sporadic ramblings

It is mid February. I must be honest in saying that I have not longed for summer this much before in my life. I am tired of the dark and cold days. I do not enjoy being confined to four walls for most parts of the day. I honestly crave the opportunity of enjoying a meal outside on a patio, I long for the long evenings where the sun doesn't seem to hurry to get to the other side of the world, I desire to go to places randomly and not having to worry about frost-bite.

I also think that is probably the saddest and dreariest way I have ever started a blog. After all things are actually quite well in my life right now. I am listening to Beethoven's Piano concerto No. 4 in G Major and while I don't really know what that all means, it is very soothing. February 2009 means also that I am rapidly approaching my graduating date. This semester has been filled with many responsibilities and opportunities, however, has been cast under a shadow of a significant lack of motivation to achieve the best I can. While being challenged in my classes and even more so in conversations with friends outside of class I am struggling to push myself to critically engage a lot of the big ideas floating around.

Currently I am interning at Cardus (A Public think tank with a comprehensive view of changing our world) for course credit, and it has to be the most interesting course I have partaken in. My official "title" is research intern, which means that I get to assist in the research projects Cardus has going on. For me the most exciting part has been to partake in the Stained Glass Urbanism research. It is hard to describe in few words what I get to do - most simply put, however, I get the chance to research what the role of the church as an institution is within the urban context. How does a church relate to its city, how does it cultivate and nurture a healthy relationship with urban life in the city not just its Sunday worshipers. That kind of stuff gets me going and accordingly I am enjoying this internship quite a bit.

Back to the summer, there are many things to look forward to. The most obvious is my mom's wedding and being able to see all my family and loved ones and having all of us together for the first time in a while. However, that alone doesn't make me excited about the summer. I greatly anticipate living with many of the same guys as last summer at the Catacombs, numerous other weddings, being done school, and going to Holland and Barcelona (Lord willing).

In between

YouthWorks is done, it has been for the last almost 2 weeks, but I am just slow with updating people on my life. Redeemer doesn't start for another 2 weeks for me, so right now I am in between. I like being in Barrie, I always have, but it somehow has become a place where I am always longing to go somewhere else. I used to go to Canada (on vacation) more specifically Barrie, and I would love it everytime. It was time to relax, spend time with family, enjoy nature, and be in Canada (all great things). Today when I visit Barrie, I often take the go up to Newmarket where my mom will pick me up, and after a couple of days of saying hi to family and some people in church that is about it. It is weird how the exact same place has become something completely different to me, Barrie does kind of feel like home, but it is not where I grew up and it is not where I want to be right now... Thus far for my thoughts about Barrie.

In the meantime, I am trying to keep myself busy. Finding a job in Barrie when I don't know that many people and have only limited time (about 3 weeks) is hard. And so I have been doing a lot of reading lately. I think 2007 is the year that the great secret of reading books has been revealed to me. This summer I was still able to read quite a few books, even though YW schedule didn't always allow that, but so far this is my summer reading list.

My summer of 2007 Reading list:
-Already Read
Irresisteble Revolution - Shane Claiborne
Amazing book, goes beyond an amazing story of God's love, and challenges us to be that love to others
The Cross and the Switchblade - Rev. David Wilkerson
Amazing story of How Teen Challenge came to be and how Rev. Wilkerson was lead from being a small town preacher to leading gang leaders to Christ in NYC
Three mini biographies on D.L. Moody, Billy Graham, and John Wesley
Fun to read, not very in depth, but a great overview of their lives
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
The series have ended, will there be a series in like 10 years about Albus Severus?
Under the Overpass - Mike Yankoski
Living on the streets, learning from Mike's experiences - is quite challenging

-Reading
Sidewalks in the Kingdom (New Urbanism and the Christian Faith) - Eric O. Jacobson
Something I am really interested in, basically a Christian framework for understanding Cities, Suburbs, and Urban life.

-Still to Read
Velvit Elvis - Rob Bell
Cries of the Heart - Ravi Zacharias
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller (I got 2/3 durin Christmas break, then I lost the book)

Anyways I feel like I am all over the place, so I will end. Peace.