Believing is seeing

This past Tuesday I received a call from Shiloh and he was very upset. He was in the cafeteria and set down his backpack to order lunch. When he came back two minutes later his backpack was gone. In the backpack was his laptop, math book, writing book, homework, term notes, syllabi, money, thumb drive, and the only copy of his paper he had just recieved from his teacher to rewrite. He was very angry, and rightfully so. His friends from student government helped him search the campus, but it was a futile search - the backpack was gone.

When he called me and told me what had happened I tried to stay calm and to calm him down. As soon as I hung up the phone I went to the only person I knew could help - Jesus. For one of the only times in my life I was able to step out of the situation and really look at the situation from His perspective (with limited information). I prayed that whoever had taken the backpack would not only feel convicted, but more importantly would feel the love of God overwhelm him/her. I prayed that God would use this situation to further his Kingdom and this story would go on to magnify His name.

After I was done I tried to work on my homework, but couldn't concentrate. I called Shiloh and said that I would come out to the campus and do what I could; I couldn't do anything really except be there to comfort him. I arrived and went directly into the cafeteria and opened my laptop to work on homework that desperately needed to be done. However, all I could do was look around and pray. Since the time that Shiloh had called me I had not only felt peace over the situation, but I also KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would get it back. There were times when I would get a little spirit in me that would say "how are you going to pay for a new book and a laptop?", but within the next minute I would dismiss the thought because I knew he would get it back.

He decided to come home and try to watch some TV (he couldn't do homework). He calmed down after a while and went about the day as normal. That night around 9 or 9:30 we received a call from security at the school. They found his backpack in a classroom with everything in it (even the laptop and his money). Nothing at all was damaged or taken! The security guard was completely flabergasted. He said that he has never seen a situation like this where something has been stolen and then found completely.

Praise Jesus! To Him be all the glory forever and ever, Amen!

Alcatraz: A small city of desperation

So in my previous post I mentioned a "break" from homework. Well, our break was going down to San Fransisco. We left around 3 p.m. with the intention on going to the coast for some peace and quiet to get some homework done there. Well, when we arrived in Cresent City one of us wondered aloud, "How far is it to San Fransisco?" (Who this person was will remain unknown). So, we started the trek. If no one has ever told you, let me be the one to enlighten you - San Fransisco is a lot farther from Cresent City than from Grants Pass! You may wonder how that is possible, but let me assure you that it is true. Unfortunately, cars to not have the advantage of flying as the crow flies; we have to adhere to the construction of man that must have been drunk when designing the roads. There is not a straight road between Cresent City and San Fransisco that isn't in a town with a speed limit of 25. The short story is that it took us 9 hours to get to San Fransisco on the way there and only 5 hours on the way back.

The reason for this blog was not to tell you of our driving experience, but of our experience at Alcatraz. Before going there I thought, "This will be cool to see what a prison was like back in the day". However, by the time I got out I had the most creepy feeling I've felt in a long time, and even now when I think about it I can feel a creepy feeling crawling up my spine. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience and I learned a lot. However, it was creepy. There are photos of both the prisoners and the guards. There are headphones that conduct a tour throughout the prison and there is even some action that you can hear: fighting, running, gunshots, and even the reaction of people getting shot. Because they have pictures of the prisoners and the guards up on the walls you can picture what is going on very vividly. It is creepy. If you have a weak stomach I wouldn't suggest going.

These past couple of weeks I've been sinking in homework in the evening, while during the day I'm sinking in work. So last weekend I took Friday off so I could catch up on sleep and homework. Well... that didn't exactly happen. I will post another blog on that. So I didn't really do any homework until Sunday - we stayed home from church so I could get some done. I spent five hours straight doing homework and then another hour. Some may say that I'm crazy, however, I felt impowered as I came up for breath. The amount I got done and the feeling of relief was incredible. This week I had/have three midterms, 4 quizzes, 2 chapters of homework, 2 outlines, 2 papers, 4 experiential exercises, and some other minor stuff. When I look or think about this list I cringe, however I know I will get it done and will feel amazing when its over. We are going to the coast this weekend, and the following weekend/week we are going to Arkansas and there I hope to get a good chunck of homework done then. After that term will be over within 2 weeks. Yay!

Disclaimer: Homework is not for the faint-hearted soul. It takes hard work and dedication - and a realization that it won't be like this forever. Enjoy this opportunity to learn fathoms of useless information like the elasticity of demand, because you won't get this joy after graduation.