urbana pt. i

hey guys, so in a few hours i will be off to catch my flight to st. louis, missouri. HAH! who am i kidding? (probably no one). in a few hours, i will most likely be standing outside in the cold getting ready to board the bus in hopes of eventually ending up in St. Louis 12+ hours later. in other words "God, help me!"

So for those of you at home, wishing us well in our endeavor, i should be giving daily updates on what's going on at urbana...as well as some pictures hopefully. so definitely check back here to see what we're up to. we will certainly need some guidance from above as the conditions on the road appear to be rather unfavorable. but by the grace of God, hopefully it'll be smooth sailing.

Check ya later!

she got down on one knee.

Disclaimer: See below

So my uncle sent me this article the other day about the increasing popularity of women proposing to men. Weird huh? Apparently, not so much. So here's a piece of my brain. Ten reasons why men should propose to women or ten reasons why women should leave the proposals to the guys - whichever one works best for you. Click here for the article.

10 & 9. It's a guy thing. It's a girl thing.
Here we have the man and his blueprints laid out for the perfect proposal. He's gone over the game plan several times, dressing up one of his best friends in a wig and a skirt, reciting the same lines over and over again. On the other side, we've got the girl anxiously waiting, not knowing the day nor the time. Her friends are constantly checking that one important finger, asking whether or not it's ever gonna happen. "Like, oh my gosh! Haven't you guys been like going out since like forever?!?!" Now imagine if the roles were reversed!

8. It puts a real dent in a man's ego.
Here, I speak for myself and potentially other guys as well. I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't want to be known as the guy that got proposed to. So women, before you get all hasty, make sure your man's okay with you proposing to him. But doesn't that defeat the whole point?

7. Don't send the wrong message.
Although this reverse proposal business is increasing in popularity, most men still feel that proposing is their prerogative - that it's something they have control over. So I think it's important to ask yourself why exactly you're choosing to propose. Do you have your reasons straightened out? This goes for both guys and girls. But especially for the girls, why are you choosing not to wait for your man to propose to you?

6. Mangagement rings?
Well I don't know about you, but Joe Jonas' version of Single Ladies just isn't the same as Beyonce's. Like seriously Joe, Beyonce's video was one of the best videos of all time. All time. Yeah, I'm just not a big fan of mangagement rings and I'm certainly not a fan of guys dancing around asking for one. Although this guy doesn't look too bad doing it.

5. Avoid competition.
This is not to suggest that guys should offer lame proposals. But this way, a guy's proposal is the one and only proposal. There's no, "I could have done better" or "if I proposed to you, I would have done ____ instead" or "how about I propose to you instead?" There's no need to compare. There's no need for counter-proposals.

4. Guys just don't have the same reaction.
I don't really want to be stereotypical, but girls have a unique way of expressing their emotions. It's just more common for women to burst into tears of joy, jump up and down, run around in circles, and scream. Well obviously there are a bunch of guys out there that would manifest a similar response, but hey, girls are good at being emotional - really good. So let's let them do what they're good at. They look better doing it anyway.

3. Avoid confusion.
Wouldn't it just suck if you were preparing an awesome proposal and waiting for the perfect moment to propose...and then your partner pops the question first? This way, the guys have ample time to prepare, without a sense of urgency spawned by the fear of being proposed to first. No rushing required. And in the same way, there won't be a situation in which two of you are waiting on each other.

2.This is one of the hallmark moments of a woman's life.
I guess I don't really have the credentials to comment on this. But I'm guessing that women do look forward to the day the man of their dreams gets down on one knee. So why on earth would you want to miss this? Isn't it worth the wait? In comparison, I'm not sure how many guys grow up looking forward to the day they get proposed to.

1. All women deserve a man who has the guts to propose to her, thereby voluntarily confining himself to a lifelong commitment.
Wait did I just use the word confine? What I meant to say is that women should look forward to the day that her man explicitly professes his unconditional love for her and his sincere desire to spend the rest of his days by her side. That's what engagements are for.

=)

ps: please check one of the boxes below. and feel free to leave comments. i'd like to hear what you have to say.

Disclaimer: In hopes of not offending anyone, I just wanted to emphasize that this post was not meant to marginalize anyone. I am totally cool with girls proposing to guys and if that is how you guys decide to roll, I'm 100% supportive of your decision. Please let me know if you disagree with anything or if something I said was inappropriate. I do hope you enjoy reading this.

2012.

No this is NOT a movie review:


The movie 2012 is nearing the end of its theater run and in short, the movie's about how the world is gonna go kabloom a mere two years from now. according to "sources" this is the year that they mayan's predicted the end of the world and apparently a few other religious groups also have evidence suggesting a similar timeline. In no way am i agreeing with this prophecy, but in light of this movie, it got be thinking about the end of the world and the role that each of us have leading up to that day.

The end of the world might not include earthquakes, tsunamis, and the USS Enterprise crashing into the statue of liberty, but it's supposed to be pretty epic. However, this blog isn't gonna be about the nooks and crannies of Armageddon.

In 1 Thessalonians, it says "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." Similarly in Matthew 25, it says "keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour."

That being said, there are many theories about when the world is gonna end. The bible gives a few hints. The mayans seem to have figured it out. But the truth is that nobody really knows when it's actually gonna happen. There's no warning. There's no countdown. At any given moment, the world we know and everything in it will come to an end.

So okay, on judgment day, we all die...yay! Let's have an 'end-of-the-world' party! But here's the thing. No one said you're gonna live to see judgment day. Heck, no one's guaranteed to live past the age of 10 or 20 or whatever.

So Dan, what's your point?

The point is that there are lots and lots of people out there that have no idea what kind of path they're on. Family, friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbours. People you know. People you're close to. They have no idea that they're current life leads to an eternity of pain and suffering. And the problem is that, as Christians, we don't really treat this like an urgency. Every single one of our lives hangs by the thinnest of threads, ready to give way at any moment. It's so easy to get frustrated, to get angry with God when someone close to us passes away. But the truth is that all of us deserve to die. We take every subsequent breath only because God allows us to. If all us simultaneously collapsed, none of us would have the right to complain. We were given 21 years (or however old you are) of life for free. It's like a criminal being allowed to leave prison for 21 years and then finally being returned to prison. He doesn't have any right to complain. He's returning to the place he belongs.

So back on track. Let's imagine for a second that God decided to take your life away tonight. Yup that's right. Tonight. So you meet God face to face for the first time and He asks you, "[insert name here], i've done all these things for you over the years. What have you done for me?" So you begin to give an account of the numerous occasions you led your fellows brothers and sisters in Christ into corporate worship, your consistent devotion to the local soup kitchen, your unconditional attendance at weekly prayer meetings, your persistent dedication to nightly devotions...and the list goes on. Then the Lord asks, "I gave you the great commission. It says to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. How'd you do with that?"

Sure, you can go ahead and build yourself a nice-looking Christian resume. In no way am I implying that good deeds and works are unimportant. Rather, I am emphasizing the importance of the great commission. The final instructions given to us. Our to-do list. Our mission. This isn't something we're supposed to do on the side, not a part-time job. It's not something that comes after the thrills, excitements, and personal fulfillments of this life.

"But spreading the gospel is hard. It gets awkward when I talk to my friends."

The gospel isn't called the Good News for no reason. It's GOOD! It's the greatest gift you've ever received and you've got an unlimited supply to share with the world. I'm not trying to say that sharing the gospel is an easy thing. I've tried and it isn't a walk in the park. You'll get turned away. You'll get shut down. But at the end of the day, you've got to ask yourself what it's worth. An awkward moment is stopping you from potentially saving the soul of your best friends?

So take advantage of every moment. Seize every opportunity. Because we don't know how many of those will come our way. And you don't necessarily have to grab a loudspeaker and run around shouting Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Rather live a life that's reflective of the One in whom you put your faith. Others will be able to see it and they're going to want what you have. That's when you'll be able to share.

But hey! We're all in this together. So let's make an effort to consistently remind each other just how important this is.

For those of you writing exams, good luck!