Matters of Prayer

So over the last few months i've felt very boring, nothing has changed in my job. still at atarbucks, still at fox, still in birmingham. And i was really lamenting the fact that there was nothing particularly interesting going on in my life. Well Friday was one of the most interesting days i've had in a long time, and i'm coming before you guys now, because one matter is particular could really use your prayer. I received a call from my sister Friday morning, to inform me that her son had been taken away from her by DHR (child protective services... i don;t really know what it stands for that's just what they do)
To explain more clearly, my sister married Eric over 2 years ago. Eric had previously had a relationship with another girl, with which he had a child. Both of them were pretty messes up at the time (on drugs, things of that sort) and the mother actually still is kinda messed up... but that is a whole different story. Anyways Eric had partial custody of Ashton (his son) until he was 3. Then the mother's parents filed something through court to get full custody. Eric decided to fight rather than settle, and get to see his son only every other weekend. Basically because the grandparents have lots of money, the trial took 3 years to complete, (during which time Eric had no custody rights at all, so he basically missed 3 years of his son's life) and finally ended with Eric, and my sister (whom he had married now) getting full custody, and the mother getting partial custody.
A lot of allegations were raised by the grandparents during the trial, and one of them was that Ashton's cousin Austin (who was 6 at the time) had sexually abused Ashton. So while my sister and eric had full custody they had to monitor Ashton at all times he might be with Austin.
DHR is now claiming that they didn't monitor Ashton enough, and thus took him away giving custody right back to the mother, and they're beginning a new trial.
On Monday they're goign to have a pretrial to determine what custody will be like until the trial starts again... I would really appreciate your prayers for this matter. The mother and grandparents are not Christians, don't go to church, and don't encourage Ashton spiritually either. If they don;t get any custody again, Eric and Rachael will very likely settle, because Eric has said he can't spend another year (at least) without seeing his son.
It's an awful situation, and if you could be praying for the judges decision on Monday, and that God's will would be revealed through this trial, and that this second trial would not be as long or cost as much.
My second matter of prayer is much happier. My brother Matthew, and his wife Becca are going to have their first child. I was informed by my brother on Friday night. They're very excited, as am i. Now i will be an uncle twice over, and thrice if you count Ashton.
I love you all, and look forward to our next meeting. Thank you for your prayers, and to everyone who writes on this blog, thanks for updating me on your life. I really love hearing about what is going on in each of your lives.
This post has been rather long for me.... THE END

Update of the Life variety:

Well . . . I had THE meeting with my boss today, to tell him I was leaving, and it went GREAT. Thanks so much to all of you who were praying for me. I was actually a little shocked at how well it went. He was totally happy and supportive, even optimistic. Not a negative word or vibe in the bunch. Excellent, it feels great to be able to talk openly about it.

Speaking of talking openly, those of you who are not in the immediate Birmingham-o-sphere may be a little lost. I've had to keep it hush hush, because, believe it or not phantom blog readers/coworkers have been known to wonder on over here from time to time, but in May I'll be leaving my current job to teach Español at Cornerstone school in Woodlawn. I'm super excited, and a little terrified/totally overwhelmed. It will be wonderful.

SO, I just wanted to let you guys know. 

Because you are awesome.

Peace!

Quotes

I like quotes. Here are some!

"The wisdom of the years is confusing. Only the wisdom of eternity is edifying." Soren Kierkegaard.

"Every time a man knocks on the door of a brothel he is looking for God." G. K. Chesterson

"Men are idol factories." John Calvin

"Are all who call themselves Christian, Christian?" Soren Kierkegaard

"The Fall is an offense to human reason, but once accepted, it makes perfect sense of the human condition."Blaise Pascal

"Study with your Bible in one hand and your newspaper in the other." Karl Barth

"Love God, and do what you want." St. Augustine

"He whom God loveth, He beateth the hell out of." Jamie Buckingham

One day St. Francis was hoeing his garden. Someone asked, "Francis, if you knew Christ was coming tomorrow what would you do?" He said, "I would finish hoeing my garden."

After an amazing violin performance a man said to the violinist, "That gave me goose bumps. It must give you a lot of joy to play like that." She said innocently, "Yes, sometimes I get goose bumps myself."

"Where is the joy?" Jack Miller

"Our problem is not that we desire too much but too little." C. S. Lewis

"Either these are not the gospels or we are not Christians." (I think) Henry VIII's biographer was given the gospels, and said this upon returning them to their owner.

"I believe the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." Blaise Pascal

"All men seek happiness. There are no exceptions.... This is the motive of every act of every man, including those who go and hang themselves." Blaise Pascal

"Man's search for meaning is the chief motivation of his life." Victor Frankl

"A responsible round does not go too short or too far." An artillery axiom

"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." African proverb

"In 40 years I have not spent 15 minutes without thinking of Jesus." Charles Spurgeon

"Sticking to one woman is a small price to pay for so much as having seen one woman." G. K. Chesterson

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." Former Senator Alan Simpson

"Every now and then go away -- even briefly, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power." Leonardo da Vinci

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." Aldous Huxley

"It takes a lot of truth to float an error." Charles MacKenzie

"I heard in American there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I found the gold but I lost the rainbow." wealthy American immigrant

"On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to wait…and waiting, died." George W. Cecil, 1923

"As a Jew, I have had nothing but the greatest and most profound respect for Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was, after all, Jewish -- born Jewish, died Jewish. I think Jesus Christ was the greatest single individual of both millenniums and He had more profound effect on mankind than any individual ever born. If there's one person in history I would like to interview, it would be Jesus." Larry King

T. S. Elliot, "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

J.C. Ryle, "He must dig down very low if he would build high."

"One of the hardest things in the world is to stop being the prodigal son without turning into the elder brother." John Ortberg

"Have you ever noticed how many men in the Bible failed in the second half of life? Our enemy is so cunning that he will wait forty or even fifty years to set a trap." Joe Aldrich

"Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried." G. K. Chesterton

"We ought to be so on fire for Jesus that if a mosquito bit us on the hand, it would fly away singing, 'There's power in the blood!'" Alvin Reid

"If we knew we were to die at twelve o'clock tomorrow night, would we have to step up our evangelistic program, or could we in all good conscience carry on just as we are?" Ray Comfort

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those over 35, there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life." Carl Jung

"Your system is perfectly designed to produce the result you are getting." Fredrick Taylor, the father of Scientific Management

"Jesus brought forth men's greatest efforts by the promise of obstacles not rewards." Bruce Barton

"I can find ten more who will die for the Bible for every one who will actually read it." Charles Spurgeon

"It will be gone before you know it. The fingerprints on the wall appear higher and higher. Then, suddenly, they disappear." Dorothy Euslin

"As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." Andrew Carnegie

"It is rightly called the deceitfulness of sin because it deceives under the appearance of good. This phrase 'deceitfulness of sin' ought to be understood in a much wider sense, so that the term includes even one's own righteousness and wisdom. For more than anything else one's own righteousness and wisdom deceive one and work against faith in Christ, since we love the flesh and the sensations of the flesh and also riches and possessions, but we love nothing more ardently than our own feelings, judgment, purpose, and will, especially when they seem to be good." Martin Luther, commenting on Hebrews 3:13

"Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought forms of that setting." Francis Schaeffer

"One of the greatest reasons people cannot mobilize themselves is that they try to accomplish great things. Most worthwhile achievements are the result of many little things done in a single direction." Nido Quebin

"You cannot discover new lands unless you leave shore for a very long time." Andre Gide

"Many Christians estimate difficulties in light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on his power and presence being with them." Hudson Taylor

"God's work done God's way will not lack God's supply."

"God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials." J. K. Gressett

"Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." William Carey, cobbler, 1792, founder of mission movement

Reflectito

Hey friends, you awesome group of people. Seriously everywhere I go where a photo of us pops up on my computer or something, people just wonder aloud about how cool this group seems. I must agree.

So I'm in DC, and I've been entertaining (aka freaking out over) the temptations of reuniting with those of you guys still in the Ham. Sometime last fall at a faculty workday we were reflecting, in writing, a bit from My Utmost for His Highest (1/26), and I just found it today under stacks of stacks of paper. What struck me about it is the remarkable extent to which it still reflects the way that I'm thinking through this situation. It's not particularly wise, thought out, or informed. I just had a feeling that I ought to share it with you guys, if for no other reason than to say something on here every now and then, a little reminding northern whisper. So:

"Many of us refuse to grow where we are put; consequently we take root nowhere."

This can't have been written in a day before options and from a man unacquainted with transition. And am I to feel "put" here, in NoVA/DC, to take root and grow? Or is this a nursery on the way to some better, more suitable spot, a planter in a living room, a forest in the South, a park in the city, a meadow near a brook.

But what right does a tree have to question where the seed that grew it was scattered? Well I don't know but that this "planting" here is a product of options, of consumerism applied to circumstance, of plotting my own course. So then where is Birmingham? Where is that communal root of such beauty, joy, and service (though not devoid of the plain, the dull, the selfish, and the complacent)?

Maybe at the end of it all, simplicity looks like working without worrying. It isn't the opposite of options, maybe; but it could be opposed to letting the worry over options take control, that tightness in the countenance, the burden of freedom.



So I love yall, and hope you're doing well. I'm sure we'll find some other random excuse to get together for awesomeness before too long. Until then, I miss you.

In following with previous conversations of previous conversations that have led to thoughts of music and songs and albums and concerts and stand up comedy, here are a few things close to my heart. I made two lists, one is of my favorite albums from the college days and best concerts, ever. Hopefully this link works: https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd6mctth_1dd55n3cv&hl=en

The next is the list of my favorite songs from the last year. A weird list because most of these songs are usually enjoyed in the context of the full album. This list is titled (intothecave) and put together in a way that represents the fact that most of my music listening this last year has been while logging serious hours studying. A lot of slow easy stuff and for some reason old school hip hop works best.

You can sample the list here (but some songs are not included):

SeeqPod - Playable Search

or download the files here:
http://drop.io/intothecave

i hope this music reaches down and gives a gentle touch to some of you...

Ethiopian Happenings...

Hey family! A short anecdote about on the happenings in my life: this past week I was invited to teach a 9^th grade civics class their unit on HIV/AIDS. Sounded like a good idea. Turns out that it was more like a co-ed 9^th grade health class, which is awkward enough when you’re a student. Much worse as the teacher. Anyway, the teacher and I get through the lesson, which is fine, and then I open it up for questions. Most questions are fairly typical: can I get HIV from sweat, what if someone bleeds all over my food and then I eat it (why the heck you would continue eating…?), etc. Then one kid stands up and claims that a nurse once told him that, because he is young and strong (no way he clears 5 feet and weighs maybe 70lbs), his bodily fluids can fight off the HIV virus. He would like to know if this is true. I was tempted to tell him, “yes, in fact. There are little men inside of you with laser guns, poised and ready to fight at a moments notice. If only everyone knew this, HIV wouldn’t be the problem it is today.”

Really the point of this post is to make a request… I’ve been working for awhile on setting up a resource center for students in Finote Selam. We finally got computers donated, set up, and I’m starting to give the teachers training this week. We’re hoping by the next school year that the students will be able to get training too. Now I’m looking for books. Since many of you are at educational institutions, I was wondering if you could keep an eye out? You know how sometimes schools get rid of old books when they update their curriculum? Maybe if that was happening at your school and the old books didn’t have anywhere to go? Or if there were just piles of books laying around with no one using them… we aren’t picky. Any grade, any subject. All their classes are taught in English, which is convenient. If not, no big deal… just thought I’d ask!

Posts lately have been great- you guys are hilarious. Miss you all! Love!

Shmeat

It has come to attention as of late that some members of our illustrious group of sojourners, have decided to participate in a great heresy known as vegetarianism. although we have all been tempted by the large veggie monster at one time or another (i for one once firmly devoted myself to vegetarianism between lunch and dinner) Thankfully Stephen Colbert has the perfect solution to this problem...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/63233/the-colbert-report-world-of-nahlej---shmeat

Hey guys . . .

THIS is what I want to do for my birthday.

BLT! BLT!

BMT! BMT!

Hi friends! Just a quick post about my life. I'm in this internship thing at UAB which has been pretty freakin' awesome actually. It comes to and end in May so I thought I should get on the ball and start interviewing at a few places to secure a job in this crazy 'conomy. Sooo, I interviewed last week on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit (this means I will mostly have patients with leukemias and lymphomas...i.e. cancer) and found out today that I got the job! Wahoo! I start WAY sooner than I thought....ehem, Monday?!? Anyhow, thanks to those of you here in the Ham who knew about my prospects and encouraged me to go to the job fair when I really didn't need to because I was already a UAB employee. Thanks for the encouragement and prayers. I'm pumped! It's a wonderful feeling to love your job!

Also, I think one day I will write a short story about the different types of blood cells with each one of our friends representing a different type of cell based on personality and daily function. This story will be heavily influenced by Rudyard Kipling's writing style (Jungle Book, people) and complete with illustrations. Just and idea that I have been throwing around in my head that edges closer to reality when I'm around Brian Sharon...he brings out my inner nerd. That's all.

Love!

Hipster Handbook: Glossary

Just in case there was any confusion about whether ANY of us could be classified as "hipsters," here's an excerpt of the glossary of hipsterese (a language which neither you, nor  I, speak) found on NPR.

bronson - beer
sentence: "I drank a sixer of bronsons last night while watching the game."
Origin: Watching Charles Bronson movies while drinking beer is deck. The term spawned from this ritual.

bust a moby - to dance
sentence: "Let's go to the Tunnel and bust a moby."
"Did you see her moves at the party last night? She really knows how to bust a moby."

chipper - a woman who's easy
sentence: "She's a real chipper and will sleep with anyone after one bronson."

clothesline - the gossip that is on the scene
sentence: "Yo, I heard on the clothesline that she is sleeping with Billy. She is such a chipper."

cronkite - boy
sentence: "Have you seen Anne's new cronkite? She met him at the cafe and he is such a frado."

deck - a key word for most Hipsters, similar in meaning to the antiquated fresh. To be deck is to be up on the latest trends, cutting edge, and/or hip.
sentence: "That tassel we met at the gallery opening sure looked deck in her cowboy boots."
" Have you checked out the new Jonathan Lethem book? It's deck."


fin - the opposite of deck, similar to outdated terms like "wack" and "lame." Something that is fin is bad or undesirable.
sentence: "How can you like that Vin Diesel movie? Every film he's ever starred in has been fin."
"My date with Larry was so fin. He took me to Applebee's and ordered cheese fries as an appetizer."

frado - an ugly guy who thinks he's good-looking
sentence: "Bill thinks all the girls love him, but they all know he's a frado."

the frigidaire - the cold shoulder
sentence: "I don't know what her problem is, but she gives me the frigidaire every time I see her."
jerry - a stoner or hippie
sentence: My pits smell ishtar. I feel like a total jerry.

juicer - a ladies' man. An individual who has undeniable sex appeal.
sentence: "I wish he would ask me out, he's such a juicer."

jug - a 40 ounce bottle of domestic beer.
sentence: "Tassels respect me. I can drink a whole jug and still bust a mean moby."

kale - money
sentence: "Yo Kim, can you slide me some kale? I'm still waiting for my mom to send rent."

kidsman - one who rounds up children to educate them in thievery. (Oops-this is Victorian slang, not Hipster slang)

midtown - uncultured or unhip
sentence: "He's never heard of Spike Jonze. He's so midtown."

piece - cell phone
sentence: "John is such a nerd. He doesn't even have a piece."
"I must have been on the subway, my piece didn't ring."

shitter - someone who constantly looks like he/she is taking a shit.
sentence: "Dude, Jake is such a shitter."

tassel - girl
sentence: "Jim is definitely a frado, but somehow he gets a new tassel every night."

I like the idea of it more than I actually like it.

Hey guys I know that I am always posting on these blogs and whining about what's going on in my life but here I go again. I have been struggling lately, because i feel like I am being called to really commit to this neighborhood, and have been given the oppurtunity to buy a house here that would be great for me, and a perfect beginner house. However, i am going to be jobless and need to get a job before I can pay for the house. i have interviewed for a job but its looking iffy and its just a hard job market to be out looking for a job in. I feel like God is teaching me to be patient, and that he has a plan i just need to be faithful and trust in him, but its just hard and frustrating at times. So anyways just wanted to catch ya'll up on my life. I love all of you guys and misses ya'll i am blessed to know you and count you as my friends. Points if you know what movie the title of my post comes from.

Little Bundles of Joy Aren't the Only Things Storks Deliver

Dear friends,

Take a close look at this photo. This guy (or one of his friends; it's hard to be sure) pooped on me today. On my head ... all over me, actually. It was very public. I had no tissues.

It's hard to describe the sensation, but I would say it was reminiscent of the slimings on the Nickelodeon hit show You Can't Do That on Television. Except the Nickelodeon slime was supposedly edible and delicious, and I seriously doubt that my warm, white and sticky brand of slime was anything but.

Words of sympathy, condolence and gifts of intense clarifying shampoo would be appreciated.

Manglish Answers

1. Have you ever seen someone's bonnet (hood) fly up while they were driving down the road?

2. My boots (cleats) are in the boot (trunk). (double whammy)

3. Nobody wants to be the lamppost (third wheel...this one might be my favorite phrase).

4. Does anybody have a plaster? (band-aid...have I told you about the time my housemate and I got into a fight about this one? She cut her finger and wanted a plaster; I had no clue what a plaster was but offered a band-aid. She insisted she didn't want a band-aid until she saw it and exclaimed, "That's a plaster!" Oh what fun it is to live with a national!)

5. Can I follow (ride in your car) you to church? This one can initially be confusing as you wait in your car for someone to pull up behind you; at the same time they're waiting on you to pick them up somewhere...

6. I'm gonna make a move (leave) first. I like your definition better, Ryan! I'm not sure why they say this, but they feel the urge to announce when they're leaving by "making a move".

7. I had to use my torchlight (flashlight) today. I had to control my laughter the first time I heard my housemate say that one. Then again, I'm sure she laughs at me: I wear my headlamp every chance I get!)

8. Ugh, my computer hanged (froze) again!
9. I need to go to the toilet. (a freebie) They never say bathroom or restroom here. It's always toilet. It took me a while to get used to saying toilet. It just sounds impolite to me. One day at a Frisbee match I wanted to use the public toilet, which usually costs money at parks and fields. The sign said 0.20 cents-toilet, 0.50 cents-bathroom. When I asked the lady what the difference was she looked at me like I was an idiot. Toilet is obvious; bathroom is literally where you take a bath...except there are no baths here. I guess it should really say showerroom.

10. My computer's spoiled already. (already broken- I don't know if I can adequately describe the way they use already. Maybe they just over use it already until the word appears in almost every other sentence.)

11. I banged (hit) the car! (I think this is my housemate's favorite word!)

Good job, David! You got most of them right! I'm trying to think if there are any other exciting things to report from over here. Oh, I found 2 different cockroaches on me yesterday within an hour of each other! One was in my hair and quickly scurried away. A little while later I felt something in my shirt and after a quick jump, shook my shirt. When nothing scurried out I thought I was just being paranoid. And then 4 seconds later I felt it again. I shook the shirt again. Nothing. I'm in a shopping mall. I frantically RUN to the bathroom, slam the stall door closed, throw my shirt off and give it one hard shake. The little clinger scurries to a corner of the stall. I officially don't like cockroaches.

That's all for now! Hope you're all well! If you don't get my monthly updates but want to (or if you've changed your email since I started sending updates) please let me know! Love and miss you all!