Friday, December 21, 2007

Christmas...

I will spend it away from home. =[

On the Upside, I shall be snowboarding in Utah. =]

And on the way back we'll stop for the Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. =]

And I'll have to read Tocqueville. =\

And write a Term Paper on why Atheism by Establishment is better than Theism by Establishment. =] (Specifically using the Engel v. Vitale case)

I'm also planning to reform my sleep habits as I've been averaging 12-1 o' clock bedtimes.

I'm going to listen to more Rachmaninoff.

Play Annabelle more often. (Bach and Theory!) Eep.

And try to read at least half of Brothers Karmazov.

I'm also going to read through all the Nativity scenes in the Gospels.

Pray more, sleep more, grow more.

*Sigh*... I need a vacation....

=]

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Annabelle

Yes, that is my piano's name.

Anna=Graceful.

Belle=Beauty.

Anna+Belle=Graceful Beauty.

The pictures don't do the sound justice, but...

The photos are on Flickr. =]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21865027@N03/sets/72157603467275652/

I plan to name my (future) daughter Annabelle, by the way. NOT after my piano. This like a sort of bent back on itself naming. Piano named after daughter, not other way around. =]

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Took Hall

Yesterday, I had the priviledge of staying over at Took Hall in order to attend some Torrey Honors Sessions. =] It was great, my thanks to the guys of Took Hall. Anyway, here's a funny bit of dialogue that happened while I was there:

Me: You guys have a complete set of the Western classics?!!!! You have bigwonderfulawesome library!!!???? AGGGGHHH!!!!! *Turns green with envy*

Peter: OOoooooo Envyenvyenvyenvyenvy, Covetessnesscovetessnesscovetessness

Me: Guiltguiltguiltguiltguiltguiltguilt

Peter: Condemnationcondemnationcondemnationcondemnation

Dan: Gracegracegracegracegracegracegracegrace

Me: Santificationsantificationsantificationsantification

=]


Torrey: Goodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgoodgood

Beautifulbeautifulbeautifulbeautifulbeautifulbeautifulbeautifulbeautiful

Truetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetruetrue

Monday, December 3, 2007

WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!

My family got a Grand Piano.

Is it Big?

Yes.

Is it Powerful?

Yes.

Is it Beautiful?

Yes.

Is it Totally Awesome?!

Uh.......YEAH!!!!!

mhmmm after a few hours of playing I can safetly say it is all of thee above and more...pictures....later....[yawn]. =]

Piano = Much Good.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Humility

This week, I've had to learn a hard lesson. That is, how to be humble. My teacher whom I respect and admire very much for showing me my weakness and sin pointed out in his evaluation of my Term Paper that I was acting as if I were an exception towards the general rules, not only was the quality of my paper unacceptably low, but so was my attitude. "Pride cometh before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall". Sigh. At first, I was able to see it from a third persons point of view, I knew that this would not only be a growing experience (being reprimanded) but that it would also be painful. I was overjoyed at being corrected, for I had noticed my own academic slipshodedness for quite some time already. But as the hours passed and my teacher's words took on more personal weight, the burden and shame did begin to seep into my heart. Throughout the (continuing) ordeal I've been very grateful to Mr. Buhler for pointing out my arrogance and snobbishness. This lesson is hard, but at least my lesson in humility has begun. But I recognize this: if I had maintained a loving, trusting and dependent relationship with God, this would not have happened. And until I learn to be humble as Christ was humble and depend upon my Heavenly Father as Jesus depended upon the Father then my Pride will continue to rear its ugly head.

So what I've learned so far:
1) I have been ignoring my classmates. Torrey is about learning from a community, for many months now, I have (consciously or not) been almost ignoring the comments of my friends during class, I've isolated myself in the dungeon of my own mind, which (to a certain degree) is a type of insanity.

2) I cannot conquer my pride alone, only God can. Although I am still unsure of how to destroy my pride, by God's grace I am determined to depend upon Him daily for guidance and for mercy.

3) This has certainly been an experience with God. Now that I think about it, this event was a direct answer to my prayer! I had asked God to "destroy my pride, for it is an abhorrent thing to You", God never really works the way we think He will, and that's a good thing.

I've seen now how disgusting my pride has been and I can do nothing but beg for forgivness and grace from my classmates, my family, my friends, my teacher, but most of all, from God. This is a small step, but a step nonetheless. I am still a boy and quite a stupid one, but I thank God for showing this to me. I hope I don't remain one. =]