Online Bible Study

One thing I have learned over the years and continue to learn is the importance of being with other Christians. The accountability and support other believers is crucial. What I have seen in my journey is without that accountability and support that I slowly drift away. I pray less and less. I read my bible less and less.

That has been the case this semester. I have been out of town a lot and out of church. Bible Study ended last semester. I had a class during Thursday Night's Together at the BCM. And sure enough my personal quiet time pretty much came to a halt. I finally made it back to Highland Drive Baptist Church on Sunday.

Now I am getting a group together for an online Bible Study over the summer and maybe continue it on into the next year or further if it is successful. We are using Facebook and Wordpress. On Wordpress each of us will be able to write blogs. Blogs can be any of  four topics (Bible, Life, Testimony, Prayer). Posts can be searched by topic or author. In addition, hopefully we can figure out exactly how the security works so that the guys can have a password and the females a password for more accountability issues. Along with that we will try to have different discussions on the Facebook group and even group chats.

I got the job...well, the internship that is!

I was awoken from my nap a little after 5 last Friday when my phone began ringing. I had left it on the other side of the room which isn't a normal thing when I sleep. I usually keep it by my bed with an alarm set, but this time I didn't even set an alarm. Usually, if my phone rings while I try to sleep I will ignore the call and call or text the person later (unless of course they leave me a text or voice mail, then I might respond a little more quickly). But something important caught my attention on that call.

The area code was 501. I didn't know who the caller was but I had an idea before I answered and thought to myself it would be in my best interest to answer, so I did. And I was right. It was good news, the news I had been hoping to hear.

I went to Little Rock a week or two before that for a job interview with Heifer International. It is a humanitarian organization that I actually would love to work for one day and they had a summer internship position open for journalism majors. I quickly applied when I found out it was also a paid internship. I didn't want to get my hopes to high, but was even more excited when I found out they wanted me to come for an interview.

That Friday, I got ready after my 11 a.m. class and drove to Little Rock. The interview lasted about an hour and included an editing exercise along with questions. A few days later I send a thank you email and two links, one to a website I designed in internet communications (click here to view), and my Youtube account.

Then the wait was on. Of course, I had applied earlier to a different organization for an opportunity to intern with an Arkansas Newspaper. I heard that I might be able to work at one in El Dorado or Pine Bluff. I said Pine Bluff would be the best option because it is close to my family. But I still hoped to hear back from Heifer International.

Thankfully I did receive that call from Heifer telling me I got the job. I look forward to being able to work with them and getting to help make a difference in the world.

Tornado Warnings

This isn't the first semester that we have dealt with tornado warnings at Arkansas State University. I can remember several instances, all the way back to my freshman year. Freshman year was the first experience of a tornado I had away from my family. It was the time that a tornado stayed on the ground for over a hundred miles. We had to take cover in the basement of Kays Hall.

In other semesters I remember going outside to watch the sky during the storm. One time it was on the third floor of the parking garage. Another time we stood outside North Park Quads and saw building 4 get struck by lightening.

Then there was tonight. We have had several warnings tonight. But at least only one caused a stir. The university police department sent out emergency warnings. I was in the library and they forced us all into the basement there. That was even more unpleasant than freshman year. The funny thing is, all those storms were north of here and moving northeast.

About 15 minutes later another warning was issued southeast of here. That storm was also moving northeast, but no police warning was issued. No "relocation" was required, even though it was more of a threat. Now I just have to stay in the library another 45 minutes and allow the rain to stop.

Nightmare

As I posted a few days ago, I don't usually remember most of my dreams. But lately I have been remembering more and they seem to have to do with going to Spain in September.

The first dream was a good one. The second one, however, was very strange and not so great. Last night I had a dream about having a bad dream.

I was in the airport, waiting on my first flight. The timetables said the flight would be boarding at 7:15a.m. It was 7a.m. and the airline still hadn't checked our bags or printed tickets for any of my group. We finally went to them at about 7:10 and asked. They apologized and opened the line. But it was too late. There was no airplane.

For some reason we began walking down some railroad tracks in the dark, in the woods toward the destination of the flight we had missed. After a few hours we ran into a train. It stopped and we were asked some questions. It turns out there was some pandemic disease and they had to test us for it. We all had to get on the train-- one section of quarantine and the other section of healthy people. The way they could tell was our speech. If it was normal we were fine. If it was gibberish the person had the disease. One person in our group failed and was separated.

The train dropped those of us who were healthy back at the airport. At this point we became annoyed. We got in a car and sped to a gas station. I tore open a map inside and started pointing and asked the gas station attendant where the closest airport was other than the one in the city. I noted we had tickets for a certain flight and had to get there before it left.

At this point I woke up. I have heard that the crazier a dream is, the deeper the sleep a person is in. If that is true I must have been sleeping really well last night and I woke up this morning surprisingly well rested! But why all these weird dreams lately? 

Dreams

I don't often remember my dreams. I won't say I don't have them, but I either forget what they were about or I don't even remember dreaming. Sometimes its sad. But I guess it makes the ones I remember even more special. There are parts of the one I had last night I don't remember exactly. There are parts that make no sense at all. But it was interesting. I know the setting was Spain. I think it was in Eastern Spain, somewhere close to portugal. I also know the region was hilly, and for some reason a lot of people knew English. Here is a little bit of the dream. It kind of sounds like it could be the beginning of a story. Maybe I will have time to write after I graduate in May; I have several stories I would like to finish and maybe finally write a decent book. Feel free to comment after you read it.
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The landscape was green with rolling hills. The hotel was comprised of three small, rectangular buildings, all at different elevations on the hill. The buildings looked nice, but old. I couldn’t believe I was finally standing there, and my nerves were standing on end. I was about to check into the hotel in Spain.

“Where do I check in,” I thought to myself, as I walked up toward the first building. I entered and went to the front desk; it was empty. I walked out the back of the building, up to the second and after finding no one at the second continued on up to the third and final building. There was a porch area with screen, and a man sitting inside. I opened the door to find myself behind the counter and he motioned for me to go around, so I did.

“Do you have any rooms,” I asked the man, not thinking about the language I was speaking. He told me he had several rooms and asked me what I would like. He told me the price and I asked, “If I pay for the entire month, can I get a refund if I need to leave earlier? I will be getting an apartment as soon as I know where my job is.” He said I could and so he gave me a key and told me I would be in the first building.

I took a small bag that I had with me and walked toward building one. I used the key to enter the building and found my room. I left my bag and looked around a little. There was a large bed at the far end of the room. A long cabinet ran the length of the wall until a closet at the other end of the room. An ironing board was folded down out of the wall; it appeared as though it could collapse at any time.

“I’m going to be here for a while, I better get to know the area,” I thought. I should go back up to the office and so I left my room. As I was headed to the exit I noticed that another patron’s room was open and decided I had better not leave until I knew they were around and no one could enter the building again. I didn’t think anything of it. Then a dog came from the open room and greeted me. A few minutes later I was out of the building and at the office.

I went in and asked the manager what there was to see in the area and where the market was. Again I thought maybe I should be speaking in Spanish. His English was slow, but it was clear and made sense. I might insult him if I just switched to speaking Spanish.

Later I found myself in a truck, driving around the area. I was the passenger and the driver was driving like a madman. He went up hills and around the curves at fast speeds. “Slow down! It felt like you just about flipped us over the edge of that cliff,” I told him one time, to which he responded, “I know, I thought we were goners!”

Patience is a virtue...I'm still waiting

I recently applied for two internships, one through the Arkansas Newspaper Association and the other at Heifer International. I am qualified for both internships. Both internships are paid. Both internships have their advantages and disadvantages. Both will be great opportunities.

This summer I have to work. At the same time I can't go straight into a great job. In September I will leave for a year and go to Spain for an teaching internship there.

The ANA internship could be anywhere in the state and will pay around $3,000. The Heifer International internship is also in communications. I know it is in Little Rock. It would probably pay about $2,500. It is also a company I would love to work for in the future. I love their mission.

The problem with all of this: I hate waiting. I don't know if I will get either internship. I don't know who will notify me first. I don't know if I should go ahead and start looking for other jobs in the meantime. I don't know if I should just continue to wait patiently and hope for the best.

I guess I just have to wait to decide. That kind of sounds like procrastination.