Thanks people for sending me all this lovely stuff. Farr Grandparents, Wihllhite Grandparents, mom, dad, Wheelers, Deborah...you all know who you are. The delivery guy knows me by name now, I think, hehe. Really I appreciate it.
Oh yeah, and happy anniversary to the Willhite Grandparents!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
18 Hours of Inflatables
So this guy on my floor is associated with this company that provides inflatables and other amusement type things to people running events. This company got hired by a mega church about an hour from where I am called Mariners Church. The church was putting on a huge harvest carnival type thing--I mean huge. The company needed help, so this guy on my floor asked a bunch of us if we wanted to go--I said I would.
The event was held last Saturday and we all had to leave at 8:45 AM. Once we got there, we worked until 2:00 AM ---no that is not a typo, AM; an almost 18 hour job. The funny thing is, only 2 1/2 hours of that was the actual event. Most of our time was spent setting up and tearing down. It was really hard work, and none of us got a lot of food. However, I did get paid $200, so it was definitely worth it. I really praise God for that--I needed the money.
The event was held last Saturday and we all had to leave at 8:45 AM. Once we got there, we worked until 2:00 AM ---no that is not a typo, AM; an almost 18 hour job. The funny thing is, only 2 1/2 hours of that was the actual event. Most of our time was spent setting up and tearing down. It was really hard work, and none of us got a lot of food. However, I did get paid $200, so it was definitely worth it. I really praise God for that--I needed the money.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Perceiving a Spiritual World
So today in my Nature of Mathematics class we had a really cool discussion.
We are in a section of geometry and today were talking about dimensions.
Imagine a flat world in which there were only two dimensions (up and down, left and right); if it helps, imagine a world existing on a blackboard. Imagine how difficult it would be to describe to someone in that world that there is actually a 3rd dimension (depth--out and in). They wouldn't understand how you could go farther "into" the board, or how you could go farther "out" of the board. In fact, it may be so hard for these 2 dimensional people to understand that they completely deny the existence of this "3rd dimension"; we would think they were foolish. Because of course, we live in a 3 dimensional world. We taste, touch, see, and feel it every day.
Now take that and apply it to us. We live in a 3 dimensional world. We perceive height, width, and depth. Now, imagine someone living in a 4 dimensional world trying to explain to us what the 4th dimension was. I know, it's confusing. They would use words to describe the position of this dimension (just as we would use words like "in" or "out" to describe a 3rd dimension) that we couldn't even wrap our minds around. Yet, if we denied this 4th dimension, the people in that world would see us as foolish; just as we would see a flatlander who denies depth as foolish! You see what I am getting at?!
Now let's apply that to the spiritual world. God is bigger than our perceived universe--we know that. He tries to explain to us a spiritual world of heaven, hell, demons, and angels. As people living in this physical world we have a hard time believing in this. We can't see angels or demons. We can't see or be in heaven or hell. We read about these things in the Bible but in our physical world we just can't perceive of them.
This leads some to deny the spiritual world, does it not? People say, "I can't see it, I can't feel it, so it must not be true." Well, isn't that the same thing a flatlander might say about the 3rd dimension: "How can there be more than up, down, left, and right. I can't see this 'out' or 'in'. So it must not be true." Sounds pretty dumb, huh?
All this to say, it's okay if we can't totally conceive of God and the spiritual world. Our understanding of the whole universe is based on our perception of reality. For us to perceive of a "4th dimension" or a "spiritual world" is quite unnatural for us--and understandably so; a flatlander would have to live by "faith, not by sight" in order to believe in a 3rd dimension--because they of course could not experience it. But just because the truth is difficult to understand, doesn't mean it is invalidated.
Imagine how foolish people who deny the spiritual realm look to angles and demons who taste, touch, and feel that world every day. Imagine how foolish the same people look to a God who created both the spiritual and the physical world.
That we somehow consider ourselves to have wisdom in our own right...seems laughable now, doesn't it?
Think about it....
We are in a section of geometry and today were talking about dimensions.
Imagine a flat world in which there were only two dimensions (up and down, left and right); if it helps, imagine a world existing on a blackboard. Imagine how difficult it would be to describe to someone in that world that there is actually a 3rd dimension (depth--out and in). They wouldn't understand how you could go farther "into" the board, or how you could go farther "out" of the board. In fact, it may be so hard for these 2 dimensional people to understand that they completely deny the existence of this "3rd dimension"; we would think they were foolish. Because of course, we live in a 3 dimensional world. We taste, touch, see, and feel it every day.
Now take that and apply it to us. We live in a 3 dimensional world. We perceive height, width, and depth. Now, imagine someone living in a 4 dimensional world trying to explain to us what the 4th dimension was. I know, it's confusing. They would use words to describe the position of this dimension (just as we would use words like "in" or "out" to describe a 3rd dimension) that we couldn't even wrap our minds around. Yet, if we denied this 4th dimension, the people in that world would see us as foolish; just as we would see a flatlander who denies depth as foolish! You see what I am getting at?!
Now let's apply that to the spiritual world. God is bigger than our perceived universe--we know that. He tries to explain to us a spiritual world of heaven, hell, demons, and angels. As people living in this physical world we have a hard time believing in this. We can't see angels or demons. We can't see or be in heaven or hell. We read about these things in the Bible but in our physical world we just can't perceive of them.
This leads some to deny the spiritual world, does it not? People say, "I can't see it, I can't feel it, so it must not be true." Well, isn't that the same thing a flatlander might say about the 3rd dimension: "How can there be more than up, down, left, and right. I can't see this 'out' or 'in'. So it must not be true." Sounds pretty dumb, huh?
All this to say, it's okay if we can't totally conceive of God and the spiritual world. Our understanding of the whole universe is based on our perception of reality. For us to perceive of a "4th dimension" or a "spiritual world" is quite unnatural for us--and understandably so; a flatlander would have to live by "faith, not by sight" in order to believe in a 3rd dimension--because they of course could not experience it. But just because the truth is difficult to understand, doesn't mean it is invalidated.
Imagine how foolish people who deny the spiritual realm look to angles and demons who taste, touch, and feel that world every day. Imagine how foolish the same people look to a God who created both the spiritual and the physical world.
That we somehow consider ourselves to have wisdom in our own right...seems laughable now, doesn't it?
Think about it....
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Better
Good news, my computer is still running, Whoo!! So was able to turn in that paper that was due on Tuesday...glad that is off my back.
Also, my laptop finally has access to the internet...haven't been able to get it on since I got here, but I had the handy IT guys fix the problem for me.
Today was a lot better. Had a really cool journalism chapel in the morning where we prayed over some of the horrible news that has been happening in the world these past few weeks. So that was cool.
Also, my third article for The Chimes got published today--front page again! There was even a graphic to go with my story this time. Woot!! The story was about a report that came out that showed Biola's economic impact on its home city of La Mirada--was interesting because I have never really done a business type story before.
Another thing that was kind of cool was that I got paid today for one of my stories....finally! Geesh it takes so long...I wrote my first story like 2 months ago and I am just now getting paid for it. It's $13 a story, not much, but at least that makes up for some of the money I had to spend on computer supplies. And to think, those checks will be coming in all year as I keep writing.
I got an updated financial aid document today that shows I actually have $5,000 more in aid set up right now than I need for the year. That's good news, because that means that's $5,000 less I'll have to pay for next year...(note that I had about $12,500 to pay this year, so $5,000 is pretty significant).
I also am looking into trying to get the Cal Grant. It's basically a grant that is given to college going students who live in California...they give a lot of money out--up to $9,000 per student! So, obviously I didn't get the grant this year, but I was told that if I have lived in CA for 1 year and do things to show I am becoming a CA resident (like get a CA driver's license, maybe file my taxes in CA, etc) I can qualify for this grant. So, yeah, that would be a very good thing for me to get. Pray for me there.
One last thing, today I got to talk to my Foundations of Christian Thought teacher after class. I have been getting frustrated in the class because I really like the material we're reading, but feel he is very disorganized and unclear in class. So yeah, had a good discussion with him. He was very open to what I was saying, and even asked me what I thought should be changed. Was good to finally get that off my chest...it has been bugging me for a while.
That's about it...I can't believe I am already halfway through the semester...amazing!
Later All
Also, my laptop finally has access to the internet...haven't been able to get it on since I got here, but I had the handy IT guys fix the problem for me.
Today was a lot better. Had a really cool journalism chapel in the morning where we prayed over some of the horrible news that has been happening in the world these past few weeks. So that was cool.
Also, my third article for The Chimes got published today--front page again! There was even a graphic to go with my story this time. Woot!! The story was about a report that came out that showed Biola's economic impact on its home city of La Mirada--was interesting because I have never really done a business type story before.
Another thing that was kind of cool was that I got paid today for one of my stories....finally! Geesh it takes so long...I wrote my first story like 2 months ago and I am just now getting paid for it. It's $13 a story, not much, but at least that makes up for some of the money I had to spend on computer supplies. And to think, those checks will be coming in all year as I keep writing.
I got an updated financial aid document today that shows I actually have $5,000 more in aid set up right now than I need for the year. That's good news, because that means that's $5,000 less I'll have to pay for next year...(note that I had about $12,500 to pay this year, so $5,000 is pretty significant).
I also am looking into trying to get the Cal Grant. It's basically a grant that is given to college going students who live in California...they give a lot of money out--up to $9,000 per student! So, obviously I didn't get the grant this year, but I was told that if I have lived in CA for 1 year and do things to show I am becoming a CA resident (like get a CA driver's license, maybe file my taxes in CA, etc) I can qualify for this grant. So, yeah, that would be a very good thing for me to get. Pray for me there.
One last thing, today I got to talk to my Foundations of Christian Thought teacher after class. I have been getting frustrated in the class because I really like the material we're reading, but feel he is very disorganized and unclear in class. So yeah, had a good discussion with him. He was very open to what I was saying, and even asked me what I thought should be changed. Was good to finally get that off my chest...it has been bugging me for a while.
That's about it...I can't believe I am already halfway through the semester...amazing!
Later All
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
A Very Bad Day
So yeah, today was pretty challenging. I don't even feel like writing a lot, but I feel like my dedicated audience deserves to hear the highs and the lows of my time at Biola.
So, basically my computer decided it was going to break down yesterday....went to turn the beast on to finish a paper that was due in about 1 1/1 hrs, but for some reason I wasn't getting a visual on the monitor...i think something is wrong with the video card. Anyways, I tried all I could to fix it, but nothing worked. Luckily my teacher was merciful to me and told me I could turn it in later.
So, this problem continued into today. However, what really started the day off was the alarm clock malfunction that allowed for me to be 20 mins late to my class (not to mention that when I did wake up I thought it was Thursday so I didn't think I was in a hurry).
After I got back from class, I tried to fix my computer again. In the process (I really don't know how) I managed to damage the DVI to VGA device that attaches from my monitor to my video card (don't worry if you don't know what that is...just know it is important). So, that resulted in me having to stop at 3 stores to find a reasonable price for one of these babies.
Got back to my dorm, was so excited to open it up that I busted out my switchblade and begin cutting into it....some how or another that excitement resulted in a quite a bloody mess. Cut my finger pretty bad (don't worry mom, I am fine...stuck a nice soccer band-aid on it). Anyways, I got it open eventually, but it didn't matter, it still didn't fix my computer's problem.
So anyhow, the day ended with my keyboard plug breaking as well, due to my computer laying on it....trip to Wal-Mart at 9:30 to buy a cheapo keyboard.
But, the good side of the story, for all this blood, pain, and stress, my computer is working again. Hopefully it stays that way...I am scared to shut it off.
There was one good part of the day: I went to a Biola soccer game agaist CBU...Kelly Bass was there supporting her school so I got to talk with her. It was really cool. Haven't seen my peeps in Oregon for so long, that it was very refreshing to talk to someone really familiar.
So anyways, I'm done....I'm heading to bed. Pray that I continue to persevere through all this toil. This is God testing me I know...I want to pass.
BTW, I don't care if there are typos...I'm not even going to read it over before I publish it...so don't complain :)
So, basically my computer decided it was going to break down yesterday....went to turn the beast on to finish a paper that was due in about 1 1/1 hrs, but for some reason I wasn't getting a visual on the monitor...i think something is wrong with the video card. Anyways, I tried all I could to fix it, but nothing worked. Luckily my teacher was merciful to me and told me I could turn it in later.
So, this problem continued into today. However, what really started the day off was the alarm clock malfunction that allowed for me to be 20 mins late to my class (not to mention that when I did wake up I thought it was Thursday so I didn't think I was in a hurry).
After I got back from class, I tried to fix my computer again. In the process (I really don't know how) I managed to damage the DVI to VGA device that attaches from my monitor to my video card (don't worry if you don't know what that is...just know it is important). So, that resulted in me having to stop at 3 stores to find a reasonable price for one of these babies.
Got back to my dorm, was so excited to open it up that I busted out my switchblade and begin cutting into it....some how or another that excitement resulted in a quite a bloody mess. Cut my finger pretty bad (don't worry mom, I am fine...stuck a nice soccer band-aid on it). Anyways, I got it open eventually, but it didn't matter, it still didn't fix my computer's problem.
So anyhow, the day ended with my keyboard plug breaking as well, due to my computer laying on it....trip to Wal-Mart at 9:30 to buy a cheapo keyboard.
But, the good side of the story, for all this blood, pain, and stress, my computer is working again. Hopefully it stays that way...I am scared to shut it off.
There was one good part of the day: I went to a Biola soccer game agaist CBU...Kelly Bass was there supporting her school so I got to talk with her. It was really cool. Haven't seen my peeps in Oregon for so long, that it was very refreshing to talk to someone really familiar.
So anyways, I'm done....I'm heading to bed. Pray that I continue to persevere through all this toil. This is God testing me I know...I want to pass.
BTW, I don't care if there are typos...I'm not even going to read it over before I publish it...so don't complain :)
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