Thoughts

Current Time: 10:24 PM Sunday
Current Temp: 7 degrees

I've been able to watch a ballad of vehicles all today as I've been studying. Here is a picture from my window (taken with my macbook) of the parking lot down below. The slight hill on the right has given many vehicles difficulties, all for my general amusement as I take breaks from Aristotle to watch the ensuing dance.



It's good to be back at school. I love Pastor Woods and his family so much. He truly has the heart of a pastor. Today he preached on Romans 3:19-20, reinforcing the understanding that we are not saved by any works of our own.

If you would be so kind, there is a deal of no small significance coming up here at school which I am playing a key role in and would appreciate your prayers for. The leadership of Hillsdale Christian Fellowship (The Christian organization on campus) decided to put on a rally for all who profess belief in Christ. The purpose is to have Christ's entire body come together and magnify Him as Lord of our lives and of this campus, committing ourselves to radical change here in this, our temporary home. The belief is that God has brought quite a few Christians to this campus for a specific reason, and until we surrender our lives in obedience to Christ for the sake of seeing His name magnified in the hearts and lives of our fellow students, then we are missing our point in being here. When I heard about the rally and that they were asking for volunteers, I immediately signed up, and have become the point man for making it happen.

We are seeking to draw out all who profess belief in Christ on this campus, an event of a magnitude never before witnessed on this campus. Thus I seek your prayers and counsel. I require great wisdom and tact as I seek support and gain the help from the many scattered parts of Christ's body here at Hillsdale. We are shooting for a date sometime in the week before easter for this rally. Please remember me in your prayers as I talk with fellow followers of Christ and build a team of people committed to making this happen. Pray that we might have peaceful and unifying discussions, with each representative being willing to discuss matters calmly, and for the glory of Christ.

Thank You, Tortoise

I owe that diminutive, struggling-yet-consistent reptile so much. If were not for him and his victory against the evil hare, I wouldn't have a hope of reaching those hundred push-ups. He is my inspiration. Hang in there little buddy! I'm chugging along. I'm the little engine that could! How bad is it, you ask? I am making progress, just slowly. Here is my (ahem) progress thus far:

1-15-07
15 + 15 (I did it wrong this day though, because I gave myself several hours between sets)

1-17-07
15+15+15+15 (Much shorter rests, but still a little too long, five minutes or so)

1-19-07
15+15+15+15 (This time with rests of no more than three minutes a piece, as with my sets from here on out)

1-22-07
20+20+19+14 (+6 girl push-ups (trust me, when your muscles are done for, even girl push-ups are tough))

1-24-07
20+20+16 (+4 girl push-ups to hit twenty) + 7 (+ 6 girl push-ups)

1-27-07
20+20+20+9 (+2 girl push-ups)

I am sticking to a schedule of push-ups on MWF, but I think that I am going to start doing different push-ups on T-Th-Sunday that will work different muscles. We'll see how that works, I know that my T-Th-Sunday push-ups will be quite a bit more difficult, so I'm not going to be able do that many. You've been forewarned, so next post, when I only have sets of ten (or somewhere around there,) you can know that it is because I am doing more difficult push-ups.


We had a pretty big ice storm, so I snapped a few pictures. I had a difficult time setting up shots I liked. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. I have much to learn.


I took this picture from my bedroom window, not a bad sight to wake up to, huh?


We have these berry bushes around campus, its about the only color we get for half the year.



Frigid Conversation



Defiance

Oregon the Beautiful

A Gullible Model


Newport Beach


Discovery at the Ocean


The Horizon a'flame (I thought that I had fixed the sideways picture problem.)


Beached Log (Taken at night with a tripod with a 30 second exposure.)


Experiments in Black and White


Newport Beach at Sunset


Mt. Hood Foothills


Early Morning Goals


Mt. Hood at Sunrise

Starting Line

As a starting point, I can do 25 push-ups, and that's pushing it. My roommate prescribed workout for the first week is to do 15 push-ups M-W-F-Sat four times each day, and then rest the other days. Each week I'll increase the number of push-ups I can do by 5, more as I gain strength. Maybe I'll post once a week, on Sundays or around then, my max number of push-ups. I've got to say though, 25 (as the maximum) is a long way from 100, and I hate doing push-ups. Perhaps I'll enjoy them more when I am able to do more than just a few. I hope so.

The Quest

I have always been small. Not short, small. Whether it's playing football, basketball, or ultimate-frisbee, my playing has been marked by furtive movements at key moments to avoid being crushed. When heavy lifting must be done, I strain with my entire body to accomplish what the average male should only mildly struggle with. The goal for me is to show as little strain on my face so that if I can do something others can do as well, I simply must do it in such a way that they will not be able to tell that I am trying my hardest to do what they can effect with little effort.

Enough, I say. Well, actually, that's what Lars said. Oh Lars. No one can push me like that man. You work with someone for half a summer and next thing you know, they're making you strive for higher goals. We all need these friends. Why Lars, though? I don't know, exactly, except that I think he understands me like few do, and his honesty is so plain that I know I can trust it. I would say it is at times maybe even cruel, but the thing is he knows me and means well in his *ahem* constructive criticisms.

So here's the deal. I have changed the name of my blog, because you, the reader, are joining me on a journey to reach one hundred push-ups. Lars witnessed a pathetic attempt of mine at push-ups, and thanks to his challenge to bulk-up, I made him a deal. At the end of this semester, I'll be able to do 75 push-ups pat, or I give him $100. No deal, he says. One hundred push-ups. Fine. And I don't want your money, he says. "?" Now I do one hundred push-ups, or I have to spend that $100 however he tells me. That's real motivation. I imagine that Lars could exercise his genius to think of many, er, creative ways for me to spend that hundred dollars, none of which I want to experience. Thus this blog will be an honest update on my quest for one hundred.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!