So I was thinking the other day... (surprise, surprise) about all my friends and family who are currently in the midst of collecting syllabi and course requirements as they embark upon another quest to survive just "one more" semester at college. I'm not sure exactly what prompted these thoughts - but it may have had something to do with the fact that people have been repeatedly asking me: "So, how does it feel to not have to go back to school this semester?"... maybe there's a connection there(?!?)
Anyway, back to the original thought - I was reflecting upon my own college experience and in particular lamenting over just how much I truly HATED the first week back to school... You know, it's the week where you start out all excited and legitimately "pumped" about the classes you will be taking, the professor's who will be teaching you, the people you know who will be in those same classes with you, the people you didn't realize would be in those classes with you that you get really excited to see on that first day... etc. etc. But then it happens...
You find yourself walking out at the end of your first class where the professor has done little more than hand you a neatly stapled grouping of papers before continuing to read it aloud to the entire class verbatim. While this may not have the same effect on most college students as it did on me, I will never forget those intense emotions that began to cloud and consume me as I walked out of one class and into another where the same protocol would be followed to the "T"... and then another, and then another, and after each dose these emotions would intensify to the point that usually by about the end of the second or third day of being "back-to-school" I would be ready to quit and drop out... FOR LIFE! These were the all too familiar feelings of being overwhelmed, instantly stressed and honestly fearful of what it would "take" to accomplish all that was required for each of those classes within a short 12 weeks of class... let alone what it would take to maintain decent grades with a requirements list that was longer than all of Keith Drury's hikes COMBINED!
I'm not sure what drives professors to create a syllabus... I'm not sure why they feel the need to devote their whole first class period to simply reading through it... I'm not sure why the requirements list is always so intense (well, maybe they sit around in "staff meetings" trying to "one-up" each other with their own set of syllabi... Can't you just hear it now: "oh, yeah - well check this out!" as Dr. Bounds pulls out his newly revised Fall 2005 Syllabus for Theology I... Or maybe not...) But there is one thing that I am sure of, and it's this: While there is still a good chance that I will pursue further education at some point in my life; for now, I am incredibly happy & grateful to say "Good-bye Syllabi" (while wishing all of my college friends the best of luck... of course!)
Stay tuned... there may be a part II!
Clint.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Seasons of Life...
I know, I know... It's been a really long time since I updated this! I've been getting in trouble for it to... WHATEVER!
The thing is that I have now officially decided to give up on this whole idea of living life in "seasons"... because they never truly seem to end, and if they do end, then the next one just starts up immediately on the heels of the previous one and it keeps you just as busy as before!!! It's just a never-ending cycle... It's like a dog chasing its tail, yet never actually catching it... chasing that elusive "slow, relaxed, calm season of life"...
It's as if vacations actually do more harm than good... Sure it's nice to get away and enjoy some different scenery, maybe even a different "pace" of life for a while, but think about the last vacation you took. What about the stress and extra work you had to cover (i.e. busy "season") on both the front end & back end of your time away... Sometimes I really wonder if the additional work and stress preparing to go away and then playing catch-up when you return is actually truly worth it...
SO - all that to say, the latest update from Clint & Jamie is simply this... We are now entering a season where we are both in the same country, both graduated from college, both working full-time jobs, and both working really hard to establish a new PACE of life that is sustainable and lasting for LIFE (over the long haul)... We've both decided to do away with seasons, because it has never really worked out that our sucking-it-up and pushing through a really busy season actually brings the "rewards" that we imagined and hoped for... SO SCREW THE "SEASONS OF LIFE" - it's all a LIE!!!
Maybe you find yourself agreeing with me (or maybe not) and yet you can't even imagine where you would start to do away with the seasons mentality in your own life... Let me leave you with this thought: Perhaps it is actually your own laziness that is causing the chaos in your own life/schedule/day-timer... Why laziness you might ask??? Well - perhaps it is due to the fact that I'm beginning to understand that saying "NO" to things and actually taking charge and dictating my own schedule is far harder work than is just "going with the flow" and allowing my schedule to dictate my life... leaving me always reminding myself and others (complaining) of how "busy" I am and how I am just in a "difficult season" right now...
It takes discipline and really hard work to truly dictate my own schedule and really decide how and where my time is spent... This is the journey that Jamie and I are embarking on over the coming days, weeks, and months - hoping to establish an ongoing "season of life" that we can live within for good! That way, I'll have no reason, excuse or right to complain to you any more about how busy life is right now... Because from here on out - I accept that it is totally MY FAULT!!!
Hopefully a sign of things to come... OUT!
Clint.
The thing is that I have now officially decided to give up on this whole idea of living life in "seasons"... because they never truly seem to end, and if they do end, then the next one just starts up immediately on the heels of the previous one and it keeps you just as busy as before!!! It's just a never-ending cycle... It's like a dog chasing its tail, yet never actually catching it... chasing that elusive "slow, relaxed, calm season of life"...
It's as if vacations actually do more harm than good... Sure it's nice to get away and enjoy some different scenery, maybe even a different "pace" of life for a while, but think about the last vacation you took. What about the stress and extra work you had to cover (i.e. busy "season") on both the front end & back end of your time away... Sometimes I really wonder if the additional work and stress preparing to go away and then playing catch-up when you return is actually truly worth it...
SO - all that to say, the latest update from Clint & Jamie is simply this... We are now entering a season where we are both in the same country, both graduated from college, both working full-time jobs, and both working really hard to establish a new PACE of life that is sustainable and lasting for LIFE (over the long haul)... We've both decided to do away with seasons, because it has never really worked out that our sucking-it-up and pushing through a really busy season actually brings the "rewards" that we imagined and hoped for... SO SCREW THE "SEASONS OF LIFE" - it's all a LIE!!!
Maybe you find yourself agreeing with me (or maybe not) and yet you can't even imagine where you would start to do away with the seasons mentality in your own life... Let me leave you with this thought: Perhaps it is actually your own laziness that is causing the chaos in your own life/schedule/day-timer... Why laziness you might ask??? Well - perhaps it is due to the fact that I'm beginning to understand that saying "NO" to things and actually taking charge and dictating my own schedule is far harder work than is just "going with the flow" and allowing my schedule to dictate my life... leaving me always reminding myself and others (complaining) of how "busy" I am and how I am just in a "difficult season" right now...
It takes discipline and really hard work to truly dictate my own schedule and really decide how and where my time is spent... This is the journey that Jamie and I are embarking on over the coming days, weeks, and months - hoping to establish an ongoing "season of life" that we can live within for good! That way, I'll have no reason, excuse or right to complain to you any more about how busy life is right now... Because from here on out - I accept that it is totally MY FAULT!!!
Hopefully a sign of things to come... OUT!
Clint.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Back in the USA!!!
Well, after quite a long and stressful month of June, I am now safely back home in Indiana (for at least the next 3 weeks)...
For those of you who didn't hear yet, I was awarded a scholarship from IWU to go on a 10-day tour of Israel with Dr. Wilbur Williams. It was an absolutely AMAZING trip!!! (You can see a sampling of the 650 (+) pictures that I took below - you may need to click on the "July 2005" archive in order to view them all...) However, on the way home, I was "detained" in Italy due to the fact that my Green Card for the USA had expired... This was (and still is) a BIG DEAL!
Basically, I was not allowed to board the flight from Milan, Italy to Chicago and was told instead that I needed to report to the US Embassy in Rome... So, after making my way to Rome, checking into a cheap hotel and trying to get some sleep I was first in line at the Embassy the very next morning - only to find out that there was "nothing" that they could do... They told me that I would just have to wait for Jamie to file some papers, go to interview/s, and petition to allow me re-entry... a process that could likely have taken up to 6 months. Needless to say, this was NOT what we'd hoped or prayed for...
Jamie went to "battle" immediately, and it wasn't long before her parents (Dennis & Gwen Jackson) traveled down to be with her here in Indianapolis. To cut a long story short, God answered the prayers of so many of you who were praying and interceding on our behalf in nothing short of MIRACULOUS ways... He provided us with advocates from both Senator Lugar's office and Indiana State Representative Dan Burton's office who called the US Embassy in Rome to support my case... So, I was stuck in Rome for a total of 3 days before being able to return back to the US - much better than 6 months!
We really believe that God allowed us to experience the pain, frustration and uncertainty of this situation in order to once again affirm that HE IS SOVEREIGN, HE IS IN CONTROL, and that WE CAN TRUST HIM TO CONTROL AND LEAD OUR LIVES... All this to say - it was a long, expensive, significant and UNFORGETTABLE lesson in Submission and Surrender to God!
Thanks to all of you who were praying with us during this time - it really means so much to both Jamie & I and we don't know how to possibly thank you enough! We felt totally surrounded by your love and prayers and were entirely blessed to see the Body of Christ in action on our behalf... So, from the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU!
We will be making sure that this BLOG stays updated from here on out... so, please check back often and feel free to drop a note in the comment section - which reminds me: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A "USER" OR "REGISTERED" TO LEAVE A COMMENT... you can just leave it blank (however, just be sure to leave your name at the end of your comment so we know who you are...)
For those of you who didn't hear yet, I was awarded a scholarship from IWU to go on a 10-day tour of Israel with Dr. Wilbur Williams. It was an absolutely AMAZING trip!!! (You can see a sampling of the 650 (+) pictures that I took below - you may need to click on the "July 2005" archive in order to view them all...) However, on the way home, I was "detained" in Italy due to the fact that my Green Card for the USA had expired... This was (and still is) a BIG DEAL!
Basically, I was not allowed to board the flight from Milan, Italy to Chicago and was told instead that I needed to report to the US Embassy in Rome... So, after making my way to Rome, checking into a cheap hotel and trying to get some sleep I was first in line at the Embassy the very next morning - only to find out that there was "nothing" that they could do... They told me that I would just have to wait for Jamie to file some papers, go to interview/s, and petition to allow me re-entry... a process that could likely have taken up to 6 months. Needless to say, this was NOT what we'd hoped or prayed for...
Jamie went to "battle" immediately, and it wasn't long before her parents (Dennis & Gwen Jackson) traveled down to be with her here in Indianapolis. To cut a long story short, God answered the prayers of so many of you who were praying and interceding on our behalf in nothing short of MIRACULOUS ways... He provided us with advocates from both Senator Lugar's office and Indiana State Representative Dan Burton's office who called the US Embassy in Rome to support my case... So, I was stuck in Rome for a total of 3 days before being able to return back to the US - much better than 6 months!
We really believe that God allowed us to experience the pain, frustration and uncertainty of this situation in order to once again affirm that HE IS SOVEREIGN, HE IS IN CONTROL, and that WE CAN TRUST HIM TO CONTROL AND LEAD OUR LIVES... All this to say - it was a long, expensive, significant and UNFORGETTABLE lesson in Submission and Surrender to God!
Thanks to all of you who were praying with us during this time - it really means so much to both Jamie & I and we don't know how to possibly thank you enough! We felt totally surrounded by your love and prayers and were entirely blessed to see the Body of Christ in action on our behalf... So, from the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU!
We will be making sure that this BLOG stays updated from here on out... so, please check back often and feel free to drop a note in the comment section - which reminds me: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A "USER" OR "REGISTERED" TO LEAVE A COMMENT... you can just leave it blank (however, just be sure to leave your name at the end of your comment so we know who you are...)
