Rob Bell Review

Rob Bell came to campus a few days ago to debate with a professor and answer questions about his new book, Love Wins.

I was expecting to leave the session disliking the guy, but I didnt dislike everything about him. The few things he does say are good, I couldnt find a reason to shout "Blasphemy!" or throw a tomato... Instead, I found that I disagreed with all the things he didnt say.

If you've read reviews of his new book or any of his previous books, you know what I mean. He is all about "relationships, love, grace, forgiveness, and 'come as you are'" Christianity. And while these things are good and true, they leave out a huge portion of the gospel: wrath, justice, holiness, righteousness, etc.

I felt really nerdy going to the discussion Friday morning. My friends and I got up early to wait outside the doors 30 minutes before the doors were even opened. I couldnt decide if that made me extra holy or just ultra dorky... I was just glad no one shouted "Hallelujah" or "Amen" during his speech...

One of my friends compared the guy to a politician. He answers the questions he wants to answer, but runs in circles around questions that dont make him look good. For instance, the seminary professor asked him why he said that the word "forever" was used by the New Testament writers to mean: when talking to someone for 5 hours feels like 5 minutes, rather than the literal sense of eternity. So naturally, Blomberg and the other NT specialists came to bat against Rob's weak use of his Greek... Rob didnt exactly answer that question...

Goodness is no protection from Pain

I read this in a book and thought it was really good...

"If life teaches us that core truth, our faith confirms it. Jesus was as good as good gets, and still he suffered pain--all kinds of pain--not only physical pain but also spiritual and emotional pain. By facing into it instead of running away from it, he showed us a new way to live, but few of us have followed. In spite of everything he said and did, most of us still cling to our own version of the truth: namely, that if we are very, very good, God wont let anything bad happen to us. We will be protected. We will be spared. It is a great perversion of the gospel, but it is also very human." --Barbara Brown Taylor

Moore Funny

So turns out that I have a really funny professor who goes by the name of Reggie Moore. He's this big black guy with the most contagious laugh. He laughs at everything and then the entire class catches it.

He went on to make a comment about how Colorado people need to calm down because the winters here are more mild than in Kansas, then proceeded to ask who all was from Kansas. When I said I was from Salina, he exclaimed, "THATS MY HOMETOWN! Did you go to Central?" I felt like we really bonded....

I dont think I've laughed that much in one class period....

Christmas Break in Pictures

A Christmas present for Sam's nephew... All 10 were just for him

Work it....Work it

 Christmas time with the brothers and Sam

Thought a gummy worm could be this big? Yeah, me neither, but Sam found one

 That smile might scare the cows right in

At least you look tough :)

Not that I'm bragging or anything...

....ok, I kind of am, but I never win... thats the only reason why

White (Me) was victorious today!

Should be doing homework.....

.....but I am experiencing writer's block.... ok, not really.

So we have to write a 25 page paper, and it counts as our final paper for two classes. Which is nice, and it encourages us to integrate the material. However, the paper is based on our life and analyzing our lives according to two developmental theories and two counseling theories.

I jokingly told my mother yesterday that "Sometimes I think all this self-reflection and analysis just might be causing additional problems" She told me to fix myself before I come home for Christmas :)

Mountain Tasks

Jenica and I made a list of all the things we wanted to do in Denver... And we checked several more off this weekend....

I went to Boulder with some friends, and we went to see a waterfall just outside of town. Boulder is a beautiful town, and it feels like you are right in the mountains.... 

(Jenny, Me, Sarah, and Dixie)

Saturday, some friends and I went to a Rugby game. Sarah knew one of the guys playing on the Dallas team, so we went to watch them play. It was really intense, and all the players were so beat up after the game! I was afraid they were going to keel over. One of the rugby guys works for Frito Lay and helped design their new biodegradeable bag... I asked if they could make a quieter one, and he said they've been working on it for a year!

 Nate, Dixie, Sarah, Kari... Me and Erin

Today, Jenica and I went to the zoo because it was free today! Then we also went to the REI flagship (I think that means it was the first one, but I'm not really sure), and we also went to get Vietnamese food since I'd never had it! It was really good, and Jenica ate intestines, while I watched :)

One Word: Artist

Weekend project....

My supervisor from my internship gave me these canvasses (they are pretty large), and they were painted with blue and green stripes. So Sam and I spent most of Saturday painting.... first a layer of Gesso (canvas primer or something really cool like that) and then painted this picture...

Important note: Sam was pretty worried about the outcome of the tree. So we looked up youtube videos of "how to paint a tree" except, I think those only further intimidated him. Luckily, I knew what I was doing (more like my brother did) and the tree turned out pretty well....

I think we might write a verse from Lamentations on it....

Two pictures

This is my view every day... The mountains in the far back have snow on them already...

When we were in Topeka... we spotted this gem. 

Cause most people transport their goats in a truck pulled behind a U-Haul...

Photo Session

Check out Ryan Edick Photography....

Sam and Ryan came out to Colorado a couple weeks ago, and we took our engagement photos.... We went downtown by the capitol building, over to the art museum, and then out to Red Rocks...

(you can click on them to make them bigger)

Typically, Sam and I tend to take rather awkward photos together... but we managed to pull off some rather good ones...! Well, probably more like Ryan's expertise captured the best ones.... that sounds more accurate... 

Anyway, here are a couple for now, until we post others later....

I can't wait to go downhill.......

Jenica and I decided that we needed to hurry up and hike a mountain before the cold weather set in! So we decided to hike the 14er, Grays, since we'd heard that it was relatively low intensity and close to Denver.

So, Jenica lent me all of her clothes, since I own zero hiking gear, and we set out at 4am Sunday morning for the peak! We started hiking around 5:45am...it was about 36 degrees out when we started, but mainly due to the lack of sunlight. Luckily for us, there was little to no wind.

The picture below...Grays is the mountain on the left. You had to hike about 2 miles to get to the base of the mountain, but this hike was gradually uphill, probably gaining 1,000 ft in elevation. (We started at 11,200 ft, and hiked up to 14,100 ft...I think)

Turns out hiking at elevation was harder than expected. We would stop to catch our breath, and then take 5 steps and immediately be out of breath again. Mostly everyone passed us, but they were all really encouraging! We met this guy named Wally, who was 74! He started climbing 14ers when he was 50, and since then has climbed 180 of them! He cruised up the mountain.....! I couldnt believe how many people a) brought their dogs, and b) practically ran up it!

The picture below: we took with about 20 steps to go to the top of the mountain! Needless to say, we were absolutely thrilled to be almost there. But also at this point, we saw a 7 year old boy quickly coming after us, so we hurried to take the picture in order to beat him up the mountain!

  

Once we got up there (11am), the view was beautiful! You could see forever it seemed like... Jenica and I sat up there for awhile and ate our Cheerios, but then decided to go down because the altitude was getting to us.

 It took us 3 hours to get down. The snow made me really nervous. Confession: a couple times I sat down as I went down the mountain... I was really paranoid about tumbling down... Jenica may have completely fallen down...she was making me really nervous, but luckily she was in front of me :) (I told her I would come after her though....)

This is us at the bottom of the mountain! Jenica lent me her sweet boots... I got a lot of nice compliments on them!

Dessert Bar Stalking

So, Jenica heard of this cool Dessert Bar in uptown Denver, so we went last night to check it out. Turns out that they make awesome desserts, and they sat us at the bar so we could watch them cook!

I ordered a cake and shake combo, and Jenica got this cool pear tart...

Sweetest part of the evening.. watching Keegan Gerhard (host on the food network) run around the restaurant... I think we could have talked to him if we had sat a couple seats down! But o well....

Check out their website and Keegan's bio HERE

Fall Food and Friends

Back: Jenny, Sarah, Courtney, and Kara

Front: Diana and Me

Courtney and Diana were stoked for the first day of fall, so they invited us over for the celebration of the new season. We ate soup, roasted squash, tea-monade, cider, salad, and baked apples.... Then watched a couple episodes from the 9th season of Friends....

Jenny and her Baked Apples

Everyone here drives a Subaru....

...that has nothing to do with this post

We went for our first hike this weekend! Red Rocks is a sweet amphitheater for outdoor concerts, and its only about a 15 minute drive outside of town. It also has some bike and hiking trails, so we decided to go out there and explore.

The first trail we went on was a fairly easy one, but it was a really pretty view. Once we finished, we went to go check out the amphitheater, and it is awesome! I would love to be able to go to a concert there...! Turns out, there was a huge charity event going on for those who died in 9/11. Participants were making 12 loops around the amphitheater, which involves a ton of stairs!

Since the first trail didnt take very long, we decided to do another one. About halfway into our trek, we stopped and met these 2 other guys going the opposite direction. We asked them how much farther we had to go to the top, and they were like.... "Well, you are probably about 1/3 of the way there...This is not a very easy hike. Definitely the hardest hike without climbing an actual mountain...." So that made us feel a lot better...but, I continued to blame the altitude for being out of shape :)

Needless to say, we didnt hike the entire thing, but it was still really cool. I guess I need to get some actual hiking shoes. My tennis shoes have zero traction which made coming down quite difficult....

Actually, I'm not from Texas...

....I'm from Kansas.
Other Person: Ah. I've driven through your state, ...its quite the drive.
Me: Yea, pretty flat...
Other Person: So where in Kansas?
Me:...I'm from Salina, KS. Its right where I-70 and 135 meet.
Other person: Oooo, right. I know where that is. ....there's not a whole lot there or anywhere else in Kansas.
Me: Yea... No one else really likes it, but I do....

(common conversation these days)

Neon Shennanigans and Intense Charades

A friend from kamp hosted a Neon Shennanigans BBQ last night... So I borrowed my roommate's "Tie-Dyed tank/shorts One-zie" and wore it with Neon Fairy wings and my Grandpa sneakers.... It was quite the look...

Back: Me, Jenny, Diana, and Dixie
Front: Sarah and Courtney

Sarah, Jenny, and I made a stop at the Dollar Tree (where I found my wings) and they each got glow sticks that assemble into a hat! Which was sweet, because there was no way you could lose them outside in the dark.

After dinner, we had played Charades, Guys v. Girls. Turns out, the people here are pretty competitive. We put names of movies, songs, and TV shows into the bowl. I suggested the song "Desperado"... because how would you ever act that one out? And one of the guys totally got it! How does that even happen? We also put in "The Real Housewives of D.C." and they were able to act that one out too!

I drew the song "Gangster Paradise" ...you can imagine how that turned out...

Plagiarism

When asked how to handle a client that comes in and says, "Look, I know you are Christian, but I dont want to hear any of that God talk...", my professor said something like this....

There is no way to separate the fact that I am a psychologist and a Christian. So if they really are a non-believer, then you can still quote the Bible because they wont know where it is coming from. You will be surprised how often they respond to it.... I think God is ok with the fact that I am plagiarizing and not giving the Bible actual credit for the parts I take from it by not saying the reference....

I thought this was really cool... I also think its cool that we pray before class...

First Guests... (Roll Call One Maybe...)

Jenica and I are pretty much settled now! It didnt take me long to organize a few clothes and lay my mattress on the floor. I even found a table for my room for a great price of 4 dollars at Goodwill!

Yesterday, we had our first guests to our apartment! Allan and Meg (great friends from kamp) are in town for the weekend, Pete and Becca (also from kwest awhile back, they live here), and then Lana and Drew (whom I just met) also came to join us. We grilled out by the pool, and Jenica grilled some peaches that we ate with our ice cream...

Back: Allan, Drew, and Pete
Front: Meg, Jenica, Becca, and Lana
Hopefully, you know which one I am....

Today: Head to the seminary to check it out and get my photo id.... Gotta love those :)

Out West

Four days.... then I will heading out west for school.

In the meantime....
-minimal packing and organizing
-finalize some wedding details before moving
-sleep and hang out with the family
-trying not to tease my friends who are starting classes today
-listening to Josh Abbott Band
-hanging out with Sam

Denver To Do List.....
-Find a sweet coffee shop
-Buy school supplies!!!
-Look for some sweet hippie clothes
-Maybe thrift shop and find furniture.... or wing it :)
-Hike a mountain with Jenica
-River raft at some point
-Job hunt??
-Pass some classes

Yellowstone Comment

Mom: That person in front of us is hauling ash

Casey: They must be a smoker...