Saturday, June 26, 2010

Mission 2010: a short recap

The long and short of it? This year's 86:12 trip gets a big thumbs up from me. From a ministry standpoint, it was so far past amazing. Here's a few things that I learned/noticed.

1. The biggest theme of the year was that you don't actually have to pray with a kid or show them the Bible. Simply giving them attention and love can show the love of God. A facebook note will expand on this more, but this is the abbreviated version.

2. 86:12 was onto something huh-uge. And el diablo noticed. Starting off with a sixth grade girl having to have surgery because she fell off her bunk bed and broke part of her skull. At first, I just saw it has a hugely unfortunate occurance. But then an over-the-top guy showed me otherwise. Satan was all, "Hey, let's injure a 12 year old girl and maybe this group of Jesus freaks will bail out on the ATL." Haha, so funny, ya idiot. Because Lauren being hurt only gave the other 205 people on the trip more of a fire for God...especially when she healed/healing amazingly. Then, on top of Lauren, we had some 50ish people get sick on the trip. Some call it bad health in a large group setting. I call it the devil's work.

3. Old people are awesome. And really like holding hands.

4. My new family group? I'm ridiculously tight with them. Woo!

5. God can make something out of absolutely nothing. No, it's not spontaneous generation. It's divine intervention.

6. No celebrity died this year while on the trip.

That's my short and extremely ADD thoughts on the mission trip this year. Like I said, my thoughts and stories will be fleshed out better on the book of faces (facebook...for those of you who don't speak my language). Hope you enjoyed this small list of random thoughts!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

The midnight train to Georgia.

Actually, more like "the 6am bus to Georgia". Sorry Gladys Knight, but 86:12 is not abiding by the transportation and time of your song. We're 6 hours later and using a less-classy form of transportation.

86:12 mission trips I've been on including this year's: 6. This year's promises to be different than all others I've been on and I've got a load of responsibilities. Exciting and scary at the same time. Allow me to do a short recap of the trips I've been on.
Summer after...
6th grade: El Paso. Hot and dry. VBS was kind of a fail. We went to White Sands National Park and I almost passed out when we sang at this park. Thank you, dehydration! Theme of the year was "Portraits of Worship". My family group worked with the Gosser family group.
7th grade: Pueblo, CO. Not nearly as hot as El Paso but still pretty toasty. VBS (my group had a nice turnout) was fun and organized. We went to work at this old lady's house during the afternoons. The place was a disaster but it looked pretty good by the time we finished it. My FG was with Eberhardt!
8th grade: Memphis. That year was really fun. Ministering to intercity kids was hard but rewarding. They were pretty cute...except for the large boy who had a crush on me. Awkward. Anyway, we did several concerts and VBS in the morning. There wasn't a lot of manual labor that year if I recall correctly. Oh, and this is for anyone who was on that trip: You can't ride my little red wagon! Hahaha, oh gosh.
9th grade: New Orleans. Even 3 years after Katrina, there were still scars on the city. It was a great place for all different kinds of ministry. My group sorted mardi gras beads with people who were mentally challenged, which proved to be awesome and hilarious and totally not what I was expecting. So fun.
10th grade: McAllen, TX. Hello manual labor? Talk about building a house! Okay, so basically 86:12 built houses. Paint, insulation, flooring, electrical. You name it, we did it. And what we didn't finish was done by another group. It was awesome. VBS in the afternoons was overwhelming and crazy all the time. I loved it. That trip was seriously awesome.

This year, I'm in charge of a VBS site. Well, there will be 2 leaders there with me but I'm basically calling the shots. SCARY. It's some pressure and some stress but I'm ready to take the job. On top of being a VBS leader, I'm also in a really intense drama with 7 other people. (Youtube "Everything" by Lifehouse and click on the first link.) It's powerful and I'm blessed to be in it. Atlanta will be hot (like Mexico...Alejandro. Haha, I'm cool.) but I'm pumped. Good bye Texas, hello Atlanta!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Big 12? Consider yourself alive and miscounted.

Ahhh, sweet relief. The Big 12 is together again. Or, rather, The Big 10. I think?

The "inevitable" situation ranted about in my last blog post seems to be proven wrong. Which I'm thrilled about. This is one thing that I'm glad that I wasn't right about. UT and A&M can continue to have their time-old rivalry. The Red River Shootout will continue to be fought.

And, as a football fan, these facts delight me.

However, am I the only one who is amused by this concept: the Pack 10 is now host to 12 schools while the Big 12 now has ten? And I thought colleges were meant for higher education. Guess that doesn't apply to athletes.

TOTALLY KIDDING.

Anyway, here is my newest proposition: TCU and Houston complete the Big 12. I know that this won't happen, though. For a few reasons. First of all, the guy on the news said that the Big 12 was solidified now, meaning no one else was switching conferences. Second of all (and this is really only pertaining to TCU), UT is terrified of losing to the Frogs, so no Big 12 invitation will be extended into Fort Worth. Why? Because they don't want to be defeated by a team who hasn't been good since the 1930s. Because UT is full of egomaniacs who are scared to death of losing their control over the Big 12/10/whatever it's called. Okay, so maybe that's a slight exaggeratioin. But not much. UT genuinely doesn't want to fight TCU--because they're afraid of the outcome. Because TCU has a fair shot at winning. And, I mean, look at the baseball games over the past weekend? Who came out on top then, huh Horns? Muahahaha.

But although the Frogs will stay in the Mountain West, I'm glad that the Big 12 is staying mostly intact. And, if I'm being totally honest, I didn't really care about Nebraska and Colorado. They were expendable. Not to sound rude or anything.

Letter to the University of Texas:
Yes, UT, I still hate you. But not nearly as much as I did a few days ago. On Saturday, I sort of wanted to punch your school president or whoever was calling your shots. I mean, you were threatening to break apart the very football conference that I'm mildly obsessed with. Then you procede to destroy TCU in baseball. But today was much better because I learned that you were defeated by the Frogs and that you formally declined the Pack 10's request to join the conference, thus ensuring harmonious rivalry within the greater TX/OK territory.

So, Aggies, we can continue to proudly "saw Varsity's horns off". But sawing a few pig snouts off every year at Cowboy Stadium won't hurt either.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Big 12 is no more?!?!

Say it isn't so! I'm seriously depressed about this, even though it hasn't technically happened yet. I feel like it is now inevitable. DANG IT! The Big 12 is possibly one of my favorite things about Texas! And now...it's just plum upsetting. And, strangely enough, causing me to worry. I mean, I plan to go to A&M. One of the reasons for wanting to go there was because of the massive rivalries that go down in the Big 12. Rivalries that are being threatened by Nebraska! Nebraska as in the corn college. Gah! Anyway, this will just be a blog of extreme angst and some majoring bashing of UT. You've been warned...
Ever notice how easy UT has it? Their hardest games consist of OU and sometimes Tech (who probably won't be that good this year anyway due to their new coach). Now UT wants to head into the Pack 10? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The Pack 10 has all the lame Midwest colleges who don't have anything on the powerhouses of Alabama, Florida, and even Arkansas at times. Frankly, I just think UT wants to be at the top, which is understandable. But am I going to be more impressed when they slam an Oregon team or the Red Tide of Alabama? Just a thought. And I'm glad UT will be able to say "Yeah, we're the best in the Pack 10." Like, good for them. But I think UT proved their abilities (or lack thereof...) in the title game last year. Okay, okay, Colt was hurt, yeah, yeah. But I still honestly don't think that UT would've pulled out the victory. They just barely beat Nebraska (who is the source of all this angst!) to be in the title game. I don't think the "great University of Texas" (imagine immense sarcasm in the quoted statement) deserved it!!!! Just my personal opinion on the matter, of course.
Here are the two motives for this catastrophe of college football: money and power. This would give Nebraska more recruits because they'd be out of the Big 12 and all it's Texas bigness. Thus getting more money. As for power...the big schools want only 64 college teams fighting for that coveted title game. Make their chances better. HOW IS THIS FAIR FOR THE LITTLE BUT STILL AMAZING SCHOOLS?!
For example, TCU. I know I'm biased because my dad is Mr. TCU but it's a beyond valid point. It's no secret that the big schools were mad that baby school TCU was in a huge bowl game. Nor is it a secret that TCU could've kicked half the Big 12's butts. Any football analyst could tell you that. Heck, I just love the sport and I can tell you that. So guess who would be excluded in that core 64? The fighing Frogs of TCU, that's who. They would be demoted into a 2D team, playing teams that are half their size and ability, not even getting a challenge. Their football program would fade. Recruits? Ha, funny joke. TCU would be begging football players to come. This year they had the top offensive, defensive, and special teams players of the year. And yet they're being kicked out of the football league of greatness because they're not in the anarchy that is the Big 12? Um, excuse me while I go punch someone in the face. Preferably someone in the UT football program. Just because I really despise UT.
On another note, I'd like nothing more than for A&M to head into the SEC. Their football program and recruits would sky rocket. The SEC is big-time. But I'd want a lot of the Big 12 schools to come into the SEC too. UT, Baylor, OSU, Texas Tech, OU. The A&M/UT rivalry dates back nearly a century and that's being threatened because of Nebraska, who wants money? Have we no respect for any sort of tradition any more? Maybe that's just the farmer in me talking but I think I make a pretty solid point.
I don't want to get to A&M and sing "Saw Arkansas' snouts off" instead of "Saw Varsity's horns off".
See my point?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I'm having anxiety attacks!!!!!!

Except not really. But sort of. Anyway.
Ever been obsessed with the mail for some reason? Birthday money from relatives, thank you cards, party invites, SAT scores...etc. We've all had those moments where we seriously couldn't wait for that little white car thing with no doors to round the corner so we can see what has come in the mail for us.
Lately, the mail addressed to me has been consisting of graduation announcements, thank you letters, and college brochures. Notice something missing? Probably not. But I certainly do.
See, I entered this contest. A writing contest, to be more specific. Who sponsered it? That would be hot-shot author James Patterson. He's an incredible author, churning out about 5 books a year. I would call that a little ridiculous. Anyway, he wrote this crazy awesome young adult series called Maximum Ride. I'm sort of obsessed with it. I believe I've ranted about my obsession in an earlier post, but, long and short of it, the results for the contest are coming in SOON. No exact date or anything, but the final entries were due on May 31st and the website said sometime in the next few weeks the results would come out.
And I think my beast was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I'm pretty proud of that piece. And my mom has been both blessed and cursed with my obsession with the mail. Blessed because she doesn't have to check the mail...I'm doing that. Cursed because I'm very nearly centering my day around mail time. I mean, tomorrow I won't get the mail until after 4:30. I might just die.
My reaction to the results of the contest? Any number of things really. If I lose, I might shed a few tears, be disappointed and slightly setback in my love for writing. Rejection hurts. But if I go check the mail and there's a letter in it addressed to me from something resembling James Patterson and/or any of his works, I'll rip it open right there on the curb and read it. If I get one of the 5 runner-ups, which would be pretty cool, I'd be super happy. But if I won the grand prize, I'd pass out. Walking? Out of the question. Breathing? My lungs might have to do without for a minute. Thinking coherently? Definitely out. Here's an example of what I might be thinking if I win.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
And so on and so forth.
Have a nice day!