Thanksgiving Prequel

It was a great day today getting to take a breather from the rigors of school and connect with the guys in my house, marked particularly by a "shirts" vs. "skins" 2-on-2 soccer match in our living room...with nothing breaking, miraculously.

Cold settled in and a turn of events led to me getting to drive with Sam back to his parents' place in Brookfield.  After first greetings, we had a great time heading out for dinner, then came back to their house for a house tour.  After some quality reminiscing in Sam's room, with tales past sports and arts experience from Sam and his dad, we proceeded to the basement lastly, where an epic Crossfire showdown lasting 17+ minutes! (classic!  See below) ensued.  Two grown men showing down in one of the finest mano y mano games ever made, for sure in our childhoods anyway...priceless.  (Thanks to Sam's parents for a warm welcome on this Thanksgiving eve; great to chat about life and professional/career pursuits as well.)

Coming home, I enjoyed some great time connecting with Nate, back in Minnesota, over the phone, then briefly with Dad and my friend Alex.  About to fall asleep, I thought, around midnight, the night took an unexpected turn when I got to chat over webcam with beautiful younger sister, Michelle, and friend Ify, just up until Eric and Kyle came home from a concert in Chicago...given our freedom in schedules, we got to spend some valuable time sharing a "pillow chat", of sorts, on topics ranging from Biblical consumption patterns, global/diversity exposure, economic upbringing, and other themes...ah, including planning ahead and prioritizing in the sense of, "I better get this done, so I can do this."  Which leads me to my, "Goodnight!"

Youth of the Nations

Just had an amazing chat with my friend, Marcus, who shared about the challenges facing the youth of Latin America (lack of viable economic opportunities, gang/violence involvement). A few months ago, another friend related stories of a pastor in Juarez, Mexico learned that 12-14 year old inmates only expected to live, "maybe two [more] years." "..but if I die, at least my family will get the $100,000." This is not OK.

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I don't think words can be put to what I feel inside when we talked about this...

The thought, "Who will care for the youth of Latin America?" came to mind.

I'd like to. Perhaps others like these, too...

This boy had been dropped off at a children's home seven days before this photo was taken. From a small town where there are no street addresses, he had literally no way of contacting his biological mother.

On a personal note, this is possibly the hardest I've had to labor to keep focused on the task of writing a paper. So many thoughts & feelings building up in this rather incredible season of dreaming and pursuing what may be next. I'm realizing that I can't get too far ahead of myself, in various aspects of life--school, relationships, occupation.

Maybe Jesus had a good point...Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worries of its own.

Any thoughts on managing the "mundane" when passion leads to pursuits different from the tasks at hand? This has been an interesting journey for me.

Sunday Night

Had a really cool day today: church at Blackhawk, chatting with brother Stephen on the phone, chatting with a friend in the library, cracking the books briefly, team meeting with Leadership Development classmates Yufei & Martín, a brief talk with Mom & Dad...en route to Sunday Night Live, the high school ministries Sunday night shindig, SNL, bball afterwords with Brad (fellow leader) and some pretty talented teens, giving Matt a ride home whilst learning of passions & talents for track/pole vault, driving out in the country a bit, chatting with roommate Dan about paper writing, heading to the library, meeting Jeremy, a fellow socially-active/conscientious Minnesotan (St. Paul), running into friends, Jenna & Sam, and making my way back home to finally get clothes folded, put away (while also sneaking in a good talk with Mom & Dad). Wow. That was just one day. Hmm...not sure what to think of this.

On the SNL note, though, this was an awesome time. I really enjoyed getting to listen to the seniors in "community group" time, getting to hear their hearts for God and how they interact with Him...it's a really priceless thing. It's uber late, so I think I'm going to retire for the evening. Looking forward to cranking out some serious work on a Latin American politics paper tomorrow, in between classes in Global Cultures, Developing Economies, and Real Estate.

I'll leave you with Owl City's version of "In Christ Alone," which I really enjoyed in church earlier today (lyrics here). Only days 'till Thanksgiving and seeing FAMILY! :-)

1st Harry Potter Experience Leads to Some Timely (and Needed) Reflection

So, I did it. I finally caved and caught the Harry Potter bug.

I went to {the most recent one} tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Action, intrigue, plot twists, and some really good take away lessons (if you saw it, what were some that were inspiring to you?). If you haven't seen it, I won't elaborate on the plot in case you would like to. Frankly, it struck me in its parallels to the LoTR trilogy, although of course very different in many ways also. (I can almost hear Harry Potter purists scoffing from here. Remember, I'm an HP noob, so this is my very inexperienced, beginner, first-reaction perspective speaking here.)

I enjoyed continuing the night with a stop by my friends' place and getting to get to know an acquaintance a little better.

Great to learn about differences between Catalán, the intersection of faith and professional industries like film, media, business, education, and government... Shout out to tall ceilings in houses, permitting footballs to be thrown without concern for fixtures :-). Oh, and thanks to Brian, I've finally found some sweet shoes that fit my style and functionality desires.

Oh, I remember why I was going to blog in the first place.

I found the stillness of the movie theater to be the perfect place for some reflection, something I've been taking way too little time to do lately (amidst coursework, interviews, social events, etc.).

In fact, points in the movie (and conversations with friends, Kelsey and Adam) made for a near endless stream of thought ranging from pursuing my baseball dreams (possibly intersecting with going to graduate school) thinking how these could intersect with a career...or not, and actually pondering a rather last-minute move to study abroad this coming semester-Monterrey, Chihuahua, Sao Paulo, and Spain all came to mind as pretty attractive options!

So, needless to say, there were some exciting developments tonight...not the least of which was an offer for a project management position with a local business with whom I've been interviewing! It's one my first "real" job offers, so it's an exciting time, indeed!

I'd be interested to hear, particularly from the older crowd, moments of great decisions in your life; no holds barred-you can share the good, bad, and ugly, if applicable. This has been an interesting process of exploration for me.

G'night!

P.S. Thanks go out to Justin Schwalbe, a good friend of mine, who inspired me to write about the every day goings-on of life via his blog, (www.finishtherace.net)