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| Not that I've posted anything for a long time here, but this should be the last thing I post here (for now, I'll keep what's on here up). All new blogging activities will take place at blog.dgbrown.net :) | | |
| Let us write off those parts of 2009 that we wish no longer to carry with us. Lost jobs, ended relationships, car accidents, illness, bad economy, and other losses. Let's donate all that to the langoliers, the only remnant being the strength we gained having gone through it all.
And let us rejoice for what remains. New families and new life, new opportunities, new joys, old joys, cherished memories. Let that be the legacy of 2009. Let that set the tone for 2010.
I've seen so many friends go through so much this last year. For some, amazing highs. For others, amazingly difficult lows. For many, both (including me).
I have a lot of hope for 2010. I don't think I'm alone.
-D.G.
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| Regardless of politics and parties and all that, what really really gets me is when the media builds bias into data (in stupidly obvious ways).
I was on CNN earlier looking at the second 100 day report card for the president. Below all of the state summaries, they had a comparison of the second 100 days vs the first 100 days:
(CNN graph)
The headlines and everything else is talking about the huge dip in the president's report card grades, and looking at that comparison, it sure looks like it. But... huh. If you notice, the top chart has A, B, and C broken out into three parts, but has not done the same for D and F. Visually, what this does is make positive approvals look way smaller than in the first 100 days (by basically cutting it into thirds) and keeping the low scores the same (make it look much bigger). I took the liberty of 'shopping the graph to a more apples-to-apples comparison:
(modified by me using GIMP)
This paints a different story entirely. What this shows is polarization (supporters support more, opposition opposes more), which says a lot about what's been happening in politics recently (a story which I would rather read about since I think it's far more relevant), but isn't as catchy a headline.
But, considering CNN couldn't tell a duck from a goose a while back (which apparently was corrected since my post), I'm not surprised with not having much quality in the news. I think I'll stick with slashdot... | | |
| One person should find it funny, but I was just thinking of the lyrics "Say hello, and wave goodbye"
This crosses my mind as, if everything goes as planned, I'll be leaving my apartment in the next couple weeks for a new one in Bellevue. As far as homes go, I don't think I ever let myself feel like here was home. Since moving here, lots of bad things happened, and I think I associate it with this place, though the two aren't directly related. I'm liking the idea of a "fresh start".
It's that time of year, perhaps that time of life, and I'm a little excited. My closer friends have been going through major changes, with some getting married, and some having and raising kids. While I'm not there yet (or even close, considering I'm still single), I've still have plenty of things in my life change recently. Things will never be the same again, and it's kinda neat.
And God is faithful. I asked God a question a couple weeks ago. I must admit, I didn't expect and answer. But He did answer, and even challenged me. It should be interesting.
Oh yeah, and I might stop using xanga. If I do, I'll point to where I go. I just don't like it much anymore. I think I might go to wordpress or maybe just something using my website (I'll publish rss if I do it myself).
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| I was just looking through some documents, and found my church membership application (from last summer). It's probably pretty boring, but I thought I'd put a couple of the questions from it up here.
Briefly share how you became a follower of Jesus Christ.
I grew up in a Christian family, raised by Christian parents. My dad was raised in a very conservative church, my mom was raised in a very liberal church. As a result of that difference, along with other difficulties in making it to church (since my younger sister is autistic and has a difficult time in social settings, I didn't grow up in a church. While my parents prayed for me, and taught me the beliefs that they held important, they left me to discover my own faith.
I grew up calling myself a Christian and believing that God did exist, but, over time, I put all my trust and faith into science. I had always wanted to be a scientist since I was very little. Even to this day, I can be very passionate about figuring things out and solving problems. I had learned to put my trust into what I could see, measure, theorize, and understand. Even if I wasn't consciously doing it, I was beginning to question anything I couldn't.
The summer of 1997 (between my junior and senior years of high school), I had everything going for me. I had a girlfriend, a truck, and a little bit of spending money from a job I'd just gotten. One particularly nice day, I was driving to that job, which was about a half hour away if I cut through the country (longer if I went through town). As I came out of a turn, I saw an intersection ahead of me. There was an orange truck at the stop sign (I didn't have one the direction I was going). I wasn't worried since he had time. He cleared the intersection and a blue/green truck was behind him. I wasn't worried since it was obvious he wouldn't go (since there wasn't any room). He went.
Everything went really slow after that. My first thought was "Oh no! Not my truck!" (not that I was shallow, just my grandfather had given me the truck and it meant a lot to me). The impact was really hard and sent my truck (considerably smaller than the other truck) spinning down the road. I jumped out to make sure the other people were okay, which they were. But then I looked at my truck and it didn't make sense. The front of my truck was destroyed. Items inside the truck had flown everywhere. Yet I was fine. I didn't have a bruise or a cut or anything. In fact, I hadn't felt the impact myself during the accident (like everything was just going on around me, but I was sitting still). I wasn't sore later either.
When I asked my mom later about it, she said it was my guardian angel who had protected me. For the first time in my life, I had a question that science couldn't answer (and trust me, I knew enough physics that I tried really hard), but faith could. My eyes opened a little to things I hadn't considered.
My senior year was a transition. God worked on my heart. He also provided opportunities to get to know more about believers through my girlfriend at the time. In parallel to the journey I'd been on, she had been on a similar journey, and some of her friends invited us to various events at the Nazarene church they attended.
Labor Day weekend, a month or so before heading to college, we went to a play called "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames". I didn't understand it, but suddenly all of these pieces I'd scene up to that point all fit together and made perfect sense. At the end there was an altar call. The funny thing is that I felt bad because, while our eyes were closed, I stood up so that I could walk to the front, and I didn't want to leave my girlfriend there by herself. It's funny because I realized when I opened my eyes that she was also going up (right about the same time she realized I was). At the altar that night is where I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
Then I went off to college. The relationship I was in ended, but we remained good friends (to this day). At college I found a church to go to, and was part of several fellowships: Collegiate Christian Fellowship (through my church), and Asian Christian Fellowship (through some friends that invited me) which was probably where I grew the most (and eventually became a leader).
Briefly share who Jesus is to you, and how He has made a difference in your life.
Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior. He is the son of God (the Father), part of the Trinity (along with the Holy Ghost). He was born into vulnerable flesh as a man and walked this Earth, blameless, and then died for our sins so that we may be seen as blameless and have eternal life in unity with God. Our Lord is not one who watches us from a great distance, but one who is with us at all times. I believe prayer and worship to not just be a type of speech and a type of singing, but the open communication between myself and God (taking many forms). I feel Him with me wherever I go, even on the occasions I try to walk the other way.
I don't know if I can describe the difference He has made in my life since I can't imagine my life without Him at this point. He's growing me, as He always has. The future doesn't scare me because I know He is there with me.
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