"This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it." --- Richard Baxter

So the last couple of days have been very interesting. On Tuesday, Jars of Clay's newest album, Good Monsters, came out; and as a die-hard Jars fan, I made sure I was at Best Buy as soon as I could to pick up my own copy. This seriously is one of their best albums ever. The best way I can describe it is as a compilation of the best elements of almost all their previous albums. Not to mention, the lyrics, for the most part, are actually christian, which sadly is something you don't find in most "christian" artists today. True, not all the songs are christian, but to be honest, some of the "love" songs actually rock hard core, and there's even one song about social justice in Africa that really struck a chord with me. If you're looking for something new to listen to, buy this cd. You won't be disappointed.

For those of you who haven't yet heard the infamous story, I totally made a fool of myself walking from North Campus to Lunch on Wednesday. I won't post the whole thing on the internet (something about "incriminating evidence"), but I'll go so far as to say that the story involves a freshman girl I had never met (and now probably will never meet), the word "awesome", and me putting my foot in my mouth most heinously.

Then came yesterday in Western Political Philosophy 1 when, barely even 5 minutes into the class, I squeezed too hard on my coffee cup from the student center and proceeded to spill the contents all over my notes, my copy of Plato's Republic, and of course, my lap. My good buddy Ben Blakey saw the whole thing and just laughed at me; I'm surprised he hasn't blogged about it yet. Dr. Frazer just stared at me in all of my klutzy glory for about 3 seconds, and then continued on participating in our debate about the (absolutely ridiculous) idea of creating co-ed intramural flag football at TMC.



Then, last night, Generations started back up. I'm not sure I can really convey how excited I was for this. I go to a rather large church, and to be honest, I find the expression of the local church (discipleship, fellowship, admontion, friendship, relationships) in my Bible Study of approximately 60 people. I had the privilege of leading worship with Ben Blakey and Mary Buck, two guitarists whose skills put me to shame, but it was wonderful to be back with the believers I consider family. On a different note (no pun intended), I got Martin strings put on my guitar, and it sounds incredible. But please, let me just take this opportunity to put a plug in for the local church-- if you're not involved in a smaller group of believers who hold you accountable, pray for you, and provide areas for you to serve, get plugged in. Growth happens in community.

So the last couple of days have been very interesting. But by far was what happened today: I went to the LA county fair. Now trust me, I would not normally spend a Friday afternoon all the way in Pamona, but my mom loves to go to look at the crafts and things for sale, and this year neither my dad nor my brother could afford to go; so guess whose lot it fell to accompany my dear mother to the fair? Yep, yours truly. It was actually very cool, except for the fact that it was ridiculously crowded. And another thing: most of today's fair attenders appeared to hail from a specific demographic.... I'll let you guess which one (here's a hint: NASCAR and beer cans). Also, there was some of the most disgusting foods on the face of the earth at the fair. You had all kinds of delicacies, ranging from Deep-Fried Twinkies (which my good friend Pete Bargas would enjoy, I daresay) to Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwiches (I kid you not, it was a slab of chicken stuck between two Krispy Kreme donut-buns) to Smoked Pork Butts (I'll leave you to your imagination on that one; but what really took the cake (and by "cake", I mean "heart attack") were the bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Yes, you hear correctly, the bacon-wrapped hot dogs. This is either someone's idea of a death wish or the Atkins Diet gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Oh, and to top it off, I got asked to Fall Thing in the coolest possible way ever. Girls, take a lesson from this: she sent me a Starbucks Gift card with a note inside asking me to Fall Thing. You can't beat that; you just can't.


So, this pretty much looks like a somewhat humorous, albeit drawn-out, journal entry of my past week. And perhaps it is. But I would be amiss to not give the credit to God. A lot of cool things happened this week. A lot of weird things happened. A lot of bad things happened, too. Not once, not once did God stop being in control. When I spilled coffee all over my notes and books and lap, God wasn't up in Heaven going "oops, look at what that idiot Steve Crawford just did;" He was teaching me something in the process (namely, not to take my self-image too seriously). When I was encouraged beyond belief by Dolores Michaelson and Tommy Myrick at Generations, God was behind that, too. And I honestly believe that my loathing of the bacon dogs was a God-given reaction as well, because it is through His sanctifying work in my life that I have come to learn to shun things which are evil.

So if it hasn't been your day, or week, or month, or even your year ("I'll be there for you"), remember that God is still in control. Seriously. Nothing surprises Him. Everything happens for a reason. It's just up to us to respond Biblically and learn what we can learn and seek utmost to glorify God in our reactions.

Let me leave you with a passage that has relatively little to do with everything I have written in this post. This particular portion of Scripture has weighed heavily on my thoughts and I am attempting to make it the theme passage of how I conduct myself this school year (and prayerfully the rest of my life). May you benefit from it as well:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

-- 2 Peter 1:3-10