How It All Began...

This happened about a year ago - the first project with my current research team!

For lack of anything else to talk about, I'll simply post this video and let a lot of pictures be worth a few thousand words. If anybody is by any chance at Fort Vancouver tomorrow, drop on in! There will be a lot of us in costume volunteering in different capacities around the fort.

See ya!

The Strong Must be Able to Bow

I tell my little brothers stories. In fact, I tell them a lot of stories: everything from historical fiction, to Narnian side-stories, to futuristic solar-system wars. We’re quite diverse in our selection. Regardless of the location or time period, all of the stories have heroes: usually a team of individuals with diverse skills that will inevitably lead the good guys to victory. Usually, these characters have varying degrees of admirable qualities: bravery, intelligence, loyalty, and the occasional sacrificial mindset where they value others more than themselves.

That’s great, right? I mean, what more could you want in a hero? Well, as time progressed, I began to realize that my characters lacked a very important aspect: God. I was creating larger than life heroes that had no need for God in their lives. Sure, they followed His moral code, but no recognition was given to the One would have brought them through it all.

The title is indicative of a new trait my characters have. Those who recognize God’s sovereignty are the ones that generally do well, not just on the battlefield, but as well as moral decisions and values. Those who do not have God in their lives, or have not completely surrendered, tend to have more problems.

So what does that mean? No, my heroes do not become Moseses where they can call down the plagues on their enemies and decimate them. It does not even mean they are more victorious in battle, because we are not guaranteed that as Christians, but a difference is shown. The Christians are brave because they have no fear of death because Jesus triumphed over the grave; they are loyal because they love the country and friends that God gave them, and value them as such; they will sacrifice themselves for others because “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Those who are non-believers tend to be brutal, because they will do anything to prevent death; they are not loyal because loyalty costs a lot – a price they are not willing to pay; they will sacrifice others for themselves because they are selfish. Before, I wasn’t showing this difference, but I think a difference needs to be shown.

The strongest must be willing to bow - I think the good men are the ones that recognize they are inherently evil, the greatest men are the ones that recognize they are small, and the strongest are the ones that recognize they are weak, and the only solution to our state is God. This is a great truth, and one I should consider when thinking about role models or heroes in my own life.

Let's Build a Spaceship...

Because, since, I'm on spring break, I have by definition nothing better to do with my time.

1) Before construction can begin, the drawings have to be made. Carefully add dimensions in feet, meters, inches, millimeters, centimeters, or miles.

2) Let's add the third dimension! We'll extrude the shape equal amounts in both directions and give ourselves a nice block of metal.

3) Navigation systems are a must-have to prevent taking the wrong turn at Albuquerque, Jupiter, or Vulcan, all of which could have disastrous results. To prevent such occurrences, we'll put a nice, spacy cockpit right at the front, and 7 trans-solus engines in the back, now with 9,000,000,000...ish horsepower.

4) Since this monster is too heavy to land on a planet (but of course, you knew that), we'll have to put in hatches so smaller craft can board. Also, to fight off any nasty pirates that get the idea to come after you, steal your cargo, and make you walk the plank (in space? Wow, that would be an interesting experience: "Jump!"... "Captain Bionic-Hook, he's not sinking! He just keeps floating up, up, up..."), we'll put three guns in the front. Stand back Spee! (Smee + Space)

5) Too plain? No worries. We'll add some nice curves and chamfers onto it, guaranteed to let you sail the stars in style.

6) Now, for your own personal touch. While your engines will almost always burn red, cockpit vacuum-shields (since there's no wind, it can't be windshield) come in three colors (brown, green, and blue), and don't let the black paint pictured fool you - your exterior can come in almost any color in the spectrum!

7) Finally - see this baby in space! Look at how it glides... well, ok, maybe you can't see it glide, but look at the picture of it... um... gliding. Beautiful site isn't it?

8) Military personnel - need a semi-medium weighted ship for escort purposes? This ship will do the job! Neither too heavy or too light, it's a perfect medium-weighted ship! No fear of cargo being stolen when this ship is in the escort!

And that's all folks! Thanks to the wonderful world of solidworks, you can let your imagination soar to outer space! This has definitely got to be one of my favorite toys... and my license expires in a few months... :(

Hope you enjoyed the building process/ad! Have a great day!

Breaking News!

After weeks, and weeks, and weeks of searching for a job, and submitting application, after application, after applications, I finally got, and got, and got, a job offer!

Ok, maybe the triplets tend to over-dramatize things, but the general message remains the same. I have submitted my resume to over a dozen companies looking for an internship over the summer, and Longview Fibre responded and said they could use me!

So, starting mid-May, I will become an employee of a Longview-based plant, which will mean the following:

1) I am going to get real tired of the tunes on my iPod
2) I am going to get more literate via books on tape (or, on iPod as the case may be)
3) My sisters are going to use my new-found taxi services to visit their friends as often as is practical, and then some
4) I am going to get a lot of hands-on engineering experience that will help a ton in the future
5) *Optional* I may become the partial owner of a new vehichle with which to drive myself!

All that to say, God is good; He provides for us. In an economy where lots of people can't find work, He provided me with this job over the summer that not only helps my experience, but also helps a lot financially. I am very grateful!

I'll keep you posted as I find out more about the job, not that you would want to hear it of course, but if you did, stay tuned!

Most Recent... Thing...

Music - I love it. I love multiple genres, from classical to soundtracks to hymns. I love listening to it in multiple capacities, from school, to fun, to worship.

But is all music good? What I don't want to come across as is a "conservative nut" that simply brands certain music as bad; there needs to be reason for everything. That said, I think that certain types of music are bad, and generally this music can be summed up in one genre - Rock.

I know this is an age-old argument, which is one reason I've been interested to study it some more. The reasons I have for cleaning up my playlists are as follows:

1) Origins

True, simply because something started as bad does not necessarily guarantee that it is in and of itself bad, or that it cannot be used for good. But rock music, in America, began as a form of rebellion. It was not acceptable to the older generation, the authorities, and hence listening to such a genre was simply a form of rebellion. Note that "...Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as the iniquity of idolatry." (I Samuel 15:23) So... I would steer clear of this personally... who wants anything to do with something that began on the same magnitude of "badness" as witchcraft?

2) Spiritual Implications

When rock music starts blaring, you feel different. Invigorated, yes. In a Godly way? I doubt it. One interesting thing to do when a song starts playing is to see how a little child will respond. They can't hear/understand the words, so they will only react to the music. I was listening to some "Christian Rock", that was actually pretty calm. Little sister walks in, and starts "dancing like she's at a party"... and for a six-year-old, that's certainly what she was doing. Our bodies react negatively to rock music, because music is spiritual - it will either effect us for good, or bad.

In addition, the spiritual world is not immune to music's influence either. A missionary story I once heard told about a recently converted witch doctor, who upon hearing "Christian Rock" being played asked the Christians why they were calling up the evil spirits. But we listen to this in our churches?

3) Cultural Implications

What music is played at a rave? I can assure you, its not hymns, folk, or even classical. What music is most heavily associated with drugs, immoral behaviors, and rebellion? Again, we find rock music as the culprit. When people hear rock music, this is automatically the implications that come to mind. Also, this is not just the words; lyrics are another discussion. I am talking purely about the music. No lyrics are necessary to carry meaning.

So what does this mean? One common excuse for the use of rock music is to get non-believers in the church. In other words, "Let's play this worldly, rebellious [witchcraft-related] music that affects people in a negative way and may even have impact on the spiritual world around us. Oh, but we'll change the words and call it good." Wake up call modern-Christian America! Who are you fooling? Will modern culture accept it? Sure, but so what? Our modern culture is one that hates God... but we got their acceptance, so it must be good, right?

Wrong.