Home here I come

No thanks to UNCG Music faculty I am coming home tomorrow on the last possible day. I am the only left here on my hall so at least I have peace and quiet. I am typing this while stuff my face trying to consume all my left over food since I wont be able to leave it here. So hopefully my exam wont take that long and I can get home as soon as possible. To my family; I cant wait to see you. To my friends; I’ll miss you and maybe we can visit each other some time over our month long break.

My Happy Thanksgiving… Sort of

After returning home from thanksgiving break back in Elizabeth City I am pausing to reflect on some things. My thanksgiving was mostly good. The food was good, the fellowship was good, I got a chance to work on a project for my ailing grandfather, which was also good. I got to spend some quality time with my family, I also got to make some quick cash with my brother at Kenyon Bailey. A couple things that didn’t go well was the fact that my Papa was not having a good weekend and needed to have some additional procedures done to ensure his continued health. another bad thing was my cousins dog ran away in the middle of large urban area and after hour 3 was not expected to return. However, these situations resolved themselves when after the procedures my Papa bounced back was doing much better. The dog also came back real early in the morning much to the enjoyment of my cousins. Some other things that happened this week: I successfully hung all the lights around my house which looked exceptionally good. However towards the end of the week either due to an overload on the receptacle or the inclement weather a fuse blew in the plug and  the whole back half of the house went out including some of the front. So I had to get back on a ladder in the rain and replace the fuse and hope that it wouldn’t go out again.  I didn’t think to take any pictures  but maybe my family will (hint hint cough cough).  Well I let  whoever is reading this () probably no one get on with their lives. I just thought I would give everybody an update on what I did for my thanksgiving break

My Bad

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while for those of you reading this . I’ve been really busy with a lot of boring stuff. The two posts below are kind of old. They were drafts I had been sitting on for while and finaly got around to publishing them. I am about to go to my lesson, which pretty much decides my future in the music world. So wish me luck.

I hope you enjoy

John

Church In Greensboro… A little adventure for the that one comfortable place to worship.

Before I begin let me just say that this post is not meant step on any toes or hurt feelings, it is just an honest account of my experiences in the churches of Greensboro, NC

A couple of Sundays ago was the first time I went to church in the lovely city of Greensboro and I went to Westover Church with Kelsy, her fianc’e, Caleb, Kristin, and Tiana. THE CHURCH IS HUGE!!!!! It has five floors and more cameras than a local ABC affiliate. It reminded me a lot of Thomas Rd. Baptist Church in Lynchburg VA. They had a very neat worship team. It consisted of two guitars(one acoustic and one electric), a keyboard, bass, a brass section and drum set as well as a full choir. the message was on marriage and had some interesting points. One of which was that in the old testament they had as much problem with divorce as we do now. The following Sunday I went to what I thought was First Baptist Greensboro but it actually was church called College Park Baptist Church. The folks were friendly but the sincerity in the worship was just not there. Every time anybody prayed they did so from a book, not from the heart. Then they did something I thought was a little interesting. They had a talk back time during the service in which members of the congregation could ask questions and discuss what the preacher had just preached. However the discussion was not very much on topic it was mainly about people were mad about and not what the lord was laying on their hearts. For the following two Sundays I went to church called Awestruck Church. Awestruck church is a new church plant that is meeting in the auditorium of a middle school that is very contemporary. The worship was very much like rock concert and the band looked like they were the Jonas Brothers. Not that I am saying it was a bad service because it wasn’t. The preacher was very good and I definitely felt the lords presence their I just thought it might just a little over the top as far as worship goes. The second Sunday though I was a little more pleased the music wasn’t quite as loud and they sang some more familiar songs. The next Sunday I did make it to First Baptist Church Greensboro. It was almost exactly like church back home. They had a full pipe organ and a piano and sang hymns. This good but now that I am away I am looking for something different I have grown with those good hymns since I was child and I am ready to be apart of something new. The Sunday after that I went to a church called Mosaic Church. This is an interdenominational international church. It caters to people that are not from America and I wasn’t what to expect. The worship was ok but they did some very strange things according to me. for their opening song they sang in some kind of Indian language (feather not dot). Not that I don’t like hearing different languages because I do but when I worship I like to worship in my own language. I feel like I can’t worship if I don’t know what I’m saying and I’m pretty sure no one else there was a native American. The words to the songs not only were strange but the praise band was pretty bad. I’m not sure why maybe because I am a musician myself but I am very distracted by a worship band or other musical organization that isn’t solid. On top of all that I wasn’t impressed by the preaching at all. There was something about it I could not place. Maybe it was just my overall experience in general that made it bizarre but at least I know what I don’t want in a church. The next church I visited was Spring Garden Community Church. the pastor was pretty good. He came and spoke to our Inter-Varsity group before. The band was pretty good to. Overall I liked it but I still hope i find a good baptist church to go to.

I’ll keep you posted

My First late Night Out

Before I begin let just say that I know this actually happened a while ago but this is the earliest I got around to publishing this draft.

The other day was homecoming for UNCG and I celebrated the occasion by going off campus and getting a haircut. Well not really but I had t get it done and this past weekend was the only chance I had to do it. So I boarded the HEAT Bus and rode it to the Friendly Center. I then proceeded to find the haircut place Great Clips. I couldn’t find it right away and while i was walking past one of the store I ran into Lindsey and Alex some of my fellow percussionists. They were very nice and gave me lift to the other side of the complex where the Haircut place was at. There was a little bit of wait but thanks to scrubs that time was soon over. After my haircut I went back to the bus stop to wait for the HEAT bus. Because the bus is so reliable of course the regular city bus made it there before the HEAT bus did. So I rode the city bus back to campus. After that I went back to my room for a little while before going to the homecoming soccer game for UNCG. I met Joey and Ann there as well as some other people from Inter-Varsity it was a lot of fun! When the game was over I was invited to go the movies with Joey. We went to see Eagle Eye. it was really good i highly recommend it. After that we went to sonic for some food and/or Ice cream. It was at that point that it was almost 1am and at that point the latest I had ever stayed up before. However as college progressed the night slowly became later but that night though i couldn’t believe how late I was out.

My New Business Card

While in my technology class we were given an assignment to make our own business card. I being the good student that I am made said business card and it turned out pretty good. so I decided to share it with you.

Here it is

My business card

Leadership….hmm let me see.

The other day I got asked if I had ever considered being in leadership in Intervarsity. It kind of caught me off gaurd becasue mainly I just got here and I was surprised that anyone even thought of me as being in a position to be able to take something like that on. It doesn’t bother me that much except that Intervarsity is mainly student lead and when something is student lead you run the risk balls getting dropped and things not getting done. In this situation it always happens when I’m involved and usually concludes with me doing a lot of the work and getting burned out. However I have to ask myself, is this what I need to be doing and if worrying about whether or not anything is going to happen or not is not my worry but God’s. That would make it an underlying excuse that I dont want to do it. This is completely not true. I guess what I am trying to say is pretty much yeah I’ll do it. Just starting out in a small role first but I will more than likely do it. Leadership is my thing.

The end…. Of a pretty good day

Today was a pretty good day. I met with the Inter Varsity staff person David Mallard. We had a good long talk about my life and his, where I felt I was going. Then I went to class. It was ok, same stuff different day. I then accompanied my new found friends to Tate street coffee shop. I don’t drink coffee so I went for the company and not the drink. Afterwards we studied outside the Eberhart Building and had a good time. I then went to setup for Inter Varsity. Alex’s wife was sick and consequently wasn’t able to make it tonight. It was ok because we had some people to fill in for him. It then that I realized how quickly I found myself back in that role again. Running things and helping out. It is a really great feeling when you know just what to do. When you realize how much of all your previous experiences lead up to moments like this, times when you are truly useful.

I live for those moments

My Parents….. The Most Admirable People I Know

Today in Inter Varsity I played the Djembe for the worship team. However that’s not the real reason for this post. What the main focus of this post is the speaker. His name tag said his name was Gabe. He was there to give his testimony and started out with the basic introductions and his connections to the area. What he didn’t tell us until later was that his name was actually Gabrielle de la something something on and on… not that I am making fun of his name I just can’t remember it all and neither could he or at least that was the joke he said anyways. What is important was that he was Cuban and born back in 1953 just a few short years before Fidel Castro took over. He talked about how great his childhood was and how great life was back then. He continued to say that when Castro took over he did it with only three thousand men and with the help of the upper class and the cowardly flee of the previous leadership; he was in power with in less than a week. This was largely in part to the fact that all the upper and middle class were promised a democratic form of government.

However as most politicians do they break promises and as you all know he set up a dictatorship. Gabe went on to say that all the pleasures he knew as a child; Candy, toys, Games, Freedom to do whatever they wanted were gone almost overnight and that his life was changed forever. He said that people who spoke out against Castro were either incarcerated or publicly executed and that they had to watch it on television. He also said that Castro would speak for 6 hours at a time and they forced to watch him, not just because he was on every channel but because they had guards posted patrolling to make sure everyone was in their house watching Castro’s speeches. What he said next was made me think about how blessed I was and most importantly how I had been blessed to be born in a family made up of Godly faithful parents.

You see, Gabe’s father was formally in charge of the international airport in Cuba, and after Castro he was put in charge of all cargo airports for all of Cuba. A few months after Castro took over his father made preparations for them to leave the country legally. That meant that the right people knew they were leaving and wrong ones didn’t. Shortly thereafter they were on a converted cargo plane headed for Mexico. They hopped around South America for short time while his father called in money and favors to make a place for them in America so that when they were finally ready to cross the border they were already residents. While in America he talked about how hard it was living in a different country only knowing “jes” and “noh” (yes and no with a thick Cuban accent) and how hard it was for his parents to make a living and keep their family together.

I know your all wondering “John what are you talking about. You never had to flee a country for your life”. My whole point of incorporating Gabe’s story was this. Even though I didn’t have to flee a country for my life and never found myself as a fugitive of the government, my parents were so strong in their faith that they had the ability to pack up a five member family with kids from kindergarten to 2nd grade and get on a plane and head to Germany. They didn’t know anything about this place, they didn’t know the language, and they certainly didn’t know what was going to happen when they got there. It could have been very easy to say no. That their family was to young and that they wouldn’t be able to handle the stresses of that big of a dramatic change. They didn’t make any excuses they just got on plane and went. For that I have the utmost respect.

People often ask me if given the chance I would go back to Germany and I usually say “to visit, but not live”. They ask why and I give them some kind of lame excuse saying “oh it’s boring. Been there got the T-shirt” (I actually do!) But the real reason is I don’t think I would have the same strength that my parents did. To step out of their comfort zone on the faith that God would provide and totally uproot their family. I didn’t think much of what they did then because I didn’t know any better. All I knew was that we were on this big airplane that let me have all the soda I could drink and as much Disney cartoons as I could watch. The next thing I knew I found myself in a house in Erlensee Germany. I had no idea of the tremendous sacrifice that they made to keep me and my brother and sister happy. However because my parents were willing to answer the call, we were able to do so much good in our own as well as other people’s lives. We got to see so many different countries and cultures that it makes most people’s head spin when I talk about now. Most importantly though it shaped me into the man I am today.

Not many people know this but before Germany, I was a real mama’s boy. I was very shy and not very socially adept. German school will make you grow up quick and I sure did grow up quick. It is because of my parents that I am where I am today. I am writing this post from a dorm room in UNCG on pretty much a full scholarship. I cannot thank them enough for all they did. I especially thank my mom who hounded me day after day to complete this and that form, and write this essay for this scholarship. My only hope is that one day I can be as good a parent as they were to me. Mom Dad thank you very much for all you’ve done for me. I know I do not always seem appreciative but I really am. I love you!

Psycho-oligy….. Definitely

Woah!!!! Today was pretty intense. In my Psychology class we disscussed two different experiments and the ethical problems they did or didn’t have in them. The first invovled 6 subjects. 5 of them were working for the researcher and one was the actual subject. In the experiment the group was asked to identify which 2 sets of lines were indentical in length. One of the choices was clearly right and the other choices were way off base. However after a few rounds of correct answers the group of five would answer a completly wrong answer and the test was to see if the six person would vote the correct answer and stand up against the group or be sucumbed to peer pressure and vote for wrong answer just because everyone else did. The first few particpants stood up against the group but round after round of continual pressure to give in they finaly gave in and started to vote wrong answers. Ironically one of the participants was interviewed before hand and he said that he considered himself to be a non conformist. However after only the second round of wrong answers he started voting with the group on clearly wrong answers. that however was not even the tip of the iceberg. In the second expiriment a subject was brought in and told he was going to administer a memory test to another subject who happened to have a heart condition. The subject was introduced to the one he was going to administer the test to. he was then told that if the test taker were to get a wrong answer he was to flip a switch and adminster a tiny shock right to the mans wrist. It was tiny at first but there were more switches that controlled higher shock values that could even kill him. What the subject did not know was that the machine was fake and he was not actually doing anything. The fact was that he thought he was doing it and he continued to do it in his case though he quit and refused to any further damage, but not before supposedily shoking a man witha heart condition 23 times. other subjects that administered the fake test actually took the test to its fatal end and they actually thought they killed the person that took the test. the expiriement was to see if the person would act against his conscince and reason just to do what he was told to do. Tragically some did. Our teacher did a quick poll of the class. He said if you were in this situation how many of you would go all the way. No one raised thier hands. then he said how many of you would quit? Almost everyone raised thier hands. He then said 95% of everybody would say they would do the right thing outside of the situation but when the rubber meets the road at least two thirds of the subjects actually killed the person they were testing hypothetically. That raises an important question if you actually think about it what would you do? This is a clip of the two expirements