Wow! The coldest I've ever been in my life was about two hours ago. 7 degrees with 30 mph winds. I never really understood the true meaning of wind chill until I walked across campus in Lubbock in December. It was below 0 with the wind chill this morning. I guess the cold held off long enough.

Well it's official. I have gained 10 pounds since coming to tech. Why???? It's a combination of pizza rolls and hurting my knee so I can't wrestle...can't even run.


Not a good feeling.

Rumor has it that it will be snowing in Lubbock some time next week.

I barely even own a coat.
ugh.....

Man! It's awesome When God lets me see the stuff that He is doing. Sometimes it is so hard to see the progress God is making in the lives of people that you love and it is easy to get discouraged. Especially when prayers seem to remain unanswered. But when God shows you even the slightest glimpse of His plan it is so encouraging. As my buddy Brent puts it, "spiritual things are afoot" in Lubbock.

My oldest brother is borrowing my cell phone for a day or so until he can figure out how to get his new one. What happened with his phone is (in a short version) it was knocked off of my dashboard, landing perfectly into a large cup of water. It was actually pretty incredible if you think about it. But anyway, I never really noticed how dependent I am upon my cell phone. I've only had one for 5 months and I already feel as if something is missing when I don't have it, like I'm half naked or something. What is with my need to constantly know what is going on? Maybe I should get rid of the phone for a while until I can learn to be ok with not being IN the loop...

Home Sweet Lubbock

Being home for a few days was really great. I got to hang out with so many of my friends from high school. As a matter of fact I was out every day AND night of the break, still managing time to spend with my family. Things were way different though, just something that I couldn't put my finger on. When I was hanging out with my friends that have also gone to college they seemed the exact same, but when I was with some of the people who are still in high school, they seemed quite different...not in a bad way, just different. I had thought it would be the other way around. But everything aside, I loved hanging out with all of you this weekend back in FloMo, so thanks for an awesome week. It is so good to have friends that despite the changes occuring on both sides, we are still just as close as ever.

Could I BE any more ready to go home for Thanksgiving?

-said like Chandler Bing from Friends.

The OU game was an emotionaly rollercoster. It was the most exciting game I've EVER seen. The crowd rushed the field 3 times, each time the field was cleared because a call was being reviewed. It was insane. Since we technically won the game three times yesterday, that means that Mike Leach is 3-5 to Stoops, even though this was his first win against OU since being at Tech...he got three victories out of the deal. Does that mean we could be leading the series next year if a similar thing happens?



It is that time of year when I start thinking about the mission trip to Mexico I go on every year. This state of mind lasts for 6 months, then I go on the trip, then a new mind set of "Man that was awesome" lasts until winter time when I start thinking about the upcoming trip. It's a big cycle. This year, however, I seem to be getting excited earlier than usual.....

Well, I made a mistake and I can't stop laughing at it. Tonight as my roomate and I were driving home from the Navigators (a Christian organization...quite possibly the best one EVER) we were talking. It was a pretty solid conversation, so I was concentrating very intensely as we were discussing Acts 8. Concentrating so intently that I didn't see the red light that I was DRIVING through. I noticed it when my roommate said, "You just ran a red light." It was too late, so I decided to start swerving and pull of to the side of the road. We then proceded to run around screaming, "BEES". When the police arrived, one of them was allergic to bees so they left immediately...We were home free. Ok so that last part was stolen from the movie "Tommy Boy," and it didn't really happen. What really happened was we drove back to the dorm contiuing the conversation. When we stepped out of the car, Jack said, "Remember that time you ran a red light?" Classic moment. I'm sure it was more interesting to be there.




And then I found $10... Go Tech!

I just spent the last hour or so walking around the lobby of my dorm in a Darth Vadar mask, shooting people with a nerf gun.


Man I wish I had a digital camera!

My dorm room is quite possibly the messiest room that I have ever seen in my life. If I want to go from my door across the room to my computer I have to make a path. It can take several minutes. We haven't done dished in over a month, there are clothes just piling up waiting to be washed, but won't any time soon because I have a ridiculous amount of clothes that I haven't yet busted out. If I get access to a digital camera then I might post a picture of it. It is not safe. There are seriously piles of clothes waist high. There are empty/ half empty cups sitting in the same place I left them in september. There are about 7 pizza boxes piled by my door that I don't even remember eating because it was so long ago. The worst part about it is that I am oddly comfortable with the mess.

If we aren't careful, is it possible for solid theology to keep us from viewing God as involved and intimate in some areas?


The question mark is there because I am curious...meaning I wouldn't mind some responses.

We play A&M here tomorrow and since they have the 9th worst passing defense(or around there) and we have the #1 passing OFFENSE it might be a pretty high scoring game...on our side anyway. We'll just have to see. Make sure to watch. Get those guns up.

But the really cool thing about this weekend is that Tschirhart and Daniel Riskey are going to be in town. Talk about sweet.

I went in to talk to my professor about my grade and he raised it. He said that it didn't deserve that low of a grade but my paper a couple of weeks before was so solid so he was surprised on my effort on the test. Whatever that means....he's a good guy.

God is continuing to show His faithfulness to me in incredible ways....even when certain people in the Tech band continue to refer to me as a "holy-roller"...pretty much only on the basis that I don't drink. It is REALLY hard for me not to laugh when terms like that are used. But I AM meeting some really awesome people who are genuinely interested in seeking whole-heartedly after Christ and I am loving that fellowship. Just a few more weeks until Thanksgiving, and then one more week of classes and then Christmas! Crazy...Can't wait.

To be honest, I have never really struggled with school. As a matter of fact it has always come ridiculously easy to me. That is why I didn't know what to do when I got my essay test back yesterday with the number 55 on it. I thought to myself, "Where's the other half of the score?" but then I realized that I just failed a test that is worth 1/4 of my final grade in this class.

It's time to get things done. It's time to study. It's time to develop habits that I never got in high school. But most importantly, it is time to realize that school is NOT the most important thing in the world and this is NOT something to get depressed over. Lesson learned....man it sucked....but the lesson is learned.

I thought it was bad waking up for a 9 o'clock class. I have to be at work at 5:50 in the MORNING on tuesdays....Talk about harsh.

Why is complacency such a common theme in the spiritual lives of many college students?

This weekend I am going camping at Possum Kingdom Lake. Well, it's not really camping because we're staying in a cabin, but it IS going to be manly. The weekend has been named The Man-Maker Overnighter. It's a bunch of guys from the Navigators here at Tech and we are all going to go have guy bonding time. We will be studying God's word together and talking about what it's like to be a man living for God. All in all, this weekend is going to be incredible. I have a lot of acquaintances in the Navigators, and I'm hoping to strengthen them into great friendships over the weekend.

Be sure to watch Tech dominate Baylor this weekend...I won't get to see it.

Austin

Well, the team didn't pull it off. In fact, they played worse than I've seen them play all year, but the trip to Austin wasn't a total loss. It was awesome, actually. I got to hang out with some of my friends that go to UT and see what it would be like to go to college in the middle of a large city. To be honest, it was fun to hang out there, but I don't think that going to school there would be too great. Tech's campus is better, the dorms at Tech are better, the food in Lubbock is better, the fans at Tech have more fun...and so on. I toured the infamous 6th street, and hung around the UT campus with Andy, Jack, other Jack, Katie B, and Emily. Turns out the Alicia was in Austin this weekend too, but my phone is stupid and I didn't get her voice mail until yesterday. Sorry Alicia.

Texas Tech is now 6-0, and the coaches poll has us ranked at 8th in the Nation. This upcoming weekend we are heading down to Austin to play the toughest game of the season. Luckily I'll be there, for FREE, playing my saxophone as Cody Hodges, Taurean Henderson, and Joel Filani pull an upset over the UT cows. For that to happen we will have to play the best game that our guys can possibly play. It isn't impossible, in fact, some polls have Tech walking away with the victory. So for this week, no matter your school affiliation, get those guns up because I'm sure that you want to see UT lose at their home stadium the same year that they are hoping for a National Championship.