Post-Bar Exam Update

Well, I'm alive. Barely. After 2 horrible days, and many sleepless nights, I am back home from Roanoke. I told myself I wouldn't think about the Bar Exam until mid-October when the results come out, but I'm being hounded by several (loving, I know) people asking innocent questions that can get under your skin if you just spent the last week developing at least a dozen ulcers and would like to not think about the exam. But they lovingly and faithfully prayed for me the entire time, so there's no way I can not give them the answers they deserve to hear. I think that when I put about a week or two between me and the whole ordeal, I'll be a little more amiable to field the questions.

Ok, enough whining.

Next week I'm heading out to see my grandfather and other relatives in the middle of a farming community in Missouri. I like it out there. For a city-boy, there's not much to do there. It's a good thing I'm not really a city-boy at heart. But seriously, check out this satellite view of where I will be at. My grandfather's house is southwest of that town you see on the map...in the open-space farm territory.

But I'm pretty excited to see cousins that I haven't seen since I was maybe 15, and to shoot guns at...well, whatever I feel like because it's in the middle of nowhere. At some point we're going to head into Memphis and check out a bunch of Blues places, Graceland, and some awesome BBQ joints.

After that, we get back and then Ashley and I head off to Seattle. I'm very excited about that. We'll spend a couple of days up in Vancouver with a law school buddy of mine (what's up Hussy!), then check out Victoria, Seattle, and the beautiful Washington coastline. I've programmed my Garmin to take us to every lighthouse in Washington. We'll do a lighthouse tour and then post the pictures online. I'm super excited. Oh yeah, and I think a couple of people are getting married there too...KIDDING! I am excited to be in Steve and Sylvia's wedding party. I think I get to give a toast (if Sylvia hasn't changed her mind since we last talked about it). So I guess I'd better get my jokes ready. I also get to see another cousin and his wife and son (who is ADORABLE) while I'm there. Man, what an awesome month.

Thanks Jon and Kate

It's funny how the divorce of Jon and Kate can inspire me to do well on the little test I have tomorrow and Wednesday.

http://blog.todayschristianwoman.com/editors/2009/06/words_for_kate_gosselin.html

For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Game time...almost

Tomorrow I leave for Roanoke, VA to take the bar exam. I don't actually sit for the exam until Tuesday morning, but I'm heading out early for stress reasons. I don't want to end up in a situation where I'm broken down on the side of the road the day before, or find out I don't have a hotel room the day before. I wouldn't recover. I feel pretty good having a day in between arriving and the actual exam.

I don't know how I feel about the exam right now. How I feel somewhat changes with how I do on practice questions. I can do a series of questions, get a great score on it, and feel great for awhile. Then, a few hours later I'll do another series of questions, bomb them horribly (at least, in my opinion), and want to forget the whole test entirely.

Regardless of how I feel, the test is coming. I will be there. I'll do my absolute best. Then, after two long days of brain numbing questions, I'll be on my way back home. I will sleep in everyday for awhile, then wake up and go straight to the beach to surf, watch every movie I have missed out on this summer, and see the country with Ashley.

If anything is going to get me through this test (besides a whole lot of prayer), it's the thought of the fun I'm going to have once it is all over with.

Wedding Dance

So, I'd love to convince Ashley to let us do this at our wedding:

Wow, what a journey!

There are two things that I secretly wish I could do:
Take beautiful pictures and travel the world while making friends with strangers.

This guy does both and makes it seem amazing in his blog. Check it out: http://codysmart.com/hitchhike/index2.html

Um, God...You There?

So, I've been thinking about people I've met over the years who have expressed their disbelief in God because "He's never spoken to me." Hey, I've been there too.

Well, this morning I was thinking about it, and I realized that when I feel that way, it's because I don't give God the opportunity to speak to me. I don't listen. I cut myself off completely by living the way I want to live, and I challenge God to come chasing after me. And if He doesn't, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of His non-existence.

This morning, I read in Isaiah a particular chapter that made it clear that I am not the first, nor only person to do this. I had to read it a few times to really get the gist of it (in fact, I had to read from The Message Bible to really put it into words that I could comprehend).

You see, Isaiah writes about a time when people in Israel were living a life for themselves. They knew what God asked of them, but they ignored God completely. Then, their lives started going into shambles. When they hit rock bottom (or close to it), Isaiah writes that the Israelites would cry out to God and ask where He was. But Isaiah makes it clear why God didn't answer: the people that God loved so much had cut themselves off from Him.

I still live at home with the parents (no, really...it's cool. I can totally stay up as late as I want, and they even let me play in the court after dark sometimes). For those of you that don't, think back to your younger days when you did. You knew that when you needed your parents for anything, you could just ask for help, and they would gladly (or sometimes begrudgingly) come running. Even in your rebellious teenage years, when you ran into trouble, your parents would always be there for you. Usually with an angry face (in my experience), but always with a loving heart.

Now, picture this. Picture that your rebellious stage didn't end, but it got to the point that you ran away from your parents. And not just under the kitchen table or as far as the end of the driveway this time. Picture that you ran as far away as possible so that you could continue to live the life that you, in your inexperienced and youthful "wisdom", felt was the fun life you deserved. Eventually the fun runs out, and reality sets in. If you ran into trouble this time, your parents wouldn't be there to answer your call. You've run too far for mom to pick you up in the mini-van with an angry look on her face.

But, if you were to just come back home, your parents would be there with an open embrace...and ready to help you when you need it.



That's how I think of God when I think He "doesn't hear" me. I realize now that He hears me just fine. I'm the one who has the hearing problem. If I run too far away from God, how can He help me?

As someone who has experienced God in so many wonderful ways, let me assure you...God can and does hear you. Examine your life and ask yourself if you can hear Him.

The coolest thing I've seen while studying...EVER

Ashley's neighbor is a recently retired Navy SEAL (he mysteriously disappeared during the whole Maersk Alabama pirate situation...hmmmmmmmmm). So I'm trying to do some practice essays while sitting on Ashley's porch, and I hear his adorable kids running around making gun noises in their front yard. I look up and the his son and daughter have plastic toy guns and are pretending to be Navy SEALs.

Yeah, that's cute and all, but the coolest part? Dad, recently retired SEAL, is playing with them. He's play-shouting commands and hiding behind trees with a realistic looking toy gun. They advance from tree to tree as if taking cover, and he gives covering fire while they run to the next tree. I feel like I'm watching an actual SEAL in combat. I would video tape it with my cell phone and post it, but like I said...he mysteriously disappeared during the Maersk thing and then returned a few days later. Hmmmmmmmm... Also, I may have engaged in piracy (of the Napster variety) during my college years.

Whoa, he just stopped them and gave them some sweet tips on firing while shooting. Awesome. Needless to say, I stopped mid-essay and haven't gotten back into it. It's not everyday you get to see a SEAL training with his kids.

A Permanent "Experiment" in Love

I'm going to try something "new". Every person I meet, as well as those I already know, I am going to ask myself one simple question when interacting with them: "How do I see God in this person?"

I want to stop looking at people and start seeing people. I never thought I struggled with this until I really stopped to think about it. I don't think many people think they struggle with this. But, if they're like me, they haven't really thought about it. Think of the labels we give people that we've had one, maybe zero, conversations with: The hot girl, cute guy, homeless person, mean lady, Jesus freak, gay guy, etc.

I am challenging myself to see people the way God does, and stop looking at them the way the world does. I know that God loves EVERYBODY (seeing as how he sent his Son to die for the sins of all of us), so I think that's a good place to start in deciding how to see people.

I know it will be tougher with some people than with others. For instance, I have little to no tolerance for egos. But God loves those who are full of themselves just as much as he loves the humble. Yes, I know the verses about humility, but show me where it says that Jesus didn't die for the arrogant, or where it says that God doesn't love them.

If anybody is reading this (and according to google analytics, nobody reads this but me since I deleted my facebook), I would encourage you to do the same. The people I struggle with may not be the same people you struggle with. So I would encourage you to think of those people you struggle to love, struggle to see the way God does, or just dismiss. Gay people? Drinkers and drug users? Christians? (Oh, believe me, there are more than a few Christians that I struggle with.)

I can't promise that you'll change the world by doing this, but I can promise that you'll see it in a whole new (and happier) way.

-Oh, and if anybody was wondering (again, nobody is reading this), bar studying has been going pretty well this week. Overall, I feel fairly on top of things for this stage of the game.