The Case of the Missing ID

Here are the facts: Saturday night I used my ID card to get into my hall. I stopped in the laundry room to move clothes from the washer to the dryer. I went to the bathroom area to change into pj's. The next morning my ID was gone. I don't remember seeing it after changing clothes, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. My roommate and I tore our room apart and put it back together looking for my ID. It wasn't anywhere. We knew it had to be on the hall somewhere, we just couldn't find it.

How would the Hardy Boys solve this mystery? They would get kidnapped, pull something random out of their pockets to cut their ropes, discover an espionage plot against the government, pull something else completely random out of their pockets to help them capture the bad guys, get rescued by their dad at just the right time, then realize that my ID was in one of the boxes the bad guys had.

How would Scooby-Doo and his gang solve this mystery? While consuming large amounts of food, Scooby and Shaggy would stumble into a hidden passage in my hall - filled with ghosts and no one else would believe them when they got back, every one else would be trying to scientifically figure out what happened, then Daphne would get snatched by the ghosts, Velma would lose her glasses, Fred would come up with a plan to catch the ghost, the "ghost" would be unmasked to reveal the villain, who would have my ID in his pocket and would have gotten away with it if not for those meddling kids and that dog too.

How would Sherlock Holmes solve it? He would stand in the hall for a while staring at the carpet, then stand in the laundry room staring at the washers, then stand in the middle of my room for an eternity, then declare to Watson he knew exactly where my ID was, then explain said location using large words.

How would Perry Mason or Hercule Poirot solve the mystery? Well, those are stories for a different day.

Sadly, none of these great mystery solvers showed up to lend me their skills in locating my ID. Instead, I had to go a week working off the kindness, patience, and loving-mercy of my roommate and the cafeteria people until the school got more ID cards in.

Day 3: My View on Drugs and Alochol

I feel this topic has been wildly over-blogged about, but I shall faithfully do it anyway.

I don't really have a lot to say about drugs that doesn't sound preachy. The Bible doesn't specifically say anything about drugs specifically, but it does say lots about authority and submitting to it. As Christians we are supposed to submit to the authority because all authority is given by God. God has placed rulers above us for a reason (Yes, even the horrid rulers - How many times did God use Nebuchadnezzar to punish the Israelites?), and submitting to His authority brings blessing. Also, submitting to government authority means you can sleep at night with a clear conscious, with out having to worry about whether or not you are going to get arrested tomorrow. All that being said, drugs are illegal in the U.S. As such, we shouldn't use them.

Even if you don't think submitting to authority is a good enough reason not to do drugs, the Bible also says that our body is a temple that the very Spirit of God lives in. Drugs do horrid things to people's bodies, which is in turn destroying something that God values highly. Therefore, doing drugs makes God sad.

Alcohol, on the other hand, is not a bad thing when used in moderation. When you drink so much that you are dog drunk and have lost all sense of yourself and what is right or wrong and are killing brain cells by the second, that is taking something good and blowing it so much out of proportion that it becomes a bad thing. People who are that drunk kill innocent people. People who are that drunk destroy property. People who are that drunk have sex with random people (which they wouldn't have done otherwise). People who are that drunk say things they regret in the morning - if they even remember it. Drinking out of moderation is flat out wrong (and stupid to boot).

Does that mean that it's wrong to have a margarita with your dinner? Or to have a glass of champagne at a wedding? No. Jesus himself drank wine - he even turned water into wine. Clearly, if wine were wrong, Jesus wouldn't have condoned it so frequently. He even mentioned how he was going to drink wine with God the Father once he ascended back into Heaven. That's a pretty clear statement that wine in moderation is okay.

So here's the skinny: Don't do drugs, it's dumb. Drink some wine with your Italian dinner, just don't get drunk.

Day 2: Where You'd Like to Be in 10 Years

Ten years from now...Honestly, I have no clue where I want to be, if the "where" is referring to a specific physical location. If the "where" refers to more of an idea, things I want to have accomplished, then I know a little more of that.

Ten years from now I want:

• To be happily married
• To (hopefully) have some kids
• To be teaching English in a Texas high school
• To be engaged in ministry at church, in whatever capacity He so desires me to be in
• To be living in a house (as opposed to an apartment)
• To have a dog (preferably a black lab)

That's all the plans I really have, for now. I am trying to let life just happen as it happens, go with the flow and follow His direction.

Day 1: My Current Relationship

Where to begin talking about my wonderful relationship? Perhaps at the beginning...Yes, the beginning is good.

New Year's Eve 2009. My best friend, Justin Chapman, and his family invited me over to bring in the new year with them, instead of me sitting home alone like I planned on doing. After hours of family game time, we watched the ball drop in New York and "WOOHOO"ed our way into 2010. Even the moon celebrated the new beginning by shedding her usual silvery light and trading it for blue.

Par family tradition, we had communion to start the year off focused on the One Who Makes All Things New. During the personal prayer time after communion, Justin and I both simultaneously felt Him speak to us, telling us we would marry each other. This hit us out of nowhere - neither of us had even contemplated the idea of dating each other, let alone getting married! We stayed up until 5 A.M. discussing the idea of a relationship and all the ramifications of it. Our decision was that we would not make any hasty decisions, but spend time discussing it and praying about it. One week later we started dating, and we have been together ever since.

Some things only happen once in a blue moon, and she was definitely blue that night.

Over the past year Justin and I have continued to work on our relationship, growing closer to each other and to God. We've had our ups and downs, but we're stronger than ever and can't wait to see our future together.

This New Year's we celebrated one year together. It was the most beautiful night of my life.

30 Day Challenge

Today while skimming through my friends' Facebook posts, I received a challenge: To write a blog every day for 30 days on a predetermined topic. A year ago I would have shrunk from this challenge faster than a lion pounces on a deer. Now, however, I believe I can handle the challenge - more than that, be able to grow as a writer from it. So here goes. For the next 30 days I shall blog daily.