Things Are Out Of Control

Icons on my desktop: 91
Emails in my inbox: 4178
Projects I have to do: infinite

AHHHHH!

I Wrote a Book

I discovered today that I wrote a book and I didn’t even know it. Turns out I’m a catholic priest too. What are the odds?

Here’s the link to the book on Amazon.com.

What Happens At Mass? - Jeremy Driscoll

Repentance

I’ve realized my sister’s relationship with me is similar to my relationship with Jesus. Not entirely obviously, but it’s a good reminder to me. Let me explain. I do things everyday that God hates. I sin because I am a sinner. I was born into sin. When I know that I sin (as I’m sure I also sin without knowing it), I come before God (or at least try to - I still struggle with that Grace concept) and I say I’m sorry. I really try to be repentant. I shouldn’t have done what I did, and I won’t do it again. But the very next day or week I’m back doing the same things. Why? Why do I constantly choose the wrong path? I’m not sure. The Bible clearly states that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer slaves to sin, yet I seem to choose sin more often than not.

Now my sister, as some of you know, can be very emotional at times. She has issues with anger and yelling. When she doesn’t get what she wants her first reaction is to get angry and yell at you. She did that to me earlier tonight. It was even over a stupid issue. I confronted her, which in hindsight is pretty stupid of me, because it gets me into these 30 minutes talks with her where I’m not sure she gets anything out of it. She’s just emotional and yelling and pretty much a pain to be around. I’ll finally get her to admit she did something wrong (which she usually won’t even look at me while saying), and she’ll say she’s sorry (Usually it’s because she yelled at me), but then the very next day she’ll do the same thing over again. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve asked her…”You said you’re sorry and that you wouldn’t do that anymore, so why did you just do it again?”

I wonder if Jesus is asking me the same question. “You say you’re sorry, but yet you just sinned again. I thought you were really repentant? I thought you loved me and my ways?” It puts my relationship with Jesus into a new perspective. Am I really sorry? Do I really want him to be Lord of my life? Do I really want to follow his rules and take them seriously?

It’s a lot to think about, but it’s something I need to continue to work on. I’m not sure what to do with my sister, but I can use these situations to remind me that Jesus expects us to strive for righteousness and perfection; to be like Him, not repeat our same mistakes over and over again.

Places To Go Before I Die

So I’ve decided to keep a list of places I’d like to visit before I go to be with Jesus. There’s simply too many places in this word that are simply gorgeous for me to not go visit them. God created quite the planet, and humans have done a fairly OK job of erecting cool structures throughout time. Suffice it to say there’s plenty of material.

I came across this picture earlier today, and I’ve added it to my places to see. It’s simply magnificent, and the fact that it’s been around for so long is just plain cool.

Here’s the link to the wikipedia article on the history of the church. I thought it was pretty fascinating.

You Know It’s Bad When…

I took a relatively long nap today. I got home from Church, had some lunch, and watched the Cubs game. I was pretty tired because I had gone out to the Paul Van Dyk show last night (which rocked by the way; I just wish I could have stayed for the whole thing) and I had to be up super early for Church. I had a crazy dream I was taking the ACT and there were crazy questions on it. The one I remember the most was I was given a picture of a network room and I had to label all the different pieces, from the router, to the demarc, to the switch. It was bizarre. I also remember having a lot of trouble with it. Time was half up, and I had only gotten through page 1 of 30. Yikes. Even my dreams are stressing me out these days.

Another One Bites The Dust

That is the title I wanted to use 4 months ago when Eric and Karen got engaged. Well, I wanted to use it, but I couldn’t remember what it was I wanted to use, but that was it. I remembered a few days later and by that point it was too late. Everyone had already read the post, and changing the title was just out of the question.

Well, lucky for me engagements lead to weddings, which is what happened this past weekend. I’ve been meaning to post about it for a few days, but just haven’t found the time. Well, now I’ve got a few moments to jot down my thoughts, so here it is.

Eric and Karen entered wedded bliss this past weekend. It was a glorious occasion, but also a really long two days. I was in the wedding so events started on Thursday night with the Rehearsal dinner. Actually scratch that. Events really got started when I picked Josh up from the airport. He was in the wedding as well, so he had flown in for the festivities. We headed to Chipotle after I snagged him from the airport. We spent a few hours shooting the breeze while we scarfed down some excellent burritos. After that we headed for the church where the magic was going to happen on the following day. They got married in the church she grew up in, North Suburban Evangelical Free Church. The rehearsal was rather fun, though we didn’t real understand the whole thing until the 3rd time through. They started at the end and worked their way back for some reason, and that was really confusing. We also got to watch a video of Eric and Karen, which was going to play before the ceremony. I have to say, my favorite picture was that of Eric dressed in an ugly green dress, and me standing next to him looking like a 12 year old. Gosh I looked so young back in college.

After the rehearsal we went to Hackney’s for the rehearsal dinner, which was a lot of fun. I was able to hang out with Josh some more, as well as George. I also got to mingle with several Journey people that I hadn’t seen in a long while. The food was excellent, as was the conversation. That Joshua is quite the cunning linguist. After the dinner we said our goodbyes and headed back to my place. Josh and I spent about an hour hanging out with my family, and then just talking ourselves and reliving the old college days. I really wish that kid lived closer. We’d hang out all the time.

*Josh and I at the rehearsal dinner.*

Friday was a long day. We started at Eric’s house, with breakfast for the guys, some hang out time, and some prayer and devotions. Todd, Eric’s brother, was the one who made breakfast. It was really good. He also made us a cake for Eric’s Bachelor Party/Birthday Party, which was also excellent. I seriously had no idea the guy could cook. After hanging out for a little bit we got dressed and headed to St. Mary’s where we took a majority of the wedding party pictures. St. Mary’s is a Catholic University where Eric and Karen spent a lot of their time, studying, hanging out, etc. We took pictures by a lake they had on campus and some of the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. It had to have been a little cold for the girls, since they were in dresses, but I’m thankful I’m a guy because I was nice and warm in my tuxedo. After pictures at St. Mary’s we headed to the church where we proceeded to take some more pictures.

*Pictures at St. Mary’s*

We had just barely finished up pictures when the guests started to arrive. As groomsman, we had to do double duty as ushers as well. I got to walk all sort of people down the aisle and ask them what side they wanted to sit on. At about 4PM, when the wedding was about to start we made our way to the back behind the stage, while everyone in the sanctuary watched the video we had seen the previous evening. Once the video was over we walked out, took our places, and proceeded to be groomsman eye candy. :) We actually got to sit during the sermon, which was pretty cool. Karen and Eric actually sat down during the sermon as well. I had never seen that done before, but it was pretty cool. The sermon was very gospel centric, which is what Eric and Karen wanted. They wanted the gospel to be spread through their wedding, which I find exceptionally admirable. I thought the pastor did an excellent job of doing that as well. He spoke with authority and passion. Hopefully it changed some lives.

After the exchanging of rings, vows, etc., Eric an Karen we’re married. We attended a light reception after the wedding, where I mostly hung out with my Bethel friends. I got to see a few old faces I hadn’t seen in a long time. After the reception we had a mini send off with bubbles galore, and then we made our way to the “real” reception. Eric and Karen had two receptions because they simply didn’t have enough room for everyone at the dinner and dance. The full reception was pretty cool. It was at a converted barn, so the bar was actually in one of the silos. Pretty cool when it echoes as you order something. After a full night of dancing, hanging out with friends, and just plain fun we made our way home. I was ready to hit my bead as soon as I went to bed, but I ended up staying up with Joshua for a little bit for some more reminiscing.

*The Glorious Send Off*

Saturday morning we woke up and headed for the airport. After I dropped Joshua off, I headed to drop off our tuxes, and then made my way to the after wedding open house. Eric and Karen had an open house for anyone who was from out of town as well as family and the wedding party. It was a good way to connect with people that maybe they didn’t get to connect with during the previous day at the wedding. Anyways I hung out there for a few hours and then made my way home. By the time I got there I was ready to pass out and actually spent the rest of the evening either doing nothing, or sleeping. I seriously had no energy for anything.

So that was my whirlwind weekend. It was fun, but tiring. When it was all said and done, another one bit the dust. :)

The full gallery of events can be found here.

Please Don’t Go Ape

To those who are waiting patiently for my next blog post (*cough* Joshua *cough*), it’s coming soon, maybe even in the next hour. :)