The Willem

Popcorn Kernels

// November 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Holy Random Batman!, I just started writing and...

preface: I haven’t blogged in forever. That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought in forever or had stuff to write. What it does mean is that I haven’t made time to tend to this blog as I should be. This is going to be the most random collection of thoughts I’ve ever assembled, which will probably be very therapeutic for me and very entertaining for you. Enjoy, I know I will.

I love prefaces. They feel like low-key, but still important, disclaimers. Nobody likes a disclaimer. Disclaimer means you’re likely to find something you don’t like and they’re taking either legal or preventative action to stave off complaints or lawsuits. Prefaces are more like “hey, just a heads up, this is what to keep your eyes open for.” I dig that.

You know what else I like? Boldness. Bold type is alright, but I just dig boldness. Kind of like digging the word “dig.” That’s part of why I liked Diglett so much. Dugtrio was ok, but Diglett was just awesome.

You know what’s good? Lots of stuff.

I went to Walmart the other day (ok, who am I kidding, I go to Walmart almost every day, even though I despise the company) and bought some Blue Bell ice cream that was listed at 51 pesos. In case you don’t know, the exchange rate hovers around 13 pesos to the dollar, making that pint of deliciousness priced at about $3.90. That’s a pretty decent deal if you ask me. Here’s the exciting part (as if delicious ice cream wasn’t enticing enough): they priced it wrong. My ice cream rung up for $35.10 pesos (oh yeah, they put the $ sign in front of their prices, which is hilarious to me. Did you know that it originally had two vertical lines connected by a little loopy thingy at the bottom. This is also called a U. Why? Because it used to be US smooshed together, but we got lazy and swapped it to one single vertical strike. Now you can understand why I find the $ in front of peso prices hilarious, right?). That means my pint of high quality, delicious Blue Bell pecan pralines n’ cream (why is there only one apostrophe on that?) cost me roughly $2.70 american. Baller.

I’m so sick of not having my dress clothes. I never expected to miss dress shoes, a nice shirt, and my tie, but I do. I feel like a scrub at church each week, and I’m still dressed appropriately in good jeans and a nice polo shirt. I wanna feel pretty. I might regret that sentence tomorrow. No edits.

I was going to work at Costco when I was in Yakima for our December break, but they told me they can’t afford to hire me. I’m considering looking for some other work for the three weeks, but I’m sure God will provide, in all ways, all that I need. I just keep remembering the scripture concerning not eating if you don’t work (2 Thessalonians 3:10) and thinking I should at least be willing to work. If anyone knows of anything I could do to earn a little extra, I’d greatly appreciate some leads.

Rachel and I just made up an absolutely hilarious dance to “Feliz Navidad” for El Colli in eight hours. Seriously, it’s awesome.

I think Gabi has a better monkey face than I do.

I’m rather perturbed (I might even say I’m vexed) that I have routinely been called “WillemPooh” after a girl started calling me “WinniePooh” a couple weeks ago. She’s been way too forward with me, and I’m not even allowed to date if I wanted to, which I don’t. I’m single on and with purpose, thank you, and I’m not breaking that streak in Mexico. If anyone calls me anything relating to that name, I will be ignoring you. Probably for the rest of the day. Ok, so probably for a good 10 minutes. This is why guys can’t hold grudges. We don’t care enough and we don’t have the attention span.

Tonight, I had an amazing discussion on postmodernism, Buddhism as a religion (it’s not, by the way), and Christianity, as well as my Christian responsibility to share my faith. I didn’t quote scripture in the conversation, since they all would have disregarded the authority I know to be present in the scriptures, but I did use an analogy I’m rather fond of:

As far as discussing it in public, I can think of no better place. What use is a discussion if it’s in private and with no dissenting opinions? That may be a difference in style between the two of us, but I absolutely enjoy being challenged and stretched in my faith and my thought process in front of everyone and with everyone allowed to chime in.

Part of your original post asked why everyone couldn’t just find what made them happy and keep it to themselves. I think if anyone kept it to themselves, that would make them the most selfish person on the planet. I share because I genuinely believe that Jesus is the path to salvation; the only path. I share because I care about people and I’m trying to learn to love them all, and part of that is at least telling them all about the wonderful thing I have discovered. I try not to be pushy, because I hated those people, but if I don’t at least tell people once, I feel as though I’m abandoning them and hiding something they could partake of. I’ve always been of the belief that more options are a good thing. More information available makes more informed (and thus, better) decisions. With that said, it then becomes my responsibility to make sure people know of this option. The fact that I believe it is the only correct choice is a bonus, of course.

It’s like handing someone a multiple choice question with only a, b, c, and d on it, knowing that e is the correct answer. That just seems awful to me.

If you can find a hole in that, let me know. I like shoring up my arguments and the best way to do so is to be challenged.

I’m trying to find churches to speak at about my experiences in Mexico and about all that God is doing in, through, and around us there. So far I’m booked at one on December 6th, but the rest of December and the first Sunday in January are still open. I’m planning to be in Yakima until Christmas and on the west side of the state after that.

Fruit salad is a funny thing. If there’s yogurt, it’s heavenly. If there isn’t, it’s the Devil’s fruit. Here’s why: if you don’t coat the fruit in something (Yogurt was just the most common coating I could think of that isn’t marshmallow, which is disgusting and just wrong. If you coat your fruit in marshmallow junk, you are wrong. Repent. Go and sin no more.), the fruits all share juices and just end up tasting like the most dominant fruit. Put another way: they’re lying. Who is the king of lies? That would be Satan. You keep your Satan Salad. I’ll have none of it.

I don’t understand lettuce.

Seth pooped in the potty this week. Hannah wanted to throw him a parade. Before Mexico, I would have thought that’s the strangest reaction ever. Now? I’m on board. You might say I dig it.

We all bought a book called StrengthsQuest. I highly recommend it. You can go to their website (https://www.strengthsquest.com/) and take a test (if you buy a brand new book, you get a code to take the test) that shows you your top 5 strength areas. I disagreed with mine at first, but after reading the descriptions I can understand why I ended up with those results. Everyone in the house has to take the test, and I’ve already learned a ton about myself and about nearly everyone else in the house. It’s been extremely helpful, and I was a skeptic! With that said, my top 5 strengths are Restorative, Connectedness, Woo, Individualization, and Ideation. First person to make fun of me for having woo gets…gets…I don’t know. But you won’t like it. If you want to know what those mean, go to the website, because I’m not typing it all out (Don’t give me any guff about copy+paste. I don’t feel like it and when I’m ornery, there’s no messing with me.)

Tonight, a small group went to the homeless ministry. They ended up praying over a woman who was possessed and manifesting her demon(s). I don’t know all the details, but I heard that they kept praying for her for quite a long time and she tried to pray with them. Every time she tried to say the name of Jesus, her speech would suddenly cease and all she could say was “ayudame,” which means “help me,” for the Spanishless. Upon hearing their story, my eyes welled up and tears started streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t help but feel incredible anguish for her. She is tormented, just like so many others in this world. How much pain can one Jesus take? He is incredible. I am absolutely amazed by Him.

On the being amazed by our savior note, my worship song is totally coming together. It’s one of the first posts on this blog, a song titled “With You.” Honestly, the title stinks, but the song has actually turned out rather well. I can play it on the piano and sing it now, and Matt is piecing together a guitar part (He wrote almost all the piano music. Actually, I’m not sure if I wrote any of it. I wrote the lyrics and the melody forever ago though, so I guess that’s something.) and Gabi mentioned wanting to learn/create a harmony vocal after she heard me playing it. We’ll be performing it at a local poetry night the day after Thanksgiving.

I need new Christian music.

Oh, I’ve thought of a few things I would like for Christmas (none is needed)

• A digital camera (preferably this one)
• Logos Bible Software (found here)
• Baked Goods
• Hugs
• At least one really really good high five
• A pocket Spanish-English dictionary

I’m barely conscious. Seriously, it took me like 35 minutes to write that Christmas list. I wonder if there are leftovers in the fridge.

Just soup. I’ll pass.

I just realized that I’ve written over 1700 words on this blog, yet I’ve been avoiding writing three 2-page articles summaries like the plague.

Best quote I’ve heard recently: “Excuse me miss, your postmodernism is showing.”

After this year, I’m never playing fantasy football again. I don’t care if I end up winning the whole league (which is totally possible; I’m in 3rd place). It’s way too stressful and distracting.

Also, I’ve decided not to drink soda next year. I’m tired of feeling so out of shape. I only weigh like 200 lbs, but I feel huge.

Just for fun, here are two hilarious pictures of me.

So ummm….Google Reader is my new favorite toy. It’s amazing. I get to keep track of everything I like reading all the time, but it puts all the posts into one spot instead of making me hop all over to different websites. Whoever came up with this idea should get a nice posh corner office overlooking something pretty.

In honor of my mom’s recent birthday, you should all click on this link and then click the big pink button to support breast cancer research and free mammograms for women who need them. (CLICK HERE IF YOU HATE CANCER)

I have to type a few more words so I can eek over the 2000 mark, just because I think that would be a pretty cool thing. I’m not sure why, I just get the impression that I’d be much more pleased with 2009 words of nonsense than i would be with 1986. Ok, I just realized that I just typed the current year and my birth year without intending to. Crazy sauce.

Things I did this Halloween

// November 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Holy Random Batman!, I just started writing and..., Life

Packed all the El Colli stuff in the truck and van in a tidy and organized manner (this has never been done)

Ministered to tons of kids through song, dance, and helping with the day’s Bible story (I was a discus champion, and I was good at it)

Handled a parent’s questions in Spanish by myself (and figured out who her kids were)

Discovered that being called “Gordito” by the local kids is, in fact, not offensive here (I’m still not sure I believe that)

Lashed out in a passive-aggressive manner towards people yelling nonstop in the study room (I apologized later and I should have handled my need for quiet in a more tactful fashion)

Ate a lot of honey-roasted peanuts and hershey’s kisses. (I truly think this might be the best combination of snack foods)

Wrote a paper on an amazing book (the paper is below, and significantly less impressive than the book)

Admired Seth’s and Baby Henry’s incredible costumes (Baker In Training for Seth, Pooh and a Pumpkin for Baby Henry)

Had a great chat with a mentor (although part of it was more hilarious than mentor-mentee relationship)

Ate amazing food, all throughout the day. (Home-baked goodies, tomato basil soup, baked potatoes, yum)

Did the best makeup job I have ever done for Mike’s demon outfit (Seriously, he looked Joker-esque)

Complained about the egregious lack of good tape in this country (I honestly have no idea how they hold their stuff together without the glory of duct tape)

Continually ran back and forth between a fake party and the Judgment Seat, where I then draped myself in a sheet that wouldn’t stay up (due to lack of good tape) so I could play God

Met a couple of very cool new people and got to practice my Spanish in a long car ride around 1am. (They said I spoke very well!)

Had a very healthy and helpful chat with a very good friend on the way back from that long car ride. (I’d been looking forward to this particular conversation for a while)

Boot Camp Day 4. Thursday

// September 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Holy Random Batman!, I just started writing and..., Life

Thursday started slightly earlier than a normal day (no it didn’t. They all start at midnight). We were all up by 7 so we could do devotions before the first year students had to go to La Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara to take our Spanish placement tests. We took the van on Thursday, but we’ll be taking buses from now on (more on the buses in another post). We hadn’t seen our campus yet, so getting there was kind of intimidating. It’s huge, it’s beautiful, there are citrus and palm trees everywhere, and it just feels like there’s so much history there that you’re overwhelmed.

Once we got all the registration stuff figured out and connected with a proctor for our assessments, we were all crammed into a little room with what should never ever qualify as a desk for adults. They plopped the giant assessment packet in front of each of us, then gave us an answer sheet and explained (I’m giving her a little credit here, because it barely qualified as an explanation in English) how to take our assessments and what information was needed on the answer forms. I finished section two with some confidence, so I figured I would place into level two (out of 9). Everyone else finished after me, except the people who simply put their names on the answer sheets and handed them in, knowing they needed to be in level 1. The proctor then corrected my assessment on my desk in front of me: 8/10 for level 1 and 4/10 for level 2. I was then whisked away to a room with a woman who spoke very fast and rather quietly (this is a problem, since I have had a sinus infection that has plugged my ears for days, so I am having trouble hearing), so I couldn’t understand her very well. As it turns out, she was conducting an placement interview (Yes, I meant to put “an.” It’s grammatically correct, even though it sounds funny.), so I didn’t exactly pass that with flying colors. She then swapped over to hesitant English to explain to me that I hadn’t demonstrated enough confidence in my speech to thrive in level 2 communication (we take 1 grammar class and 1 communication class). I assured her that I had the hearing thing going on and I just needed to get back into it and that I’d prefer to be placed into level 2, so she just let me start that way!

Oddly, I’m the only one of us in level 2. Two people tested into level 4, I’m in level 2, and everyone else is in level 1. We had to do a bunch of silly paperwork and running around to get everything set up, and we still didn’t finish before we had to leave, but we can finish that mess on Monday when we start our classes.

We got back to the house around 10ish for a 10:30 meeting, which was basically just a short description of what we’d be doing for the rest of the day. We got to take a tour of all of our ministry sites, praying at each site. This was very exciting for all of us, since we’d only been to one site and hadn’t even gotten to put a full effort into that experience.

We first went to El Colli, divided into El Campo (a dirt field with patches of grass and patches of trash) and La Cancha (a playground). I was in the El Campo team, so we were dropped off first. We walked around praying individually for about 15 minutes before coming together to pray a blessing over the whole place. I got some interesting insight about that place. I saw army ants crawling all over the place and started thinking about needing more soldiers in the Lord’s army, how we would need to crawl on our bellies in humiliation at times and would need to carry burdens much larger than ourselves at times, but how if we work tirelessly and with God’s will in mind and heart, we will build something much greater than the surface can show. We also had a prophesy of life returning to the area, as evidenced by the near jungle on the perimeter. It was definitely an eye-opening trip.

Next, we packed up the van and headed to our youth center, La Fusion. This place is amazing. It’s in a completely broken area of town where you can feel the oppression and depression all around you, but there’s this place above a nail salon that has brightly-colored walls, ping-pong, foosball, carpetball (this game is amazing, so I’ll have to post a video someday), beautiful high arched brick ceilings, and a basketball court in the back. It’s so clearly a lighthouse in the area, and we each took a turn to pray against the strongholds affecting kids in the area.

We then headed off to one of the college campuses (CUCEA) to have lunch, meet the Chi Alpha group on campus, and prayer-walk the campus with them. Lunch was interesting, because I ordered first and got my food last. It was delicious though (chiles rellenos), so I didn’t complain. We got to walk with Jensen, who is from a small island country I can’t remember in the Caribbean. He was a great guide and we got a good idea of the culture on the campus, which gave us knowledge of what to pray for.

After CUCEA, we scooted over to another university where Angela teaches English (UTEG). This was easily the most uncomfortable I have ever been. On top of being cranky already from wearing jeans in Mexican heat and being sweaty, coupled with being itchy from mosquito bites, smashed together with having spent the entire day crammed into a hot van with people who were all talking the entire time, I was the last one into the classroom, so I got stuck with the crazy girls. You know those girls in high school who try to corrupt any wholesome guy who shows them the slightest bit of kindness? I had to work with them. First, they wanted me to teach them how to say breast implants in English, so they could put it on their homework as things they would accomplish in the coming years. Then, they asked me out for tequila and dancing, explaining that one of them was an exotic dancer. This was not my favorite 45 minutes in life. Richie tried to rescue me, but they dismissed him and went back to attacking their prey. Eventually, Angela took pity on me and started a class-wide game of hangman.

Finally, we escaped that place. On the way out, I had a short conversation with Carolyn about my time spent as an atheist, which I still have to finish. We then took a trip to UNIVA, a private Catholic university several blocks from our house. We prayer-walked the campus in one group and met a couple people who our leaders were friends with from last year, then we got ditched. Our leaders left a second year student (Justin) with us and took the van home, telling us it was our task to get home safely for dinner, with the caveat that Justin wasn’t allowed to do anything except keep us alive. I started walking to the nearest exit, which happens to be on the opposite side of campus from our house. Stacia corrected our course and got us going in the right direction (this should have been a sign that I should not be leading the charge on this day, although I’m usually the best direction person I know). Richie and I asked the guards at the gate how to get to our house. They gave very easy and clear directions…which we both heard wrong. They said “derecho” and we heard “derecha.” This seems like a small difference to you non-spanish speakers, but derecho means straight and derecha means right. Considering they were talking about the first intersection, we got ourselves in trouble at the start. We ended up going way out of our way, Brittany almost passed out from dehydration (we’re all adjusting to this altitude and bottled water only thing), were given three sets of bad directions before getting ourselves straightened out, and finally got home. It took us about 45 minutes. Upon getting back, Justin told us of our mistake and explained that it’s about a 5 minute walk if we’d gone straight, and that we come out at the corner that is literally 1 house away from ours. Awesome.

Throughout the day we were faced with tons of riddles from Matt. Most of us enjoyed them and rose to the challenge. Some people didn’t. I was one of those that did. I’m usually good at riddles and answered a lot of them, so I had fun with it, despite the very vocal protestations of some of our less riddle-friendly compatriots.

After a quick dinner, several of us went to play ultimate frisbee at the Autonoma campus. Normally, we’ll be able to join in with the games on Thursdays, but they were practicing for their tournament this weekend so we just took one of their players and played our own side game, which ended 7-6 at dark. It was a great game and a lot of fun and we kept everyone involved without getting ultra-competitive. We all really enjoyed it.

Upon returning home, we faced one last challenge to regain a portion of our toiletries. Matt gave us two ropes and blindfolded two of our team members, who were also instructed not to speak. He then interwove the ropes and faced the two members towards one another. Over an hour later after many failed attempts, swappings of the rope holders, removal of blindfolds, Matt took Phoenicia downstairs and showed her how to do it, once, quickly. She wasn’t allowed to approach or speak to the rope-holders, and she couldn’t quite communicate it. Stacia went next and, in typical Stacia fashion, came bounding up the stairs and couldn’t contain her excitement. About 15 seconds later, we all rejoiced. Then we received 1 stick of deoderant, 1 bottle of shampoo, and 1 bottle of conditioner. We were told that we got to choose one item for the guys, one for the girls, and one to be shared. Loree suggested that the guys get the deoderant, the girls get the conditioner, and the shampoo be shared. This made sense to all of us, so I poured some shampoo into a cup for the guys and handed the bottle to the girls, then we all went to take showers and go to bed.