Occasional forays into thought

If you were sent to this site by a link, I don't really post on here anymore - check here instead.

This blog, through inactivity, has kind of changed in nature from what it is into what it is becoming. It was originally supposed to be my personal blog, where I put my thoughts and ideas - anything that didn't fit into my "fun" blog. Then I started kind of writing some of the things God was doing in my life. Then the whole blog just sort of fell into disuse. Actually, I'm not sure if I wrote it in here or not, but I kind of promised God that when He did something in my life, I would record it here. Well, I've not kept up with that. A while back (right around New Years, I think it might have been the 30th of December) when I was down in San Diego on my Chi Alpha retreat, God lead me to pray for this girl, and he gave me special knowledge of her life, and I never wrote it down here.
I think it was the second (possibly third) night of the conference. A lot of prayer had been going on, and people getting baptized in the spirit and stuff. I, as is sometimes my habit, was pacing the back, watching and praying over stuff. I noticed this girl standing towards the back of the group, and I felt God say to me to go ask her if I could give her a hug. Kind of strange, kind of sketchy, and I wrestled with it for a moment, but these things...it's best to just do them and not argue about how you perceive that action. So, I went over to this girl (I didn't know her), and asked if I could give her a hug. So was just, "Um, okay, sure." So I gave her the hug, and I said "God just wanted to say that He loves you." When I said this she just suddenly broke down crying. At this point I knew that something was up, so I started praying for direction, praying for her, etc. Prayer progressed as it naturally does, and someone else (at some point, don't remember exactly when) came over and started to pray also. God started to reveal to me that she was having a problem accepting his love for her. He showed me three things in her life, specific things. Again, it felt kind of strange talking about this, about personal things that I really wouldn't have any reason to know about her, but as we prayed and she cried, I was eventually able to ask her about two of them (the third I didn't ask her that night, but it was right on also, which I found out the next night when she got up in the front and talked about it) and confirm them. Basically, she was having trouble accepting God's love because of her own relationship with her earthly father. So, we just kept praying and working through it. I felt kind of funny, like I knew she was going to be slain in the spirit, but that she had to break through some kind of barrier, reach some point of release, before that could happen. And that's exactly what did happen. I just prayed for her, prayed for her to be free and child like, to see herself as loved and accepted, to see it like a child playing in a field in the summer sun with her daddy looking on, with just so much love. And that's where she went. A little bit of holy laughter happened for a little while (it got to me too, a bit), but it didn't get out of hand, and it didn't last too long. (Actually, that's me second, third, no fourth...not sure - depends how you count, experience with holy laughter.) And then I could almost tangibly feel her breaching the barrier that had held her, and I prayed, and down she went. I can hardly imagine what it was like for her, but it was kind of exciting...maybe that's not the right word...for me, since that was the first time I was part of someone being slain in the spirit. I think she stayed down for twenty minutes or so. It still hasn't happened to me yet, but I was glad to be a part of it, however it happened.

So, anyway... I'd been questioning why I went to the conference (I was the only one from Stanford that made it), but for that girl, for being able to help her accept God;s love in her life, - that was worth it, and reason enough. If that was the whole reason why I came to Stanford, it was worth it (I've also wondered many times why I ended up at Stanford). I still have my questions about the life I have, thee whys, hows, whens and such, but I appreciate it so much when I see something like that happens, because it makes it all worthwhile.

I think that's pretty much everything I had to say, at least for the moment. Hopefully I will not be so long between this and my next post as I was between this and my last post.

Oy vey, I should have accepted the ride.

I just got back from having lunch with Glen to discuss the retreat tomorrow, and oh the things that can happen on that short little ride. I was bringing back two sacks of groceries for making sandwiches for tomorrow, as well as a case of drinks - the sacks were on my handlebars, and the drinks were in the side basket of my bike. Well...the side basket wasn't working right (part of it was broken and knocking against the wheels as I pedaled), so I took the soda out and bungie-corded it to the little platform behind my bike that the basket hangs from. I was wishing I had two cords, but I only had one. It looked okay though. Get back on my bike, start riding along a few hundred more yards *CRASH* all the drinks fall off the back and go scattering every which way in the street. Bummer. Get off the bike, lay it down, start picking up cans (two guys walking buy help me out), can't find one, find it (behind a parked car's tire), distribute the cans between the two plastic bags with the groceries, get back on my bike, hear strange sound. What's that? Look behind me - I forgot about the bungie cord. The sodas fell because the cord broke. Bad rubber I guess. Anyway, it's hanging off the side of the bike, knocking against the tire. Get off again, put broken bungie in the sack, think about other half of bungie, don't see it on the ground, look for it - it is kind of wrapped up in my rear tire/wheels/spokes/gears. Dig that out, and notice some kind of plastic thing that's broken on my wheel. Not sure what it was, don't think it was important, but I see the other end of the bungie cord - the hook of it was pulled almost straight. Uggh. Try spinning the wheel - it doesn't spin right anymore. So, I need to go get the tire trued again (if the tire isn't true, it spins in kind of a wobbly manner, which makes it MUCH harder to peddle).
All I can say is I should have taken Glenn's offer, thrown the bike in the back of the car, and had him drive me home.

So, that's what I've done today, how about you?

As usual, busy, busy, busy. Trying to get things done, but goign to take 5 minutes here to jot a little something. Going to see one of my professors at 4:00 about the assignment for tomorrow - a little xml encoding project. XML is weird - easy, yet hard at the same time. Leaning towards the hard side at the moment. I'll be able to do it I think, just need to work at it.
Anyway, life is going pretty well I think. Last two weekends were spent at the rodeo, this weekend is going to be a one-day retreat with Chi Alpha, next week a Chi Alpha conference, week after that Thanksgiving - then we're into Dead Week here at school. Coming up fast. Have a decent sized paper due this coming Wednesday, then a presentation on "Lover's Infiniteness" in my Donne class on Thursday. Should be fun. Need to figure out exactly what I want to do with it though.
Chi Alpha is tonight - should be quite nice - new person is going to be playing electric guitar. Thursday night planning a little get together just for fun. Watch some comdey down in the History Corner I'm thinking. Andrew's gooing to be gone next week, gallavanting around in the art museum in NY like the bum that he is. Classes? What are those?
Went over to Glenn's for a little while last night o check out Halo 2 - pretty cool. I liked the "territores" mode of game play. On the more intellectual side, I did get through one fo the books on my list this week - Sapho. Quite short, but at least it is a start. I was quite bored with it for a while - seemed like all she was doing was writing wannabe haikus, but then I got into it. A couple, more than a couple actually, I liked fairly well. I'll have to post a favorite or two on here sometime.
Well, time's up I think. Till next time...

This is really funny, since I am named after Lincoln.

Ah me oh my.
I should be reading Shakespeare,
but instead here I try
to write a rhymed line
and not make it sound like a pelican
strangled about to die.

I think I failed. Oh well. I'm just sitting up here on the fourth floor of Wallenburg Hall (the nice, new tech-equipped building), trying to get myself to study. Although it seems futile, I refuse to give up. Anyway, Wallenburg is really nice. This floor has restricted access, but because of my digital humanities class I was able to get authorized for access. Now I can up here whenever I want, 24/7. They have all kinds of cool toys up here - stuff like 42" plasma screens, a working model of the kind of lens polisher Galileo used, little "boxcar" study rooms to have group meetings in, with walls that are made of whiteboard so you can write anywhere. Just stuff like that. Tres chic. For a geek anyway.
They also have great wireless reception. That's a nice bonus. I'm so glad I finally have wireless. The card sometimes acts funny, but I got it for free (online rebate thingy), so it's all good.
Anyway, not writing much right now, just wanted to poke my head in to this digital room and say "Hi!"
Now I must leave.
*insert nose into grindstone and turn*

Just some random funniness.


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