Life is like a box of chocolates

Today I feel: cultured. :0)

Today was FSU's International Bazaar, so, the Русский Клуб had a table and we made Blini and had sourcream and this really good chocolate stuff to put on it. We made Blini from like, 10:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon, so by the time the International Bazaar started, I was thoroughly sick of blini. But it was really fun. When we finally got to the bazaar and set everything up I was really hungry cuz I had skipped lunch. There was SOOO much food, and it was all from different countries and it was delicious. I think the Indian food was my favorite. I got to meet a lot of really cool people. For a while, I sat at a table and wrote kid's names in Russian for them, which was fun, and I met this guy named Hasheem who was writing people's names in Arabic. He was really nice and he taught me some Arabic words and I taught him some Russian ones, and he wrote my name in Arabic and it's really pretty. I also got my name written in Korean and Japanese. Then at like, 6:00 all the groups got to perform something, so my friend John sang this Russian rock song, and we just kinda stood up there and clapped. I felt really stupid cuz I wasn't doing anything, but John said we were moral support. Whatever. Anyway, after we performed I finally left at 8:00ish, cuz i was really tired, and after me and Lori spent about 30 minutes searching for my car in the parking garage on Woodward (yes, I know, I really should pay more attention to where I park so these things won't happen, but I forgot to see what floor we were on) we came home and now I'm watching Forrest Gump, which is a great movie. It's on T.V. now. You know, this might be really weird, but I always draw parallels in this movie about our spiritual life. I think God sees us a lot like Jenny. The best way to live is right in front of us, but we have to try every other kind of path before we finally just trust him and realize that the thing we are looking for was right there all along. Jenny spent her whole life searching for "the good life" and what would make her happy, and she viewed Forrest as a simpleton who wouldn't know what real happiness was if it hit him in the face. But really, Forrest was the one who had peace in his life. And it wasn't until Jenny had nowhere else to go and tried everything else that she finally came home. So many times I know that people think I'm missing out because I don't do all the "fun" things that they do. But the fun things that they participate in don't make them happy. Real joy comes from trusting God and doing His will. And those who don't do that really don't understand that concept. It's "foolishness to those who are perishing", as Paul said. I see so many people every day who are trying to live life their own way because they think that their way is better and Christianity has too many rules, etc. etc. etc. But the joy I feel when I'm doing what I know God wants me to do far outweighs any disappointment I could feel for "missing out" on other stuff. Anyway, I'm gonna go finish the movie now. "And that's all I have to say about that." Arrivederci!

I'm setting the stage for the things I love
And I'm now the man I once couldn't be
Nothing on earth could now ever move me
I now have the will and the strength a man needs

Complexity haunts me for I am two men
Entrenched in a battle that I'll never win
My discipline fails me, my knowledge it fools me
But You are my shelter, all the strength that I need

It's my will, and I'm not moving
Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me
It's my will, to bow and praise You
I now have the will to praise my God

I'm learning to give up the rights to myself
The bits and the pieces I've gathered as wealth
Could never compare to the joy that You bring me
The peace that You show me is the strength that I need

It's my will, and I'm not moving
Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me
It's my will, to bow and praise You
I now have the will to praise my God

-DCTalk