holla'?

so for all you folks of the elder variety that have trouble with slang terms like s'up (what is up), 'm whichu (I am with you), that's sick (that's awesome), that's gross (I really like that),
wicked (good)... I'm here to give you some encouragement!

I'm of this slang generation, and I've been trying to figure out this term my friends and those younger than me keep using...the term is "holla." see with all those other slang terms I listed before, they all either have the normal meaning in them already (just shortened), or they are cleverly the opposite of the what the websters dictionary describes them as.

but "holla?" what the frick does that mean? websters defines "holler" (which I'm assuming is where "holla" comes from) 1. to shout; yell. 2. a shout. I still fail to see how when someone says, "hey, I really think that coat you are wearing is sick..." (see I'm with this conversation until...) and the person with the coat says back, "Holla!"

did I miss something? you're friend just said your coat was awesome and you say "o.k., quick, go shout real loud noises..."

what happened to "thanks" (thank you).

So for those of you folks who are reading this that have never understood the slang of my generation...be encouraged because on this one, I am one of you.

riches or reputation...

"Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold." -Solomon (Son of King David) as recorded in Proverbs 22:1

Now this comment wouldn't hold any weight of significance if it was written by a guy like me who did not have great riches. Fact is though, the guy that wrote this was the richest man who ever lived! It must be significant.
Oh, how I chase wealth here on earth sometimes... but alas' what a useless endeavor in the scope of eternity.
As I read scripture, as I more learn about the heart of God, the less I desire the riches this world has to offer...the less I desire to be held in high esteem by the world because of my earthly possessions...and all the more do I desire to be held in high esteem by my Creator, all the more do I desire to have a reputation of being a follower of this Jesus Christ I read about in scripture and feel deep in the core of my being.
Scripture reminded me, again, of what is important in life.

"In every victory, let it be said of me; my source of strength, my source of hope...is Christ alone." -Brian Littrell

the new family...?

so remember when t.v. shows like "family ties," "full house," and "family matters" were airing on pre-prime/prime time television in the evenings? I can't say they were really emmy-winning material by any stretch of the imagination, but they always kind of gave you those warm fuzzy feelings inside. I mean, all the family shows portrayed the families having some kind of adversity to push through each episode, but it always seemed to "get better" by the end of the thirty minutes. Now, I am not here trying to argue that these shows were an honest, accurate, depiction of how the family actually operates, I just was caught by something this week...
Now I don't know if I've just been out of the t.v. loop for too long, but it seems that MTV is starting to create their own shows about families... I watched an episode of "House of Carters" or whatever the frick it's called...holy crap, talk about a different portrayal of family in comparison to the "tanners" on full house.
Again, I'm not here to argue which type of show is better, the made up portrayal of a made up family like the shows used to be... or the raw, blunt, possibly played up(?) reality shows of "the new family..." (i.e. house of carters, Newlywed simpsons, the osbornes)
I have nothing else to say except to keep your hearts and minds in check while watching t.v. these days...I think a lot of us, and our families, ARE buggered up, but not all are...
Don't let MTV dictate how you're supposed to interact with people in life...keep yourself in check.

does spring cause emotional people...?

so I can't remember the last time I've had so many conversations with people about how they're so tired, or how they're kind of feeling down, or how there's not much to hope for these days.
I suppose I'm somewhat in the same boat as these people, so it could just be that I am only hearing those that resonate with what's going on in me.
I was talking to a friend last night about this, and we were saying how this is a funny season in Winnipeg...because spring is just within view, yet seems so far away when you have days like yesterday when it's still like -87C in the middle of March.
Do people role with the season's?
Does this odd season of spring just remind us of our longing for brighter days, our need for something/someone to hope in... Do we just need a new beginning?
It's coming folks

thoughts about mondays...

so I start work tomorrow (which is a monday) at 5:30am. I'm still not sure in my own mind if God is even awake before 5am, which is when I wake up on these kinds of work days...of course I'm kidding about that, but there seems to be something so wrong about working on mondays! maybe it's becasue I work for a church and so mondays are usually my one "weekend" day to just chill. Now that I have two jobs, I have had to adjust to this thing called the "monday morning blahs." Perhaps I've been too spoiled...I frigin' doubt it though.

oh, Friday nights...

so last night, which was friday night, I sat at home and read... I figure that means one of three things; 1. I've truly entered geekhood and it's fullness of time has come upon me on a friday night 2. My roommate Bruce tricked into a time warp, saying I was just getting into his lumina, and I am really my grandparents age without knowing it 3. I've been exhausted and needed to be away from the hussle and bussle of a friday night in your twenty's....
I'm going with number 2.

can't get away from love...

I've been thinking a lot lately about human needs. The first and foremost need that I can not deny is our seeking to love and be loved. I know you may be thinking, "I've heard this rant before" (If in fact anyone actually reads this thing, haha). Well for me, I constantly need to be reminded of it because I am ever caught in the middle of it.
Ravi Zacharias speaks of this love phenomenon saying, "Isn't it interesting how stories, whether old or new, sooner or later touch upon the them of loving and being loved?" (Recapture the Wonder, 109) I was thinking about this in my own life, and if I think hard enough about everything I do, I mostly do things either to do some loving or to be the one to be loved. I had to laugh when I was reading Donald Millers "Searching for God knows what" when he was talking about an interview he had with a local radio-station in Seattle. When the host asked him why he writes (essentially what inspires him) he replied, "I just really want to be liked" (later stating what he meant was "to be loved") The radio host backs away from the mic and says to him quietly, "you're not the only one."
The phenomenon of not being able to get away from love is one thing...but the phenomenon of how we search for love is quite another. Jesus made a bold statement to a lady who had been on a dead end search for love for quite some time. He said to her "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." (Jn. 4:10) Wisely, the thirsty lady decided to drink from living water, from wells that do not go dry.
Why is it then that we, who have tasted this water and know that the well of true love is everlating, so often forget the rich purity of a Creator's love and search for love in all the wrong places? Someone once told me that sin is trying to meet real needs through ways that grieve the heart of God. I have come to believe this to be true. Those of you doing the loving these days, imagine the slap in the face when your lover ignores that which you bestow on them and they search in (what you can clearly see as) all the wrong places.
Folks, we can't get away from love. And by grace, Love can not get away from us...

"This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us..." -1 Jn. 4:10

"The Peace of Wild Things"

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-Wendell Berry

the way not to end work...

you know...I work for 8 hours, and I come out excited to go home, and I see a neat and tidy little envelope strapped down to my windshield by my wiper. Yes, it was one of those things created by the fall of man called a "parking ticket." And yes, it had it's way with me...Therefore, the moral of the story is you work your butt off for 8 hours and get about half that in pay by the end of the day because of a piece of paper. beautiful.

i'm either hip or...

So I've heard so much about this blogging, and read many blogs myself I either; thought they were incredibly hip and cool and desperately needed a shot of that in my own life, or saw them as an incredible chance to be heard. If I had to decide exactly which reason I started blogging today, I'm banking on the latter as it is another way to fulfill a massive human need; to be heard...to let people know a bit about their life in an attempt to feel important or accepted. Maybe it's just comforting to know that there is a place you can state whatever it is that is important to you on any given day. What a gift it is to be able to be honest and ask questions. It's humane.
My name is cody anderson, and I probably am not hip, but I am human.
Welcome to my blog.