I had a really good time hanging out with Sam last night.

We played yet another pathetic game of scrabble. You know it's bad when Sam asks "is this a word?" And I reply, "For the sake of our game, sure!"

It was just nice having people over again. It was nice seeing friendly faces in a relaxed no pressure environment.

And yes, Chris, he randomly yelled at me in the middle of dinner.

I think Sam has gotten more random. He kept directing conversation at dinner. But it wasn't quite conversation. It was him making disjointed statements without any background and without any link to the previous comment. It was a whole series of non sequiturs. Maybe it's just been too long since I hung out with him. But, all in all it was just very refreshing and relaxing to hang out with him.

I've come to realize that I am too busy. Yes, I love being busy. But, sometimes, I crave a little more downtime. I wish that I had more time to spend with Jason, with other friends, with my television, with my Bible, with my bed. At the very most, I spend 1 weeknight every two weeks at home or doing something informal. I love being involved in ministry so much. I really admire Jason's mom and how she chose to take early retirement so she could spend her time doing ministry. Well, that may be a reality for me in 40 years. For now, I must work.

It's really scary thinking about the future. I've been working on applications for school. It's so strange because I've been praying about and preparing for going to grad school for so many years now. And, now, I'm finally applying. I'm amazed my the opportunities that God has blessed me with. As much stress as applications causes me, I'm awed that I even get to consider going on and getting more formal education. I think this is the first time that I've really been grateful for all the options and choices available to me.

It's been said that one of the problems with our generation is that we grew up with too many choices. We have too many opportunities available to us that we don't really know how to choose or how to commit and follow through with a choice. I know I suffer from this frequently. I've been learning to praise God for the abundance of choices that I have. I've learned that the proper response to His abundant goodness is to be a good steward of these blessings. I can't just hide in my "options paralysis," but I have to commit and see things through to completion. Once I've decided on something, I shouldn't spend my time wondering if I've made the right choice. I shouldn't worry about wondering if another choice may have been easier, or more fun, or faster.

Ok, I rambled a lot, but said nothing. So, what's new?