Home Church

Ive been going to Grace Church for the past 5-6 years. It would be what I called my "home church." With so much changing in the past year, it has been harder for me to feel the same. With comments from Jim Mark on the last post, it made me realize that it is still my home church when I am in Little Rock. Fayetteville, though, is a different situation. I havent found a place I want to go every week. Most of the time I went to Stumo, but I am still looking for something more than that.

An Update

For those of you wondering, I am still alive, just haven't felt like blogging too much. I have returned to a more personal journal where I write most of my thoughts down, but I may blog some of them later. There is a lot going on in my head right now and I'm trying to sort it out and make to where I can express it to where it can be comprehended.

I did finish my first year of college and did pretty well. My knee is getting better and I get to start the intense part of rehab tomorrow. I am going back to work at Lonestar for a few weeks as well. Other than that, not too much has been going on in my life.

Dreams

Over the past three nights I have had two very disturbing dreams. Both of them involved one of my friends dying. They were two different friends, with one dying of alcohol poisoning and one dying of a violent car crash. I have no idea what this means, if it means anything, but it is disturbing nevertheless. Maybe some of you Freudians out there can analyze my dreams.

The Other Day

The other day I was walking to class, and I see a girl pulling a cross across campus because it had wheels on it. I wanted to shout at her, "Jesus didn't have wheels!", but I didn't.

Spring Practice

Spring practice is going on right now and I just wish I could be out there. A lot of people say I'm lucky because I don't have to go through practice, but I'd rather be out there trying to earn a spot than on the sidelines injured. I've never been seriously injured, and it is not something I want to do again. haha.

Spring Break

It has been a slow, but relaxing spring break. I have been working on getting all my files and information back on my computer after my hard drive went down, so that is why I have not posted in a while. I haven't done much of anything this week, but I have made good progress on my rehab. I am pretty close to full extension and I have made good progress on my flexion. I got my staples out yesterday and I can actually get my leg wet now. All my friends are at the beach and I get to rehab, but it is also nice to just relax at my house this week.

Embarrassing Moment

I meant to post about this last week, but I forgot. So now is as good a time as any to tell the story. I went to Stumo and they were playing the song that goes
"when i think about the Lord, how he raised me, how he saved me...."
Well I learned that the Grace Church and the Stumo version are not the same version. We got to "It makes me wanna shout" and I am the only person that actually felt compelled to shout "HEY" and so I got more than a few looks from the people around me. Needless to say, the Grace Church version is definately better.

Surgery Update

The surgery was successful and went according to plan. I am now laying in bed resting while on pain medicine. Fortunately there has been a lot of basketball on tv and the Hogs have kept on winning, and that has made the rest more enjoyable. Hopefully, the Hogs can pull it off tomorrow and win their second SEC Tournament Championship.

I have also had a chance to spend some time with God. I've been able to spend some time in the word and read some Oswald Chambers. I'm not sure if it's God's voice I'm hearing, or if it is the pain medication. haha. Hopefully I will become mobile soon because getting out of bed can become a chore and I am ready to be back to running again.

Joy

I was reading ole Oswald Chambers and he made the statement "The things we try to avoid and fight against-tribulation, suffering, and persecution-are the very things that produce abundant joy in us." This statement has been very true in my life, as with the death of my friend being a prime example. This was also a good reminder because yesterday I saw the commercial she starred in and it was the first time I have seen it in the past year. But after reading Chambers, I was reminding of the joy I got from God out of that horrible situation.

The surgery I am having tomorrow will suck, but I think I can find joy out of it as well. I just need to search for God and find joy in the rough times, because that is where it is abundant.

Is that a "deep" enough blog for you Mark? haha.

Wally Dumphey

My dad always refered to Wally Hall as Wally Dumphey, based off the character Jack Dumphey from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Jack Nicholson's character made the statement, "Jack Dumphey is full of (insert a certain four letter word right here)." This statement has become even more true after Dumphey's column today and the one a month ago calling out H Nutt on the most ridiculous, unfounded claims.

Today, though, outraged me when he called out Pat Beverley for his poor use of grammar in a statement saying "We ain't goin nowhere...the media is just bringing us closer together" That is a paraphrase, but apparently it is not ok for a coach or athlete to blame the precious media for reporting rumors and not facts, but it is ok for a journalist to attack a freshman basketball player. The irony of the article is not that Wally Hall can't write in complete sentences or he uses two sentence paragraphs, but that he mispelled Beverley's name (he spelled it Beverly).

Change in Plans

For the one reader (Harry), my surgery is going to be next week now, instead of tomorrow. The surgery center screwed up and did not realize until today that they did not accept my insurance. It is rescheduled for next Thursday at Washington Regional. It is frustrating as I'm just ready to get it over with, but a lot of my friends are coming up this weekend from other schools so it will be a good time to remember seeing them.

Tonight is in all liklihood Stan Heath's last home game as the coach of the Razorbacks. Hopefully we can pull out the win, and Stan can go out on a good note. Everyone likes him (except some of his players), but he has yet to be able to get the job done. It is unfortunate, but that if you don't win, you don't stay.

I haven't posted in a while, so i thought I'd make an attempt at one. I'm still struggling with a church I can go to. I have been to STUMO several times and will probably go tonight. But, it is not somewhere I want to go to regularly and I just don't "feel" it. I don't know if that is a a legitimate excuse or it if it is something that is going on inside my own heart that I need to deal with.

I am having surgery on Thursday, so I will try to blog about that when I am coherent again.

Surgery

I am having surgery next Thursday on my ACL. Some good news came out of the visit today, as the doc doesn't think my LCL or other outer ligaments suffered any damage, but he won't be sure until he scopes my knee before surgery. Rehad will be long and not fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Weekend

I had a pretty good weekend, as it was a much needed break from the workload I have had at school lately. I went and visited Derek at Lonestar on Friday for lunch. He did a pretty good job, although he is not yet on the level I was as a Lonestar waiter, haha. It was good to visit though as I had not seen him much recently.

I went to the basketball game on Saturday and the good Hogs team decided to show up and handed division leader Ole Miss a loss. It was a fun game and if the Hogs show up to play like that the rest of the season they might be able to go dancing this year. They also might be able to make some noise in the tourney, but they need to win back to back SEC games for the first time this year when they visit Auburn on Wednesday.

My doctor's appointment is Wednesday and I will set up my surgery date then. I am not looking forward to that, but hopefully it will go smoothly.

MRI

I got my MRI results back today, and I tore my ACL, as well as my LCL. The LCL heals in about 3-4 weeks, but the ACL takes 8-12 months after surgery. I hasve to got back for another visit to the doctor on wednesday to discuss when I will have surgery. I'm very bummed about this as it means I will miss spring football, and may miss the entire next season, with the chance to return by bowl practice.

Why I Am Blogging

I started blogging again because I had a lot on my mind and heart. It was approaching the one year anniversary of my friend's death and I had other thoughts on my spiritual walk. I wanted to get them out and be vulnerable again and get some feedback. I have missed the time I had with Harry, Mark, Grant and Steve and wanted to try to get some of that discipleship back that I have been missing since I've been in Fayetteville.

The Grammy's

I ranted a little bit about this on Grant's blog, but I am still outraged at the Grammy selection group for giving 5 Grammy's to the Dixie Chicks. They win not because of their music, but because of their loud mouths. If you speak out against Iraq and Toby Keith (not an award show favorite), you can win Grammy's. I especially have a problem with them winning for the country group and country album, when they aren't even accpeted by the country community. I doubt they have returned to Nashville since Natalie Maines ran her mouth against country music. They won't win, or even be nominated for country awards, then why should they be nominated in the category at the Grammy's? It's a despicable and unexplainable showing by the Grammy's.

Weekend in Little Rock

I went to Little Rock this weekend to get some supplies and just relax. I got to see one of my friends from Ole Miss and also got to go to church at Grace. I listened to the new pastor for the first time. I was impressed and enjoyed his message. My frist impression of him was he has a mustache! I think he will make a good pastor at Grace and it makes me more comfortable going back home and visiting Grace.

I also noticed that Britton is starting to come into his own as a worship leader. He has improved greatly since his first time. I was impressed with the way he led worship this morning and it also helped reaffirm my belief in Grace church.

Hog Basketball and Some More

The Hogs finally won a game they should have won when they beat Auburn last night. This up and down season has been head scratching, but the Hogs are still in good position to win the west if they can take care of business on the road. Basketball season has been different this year because i actually get to go to all the games. It's been a fun experience and it has also been a good time to spend some time with Harry. He makes frequent trips to Fayetteville and I have been able to extort a couple lunched out of him. haha.

It has been good to maintain the disciple-mentor role after high school and we are still getting a good amount of face time together. He along, with Mark, Steve, and even Grant have been major impacts in my life and part of the reason i stayed at Grace when i had the option of leaving. They have challenged me in my walk and helped me grow in my walk. I am grateful and appreciative for all the time they have invested in my life and taken away from their busy work schedules (except Harry)to spend some time with me. I thank all of yall, and hope to still continue the relationships.

You Better Not Make Me Mad

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 65% Superman 60% The Flash 60% Green Lantern 55% Catwoman 55% Iron Man 55% Supergirl 43% Robin 40% Wonder Woman 38% Spider-Man 30% Batman 25%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Going to the Doc

In case you didn't catch the post on my old site, I injured my knee the other night in sledding accident. I've been getting treatment at the training room, but they said I have to go see an orthopedist. I'll be going on Wednesday and hopefully he'll tell me it's just a bruise that will heal on its own.

One Year Ago

one year ago today i lost one of my good friends. i have reflected on this many times in the past year and today it all comes at a forefront. i cant help but think that she would be up here with me at arkansas. she would have an opinion on the mustain and malzahan drama, and she would let me hear all about it. she would also be one of my biggest encouragers in my effort to walk on. while there are many things we miss about her, when i stop to think about it, shes in a much better place than we are. its a paradoxical situation, as she is spending eternity with christ, while we all sit down here and hurt about it and wish she were here.