Snowboarding

This past Saturday, Angela, Caleb, and I went to Mt. Cresent to learn snowboarding.

Micah Nelson, a friend from church, agreed to come and teach us.

Since Angela, my sister, is a photographer, she got plenty of pictures.

And since ya'll always seem to want more pictures, I thought I'd post some.

Here's our group L to R Angela, Micah, Caleb, and Me

One of the first things Micah taught us was called snow plowing. 

It's the only way to slow/stop and still retain your footing (and dignity).

After getting the basics down on the bunny slopes, I spent the majority of the day on this hill.

This was one of the rare times that the slope was relatively clear.

This hill has been nicknamed "Show-off Slope". 

Called such because of all the various jumps and ramps, as well as the steep hill just before it. 

This was one of the three times I tried that slope. 

And no I did not try any of the jumps.

My teacher Micah on the other hand did take the jumps. 

And as you can see did quite well.

I was content to stick with the basics.

I was glad I was able to make it down the slope a couple times without incident.

But every once in awhile... yeah.

I leaned too far forward there and the front edge of the snowboard caught the snow.

But overall I did enjoy myself.

I definantly want to try it again sometime.

Maybe after the soreness wears off at least.

And after I refill my wallet.

A childhood friend

I recently came across the question on Facebook "Of what purpose is a friend from one's youth?".  At first I just kept moving but then I got to thinking about it.  What is the purpose of childhood friends?  Sure they make growing up a little more fun but what is thier ultimate purpose?  And in case anyone out there thinks I have all the answers, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't.  I not sure what the answer to this question is.  I have a vauge idea but I'd really like to get ya'll's thoughts on it.  So what do you think?  Are childhood friends merely for the purpose of pleasure?  Or are they instead placed in our lives for a greater purpose?

Are you a contrast?

"The brightest day will create the darkest shadows."  How true this is in the spiritual realm.  The brighter we shine as Christians, the greater the contrast will be between us and the world.  Light dispells darkness, not vice versa.  Darkness is merely the absense of light.  So if the world seems like a dark place, than perhaps the Christians need to shine more brightly and create more of a contrast.  If the world looks at us and the only differance they see is that we dress differantly (maybe), and go to church (sometimes), then what is there to draw them?  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify you Father who is in heaven".

Who do you love?

It is a well known saying that "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner".  I was pondering that saying today at work and realized that many times we as followers of Christ many times "love the sin, but hate the sinners". The point there being in short that we are often hypocrites. We speak out against those committing sin around us but in our private lives we sometimes practice that very sin. We condemn drunks, thieves, murderers, drug addicts, and of course all those two faced politicians. But in our own lives we have addictions (they seem harmless but are still sinful), we steal (it's only small things), we harbor hate towards others (which Jesus equated with murder), and when out in public we put on our best behavior despite the truth (just like the politicians). Instead of focusing our hate toward those committing the sin perhaps we should be more focused on fighting the same sins in our own lives. May we each strive to "hate the sin, but love the sinner".