Revenge of the Waffle House

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past six years, you are fully aware George Lucas (aka "The Genious") has directed and released the first three chapters of the Star Wars saga (aka "The Most Awesomest Movie Saga Ever Created In Our Time").

Episode 3, titled Revenge of the Sith, came out last nite. The movie chronicles the last days of a good jedi named Anakin Skywalker and his slow decent into evil. Anakin is the Greek tragic hero through and through. He's like Oedipus - only he doesn't marry his mother.

Being the geek I am, I did in fact attend the midnight showing and I must say it was awesome. What was even more fun was what happened afterward. JO was hungy and not tired, so me and him hit up Waffle House. The rest of the crew ended up joining us.

Now you must understand, in Jacksonville at about 3am one's eating choices are limited to IHOP or Waffle House. IHOP has good food, but Waffle House always promises an adventure. Needless to say our night at Waffle House didn't disappoint. The events that took place there will only be known by the people who experienced them. As they say, "What happens at Waffle House stays at Waffle House." ;)

Friends are an important thing. I'm sure the previous statement isn't an awe-inspiring, eye-opening revelation, but it's true nonetheless. Value your friends. Spend time with them when you can. As morbid as the following may sound, the last time we see them could indeed be the last time we ever see them.

Anakin chased after power and more power. His priorities got confused and in the end (non-spoiler...don't worry keep reading!) it cost him his friends and the people who truly loved him - the greatest tragedy of them all.

The movie was great. A lesson was learned. Waffle House leaves me with another memory I couldn't get out of my mind even if I wanted to. Make the ones you love a priority and may the Force be with you. =)

God Wills It!

Life has been both fun and disappointing since returning here to good ole' Florida. Today my mom switched into her overkill-dramatic mode and is now not talking to me. The whole situation is so petty it's really not even worth writing about...so I won't.

If you're brave enough to ever walk into Hot Topic (a personal favorite store of mine) you'll notice they've been selling t-shirts with states on them with individual funny little slogans. Well, they've finally made one for Florida. It says, "Florida - It's like hell. Only hotter." It made me laugh. I saw Kingdom of Heaven this past weekend. Great movie. Any movie with a Lord of the Rings elf (Orlando Bloom) and a Star Wars jedi (Liam Neeson) is guaranteed to be awesome! The movie is about the Crusades - wars with Christians against Muslims over control of Jerusalem. The key phrase of the movie is the title of today's post.

Whenever an army wanted to do something, someone would simply chant, "God wills it!" In turn, the rest of the people would chant with the individual, and, as a result, justify anything they were going out to do. It was comical and sad all at the same time. Near the end Orlando Bloom is faced with a situation to which he declares, "God can do whatever He wills." It's truly a lesson learned.

With talking with teens and adults alike, I find that some truly want to do God's will but simply don't know exactly what that is for their life. Some people believe that God's will is like a combination lock safe connected to a lightning bolt - we must discover the secret combination just right, and, if we don't, we're jolted into ash. If you or someone you love finds themself in this situation remember this advice: "Do you want to know the will of God for your life? If so, I have the answer. To know God's will for your life live in God's will." Not exactly what some people would expect for an answer huh? Let me explain.

Throughout all of our life God has been watching us, protecting us, and even preparing us. Most would agree He's done a good job so far. Never once did God ever require us to have ALL the answers. In other words, live in God's will. Do what you know is right and have the faith that God will take care of the rest. We don't have to know everything. If we did, then we'd be God. =P

If you're faced with a decision be in prayer about it. Seek wise counsel. Measure up the choices with God's Word. These are things we as believers know full and well.

Let's just assume an indivdual truly sought God's will and totally missed the mark. They got all the signs wrong and this person really just blew it. Rest assured there is not a lightning bolt at the end of the tunnel. God is in the redeeming business. That individual wouldn't be the first, or last, to receive redemption and, if neccessary, forgiveness.

I'm sure this little rant/mini-sermon is going to raise eyebrows to anyone who reads it. Hopefully it encouraged some. Perhaps it made some think. And, most likely, it will be read by some seminary student and/or "Super-all knowing theologian" that will be more than happy to point out something I left out or did wrong. I go to Southwestern - I'm used to it =P
Either way, remember God's in control. Do what you know to be correct and leave the rest to Him. He's done a good job so far. Does anyone think He'll leave us out in the cold now?

It Is Finished! Or Did It Just Begin?

Hello out there to all my faithful readers. Yes, I know that I have taken almost an entire forever to write on this thing again, but when finals week is coming up and about three papers still left to write, things become hectic.

Luckily it's all finished. Having just completed my final final of the semester I am torn as to whether I should sleep (a verb I haven't accomplished in over two days), eat (a verb I simply love to do), or celebrate (a verb that begs to be acted upon after this grueling semester). This grueling semester is indeed my topic of the moment.

For those who are unaware, Hebrew is beyond the shadow of a doubt the thorn in my side. Yeah, yeah, I'm told Greek is worse - how that is I'm not all too sure - but for here and now Hebrew is the academic death of me. The Hebrew 2 final exam was yesterday. If you remember last semester, I studied for my Hebrew 1 final for over 14 hours...and failed! So here I am studying hard for Hebrew 2, and I am so worked up about this exam I cannot sleep. Futhermore, I am so worked up about this exam I get woozy and can't stop shaking. That's right, boys and girls, I had a panic attack! I never had one before, especially over a test no less. I was about to give up all hope. Then I checked my mail box. I'm terrible with checking my mail on a regular basis. So terrible in fact that I did not check it for almost a whole week. I only had one card. It was from Miss Arlene.

Miss Arlene knew me when I was still little. She's been attending my church just about as long as I have. When I left for seminary, she told me she'd write me. Without fail I get a card or letter from her every month giving me words of encouragement, chronicling events I've missed back home, and informing me about the weather in Florida. I love her cards and letters. To this day I haven't thrown one of them away. They're all together in my desk. Her card put things into perspective.

Dude, I was freaking out over one exam. Let's assume I totally fail the exam. Does God love me less? No. Am I complete failure in life as the result of one exam grade? No. Will I be exiled from Southwestern? Well, all I can say that it wouldn't be on the account of the exam ;)

To make this meandering maze of a post come to some coherent close I leave you with this: Don't get too worked up over petty things like exams. As the phrase goes, "No worries." Smile, laugh, work hard, and, by all means, don't forget to breathe.