Stolen from The Binkleys in Phayao:

"Our primary allegiance is not to the US nation, the president, a particular political party or even a particular political system, such as democracy.  Also, our tactics do not involve staging protests, trying to shutdown large cities, demonizing those with whom we don’t agree, posting vitriolic words on social media and using violence to get our way.  Rather, our allegiance is to Jesus Christ, and our tactics involve faithfully serving those around us, especially in small ways, with the love of God.  The more we become like Jesus the better we are able to do this.  Our political opinion is that when people in the US give their allegiance to Jesus above all other allegiances the US will become a better place."

From this post, with some minor changes of course. As I read this passage it hit home more and more.

Nishadi and I continue living in a state of weird disbelief. Kinda feels like we are living in someone else's house, like kids playing a pretend game or something.

I have had a continual inner dialogue about what church to place membership at. It always feels like a really epic conversation inside my head but I assure you it is simple minded. I just don't know how to choose. I'm excited to finally decide on a place and start doing some work.

I hope Manziel ends up in Texas somewhere, it would just be more fun to watch.

One of my favorites Ecclesiastes 3

Do people really gain anything [profit] from their work [toil]? I saw the hard work [task] God has given people to do to keep them occupied. God has given them a desire to know the future and  placed eternity and an awareness of time in their hearts. He does everything just right, appropriate,  and beautiful in its time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing or discover and find the work that God does from beginning to end [humans cannot discern the “right time”]. So I  realize that the best thing for them is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their toil, which are gifts from God [the little pleasures are distractions from the meaningless world]. I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect [or be afraid of] him.

What happens now has happened in the past,
    and what will happen in the future has happened before.
God makes the same things happen again and again.

Simple Thoughts and Ramblings on Psalm 1

God's blessings follow you and await you at every turn: when you don't follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes, when you avoid sin's highway, when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse. For you, the Eternal's Word is your happiness. It is your focus - from dusk to dawn. You are like a tree, planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry. Your fruit ripens in its time; your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun. No matter what you do, you prosper. For those who focus on sin, the story is different. They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone. In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment; the guilty will be separated from the innocent. Their road suddenly will end in death, yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.

As for the updates, we have a house now, and it's really weird. I'm the crazy guy from fight club worrying about couches and tables and things. I wouldn't mind if they all burned down. I wonder what I would do with the money if it wasn't put towards stuff like furniture. If I was certain I would use it in a way that showed other people there is a God....I don't know. Sometimes I can retroactively trick myself into thinking the decision I made was the best decision to make, and then future Cameron looks back and wants to slap my previous self. Then future future Cameron looks back and wants to slap both future Cameron and previous Cameron.

I guess I was going to have to grow up sometime. Not talking just about furniture. I put other things before God every day. I do the minimum that I can hope won't make him outright angry with me. I have so much potential to succeed in everything I do and show everyone around me that God is in control, but I search for happiness and the Eternal's Word isn't always the first place I look, and it's not what I focus on.

I'm glad there are other people that You came and died for too, because  it would be pretty stupid if it was just me, even though I'm pretty sure you would anyway. But that makes it all the more stupider that you did do it, because I know for a fact none of those other people are better than me.

I have a wife and a dog, and I come home and snuggle with them on the couch and watch old episodes of the office, and I love my life, and I think we will continue to do well when it all turns back to dust.

Even though it's evidently really old, parts of this concept are new to me. I'm wrestling with the idea of an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God. Perhaps they can't all exist at once, but these are such abstract concepts, so studying about it in the Bible that deals with things with more concrete concepts, images, and stories is difficult.I'm leaning more towards the idea that the definition of omnibenevolent is messed up. I don't think we are ever promised an omnibenevolent God anyway.

Just got over a sickie weekend. I kinda think we are still recovering from Tough Mudder a week ago, I will post pictures from the professional photographer following us around when I get ahold of them. I think I have mud in my lungs. No just joking, but my asthma has been going crazy, so maybe not a joke. But just kidding, it's not that bad. But seriously, I've been using the inhaler a lot this week. But it's not bad.

I gave Nishadi a cold over the weekend, she missed work yesterday but now feels better than me today.

We're so close to getting a house, it would be a real let down to get this close to the house we want and something happens. Even if it's still our decision, something could happen. But we're close to closing in less than a month.

I guess I should go even further back than the house. The only reason we can look for a house is because Nishadi got a job at Mustang. Her office is about an hour's drive from my office, so we'll live somewhere in between and each drive about 45 min or so. That's the plan anyways. 

Boring Fantasy Football - Please Ignore

I am leading both of my leagues in total points scored. I am 5th place in the 12 team league. Also I am 5th place in the 10 team league.

All Is Right in the World

Last week I flew to pick up Nishadi, moved her (our?) stuff into a trailer that will meet us in Houston tonight, then drove her car back to Kingwood.

I'm not sure the all the best ways to use my new smart phone, but this map seems pretty cool - my locations from Aug 27-Sept 9, 2013. Some highlights - the flight to LA, the drive up to Bakersfield, and then our route back. We met up with some of my family in Malibu, LA, and Amarillo. Also, the coastal drive, Venice Beach, hiking in Palo Duro Canyon, the Sand Diego Zoo, my drive to work and back, and a round trip to College Station for Nishadi's career fair all show up. There were stops we wanted to stay longer, and lots of stops we wanted to do but couldn't but will do eventually.

Also, this is generally my daily round trip commute:

Please don't stalk me

2 Months Left!

Now I'm sitting at my desk at work but I just got back from Vegas this weekend. Didn't lose too much money, in fact the only time I got in trouble was when I won money, and I tipped too much.

If anybody in Houston needs a good chemical engineer let me and Nishadi know!