Weird Eater

I'm a picky eater. I wish that i weren't. My finickiness does not follow a logical pattern. I've made lots of people upset throughout my life due to my eating habits (no joke...like really upset). The most common weird food habit of mine that i'm compelled to share with people is my:

"Aversion to cheese that is not on pizza"

Weird, i know.

Last night, i went out to dinner with a big group and ordered the fish, specifically the ceviche. I would've ordered one of the other items, but every other option had a deal breaker (there was a lot of seafood mixed in with the other dishes and i can't do seafood <--more pickiness).

I had no idea what ceviche was, but i knew that it wasn't shellfish.

The waiter eventually brought out my food. He came with a cold margarita glass that was filled with stuff covered in a white sauce. This was my ceviche.

#1 - I can't do white sauces.
#2 - Apparently ceviche is served raw - i don't do raw fish/poultry/meat

I called the waiter close and asked him:

"is this ceviche?" Yes
"is it cooked" No
"Can i have something else?" Yes. Would you like the chicken fondue?
"Does that have cheese?" Yes
"no" Can you do seafood?
"no...could i just have what that guy had minus the shrimp?" Yes.

And that was it! they took care of me. didn't make a big deal out of it and didn't make me feel weird for being weird. I'm so glad that things worked out - they could've gone so much worse. Oh to be normal.

Job

Currently reading job. I had mixed feelings concerning how much time i wanted to spend reading the book in light of the fact that job and his friends receive stern rebuke from God for some of the things they say in the closing chapters.

But yo - not everything that the say is wrong. There's a lot of truth mixed into these discourses.

Something that stood out to me the other morning was this:

"He [God] is wise in heart and mighty in strength - who has hardened himself against him and succeeded?"

-Job 9:4

It is easy to apply a text like this to unbelievers and keep it moving, but such a text serves as a warning to believers as well. I can harden my heart by selectively applying the word of God to sin in my life. How can I succeed if I live a compartmentalized life where God's truth reigns in some parts and not in others?

In unrelated news, i've got an actual job. I signed an offer just before christmas. I will be starting it after graduation

Fountain Fall - 5 felonies

A lady who was caught on video falling into a fountain at a mall as a result of her distracted text messaging has hired a lawyer and plans to sue the mall.

She claims she could have been seriously hurt and that the security guards should have helped her instead of laughing at her.

Here is video of the lady falling:



Now if you're like me, you're probably saying to yourself: "Is she REALLY suing the mall because SHE FELL in a fountain as a result of her own CARELESSNESS?!?!??" She DIDN'T get hurt and it was ALL HER FAULT. How is she SUING ANYBODY?!?!?!

She's probably hoping to settle out of court for a few $10k so that she can profit from this whole situation. Yes, the mall shouldn't have released the video, but:

1. The security guard who released it was fired
2. Her lawsuit doesn't make mention of the fact that the video was released AND
3. NO ONE WOULD'VE KNOWN THAT SHE FELL IN THE FOUNTAIN HAD SHE NOT COME FORWARD WITH THIS STUPID LAWSUIT!!

Here's the twist - this lady is facing 5 felony charges for fraud and identity theft. Apparently she stole a coworker's credit card and ran up all kinds of charges.

Personally, I don't think that such a frivolous lawsuit is any different from stealing. Why?

The owners of the mall will not want to waste time in court, so they're inclined to settle for 1/4 to 1/2 of their legal defense fees.

Here's another twist - the lady is a professed christian. She said that she was texting her "church friends" when she fell into the fountain.

i'm done. so done.

God's grace

I'm consistently amazed by God's love for me. He is faithful. He is faithful to discipline me as a son rather than to leave me to wallow in sin.

He is a great provider. I'm thankful for the people that he has put in my life, especially the believers. I'm so thankful for brothers and sisters in the faith who continually encourage me in my walk as a believer. I'm thankful because they are faithful to help me to see his truth more clearly when my thoughts are cloudy.

His grace is unmerited, but he freely gives it. His grace is sufficient, but its sufficiency overwhelms me.

Governor Chris Christie

Today I was reminded about how much of a solid of a guy he is while watching the NJ state of the state address.

He's received criticism from respectable people concerning his decision to halt construction on the new NYC/NJ tunnel. Most said that such an investment would've alleviated strained infrastructure and as a result, driven (recession busting/boom strengthening) growth (long term) in the nyc/nj area. Christie justified his action by saying that his state is in one of the most dire financial situations in the union and they do not have the money to pay for a decade of construction.

All that stuff aside. i just LIKE this guy. Every time he speaks, i feel like he is speaking his convictions in an honest "i don't have anything to hide" kinda way. Not your typical politician. His honesty, convictions, avoidance of partisanship and "straight talk" are refreshing.

I don't remember his negative ads being as over the top as Corzine (his 2008 democratic gubernatorial opponent). In fact, corzine used his negative ads to poke fun at christie for being overweight (no pun intended).

I hope he runs for president.

Here's a video that is a great example of what i'm talking about:

Australian Flood

Flash floods swept through a region of Australian last week, killing at least four people, trapping others in cars and leaving some clinging to trees as torrential rains brought more misery to a region battling its worst flooding in decades.

People have been describing the flooding in australia as "biblical". Isn't that like saying that your hangnail is worse than the holocaust? A modern day flood of biblical proportions would have taken out ~5,999,999,992 people.

Inherent in such a description is man's inborn tendency to reductionism when it relates to God. We are prone to live our lives as though we are the universe's sovereign and we interpret life and its vicissitudes through that flawed lens.

Lord have mercy.

NYC - abortion capital?

Just read this article:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/07/41-percent-of-nyc-pregnancies-result-in-abortion/

41% of pregnancies in nyc end in abortion. Of 87,000 abortions performed in nyc, 41,000 of them are performed on black women. 28,000 are performed on hispanics.


I generally try to avoid speaking about abortion because I find that talking about it is unhelpful. Not that i don't think that it is a picture of the utter depravity that is on display in our society, it is - but rather that the "hot-button" nature of the issue would provide for it to replace the gospel as the topic of primary importance.

Next to Normal

Went to broadway to see "Next to Normal" last night.

I went to the tkts in downtown brooklyn about 40mins before it opened only to find out that no one goes to the tkts in downtown brooklyn (so i didn't have to stand in the cold and next to chain smokers for 40mins) and they only had really expensive tickets for 30% off (and i'm not paying $90 to go see a play).

I then went to the theater's box office in the city and was told to come back for a lottery that evening. Came back for the lottery at 6pm for the 8pm show, didn't win but managed to work my way through the crowd to be #15 in line for obstructed view seats.

$40 later i'm in the theater.

The play was helpful in that it helped me to better understand the struggles that individual sufferers of mental illness and their families have to work through, but overall, i felt like the play was overrated. Whereas most critics gave the play 5 stars, I would only give it 3. I will say this: The acting was good (ESPECIALLY the lead) and the music was great as well. But the actual story was weak at several points.

The overall experience would've been better had i been on the other side of the theater with a view of the bass player and drummer ;) but c'est la vie.

I also got my car from the body shop yesterday and she is "back to normal". The entire car situation has been resolved and i'm surprised by how low the cost of everything was. I'm really thankful to the Lord for his grace extended to me in the this situation. Things could have been so much worse.

Poor Investments

I recently received my state tax assessment for my house in maryland. I was shocked to see that the value of the house has dropped by $100k since 2007.

How did this happen? Lots of fraud and foreclosures around me.

In case you were wondering, yes, i'm underwater. My prayer has been for continued trust in the Lord in this situation. Anxiety would not be God-honoring and rash decisions would result in huge financial losses.

I think that i'm officially "in it" for the long term. Exactly where I don't want to be, but that is the only option.

Have i considered walking away? Yes. But i'm convinced that to do so would be a sin. Texts like "The wicked borrows and does not pay back" have a hold of my conscience. Also - I wouldn't have considered walking away from the mortgage had the house maintained its value nor would I have done so if the house had appreciated in value.

There is the temptation to feel like a sucker in all of this. The people committing fraud and walking away from their mortgages are only making things worse for me and I sit around like a fool just losing money.

But the Lord sees all of this and he is faithful. Please keep me in prayer.

thoughts?

Car Accident

There was a huge blizzard in NYC last weekend. The department of sanitation was poorly prepared to handle the weather.

In the first hours of the blizzard, while driving home from church, I hit an ice patch on a street that had not been salted and ultimately skid into a parked car.

I did some damage to the body and I also knocked off the sideview mirror of the parked car.

I believe that the Lord used this experience to humble me. I consider myself a really good driver with a superior driving sense. I am definitely part of the 70% of drivers that count themselves in the top 10% of drivers. As a result of this, i'm often impatient with other drivers. I find myself growing frustrated when i'm stuck in traffic that is the result of accident rather than praying for safety and recovery.

I think this experience really helped me to be more compassionate and i think that it will ultimately help to make me a safer driver.

I *just* put my car in the shop. The cost to repair my body damage is less than my deductible. The person whose car i hit *just* called me and we agreed that i would pay for a replacement sideview mirror - which shouldn't cost more than $250.

Prayerfully, this transfer of money will go well. I'm considering writing up (i AM going to write up) an agreement in case she tries some shady stuff that has to be dealt with in court.