For there I long to be

this week has been rough. Partly because I have to get up at 5:15 some days, partly because I feel guilty about past deeds, mostly because I know I am deeply hated by someone (who doesn't read this blog anyways). Where does one go when they're haunted by guilt or deeply burdened by a tough situation? I know as a Christian that I'm supposed to go to Jesus because he says "come all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest" and "cast all your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you."

So I pray: "God, you give grace to the weary. I'm supposed to come to you when I am weary. I have no clue what this looks like...what does 'coming to you' look like? What does 'laying all my burdens down at your feet' look like? And what's supposed to happen when I do? Do you fix the problem? I don't really expect you to make the problem go away. I don't think that's how you work. Can I still come to you if I'm not a victim but one who is guilty? So God, I have no clue what I'm supposed to do, how Jesus is supposed to encourage me in this situation, but I 'lay this burden at your feet' anyways. All I know is that I need you, b/c I got nothing."

Even though I didn't know what to say, and doubted anything happening in the first place, I had this rare peace for the rest of the day, including through my incredibly hectic day at work. I was in a great mood for no reason. I was quite shocked really. Praise be to God that he is real and is better than we expect.



"What sweet invitations, the gospel contains,
To men heavy laden, with bondage and chains;
It welcomes the weary, to come and be blessed,
With ease from their burdens, in Jesus to rest."

Worth every bit of the 20.22 minutes

I've always wondered why America is so depressed. There are 300 million prescriptions for Prozac filed each year in the US. What's the deal with that? It makes sense why Japan is depressed...presumably because of the intense pressure to succeed often put on by upholding the family name. But in America, you can do whatever you want, you can choose to be rich or not rich, choose to live in one city or another, even choose whether you want your parents to be your parents or not....and if none of this works out, we have tons of resources available to help fix our problem or help us get better. So why the 300 million prescriptions? I think Barry Schwartz sheds light on some of this. If youtube is being gay, here's the link to the actual TedTalks website: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/93

I almost just stepped on a raccoon

....8th scariest moment of my life.

Knocked Up

speaking of the movie "Knocked Up", I saw it. I saw it because I've had a crush on Katherine Heigl ever since her made-for-tv Disney channel movie "Wish Upon a Star."
My comments on Knocked Up:
-Foulest movie I've ever seen
-It appeals too much to the flesh; it makes you want certain aspects of that one-night fling lifestyle.
-You see female genitalia (as the baby's head is coming out....yes, so awkward)

and yet....

-it was incredibly original: it advertises itself as a hilarious comedy (and it is) but it is one of the first of those types of comedies that actually tries to have a plot and make a point
-there were several profound, truthful moments in the movie. It shows how much marriage, kids, and money don't satisfy.


i don't know why i share this, probably a waste of a blog post; anyways, don't go see it

Basketry was my favorite merit badge

(at a fancy restaurant for our friend's birthday)
Tommy: How many penguins do you think you could kill in an hour? You have a baseball bat by the way.
Martin: Depends, am I mad at them?
Tommy: Who ISN'T mad at them??
Martin: I could probably kill one every 10 seconds for the first 15 minutes. Then fatigue would set in, and it would probably take 2-3 swings per kill. At around 40 minutes, I could probably only kill 1 per minute.
Tommy (after whipping out his calculator): That's 175. Not bad. The national average is 120.
Martin: Who in the world carries a calculator with them?
Tommy: I was planning on having this conversation

------------
Martin: How long have you lived there?
Girl I just met: Sorry, I have to go take a dump.

Someone give me something to parent

What are your thoughts on these theories of raising a child? How valid are they?

-If you over-compliment the child and give affirmation often, he'll have a good self-esteem. But when he matures and finds out that he has faults, he'll be shocked, and therefore disappointed in himself thinking "what's wrong with me??? i'm better than this." Areas of weakness becomes areas of despair because he's always been told these areas were strengths.
In light of this, should you refrain from complimenting the child on a regular basis. That way, the child has lower standards for himself and can therefore be more pleased more often with himself when he performs well because he's exceeding the standards set for him.

- Only complimenting a child every time he/she does a good job at something like good grades in school, or having a good baseball game, or doing well in the church play should be avoided. Because this could communicate that parents' love is conditional....that it mainly exists when the child performs well. When the child fails in these areas (school, sports, church, etc.), he may feel his parents' acceptance and love has decreased. Additionally, his self-esteem will be deflated because the basis of his esteem has always been good performance.

- Every time a child does something well, you tell them they just got lucky. That way, the child learns to develop a good lucky feeling.