Today marks a big day for me because the notebook that I use for my personal journal got filled up last night and I am breaking in a new one. I looked over some things from the past in the book, and I realized how much I have changed and grown over the year. I started keeping the journal in June of 2008 and filled it up by July of 2009. So tonight, I will begin writing in a new notebook.
Another option I am considering, in lieu of the road trip, is going to a Young Life camp as an intern for the entire summer. That's possibly the best option because there will be a road trip involved as I'll likely try to work at a camp in Colorado or Oregon, but I'll also get paid for the summer to do something I love. So we'll see. I'm not usually one to plan ahead, but for whatever reason next summer is all I can think of right now. Which is weird because this has been one of the best summers yet.
We shall see.
<3 chanchan
Monday, July 13, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wanderlust
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Wanderlust - A strong desire to travel
Finally my time in Oxford has a definitive end date. May 31, 2010, my lease in the fine city of Oxford, Mississippi will be up and I'll be moving on, and lately I've been thinking about what I'll be doing when that day rolls around. Right now my plan is to try to go to seminary or go on Young Life staff, but neither of those would start until August/September of 2010. So that leaves roughly two months to do pretty much whatever. As it stands I'll probably just move back home, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I want to travel.
The more I think about it, the more I realize there are just places I want to see and things I want to do. I have a decent amount of money saved up and I can really make this happen. I've been thinking and praying about it a decent amount and I mean...when am I going to get another chance to do that? I mean I may get a week here or there, but to really, actually get out and see the country on my own time with no other responsibilities other than being home by September? That won't happen again in my entire life. So why not?
So here's what I want to do:
-(Optional) Buy an International Harvester Scout. Preferably a Scout II, but any one of them would be fine.
-Load up the vehicle, hopefully said Scout II, and hit I-20 and drive until I got to the Grand Canyon. I have no idea how long this would take, because I'd like to stop and visit friends along the way, but eventually make it to the Grand Canyon. I've never seen Arizona and want to. That drive would also cover Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Even though I've already seen all of those states, it would be good to go back. (1,657 miles - 1 day, 5 hours)
-Post-Grand Canyon, I want to make the drive over to San Diego. I want to see that city for some reason, and if I did it in the summer I could catch a baseball game. That actually would be something I'd try to plan my travel times around. After San Diego, I want to drive up the PCH as far as I can. (526 miles - 10 hours, 28 minutes)
-Post-San Diego/PCH/various California hot spots, I want to keep driving north to Portland. The beginning of my trip would involve an e-mail to Donald Miller telling him what I was planning on doing and asking him if he wanted to hang out when I get there. I'm sure he'd be down for it because he wrote a book about doing the same thing. Also, this trip is partly inspired by Through Painted Deserts. (1,082 miles - 16 hours, 32 minutes)
-Post-Portland, I'd drive on up to the Seattle area and visit friends. (176 miles - 2 hours, 49 minutes)
-Post-Seattle, I want to see Mount Rushmore. This drive would cover Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. (1,184 miles - 17 hours, 16 minutes)
-Post-Rushmore, who knows? Looking at the map, the possibilities are endless. The only problem is that I'm back in a part of the country I'm familiar with. So maybe head south to Colorado? Denver is nice that time of year, plus the Rockies are there. Why not? (390 miles - 6 hours, 26 minutes)
-Post-Denver, let's go to Kansas City. The Royals suck, but it's still baseball. (601 miles - 8 hours, 41 minutes)
-Post-KC, I'd head to St. Louis and check out a Cardinals game. (249 miles - 3 hours, 50 minutes)
-At this point, I'm back in familiar territory. I'd probably just take I-55 south until I got home. (504 miles - 7 hours, 32 minutes)
So that would be a rough itinerary of my dream trip. It would be roughly 17 states (including passing through Arkansas and Tennessee) and cover over 6,000 miles. Roughly 105 hours of driving (my math could be way off). And who knows? Maybe I'd head farther east too.
I don't know. I don't know if any of this ever materializes, but this is something I've been thinking of a TON. This is obviously a work in progress and a lot depends on what happens in these next several months and what I wind up doing in the fall. Obviously, with me, things can change. But for whatever reason this is what I'm thinking about a lot lately.
This is insane. Hopefully it happens.
<3 chanchan
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Wanderlust - A strong desire to travel
Finally my time in Oxford has a definitive end date. May 31, 2010, my lease in the fine city of Oxford, Mississippi will be up and I'll be moving on, and lately I've been thinking about what I'll be doing when that day rolls around. Right now my plan is to try to go to seminary or go on Young Life staff, but neither of those would start until August/September of 2010. So that leaves roughly two months to do pretty much whatever. As it stands I'll probably just move back home, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I want to travel.
The more I think about it, the more I realize there are just places I want to see and things I want to do. I have a decent amount of money saved up and I can really make this happen. I've been thinking and praying about it a decent amount and I mean...when am I going to get another chance to do that? I mean I may get a week here or there, but to really, actually get out and see the country on my own time with no other responsibilities other than being home by September? That won't happen again in my entire life. So why not?
So here's what I want to do:
-(Optional) Buy an International Harvester Scout. Preferably a Scout II, but any one of them would be fine.
-Load up the vehicle, hopefully said Scout II, and hit I-20 and drive until I got to the Grand Canyon. I have no idea how long this would take, because I'd like to stop and visit friends along the way, but eventually make it to the Grand Canyon. I've never seen Arizona and want to. That drive would also cover Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Even though I've already seen all of those states, it would be good to go back. (1,657 miles - 1 day, 5 hours)
-Post-Grand Canyon, I want to make the drive over to San Diego. I want to see that city for some reason, and if I did it in the summer I could catch a baseball game. That actually would be something I'd try to plan my travel times around. After San Diego, I want to drive up the PCH as far as I can. (526 miles - 10 hours, 28 minutes)
-Post-San Diego/PCH/various California hot spots, I want to keep driving north to Portland. The beginning of my trip would involve an e-mail to Donald Miller telling him what I was planning on doing and asking him if he wanted to hang out when I get there. I'm sure he'd be down for it because he wrote a book about doing the same thing. Also, this trip is partly inspired by Through Painted Deserts. (1,082 miles - 16 hours, 32 minutes)
-Post-Portland, I'd drive on up to the Seattle area and visit friends. (176 miles - 2 hours, 49 minutes)
-Post-Seattle, I want to see Mount Rushmore. This drive would cover Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. (1,184 miles - 17 hours, 16 minutes)
-Post-Rushmore, who knows? Looking at the map, the possibilities are endless. The only problem is that I'm back in a part of the country I'm familiar with. So maybe head south to Colorado? Denver is nice that time of year, plus the Rockies are there. Why not? (390 miles - 6 hours, 26 minutes)
-Post-Denver, let's go to Kansas City. The Royals suck, but it's still baseball. (601 miles - 8 hours, 41 minutes)
-Post-KC, I'd head to St. Louis and check out a Cardinals game. (249 miles - 3 hours, 50 minutes)
-At this point, I'm back in familiar territory. I'd probably just take I-55 south until I got home. (504 miles - 7 hours, 32 minutes)
So that would be a rough itinerary of my dream trip. It would be roughly 17 states (including passing through Arkansas and Tennessee) and cover over 6,000 miles. Roughly 105 hours of driving (my math could be way off). And who knows? Maybe I'd head farther east too.
I don't know. I don't know if any of this ever materializes, but this is something I've been thinking of a TON. This is obviously a work in progress and a lot depends on what happens in these next several months and what I wind up doing in the fall. Obviously, with me, things can change. But for whatever reason this is what I'm thinking about a lot lately.
This is insane. Hopefully it happens.
<3 chanchan
Saturday, July 4, 2009
It's Been A While...
I've been thinking for a while I needed to update this thing. Every so often, a profound thought will hit and I'll be like "oh, I should write about this" and then I just don't. But today, on Independence Day, I've actually got some free time for the first time in a while so I figured why not.
Quick recap - working 2 jobs. One at a place called MulchEZ, the other at Lovelady Property Management. I don't do a whole lot at either one so it's pretty cool. Moving into a new house here pretty soon. Got a dog.
OK, that's the basic stuff. Lately, though, I've found my relationship with Christ to be perhaps the healthiest it has ever been. As I look back over the year that was, and I'm using last July 4th as a reference, I can see how several experiences I've had have prepared me for the current situation I'm in. And several verses have been playing through in my mind over and over again. The first has been a recurring theme for me:
Jeremiah 29:11-14:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD...
This just rings so true in my life right now. A year ago, when I was crushed to find out I wasn't going to get to move to Washington, when I was in the middle of some situations that really sucked, and when I was maybe as depressed and sad as I've ever been, God knew the plans he had for me and he has been so faithful to help me realize that. And that leads into the next verse I've been thinking about a lot:
Phillipians 1:6:
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
I think about this verse in the context of the last 6 years. It's unbelievable to think that I'm still here, in Oxford, after all this time, it's unbelievable to look back at the work God has done in Oxford, and it's unbelievable to think that he would have chosen me to do a lot of it. Whether it has been through Young Life or just my personal life, I can honestly say that nothing is the same as when I came in as a freshman in 2003, and it has nothing to do with anything I did. A lot of this is just now starting to settle in, because for the first time I have a definite end point for my tenure in Oxford - May 2010. My lease is up and I'm moving on. I don't know where yet, but I feel like the Oxford chapter of my life is coming to a close. In the past, I probably would have freaked out about leaving and moving on, but God has proven himself trustworthy time and again over these last 6-7 years and I have no doubt that He will do it again.
Finally, I feel like I want to list out the music I've been listening to lately because I can't remember a time I was more into music than I am right now, both playing and listening:
Act Of Congress
The Avett Brothers
Blitzen Trapper
Fleet Foxes
Five Iron Frenzy (as always...)
Old Crow Medicine Show
Anyways, that's all for now. I'll probably write again in like 3 months and I'll be the only person to read it again, but hey, I like writing!
-Chandler
Quick recap - working 2 jobs. One at a place called MulchEZ, the other at Lovelady Property Management. I don't do a whole lot at either one so it's pretty cool. Moving into a new house here pretty soon. Got a dog.
OK, that's the basic stuff. Lately, though, I've found my relationship with Christ to be perhaps the healthiest it has ever been. As I look back over the year that was, and I'm using last July 4th as a reference, I can see how several experiences I've had have prepared me for the current situation I'm in. And several verses have been playing through in my mind over and over again. The first has been a recurring theme for me:
Jeremiah 29:11-14:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD...
This just rings so true in my life right now. A year ago, when I was crushed to find out I wasn't going to get to move to Washington, when I was in the middle of some situations that really sucked, and when I was maybe as depressed and sad as I've ever been, God knew the plans he had for me and he has been so faithful to help me realize that. And that leads into the next verse I've been thinking about a lot:
Phillipians 1:6:
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
I think about this verse in the context of the last 6 years. It's unbelievable to think that I'm still here, in Oxford, after all this time, it's unbelievable to look back at the work God has done in Oxford, and it's unbelievable to think that he would have chosen me to do a lot of it. Whether it has been through Young Life or just my personal life, I can honestly say that nothing is the same as when I came in as a freshman in 2003, and it has nothing to do with anything I did. A lot of this is just now starting to settle in, because for the first time I have a definite end point for my tenure in Oxford - May 2010. My lease is up and I'm moving on. I don't know where yet, but I feel like the Oxford chapter of my life is coming to a close. In the past, I probably would have freaked out about leaving and moving on, but God has proven himself trustworthy time and again over these last 6-7 years and I have no doubt that He will do it again.
Finally, I feel like I want to list out the music I've been listening to lately because I can't remember a time I was more into music than I am right now, both playing and listening:
Act Of Congress
The Avett Brothers
Blitzen Trapper
Fleet Foxes
Five Iron Frenzy (as always...)
Old Crow Medicine Show
Anyways, that's all for now. I'll probably write again in like 3 months and I'll be the only person to read it again, but hey, I like writing!
-Chandler
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