traversingfool

12:57 am:

You Have A Type B Personality

B You're as laid back as they come... Your baseline mood is calm and level headed Creativity and philosophy tend to be your forte Like a natural sedative, you have a soothing effect on people Friends and family often turn to you first with their problems You have the personality to be a spiritual or psychological guru

Is this true of me? Does anyone even read this anymore?

Most of my thoughts are going on Xanga now. Check it out.

06:56 pm: Not much to say, really. I'm bogged down with make-up work, but struggling mightily for the motivation to do it. Procrastination isn't a good thing, really.

In other news, Jessica goes back to school Wednesday. I'm very happy for her, because before this I thought she'd be sitting around her house all semester. How terrible would that be? So I think she'll be a whole lot happier now, which is great. Also, she won't fall behind by missing a semester. She of course has a lot of make-up work to do as well, but hey, she has a broken foot. Not like she's going anywhere for a while. (I'm just kidding, by the way. I feel terrible for her, I really do.)

In other news, I'm going to the library now to do some research for a big paper. Wish me luck. Oh, and let me know if any of you kids find this funny.

Peace out. Love-in.

12:07 pm: So I guess it's been a while...

Hey all. For those of you who may not know (I don't know how that might be) here's the gritty details. A little more than two weeks ago, I was in a serious car wreck. My girlfriend Jessica and I were driving from Sevierville to Knoxville and were hit head-on by a kid who basically was an idiot. Anyway, Jessica broke both her feet, the right one quite severely, and I apparently hit my steering wheel with my face. I broke most of my facial bones, yet my eyes and teeth are just fine. Two days after the wreck, I had an extensive surgery to repair the damage. The surgeons cut me across the head, from ear to ear, and peeled down the skin of my face so they could fix me. I gained a little metal, since I now have several titanium plates in my face. Kinda cool, hope I set off metal detectors now. But anyway, I also lost my sense of smell for the most part, just way too much damage to my olfactory nerves. Doctors say it most likely won't come back. That will be interesting getting used to. I still have some taste, but I definitely think it's been affected. Nothing tastes as good as it used to. Oh well, things could definitely be worse, so I have nothing to complain about. I'm back at school now, believe it or not, and hoping to get going with classes again. I definitely don't have the energy I used to (healing really takes it out of you) but hopefully I can make it through my classes without wearing out too much. Before the wreck I was planning on getting a job, but I doubt that will be happening now. That's ok, but it does mean I most likely won't get a car any time soon. Ah, well.

I think the coolest thing about the last two weeks has been the incredible support I've received from everyone. People I know, and tons of people I don't, have been praying for me and Jessica and just doing amazing things to show their concern. It's incredible the love and caring I've seen. So anyone who reads this who was a part of that, thank you so much. You don't know what it means to me and how much your support and prayers have done to speed my recovery. I've been through some crazy stuff, but God's been amazing and truly faithful to me. I know He has some awesome plans for me, and I can't wait to see what they are.

Peace and love to all.

05:29 pm: I'm at home right now. Jessica is here too, visiting and meeting the family. I think she's having a good time. The family likes her, I know. I like her, I know :-). Um, and that's it. See you all soon. Or something.

Peace...oh, and love, too.

06:25 pm: I don't really have anything to say. Usually I don't like doing a nonsense post like this, but I'm bored and feel like I needed to update. Though I doubt anyone will really read it for a while. Yes.

Today is my sister Krista's birthday. She's 19. I am sufficiently old.

We also opened the family presents today. So yes, it is also Christmas. Krista was mad. It was enjoyable, the present opening. I got a few things, but nothing stupendous. A football, a soccer ball, a good pocket knife, a couple dvd's, a sweet poster of Monument Valley, some wool socks, a couple books, um...and some other stuff. Kaylea got me a couple Taco Bell gift certificates. Pretty smart.

It snowed rediculous amounts yesterday. I of course had to drive home through it. Not enjoyable in the least. It took me 6 hours to drive 175 miles. It usually takes three. Took a whole hour to get through Louisville. Of course the trip was made worse by the fact that I had to leave Jessica, and this after I thought I would get to spend another evening with her. Ah, well. I'm going back over New Year's. I like Kentucky a lot now.

The snow is beautiful. If my internet connection was faster here I would post some pictures. But it's really slow, so I won't. Sorry. But we have about 15 inches on the ground outside. Not a whole lot inside. We like it that way.

Alright, I really should stop, I'm lowering the intelligence level of my journal more and more every moment.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a
Late Night with Conan O'Brien!

02:43 pm: Yesterday was my last official day of interning at WCCC. I was going to say it's a bittersweet ending. But there's really nothing sweet about it at all. I don't want to leave. And it's not just Jessica, although she's a huge part of the reason. In the past two months or so I have grown and changed so much, I'm not the same person I was before. I have a focus and a purpose that I couldn't find in October. And while in the back of my mind I know that staying here at Woodford is definitely the wrong thing to do, I'm still not sure that I want to move on. These people, this town, this youth ministry, this girl-they've all become such a huge part of my life. It's all I've known for six months! How do you leave something like that? Yet I know I must; at least I can come back to visit.

Yesterday there was a sort of going-away party for me before our Sunday night high school program. Several people got up and related memories of me, or talked about what I'd meant to them and their families and the youth ministry and the church. Many, many more talked with me individually and said the same thing. It was so uplifting, yet so humbling, to hear all these great people talk about the impact I'd been priviledged to make on their lives. I thank God for the blessing this has been to me, for the friendships I've made and the way they have touched my life. I know that I will never be able to forget this place and the people who make it so special. I am so thankful to this church for the opportunity given me to work with them. They've allowed me to learn, grow, make a lot of mistakes, and share some great moments with them. I don't know if I can imagine a better group of people to spend six months of my life with.

I pray I've been able to make a fraction of the impact on them that they've had on me. God has truly worked here.

04:29 am: Jessica likes me a lot!! I knew that girl was a smart one :-D

04:28 pm: Right now, at this very moment, I want to break something valuable. To just really destroy something that a person may need later, but then won't be able to use it because, oh, I broke it.

I'd also like to punch someone in the face, just to see what it feels like. Doesn't matter who. Maybe I need a more constructive way to vent frustration. Any ideas?

10:53 am: "The natural life is not sinful; we must be apostatized from sin, have nothing to do with sin in any shape or form...It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and self-assertiveness, and this is where the battle must be fought. It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural standpoint that keep us back from God's best." -O.C.

11:37 am: I have much to do and nowhere quiet in which to do it. This makes me not want to do anything.

The church is currently INSANE (by church I of course mean my employer for 6 more days, WCCC). Though now that I think about it, the Church is pretty insane right now as well, but that's another post for another day. Maybe.

WCCC is insane because there is simply so much going on. Right now a gaggle of small children is uncharacteristically making much bothersome noise right outside the door of my current workspace. Well at least it seems like they're right outside. Two young teachers from the school just decided they needed to come in and use the youth cafe for their lunchroom. And talk really loudly throughout. And there are a multitude of people walking around working on the Bethlehem sets. I suppose I could help them, but as mentioned before I have much to do. Yet I sit here posting about, well, nothing really.

Ok, Bethlehem. I'm a Roman soldier in a sort of walk-through living Nativity for the next 4 nights. **goodness the children just got louder** Will it be fun? Perhaps, though I'm sure there will come many instances when I'll wish I was doing something else. I plan to become a bit more rowdy than they really want me to be, because come on, I can. So that may be fun, but again, I'm not sure.

I'm being too negative, but I'm sure it's because I have so much to do, I'm leaving so soon, and I really don't want to leave or do work. But all good things come to an end, and I really must finish my responsibilities, both for Woodford and for Johnson.

Besides, it's not like I won't be coming back to visit.