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Hope is something that is often misinterpreted. It’s often misused and underutilized. Usually it leads to disappointment and sometimes it leads to despair.

Hope cannot be given to you. But you can be robbed of it. Hope cannot be purchased for $1.99 at 7-Eleven. But it can be discovered. Hope usually comes packaged in a plain box — an unexpected package — that looks like it was sent years ago.

Hope must be found. There’s nothing more to it. It can be inspired, but it still must be found. Hope must be cultivated and remembered because without hope, there is nothing. It’s simply breathing beyond that.

Hope is something that is infinitely simple but wonderfully complex. It allows us to believe in something larger than ourselves. It allows us to face the difficulty that lies ahead.

But we must take care of hope, for we can lose it. Disappointment often sets in at this point and this is where we must take heart. We must put our hope into something — or someone — that can sustain us. We must, yes, hope for the Savior to take us. And we must believe that He, in His grace and mercy, save us…from ourselves.

We must find hope…for then, we will find peace. And this peace will transcend all understanding. And in that moment…we will have eternal Hope.

I am entering week 12 of my cough. (I actually counted.) The hope that hold onto is that the doctor that I just saw believes that she figured out the cause: Acid Reflux. Read again: Acid Reflux caused by stress.

I have taken the last 6 days off because I lost my voice. And now, I am considering taking a sick-vacation and seeing what lies beyond the confines of I-495.

Discovery…lies ahead!

The summer is coming to a close. With my cough, I’m not doing much work. So, here’s something to keep me busy.

70 questions to end the summer (stolen from Caroline)

70 Questions to End the Summer

1. Are you in a relationship?
No

3. How many houses have you lived in?
Five

4. What is your favorite candy bar?
Probably Snickers, but I don’t eat it because of the chocolate.

5. What are your favorite shoes?
Flip-flips, my hiking shoes, and my climbing shoes

6. Have you ever tripped someone?
Yes. Still do.

8. What was your favorite summer trip this year?
Trip to the Middleground Lighthouse

9. Do you own a Britney Spears CD?
No.

10. Have you ever thrown up in public?
Yes.

11. Name someone that’s ALWAYS on your mind.
Jebus?

12. What is your favorite music genre?
Mostly alternative/rockish

13. What is your sign?
cosine/tangent

14. What time were you born?
11PMish

15. Do you like beer?
Depends. I’m a fan of Dogfish, but not much else.

16. Have you ever made a prank call?
Yes. Still do.

17. What is the most embarrassing CD you own?
Don’t own many CDs so most of them are quality

18. Are you sarcastic?
No, I’m never sarcastic.

19. What is your favorite color?
Green

20. How many watches do you own?
Watches…0. Clocks on the other hand…

21. Summer or Winter?
This is not a question because it has no verb. I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it’s abigious.

22. Spring or fall?
See 21.

23. What is your favorite color to wear?
Green/Blue

24. Pepsi or Sprite?
DIET Sprite

25. What color is your cell phone?
Blue and gray

26. Where’s your second home?
Stamp Student Union

27. Have you ever slapped someone?
No.

28. Have you ever had a cavity?
Yes.

29. How many lamps are in your bedroom ?
Three

30. How many video games do you own?
Four

31. What was your first pet?
A Dog named Mario.

32. Have you ever had braces?
Yes.

33. Do looks matter?
In what context? What is up with the ambigous questions?

34. Do you use Chapstick?
Yes

36. American Eagle or Abercrombie?
American Eagle

37. Are you considered gangster?
By whom?

38. How many children do you want?
At least three, no more than five.

39. Do you own something from Hot Topic?
Probably.

40. What is your favorite breakfast?
Bagel plain with hot tea

41. Do you own a gun?
Not yet…working on it though.

42. What was the last thing you ate?
Salt-water taffy

43. When was the last time you cried?
A couple of weeks ago

44. What did you do last night?
Debugged a greasemonkey script that was driving me crazy. Oh, and talked with my roommates about life.

45. When was the last time you went to Olive Garden?
High school

46. Have you ever called your teacher “mom”?
Oh my word…no.

48. What are your nicknames?
Mike, Soh-Man, 10-David

49. Do you know anyone named Bertha?
Yes.

50. Have you ever been to Kentucky?
Yes.

51. Do you own something from Banana Republic?
Yes.

52. Are you thinking about somebody right now?
Yes. (This is a highly suggestive question.)

54. Do you smoke?
Smoke what? Are talking cigarettes here or sausages? No to the former, yes to the latter.

55. Do you own a diamond ring?
Yes. It’s next to my wallet that’s too small for my fifties.

56. Are you happy with your life right now?
What kind of ill-mannered question is this?

57. Do you dye your hair?
Yes.

58. Does anyone like you?
Does anyone like you?!

59. Who’s your best friend(s)?
I have many friends.

60. What were you doing May of 1994?
Moving from Baltimore to Ellicott City.

61. Do you own a Backstreet Boys CD?
No.

62. McDonald’s or Wendy’s?
Wendy’s

63. Do you like yourself?
Do I like myself? What kind of a hell question is that?

64. Are you closer to your mother or father?
Closer to my mother.

65. Favorite feature(s) of the opposite sex?
Wow, the wrong answer here could get me in a lot of trouble. I’m going to choose not to answer this question on the grounds that I have five more questions to answer.

66. Are you afraid of the dark?
No.

67. Have you ever eaten paste?
What kind of paste? Tomato paste or glue? Yes to the former, no to the latter.

68. Do you have a webcam?
Yes

69. Have you ever stripped?
I excersise my fifth amendment right.

70. What are you looking forward to the most this week?
Snakes on a Fricken Plane!

Okay, I’m done now…

It’s been about a week since LT has ended and it’s been a bit uncomfortable since I’ve been back to College Park, MD. Not in a bad way, but in a way that makes you really wonder what happened for the last 10 weeks. It’s a little depressing to be back because I miss everyone.

But I think it’s okay to miss everyone. My friend Matt Hillegass said to me that it should be hard to move away from people you care about. I think he’s right.

In the mean time, I’m spending much of my time planning for the fall semester. I’m a little anxious of what it’s going to look like, but I’m believing God for BIG THINGS. I may be a little naive…but I think these are good things to pray for.

I’m going to share them here. I am praying that God would help me see these goals by the end of the spring semester:

• 300 people to attend our Sunday service. (If you’ve never come, you should check it out Sundays at 11:00 AM in the Art/Soc building.)
• 100 people in small groups.
• 20 student leaders.
• 25 students that go to LT
• 20 people that come to Christ and join MCF

Now, I don’t know if God will do this. Frankly, I don’t think he will. But, regardless, I think it’s a good thing to pray for. And I want to believe God can do this. I know that I cannot do this alone.

Some of my personal goals are to finish my whole bible reading plan by the end of the fall semester. I’m also going to memorize the verses that were given to me at LT. I promised the director that I would and I’m going to give a try. 50 verses…sounds like quite a mountain. But I want to see what God will do.

I think I’m going to call this next school year “The year we will celebrate.” And I think it will be worth celebrating. And I’m looking forward to what the year will look like and how it will shape. I’m still praying through what grad school will look like and whether I will do the Appalachian Trail. There are other things up in the air, but I’m excited of what God will do.

This is what the LORD says: “At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation, I will help you. I will give you as a token and pledge to Israel. This will prove that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare. They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them beside cool waters. And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys. See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt.”

“Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land will soon be crowded with your people. Your enemies who enslaved you will be far away. The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’ Then you will think to yourself, ‘Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?’”
–Isaiah 49:8-12, 19-21 (NLT)