FIRE

*Deleted*

Waves

I wrote this poem listening about baptism and teaching a small group. I like it, and I usually hate my art.

The waves have cleansed me
And the salt has stained my being
I am lost in a world of hate
Yet I am assimilating in the world I have turned away from (foresaken).

But anyways its about being a noticible Christian in the world, however, focussing on the world you are told to turn away from.

College

I cannot wait until I finally graduate, and leave high school. I am constantly bound by the over controlling school that doesn't allow its students to have some of the basic freedoms. I guess I'm just tired of being controlled. In my college courses I am able to choose what I do, if I come in late its my own fault, and suprisingly enough the world goes on. If I am late to a class in high school, sometimes even less than a minute late, the entire class stops, and the teacher probes why we are late, and if we are lucky we get a detention. If there is a consequence for being late, I have never had a professor actually stop the class and probe the tardiness of an students. It actually makes me feel like I am responsible for my own tardiness, I will live with the consequences, and no one else cares. Maybe its just that way in a big university, I hope that Northwestern isn't like that, it seems big, but I haven't really seen the campus yet.

But anyways the reason that I really hate the way that they treat you in high school is because I feel like I am ready to start doing things on my own, I can take care of a speeding ticket by myself, I can pay for gas by myself, I can get a job by myself, I can do many things with out my parents help, but it seems that I need them for almost everything in High School, your word isn't good enough on any documents, students need their parents. Many seniors are 18 years old, and legaly should be responsible for themselves, but I think because of the way we are brought up, as if we need an adult to do things for us, we don't want to look at 18 as a mile marker. For most students at Maize High nothing changes on their 18th birthday, their parents will still pay for their car insurrance, the school, their gas, their allowance, and responsibility is not encouraged. Chris Rollamn wrote a blog on the stages of adolescnece about a month ago, and discussed that students go through a stage of post-adolescence due to many factors. I agree with this 100%; however, I don't believe that this is something to encourage. I would much prefer that students were encourage to be responsible for themselves, and that they should be expected to start doing something on their own once they turn 18, at least car insurrance, or something. Maybe if people would just learn to be responsible I wouldn't be suffering becuase I am out of the norm.

Floods

Today Wichita experienced some of the harshest rains I have ever seen in my lifetime. Wichitans almost don't even know how to deal, the city is in a panic. Today I saw small cars try to drive through almost three feet of water, as if they could just float, and before they were able to escape each car got taken by the tide. I find it strange that humans can just try and trek through as if nothing were happening; however, maybe this is what Christians do as well. When we see times of "sin," or if our lives are in a rut, we often try to pretend that nothing is happening, instead of embracing the truth that we are about to drive through three feet of water that we can't handle. Some are lucky enough to open their eyes to see that it is raining and their car won't survive three feet of water; others drive on through and get pulled away. If you are the latter, I can only pray that God is guiding the current, and is trying to pull you back to him, as he has done in my life so many times, but as far as these disasters we get ourselves into, 1 Peter 4:12 says "Dear friends, do not be suprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed whem his glory is revealed." Are we as Christians so suprised at the floods, that we forget that He is only waiting to reveal his glory? God knows exactly what is happening right now, and he is strong enough to make glory apear, lets not be suprised, but ready, and rejoicful.

AMH