I'd like to apologize to all of you for not writing anything all summer. I know you were just begging to hear about what's been going on in my life, and how my bonsai tree is doing.
Ok, so I don't have a bonsai tree.
But I thought that now might be a good time to start up again because a lot of things have changed recently and I actually have something interesting to write about. For starters, I'll let you guys in on how my summer went.
Past
AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SUMMER, oh gosh I hit caps lock! At the beginning of this summer, I moved into the ranch. If any of you don't know what that is, it's a house that has contained guys from Icthus since 1987. Icthus is the christian organization I'm involved with on campus. Basically the ranch is a house where the people living inside love with their hospitality. Anyone is welcome to just come and take a load off at anytime, and the guys living there are usually pretty involved with Icthus. Instead of explaining to you what my summer consisted of, I'm just gonna spit random words at you in no order and hope you get what I'm trying to say.
Float trip
Sasha:
Present
This is where we get to the good stuff. Currently, I'm doing really well. It might be because I've been put into a leadership position in a christian organization, but recently God has just knocked down the doors I put up and marched right in. My passion for Him is just exploding right now, and is growing exponentially. That passion might what's be attributing to my newfound sense of responsibility and generally more positive outlook on life...or perhaps the responsibility is stemming from the desire to survive this new workload.
Let me tell you about what my schedule is like this fall. I'm a ranch boy, which means I have to set up and take down every thursday at club, and clean my house every friday for FNP. I'm also a bible study leader on tuesday nights, and we have a bible study leader's meeting every Monday night. Also, I'm going to school full time, working 28 hours a week, and trying to have a social life which is divided into the categories of friends and family. My only free nights are Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays--sort of.
Honestly, that's ok, because I don't necessarily like who I am when I have a lot of time to myself. Just pray for me if you think about it so I don't get swallowed up and buried by my busy schedule.
What I'm looking forward to
As mentioned in the last post, I am going to explain what I'm looking forward to every once in a while and explain why.
HALO 3: ODST
So, this might turn people that don't play video games off, but for those of you that play Halo, you know how exciting this is. There is an expansion pack coming out for one of the best designed games ever made, Halo 3, where you play as a member of an elite team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers instead of the master chief. What this means is that instead of depending on the fact that you are playing as a super-human who can do anything like in Halo 3, you are playing as a character who must rely more on team-based strategy and high tech gear and weaponry to defeat the enemy. Should add a dynamic twist to the feeling of a Halo game.
Plus, the new mode Firefight promises to add hours of addicting gameplay. In this mode, you fight wave after wave of enemies in an arena, similar to gametypes like Nazi Zombies in Call of Duty or Horde mode in Gears of War 2. What makes Firefight interesting is that randomly skulls will turn on (skulls being gameplay modifiers which make the game harder. For example enemies become tougher or throw tons of grenades) and with skulls come score multipliers. So, it's more difficult, but you're scoring way more points. I know this went right over some of your heads, but for those of us that know what I'm talking about, it sounds really fun. Right? Right?
BIBLE STUDY
Bible study this semester is gonna rule. Tuesday nights, 8:45, in the PSU. We're going through the book of Romans this semester. Basically, Romans is all of the gospels condensed, retold, and expanded upon by Paul. Paul...now that guy was brave. He wrote this letter to the biggest empire in the world at that time, and he doesn't exactly tiptoe around the issues either.
So besides what book we're focusing on, its just going to be awesome. I'm leading a group with Drew Lauderdale and Aaron Hadlow if that says anything. But seriously, all the groups have such a unique blend of people...I don't even know what to say. Its gonna be great. We as leaders are really committing to know our stuff each week, because there are some pretty intense things said in Romans. Should make for some good conversations and a lot of spiritual growth. So come on down to Icthus Bible Study and discuss with your buds.
That's all for now, but until next time, stay classy San Diego.
(dictated but not read)
