I have great news: I got a job! I'm lined up to work a sales position for a top-of-the-line knife manufacturer (they sell other stuff too, everything from silverware to garden tools). And this is not advertising, but I've just got to say their stuff is incredible. They let me test one of their table knives on a piece of leather after trying a regular steak knife on the same piece. The steak knife I had to saw with, but the table knife just went right through it easier than a hot knife through butter. No joke! I was there holding the knife, staring at the interviewer holding two pieces of leather in front of me, and going, "What happened?" It literally felt like cutting air. And their all-purpose scissors are REALLY all-purpose. The dude turned a penny into a corkscrew with them right in front of my eyes, then turned around and used the same scissors on paper. Not dulled in the least!

The job is incredible. Great pay, an unbelievable employee discount in case I decide to become a customer too, and I get to work close to home in my own hours. And best of all... well, let's just say I can't wait to see the looks on my brothers' faces when they find out I'll be selling knives. XD

The catch is, there are a few delays to me working. The meetings would lead to some schedule conflicts with my Mom, and since I don't have a driver's license, even sharing a car would prove problematic-especially since the office is several miles away, and our car needs an oil change we don't have the money for. Fortunately, the manager understands my difficulty and says I can just let him know when I'm ready to start training.

In the meantime, I'll still be looking for a job with regular hours and pay (this job I'll get paid by visit) so I can have a consistent budget. Whatever I make once I start as a salesman will probably go to savings or charity.

Thank you to everyone who's been praying for me. God really has provided.

In an unrelated note, I'm on the thirties of chapter one in Romans (some of the lists like the one below are tough to memorize completely and in order). The memory verses in this journal have nothing to do with my job. lol

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Romans 1:28-32 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, and though they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but give hearty approval to those who practice them.

This item recently came to my attention.

Pro-Life activist James Poullion was known to frequently stand outside Owosso High school of Owosso, Michigan, holding a large poster of a baby with the word "Life," in large letters... until he was shot and killed on September 11 in the act of so doing. Authorities have confirmed that he was killed for his pro-life stand. Harlan Drake, a resident of Owosso, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Jim, along with the death of another resient earlier that day.

Erin Biermacher, President of Students for Life of Michigan, had this to say: "Pro-life students across Michigan are shocked and saddened by the senseless death of Jim Poullion. Jim cared deeply for innocent unborn children and their mothers, and his strong witness will be missed. Students for Life across the state of Michigan pledge to honor Jim's legacy. Today, despite this tragic news, we renew our dedication to shining the light of truth on the tragic impact of abortion in our campuses and local communities."

Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life of America, offers her own view. "Pro-life students across America were shocked to hear the news about the senseless killing of pro-life activist Jim Poullion on Friday. Jim was peacefully protesting trying to educate those most targeted by the abortion industry about what abortion really is. He was doing what many of us have and continue to do on a regular basis. We are saddened to see someone decide to take a life because he did not agree with Jim's position on abortion. Just as it is with abortion, killing never solves the problem."

As for my own view on the matter, call me cynical, but it doesn't surprise me. Drake was obviously pro-choice, and it's hardly a shock that anyone who thinks they have the right to decide an unborn baby's death would think the same with regard to an active "inconvenience" like Jim Poullion. Even the very doctors who perform the heinous "legal" murders known as abortions surely realize, deep down, that Dr. Suess was right. "A person's a person, no matter how small." Sadly, though, the rational of abortion has reared an ugly head in the logic one can infer behind the terrible crime of Harlan Drake: "An obstacle's an obstacle, no matter how big." Erin Biermacher and Kristan Hawkins have spoken the truth. This murderer clearly wanted to silence Jim's message. But, as is appropriate for something taking place on September 11th, he only put a mousetrap to a lion's tail. He showed us what abortion, and its advocates, really are, and he has done so more vividly than Jim's protests ever could.

We will remember. Jim's death will not be in vain.

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Romans 1:8-17 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far), that I may obtain some fruit among you, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. For I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise men and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not asahmed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Still no luck on finding the journal, but I thought it was time to post an update.
First of all, I graduated from college yesterday, with honors! I'm now living in an apartment close to the college, and I hope to tutor my brother when he attends (maybe along with some other students). First, though, please pray that I can find a job soon, along with the resources and training I need to get some wheels under me aside from my bike. Also, in order to avoid losing my momentum from Bible college, I have decided to memorize the book of Romans.
Second, I. Am. In. Love. I met a girl while working at the same summer camp I worked at last year, and after a somewhat un-promising start (we were introduced by a somewhat excitable friend, and she at first tok me for another spazz case), she and I were hooked; so much s that had we not agreed never to kiss until the pastor gives us the go-ahead (hey, it doesn't hurt to consider how things might turn out), we would have probably done so every day, if not every waking hour. She is kind, sincere, intelligent, wholly devoted to God, and downright beautiful on the outside too. I've only known her for a short time, but in that short time God has used our relationship for more good than the bad of all my past relationships put together. We've been a real help to each other, and from what I understand she's even, largely through our bond, been able to reassure a friend of hers that God is good and faithful, instead of some cosmic bully who is the cause of everyone's problems. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I really think she might be the one.
And one final piece of news: I am laying off DA. I've had some good times here, but it came to my attention that someone I don't even know, evidently angry at my opposition to a certain malignment of Balto characters, has posted slanderous claims I won't repeat regarding my conduct on the internet. Although I refute these false accusations, and have been utilizing the filter provided by this site for quite some time, I would not leave any room for reasonable doubt even in my most irrational enemies. For that reason, I am setting up a filter on my laptop, which will block me from sits I wouldn't go on anyway, along with this one. I will still be on from time to time, through public computers, which I know no one will delude themselves into thinking I would misuse. I may also come on from here to post my art, but that will only be under the supervision of the friend to whom I am entrusting control of the filter when we next meet.
I've had a lot of changes in a short span of time. I went from single to courting, fromstudent to graduate, from employed (in the sense that I worked in the kitchen at school/camp) to unemployed, and from dorm life to an apartment I have mostly to myself. But wherever I go, and whatever I do, I will serve the King of the Ages.

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Romans 1:1-7 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have recieved grace and apostleship t bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I still haven't found my journal of the trip to Uganda, so I'll describe the best moment now. The best part of it, I thik, was when we visited an orphanage. We played some games with the children, one of which consisted in running around and then gathering into groups of a certain size on a signal (if you ended up in no group, you were out), and the other consisting of two teams holding hands in a line and moving hula loops along the line, wih each member getting their whole body through the hoops without breaking hand contact. Then, while part of the group stayed with them for a Bible lesson, a small group (including myself) left to make some baloon animals to hand out to the kids after the lesson. I have found it strangely fun to sculpt different things from balloons, but even better were the children's faces when we werehanding out the gifts. If you have a dog, have you ever gone away on a trip, like for days, and then come back and found your dog waiting for you, so HAPPY to see you that he almost kills you welcoming you back? It was like that times fifty. I've never seen children so happy anywhere else in that country or any other.

Once again, I'm on break from college. I had a great missions trip to Uganda, although I can't offer many details because my journal of it is still tucked away (once I find the journal, I'll post the full record on here if I can). What I will say for now is that it was amazing. Never have I felt such an intense spiritual need, nor have I ever so felt the presence of God.