The Remains of the Week

Nothing can be more satisfying than finding a day to do whatever you want. This week has been one of those times that only occur every once in a blue moon. I got to refresh my mind, heart, spirit all in one foul swoop.

-After getting a huge amount in Sbux tips this Monday, I was able to pick up some much needed Two-ply (don't ever try to use single ply consistently, it becomes painful after a bit...long story) and these headphones. Te other ones I use are earbuds and they love to fly out of my ear every other step I take when I run outside. So "goodbye" earbuds, "hello" awesome Nike neck-phone thingys!

-I was able, thanks to a birthday gift card, to pick up some much needed literature to kick off my Epic Summer Reading List of 2009!!! (cue awesome monster truck voice guy!). I snagged Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, and Skin by Ted Dekker. The Dekker book isn't from the list, but between books I tend to do a lazy read to prep my head for something more of a literary snob taste. All in all, my reading pace is alarming even myself and I hope to finish at least these books by July. We'll see though. Ayn Rand's novel is over 1000 pages long!

-Kickers won 2-0 today! While this is pish-posh for most of my readers out there, I enjoy going to the games (I have a season ticket) and have been waiting since the beginning of the season for a home win. Today was that day! so yay...

-The David book that my friends are asking me about is coming along in the research stage. It's really cool to listen to God and figure out little things on what to write about. Right now, I'm on the "What should be the main chapters I write about?" stage. As I go along in this journey, I'll share little snippets and see what everyone thinks. This is going to be BIG! Like, "Wild at Heart" big. My prayer is that it will affect many, not just some.

I guess it doesn't seem like a ton is going on right now, but I know there's more that I'm missing. If you wanna know other aspects of what I'm doing with my pretty lady, check out what she talks about by clicking here. She's better at remembering cool events, or talking about neat wedding things she's doing.

I love my crafty future wife!

For Whom the Bell Tolls pt.2

Alright, like I said I'd write some more on what is quickly becoming one of my top five favorite novels of all time. Seriously, Hemingway makes the characters move in such a way that is mere
reality. You feel as if you are an observer of an alternate reality.

I say this only because I just read something that made me emotionally bankrupt for about ten minutes. Robert Jordan wakes up in the morning and spies an enemy on horseback trotting towards him. Hemingway illustrates an air of suspense that ends with Robert shooting and killing the rider. Big whoop, right? Well, the way that Hemingway illustrates Robert's regret in "murdering" the young man is illustrated when he reads the letters from the boy's family and his fiance.

It becomes this inner dialog between Robert's subconscious on whether it is right to kill another man in battle or should he even be doing this. The internal battle demonstrates Hemingway's mastery over the existential narrative and the ability to paint a true picture of human emotion. Wow, this book keeps throwing me feelings that I try to distance myself from when I read...

New Place!

It's pretty cool to see how quickly God can take something that seems eternally stressful and make it into something easy. I'm talking about moving into a new place. Liz starts Grad School in College Park, Maryland on August 31st and we get married on October the 10th. The last thing we needed to plan for was an apartment to rent. I really wanted to take care of this for Liz, seeing as she's in Summer school and still trying to tie up the ends of the wedding planning.

So, BOOM! I was able to hit a few search engines, and a week later have secured a cute little basement apartment for a fair price half a mile to Liz's campus. It's in a house and not in an apartment building, it will be fully renovated prior to us moving in, and the lessor is a really genuine guy (hard to come by in the DC/Metro Area). All in all, I didn't need to make many phone calls when I was researching. God made it pretty clear where He wanted us to be and how it was to go down. Once we got to College Park, it felt as if we were just visiting and everything went casually.

Jeremiah 29:11 is something that I have stood on during this whole "transition" phase. I mean, if God was so blatant that this was where He wanted us to be, He made it pretty easy for our transition. I love the little things God does for us, just because He loves us!

Pictures to follow in an update...

What I've Been Doing With My Moleskine

And so the journey begins...

I've been told that I can write well, relate to others easily, and can make a person or two laugh on occasion. These qualities are some that are needed in writing a book, my friends. So I've been doing some reading, research, and TONS of prayer on a certain idea I've been working on, and now it seems that I'm going to go through with it...
This is to announce that I will be writing a book during the two years that I am out of school! It makes sense though, doesn't it? I mean, I write often out of boredom on here, plus it'll be good to feel as if I've done something other than support Liz in the next two years. So, here's my chance.

I plan on writing an Inspirational book on living your life like David (You know THE King David? The one that took down the Goliath with a slingshot?). I've gone through some other books that mention or fully focus on him, and I've noticed a constant repeat: they all use him to defeat "the giants" in your life. I feel that they make him out to be something so much more muted than he really was. Beth Moore wrote a book that encourages you spiritually through David's model...cool concept, eh? Well what I want to do is write something that takes the life of David and helps the men looking for that strong male role model that they can't seem to find in their own life. I've had plenty of experience in this area: being a child who survived a split family, it became hard to realize who I was in God's eyes. Now, I'm beginning to notice that The Word helps, and I'm gonna take my experiences along with David's and radically help the way young men are thinking in this society.

Man, I hope this works! God, has already been showing me really cool things! What do you think?

Do you know Him?

I remember seeing this video at Light of Life a few months ago. Nothing can compare to how amazing my Father is. But Dr. SM Lockridge's description of him is amazing! Listen to it and go through the whole video, you won't be disappointed. Hossanah in the highest!

Customers @ the Bux

Fact: I do in fact think of ways to fix the wrongs of the Starbucks customers.

Examples include one/many of the following on a given shift.

Problem 1:

"Hello sir, welcome to Starbucks. What can I start for you?"
"Venti Mocha" (throws credit card at me).

Solution:

I always do the right thing and finish the transaction with a more forced smile than usual. However this being a rant I take the credit card, break it in half and hand it back in two pieces. "Sir, next time you throw a credit card at me, make sure it doesn't break!"

Problem 2:

"Hello Mam, what can we start for you?"
(Motions "wait" with her finger and commences to speak to her best friend about the awful man she met the night before while holding up a line ten people deep).

Solution:

When she finally gets off the phone, I grab the store phone and turn around. I have social needs too you know. One of which being to catch up with best friends while taking up everyone else's time.

Problem 3:

"Excuse me, worker, this isn't my drink"

Solution:

Remind the idiot that his drink is in position 10 drinks behind all the other people standing around him. Then you continue with the explanation that the world in fact does NOT revolve around him and that he should reconsider being a Doctor for if he wants to help people he should begin by being humble and wait in line like the rest of us.

IT takes a ton to get me on a Starbucks rant, but any of my barista readers out there know that when it comes to a crappy day, a crappy customer can make it even worse. It may not seem like a hard working job, but steaming milk, writing orders down, smiling, and doing it all in a timely orderly fashion is harder than it looks. If I had it my way, I'd be writing on this blog all day.

Oh Liz!

In about four more months, Liz and I get married!

I never thought that I could get such an amazing woman, let alone date her. She has been through a ton, and has shown such strong perseverance. When it used to be "everything is at odds against me" it now has turned into a "I can and will do this" attitude. She has budded into a beautiful flower where her beauty, inside and out, has flourished.

Liz's eyes to God has encouraged me everyday to pray and fall more in love with Him. Whenever I started to falter or get upset, she would be that reminder to spend time with Him. Not only has this increased my faith and my happiness, but it has also encouraged me to fall more in love with her (as if I could!). When I see her, it isn't just a beautiful woman before my eyes, but one who becomes more beautiful every day I am with her. God knew exactly who I would be best matched with, and I am so glad that I met her this early in my life! Now I can look forward to a lifetime of UNO, Backgammon, Friends viewings, cuddle talks, wine nights, & late-night laughter.

I wrote this not only because I am so happy about who she has become, but because I can't stop thinking about her. I mean it. I randomly looked online about the Voyager satellite, and found out that Uranus has three moons (bear with me a moment). Two of which are names that are nicknames between the two of us: Titania and Oberon. The names come from the fairy King and Queen in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Here are what they look like! The one on the left is Titania, and the right is Oberon. I know they're kinda helter skelter, but I couldn't work out the layout the way I wanted it! Sorry! But I couldn't stop being proud of Liz after these pics triggered my thinking, and I began to realize how much of a woman she has become, and I can't describe how happy she makes me. I love her more than Star Wars, Arsenal, and Hot Wings combined!

Update on Life

Today has been a very eventful, yet still very chill week. Here's the recap:

-I had Jamaican cuisine for the first time on Thursday! Liz and I ate escoveitch fish accompanied with mashed cassava and fried plantains. Definitely a night to be remembered. The way it happened was quite a story too. My friend Jarrod (a Jamaican) and his mother (Faith) found out that my dad's side of the family is almost 100% Italiano. In order to see who's cuisine was better, we had a rotating cook-off. On Tuesday I cooked stuffed shells with homemade sauce. Not a bad choice for Italian cuisine; it didn't have the traditional approach of just spaghetti noodles and sauce. But honestly, the two flavors (Mediterranean and Caribbean) can't really be judged together. Their food was phenomenal: it gave me a whole new range of flavors and spices I had never even thought of using together.
Truly, it was an amazing day. We walked into Jarrod's place with reggae blasting on the speakers, wine in glasses, and fish frying. A great experience with some of my favorite things: Jamaicans, Liz, food, and wine. Not a bad way to welcome in the weekend.

(side note): I learned Jamaican speak: "What gon bad a'mahnin, can't come good a'evenin' ". Basically, it means that if was bad to begin with, it will be bad later too, so it's best to just leave it alone.

-If Jamaican wasn't the topper, I just came back from an Indian restaurant for the first time in my life. Man, I never knew what I was missing. While eating, I never asked what anything was, I just put things on my plate from the buffet line, sat down and ate. I could've eaten beetles and it wouldn't have mattered. They use spices that make everything taste spicy, yet flavorful. It was great! But it was no escoveitch.

-I recently weighed myself. Not to say that I have been upset recently about my weight. I'm too confident in myself for any of that to bother me too much. However, I had realized about 6 months ago that I couldn't eat the junk that had been propelling me forward in High School (ie:potato chips, pop tarts, M&M's etc.). I immediately changed my diet. I only eat when hungry, I stop eating when I'm not hungry, and I eat good food. I used to hate vegetables even up to a year ago. I couldn't stand them at all! Now, I crave a good salad. I need to run. I have to drink water instead of soda. Period.
Once I saw the way Liz was living, I jumped on her bandwagon and became "Mr. Ryan (whose-future-wife-s-the-supreme-know-it-all-of-a-healthy-diet)". She has helped me rethink the decisions I make when I get hungry. I noticed that I used to just go for junk to hold me over when I was hungry. Now, I'll wait for a meal or snack on a carrot, or broccoli, or whatever is freshest. I even surprised myself when I looked at what I had in my grocery cart today:
_Veggies (all fresh and organic): carrots, red bell peppers, broccoli, fresh greens
_Fruit (all fresh and organic): bananas, lemons, apple
_Ginger for snacking
_bottle of red wine (good for the heart in moderation)
_gluten & preservative-free Larabars for breakfast
_chicken (super lean, no skin, and did I mention ORGANIC!)
Wow! I haven't eaten this healthy in...forever! I don't need a nutritionist, I have a Liz.
To get back to my point:
weight before running, eating healthy, and being more active: 178 lbs.
weight after making a healthy change: 162 lbs.
I lost 16 pounds by making a change! I'm starting to look lanky like I used to! I can't wait till this is all done.

(expect another piece on For Whom the Bell Tolls in another day or two).

For Whom the Bell Tolls pt.1

Fact: I love Hemingway, but am sometimes disturbed by his ability to write certain depressing scenes so beautifully.

Aloow me to backtrack so everyone is on the page as me on this one. I am currently reading his most major (in my opinion) novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as a way to go through the gamut of major Hemingway works. So far, I have claimed each book as one of my top favorites and this one is meeting into the actual top five of all time for me. However, I recently read chapter 10 about two days ago and was completely horrified.

The book is about and during the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan, an American for some odd reason, goes to the front lines and is ordered to blow a bridge strategically with the aid of the local guerrilla forces. When he meets this band of misfits (for a lack of a better term) he ends up getting background stories on most of the characters. Pilar, the wife of one of the unit's chiefs, talks about how they originally run out the Facists from the local town.

This is where it gets disturbing, only because Hemingway can make something so vivid without many words. The Republicans (not the political party, but more a supporter of a Repulic form of government) form two lines with one end being the house they are locked in, and the other end being a high cliff. One by one, the men are forced out of the house and made to run through the villagers at the end of a shotgun. The villagers beat them with sickles, flails, and bludgeons; really anything they can get their hands on. IT was devastation.

I was so torn by the way it was written. I have grown to love these characters for over 150 pages, and have learned their struggles. However, I read about the executions and wonder about how I would've reacted if I were there. As much as I have a bleeding heart for Democracy, nobody and I mean NOBODY should have to go through the horrors that these people faced, regardless of their belief structure.

I think this is how Hemingway wanted to present it too, and I'm glad. I've noticed that the way he presents information allows the reader to sit on the fence with him: almost an ability to see both sides and move on easily. Of course, his writing style made him famous (all action sentences), but this makes his writing more enjoyable on my part. I'll let you know how I feel the further I get along.

Here's Hemingway on the left...he's so Grandpa-ish! I love it!

John 3:17

After reading what I wrote last night, Liz pointed out something that she's instructed me to focus in on. In other words, Liz wants me to go past John 3:16 and focus a bit broader by attaching John 3:17 as well. This my friends is a huge step!

Let's dive into the scripture and see what's going on there:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Well there you have it. Verse seventeen then becomes a reiteration of what I was trying to explain in the last post. It isn't that God let Jesus suffer for us to be sufferers ourselves, but more as a way to bring us into salvation. Basically, Jesus is THE ultimate superhero. Think about it, he saves not just some people from a burning place, but ALL who accept Him. The Bible, when looked through this lens, then becomes a form of large love poem. God has really been putting it on my heart to write about this feeling: LOVE. The Beatles had it right when they said that "love is all you need". When love is God, who could argue with that claim? I know I can't.

But it isn't just the love that is a part of being a Christian. It's loving unconditionally. How many people can say they do that? I know how hard it is for all of us to see a wife beater or child molester and think "we have to love them too?" I hate to say it, but yes we do. That doesn't mean getting them acquitted and letting them babysit your two year old. No not at all. But trust in the power of God. The scriptures say that Jesus made Judas the treasurer of the Apostles even though He knew that he was a thief.

Wow! That's love. God puts so much love and faith in us when we don't even see it in ourselves. Instances like this verify John 3:16-3:17. Jesus looked in the very eyes of his betrayer, put faith and love in him even though He knew he would die because of his deception. His love expands all generations, and I feel that I'm being told by the Spirit to say not just generations but His love of His children forgives anything.

Isn't that the essence of being sent into the world and not condemning it? He forgives anything, and nothing fazes Him.

Need proof? Ask me of the stupid things that I've done in my life sometime.

As always, I love you friends, and if you ever need me I check my e-mail 50 times in a day: matthewsrs2@gmail.com

His Love for Us

I have to tell you that it never ceases to amaze me how much He loves us. True, the whole "common" Christian thing to do is to quote John 3:16. But how many of us let that scripture sink in to our very thought process and let it stew for a minute? I never honestly did till about a few minutes ago.

This scripture not only is the core of the Christian ideology, but it has also become a verse used to reach out to people. I know plenty of non believers that can even recite the lines! For awhile it wasn't hard to find someone holding a sign at some sports event that read in painted lettering "John 3:16" high above his head with one of those multi-colored wig on his head. Erg. Let's look at it, even though you have probably already read it before on your own, in Sunday school, or with a friend.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The first concept that jumps from the verse is the word LOVE. I think that as people of Christ we tend to look too far ahead of ourselves. I mean really the first part illustrates tons more than we give it credit. He loves us (the world= His image=humans) therefore, he sacrificed (quite literally) the human version of Himself so that we could chill with Him forever.

I like that word love though. It has a good ring to it. If God loves us so much that he would suffer, bleed, become broken, and die for us how come we find it so easy to negate Him? I mean, Christ is the alternative to permanent death, He is eternal life. It's a matter of either/or situations with God in this verse.

Either: He doesn't love us, and so He doesn't send Christ to die so we can accept Him into our lives and live forever.

Or: He loves us without abandon, sending Christ to die so we can be forgiven of our sins and live in Heaven Forever.

Nice concept eh?

So next time you see someone who is quoting this scripture or is holding the sign at a sporting event, realize that he is just hoping you see it this way: It's all about love to God, and it seems that the guy that's holding the sign is trying to say the same thing.

And I love you too.

Remember that Christ's sacrifice was just as much for you as the most holy person you can think of. Never second best yourself...He doesn't.

Summer Reading List

OK, so I have a list of five books I'll be reading this summer:

1. Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand
2. Infinite Jest: David Foster Wallace
3. Netherland: Joseph O'Neill
4. Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck
5. Not Future Without Forgiveness: Archbishop Desmond Tutu

when I finish these books, I'll write thoughts and reviews about them. If you wanna follow along with what I'm reading, I'll be starting this list as soon as I'm done with "For Whom the Bell Tolls". If you would like to follow me as I read that, I'm only 100 pages in it and I LOVE the dialogue. Hemingway at his best.

What do you think? Should I change the order, remove/add another book?

Kim Walker

So Liz has been getting me into Kim Walker. Whenever I hear her, I think of when Liz said: "It's always very beautiful when you see someone do what God intended them to do". Well, she is definitely one of those people. I know the song is long, but take 10 minutes and praise God by listening to this song by clicking here. You'll thank me later...I promise. This song is beautiful.

My List of Dream Jobs

It's never been about the good things in life that we learn from. For some odd reason God likes to take the bad and show us as His children lessons we can take from them. It is pretty cool to see these types of situations evolve in front of my eyes. You may be going through one of these God-ordained learning period, or at least know somebody who is going through one.

The best part about them is that if the person involved perseveres, the become a better person.

I've been happy to walk in what God wants me to do, and to be blatantly honest, I have learned tons from Him in the past six months. Seriously! My life has gone in a completely different direction than I had intended it. I wanted to go to Grad school and become a professor of English, I wanted to live in South Carolina with Liz (ignoring the frustrations that pre-marital cohabitation would bring), I wanted to get Magna cum Laude, and I wanted it all to happen because it was what I wanted, not what HE had planned for me.

The best advice I think that I could ever give any of my friends, family, or my future children is that be prepared to ride a windy roller coaster if you ask God to take the reins in your life, even though it will be the best decision of your life.

Me and my selfish ambitions landed me flat on my face after years of a huge tug-of-war with God. I forgot who I was in His eyes, and lost sight of the big picture. Turns out, not only does He know the right fit for me, he knows perfect planning and a way to get me there.

I now will be helping Liz go through Grad School and then we're gonna head back to Chesapeake for Law School at Regent University. I know that I have already talked about it previously, but I wanted to have people think about this for a second. Sure, I'm not living technically in the South for two years (which is a bummer because I like an occasional sweet tea and fried chicken), but it works the best way possible. I get to have a small hiatus and calm a Grad-School-stressed Liz, we get to go back home (which will help if we get pregnant, fall on hard times, need family around), and I get to help people. He even provided me a way to stay in Richmond till the wedding so Liz and I can still fight for our purity and make it worthwhile. But the getting to help others is the coolest part of the whole deal. Everyone that knows anything about me knows that I can take a cool idea and turn it into a dream job. I, in fact, to this day have gone through at least 5 well thought out career paths:
1- Military
2- Firefighter
3- History teacher
4- Police officer
5- Male Nurse
And now I can peg English Professor up there, because it isn't going to happen and it doesn't bother me. But did you notice a trend in all of my desired jobs? They all involved protecting or helping another fellow human. I guess if you asked me what I want to do for a living it would have to be "help others". I never really thought about that till just now, but it is what Christ commands us to do. I'm glad that my heart rings true to God's voice.

While the situation has become frustrating at times (such as living in Maryland, possibly working for Starbucks for another two years); one where I never know what treat is waiting just on the other side, I can tell you this: giving God the keys to the Porsche has been the BEST idea I have ever had.

[sidebar] It's my Birthday today! I'm now 23, and still kicking! To celebrate, Liz will hopefully have planned something cool to do, and I'm gonna watch Star Wars IV: A New Hope in Ryan Gibbons' backyard with some of my buds! I love life, and God makes it more vibrant!

School Update

Wow! Another day, yet somehow another amazing time to reflect on the past few months.

It seems that I will get so close to Magna Cum Laude, yet not reach it that it's irritating. I needed three A's and two B's at least to get it, and this semester seems to be turning into a 2 A and 3 B situation. Where does that leave me? With a 3.589! Why wouldn't they round up that to a 3.6 so I can say I graduated with Magna cum Laude honors? Sheesh!

I am determined to not let this bother me though. I'm still graduating with an A average and I get the satisfaction of knowing that this is enough to satisfy everything else! Plus, I know that I'll do so well on the LSAT, that Regent Law will be begging for me to grace them with my presence at their university.

I hope that God will help me through all of this though. I am trying to keep optimistic when it feels like I'm just being a bit too hard on myself. I just wish that I could've gotten that Magna cum Laude, instead of just cum Laude. That's life though...

Roommates & Graduation


I love my roommates. Quite honestly, as much as I am excited about being married, it's going to be hard to part with them. My old roomie, was a pretty cool guy: extremely nice, kept to himself, and shared the same sense of humor.

However, Matt and Adam have been a great transition to marriage. They encourage me to do things with "the guys", that will be even harder when I live with Liz. Example: countless hours spent playing a game where you place bouncy balls in a small bowl filled with water. Seriously, it was the most fun I've had. A woman would never find that fun. No doubt it would be considered a waste of time. Us guys are easily entertained.

But it wasn't just the enjoyable hours of weird games that makes them fun. It was the male bonding that I've longed to have since I've moved to Richmond. These guys are great ears when all I needed was someone to listen. They were so willing to let me borrow anything, and quick to hang out. We pray together and laugh over the weirdest things. This year has been exactly what I've needed. I don't doubt that when I come to Richmond while Liz is working on exams, I'll be crashing on their couch. When we get older, our kids will fight/play with each other.

I am officially done with Undergrad! I'm still going through this weird surreal moment where I can't believe that I am allowed to read whatever I want. Unfortunately, what I want to read is Hemingway. I guess I didn't get enough of him in class. Oh well...

Getting there, and Enjoying It!

Well, most of the objectives are finally completed. I have to say that I am quite pleased on the outcome of those grueling nights at the library. My thesis is sound, well documented (18 sources for a 16 pager!) and a bit on the sarcastic side, which is totally my voice.

While I am starting to get excited about school coming to an end for me (at least till Law School), it shocks me at how bittersweet this all feels. I thought that after I ended college that rainbows would open, and I would end up being more and more relaxed about life. Boy, was I wrong. I have begun to notice that the real world is still moving while I take a pause to admire it. Life is quite beautiful at the moment though. I have much to look forward to in my future, and I'm getting married to the perfect woman. She continually encourages me through her wisdom and grace, it's hard to think that God gave her to me...I am extremely thankful for that.

I've begun to listen to God more and more. Each day I have noticed that I spend tons of time with the big dude, and it feels like being with my best friend. I love how cool he can be to me! While my loan repayment schedule will activate in December, I know God will help me out in every way possible because of my tithing and because of His love for me. I definitely have faith like a sparrow, and even though I may be joked on it, I stand on Christ's red lettering.

I'm beginning to see my future plans unravel and make sense. Sure, it sounded like I was just trying to grab onto a ledge when I mentioned Law School, but I was serious. I never doubted that I didn't get into a Grad School this year for a reason. One of the reasons had to be because He saw something more, and didn't want me to waste my time. I feel that Law is becoming more and more a reality. The rough sketched plan is as follows:

I will follow Liz to her Grad School and help by working my butt off for the both of us. Once she's done (in two years time), I want to move back to Chesapeake and pursue Law at Regent University. Their Law Program isn't too bad, and I like the way they do their classes: the last ten minutes are devoted to group prayer, biblical applications to the material lectured, & an obvious Christian ethical approach to Law. All of which are going to be needed once I start on this venture. I want to keep my eyes on Him and praise Him while I pursue this career...It's important. Plus, if Liz and I decide to have a kid, want to go visit friends in Richmond, or just want to be close to our families, this becomes logical and practical. I LOVE this idea so much it makes my head spin every which way. I really think that this is what's going to happen simply because I get extremely excited over all of the facets that make sense over this.

But don't think that I'm just going to try to fly on by the next two years. Oh no, if God has a place for me somewhere else, or I get an awesome job, I'm mature enough in the spirit to just move with how the spirit is guiding me.

I just love to dream, and this is one COOL dream!