In the Mind of 10-Year-Old Jordan

So, I was a pretty weird little kid. I'm still weird, but I was advanced in weirdness for my age. For instance, I learned a little bit of the least common multiple rule by using my fingers. And I found great delight in the fact that I knew what square roots were. I was also the kid that peed in front of a couple making out on the beach, the kid that tried to "fly" by tying a sash around his neck to a support beam in his house and jumping off a mini-elephant slide, and the kid that tried to kick an appraiser in the butt for "trying to steal his house." Yeah. I was that kid.

All that to say that I developed some weird theories at the age of ten. One that comes to mind is the "relative timeline" thing. This is how it went: So, I always was amused by the fact that time seemed to fly by at some times, while at other times it moved at an unbearably slow pace. So, in a random way, I devised this thought. Maybe we all experience life at our own pace. Like, we all experience the same reality (with no differences in events or the like), but none of us experiences it at the exact same moment.

Say, for instance, that you hand me a banana. Nothing complicated, just an exchange of delicious fruit. But as I experience that, you could, in your mind, be at a totally different point of life doing something completely unrelated, like losing your first tooth or getting a haircut. You are unbound by my relative time.

In this "relative timeline," this would continue for everyone until everybody collectively reached the end of the existence of time. It just blew my mind to think that I'm the only one really experiencing these events at this point in time.

Well, that's enough of 10-year-old Jordan. Back to being a college student.

Day of Remembrance

This is my day of remembrance.

For the time I fell on the stake on severed my tonsils.
Thanks for keeping me from further harm.
This is my day of remembrance

For when I nearly hung myself trying to "fly."
Thanks for keeping me from choking to death.
This is my day of remembrance.

For when I got lost in the woods, scratched and scared.
Thanks for hearing my tear-filled cry.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the night we came back to find Grandma had a stroke.
Thanks for taking care of her.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the tough years Grandma spent living at our house.
Thanks for giving us peace and patience.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the time I started basketball, something new and different.
Thanks for giving me amazing new friendships.
This is my day of remembrance.

For that time at Lake Ann I rededicated my life to You.
Thanks for calling me to grow with You.
This is my day of remembrance.

For when we changed churches because of some issues.
Thanks for giving us a great church and close friends.
This is my day of remembrance.

For when busted myself up over numerous basketball games.
Thanks for preventing any major injuries.
This is my day of remembrance.

For when I had that crazy allergic reaction and almost died.
Thanks for the second chance and new perspective.
This is my day of remembrance.

For  when I went off to college, unsure what to expect.
Thanks for the awesome friends you gave me.
This is my day of remembrance.

For all the trials and triumphs I will go through.
Thanks in advance for being ever-present.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the time you rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Thanks for declaring yourself a Messiah of peace.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the time you carried your cross to the place of the skull.
Thanks for also carrying my sins and the sins of us all.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the forgiveness you uttered while hanging on the tree.
Thanks for your trust in God as you sighed your last breath.
This is my day of remembrance.

For the power you displayed as you broke down death's doors.
Thanks for bringing victory to us all.
This is my day of remembrance.

For when you will return and reign over all.
Thanks for everything that you've ever done.
Then will be the day of ultimate remembrance.

During the night, and during the day, you stood beside me all of the way.
Until you return and we party forever, I rely on my Savior in every endeavor.

This is my day of remembrance... so remember...

The Winds... 'n stuff

And why do the winds change?
Are their desires so fleeting?
Are their motivations so fickle?
They wander to and fro, never to be satisfied.
Yet they have more resolve than the heart
It is ever-searching, ever-changing
Unsure of its own two feet, it knows not what it wants
It waves back and forth, sure to give way and topple
It is insecure and must be locked up
Hidden from all to protect all from its destructive ways
If set loose, it tears apart all it touches
Leaving nothing but dust in its wake
So it must remain under both lock and key
Shut in a cell never to be opened
Lest it be the ruin of us all

...

It is true - "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" So I entrust mine to the One, the Only One, who can handle its tumultuous behavior. I thank God for His grace - He restrains the bent nature within me and loans to me His perfect one. I must resolve to make good use of it, lest I prove myself an untrustworthy steward.

...

Lately, I've had this strange urge to exclaim something in a foreign language whenever I get excited or surprised. I feel like saying something that means, "Oh, wow!" in cooler terms. I must discover this phrase; otherwise, I will be doomed to a life without precision. That, or I'll be just a little less happy whenever something makes me excited.

...

What is greater, an idea or the words that convey it?
In my opinion, the idea holds superiority. Words are but a medium through which an idea takes form. It is the idea itself that is inspired and inspires. It is true that without proper words, an idea can fail. I concede that. But without an idea the words carry no meaning. They become refuse, chaff, a dull horn that drones in the early morning. But a concept needs only a spark to ignite. If one can but grasp the tiniest bit of an idea, he can be won to its cause. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great orator, but it was the power of his dream that fueled his words.

It is the greatest of ideas that elude our lips as we search for words. Their abstract nature taunts us until we put it to rest with sound of our voice. I'm sure you've felt it: You are on the brink of a revelation, an epiphany. You are inches from grasping that which you wish to convey, but it may as well be light years. But try hard enough, long enough, and the idea takes form on your lips, and it is beautiful. In that moment where the abstract meets the concrete, you know that something truly amazing has happened.

So, while an idea relies on words to be expressed, it is the idea that holds the true power. It is only a matter of time before it manifests itself.