Space Travel? Whatevs.

I feel like this generation is sort of jaded.

No, not in terms of morality - though I think that is true - that's not actually what I mean this time.

I think we've lost sight of what real ingenuity and creativity is.

Point en case: in a class yesterday, we were starting technical writing projects on drones. To get us thinking (it was 8 in the morning), our professor played some clips of robots used today. One of them was the landing of the NASA Discovery Mars rover.

And nobody really cared.

Fifty years ago, that would have been breathtaking and incredible. 

Now it's just . . . meh. 

I mean, we put men on the Moon and brought them back with computers less capable than our smartphones. 

Yes, that's terrifying to think about, but that means that the people involved with that had to know what to do. 

They had to do the math in their heads or with scratch paper. 

They had to be willing to put their lives on the line for that goal. (And think about how awful it would be to die in space if it failed. . .)

They were dreamers. 

But more than that, they were thinkers and doers.

Granted, technology has grown and evolved by leaps and bounds, and I'm not faulting that - I love technology. 

I'm not really sure I'm "faulting" anything.

I'm just lamenting the lack of wonder in our generation. 

I'm lamenting the fact that we don't look at the sea with wonder, remembering that we can go miles and miles down and see the creatures God made.

I'm lamenting the fact that most of us can barely see the stars anymore, and when we do, we don't remember that God knows each of them by name, and that we've put people on the Moon, and rovers on Mars.

I'm lamenting the fact that singers and songwriters with real talent aren't recognized for it, and the fame goes instead to somebody who will shock you rather than move you.

We need to recapture the innocence, the wonder, and the appreciation of simple things that we've lost. . .

Fool me once . . .

Okay Beaufort girlies, listen up: I don't know where you do your shoe shopping, and on some level I don't really care, but I've got to tell you about this one store (which is kind of ironic, because I don't plan on actually naming this store). 

There's this store in Beaufort that has really cute shoes. And at good prices, too.

No, it's not Wal-Mart.

However, something weird happened the last two times I was there, probably within the same two weeks.

Allow me to start at the beginning: I wanted some brown flats, so when I saw a cute pair, I got the box that said 9 down because I (usually) wear a 9.

I tried both the shoes on, and they both fit.

That would be a given, except for one small factoid: one was a 9, the other was an 8 1/2. 

And my feet are normal, by the way. 

I put the bottoms together, and they looked exactly the same to me.

I figured the 8 1/2 was a misprint and took the box to the register to check out. 

They wouldn't sell it to me because (logically) if I had two sizes, somebody else had two sizes, and if they returned one, they'd need the other.

I ended up leaving with 8 1/2's (which fit perfectly fine), and thought it was a freak occurrence. 

Wrong. 

I went today for some black flats and wanted a 9. 

Once again, there was a 9 and an 8 1/2!

And once again, I ended up leaving with an 8 1/2!

So, for those of y'all in Beaufort . . . check your shoes before you buy them!

(Also because they might be two different - but similar - styles. That's happened to me before too. And yes, that was at Wal-Mart.)

My Spoiled Fish

I have this betta fish that I've posted about before.

Other than a near-death experience, he's pretty spoiled.

Like, really.

I went to Petsmart just looking around for a plant for his tank.

Just. Looking.

I come back with new pebbles, a Grecian temple, a cleaning cloth for the tank, and I ran out of fish food, so he got a fresh pack the same day.

He is so spoiled. 

God help my future children . . .

How my Mother Saved my Life

Yes, this is a true story.

I will say first off that unused appliances scare me. And by "unused", I mean unused by me. And if you're still not sure what I'm talking about, check out this guest post I did not too long ago; it explains everything.

Allow me to set the stage: I've been house sitting for the past two or three weeks - a weekish at one house, two days between and now at another house. 

The first house had a lovely kitchen with a stove very much like the one I use at home.

Easy to cook on?

The second house has a lovely kitchen . . . with a gas stove . . .

Um. . .

Easy to cook on?

Which means I didn't have a clue how to use it.

I'd turn the knob, and it'd click repeatedly, and all I could think of was the house blowing up, so I'd turn it off in a hurry.

I actually ended up cooking a frozen meal in the microwave (which I never do) because I had no clue how to use the oven.

Now, how my lovely mother factors into this.

We were chatting on Facebook, and she asked what I was planning on having for dinner.

I said I didn't know.

Somehow, the stove situation came up, and she's like "Oh, those are easy".

She coached me step-by-step through how to use it.

And it worked.

God bless the mothers who make sure their "independent" children are able to cook for themselves.

Growing Up Too Fast

Something happened the other day that really made me think. I'll get to what happened later on, so bear with me: what does "growing up too fast" really mean?

(And bear with me; it took me over a week to write this, and some parts really still don't feel quite right, but I'm posting it anyways.)

"Growing up too fast" used to mean that a child had to shoulder responsibilities and had to entertain concepts that would force them to leave childish things behind before most would have them do that. For instance, in the past, children were working full time around the age of fifteen, either because their parents had died, they were needed to help support the family, or they were considered old enough to take on that responsibility. Advancements in namely medical science and technology of all flavors enabled children to have more of an actual childhood.

But what did that bring?

For the purpose of this . . . "article", it brought free time.

Children were able to stay children until they were physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to take on the responsibilities of an adult. They could grow into it gradually, they could be trained, they could be taught, they could consider ideas and grasp the weight of the consequences to every action . . . they could be ready for an adult life.

Then there was too much free time.

Ungratefulness.

Envy.

Always wanting what was just beyond their grasp.

What do we have now?

We have children growing up too fast, but not in the way of the generations before them.

They have too much free time and a care-free (and care-less) attitude.

And although I can't quite put my finger on it, that's what's driving kids today to act the way they do.

What do I mean by that?

Whilst shopping with my mom and my sister, I saw this girl in Rue 21. Don't get me wrong - I love that store. It's one of the few places I actually enjoy clothes shopping. This really doesn't have anything to do with the store really. That's just where I was. But this girl . . . she had to have been younger than my sister, so maybe fourteen years old. But she looked like a . . . well . . . like a prostitute. I'm sorry to say it, but it's true. Her clothes, the way she wore them, the way her makeup was done - and for the record, I have a personal thing about girls that young wearing makeup - the way her hair was done . . . that's what she looked like. If she was on the street at night, I would have thought she was one.

But I remember looking at her and thinking, "Wow. She's grown up too fast."

Then it hit me: society tries to keep us busy, entertained . . . it tries to keep us children.

But in spite of that, we grow up. . . And not always in the best way.

So yeah. I just felt like I should post that.

I mean, innocence is an awesome thing.

Not naivete, that's not necessarily the same thing.

But innocence, purity . . . That's a lost treasure in this society.

Looking Back . . .

It's hard to believe that about a year ago today I graduated from high school. I went to my friends' graduation today, and every time one of them stood to speak, I could remember - in startling clarity - what it was like to do the same.
The life-lessons I've learned this past year have been somewhat few, I suppose, but by no means insignificant.
The most important thing I've learned is to really take hold of God's promises. He didn't just say nice things to give us stuff to say to each other when we're going through a tough time; He said them so that we could run to Him for comfort.
1 Peter 5:7 says: "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you".
This has never been more real to me than through the past year. There were times - and there will be times - when I would cry myself to sleep, wondering how the heck I was going to pass a test, a paper, or merely survive the week. I realized that He was just waiting for me to give him my burdens, and then let them be - - at least for the night. [Obviously, I understand that I have to put in some time and effort, too.]
I just can't explain the peace that I would feel. I'm not a touchy-feely kind of person, and I'm not (generally speaking) subject to much emotion, but this was real. The peace of God really does "transcend all understanding".
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: it's been one heckuva long year, but it's really been worth it. I would not trade anything for the closeness that's been brought to my relationship with Jesus because of this year.
To those who are facing freshman year - tackle it head on! And congratulations to the CBCCA Class of 2011!