the freeway in the sky

a very tragic thing happened during this past week. as i was driving home from honea path, my dear automobile broke down. ordinarily, this would be a somewhat typical occurence. however, the smoke billowing from the hood of my car began to worry me (along with the fact that my engine coolant was boiling). i openly admit to the world that i am no mechanic. i hope i don't disappoint my future wife when she discovers that i can't heal cars like some guys my age can - maybe i should begin educating myself.

with the aid of my dear sister and brother-in-law, we cooled the car down some and we were able to crank it (it wasn't as easy as it may sound. it took a while to do). i hurriedly drove to timothy stumbo's house and parked it there. it was later towed to an auto place (Crider, across from Bruster's) where the assessed the damage. i soon found out that the car couldn't be repaired, and that it would never be driven again. don't get me wrong - a car is a car, and it would be a little bit creepy if i were to get really really sad about this. but seeing as this was my first car ever, i definitely have some sentimental attachment to it. i cleaned out all of my belongings from it and surrendered it to be towed to the junkyard.

and that's that.

i was thinking today, and realized that it will only be a little over 2 months before i graduate. craaaazy. aaand, each month before i graduate, i have something to look forward to. in the month of march, i'll be meeting up with one of my best friends in the world, Nathan Quinley, who I have known since elementary school in the Philippines. I'll be traveling with him to north carolina to play for a worship conference. i'm quite excited. and during the month of april, i'll be lucky enough to go see death cab for cutie play in atlanta, georgia. that will be another "lifetime goal" to be checked off my list.


and life has been pretty wonderful lately.

i was at peace with the world

i had grand plans for this morning. i was to wake up early (which I did), get ready for school quickly (which i also did), and do some homework from the day before. whenever i awoke at 6:30, i glanced over my homework and realized that i had finished what was assigned, and i had woken up reaaaallly early for no reason. however, i was wide awake, so i continued with my "getting ready" ritual. at about 7:20 (when i usually get my shower), i left my house, plugging along in my faithful buick lesabre, not knowing exactly where i was going. it was faaar to early to go to school - as i passed the parking lot, i noticed that it was completely empty, so i continued driving. i had so much time on my hands.

as i kept driving (in no particular direction), i noticed the sky. i wouldn't go so far as to say that it was one of the prettiest sunrises i've ever seen, because i've seen some sunrises that would knock you off of your feet (really). i don't even know if it would make my Top 8 Sunrises. but there was something about it that just made me feel so reassured of God's direction in my life. and so i kept driving in the direction of the sunset. i let it fill up my windshield. at one point, i parked and just sat looking at it. i've never felt more encouraged about the direction i'm heading, just because i know that God is leading me there.

somehow, this managed to be one of the best morning's of my year. in fact, this has probably been the best month of my year. probably.

i started reading through first corinthians the other night. i've always had an awfully hard time being faithful to reading the Bible nightly. i either simply forget, or get in bed too late to even bother. for some reason, it has been different for the past couple of days. despite how late i've been getting in bed, or how much my mind isn't geared towards reading the Bible whatsoever, God always reminds me. He even pushes me. last night, I plopped into bed, turned off the lights, and closed my eyes. as I was drifting into a dream, one thought popped into my head. "Bible". i won't pretend that I smiled, flipped on the lights, hopped out of bed, and began reading cheerfully. I was so comfortably nestled within my blankets and pillows, I had no desire to move - but I did. I turned on my lamp and lay in bed and read 1 Corinthians 4. and it didn't take away from my rest. I slept deeply and woke up immediately when my alarm clock went off (earlier than I ever set it. ever)

anyhow. most of this post is irrelevant. but i needed to write something.
now i'm off to do homework and to get ready to go to Columbia for band practice. yes.



[listen to: "shattered" - remy zero]

show!

next weekend, on friday the 24th, the fish factory here in greenwood is hosting the first annual JNP Show. there will be several bands playing, including Sunny Blunder, This Bright Pilgrimage, and the Springdales.

it's going to begin at around 7:32, so don't be late. i hope to see everyone there :)

what to do

i went and ate lunch at amanda's house this afternoon, and watched the second "Lost" disc. or at least most of it. she and lauren had to leave before the last episode finished, so we decided to finish it later. both of them, along with tim, J.R. and nina, left at about 4:30 today to go to Atlanta to hear Cary Brothers and the Fray play. i'm too young to do things like that. so i'm here at home, feeling rather down-in-the-dumps, so to speak.

i was thinking about going to the boy's game in Clinton tonight, but Justin and Anna are also coming in tonight from their honeymoon, so I'd kind of like to be around to see them. so, i suppose i'll just be around here.

i've been writing alot of music lately. which is good. i'm planning finishing several of them and recording them in the next few weeks. i hope. i always seem to get behind in that area, and i just keep putting it off. but then again, it's not like i don't have anything else to do with my time, because i definitely do.

God has been strengthening me alot lately through trials and the like. it seems that the more struggle that one is faced with, there is more opportunity for growth. my mindset about alot of things is pretty naive, i suppose, which explains how i've struggled with certain things lately.

weeeelllll. i'm going to end this before i make this post too exciting. haha. i hope everyone has a fantastic day.

we're sleeping in a cloud

lately, i feel like i've been being "tested" in lots of different ways. in some cases, it's the kind of thing where you tell yourself, "surely, it wouldn't get any worse than this". then somehow, it does. however, in the midst of the chaos that has become my life, i have been able to find peace in God's will and the fact that He's leading me where He wants me to go. it just gets so hard sometimes.

and then there are other parts of my life where I feel that I've been given way more than I deserve. and I know that I have. I just hope I don't waste what I've been given.