Beauty Without End

A couple months ago I was cross country skiing on a ridge near Tumalo Creek and saw one of the most amazing sunsets painted next to a silouette of Broken Top, it literally made me gasp. Last week I got to play soccer in a farmer's field while flashes of lightning set off gunshots of thunder underneath enormous black rain clouds while the sun tried it's best to break through but could only manage to outline the clouds with whimisical blues and pinks. A couple days before I slept under a huge sky of stars in the dry and desolate Oregon Badlands. One of the things I most love in life is visiting new places where the beauty and majesty of God's creation abounds.

However, it's sad, beauty is so fleeting just as this life is. You can try to capture it in a photo, but we'll never be able to see what really was. A picture cannot bring out the smell of juniper and sagebrush and all the smells that remain after a spring thunderstorm. Nothing can ever bring those moments back. There's a reason they're called moments.

When I think about this I realize that beauty is pointless, it really is. Solomon, the wisest man in the world wrote a book that's in the bible called Ecclesiastes. In it he talks about trying to find pleasure in wealth (which he had - more than any man), fame, buildings, gardens, and women but in the end he said that it was all meaningless. There is no way we can find complete satisfaction in the things of this world. Like Solomon realized, we also must realize this:

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13

We are to fear God. Fear doesn't mean we need to be afraid, it means we need to be in awe of Him because He is all powerful, eternal, he holds our lives in His hands. But he has also given us a way to share in eternity, to be able to live in beauty that won't end.


"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9


It's that simple. Heaven awaits...

It's Not My Mud

Ever felt out of place? Like a cow out of a pasture? Or a pig out of mud? (I was going to say "fish out of water" but that's too cliche). Well, anyways, I found out that I definitely feel out of my "mud" when I'm in a fancy clothes store. See, they probably even have names for those types of stores, like "men's fashion" or something like that - I just know them as "fancy clothes stores".

It started because I needed something nicer than a t-shirt and a little more casual than a button-up dress shirt. So, after making a couple trips to Goodwill, I came to the conclusion that they didn't have the right stuff for me. I'm not trying to bash Goodwill, it's my favorite store in the world! I've found wetsuits, rollerblades, jackets, and tons of other awesome deals there; but in regards to "low-high-end" apparel, it wasn't doing so hot. So, like any fashion deprived young man would do, I asked my aunt for advice and off I skipped to Eddie Bauer and Van Heusen. Off to play with the big boys.

Now, actually, I was fine at Eddie Bauer, they had outdoor gear to keep my mind off of fashion. But, Van Heusen, wow, Van Heusen. That place made me tense up the minute I got in! Perfectly dressed saleslady, big large man looking at dress shirts with his wife, and me - trail running shoes, jeans, and a frighteningly neon orange and gray fleece zip-up.

I tried to walk calmly around the store while trying to figure out if you were allowed to unfold and try on the pieces of art the people there called shirts, or whether you had to just buy it and hope for the best. After choosing some different articles of clothing I walked towards the back of the store, and the nice saleslady showed me to the fitting room where I soon realized that I didn't even like the clothes. That was when I encountered another problem - what was I supposed to do with the three things that I didn't like. Should I leave them on the bench and walk quickly out of the store? Or, put them all back in their places? Aah!

I actually stayed in there for awhile trying to solve this dilema. Eventually, with courage, I went out, and nonchalantly acted like I was checking out other shirts while secretly putting things back. I was so close to getting the last shirt back when the saleslady started walking towards me - I was caught. Using my Boy Scout evasion training I dropped down on all fours and quickly crawled around a corner and hid inside a circular rack of fat business men shirts. I thought the lady saw me but she kept walking. After waiting there for about half a minute I crawled out - but the lady was still there! She looked startled. I was also startled and mumbled something about dropping a quarter before handing her the shirt and quickly making my exit. Very awkward.

Sorry, I lied, that didn't happen. I did try and sneak the clothes back onto the racks, but no Boy Scout tactics were involved. Now, some of you may be laughing, but just remember that fancy clothes stores just aren't my thing. Stick me on a mountain at sundown and I'll make it out. Give me snow and a shovel and I'll sleep in a snow cave. Throw me into a foreign country and I will thrive. But don't send me shopping on my own. It's not my mud.

He's My Dad

Lately I've been reading through the books of Ezekiel and Psalms in the bible. One of the things that jumped out to me was how sure God is of Himself and how much He cares about His glory.

In Ezekiel 25, God speaks prophecies through Ezekiel about the destruction of and judgment on the nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. After every judgment He ends with something along the lines of, "...thus they will know that I am the Lord." God is not afraid to show the world who He is even through destruction of whole sinful people groups. Even though this may sound harsh, His willingness to reveal Himself to us is a beautiful, unmerited gift, which holds in it the key to salvation.

In C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" a beautiful picture of God (Aslan) is portrayed. When Mr. Beaver is asked whether or not Aslan (God) is safe, he replies, "Safe, course He isn't safe, but He's good."

"Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."
-Isaiah 46:9-10 (emphasis mine)

God is not a puppet, He'll do whatever He wants (and who are we to stop Him?). The safest place to be for our physical bodies may not be in the center of His will as some say, but for our eternal self there is no safer place - turn to Him.

Liberating the Wild Within

The outdoors are my playground. I remember hiking through the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland after a eight months spent in the dry region of Madrid, Spain. It had been too long since I had the opportunity to roam and I just couldn't keep that silly grin off my face. I had hiked up past most of the families who had gone there to picnic and was walking through an evergreen forest bordering the edge of a clear blue lake. On the opposite side I could see where cliffs had eroded, fallen, and slid down to form landslides covered with vegetation that sloped into the lake. As I went farther I stripped off my shirt, cinched up my backpack, and began to run. I hadn't felt that free sensation in months and I couldn't let it go. I ran through an old mine, skipped across rocks to cross a stream, and began bounding up a rocky slope passing waterfalls and deep pools. Eventually I stopped and noticed some deer grazing. I quietly walked over and sat down 20 feet away from them, and began snapping photos. After I had gotten enough I hiked back down and swam in one of the small pools, lying on my back, the sky above me, cascading water behind me. This is what I love.

One of the greatest activites I can think of in the outdoors is camping, namely, backpacking. When I first knew that I would be moving to Bend I hatched a brilliant plan. I would make lots of dried meals, store them in a box, and keep all my backpacking equipment very organized. My goal was to be able to get home from school and have my Osprey pack done up and be back in my car headed for the mountains in under 30 minutes. And so, I did it. Know I have a brown apple box sitting in the garage with about a weeks worth of meals in it. I've got curried rice, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, biscuit mix, and more all, ready to be tossed in my pack. Also, it cost me just over $20! So, know, my next goal is to figure out a way to make backpacking cheaper than staying at home so I will actually save money by going on awesome trips to explore the rugged areas west of Bend. I think I'm doing pretty good on the food side of things, I just need to find a way to cut gas money to a minimum. And, I already have an answer for that - if you want to come, give me a call!

Where I am

I don't feel especially bloggy write now, but I guess since I just created this blog I should at least post something.

The summer is over. It's gone by too fast. I got back from Spain about three months ago, and feel like I deserve another month with family and friends in Corvallis. I feel capable but am not ready to mentally adapt to this next stage in my life - but, life is unstoppable.

Yesterday I packed my life for the next nine months into the back of my red Hyundai and drove from Corvallis to Bend - to start writing the next chapter in my life.

My amazing aunt and uncle (and their four crazy boys) have offered me a place to live while I'm studying to become a paramedic and firefighter at Central Oregon Community College. I'm excited.