For some reason this topic has been on my mind all day. I keep thinking about her and she isn't my Mom. I keep day dreaming about this amazing woman, the best friend I'll ever have, the person who warms my heart with every look at her, whose name one day will be Mrs. Leather. Just the thought makes me have a smile not ear-to-ear but from wall-to-wall and I still don't think that adequately describes how I feel. I've heard how three generations of my family have met their spouses and it's all so romantic that my stomach just turns to butterflies thinking about it.
My great grandfather Wilson apparently was playing baseball with his friends back when he was around 19 or 20. He was outfield if memory serves. Then across the street he saw this gorgeous woman talking with her friends. He literally stopped playing in the middle of the game and ran over to talk to her. He then asked her out. About a year later he married my great grandmother. Just like that, he saw the woman he loved and did the most jerkish thing in guy culture by leaving while playing sports, and talked to a girl. I love it.
Then it's my Grandfather Leather. He worked for AT&T Bell on the actual wires by climbing up telephone poles. Well one day he was up working on one of these poles and just happened to look into the building. It also happened to be an AT&T building. Through the window he saw the woman, who I've seen pictures of and she was beautiful, and he either called her from the pole or went and found her. I don't really care which answer it is because both are fantastic. Her name was Dorthy Wilson and he started to date her. Today they have 4 children and 4 grand kids and will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in June. This is the first romantic story I know of, about Mrs. Leather.
Then comes the story of my parents. Neither have told me the full story and I think that makes it slightly more mystic and euphoric for me. My dad (Kevin Leather) was a new employee at Wyeth Ayerst. This woman named Tami Falkinburg saw his resume and that he had just started working there. I wonder if she was slightly interested in him by the resume. She loves to bake so she brought in a tray of cookies for the new guy. She came in and saw my dad and I think the rest is pretty much history. He tells me about how absolutely gorgeous she was (and still is) and how he fell for her almost on the spot. They started dating and in May 5, 1989 (I SO hope I got this right) they were married and celebrated 20 years this past May. This is the second romantic story (and trust me, there's more and it's SO awesome) of Mrs. Leather.
:-) Mrs. Leather. Ohhhhh my gosh how much this makes me smile. I really don't have sufficient words right now. It's just such an awesome name to hear in my mind. That name will associate a woman with me forever and the only way to describe this is...beautiful. Every day I will be loved by a woman, by my best friend, by my "better half," more than any human knows how to give me and I will do the same for her...forever. Am I just dreaming this up? Does love and marriage really work like this? My answer simply is this, why not?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Castle of My Mind
These thoughts keep infiltrating my mind. It's like an army raiding the beach with only one lone knight defending his stone castle. These thoughts are going to come whether I want them to or not (which I do) and they will conquer with no mercy. I expel and as instantaneously as they are gone, my mind has double the thoughts once again. One step forward, two back; one out, two in. I love the fact that I think so much. Life is so much more mysterious when you think. I don't solve things, I'm not Newton, I just ponder. It's really awesome what goes on in my mind. I give all of the credit to my father who never stopped asking questions. Literally, never. It's funny because I hated, oh wait I need the appropriate emphasis HAAAAATTTTTTEEEEEEDDDDD, it as a kid. Today, I am a better person because of it. No, Daddy does not know everything, but I guess he kind of knew what he was doing. haha. So, the army has attacked and I am left alone to defend my castle, my keep, my mind. What do I do? I give it all to God. Just like I said yesterday. I have decided to let the army come in, do as they wish, but at the end of my castle is a rubber band. Upon command I can release the tension on it and the men will shoot out of my castle and it is once again quiet, once again mine. Here's what I'm shooting out today.
Proof- I was on Google today searching under images. I was NOT searching under Superman, I promise, but a Superman poster came up. Here is the link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_38PcYv72kVzG00arD1sg3g09FT6L8yeESOUfCHbAjrK9rfQimVeEbyEso_27hrlrozI9z5ONVXsgNQheuTAP7t2XZLr9-02aA6sdpC2mgX2KOlvf3gqdxN37msqt9klCRj-CS9zsYA/s400/superman.jpg So you don't have to go read it, it says "Proof: Trying to prove God with the Bible is like trying to prove Superman with a comic book." Um...how do I react to this? Even tho I have a feeling that this is meant to be derogatory, is it really wrong? Yes, we as Christians follow the Bible and believe it. The Bible is God inspired and true. However, the only Earthly reason why we can say the Bible is true is because of so much archaeological evidence. I am reading a book by James Charlesworth called "The Historical Jesus." In this book, Charlesworth talks a great deal about the evidence we have found to prove stuff about Jesus. Through this evidence, we know the Bible is true. So...then is this poster I saw true? Do we really need evidence to prove God? I mean, we are not supposed to test God. However, he shows us proof EVERY day of just how awesome he is. So we technically need evidence, otherwise would God have created it? I'm not going to give an answer to these few soldiers. I don't know if there is a right answer or not.
Tattoo- My friends Chelsea, Katherine, Bethany and Erin were in my room for about 35 minutes today. One of the topics that came up was tattoos. Erin has one that says "Peace" on her wrist. You can read "Peace" both upside down and right side up. It's rather cool. All of us said that a tattoo would be cool, but every tattoo needs a meaning. You can't just get one and then be like "...crap, I hate this" a year later. My room mate Matt wants his favorite Bible verse tattooed on his write, or his favorite poems that he's written. THAT is a meaning. Other people may or may not like them, but that doesn't matter. To Matt, that or those tattoos will mean the world. Naturally, I've thought about getting a Superman tattoo. For those of you yelling at me over the screen right now, calm down first of all. I am NOT going to get this done. But honestly, if you love Superman this much, you WILL think about it. I'm just not dumb enough to follow through. So what WOULD I get tattooed on my body? What symbol, marking, or letters would I put on my body and be happy spending the rest of my life with? Lucky for you, I've already thought about this. My baby sister Marissa was born when I was like 17 months old. She died when she was six days old. I know that she is with my always, like my own guardian angel always helping me. For some reason in class, on random papers, just about everywhere, I keep drawing 8.17.92 in unique design. That's the day she was BORN. I love it. I draw the day she was born. The day of our blessing with her in the life of my family. Every time I look at it, I think about the good stuff that happens in life and how God gives us all so much. I think writing her birthday is the optimist in me. If I wrote 8.23.92 that would be rather pessimistic. If I were to get a tattoo, I would be 8.17.92 on my right forearm. I don't know if I can explain all of the emotions that would run through my head every time I see that.
Best Friend- I've written this before, but it came up again today. I miss Keith. Like, I don't really know how to describe in words how much I miss the best friend I have ever had. I miss waking up and seeing his texts saying "Why do you sleep so long, get your butt over here." I miss laughing, playing Magic with him and trying to be better than him in EVERYTHING. I miss having a best friend. Yes, if you asked Matt and Jeff, they are my best friends. But...that's not the best friend I mean. Every morning Matt wakes up and goes to Paul's room to see him and wake him up. If anyone on campus were to see Matt, the should automatically look for Paul. Bethany has Erin. Bethany sleeps over Erin's room like...every day. If you see Bethany, Erin is probably somewhere VERY close. My friend Chelsea moved her dorm room this semester. Her best friend is Katherine. I swear that those two have the same hip. They are inseparable. Jeff is ALWAYS with Kristen. She doesn't even go here and he is with her more than anyone on campus. I want this...so bad. I know I'm not supposed to be jealous but I really can't help it. Every time I've come close to a person, it's either not worked out for some reason or they become closer with another person. Many of the people I listed above are perfect examples of this. I don't know what to do, or if I should even do anything about this. I just thought I would throw this soldier in the pile and see if anything would happen with him.
Being Awesome- What a concept. I was looking through a friend's pictures today on Facebook. Yes, I was technically "Facebook Stalking" for about 30 minutes. On their Facebook, I saw many people. I saw that person and many other awesome people. They were all having a ridiculous amount of fun in every picture I clicked the "Next" button to see. All of the people in these pictures were my friends. Yet...I was not in a SINGLE one of these pictures. They were all having fun and I definitely was not there. Correlation maybe? This just made me think about being awesome or...fun. Paul, Jeff, Kyle, Dan and Matt are just...AWESOME guys. You can't help but be drawn to them. They are like super strong magnets and people are all tiny pieces of iron flying to them because of the strong attraction. They do the most random stuff some times and laugh, have stories, and there is like...never a dull moment with any of them. You know what is funny though? I'm almost never there when those fun times happen. I'm not genuinely "awesome" like they are. I can't even ACT as if I am. Today I wanted to be cool and people drawn to me. I became severely jealous of everyone. Then God intervened. Just as I got my hottest, Stefan, a friend from camp who is only in 10th grade (I think), texted me. I don't know why, but this kid likes me. He's AWESOME and I have no problem with talking to him; I love that he does. I just think it's funny that just as you think about what you don't have, God shows you what he's already given you. I sincerely was about to cry of jealousy and then I felt the vibration of of phone. I looked at the name "Stefan" and just...started laughing hysterically and said "thank you God." I was fine after that. And people say God doesn't speak to us. Interesting huh?
RA- Wow...it's 1:15. I can talk about this soldier attacking my castle for a long time. Like... a REALLY long time. So I'll just try and rubber band him as quickly as possible. I don't think I'm good enough to be an RA. Paul and Jeff ARE. Simple as that. I would honestly like...fight people to be a resident on Paul's hall. Like I said in my last paragraph, he is just one of those naturally AWESOME people. My only thing is that...I kinda need to get RA. It's not just enough that I want to test myself, I want to get involved in school, I WANT to be RA. No, I NEED to be RA. I'm really not in the mood to go into it much more than that. But let me just say this: "God, please take this lemon from me? I don't need it. I'm giving this up to you God. If I get RA, you want me to be here at EU. If I don't, I know what I have to do. Thank you for knowing what is right for me and showing me along the way that you've got my back. Life may give me lemons to make it sour, but you are my sugar, you make my life sweet."
Good night everyone, go drink some lemonade and make sure you have your rubber band ready.
Michael Leather
Proof- I was on Google today searching under images. I was NOT searching under Superman, I promise, but a Superman poster came up. Here is the link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_38PcYv72kVzG00arD1sg3g09FT6L8yeESOUfCHbAjrK9rfQimVeEbyEso_27hrlrozI9z5ONVXsgNQheuTAP7t2XZLr9-02aA6sdpC2mgX2KOlvf3gqdxN37msqt9klCRj-CS9zsYA/s400/superman.jpg So you don't have to go read it, it says "Proof: Trying to prove God with the Bible is like trying to prove Superman with a comic book." Um...how do I react to this? Even tho I have a feeling that this is meant to be derogatory, is it really wrong? Yes, we as Christians follow the Bible and believe it. The Bible is God inspired and true. However, the only Earthly reason why we can say the Bible is true is because of so much archaeological evidence. I am reading a book by James Charlesworth called "The Historical Jesus." In this book, Charlesworth talks a great deal about the evidence we have found to prove stuff about Jesus. Through this evidence, we know the Bible is true. So...then is this poster I saw true? Do we really need evidence to prove God? I mean, we are not supposed to test God. However, he shows us proof EVERY day of just how awesome he is. So we technically need evidence, otherwise would God have created it? I'm not going to give an answer to these few soldiers. I don't know if there is a right answer or not.
Tattoo- My friends Chelsea, Katherine, Bethany and Erin were in my room for about 35 minutes today. One of the topics that came up was tattoos. Erin has one that says "Peace" on her wrist. You can read "Peace" both upside down and right side up. It's rather cool. All of us said that a tattoo would be cool, but every tattoo needs a meaning. You can't just get one and then be like "...crap, I hate this" a year later. My room mate Matt wants his favorite Bible verse tattooed on his write, or his favorite poems that he's written. THAT is a meaning. Other people may or may not like them, but that doesn't matter. To Matt, that or those tattoos will mean the world. Naturally, I've thought about getting a Superman tattoo. For those of you yelling at me over the screen right now, calm down first of all. I am NOT going to get this done. But honestly, if you love Superman this much, you WILL think about it. I'm just not dumb enough to follow through. So what WOULD I get tattooed on my body? What symbol, marking, or letters would I put on my body and be happy spending the rest of my life with? Lucky for you, I've already thought about this. My baby sister Marissa was born when I was like 17 months old. She died when she was six days old. I know that she is with my always, like my own guardian angel always helping me. For some reason in class, on random papers, just about everywhere, I keep drawing 8.17.92 in unique design. That's the day she was BORN. I love it. I draw the day she was born. The day of our blessing with her in the life of my family. Every time I look at it, I think about the good stuff that happens in life and how God gives us all so much. I think writing her birthday is the optimist in me. If I wrote 8.23.92 that would be rather pessimistic. If I were to get a tattoo, I would be 8.17.92 on my right forearm. I don't know if I can explain all of the emotions that would run through my head every time I see that.
Best Friend- I've written this before, but it came up again today. I miss Keith. Like, I don't really know how to describe in words how much I miss the best friend I have ever had. I miss waking up and seeing his texts saying "Why do you sleep so long, get your butt over here." I miss laughing, playing Magic with him and trying to be better than him in EVERYTHING. I miss having a best friend. Yes, if you asked Matt and Jeff, they are my best friends. But...that's not the best friend I mean. Every morning Matt wakes up and goes to Paul's room to see him and wake him up. If anyone on campus were to see Matt, the should automatically look for Paul. Bethany has Erin. Bethany sleeps over Erin's room like...every day. If you see Bethany, Erin is probably somewhere VERY close. My friend Chelsea moved her dorm room this semester. Her best friend is Katherine. I swear that those two have the same hip. They are inseparable. Jeff is ALWAYS with Kristen. She doesn't even go here and he is with her more than anyone on campus. I want this...so bad. I know I'm not supposed to be jealous but I really can't help it. Every time I've come close to a person, it's either not worked out for some reason or they become closer with another person. Many of the people I listed above are perfect examples of this. I don't know what to do, or if I should even do anything about this. I just thought I would throw this soldier in the pile and see if anything would happen with him.
Being Awesome- What a concept. I was looking through a friend's pictures today on Facebook. Yes, I was technically "Facebook Stalking" for about 30 minutes. On their Facebook, I saw many people. I saw that person and many other awesome people. They were all having a ridiculous amount of fun in every picture I clicked the "Next" button to see. All of the people in these pictures were my friends. Yet...I was not in a SINGLE one of these pictures. They were all having fun and I definitely was not there. Correlation maybe? This just made me think about being awesome or...fun. Paul, Jeff, Kyle, Dan and Matt are just...AWESOME guys. You can't help but be drawn to them. They are like super strong magnets and people are all tiny pieces of iron flying to them because of the strong attraction. They do the most random stuff some times and laugh, have stories, and there is like...never a dull moment with any of them. You know what is funny though? I'm almost never there when those fun times happen. I'm not genuinely "awesome" like they are. I can't even ACT as if I am. Today I wanted to be cool and people drawn to me. I became severely jealous of everyone. Then God intervened. Just as I got my hottest, Stefan, a friend from camp who is only in 10th grade (I think), texted me. I don't know why, but this kid likes me. He's AWESOME and I have no problem with talking to him; I love that he does. I just think it's funny that just as you think about what you don't have, God shows you what he's already given you. I sincerely was about to cry of jealousy and then I felt the vibration of of phone. I looked at the name "Stefan" and just...started laughing hysterically and said "thank you God." I was fine after that. And people say God doesn't speak to us. Interesting huh?
RA- Wow...it's 1:15. I can talk about this soldier attacking my castle for a long time. Like... a REALLY long time. So I'll just try and rubber band him as quickly as possible. I don't think I'm good enough to be an RA. Paul and Jeff ARE. Simple as that. I would honestly like...fight people to be a resident on Paul's hall. Like I said in my last paragraph, he is just one of those naturally AWESOME people. My only thing is that...I kinda need to get RA. It's not just enough that I want to test myself, I want to get involved in school, I WANT to be RA. No, I NEED to be RA. I'm really not in the mood to go into it much more than that. But let me just say this: "God, please take this lemon from me? I don't need it. I'm giving this up to you God. If I get RA, you want me to be here at EU. If I don't, I know what I have to do. Thank you for knowing what is right for me and showing me along the way that you've got my back. Life may give me lemons to make it sour, but you are my sugar, you make my life sweet."
Good night everyone, go drink some lemonade and make sure you have your rubber band ready.
Michael Leather
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Hold Me Back
Every day I walk, observe, think, formulate questions, make scenarios, and imagine what I will write in my blog. Every day comes and goes and I never get a chance to write it down. Every morning I wake up and realize what I have left undone, what I have left unsaid about the day before. I realize that when I don't come here in this place where my thoughts expel from my mind, I miss a day. I think so much and the thoughts I want to express are lost in sleep, in my dreams. I guess that is why I recently started to remember my dreams when I wake up. I've been thinking and when I don't release the expressions of my mind, throw them in this recycling bin called my blog, they stay in my head for it to do with them as it wishes at night. No, it seems as if my dreams have very little to do with my thoughts during the day. But dreams are so mysterious that I can never really assertively tell you "they are not related."
What have I been thinking? Good question. Let me see. I have been thinking about Ivan, getting RA, my French Exam on Friday, my friend's problems, my own problems, etc. I guess the real question is, "Michael, what haven't you been thinking about?" I don't think I can seriously answer that.
So let me spew some thoughts out at you all and we'll see where this goes. Ok? If not, this is probably your stop because this train is about to go full speed ahead and I'm not stopping anytime soon.
Ivan. That little bugger has been taking may thoughts for a while. I was walking with Katie, Kayla and Ken (....HAHAHA) the other day by the pond. We saw geese and Katie said "I wonder which one is Ivan?" It's fairly easy. Ivan has a broken wing. Well, it WAS broken at one point and healed in that way. You can tell that bc it protrudes for his back upwards. Also, to look for Ivan, I looked elsewhere. I saw the group of geese standing on the frozen pond. I thought to myself, "Ivan. No, none of those are him because they are all together." So I looked about 20 feet away in all direction from the flock and guess what? Ivan was there. Interesting huh? I guessed where Ivan was because I know his personality. I know he's a part of the flock now, but is a loner. And that's EXACTLY where he was. I saw something VERY interesting when I was walking by myself later on that day. There was Ivan on the ice. I saw him walking. Think about this, a BIRD was walking (even tho he has no choice because he can't fly). He was walking towards where I was from over by Doane. Now, behind him were other geese. They were FOLLOWING IVAN. What? I guess Ivan is...like me. He is a loner, doesn't feel like he's part of a group. But at this point in his life that I got to witness, he was a leader. Ivan has experience at Eastern. He lives there all the time and knows what he is doing. I wonder if the geese following him recognized this and followed him. They were walking too. Geese that are perfectly capable of flying from one side of the pond to the other walked. Interesting. Then I noticed another characteristic of Ivan that NO other goose has. Ivan has muscles on his legs. If you look, his legs are about double the size of other geese. I guess they have to be. He walks 24/7. He never flies. So he was 1)faster than the other geese walking 2)he has a better walk. The other geese flopped their tail feathers from one side to the other following Ivan, and he just walked without any movement in his tail. Adaptation anyone? Ivan is overcoming his inability to fly with the ability to walk. Something the other geese you see at Eastern will NEVER be able to do. In a way, Ivan has more experience than all the geese. He has flown and now he walks. This makes me think about human life. I'll start a new paragraph for that.
Humans and experience. When I think about what I just said about Ivan and his doing 2 things (walking and flying) as compared to the other geese doing 1 (flying), I think about my friend Chelsea and me. Chelsea has been EVERYWHERE. She has been to so many countries and seen so much. Her room mate Katherine has gone places too and is going to South Africa soon. Me? Well I went to Puerto Rico with Boy Scouts. The girls went to other countries to help others. So what does this mean? They have more experience then I have...in certain aspects. They are kind of better leaders than I am. If I went to another country, went to an airport, or went on a missions trip, I would follow them. In life, I think these girls have more experience. Just like Ivan does. What am I talking about? Here is what this babble is about: DO SOMETHING NEW! Ivan is a leader (kind of) and more "lived." I look up to Chelsea and Katherine because they have been...everywhere. Yes, Ivan had no choice, he had to start walking. we all need to do new things some times. But here is a challenge, do something new every chance you can. You will become more experienced and can share, help, and be a better leader for others just like Ivan is for the other geese, just like Chelsea is for me.
Ok, one more Ivan thing. Trust me though, I'm going to change quickly. Last night I was walking to Walton to get a To-Go. I saw Ivan by himself once again. He was standing on the ice of the pond. He kept putting his head down and picking it up again. I realized he was pecking (like a chicken does) at the ice. He was looking for food! But...there is no such thing as grass on solid ice. This made me think about something. Do we as humans peck at the ice looking for food when there is nothing to eat? To decipher this, I mean "do we try and try to do something even though we know it's impossible?" Now, you know the common phrase "impossible is nothing" with a picture of Muhammad Ali standing over a guy screaming because he just won the heavyweight championship. Ok, I agree. I'm optimistic too, I think you can do anything you put your mind to. But let's be more realistic and less optimistic for a few minutes. Let me ask my question in a different way: Do you keep trying to do something when you know you can't? For instance, do you go to run a marathon when all you've ever run is 5 miles? Do you jump from an airplane with no chute? Do you start a research paper 1 hour before it is due? Do you keep desperately trying to make something happen even though you can't? Matt said something to me two days ago when I was really upset. He said "give it all up to God." I was upset. Something happened that threw me for a loop and I really got super depressed. I've never been that sad in my life. I literally sat in my room for 2 hours in the dark staring at my computer screen just wanting to cry. My brain felt like it wanted to explode from my skull. My throat had a knot the size of Texas and my heart felt like it sank so far that no ocean is deep enough to know what I mean. But...I couldn't control what had happened. I wanted to peck at the ice to get grass when...there wasn't any; there NEVER would be grass on this patch of frozen water. So here is another piece of advice for you: when life gives you lemons, give them to God. I'm not saying he'll make lemonade for you. He doesn't have to. I'm saying, when you have a problem, the only one who can TRULY help you is our Lord and Savior. Matthew 11:28 says "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Do I need to say more? After I talked with Matt, I was fine. I actually felt good again. I realized that no amount of sulking and caring in the world could change what happened. So...why worry about it? Give it to God.
Honestly, I can't think of anything else right now. I'm at the Gryphon right now just typing away. I may write again tonight. I'm kind of in the mood now. But my brain needs a rest. I hope you kept up. If not, just understand that this post today helped my heart and mind giving them rest.
I hope you all have a good day. Mine is pretty awesome.
Just another nugget (read the WHOLE passage, not just this verse) Matthew 6:34
Talk to you later world,
Michael Leather
What have I been thinking? Good question. Let me see. I have been thinking about Ivan, getting RA, my French Exam on Friday, my friend's problems, my own problems, etc. I guess the real question is, "Michael, what haven't you been thinking about?" I don't think I can seriously answer that.
So let me spew some thoughts out at you all and we'll see where this goes. Ok? If not, this is probably your stop because this train is about to go full speed ahead and I'm not stopping anytime soon.
Ivan. That little bugger has been taking may thoughts for a while. I was walking with Katie, Kayla and Ken (....HAHAHA) the other day by the pond. We saw geese and Katie said "I wonder which one is Ivan?" It's fairly easy. Ivan has a broken wing. Well, it WAS broken at one point and healed in that way. You can tell that bc it protrudes for his back upwards. Also, to look for Ivan, I looked elsewhere. I saw the group of geese standing on the frozen pond. I thought to myself, "Ivan. No, none of those are him because they are all together." So I looked about 20 feet away in all direction from the flock and guess what? Ivan was there. Interesting huh? I guessed where Ivan was because I know his personality. I know he's a part of the flock now, but is a loner. And that's EXACTLY where he was. I saw something VERY interesting when I was walking by myself later on that day. There was Ivan on the ice. I saw him walking. Think about this, a BIRD was walking (even tho he has no choice because he can't fly). He was walking towards where I was from over by Doane. Now, behind him were other geese. They were FOLLOWING IVAN. What? I guess Ivan is...like me. He is a loner, doesn't feel like he's part of a group. But at this point in his life that I got to witness, he was a leader. Ivan has experience at Eastern. He lives there all the time and knows what he is doing. I wonder if the geese following him recognized this and followed him. They were walking too. Geese that are perfectly capable of flying from one side of the pond to the other walked. Interesting. Then I noticed another characteristic of Ivan that NO other goose has. Ivan has muscles on his legs. If you look, his legs are about double the size of other geese. I guess they have to be. He walks 24/7. He never flies. So he was 1)faster than the other geese walking 2)he has a better walk. The other geese flopped their tail feathers from one side to the other following Ivan, and he just walked without any movement in his tail. Adaptation anyone? Ivan is overcoming his inability to fly with the ability to walk. Something the other geese you see at Eastern will NEVER be able to do. In a way, Ivan has more experience than all the geese. He has flown and now he walks. This makes me think about human life. I'll start a new paragraph for that.
Humans and experience. When I think about what I just said about Ivan and his doing 2 things (walking and flying) as compared to the other geese doing 1 (flying), I think about my friend Chelsea and me. Chelsea has been EVERYWHERE. She has been to so many countries and seen so much. Her room mate Katherine has gone places too and is going to South Africa soon. Me? Well I went to Puerto Rico with Boy Scouts. The girls went to other countries to help others. So what does this mean? They have more experience then I have...in certain aspects. They are kind of better leaders than I am. If I went to another country, went to an airport, or went on a missions trip, I would follow them. In life, I think these girls have more experience. Just like Ivan does. What am I talking about? Here is what this babble is about: DO SOMETHING NEW! Ivan is a leader (kind of) and more "lived." I look up to Chelsea and Katherine because they have been...everywhere. Yes, Ivan had no choice, he had to start walking. we all need to do new things some times. But here is a challenge, do something new every chance you can. You will become more experienced and can share, help, and be a better leader for others just like Ivan is for the other geese, just like Chelsea is for me.
Ok, one more Ivan thing. Trust me though, I'm going to change quickly. Last night I was walking to Walton to get a To-Go. I saw Ivan by himself once again. He was standing on the ice of the pond. He kept putting his head down and picking it up again. I realized he was pecking (like a chicken does) at the ice. He was looking for food! But...there is no such thing as grass on solid ice. This made me think about something. Do we as humans peck at the ice looking for food when there is nothing to eat? To decipher this, I mean "do we try and try to do something even though we know it's impossible?" Now, you know the common phrase "impossible is nothing" with a picture of Muhammad Ali standing over a guy screaming because he just won the heavyweight championship. Ok, I agree. I'm optimistic too, I think you can do anything you put your mind to. But let's be more realistic and less optimistic for a few minutes. Let me ask my question in a different way: Do you keep trying to do something when you know you can't? For instance, do you go to run a marathon when all you've ever run is 5 miles? Do you jump from an airplane with no chute? Do you start a research paper 1 hour before it is due? Do you keep desperately trying to make something happen even though you can't? Matt said something to me two days ago when I was really upset. He said "give it all up to God." I was upset. Something happened that threw me for a loop and I really got super depressed. I've never been that sad in my life. I literally sat in my room for 2 hours in the dark staring at my computer screen just wanting to cry. My brain felt like it wanted to explode from my skull. My throat had a knot the size of Texas and my heart felt like it sank so far that no ocean is deep enough to know what I mean. But...I couldn't control what had happened. I wanted to peck at the ice to get grass when...there wasn't any; there NEVER would be grass on this patch of frozen water. So here is another piece of advice for you: when life gives you lemons, give them to God. I'm not saying he'll make lemonade for you. He doesn't have to. I'm saying, when you have a problem, the only one who can TRULY help you is our Lord and Savior. Matthew 11:28 says "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Do I need to say more? After I talked with Matt, I was fine. I actually felt good again. I realized that no amount of sulking and caring in the world could change what happened. So...why worry about it? Give it to God.
Honestly, I can't think of anything else right now. I'm at the Gryphon right now just typing away. I may write again tonight. I'm kind of in the mood now. But my brain needs a rest. I hope you kept up. If not, just understand that this post today helped my heart and mind giving them rest.
I hope you all have a good day. Mine is pretty awesome.
Just another nugget (read the WHOLE passage, not just this verse) Matthew 6:34
Talk to you later world,
Michael Leather
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Flipping A Switch
My day today was pretty good. I really have no objections. I woke up to finish an essay on which I think I did ok. I really don't like my College Writing teacher so...I care but I don't really care as much as if it were Mrs. Deliman. Anyway, my day essentially started AFTER classes were over.
I went to lunch and met this guy named Bruce. If you keep up with my Facebook, you'll have seen my status and understand what I'm about to say. Bruce is from England and came to our campus because he is a perspective students hoping to come starting in August. He is 24 years old and oh yeah, he lives in NOTTINGHAM and lives close to SHERWOOD FOREST!!! I think my brain stopped for a second what I found out that this place is real. lol. He even said that there is a castle in the middle of Nottingham. I think that's awesome. Also, we were talking about bagels and he said they don't have them in England. So, in my smart ways said "English muffins?" He looked a me, frowned, shook his head, and said "Nope, they're an American thing." I was like...ENGLISH muffins are AMERICAN? Well...so are FRENCH fries. lol. Oh well. I still thought it was SO cool.
Something interesting about Bruce, he knew more about American culture than we knew about English culture. We asked him how close he was to somewhere and he said "well, in your American standards...it's not far." What he meant, is that America is a big country. We drive and fly places and view it as not far. England is not big so an hour drive for him is FAR. There are more things that this he showed, but this is all I can remember at the moment.
At 5 o'clock, we met in the Gym Parking Lot to go to a Back On My Feet (BOMF) orientation. This group runs with homeless people at 5:30 in the morning. Most of the organization is volunteer based. It's pretty cool and Run4Kenya, a group at Eastern, signed up to run on Fridays. So...I'll be in Philly every Friday morning at 5:30 starting next week. Yay? The more interesting thing happened to me on the drive to and from Philly.
Dean Chia was the driver for my group. He drove his own personal car so it only fit 5 people making conversation easy. Dean turned 18 in December and is a senior...IN COLLEGE. This kid is ridiculously smart. You also know how before I've said how I don't like big groups and I think 5 is big enough. Well, I came out of my shell in Dean's car. I actually led conversation asking questions, rambling on and whatnot. My friend Kali who is normally fairly talkative, did not say a word the entire ride. I was in MY element in that car and it was weird how I changed from an introvert to and extrovert at the flip of a switch. Dean, 2nd Jon, Martha and I carried on a conversation about "flat-foot" running vs. heel-to-toe running. I loved it. We talked about music, the city, and it was just a great talk. I am still trying to absorb all of it in just because how differently I acted from my normal self. I never do that unless it's with people I've grown up with.
There is still no report on Ivan. I talked to Katie about that recently (it may have even been today, I don't remember.) She thinks he is here somewhere because his wings are clipped and so is the rest of the flock's. Um...I don't think it's legal to clip the wings of wild animals. I also know that Eastern doesn't want us to feed the "water foul" because they don't want to animals to stay here and become dependent. What I really mean to say is, I have NO CLUE where Ivan is, nor do I even have a hint. We'll find out soon I guess since Spring IS soon.
Well, that's all I have for tonight. Tomorrow is my busy day of the week with 4 classes.
Good night world,
Michael Leather
I went to lunch and met this guy named Bruce. If you keep up with my Facebook, you'll have seen my status and understand what I'm about to say. Bruce is from England and came to our campus because he is a perspective students hoping to come starting in August. He is 24 years old and oh yeah, he lives in NOTTINGHAM and lives close to SHERWOOD FOREST!!! I think my brain stopped for a second what I found out that this place is real. lol. He even said that there is a castle in the middle of Nottingham. I think that's awesome. Also, we were talking about bagels and he said they don't have them in England. So, in my smart ways said "English muffins?" He looked a me, frowned, shook his head, and said "Nope, they're an American thing." I was like...ENGLISH muffins are AMERICAN? Well...so are FRENCH fries. lol. Oh well. I still thought it was SO cool.
Something interesting about Bruce, he knew more about American culture than we knew about English culture. We asked him how close he was to somewhere and he said "well, in your American standards...it's not far." What he meant, is that America is a big country. We drive and fly places and view it as not far. England is not big so an hour drive for him is FAR. There are more things that this he showed, but this is all I can remember at the moment.
At 5 o'clock, we met in the Gym Parking Lot to go to a Back On My Feet (BOMF) orientation. This group runs with homeless people at 5:30 in the morning. Most of the organization is volunteer based. It's pretty cool and Run4Kenya, a group at Eastern, signed up to run on Fridays. So...I'll be in Philly every Friday morning at 5:30 starting next week. Yay? The more interesting thing happened to me on the drive to and from Philly.
Dean Chia was the driver for my group. He drove his own personal car so it only fit 5 people making conversation easy. Dean turned 18 in December and is a senior...IN COLLEGE. This kid is ridiculously smart. You also know how before I've said how I don't like big groups and I think 5 is big enough. Well, I came out of my shell in Dean's car. I actually led conversation asking questions, rambling on and whatnot. My friend Kali who is normally fairly talkative, did not say a word the entire ride. I was in MY element in that car and it was weird how I changed from an introvert to and extrovert at the flip of a switch. Dean, 2nd Jon, Martha and I carried on a conversation about "flat-foot" running vs. heel-to-toe running. I loved it. We talked about music, the city, and it was just a great talk. I am still trying to absorb all of it in just because how differently I acted from my normal self. I never do that unless it's with people I've grown up with.
There is still no report on Ivan. I talked to Katie about that recently (it may have even been today, I don't remember.) She thinks he is here somewhere because his wings are clipped and so is the rest of the flock's. Um...I don't think it's legal to clip the wings of wild animals. I also know that Eastern doesn't want us to feed the "water foul" because they don't want to animals to stay here and become dependent. What I really mean to say is, I have NO CLUE where Ivan is, nor do I even have a hint. We'll find out soon I guess since Spring IS soon.
Well, that's all I have for tonight. Tomorrow is my busy day of the week with 4 classes.
Good night world,
Michael Leather
Monday, February 15, 2010
An Eventful Day
Wow, did a lot of stuff happen today and I had SO much fun! Isn't is great to be able to look back at a day and really have no regrets? It feels SO great.
First things first, I woke up at 12 today to start my day off "early." Almost right away my friend texted me and asked if I wanted to go to breakfast. Keep in mind, I haven't really talked with her more than a "hi" in the last 3 or so weeks so the fact that she A)texted me first B)asked to hang out with me C)asked me RIGHT away, were all GREAT and uplifting things. I beamed from ear to ear. The food at breakfast wasn't too great and there was a weird cold draft coming in, but it was GREAT eating with her.
After lunch I came back to my room and spent some time with Matt and did some reading for New Testament. I VERY much enjoyed the 1st and not so much the 2nd. The book is "Historical Jesus" and it's very dry. INTERESTING, but very dry. I tried to work on my essay for College Writing but failed miserably so...I went up to Bethany's room and do some Valentine's Day niceness.
I don't really want anyone to think I am bragging about what I did and everything so I'll just leave it at I am REALLY proud of my project and how well it turned out. End of story.
I went to dinner with Bethany and again, the windows were drafty. We basically left asap. Then I came back to my room, from where the day got VERY interesting.
I came back to the room and again tried to work on my College Writing paper and yet again...failed miserably. As my friend Katie would say, I "laif"ed. Laif = Fail, spelled backwards incorrectly which is like a major fail. lol. Then I had a friend text me. I was sincerely scared because I had been texting her room mate who was also working on the same paper as me, and I was afraid my friend was going to yell at me to stop making her room mate procrastinate. lol. Well this didn't happen. Instead, there was apparently a weird creeperish dude over her room and she asked me to come over. Well, I packed up my stuff and almost essentially ran over to my friend's room. Let me tell you, this boy was odd. He was "in hiding" and he just gave us all bad vibes. I am honestly scared if my friend ever hangs out with him again, we'll see. But he left after a few minutes and it was me and the two girls in their room. It was then I made an observation.
The three of us were working on our computers and all text fairly often. So, the three of us were sitting together doing homework, perfectly quiet (as in not talking) and yet were making all of these clicking sounds. I had to laugh to myself. My Dad tells me about his college life all of the time and couldn't help but compare. Twentyish years ago, instead of a quiet room with clicking sounds, there were quiet rooms with swooshy sounds from the pencils. In my Dad's time(he'll dislike me using the word "time" haha I know it), they would have been dedicated to the homework, but with our generation of "clickers" you could tell we were NOT dedicated to our homework. Whenever there was a hard and long click (as in using the mouse), the person was looking at Facebook. Many clicks but not lasting for a while (typing) was probably a comment on a post. The many continuous clicks that lasted (typing again) were actually writing the paper. This may not be true for the other two girls I was in the room with, but it CERTAINLY was for me. I don't know what significance this point has at ALL, I just think it's interesting.
During the time I was clicking away and actually getting headway on my paper, the girls I did my Valentine's Day gift for called me. I smiled SO much hearing how happy they were. It just reminded me at how much I really love helping people. If everyone I knew could feel half as much like they did at that moment, I would probably be the happiest man alive. The same goes for my two girl friends who I "saved" today. The one thanked me a lot for helping her out. I felt happy that 1)she thought of me to help 2)that I was ABLE to help 3)that is in fact did help her and 4)that she was so gracious. She is always a gracious person, but the fact that she was helped me to understand what it meant to help her.
Well, that was my day. I finished my paper in case you are wondering. Well...I finished the 1st draft. The 2nd one is due tomorrow. I'll get up and edit before I go to my meeting to make my 2nd draft. Let me tell you, I had a GREAT Valentine's Day and I plan on remembering it for a long time. I hope yours was special too. Don't forget, this day isn't about couples, it's about the people/person you love.
Good night world,
Michael Leather
First things first, I woke up at 12 today to start my day off "early." Almost right away my friend texted me and asked if I wanted to go to breakfast. Keep in mind, I haven't really talked with her more than a "hi" in the last 3 or so weeks so the fact that she A)texted me first B)asked to hang out with me C)asked me RIGHT away, were all GREAT and uplifting things. I beamed from ear to ear. The food at breakfast wasn't too great and there was a weird cold draft coming in, but it was GREAT eating with her.
After lunch I came back to my room and spent some time with Matt and did some reading for New Testament. I VERY much enjoyed the 1st and not so much the 2nd. The book is "Historical Jesus" and it's very dry. INTERESTING, but very dry. I tried to work on my essay for College Writing but failed miserably so...I went up to Bethany's room and do some Valentine's Day niceness.
I don't really want anyone to think I am bragging about what I did and everything so I'll just leave it at I am REALLY proud of my project and how well it turned out. End of story.
I went to dinner with Bethany and again, the windows were drafty. We basically left asap. Then I came back to my room, from where the day got VERY interesting.
I came back to the room and again tried to work on my College Writing paper and yet again...failed miserably. As my friend Katie would say, I "laif"ed. Laif = Fail, spelled backwards incorrectly which is like a major fail. lol. Then I had a friend text me. I was sincerely scared because I had been texting her room mate who was also working on the same paper as me, and I was afraid my friend was going to yell at me to stop making her room mate procrastinate. lol. Well this didn't happen. Instead, there was apparently a weird creeperish dude over her room and she asked me to come over. Well, I packed up my stuff and almost essentially ran over to my friend's room. Let me tell you, this boy was odd. He was "in hiding" and he just gave us all bad vibes. I am honestly scared if my friend ever hangs out with him again, we'll see. But he left after a few minutes and it was me and the two girls in their room. It was then I made an observation.
The three of us were working on our computers and all text fairly often. So, the three of us were sitting together doing homework, perfectly quiet (as in not talking) and yet were making all of these clicking sounds. I had to laugh to myself. My Dad tells me about his college life all of the time and couldn't help but compare. Twentyish years ago, instead of a quiet room with clicking sounds, there were quiet rooms with swooshy sounds from the pencils. In my Dad's time(he'll dislike me using the word "time" haha I know it), they would have been dedicated to the homework, but with our generation of "clickers" you could tell we were NOT dedicated to our homework. Whenever there was a hard and long click (as in using the mouse), the person was looking at Facebook. Many clicks but not lasting for a while (typing) was probably a comment on a post. The many continuous clicks that lasted (typing again) were actually writing the paper. This may not be true for the other two girls I was in the room with, but it CERTAINLY was for me. I don't know what significance this point has at ALL, I just think it's interesting.
During the time I was clicking away and actually getting headway on my paper, the girls I did my Valentine's Day gift for called me. I smiled SO much hearing how happy they were. It just reminded me at how much I really love helping people. If everyone I knew could feel half as much like they did at that moment, I would probably be the happiest man alive. The same goes for my two girl friends who I "saved" today. The one thanked me a lot for helping her out. I felt happy that 1)she thought of me to help 2)that I was ABLE to help 3)that is in fact did help her and 4)that she was so gracious. She is always a gracious person, but the fact that she was helped me to understand what it meant to help her.
Well, that was my day. I finished my paper in case you are wondering. Well...I finished the 1st draft. The 2nd one is due tomorrow. I'll get up and edit before I go to my meeting to make my 2nd draft. Let me tell you, I had a GREAT Valentine's Day and I plan on remembering it for a long time. I hope yours was special too. Don't forget, this day isn't about couples, it's about the people/person you love.
Good night world,
Michael Leather
Friday, February 12, 2010
Give Me an A
Wow, this is soooo weird. Tonight I just feel...apathetic. Completely apathetic towards everything. I don't care when I go to sleep, I don't care about working on homework, I don't care about actually doing anything at all. I somehow wandered on to my blog and just felt like writing. I don't think this apathy is honestly bad. I think we all need to feel this way sometimes. If we always are thinking and worrying about stuff, do we ever TRULY relax? I can't remember the last time I felt this...at ease. None of my muscles are tense(which is new), my mind is clear(again, this is new), and I just feel good(Well...I often do). This is a new feeling. I hope everyone can feel this because it's weird and cool at the same time. I mean, literally, I'm relaxed but also it's weird because I wonder when this feeling will end. I hope it does soon.
So what happened today? Let's see, I woke up at 12 o'clock (Oh how I LOVE college and snow days!) and went to the dining commons to eat lunch with Mommy. It was great. We just talked. I was afraid we were going to talk like old friends who have to catch up, but we just picked up right where we left off. You have no idea how happy that makes me. My Mom IS my best friend. No one really understands me quite as well except for maybe Keith. But still, Mom and I are so alike and I just love spending time with her. She baked me pumpkin bread, I am SOOOO going to eat that for breakfast tomorrow.
The rest of the day is literally a blur. I do not remember what happened at all today. I remember I went to dinner around...I don't remember and then met up with Jeff at 8. We went off campus and smoked cigars for the first time. THAT was an experience. We couldn't get the cigars lit well at first, then because of how darn cold it was, our hands froze up. I think it is safe to say neither of us enjoyed the act of smoking a cigar and we will probably never do that again. It smelled funny, I felt funny afterward, I just didn't like it. They say "you can't knock it til you try it." Well...I tried it and now I'm knocking it. haha.
Now I am working on a new pair of shoes that I REALLY like on Nike.com. They're just like Jeff's the Nike Sweet Classic, but they're canvas. I like them a lot. They're 90 freakin dollars, but hey a guy can dream can't he?
I have a race tomorrow, a 5k. That's 3.1 miles of me running straight. It's actually not that far. It's also cool because it's called the Feel The Love 5k which is for Valentine's Day which means....it's a COUPLES race! haha. I'm running with my friend Esther Bliss. She is a hoot, that girl cracks me up. We weren't sure what classification of "couple" we are, so we just check off "lovers couple." It doesn't matter. haha. Wish me luck.
Katie Marsh keeps bringing up Ivan to me. I have an update on Ivan: I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS! I haven't seen that goose for at least 2 weeks. He has a broken wing so I know he can't fly anywhere. I hope my sociologicalobservationgoose is ok!
Ok, I'm done for the night. Good night world. I hope life is as good for you as it is for me.
Michael Leather
So what happened today? Let's see, I woke up at 12 o'clock (Oh how I LOVE college and snow days!) and went to the dining commons to eat lunch with Mommy. It was great. We just talked. I was afraid we were going to talk like old friends who have to catch up, but we just picked up right where we left off. You have no idea how happy that makes me. My Mom IS my best friend. No one really understands me quite as well except for maybe Keith. But still, Mom and I are so alike and I just love spending time with her. She baked me pumpkin bread, I am SOOOO going to eat that for breakfast tomorrow.
The rest of the day is literally a blur. I do not remember what happened at all today. I remember I went to dinner around...I don't remember and then met up with Jeff at 8. We went off campus and smoked cigars for the first time. THAT was an experience. We couldn't get the cigars lit well at first, then because of how darn cold it was, our hands froze up. I think it is safe to say neither of us enjoyed the act of smoking a cigar and we will probably never do that again. It smelled funny, I felt funny afterward, I just didn't like it. They say "you can't knock it til you try it." Well...I tried it and now I'm knocking it. haha.
Now I am working on a new pair of shoes that I REALLY like on Nike.com. They're just like Jeff's the Nike Sweet Classic, but they're canvas. I like them a lot. They're 90 freakin dollars, but hey a guy can dream can't he?
I have a race tomorrow, a 5k. That's 3.1 miles of me running straight. It's actually not that far. It's also cool because it's called the Feel The Love 5k which is for Valentine's Day which means....it's a COUPLES race! haha. I'm running with my friend Esther Bliss. She is a hoot, that girl cracks me up. We weren't sure what classification of "couple" we are, so we just check off "lovers couple." It doesn't matter. haha. Wish me luck.
Katie Marsh keeps bringing up Ivan to me. I have an update on Ivan: I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS! I haven't seen that goose for at least 2 weeks. He has a broken wing so I know he can't fly anywhere. I hope my sociologicalobservationgoose is ok!
Ok, I'm done for the night. Good night world. I hope life is as good for you as it is for me.
Michael Leather
Wait....I can write a blog?
Wow, today is February 12th and I haven't posted since the 1st. My spiritual discipline stinks right now. I even started to write like last Friday and just didn't. So now I am wondering, why? Is my day so busy that I just can't sit down for 30 minutes every day and write? Is my day so much more important than spewing my thoughts and ideas on to a page? No, I really don't think it is. But here IS what is more important. I have spent every single day since the 1st with friends. I come back to my room either A)exhausted or B)needing to do something else THEN being exhausted. So is this overall a bad thing then? I am trading my blog time, something which I enjoy, I love thinking about stuff, for friend time. Good or bad? I really can't decide. I guess the answer is actually this: Yes. There is good and bad in it and it simply...is.
So I would do a recap of the last 11 days, but I reallllllly don't feel like it at all. Sorry everyone. But I would like to hit a highlight, NO SCHOOOOOL! I haven't had classes since Tuesday and I am SOOO happy about that. I love snow. I love how it falls and makes the world pure and white. I love the snow seeing it build up inch by inch. I love the crunching sound it makes when you walk over it fort he first time. I love how people can just run outside and just roll in it and be euphoric. I love how every man and and woman, old and young, are all 6 years old again when they play in the snow. I love how it creates snow days and forces people to disconnect from the world and be together. I love how the snow is romantic and how simple and amazing a walk in the snow with your girlfriend really is. Oh gosh how this snowfall has made me so jealous for a girlfriend. But I'm ok right now. I don't need one. I'm happy being with all of my friends, I'm happy being in the snow, and I'm happy being alive. :-) Well, I am meeting my Mom in about 40 minutes for lunch so I'm going to go. Talk to you later world!
Michael
So I would do a recap of the last 11 days, but I reallllllly don't feel like it at all. Sorry everyone. But I would like to hit a highlight, NO SCHOOOOOL! I haven't had classes since Tuesday and I am SOOO happy about that. I love snow. I love how it falls and makes the world pure and white. I love the snow seeing it build up inch by inch. I love the crunching sound it makes when you walk over it fort he first time. I love how people can just run outside and just roll in it and be euphoric. I love how every man and and woman, old and young, are all 6 years old again when they play in the snow. I love how it creates snow days and forces people to disconnect from the world and be together. I love how the snow is romantic and how simple and amazing a walk in the snow with your girlfriend really is. Oh gosh how this snowfall has made me so jealous for a girlfriend. But I'm ok right now. I don't need one. I'm happy being with all of my friends, I'm happy being in the snow, and I'm happy being alive. :-) Well, I am meeting my Mom in about 40 minutes for lunch so I'm going to go. Talk to you later world!
Michael
Monday, February 1, 2010
Humbleness and Bradleyism
Well, yesterday was church at Church of the Savior (COS) with Jeff and Kristen and my friend Kirsten made a surprise visit. I was THOROUGHLY thrilled. I LOVED it. The preacher is so great and the service is fantastic. It is chopped full of worship music. The interesting thing is I learned 2 major values/lessons in church that had NOTHING to do with the sermon (which was very good btw). Like I said, the service is full of music. Well, for the last 19 years I have simply looked at the words and sang what was on the slide. Yesterday I READ the words on the slide probably for the first time. Let me tell you, they were AMAZING! For example, here is an excerpt from a song named How Deep the Father's Love For Us (yeah, I agree that it's a very long title too):
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Well, I don't know about you, but it felt like I got whacked across the face by Muhammad Ali in his prime. I never really realized how much it meant to READ the words on the slide instead of just looking at them. I know that you are supposed to sing to God in joyful sound, so I always made sure I was in key. But...now I know what that REALLY means. It means "read the heartfelt words on the slide, understand, sing to God, thank him, and be humbled (hopefully you can keep in tune while doing all of this)." How about you, what do you do? Do you just look at the words on the slide and sound like an Angel but not really feel anything? Or do you dig in, READ and FEEL the words on the screen and shout like a cat that just got run over by a tractor trailer but sincerely sing to God? Let me tell you what I THINK: I'm going to go WAY over 9 lives. Now of course, it IS possible to sound like an Angel AND feel it, but I really wanted you to get the point across (p.s. please stand next to ME in church if you are type of person?).
Humbleness...good 'ole humbleness. Doesn't God show you humbleness at the most remarkable times? So, I was being a typical teenager during the Pastor's sermon, and I was drawing on the bulletin. My friend Kirsten was there and I felt like showing off. I got fairly good at drawing eyes recently. So I drew an eye on her bulletin just to boast and be good. I'm a guy, I do those things sometimes. Well...I forgot she was an art major. Yeah, I know! Not only did I realize truly how BAD I draw eyes, but how GOOD she is at drawing EVERYTHING. She took my eye, made it better and drew this utterly remarkable face! Well...I'm a guy, since when do we EVER get stuff right the first time? I did the same thing (at the same time) to Jeff's girlfriend Kristen's bulletin. I drew a pair of happy eyes and a tongue sticking out. Well guess what? She's an art major TOO! Yeah, she took it an made my face an almost perfect Spongebob. So...I took this situation in 2 ways. 1)God was telling me to STOP NOW and pay attention in church. 2)Just because you think you're the best, doesn't really mean you are. Oh humbleness...you are funny sometimes.
Ok lastly, I need to talk about TODAY! That would be helpful wouldn't it? This morning at 9am I went and visited Tess Bradley. She is the leader of LGP but also knows EVERYTHING about just about EVERYTHING here at school. I went to talk to her about primarily a major. Well let me tell you...I was right about her knowing EVERYTHING. She gave me 8 packets of information, a book, an instruction guide, and a paper. Um...wow. haha. I said to her "I want to be a history teacher, a psychologist or own my own shoe store." Well, we both kind of weeded out that I don't want to do the first two. Both her AND I beamed when talking about me having a shoe store. So...we're going to go in that direction. Now, she gave me some good advice. She told me to ask my friends this question "where can YOU see ME in 5 years?" Sometimes friends know us better than ourselves. I am highly optimistic and think I can go anywhere in life. Also, ask my parents on this one, I am VERY bad at making hard decisions. I spend 20 minutes in a store trying to decide which shirt to get. But anyway, by asking your friends, they don't have to be optimistic or ambitious; they will be realistic. So here is the question(s): Where do you see me in 5 years? In 10 years? In the future in general? What job do YOU think is best for me?
Well, I have an exam tomorrow. Good night everyone. Keep on thinking, keep on living, and keep on worshiping our amazing God. He deserves it.
Michael Leather
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Well, I don't know about you, but it felt like I got whacked across the face by Muhammad Ali in his prime. I never really realized how much it meant to READ the words on the slide instead of just looking at them. I know that you are supposed to sing to God in joyful sound, so I always made sure I was in key. But...now I know what that REALLY means. It means "read the heartfelt words on the slide, understand, sing to God, thank him, and be humbled (hopefully you can keep in tune while doing all of this)." How about you, what do you do? Do you just look at the words on the slide and sound like an Angel but not really feel anything? Or do you dig in, READ and FEEL the words on the screen and shout like a cat that just got run over by a tractor trailer but sincerely sing to God? Let me tell you what I THINK: I'm going to go WAY over 9 lives. Now of course, it IS possible to sound like an Angel AND feel it, but I really wanted you to get the point across (p.s. please stand next to ME in church if you are type of person?).
Humbleness...good 'ole humbleness. Doesn't God show you humbleness at the most remarkable times? So, I was being a typical teenager during the Pastor's sermon, and I was drawing on the bulletin. My friend Kirsten was there and I felt like showing off. I got fairly good at drawing eyes recently. So I drew an eye on her bulletin just to boast and be good. I'm a guy, I do those things sometimes. Well...I forgot she was an art major. Yeah, I know! Not only did I realize truly how BAD I draw eyes, but how GOOD she is at drawing EVERYTHING. She took my eye, made it better and drew this utterly remarkable face! Well...I'm a guy, since when do we EVER get stuff right the first time? I did the same thing (at the same time) to Jeff's girlfriend Kristen's bulletin. I drew a pair of happy eyes and a tongue sticking out. Well guess what? She's an art major TOO! Yeah, she took it an made my face an almost perfect Spongebob. So...I took this situation in 2 ways. 1)God was telling me to STOP NOW and pay attention in church. 2)Just because you think you're the best, doesn't really mean you are. Oh humbleness...you are funny sometimes.
Ok lastly, I need to talk about TODAY! That would be helpful wouldn't it? This morning at 9am I went and visited Tess Bradley. She is the leader of LGP but also knows EVERYTHING about just about EVERYTHING here at school. I went to talk to her about primarily a major. Well let me tell you...I was right about her knowing EVERYTHING. She gave me 8 packets of information, a book, an instruction guide, and a paper. Um...wow. haha. I said to her "I want to be a history teacher, a psychologist or own my own shoe store." Well, we both kind of weeded out that I don't want to do the first two. Both her AND I beamed when talking about me having a shoe store. So...we're going to go in that direction. Now, she gave me some good advice. She told me to ask my friends this question "where can YOU see ME in 5 years?" Sometimes friends know us better than ourselves. I am highly optimistic and think I can go anywhere in life. Also, ask my parents on this one, I am VERY bad at making hard decisions. I spend 20 minutes in a store trying to decide which shirt to get. But anyway, by asking your friends, they don't have to be optimistic or ambitious; they will be realistic. So here is the question(s): Where do you see me in 5 years? In 10 years? In the future in general? What job do YOU think is best for me?
Well, I have an exam tomorrow. Good night everyone. Keep on thinking, keep on living, and keep on worshiping our amazing God. He deserves it.
Michael Leather
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