But if You would keep me here, then let me be steadfast in faith, abundant in service, warm in love, and unceasing in prayer

So long without a posting and so much has happened. Like the events leading to the War of the Ring the hour grows late and soon I must slumber. Tomorrow is my last day working as a geotechnical engineer and in many surprising ways I'll miss it greatly. This is the first job I've had that I would classify as a "blue collar" job. I would work out in the field for ten hours sometimes while the sun beat down on me and no wind blew. My appreciation for construction workers and others who may not be involved in more intellectual pursuits but whose work keeps civilization together has grown by leaps and bounds.

Aside from that other important events have transpired. At the beginning of Summer I witnessed one of my best friends (McG) become a member of the Orthodox Church as has been mentioned in a previous post. I joined with him and his sponsor George in a small group which took time to meet and primarily talk about whatever was on our mind (even though we were to discuss the readings we were doing which comprised pre-seminary reading at one of the Orthodox seminaries). I have learned much about the eastern church and still desire to know more. Of course I have some disagreements with them, but much of what they have to say can help open the west's eyes to better appreciate the Holy Gospel which has grown so stagnant. I suppose a corralary is that I now know I'll be attending a Lutheran seminary, though when exactly I don't know (Kristin, Trinity's DCE intern thinks and prays I go ASAP.....she's a nice girl, and she actually drinks beer!!! :-)). Some issues will arise though I won't worry about them. One is money, how can I pay for this? The other is that my wife will have to be Lutheran since they feel that the father is the spiritual head of the house......I don't know if I will be able to find a wife who I truly love who will be willing to change if she is different. Much of Lutheran theology may seem familiar to Catholics and Protestants, but there are some differences which shouldn't be treated lightly.

The subject of a wife is now really heavy on my mind because I witnessed the wedding of Holly and Nick. Both are 21 (while I am currently 23) and I had taken Holly to my junior prom in high school. So of course I feel even older now thanks to this. As McG and I said at the reception, we're the "old bachelors." Speaking of 23, my birthday was mixed in success. I enjoyed myself but many people could not attend who I had hoped. I was unable to see Alex one last time as a result before he moves to Washington state to take up an assistant professor (or lecturer or whatever) as a geologist, but I understood his situation. Bekah to make up for not being able to come was my date at Holly's wedding so that made me happy. I ended up enjoying the time we spent together in Lasalle-Peru, IL.

Now, this Saturday I return to U of I as a desk clerk, and I'm sure conflicts will abound, which is perhaps why I chose my title for this blog as I did (from the Lutheran Book of Prayer). I work in a heavy liberal and P.C. atmosphere and the NCAA's recent decision to not allow any mascots for sports teams in the post season that are American Indian will most of a surety be brought up in conversation. Of course there are obvious flaws to the decree, such as the Florida Seminoles having permission of the tribe to actually use them as a mascot, or the tacit understanding between the Illini and us since our mascot learns his dances and about the culture from the tribe itself. Also, the NCAA will not print jerseys with Illini on it but will okay jerseys with Illinois.....the french translation of Illini! Or of course let's not forget, as Rush Limbaugh so humerously pointed out, the headquarters of the NCAA is in Indianapolis.....use Greek to figure out what the word means :-D (fighting Irish is still okay though since they're drunk all the time anyway and won't care about the one-sided complaining). Also, I will be taking Introduction to Islam for both advanced composition as well as to understand a religion that some people in the world claim allows them to kill members of other religions with whom they disagree (even though I'm fairly certain the Koran says to not kill Christians especially because they are "followers of the book"). I've been getting a better understanding of Islam to reason with them with love and compassion as well as to better understand the motives of these people and other nonviolent, devout Muslims.

Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm guaranteed some dates when I get back to U of I (um, just as friends I'm sure :-)) from Nicole and Libby....hey, I'll take stronger friendships...besides, Bish's sister now goes to U of I so I'll try to romance her just for fun! The geology club will most likely be in dissarray this year and I'm actually okay with that. I'll be happy if by the end of the semester I get both of my degrees and get accepted to a grad school (Michigan State or U of Mich?).

Till next post......God Bless.