Control

Watched the Democratic Debate in LA tonight.


This one question caught my attention:

Wow, imagine if that question was turned around: "Mr. Clinton, could you control your wife?" That'd create a riot.

Man oh man. Silly double-standards.

News Blog Site

Just wanted to make you all aware of WJC's news blog, which is maintained by the students in the program. The posts tend to be personal reflections on either the program or current events.

I should have a post up soon, and will continue to contribute throughout the semester.

Here it is.
http://wjcblog.typepad.com/ink_tank/

Figuring out DC.

Since I last posted I've chopped cucumbers, onions and celery, seen pictures of the some of the worst crimes committed against humanity and experienced my first professional hockey game.

Getting the whole package here in D.C.

So I'll explain. The chopping business was part of my service project that students in the WJC are required to participate in. Required, yes, but I was quite happy and excited to do it. I served at the "DC Central Kitchen," which prepares and distributes 5,000 meals a day for various homeless shelters in the D.C. area. I met some pretty interesting people, including a woman named "Mrs. Dot," who, despite her drill-sergeant of the kitchen like ways and almost undecipherable accent, was all too lovable.

Today I went to the Holocaust Museum, which was simply amazing. A very powerful place that definitely will affect anyone who visits it (maybe the Iranian president should visit it). There were thousands of pictures, hundreds of artifacts and many videos in the museum that served to show the incredible plight of European Jews under the Nazi regime during World War II. I wouldn't do it justice trying to describe it in words, so I won't.

On Thursday I went to see the Washington Capitals play the Toronto Maple Leafs. (yes, Leafs.) One of the students here is from Minnesota, where hockey is like the state sport. I had a good time, even though we definitely got the nose-bleeder seats. (Hey, it was $10.)

Classes have been going pretty well. Our last session gave me a lot to think about. We had our director, who is an Orthodox Christian, explain to us how Catholic and Orthodox believers view the world in comparison to Wesleyan Christians (of which many evangelicals can be described as). Our popular Protestant culture in America has tended to encourage people to make Christian versions of whatever it is they do in life (eg. Christian music, Christian books, Christian radio stations).

Our director said this is very different from the typical ancient church view, which simply said you should just be the best at what you do--that is how you honor God. I definitely have been thinking about that the past few years, but the way he presented it was even more powerful.

There has been other stuff lectured on that has shaken my mind up a bit, but I'll just leave it at that; a lot of it is still processing.

Tomorrow we're visiting a new church: Capitol Baptist Church, which apparently is pretty well-known even outside D.C.

You all can be praying that I stay resolute in the midst of difficulties and doubt. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of frustration and stress when I enter my internship, and I don't want to get into a stage of self-pity. Rather, I want to push myself all the harder--learn and grow from my mistakes and short-comings. Also pray that I not draw back from the people around me. I've been really happy with how part of this WJC group I feel. For all you who know me and read my blogs, you know I have a lot of inner-turmoil around my social life and where I fit in sometimes. So it has been good that I feel so accepted and liked here. I just don't want to unintentionally lose that because I got lazy.

Love. Faith.

--mjf.

Weather!

Wow. So today was the coldest day I have experienced in a long time. Currently, at 2:00 pm, it is a steaming 23 degrees. Walking to church today I felt like my ears were going to freeze and fall off. Right now I'm wearing like four layers of shirts just to get my body warm again. The sky, however, is quite clear.

I've been told the weather has been acting up a bit lately: snowed two times in the past week, weather in the upper 50s, then two days later in the lower 20s. So yeah, seem to be getting a quick tour of the weather diversity here in D.C..

Church this morning was pretty nice. I went to a place called Christ Our Shepherd with many of the other WJC students. It definitely was different than I am used to, but very good. The pastor had quite an academic sermon (sounded like a professor), and there was a dance team that performed. There also was another pastor who had a stout British accent. It just so happens that relatives of my pastor in La Mirada go to this church--small, small world.

As it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day tomorrow, there's nothing really going on. So I'll probably be doing some sightseeing around town. Need to get all the tourist out of me before I actually have to start working.

One of my roommates did a video tour of our house. Here is the link (you may need Facebook to view this): http://biola.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=508346632776 .



A bunch of us at a place called Cosi, in downtown D.C.. It was sort of a coffee/sandwich place with a twist: you could order smores! But that was a fun day. We all jumped on the metro to go shopping, and then just cruised downtown for a while. Cool city I am in. Also, last night, after playing games at our house, all the WJCers went to a nifty little pizza place for dinner. Delicious!

DC--Days 1 and 2

So, I have officially arrived at the nation's capitol. The land of the most powerful people in the world. And behind the scenes, also home the country's most impoverished people. What a city.

The plane flight was, as you might expect, tiring. I flew from Portland at 11:30 PM and landed in Houston at 5:30 their time. After a two hour layover, I proceeded on a plane to Baltimore, arriving at 11:20 EST.

Then I had a long day of orientation and settling in. I met all my fellow WJCers, got a crash course in DC public transportation, and heard a great message from a local pastor who is affiliated with the program.

Needless to say, I passed out as soon as I hit the pillow last night.

Today began with a walk to Union station--a rather large hub for DC public transportation. There we ate some delightful breakfast at a restaurant right in the center of this impressive and elaborate complex.


(Union Station--you can see the statues which go around the entire perimeter of the complex. It's hard to capture the immensity of this place on camera)


Oh yeah, did I mentioned it snowed today? That's a minor detail. Yeah, it dumped. Big ole southern flakes is what they said it looked like. Basically that means big and wet flakes. And given that you walk everywhere, we got the pleasure of enjoying it in all it's glory. Least I got to test out my new "Weatherproof" jacket.
From there commenced several more orientation type deals, with a lunch break at a quaint little seafood restaurant.


(Us at the seafood place)


The house I am staying at is fantastic. It's a four story house in the typical DC row-house style (tall, but very skinny, and cramed like a tuna in-between two other houses). We're pretty much in the backyard of the Supreme Court building. I know, it's crazy. I've seen this place in pictures, on TV--but now I am living just a couple blocks away from it. It literally would just be 3 minute walk to get there.

I haven't got to cruise the city too much (that'll come this weekend), but it already has been quite a mouthful portion for this west-coast boy. I'm just paranoid about getting lost. I've used public transportation, like what? Twice in my whole life? And that's basically our only mode of transportation other than walking. It's a little nerve-wracking to think that I will have to be relying on public transit to get me everywhere I need to go on time. Driving a car you have so much...control. But our director says we'll be experts in a couple weeks--so we'll see.

I'll be keeping you all updated as I go along. I'll try to post at least once a week--probably more in these first couple weeks. Once it kicks up, though, it'll be a little more difficult.


Cheers


(Door of WJC's Green House)

Almost there

So, in less than four days I will be flying to the other coast of the United States; to a place where this country has made all its laws; to a place where some of the most powerful people in the world go to work--Washington DC.

It has been a wonderful break. Been good to see my family again. But I'm ready to get back into my element--back to pushing myself and discovering where God is going to take me. I think this next semester is going to be pretty defining for me. If I do well enough here, I could be opening up job opportunities for after I graduate. I also will be seeing a place that I have never seen before--only widening my already expanding borders.

I want to thank all those people--especially my family--who have made this trip possible. All the support, the money, the gifts that'll make my DC trip a little warmer, heh. And for just allowing to do this--for believing that I can, even if is a little hard to see me so out there.

So, in case you haven't heard, I most likely will be working for the Washington Times when I am over there--you'll be able to read some of the stuff I write for them on their website, I'm sure. If it's not with the Times, then it will be with a place called Market News International. But, I'm pretty confident of the Times position.

This will be my first real, working internship. It's a little nerve wracking, but I'm going to stay in prayer and do my best. I guess if my professors didn't think I could do it they wouldn't have recommended me
for the program.

Keep me in your prayers. This is new terrain for me...but I am very excited.

Thanksgiving

So tomorrow I leave with my roommate to San Fransisco where I will be joining his family for Thanksgiving. Pretty exciting. New place, good buddy, no homework.

That last part is especially relieving, given that these past two weeks have been crazy busy. Chimes articles, Old Testament, The Point (which just got sent to the printer, yay!).

I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone. Uncrediculous (new word)!!! It really makes me scared actually. I mean. college is going to be gone before I know it. My biggest fear is losing out on all the relationships I can have here. And as each semester passes me by, I never am completely content with my social life. Sure, a lot of people like me, I get along with a lot of people. Girls seem at least semi-interested in me :) . But, I just feel like I'm lacking a core group of friends. My roommate and I are practically inseperable, but it just doesn't feel like enough.

I mean, it's weird, I can totally click with someone in a class, while working with The Chimes, etc etc, but for some reason, the relationship rarely extends beyond the context I met them in. I only see my Chimes friends while doing The Chimes, only see my class friends while in class, and only see my Point friends while I'm working on The Point. I don't know how to fix that. I mean, I'm sure the obvious advice is, "Be intentional. Ask them to something." That's great and all, but why do things just work naturally for everyone else? It seems like for most people relationships just naturally happen and grow. That seems to be a rarity for me. My stongest relationships are the ones that life kind of forced me into (i.e. my roommate, Alec and Kyla, who are practically my family). Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE those people, but I just feel like something is wrong with me; that I am unable to establish better friendships from scratch.

I don't know. It's not all bad. I get little beams of light every once in a while. Like Saturday night, two girls that are in my major invited me to this photo scavenget hunt in Downtown Disney (some pics below). That was a lot of fun--and it was really cool to just be able to hang out with them as peers--not as fellow journalism majors, not as Chimes co-workers (one of them is my editor), just friends. As silly as that sounds, it really feels like a novelty for me. Rarely do I hang out with people just "as friends"; my social interactions almost always seemed tied to some kind of activity I'm involved in.

Well, 'nuff of that.

So, going to DC next semester. Wild. Just got an email from the program director telling me to start thinking of internships--can't believe that it's so close now.

Another cool thing, my journalism professor (you know the one I groaned about 2-3 posts ago), pulled me aside today and talked to me about where I wanted to be after graduation. I told him I wanted to work in the newspaper business, but just didn't know quite where. He then proceeded to tell me that these people he knew in DC had asked him if he knew any good journalism majors--he said he thought of me!! He told me to check out their website, and if I ever wanted to persue a job or internship there he would recommend me.

Incredible--I walked outside after he told me that and praised God.
Who knows if anything will come of this. But to just see how many opportunities are availble to me that I don't even see is incredible. And what's more, it came from a professor who just two months ago I was tired of.

Well, looking forward to coming back for Christmas. Later!

_________

Pics from the photo scavenger hunt. We were given photographs of various objects in Downtown Disney. We had a certain amount of time to go out and find them and get a picture by them with our group. It was really fun.

The guy in the tan jacket was fearless. He would do the funniest things in order to get into places. Like once, we thought one object might have been in a restraunt. He goes up to greeting lady, says he is looking for his party and she lets us go in and look around, lol. Another time in a bath and body store, in order to cause a diversion so we could take a picture (in a lot of places Disneyland doesn't want you taking pictures), he asked one of the store clerks the advantages of balming your back. Oh man.

Sunday Soccer

One of my journalism major friends did an article on the Sunday soccer guys at Biola.
http://chimes.biola.edu/news/biola/2007/nov/12/boys-sunday/

He got a couple pictures of me (one is a little unflattering :) ).

I love Sunday soccer. It can get a little messy sometimes (as in play style), but at least I get to play--I still miss playing on a competitive team.

HOOPLA

There's been a lot of activity on Biola's campus these past few days. On Friday Biola inaugurated Dr. Bary Corey, Biola's 8th president. That was a truly amazing thing to see; all the professors in their gowns; amazing music; great message from Dr. Cory.

On Saturday we had Biola Fest on Campus, which was a big carnival like event with performances by several bands, including Mercy Me. A lot of people from the community came in. I had the chance to eat some wonderful cotton candy :).

You can look on http://chimes.biola.edu for more details about all this. Some pictures of mine are actually posted on the website right now. I've been doing a lot more photography since I began doing all this online writing.

Oh, just to let you all know, I got my offical acceptance into the Washington Journalism center last week--really exciting!! So, I'm just taking care of some paper work, and in the next few months I will be trying to get set up with an internship over there.

Where there's smoke, there's fire

Wow, it's burning up down here. And I don't mean the weather! The LA Times reported today that seven counties of Southern California are burning in wild fires right now.

San Diego and Malibu are the two biggies, but there are many others. It's all the result of the driest season this region has seen in a long time, combined with high winds and possible downed powerlines.

The closest is 30 miles south near Irvine in a place called Limestone Canyon Regional Park, so I'm no no danger, but the smell of smoke is heavy in the air tonight--seriously.

Look at this

LA TIMES COVERAGE




The fire closest to me

Prof of Doom

Okay, so I have this journalism professor--his name is Mark Lansbaum. He currently is an editorial writer for the Orange County Register, but he also worked as an investigative reporter for the LA Times in years past. Now that's cool. It's great to have that kind of experience around here. And for the first couple weeks I was entranced by this guy; hung on his every word and smiled sweetly at the journalistic sugar that was being fed to me.

However, after the first few weeks, now, where I am currently, my opinion is a bit altered. Now, I have not lost my respect for the man. He is an unabashed Christian in a painfully secular profession and for that he deserves much admiration.

But, man, does this guy lay it on thick.

It's not so much that he is extremely harsh on us, being honest about our lack of writing skill, or our lack of aggression, or our hesitance to ask questions in class, or our poor choice in newspaper names ("The Chimes?" he says), or our....okay so, his critical style does bug me a little bit. But, man, he could critique us a little more gracefully. He just droans on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on about our mistakes. He makes the newsroom sound like a room of death, is painfully dismal in many of his talks, and talks down to us like we've never published anything in our lives.

.....

Okay, so I feel a little strongly about this.

I suppose, beyond my emotions surrounding this guy, I appreciate what he is trying to do. He tells us he is hard on us because he is trying to help us. I have to admit that I believe him. I also was reminded by a friend that this guy is probably much more graceful than some teachers at secular schools. Good point, I thought. And despite the fact that I feel like he is demanding perfection, I suppose sometimes, for better or for worse, you need people like that in your life to make you better. It's just annoying when you have a teacher who can find anything wrong with absolutely everything (including professional publications, I'm sure). This man is in stark contrast to my biggest mentor here at Biola, Dr. Longinow (Dept. of Journalism Chair), who never has anything but extremely nice and encouraging things to say about me. I suppose we all need that balance in life, right? People to push you on and people to keep you humble.

I would just ask for your prayers. This professor really does discourage me and make me doubt myself. But I think that it is about time I start doubting myself and trusting more in God. Pray that that could happen with a certain amount of ease in my life; that I could accept this professor as a challenge, and not just give up on things. Pray for my peace and pray for my endurance.

Also, pray that God be preparing me for what I am sure is going to be a life-changing experience for me next semester. As some of you have heard, I'll be going to DC next semester for a journalism study program. I'll most likely have a pretty sweet internship that's going to expect a lot from me. I want to trust in God, because it's all pretty intimidating. And it's also really scary to think about what I'll be missing out on at Biola--a semester is a significant amount of time when you realize there's only 8 of them in your four year study.

Thanks,

-mjf

The Chimes Online

Yay! Biola's student newspaper is now online! I'm a staff writer for The Chimes Online, so you can check out some of my writing on http://chimes.biola.edu.

I also am still writing for the print edition, though not as frequently. I'm doing other stuff for The Chimes, like reporting on our student senate every week.

Yay! Joshua Tree

My floor had a retreat to Joshua Tree National Park this past weekend. We did some rock climbing/hiking. It was a lot of fun--here are some pics from the event.

CONCERT

EVERYONE BACK HOME--PLEASE GO TO THIS CONCERT!!! YOU MUST!!

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0F003F0FE679C724?artistid=790118&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

I'll probably be going to the one in Irvine, CA, but you all must experience the goodness yourself in SALEM,OR!!!!!!!!

The Beautiful Silence

So, I've completed nearly a month of school.
I've been keeping busy for sure. Lucklily I haven't had to write any essays, but there are a lot of random things that I'm getting involved with. I just started being the beat reporter for the Chimes on the AS Senate (Biola's student government). That means I go to the Senate meetings and report anything newsworthy back to my editor. I'm getting involved with a Sunday school Bible study group at church. And of course there's my work with The Point.

My Old Testament class has been keeping me busy. I just finished Exodus today and will be reading Leviticus soon to come. It has been real insightful to just read through these Old Testament narratives. Like I said in a previous post, I just have never done that.

Oh, so I played my first ultimate frisbee game of the season yesteday. We won! I got two touchdowns and an assist. In contrast to the team I was on last year, this team is actually good. We're playing in the A league (there's an A and a B) and the team we beat was supposed to be pretty decent. It was a really good game. Though, as is becoming routine, I managed to get myself hurt again :p Going for a frisbee in the endzone I got taken out by a guy...his knee, shoulder, or somthing crashed into my thigh and knocked me over--now I have a nasty charlie-horse in my left thigh. I'm becoming a bit used to feeling physically hurt, lol.

So, in the midst of being busy, I've also been thinking about a lot of things. A lot of things that are just creating an unrest in my mind. So, I finally took it all to God and am so far feeling peaceful again (go Philippians 4!). I also read some beautiful Psalms that I think you should all check out. Psalm 80, and Psalm 107.

Sometimes it's best to stop what you're doing and step before the presence of God for a bit...in fact in needs to become more of a habit.




Me at a Biola soccer match with some friends.

Chuggga Chugga Choo Choo!

Just getting along like a train down here.

School has taken off and I'm back in business.

Last week I spent a lot of time writing an article for The Chimes--it was probably one of the hardest articles I've ever had to write. It was about a lawsuit Biola is filing against Bank of America. There was a lot of technical language involved, and not a lot of people in Biola's administration wanted to talk about it.
But I got it finished, and I think it turned out pretty good (front page).

I started catering again this week. First shift was a 7 hour one (gasp). But hey, it's a pretty good job and I have a pretty good time while working--also get to practice my spanish a lot since many of the workers are spanish speakers.

Been doing a lot of reading in Genesis lately. For my Old Testament class we have to read through it and do an assignment on it. It's funny, I don't think I've ever spent a lot of time reading thoroughly through Genesis, so doing it now has been really enjoyable. The history is fascinating in the book, and it just is so cool to see how God worked through Abraham--a seemingly random figure in the ancient world.

Today my church repainted our sanctuary. I came early in the morning to help out--I was covered in paint by the end, haha. It was fun, we actually had quite a few people show up. And for a bonus, we got free lunch--pizza!

Continuing to chug along :)

--mjf

Back to business

Ahh, yes, my blog.

Well, hey, summer was awesome. I'm not going to even try to tell you all everything that happened, I'll just give you a summary. I was at a summer camp called Camp Tadmor, which is located in eastern Oregon. I was a camp counselor, so I was responsible for about 10 kids each week.

Let me just say, it is amazing how God can work through your weakness. It was a very tiring job. To do the same routine for 8 weeks can ring on being monotonous--it was not always easy to be energetic. But you know what, as I was honest to God about my weaknesses and just stepped out in faith, doing the best I could, He provided. Even in my lowest of times he brought kids in my cabin to Him.

I remember one particualr occasion: a bunch of high school freshmen really broke down and confessed some of their problems to me. I prayed with each of them. One of them said how glad he was that I was there--now keep in mind, this was one of my lowest weeks of the summer in terms of energy and confidence level. I could only shake my head and smile, "God, I didn't do any of this." It truly is a blessing to be used by God.

Okay, well, now I am back at Biola--I'm almost a full week in. I got an Old Testament class, a swimming class, Geology, a reporting class, spanish, and I am the managing editor for our student magazine, The Point. All my classes seem to quite large--my Old Testament class almost has 200 people!!

But I really think my classes will be awesome. I just got back from my first reporting class and I am really looking forward to it. I was hanging on the professor's every word and my classmates are mostly serious journalism students that I know.

Working for the magazine will definitely be a new experience for me. So far I have enjoyed it, but it definitely is different than newspaper. It's funny, I actually am the only male on staff, haha--so that's kind of an interesting dynamic. It's also kind of a plus that one of the other editors happens to be...well, heh, one of the most amazing, interesting, and Godly girls I've ever met...and definitely not bad on the eyes, if you catch my meaning.

...Please, don't harass me about saying that--the openness I have with my audience is not a guarantee--more like a conditional privilege you all get to enjoy :)

....

No, I'm not really conceited, I just know how the Willhite side (yes, that means you too, mom) can be about harrassing.

So, yeah, I'm really enjoying life with my roommate. Him and I really get along well and have pretty similar preferences. The rest of my floor is also really cool--a lot of new guys, but still awesome.

So, I'm done writing--I'm a bit tired. Keep me in your prayers. I want to make sure I don't get torn apart by my work--there's a lot of different parties vying for my attention right now, and y'all know how I hate to disappoint.

--mjf

Back Home

So, I am home. Still not certain what I'm doing for work. There just has been some complications...don't really want to get into it right now.

But anyways, it's bit frusturating to get home only to have to help my family move...but hey, what can you do? I supppose I'm just worn out from moving stuff...I had a load of stuff back at Biola I had to move as well.

I'm sure I'll see you all around.

Finals? Hahaha! What are finals?

Actually, they're kind of important...actually really important. And it's kind of hard when you're worrying about what job you're going to have over the summer at the same time--and on top of that figuring out how you're going to move all your stuff out of your room.

That's kind of my dillema right now. So pray for me, cause it's kind of crazy right now.

But anyways, here's some great pictures of me not doing finals these past few weeks.



At my dorm's traditional end of the year toga ceremony. I was posing for some pics and one of my good friends came up and pretended like I was some great Greek hero or something, haha




Totally chill at Huntington Beach...I was a pizza place with some people from EagleVision.



At the journalism banquet. Stephen Pardini (friend from EagleVision), Me, Brittany McComb, and Jessica Oh. Yep, we had a nice table.



Me and some friends and the Crystal Cathedral...nice architecture, bad/heretical teaching, haha.