Mono to Theo doxa

Or that's about as near a literal translation as I can do, with my limited knowledge of Greek letters. Basically, to God alone be the glory.

There should have been an update here long ago and I apologize for that lack of one. Here is what has been going on:

I had a very nice fall break, having Thanksgiving with my family, eating lots of great food (and being sent back with leftovers!) and a little time to study, to pray, walk, and have fun. I worked through eight old Statics exams in preparation for the upcoming third exam of the semester in that class.

On Saturday, my brothers and I went paintballing with a bunch of other lads, there were probably about 17 of us total. My older brother and I were put on opposing sides, my younger brother was on my team. We had a youngster named Jonah who was with us, very small, so our team made it our sworn duty to protect Jonah, he was our VIP and we were his bodyguard. The first round we did, our team moved quickly through and to the right, with me staying close to Jonah and moving him quickly from point to point. The other team members moved in on the enemy and I took Jonah to a safe spot behind where our team was situated and went off, I think I took out a guy and then was shot in the back by enemy fire, but our team won by a landslide.

The second round, I went into the woods to do a little recon, and spotted my brother coming after me. We're both clad in black and present a formiddable appearance, and we both know eachother well. We popped a few shots and I crept into a better position, making fast moves from spot to spot to outflank him, waiting for backup. He turned to retreat through some brush but I saw him making for an opening and fired one shot at the opening before he passed by. The ball sailed through the air and connected, perfect timing, right on the back of his jaw (helmet area). He said it hurt.

We had various rounds with various scenarios. The team I was on won most of the time for some reason, though I thought the opposing side had some better players. One time I was behind a pile of brush and an enemy, running away from the area of fire, came right up to me and stopped on the other side, stunned. Then he dropped and began shooting as I shot back at him (I hesitated because it was so close range). We popped up and down, I dove to the left and popped back up in time to see him losing his balance and falling back, that was enough and he was quickly eliminated. He said that was the wildest thing all day, and his highlight. I then started walking down a road, slowly making my way toward where the enemy was. Two of them shouted "There's L-!" and started shooting at me but they were too far away and I just kept walking steadily towards them, unperturbed. They fled.

Oh we had a bunch of fun. It's fun to be in a black suit, with a black mask and gun and when people see you, they run away :) I also had two team mates firing on me until one of the enemy (who was out) said "that's just sad you guys!" They thought I was my brother since in the black suits and masks, we look somewhat alike! That was one of the highlights of the break, just to be out there with some guys (though there were two girls who played, I was glad to note). I tend to be more conservative on my ammo, and used less than 2/3 of a hopper (the container that holds the balls) while a couple of other guys used six full hoppers each! I'm more of a sniper I guess. One boy told me "You know, you're so quiet all the time, but you're always ready to go. It's great!"

That night, the N's had invited my family to dinner (they came up with me) and we had a very good time there. Though I feared we stayed too late.

This past week was to be a week of exams, I had four scheduled, one on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The Tuesday one was in Physics and I think it went well, we shall have to see. Wednesday was Calculus and I know I messed up on one problem but he eliminates our worst problem from the ones he grades, so that may be taken out of the mix. I messed up because I was trying to remember this part, moved on, came back, and finally figured it out and was frantically working on it when the instructor announced with a grin "guys, you have minus two minutes left now." But I know I was on the right track, I just didn't finish the last step or two.

Thursday class was cancelled because of the snow. I was hoping to pick up Circuits quizzes, homework, and get the results from the Physics exam. We were also supposed to have a Statics exam and a Circuits review, but these were cancelled as well. I e-mailed the instructor and he said that my studying those eight exams over Thanksgiving break would serve me well for the final though.

So I had planned on getting a lot done on Friday on campus, getting the results from the Calculus exam, the Physics exam, the old quizzes, and then we were supposed to take an exam in Circuits, which I had been preparing for a couple of weeks for, but that was cancelled too because school was closed :( I felt kind of helpless in a way. That exam has been rescheduled for Monday.

I had a former classmate, an electrical engineer ahead of me, tell me today (through Gmail) that I was the only "friend" he had whom he felt he would recommend to an instructor by name. Normally he doesn't mention names because of the possible repercussions: i.e. the teacher might not like them. But he said that he was certain I had no enemies. Of that, I'm not sure, but it was a high compliment and I appreciated it.

So things I've been learning. Well, I've been learning that I'm not so self-reliant as I sometimes seem to think I am. I need company from time to time, and perhaps that is a reason I did NOT want school to be closed.

I'm learning that I really am not content in all circumstances, because I started to groan inwardly when I found out that "my" plans had been thwarted. My idea of taking the exams was gone. One thing that somewhat irked me though is that many students rejoice when their exams are cancelled, simply because they have not been diligent beforehand.

I'm learning that perhaps I am too dependant upon schedules, and need to be grateful for whatever is thrown my way. I am grateful for the opportunity to get some other things done, to finish some books (I finished Messiah the Prince just a short while ago) to send e-mails, to even write this blog post (Arwen, I had this on my list of things to do while on this break :).

Oh I'm thankful for the snow, and the warm camper, I'm thankful for Garrett, who even offered to get me the key to his room and I could stay in there over the weekend while he went home! I'm thankful for Jonathan who has insisted that if I get cold, or lonely, I can come over to their place. I've learned that I should be more mindful and humble when interacting with others, and how gracious they are to me most of the time and how ungracious I am toward them.

I learned more today about the mediatorial dominion of Christ and how all things, rulers and authorities, governors, senate, the president, kings etc. are all subservient to him. He commands their allegience, and nations his respect. That the state and world are two different things, and the state, as being under Christ's rule and set up by him, needs to honour him. Rulers of a Christian nation have a responsibility to make Christian laws, to keep the Sabbath, to uphold Christ. Far from being a separation of church and state, the two should work together, as Moses (state) and Aaron (church). Christ is Lord over both, the church should not control the state (that is not its duty) and the state cannot control the church, is has no authority to do so, but the state does have a responsibility. And all men, but especially Christians, have the responsibility to elect such leaders as will uphold God's law. We cannot elect those or choose those whom we know do not respect Christ, and have them to be our representatives.

I learned that there is a tendency for people to willingly accept the priesthood of Christ, and forgiveness of sins, but many are unwilling to accept the kingship of Christ, and swear their allegience to him and obey him. The two go together and are inseparable, you cannot have Christ as Saviour without him being your Lord.

And I have learned how far short I fall in everything. How often I fail. Yet it is a great comfort to know that we do have a high priest, and king, who intercedes for us and upholds us by his hand. There is much to learn and I'm going to try to squeeze a bit more out of this day. Thanks :)

I wish I could have given you my days off Frodo, but you had some of your own and I must learn contentment with these things. Don't laugh, it truly is a struggle! I didn't want school to be cancelled! Jon on the other hand, was practically dancing with glee. He says I'm weird. Maybe so! -(0)_(0)-