Winds of Change

There's something in the air. Can you feel it?

Change is in the air. The shifting of the seasons. The feeling of imminent events of importance. It's like an energy is slowly building.

Can you feel it?

It hit me today. Maybe it was because I wore shorts for the first time in a long time. Now, if you don't know me, let me be clear: I NEVER wear shorts. I wear jeans every single day of my life. Today though... I felt like the change demanded something different of me.

Can you feel it?

This is more than the changing of the seasons. I feel like... something is coming. I don't know what it is, but there's this spark in the back of my mind that hints that things are in motion.

I have no idea WHATSOEVER where I was going with this. I did, however, change my blog's setup to facilitate this idea. I had a cool blue pulse before, but now it's... alive, crackling with energy, just waiting to be let loose.

Sorry this wasn't super insightful or anything. I can't always be creative :/

Still, keep your eyes open. Let's see what happens.

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance,
The Wayfaring Stranger

I'll Remember You Like Yesterday...

I sit down to write today with more purpose and less excitement than usual. My blog today is a memorial, a remembrance of a dear friend and mentor, Jon Randall.

Jon was a deacon at my church back home. He was also a husband, father, attorney to my family and my boss. He hired me to be in charge of all grounds and building work that needed to be done. He made sure I had my tools, put me on payroll, and gave me the assignments I needed to get done. His confidence matched his expectations: he demanded results, but also had faith that they would be delivered.

Jon also served as my dad's attorney, and between his work with my family and the glimpses of him on the job I had while working for him, I gained an admiration for the work he did. In fact, when I decided to change my major at the beginning of this semester, and I was trying to decide which History degree to pursue, I chose History/Pre-Law... with Jon in the back of my mind.

To those of us in the youth group, Jon and his wife Kathy frequently opened their home. We often had devotionals and parties at their house, making good use of their living room and, (of course) swimming pool.

Jon passed away yesterday after being taken off life support. He had spent over a week battling a rampant infection that had almost shut down his body. Finally, it became apparent that the Lord wanted Jon to come home. His battle is over, and we are left with the memories.

This hits me so hard because Jon wasn't very old. He was around the same age as my dad. His oldest son is just a few years younger than I am, and I can't even imagine what he is going through. Jake, know that you, Jared, and your mother are in our prayers. I can't bear to think what it would feel like to lose my dad.

As those of you who read my blog often know, my titles are taken from songs that are relevant to my post. This one comes from the song "Yesterdays" by Switchfoot, a line that says, "I'll remember you like yesterday, yesterday. I still can't believe you're gone. I'll remember you like yesterday, yesterday. Oh, so long my friend, so long."

We will do just that. We will remember Jon like the yesterdays, the man he established himself as in life. His strength and kindness will live on. His generosity remains as an example to us all. For my part, I have only this to say:

Thank you Jon, for the memories. I still remember that massive couch you had Lane and me try and get upstairs. I still don't even know how we got it up that stairwell, only to have to bring it back down because it wouldn't fit through the doorway. Hope the dents and scratches in the wall weren't too bad. Even still, you held up your end of the bargain, teaching us that there is always value on a man's work, and on his honor. Your legacy will live on, and we will see you again someday.

To my readers who didn't know Jon, I hope you will forgive this break in my usual posting routine. This is the tribute I offer to a friend.

"May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." -Psalm 119:76

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance,
The Wayfaring Stranger

The Blues

Ok, so Valentine's Day is over, and I feel like I am obligated to say something on the subject. All in all, mine wasn't too bad, simply because I chose not to participate in all of it. It felt very ironic, because the past usually saw me feeling just a bit left out on Valentine's, but this time, I was kinda glad to be single. First off, I have lost many of my ideas about this holiday. My last one did NOT end in any way as I had intended or hoped, so it was nice not to have any repeat of that. Also, I observed a definitive fact:

Valentine's Day around here is a BIG FREAKING DEAL!

Seriously, people here get hardcore about it. It almost seems like too much stress to deal with. I mean, I'm all for doing nice stuff for your significant other, but there is a point where it seem a little overdone. I dunno, maybe I'm a poor judge of it, I'm just a bystander.

Now, don't get me wrong: I like the concept of this holiday. It's just the way that we make Valentine's (Like Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, etc.) into the one "special" day for a commonplace idea. We get all this hype for these holidays, but it's all stuff that should be important everyday. Everyday, we should be thankful, remember the birth, death and resurrection, and tell our loved ones we love them. A certain day doesn't make these things any more necessary than they were before.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love holidays. I think they're great, and remember them for what they are. But I'm convinced that we need to have the habit of celebrating these things daily. Their importance doesn't diminish.

So anyway, I hope everyone had an awesome Valentine's Day, and I hope those of you blessed with a significant other had a great day celebrating your relationship. I just challenge you to be willing to show the same love, regardless of the day.  That's about all I have this time. I promise something better next time.

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance,
The Wayfaring Stranger

Relentless

As if in response to my wishes from last night's post, it was in the SIXTIES today!!! Natural response? Jump in my Camaro, roll down the windows, and take a joy ride! For those of you that don't know me, driving is my drug. Nothing gives me an adrenaline rush quite like it. The roar of the engine, the precision response from the wheel... I almost become one with the car. Hands down my favorite thing to do. So I decided to hop on Memorial and just drive until I felt like turning around.

A ways down the road, I came to an intersection notorious for heavy traffic. Today was particularly heavy, and my irritation increases proportionally to the density of traffic. So, as I sat there, barely crawling forward at each change of the light, I became downright surly. This was NOT what I had envisioned.

As I sit there, a guy on a motorcycle comes flying up between the lanes to get to the very front. That really got me mad. I began fuming at this guy, who (in my mind) was rubbing the situation in all our faces, and showing off that he had the capability to bypass all of us, laws be darned. I swore in that moment: I will NEVER be that guy.

Time passes, and I have creeped a little further forward... and I hear sirens. Now I begin to understand why it's taking so long at this light. Slowly, the scene comes into view: A pickup has rammed the rear end of a little sedan, forcing it's front end underneath the back of the SUV in front of it. Paramedics are already on the scene, firetrucks are pulling up... and there's a motorcycle parked next to the accident. The motorcycle that had flown past me earlier. The rider stands nearby- holding his infant daughter in one arm and tightly embracing his wife with the other.

I felt about as good as dirt right about then.

I had read the situation all wrong. I had assumed this guy was just a jerk on a bike, proclaiming to everyone that he was above all the rules, not to mention us poor fools. In reality, this man was a father, who would let NOTHING stand in the way of him and his loved ones.





I think the point I'm about to make is so glaringly obvious, I probably don't even have to explain it.





What this guy did is, I believe, one of the requirements for being a father: Let nothing come between you and those you love. No obstacle is too large, no opponent too powerful, and no sacrifice too great to keep you from your family.

Yeah. You're getting it now.

I'm sure that none of you need any introduction to John 3:16. Perhaps the most quoted verse in the Bible, you only have to go to a sporting event to see people with signs displaying that verse. However, let me refresh your memories a bit:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God is the Father of humanity, we his children. However, sin is the obstacle that kept God from his children. So, true to the form of a father, God made the necessary sacrifice: his Son. His sacrifice destroyed that obstacle, and ensured that the Father would never have to be separated from His children again.

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance,
The Wayfaring Stranger

The Symphony of Modern Humanity

They say that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Well, I didn't die. I had decided to end this blog, truly feeling like I no longer had the heart to write anything more. How could I speak from a heart that felt like solid stone? However, like the spring after a cold winter (wishful thinking on my part there), I have softened up enough to find words again.

You may commence celebrating in whatever way seems best to you.

I feel a lot of the times like I'm fighting a one-man battle against the rest of the world, and the odds are clearly not in my favor. In particular, I find an irritating correlation between hoping for something good to happen, something that seems on the track to success, and then *BAM* World uses Crush Hopes and Dreams (it's super effective!). 

World and I have a very love-hate relationship :/

I have a rather special ability, however. It's one that I don't always appreciate having, and it has hurt me more than once. I have the ability to isolate my logical and emotional faculties from each other, and consider them individually, unbiased by the other. The positive (and negative) applications of this are rather obvious: The right answer is easier to reach, but sometimes it's REALLY not what you like, and you'd rather take ignorance. Such is life.

As such, I can consider all the things that I didn't think were particularly "right" from both perspectives. On one hand, I have my emotional faculty that shouts, "I wanted that! That's what I wanted to happen! That looked so good!" Meanwhile, my logic calmly (and somewhat arrogantly, the pompous know-it-all) says to me, "You don't know that. Perhaps there were unseen variables. Oh, and look now. Some things don't look as good as they did before, do they? Maybe you just got a save."

See? Told you he was ruthless. Worst part is, the logic is probably in the right. Don't you just hate that??? Can we just go back to kindergarten? Life was so much easier.. *sigh*

Anyway, enough about that. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

In case you all haven't noticed, my blog posts are almost always titled with some line from a song or something. My fascination with music is something we have already discussed in depth. This particular phrase comes from the old Switchfoot song "Adding to the Noise." It also has NO RELEVANCE WHATSOEVER to anything I'm spouting out in this post.

You: "But Christian, that makes no sense. You're just going to confuse people."

I'M SORRY, WHO WRITES THIS BLOG????

Yes, that would be me. I can do whatever I please here. I win. It's all I do :)

Also, I'm using a lot of all caps in this post... curious.

Anyway, I am tired, and cannot think of anything more to write. So, I will leave you with words of encouragement, though not my own.

"In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress." -Psalms 71:1-3

I'm back friends, and here to stay. 

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance,

The Wayfaring Stranger

For those of you who still check this, this blog is over. I've got nothing more to say.

Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand.

Ok, I apologize that it's been forever since i last wrote... being home and whatnot has robbed me of will and inspiration to write. However, it is Christmas Eve, and I'll be darned if I don't write a Christmas post!


Thusfar, my Christmas has been... interesting. I watched an irate customer tear into a Walmart cashier because her machine wouldn't scan all of his pathetic gift cards at once. I watched people fight each other over carts in the parking lot. I have almost been run over twice, and my car almost hit four times... all in one trip to the store. 


What the heck, people? When did "Merry Christmas" translate to "I'm going to kill you over a parking spot"? I'm usually a Christmas fanatic. I love this time of year, I really do. However, the commercialism of the holidays is getting ridiculous. 


The solution is simple: go read a kid's book.


Dr. Seuss' "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" is a tradition in our house. We always watch the original cartoon version before presents are opened on Christmas Eve (can't wait!) and I pretty much have it memorized at this point. It's a masterpiece, and I don't say that with any sarcasm whatsoever. Seriously. Seuss was nothing short of a genius.


I'm sure all of you have read or seen the story of The Grinch. If you haven't, you're pretty much a terrible American. Seriously, if you don't know the story of The Grinch... the terrorists win. However, for those that may not have read it, or have forgotten, let me break it down for you:


The Who's of Who-ville love Christmas, but The Grinch hates Christmas more than anything else. As a result, he dresses as Santa, and steals all of the Christmas things from every Who in Who-ville, reasoning that, if there's no Christmas presents and decoration, there won't be Christmas. He takes all of the stuff up to the top of Mount Crumpit to destroy all of it, when the following takes place:

"Pooh-pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
"They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
"The all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!"

"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch,
"That I simply must hear!"
So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day!

The Grinch, having realized the true meaning of Christmas wasn't something that could be bought, but only something that comes from the heart, he brings back everything to Who-ville, and celebrates with the Who's, even carving the Roast Beast for the Christmas dinner. 

The point here is obvious: Christmas isn't something that is bought, or wrapped, or cooked, or made. Christmas is something that comes solely from the heart. Christmas is about being with family. It's about giving, not getting and, as The Grinch learned, doesn't require anything more than family and a song to come. 

But even then, Christmas means a little bit more...

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising  God and saying, 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the other shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger." Luke 2:8-16

Yes, Mr. Grinch, Christmas DOES mean a little bit more. It's not something in packages, boxes or bags. But Christmas is a child, wrapped in cloth, lying in a manger. 

So spend your Christmas with family and friends, telling them how grateful you are for them. Keep the spirit of Christmas alive with giving and celebrating. Above all, remember the reason for Christmas: the celebration of the lowly birth of the Savior of mankind, Christ our King.

Grace and Peace be yours in abundance, and let your heart grow a few sizes today,

The Wayfaring Stranger

Also, a shout-out to my roommate Lane, who lost his grandmother today. Our prayers are with you, my brother.