[Kinda] Blue Like Jazz

After much ado, I did it. I finally jumped on the honkin' huge bandwagon and read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. I had heard nothing but outstanding reviews about this bestseller. Copies flew off the shelves (then again, so did Joel Osteen's book about being your own god...sorry, I'll bite my tongue) I would witness people spaz, drool, and hyper-ventilate at the mention of BLJ. To find out what all the hustle and bustle was about, I borrowed a friend's copy and dived in. I was excited. I had high hopes. But nothing came. I kept reading. I didn't stop for fear that something of value was just a page turn away. Nada. Then I hit the first cartoon section, and just about cried. Donny boy, seriously. I felt like I should give Miller a chance, so I kept reading. When I reached the end, I felt empty. I felt like I just had just consumed a bag of wheat puff cereal. It was all air, and my stomach still hungered. I've heard praise for his "free" and hip style. OK, sure. But if that's all you have as an author, bummer. I could have written a book of equal value, no sweat. Here's how: I would flip through my mom's scrapbook of my childhood. With eyes closed, I would randomly land my finger on a photo. Then I'd narrate that memory in story form, contrive some way of relating it God, and repeat this process until I met the standard 220 page quota. Badabing. Badaboom. To Donald's credit, I did find 3 things he said worthwhile:

1. "When we worship God we worship a Being our life experience does not give us the tools with which to understand. If we could, God would not inspire awe."

2. "I'd like to see the other parts [of America]. I was look at a map the other day, you know, and Texas was sort of brown with some green, a few hills, but then there were other places that were more green with big lumpy mountains. I'd like to go to those places."

3. "There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing."

Impact 2k5

Impact 2k5 was simply glorious! Those four short days were some of the most amazing days of my life. There is too much to express with words, so I’ll narrow my focus to this: God is faithful!

“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
- I Thes 5:24

God called the exec staff. God called the co-chairs, counselors, and prayer-teamers. God called the freshmen. He brought every single one of us to Impact for the purpose of glorifying His name through fellowship with one another. The Lord wove us together in His perfect plan, and he brought it to pass! Christ proved Himself perfectly faithful. He called me to be a counselor for 2005. It was by His grace that I applied and was accepted. It was by His grace that I was uniquely placed in Alpha Reuben. It was by His grace that I sit here today, reflecting on this great experience. The Lord promised, and He was faithful (Heb 10:23). May I never loose faith in His faithfulness.

I went for a walk one morning at camp, and snapped this beauty. Ahh...the good ol' Tehas hillcountry.

Fishies, Here We Come!

That gal on the left is my Impact partner, Kali. She's super tight! Impact 2005 is so very near...6 days remaining! Six days until the class of 2009 arrives! Six days until God blows every single one of us away! I can only dream, hope, and do my best to imagine what the Lord has in store for us. But I know that regardless of how big my expectations are, Christ is going to dwarf them all. He is going to shatter every preconceived, earthly (and therefore tiny) idea I have. Alpha session will soon be upon us, and I pray that every moment will be cherished and savored to the fullest.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" - Ps 34:8

Hippies, Yogurt, & Whatnot

This weekend = first backpacking trip of the summer. We hit up Lake Georgetown in the great town of Georgetown (go fig), TX. But before all that jazz, Austin was calling our name. The only appropriate way to begin such a night out on the town was a trip to Whole Foods. What an experience this was! Does anyone out there understand this whole organic foods mumbojumbo? I don't see what major, life changing benefit an "organic" cheerio is going to have on a person, other than putting a wallop-size dent in the bank account. Hmm. Ok, back to the story. We buy our dinner (a tub of super pure-no additive-clean burning-environmentally friendly-overpriced yogurt) and hang out on this "grocery" store's patio. This is a photo of the umbrella thingies we sat beneath.

From there, we hopped in the Jetta and zipped over to Mozart's. It was by far the coolest coffee joint I've ever experienced. Great coffee. Great music. Great atmosphere. Well done Mozart.

On Saturday, the backpacking began. The weather was perfect and the trail was a beauty. There's nothing quite like a good hike. There were cacti...cactuses...(??) everywhere. About 5 miles in, I thought it would be cool (in a weird kinda way) to experience what cacti do best. I didn't really want to know, but I did. It just so happen that the next day I gave one a good kicking. I stop paying attention to the path for a moment, and the cactus got to play acupuncture doctor with me. My dream came true. Yay.

Here are my gorgeous feet after 14 miles in Chaco's. I think every insect native to Texas got a sampling of the deliciousness that is my foot.