I've decided!

My decision: American Ethnic Studies for my 2nd minor. I'm looking forward to it, and I figured out that I only need 9 more hours to complete it! So I'll be graduating, on time, next May (2012) with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, a Minor in Business, and a Minor in American Ethnic Studies. Not too shabby. God is good.

So I have a small dilemma..

Here is the scenario: I have only 10 hours of required course work left between my major and minor after this semester is over. In order to graduate on time, I need to complete 30 hours of coursework during my senior year. The problem: I need to fill 20 hours of dead space with something useful. Here are my two options that I've narrowed it down to, for now.

A. Declare an American Ethnic Studies minor. It's a 15 hour minor, and goes well with my major (Sociology) and could be a good extension of what I've studied in Sociology regarding race and ethnic relations. This is my more broad option.

B. Declare a Community Planning minor. This is also a 15 hour minor, and would also help prepare me for a career in urban development/planning, which I am interested in. Like the previous minor I mentioned, a lot of sociological principles are involved with city management regarding income, ethnicity, and social interaciton. But, this is less broad and more focused on one career.

What do you guys think? I would love some suggestions on this, and hopefully I can get some input from the handful of people who read this.

2010

So it's been a couple weeks since 2010 ended.. and I must say, it was not my favorite year. There were some great things that happened, and those were some wonderful times and wonderful memories for me, but it was also one of the toughest years of my life. The main lesson I learned: While people may fail me, my Lord and Savior never will. God definitely gave me a year of learning and trial, and through it all I am grateful for how He has matured me. It just shows how faithful He really is to His people, and I have only grown because of the love He has shown me through trial and the pains it can bring. I have no doubt that no matter what happens, 2011 will be a year where I will continue to grow in the One who loves me more than I could ever comprehend.

BREAK

It's finally here, and as of now, I am still sitting in Manhattan waiting to go home. I have to work tomorrow morning, and then I'm headed back to spend time with people I miss quite a bit. I'm looking forward to it, a lot. It's been interesting seeing all the students pour out of Manhattan within a matter of hours. Me and Kevin are the only one's left at our house for the evening. Today we went and saw the new Harry Potter, which ended up being a great experience as we ran into some other fine gentlemen we knew there, like Paul Hughes, Brian Moore and Brad Wompler. And now I think we'll probably go to Hunam for a top notch Chinese dinner.

So even though most people have gone home already, the past day has been pretty alright. I can't wait to get home though. I haven't been back in far too long, and it's time. Time to rest, hang with friends, hookah, disc golf, and actually relax. Thank you God for supplying me with much needed breaks from stress, and with wonderful friends who make it all the more fun.

Enron

I'm writing an essay on Enron as a bureaucracy right now for one of my Sociology classes. I got bored of writing it for now, so I decided I might as well share some of my thoughts on it for anyone who may be interested.

To me, the Enron scandal was one of the greatest examples of greed that we have seen in the last ten years. The executives involved in the scandal were completely overtaken by the concept of profit and possessions. They literally did anything to ensure that "profit" was made, even if it involved illegally manipulating financial statements. As long as they could manipulate their statements and fool their investors, they were in good shape. Their end was inevitable, however. There was no possible way that Enron could have survived because of their lack of real cash, which they didn't have a lot of, of course. Eventually, it all had to come crashing down. The executives knew it was coming, so they sold their stock and got out. Six months after this, Enron is defunct, and thousands of employees and stockholders were left with nothing. The selfishness of a few crooks left thousands in the dust, wandering in the midst of the corporate world they once knew. Pretty incredible if you ask me. Selfishness in it's ideal form.

He has blessed me

Fall is finally here, and the trees are starting to turn in the Little Apple. The semester has been off to a good start for me; I couldn't ask for a greater group of roomates, my classes are going well, and the Lord is truly moving in the community surrounding me. The Lord has blessed me.

I don't take near enough time to count my blessings. Even when life gets hard and circumstances are out of my reach, the Lord still has his blessings upon me. He provides what I need. He loves me for who I am. He calls me a beautiful creation made in His image. I am blessed. He supplies me with energy, community and love. He blesses me with teaching, trial and struggle; all so I may more fully rely on Him. His word; a blessing to me in knowledge of His power.

As I sit on my front porch, there is a peace all around. Even in the mid-afternoon of a busy day in Manhattan, peace still finds its way in. The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, and the murmur of the city sustains the atmosphere. Solitude. The Lord has blessed me.

Summer 2010: Investing in others; Loving others

Well... summer is here. I feel the semester ended on a good note, and I'm still waiting on my final grades to see how I did, but I'm confident it will turn out well. I'm just ready to see how God is going to work this summer, both in my 2nd year of summer staff and just in the upcoming summer months in general. Summer is one of my favorite times of year honestly, not only because its a good time to recharge from the stresses of the school year but also as a great time of growth. I feel that summer allows one the freedom to try new things; the freedom to take risks and the freedom to discipline ourselves and disciple others around us. For me, this summer is going to be about the brothers, sisters and students I'll be hanging out with this summer on staff at Colonial. It will be amazing to see God work in great ways, as He always does on summer staff. I'm just anxious and ready to see where the Lord will take us as a staff and youth group this summer. Community is one aspect of summer that always seems to strengthen no matter where you're involved. It gives us time to invest in others. Investing in others. This is one aspect of my life that I'm always looking to build on. As I've stated before, people are my passion. It's my passion to see someone come to know Christ through the strong friendships and relationships one encounters within the body of Christ. I've seen it happen to so many people, and I promise you, building friendships and relationships centered on Christ is life changing to the parties involved. I know this seems obvious as I'm typing this out, but I just want to stress the importance of just loving someone for who they are as a creation of Christ. We are all created in His image, and we cannot forget that. Often I do, and most of the time it happens when I'm too quick to judge someone. Who are we to judge someone who is created in the beautiful image of God? We have to do our best to love others as Christ loves them, even when we think it's impossible or incredibly difficult to do. God calls us to this type of love, and when we put this to action, He is glorified and satisfied. May we all learn to glorify God more through our actions of love towards his creation.