Sometimes I wonder what the point of certain things are. I spent 36 hours working on a bibliography I don’t find at all interesting. I simply did it for class for a degree for something I really don’t enjoy much. Go figure.

Sometimes I get down about all my friends getting married and here I am still single. I shouldn’t feel that way. I am overjoyed at their blessing, and I know the Lord will bring me a wife in His timing. My desire is to be married though. I think dads don’t like me or something. Not that any of them have ever tried to get to know me.

I am down to one paper, one portfolio, three tests, and a whole bunch of grading.

About the most productive thing I can say today is that I want to get married. I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but I want it to. I have a problem with lusting for marriage and especially children. I was in Wal-Mart today buying a file cabinet, and I saw a little child, and I was reminded of how much I want to have children. Not that I really forgot but its not on my mind when I am sitting at home with Thomas.

I wonder wonder wonder about my future. I am so glad that, as Robert Browning wrote, “God’s in His Heaven, all’s right with the world!”

I found this article interesting though I don’t agree with all of it. A Catholic Critique of Courtship

If anyone actually is still reading this…email me…lol…I want to hear from you!

Has it really been five days since I last posted? My mom came into town for Thanksgiving. She just showed up at my front door. It was good to see mom. She’ll be in town til Sunday I guess. I scanned my pictures from the Trinity Family Advance. Check em out. I have quite a bit of work to do in order to finish my Milton paper by Monday and the 100 item anotated bibliography with bibliographic essay by Wednesday. I am continuing to procrastinate by being online here. Oh and today is my good friend Heidi’s birthday.

So next semester I am taking 17th Century Literature, Technical Writing, Linguistics, and Literary Criticism. I am hoping to use 17th Century as an outlet to study the Book of Common Prayer and Lancelot Andrewes and Linguistics for an escapade into speech act theory. I need to get some sleep. I’m nearly famous.

Nothing really exciting going on today ‘cept I bought “The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov.” I went to a wedding today. My friend Aleta married Aaron Eley. The wedding was nice and the reception was wonderful. I danced my little heart out.

I am surprised to find out more people read this blog than I originally thought. I need to get blogback or something along those lines so others can respond to my messages. I’d really like to see who reads this. Hey Israel, to continue our conversation on covenant apostasy, read this.

I just recently got back from the Trinity Family Advance in Valparaiso, FL. The speakers were Doug Wilson, Steve Wilkins (my pastor), and Randy Booth (one of my Dabney professors). Pastor Booth spoke on a Biblical view of Celebration, and Pastor Wilkins spoke on Biblical hospitality. Pastor Wilson spoke on a hodgepodge of things from the objectivity of the covenant to what men and women want. His final lecture was the best in my opinion. That was on the whole “men want respect” and women want to be loved” subject. Booweee it was good (redneck talk). I really enjoyed hanging out with Pastor Wilson and asking him many questions. I stayed in the same condo with him for part of the time so that helped afford me the opportunity to bug him.

Pastor Wilkins also said something that really stuck with me. He said, “An untroubled life is a useless life.” Isn’t that the truth? Troubles are such a joy, and I am glad God has given me so many. I know that God has used my troubles to sanctify me and grow me faster than many others that have been studying the Word longer than I have.

But the conference was not all lectures. I doubled my alcohol intake for the semester in one short weekend. I spent time talking with friends that I have not seen in a long time. I got to know better others that I have not had the chance to really get to know…like Jennie Jones and Drew Lancaster. I thank God that He has given me the opportunity to meet and get to know so many godly Christian people.

I also got to see some of my friends that I knew well already. Israel Contreras and I stayed up til 2:30 one morning discussing the salvific nature of the covenant. Then we stayed up another hour as Israel kept trying to prove he wasn’t a gnostic I love that guy lol. He’s not really a gnostic, but I love to give him a hard time about it.

I did spend some time on the beach. I think I will forever be picking sand out of my skin. As one who grew up in an athletic climate, I am not afraid of competition. That means…I was diving in the sand a lot. I even did my award winning performance as a beached whale.

We had a ball. I went. I danced three dances. One with Rachel Booth and two with Emily beck, my roommate’s girlfriend.

I bought a lot of books this weekend. If only I had the time to read them!

I need to catch up on sleep.

I leave in about seven hours to go to Destin, FL for the Trinity Family Advance. I will be back next Tuesday.

I don’t have much to say today. I did get to have a conversation in German this weekend. While the big Muslim craze is still going on, here’s a link. Answering Islam

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

This passage of Scripture is quoted in Chariots of Fire. Athletes are often weary. I know when I played football or wrestled, the sports would simply wear me out. Yet that sense of being worn out, of being beaten down and left for dead…that was what it was all about. So it is with the Christian life. We are beaten down and trampled on by the world. Yet as the world rolls over us, we can say with joy “Thank you LORD!” And when we know we have no strength in us, the LORD renews our strength. Each Sunday the LORD renews his covenant with us. He meets with us. We confess our sins and He absolves. He consecrates us by His Word and communes with us in the LORD’s supper. This might be something nice to glance us as a short reminder of what it means to renew the covenant each week.

I am going to bed tired. This week has been long and tiring. Tomorrow is the LORD’s day.