I've started a new blog as an extension of this (my main blog) just for this summer. I'm spending my summer living in California and serving as an intern at Saddleback. My new blog is dedicated to my experiences there so if you'd like to get involved in my journey there, please follow! http://mycaliforniaadventures.blogspot.com/
bella vita! It's a beautiful life...
Friday, May 27, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
1500
P.S. Bella Vita has officially hit 1,500 views! Sure don't know who's been coming across this hidden, often neglected, little blog that often but I'm glad ya are!
The Run
Hey friends,
Tonight I thought I would share with you a short little piece I wrote last summer. It seems appropriate as I'm reflecting on my upcoming graduation this Saturday and all the emotions this stirs in me. Enjoy.
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"Wow, that tall, curly haired guy coming at me sure runs a lot like my little brother," I thought to myself as I was finishing up lap number two around my campus. I nearly impulsively made some ridiculous staged gesture of sprinting directly at him in a playful game of chicken on the sidewalk but took a second thought that I better wait a few more strides and convince myself it was really him and not some innocent man out for a peaceful early evening run. I couldn't think of a reason why this kid that doesn't even have his license would be here on my campus that is twenty miles from my house on a school night.
Taking a few strides forward I played out the scenario in my mind of how awkward it would have been had I let myself act impulsively and charge at this unsuspecting passerby who was still running my direction only to find out it was in fact someone else who would inevitably proceed to knock me to the ground for the threat of stranger danger. I laughed silently and gave myself praise for saving myself from doing something embarrassing for once. A few more strides and I reflected once again on how awkward it is to pass other people while running. Do you make eye contact? Do you smile? Or is that creepy? Should I speed up to look as if I'm actually a strong runner? Would that be too obvious considering my face is surely the color of the stop sign up ahead and I can hear my heaving breath even over the Pump It Up playlist I'm blaring through my iPod headphones? Maybe I should continue moving ahead at this pathetic pace that would lead one to believe I've never exercised in my life. I wish there was somewhere I could go for these long runs where I didn't have to pass by anybody and was out of view and judgment of the world. Why does this runner look so much like my brother? I think I'm suffering from heat hallucinations. Is that a real thing?
Four more of my fake strong strides and I convince myself I should at least acknowledge my fellow road-mate with brief eye contact to assure him that I see him coming and will not crowd the sidewalk we are sharing or side-swipe him in the anticipated moment we will cross paths. He approaches more quickly now, his speed putting me to shame. He's giving me that awkward, creepy, running stranger smile. Two more strides and I'm sold. That's gotta be my brother. That's Michael for sure. We exchange 'What are you doing here?' glances as we pass. And then I turn around.
'Hey, wait up kid!' I yell to him as I try to catch up and match his pace. 'Why are you here?' and 'How long you been running?' are questions we exchange. Although prior to his interference on my path I had planned on being finished with my daily run after that lap, I reluctantly agreed to finish out his remaining twenty-six minutes he had planned for his run. I knew Michael had been considering going to my college after his few years he had left of high school and so being the considerate big sister that I am thought it would be fun to turn our run around campus into an insider's tour for him. My selfish intention was to make the run pass more painlessly by distracting my mind from those pathetic, aching things I try to pass off as muscles in my legs.
More than that though I wanted to give Michael a taste of my beloved school. I wanted to show him more than building names and the quickest routes to class. I wanted to share personal stories and give insight to the life and heart of the campus and share my passion for the place and how each dorm, and bench, and even tree held a special memory and point of growth in me. I was going to make this into the ultimate campus tour, something he wouldn't get through any trained admissions tour guide.
I told him about the stereotypes of the residents of each dorm. We talked about where he might fit in best and both agreed he was definitely a Wright Hall kind of guy. We envisioned and joked about how he might spend his days there. I assured him of all the fun he would have staying up late playing video games, and trying to pull ridiculous stunts with the guys on his floor, and hanging out in the lobby chatting up those crazy Hardy Hall freshmen girls.
I told him the truth about the food in the DC and provided him with a guide of which cooks' lines to go for and which foods to avoid. I took him to the tree where my crush from my freshman year used to have me sneak out to meet him at three in the morning to sit and talk. I warned him about the vulnerability of a young girl's heart with the world ahead of her and a boy with a cute smile taking her by the hand and helping her climb a tree under the moonlight. "Michael, don't use this tree to your advantage. If you take a girl here to talk, fine. But be careful not to lead her on and don't you dare break her heart."
We ran by the different academic buildings and I gave him the insider's scoop on all of the classes. I encouraged him to really appreciate his professors and invest in a relationship with them because they would serve as exceptional mentors for him during his four years. I pointed out benches and church steps and parking lots and even patches of grass where I had memorable conversations with friends. I recalled for him conversations that made me nearly pee my pants from laughing so hard and conversations of conviction that brought me to tears. "Michael, this place is so much more than buildings and sidewalks and classes and chapels. It's the relationships that make the difference. It's the friends you make here that will strengthen you when you're weak, and push you when it's uncomfortable, and make you see truth when your vision is clouded, and encourage you when you feel defeated and pop balloons with you when you finish final exams and dance with you when you just need a break from life. It's in these relationships and partnering in the journey that God will use to shape you into the man He desires for you to be."
A few more strides and the alarm on his watch sounded. We finished the twenty-six minutes stride for stride. "And one more piece of advice Michael.. Whenever you're running the road ahead of you and someone comes into your path, always look up. Make eye contact. Give the awkward, creepy, running stranger smile. If they'll let you, turn and continue your run with them. It may change your direction. It may take you where you hadn't intended on going. It may take you longer to get to where you want to be. But the life God desires for us is one lived in relationship. Don't miss that. Share the journey. Share the run."
Tonight I thought I would share with you a short little piece I wrote last summer. It seems appropriate as I'm reflecting on my upcoming graduation this Saturday and all the emotions this stirs in me. Enjoy.
------------------------------------------------------------
"Wow, that tall, curly haired guy coming at me sure runs a lot like my little brother," I thought to myself as I was finishing up lap number two around my campus. I nearly impulsively made some ridiculous staged gesture of sprinting directly at him in a playful game of chicken on the sidewalk but took a second thought that I better wait a few more strides and convince myself it was really him and not some innocent man out for a peaceful early evening run. I couldn't think of a reason why this kid that doesn't even have his license would be here on my campus that is twenty miles from my house on a school night.
Taking a few strides forward I played out the scenario in my mind of how awkward it would have been had I let myself act impulsively and charge at this unsuspecting passerby who was still running my direction only to find out it was in fact someone else who would inevitably proceed to knock me to the ground for the threat of stranger danger. I laughed silently and gave myself praise for saving myself from doing something embarrassing for once. A few more strides and I reflected once again on how awkward it is to pass other people while running. Do you make eye contact? Do you smile? Or is that creepy? Should I speed up to look as if I'm actually a strong runner? Would that be too obvious considering my face is surely the color of the stop sign up ahead and I can hear my heaving breath even over the Pump It Up playlist I'm blaring through my iPod headphones? Maybe I should continue moving ahead at this pathetic pace that would lead one to believe I've never exercised in my life. I wish there was somewhere I could go for these long runs where I didn't have to pass by anybody and was out of view and judgment of the world. Why does this runner look so much like my brother? I think I'm suffering from heat hallucinations. Is that a real thing?
Four more of my fake strong strides and I convince myself I should at least acknowledge my fellow road-mate with brief eye contact to assure him that I see him coming and will not crowd the sidewalk we are sharing or side-swipe him in the anticipated moment we will cross paths. He approaches more quickly now, his speed putting me to shame. He's giving me that awkward, creepy, running stranger smile. Two more strides and I'm sold. That's gotta be my brother. That's Michael for sure. We exchange 'What are you doing here?' glances as we pass. And then I turn around.
'Hey, wait up kid!' I yell to him as I try to catch up and match his pace. 'Why are you here?' and 'How long you been running?' are questions we exchange. Although prior to his interference on my path I had planned on being finished with my daily run after that lap, I reluctantly agreed to finish out his remaining twenty-six minutes he had planned for his run. I knew Michael had been considering going to my college after his few years he had left of high school and so being the considerate big sister that I am thought it would be fun to turn our run around campus into an insider's tour for him. My selfish intention was to make the run pass more painlessly by distracting my mind from those pathetic, aching things I try to pass off as muscles in my legs.
More than that though I wanted to give Michael a taste of my beloved school. I wanted to show him more than building names and the quickest routes to class. I wanted to share personal stories and give insight to the life and heart of the campus and share my passion for the place and how each dorm, and bench, and even tree held a special memory and point of growth in me. I was going to make this into the ultimate campus tour, something he wouldn't get through any trained admissions tour guide.
I told him about the stereotypes of the residents of each dorm. We talked about where he might fit in best and both agreed he was definitely a Wright Hall kind of guy. We envisioned and joked about how he might spend his days there. I assured him of all the fun he would have staying up late playing video games, and trying to pull ridiculous stunts with the guys on his floor, and hanging out in the lobby chatting up those crazy Hardy Hall freshmen girls.
I told him the truth about the food in the DC and provided him with a guide of which cooks' lines to go for and which foods to avoid. I took him to the tree where my crush from my freshman year used to have me sneak out to meet him at three in the morning to sit and talk. I warned him about the vulnerability of a young girl's heart with the world ahead of her and a boy with a cute smile taking her by the hand and helping her climb a tree under the moonlight. "Michael, don't use this tree to your advantage. If you take a girl here to talk, fine. But be careful not to lead her on and don't you dare break her heart."
We ran by the different academic buildings and I gave him the insider's scoop on all of the classes. I encouraged him to really appreciate his professors and invest in a relationship with them because they would serve as exceptional mentors for him during his four years. I pointed out benches and church steps and parking lots and even patches of grass where I had memorable conversations with friends. I recalled for him conversations that made me nearly pee my pants from laughing so hard and conversations of conviction that brought me to tears. "Michael, this place is so much more than buildings and sidewalks and classes and chapels. It's the relationships that make the difference. It's the friends you make here that will strengthen you when you're weak, and push you when it's uncomfortable, and make you see truth when your vision is clouded, and encourage you when you feel defeated and pop balloons with you when you finish final exams and dance with you when you just need a break from life. It's in these relationships and partnering in the journey that God will use to shape you into the man He desires for you to be."
A few more strides and the alarm on his watch sounded. We finished the twenty-six minutes stride for stride. "And one more piece of advice Michael.. Whenever you're running the road ahead of you and someone comes into your path, always look up. Make eye contact. Give the awkward, creepy, running stranger smile. If they'll let you, turn and continue your run with them. It may change your direction. It may take you where you hadn't intended on going. It may take you longer to get to where you want to be. But the life God desires for us is one lived in relationship. Don't miss that. Share the journey. Share the run."
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