A Curve Ball, or a few hundred

Life can be pretty interesting at times, especially when you look back at and see where you have come from and the choices that have brought you to where you are now. That is how life feels right now, not only my own, but others as well. I am not where I expected to be; a friend has to switch companies to keep the same job he has now, and it is not a job he ever expected to have; another friend, well to put it short is having parental problems; and so on and so on.

So life has been throwing us all curve balls; some slow, some fast; some we see coming and try to adjust our swing, some we do not even see till they are in the catcher's mit.

Maybe that is why I have become so addicted to the TV show Firefly and its movie Serenity. A ship, a captain, a crew, and some passengers that seem to have lost everything they once cherished and now have to live their lives the best they can while trying to pick up the pieces. They all have had curve balls thrown their way and their lives are all messed up, but they go on. As long as they are free, they go on. And here are the lyrics to the theme song.

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...

And here is a link to a site that actually plays the song in case you want to hear.

So for all of you who have had curve balls thrown at you lately, let's just keep swinging.

The End of Something Old, The Beginning of Something New

In the fall of 2000 I started college at Miami, and in a way it finishes this weekend. I know that I have been out of college for two years with my degree and been working to pay the bills, to eat, to have shelter and all the other wonderful reasons why we work. Yet this Sunday my wife, Christi, will graduate and receive her undergraduate degree. And while I may have graduated two years ago, by being married and living with a person that is still in undergrad has kind of kept me in college aw well. This caused me to be caught between two different worlds, the college-life and the adult-working-full-time life, which can be a real strain at times. And I know Christi, at times, has also felt the tugging in two different directions.

This weekend the slate will be wiped clean. We will both be adults with college degrees in our hands. Whether or not Christi is accepted to Grad School; whether or not we stay in the Greater Cincinatti area; whether or not we both work full time, we will, most likely, not be living in Oxford after July 31st.

And this both scares and saddens me to be leaving Oxford. This little town with its oversized University right next door has been my home for nearly 6 years. It is where I met my wife; it is where I stood up and made my commitment to Christ; it is where I learned truly what family is; and it is the place where I have made true friends. And I will be leaving these friends, my family, to go somewhere new. Somewhere where the only people I will truly know are my wife and Christ. I do not like the idea of leaving a place that accepts me, that loves me unconditionaly, a place that I feel that I belong too. Until I came to college, I did not really know what it meant to be a part of a group, too truly belong. Some people leave Oxford/Miami glad to be out of a small town, to be out of their holding patterns till they can be adults. I do not view my time in Oxford in the same light. I know I could settle down here and be happy. There are so many ways to minister, to help people. Yet, I feel that this is not the right place. That we are being tugged to go somewhere else.

I can feel it in my bones, deep inside. Lessons to be learned, learnin to found, experience to gain, and growth to occur. But not in Oxford. I think God is telling me that Christi and I have learned a lot during our time in Oxford, but He wants to show us something, to teach us more. I believe that we have put our faith in His hands, and he has used it to make us grow, and now has a new mission for us if we are ready to except.

So to all my friends in Oxford and at MU, to those that are there now and to those that have left, you will be and are sorely missed, but you all have shown me a life that I did not know existed, so THANK YOU.