San Diego #14: Post-Project - Teammates, Brothers, Sisters, Friends

As I was walking back to my dorm from the last Cru meeting of my freshman year, it struck me what an odd thing friendship is. There are 7 billion people in the world, and out of them, my friends are my friends partially because of a common location on the map and the timing of our births. Those two things need to be there, and only then are we in a position to actually meet each other, know each other, and be friends. Over a year after I initially had that weird thought about friendship, the same thing rings true about the students of SDSP 2013. We were in a common location, and we're all 18 to 23 years old. But, here, there was something different. It takes me a long time for me to call any of my friends close. Yet, after only ten weeks, I feel like I made close friends at SDSP.

It was about ten weeks ago that the awkwardness that the beginning of project holds started to set in. It started with the group I went with from the airport to housing, where we had a lot of trouble even finding each other in the airport. And for good reason - we didn't know each other, save for a few of us who go to school together. We got off our van to an overwhelming scene of staff happiness. A few icebreakers later, I still wasn't keen on being in San Diego because I knew hardly anybody. Obviously, a few things happened between then and now.

Looking back, a lot of them revolve around taking steps of faith and God planting seeds. On the second day of project, we shared our souls with our small group. For a lot of us, it was the first time we had to be authentic with anybody on project. But, it carried over throughout the summer. A lot of us were authentic with each other by sharing our struggles, victories, and what God revealed to us through them. In turn, everybody on project was so encouraging! That word showed up so often in my journal, and whether it was a big group of us encouraging each other, or one person I was talking with encouraging me, it meant a lot to me throughout the summer. These types of things stick with me.

A lot of conversations like that happened early in project. The first week of project was a whirlwind of meeting people almost every chance I had, getting used to them, and realizing that I liked everyone that I'd been able to talk with. There were still quite a few people I hadn't had conversations with at the time, but we had nine weeks to go, and I was thinking that maybe we'd all be super-duper bestest friends forever and ever by the time project closed. Didn't quite happen.

Reflecting on it more, I don't think this is a bad thing at all. Before he left for Serbia, Cameron, my small group leader, encouraged me to be more social with others, but not to try to become who I'm not. I do feel like I got to know the guys enough to know that they will continue to walk with God, and glorify him through their lives. I hardly know some of the women, seeing as we lived apart, but God blessed me with great friendships with some of my sisters in Christ on project!

The turning point for me was when Cameron and the staff left San Diego. At that point, I had to look to everybody else for fellowship, encouragement, and leadership. Not just the four student directors, but everybody. And, to an extent, everybody was accessible and willing. Whether it was a late night run at Denny's or a small group hashing things out near housing, this was when things really changed for me. Yeah, I hit a dry spell spiritually during that time, but this was when I learned and remembered everybody's names. This was when I began to stop taking the other students for granted.

Things really culminated during the last week. I had an awesome time hanging out during our free day. I bounced around a few groups, spending the morning at the San Diego Zoo and somehow ending by crossing Coronado Bridge at night - a beautiful sight - and barely catching the last trolley. What a day it was, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if we didn't all take steps of faith to know each other better earlier in project and the seeds God planted.

Also, during the last week, Brent and Sam got engaged! The video's all over Facebook. The joy that engulfed all of us on project was amazing. That's when I realized that God uses even time as a pawn - most of us had only known Brent and Sam for nine weeks, yet we were so happy for them as if they were our friends for years. A big reason that we felt that close as a community was because of the steps of faith we took earlier in project and the seeds God planted.

We had worship on the beach during our last evening. It included some teary goodbyes to a couple of us who were leaving that night. Toward the end, as the sun had almost completely set, a few guys put their arms on each other's shoulders and started swaying. The group got larger and larger. Almost all the guys were there when some of the girls joined in. Before we knew it, everybody who was still there circled up for one last "God Is With Us", the song we so cluelessly sang at the beginning of project. Again, steps of faith and God planting seeds earlier in project contributed so much to the closeness of that moment - one of my favorite moments from the entire summer.



Worship on the beach during our last evening... just look at that sunset.

At that point, I wanted to keep these people in my life forever. I didn't want to say goodbye. I was hoping to stay up all night with whoever else wanted to, and a group of us went out to the boardwalk to try. I couldn't quite make it the whole night - I crashed for a bit outside one of the condos inside the rails, where I closed my eyes for a bit with the cool ocean breeze blowing against me a final time. I got up after about ten minutes of "sleep" because the goodbyes were starting. People were leaving housing en masse. Cars were being packed, shuttles were being boarded, and our group got smaller and smaller, seemingly by the minute.

About 15 of us were in the airport near the check-in desks at the same time. The airport layout was unfortunate, at least for me; the security checkpoint was pretty close to the entrance, and the airlines most of the 15 were flying were not in the same terminal as mine. As I took the long and lonely walk to my terminal, I thought about the fact that they'd all gone away from my life, at least for a bit. I passed the area where I'd claimed my bag when I first arrived, remembering how my phone was dead at the time - the start of the awkwardness that the beginning of project holds. God took us so far since then.

In those two days, my eyes stayed dry, but it didn't make the goodbyes any easier. In this project, I hugged more people than I have in my life. As I was writing this, I realized that God revealed so much to me through 80-ish others my age who are all walking with him. I also realized that for the rest of our lives, all of us likely won't be at the same place at the same time again.

I haven't been hit by post-project depression like a lot of us have, but that doesn't mean I'm cruising through this week. Kelsey was the first person I met in San Diego - she somehow found me even though my phone was dead - and Sarah D. was the last person I said goodbye to in the airport. In between were an awesome DNA group, a couple roommates from Missouri whose lives God has changed so much, a lot of encouraging, awesome people from Arkansas who ended up being great friends, a few students at San Diego State who I pray continue to grow in a Gospel-centered community, and so many more who touched my life simply by being there. And I miss every single one of them.

As I said, I wanted to keep them in my life forever. In a way, I can because of social media. What a blessing it can be! Yet, it's just not the same as being able to hang out with them in person and have frozen yogurt. But, think of how God could use any one of us to further his kingdom, and he'll work even more through us as we keep walking with him! Thinking of that makes the split a little easier.



"I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged..." (Complete it yourself.)

To end this, I'd like to encourage all of us, including myself, to not let this be only time that any sort of community becomes part of our lives. What we had in San Diego probably can't be matched. All we can do is realize that God blessed us with the opportunity to have each other at SDSP, and be grateful for it. But, there's so much more ahead of us in our lives, and every time we have to start anew, God may want to plant seeds in people's lives - including our own - but it may take steps of faith on our part. It'll be tough to do it at school at times. But, it was tough to do it in San Diego, and we did it. And who has more fun than us?

My prayer is that all of us never stop walking with God in our lives. I know that I'll see a lot of you again at reunion. If not then, then maybe DCC. If not then, then I hope that we cross paths again later on. But if not even then, there's heaven.

God was with us in San Diego, but even as we leave each other, God will never leave us or forsake us! Rejoice in that when withdrawals set in!

San Diego #13: Post-Project - Sharing

The next few ones I'm doing are just reflections I'm having between myself and God about project. I'm not going to spill absolutely everything - there's stuff I'd rather just say in person - but these are going to be quick recaps of ten weeks of the best summer of my life. That being said, excuse me if these quick recaps end up being somewhat drawn out.

Sharing my faith was something I wanted to grow in this summer after two years of wanting to grow in it "later". The premise for this is the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28. A part of making disciples is to, well, meet them to begin with. And, if the mission is spiritually based, there's really no way out of sharing your faith in a situation like this.

Still, that didn't make me gung ho about it. I've admitted to the entire project that I chickened out hard during the evangelism outreaches at DCC. I didn't go to San Diego with a completely different mindset, as if somebody had waved a magic wand in my general direction.

The mindset I had behind sharing my faith was based off a video that I've seen several times, and many other evangelical Christians reference it. It's basically the magician, Penn Jillette, saying that not sharing our faith with somebody is akin to hating said person (1) (2). That made me feel pressured to share my faith - read the footnotes as to why - and if I ever did share, I felt uneasy going in and relieved when it was over.

(1) I think this is a terrible approach to get people to share their faith because people who watch this may react with guilt, and therefore act on guilt. Guilt is a terrible motivator; for me, it makes me just want to knock a task out just to make myself feel better and get it over with. Any heart that I'd have for sharing with Jillette's viewpoint in mind was revolved around myself, not the people I would talk to. And, when I'm revolved around myself, I tend to think more about my performance, because I can be somewhat of a perfectionist. Do know, I don't have an issue with the claim itself. It's just an awful motivator.

(2) On an unrelated note, I can't think of another instance where Christians directly quote and reference a staunch atheist such as Jillette.

That being said, it was great to get a refreshing viewpoint of evangelism - taking steps of faith in initiating conversations and leaving the results up to God. Our job is to trust that God is with us as we go, and act off of that.

There were a lot of chances to share my faith during project. There were planned outreaches in the evening, a day of the week set aside for us to go to college campuses and share, and during the day, our workplaces. Some of us were able to share while just being out and about. I found sharing my faith on campus to be the most fulfilling. Going to San Diego State and having good spiritual conversations with people, and sharing the Gospel with most of them, really was a good way to interact with students and get them plugged in to the Bible studies we did on campus if they were interested.

But, not everything was a super-great experience for me. At times, an evening evangelism event was planned, whether it was on the beach, or even back on a college campus, and I struggled with almost all of them. The biggest factor was a lack of motivation at the end of the day, most of which were tiring. If I ever did stop dragging my feet, it was because my project teammates helped get me going.

Project is now over, and I'm still not very good at sharing. Even on campus, my sharing partner usually had to get me going. But, I saw a lot of growth in that area through taking steps of faith. And, where there's some steps of faith, I've found that God usually wants us to take more steps of faith as time passes. Ten weeks were a huge blessing for my life, but those ten weeks were not my entire life. God isn't finished with any of us who were on project, and I pray that steps of faith to continue in the mission are taken by everyone.

For me, I didn't have long to wait before a chance to continue came up. While I was flying to Dallas, I was sitting near a couple marines. They were going home as well after six months of training. I looked about their age, so they asked me what I was doing. I got as far as giving a quick testimony and telling them what I did in San Diego, but the conversation stopped after that. I definitely wasn't prepared for anything like that on the plane rides back. I still have a long way to go before I can say that I'm prepared in season and out of season to give an account of my faith.

A way you can be praying for me is for God to continue to change my heart. I don't particularly love sharing my faith because my heart for the lost fluctuates a lot (at times I'm on fire, at times I couldn't care less). On top of that, my ego has always been an inhibitor for just about everything. I definitely can't speak for God on this because I don't know his plans for our hearts, but I'm willing to believe that he doesn't want us stagnant for a long time.

That being said, I feel changed about this going into the fall. At the very least, my attitude has changed - my mood at certain times will probably be up in the air. As far as I can see, there's going to be a lot of it in the first six weeks or so before I start dragging my feet because school is destroying me.

San Diego #12: Supported!

I really haven't been blogging... I guess it's really setting in that I don't have much time left at all with my project friends, some of which I've really gotten to know over nine short weeks.

I just wanted to say that as of about a week ago, all my support is in! It took eight weeks into project for me, but with steps of faith (i.e., making phone calls), any of my friends supporting me or even considering supporting me, and a lot of encouragement from my small group, the student operations directors, and a few other friends here on project, God provided.

I've also been supported in non-financial ways. Here on project, we often pray for each other, and I've sent plenty of support letters out asking for prayer. Whether those people have prayed or not, I feel that God will support us - whether it looks good to us or not - when we're doing his work.

The past few days have been a whirlwind. We said our last goodbyes to our church congregations, the people that we've met on the campuses that we evangelize at, and a couple of students have left project a little early. We had Alexis, one of our staff, visit us for a few days, and after he rolled out of Mission Beach, the directors are back to close project. It's been fast, but in a way, it's also been slow. What can't be argued is that it's been incredible.

This'll probably be the last SDSP post I write in San Diego. There's more to come later!

San Diego #11

It's been a while since I last did one of these. It's worth noting that this post is the first one I've done since the staff all left. It's not because I have a ton more responsibilities here on project... it's probably because I've been trying to take advantage of this community more. As I've said many times, this type of community cannot be matched, except maybe on other mission trips. But, of course, I like to keep a couple evenings per week to myself and God.

When project people, whether it's two, 40, or all 81 of us, team together, the impact we can have on the people we talk to or places we head off to can be pretty large. We've seen local college students take steps in their walk with Christ already, and we hope that with the people we don't see often, Christ works in their hearts. On a lighter note, one of our teammates, Sam, had his 23rd birthday a couple days ago and about 30 of us went to celebrate at Phil's BBQ. You know everybody was happy to have 30 college kids make an already long seating line even longer!

Meanwhile, yesterday, I got on the bus to get back to housing from the place I volunteer at. I'm not going to lie - the place I volunteer at has a good mission and a good heart, but it's not my favorite place to be at in San Diego (i.e. lifting TVs and furniture makes my back sore, and it doesn't help that I sometimes lift like an idiot and don't keep my back straight). The first thing I heard was: "Chewdles!" (1) Turns out, a bunch of project people were on their way back from Despicable Me 2, and they invited me to tag along with them to grab Chick-Fil-A (2). Just being with them got me in a better mindset after a somewhat tough day.

(1) Oh yeah, Chewdles. This is my project nickname, given to me by Cameron, who I've mentioned in my blogs before. And, I am making Chewdles come back to Nebraska. Ethan, our director, and Josh, another student, are gonna help me with it, too.

(2) I'm thinking of doing a Chick-Fil-A vs. Raising Canes post on the Human Panda blog. Look out for it... maybe soon.

I also went on my first nighttime Ralph's run. Ralph's is Southern California's Kroger chain, and it's not too far from where we live. I went with three other people, all of whom I've gotten to know pretty well here on project! I also love some of their deals...

I can't believe I let Caela take this.

...3 boxes for $1.49 each. It amounts to about 11 cents per ounce with Froot Loops, which is a good price for cereal, especially name brand. The Frosted Flakes were my second go at that deal.

Another awesome thing I've gone to was The Flood. It's a church service in a high school, and the worship alone makes it worth a visit. Sean and Rob, two other project guys, practically forced me to check it out. The sermon wasn't my favorite... compelling stories, but as far as I understood, they didn't have much to do with the passage. Again, though, the worship. My goodness.

We've only got about two weeks left here on project. I'm definitely going to miss everybody here, whether I've shared my life with them or I've only talked to them once. There's so much more I can do with them. Sharing my faith alongside them is a wonderful way to spend time with them, and there are several things around here I plan to do here before I leave.

My prayer is that these last two weeks don't become a bucket list, but that they're full of experiences with my brothers and sisters that I can take back to Nebraska.

San Diego #10

For the Staff, Especially the Student-Staff

When I got into San Diego a month ago, I arrived at housing timid, a bit weary, and not knowing what would happened next. I met Kyle, the guy who called me on the phone ten days before, only for him to tell me that he wouldn't be my small group leader as was originally planned.

Ever since then, I've gotten to meet some great staff and student staff here on project. I thought Cameron, my actual small group leader, couldn't pour into me any more than he had, but then I asked him to baptize me and he went all out. Another student staff, Andrew, invited a bunch of us to lunch right away so we could get to know each other better. It's both the little things and the big things that make an impact on lives, and from my ministry team staff to any conversations I've had with any other staff, they've definitely made an impact on me.

But, now they're gone. They're off to Anaheim for a bit to relax, enjoy the parks, and spread their colds around. Then, the bulk of them go home for the second half of summer. Others go to Serbia. One of them goes to Poland instead.

I'm going to miss them. In five short weeks, several of them have been great friends. But, the point of this project is not for us to get clingy, nor is it for them to be with us forever. As of now, the project is ours. I see us as the reliable men that Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 2:2, and they've equipped us to teach others. Meanwhile, the staff will be impacting other lives in ways that they couldn't do if they continued to be here in San Diego. Think of it this way: our big group is splitting into a few smaller groups.

I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty now that they're gone. I guess I just miss... okay, I'll stop.

Straight from my journal: I will see these people again. If not on earth, then later.

See you later, staff! God is with us, and God is with you.

San Diego #9

If you've even heard that I'm on this summer project, I'd really, really like you to read this post.

About a week and a half ago, our project directors brought up the fact that there'd be a baptism service. Immediately, I considered going for it. But, after being taught about baptism in Catholic school and seeing baptisms in my church, I never considered it before. So, what was different here?

Honestly, I don't know. Something that God has done in my life here on project must have driven me to desire baptism. It probably helps that I'm constantly in community with awesome, Christ-centered people, whereas I don't know too many people in my church. Think about it - in Acts 8, the Ethiopian eunuch runs into a Christ-centered evangelist in Philip, and their conversation somehow led the eunuch to want to be baptized at the next sight of water.

I didn't seriously commit to getting baptized until last Friday, when I asked my small group leader, Cameron, to baptize me. As it turns out, Cameron's been reading and studying a lot about baptism, and it's a topic he's really excited about. The one-on-one we'd go on to have about baptism really meant a lot to me, as I got a better idea as to what it actually is, what it means, and the implications of it for the future.

If you go back to the Greek that the word "baptism" was based off of, it translates to "immersion". Using that translation makes a very confusing passage in 1 Peter 3 make a little more sense (1), as in the time of Noah, the world was immersed in water. The world as Noah and his family knew it was washed away by the flood. Noah and his family were saved by this immersion, this baptism. It wasn't the action of immersion itself that saved them, but the fact that with a new world after the water receded, the world would be clear of the evil that was there before it.

(1) 1 Peter 3:18-22. Going over this passage in Nebraska last semester took forever because almost nobody understood it. It's worded in a pretty confusing way, and the fact that Noah and the flood randomly showed up in the New Testament took a lot of us by surprise.

Yet, the point of baptism is not to get baptized several times so we can be cleared of our sins prior to each baptism. The grace of Jesus Christ already paid for our sins. But, in baptism, there is a symbolic death - the death of the old conscience, which I think has a lot to do with the flesh. As we come out of the water, we live a new life, like Christ did when he rose from the dead (2).

(2) Romans 6:2-10.

This doesn't mean we won't sin again. I've definitely sinned since I got baptized. But, I can truthfully say that I have a clear conscience in God now. To me, this has nothing to do with my salvation, but this is a public declaration that I am giving my life to Jesus. I see this not as a ritual, but as a choice I made - not necessarily by myself, either. Remember, I feel that God led me to desire baptism, and in a way, it's as if God was asking me to give my life to him. To me, this means so much, as it's something I still can't completely wrap my head around. It's just so different when baptism means so much to you as God reveals its meaning through his Word. On top of that, it was a lot of fun.

The ceremony wasn't much of one at all. 22 of us got baptized that day, and after giving a short, 30-second testimony of why we wanted to get baptized, the people baptizing us prayed over us and we headed out into the ocean at Mission Beach. It was a cool, nice evening, meaning the water was pretty cold going in. Not minding it, Cameron baptized me in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as was a part Jesus's last command in Matthew 28 (3). All of the baptisms happened at pretty much the same time.

(3) Less serious note: I slipped and nearly went into the water before Cameron wanted me to. And, when he baptized me, he slipped as a wave came crashing in and nearly dropped me.

I was blessed to have most of the project community watch all of us get baptized. They cheered for everybody as we got out of the water, alive in Christ. I met these people less than five weeks ago, but I was hugging just about everybody who wanted a hug, which was a lot of people. I think I smiled more that day than I have in several days combined. In the same way, I don't think I've seen Cameron happier than he was during those moments.

One of the guys, Zach, probably said it best. We got baptized in San Diego with 100 of our best friends watching and cheering us on. This was a beach party with a different kind of life than you'd think of when you think about a beach party. This was a celebration of lives in Christ, and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we all celebrated together. As of now, this is easily the best experience I've had on project. I've had many great ones, too.

To have been driven to desire baptism more than ever before here on project, to have a small group leader who is very passionate about baptism, and to have so many friends, some of whom I don't know very well, be this excited and genuinely happy for us has to be something orchestrated by God. I couldn't have scripted my baptism any better myself. And, for a death to our sins and a new life in Christ to even be possible, God had to send his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to pay the price for my and all of our sins. The fact that God did that is even greater than the circumstances surrounding the SDSP 2013 baptisms.

San Diego #8

San Diego Summer Project Grab Bag

Here's a bunch of stuff I'd love to share about summer project that I can't stretch into their own posts.

- My ministry team is the training team, and it's awesome. The t-team is basically one person in each small group who ends up leading the group. I think we started off a bit slow, as not many of us were familiar with spiritual DNA and how to lead a small group using it (1). The student-staff and staff with the t-team have been amazing in giving us tools to help lead, though. They led our on-campus Bible studies the first week we went on campuses, but handed it over to the t-team members in Week 2. So, even though the staff is leaving this week, we've been able to lead pretty well without them already. I don't know everybody on the t-team yet, but that'll hopefully come with about five weeks to go.

(1) D = Divine truth, N = Nurturing community, A = Apostolic mission. Ethan, our project director, actually introduced this to student leadership last year at Nebraska, but I don't know how many of us went with it. After seeing this work as well as it has in San Diego, even with students that we invite from UCSD and SDSU, I'm firmly behind it.

- Our team is from all around the country. The Denver Christmas Conference region is well represented, but we also have students from Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Kentucky, and about 10 to 15 from Arkansas. This just adds to how much I love the fact that we're from different places and backgrounds, yet we're here on the same mission.

- On a similar note, I've gotten to meet a surprising amount of pre-health students. After having so much trouble making a decision on what to do during the summer, I didn't think there'd be many pre-health people. I think there are at least ten of us, which includes pre-med, PT, nursing, and optometry. We all have similar career goals, and we're here on the same mission and have the same purpose in life, yet we're all so different in so many ways. One of the student-staff people, Jake, is also pre-med and had a similar, but crazier pre-project story than me - he committed to project about two days before staff arrived in San Diego. I'm just pumped that so many pre-health people are giving a summer to Christ!

- Our Wi-Fi is really choppy. It was actually pretty smooth when we first got it, but here's what happened: when we first got it, the setup was temporary, and the network had "TEMP" in its name. When it was changed to something more permanent, the new network got the word "SWAG" in its name, and it's been pretty inconsistent. That being said, I shouldn't be surprised that something with the word "SWAG" in it acts lazy and slow (2).

(2) I was debating whether to keep this part in or not, because I really do appreciate Will, one of our teammates, going out of his way to get us Wi-Fi. I just hate that stupid word so much, I had to take a cheap slam at it when the chance arose.

- One of my favorite parts of project so far was after the men got back from their overnight retreat, and after the women got back from theirs. What exactly happened is something I'd probably tell better in person, but know this - it was an honor to be served by the women when we got back, but it was an even greater honor to serve them when they got back from their retreat. I really enjoyed the interactions between us during those two days.

San Diego #7: The Streak...

...is over.

I did not watch a minute of a Stanley Cup Finals game this year. And after reading over the game recaps and watching the highlights on NHL.com, I know that I missed an amazing series between two awesome teams. I won't lie; I did at times wish I was watching hockey. But, looking back, every moment I spent not watching hockey was used for something much greater.

During Game 1, I, with about half the project, went to UCSD to share the gospel. It was a slow experience, partially because it was during finals week at UCSD, and it was during the evening, when nobody was out. I was out of gas, both physically and mentally, during this. Max, one of our staff guys, made a good point based off that - the mission applies at all times and with all people, even after a full day of other things, whether it's work, school, or anything else.

During Game 2, most of the project went to a San Diego Padres game. I didn't go because I didn't want to spend 16 bucks on a ticket and about $1,000 more on food. Instead, I told my pre-project story to one of the other guys who stayed back, and a group of 10 of us went to Denny's. It was a great time with the smaller, but still relatively large group.

Game 3 was on a Monday, so we had Men's Time. It was after my last day of job hunting, which was pretty frustrating. It was great to spend time with the guys talking about a good men's topic, which is taking responsibility as a man and empowerment. What was especially great was being in a small group of men to discuss the topic, being open and authentic with them, and knowing that other guys are in similar places as me.

During Game 4, we had our International Dinner. I'm not going to get into details about this, but it was definitely an eye-opening experience that I hope impacts anybody who goes on San Diego Summer Project.

During Game 5, the women were out on their retreat (1), and the guys were back at project housing. The guys got together and filmed an awkward music video with a bunch of pop songs. At the time, I much rather would've been watching Game 5 because music videos aren't my thing, but I did want to honor the girls. We honored them and they honored us in so many different ways. It was an amazing time, and the girls generally loved the video. Looking back, I don't regret dancing to Gangnam Style more often during that day than I did in the rest of my life.

(1) It's worth noting that the men's retreat was scheduled during Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Excellent job, project directors - you kept us guys at home for the superior sport!

During Game 6, I got baptized. That'll be its own post. I just need some time to process it all.

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on winning the Stanley Cup. I was rooting for the Bruins in this series, but the Blackhawks definitely are a great team, and they deserve this Stanley Cup victory. That's all for hockey until next season, so I won't have to worry about missing more games. Yet, I never worried about missing games in the first place. This project and this group of friends has been that much of a blessing.

San Diego #6

Throughout my time with Cru in college, one thing in various event schedules that I never understood were Men's and Women's Times. My experience with scheduled Men's Time was just to talk about women, how hard they are to understand, how much different they are from us, how we need to respect them (while never giving any ways to do so), and sex. Important topics, but they got old. That was Men's Time in a nutshell, and going into my first Men's Time in college at DCC 2011, I went in not thinking there'd be much to it.

I ended up being wrong. For once, the central topic wasn't women (1). It was about being a Godly man and what that means. I don't remember much from it, but I enjoyed it more than I had in the past.

(1) I mean that in the least misogynistic way possible. I promise.

Still, I just recently got back from my first men's retreat here at SDSP. I've never gone to the men's retreats at Nebraska. It was a great time camping out, hanging out with the project guys, all of whom I've met and gotten to know to some extent, and realizing that I suck slightly less at basketball than I thought I did. There was also a four-mile hike, and it's a miracle that I didn't fall off the mountain, I slipped that many times.

We also went over some biblical ideas of being a Godly man and personal experiences in our struggles with biblical manhood versus what we show in our lives. I struggle with a lot of things about that, but one of my biggest, ironically, is about women.

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul writes to Timothy, telling him to treat women like sisters, in all purity. Having never had a sister, I'm not completely sure what that means, but as I keep going through life and meeting more and more awesome women like the ones here at SDSP, I think more and more that treating women like sisters isn't the same as the way I'd treat my guy friends.

Sometimes, that makes me want to interact with them less, and it shows. While I know all the guys' names, I still struggle with a lot of the girls. That's because I just haven't met some of them yet, and I have no idea of what's a good way to go about doing that. I spend a little more time thinking about how I'd treat a sister than most people do, because I never had one. But, rather than use that as an excuse that defines me, that's something I want to grow in over these next few weeks.

Everyone here on project is awesome. By now, I'm aware of a few flaws in several people because I've been around them long enough, but I would hope that doesn't stop me from loving them. My prayer is that the fact that I don't have much experience doesn't stop me from loving them, either.

San Diego #5: The Full Pre-Project Story

I went through this in San Diego #1, but the story I wrote there was fragmented. Not inaccurate, but I left a few parts out, whether by choice or by accident. Since I've told several people here on project my story behind coming to San Diego, I figured I'd write about it for anybody to read.

This past year, through being a Bible study leader at UNL's Cru, God taught me several things, including the fact that being steadfast in my own plans might not be the greatest idea knowing that I was claiming to follow God. Still, I didn't see myself going on a summer project because, as a pre-med guy, I wanted to do undergraduate research for the summer. I applied to a program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in February. By that time, the last deadline to apply for summer projects had passed.

But, as project people know, that last deadline is a very soft deadline. People can get accepted to summer projects even if they apply in March. What made me consider San Diego to start was one of the UNL Cru staff people, Beth, casually bringing it up with me. I wasn't going to say no right away (remember, being steadfast in my own plans = bad idea), so I put it in the back of my mind. Having not heard back from UNMC, I applied to the San Diego Summer Project in early to mid-March.

In late March, I got a phone call from Aaron, who's on Cru staff at Colorado. That's when I found out that I'd been accepted to SDSP. Having been a late entry, I knew that I was in a bit more of a time crunch when it came to support. I was added to the SDSP Facebook group, and I saw that about 100 people were in it, and they had been networking with each other, introducing themselves, and talking about support and jobs before I was even there.

I started to raise a little bit of support, and I filled out the job survey that was posted in the group. Still, a couple things were holding me back from putting forth my best effort into these.

For one, I had applied for the project behind my parents' back, not feeling confident that I'd get accepted for undergraduate research. It took me until mid-April to finally tell them that I'd applied for and was accepted to project. On top of that, the reasons I applied were a little selfish - I wanted to live away from home and try living more independently. Not a bad motive, but I wanted that for myself more than anything.

Finally, the last roadblock - in late April, I was told that more opportunities for undergraduate positions at UNMC came up. I originally wanted to do that, so I threw my name in the hat. At that point, very little support had come in, so I didn't feel too bad about doing this. Still, it was decision time. What was I going to do?

To start, I hashed things out with Ethan, one of the SDSP project directors and a Cru staff member at UNL. That was followed by a lot of prayer and God pointing me in a certain direction. This period of time also included a halt in my support raising - in hindsight, not my smartest move.

In retrospect, I ignored a lot of God's nudges, such as the fact that everybody I gave a support letter to reacted with excitement for me. But, there were two big things that I couldn't ignore that told me that God wanted me in San Diego:

1) Support really started coming in, especially from extended family.
2) A lot of my project teammates, none of whom I knew besides the UNL students, added me as a friend on Facebook (1).

(1) Yeah. That second one might sound a little silly, but God definitely knew that I'd find it awkward to either 1) have a ton of friend requests just sitting there, 2) decline a ton of friend requests if I didn't go, or 3) accept a bunch of friend requests, not go, and not ever get to know any of them because I didn't go. God knew that I'd be fine with contacting my supporters and telling them that I'd be shredding their checks. He also knew that I'd just find it mind-numbingly weird to be in any of those three situations on Facebook, and Facebook only. I probably ignore it if I get followed by a lot of project people on Twitter. But Facebook? That was the one platform that made me pause and think. That being said, I can't help but wonder if I put too much of myself into Facebook. Then again, my Facebook account was all that my then-future project teammates knew of me, and if they were going to add me as a friend, I definitely wanted to meet them in person. Yep, God definitely knows me better than I know myself. Just thinking about the way God used Facebook to get me to go is crazy. I actually thought about this during project, as I was telling several people my story and why I ended up going on project. That's why this part wasn't in my San Diego #1 post - I hadn't even thought about it at that point. Wow, my footnotes can get insanely long. Why again did I feel the need to write like a Grantland writer when I started blogging?

I'm serious about the Facebook thing. If you didn't read that extensive footnote, basically, I was convinced to go on project by a bunch of people I didn't know. Isn't it crazy how God can work?

I re-committed to SDSP about a week before it started, so around mid-May. Still, I wasn't able to sleep for more than 3 hours a night; there was a lot of lying awake out of anxiety. I was wondering - why San Diego, anyway? I'm not big on the beach, getting lots of sun, the ocean, or crowded areas. I'm a land animal. On top of that, because of my long pause, I went into project about $1,200 short of my support goal of $3,100, and I never got a jump on the job search, while several of my teammates had already landed jobs.

But, God has been providing for me in huge ways - he won't bring you as far as he's brought you in life and blow it at the end. He has provided support, partially through an absolutely insane way during our ministry partner event - a completely different story. On another note, I'm about 95% sure I won't be able to land a job here, but who knows if God will provide a job or not. It's been too crazy a ride for me to shut any possibility off. All I can do is persevere and walk with God.

I love hearing stories about how people ended up on project. There are plenty that have twists and turns very different from mine. Others applied in December and knew they were doing this all along. In spite of that, no matter where any of us came from, we're here on the same mission. I just happen to have a better bonfire story than a lot of my teammates!

San Diego #4.5 - High Hockey Content!

Okay, I'm making this one a half-chapter, if you will, because I'm guessing most people who bother to read any of these won't be too interested in this one. This post is pretty much all about hockey.

I've told some people on project that I haven't missed the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998. By that, I mean that I watched at least one game of every NHL Finals series since 1999. That's right, from Brett Hull cheating to win the Stanley Cup in overtime in '99 to the Los Angeles Kings barely squeaking into the playoffs and then dominating last year, I've seen at least one game in every finals.

From Ray Bourque lifting the Cup with the Avalanche after a 22 year career, as well as some of the older captains to receive the Cup (Rod Brind'Amour, Dave Andreychuk, Nick Lidstrom), to the young captains such as Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, I remember those Cup ceremonies.

From the legendary goalies winning the Cup (Martin Brodeur) to the relative no-names at the time (Antti Niemi), and every goalie in between (Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Cam Ward, etc.), I've seen goalies take over their series and make huge saves when needed.

From the marquee matchups like Chicago/Philadelphia to the matchups NBC probably cringed at (Ottawa/Anaheim, Edmonton/Carolina), I've seen teams that hardly see each other in the regular season play their hearts out, adjust on the fly, and perform at new levels just to hold the Stanley Cup.

In fact, I saw the Stanley Cup - that massive, 30+ pound trophy that probably can't pass as a carry-on in an airplane - awarded each of those years except in 2000.

But, in 2013, I'm in San Diego on a summer project with Cru. We don't have TVs and our evenings are pretty busy. That being said, my Stanley Cup Finals watching streak may very well end after 14 years and 13 Finals (no Finals in 2005; stupid lockout). In a year where several playoff games have gone to double overtime and the two teams in the Finals are consistently two of the game's best, I may not watch a game.

It's of my own choosing. I'd much rather spend time with this awesome community of brothers and sisters in Christ than watch hockey. If I do watch hockey, it'll be because a bunch of us want to go catch a game. If that opportunity comes up, of course I'll go!

If the streak ends, though, I couldn't think of a better reason for the streak to end. After the Stanley Cup Finals end, I'll do another post that says whether the streak stood or ended. I know nobody cares a ton about this, but hey, it matters to me, and it's a decent part of my San Diego Summer Project story. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

San Diego #4

Here at SDSP, the rail is a pretty cool place. It's basically an outdoor living room of sorts right outside the women's housing. At any given time during the day, quite a few people are there. At other times of the day, there are a lot - and I mean a lot - say, 20 or so people in that little area there.

That's a lot of people. Yeah, they're all solid Christians seeking to follow the Lord, and some of them could be my best friends here on project, but the fact remains - that's a lot of people.

In a group of that many people, I've always found it difficult to fit in. Everybody's in their little conversations and groups, and I'm afraid that I'll butt in somehow, distract the flow of everything, cause a rift in the setting, ruin everybody's day, and be the cause of all of it.

I know that sounded ridiculous. Honestly, I don't know what the root of that mentality is. I do know, though, that I'm definitely an introvert. I love my alone quiet times and one-on-one/small group conversations, while being in large groups of people can drain me. I love to have some space, and not having much space can make me a little itchy to find some.

My small group leader and I had a one-on-one recently, and that got brought up. We agreed that introversion isn't a bad thing, but it can be hindering. How? I think it hinders me the most when I make my introversion my identity.

When I associate myself with the tendencies of an introvert, I tell myself that I need alone time and space. When I accept those thoughts and act on them, there's a lot of potential to miss out on a great community and make great friends. Imagine leaving a 9 week summer project and there still being a bunch of people I haven't met.

So, what action do I take? Here we go - a good thing for any of us introverts to do is to stop using introversion as an excuse. If it's a fact, it's a fact. If it's a trait we have, then it's something God gave us. But it doesn't have to be an excuse that defines us as people. Think about it - a major Christian cliché (1) is that the grace of Jesus Christ defines us. Shouldn't that apply here, too?

(1) Oddly, "cliché" was autocorrected by Blogger; I didn't type in the accent mark by myself. Am I supposed to like this or not? I've heard of weird autocorrecting mistakes in phones and texts, but for it to happen on the computer on something that's not a word processor took me by surprise. Of course, the other bloggers who read this probably knew that all along. I've been using Blogger since last year and I didn't know about its autocorrecting. Is this a new thing with Blogger?

God can stand against our character flaws, and with both introversion and extroversion are plenty of character flaws. Neither trait is "better", I think (feel free to disagree, but back it up), but neither trait should define any of us as Christians (2).

(2) For those who say that we, as Christians, should be more extroverted because Jesus was extroverted, I disagree with you. Jesus had extroverted tendencies, and extroverted tendencies can certainly be valuable, and if I want to become more like Jesus, I would try to take steps of faith toward these tendencies, but I can easily find some introversion in Jesus' character if you'd like me to. He spoke in front of crowds, and he ministered one-on-one as well. Nowhere in the Bible does it say which one he preferred (as far as I know). The point I was trying to make is that neither introversion nor extroversion defined his ministry. Don't belittle his ministry by trying to reduce it to a single character trait.

I don't know what motivated this particular post. Maybe it's me finally understanding FOMO nine months after I first heard of it. All I know is, if at any point in this project, I have chances to step out a bit and interact more with my project teammates, my response can either be based off the faith that God will help build friendships with these awesome people, or it can be based off INTJ.

Introversion doesn't need to keep me away from this awesome group all the time. My occasional need for space and alone/one-on-one time might. There's a difference. Maybe that's something for all my introverted readers to think about - it's not like we don't give ourselves enough thinking time, right?

San Diego #3

If I haven't told you this already, the summer project community is awesome. The staff is very willing to help me, and the students are walking the same walk as me and are encouraging me every step of the way. The community is awesome also because it's a place where everybody can be real with each other, share our experiences, and revel in the fact that we need and have the grace of Jesus Christ because none of us is perfect.

We can air out our sins and frustrations with each other, and we've definitely done some of that. But, I have a few frustrating stories that I'm willing to share with everybody. Here we go!

A group of about 7 or 8 of us, most of whom had never met each other, were going to take a shuttle to our project housing from the airport because our flights were coming in at about the same time. The one who facilitated the shuttle ride arrived first and waited for everybody. Here's the thing, though... San Diego's airport is huge. Like, massive. Now, add in the fact that the 7 or 8 of us had to meet up together before going anywhere, as well as the fact that my phone was dead.

It was about half charged when I left Salt Lake City, and it was completely dead when I reached the airport. Needless to say, I had no idea what to do next. Somehow, I was found, but it seemed like everybody else landed in completely different locations of the airport, which led to a lot of confusion over the phone and a lot of walking that, looking back, may not have been necessary (1). Yay for airports!

(1) There's a lot more to it than this. I cut a lot of it out because my original draft of this post was over 1,000 words.

Continuing about my phone: I'm not sure why it died in two hours when it was half charged to start. That pales in comparison to what it's doing now, though. Now, the power button doesn't work. I don't get a response when I press it. So, if I want to unlock my phone, I have to charge it. Simple, unless I'm not near an outlet, which is... almost all of the time. If I want to unlock my phone in that situation, I have to take the battery out and put it back in, or hope I get a phone call. On top of that, I can't receive texts on it. Yay for technology!

Another frustrating thing happened recently. All the guys got woken up at about 6 to 6:30 am on Sunday to do an Indian run and calisthenics. Somehow, despite being way out of shape since playing football in high school and going on bi-nightly runs in college, I made it through. While I was feeling like Dustin Penner after a windsprint skate (2), I realized that I wouldn't have done it without the other guys, students and staff, helping me out and encouraging me along the way; I probably would've given up.

(2) That being, breathing heavily and feeling frustrated. Dustin Penner is a hockey player who has a reputation for being out of shape. He also locked his back last year while eating pancakes. That's 100 percent serious; I did not make that up. You know, I think that reference would've worked better if I didn't have to write this footnote. Maybe I should really stop using hockey references because I have to explain them to pretty much everybody I know.

I've been stretched in many ways, and it's led to some frustration. But, knowing that Jesus is with me as I do his will is a great reminder that my frustration is temporary. All three of my little rants are about things I don't think much about now except to look back at them and laugh a bit - they weren't meant to be angry rants and I apologize if you took them as such. I've actually talked with everybody in my shuttle multiple times since we got to housing - not bad considering there are about 100 students here.

I already feel a change in my attitude for the positive. I'm not really trying to change it like I've been told to in the past - it's just that I've been saturated with such a great community, and who has more fun than us? How could my attitude not change? It's great that it has, because so much of life is how we respond to the hands we're dealt. We can't expect to go through life perfectly, because nobody is perfect.

San Diego #2

Here's a very easy timeline to follow:

On May 28, I got here. Yesterday, thanks to a very generous teammate here on project that was willing to set up Wi-Fi himself at his own expense, I got internet. Because of that, I had to leech off other locations' Wi-Fi in order to give any updates for the first few days. Between then and now, I wasn't dead. I was making new friends, sharing my story, sharing my faith, and realizing that all of these brothers and sisters that I almost passed up the chance to meet and live with have been encouraging me every step of the way.

On May 30, we started evangelism. They gave us a lot of time to prepare for it, didn't they? This was something I knew we'd be doing all summer, but to go out and share our faith before even doing a load of laundry... yikes.

Here's my evangelism history. DCC 2011-2012 was my first experience with going out and sharing my faith with strangers... except it really wasn't, because I chickened out. Like, chickened out hard. There's having a conversation that doesn't get to the Gospel, which is okay - you told someone what you're all about and had the conversation. Then there's doing what I did, which was sneaking back to home base because it was dark out and I was 95 percent sure nobody was watching.

I took a few steps over the next year to grow in evangelism, albeit very small ones that were doused with the experience of chickening out in Denver. They were steps that I more or less forced myself to take because I had such a tough time doing anything at DCC. My feelings toward sharing my faith were of inadequacy, and my attitude could've been a biohazard; it was that bad.

We all went out around the beach near our housing to talk with locals about our faith after about an hour of training. Knowing we had a family in Christ going along with us, we went ahead and jumped in, as was our theme for the week. And wouldn't you know - 100 or so students who definitely aren't great at sharing our faith came back with some encouraging experiences. They varied; not everybody had the greatest experience ever. But, Jesus Christ is with us until the end of the age, as he states in the final verse of Matthew 28. He used us for his work and I believe that he'll continue to do so throughout project and our lives. Our job is to trust him and jump in. That's what helped change my attitude toward sharing my faith. Seriously, so many questions can be answered by reading the Bible.

I'm gonna end with a hockey/Jesus analogy, as I love to do. I will likely miss the Stanley Cup Finals (much more on this at a later time), but I did get to tune in to the entire first round of the NHL playoffs. That's where the best teams play a series with the teams who were barely good enough to get into the playoffs. One of those series was between the top-flight Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders, who barely squeaked in. Game 3, played in Uniondale, NY, was nationally televised, so I caught it - the first game I watched since getting off school. I saw a Islanders fan's sign saying three simple words: Why Not Us?

Alas, the Islanders lost Game 3. They also lost the series to the Penguins. But, their future looks bright - provided they make the proper tweaks and learn from their experiences. Even if we had rough experiences - which I did during one of the sessions - we can continue to learn new ways to have conversations and share our faith.

In order to get better, the Islanders need a better goalie and a healthier defense. We need to trust that God will make us better at sharing our faith by continuing to jump in. Can 100 college students seeking out God make a difference here in San Diego? If you're saying no, well... why not us?

San Diego #1

As some (and hopefully most) of you know, I'm going on a Summer Project with Cru for nine weeks starting at the end of this month. There's a lot that will happen there. It's hard to explain without going in a ton of detail. All I know is, it's a high quality project with about 100 students from across the nation who are spending a summer growing in their walk and relationship with Jesus Christ by reading and knowing his commands, but doing them as well.

I've gotten the opportunity to network with some of the people I will be with. A lot of them have been counting down since they got accepted back in February or March.

As for me? Normally, I'd be blogging like crazy about this type of thing. It's an uncommon way to spend the summer, partially because it's in a Christ-centered community. That type of thing is one of my favorites to blog about. And, of course, the other thing I love blogging about - hockey - is currently in the playoffs, and a ton of things have happened in these playoffs that I could blog about and take Christ-centered messages out of. Yet I haven't blogged in over a month.

Some of that's due to finals. Organic Chemistry II, which kicked my butt all semester, beat me to a pulp for the last month of school. Thankfully, with the point of the dagger at my throat, I managed to pass it (1), but I spent most of my free time studying it. Hence, no blogging.

(1) I squeaked out with a C+. For those taking Organic II in the future, you can do better than that. I didn't study very intelligently; in fact, after I'd tank on an exam, I wouldn't change my study habits or techniques very much. Yeah, I'd ask my professor and TA for help, and yeah, I'd try to read the book more, but I put my nose to the grindstone using ways I kinda knew wouldn't work. Long story short, it's very possible to do well in that class. On another note, if I didn't pass it, meaning if I got a C- or worse, I'm 95% sure I wouldn't be going on this project.

The other reason is because I actually was considering staying home and trying for a summer job/internship/time waster at UNMC, which was what I originally wanted to do. I sent in an application for a particular program in February, and I was rejected. However, more possible opportunities popped up in late April. Yeah. Late April.

At this point, I had been accepted and had already started raising some support. Still, I decided to take the gamble, stop my support raising for a while, and throw my name in the hat. I would go on to spend a lot more time waiting for a response than I anticipated or hoped. I only re-committed to summer project this week.

A couple things I want to leave anybody who reads this with: first, you can look at this as the devil successfully roping me away from God's mission, at least for a while. But, before you do that, you need to consider that the mission of God applies everywhere, every day, and to everyone, even at home. Had I taken something at UNMC, that campus very well could have been my mission field. Would I have pursued it? I don't know. That's not something I'm worried about right now.

Second, stopping my support raising was, in retrospect, not very smart. When I consider that I did stop raising support for a few weeks, God has blessed me with more than I thought possible. But, I'm still not at my goal and project is only a few days away.

Another thing I just realized upon re-committing to project is that I know a lot of people who I didn't even contact about sending them a support letter. That was definitely a mistake on my part, but this is how I'm doing that now. Unfortunately, it's a bit late to send physical copies out, and this is less personal than I'd like, but if you would like a support letter from me, message me on Facebook with your email address. I'll send you the letter and the link to donate electronically, should you want to do so.

I ask that you prayerfully consider it. I'm sorry for not reaching out to you earlier than I did, but I can't undo the mistakes I made. All I can do is learn from them, pick up the pieces, and improvise a bit.

I don't know how many of these I'll write. Maybe #2 will be my final one. Maybe it'll be #13. It depends on how things go. I usually dip into five random things at the end of my posts, but I'm not going to do that with SD blogs. Let's just say, I figure that rambling about hockey won't enhance my points here.

San Diego Summer Project Menu

It seems that I'm going to be posting these blogs in bulk. On top of that, these blogs aren't very chronologically based. That being said, this page is just for easy access to all of my San Diego Summer Project blogs, for those who bother with my writing!

I'd say that the last one, #14, is my best one. If you choose to only read one of these blogs, I'd recommend that one for both the writing and the project experience.

#1, where I almost didn't even go on Summer Project: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/05/san-diego-1.html

#2, where beach evangelism somehow gets tied to the New York Islanders: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-2.html

#3, where attitude, frustration, and attitude about frustration all come together: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-3.html

#4, where neither introversion nor extroversion should define any of us: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-4.html

#4.5, where I talk a lot about hockey and my Stanley Cup Finals watching streak that dates back to 1999, and I promise, this does have something to do with SDSP: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-45-high-hockey-content.html

#5, where I give you the full behind-the-scenes look of how I ended up in San Diego for the summer: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-5-full-pre-project-story.html

#6, where I admit something about myself and my sisters in Christ: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-6.html

#7, where the Stanley Cup Finals watch streak... http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-7-streak.html

#8, where I had a bunch of random thoughts about things I couldn't write full posts about, including the awesome pre-health students here: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-8.html

#9, where I beg for people to read it because it's about one of the most important steps I've ever taken in my life, baptism: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-9.html

#10, where I say a sad, but necessary, goodbye to the staff: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/06/san-diego-10.html

#11, where I don't blog for three weeks, blog again, and just ramble about the awesome project community more: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/07/san-diego-11.html

#12, where I become financially supported: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/07/san-diego-12-supported.html

#13, where I review my experiences with sharing my faith in San Diego: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/08/san-diego-13-post-project-sharing.html

#14, the closing post, where I spill my heart about some of the best friends I've made: http://hockeypun.blogspot.com/2013/08/san-diego-14-post-project-teammates.html

NHL Trades and The Bible

I'm gonna try to see how good a spin doctor I am.

The National Hockey League's trade deadline was a couple days ago, and regrettably, I couldn't catch all the action live because of class, studying, and more studying. Now, out of all my friends, I can think of about... five that may be interested in reading a blog about that. Now, I like it when people read these, so I don't want to drive people away. So, here's the point...

I get to write for fun about hockey. Two of my favorite things together! Meanwhile, anyone who reads this gets to see me analyze the trades, how the current situations of the players, teams, or general managers affected or will be affected by the trades, as well as some takeaways and Bible passages that go along with those takeaways.

This idea came to me partially from some friends who see important biblical messages in movies. It also came to me probably because I'm tired as heck from the week and the semester, yet it's a tiredness that sleep doesn't fix... and weird things come to my mind when I'm that kind of tired. Seeing as I had no real reason, I thought it'd be funny if I went for this.

Okay, here we go...

Pittsburgh Penguins get: Brenden Morrow, F
Dallas Stars get: A minor league guy and a pick in the upcoming draft

Spin: Brenden Morrow has been a physical presence on the ice for all the years he's been playing. That's led to him becoming very popular in Dallas, but it's also led to his career taking an early downswing. The guy's 34 and he may retire soon because of the taxing his body's taken. And, oh, yeah, the Stars kinda stink. Moving to championship contender Pittsburgh gives him a new lease on life, showing that although his team struggled, Morrow made a name for himself as a valuable individual player and new opportunities came up for him.

Takeaway: When the situation you're in sucks, you can try to improve it, but don't forget that there may be something better down the road. Don't think you'll get something better in the future by mailing it in now, though.

Passages: Genesis 12:1-8, Genesis 21:1-7


Pittsburgh Penguins get: Douglas Murray, D
San Jose Sharks get: A couple picks in the upcoming draft

Spin: The Sharks are a good team that usually finishes with a top record. This year, that seems to have led to some of the players getting comfortable and mailing it in somewhat. To wake the team up, the general manager showed that he wasn't afraid to rock the players' worlds by trading away one of their favorite teammates, Murray, to Pittsburgh.

Takeaway: I believe that God gives and takes away, and can do it at any time. Whether you believe in God or not, know that life may shake your own little world up and it'll be up to you how you respond. The Sharks went on a long winning streak after Murray left. Can we respond that way?

Passages: Job 1, Mark 10:17-22


Pittsburgh Penguins get: Jarome Iginla, F
Calgary Flames get: The contract rights to a couple players nobody has heard of, and a pick

Spin: I swear, not all of these involve the Penguins. Anyway, Iginla was a world-class player who has been on a decline. The Calgary Flames have been terrible since the middle of the last decade, and if they wanted the most value on their future Hall of Famer to rebuild the team, they should have traded him a long, long time ago. Now, they get a couple of C-level prospects and a pick in return for a guy who can still make Pittsburgh a serious Stanley Cup threat.

Takeaway: Be able to let go. It's very easy to get clingy with things, people, and comfortable situations. I struggle a lot with this myself.

Passages: Mark 10:17-22, Matthew 6:19-24


Los Angeles Kings get: Robyn Regehr, D
Buffalo Sabres get: A couple picks in the upcoming draft

Spin: Sabres general manager Darcy Regier's plan to make the Sabres huge failed miserably. His shopping spree, which included big money to players such as Regehr, did not yield results that met his expectations. As a result, the Sabres are a miserable team. That being said, props to the GM for being able to trade some of his big-name players away and look toward the future, even if his future with the team looks bleak (i.e., he might get fired soon).

Takeaway: If you made a mistake, own it, confess it (this is tough, but making a pact with yourself to not do it again never works), learn from it, and improve from it. Don't be a blockhead and refuse to admit your errors - in Regier's case, plenty of Sabres fans could have angrily pointed them out to him.

Passages: James 5:13-20, Proverbs 28:10-14


Vancouver Canucks get: Derek Roy, F
Dallas Stars get: Some guy I've never heard of and a pick

Spin: Roy is an oft-injured forward who never established himself as a great player in Buffalo or in Dallas, yet he kept turning contract offers from Dallas because of money issues. Yikes. So, Dallas traded him to Vancouver, where Roy will get more playing time and a chance to play on a playoff-caliber team (remember, the Stars kinda stink).

Takeaway: If people whine enough, they might get what they want. Seriously. It's easy to see that happen to somebody else and think about how unfair that is. But, if you ever feel that others are getting an unfair break, think of the times in life you've gotten an unfair break.

Passages: Luke 15:22-32, Matthew 27:50-54


Columbus Blue Jackets get: Marian Gaborik, F and a couple other guys that never make the lineup
New York Rangers get: Derek Dorsett, F; John Moore, D; Derick Brassard, F; and a pick

Spin: The trade is pretty fair, I think; Gaborik is easily the best player in this trade. However, with the Rangers, Gaborik could never find his identity. He was just a misfit - an offensive player with a coach that wanted him to focus on defense. Meanwhile, Dorsett, Moore, and Brassard were with the Blue Jackets through years of failure, and although the Jackets have been playing well this year, years of failure is hard to mentally overcome. You think a change helps? Well, Dorsett is currently injured, but the other three guys scored goals in their first game with their new teams.

Takeaway: Don't be egocentric. Not everybody thinks the same way as you. I'm not saying that everybody's opinion is right - I hate that mentality. I'm actually saying that you might be wrong, so meet people where they're at.

Passages: Luke 10:38-42... and I can't think of any else. I would think that some passages on discipleship would work well here.


Toronto Maple Leafs get: Ryan O'Byrne, D
Colorado Avalanche get: A pick in the upcoming draft

Spin: O'Byrne with the Avalanche was slow, took dumb penalties, and was slow. Like, really slow. Like, forwards could get around him like a traffic cone slow. Thank goodness the Avs traded him away (remember, I'm an Avs fan), and they actually got a decent pick for him.

Takeaway: Sometimes, miracles do hap- ehh, actually, I think I'm taking this one a little too far.

Passages: Okay, this one was a joke all the way. Miracles certainly happen in the Bible, though.


Washington Capitals get: Martin Erat, F and some other guy I've never heard of
Nashville Predators get: A minor league forward who has the potential to be really, really, really good

Spin: Some people sacrifice the present for a happier long-term. Others sacrifice the future for a happier today. Capitals GM George McPhee is evidently in the latter group, shown by him trading his top young prospect for Erat, who has been a longtime Predator and is starting to decline at 31 years old. McPhee is sending the message that he intends to make the playoffs this year by grabbing Erat and not trading Mike Ribiero, who could have gotten him a lot of value back as a valuable center. Meanwhile, Nashville could have a big-name forward in a few years.

Takeaway: I can't say that putting all your energy and resources toward the present or the future is right or wrong. I have no idea how the Capitals are going to do here. Maybe the right answer is not to completely eschew one for the other.

Passages: I'm going to use Matthew 6:19-24 again. I never came to a conclusion for this particular takeaway because I couldn't find much biblical evidence for this one.


Minnesota Wild get: Jason Pominville, F
Buffalo Sabres get: A minor-league goalie, a prospect forward, and a couple picks

Spin: Minnesota paid a lot to grab Pominville, who's a very good forward and can help the team immensely. Lots of fans say they overpaid, even though by the numbers, I think this trade is fair. Here's why fans say they overpaid - Pominville was a horrible captain for the Sabres. He could score, play defense, everything, but he just didn't lead his team well, and that was an stain on his and the team's identity. And the Sabres need a leader badly - they haven't had a good captain since Chris Drury left in 2007. The Wild don't care about that, because they have a great captain.

Takeaway: Whether you think somebody's a "born leader" or not, leadership of anything is hard. Appreciate a good leader when you have one - not everyone is that lucky. If your leader struggles, consider either gently confronting him/her; of course, meeting him/her where (s)he's at.

Passages: Exodus 4, 1 Samuel 8-10, 1 Samuel 13, 1 Samuel 16, probably both 1 Kings and 2 Kings, and that is totally not an exhaustive list.


And to finish this, a non-trade...

Vancouver Canucks don't trade Roberto Luongo, G

Spin: A couple years ago, Luongo was the starting goaltender in Canada's heartbreaking gold medal win in the Olympics. He had also just gotten started with a 12-year contract paying him an average of $5.33 million a year. Just think about that - job security for 12 years as well as making millions. Yet, Luongo wanted to be traded because he struggled last year and this year and has lost his starting job to the Canucks' other goalie. The problem is, no other team would take that massive contract upon themselves, so Luongo ended up going nowhere. Luongo's response? The very contract that gave him a high-paying, secure job is now an albatross - he said himself that the contract sucks and that he'd rip it up if he could. He's got nine years left on it.

Takeaway: Money, job security, job quality... all of those have their limits and shortcomings. If you get them, you'll want something else that those things can't give you. If you truly want your desires fulfilled, you'll have to pursue something ultimate.

Passages: Galatians 5:16-24, Romans 7:1-6


Three Really Little Notes At The End

- This brunt of this took me about an hour to write, and a couple five-minute looks at it to edit. Once I get going on hockey, I can go fast and for a long time.

- The idea of finding Bible passages came later. That took me about half an hour.

- I got some big news - I was accepted on a Summer Project to San Diego, CA, and guess what - my one page support letter seriously took me longer to write than this blog post. I am dead serious about that. But anyway, I'm thinking about doing some Facebook stuff and what not, and if we can blog during the project, I'll probably do it here. More details to follow!