a (quarter) milestone

This one almost came and went like your odometer rolling over 100,000 miles and you looking at it on mile 100,002. Luckily, almost doesn't count. I caught it just in time. We have avoided a great disaster today my friends.

I've decided to treat this 250th post like a reflection episode of Saved by the Bell. I'll be Zack talking to the camera and when I'm done, things will blur into a look back at some posts of days gone by. (I'm not clever enough to make your computer screen blur between the time you click the links and the page actually loading, so just pretend, and please, click the links, as it will certainly be to your enjoyment... I used to be funnier than I am now).

As many of you know, things here at odfm started way back on May Fool's Day, 2005, with a debut post most have never read and the rest have forgotten. It's mind-blowingly creative title was, "testing..." I was gearing up for my big summer in China, and I planned on using this blog (inspired by one Joshua Langston) to keep the masses updated on how I was doing. Things started off well but really exploded when a post titled "red carpet at the barber shop" boasted double digit comments (thanks to Jon's mom posting the same comment twice). Double digit comments is a feat that has only been achieved 7 other times in odfm history.

Upon arriving back in the States I posted a few posts on reverse culture shock and then I went out on a limb and posted a non-China post entitled "laying out aka lawn mowing." This post was not only significant for trail-blazing a way for odfm to survive in America, it also debuted the first ever total stranger comment by "Immortal Beloved."

At that point in blogging history, you didn't have all the blogs you have today. As I recall it was only Joshua, the Supercinski's, and myself. Of course we weren't the only three bloggers in the world at that time, but in my circle of friends, that was it. In the two years that followed blogging spread like gangrene to the point that everybody and (literally) their non-speaking-much-less-typing babies had blogs.

I've had many posts from that fateful 1 May 2005 to present. The following are some of my personal favorites (in chronological order).

- the bike crash heard round the world
- superhero soirée
- trip results...
- ... down in New Orleans
- Bush, Graham, Osteen and Oliver
- "the sub that hacks"
- first ever contest!
- 75 things that make me smile and/or things I like
- freshman door... an epic
- done and done.
- Reformation Day, 2006
- my ears are still ringing
- undeserved
- perfection
- to all the nay-sayers
- a (quarter) milestone

It's crazy to think about how much stuff has happened since I started this blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed keeping it and you guys are gracious enough to pretend like you enjoy it as well. It's a wonderful blessing to know that most of you readers have been my friends longer than this blog's been alive. I'm sincerely thankful for my readers and I'm at a loss of words when it comes to describing my friends. I'll just go ahead and sum it up with one: love.

Thanks for reading. Here's to 250 more posts...

(note: this entry took longer to create than any other post in odfm history, bar none... in case anyone asks)

year in review: the Dallas year

I've been thinking about how I wanted to approach this post for a while. I decided I'd go with a couple explanatory sentences, followed by a couple introductory sentences, followed by a list of things I've learned this past year in Dallas, and conclude with some more sentences, only they won't be explanatory or introductory, they'll be the opposite... conclusilatory.

Those of you who've been reading my blog for the duration of this past year know that I've not been madly in love with my time here in Dallas. Hopefully you don't think I'm depressed, because you'd be wrong, but if you thought I wouldn't move back to Dallas save the Lord speaking it over me in three consecutive dreams, then you'd be correct. I decided about 3/4 of the way through my stint here that it would behoove me to pen some of the things that I've learned while living in the Big D, so as to ensure that my time here was not spent in vain. My friends, I give you the list (in no order of importance):

- I am able to support myself. For the first time this year I've lived without any parental subsidization.

- Living in a place for any amount of time and not being plugged in to a solid church is something no believer should have to be a part of. It makes things way harder than they ought to be.

- I don't like bars. They're lousy places to hang out, for about ten different reasons, yet it's where people my age want to hang out.

- Work doesn't have to suck.

- No matter how terrible you think your geographic location is, if you have people around you who you love and who love you, you'll be good to go. You'll think sometimes you're not, but you really are. People are so precious.

- If I had to take a college class on how to get around downtown Dallas, I'd fail, no question.

- Traffic, though detrimental to the environment, is otherwise only as bad as you make it. However even if you normally make it a pleasant thing, you're allowed a slip here and there. (Not sure what was going on the day I took that picture above, streets are never that clear).

- The Lord's ancient work is taking place all over the world, including in hundreds of places throughout any given community. It's easy to miss when you aren't living in the Spirit, but it is so sweet and refreshing when you do spot it.

- Regardless of your situation, how sorry you'd like to feel for yourself, or how angry you are at either society or God, the fact remains that though your circumstances have changed from previous times when things were "better", Jesus hasn't. It's no less accessible during your bad times than your good ones. He still longs for you to know him way more than you yourself want to know him.

- When you find people you like, you should hang out with them. I believe that.

- People in this generation (both believers and non-believers) long to be around authenticity. They can tell whether or not you're being real.

So there you have it. A list of eleven things I've learned (or relearned) during the past year. Nothing novel, nothing profound, but lessons nonetheless. I'll close with another list of sorts, a few thank you's to people who've made me like Dallas way more than I ever thought I would. You are the people who will make it hard for me to leave. If it weren't for you guys, I'd have no problem in the world washing my hands of this city. So thank you to Jon, Mikey, Colby, Laura, Rachel Reed, Nat-town, Hannah Morgan, Antwan Contrerras, Hunter Lott, Ford James, David Foltz, Keith Peeler, all the iW people, and Louie. I appreciate you guys and girls more than you'll ever know (especially those of you who don't read this blog and have no idea you're on this list).

So farewell Dallas. I'm sure you won't miss me, and rest assured, the feeling is mutual.

75 things that make me smile and/or things I like

I made this list over the past few days for fun with no intentions of making a blog about it, but then I figured, why not? Enjoy.

1. Jesus and his grace
2. Photography
3. Music
4. Good, well-made, holistic albums
5. Christian hip-hop
6. People (or myself) spilling drinks
7. People (or myself) tripping
8. My college friends: the roommates, the six chicks, Lauren Rouse and her house, Joshua Langston and Matt Graham, Molly Allen… this list would take pages and hours to make.
9. My college family: the roommates, the six chicks, the Hendricks!
10. Living Hope
11. Rony, Kuddah, and Heavy
12. Sunsets, and rises for that matter
13. Realizing that you’re driving 5 miles under the speed limit
14. Driving, foot out the window, 70 degrees out, and Mae (or an equally amazing CD) in the CD player.
15. Cold weather and all it entails: wool socks, fleeces, beanies, gloves, long sleeve shirts
16. Philip Yancey books
17. Mark Driscoll books and sermons
18. Barnes and Nobles, browsing, never buying
19. “The Irresistible Revolution”
20. Singing to the Lord
21. Babies
22. Chinese babies
23. People who adopt kids
24. Hugs
25. Christmas music
26. Watching people do what they do/ be in their element
27. Gymnastics
28. Rock climbing
29. Traveling
30. REI garage sales
31. Habitat for Humanity garage sales
32. Sitting on the Luther house porch as a storm rolls in, playing guitar
33. Colby’s hammock, with a good book
34. Waking up with my face in a textbook
35. Knowing that I never have to read another textbook unless I want to
36. Finding out you have more money in your bank account than you thought
37. Painting, even though I’m terrible at it
38. Grammar and spelling
39. Barefoot grass
40. Heather’s dessert
41. My Prana pants
42. Successfully resisting temptations
43. Brad Smith, every time
44. Watching and discussing films that are well-made and deal with relevant issues
45. Finding Jesus in everyday things
46. Cold showers after mowing the yard in a Texas summer
47. Diving boards
48. Encouraging notes (especially when hand-written)
49. Chinese people
50. Dads being men and playing with their kids with no regard for anyone else who may be watching
51. Seeing how innocent and peaceful people look when they’re sleeping (not in a weird way)
52. Spooning
53. When I look at a close friend and know that we’re both thinking the same thing without a word being spoken
54. Laughing until I’m red, crying, and my side hurts (all three)
55. The Body of Christ!
56. Hearing the voice of the Shepherd
57. Dancing, on the rare occasion that I feel it
58. Naps
59. Sleeping in and not feeling guilty about it
60. Massages!
61. Any joke that goes a tasteful direction that I wasn’t expecting (usually results in a loud, obnoxious burst of laughter)
62. Crunchy, homemade cookies
63. Shower curtains that are a foot longer than the length of the tub (as opposed to short ones)
64. Snow skiing
65. Road trips to no specific destination
66. Chicken E
67. When lights stay green longer than you thought they would
68. Thinking about Jon’s writing on all the popular kids’ names on his 6th grade notebook in a white-out pen
69. Peeps
70. Doing flips
71. Cody Kimmel and Matt Graham opening for Jimmy Needham at Coffee Station before the entire world fell in love with the three.
72. When the gas gauge reads full
73. When people leave comments on my blog
74. Pretty eyes
75. Live shows

flight of the butter

Of all the pictures I've taken this summer, this one is certainly one of my favorites. I might even go so far as to say it's one of the top ten I've ever taken. I realize it isn't perfect, but hey, neither am I, so it works out.

Why the butterfly picture post?

Oh well I thought I'd switch up the pace a little. As you all know, the past few posts have been a little bit heavy, serious, and other non-funny things. Well butterflies are by no means a laughing matter either, but they can boast one thing: beauty.

That's right, butterflies are pretty.

And so for this post, I'll list a few things that I think are pretty, and in your commenting, if you so choose, you can tell the world what you think to be pretty.

Let it begin.

Sunsets, mountains overlooking rivers, puffy clouds in an otherwise blue sky, horses, puppies, old couples, human eyes, my sister, certain guitars, Chaco tans, paintings, traditional Chinese dress, smiles, butterflies pollenating flowers, and Utah.

things I missed while abroad

I got back to the states to find out some things that have been going on, some of them made me happy, some I was indifferent about, but I thought it interesting that so much can go on in one month, so in case you haven't left your toilet in the past month (but still have internet access), here's some stuff that happened:

- le Tour de France is underway, with Lance Armstrong - sick cyclist and not that tight a person - attempting to win his unprecidented of 7th Tour
- the Wimbelton came and went, and Roddick lost...
- Kenny Rogers went ahead and lost his temper for the entire nation to see
- a Supreme Court Justice peaced out on the job, making it an interesting story as we see who fills the void.
AND THE KICKER:
- tons of faith-based and anti-poverty organizations have united to fight world poverty and AIDS in the well advertised ONE campaign. I'm sure this was brewing long before I left, but I didn't hear of it until I got back. I'm not going to tell you whether to support it or not, but I would encourage you to check out their website, read around, and see where that leads. The link is at the top of this post (click on the post's title), and over yonder on the sidebar, where it will rest. I mean, it's just one.org... not hard..

sub-par post

well earlier today I wrote out a quaint but heart-warming post of a slightly different format than the typical posts read on this page. Upon clicking the "publish post" button after finishing my masterpiece of a post, the web browser showed me the dreaded "Page Cannot be Displayed" page... So if this post struggles, blame it on that little laptop down the street.

I'll start with the two main points of the post that got away: books and music. I thought I'd give you a taste of the literature and tunes that have been gracing my eyes and ears here in the Orient. These are also recommendations for those of you who are literate and/or enjoy music. If you really don't care about books or music, or just want to get on to whatever else I have to say, scroll down to "VDSLRJU." And... go!

Books:
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller - I'm sure most of you have read this already, I was late to get on the bandwagon because for a long time I wasn't going to read it simply because it was popular. Don't make that mistake. Miller brings up lots of good points, and he thinks further outside the box than I do.

- Radical Reformission by Marc Driscoll - If you want to read this book about how we ought to be effectively sharing the Happy News we know with the scores of people around us who don't know it, you should borrow it from Joey Rigney, his roommates, or myself. This one will make you think about stuff you probably haven't thought about before, but are worth thought.

- Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot - Also one I'm sure most have read. If you haven't, I really think that this story of the life of Jim Elliot as told by his wife (Elisabeth) and his own journals and letters has potential to change your life. This bro did not care at all. He was sold out for JC in a way most would consider radical, but he (and probably the Good Book) would consider simply the call of duty as a bro or sis.

Music:
- Caedmons Call's "Share the Well" - This CD I would say has been the anthem of our trip (if indeed the trip needs an anthem album). The album is a product of the member's of Caedmon's Call's various M trips around the world. Lots of stuff about India, lots of quasi-indigenous sounds with foriegn instruments and lyrics, but a very tasty mix indeed. I plan on buying this one immidiately upon arriving in the States

- LeCrae and the 116 clique albums - just kidding, I haven't listened to these at all on this trip (until right now, as I type I'm listening to clips from the website). I'm really looking forward to my hip hop CD's, and to ordering the new 116 cut. holla.

- Anything by Mae, Copeland, or Emery - rock at it's finest.

- Chinese Pop music - most of this stuff is terrible. Chinese people don't have any other option really, it's either the really old traditional stuff (not bad), the techno (not good), and the pop (no better than in the States, therefore terrible)

VDSLRJU
I don't know what all else to say here. The past few days have been extremely enjoyable, however they haven't been overly eventful. I did successfully spend lots of money on souveniers and gifts for the fam (L.O., you aren't getting shoes... but instead something much tighter). I'm really starting to look forward to coming home and enjoying various luxuries one is able to enjoy in the States. I think that's all I've got to say really. I'm having a hard time focusing with all the smoke, sweat, and skeeters raping me. I'll be home in way less than 1000 hours. Don't loose sleep over me. Cheers.