That one hurts.

A friend of mine and her roommate came to swing for the first time last night. With them finally coming and myself getting back (I haven't been in a while) I was really excited. I was thrilled to help them learn, to watch as they learned on their own, and to re-learn things right along with them.

As I was watching both of them having such a good time out on the floor I had one of those moments. It was one of those things of watching something and finally seeing for the first time; the tap on the shoulder/gentle reminder combo that opens your eyes and hits you with a twisting conviction.

I realized that I have yet to be that excited over watching another person's faith. I've rarely (if ever) been so excited about helping someone learn, watching them grow, and learning with them that I just couldn't sit still.

I'm really praying that changes this year. I've already seen some excitement about leading, but nothing compared to this...

Two faced.

Another great game day. The rain was nowhere to be seen. The sun even managed to make an appearance, allowing for me to get sunburn on half of my face....I think I should start rotating during timeouts.

From the "things that make me smile" department:

I was walking behind this guy on the way to class and he actually stopped to look at the flowers.

Judges are funny.

Indeed, as in Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp v. [NRDC]...the parties in this litigation have "changed positions as nimbly as if dancing a quadrille."

Avoyelles Sportsmen's League, Inc. v. JohnO. MARSH, Jr., Secretary of the Army, et.al.

Burning brighter.

I was thinking the other day (scary, huh?) about how I've placed so much of an emphasis on passion in my Walk. I've sought passion in my worship, prayed for a burning desire, wanted to see all consuming flames, the whole deal.

I've decided I don't want passion anymore.

Passion is often compared to a fire, a flame, anything that burns really. People want to see impact and change so they think passion is the key. It's not really the important part though, in fact, flames are inconsistent and weak. Think of it this way, when a smith is using his forge, he doesn't stick the iron in the flames. The flames don't give off enough heat to do much to the metal.

No, to get the metal heated to where it can really be worked with, a smith puts it in the coals. The coals are where the work is done because the coals are where you find the most intense heat.

Intensity.

It's intensity where you see the most growth, where you see the most change. It's intensity that allows for the most work to be done. I think there are many that put too much of the emphasis on passion rather than intensity. I think this is also a better explanation than what I gave before for why I decided not to do [nlcf] this year and am forging on. I love the people in the ministry, and I found a ton of passion, but not much intensity. You can get some of the greatest flames from some of the weakest fuel sources. Grasses burn brightly and you can even get some great sound effects from Rhododendron leaves (try it sometime), but they are nothing compared to the heat of coke. (Yes, I did my research. Hot enough to incinerate metal? You can't get that from your average bonfire.)

Really, if you want to force the metaphor further, fuel/intensity's external manifestation with proper catalyst/Holy Spirit is flame/passion. So by diligently (post on "diligence" coming soon) seeking intensity, passion will follow.

I'm pinging on and on (ok, I'll stop), but I really feel like I've gone from apprentice to journeyman here.

Digital Dropbox rocks.