Justin Fletcher http://blogs.oc.edu/ee/index.php? en justin.fletcher@student.oc.edu Copyright 2006 2006-04-10T05:11:00+00:00 Sunny Sunday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/sunny_sunday/ What a beautiful day it was to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  The weather, minus the wind, has been terrific recently.  I had my last Freshman Officers meeting tonight, but I’m the Sophomore Male Rep, so it won’t be my last SGA dealings.  We’re going to have a blowout for our class, and hopefully feed a bunch of people on our meal tickets who, otherwise wouldn’t know where they’re next meal came from.

I went to Mississippi over the break.  Mission work is such a rejuvenating experience, and yet I still feel drained.  If you have the chance, do mission work, soon.  There are so many opportunities.  From inner city, to disaster relief, to foreign, and even small congregation mission work, it all is beneficial and uplifting.  I had no idea what to expect in Pascagoula, but I wish I was there right now.  It’d be quite the sacrifice to go clean up people’s yards and put their houses back together.  But, I do it in a minute’s notice, not hesitating one second because the work needs to be done. Click here to check out the church of Christ’s disaster relief organization.  They proved to be super helpful during our stay in Mississippi.

I have an 8 page paper due tomorrow. I should start…I know mom, I’m a lazy bum and a procrastinator, but if I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be me!  You love me, really, you do, and so do a bunch of other people. So, thanks, I’m a bear to put up with sometimes.  Enough for now.  I’ll fill you in later.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-04-10T04:11:00+00:00 Time to Blog http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/time_to_blog/ I’m alive, I’m well, and I’m going to blog.  I’m sure many people, no, I know many have wondered if I’m alive.  Life’s not been easy, nobody said it would be.  School is trying, but things are getting better, I listen to good music.  Sometimes you’ve got to be torn down and built back up stronger than before to realize things.  That’s what happened to me.  I have a youth ministry internship in Tulsa at the Crosstown church of Christ this summer, and I can hardly wait.  You should come. Yes, I’m talking to you.

Basketball is over, and for that I am moderately upset.  Fortunately, there are other intriguing aspects of life, and this school, beyond basketball.  This is a great, great school, and I’m willing to incur a significant debt for this experience.  The opportunity to walk in a gym, and run with nine other guys who you worship with on Sunday and Wednesday is a special, special gift.

Walking into an office full of cheerful, intelligent people, who are singing spiritual songs I’ve grown up singing my entire life in one church building or another, albeit it in jest, brings about an emotion that can only be experienced.  If you’re contemplating coming to this school, save up, pray in faith, and I’ll see you at Dry Gulch in the fall because you don’t want to miss it.

Perfect, this school is not.  It’s a good thing they don’t claim to be, or I’d rip them for false representation, but they are what they say they are- Higher Learning, Higher Calling.  Come, and if you’re a guy, make sure you don’t have a female hall director (leave a comment, and I’ll expand on that).  Go to every event from devos to track meets, and you will fall in love.  They tell me that’s the place to pick up chicks too, I guess I’ve been unlucky, oh well! 

Be sure to tell all your friends, I know they’ve been missing me, but I’m back from now on!  Let us love each other, and start the Justin Fletcher scholarship fund!  Just kidding, but seriously…How I’ve missed blogging!  Late nights inspire people, more specifically, me!

In a few hours, I will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus the Christ, and I’m excited, but to effectively celebrate, I must have some sleep.  For now, I will be leaving, but if God has more work for me to do, I’ll wake up, and I will RISE AND SHINE AND GIVE GOD THE GLORY GLORY!  Goodnight America, Europe, and everyone else! Above all else…

Don’t forget to smile or pray!

]]> 2006-04-09T07:19:01+00:00 A New-Found Revelation http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/a_new_found_revelation/ I overslept today, that allowed me to take a 45 minute shower.  I know, I know, that sounds like a girl or something, but I come up with some really profound thoughts while soaking up the hot water.  What I discovered most recently is that Tuesdays are the worst day of the week.  What do you think?  Let me expound on why Tuesday is the worst day…

Sunday starts the week, and whoever the genius was that set it up that way deserves to be praised.  Getting together with my friends and other people to worship God is a GREAT way to start the week.  I think that’s why Monday isn’t the worst day of the week for me.  Monday also is a new start for the school week which is an opportunity to go more often, and then View 63 caps off the night after another Eagle basketball victory.  Wednesday is a day where I get together and worship God again, and it is hump day AND that is always good.  SGA meetings are always on Wednesday too.  Then on Thursday, I’m one day away from the weekend, Refuge is a must and OC basketball is a common occurrence.  Friday is, well Friday.  It’s the weekend, classes are quicker, life is happier and the weekend is present.  Saturday is more of the same, but more pronounced.  What is Tuesday?  Tuesday is a day when I have class for 4 hours straight, and bad days in the caf.  There is no greatness in Tuesday except for reminiscing about Monday or looking forward to Thursday.  From now, I will blame everything on Tuesday. You should do the same.

Tomorrow, I am riding the bus with the cheerleaders to John Brown.  Does it get any better than that?  Free ride to the basketball game, actually being at the game, and cheerleaders!  Tomorrow will be a glorious, glorious day!

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-22T22:32:01+00:00 Dazed and Confused http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/dazed_and_confused/ I find it intriguing, if not downright fascinating.  One day, I plan on fully comprehending, and then sharing it with others.  I will share how one day, one good day, can gather enough steam, neatly package it, and hurl struggles right in my face.  Monday was a nice day.  Brisk air, pretty snow, and smiling faces marked the day.  Suddenly, those smiles were turned into frowns, the snow to ice, and biting winds replaced the cool breeze.  Satan has ways to rush bitter wind on us in so many forms, and today, like most, that wind was one that had a choice.  This unwelcome soul made sure to make life as difficult as possible for me and my posse.

Tonight, our receptionist was exceptionally rude for no apparent reason, but because he thought that was his job.  Our now infamous hall director took our Nerf hoops down, and then took off for the night without an explanation.  She did tell our RA that he was going to have to give weekly reports about our behavior.  Will someone please remind me when I re-entered 4th grade?  Sorry, that’s not the attitude that Jesus would have, and that’s what I’m talking about.  A good day was ruined because of my decisions.  When I was faced with adversity, I pouted and decided to be mad at the world…Why am I telling you this?

Today, make the decision to be joyous.  Not happy, because happiness is fleeting, but joy is everlasting and nobody can take your joy if you won’t allow them.  Go out of your way to be cordial to people that you can’t stand.  Be the bigger person, and tell them you’re happy they’re alive, but leave out the part that you’re happy because they still have a chance to change.  My sarcasm rises up even in a moment of seriousness.  Finally, if someone is rude to you, don’t be like me.  Grow up.  Know that 1 Cor 10:13 gives you a way out of every temptation.  Don’t let Satan’s disruptive, bitter wind get you down today.  Read the book, we win!

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-21T06:44:00+00:00 It’s Monday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/its_monday/ One of the most interesting things I’ve learned since coming to school is that I’m considered a southern.  I always viewed Oklahoma as a western state, and the winters are nasty every year.  Still, I’m am considered to be from the south, and that’s fine by me because I much prefer 108 to 13.  I say all that to point out that this Monday has been a NORTHERN Monday.  The high today was a crisp 31 degrees, snow covered the ground, and the wind was a non-factor.  I must say that it really, really was a tremendous day outside.  If only the wind would never blow again, I could handle the chilly days.  Unfortunately, the wind is at Gael force most days.

Tonight holds an extremely interesting evening…studying. I took myself a small mid-winter break, and caused me to fall behind on school work.  The blame rests wholly on my shoulders, but there are only two OC games this week, and I’ve sworn myself off high school games for a while, which should make for quality free time.  A moment of randomness, listen to music.  It doesn’t matter what kind, how loud, or where, just listen.  Music makes everything better.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-20T19:27:01+00:00 Snowy, Sleepy Sunday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/snowy_sleepy_sunday1/ As you may or may not know, it’s snowing here.  Wrong, I lied.  It is sleeting here, and for all of you who aren’t so blessed, allow me to expound.  Sleet is a mixture of ice, snow, and rain coming together to make a conglomeration that is lethal to senior citizens hips, and everybody’s vehicles.  Driving around in snow is one thing, but when it’s sleeting, it builds up on the windshield, which is only compounds the problem of slick roads.  Let us just say, sleet is a glorious, glorious creation. 

In light of this, several times of worship were cancelled, so I went with my roommates and their group to the church in Edmond.  We ended up at the Wellington Manor, which is an old-folks home where my roommate Daniel led singing.  I really enjoying going to worship at retirement centers and the like because the people there are super-appreciative.  After that, we came back and did a bunch of nothing since all evening worship times were cancelled.  To entertain ourselves, we got a a couple Nerf hoops and taped them to the wall.  This portion of the post is dedicated to my grandpa and my uncle Hoop who made me into the incredible Nerf basketball player that I’ve become.  If you know my family, you know how competitive we are, and can imagine how intense the games at 1718 S. 3rd got.  I used to get abused by Hoop, but today, I returned the favor.  I had the winning bucket in every game, with one 360 jam!  Great day!

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-20T05:48:00+00:00 Sorry, Saturday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/sorry_saturday/ I feel that it’s at least mildly appropriate to find a way to spell Saturday using the letters L-A-Z-Y because my laziness on this day is sickening.  I do absoutely nothing productive on my Saturdays, and in those rare events that I do something, it is late in the day.  Today was no different.  I woke up at 1:30 this afternoon, that’s right 1:30 PM.  The only reason I woke up then was because my buddy Brian had called me and wanted to go to the Botannical Gardens downtown.  One nice thing about OC is that, although we aren’t in the middle of the city, we are close enough to get downtown to a major city in 10 minutes.  After I slowly got up, we were off to the Gardens.

Brian brought his girlfriend and brother, as well as our mutual friend Allison.  It was a great time, and there were plenty of pictures taken, just none by me.  If I can get one of the two ladies to send me a few, I’ll be sure to put them up.  I was supposed to go to watch my dad coach his basketball team today, but the roads were icy and I didn’t feel like messing with that today.  I did go to a basketball game with Brian and company.  Overall, today was a bum day, and I have homework, which means Sunday CAN’T be a bum day.  That means I must be off to bed.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-19T04:44:00+00:00 Not An Almost Friday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/not_an_almost_friday/ Usually Thursday is when I can’t wait for the day to be over even though there are tremendous happenings every Thursday.  From Agape, where you go and right encouragement notes, to OC basketball, to Refuge, Thursdays are always busy days.  For some reason, I never appreciate them enough, instead, I wait and long for Fridays.  This particular Thursday was not the case at all.  Classes went well, I made a 100 on my Macro quiz.  We had a basketball game, which always makes my day, and we played St. Greg’s which is just icing on the cake. They’re terrible.  We put the boots to them like we should and it was quite enjoyable.

After that, I had another date with Shannon, actually, I shouldn’t call it a date because it wasn’t really a date. I’m not sure what it was to be honest, but it was a good time.  We went to Refuge, and my buddy Brian Lair was speaking.  He does a good job, and spoke about something that I’ve heard a million times and is a really simple subject, but can’t seem to master.  It was good to hear if from him because he’s somebody I can connect with and have a ton of respect for.  He talked about how we treat each other, and how all too often we dog each other when we should build people up.  After that, we were off to eat.

We went to IHOP and she brought Connect 4 and Guess Who.  It was so much fun!  That was one of the worst sentences every typed, but I’m not sure how else to explain it.  I had an absolutely wonderful time for FOUR hours playing Connect 4 and Guess Who in IHOP.  My roommates took late extensions and showed up out of nowhere which made the night that much more exciting.  After she couldn’t sit down from having her rear repeatedly kicked in Connect 4 (I won 8 of the last 9, the one I lost was a cat), we left IHOP at 3:30 to end the evening.  Good, good times.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-17T21:22:00+00:00 Wacky Wednesday http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/wacky_wednesday/ Yesterday was interesting to say the least.  Let us start with my student ID.  I thought that I had left mine in Stillwater last week so I had to buy a new one and spend the time getting it encoded and things like that on Monday.  Then, I began digging in my wallet, and there was my old rusty student ID.  I’m such an idiot sometimes.  I had looked through my wallet at least three times and couldn’t find it, but it there it was.

The reason I was looking in my wallet was because I needed my social security card.  They had to have it so that my Montana friends and me could sign up to give plasma.  I’ve been told that giving plasma is unethical, but I’m not sure how.  I give how blood all time, and never expect anything but a neat t-shirt for it.  Plasma is different in that they use it to make medicine and other products that companies use as profit.  The Oklahoma Blood Institue, Red Cross, and any other group that does blood drives are non-profit organizations that aren’t trying to get rich off me donating blood.  Plasma services are, but again I digress.  At any rate, I didn’t end up donating because the two I was with had been piereced in the last year and couldn’t donate.  It was probably good that I didn’t give so I’d have my senses for later that evening.

At Bible class, my friend Beth Hewitt and a guy sat down next to me.  I didn’t recognize the guy who I introduced myself and he told me that his name was Rick, he was from Scotland, and he knew me.  He said he read this blog, thought it was funny, and was one of the deciding factors in him coming here! I think he was lying just to make me feel good, but that made my day for sure.  He’s on the golf team, and now I’m a BIG golf support and hope Rick brings home the National Championship.  That has given me the motivation to keep doing this everyday!  Now, macro homework is calling so I must be gone.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

]]> 2006-02-16T16:48:00+00:00 Where’s My Val-a-gram? http://blogs.oc.edu/jfletcher/wheres_my_val_a_gram/ When I was in junior high, and even in high school people would send each other little Val-a-grams that suckers, or other candy on them, wishing them a happy Valentine’s Day.  Well, I didn’t get any of those yesterday, but I did get an orange Crush from my friend-to-the-end Brittany, and I had a date.  Since it was WPA I got asked out and didn’t have to make any plans or anyhthing, it was grand.  Shannon Wheeler, who cheers for OC.  Well she’s a cheerleader.  Had to make it more specific because I cheer for OC, but I’m not a cheerleader by any means, but I digress.  She’s the one who asked me out. 

She was real sweet and wanted to open the door for me, but the door was locked and she was so incredibly embarrassed.  I tried to be mature about it, and not laugh, but it was really funny.  I don’t know her all that well, so that was a nice ice-breaker.  Then we went to the dollar movies, which were supposed to be free, but they tried to make us pay.  She gave the guy her credit card and he said they only took cash and the movie we wanted to see was sold out.  Again, she was super embarrassed, but it was completely okay because stuff like that happens to me on a daily basis.  I paid for it, and then we snuck into the movie we wanted to watch, I know, we’re such rebels!

To end the date, we went to the always romantic Taco Bell.  HA.  I can’t believe I just typed romantic as an adjective for Taco Bell.  Actually, it was pretty neat because she picked it out, and any girl who PICKS Taco Bell is cool in my book, so definite brownie points on that one.  When I got back to the dorm, we had an Anti-Valentine’s Day party.  It was nice, and my bud Alan from Flint Hills Christian Camp came to visit.  Tuesday was a great day, and I didn’t even watch a basketball game.

Don’t forget to smile or pray

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