Spoon In Spoon

Stirring My Coffee


So it has been about two weeks since the last time I wrote something...I guess you could say life became busy since then...not that it is a bad thing to be busy.

Writing this post is a bit hard...suffering from a bit of writers block.

Continuing on...

Two weekends ago I found myself looking over the face of a cliff with no ropes and no safe paths to stick to. What was worse there was no where for me to go but up. One slip and I would have found myself testing if I had the superhero ability to fly or to survive falls from great heights.

They say the hardest part in life is not necessarily the fall but but getting back up again. This was definitely case. I had rappelled down a cliff face to get into the mess I was in. As a engineering major I have taken classes on material designs and the loads the could take. I had complete faith in the equipment. The going down was the easy part. I would have never guessed the hardest part of the day would be coming back to the top where I had to depend on my own strength and the courage that God gave me.

The next week as school was followed by 3 tests in 3 days. This made for a miserable week of school.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I have chosen to represent my story time.

"New car, caviar, four star daydream,

Think I'll buy me a football team."

Oh how I have found something interesting today...

I am currently watching a UEFA Champions League Soccer match that is taking place in England.
Manchester United is playing Villarreal. Manchester is probably the team I like the most.

This in it's self is not all that interesting I must admit. What is interesting is the financial markets.

I know I know...you are wondering what in the world do the financial markets have to do with a soccer team in England.

Here's what it has to do with it. Manchester United's main sponsor is AIG Financial. If you have been watching the news as of late then you know that there is a mess going on with AIG.

History of what is going on with AIG
To give a brief run down of why they are in dire straights...here goes...AIG loans money, the United States has a law from the depression era saying they must have a certain percentage of cash on hand for all the investments. They had given loans for homes and these "loans" are considered liquid assets. Home prices have dropped since they handed out the loans...there for they are not able to sell them as much as they would have. Therefore in theory they do not have that percentage of cash on hand to that the government requires and the government took them over. Whats sad is if they could just ride this out, they would be just fine a couple years from now.

Yesterday, the US government bailed AIG out of the mess. They bought the company basically.

Back to soccer....

Since AIG owns the largest share of the Manchester United Football Club....The United States now owns the Manchester United Football Club kinda sorta...

USA USA USA...wait...this is bad...when did the government get in the business of sponsoring a soccer team in another country?

The picture below is a picture of London during World War II. The picture surprised me. I did not expect that many vehicles on the streets during war time England. And yes this is the picture for this post. Sorry nothing funny...next time perhaps.

It's a beautiful day

Don't let it get away...

Life is truly amazing.
I am surprised by how much time we as humans waste in doing nothing. I am by no means excusing myself from this criticism. I am sure I am the worst among them.

Life is an adventure that happens everyday. When was the last time you tasted what you ate? I am not talking about just passively noticing that the taste is pleasing to the senses. I am talking about savoring the bite and noticing the intricacies of each herb and spice.

I find so much of the time I focus on the easy things in life. Not because they are the best thing around but because it is the easiest to do most of the time. I am trying to change this.

I love this quote by JFK
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

This type of idea might be the one I went into engineering. Well that and a host of other reasons like I hope that my future job will provide enough money so my future(assuming I am able to find one ;p) wife wont have to work. I think kids grow up better when they are raised by their parents and not a day care center.

Wow I got way off topic there...anyways...
My goal for the next week is to experience life...actually drink in the world that the Lord has created for us. I am a firm believer that he takes happiness in our happiness as long as it is not out side his will for us.
To start with I am going to hike on Saturday with some friends, after that...who knows?!

But I do intend to do by best see the world around me in a different light...a more thankful light.

Since I didnt meet my new non-existent picture quota...here is one

And I swim out as far as I can

And float on my back, just waiting for nothing...

Gustav needs to go away...

Granted, I am not exactly on the coast line...nor am I feeling 100 mph+ wind speeds. But! We are experiencing torrential down pours here in the lovely portion of northwest Arkansas.

Ok that may be a gross exaggeration but it has been raining fairly solid for the last 10 hours with no signs of it stopping with in the next day.

Two years ago I went with a church group down to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Before that point in my life I had never seen the damage of a hurricane. I saw foundations of houses with the house no where to be found. I heard stories of houses being lifted up over 20 feet and dropped 200 yards away. Obviously the house was not livable anymore for the fact it had no foundation. Jesus explains the need for foundations...and as a civil engineering major I am blessed to find out the mathematical reasons why it is needed...not that I enjoy it that much. :)

That being said here are perhaps the more disturbing pictures I took while helping rebuild from Katrina. (Editors Note: These pictures are a year after the actual hurricane in '06...still so much devistation at that time.)


This is a picture of a house that by all modern definitions of the word was a NICE house...it had a minimum of two stories and a gated fence that would probably cost more then my house alone. All that is left after the hurricane is the fence and the most hardened support areas such as the stairs...



This is a picture looking out over where several houses used to be...a sign of life though shows through with the owners of this plot stating they are coming back.



This is the stairs and the bath tubs of a house...there was nothing left of this house except the concrete front porch stairs and the bathtubs. This was one of the places that made me tear up.



This is the Pass Christian Library. There is...well at least there was a video on youtube about what happened in the library during the hurricane. I dont remember the specifics but for some reason there were people that were trapped in the building. While waters were surging around the police cheif inside was forced to shoot holes in the doors. I believe it was so they could escape...I dont remember the exact reason to be honest though.


I hope anyone that reads this is at least compelled to help in some way with those that have gone through this a second time. Please pray for those that this may be a time for them to have their lives built up and that the glory of God may shine through them.