Sunday, August 16, 2009

hiatus

At the risk of sounding like a teenieblogger: It's been a while between blog posts for me, and I thought it'd be nice to just write something.

I've changed shifts at work recently, so I'm now working afternoons/evenings. 2:45 - 9:20 pm, pretty much. There's an hour more driving than before, and an unpaid 50 min meal break in the middle. I'm finding it fairly difficult to fit uni work into a week with 10 fewer hours in it, and so far I've been failing fairly badly at it as I'm ill-disciplined at the best of times. I think I'll ask to change shifts again if something else comes up, as unlikely as that is. Please pray for me.

I felt like the tonight's visit to our church of two Malaysian brothers-in-Christ was a breath of fresh air. I hope in typical Iainish pessimism that they were more than just a spectacle to us. Those men face death for their belief in our Saviour... their enthusiasm for Christ and for His kingdom is therefore exemplary to us. It is also condemning of us if all we do is laugh at how awkward we feel that someone's yelling God's praises from up front; likewise if we are persistently skeptical about Jesus appearing to our brother. Who are we to dictate or presuppose the actions of the living God? Look, I know what I'm doing here is taking how I felt and applying it to all of us... still, I consider myself a decent judge of the vibe amongst a room full of people. Please, Barneys crew, let's let our brothers rub off on us. We will be persecuted like them one day - I'm nearly certain of it (possibly Iainish pessimism again). Learn what we can now of how to joyfully glorify Christ under persecution, and we will flounder less when it takes us by surprise.

I love you, Barneys people. It's so good to be able to hang out with you regularly again. I genuinely missed you when I was working mornings and couldn't stay around after church.

Numerous projects of mine are on hold at the moment due to work-uni difficulties. This includes my post-AnCon writings, tidying my room, learning how to play keys (as opposed to piano), getting better at bass, busting out the cello again, mowing the lawn, eating at home, Fallout 3, making phat computer music and putting my new speakers in my car. Okay, so many of these projects haven't gotten off the ground yet, but they are definitely in the pipeline, and I miss being able to do them (or at least think about the possibility). Please pray for me.

I'm still thinking through what to do next year. All ideas seem good, none stand out, and there's little time to think about it deeply. Please pray for me.

Please (anyone) let me know what I can pray for you. Praying for others confounds the Tempter, and I could really use that right now. Please make use of me.