Antiques, College, Forsythia, and Homeschool Magazines

In that order…(Yes, I know this post is a little long… But it’s from my heart and I’ll try to make it interesting.)

Three weeks ago, I went antique shopping for the first time in my life. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more fun “first.” I’m so glad that I didn’t have any cash on me, or it would have all been gone by the end of the day. Monongahela City doesn’t just have some antique shops—I think it might be the antique center of the mid-Atlantic region. There are no fewer than five FULL houses of antiques and nick-nacks. I saw everything from a sweet compound bow to a camera from 1912.

{Heh, A BarlowGirl song just on the party shuffle on iTunes… Just thought I’d let you know.}

Everywhere we went, my mom and I were offered hot beverages and cookies. Everyone was so happy and carefree. In one of the shops, a turntable was floating Frank Sonatra’s silky, young voice around the antique jewelry. To my complete surprise, the record didn’t pop or skip: It was in perfect condition. Records are a beautiful thing to me… The sound that comes out of them is so warm and mellow. If I’m going to listen to Frank Sonatra, give me a spotless record over a CD any day.

I had a really cool revelation while antique shopping… As I was going along, I found at least one item that I could associate with a friend.

“Hah! Shannon would get a kick out of this coat.” “I bet the Calvettis would like this sweet Cavalry Cutlass” “Wow, this painting (from a local artist) reminds me so much of John!” “Alaina would love this picture.” “I bet Danielle would think that this quilt is awesome.” “Nathaniel would like these books from the 1800s.” “Kevin and Dillon would probably compare this ancient (unused) cologne with Axe or Tag.” “Mitch would probably put on that wig.” “Dave would love that cast-iron firetruck.”

The list goes on.

I love antique shopping, although I wasn’t so sure I would.

Last week, I went to *airquotes* Junior Crimson Day *airquotes* (insert royal fanfare here) at Grove City. If I wasn’t already sold on GCC, that day sealed my inebriation.

Inebriation:
To make drunk; intoxicate
To exhilarate, confuse, or stupefy mentally or emotionally.

So, now comes the “disclaimer referencing the true doctrine of providence.” I, Wesley Sames, do give God the complete right to do his will with my life… But I certainly ho—pray that his will for me involves GCC. I listened to the professors like a kid in a candy store, and I almost actively salivated as they dangled knowledge and faith in front of me like some kind of chocolate-encrusted, caramel-filled, innoxiously-scented carrot.
I don’t care what the odds of acceptance are or what languages they make me take.

I love Grove City, and I can’t wait to send my full application.

The forsythia is blooming. It’s official, Spring is livin’ large. My mom has always loved forsythia and she has always let our forsythia bushes grow naturally. While driving out to route 51 last week, I saw a row of forsythia bushes that were chopped down into perfect 4x4 cubes. If I was any more saddened I would have wept. Call me nostalgic, but I think our forsythia is amazing… It’s natural branches look so awesome in the breeze. I would never dream of forcing them to conform to a symmetrical pattern. Everything is coming to life out here. I praise God with all my heart and soul at the sight of new life in spring. That’s a big deal considering the fact that I don’t do it often enough. Thank you so much Lord for the seasons and their beauty, uniqueness, and glorification of You. The Farm may be a little out of the way, but it has its advantages.

I love forsythia, so much so that I hope we have it in heaven.

I wrote my untitled “Place” essay for AP English Language and Composition a few weeks ago. I liked it, but I didn’t think there was anything exceedingly special about it. Oddly enough, my amazing APLANG teacher, Maya Inspektor(formerly Molly Richman), loved it. Last week, she emailed me and said, “Hey, Wes, my Dad is going to print the next edition of The Excelsior tomorrow and he has an empty page he needs to fill. I would really like to put your ‘Place’ essay in there.” Now, I never was an avid reader of The Excelsior, but I felt like it was an honor to have one of my essays placed in here. Needless to say, my mom was even more ecstatic than I was.
So, the issue came, and I was shocked to find out that I knew most of the names of the authors in the magazine, and I knew two of them very well. Now, here’s a lesson in the loving providence of God: The entries on pages 7 and 9 were—if not comically ironic—so awesomely encouraging to me, in two completely different ways.

"You who are broken-

Come to Him and trust,

He will love you unconditionally...

You who are hopeless-

Draw close to Him,

He will give you reason for Life...

You who feel forgotten-

You who feel alone.

He will be with you

and loves you more than is fathomable."

"An ambition itself is a basic, purposeful idea to do, see, or become in life.

To have ambition is to have dedication, to place importance upon execution,

and to deem a certain amount of sacrifice as worthy that an accomplishment might be fulfilled...

Talking too much about dreams can begin to feel the same as if you've eaten an entire can of marshmallow fluff, or squirted a whole can of whipped cream down your throat--rather empty of anything but sugar and nitrous oxide.

Don't just imagine your dreams, but follow them up with action."

The next month is going to be hard... In so many different ways... I'm so blessed that I not only have a God who cares, but also friends who give encouragement even when they didn't mean to.

I love my friends; I don't deserve them, and I don't want to leave them.

But the most important thing is:

I love God, and I will follow where he takes me... Even if it is into the wilderness.

-Wes

"Runnin' down corridors,

Through automatic doors,

Got to get to you,

Got to see this through."

"Wires" -Athlete

V-Day Comeith

So, I walked into Hallmark 20 minutes ago to get my mom a Valentine's Day present, and audibly laughed as I walked in the door. Now, it wasn't a long laugh... It was maybe a loud chuckle... Enough to make a few people look up from their noise-making and song-singing cards and stare at me instead of the ridiculously red shelves that lined the store. I was laughing because I was confronted with the typical Valentine's Day stereotype: "Men wait until the last second to buy something."

The male:female ratio in the store was easily 10:1

I was also laughing because I was joining their ranks. I was one of those men who was waiting to get their gift at the last second... Life is so fun...

School has been presenting me with constantly renewing dilemmas recently. The SATs are over and done. Thank goodness. My scores are going to be an interesting valentine’s day present.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been up early and up late working on school… Frantically turning in assignments with a hair’s breadth of time before they’re due.

I'm going to be using HippoCampus for my religion studies... Hinduism is this week!

Trig is... going... I'm doing two days worth of it every day.

German is making sense. Although having 12 different ways to write a verb (I'm not even kidding) depending on what tense and person it's in seems a bit eccentric.

Russian lives on. I think I may want to teach my kids Russian. It just sounds so cool... Almost like an encrypted version of English. Of course, If I teach my kids Russian, they won't be able to go to Grove City without learning another language... *cough*

"A Time For Us" by Nino Rota, Composed for 'Romeo and Juliet'

Providentially Romantic,
-Wes

Music from Ages Past

As I mentioned in a previous post, my iPod is dead. This, however, does not mean that I am AT ALL generally lacking in the music department. I got a bunch of new CDs for Christmas, and my mom got an under-the-cabinet CD/Radio. Jeremy Riddle and David Crowder have become my almost constant companions. I’m really enjoying “God of All Glory, Stand in Awe, Sweetly Broken, God Moves (or whatever track 10 is)” and “Oh The Glory of It All, Neverending, and Rain Down” respectively.

As to the title of this post, it refers to the fact that I did something pretty...well...retro a few nights ago. My dad and I were listening to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd on the record player today, and he said "You know, Pink Floyd is really meant to be listened to in a darkened room with headphones on." It was just a passing comment... But it gave me an idea.

So, it was about 11:00. Everyone was asleep. I opened the stereo, plugged in some headphones, and set the record rolling. There I sat for 20 minutes or so, sitting slumpedly by the stereo. [ha... Alliteration.] Somewhere halfway though "comfortably numb" I thought to myself, 'gee... I wonder how many teenagers did this same exact thing when the album came out.' It was a really cool feeling. Somehow, I related with the past in a completely new way.


Today's song: Comfortably Numb.
"Hellohellohello. Is there anybody in here? Just nod if you can hear me."
"And I... Have become... Comfortably Numb."


Not Quite Numb,
-Wes

P.S. I know "Slumpedly" isn't actually a word.

R.I.P. iPod

I think iPods are one of those luxuries that you get used to after a while. My iPod’s main function over the past year was principally to lull me to sleep. Sadly, the death of my iPod’s hard drive has ended this luxury. The ramifications of its failure are still presenting themselves even about two months after the fact. Many nights, I’ve laid sleeplessly in bed, thinking about the thousands—maybe millions—of things that I have going on in my life. I guess I’ve become dependant on music to rock me to sleep. Music, for me, creates a sort of peace; it creates a place that I can fall into and forget the world and all my worries. In a lot of ways, I guess you could say that Music became something of a miracle drug for me.

Well, here’s the truth of it: That peace was extremely artificial. Synthetic. A placebo.
But now, I know the truth in Paul's customary greeting, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

The lack of music in my nightly routine has shown me (yet again) how much I need Christ. I know that I’ve lost hours of sleep to worry, fear and discontent. I know I’ve lost valuable rest to tossing, turning, and waking from shallow sleep. God has given me a new need, and (yet again) he has met my need only because I asked. He has given me peace, rest, and the occasional good dream. That’s definitely something to be thankful for.

“God With Us.” –MercyMe “My heart sings a brand new song. My debt is paid. These chains are gone.”

-Wes

FreeRice

So, I was on the PC World website when I found a link to this website: www.freerice.com

It's 100% real. They really do donate rice depending on audience participation.

Honestly, I can't think of a better way to increase my vocabulary.

SO! Spread the word(s)! Feed some hungry people! Post a link on your blog! do something!

$1.19

That's exactly how much Christmas shopping I've done... Just so you know.

And now for something completely different.

I practiced my manual focus/open aperture photography today, measured the difference between f/1.4, 1.7, 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.5... So, after taking about forty worthless pictures, I formatted the card to save time. Little did I know that the camera actually had pictures from other occasions on it. Doh. Oh well. Maybe I'll be more patient next time...

I read through the book of James in my devotions this week. My Reformation Study Bible is so incredibly sweet. The bible is really cool--understatement--because I feel like I could sit, read a verse or two, reflect about it, then read the same verse again, and reflect again in a different way. Something that caught my eye in James this week was the final section of chapter 4. Paul talks about not boasting in the future. It made me realize how fragile my future is. I'd like to graduate, go to college, get married, and get a doctorate... But how much can go wrong in 8+ years? I could die driving to church tomorrow; next week I could become paralysed from being thrown incorrectly at Karate; Next year I might not get accepted into the college I want; within the next 4 years, we may be at war with some other nation(s), and I might get drafted...

I'm a very fragile person...
Luckily I know someone who's strong enough to protect me... Even if his hands, feet, and side have been pierced.

-Wes

"Gone"--Switchfoot

A Year of Thanks

"14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." 2 Corinthians 5

"I was dead. But, now I live.

At the cross you beckon me. You draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words, so lost in love.

What a priceless gift, undeserved life,
have I been given, through Christ crucified.

I'm not who I was.

I know you've cast my sin as far as the East is from the West.
In the arms of your mercy I find rest.

You're all I want; You're all I need; You're Everything. Everything."

I was originally going to write a big, long post about the past year... But I think I'll just sum it up: Christ, is so worthy, so holy, so amazing, so present, and so good.


By Grace and Love, Moving Forward,
-Wes

Nothing in 500 Words

Well, here was my AP English assignment that I wrote today... It was very open ended, and meant to be fun. I was supposed to write absolutely nothing in 500 words in reply to an article entitled "How to write nothing in 500 words". Unfortunately, for all my effort, I couldn't manage to not make a point. To a friend who provided a wealth of contradictory writing examples that still stick in my brain to this day: Thanks. :-)

Well, here it is:
"First off, let me apologize. I am in no way an expert on articles, article writing, articles on writing, writers who write articles, or writers who write articles on writing to aid other writers. So, that being said, I humbly present my essay reviewing the article “How to say nothing in 500 words”. In this essay I will…1). *Ding* inform you in the art of writing nothing, 2). *Ding* throw aside hundreds of years of the evolution of the English language, 3). *Ding* tell you how to write good.

Generally, 500 words is an audaciously awesomely auspicious quantity of verbiage for an analytical essay. Fewer words would result in a vague obscurity, while more words can sound verbosely sesquipedalian. I believe that this is true. In my humble opinion, 500 words is the perfect quantity for writing nothing. In fact, so much nothing can be put into 500 words.
All things being equal, I could work my fingers to the bone and travel to the ends for the earth in search of original material. But, from where I sit, I prefer the easy way out when it’s all said and done. Under the cover of darkness, I could give the best years of my life to writing successfully. The pure and simple truth is that this is simply not the American way of life. Time and time again, we need to sit down and for all intents and purposes follow the true American norm: mediocrity.

But, we can change mediocrity into something so much better: embellished mediocrity! With a few simple short concise succinct keystrokes, we can turn a beautiful short sentence into a monstrously complex piece of prose full of busting with grody colloquialisms. An example: She ran. When polymorphed into an intelligent sentence, it reads: “This is the time when the female person about whom I am writing decided to take to her heels and swiftly sprint on a direction that was random and erratic”. See, wasn’t that so much more better?
Remember this: never ever back up your statements with facts. Facts often confuse and disorient your reader, and might dangerously subtract from your points or they may detract concepts your trying to present. If you bombard your reader with too many facts, they may become dazed and confused. Also avoid abstract analogies, they all too often end up like a panda in a golf cart.

Comparisons are just as bad, if not worse than abstract analogies. It’s very true.

In conclusion, 500 words is the perfect space in which to write nothing. To sum up, I prefer to write my nothings in the form of 500 words. In the end, I am entirely not an expert on the subject of writing. My humble and well-thought-out opinion is that it is completely entirely easy to write absolutely nothing in the space of 500 words. As I see it, why should I extend effort to make a piece of writing that’s actually meaningful when I can simply pump out 500 words of nothing in a fraction of the time?

The End."

funfunfun

In The Garden

If I could choose a day to last forever, I think it would be a lot like today.

The world is green and fresh from a new rain.
The water flowing through the gullies and down the streams accompanies the wind as it blows through the trees.
The sun shines down, not harsh, not hot... It's bright glow feels like a warm embrace.
In the shade, the air feels fresh and crisp, and the wind lulls and wraps like a cool sheet on a hot summer night.
The whole earth seems to heave with deep breaths. Awake, but relaxed.
The clouds glow, illuminated by the suns gentle rays, reflecting its beauty that is too harsh to look at directly.
I wonder if this is how Adam felt, looking out at the Garden...

But even amidst all that beauty and comfort, even in the very presence of the Living God. He was still alone...


-Wes.

Pulling Teeth

Well... I'm going into surgery today. I'm going to get four wisdom teeth out, the membrane under my tongue snipped, and a gum trimmed up.


My mouth is going to be a warzone.

Any prayers would be wonderful. :-)

Give Me Words to Speak, Give Me Steps to Walk, Give Me Faith to Carry On.

OooooooooHiiiiiioooooooooooPyle.


A very cool place. Which was only made cooler by the presence of cool people. It's so great to have such a joy-full church family. I feel like whenever I'm with everyone, I just see God's grace everywhere. All weekend, there were good times to be had: pressure points and prank calls with the guys in the car, mountain pies that ranged from perfect to indistinguishable from the coals in which they were made, scary stories with all of the guys, beatboxing and singing around the camp fire, laughing at Alaina constantly being dressed in red, white, & blue, Kevin allegedly seeing a skunk jump into the fire and burst into flame (it was Phoenix-skunk), silly string on Mike's car, Jack Sparrow imitations by the pool, (attempting to) split wood and almost getting an axe swing to the shin from Nathaniel, swimming illegally because you only live once, biking more in one day than I have in my entire life, seeing my pastor stand over someone with a raised axe, weird and comical handshakes and high-fives, truly awesome worship at the foot of the J-ville cross in the face of a massive thunderstorm.


Wow that was a long list, and I can still think of more...


But by far, the most memorable thing about the trip was cucumber falls, and how I got totally humbled there.


Call me insane, but it's been a long-standing dream of mine to stand under a waterfall. At cucumber falls, I attempted to walk through the 50-foot torrent alone and fell the first time, crushed under the weight of the water. I tried a second time, and made it through. Third, I stood under it for about 5 seconds and stepped back, and finally I stepped in for about 10 to 15 seconds. At this point, I was pretty much full of myself... I could handle what this bit of nature could throw at me. Talk about being macho and self-reliant.


BIG mistake.


Mr. Skiles asked me to take Dani through the falls, naturally, I accepted. As we walked up to the back of the falls, I explained to her to keep her back straight and her head up. Blinded by the rushing water, I locked my arm under hers.

"Ready?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, 1.2.3."

She slipped and fell, ouch.

No biggy, I'll try and hold her up.

Wrong.

I slipped and fell, pretty much on top of her, Mega ouch.


So, the worst had happened. Mr. Skiles had trusted me with his daughter, and she got hurt. After making sure Dani wasn't extremely injured, I immediately went to Mr. Skiles and apologized. So, where was my macho, master of nature attitude now? Buried.


But, like always, God spoke in a way that I could never have expected. Shannon consoled me simply by saying that it wasn't my job to be ever-dependable. BAM, it hit me. How could I have put all my trust in my own abilities? When God is so much more infinitely powerful and so much more infinitely reliable than me. The waterfall, that God had created, bore so many of the aspects of God. It was furious, powerful, and constant, but also it formed a gentle pool, that refreshed everyone. It was truly awesome, while I am a depraved sinner who doesn't deserve to be refreshed or loved.


But Thank God, I am a son of the One and only I AM, adopted brother of the only perfect man, and daily receiver of the grace and joy of the Holy Spirit.


So, how did it turn out? Mr. Skiles and I are now closer, my friendship with Danielle is stronger than ever, and God has taught me, yet again, to rely only on him.


I am adopted, I am loved, I am disciplined, I am refreshed.


Praise God.

Acceptance

School update time!

AP English Language and AP US History, here I come! I was accepted to both courses. I'm going to be learning English Language and Composition from Maya Inspektor and AP US History from Daniel Burns. My sister took APUSH in high school too, so I have some degree of knowledge as to what I'm getting into (Also, I believe that she took the course with none other than Kayte Bell, considering that she was on the class roster, and happens to be in the same graduating class as KA). From Kerriane's work and everything that's been said about the class, it should be a really fantastic experience. Not to mention that I'll be taking the class with a great friend from church. I can't wait!

SAT work is going well, I blazed through a ton of math yesterday. My verbal work is pretty good to begin with, so with some more effort, it could be great. The Essay is a big priority. I need to try to keep my ideas in the range of meaningful AND concise. I can't blaze out 4 four paragraphs of body and only have thirty seconds left to write a conclusion, (which is exactly what happened once). I need to keep trying to find that sweet spot. I may be taking an online class for that too.

Music! New Music!

I've been going out on limb with my listening recently. I've been purchasing singles, albums, and just general songs from bands I haven't been to interested in previously.

New favorite singles include:
"If Everyone Cared" by Nickleback (Hard-rocking romanticism)
"(you want to) Make a Memory" by Bon Jovi
"Wires" by Athlete (a really sweet song)
"Iris" by GooGooDolls
Sort-of: "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" by Fall-Out Boy

New Albums that I've been listening to:
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Eyes Open - Snow Patrol (heh, Police, Patrol... kinda funny.)
End of Silence - Red

Those of you who know music will know that The Police are kindof an old band. Their CD has been laying around the house, just waiting for me to listen to it. It's cool stuff.
The Eyes Open purchase stemmed from my enjoyment of the single "Chasing Cars". Snow Patrol is different, they remind me of Coldplay.

Now, End of Silence I think needs a bit more of an explanation. I've been looking for something energetic to cut grass to, and Linkin Park just puts me in a bad mood. Enter the iTunes $6 albums deal! I noticed this particularly angst'y cover art near the bottom of the page, and I was directed to the latest album by the band "Red". As it turns out, they're a Christian alt-rock band whose main influence is Linkin Park...

Their influence shows.

The whole album is very driven and passionate, sometimes to the point of being corny; exactly like Linkin Park. But it's got some good stuff on it. That being said, I wouldn't recommend it as a Quote/unquote "Christian" band. It isn't worship, at all. It's all a reflection on all things the band deems to be "Red": Passion, Pain, and ultimately, Redemption. It suits my purpose as workout music though, so, I'm satisfied.

-Wes

His Will be Done

Have you ever had to wait for something, and the moment you feel ready to have it, you were told "Hold on, there's other stuff you need to focus on."?
Thank God, I think I'm having one of those moments.

I'm not going to Russia. The church in Perm cancelled the trip. Despite the fact that I now have an obscene amount of saved money that has no purpose, this is a downer. I've been gearing up for this trip for the past three months and it's just kinda slipped through my fingers.

However, I think it was a work of the Holy Spirit. He wants me here. He wants me to concentrate on other things. Things that, in the end, are more important. My (otleechna) friends, my church, AP courses, and my PSATs and SATs. God has given me a solid foundation on the rock. It's me who needs to choose what to build the house with. I keep being told that the SATs are only a test, that they don't make your life. This is a true statement, sort of. But what it does decide is where I go to college, and where I go to college is a big deal! The final four, (most likely eight) years of my education RELY on those scores. I've been studying for them, but not very seriously. Time to buckle down...

Does anyone else read their fortune cookies when they go to Chinese restaurants? I have fun with it. I never take them seriously. Especially when my sister has gotten one that said "Don't kiss an elephant on the lips today." (no joke). But, sometimes they have cool stuff to say. One time, I got a particularly meaningful pastry. The message inscribed in it's recycled paper slip was short, and sweet to anyone who knows Christ.

"Deep Faith Eliminates Fear"

I still have that fortune. It's really cool to think about at times like these. God has kicked me up off my butt and pointed me where he wants me. Thankfully, I am grounded in deep faith that God's Providence is enough. My God goes before me, he lives in me, and he comes after me. I can see him there. Who should I fear? (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 27:1)

So, now I'm going to start work on my two AP applications, studying for the SATs, and devoting with the guy's prayer meeting in mind. :-) God is good.

Well, as my AIM profile now says: "The wait is over, the Future is here."

and I want you to be a part of it.

-Wes

Today's song: "Wires" by Athlete

I Have...

Poison Ivy all over my face, neck, and shoulders... It's horrible.

I'm still alive though, and have a lot to blog about. Check back soon.

"The Piano"

Since I had no music segment in my last post, here's a post completely about music!

I found this video on YouTube, and it sums up a quality of freeform piano playing that I often struggle to express in words.



When I play, It's very rare that I think completely about the notes I'm playing, the melody, or any of that jazz. (hah, Jazz...) My thoughts have a tendency to wander from subject to subject, and my playing fluctuates with them.


-Wes

The Fields Are White For Harvest, But The Berries Need More Time

I love the outdoors. God in his mercy gave us plants, animals, water, air, and open sky. This is an amazing time of year out here... Nature is completely alive. The fields of hay and Timothy are golden and ready to be cut, the grass is green, Goslings are learning to fly, the blackberries are ripening, and the lightning bugs are coming out. It feels almost magical.

I have a good feeling about this summer... More than a good feeling, I'm absolutely twitterpated with it all.

No matter how many times I tend to think otherwise, this farm is a blessing. No matter how many times when I feel too far away. No matter how often our neighbors thunder their fuel trucks in and out. This farm is still a blessing. It's taught me so many things. Thanks to these past few years, I know how to garden, how to build a free-standing wooden structure, how to tear out and re-build walls, weld metal, how to improvise when lacking the right tools and/or supplies, install 3/4 inch hardwood, not to meantion gained somewhat of a knowledge of a VERY broad expanse of topics regarding a country household. I can't even begin to comprehend the advantages this knowledge.

God has given me so much, and asks for so little.

Lovin' my Country Home,

-Wes

Swept Away

Eyeyeyeye, what a memorial day weekend. Way too crazy to compile into one post, but I still want to make a post, so, I'll talk about Sunday.

Well, almost everyone was gone at NA, but that's alright, there were still tons of cool people to hand with, awesome worship and inspiring word to be taught from. Worship, was different from usual. Usually I can get right into sort of a worshipful mode(which tends to last into the next day. :-P) But yesterday was different: I was having a hard time. But, as we were worshipping, I prayed for a song to come along and help me forget myself and really worship. Immediately, I thought of the song "Grace Like Rain." by Todd Agnew. It's a variation on Amazing Grace with an added chorus. Lo and behold, it was the next song. God is so good isn't He.

Joel preached the final sermon of the Genesis series, and subsequently covered the life and times of Joseph. Towards the end of the sermon, Joel addressed the fact that Joseph not only forgave his brothers for their betrayal, but he invited them to live in Egypt under his personal care. This awakened the memory of one of my favorite verses, John 15:9, which says "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." It's such a simple and small verse, but it speaks volumes of the love of Jesus, and therefore also the love of God. Jesus is not just saying, "I love you, each and every one, and I always want you to know that." It's SO MUCH MORE than that. He is expressing that we, as Christians are to abide(live, exist, stay) within his love. So, not only does Joseph mirror Christ in his mercy on his brothers, but he also mirrors Him as showing a desire to have his loved ones dwell or abide in his bountiful love. This concept isn't just a concept that Jesus presents, it's not just how Joseph lived his life, it's an over-arcing vision on the Bible. This is how the Holy Spirit reaches us, it's how we live in Christ and walk in his love: He abides in us, and we abide in his love and blessing.

So, Jesus just isn't your co-pilot, he isn't a far off wise-man who tells you to ask WWJD, and he is most certainly not the little angel that sits on your right shoulder. He is with you always, not overshadowing you, not tailing you making sure you're doing good, but abiding in you, and sanctifying you.

In utterly unrelated life news, I'm planning the first (as Dan aptly put it)"Sames's 'Come out to the farm and use all our cool stuff' Day". I'm thinking the second week in June. Look for a date in your inbox soon!

Also, it would be cool to get a group of PCOPers to go to Kennywood this summer, because SOME of us have never been there, and/or been there very rarely.


Well, with normal live done, on to music.

Today's song! Sweep Me Away, by Charlie Hall. It's a worship song with very few words, but it was presented VERY exceptionally. Charlie's Baritone voice is electronically sustained and reverbed in almost the same fashion a piano note is sustained by the sustain pedal and reverberated by the other strings. The product is a captivating and almost visual song. A hidden gem.

Uhg, the Sonata. I'm sure everyone is wondering where it is. It's here, but I had some pretty bad recording problems. First time through, I went too fast, then I messed up I don't know how many times, finally, I did the song perfectly, but the recorder stopped itself at 23 seconds (that one was really frustrating.) and at the end of my attempts I messed up the final movement. So, it's coming, give me some more time.

-Wes

My Creed

Well, in working on my portfolio, I came across an assignment that I had earlier in the year. I was instructed to construct my own Creed of what I believed in the pattern of the Apostles', and Nicene creeds as well as the "Definition if Chalcedon". Here it is! I hope you enjoy it.

I believe in the one God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, begotten of his father before all the worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the father, by whom all things were made, Who for us men, and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnated by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, full in his Godhead and divinity and full in his manhood, possessing a human body and soul, was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried, his human soul descended triumphantly into hell in order that he may pay the invisible and incomprehensible judgment that we deserve, his body, soul and divine nature were re-united on this earth on the third day, alive, he appeared before his disciples and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again in glory to judge all his creation; Whose kingdom shall never end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Triune God, the Lord and giver of Life, who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets, and performs miracles by the saints and those who would believe. Amen.

Projects!

Yeah, I'm still here. I havn't abandoned you all yet. Although I'm really busy right now, and it's some crazy and good stuff that some of you may be interested in.

• I'm writing my first Sonata! (three movements, a main theme, etc) I have a framework for the whole piece and a unique melody. It's in C# Minor, which has 4 sharps (same key as moonlight sonata). There are some allusions to moonlight, although it's very different. I hope to record a rough version tonight.
• School is crazy. I'm getting Evaluated this coming monday, and just started working on a finalized profolio this week. (>.<) Yikes.
• I'm reading Shakespeare like it's going out of style. I just finished A Midsummer night's Dream and Macbeth, I'm moving on to Henry V and Richard III. I absolutely loved A Midsummer night's dream, and if anyone wants to actually go see the play sometime, please please let me know.
• Wrapping up loose ends of the school year is becoming a HUGE task.
• We will have Vents in our house soon! It's amazing! I've never been so happy about chunks of aluminum in my life.
• The wood for all the trim in the house has arrived.
• My sister is home from college, for good! She's gradjimakated! Which is oh so awesome.
• For those of you who know that I'm actually in my room now, it's not really a room. It's a place with four walls, a 3/4 inch hardwood floor, and a bed in the center, nothing else. :-P But I'm happy with it.

That's the major points of my life now.

Today's music is: "Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BMV582" J.S. Bach and "Time" by John Behrens

On a more personal note, I just wanted all of you guys to know something.

I love you all. :-)

Life is crazy for me right now, and I really miss my church family. I've been a part of Providence's family for nearly 4 years now, and this is the longest I've been apart from everyone. I'll be back soon, and I want you all to know I think about you often. Yes, YOU.

Love,

Wes

A Hobbit Weekend

"...But where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet, and good tilled earth. For all Hobbits share a love of things that grow. And yes, no doubt, to others our ways seem quaint. But today, of all days, it is brought home to me, it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."
-Bilbo Baggins

Today's music is: "Concerning Hobbits" by Howard Shore.

Yeah, call me silly, but I spent a weekend living a very Hobbit-like lifestyle this weekend. Yesterday, I did soooo much garden work, and enjoyed it greatly. I even did it in sandals/bare feet. Today, I did sooooo much more gardening, although today's work included more rocks and mulch, not so much fun. But still, I was outside, so I was happy. :-)

God gave Adam creation, man, what an amazing gift. I can't even begin to imagine the thank you note that Adam could have written. In the recent months, I've been discovering the joys of being outside. Peace and quiet, (to some degree) and good tilled earth really are what they're cracked up to be. These past few weeks have helped me realise that I love the country. Give me a bible, a family, a piano and some land, and I would be happy.

God created everything and said that it was good. That says to me that God was happy with this new dwelling place. In a parable, Jesus talks about two servants who were given sums of money and made more of them. The Master in the story says to the good servants, "'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" This rings true with all responsibilities. The Master(God) desires man to share with his happiness. He places us in charge of small things (daily devotions, modesty, respect, other daily activities) and if we do well with what he gives, he places us in charge of great things (Marriage, a home, children, land). God gives us responsibility, so therefore he challenges us, but he gives us the greatest Helper(The Holy Spirit). So, not only does he want us to be happy, and share in his happiness, but he HELPS US THERE! WOW. That just blows my mind. For a amazing God to even want to make a sinful, decrepit race happy, is an amazing, wonderful, and almost unbelievable concept.

But he slew his own son, and secured happiness for all of us.

Wow.

-Wes