P.S.
Oh yeah, and today at church, in addition to seeing a good friend of mine who got married just after we graduated and has been off in the Virginia Beach area since then, I was asked to speak at the next Acteens meeting. Acteens is this group for girls in middle and high school to teach them about missions (in a nutshell)... you also do bible study and things of that nature too.

Anyway, I was really active in Acteens from 7th grade all the way until 12th grade. By the time I was in 12th grade I was basically a student leader since the next oldest girl was in 9th or 10th grade (I forget which).

Well, they've asked me to come back and talk to the girls on Jan. 5th. (that's the day after I come back from New Orleans) So I have to come up with what I want to talk about. I'm kinda worried because I haven't been the best Christian since I've been at college... i'm still working on some things I'm struggling with. But I guess we're all works in progress. and teaching people also helps you learn, right?

Anyway, once I get something put together I might post it up here!

Almost another year come and gone
I've been meaning to post, but, as I continually remind whoever out there in the e-world who might still be reading this old thing that's drastically reduced in intellectual fortitude as time has progressed, life has been busy! Busy but not in a bad way.

My Hokies made it to the SUGAR BOWL after an impressive end of the season STOMPING on Maryland at home on a Thursday night, sending UVa back to C-ville minus their previous hopes of being ACC Champs, and then finishing up the season by going down to Miami and embarassing them which wrapped up our title as ACC Champs OUTRIGHT! All-in-all it was a great season... our only two losses weren't BAD. The first of which was our sesaon opener against the #1 team in the nation USC. The other loss was to NC State and could've been won if we hadn't botched the field goal in the last few seconds. I actually had a ticket for the Miami game and was going to travel down with Robbie (Hokiepundit) and some other people from the Navigators, but then had to sell my ticket because a professor scheduled a test the day my group was leaving and also had a GINORMOUS project due at the beginning of the week after the Miami game. (OH WELL) As a good 2nd place to actually seeing the game in person, I did get to go to Cassell Colleseum to welcome the team back that night after the win! THAT PLACE WAS PACKED!!!! it was insane. that's all I can really say about it... insane.

Anyway, in less than a week (Jan. 1) I'll be leaving from the Richmond Airport on a GIGANTIC PlANE (it has to hold more than 330 people) to go to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. This will be my first bowl game after not getting to go for my first two years in the Marching Virginians. I'll have to say, going to the sugar bowl for my first bowl trip almost makes up for the two that I didn't get to go to. So I'll spend 4 AWESOME days, with some AMAAZING people, in a CRAAAAZY town all to cheer on my BELOVED HOKIES! :) That's right... GOOOO HOKIES! BEAT AUBURN!

My semester ended up pretty well.... acutally a lot better than I had expected after taking my final exams. The only class I didn't get an A in was my thermodynamics class and I managed to pull off an A- there! WOW! Also I found out after talking to one of my professors (and my advisor) that I'll most likely start doing undergraduate research with him next semester. Right now the plan is for me to do analytical and physical aerodynamics research on winglets (and possibly other wing tip modifications such as "c-wings" and "box wings"). I'm kinda excited.

Oh and I also put in an application to work at Space Camp this summer, so maybe that will come through. My other options right now are to go back to Cincinnati to work at GE Aircraft Engines for another term OR to stay in Blacksburg and continue my research work that I start this semester (provided that I get the research grant that I'll be applying for in the first few weeks of the spring semester). I don't know if I want to go back to Cincy. I mean I had a GREAT time socially and it paid quite well. But, I'm not really excited about the job itself... I'm kinda getting afraid of boxing myself into propulsion if I work too many terms with them. All the positions I've applied for with Boeing (their application process is done all online) have all come back saying that I am no longer being considered for the position, so its looking doubtful that Boeing's even an option for this summer.

The week before Tech classes start I'm going on a ski trip with Dave and Trisha maybe someone else (any of you tech people I know want to go??? I think we have an extra spot). We're going to Snowshoe. We have some package deal... 3 night stay in one of the lodges, 4 days of lift-tickets. I'm looking forward to it... but I'm expecting to be UBER-sore once the trip is over. I've never been skiing for more than one day at a time, so this is going to be pretty strenuous on my body I think. Its also been a while since I've been snowskiing at all (i think since my senior or junior year in high school).

I went to the first ACC basketball game that Tech had. We played UNC at Cassell Colluseum! We held in there pretty well during the first half but UNC showed their true talent in the second half and pulled WAY ahead. Oh well... in a few years we'll probably be able to even go out on the court with these hard-core ACC teams and not look like we're a rec team against them.

Dave got me one of those new VT football jersies for Christmas. Its really nice... me gusta mucho! I got him a VT snow hat and a ghostbusters t-shirt. He needed a new snow hat for the ski trip and since he likes the ghostbusters soo much, I decided he needed a shirt too. I guess we've kinda been dating now for 8 months now.... its hard to say

Christmas eve service was a great again! I love Christmas eve service at my church.... besides the fact that its a gorgeous service, it always is a reminder of the TRUE story of Christmas and a chance to worship God's gift to us in honor of the birth of his Son Jesus. After all the normal reading of scripture and singing of the related hymns, just before the Lord's Supper. Our Pastor gave a nice message about the similarities & differences between secular and Christian Christmas celebration/traditions.

Both Santa and Jesus have lists.... Santa checks his list twice to see who's naughty and who's nice. Jesus keeps a list of people who follow him--"The Lamb's book of Life". The difference is that Santa is trying to take people off the list (clearly he wants to get rid of people because he checks it TWICE), but God is continually trying to add people to his list... once you're on God's list, you're on for good, because he writes the names in his blood.

Both the secular Christmas and the Christian Christmas have gifts. Santa keeps his gifts in his bag.... comes flying in on his sleigh that lands on your roof. THEN, he mysteriously manages to fit down the chimney and put them under your tree... These are nice gifts... lots of times they're just what we wanted, but they can only make you happy for a little while. On the other hand Jesus' gift is forever.... its the gift of eternal life!

Both Christmas celebrations involve trees. Of course there is the tree that Santa puts the gifts under.... its really pretty and all.. But then, Jesus' gift to us was himself on the 'tree'

Every Christmas, I'm reminded of how fortunate I have been during my life. My family, my opportunities, my church, my home, everything I own, my school, my clothes.... everything. I'm SO blessed to have what I do. Of course, my family isn't the wealthiest family I know (goodness... no.... not by a LONG SHOT). To some this could be depressing, but we have SO much more than SOOOO MANY people in the world and even more than the possessions.... we have such a LOVING family. I don't think I could've asked for a more loving home to grow up in. It disturbed me the other day when reading my little brother's Christmas blog entry to see a little bit of what he wrote: "if i thought about all of the material things i had, i would be very sad because my family wasn't blessed with much, but we know how to look at what counts and it's definately each other that means something..."

I mean he knows that the most important thing is that we 'look at what counts' but I was shocked to see that he didn't think we were blessed. We definitely don't have as much money as some families that live around us and that our friends are from, but that doesn't mean we aren't blessed.... Anyway.... I think he'll learn soon enough.

Speaking of my brother, he applied to Tech earlier in the fall. Actually he applied 'early admission' but was deferred to regular admission. He doesn't have the BEST grades.... I mean they're decent, but Tech has become more and more competitive over the years... even since I applied, so I just want to say if you can say a little prayer for him to get in that'd be great. I know he wants to come to Tech REALLY badly. He hasn't applied anywhere else (mainly because my father insisted that since he didn't know what he wants to do with his life, that if he doesn't get into Tech right away that he go to Virginia Western, the local community college, until he can transfer to Tech). My dad never went to a normal college, only community-type colleges, so he's really pushing VA Western for Matt. And I can't say anything bad really about the education you receive there. Its definitely DRASTICALLY cheaper and you're taught the same curriculum (at least for the first 2 years of basic coursework) because most professors come straight from Tech and most courses are designed in conjunction with VT so that its very easy for students to transfer. HOWEVER, what I've noticed over the past few years is that the people I know that go to VWCC end up never letting go of high school. Many don't really grow up out of the 'high school' mentality until they're thrown into the 'real world' after receiving their degrees. I'm not saying that everyone is this way.... I'm just saying that A LOT of the people I know were this way. And I think my brother needs a little bit of the 'college lifestyle and independence' to help him mature emotionally and help him prepare to live in the real world after college. Not to mention going to VWCC would cause him to miss out on the musical opportunities that he is so active in and so talented in.

Anyway........ hanging out with the family was once again LOTS of fun... just the normal Christams traditions. My parents managed to surprise me this year by getting me a DVD player! :) I thought I was going to be able to borrow one my aunt had bought for the trailer at the lake last year, but it turned out that she had taken that home with her this fall to use. I think they overheard me asking about it and decided that I could get some good use out of a dvd player instead of using my laptop for playing movies!.

Lindsay's going to New Zealand next semester, so, as of right now, I have the entire room to myself! Don't get me wrong, I love living with lindsay, but if she's not going to be there, I'd just prefer not be assigned a new roommate.

Oh yeah.... and I've ordered a dress for the Bandquet off of ebay, and my aunt and I found a BEAUTIFUL dress to wear for ring dance. I know its all the way on April 1, but we wanted to make sure I found something great for ring dance.... you only get to go to your college ring dance once (well at least the one for your year). I can't wait to wear it now.... i might end up getting it out and just sitting in my dorm room this winter in it! hahaha... j/k

Anyway, I spent 3 days MASSIVELY cleaning my room... it looks a LOT better now and I can actually put my clean underwear in a drawer now instead of just leaving it lying on top of my dresser!

Okay... i'm going to end this entry now.
:)
that is all

Upcoming Election
Some politicians lie.......
others just don't have a stance on anything.....

http://www.wabcradio.com/listingsentryheadline.asp?ID=259078&PT=WABC+News

HALFWAY....
Yep, this week marked the halfway point for the semester and the halfway point for October. This semester seems to be FLYING by.... I've been pretty busy, as usual. Classes keep me busy with homework, band keeps me busy with practice and games and such. I'm joining both Tau Beta Pi (the engineering honors fraternity) and Sigma Gamma Tau (the aerospace engineering honors fraternity) so I've been doing stuff for both of those including running around desperately searching for members that could sign my sheet.....

Football season is going alright.... the Hokies aren't quite as spectacular as we'd like (sugar bowl hopefuls we're not), but we're having a decent inaugural season in the ACC. Our two losses are comprised of the 1st game against USC (the current #1 ranked team and one of the top two teams from last season) which was played at FEDEX field and a disappointing loss to NC State which came down to whether or not we made a field goal in the last 2 seconds of the game--- the pressure was too hard. BUT, on the bright side, we dominated against Western Michigan during the first game at home, did a very good job securing the win against Duke, completely UPSET WVU's orange bowl hopes, and squeaked by with a win at Wake Forest. This week is going to be a light one with our Homecoming battle against Florida A&M (too bad they're not bringing their uber awesome marching band). But the rest of the season is sure to be a tough series of matchups.... our next game is a Thursday night game against Georgia Tech who just obliterated the Terps IN College Park. This is followed by a game at University of North Carolina who upset NC State (who beat us). Then we have Maryland at home for our one and only night game in Lane Stadium this season. The Saturday after Thanksgiving brings the in-state rivals into blacksburg for a tough one. Finally, the Hokies travel to Miami to hopefully upset them for the second year in a row.

That's my mid-season wrap-up.

Anyway, I've mentioned before that we're doing the Topical Memory Study in the Nav Bible Study.... I'm pretty psyched cause we just finished the first set of verses. They correlate with the Nav wheel... so i've learned 12 verses so far this semester.... (these are from memory, you'll just have to trust me!)
CHRIST THE CENTER
* 2 Corinth. 5:17 - Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old is gone the new has come.
* Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST
* Romans 12:1 - Therfore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies and living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God
* John 14:21 - Whoever has my commands and obeys them, He is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father and I too will love him and show Myself to him.
GOD'S WORD
* 2 Timothy 3:16 - All scripture is God Breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, training, and correcting in rightousness.
* Joshua 1:8 - Do not let this book of the Law depart from you mouth. But meditate on in Day and night. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
PRAYER
* John 15:7 - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.
* Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, offer your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
FELLOWSHIP
* Matthew 18:20 - For where 2 or 3 come together in my name, there I am with them.
* Hewbrews 10:24-25 - And let us consider how we might spur one another on toward love and compassion; let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another. And all the more as you see the day approaching.
WITNESSING
* Matthew 4:19 - "Come follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
* Romans 1:16 - I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe - first for the Jew, then for the gentile.


Tonight I went to the Nav rally and then to swing dancing for the first time this semester. It was a lot of fun as normal. I was also reminded of how awesome some of my friends are. I have been struggling a little bit with how fast/far a certain relationship of mine has gone and God keeps reminding me that maybe I've not listened to him or even asked him sometimes if what I do is what he's got planned for my life. One of these reminders from God became apparent again tonight; I know that the guy I need to end up with for the rest of my life should be like one of my guy friends who shall remain nameless.... too often my closer friends aren't even Christians and this doesn't help strengthen my relationship with him.... I need to find close friends that can build me up and encourage my walk with God. Anyway... I just hope and pray that I will find someone like the previously mentioned friend to spend the rest of my life with: a strong Christian guy who's a lot of fun to be around, and preferably someone who'll swing dance with me! ;)

Well, tomorrow's going to be an early, long day with all the homecoming festivities that the MVs have going on, so I better head on to bed so I'll be psyched for the game!

The Word.
Last night I went to my weekly Nav Bible study. This week we were studying verses related to the topic "The Word": 2 Timothy 3:16 and Joshua 1:8. For each verse, as I think I mentioned in a previous entry, we read the surrounding text to get a better idea of the context of each verse and then discuss the verses' implications. While we were discussing 2 Timothy 3:16 last night, I thought of a really cool metaphor.

The Word
2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

So, we were talking about the significance of the order in which the 4 benefits of Scripture were listed. One of the girls in my study suggested that she thought it was odd for training to fall after rebuking and correcting.... when this popped into my head.

The order makes sense to me because you can view the usefulness of the Bible in the same way you view the usefulness of the classes we take here at college....
* Step 1: We go to class for the professor's lectures where he TEACHES us the material.
* Step 2: Then we're given homework or a quiz in which we get a chance to act on what we've been taught. The professor then REBUKES us for our mistakes when he grades this quiz or homework.
* Step 3: Next we have to go back on our own and see what we did wrong and CORRECT our mistakes and the way we approach the material in the future.
* Step 4: Finally, we have to TRAIN ourselves by studying and practicing, embedding the appropriate processes/material into our minds so that it becomes 'instinct'.

Its so easy to just stop after looking at the grade we get back from the homework and not worry about it until test time; but if we skip the intermediate steps of correcting our mistakes and training ourselves in the correct methods, then we won't be sufficiently prepared when it comes time for the test.

Rank Brunch etc.
Today, I cooked brunch for my rank in the MVs. The menu was pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs, plus some fruits and a wide selection of milk and juice. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most TALENTED in the kitchen. I'm not the worst cook either, but I usually am not the most efficient when it comes to getting a meal cooked. Anyway, this was the largest group of people I've ever even thought about cooking for (with a grand total of 10 mouths to feed), so when I went to kroger to buy the ingredients I had a hard time predicting how much stuff I'd need. So I bought what seemed like A TON of food: One large box of bisquick, 30 eggs, 2 packs of bacon (i think each had about 15-20 slices), 1 quart of whole milk, 1 quart of 1% milk, 1 quart of chocolate milk, 1 jug of pulp-free OJ, and 1 jug of 'medium pulp' OJ.... 2 boxes of strawberries, 2 boxes of blueberries, a thing of butter, and a jug of Aunt Jemima's Maple Syrup (I accidently picked up the 'lite' bottle instead of original... DOH... oh well it still tasted fine). We made about 4 batches of the pancake mix, used 15 eggs for the scrambled eggs, and one pack of bacon. But everything seemed to be eaten pretty well... I bought way too much bacon, but most everything else was mostly used up.... I left with a little bit left in each of the milks and OJ's, but not much.... I have about a half dozen eggs now, about a quarter of the box of bisquick and both of my boxes of blueberries... apparently nobody likes that fruit.

Even though I started off a little rough on the first set of pancakes, everything turned out really well and at least the stuff I had tasted quite good if I might say so.... I might have to make some more pancakes some weekend for myself..... AND I did manage to not burn down Vinny's apartment, so that's always a plus.

Anyway, tomorrow starts the 4th week of the semester and tests are most definitely on the way (though I had my first one on Wednesday). I'm really enjoying my classes this year (you know, as much as one can enjoy Classes); its really cool to be learning specifics (FINALLY) on how these things work. In high school, I was in this elective at one of my schools called "Aerodynamics"; in this class, we had to design, build, and test fly a wing design. The program we used to select the airfoil (or cross-sectional) shape of the wing gave us all these really pretty plots that we all used in our final project display, but none of us really understood what they really meant. Well, in my aerodynamics class now, I'm learning how to derive the formulae to make those plots and what it all means! I think that's really exciting.

Band is going really well. The horn section is a blast as usual. Check out the horn webpage I put together for this year.... www.mvhorns.org.vt.edu


In Nav's this year, our Bible study is focusing on the TMS (Topical Memory System). Each week we learn about 2 verses that follow a certain topic. For the first part of the study the verses relate to the "Nav Wheel". This is an illustration that uses a wheel. At the center (the hub) is Christ (hence the first topic = "Christ the Center". Then the two vertical spokes are dealing with our relationship with God: Prayer and God's Word. The two horizontal spokes deal with our relationships with others: Witnessing and Fellowship. Then the rim represents our obedience to Christ: this is putting everything into action in our lives. Each of the topics (the hub, the 4 spokes, and the rim) have 2 related verses. Then we'll go onto similar types of sets of verses. As we learn the verses we read the surrounding text to get an idea of the context and stuff like that...

That's what's going on in my life though....

A quote
I found this in my planner last week...
Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. - Gail Sheehy

This is SO true. If we expect to grow in our Christian walk, we have to be willing to give up whatever it is that's holding us back. Whether it be a weakness to continue falling into the trap of the same old sins over and over again, or be it completely giving up the worldly lifestyle we are so familiar with, this is what we're comfortable doing and so its going to be hard to make a change. But if we excpect to become closer to God, we have to make this step.

Relearning a Lot
So, it was an excellent weekend. The first football game of the season just happened to be at FED-EX field just outside of DC against USC (ranked #1 in the preseason polls). And my Hokies did a really good job proving that we could put up a fight.... we were even beating them 10-7 for at least 10 minutes of play time. It was also great hanging out with all the cool horn kids.

Anyway, I think I'm making progress. I got a lot of ground to make up, but I think I'm finally on the right track. let me back up a second...

This morning, a few of us horns got together and had a Bible Study during our ~2hr breakfast time as organized by Robbie. We talked a lot about listening for what God has planned for our life and submitting to His will. Anyway, from that point on today, God kept throwing things in my face to point out that I have been leaving him out of a lot of my decision making processes. Anyway, this evening after talking in more detail about the subject of our Bible study, I decided to stop and Y2G. I'm sure I could have handled the load, but I think things will be better this way.

This is seriously the first time taken a step like this in a long time.

anyway, after this tiring weekend, I'm heading to bed.

onward.

Approaching the end of summer
Wow, its hard to believe that the summer is practically over. I have a little over 30 hours to go before I'm off to classes again this fall. I guess taking classes in summer school causes you to lose most of the true 'summer experience' (aka relaxing... not taking classes.... etc.). Eh, but all in all I'll have to say that it was a pretty good summer. I've been working on my list of things to improve upon... making some progress, but I'll talk more about that later.

Its been a while since my last post and I can contribute most of the hiatus to the chaos of the end of a summer session and the transition from summer school to band camp to fall semester motions.

I've spent the last 4 full days here in Blacksburg at band camp, which has been an exciting experience for me seeing as it is my first time with a real leadership position in a marching band (or concert/symphonic band for that matter... I'm not counting the reporter position I held in high school band because you don't really have to be much of a leader to other people for that... just write stuff for newspapers and for the announcers at football games).

This year I'm a rank captain for the MV Horns. I'm the only new person to the horn leadership, as Justin and Andrew return as rank captains for a 2nd season and Robbie moves to section leader. This has been a very awesome experience so far for me... and actually a lot more strenuous/exhausting than I expected but I think maybe that's just cause of the lack of sleep, long days and the responsibility the horn leadership had this year in making decisions on how we were going to deal with the abundance of people 'auditioning'. For the first time in years, the Horn section not only didn't have to accept 'refugees' from another section, but we also had more people than our section traditionally could handle. Originally we thought we were going to have to make cuts... which is really tough because all the people in the horn section including the rookies are fun people and deserve to be a part of the band. We had to make decisions by 5pm on Friday. As of Thursday, we weren't sure what we were going to do but we had several options... cut 2, send one to the trumpets and cut 1, two ranks of 10 people, or send one to the trumpets and one rank of 10 people.... we weren't sure how the ranks of 10 people would work and that's how we left it on Thursday night. I had trouble sleeping on Thursday night because I kept thinking about how we could have this work out the best. The horn section has some of the most amazing people and they're like a big family of sorts so making cut(s) would be like inflicting a wound to the section. Each of us has some form of 'attachment' to each other member of the section, even the new ones; if we were to suddenly lose one, it would be tough I believe.

Okay I seem to be rambling. Anyway, long story short, I think things worked out for the best. We have one horn marching in a trumpet rank (because for once they actually were short one marcher) and then Andrew has a rank of 10. Tonight, I went to the annual Meet the Horns party and hung out with everyone. Again an excellent attendance.... and surprisingly a large number of the rookies didn't drink and some of the old people didn't drink either.... our percentages are definitely on the rise. Anyway, I look forward to this season a lot. I'm excited about the responsibilities I have as a rank captain and I'm excited about using the 'items' I'm working on to act as a leader and role model by example to my friends in the section.

Anyway, this summer I've been working on my lists some and think I've made some progress. When I got back from Cincy I had gotten a little 'too' emotionally involved in a certain relationship that started towards the end of my co-op there. I was struggling with the lack of time I had to talk to him, either on IM or on the phone, once school started this summer and had an even harder time when a girl from OSU who was on co-op at GE at the start of our co-op rotation returned this summer and they started hanging out a lot -- even less time for conversations with me. Now, I don't know how much of this struggle should be attributed to lack of social interaction here in Blacksburg this summer due to the lack of people, but that's beside the point. Anyway, as I thought about it, I realized what a waste of time it was for me to be worrying about him and what he was doing especially since we agreed that whatever relationship we started in Cincy was on hold, or ended or something like that since he was to be staying in cincy until the end of this fall semester. I remembered some things I had read back in high school when I was getting to know a very good friend of mine and learned that his family believed in the neo-courting style of relationship. Though I'm not sure I'm totally against dating, reading this literature** helped mre realize how petty and insignificant these worries I have about my relationship are. There are FAR more important things to focus on than how I'm viewed by one single person of the opposite gender, especially as I don't know that our relationship was headed in exactly the best direction. I think my leaving Cincy came at a good time, in fact, because I didn't know how to stop it...

*** some of the literature I was referring to....
- Christian Courtship
- I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
..... (I just realized all the other links are on my old computer)

Also, I'm about at the halfway point in my 400 days which is awesome and I don't even really have the temptation anymore.... I'm far past that stage now I believe! :)


Finally, I realized today that band almost seems strange without people like Eileen, Leslie W, Leslie S, Will and Tess around anymore. Don't get me wrong, everyone in the horn section now's still great, but I feel like I was closer to the older members of our section from when I was a freshman and I'm not really finding that anymore. I mean Robbie, Andrew, and Justin are still around, but I dunno I just kinda feel like something's missing. I mean, today, all the horn girls had already gotten rooms of 4 before I had a chance to get in with one of the rooms... now comes the challenge... finding other girls in the band to room with (seeing as most of my close friends are guys... I'm not very close with any other girls in the band outside of the horn section). I mean I don't feel that its a matter of the horns not liking me... not by any means!!! I'm pretty sure that I'm well liked by everyone, but I'm just not really that close with people. Even within the horns little groups form and I don't really seem to fit into any of them.... I'm just kinda a drifter from one to the next which is great cause I'm well liked (I like to flatter myself that way anwyay...), but bad because I'm just kinda the frosting... you can take it or leave it. Wow this last paragraph sounds like I'm depressed or something. But I'm not.... I just was noting things I've noticed and at 2:15 in the morning I guess things just don't work the way I want them.

Anyway, now that I have a good number of my 'items' under control I'm going to focus on getting back in touch with where I stand on things.... religion, faith, life, etc.... I'd very much like to find someone to have a one-on-one sort of accountability thing going but my problem is that I'm not very close to any Christian girls. So I don't have anyone that pops to mind.... Well, at the least I hope to be more devoted to whatever small group study I end up in this fall as I wasn't very devoted (more like not devoted at all) to the summer nav study.

Well, anyway, I suppose I've garbled on enough for one entry... Besides I'm tired and need to get some rest in tonight seeing as I've been working on a smaller amount of sleep than I should've been working off of.

Good night ya'll. and I hope to talk again soon.

Its time for UPDATES once again.
Well Summer session one has been done for over a week and a half now! I ended up faring pretty well grade-wise and now second summer session is going pretty well. I have a lot more free time and have been using that to do stuff like go to the gym, work on my scrapbook, read a book (not a textbook), etc. Anyway, I thought I'd go through my list of things to work on since I haven't in a while and see where I stand.

1. Watch what you say -- I don't seem to be having trouble with this one. I think being back in VA has helped with that a lot and I think that the people I'm around this summer also helps.

2. Be Careful How you Portray yourself -- I'm doing about average in this category. My goal was to not contribute to conversations about drinking/sex/drugs/etc and I have been doing pretty well... there have been a few time where I'll join in on conversations about alcohol. But these have been limited. Day 154 of 400

3. Don't Complain -- Again about average.... A few things yesterday happened around campus that annoyed me and I slipped some but overall there hasn't been much to complain about.

4. Take Care of Your Body -- I'm doing a LOT better in this area this summer session. During the first session I didn't have much time to go to the gym and work out, especially during the hours they're open. but This session I've gone to the gym every other day. I think I've also been eating a more rounded diet this summer as well.... although I'm working with limited options with summer owens food.

5. Be a role model -- again I continue as normal doing fine in this area I believe.

6. Careful in Relationships -- I need to be more attentive in this area. I mean since I've been gone from Cincy there's not very many opportunities for me to falter here... but I need to make sure in the future I don't go too far.

7. Blog more often -- I think i've had a higher frequency in the past month.

8. avoid mental complacency -- haven't made a lot of progress but I have been watching the news more often in Owens and reading the news occasionally as well.

gotta run to class now.
Later.

Looks like an End to the Quarterback Controversy at VT
...But for real this time.

An announcement was made today that Marcus Vick is suspended from athletic competition as well as all team activities until further notice. The announcement made on the Virginia Tech website didn't give much detail as to why he was being suspended, so I went to the Roanoke Times online and found an article that gave a reason. Don't you think he would've straigtened up after the first close call earlier this year?? I guess not.

Update
Happy Belated 4th of July! :)

Well... Summer session one is finally over! :) So I had a breather for the weekend and classes start back up again for summer session II tomorrow.

While I was at home this evening after our weekend at the lake, my parents showed me a newspaper article from Myrtle Beach that was given out at Gary Epperly's funeral. It talked about how they speculate that a change in the current has been the cause of three drownings there in the last few weeks. Apparently that's what caused Gary's drowning. They said that he and his son were out swimming around 8 pm and that they caught the current. Benjamin, his son, says that the last thing his dad said was "Get out of here as fast as you can, Ben" and then he gave Benjamin a shove into shore until ben could touch again... but it was all he could do to save his son. Benjamin is in 4th or 5th grade now, but is autistic and still doesn't quite grasp what happened. He still asks "When is daddy coming home from the beach?"

Gary was a big influence on a lot of kids lives. He was really involved in the youth ministry at my church and, especially for some of the guys, he was someone you trusted and could go talk to about anything... Dad said that there are some of the guys that are really struggling with this because Gary was so influential in their lives.

Anyway, that's the word. Keep that family in your prayers if you will.

Sad News...
Well.. before I get to the sad, let me start off by updating you all on the situation presented in my last post. It seems that due to popular demand (possibly) HokiePundit has returned from the dead! There have been several posts made in the last few days. so HOORAY for that.

Anyway, I just got word from my dad that a Sunday School Teacher (Gary Epperly) I had while in the youth group at Bonsack Baptist Church (he was also very active with the youth group in other aspects as well) just drowned on Tuesday night while at Myrtle Beach. My dad sent me an email this morning to inform me of the news but hasn't heard anything of the details yet. He wasn't very old (possibly in his mid thirties to early fourties). His wife and child are on their way back to Roanoke and the visitation is tonight.... if I didn't have a test tomorrow morning I'd probably go back to the visitation. His son is probably in 3rd or 4th grade and is autistic. I'm not sure, but I think his wife has been a stay-at-home mom in order to help their son along and Gary has been the supporter of the family.

Well, until I hear more, please remember Susan (Gary's wife) and Benjamin (his son) as they're dealing with this tragedy.

Requiem for the End of HokiePundit
HokiePundit is no more! Although, now that I'm writing this Robbie might be the only one who actually reads this blog so my posting isn't really going to be all that informative...

ANYWAY, according to what his page says right now, he has decided to retire hokiepundit because a lot of his blog topics were getting a little to personal; seeing as a lot of people he knows from VT and sees on a regular basis read his blog, he decided it would be best to start with a new anonymous e-identity. I totally understand where he is coming from (I have another blog that I keep unknown from all of my friends from the real world... at least I think I have... so that I can write whatever I want and feel uninhibited-- This blog, SCSTT, is meant mainly for my deep thinking (originally I targeted politics and religion) although recently there hasn't been much of that), its kinda sad for me. I've enjoyed reading what Robbie has to say about politics, religion, and otherwise over the past 2 years. I really enjoy having deep conversations with people and a lot of times reading what Robbie has said about certain topics has sparked me to contemplate where I stand and stuff like that.

Oh well... I guess that's how things go. Farewell to an excellent blog, HokiePundit. And To Robbie, hope your new one serves you well.... we'll have to keep in touch more now since I can't keep up with you through your blog!

News... though not so current
This would have been current about a month or two ago, but I just have gotten around to putting it down here...

Until I was in 6th grade, my family went to church at First Baptist Church of Roanoke. It was the largest church (by far) in the Roanoke Valley and had the most senior pastor of the S. Baptist churches in the area. He even had a daily tv spot (right after the Price is Right) called "God's Minute" where he gave a little "insight" to everyday situations.

Our family switched to a different S. Baptist Church when I was in 6th grade because First Baptist had just gotten too large and impersonal for my family's taste... and I don't think my parents were very impressed by a large number of the people in their age bracket who were members there.

Not long after our switch, Dr. Fuller (the pastor from First Baptist) retired and some of the membership of 1st Baptist was lost due to the fact that he was no longer pastor. At this point, my new church (Bonsack Baptist) gained ten or twenty new members who came over from 1st Baptist....

Now, this spring, the membership of our church has been growing quite rapidly.... Once again there is a migration of church members from 1st Baptist to Bonsack Baptist (now one of the largest churches in the Valley... and now, we have the senior pastor in the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association). This is due mainly to how the new staff of 1st Baptist has dealt with the recently publicly released information about the secret life of Dr. Charles Fuller. Apparently, fifteen years ago while his first wife was still alive (she died while my family was still at 1st Baptist due to cancer I believe), he had a 10 year affair with some woman. After this information became public, Dr. Fuller's title as 'Pastor Emeritus' was revoked and I think he was basically 'forced' into leaving 1st Baptist.

Dr. Fuller had a special ability to empower people in their faith... First Baptist grew immensely and became an extremely strong, active group of believers. And in this one act, he might just have pushed more people away from the church than he ever brought into the church during his 30+ year ministry at 1st Baptist.

I know that the clergy are not to be held to higher standards because they're people just like you and me, but (as my dad and I were discussing one day while I was home between Cincinnati and summer school) it is very disheartening to have something like this happen. I know that he could not go 15 years without saying something about adultery in one of his sermons.... I just don't understand how he could stand up there and preach about this stuff like he was pure from this sin... not only was he committing the sin, but he was lying and a hypocrite when he got up to the pulpit each week.

I know that God views all sins as equal, but non-Christians do not; Most non-Christians do hold ministers to a higher standard. As a member of the clergy you ought to be more careful about what you do because you never know when you might be pushing someone away.

Passing of a good Man
Though I don't remember much of his presidency, one of the best presidents in the history of America passed away this weekend (in case you hadn't heard). The media deemed Reagan as the "Great Communicator" however I don't know how much of his popularity and sucess with America was actually that he was a good communicator but rather, I think a lot of his success can be attributed to integrity, honesty, and moral values that many Americans could relate to. Reagan, a very right-winged president, was from California, a generally very left-winged state. In fact, (this was quite shocking to me) Reagan had quite possibly the largest land-slide victory in his race for Governor of California in the history of the state!! AMAZING.

Although he hasn't been very function over the past 10 years since his diagnosis of alzheimer's, I hope that the impact he had on this country will live on and that in my lifetime we may have more politicians with the moral values and integrity that he displayed.

Number 9:
I meant to include this in my last post about my list of things to work on (I believe it was yesterday... I'm losing all sense of time). Anyway, last Friday night, I met up with my best friend from when I was a sophomore in high school. He was actually two years ahead of me in school and so he graduated at the end of that year. He's been at William & Mary for the past 4 years and just graduated last month, double majoring in Computer Science and Physics. His family moved to Blacksburg shortly after he graduated from high school and so the only time I've managed to see him since his graduation was the spring of my junior year when I happened to be in the Williamsburg area for an orientation for a mentorship program at NASA Langley I was going to be in the following summer. So its been over 3 years since we've seen each other and I could've told you before I hung out with him last week that we've both grown up a lot, matured, and had a lot of different experiences.

Anyway, back to the point... It was pretty cool to hang out with him, though we didn't spend much time together... only about an hour downstairs in the tv lounge in the dorm I'm staying this summer. In high school, I kept up with current events and by the end of senior year I had established my own sets of morals and political views, and even was able to think for myself and have strong opinions on controversial issues... Ian was the same way then and continues to be now. Though he has vastly different views than me on a lot of issues, I respect him for having thought his views out and having even legitimate reasoning behind his stances. Anyway, I've noticed myself slumping over the past two years that I've been at Tech in keeping up with current events. I'm not proud of this by any means and I know that its a horrible waste for an intelligent human being like myself to not stay up to date with the state of the nation and world I live in. Because now, I don't have as STRONG of stances on current issues because I've almost sheltered myself from news of what is going on in the world. I hardly watch tv, so I don't get much news that way. I don't listen to the radio unless I'm in the car, and then I like to have music (especially if I'm driving by-myself so I can sing!). But on top of that my only real source of printed or e-media news is when I pick up the Collegiate Times here on campus... and that's a stretch for 'real' news because for the most part it focuses on news for the Virginia Tech campus and local area (Blacksburg/Christiansburg)... especially in the summer....

This morning I did pick up the Roanoke Times when I was at home in Vinton and read some of the articles....

BUT, This is something else that I need to work on because I, as a citizen of the United States, have the freedom to take a part in my government by voting and with this comes the responsibility of being an informed voter. I feel that I have a responsibility to my world to be aware of what is going on in it.... so that brings me to Item Number 8... To Leave Mental Complacency Behind!

OH YEAH
Last Saturday afternoon I was going to drive some of my suitemates out to Wal-mart. I'd just gotten back from a cook-out at Will and Tess' and so I went to ask Amory and Kim (my suitemates) when they wanted to go. There was a guy there in their room at the time, so I just kinda stood there and waiting for them to finish their conversation... not thinking anything else of it I went on my merry way....

Well, Amory and Kim went over to hang out at this guy's house that night and he was talking to Amory at some point...
He said, "You know that girl that was outside of your room this afternoon... Her name is Stefie Bartley, right?"
Amory replied, "Yeah... how'd you know that?"
"I thought so.... We went to 2nd Presbyterian Preschool together. My mom and I talk occasionally and are like 'I wonder whatever happened to that Stefie girl you hung out with in preschool'"

How crazy is that!?!?! I was 3 at the time... This guy's name is Andrew Densmore. We were BEST FRIENDS at this preschool... in fact, I'm pretty sure that he was basically the only person I actually interacted with there. We did everything, in and out of school together... but only for the year we were there... We lived in different parts of Roanoke County and so would go on our merry ways for the next 18 years in our respective public schools and just wonder whatever happened to the other person (my mom and I have had those conversations just like Drew and his mom along the years)

And after all these years.... growing up and everything... we both end up at Virginia Tech, and here during summer school nonetheless... He recognized me (which is just unheard of... I guess I just have a unique appearance or something)

I'm actually looking forward to getting to talk to him (no, I haven't seen him since that afternoon when he recognized me and I didn't recognize him) and seeing what all he's done in the past 18 years... maybe we still have 'best-friend' potential... I dunno... we'll see. :)

A Little less than a month later...
Prompted by a combination of Robbie's addition to my list of things to work on (seen in the comment section to that post)and also by the block of time I have this weekend, I decided to update ya'll on where I stand on my list and other stuff.

1. I definitely have improved on this one, though I'm not sure if its really due to any effort put forth on my parth. Rather, I think that being back in Virginia has helped a lot, as well as some of the people I've met here at summer school and have been hanging out with.

2. I think I've done a good job with this one. Though once again, I haven't had many opportunities for me to assess my improvements in this area.

3. I don't think I've been complaining much... Although when I tell people what classes I happen to be taking this semester, they seem to feel bad for me... I kinda figured this would happen, so I don't tell people unless they ask. I'm also doing a little better on not having to have something in every conversation to relate to...

4. yes, I am eating better than I had been the last few weeks at GE and at home... However, I've not been doing very well on the going to the gym part of this goal. My classes do keep me very occupied during the weekdays/nights, so I spend most of my day either in class or in my room doing homework or studying so I don't have much time to fit in going to McComas during their hours. I did go to the gym one day last week as well as ride my bike on another day.

5. Maitaining same status as when I made the post. I suppose that today would be day 115 of 400.

6. No real opportunity to see how I'm doing on this one so far this summer...

7. Well, I'm posting now... so I suppose that counts for something. As I mentioned earlier in this post, my classes keep me pretty busy during the week so I haven't had much time for doing much of anything 'fun' or stuff like that... except on the weekend.

The other day, I came to the conclusion that I'm not naturally very sociable. I don't do simple things to interact with other people very often... for example, I'm walking across campus and I pass someone I know. They kindly say, "Hey Stefie! How are you doing?" To which I reply, almost rudely but by no malicious intent by any means, "Fine." Then I continue walking. Now, if I had possessed the normal social skills many human beings possess, I most likely would have instead replied to their question, "I'm doing fine... Thank you. And How are you, [insert person's name here]?"

Another example... I have my car here this summer and so on the weekends I can park very convieniently behind my dorm. Say I'm driving over to Wendy's to pick up some lunch. My roommate is still around (for once... which is odd cause she lives in the architecture lab) so I let her know where I'm going, "Okay... well, I'll be back later, I'm going to get lunch." She says, "Oh I'll be there in a few minutes"... To which I reply, "Oh... I'm not going on-campus because they close in like 5 or 10 minutes. I'm going to Wendys." At this point I leave the room and get to the stairs when I realize that I should go back and ask if she wants to go or if she wants me to bring her anything back... So this time I come back and do so.

A third example... Last weekend, Mike and I were going to go into Roanoke on Sunday night to see this Beatles Tribute band at the Roanoke Festival in the Park. We were making plans on when to leave and stuff like that and he asks whether I'm bringing my roommate. Which is kinda odd, because it hadn't even crossed my mind to invite her to come along with us... So I did invite her and she came along.... had a good time I think.

Anyway, its just simple little things that I could be doing that brighten people's days that I could be doing and I don't... little people skills. Mike attributed it to being an engineer, but really, I think that's no real excuse. Though we may be less socially inclined, it doesn't mean that we can just give up on manners and interacting with people. I know that when people do stuff like that to me it makes me smile. So I'd like to make that item number 8 on my list of things to work on this summer--My people skils!

Things to Work On
Here's my list of things I want to work on here this summer, so I'm ready for a new year at Tech. Most of these are just habitual flaws I have acquired over the past year or two, but all of them I think will help bring me back in sight of my faith, or at least make me a stronger person. As I write this list, I plan on finding scripture references to back up what I'm saying. Because I have a feeling that everything I'm going for here can be done... and when done, will honor God in turn.

1. Watch What You Say
I never had problems with this much before, but for some reason, as I hang out with my friends more and more, I've picked up on some bad habits of using curse words occasionally. Now, when I say I have a bad habit, generally its not half as bad as most people I know, but its still something I feel is useless altogether and I should steer away from this habit. Its not like I have a chronic cussing problem; I just find myself slipping more and more.
* keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. - Psalm 34:13
* If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. - James 1:26
* May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. - Psalm 19:14
Maybe it was just the environment I spent the last 4 months that made it easy for me to let down my guard and start picking up on the habit of using curse words more often. Maybe being back home in Vinton, back in the heart of the Bible Belt, will help return to the way things used to be. Either way, using these words is pointless... it does nothing to honor God and is tasteless and tacky. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

2. Be careful how you portray yourself.
I love my friends, despite what some of them might do in their free time. Just because I might be hanging out in a group where the topic of conversation is something like sex, drugs, or alcohol, I don't need to chime in an contribute to the conversation. Doing this makes it look as if I know from experience what I'm talking about and portrays me as if I would participate in this sort of thing. If I have decided not to participate in these sort of actions (having sex before marriage, doing drugs, or drinking in excess, etc), why would I find it appropriate to make myself seem as though I do these sort of things or even portray myself as knowledgeable in these areas.
* Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 20:7
* The man of integrity walks securely, be he who takes crooked paths will be found out. - Proverbs 10:9
* May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. - Psalm 19:14
That verse from Pslams seems to be pretty important. Consecrate: set yourself apart. Just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean that you have to as well... set an example by the way you live your life... set yourself apart. People will notice when you live with integrity. They'll also notice when you stop acting with integrity and when you try to start back up again.

3. Its not all about you... and Don't complain.
Sometimes I find myself forcing my way into conversations that I have nothing of real importance to add to. Though I may make some strange connection in my head to something that was said, I don't need to share this with everyone else so that they all know every detail of my past.
* My dear brothers, take note of this: Eveyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry - James 1:19
Everything is not about you... take the time to pay attention to others and listen to what they have to say without your own input.
Also related to this, a lot of my friends will complain about various aspects of their lives and I have found myself at times since I've been at college complaining more and more. I'm generally a very happy person and consider myself to have been blessed with such a good life. I have no reason to complain about things... and complaining just puts people you're around in a bad mood too.
* In Exodus 18:13-26, Moses was spending so much time and energy hearing the Hewbrews' complaints that he couldn't get to other important work.
* Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out thewords of life -- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. - Philippians 2:14-16
Complaining gives a false impression of Christ and the gospel. It wastes time and energy and like I said before brings everyone's attitudes down so that they aren't as joyful and excited about life as they were before. By avoiding complaining, you can be a light to others... someone that others can look to for happiness!

4. Take Care of your Body
I don't see myself as 'fat'... quite frankly I'm fairly happy with my body and health as it is. However, I can tell that if I continue on with life as I currently treat my body, its not going to last me as long. I don't eat very healthily and until this semester at GE, I didn't work out or do all that much physical activity really...
* Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Anyway, this summer I want to start working out every other day. I started a good workout plan the last couple weeks I was at GE and I want to continue with that. Also, being back at school will help me eat better... and not overeat. I was eating out a lot at the end of my co-op and I eat a large amount when I'm at home too... so being back at school at a la carte dining centers will be good for me again.

5. Be a Role Model
This fall I will be a rank captain in the Marching Virginians and so I want to make sure that I am a good leader and a good role model for the people who I will be put in charge of who are in my rank. I don't want to drink seeing as I'm under 21. But once I turn 21, I also will not supply alcohol to unders. Being a good role model depends on a lot of what I've already touched on in items 1-4.
* Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you... And I charged your judges at that time: Hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien. Do not show pariality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgement belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it. - Deuteronomy 1:13-17.
Here, Moses identified some of the inner qualities of a good leader: wisdom, understanding, and respect. These characteristics differ greatly from the ones that often elect leaders today: good looks, wealth, popularity, willingness to do anything to get to the top. The qualities Moses identified should be evident in us as we lead, and we should look for them in those we elect to positions of leadership.
* Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate... - Nehemiah 3:1
The high priest is the first person mentioned who pitched in and helped with the work. Leaders must lead not only by word, but also by action.
* Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?" Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done. - Micah 3:1-4
Micah denounces the sins of the leaders, priests and prophets-who should have known the law and taught it to the people. They had ignored the law and become the worst of sinners... they were taking advantage of the very people they were supposed to serve. All sin is bad, but the sin that leads others astray is the worst of all. The leaders had no compassion or respet for those they were supposed to serve. They were treating the poeple miserably in order to satisfy their own desires, and then they had the gall to ask for God's help when they found themselves in trouble.
It would be very easy for me to give in and drink with my friends, but I know that I can have a great time with my friends without getting trashed every weekend. I know that when I was a freshman it meant a lot to have someone older there in the horn section who wasn't drinking. (Robbie Bauer was that to me... he wasn't my rank captain, but my MV Ami) And I hope to be in that position for someone else who may be entering the horn section, the MVs, or VT in general this fall.

6. Be Careful in your relationships.
This time last month, I could honestly say that I'd never had a real relationship (I'm not talking friendships here... more like boyfriend-girlfriend types of stuff). But during the last couple of weeks at my co-op, something did spark up between me and one of my friends there (who happens to be from Tech and will be in my classes come next spring semester). I don't regret anything I did or anything that happened, but things moved a lot faster between us than I had expected. Some of this could have been because there was unofficially something going on between us ever since early February, but neither of us had ever really acted on that except for casual flirting. But because I'd never been in this position before, things moved so fast that I didn't have time to process what was going on and slow things down... Like I said though, I didn't do anything I regret, but I need to take this to memory so in the future I can be aware of the progressions so I can keep things from moving too fast. (Bare with me while I tangent for a moment...) Herein lies a dilemma... I have a lot of guy friends... I tend to get along with them better than girls. In addition, most of my friends are not Christians. For some reason, I've never really hit it off as well with Christians as I have other people. Because of that, people I'm friends with have a different standard of 'how far is too far' than I do so this is an added challenge for me as well.
* "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery wiht her in his heart." - Matthew 5:27-28.
* Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? - 2 Corinthians 6:14
* ...If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with he, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace - 1 Corinthians 7:12-15
First of all, adultery is not just a physical act. Rather, adultery can be committed through lustful thoughts. As I mentioned in one of the previous points it is a sin to play a part in causing someone else to sin. Therefore, if your actions cause someone else to have lustful thoughts, then you have sinned as well. Therefore, in a relationship, you should be aware of your actions and not do anything that would cause the other individual to lust.
The next two references I've listed directly refer to marriage, but I figured I'd include them since dating is just a step towards marriage; you date people to figure out who it is you want to marry in the future. The verse from 2 Corinthians is one I had seen many times before. Paul urges believers not to form binding relationships with nonbelievers, because this might weaken their Christian commitment, integrity or standards... it would be a mismatch. (as a sidenote: In fact even having these binding relationships with other believers who are at significantly different points in their walk with God can be detrimental as well) This doesn't mean that we should isolate ourselves from nonbelievers. Believers should be active in their witness for Christ to non-believers, but they shouldn't lock themselves into personal or business relationships that could cause them to compromise the faith. Believers should do everything in their power to avoid situations that could force them to divide their loyalties.
On the otherhand, I've quoted a passage from 1 Corinthians I've never noticed before. In this passage, Paul says that believers should not leave their non-believing partners. Some people in the Corinthian church believed that they ought to divorce their 'pagan' spouces and marry Christians. But Paul affirmed the marriage commitment. God's ideal is for marriages to stay together -- even when one spouse is not a believer. The Christian spouse should try to win the other to Christ. It would be easy to rationalize leaving; however, Paul makes a strong case for staying with the unbelieving spouse and being a positive influence on the marriage. God views the marriage as 'sanctified' due to the presence of one Christian spouse. The other does not receive salvation automatically, but is helped by this relationship. Also, even though marriage is intended to be permanent, if the unbelieving spouse insisted on leaving, Paul said for the Christian to try to get along with the other one but let the other go if nothing can be done. The only alternative is for the Christian to deny his or her faith to preserve the marriage and that would be worse than dissolving the marriage. This almost seems to contradict the previous passage from 2 Corinthians... I think that this one might be intended for cases where one spouse has become a Christian since the couple was wed. However, it might be open to include other instances. I'm not trying to find holes in the rules by any means; rather I'm just trying to find meaning to things in my own life. I don't have anything else to say on this matter, rather than I find matters a little gray... seeing as there's only really one strong Christian guy I'm fairly good friends with.

Anyway, I know this list was long and kinda detailed, but its something I've been meaning to put together for a while. I think that the summer is a really good time to work on these things since I'll be back at school in somewhat of the routine I'll be keeping during the normal school year, but with less people and less reason to falter I think. Kinda like a warm-up run for the regular school-year.

Dear Children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:7-10

Back to Reality
Well, I am back in Vinton, VA once again after spending 17 weeks in Cincinnati, OH on co-op at GE Aircraft Engines (if you hadn't realized that by now). I had an AMAZING time there... learned some cool stuff, saw some really cool engines, earned a little cash, and had a lot of fun with some awesome people I met! I have about 10 more days of resting here in Vinton before I head back to VT for summer classes.

My next post is going to be a list of things that I want to work on in my life. I've kinda put little lists up before like this, but I'm hoping that this time my list will be a more thought out, refined one.

So until then, I bid you adieu.

Bows head in shame
I know its approaching a month since my last post... (see Robbie's comment)but, I've been extremely busy the last few weeks here at GE trying to get everything in before I head home.

I do miss Virginia, Virginia Tech, my family and friends back at home... but I've really grown to like it up here... you know... no homework, getting a paycheck, hanging out with my friends from up here... And now its my last week here and I'm wishing I didn't have to go home yet.

Anyway, maybe eventually I'll get back into posting... though I'm trying to work on myself a lot and that takes time... I've started working out and being a LOT more active. I'm hoping to keep that up once I get back to Virginia. I also want to work on my college scrapbook some this summer (I have to catch up... my mom and dad got me this nice book in VT colors for me to keep a scrapbook for my college years and now I'm 2 years behind!)...

In other news, I'll be a rank captain for the MV Horns this year in band... this is surely going to be the best year yet, as VT's joining the ACC and we have 3 definite road trips on tap -- Aug. 28: vs. USC at FedEx Field, NCState and Wake Forest. Plus an immenent bowl trip (crossing fingers... knocking on wood). And being rank captain now adds to the excitement...

Now I have even more reason to keep up with my 'points to work on' (see March 21st entry) so I can be a good rank captain and a good role model for those who I will be put 'in charge of'.

Anyway, seeing as I'm still at work, I better get back to the grind... I'll be back sometime in the future... hopefully not so distant! :) Of course you can kinda see what I've been up to at www.geocities.com/mittensatvt.

Addition to Super Crazy Stefie Thinking Time
Inspired by my friend Eileen, I finally added commenting and trackback capability. So now if you have something to say in response to my posts, feel free. awesome!

Update
I was going to post an update to yesterday's entry, but once I finished writing it I realized that it wasn't really all that thought provoking and I remembered that half of yesterday's entry wasn't either.... I'm attempting to not venture too far off the path I set for this blog... I don't want it to turn into the same sort of "write-about-every-detail-of-your-life" blog so that everyone in the world can read about it kind of thing. So, please don't think that yesterday's entry was typical. If you do wish to read my update to yesterday's rants I'll share it with you if you ask (Oh how I wish this had voting buttons like Outlook at work).

Note bene: I have made progres on the 'things I need to work on' enumerated on March 21st here in this blog, especially item 2 and somewhat on 1 and 3.

Happy Easter!
Hello all you out there in the e-world! It's been a while since I've made a real post... I mean, not to discredit the ones I've been posting about the "40 Days of Purpose" study I've been doing, but those weren't the normal life-inspired entries that I usually write. I don't know that anyone actually still reads this considering how irregular my entries are, but whether or not someone stumbles upon my writings, I've found that its best for me to write it anyway....

Hey... its my 20th Easter! And my 2nd year in a row, I've been away from home during Easter. Its kinda weird not to be around family or even good Christian friends over the Easter holiday... for some reason its just not the same. Last year, I went to northern Virginia with my lovely roommate Lindsay, but she's not quite the chruch-goer and so I didn't attend either (although, I can't say that I was much of a church-goer last spring either). But I still felt an emptiness for not spending this holiday with my family (biological or spiritual). This year, I am in Cincinnati, Ohio and since it was a long weekend, having Good Friday off from work and all, a good number of co-ops went camping in southern Kentucky... basically everyone else went to be with family... which left me and my roommate Trisha to hang out in Cincinnati by ourselves... Trisha is an AWESOME roommate! I'm so glad I've met her and I'll probably hang out with her a lot when she gets back to Tech next year. BUT, she's not a morning person like me and also isn't much of a church-goer... so I went to church on my own this morning... then spent most of the rest of the day on my own as well, including going to see the Passion again.

I definitely feel like I did more to focus on the spiritual aspects of Easter this year than last, but there's still that whole aspect of 'family' missing. I don't get homesick very easily... but I hope that next Easter I can spend it with my family. I miss getting to see my church's Easter pageant and my brother playing his Trumpet for Easter sunday worship services.

Anyway, I'm going to move on away from the Easter talk to other rants. This entry is beginning to sound depressing.... but PLEASE don't let that lead you to believe that I am depressed, because I am most DEFINITELY FARRRRRRRRR from being depressed or sad... I'm one of the happiest people I know. But a girl's got to have her moments, eh? Besides I've had a lot of time alone to think this weekend.

I miss being at Tech to do stuff like go to symphony band and pep band and to hang out with my friends... Heck, I miss Dietrick too! However, being here in Cincy has actually grown on me a LOT more than I had ever expected it to. I really like coming home from work and not having to think about it again until the next day. I like that I'm responsible for me... I can stay up late but I have to make sure that I get sufficient sleep to be a good little GE worker the next day. I really like a lot of the co-ops... some get on my nerves for being so wrapped up in drinking all the time, but other than that they're good people and fun to hang out with regardless. However, I miss not having someone I'm really close to. It seems like most everyone here has one other person they've latched onto and are close to, but I'm kinda an outsider... I'm friends with everyone, just don't have my one person to latch onto.... I miss having deep, REAL conversations, not just small talk... "so did you have a nice day?"

A lot of these things I miss aren't just cause I'm out here in Cincy... I've noticed that I was lacking these more recently back at Tech at well... I really do miss having deep, thoughtful conversations... partially my fault because I've not put the effort keeping myself informed. I miss having someone I'm really close to. For example, two of my closest friends from freshman year seemed more distant this fall... one because he found a 'romantic interest' and the other I'm not quite sure why... but they were more distant... maybe I was too, I'm not sure. But I miss having those close friends that I feel comfortable talking to about just about anything. I'm tired of being the cute little sister all the time... I've spent my whole life being that... I mean, there's nothing wrong with being just good friends with all these guys, but I've kinda reached the point where I want to try out this whole 'dating' thing.... I don't feel in a rush to get married by any means... that's just weird. I know that a lot of my friends are getting married/engaged... but, I dunno... maybe I've been to 'prude' (as Jay puts it) my whole life and I've shut myself out from having these opportunities... but I doubt it. I'm not ugly, but I'm not "HOT" either. I'm aware of that, but I am me and no one else is ever going to be that... I mean its not like I think I need some guy to date in order to have my life fulfilled, but I think that it would be something I should try out. That's the point of dating right... to kinda 'test drive' guys to find the right one to spend your life with. Maybe they're not the "perfect guy" and maybe they're not exactly the type of person you were looking to date, but you never know what might surprise you if you just give it a try.

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with all of this... nowhere really... just ramblings I suppose. I guess I better call it a night and be responsible for myself so I won't just be a potato in front of a computer tomorrow! :) Happy Easter ya'll!

March of Dimes

Support me in the March of Dimes! I'm walking on Sunday, April 25th in Cincinnati, OH!

Click here to Support the March of Dimes and Sponsor Me!

Things I need to work on
There are some things in my life that I've been 'slacking' on and want to fix... so here they are.
* watch what I say - being around the people I'm around, I've noticed I've picked up some habits that aren't exactly pleasing to God... a lot of people gossip and I've noticed myself joining in on this here occasionally... also, language is something I've never struggled with.. still don't, but I have noticed that slips of the toungue have crept up occasionally up here in Cincy
* Don't join in on conversations about stuff that isn't pleasing to God - I shouldn't be involved in these conversations about drinking and sex... I don't do that stuff... and my participation in these conversations gives me an image of knowing what I'm talking about... projecting that image of sin onto myself... hindering my ability to be a soldier for Christ.
* I don't need to have something to relate to in every conversation - though I might make a connection to something I hear being said in a group situation, I don't need to tell everyone about every little detail of my past... its just craving attention, and sometimes its better to step back and just listen to people.

Update on Purpose: Sanctification
While I haven't written about it in a few weeks, I have been keeping up with the Purpose Driven Life study I've been doing. I've just been busy going here and there and haven't been able to update this page in the meantime. I'm on day 29 today and have gone through the first three purposes... worship, fellowship, and sanctification. This week I'll be on the 4th purpose: servanthood.

There were some things I read this week about sanctification that stood out to me. So as usual, I will discuss those here. This is going to be a long one, so be prepared for a read!

Sanctification is kinda a 'churchy' word... I don't know that I'd just be like, "Hey, I really need to work on my sanctification." I mean what exactly does that mean? According to the book, sanctification is the process of changing us to be more like Jesus. This cannot be done without the power of God... most of the time the Holy Spirit's power is released into your life in quiet, unassuming ways that you aren't even aware of or can't feel... as a gentle whisper. God waits for us to act first... we should move ahead in our weakness, doing the right thing despite our fears and feelings. Because Christ inhabits us once we become Christians, we have the inherent ability to be Christlike and do the right thing... we just have to choose to 'tap into' that part of ourselves.

We have three main responsibilities in becoming like Christ. First we have to let go of our old ways of behaving. Secondly, we have to change the way we think. And third, we must develop new, godly habits to take the place of the old habits we give up... All of these responsibilities are rather interconnected and kinda fall into place once you really work at it.

God uses his Word, people, and circumstances to mold us. The Bible, God's word, provides the truth we need to grow; God's people provide the support we need to grow; and circumstances provide the environment we need to practice Christlikeness. You can't grow very much if all you rely on is Bible study and prayer. Many issues in life will NEVER be changed by solely Bible study or prayer. God uses his people immensely to mold the lives of others and you can't grow in Christlikeness if you live in isolation from other believers. True spiritual maturity is all about learning to love like Jesus, and you can't practice being like Jesus without being in relationships with other people and learning to LOVE them.

Becoming like Christ isn't something that is just going to happen overnight. Its a long, slow process and this spiritual transformation will take the rest of your life. It won't even be completed here on earth... only when you get to heaven or when Jesus returns.

God is far more interested in building your character than he is anything else... sometimes we worry when God is silent on specific issues, careers for example. The book says that in all actuality, there could be many different careers that could be in God's will for your life. What God cares about most is that whatever you do, you do in a Christlike manner. I totally agree with the second part of Rick Warren's view here... However, I'm not sure that I completely agree with the first part. While I agree that during the course of our entire lives there could be multiple career paths God intends for us to take, I think that God has a specific plan for our life at all points in our lives. This matter is complicated because God has also given us free will, so we can choose not to take this path.. but then that is disobeying God. However, when it comes to chosing careers, its not something that is easily changed, so God still has the ability to work through us. But this is still all fuzzy.

Spritual growth isn't automatic. It takes an intentional commitment... we have to WANT to grow, make the DECISION to grow, make an EFFORT to grow, and PERSIST in this decision to grow. God calls us and we have to respond to his call in order to grow. Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way they define you. This is where many people stumble... people have a hard time making commitments and sticking to them. So many of us over-commit ourselves and then we can't really give our all in any of them.. so rather getting much of anything out of any of these things we've committed to, we waste so much time.

Christlikeness is a two-part process... it involves us making Christlike choices and relying on his Spirit to help us filfill those choices.

In order to change your life, you have to change the way you think... because behind everything you do is a thought and every behavior is motivated by a belief, every action prompted by an attitude. Willpower may produce a short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you never dealt with the root cause. Paul said, "There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes." (Ephesians 4:23). To be like Christ, you have to think like Christ. This is repentance... which literally means "to change your mind." The first half of this mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are self-centered and self-seeking. The second half of thinking like Jesus is to start thinking maturely, which focuses on others, not yourself.

Christian life is far more than creeds and convictions; it includes conduct and character. Our deeds must be consistent with our creeds, and our beliefs must be backed up with Christlike behavior. Christianity is not a religion or philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle. The core of that lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves. Thinking of others is the heart of Christlikeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth.

Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect - Romans 12:2b (TEV)

God's...gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everthing you could possibly need. - Acts 20:31 (Msg)

Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth. Sanctification requires revelation... the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to make us like Jesus... we have to fill our lives with His Word to become like Jesus. To be a healthy disciple of Jesus, 'feeding' on God's Word must be your first priority... this includes three main activities...

1. Accepting its Authority - the Bible must become the authoritative standard for your life.
Much trouble we have in our lives comes from basing our choices on unreliable authorities such as culture, tradition, logic, or emotion. We need a perfect standard that won't ever lead us in the wrong direction.

2. Assimilating its truth - You must fill your mind with the Bible so that the Holy Spirit can transform you with the truth. This can be done in 5 ways:
A. Receive God's word when you listen and accept it with an open, receptive attitude.
* three unreceptive attitudes enumerated in the parable of the sower include
- a closed mind,
- a superficial mind
- a distracted mind
* unless you want to hear what God has to say, you're not going to.... its like listening to what your parents have to say when they're lecturing you... sometimes you just zone out, smile and nod...

B. Read the Bible.
* we can't watch TV for three hours, read the Bible for 3 minutes a day and then expect to grow... the amount of time spent on TV just outweighs the the time you've spent on God too much.
* daily Bible reading will help you keep in range of God's voice... always keep a copy nearby.
* something helpful is a DAILY BIBLE READING PLAN. it helps to keep you from skipping parts and overlooking sections.

C. Researching/Studying the Bible - differs from just reading by:
* asking questions of the text and writing down your insights.

D. Remembering God's word
* you remember what is important to you. If God's Word is important, you will take the time to remember it.

E. Reflecting on God's Word - MEDITATION
* meditation = focused thinking
* serious reflection on God's truth is a key to answered prayer and the secret to succesful living.

3. Apply its principles. - without implementation, all our Bible studies are worthless.

Its human nature to resist change, so applying God's word is hard work. This is why its important to discuss your personal applications with other people. Other people will help you see insights you'd miss and help you apply God's truth in a practical way. The best way to become a 'doer' of the Word is to always write out an action step as a result of your reading or studying or reflecting on God's Word. This action step should be personal, practical, and provable. Every application will involve either your relationship to God, to others, or your personal character.

Circumstances are used by God to develop character. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever. When you've been refined by trails, people can see Jesus' reflection in you. There are certain ways we can respond problems as Jesus would... Remember that God's plan is good. Rejoice and give thanks, despite our troubles.. God is going through the pain with us and he only allows us to withstand what he knows we can handle, nothing more. Refuse to give up; be patient and persistent.

Happy is the man who doesn't give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love him. - James 1:12 (LB)

My temptations have been my masters in divinity. - Martin Luther

Temptation is a stepping-stone (not a stumbling block) when you realize that it is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice. Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.

While happiness depends on external circumstances, joy is based on your relationship to God. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid. Patience is developed in circumstances in which we're forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.

Temptation follows a four-step process:
1. Satan identifies a desire inside of you. Temptation starts when Satan suggests that you give in to an evil desire, or that you fulfill a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. If you didn't have the internal desire, the temptation could not attract you.

2. Satan tries to get you to doubt what God has said about the sin

3. Satan deceives you. He offers you his lie to replace what God has already said in his Word.

4. Disobedience. you believe Satan's lies and fall into the trap.

How we can overcome temptation:
-- Refuse to be intimidated. you'll never outgrow temptation... its a sign that Satan hates you, not a sign of weakness or worldliness. Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it. Lust is a choice to commit in your mind what you'd like to do with your body... that is an example of a temptation becoming a sin.

-- Recognize your pattern of temptation and be prepared for it. these are your weaknesses and surely Satan will target them. You should try to avoid these so you're not caught in a trap and sucked into sin.

-- Request God's help. Jesus is sympathetic to our struggle. We want to give into temptation even though we know its wrong... we're embarassed to ask God for help because we keep giving in to the same temptation over and over. God's love is everlasting and his patience endures forever.

How to Defeat temptation:
** Refocus your attention on something else. This can mean physically leaving a tempting situation. To reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with God's word and other good things.

** Reveal your struggle to a godly friend or support group. you need at least one person you can honestly share your struggle with. Satan wants you to think your sin and temptation are unique so you must keep them a secret. But the truth is that we all face the same temptations... the reason we hide our faults is pride. People talk about having an 'accountability partner' which is a great idea. I haven't really found anyone that I can do this with completely. They strongly encourage you to pick a person of the same gender to be your accountability partner, which is kinda difficult for me because I tend to hang out with mostly guys and don't have that many female friends that I'm very close to... especially not Christian ones. I mean, I share a LOT of stuff with Robbie and trust him enormously with stuff like that. He's been a really good Christian friend to confide in, but there are some things I just can't talk to him about...it just wouldn't be appropriate.

** Resist the devil. this can be done by first accepting God's salvationl. Then use the word of God as your weapon against satan. Never try to argue with the Devil.

** Realize your vulnerability. don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations. This is something I've learned to do, although its tough sometimes to miss out on hanging out with my friends and everything when I do avoid the situations... but in the long run its best for me.

So why does spiritual growth take so long??
1. We're slow learners.
2. We have a lot to unlearn.
3. We're afraid to humbly face the truth about ourselves.
4. Growth is often painful and scary... you have to let go of the old ways to experience the new
5. Habits take time to develop... you have to practice them. habits aren't instant

Some ways to cooperate with God during your process of spiritual growth. Believe that God is working in your life even when you don't feel it. I struggle with this a lot. I know that I've gone through a 'lower' point in my Christian walk recently and basically it was because I was discouraged from not hearing God. Secondly, keep a notebook/journal of things you learned. Then, be patient with God and with yourself. And don't get discouraged. Remember how far you've come not how far you have left to go because though you might not be where you want to be, you're farther than where you began.

So that's what I've learned this week.

Democracy
I received this in an email from my dad... just found it 'interesting'. (Disclaimer: I do not consider myself to be a republican; however, I DO have a conservative ideology, so I imagine that I will tend to vote republican due to the fact that voting for one of the minor parties would basically be a waste of my vote since for all practical purposes we are a BIpartisan nation)


At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinborough, had this to say about "The Fall of The Athenian Republic" some
2,000 years prior:

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

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent
presidential election:

* Population of counties won by:
Gore - 127 million
Bush - 143 million

* Square miles of land won by:
Gore - 580,000
Bush - 2,2427,000

* States won by:
Gore - 19
Bush - 29

And, most revealing of all.....

* Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore - 13.2
Bush - 2.1

Professor Olson adds:
"In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..."

Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and "complacency" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.