Valentine's Day Reflections

You're probably reading the title and thinking, "This is a little late." Well, I didn't post it on Valentine's Day because I reflected on it on Valentine's Day. I have no intention of making this a rant. I want to be open and honest with you about my thoughts and feelings. So stick with me, and I'm sorry this goes off into a rant by any chance. But if it does, I've only ranted on the holiday once before, so I've been good

First of all, let me establish my relationship history: I am currently single. I have had 2 girlfriends in the past. I don't mean to be blunt, but if I do not say this up front, none of the rest will make to sense to you. This is where the "stick with me" part comes in. And while I'm at it, and I'll establish the fact that Feb. 15 is not Singles Day. Singles get a whole week, and it's the week Sept. 14 is in, 6 months after Valentine's Day.

I'm friends with a guy at college named Brady. Brady and I look so alike we've been mistaken for twins, but that's off topic. What annoys me the most about Brady is also what I like the most about Brady. When Brady has a problem in his life, he will randomly talk over it out loud, and anyone near him can hear it. Maybe Brady looking like me is not coincidence because if he is suffering from a problem I have just like him, it's almost like looking at myself talking over my problems (no joke intended, I am serious). So on February 12, just 2 days before Valentine's Day, Brady mentioned himself being single (as well as dealing with being single), and his struggle to not be able to get a girl. And I saw that mirror reflection of me.

Valentine's Day AKA "Singles Awareness Day [S.A.D.]" Why is it Singles Awareness Day, or S.A.D.? Because on Valentine's Day, the ones that are SAD are the singles. Why? This is a holiday which is spent a lot (although not the entire thing) on boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife. And it's public. So public some people, like the Sad Singles, don't want to leave their house (or in the college student's case, the dorm). I had experienced like feelings in high school. The Public Displays of Affection were at their height on this day, so greatly I didn't want to go to school. I started thinking this same thought for college. Do I really want to leave my dorm, a safe haven of guys only and no couples? I dare not go to Lower Level Peterson! I tried to get an idea of what Valentine's Day was like on a Bible College campus. Some said it's bad, others said it was not bad at all. Some said it's not as bad as high school, others said it's fine as long as you have tunnel vision (don't go looking for the couples on purpose, and avoiding it all costs). So since I was leaving at 4, I decided it was safe to venture, but just to classes, the cafeteria for food, and then the rest of the time my dorm.

Ah, I love my dorm. And that's one of the reasons why. It's just guys. Yes, I enjoy the fact that the dorms are not co-ed, and there a place I can go to get away to just guys. Not from girls, but from couples. There not anywhere in sight. Out of sight, out of mind. And they are out of mind because it's not brought up in my quad. Out of the 8 guys in my quad (I'm including the regular visitor Brady), 6 of them are single. And from the 2 that have girlfriends (actually, for one, it's finance), I don't hear about it on a regular basis. Sure they mention them when applicable, but it's not like they are announcing it on a daily. And I am very grateful for that. Thank you guys. Thank you for not making me a part in your relationship, the audience. But back to the cool singles guys. They are awesome. With the exception of Brady (there is nothing wrong with this, and I'll get to that later), none of them complain about not having a girlfriend. Sure, I bet they have girls they like, but I'm not hearing them obsess about it, or depressed because they are not dating. They are content with being single. One guy from my section actually verified this just last night, and I know others has told me this. One even told me that he was putting off any relationship for a long time on purpose. And it's starting to change me.

These guys influenced me all fall semister. And for the first time I can officially say that I'm content with being single. It's been a big help being around these guys. It helped me realize something. I now realize the reasons I wanted to have a girlfriend, and they might be the wrong reason. It goes all the way back to high school. I was in a school of show-off couples, which treated singleness as a curse. I was incomplete, and a girlfriend would complete me. I had no close friends and thought a girlfriend would be a good one. It seemed like I couldn't find anyone who liked me, and I was desperate to find one. Being single made me feel left out, unpopular and unliked. But then coming to LBC and meeting the guys in Peterson Hall 107 changed that. They were good friends, who liked me for who I was. All the past changed. Being able to go to these guys, where I could get away without really hearing about it, I didn't think about it. I had friends. And with these good friends who wanted to hang out with me, the strong feeling of needing a girlfriend just became a weak feeling of wanting a girlfriend. It wasn't necesary in my life. Through both words and actions, I saw that they felt the same way too. And even in the worse times, I could go to my Life Connect person Louis, and he's also helped get me out of the deepest funks of being single to the greatest contentment of being single. And some of my favorite moments with him is either doing Bible studies or playing video games - it takes my mind away from girls, couples, and being single.

And ironically, all my ex-girlfriends have taught me this lesson. This goes back to Brady speaking what's on his mind. On that Tuesday the 12th, Brady was talking about the "girls who got away." In his case it was just good female friends who he could have taken it up to the next stage, but in my case, thinking about the girls who got away from me were my 2 ex-girlfriends. I don't care how pathetic this sounds, it's true: both times I have been dumped by the girl. They left me. So to me, they got away. For the most part, I have gotten over them, but there is still a teeny tiny bit that wishes one of them would come back (let's say I'm 95% over them, 5% wishes one would come back). Thinking about both of them, I realized both had something in common. Both of them, when I started dating them, could be described as "desperately single" and both of them broke up with me after realizing they were happy when they were single. Now I don't believe that to be the full truth, but I think there is truth in that. And I look back at myself, I think when I started out going with those girls, I was a little desperate. Every time we've broken up, I've not wanted to, but I'd allowed it. A girl, who I liked and turned me down once said, "You're not ready to marry until you're ready to be single." I say the same is true for dating. You're not ready to date until you are ready to be single.

So was I ready to be dating? What I mean by that, was I ready to be single? I'm not sure. I can't say I compromised any beliefs or feelings. I was still behaving like a Christian. And they were Christian. They liked me, and I liked them. They met all my requirements. My second girlfriend I didn't go out with until 15 months after dating my first girlfriend, not really liking any girl. Does that say something? So am I ready to be single again? I don't know. I'd like to say I am. I'm not too concentrated on girls. Right now, there is no single girl that I have a major crush on. Yet I find myself having minor crushes on a bunch of girls. Is it a sign of being desperate, or is it keeping me in check for liking one girl too much? I also have found myself liking girls near my sister's age, which is roughly about 4 years younger than me. Now it's nothing sexual...or maybe a better term is nothing physical. I just like them for their personality, for who they are. Is this wrong? Am I getting so desperate that I am looking at younger girls? Or is that I'm just being too influence by Mike? :-P That's a scary thought.

Here's another thing that divides me on whether I am fully content with singleness . May it be a confession to all of you. I confess that I have been using dating applications on Facebook to meet girls. I "poke" them, message them, and add a few to my friends. I've met a lot of girls this way. It mostly is online, and even more stays to just Facebook. But a few I've gotten IM screenames from. And truthfully, my last girlfriend I did not know until I met her on Facebook. It just so happened that we had a common friend who went to a common church. So yes, we met through Facebook. Now I know a lot of people are against, mostly because it's unconventional, but also the fact these people on another computer are strangers. If you're not comfortable, let me tell you this. 6 girls I asked out before I had a girlfriend. All of them I knew face-to-face and had a friendship with. All 6 turned me down. After those 6, I had my 2 girlfriends. Both met me online. Sure the shortest one only lasted 10 days, but that's 10 more days then those 6 other girls gave me.But So I'm not really against it. I can see profiles of girls, with both pictures and info, and from that choose someone who matches me or I think will be good with. Sure they can lie, but I haven't really met that problem before, and if so, I can usually tell by exchanging messages. And it helps get rid of that ackward exchange of basic information on the first date because it's all there online. Same is true for the girl. Girls can see all my information and know who I am before making a move. That leads me to a topic I said I would get back to.

As I said above, Brady does sometimes struggle with being single, and will express it out loud. On that Tuesday the 12th he mentioned looking at himself, and what could attract girls, only to draw up a blank. I drew up that same blank. You ladies reading might be a girl who received an IM in September asking you "Why would you marry me". I had gotten a dating survey for college success that asked why some woman would want to marry me. Truthfully, I didn't know why. I myself did not know why I was worth marrying. This question that took a lot of thought. It got me stumped a couple of times. I had to get help from female friends. And still thinking about it, I can't see a reason why a girl would like me. I will outwardly tell you, I am not attractive to the eyes, not athletic or fit, not musical in any sense, nor artistic in any sense. I’m not really a genius. I’m not too rich either. My sense of humor is dry slap-stick (although my last ex always thought I was funny, and still does). There is nothing I got. Of course on the survey I put "I'm a good Christian." Yeah, that is good for a Christian girl, but seriously, that's a broad category. There are a lot of guys who are Christian. So after he's Christian, the next thing is...well, it's one of the above that I don't have. So pretty much, I'm screwed. It's hard to convince a girl to like you if you have low self-esteem. Now don't get me wrong, I like me for who I am. I realize God created me the way I was because he wanted me that way, and I am satisfied with the way I am created. It's just trying to get the girl to see the same thing, and like me enough to date me. But they're not always interested in that. As Napoleon Dynamite states, they want skills. What girl is attracted to a Bible Quizzer? Let me tell you not even the Bible Quizzing girls are attracted to that. Only I am (and it's kinda made me quizzing shallow, only liking girl quizzers with high scores). Like I said: screwed. So what's a guy to do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I have come to the point where I say to ladies, "This is me. Take it or leave it." Don't change for someone else, you'll be living a lie. Tell them to take it or leave it. And remember, God made you, so He takes it, and leaves the sin behind.

So what's this got to do with Valentine's? This is what I was thinking during Valentine's, and it all draws to some good conclusions about Valentine's. The holiday can impact you no matter what your relationship status. So what are going to take from it? Couples, are you going to flaunt your love for each other? Careful, it may hurt your single friends. Singles, are you going to complain about how much this holiday sucks? Careful, it may hurt your dating friends. Let's compromise: if dating people promise to keep their displays of affections to themselves, then single people will keep their complaining among themsleves. Deal? Deal. Couples, go off alone and enjoy the time you have for the special someone. For you single people, hang out with a large group of people from the same gender. Guys, hang out with a large bunch of guys. Girls, hang out with a large group of girls. Do what you like doing the best, fellowship and get caught up with each other. And promise that talk about the opposite sex, couples, crushes, or dating will not come up. The idea is to take your mind of those things and focus it on something you enjoy. I know some people get together a co-ed group of single people to hang out, but I think this is going the wrong way at it. At these things, people just end up pairing up for the day, and it's pretty much conforming to be like couples so you don't feel left out. It's missing the point.

So in closing I want to remind you all that everyone will be eventually married...it is stated in Revelations, it's our marriage as the church to Christ. So if you're a couple, dating or married, it doesn't matter because at the end, the marriage is null-and-void. And for you single people, don't worry if you're not married, or not dating. Give God the time. In the mean time, take that love you usually give to the significant other and share it among your friends, family, and most importantly, God. And even if you're still single by the end of your life, know that God still loves you the same. He has given His love to you, more than any spouse can. In my singleness, I've been praying to God and talking through this to Him. And I feel like he's telling me, "Graham, if you do get a wife, you will have to make some compromises. But if you stay single, I promise I will open many doors for you to procede to do My Will and what you please. And I will give you more friends so you can give that love to them." God has not abandoned the single people. He does not choose His servants based on their relationship status. Christians, let us do the same as the Lord does to us. Let us not judge people on their relationship status.

I am single, but I am also taken by the Lord because I am in a relationship with Him.

Opening the 2nd half of the quizzing season

Our efforts at Conestoga paid off as we started a slow recovery upward. Now we needed to continue it into the 5th week of quizzing. If we didn't, the season could be over just as the second half was beginning. We were looking for at least 230 points to get us back to our week 2 average of 92.5 points/match. That average would keep us alive.

I went to Spring City for church. Today was what I called "causual duct tape day." I wasn't dressed up, but I had the duct tape on all over. I had a duct tape collar, duct tape tie, duct tape manacles, duct tape belt, and a duct tape cap. OK, maybe with the duct tape belt and cap I "cheated" on because I just put duct tape over a real cap and belt, but everything else was original. I had some duct tape props too. I brought back the duct tape baby, which has been described anywhere from a voodoo doll to the robot on the Day the Earth Stood Still. I also had a boquet of 3/4 dozen duct tape roses, which a few lucky ladies got (and I still intended to give some out to some, so it's not too late). My secret sponser got me some Swedish Fish and PB M&Ms. Thank you secret sponser.

After lunch with Brandon Tedor, we had our normal practice matches. The first three we had a lot of bonuses from errors. It gave our rookies a chance to get a lot of practice, thanks to Tim and Mike. But finally by the last practice match, Tim and Mike could buzz in and answer correctly. Unfortunatly, our rookies couldn't do anything then. It seemed like almost perfect timing, but just after we finished our last practice match and turned off the buzzers, the power went out. It was because of the heavy wind and on-and-off flurries. Luckily my mom cooked a dinner that didn't need to be heated. We ate and left a little before 4 so the coaches could make it to coach's meeting.

We arrived at LMH about an hour before coaches. Since only one coach had to go, Vicki went to the meeting, and Dave found an empty classroom where we could practice. We did rounds of questions. Tim decided just like last year we could switch nametags for this. I was Mike, and Mike was me. He didn't do too good of a job being me because he errored a lot. I did a good job of him: saying his old catch words, grunting a lot, flexing my muscles, "texting Steph" (haha, riiiiight) and beating around the bush for 28.5 seconds. The only thing I didn't do like Schwagg was error. That's good. Before the matches, I spat out my gum and started eating dark chocolate AKA "brain food" (dark chocolate has been said to stimulate memory). After Zion led a wonderful praise time, Merv made announcements and sent us off to quiz.

Before we had our quizmatch, I got to watch a quizmatch of Slate Hill 1 vs. Bowmansville 2. I had been wanting to watch a Slate Hill 1 match, but had not gotten the chance. It was a typical Slate Hill match. Mike Good started the match off. He quizzed out. They got team bonus. They pretty much dominated the match. But I noticed something important. Slate Hill 1 wasn't necesarily fast buzzing, but more..."smart buzzing". All were good buzzes, and they beat the other team in. They weren't concured about how many words came out, but rather what words came out. The only times the other team got in first were bad buzzers. It was 4 words, but Slate Hill 1 knew "In what city did..." was not enough. I took notes :)

Now we had our match. It was Spring City vs. Hinkletown 1, 11th place vs. 4th place. We were expecting a struggle, but the match went differently than expected. I quizzed out as soon was question 4. Tim followed me in quizzing out. Mike got two. Bobby got a bonus, but we still needed one more for team bonus. The other side wasn't looking too active. Cody Hoover quizzed out, and that seemed like it. On the last question, Mike eased up a bit to let Chelsea, Alyssa or Bobby get in for team bonus. Hinkletown 1 took advantage of this and got their last points. Spring City won 100-45.

Between my matches, I went to watch Akron 1 vs. Conestoga 2 for scouting. For some reason, Akron 1 only had 3 of its 4 quizzers this Sunday. It hurt them. Conestoga 2 has their act together. They took control of the match. I thought the match was going slow so I didn't stay the whole time because I wanted to make my match. Conestoga 2 got 2 quizouts and was in the lead when I left. I got to my match's room sooner than usual because they just got to the next question!

We had our next match vs. Emmanuel 2. The team consisted of 4 rookie girl quizzers, and a girl emu. I had predicted this match in the beginning of the year to be the second easiest. It was the easiest. I quizzed out on question 5...Mike followed on question 7....Tim then on question 10.....and even Bobby quizzed out! We had 4 quizouts!! Plus, all 4 of those who quizzed out did it all on buzz ins, so we got team bonus! Even Chelsea buzzed in and got one right. Actually, Spring City buzzed in all 15 questions. We errored 2 times, giving Emmanuel 2 a couple chances to score points, but the bonuses were dropped. We won with a 170 point shutout.

So I finished the night by watching Slate Hill 2 vs. Maple Grove and Petra 2 vs. Rockville 2. I watched Petra 2 because they are next week's competition and one of their quizzers is in my English Comp. class at LBC. They did just as well as we did. Dave quizzed out on all buzzes question 3. They also scored 170 points, but Rockville 2 found some room for getting points of their own. Good job Petra 2.

So I figured it out. I am now at 32.5 point average, which should move me up. Spring City scored 270 points this night, moving our average to 95.83. This should shoot us up, unless everyone else had a good day like we did, such as Petra 2. Speaking of which, I figuring Petra 2 to take the top seed unless they scored under 100 points in their first match. In two matches, Tim scored 70 points, Mike scored 55, Bobby scored 45, and Chelsea scored 10. Spring City is back, and we're having fun doing it. Let's see if we can repeat next week.

I say CONE, you say STOGA

Quizzing on Superbowl Sunday is always interesting. So we can get home in time for the Superbowl, the matches begin at 2 p.m. instead of the usual 6:30. So this changes a lot of things. First, we had to practice during the Sunday school hour. I quizzed out every match, although I came close once to not. The team was there for the whole worship afterward. Immeadiately afterward, we left for Conestoga. We had to eat our lunches in the van. I had a hoagie with a lot of odd combinations for condiments. I think I might have grossed out Bobby with it. When we got to Conestoga, we spent an hour doing rounds of questions, trying to get the last bit of material in our heads.

Since Conestoga is as close as it comes, we had lots of fans. Most of them were from Spring City, but we had a few from my church as well. My youth group leader Karen came with her sons, blessings from the church, and a cool new quizzing buddy. Everyone's parents were there. There is always a suprise in the crowd for fans. For the last two weeks it was Christine. This time I saw Angela, from Ark quizzing back in 2004. Thank you to all the fans that came out for this match. I hope you were pleased by our performance.

Our first match was the first of the afternoon. It was against Rockville 2. I took seat 4. We started out strong. I got the first question right, but the second question I errored on. Tim taked the Deitricks into a strategy. Once he buzzed in correctly, he sat out to let the others get in for team bous I quizzed out the next question, and Tim was already back in. I was the only one who quizzed out. We still couldn't get team bonus. We did win 75-50, but we were hoping to score more, get more quiz outs, and maybe team bonus. Still, we were happy for a win, and whatever points we could get.

Our second match was awesome. It was against Living Rock 1. On the first question, Tim buzzed in and got the answer correct. For the second question, I buzzed in and got it correct. On question number 3, Mike buzzed in and got it right. Living Rock 1 called a timeout knowing with 12 questions left, Spring City was only 1 question away from team bonus. Tim was pretty sure Chelsea (our other starter) was going to get it, he wanted to put his buzzer down. Mrs. Deitricks sternly told him he would do no such thing. It didn't matter because question 4 was a situation question, which I of course got right. The next situation question was question 6, which I quizzed out on. On one of the questions, they called "the crowd" a what question. Tim contested and said "the crowd" should be a who. Dave and I didn't think it would pass, but it did! The question was thrown out, Tim got the replacement question for his quizout. He hadn't gotten one of those in a long time. Mike also quizzed out, which we haven't seen in an even longer time. Chelsea got us team bonus with the right answer of "turmoil"! Alyssa buzzed in on "What was inscribed..." and we though she would get it, but alas not this time. Bobby finished up the match by buzzing in and naming what something like a large sheet contained. We won 145-20. These were the points we needed. But the coolest thing was 5 of our 6 quizzers buzzed in correctly.

So here's where Spring City is, according to the halfway mark stats. Although Spring City moved up to an 88 points/match average, we are still in 11th. Apparently, everyone else did well, too. Our team has only gotten team bonus 4 of the past 10 match. I rank as the top quizzer on the team, placing 18th in the ACC with 320 points. Tim is next, with 250 points, placing 49th. After Tim is Mike with 175 points and 95th place. Bobby has 50, and Chelsea has 40 points. We are still looking forward to match where Alyssa gets her first points.

The next week we start the second half of the season at LMH, quizzing against a below average team and an above average team. To get back up to our week 2 average of 92.5, we need to score 230 points in the 2 matches next week. That means scoring 120 points in one match and 110 in the other match. We're going to need lots of studying, prayer, and God's favor. Please pray for us. Also, please pray that I can continue to find car rides home!

Weary and worried at Weaverland

By the grace of God and some connections, I got home for practice on Thursday. Being the first week of classes, I didn't get much time to study. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. For the other 2 guys taking college courses, they weren't too studied up too. So it came to shock when we had quiz outs on buzz ins, especially me quizzing out all matches. Things went better than we expected, but some areas still needed improvement.

Practice on Sunday afternoon went both ways. Dave's questions we did good on, but Vicki's questions we hurted. That's typical of what happens. We just needed Dave questions rather than Vicki questions. I quizzed out as usual. Tim got quiz outs and errors, and same with Mike.

I want to thank my secret sponser for my gift. I don't have a lot of food in my college dorm, but his/her/their gift hepled greatly. I got 3 things of pringles, 2 liter Mountain Dew, M&Ms and a couple dollars. Thank you very much for the gift. Thanks also to the person who left "Spring City's #1 fan - Flubber." I used him as my quizzing buddy instead of the low-rider hamster. Low-rider went well with my black & white joker scheme (black pants, white shirt, black&white crown, black sock, white sock, black shoe, white shoe), but Flubber was cool because when he was hugged, he vibrated and made sound.

We arrived at Weaverland and we met by fans. The announcements were good ones. We got more interchangables, making our life easier. Good news = gospel = messgae. Brothers = believers = disciples. All helpful for us. It doesn't matter if kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven is not interchangeable, it shouldn't be a factor. The rooms were also changed around, so we had to figure where our first match on the first round was.

The first match was against Petra 4. It didn't matter that they were in 4th place, all the Petras always give us a run. They gave us a run, alright. Their buzzing was crazy. I was being beaten in on situation questions! I needed them, too, for I failed to quiz out yet again. Tim errored out again. Again, on the last question, someone buzzed in on We lost 50-70.

Our second match was against Strasburg 4, a rookie team. I took seat 1, hungry for a quiz out. I got it. First question, Bobby buzzed in, and got it right! It was a good start for team bonus. I quizzed out on question 5. We got team bonus in the end, but it was sloppy. We errored 6 times at the end, negating half our team bonus points. It forced Dave to make an unwanted decision of benching a quizzer to increase chances of team bonus and avoid killing a seat. First it was Bobby, then it was Tim. Near the end, it got close enough for Strasburg 4 to win or tie. We barely pulled away with a win 75-65. It's not the type of win we want, but a win was refreshing.

We had a consecutive last match. It was against 1st place New Danville, with 2 perfect quizzers. I sat in seat 1 across from Alyssa Mylin, who finished last year tied with me. Things started off roughly, but we turned it around midway. Tim and I quizzed out. But that was it. After suffering a midway loss, New Danville came through to win 75-70.

Reflections: Near the beginning of my first semister at LBC, Mr. Beers told a story that went well with his message of never giving up for God. He told on how he was coaching a basketball game, and at halftime the team was losing because of poor mistakes. So at halftime he made he team dress up, go out into the bleachers and apologize to the fans for such a bad performance. So right here, right now, I'd like to do the same. I want to apologize to all of Spring City's fans for not quizzing at our fullest. Right now, we are 11th place with an average of 82.5. points/match. I can't remember the last time Spring City was that low. I think it is safe to say the year was 2006. I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Before I go on, let me clarify that when I use the term "team" I do not mean the rookies, or even our second year quizzer. The rookies are right on path for how rookie should do with a starting line of veterans. Bobby, with his 30 points after 3 weeks, could possibly pass the mark. Alyssa, wait for your time. It will come. And Chelsea...good ol' "el fuego." If you haven't received any complements let me be the first one to do so. You're doing a very good job. Even in my second year, I could only get to 120 points at that end, and you're on track for that. But the rest of the team saddens me, including me. We have 3 quizzers with potential to be in the top 50, and they are currently in 22nd, 55th and 110th. In 8 matches, we have only gotten team bonus 3 times. Errors are causing us to lose points. When standings are measured by points, we need team bonus and we don't need errors.

What's to say? Once again, all I can say is sorry. I apologize to all our fans, especially those near to home who came out to watch us but have watched a poor match. I want to further extend my apology to my rookies. Looking at how we did last year, any quizzer in the beginning of the year would consider it a honor to be on Spring City's quiz team. That honor is gone. Tim and I always dreamed of having a team that was feared. Now being in 11th place, we are nowhere's near being feared. I always said, "Well, at least teams won't take us lightly." Now I'm not sure if even that is true. Maybe for the 17 teams below us, but not for the 10 teams above us. I want to apologize to my coaches. The Deitricks have put a lot into this team. It's a shame that nothing shows it. They want us to read, we lose our place. They ask us questions, we error and drop bonuses. They ask us to study, we socialize in excess. I am also sorry we put in the hard position to have to take out quizzers haven't yet quizzed out. It should never be that way. I will make it up to you. Lastly, I want to apologize to God. We have your Word, but it's not sealed up. If there is anything interfering with us doing well, please LORD, reveal it to us so we may fix our errorus ways and refocus back on You.

What's to do? I am thankful for the Deitricks are coaches because they have more mercy and grace than I do. If this was my team, I would have made practice into a Bible Boot camp. My first rule would be prohibiting any girlfriends or ex-girlfriends of the guys on the team (this would also be for the girls on the team, but considering our girls are 16 and 13, I don't think boyfriends are a problem yet) to be allowed at a match. It's not supersition, it some kind of psychological effect that when someone like the girlfriend/boyfriend or the ex come to a match, it diverts some of your focus to them, a focus which needs to be fully concentrated on the quizmatch. Besides, let's face it, they're not cheering for you, they're just sitting in the same room, giggling while they text on their cell phones. Get rid of them, get all focus on the match at hand. My second rule would be that all cell phones should be turned off, put away and not touched until after quizzing is over. Cell phones have caused enough distraction. My third rule would be revoking free time. I don't mean to sound mean, but if you are getting questions wrong, it's a sign you need to study. Take the free time to study. I congatulate those who already figured this out. Fourth, I would instate if you error twice, you will be benched. We cannot be killing seats. After watching the first two matches, I truly believed the starting line should have been me, Mike, Chelsea and Bobby. Think of errors like a stoplight. 1 is green, go at full speed. 2 is yellow, slow down. 3 is red, you are forced to stop. Well, obviously this is why I'm not coach and the Deitricks are. This is obvious why I am not a coach and I am still a quizzer. I'm not going to tell the Deitricks how to run the team. I can't command my fellow quizzers to do anything of these things, but I hope they take these suggestions seriously.

I've also been taking other people's advice: Show character, praise God in all circumstances, be humble, make sure there's a balance of the Word in the head and the heart. I'm trying to do all these things, but I'm not sure if I am doing all these things. Am I humble or am I self-pitying? Am I praising God or am I lamenting? Is the Word just in the head? These are things I am trying to struggle with while trying to study, and I don't exactly know which one should be the first priority.

Thank you for listening to my frustration. It is obvious what I need prayer for. Also throw in for prayer that I get a ride home for thursday night practice. At a time like this, it is more necesary than ever before. I need my team to see how much of the material I know, and they need me for support, strengthening and encouragement.

Stress at Strasburg

I want to thank all who were praying for me to find a ride home Thursday nights. I did find a ride that can get me home every other Thursday. So that covered this past Thursday night and half of my practices. So please continue to pray that I can get the other half of the practices covered. I need those practices, as you will find out soon.

As you may know, it snowed on Thursday night. The good news I got to Tim's house. The bad news is quizzing practice was cancelled. So I spent the night over Tim's house. Mike came over for "practice" (which was limited to circling keywords). I spent the whole night trying to get down awkward, obscure questions. I believe I was sucessful. Friday night we had practice. Chelsea had caught a virus going around, so it was just 5 of us. Since I was on a team of 2 with Bobby, I got ol' skool Ohio style quizouts (4 question quizouts). Still I quizzed out. Despite Tim quizzing out with few to no errors, it was apparent this material was getting harder. Dave showed us a map to get the idea of where Paul and Barnabas were going. I wrote out a "verbal map" to get it straight in my head what was happening where. The team still needed practice.

This Sunday I decided would be a duct tape day, professional style. I dressed up in pants and dress shirt, gray of course, but my tie, belt and cap was duct tape. For my quizzing buddies, I had the duct tape baby and 4 duct tape roses. I came for the church service. Since it was the third Sunday of the month, Spring City had fellowship meal. Tim came late. The quizzers gathered together at a table to study. After the meal was done, the team went into practice as usual. But practice didn't look good. It didn't look like we knew the material. Chelsea was hurting the most because she missed practice. So during break, I quickly tried to shove as much text into Chelsea's mind as possible.

After dinner we got right into the van to head for the quizmatches. Dave helped up as usual by giving us rounds of questions. With every round, we seemed to get better and understand the material better. We got to the church just in time for worship. There we met our fans, including retired quizzer Christine. We had a huge fan base for a distance between from the church. After worship, we had the first match right away. Ready or not, it was time.

The match was against Paradise 2, 15th place in our league. Our quizmaster was Fred, a surprise to us, because Fred is registered only as a judge, not a quizmaster. After scouting from the last week, I decided to take seat 2. The match was not a good one. Halfway through, I had buzzed in 3 times: 1 right, 2 errors. Those 2 errors helped the boy across from me quiz out. When the sub sat in across from me, I could tell immeadiately I wasn't getting any bonuses. I know I had to get this on my own. Buzzing in on question 12 and 13, I answered correctly and quizzed out. It was a heart stopper, but I did it. After question 14, the scored was tied at 80. It wasn't the win we were concerned about, it was the points. One short of team bonus could reach us into the triple digits again. The question began "In what city..." A Paradise 2 quizzers buzzed in, took a guess with pure luck, and got it right. We'd like to sayit was a team bonus block, but with a right answer, it's hard to say that. We lost to Paradise 2 80-90.

With matches between until our next match, I did a lot of scouting of the Strasburgs. I watched 2 matches of Strasburg 4 and a match of Strasburg 2. That was an important match to watch because we quizzed Strasburg 2 next. I watched and wanted seat 4. I didn't know if I'd get it, since Chelsea likes seat 4. But Chelsea wasn't ready to start again, so she let Bobby started instead, and he was fine in seat 3. So I took seat 4 for match.

This match was better for me. I buzzed in 3 times, and got them all right out for a quiz out by question 7. That was the highlight. Tim errored out, without getting a single answer right. Mike was able to quiz out this match, though. After question 13, we were 2 quizzers short of team bonus: Bobby and Chelsea (Dave had forgot to put Alyssa in). After having a bad match before, we needed team bonus now. On question 14, once again, a where question, and once again an early buzz in on the other's team side. They got it wrong. Once again, we'd like to argue blocked team bonus, but we can't contest a foul. We did win 75-55, but our points keep getting lower and lower.

We closed the night with a match against Paradise 4, ranked 5th with 103 point average. I was ready to be in seat 1, across from Joel Delinger, just like last year. But unlike last year, these results were going to be different. Tim regained himself and quizzed out. I was not doing so good. By the time I got to review questions, I had only 20 points, 1 buzz in and 1 right bonus. I had also dropped a bonus, which is never good. After question 13 and 14, I had still not gotten anywhere. The team was losing 65 to 80. The last question was "Whose feet..." and I buzzed in. I thought about a while and I quickly answered. Too quickly. I had a dyslexic moment. Instead of saying "Cornelius fell at Peter's feet" I said "Peter fell at Cornelius's feet." I said it so fast that they originally marked me right, but the judges caught it marked me wrong. So that's how Graham screwed up another perfect season yet again. Because Graham answered too fast and didn't think it out. Because Graham did not shut up at "Peter" but had to be impressive. Afterward the judges apologized for marking me wrong and the quizmaster apologized for convincing me I was right and then making me wrong, putting me on a "emotional rollarcoaster." What could I say? They did the right thing, I couldn't argue. Of course I went back to college disgusted.

Strasburg was stressful and an emotional rollarcoaster. I felt grace, redemption and humility all the same day during those 3 matches. So things are looking bleak for Spring City and its quizzers. Both perfect quizzers fell from perfection, Tim worse than me. My point average is 32 and Tim's point average is 18. While Chelsea scored points, Bobby couldn't. The team is down to a 93 point average. We're gonna sink unless other teams did bad. Things aren't looking any better for next week. The material is getting harder with more places and more people, generalized groups of people. The new standings aren't out, but based on the standings I do have, the teams are tough ones. We're gonna need to study hard, plus we need an extra dose of Holy Spirit. Please pray for the team.

Opening the quizzing season at LMH

Practices were going well. Rookies were buzzing in and answering correctly. Our 2nd year quizzer was quizzing out. Everyone else was doing the same. You know it's going to be a great year. It already is.

At the Spring City worship service, the quiz team was brought forth to receive the church's blessing. We each showed our name tags and the symbols on it, which are to represent who we are and how to pray for us. I got a pillar. I am the pillar of the team. Please pray I will be. I like being able to stand strong for the team. After church the quizzers did their thing by meeting in the kitchen and having lunch. Tim tried asking me questions, but Tim couldn't stump me. So he gave up and asked others. I was feeling ready.

So we had 5 practice matches before the real ones came up. I quizzed out on every one. Some were fast quiz outs, some took a while. But practices went well. One practice match Mike was the first one to quiz out. Chelsea quizzed out once, Bobby quizzed out once. Errors were limited. In one match, we errored the first 3 questions, and then never errored again for the rest of the match. It was all good. I had confidence in myself and the team. I was so confident, I was able to eat a whole meal. We were ready.

We got to LMH. It was our job to serve drinks and snacks, so our van trunk was full of all of it, including my stuff for back to college. We arrived there about 6:10 and had to find a new parking lot because of construction. I didn't know who to expect. No Hopewell, no Reading, no Hope Community, no Media. The people from Maple Grove wouldn't be the same. Who was there? Well, I saw friends from Zion and Slate Hill. And I did see some from Reading, in forms of a timekeeper, an Emmanuel quizzer, and a few fans.We got in for worship. Fred explained a few things, Merv pepped us up, and we were ready for another season of quizzing.

The first match I watched was Goods 3 vs. Neffsville 1. Goods 3 was a rookie team. I only watched this match because they were in the same room we would be next, and I watching how Jon Howe was quizmastering. He was doing his usual slow pronunciation of words. I was showing Bobby how a quizmatch worked and how to "scout" teams and staff, while giving some simple stragegy. Before we knew it, we were up. The team we faced was Byerland. I took seat 3 because I knew if I started in seat 1, I would stuck there all year. Tim took seat 1, Mike took seat 2, and Chelsea seat 4. Tim errored twice early. I quizzed out on question 6. Of course, question 7 was a situation question. My team didn't even try. But when Tim got the bonus, he got it right. Then we heard the question, "Whose clutches..." and Bobby buzzed in! He answered "Herod's clutches" and he got it right! Bobby got us team bonus!! Mike followed with a quiz out. Tim, with 2 errors, finally quizzed out on question 14. It was close call for Tim's quiz out. We won 135-55, with 3 quizouts and a team bonus.

We had about 3 matches until our next match. The first match I watched was Living Rock 1 vs. Slate Hill 2. I wanted to scout Slate Hill 2 and observe what this new church would do. By the end of the match, Slate Hill 2 won 75 to 15, but it was messy. Slate Hill 2 errored 4 times, and Living Rock errored 6. I wanted to go watch my friends at Zion, but I had to help unload the snacks for snack time. I got to hear that Zion 2 ended up tying E-Town 3. Finally, I went to watch Good Shepherd vs. Paradise 2 so I could scout Paradise 2 for the next week. Good Shepherd won 90 to 35. I hurried off to my next match

The last match of the night was Spring City vs. Slate Hill 2. We sat in the same seats. I wanted seat 3 because I knew from last match Sarah Good was sitting also in seat 3. We had talked before, so I thought it would be good to sit across from her, to make it a little more fun and interesting, and to make sure my bonuses were going to a good cause. But bonuses were not going over that way. Question 1 I buzzed in and got correctly. Question 2 was a footnote question (although Tim said they wouldn't ask footnote questions ). Still, I buzzed in and got it right. Question 3 I jumped, but Tim jumped faster. He got it right. With Spring City leading 30 to nothing, Slate Hill 2 called a timeout. They needed to rethink things over. Back in on question 4, I quizzed out. Tim soon followed with a quizout on question 11. Mike froze up this match. He buzzed in once, and got one bonus, but both were ruled incorrect. The one Mike errored on was a bit humerous. He told a 30 second story, and as he told it, he got further from actual text. After a judges meeting, they marked him incorrect. Then Mike contested. It was also a 30 second story, and that story also went further away from text as he told it. He obviously did not win the contest. We still needed team bonus. Even without Mike, we pulled through. Bobby again buzzed in and answered correctly. Chelsea got back into the swing of things. She buzzed in, answered correctly. We got team bonus. 2 quiz outs and a team bonus led us to win over Slate Hill 2 110 to 20. It was disappointing we couldn't have another year with 3 perfect quizzers or end the night with 135 average, but we did good in the match.

So here's how Spring City did. By scoring 135 and 110, Spring City now has an average of 122.5. We are hoping that propels into first place. I want to point out that our league does not have Petra 1, Slate Hill1 or Rockville 1, 3 of the 4 teams that made it to the season playoffs last year. Slate Hill 1 scored 145 points both of their matches, giving them an average of 145. Petra 1 got 140 points one match without team bonus, but they didn't get team bonus either matches, making them only score about 100 points the other match, making their average 120ish (compared to finishising with 131 average last year). The only other playoff team is Paradise 4, who are in our league. Dave found out that they finished with roughly a 100 point average. We definitely topped that. The only other threat is Petra 2, and I do not know how they did. 122.5 just might do it, even though it didn't do it last year. Sure, we not going to be the top team of all 56 teams, but we've already done that before. I just want the top spot in our league to give us hope for season playoffs.

As for the quizzers on Spring City, we did good. It's sad we can't start off with 3 perfect quizzers, but we do have 2, both Tim and I. Mine perfect is not fully perfect, but more perfect than usual. Both quiz outs were all buzzes with no errors and no bonuses. So 6 correct buzz ins gave me 2 quiz outs, on questions 6 and 4. It was awesome. Thank you, God! Tim was a little later for his quiz outs, question 15 and question 11, and Tim got a couple errors, but still he's perfect. Mike's one quiz out, and one match of nothing averages out to 17.5 point/match. Bobby scored 10 points each match for team bonus, totalling 20 points on the year already. Chelsea in 2 matches only got 10 points, but greatly helped for team bonus. She has average of 5 points/match. This team is looking strong, and I can't wait for the next week to go!

P.S. I got back to college on time. I got to reunite with old friends and set my room back up. Unfortuneatly, my ride home on Thursday nights fell through. Please pray that I can find another one! I miss my team and I need them!

New Quizzing Season Resolution

Did you know there is only 2 days until the first quizmatch of 2008? 2 days! It's so exciting that another year is upon us. This is my 7th year of quizzing. So much has changed, and yet it's still the same quizzing. This year's material finishes up our 3-year study of Luke's book. We wrap it up with Acts 10-28. The upcoming week will just be Acts 10-12:19. I can't wait to see my old friends and make some new ones.

I am quizzing with Spring City for the 4th year. The team is fearlessly led (or God-fearing led) by Dave and Vicki Deitrick. Spring City's team this year has 6 quizzers. Our 4 returning veterans are Graham Holcomb, Tim Moss, Michael Schwager and Chelsea Mullins. We have 2 rookies: Alysssa Mullins and Bobby. We've already had 2 pratices and it looks good. Our rookies are already giving correct answers and sometimes even buzzing in! Chelsea got back into buzzing. She even quizzed out twice! Of course, I quizzed out all 7 practice matches. My earliest quizout was question 4, and my latest was question 14. That question 14 quizout scared me, but hey, a quizout is a quizout, no matter when it happens. As long as I get it. Tim and Mike are performing the same as always. So I'm hoping they'll perform this season the same the did last season. If Chelsea gets confident and believes in herself, she can be steady in getting us team bonus. Heck, if she get very confident, she can get her first quizout this season, and cover Mike's butt if he can't quizout. In a few weeks, I bet even our rookies will be able to participate in team bonus. I say it again, this is going to be our year!

As for me, of course I'm putting my best into quizzing. Quizzing out every practice match has shown me I'm back into the swing of my normal quizzing. I'm going to do my best. I plan this to be my year as well as my team's year. I have already chosen my goal for this year:

• Finish as one of the Top 5 Quizzer
• Be a perfect quizzer for the first 3 week
• Reach the 600 point mark
  

Finish as one of the Top 5 Quizzers
This is a goal I had set last year. I failed to reach because I had to quiz in a double week with 2 Petra teams. The dangerous combination led to me falling short. So here I am, trying again. For the past two years I finished 12th and 16th, the top 20, in these past 2 years. Give or take, I averaged out these past two years. Now I'm ready to move up. I want to go for something higher. Top 5 is high enough. Rumor has it that this invitational will have a 5-way fun match with the all-stars from each conference. Being on the top 5, I would make the team. It would be an honor. Even being in the fun 3-way match with all-star quizzers vs. coaches vs. staff would be an honor. I think it is a good position to aim for. Not too easy, not too hard. My second attempt at the goal should be the time to reach it.

Be a perfect quizzer for 3 weeks
This is a goal I have been aiming to earn for 3 years. Last year I came dangerously close. I tied my past record last year by being perfect two weeks. On my third week quizzing, I had 3 matches. I quizzed out the first twice, but failed to quiz out that last match! Augh! so frusterating. So here we try again. This is interesting on how I will do this. This year I have 3 matches week 2 and 3, the only two weeks I have 3 matches. So to be a perfect quizzer, I have to quiz out 8 matches! It is a challenge I am up to. If I ever want to be perfect, I must get passed the first two weeks.

Reach the 600 point mark
I waited to decide this goal until I knew I had 18 matches. Last year we only had 17 matches and couldn't score more than 595 points (that was perfect). Now with 18 matches, 630 points is perfect. I would just be satisfied with 600 points. These past 3 years I have scored in the 500s, with 585 being the highest. One more quiz out would get me up there. It was only 15 points away, and an extra quiz out would get there. Probably need at least 16 quiz outs to get it. That will beat another record. See, two records at once!

So that's it. Now you all know, you can help me reach these goals. First and foremost, pray for me. Pray that I can reach these goals, and bring God the honor in doing so. Second, help me. Help me practice. The quizzing material is Acts 10-28 for the year, starting this week with Acts 10-12:19. You don't need to be a quizzer to make sure I know the Scriptures. Third, just encourage me. Encourage me to complete it. Lift me up when I fall down. Last, if possible, come to a match. A fan in the audience is encouragement and an answer to prayer. My first match is this Sunday, January 19, at 6:30 p.m. It is located at Lancaster Mennonite High School. Come support me and the team!

I am a virgin, am I an island?

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!" -Romans 6:1,2,15

First off, may I wish everyone a happy New Year. May both God bless us and we bless God in the new year.

Now it is time to talk. It is a subject that is touchy, and rather not talked about. But it has been burdening my heart recently. It is the virginity of my generation.

I am 19. Not married, not dating, but single. I still consider my generation the high school age group. And it saddens my heart to know how little we care about our virginity. Our media doesn't happen. Celebrities having babies out of wedlock, especially with 16 year old Jamie Spears now having a baby, and we just shrugg it off, and maybe get a little excited about the new child. In the same way, our generation responds to any girl getting pregnant. We shrug it off, or just focus on how excited.

It amazes me how this worldly problem is seeping into the church. I have tried my best to grow up in Christian atmosphere, being around people who also resist temptation, which helps me avoid sin. Yet since I could comprehend prematural sex, I have known of 7 girls and 2 guys who called themselves Christian (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, although they could be weeds who like springing up among the wheat) and were sexually active. Furthermore, may I say that 4 of those girls ended up pregnant. But I do not want to emphasize that, for I don't want to say sex before marriage is only a sin if it leads to pregnancy. That would be like saying sex is only a sin if you catch an STD. Teens will have sex without ever facing any STD, while at the same time a married couple can get one. For a liberal generation that's in a liberal time period, let me be straight out and foreward to you: PREMARITIAL SEX IS A SIN!!!

We hear a lot about the santicty of marriage, but it's talking about the homosexual vs. heterosexual marriage debate. But it also refers to respecting the boundaries of marriage. How come I see Christian girls one day wearing the purity ring, and the next day they have the swollen belly? So much for the ring. You may be thinking that this happens in the secular community, too, and you're right, I've seen it when I go out to evangelize. But the difference between and us and them is big. We know right from wrong because we have God's Law. They do not. They are lost; they are blind of their sin. When I go evangelize to them, I make them realize that sin in all aspects of their life is the problem. We are different because we know right from wrong. And we were reborn, we set ourselves apart from our sinful living. As Romans 6:2 said above, we died to sin, so why are we still in it? If we have given everything to God, that includes our bodies, our virginity, our sexual activity.

So for all those out Christian teens out there who are sexually active, I am not going to judge you or condemn you. The Lord will judge you, and the Law will condemn you. Here's what I am going to do. First, I am going to show the Bible says it wrong, for any of you who doubt it. It's as clear as the 7th commandment in Exodus 20: "Do not commit adultery." Let's look back at the beginning, as in Genesis. On the sixth day, after creating the man, God did not command, "Go out and have sex. Be sexually active." Rather, he said, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) If we remember 7th grade Health class, we remember sex is how we reproduce. God's concern was not that couples were sexually active, but rather that more humans were being produced. So may I make a hermeneutic different from normal thought and suggest this: God made sex strictly for reproduction, and nothing more. The only reason it's pleasurable is an encouragement to do it. Let's face it, we are lazy. We don't do anything unless we are benefiting from it. If God made the curse be painful sex, a lot of humans would say, "Not worth it" and the human civilization would die out due to lack of reproduction. I want to look at something else. Not as much in the Bible, but the customs in Bible terms, which will help produce a healthy exgesis. Let's start out with Genesis 2:24, when the first marriage is established. The verse says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." In a B.C. wedding, the final event that bound the couple as husband and wife was a parade to the bedroom, where the father would hand his daughter off to the groom, and they would make love for the first time. What do we get out of this? Making love is a binding marriage. The first person you have sex with, the person you lose your virginity to, is now married to you because you are one flesh. This even includes minors. It doesn't matter if the state or nation recognizes it as marriage. So how many of you Christian youth out there are married? How many of you have "married" many men or women, which we all accept polygomy as sin? Isn't that a new way to put it that might cause all of you to quiver. If you've had sexual with multiple partners, in a way, you're a polygamist. Bottom line again, ADULTERY IS A SIN!!!

This is the second thing I will offer to the Christian teens who are sexually active is forgiveness. The Bible says only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgiving sin, and adultery is not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. You can all be forgiven, and it's not too late. I think that's the biggest lie my generation believes is forgivness has to do with the human anatomy. I cannot deny that when you physically lose your viriginity, you cannot gain it back. No doubt about it. But a lot of my generation think something like this, "Well, I lost my viriginity and now there's no turning back. So I guess I'll have sex whenever now because I can't get my virginity back. Wrong. I like to believe in not only a physical virginity, but also a spiritual virginity. This is what we as Christians have set apart to God to preserve until marriage. I believe if someone confesses their sin of adultery, and repents by stopping all sexual activity until marriage, he or she will be forgiven and the spiritual virginity will be restored. In the eyes of God, they will be virgins again. But as I said, it requires admitting you were wrong by having sex early and turning away from any sexual sin. Once again, I am not judging or condemning anyone. My generation already gets a lot of that from the generation above. I am encouraging all to do what is right in the eyes of God. There is forgiveness, and it's not too late. Do not refuse it, and don't just accept it. Gladly embrace it.

I believe it is the job for those Christian teens who are still sexually pure to encourage the others sexually pure to continue to abstain from sex, and to approach those who did not abstain, and encourage them to confess, repent, and be forgiven. They don't need more adults and elderly yelling out them for doing sin; they already have enough of that. They need encouragement from their own peers. They don't want to listen to those older, they want to listen to those around their age. Listening to the secular world is what got them into trouble, listening to the Christian peer will help them get out. It will be hard, but it will also be worth it. I can demonstrate this by telling you about a conversation I had with a Christian girl a while ago. She was 15, and sexually active with her boyfriend. She was considering going on The Pill and wanted my advice. I didn't get in her face, but I showed her why it was wrong. I explained to her the wrong was not taking the pill, but having sex with a boyfriend without first being married. I presented her all the evidence she needed. And she really did listen. That's the last I heard from her. I don't know what her decision was. But her last line will never leave me, "Thanks for caring. My other friends would just say whatever and not pay any attention to it, but because you are going against what I am doing, it shows me you care." That's what we got to start doing. Start caring. Start loving. If we start loving, we can start to show true love. For it's time our youth discover this truth: you can have sex without any love, and you can love without any sex

I want to give a final encouragement by telling everyone what I do. This is usually personal and private, but I want you both guys and girls to see what I am doing and thinking to show it is impossible. I am saving myself for marriage, and I don't need a ring to show. And as I am saving my viriginity for my wife, I am setting the standard higher to say I will only marry a virgin. If I saved my virginity to her, I want to know she did the same for me. I do not want to be an adulterer because my wife decided to mess around with other guys first, whether it be husband, boyfriend, or accquaintance. And a God as my witness, if I am 40 years old and not married, I will be the 40 year old virgin. And if I'm 70 and still not married, I will be the 70 year old virgin! Further more, I keep my dating relationships to a minimal phyiscal action. Some people go as far as beliving the first kiss should even be saved on the wedding day. In my personal convinction, I don't see that necesary, but I have high respects for those people, keeping everything to God until marriage, even the little things. And if I ever have a girlfriend like that, I will respect that and do the same. I want my relationships to be built on true love, which is communicaiton and emotion connection between a guy and a girl, nothing physical. Trust me, after both times that my ex-girlfriends broke up with me I felt guilty for any physical stuff that went on. And the first girlfriend, it was just holding hands! I just don't give away signs of affection, I only give it to those who I truly and deeply love. I wish everyone in my generation could do the same, but it seems not likely. So all I can do is pray. This past week I have been praying for those 7 girls and 2 guys. I have been praying that they cease their actions, turn back to God, and find true love. I have also been praying for their forgiveness. Then I pray the same for my generation in general. There's probably more people I know and am unaware of their sexual activity (for which I am glad, after all, ignorance is bliss) and I pray the same for them. Finally, I close my prayer by asking for strength to stay pure as long as God calls me to be and end with this line:

"May my virginity be an offering to you, O LORD, in place of those who decided it was not worth waiting."

Every day is a Christmas

Days until Christmas: 3
Days until the first quizmatch: 22

Last week, I came home on Wednesday. Finals kept me so busy that I hadn't really paid attention to the days. The last final had past, and I was sitting with my roommate at lunch. I looked up at him and said, "I just realized there is only 13 days until Christmas." He replied, "Don't remind me. I haven't started Christmas shopping yet." Apparently, finals had kept me so busy that it had totally past my mind. Being halfway through December, I expected to go to a home decorated with Christmas all over. We usually had the Christmas stuff up by December 1 and I thought they probably got the tree by then. To my suprise, nothing was up. The house looked no different than when I left it in August. No tree, no stockings, no nativity, nothing. Yet despite going from a festively decorated school to a home that wasn't, it didn't phase me.

I'd like to say that I think I'm officially no longer celebrating Christmas. Well, let me be clear. I'm no longer celebrating Santamas. I'm done with Christmas Hollyday, the commercial Christmas. We did go get a tree, but it's a small one, with minimal decoration. I really didn't want to decorate the house at all. But alas, I put decorations on the tree, placed the Nativity figurines in the stable (dogmatic rebellious me had to put 5 wise men in the picture), wrote Christmas cards and baked gingerbread cookies while listening to Christmas music. Yet it all seemed unneccesary. Most of the time, I'm still playing Nintendo, writing quizzing questions, reading books on doctrine, surfed the web, and posted on my blogs. Usual stuff I do any day of the year. Life runs on as normal, and I'm not caught up in the hype the media wants me to be in about giving and receiving gifts, or in their eyes, buying and selling gifts.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm still celebrating Christ's birth in Christmas. But being a Christian, I celebrate Christ's birth, baptism, ministry, death, ressurrection and assension every day. Remembering Jesus's birth is more than just one day. It would be like only talking about Jesus dying raising from the dead only on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We don't do that! So why is it like that for Christmas? Look up Matthew and Luke chapters 1 and 2 in the summer. I guarentee you they will be there. The story of the miraculous birth of Jesus should be in your hearts all year round. (I'm not judging everyone for celebrating Christmas because Colossians tells us not to judge people on what holidays they celebrate. I'm just informing you of some personal prefences I have to get you thinking.) I hope that everyone has learned the lesson from the Grinch story: Christmas still comes even if there is no tree, decorations or presents.

But since a lot of you probably do like the excitement of the upcoming holiday, let me tell you about a favorite hymn of mine sung during this time of year. My favorite Christmas hymn is "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" This song was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, but is probably more famous for the ending of "Charlie Brown Christmas". I like this song because of a certain line in the song, which can be found right in the first stanza.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

"For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" - Romans 5:10

"God and sinners reconciled." Powerful, isn't it? Do you know what reconciled means. Simply, it means to have a relationship reestablished by resolving any problems. The Bible only choosese to use this word 10 times, all in the New Testament, and all in the same context. Because of Jesus coming to this earth, and all that he did on earth, we are reconciled with God. I see reconciliation almost as like reuniting after a dispute or problem. That's what Jesus did. He reunited us with our Heavenly Father. Our relationship with God has been reestablished because Jesus resolved our problem of sin that separated us from the Father. We can walk and talk in God's presence because Jesus was born onto the planet the Lord created. Our salvation begins at Jesus's birth!

So in closing, I want to bring up a character usually brought up during December. His name is St. Nick. St. Nicholas was a man who lived during the 200s. Because he was a human, he was a sinner, and he died too. But seeing the good he did because of his strong faith in Jesus Christ, I would say that God was proud to see St. Nicholas at the judgment seat because he knew His servant was faithful and would be with Him in Heaven for eternal fellowship. Not only did St. Nick believe in Jesus, but he did everything Jesus commanded him too. So this Christmas season, let us not worship a man who died 1800 years ago. Let us worship the one who was born as the king, who would reconcile His people with their God. Why? Because that is what St. Nick is doing in heaven today.

My Spring City homies

I am ready for January. Why? It's the beginning of quizzing! Ever since quizzing ended with the secret sponser shing-ding-thing, I have only seen one or two quizzers, the most important quizzers, the ones on my team. Those guys are great. I know we said a lot of good things at the secret sponser reveal, but I want to say my own things now. Don't worry about public embarrassment. I'll do the same thing as I did last year. You have to guess who I am talking about.

You may have been the little one of the group, but you made a big influence. And even though your score was way different than the rest of the guys, you sure fit in with us. You quickly became one of the guys, with your grunting and moaning. And maybe you didn't enjoy it, but it was fun to see you as the demonstrated victim of some wrestling moves. And I hope you recovered from the neck whiplash you got on the invitational. I know you had some pressure on you, having two older brothers quiz at one time and having to do up to their par. But 20 points on the season is a good start, and I saw you really hard during the tournaments. Errors may sound bad, but errors are a sign of trying, so you made some good errors (what an oxymoron). The point is you tried.When you guessed, you had some of the best guesses, especially the right guesses. Seriously, who guesses Mesopotamia? I sometimes think you knew more than you think you did. Don't get too intimidate, remember your brother didn't do too well his first well, and that intimidated him so much he didn't quiz the next year. But look where he ended up. It would be great to have you back on the team. Now that the other two guys have girlfriends, I got no one to go ladying with except you. If you come back on the team next year, we'll go ladying together, and I'll get you a girl. And even better, I'll help you with your quizzing. Who knows, maybe next year we can higher than 292nd. Quizzing will be more fun with my right hand man! (Bryan "Lil' T" Tedor)

In the beginning of the year, I wasn't too sure if you were really into it. It actually seemed like your dad was more excited to quiz than you were. But that first right answer, those first 10 points, it couldn't have come at a better time. Do you not realize that without those points, we would have not been in first place that first week?! You came to help us many more times this year in quizzing. You got us team bonus, too! And as you scored more and more points, I could see how much more eager you were to study and get in a match. Sometimes you were just on fire! Just a little better, and you'll be starting material. That last question of the season, man, that was scary. You buzzed in early on the last question, the one for team bonus. It was so early that no one could guess it. But luckily you remember what we taught you, that Jesus was the all-else-fail answer, and you got it right. 40 points in a season is a good start for a rookie. Who knows what you could next year. If you have a go at it next year, who knows what you'll do? You could get anything from your first quiz out to reaching triple digits in the points. Maybe even be the 4th seat. It would be a lot of pressure to be needed for team bonus. You would have to score 5 times as many points as you did last year. But with more coaching and more studying, you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to. All the hard work you did you deserved. (Chelsea "El Fuego" Mullins)

Third team's the charm, right? I'm gonna be 100% honest with how I felt about you. In the previous offseason, there you were, going around, gloating about how you were going to have your "super team", fully led and coached by you. To me, all it looked like you were stacking your team, and going anywhere at any cost to get it. I loathed you and wanted to beat you and your team into at a pulp. Then as I watched you go from Reading to Harvest to Zion to Hopewell, and I saw get shot down by every church because they wouldn't allow your dream team. And I laughed at you. I thought to myself, "Finally, the little punk is getting what he deserves." But when I heard that you couldn't get on a team by yourself, almost to the point my mind changed. I didn't hate you anymore, but pitied you. I hate to see good talent go to waste, and you are great talent. You seemed changed by your actions, and so I knew the perfect team for you to be on. I was so excitedly happy when I heard the Deitricks decided to let you on the team. I'm sure if it was because of the experiences in the other teams, but I saw a change in you. You were no longer that quizzer that wanted to exalt himself through his personal score. You were humble about how you were doing, but more focused on how this team was doing. You were such a benefit to this team, in more than just the 480 points you scored (which were helpful). You got everyone on board with quizzing, whether it be veteran or rookie. You weren't an enchanter, but more of an encourager. I think that the success of some of the rookies, and even some veterans, could be brought back to you. Not only did you provide encouragement, but you also put time into helping them practice. You took two big steps this year. You stepped up to lead an extra practice, and you stepped down to give a rookie quizzer a chance to get team bonus when we needed it. You showed coach-like qualities as still a quizzer. I can almost say I was envious of that. I wish I could motivate and help quizzers like you could. I understand you're dissappointed that our team didn't win any bling trophies, because that's what you were aimining. But look at what you did get. You finished 35th place on the top 60 quizzers list, and you won Spring City's first (and maybe only) Barnabas award. I know that they're only individual awards, one recognized by the league, the other only by a church, and that you really want your team to be recognized league wide by a trophy, but remember that the Lord has given you what you deserve, so accept those awards as part as His blessings to you. I pray that one day the Lord will recognize you through your team by giving your team an award. Lastly, I want to say that it was personally a blessing to me to have you on this team. As a said above, I started out this year with hard feelings towards you. By the end of the year, I felt at peace with you, and our relationship reconciled and restored. We were no longer arch rivals, but rather competitive teammates, which I enjoyed. I consider you a friend and a brother that I never had. I hope you see the same in me. (Tim "the encourager" Moss)

I guess the best way to start this is: uuuaaauyghhh. Not even sure that's how it's spelled, if it can be spelled. You're a man of many sound effects. So what you didn't finish as the top 60 like you did last year, you did finish in the top 100 (86th place to be exact). You did have the honor of being 1 of the 3 guys to be perfect quizzers for Spring City the first week. You performance was unpredictable as always, especially with your normal stupid answers, but you pulled through as usual. Sometimes you did scare us when you answered, like when you finished your answer at 28.5 seconds. Even though you had to take your annual baseball trip, you still performed pretty well. You also were able to grow out of your old title, "Mayor of Errorville." That is so good to see you error less, a definite improvement. Don't worry, I find a better one for next year. Truthfully, if you would have been there, I think you would have been in the top 60. But you're a lot of fun outside of a quizmatch, too. It was fun seeing you on that cart, especially on the snow. I still think some of my favorite memories of you are when we go ladying. Let's see, this year was the Argentinian and girl from Reading who thought you were cute. You had me fooled with the second one, when you actually thought you got one, but that didn't work out. I think that was it for this year. Well, you did finally find out what she (you know who) said about you, and we still didn't find Jojo, but it was all good. I guess next year will be different, then. I'll have to go ladying alone. But in these past 3 years, I have gotten to get to known you (or at least who I think you are) and have enjoyed you. I truly like you for who you are. So my advice for you: Don't change. I seriously mean it. Indubiately. (Michael "Mayor of Errorville" Schwager)

Wow. 6 whole years, two teams, and we were still together. I find that awesome. We've been through a lot together, but no matter what happened, we pulled out together. Thanks for everything you've done for me in this friendship. You got me out there a lot of times where I didn't want to be. I wanted to stay inside and practice, you pushed me outside during break time. You were able to talk to me and I to you without any barriers of any sort. I also found it helpful to eat with you so I didn't feel out of place with the little amount of food I ate. Thank you for sitting with me on the bus for all the Invitational trips, even though you kicked me out a few times. It may have been disappointing to only score 120 points this year compared to the 155 you scored last year, but if we added points for all the times we got team bonus, your score would be much more than that. I was 100% honest when I said you were the most dependable person for team bonus. It is so true. Because of that, I think you would be the most desireable quizzer that scores under 200 points. Any quiz team would want somebody that could get team bonus, despite few points. I also found it ironic how you were the team's top errorer at the end of week 1! We only had 2 errors, and they were both yours! It is a true sign you were a part of Spring City. I'm sorry we couldn't end your last year with a bang. That last match of the invitational, don't blame yourself for that. I am just as responsible. You did great these past two years. And I feel that possibly you may have also found a calm in these past 3 years compared to the calamity the 3 years before that. It was great to see you smile even though you may not want to for good reasons. It has been a honor to be with you on the same team for my whole career of quizzing. Thank you for six great years. (Christine "Money in da Bank" Dragan)

Thank you everyone on Spring City 2007. I hope you guys have realized the great accomplishments we acheived. We were on the top of League A for two straight weeks, and one of those weeks, we were the number one of all the ACC teams. We had three perfect quizzers for the first week of quizzing. We scored 1680 points, averaging 99 points. We finished in 5th place in our league, 8th place of all ACC in the season. We were undefeated in our group for the ACC Tournament and brought Spring City to the playoffs for the third time in the past four years. Spring City finished in 9th place in the invitational with four other teams. Our win-loss record of the season was 14-3, the ACC Tournament 6-0 in our group (6-1 with the 1 loss in the playoffs), and the invitational 5-2, totalling a 25-6 win-loss record. While the 2005 Spring City was better in the ACC Tournament, 2007 Spring City did better in both the season and the invitational. But forget about performance, Spring City was great is so many other ways. We came together as a time. We helped each other in studying as much as our coaches did. We sacrificed personal for the team. We were there for each other. This has got to be my favorite year of all quizzing. We were truly a team, we performed to the best of our ability and did well, and had fun doing it. God bless everyone on the team. Now with 3 months until the first quiz match of next year, I look foward to seeing everyone again.

Happy Yom Kippur

Beginning sundown yesterday (because Jewish days start at night) and going through today is the celebration of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this special day, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat for the sins of the people. Today, Yom Kippur is still celebrated by Jews. I don't know if this is true for every Yom Kippur, but I found it interesting that it was on 9.22. For Hebrews 9:22 says, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Later in verse 28, it explains how Christ shed his blood for our sins. The book Hebrews spends a lot of time explaining how Christ is our high priest. Jesus Christ, the high priest, entered heaven, a holy sanctuary, and presented the blood sacrifice, not of animal, but His own perfect blood. Hebrews 9:26 tells us this is why we don't have animal sacrifices. So even though we're not Jewish, let us hold Yom Kippur as almost like a 2nd Good Friday, a day we remember what our Savior did to pay for our sins.

Present day Jonah

Yesterday during chapel, the speaker preacher from Jonah. He was giving us present day application. As I read through Jonah, God truly did show me how to apply it today, but maybe not in the same way.

For those of you who aren't too familiar with the story of Jonah, I'll recap. If you really don't know the final details, go read the story of Jonah out the Bible. If you need a refresher, I'll give you a summary (any italics is a direct quote out of Jonah). Jonah, a prophet, gets Word from God. “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). Jonah, not wanting to go to Ninevah, decides to go to Tarshish, in the opposite direction. While on board the boat, God causes a storm to happen. All the sailors are trying to figure out whose fault it is, and Jonah comes forth. When they throw him over, the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). During this time in the stomach of the great fish (not whale), Jonah realizes that truth about salvation. He prays to God, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:8,9) God believes Jonah learns his lesson and the fish vomits him onto dry land. Once again, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you" (Jonah 3:1,2). This time Jonah is smart and does exactly that. He spends 3 days in Ninevah preaching against the city. The city repents from their sin. God is satisfied, and spares Ninevah, but not Jonah is not. He wanted to see a show of brimestone and fire. The title of the 4th chapter is a accurate portrayal: Jonah is angry and God's compassion. Jonah expression his displeasement with God. He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:2,3). The story with debating between Jonah and God, but the story ends the same way the 4th chapter begins, with Jonah mad at God.It is a really sad ending. The main character, despite doing a wonderful thing, is upset. Veggie Tales's Jonah states it well, "Jonah was a prophet, who never really got it....he did not get the point."

There might be some things you might need to understand when you look at the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet during the time that Israel was under Assyrian captivity. The people of Israel were not happy that the Assyrians invaded the land. Israel hated them with a passion. They probably hated them so much for many reasons. The Assyrians settled in Israel's land. The male assyrian soldiers forced the Israelite women to marry them and have their children. Other sources say that the Assyrians were so cruel, they would cut off the lips of their captors. All of these, and probably much more, might just be the wickedness God was talking about. Ninevah was the capital of Assyria. So Jonah was pretty much told to go to the capital city of his captors, and preach against them. Big step up.

Question: If Ninevah was around today, where would it be on today's politcal map?Answer: IraqFact: Iraq (the country the U.S. invade) and Iran (always rumors that's the next country) are the remnants of the Assyrian empire.

History does repeat itself. Sure enough, Iraq is capable for a lot wickedness. Genocide, terrorism, sexism, violence, and all under the name of a false god. I think if we listened closely to God, he would be telling us the same thing. "Go to the Iraq city of Baghdad (or Fallujah) and preach against it, because it's wickedness has come up before Me." And just like Jonah, we go the opposite way. We rather be enjoying ourselves preaching at a place that also has resorts, like the Carribean or Polynesian Islands, where we can enjoy ourselves on break instead of a desert area. What do we do? We send our soliders over there to blow their heads off. That seems more of an easier solution to us. It's like we think, "Eeww, terrorist. I'm not talking to them about the gospel. They can just die and go to hell for all I care." Maybe we need to be swallowed by a big fish for 3 days and 3 nights for us to realize what Jonah needed to realize. Salvation is for everyone, including the Iraqis. Why do you think these people are committing such attrocities? It is because they are lost in their sin, and need the Lord Jesus to save them from their sin. God warns us that he will not take pity on us based on the way we leave earth. How can a Christian shoot at a man that he knows is lost in his sin, thus damning him to hell? I pray that if someone hears the call to bring the Word of God to Iraq, and will go, not considering the war there. But I hope the American people will end up just like Jonah ended up. When we hear that God has spared the people of Iraq, are we going to be peeved like Jonah? Are we going to cry out to the Lord, "What?! You saved them?! After all the wicked sins they committed, and you're going to let them into heaven? I have to now go to church and love him?! How dare you hold back your wrath and show loving mercy, God! I rather die than have to accept an Iraqi terrorist!!" That is not the way! Remember the parable of the workers. God offers everyone salvation, no matter what they did or when they receive. If we want the war to end, let's go to Iraq with a stronger weapon, stronger than any gun or tank. That is, the Word of God. What if someone dies in the process of delievering the gospel? I call them a martyr. If we give so much praise to soldiers who are dying because they are causing other people to die, shouldn't we uplift even more the person who died trying to give the unsaved eternal life? The Lord tells us to send workers into the field for harvest, and I pray for those to be called to harvest the Christian in Iraq. We just may be the only sign from God they get, "the sign of Jonah."

Dating inventory

Part of LBC's freshman schedule is to take a course called "college success" or as we know it by, College Suckess. Once a week, I have to go to an hour "seminar" and take notes, get homework assignments, take no test or quizzes, and it's only worth one credit. These classes are usually on how to learn and study at college, but there has been a few others, like learning about relationships. And whenever the topic of relationships comes up, it's only a matter of time before dating is mentioned. So the homework assignment was a 16 question "relationship inventory" on dating. It took me a lot of thinking and a lot of time. Just yesterday I handed it in (the due date). But the end result I am very happy with. So here's my answers, check it out, and see what you would say to these questions

1. Do you want to get married? Why do you want to get married?

I am a follower of God. As being a follower of God, I believe that growing to be more like Him means also making my will be the same as His. I want to do what God wants me to do. So if getting married is in God’s plan for me, God will give me my wife and I will marry her. If God does not plan for me to be married, I will live out my life being single. If it was completely up to me, I think I would like to get married. I think it would be trivial to date girls or even like girls if there was no end result of marriage. I would really like that special love and companionship only a spouse could give me. Once again, as I stated above, my life’s place is surrendered to the Lord, it is completely up to Him. If He calls me to be single, so be it. The Lord God’s unconditional love is enough for me.

2. Why would someone want to marry you?

This is a question that took a lot of thought. It got me stumped a couple of times. After thinking it through with some consultation, I’ve think I’ve formulated an answer. I got hung up on this question because when thinking about it, I was only looking at worldly attributes. I will outwardly tell you, I am not attractive to the eyes, not athletic or fit, not musical in any sense, nor artistic in any sense. My sense of humor is dry slap-stick (I like Monty Python. Enough said.) With exception to a few topics, I’m not really a genius. I’m not too rich either. What would a girl find in me? This worldly view can be depressing because it looks like no woman would ever find something in me. But when I leave this worldly view, I realized how special God has made me, and if God made me to have a wife, He gave me something that would catch her attention.
I am Christian, blessed by the Father, saved by the Son, full of the Holy Spirit. If any girl is a good Christian girl who believes the same as I do, she would agree with me when I say it is right for Christians to marry other Christians. She can know I am Christian who will help her grow in her relationship with Christ. But that does seem to me something every Christian should want in a man, and even the phrase “Christian man” is broad. It could cover a whole range of men. I am deeply into the Scriptures. My heart’s desire is to get to know The Lord better by knowing The Word better. I accept The Word as God-breathed, inerrant truth, and I am sound in my Biblical beliefs, never doubting anything. I comprehend what the Bible is telling me and I apply it to my life the best I can. I enjoy sharing my knowledge to anyone who asks and also enjoy discussions and debates on Biblical interpretation. One of the ways I use my spiritual gift of knowledge is by participating in Bible Quizzing, which I am highly ranked in and very passionate about. I also use for teaching Bible lessons and Bible studies. This is who I am. I’m not sure if this is anything that would make a girl love a guy, but hey, anything is possible with God. Girls can either take it or leave it.
I can’t tell you this as fact because it has never happened, but I think girls may want to marry me based on that I feel like I would be a good husband. I could supply for my wife in so many ways. First and foremost, I would give her so much love. I would show her in many ways many times over how much I love her. Second, I would be a provider for her, in both material things and non-materialistic things, I will give her what she needs. I would also always be there with her. I am a good listener and would always listen to her, whether it is good news or bad news, fact or opinion, intellectual or emotional. Being there for her is important. I will rejoice with her when she is happy, and be in pain with her when she is sad. Whatever problems she encounters, I will help her through all longsuffering. Finally, I am a very understand guy. I may not always agree with what my wife thinks or believes, but I will listen with an open mind and understand where she is coming from, and not let a disagreement separate us.

3. What is it that you are looking for in a spouse?

When choosing a girl to my girlfriend and future spouse, it pretty much comes down to two points. First, she needs to be Christian, which needs to be evenly yoked. I understand “evenly yoked” beyond both being believers. We have to be evenly yoked in the sense both of us are Christian. We have to be evenly yoked in spiritual maturity as well. If a newborn Christian marries someone who has been Christian for most of his life, it is one-sided. It would be great for the newborn Christian because he or she would grow tremendously from the spouse, but the spouse would get nowhere. It would not be a good idea for me to marry a newborn Christian. I would need someone on my level, a girl who I can discuss theology and doctrine with, a girl who will understand the big Biblical words I use in my speech. Uneven yoking can also happen when there is a different calling. If the guy is called to do urban ministry in the local city and the girl has been called to work in a third world country, it will not work out. Right now, this is not a problem for me since I do not know my full calling after college yet, so I’m somewhat flexible, which might be perfect for a woman who knows what she is going to do. Lastly, uneven yoking can happen with denomination and worship styles. Neither of those are really a problem for me. I am Mennonite, but I found out I can be Mennonite in any church, whether it be Baptist, Lutheran, U.C.C., Presbyterian, or non-denominational. Now in extreme cases, like difference views of salvation, might arise a problem of uneven yoking. Thinking in future tenses, it would be hard raising children where dad believes he saved by grace, and mom believes she is saved by her good deeds. That would cause problems, but minor things, like translation of the Bible, gender pronouns in the Bible or validity of spiritual gifts, it’s not going to be a problem.
The second thing I would look for in a girl to be the future Mrs. Holcomb is something I find simple and obvious. The woman needs to love me for who I am. I want a lady who can seriously and sincerely tell me, “Don’t change” because they like me for who I am. It doesn’t matter if they love me for who I am because we are similar or because we are different and she likes the differences she doesn’t have; I am fine with either. Pretty much, it comes down to finding someone who is ecstatic to be around me because I am Graham Holcomb. I think that is good for any kind of relationship. A relationship should be two people who like the other one for who they are. They should be no change in any person just for someone of the opposite sex. If there is change, it should be minimal, and still preserve the personality and the character of both people. If not, the relationship is not real, it is just a dream of what we’d like the person to be like, and most likely, the person who had to radically change is not happy. Besides these two points, I am very lenient.

4. What is the difference between a friendship and a committed serious relationship? How will you know the difference?

A committed relationship is considered serious when the relationship becomes more exclusive. In a friendship, the two are still available, while in the dating relationship, both people are considered taken. It is not right for the guy or girl to be flirting with the opposite gender anymore. In a serious committed relationship, dates are now solo instead of in groups. The boy and girl spend more time with each other than with normal friends of the opposite gender. I believe the start of this begins with either a date or a discussion agreeing to enter a deeper relationship. The relationship becomes serious and committed with maturity

5. Are you presently single? Why?

Yes, I am single. It has nothing to do with personal preferences. I feel like I have grown enough to be in a mature relationship. The reason I am single is because six girls I have asked out have all declined. The seventh girl did say yes, but a month later she ended the relationship, due to confusing reasons. That was over a year ago. I haven’t tried again since then because it is not a top priority in my life to have a girlfriend. My top priority is centering around God and His will for my life. Part of that is being encompassed by God’s love, and that unconditional love is sufficient for me. All other love is extra (but hey, who doesn’t want extra?). When being in a relationship is part of God’s plan for my life, if that is ever, then I will no longer be single.

6. Are you dating? Why?

No. Because I am single. Once again, as I stated above, I do feel like I am ready to date. It’s just not in God’s plan for my life right now, and it’s possibly because God has not revealed to me who this special lady is.

7. When is a good time to get married?

I am not sure if everyone believes the same that I do when it comes to a right time in being married, but this is how I feel. I have some personal convictions. I don’t think when to get married is a question of age, but of maturity. Both the man and the woman in the relationship need to be grown up and mature. Not only do the people in the relationship need to be mature, but the relationship itself needs to be mature. If I had to say time wise, I think a dating relationship should be between 1 ½ to 2 years long.
The couple also needs to be ready in other ways, as in living arrangements and finances. As for me personally, I want to know I can support my family to the fullest. If I am going to get married, I am going to want to have support two people. So I want to finish my education (which I plan to get a Ph. D) first, get a sound job, have some place to live in that my wife could live in as well (parents’ house does not count), have a car for transportation, have a church, and most importantly, have an income that can pay for the lives of two people. By doing this, I am not giving permission for my wife to be lazy but rather giving her more options to do with her life so that she is not constrained by income. She can do whatever job she wants to do and not have to decide on it based on the money she would be making. She could even work for the church, missions, or any kind of voluntary, non-profit organization and that would be fine because I could afford to do that with my paycheck. If we were to have kids, my wife might want to be a stay at home mother for the early years, and once the kids became old enough, she might want to homeschool them. That would be okay, too, because I would know I could afford that. The reason is that in the second half of my life, I grew up with my mom thinking she had to have a job because dad working wasn’t enough. I don’t want my wife to think that.

8. What turns you off in a person of the opposite sex?

I believe in Ecclesiastes 3 strongly. There is a time and place for everything. One of my biggest pet peeves would have to be when someone does not know when is the right place and time. I would not want a girl who couldn’t distinguish the right time in place. The biggest place I notice this is when to be serious or not. I would not like a girl who is serious when everyone else is laughing and having a fun time, but at the same time I can’t stand it when during a serious time a girl would not be serious. I wouldn’t like a girl who’s obsessed with her cell phone. There’s a time to turn it off and talk to the people around you. I’m not too picky with looks, and so I would be turned off by a girl who is, whether it be how her body looks or how her clothes look on her. A little of this is okay, but obsessed with it is too far.

9. What turns you off in a person of the same sex?

The fact that a person is a guy is what turns me off. Since this is a dating survey, I’m going to assume this is a question about homosexuality. In 2004 movie Mean Girls, a quote comes out of homeschool religious boy’s mouth that says, “And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs, and the homosexuals.” This quote is obviously a joke to us true Christians, but God did establish heterosexuality as far back as creation. Genesis 2:18 states, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’.” This is when God made woman. Notice how God, when noticing man was alone, did not make his helper another man. He made woman. In the beginning, God intended for marriage to be between a man and women. Even in our bodily design, it was God’s intent for us to be attractive the opposite sex, not the same one. Many other times does God remind His people that homosexuality is a thing of a sinful world. Such evidence can be found in Leviticus 18:22. Being a follower of Christ, I reject this sinful practice.

10. Describe the “ideal marriage.” When does a couple begin working towards it?

An ideal marriage to me is a marriage that is near perfect. Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as perfect in this sinful world, and that includes marriage. In an ideal marriage, love is always present, no matter what trials come. The love should also be near unconditional. Most likely it won’t be perfectly unconditional like God’s love, but the love should not stop due to slight turbulence in the relationship. When the trials do come, the couple should work together to stay strong. When conflict arises, the couple must work things out. In an ideal marriage, both are able to grow spiritually off each other. In an ideal marriage, communication is key. Both people must be fully open and not be keeping secrets on anything, especially how they feel.
The path towards ideal marriage beings with dating, as soon as the first date. I believe dating is trivial if there is no end goal, that goal being marriage. The whole dating process should be pointing towards marriage, to see if this special person is the right one to be your spouse for life. If things don’t work out, it means that this person was not the right one, but if the two have been dating for a long while and their relationship is growing and thriving, and a real strong bond is happening between the two, they are on the path for an ideal marriage and are ready to be married.

11. What pressure do you feel are on you to get into a relationship?

I do feel pressure to get into a relationship with a girl. Even from my family, both nuclear and extended this pressure can be strong. I saw this with my uncle. My uncle was single for a lot of his life, up to his mid forties. His mother and father, who are my grandmother and grandfather, did give him pressure to marry. I remember going to church with them, and when they were telling their friends that my uncle was getting married, they used phrases like “it’s about time” and “finally” and other such phrases. Now that he is married, I think their focus might go to the next eldest one who is single, which would be me. They already are starting to do this. I was going through my photo album with my grandma, and every time we came across a picture of me with a girl in it, whether the girl was in the foreground or background, she would say something like “She’s cute” or “She looks nice.” This can roughly translate into, “Go ask her out and get a girlfriend.” My mom won’t admit it, but she is turning into her mother in so many ways. This is one of the ways. I don’t know how many times she said this summer before I left for college, “By this time in my life, I was dating your father.” Once again, this could roughly translate into, “Get a girlfriend.” There is even a little bit of unspoken pressure from my younger sister. She is fifteen and a sophomore in high school. She is very social; she has friends that are both female and male. Some of her friends are dating, and she could be ready to date as well. I think it may feel awkward if my younger sister has a boyfriend before I have a girlfriend, not because of the difference in gender, but because the younger one is dating before the older one.
Of course, there is always peer pressure as well. Since everyone else is boyfriend and girlfriend, you too got to get on board with that. Your friends who are taken always want to try to get you together with a partner (sometimes I think this is because they miss trying to get someone themselves). Sometimes you even feel lower than them because you don’t have someone special. With my strong mind and will, I reject any kind of pressure, whether it is from peers, or from my family. The only I will listen to is the Heavenly Father, and He will tell me the right time because he planned out my life.

12. How many hours a week do you think about the opposite sex, marriage, etc.?

This a very interesting question. This question is so interesting, a survey and study was done to figure this answer out (probably conducting by a bunch of females). The study showed that men think about sex anywhere between every seven seconds to every thirty six seconds. That’s a lot of time to think about sex. So when it comes to men thinking about females, including a non-sexual way, it has to me more, probably about ever six seconds to every thirty three seconds. For me, that sounds too much, but by just a little. I think more about God and His Word, more about my favorite activities like Bible Quizzing, but thinking about girls does make the top three. Being single, my mind is not usually always constrained to one girl, unless I have a huge crush, so it takes up a good amount of my mind. So if I had to put this in terms of a statistic, I would say every forty seconds I think about guys. Hey, I’m a guy, just like other guys.

13. What needs could a mate meet?

A mate could provide companionship, a deep companionship. A mate would be someone special who you always have right by your side. Someone who you could share secrets and concerns with and know they are trusted. A mate would help you in times of trouble, and be there to rejoice with you when you are happy. A mate could be someone who helps you grow spiritually in the Spirit of the Lord as well.

14. In the past and possibly the present, how has and can your relationships have an effect on your future relationship?

I have been in one relationship before, but even more than that, I have been rejected by six girls for even one date. It does take a toll on your self-image and confidence. In my previous relationship, since there wasn’t only one date, the impact really is just a view on myself. I still feel like it was something I did myself, so once again, it comes back to the view of myself.

15. What are the things that you detest about the “dating scene”?

I detest a lot of things with the dating scene. I detest show-off couples. I hate it when boyfriends and girlfriends are used like a prize possession, just to be shown off, like a car or a cell phone. I don’t like when couples have to make their relationship public with any kind of public displays of affection. Not everyone wants to see that. I don’t like either how the couples somehow set themselves as better than the single ones. They aren’t. It’s like they don’t know how to react in public. Also, I think a lot of couples act like they think they are already married. It’s embarrassing when things don’t work out.

16. Are you willing to let God write your love life’s script? What does that mean to you?

Yes, I am willing to let God take control. I am very willing. I give it up fully to him. I’ve tried before doing it on my own and have failed miserably. The emotions are a roller coaster. I don’t like it and don’t want it. If the Lord wants me to be single, then I will accept it. If God wants me to find a wife, then He will send her to me. Either way, I will devote everything to the Lord. He loves me with all He has, and I deserve to give Him back all my love, single, dating or married. Jehovah’s love is sufficient for me.