tears shed in church

Every time I see folks crying in church, I'm always reminded of Elvis' rendition of Crying in the Chapel.

I've noticed preachers crying in the middle of their sermons more frequently in the past couple of years. Whenever I see this, it always gets to me. I cannot help but empathize, resulting in my own 眼圈紅了.

I'm not quite sure how to eloquently end this post, so...Mournful tears. Joyful tears. Cry for those who know Him not and those that just did.

Psalm 30:5b.

rendevous with Madam C. Belle

It's been almost a year since I've seen this sight of beauty.

I love and hate it, which means I really do love it.

I believe I speak for a lot of Wahoos in saying that, Cville and UVA are synonymous and folks cannot think of one without thinking of the other.

In fulfilling a promise to the Norcom Crew & Co. and in honor of them rockin' the honor of Honors, I returned to UVA.

With no shame, dear reader, I tell you these things. This past year, I've literally dreamt of dear ol'UVA. I dreamt of walking around Grounds again. Wanting to be lost in another random part of Cville again. Yearning to see this place that was home for a very trying, yet rewarding 4 years.

It thrills and pains me to remember that today has been a year that I too have worn the honors of Honor.

Seeing and hearing familiar voices, sights, former haunts, and changes brought a plethora of thoughts and emotions.

I'm always a bit reluctant leaving her, but I know she'll still be there. She's had my back, you better know I got her's.

Shoutouts to the 2011 graduates!

bleeding h[ear]t[s]

Van Gogh was right to do what he did.

I don't care anymore. I've kept silent for too long.

Music nowadays SUCKS. TOO many times it's a combination of poor writing, inappropriate lyrics, and/or terrible melody. I truly believe this is why these chirren be actin' the way they do. It's because of this noise folks dare call music is shaping and molding them so.

Every genre that has lyrics is affected by this phenomenon. It's insane.

It's led me to wonder, what's going on in a songwriter's bleeding heart that compels them to make "music" causing my bleeding ears?

My solution: Sing about Him even LOUDER. By that I mean, put speakers to the windows and blast hymns until somebody tells you to quiet it down. Drive around town with the radio blaring His songs so pedestrians, loiterers, and animals alike can hear. More eloquently put, go tell it on a mountain.

To mend these bleeding hearts. To stop these bleeding ears.

mam(m)a mia!

Kanye West's Hey Mama and Jay Chou's 聽媽媽的話 come to mind when celebrating that day of tu madre.

With all due respect, we love and cherish the woman and the women who've stepped in and acted as mama. BUT, sometimes that woman be trippin'. Yeah, I said it. I'll tell her myself.

But in light of a sermon I just heard, I want to give voice to the ones who haven't been as fortunate. To the ones that've been hurt by this woman. To the ones that resent this woman. To the ones that can't bring themselves to forgive this woman...

Let go and let God. She may not have done you right in your lifetime, BUT please do her right in her lifetime. For her. For you.

Dear reader, she might not have taken care of you the way you would have like her to, but know full well that He's got your back.

Forgive her. HE forgave us.

let no man tear asunder...

Confession: I got up at 5am to see the Royal Wedding.

Ever since I could remember, I've always been fascinated by royalty of every kind. The grandeur, the luxury, the ridonkolousness of everything these folks had a hold on, held me spellbound.

When I was much younger, I remember absorbing book after book about palaces, castles, monuments, etc. etc. that were built because of such people. I've drawn and built so many models of royal residences that the very number of them all would match that of the number of those in Europe.

I've dreamt of cooking and eating the meals of the Sun King. (keyword is dreamt, not trying to have a heart attack...)

Obsession would be an understatement. So, naturally, me waking at 5am was child's play.

The wedding speaks for itself. Millions of pictures and commentators have said plenty, so I needn't rave on it.

But, I will rave about one wedding. Christ and His bride. Forgive the cliché, but this match was definitely made in heaven.

Revelation 19:6-8.

This Bride is beautiful only because the Bridegroom made her so.

beautfiulwonderfulmarvelous

It's that time again where ERRRBODY comes out the woodwork.

Cars fill up the parking lot. Standing room only a lot of times. Multiple and sometimes extended meeting times occur.

Frustrating, to say the least.

All petty stuff aside, it's definitely worth it.

Resurrection. A simple concept with revolutionary effects. Who'd thought that 2000+ years later, one man's death could cause this much commotion every year?

Luke 15.

One is ALL the difference.

lessons from the Concrete Mistress

I'm claiming credit for the above name just coined, first.

Don't get me wrong. I heart New York. It never disappoints when I go. But as of lately, the mistress of THIS particular concrete jungle has been quite harsh.

I never cease learning from my encounters with her. But particularly, I want to focus on this little nugget of info from Mme Concrete. Hopefully, this ain't already in textbooks. If it is, I apologize for not crediting you, dear reader, properly for it. But if it isn't...I'm claiming it first too.

I've realized folks learn facts/gossip in one of two ways. A: in one long stream of info. Getting the whole picture, if you will. B: in fragments, having to piece them together along the way to get the whole picture. Like puzzle pieces. I want to focus on this "Puzzle Piece Learning."

Certainly each type of learning has its merits, but it's the "PPL" that confounds me the most. A lot of times we get pieces and just don't know where to place them. Sometimes we jam it in a place, thinking it'll fit in -only to find it doesn't match later on. Sometimes we just store it away, hoping and sometimes not knowing when it'll make sense. Hopefully it doesn't have to become a Slumdog Millionaire type of deal.

Info gathered through "PPL" seems the most challenging to deal with at that moment, but most rewarding when it comes to be of much use, at the most random times. It is then that when everything falls into place, everything makes sense.

It seems to me that A LOT of His lessons are the same way. Finding pieces that seemingly fit nowhere at present, to then find that it fits perfectly into His most perfect puzzle picture later on.

Hats off to this Teacher.