Come children, and let me tell you the tale
Of the battery that was not all well.
Instead of purring, like a small kitten
Bryce’s car started like a dog, bitten;
For, under the hood, there lived a small beast;
Upon the battery, he loved to feast.
For many weeks, Bryce went out with cables,
But each time, returned fazed and unable.
He called on his prudent, parental allies,
To help him escape a certain demise.
With new unknown ideas, fresh in his head,
He thought and concentrated, then went to bed.
He came out early the very next morn’
And readied for battle, his mind reformed.
But as he approached the fiend’s lair,
His heart turned to stone, to his great despair
The monster had taken control of the locks,
And hidden himself down under the shocks!
Defeated again, Bryce left in a race,
And hurried toward home, to solve his case.
Finally, he sought out wise man Google;
Who he knew, rightly, to be no such fool.
“You must seek Expert Auto Electric
If you wish for your car again to tick.”
So, Bryce went and found this very strange place,
Who knew of some with a similar case.
Carlos, the leader, came out with his tools,
But the coward beast thought all of them fools.
Still, Carlos came at it, all full of smarts,
And he wounded the beast into two parts!
Seeing defeat, right now before its eyes,
The beast hid deeper, down in the dark lines.
Again came Carlos, with pliers in twos,
Checking each and every single fuse.
The beast was found among the power-locks,
But croaked quickly upon Carlos’ knock.
Therefore, the battery-beast being slain,
Bryce leaped in the air, but only in vain.
For brave Carlos, having destroyed the beast,
Now wanted his money, for fine treats.
So Bryce paid up, ecstatic with cheer,
Since the beast was gone meant nothing to fear.
Right now, we are in the midst of Robinson Crusoe. The book makes people pretty polarized – and I’m on the side that loves it. Most of what I love is how Defoe writes. He wrote when English was used properly, and doesn’t go easy on the reader with his long, complex sentences. Still, I love it.
“If ever you come near I'll hold up high a mirror,
Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as You”
“what good is each good thing we think we do?”
“Shadow am I!
Like a suspicion that's never confirmed
But it's never denied.
Wolf am I,
no, "shadow" - I think - is better
cause I'm not something - more like the absence of something -
So SHADOW AM I!”
“you're a door-without-a-key, a field-without-a-fence
you made a holy fool of me and I've thanked you ever since.
…
but if I'm a crown without a king, if I'm a broken open seed
if I come without a thing, then I come with all I need
no boat out in the blue, no place to rest your head,
the trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead!
I do not exist
Only You exist”
Those last words have been on my mind a ton during the forge. I do not exist, only You exist.
Okay, so, the Covenant is a major part of the Forge. As a group, of 24 guys and girls, we had to come up with rules regarding how we will relate to different topics such as media, the outside world, alcohol, etc. All of the rules we created were not because these things are inherently bad, but we chose to not partake in a lot of things so that we could focus on each other as well as other important things while we are in the Forge. This being said, you should know some things that I won’t be doing along with my Forge class until May 1. We decided to only listen to not watch any television, not watch any movies, only listen to christian music, not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco, not do any Forge work on Sundays, and not date each other or resident staff. Again, none of these things are bad, but for each one we have a specific reason. For instance, we are not only choosing to not watch TV to rid ourselves of distractions, but we also decided to challenge one another by forcing us to change how we relate to our families, and friends when we go home. Trust me, we’ve had hours of discussion about each of these topics.
That being said, we’ve been ‘practicing’ the covenant for two weeks now. It was hard at first, but now it’s easy to follow. It was tough when I went home, but I looked at it as a challenge. I think I was able to communicate with my family much better by not watching TV.
So, yeah… that’s the covenant.
Everything is perfect. All right, that’s not true, but it’s also not far off.
Summer is two-thirds over already, so I'm going to take a look at a list I put together while in school of what I wanted to accomplish this summer.
-Exercise- check. Off and on at times, but definitely a check.
-Work-check. Thank goodness.
-God - semi-check... it's been a tough summer in this area.
-Tint off car - check! I totally de-tinted my car!
-get rid of crap - check. Did this the first week.
-visit Texas - check! Just did this!
-organize basement - no check. Haven't gotten there yet...
-save money - check. This is hard.
-read lots of books - sorta check. 1.9 books down.
-walk dog - check! Unfortunately, Pluto is getting very old now. He has arthritis and can't go for long walks...
Well look at that. About 8 more checks than I would have imagined. Still, a few more things are necessary:
-buy Forge books- bargain hunting!
-visit Rolla- freshman week baby!
-medical school applicationing - sent off the first round, waiting for the second round.
The summer ain't over yet. But, August always seems to fly by. Well, let's hope it does, cause I can't wait for the Forge!
Bryce
"Love - it's the last transmission" ~ MAE
