Life

I am starting to enjoy my job. It isn't always a barrel of fun, but it also isn't bad at all. I just sit at a desk for 3 hours. It is out in the open in the student center at Lake Erie College, so people pass through. Not a lot pass through during my hours. I work until 11:30 and it doesn't start getting busy until after 11. However, I have gotten to meet a couple people.
I have seen people from Annex, the Christian campus group meeting I have gone to a couple times. I have also met a couple others. In particular, I met a girl named Lisa. The first day, she was the only one around for a while. I went up to her and asked where a drinking fountain was. She didn't know but offered to buy me a water from the snack bar with the extra money on her meal plan. Since then, she has come by every day to chat. Yesterday, we got into a pretty lengthy and interesting discussion about Christianity vs. atheism. She calls herself an atheist, although she was raised Catholic. From what she has said, it seems like she grew up with an interesting/false understanding of Christianity.
I have been realizing more and more how incomplete or skewed many "Christian's" and others' view of Christianity is.
As I expected, she didn't right away turn from her beliefs when I shared my own, but we will have the opportunity to continue the discussion, and she seems interested in doing so.
It is good for me in that it challenges me to look for answers to questions I have dismissed or not thought about. As Paul said in Philemon verse 6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of ever good thing we have in Christ." Sharing our faith isn't just good for those we share it with...in fact, it might not have any significant impact on them, but it can definitely impact our own lives.
I also get to spend time on the internet and playing solitaire at work. Until yesterday, I hadn't had a single person come up to me legitimately asking me about the Census. Yesterday, I had 3! It was a busy day. In fact, I was going to post on my blog yesterday but had to postpone it until today. Until next time...think about Philemon verse 6.

Candles

You know those times when the electricity goes out and you have to get out the flashlights and/or the candles? Well, I hadn't ever really thought about what it would be like to live without electricity and to depend on candles for light, long-term, until I read the book Here Burns My Candle.
I must admit, this isn't really my favorite style of book, so my expertise in this area is definitely lacking.
This book by Liz Curtis Higgs portrays an upper-class, family in Scotland during a tumultuous time of revolt. The family consists of a Dowager (a widow whose husband was titled...Lord, Baron, etc.) and her two sons, Donald and Andrew, and their wives, Elizabeth and Janet, respectively.
The book focuses mainly on Elizabeth, who is from a completely different social status, and the development of her relationship with the Dowager. It is meant to be related to the story of Ruth, although this book does not go any further than the 18th verse of the first chapter of Ruth.
While the book was, in my opinion, longer than it needed to be and didn't cover much of the book of Ruth, it did give an interesting portrayal of what life was like in the society of the time, set in 18th century Scotland.
While it was not a book I would normally pick out, I did not dread reading it each time I picked it up. Rather, I found myself getting caught up in the story, going through the ups and downs, mostly downs, of the family.
Speaking of downs, the book was somewhat depressing. Many things in the family's life were falling apart, but it was encouraging to see the faith and hope of Elizabeth through all of the hard things she and her family were going through. It was also encouraging to see the changes in the Dowager, including her return to faith in God.
This book is definitely meant for a certain portion of people. I would recommend it to somebody if they generally read similar books. It is a good enough book for the type of book it is, but honestly, it is not my type of book.
If you would like a copy of this book, you can find it here: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781400070015.
Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2nPMBA_rgM to see a trailer for Here Burns My Candle.
This book was provided free for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Review of Start Here

The Harris brothers team up for another book about doing "hard things." Start Here is a follow-up on their previous book Do Hard Things. Although they are just in college, the two have definitely done hard things for God with their lives, including writing books, doing speaking tours, and encouraging thousands of others to do hard things as well.
This book does a great job of encouraging people to do things that are difficult, big and small, rather than living complacent apathetic lives. The brothers recognize that doing hard things is not the basis for gaining salvation in Christ, but it is an important component of living for Him. They offer many examples of hard things that others have done, with letters from teens and young adults and their stories, as well as a list at the end of the book of hard things ranging from "[Writing] my parents a letter thanking them for all they do," to, "[Organizing] citywide baby showers for a crisis pregnancy center."
While this book is aimed at teens, I believe it is a valid and helpful exhortation for Christians of all ages. I have not read the first book and am not a teen, but I was encouraged by the book to make changes in my own life, and I think others will be too.
I would definitely recommend this book for teenagers, and I would also recommend it for people of all ages, especially those struggling with complacency or apathy or people who just need some encouragement to get off the couch.
I would like to thank WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing this book free for review.
If you would like this book, go here: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601422705

Maria Rides Again!

It turns out we don't need a new car. Our Lumina has nothing wrong with its head gaskets.
At least that's what Snyder's told us.
Our landlord suggested we go to Snyder's to get a second opinion, so we did today.
The guy looked and said the head gaskets are fine. He said there is just a leak in the intake of the coolant, or something like that. He told me he had some kind of pellets to put in there that would seal it up.
Also, the engine had a tick or something that he got rid of by putting something in it that lubricated something. I don't really understand much about cars, but basically instead of paying a bunch of money or just selling the lumina and getting a new car, we got it fixed for less than $100. Hopefully it actually works.
He seemed like a nice, trustworthy guy. And our landlord, who is also a nice, trustworthy guy, is the one who recommended him as the only place he would go around here.
We'll see.

Job

I don't remember what I wrote about last.
I got a job! I don't know how long it will last. It is for the 2010 Census. It is a desk job. 3 hours a day 5 days a week at the college across the street. I have training next monday and start after that. I am excited to have more income and have something else to do.
The band is going well so far. I met with Nate today and went over some harmonies and stuff. We have our next practice on Friday which will be my first as an official member of the band.
We are still looking for a car. My awesome parents were nice enough to not only let us borrow the van but also to drive down and bring me up to MI for a few days so I could then go and pick up Kassie from MP and spend a couple days there before heading down here.
God is doing some sweet stuff with our church. We aren't really sure what direction it's headed, but it's going to be awesome.
I love you all.

Broken Buildings

I recently joined a Christian progressive rock band. It's called Broken Buildings. The drummer and lead singer have played together for a couple years and the lead singer has been writing music for about 9 years. I met and played with them once and it was good stuff.
I am playing bass and singing backups. I am excited to see what happens with this new adventure. For a long time I have wanted to be in a Christian rock band. And quite a while ago I decided the ideal position for me would be playing bass and backup vocals. More recently I decided, with God's urging, to pursue this dream.
I'll keep you posted. Just wanted to let you know.