, firm handshake, made a good first impression. Pray he comes back. Pray he makes New Life his own church. Let us be hospitable to him and make it a place he wants to be.
Head through the church. Get a writing job offer from Kristie. Smile in remembrance of the 12K dollar essay. Accept job offer heartily, offer services wholeheartedly, move on with the day, see you later Garrelf! Headed over to Ryan's house. Earned Level 2 Security Access under the position of Aspiring Lead Worshiper at Gethsemane. Not a pastor. Enjoyed a bit of prayer. Loved a lot of food. Helped cut a lot of it. Chilled out, ate together, talked about youth group execution and plans for the future. Wise minds, caring minds, ambitious minds, submissive minds, led-by-God minds all, each brought together in a common purpose. Powerful. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of such a powerful force. Our youth group can go places again. Briefed on the upcoming events.
Coffee break, I split, watch the kids. Hang with sick baby Eliana. Watch some good ol' Curious George. Watch Cade and Morgan play, good friends both. Watch Wesley. Not a ton to say as I'm getting too foggy to remember every deal. Just barely into the afternoon here.
Wrap up, head home, hand off to Dad. Head to Nautilus Diner, ask if they take checks, they don't head over to Stop and Shop, pay $51.19 for a Rolos bar, get our change in cash, head over to the diner, get seated. Game's on. Kickoff's in five. Ravens v. Pats, called the Pats right off the bat. (There goes those Dr. Seuss rhymes again, but later that will we begin.) There we go, looking good, got the lead. 3 Point game, still close, damn, NFL players are just as jacked as they were in the last game. Game goes on. Food goes down. Never order Nautilus' New Yorker Panini. No bueno. Conversation goes up and down, Costa Rica this, philosophy that, get-a-job-now this, okay-where's-the-manager that. Chow down on some strawberry cheesecake. Don't finish. Leave it for Dad. Let him gather his things while I talk to the manager. He comes out, I shake his hand and introduce myself, tell him I'm looking for work. With a spark in his eye he pulls out a pen and a paper and says, sign here, first name and last, and your number there. Life's good, went easier than expected, ready to head out the door, exit with a bit of swag. Job well done, let's hit the road, back to the house we go, chill out for a bit, youth group's in not too long.
Mess with the bro's, slay Alduin, pissed because there's no reward, get ready for youth group and go. Get there, get warmed up, talk to the people, have a good time. Gather up, get ready for speedball, demonstrate the moves, reppin' Madison all the way, bro! Going good, feeling great, about to kick some serious ass. Here we go, here we go, just getting pumped. No jerseys, utter chaos. Suggest jerseys, game really starts. People learn the rules, strategy's soon to come, get playing some goalie, block a few shots, let not a single one in. Not there for long, let Dan Folta play, get a few picks, and have a good time. Wait a few rounds, switch sides. Jimmy Donaruma with his strategic minds sets up an impenetrable wall of defenders. Trent Anderson on the left flank, me with the center, and Sean Gawgs with the right. Dan Folta in the back, covering goal, way to go, not a shot in. Smile, celebrate, get things going. Meshin' as a team, things get shaken up. Me switched over, against my friends, sorry buds, but that's the game. Tie off some loose ends, play some solid D, get a few more picks, make a few shotsaving blocks, have a good time. Team player. Pay attention to Nikki Hair, mad skills there. Everyone's got the game now. We're playing well. But damn, how the hell do you score on Dan?
With four? Nope.
With exceptional trickery? Nope.
With five shots in a row? Nope.
By sitting back and letting someone else do the work? ... yep.
There we go Matt Sullivan! Booty bump Jimmy. Thing's solid, we get things rollin'? Back to work, grindstone churnin', fightin' the good fight, not letting down. Working up a serious sweat. Discarding excess clothes. Everyone's playing, ain't that the point? Dan's still good, score might be a fluke, try to do some myself, but hey, that ain't gonna work. Final countdown comes soon enough, hit Kylie Ferrentino in the corner. See an opportunity for myself, but hey, you go with what works. Step back. Let Matt make his play. Kylie fake, Matt score again! Man, where was he earlier? We could have had a game =).
Things roll along nicely. Head into the Cafe'. Forget that there's actually food to pay for at this place, think "Maybe I'll bring my wallet.. next time." See an open door, a flash of white, know exactly what I've gotta do and nothing's gonna stop me. Stride right out, plunge right in. Face full of snow, man, feels so good. Lookin' crazy, laughin' a bit, but hey, isn't this paradise? In little shirts only, single layers all, this sub-20 degree weather's feelin' pretty warm. Talk a while, joke a lot, laugh more, and get ready to head back inside. I go first, there's something playing. Never seen this movie before, what's going on? Sit down, story time soon. Gather round, old school style. Sit at Jimmy's feet, listen to announcements. Notice that red chair looks pretty comfy, wonder how it'd fit for me. Thinking a bit about the Giants, weren't we all? Sorry 49ers, but you're going home. Dr. Seuss, here we come, third(?) in the series, Yertle the Turtle, what a jerk. Stacks way up high, weighs everyone else down, expands his kingdom, but soon it's reduced to null. Sorry bro, but that's greed for you. Dictatorship, down the drain. Monarchy, screw you. Democracy's the way to go, should have listened to Mac!
Cool story, fun to listen to through Matt. Webber's such a character, such a bro, such a comedian and such an entertainer. Heart's as warm as a hot fudge sundae, mind's as sharp as a blade. Fun to hang with, such a great sense of humor. So yep, that's about that. Cool ties to God and life, found in Dr. Seuss. All about contentment, why can't we all be chill as Mac? Be happy with what you've got, with what you've done, because God's as much about rest as he is about getting things done. Sorry if I blew a bit of privacy, maybe I did, what stays in small groups stays in small groups, but it was a whisper and nothing incriminating. It's all good. You just get excited sometimes, that's all. Still sorry if I did anyone harm. Mistake of the day, fo sho.
So, night goes on, hear some more about announcements, 9:05, we're done. Text mom, she'll come fast, but where's Sarah? How will I possibly know when Mom's come? I play some soccer, miss a few calls, forget a few texts, and just have a good time. Fill a vibration, could that be the guy from the store? Phone out of pocket, screen to the eye, and oops, forgot all about my ride. Kick another goal in, say my goodbyes. Have a bit of fun in the process, depart with class. Job well done. Time well had. Friends well joined and things exceptionally done, B+ to an A, no regrets there. Ride home, thanks Mom, go and win Skyrim's civil war. boring, get a crappy sword, maybe I'll never play this game again if there's no reward. Oh well. Better off anyway. Probably. Am I really done? Hope so, hope not, three-day weekend's almost through. One more day, most are in school, lucky me, I'm in bed! So y'all take your tests, y'all do your work, know I'll be joining you.. but not ti' Tuesday! Good night masses, journal's the final step, you're up to date.
Don't blame me. I pounded it out and gave you a blow-by-blow 24+ hour excerpt of my life. Probably forgot something, but that's all right. Job's well done. I ate the Rolos before the food came, forgot that. Drank water too. Got a refill. Drank the refill. I love water, did y'all know that? There was also a story like that that I forgot to mention. Arturo knew this guy who grew up in a vineyard, and I guess he once said water weren't no good for ya. Excuse my writing. I'm asleep. Well, not entirely, but you get the gist. Good night. I might go chill with Jack. 24: time's a tickin, will my eyes stay open?
Uploaded to Facebook in just a minute, wonder what the description will be. I'm writing every thought so you guys are getting me up front. Sorry if I've rhymed, sorry if I've neglected all coherence, but that's it. This is tonight's journal.
Good night.
For real.
Forget about me.
And if you've read this far, you have my utmost admiration though I'll never know who you are.
Unless you change that.
Go ahead and tell me you've read this all. All my journaling for the day.
It won't be that bad.
I'll just laugh in your face.
Night night!
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