As you can see I have fallen more than a little behind in my pictures. I will finish them, but life got in the way. I doubt I make my original goal of finishing in the Lenten season. (Unless I go crazy and go on a few major photo shoots.) I do plan to eventually finish though.

I decided to write today because the counter on my phone tells me it has been 100 days since I graduated. It seemed like a good time to reflect on what has happened since then. I feel like it hasn't been that much, but when I stop to think it has been decently eventful. Of course we went through the holiday season. My band released a CD. I have played several times at open mic night. (This is the first time I have ever mustered up the courage to perform originals that were written and performed solely by me)  I went on a job search which yielded at least 4 offers, of those four offers I took two of the jobs.

I guess all of this is just me reassuring myself because, honestly, I feel somewhat unproductive right now. My goals are less focused than they have been in the past. This isn't necessarily a bad thing it is just different. I have always been working toward that next significant event, high school grad, college grad, completion of military training, etc. Don't get me wrong I still have goals, but they are more unclear and currently very fluid.

Well I guess that is enough of me rambling today. I do however want to get at least one more picture under my belt. Today the word is evil. I leave you with a picture of all of my socks. I HATE mating socks. I hate folding laundry in general. I have no problem doing laundry, but I hate folding it. Within the event of folding laundry there is a thing I hate most vehemently, and that is mating socks. So this is my picture of evil.

See? I promised it would be better, and lets be honest what could be better than not having to listen to me rant for a day? Ok, I admit it I got lazy. I took the picture I just didn't write the blog or post it. I'm feeling two separate short entries today to make up for it though. Mostly because I put the thought in yesterday and don't want to waste it.

World

This is my world. I like it. I get excited about it. I feel at home. As the saying goes: like a fish in water. It took me a while to find it, but this is my world. I realize this isn't a long post, but I feel it is significant.

Wonder

This one was tough. I spent quite some time wondering what to take a picture of. Finally I thought of a particular passage in Job. As you can see by the notes in the margin it is one I have liked for a while. So maybe this is a cop out picture I don't know, but its what you're getting if you don't like it read a different blog! I feel this captures the word "wonder" perfectly.

Settle

Today you guy's are going to have to settle for a short entry. I'm tired and about to settle in for the night. I promise tomorrow's will be better!

See & Injustice

I completely forgot to do this yesterday. I thought about it some during the day, but by the time I got home I was so tired it completely slipped my mind. Interestingly enough: though I hadn't looked ahead to the next day, (what is now today's theme) I had planned on encouraging you, as well as reminding myself, to see opportunities to help others. This opportunities usually occur due to some sort of injustice. I didn't know that today's word was injustice until I sat down to write this. So rather than do two separate entries, I will do one. So lets take the ampersand out of our title.

See Injustice

You don't have to look far. It is all around you. I'll admit my picture is fabricated today, but I'm sure you have all seen similar signs. I saw similar signs earlier today. Today I didn't do anything about it. I started to say I wasn't in a position to do anything about it, but that isn't entirely true. I could have done something, but I didn't. To be honest, I don't feel guilty about it. I have stopped and helped many times. Today I didn't feel led to do so. Maybe I am just not as in tune with what I should be doing right now, or maybe today I legitimately wasn't supposed to stop. I hope it is the latter. In the past when I have felt led to stop, I have had some very rewarding experiences. Usually these come in the form of conversations with people too tired to be anything other than completely genuine. I would be willing to wager that if you stop and talk and offer to help you'll get more out of it than you could ever get. I also find it helps to separate people who actually need help from those who are just trying to play on your emotions to make a quick buck. There have been times when I have offered to by food for "hungry people" and they refused asking for money instead. Don't get me wrong. Those people need to ministered to as well. Sometimes, I have even given them the money anyway. If the need it so bad that they feel they need to lie about it, is it wrong to show them some kindness? I guess my overall message for today's post is: Look for injustice, do something about it, don't be overwhelmed by how much there is. You might not be able to help everyone, but you will have some sort of impact on everyone you help.

Return

Today's word is return. This took me a bit to come up with something. Finally I settled on a picture of my front door. I like to travel, but when I'm on my return trip there is nothing more exciting than the sight of my front door. It means that I have made it back. I am home. I can kick my feet up and relax, take a shower, lay in my bed, play my guitars, etc. 

Lent is supposed to be a season of return and renewal. When I return to my house I am free to be me. I'm no longer limited to the clothes that I packed or what was in my car (or more often my saddle bags) It is the same when we return to God we are set free. Anything that was binding us or limiting us is gone we can be comfortable. Not that we should stop doing things and become stagnant, but we don't have to work to be accepted. We can be ourselves and are free to realize our full potential. Sometimes when I first get back from a trip I still live out of my suitcase. Sometimes when we return we still live with the restrictions we have gotten so used to working with. Remember that we have the whole wardrobe (and guitar rack! :-D) available to us once we've come home.

Who Am I?

Who am I? I don't like taking pictures of myself. So I had to come up with a way to take a picture that represented who I am without me in it. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "He wears many hats." used to describe someone. I decided that would be a good way to express who I am without having to take a picture of me. These are some of my most prominent hats and represent important aspects of my life. They are in no particular order of importance.

The closest to the camera is the bandanna I wear when I play gigs. So it represents my music. The gray fedora behind it was given to me by my grandfather, before that it belonged to my great-grandfather (who had a very small head) I used it to represent my family. The white ball cap is the one I wore as drum major of the Marching Salukis. It represents my time in the Marching Salukis as well as my time at SIU in general. Behind that, is my patrol cap which represents my service in the National Guard. Finally the motorcycle helmet, because I love my motorcycle!

So all of these represent me and things that I have done, but the question is "Who am I?" this is a difficult question to answer. When ever you meet someone new you usually start with names. Then often the conversation turns to "What do you do?" maybe this is because actions speak louder than words. You can tell a great deal about a person by knowing what kind of things they do and enjoy, but is this really who they are?

As I have reflected on this question today, I have come to an answer. I don't know if it is the right one but it is an answer all the same. Who am I? No one of consequence. Now I don't say this in some sort of self-effacing or negative way. I'm not looking for pity or moping around all ho-hum woe is me. In fact quite the opposite. Stick with me hopefully it will make a bit more sense.

This evening I attended an Ash Wednesday service. As the ashes were placed in a cross on my forehead, the pastor delivered the whole "From dust you came, to dust you shall return." It seems a bit morbid. "Hey glad you came to church by the way: you're dirt!" Try thinking about it differently for a moment. You, me, everybody a bunch of mud people walking around. Crazy! Nothing but dirt and God is SO good he can make awesome things happen. Every symphony ever composed, every work of literature ever written, every sculpture, painting, architectural masterpiece, EVERYTHING... Its all dirt. Pretty cool! I've never seen dirt do that on its own. Something had to help. So again I say: I am no one of consequence. I'm just a pile of dirt, but God has done some pretty cool things with this pile!

Well I've been slacking, but I have found something to get me in the habit of writing more often. In fact for the next 46 days I am going to write every day as well as post a picture. I can't take any credit for being original or anything, but I think it will be a fun way to reflect through the Lenten season.

If you want to join me you can read more here: Lenten Photo-A-Day

And of course the mandatory pic: