my thoughts about life.
As most of you know, I’m traveling to the Republic of Ireland on March 13 as part of the Pittsburg State University Choirs Concert Tour 2010. Instead of being boring and just posting a text itinerary, I whipped this up in Google Earth so you can “fly” above and see my destinations from the air. (Google Earth plug-in recommended for full effect).
I’ll be sure to post a ton of pictures!
I’m sitting in an unfamiliar church today. And I’m ashamed to say I’ve been silently chuckling to myself as the service goes on at all of the little quirks and problems that have happened. No harm in that, you might say; it is after all a small country church- funny things are bound to happen.
But then one of those strange God-moments happened to me. Who am I to laugh? It’s not that we shouldn’t strive for professionalism and excellence. It’s the fact that these people, no matter how unprofessional their service or how many times the vocalists fell out of tune- no matter what happens- these people are genuinely worshipping the living, breathing, omnipotent and omnipresent GOD. And that’s something I can respect.
After waking up very early on a bright and snowy Christmas morning, we read both Luke and Matthew’s accounts of the Christmas story.
Soon after, we opened the presents under the tree and discovered five matching Santa hats!
Family at Christmas
Our good family friends, Vernon and Lois Wells, from (balmy) Beaumont, TX sent us stockings filled with goodies… most of them to remind us the frigid outside wasn’t everything!
My sister, Corrie, and Me
After we opened our gifts we decided to try everything out. Corrie was hooking up her new portable external hard drive.
Katie and Tucker
It was our yellow lab Tucker’s very first sizable snow- and he thought he’d woken up in heaven. He and Katie tore through the fresh snow, inspecting every smell.
We spent the afternoon running around with them, sledding, and thoroughly enjoying our first White Christmas in many years.
In all, it was a great Christmas Day. I’m so thankful for my family and the many blessings God has given us. May you always remember the love of our Savior: the true Reason for this most blessed Season.
To see all of our Christmas pictures, check out my MobileMe gallery.
And so was proclaimed the good news of the birth of the Son of God by the angels sent by God himself- not to the ruler, King Herod, nor to the high priest, but the lowly shepherds sitting out on a lonesome hillside, protecting their only livelihood.
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14 (NIV)
Thus began the greatest story ever told, that of peace, of grace, and of completely unconditional love. It truly was a night that changed our world forever. For it wasn’t just a normal birth. No, for God Himself came to Earth, not because He had to, but because He loved us with such a burning passion He could not bear to see us wither and die in our sin.
You see, we weren’t created to just make money or even give gifts. We were created with the ultimate purpose of bringing glory to our Creator. Sin, our wrong choices, our mistakes- they keep us from fulfilling our purpose and leave us more than empty inside- they hollow out our souls.
And that’s why Christmas is so important. With the birth of one child, God set out to rescue us from ourselves. He made the ultimate sacrifice: He gave His son so that we might live.
It is my mist sincere wish that you realize just how special you are to God’s heart, and how His love for you is unquenchable and neverending, no matter what you do. Tomorrow morning, when you get up with your family, think about His gift to you.
From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.
As the turkey and pumpkin pie settles in our stomachs, it’s important to take a look back and remember God’s faithfulness.
What I’m Thankful For:
So many times throughout the year we grow calloused to the idea of God providing, and we take for granted that his mercies are new everyday. May you and I never forget His Love.
In this season of Thanksgiving, let us not forget to thank our Lord for the many blessings He gives us everyday. This year has been one filled with new life learning experiences for me- from paying my first real bills to living on my own. I’ve definitely learned I need to appreciate the little things a bit more.
Usually my family and I spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my dad’s family in Wichita, KS. However, because of my job (another blessing), we were unable to make the trip this year, so we celebrated Thanksgiving Day at my parent’s house in Oswego, KS. We thought back, and this is possibly only the second time we’ve shared a Thanksgiving meal as only our immediate family. While we of course missed getting to see our other relatives (and the more opportune Black Friday shopping!), it was a nice change to spend a quiet evening at home.
I thought I’d share some pictures from our feast.
Turkey
A Tradition! Green Bean Casserole
Homemade Pumpkin Pie
and all together:
Let's Eat!
For the past two years I’ve made use of eBay and Amazon to sell my excess stuff in order to supplement my Christmas gifting income. This year I have a mix of dinnerware, textbooks, Mac software, and networking equipment listed.
I’d appreciate it if you stopped by my eBay or Amazon (seller id: chaysster) page and helped out a poor working college student. A portion of some of the sales benefits the Families in Crisis Foundation in Kansas.
Thanks for your help.
I just wanted to put out a quick note to thank everyone who helped make the 9/11 Remembrance Event on the Pittsburg State University campus today a success. It took many volunteers, and around $170 to put it all together, but I feel we did a great service to the memories of our fellow citizens who died that day.
Five PSU Student Organizations (Pitt State CRs, Green Gorillas, Campus Christians, PSU Newman Club, Student Association of Broadcasters) worked together today, putting politics aside, and the effect was phenomenal. As students walked through the Oval from 10 a.m. until around 1:15, we handed out miniature American flags, telling them to “Never Forget” September 11th and the lessons we learned that day. We also captured nearly ten students’ memories of the day to create a video diary, something that will soon appear on YouTube.
The Newman Club prayed a full rosary over the campus, and Campus Christians had a small prayer circle thanking God for his blessings and protection at the conclusion of the event.
KOAM also covered this event in their featured story for the evening of September 11, 2009 during both the 6:00 and 10:00 news hours.
Many people were touched today by these actions, and I was greatly humbled by everyone’s service.
Thank you all.
Caleb.
I remember exactly where I was.
I was young; I was naive, and I was a kid.
I was in my sixth grade math class.
When one of my teachers ran in, on the verge of hysterics, I thought it was just another bad day; that something had happened far away. I knew that nothing could ever happen here, though. This is America, I thought. What could happen? Who would try?
And then they rushed us downstairs to the television. We watched replays of the first plane hitting the first tower, and it was then I began to realize something might actually be happening. But as the minutes passed, I slipped back into my naivety. I chose to believe what they were saying on the news, that perhaps this was just an accident.
Then we watched the second plane slam into the second tower and it hit me: this was real. And that belief was further solidified by the near-collapse of my art teacher. She broke down, cupped her hands around her nose, and began to cry, saying, “Oh, my” over and over again.
I was scared that day. At that point, we thought “they” might bomb somewhere in the Midwest. No one had any idea what was going on, and the people we’d always trusted were at a loss for words. The only thing we had was each other and our faith in God.
In the days that followed we held out that the survivors in the rubble would be rescued, but with each hour that passed, even that hope grew dim.
The official count grew and grew, and in the end, nearly 3,000 people died that day.
But the story didn’t stop there. Thousands of emergency workers, airline staffers, air traffic controllers, and 911 dispatchers handled calls and rescues and held and listened to these victims as they spoke their last. In many cases there are recorded calls of people dying as the towers collapsed. Those people are burdened with the fact that they are the last human beings those people ever spoke with on this earth. They listened to them as they screamed in agony and fear and then continued to listen until there simply was no more.
Even after all of this, some people choose to disgrace the memory of these normal, everyday Americans that had their lives ripped out form under them and destroyed by the work of Islamofascists bent on destroying America by denying the events occurred or choosing to ignore them, to “move on.”
But in utter defiance, we flew our flag. And she still flies today.
As I handed out flags today on the Pittsburg State Campus in memoriam of the lives lost eight years ago today, I was encouraged with the hundreds who gladly accepted them and utterly repulsed by those who gave me a look that said Why would I want a flag?
America, may you never, ever refuse a flag on September 11. May you always remember and honor the memory of our fellow citizens who were brutally mass-murdered on that fateful day eight years ago today.
May you never forget the sacrifices made that day.
Among other things, I’m a Computer Science major at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. If you follow me on Twitter, you also know that I’m a major Mac-head. Now, you’d think the two would fit nicely together, but old prejudices against the Mac platform die hard (and if you’re thinking of a Mac between 1993 and 1998, I might agree with those prejudices). Dark years aside (we all have them: Think Windows ME!), the Mac is a great platform, and it’s now the leading notebook computer on college campuses nationwide. As the world moves closer to a platform agnostic and generally less Windows-centric way of doing things, people all over are embracing Macs and Linux computers, and as all my free market subscribers know, competition is the key to a better product.
Now, most of you who are used to my political blathering are probably wondering where in the heck I’m going with this. Hold on, I’m getting there.
While I love my University and truly believe in it, there are a few areas where it needs to play catch up. Platform choice is one of them. For something that is so important to the future, it’s amazing how far behind they’ve fallen. Just as its important for anyone to be exposed to different ways of doing things, its doubly important for the people who will design the applications of the future to have access to as many major platforms as possible. While we having Dell PCs running some form of Windows XP out the wazoo, OS X is nowhere to be found.
That’s why I’m asking for your help.
Do you have an older, Intel-based Mac sitting in a corner gathering dust or barely used? Would you be willing to make (what I think/hope is a) tax-deductible donation to a growing Best in the Midwest University? We’ve also been ranked in Princeton Review’s Best 290 Business Schools. Your donation would be used to add OS X-based instruction to currently offered computer science classes, giving students a broader worldview than Windows and a sampling of Linux (CentOS).
How are you doing this? How can I be sure my donation will be properly handled?
Right now I’m simply looking for interest. One of my professors made a comment last week in class that the University would offer OS X-based instruction if the hardware was available, specifically, if someone was willing to make a donation. I decided to do my best to take him up on it. If there is sufficient interest, I’ll present my proposal to the University, and we’ll get the ball rolling. This day in age, there’s no excuse for not supporting a platform with an 8+% market share and a 20+% installed base.
I still have questions…
I’d love to chat with you. You can email me here.
