Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Chuck's family was still in town after the Eagle Court of Honor, and Heather and Jared, along with Jared's parents, all came for Thanksgiving dinner. That made 11 of us. Our weather was amazingly warm; we could have eaten outside, but some of the party vetoed that. We all kibbitzed as Chuck carved our 29 pound turkey. A turkey that large takes quite a long time to get all carved up, so we had plenty to say to the carver. We finished dinner with a huge assortment of desserts, and, of course, we can't try just one.

On Saturday we visited my sister for a second Thanksgiving celebration. We really did eat dinner outside that time, all 24 of us. It was one very long table. After dinner, we hiked the perimeter of their land, then some of them did target practice with .22's. Greta had her first shot with a rifle.

Snapshots of College Life

I accidentally deleted the original, so I am re-posting.

I have been attending KSU for a semester now, and I am really enjoying it. It is very different from being homeschooled, but I love it none the less, especially because I know for sure this is where God wants me.

Dying Hair

at the beginning of school, I dyed my hair dark auburn red, with washout dye. My friend dyed it in the art building bathroom. I really liked the color.

You Know You're an Artist When...

You read about a social issue,and immediatly think of a painting, and can find that painting in an art book because you know the time it fits into based on the style (it was Dutch Protestant)

Your new favorite joke is "look at the rythym and repetition!"

You know if you have a problem with using value correctly

CMYK actually means something (it is the color scale used in printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, black)

you come out of drawing class with a beard from rubbing charcoal on your face by accident

No one looks at you oddly when you act strangely, soley because you're carrying around a huge portfolio, or you're walking into the art building

You pick out what you wear based on the psychological responses to color

you beg your friends to sit still so you can draw them

Date Auction

I attended a date auction with a couple of my friends. One of the fraternities was auctioning off their pledges to raise money for the Red Cross. Most of the guys were ugly, though. I would bid, just for the fun of it, but I was almost always quickly outbid. I only had five dollars with me. One time I raised my hand right as a couple of other people raised their hands, and they put my bid down as seven dollars. The auctioneer started calling out, "Seven going once..." and my heart was pounding, but someone else raised their hand, and rescued me. At least that guy was decent looking. Because of my close call, I decided not to bid anymore. However, the spirit of it got to me again, and I bid on a guy for twenty-one dollars. I had not realised that it was at twenty-one already, I thought that the bidding had just started, and that the poor guy had not gotten any bids. Once again, I almost won a date, but someone else bid higher.

What I Used to Think of When I Thought about College

In high school, I had certain perceptions of college: what I always thought of when I heard the word. Granted, this is slightly skewed b/c its only been three months.

Drinking coffee all the time: I had my first cup of black coffee this semester, and it made me shake while trying to do a 2-D project. I rarely drink it, but it is good with a LOT of stuff in it. I drink more apple cider :)

Dating: Nope

All-nighters: nope

Finals: only one

Driving: nope

Independence: for the most part, yes

Messy room: it is messy as I write, and has been all semester, but it is not suposed to be. I always thought Mum would let me have a messy room. Guess not...

Job: not yet

Eagle Scout

On November 18th, I had my Eagle Scout Court of Honor. It was a simple ceremony; I had a few of the troop leaders talk about my time in the troop, and then had the scoutmaster read an Eagle Charge, followed by an Eagle Oath. The first scoutmaster I had gave me the Eagle pin and certificate at the end of the ceremony. We had a nice reception afterwards, with some scout-related food like popcorn and trail mix.

Several aunts and uncles came down for the ceremony, along with my grandpa from California. As always, it was great to see them, and I was glad they could come see the ceremony!

I was glad that I finally had the ceremony and was officially an Eagle Scout. The Eagle rank took a long time to complete, but it was worth it!

A Father's Eagle Scout Charge

I had the great joy of seeing my son officially receive his Boy Scout Eagle rank today. I gave him a charge at the end of the Scout court of honor. This is my charge to him.

We are honored by all of you that have come to David’s Eagle Court of Honor. As I look out around here at those who are here, and those who could not be here but had a significant impact on David's life, I am reminded that this Scout troop is part of the ministry of this church. Our family fits into this context in raising our children. All of you have played a role in David’s life raising, teaching, and preparing David for this moment, whether you were directly a part of Scouting or not. This is one of the reasons you all were invited. I cannot thank you enough for what all of you have done. I also cannot begin to thank God enough for His gracious hand on David's life.

David,

I remember when you were born. You were considerate and polite even then. You came gently, at a convenient time and finished your birth in a timely way – as if you had any control over that. You’re the youngest in the family. Normally, in birth order studies, the youngest child tends to be the most irresponsible and the clown of the family. You can be a clown, but a subtle clown – and you are far from being irresponsible. From an early age, you made sure things were in order in our family affairs. You don’t like being late and made sure we’d get our act together. Also, whatever you took on, you would do it well. I remember when we lived in France how you took upon yourself to watch out for our family. You memorized the Paris Metro, how to get around, and guided us to our destination and back home again. You’d watch the people around us on the Metro, the trains and other public places, and alert us to pickpockets and other dangers.

We’ve enjoyed watching you grow and work with others. You work well with adults, your peers, and children. You’re a valuable member in the youth leadership at this church. You’ve done excellent work with the sound system in this church. You took on bag piping. You perform exceptionally well in solo competitions as well as being a key performer in the Atlanta Pipe Band. You’ve played for funerals, weddings, on TV, and in front of celebrities.

Now you have completed another major milestone in your life. You have earned the rare Scouting rank of Eagle. As your father, I want to charge you with three things:

1. Remember the foundation of your life.
2. Nourish yourself.
3. Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Remember the foundation of your life. What I am about to say will come as no surprise to you. As delighted as we are in you, as our son, and in your achievements, you are corrupted with sin, as are the rest of us. This is a real and serious problem. You, me, all of us justly deserve death because of this. Jesus came, lived, died and rose again. In his death, Jesus paid for that sin. In his life, Jesus gives you his right standing with God. You have placed your faith in Jesus, and as a result, Jesus’ death covers your sin, and Jesus’ life gives you Jesus’ right standing with God and makes it yours. You had a huge debt that has been forgiven. You’ve been adopted into God’s family; you have an inheritance that is beyond your imagination. Christ lives in you. Always, always look to Christ. Never forget what God has done for you.

Nourish yourself. Just as our bodies need physical food to sustain life, grow, and develop, so does our whole being need spiritual nourishment to sustain life, grow, and develop. The Old Protestant Reformers called these activities the means of grace. These are the Word, the Sacraments, and prayer. These are called the means of grace, not because they magically save you, but because God has promised to be there in these means of grace. The prime way God strengthens you is through his Word. God is present whenever the Word of God is preached, and whenever you read your Bible. You may not feel God is there, but God tells us he is there. God is present in communion, spiritually, in a very real way. In communion, God will strengthen and nourish you. In prayer, you come before God and interact with him. Prayer is not merely the technique to change ourselves to the sovereign immutable God. God uses prayer as a means to accomplish many things, from healing, helping people, and accomplishing many, many other things.

Love God with all your heart and love others as yourself. What is the most important commandment in the entire Bible? Jesus was asked that question:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" {29} "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. {30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' {31} The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-34, NIV)

If you read the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, you will see that all of the Oath and Law fit within the parameters of loving God and loving others as yourself. Love God and love others with all that you do each day. This is a tall order to live up to. How do you do it? Go back to the foundation of your life. It is Jesus Christ, his life, his sacrificial and atoning death on the cross, and your clinging to Christ alone for your forgiveness of sins and your right standing before God. Think upon that and your life will be filled with faithful gratitude. Remember the means of grace, the Word, the Sacraments, Prayer. This is how you walk in life, growing, being fashioned by God for service. Finally, love God with all your heart, and love others as yourself. If you do that, you will more than fulfill your duties as an Eagle Scout.

Bagpiping this year

When I decided to take up bagpiping, I never thought it would involve competitions, or trips all over the southeast. I just assumed I would play the bagpipes - just like other people play guitar or piano.

Heh.

This past year, I was upgraded to the next-to-highest amateur solo competition level (Grade 2). What does that mean? Well, I basically have to know (and have competition-ready), almost twice as much music as the previous level. And, as you probably guessed, there is a higher quality of playing expected.

So, over the past 3 seasons, we've been driving all over Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina (I probably forgot a state or two). Most of the competitions I went to were little ones, out in the middle of who-knows-where. At those competitions, there were usually only 3 or 4 other competitors in my level, almost all of whom I know. I also play in the same band as some of the others I compete against. We normally trade off who wins each competition; one competition I might play extremely well, but the next time, do an abysmal job. There are normally two or three types of music I compete in at every competition we go to. In layman's terms, they can be classified as:

1) Bouncy Music (Strathspeys and Reels, which is what Highland Dancers dance to)
2) Getting Around Music (Marches)
3) Boring, put-you-to-sleep music (Piobaireachd... don't try pronouncing it out loud if anybody else is in the same room with you)

While I don't really like play the Piobaireachd (some of the tunes go on for 15 minutes), I usually do the best in those competitions, followed by Strathspeys and Reels. I usually don't do so well in Marches, even though they are probably the easiest type of tunes to play. Maybe I try too hard...

Besides the really small competitions, there are some larger ones that have around 8 or 9 competitors in my level. Those are nice, because it not only gives me some variation to who I play against, but also lets me rack up more points toward the year end standings.

The larger competitions usually have band competitions at them, also. I play with the Atlanta Pipe Band, which has a Grade 3 level band (bands are classified, as are soloists, from Grade 5 being the lowest level, to Grade 1, which is the highest). We didn't do so well this past year in band competitions, and unfortunately, half of the drum corps just left, including the lead drummer, so we will have another rough year probably.

Right now its the off-season for competitions. Since there aren't any coming up any time soon, I'm learning more music, and bringing those tunes up to a competition quality, to replace some of the older tunes I have been playing.

And in February, the whole cycle starts again!