tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83328892024-03-07T12:11:46.195-08:00The College DropoutConfession #278: I love the group 4Him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-58760243525405844212008-03-25T20:48:00.000-07:002008-03-25T20:51:09.441-07:00NEW SITE!Hey,Although I will still post here, I have a new site that I will be blogging on... it's purpose is more evangelistic (eventually). Check it out at:web.mac.com/jeremydahlenI'll write soon!Lots of love,JeremyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-3324200023764932502008-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:002008-02-23T21:23:34.939-08:00My Refining Fire."Fear not, Child, to go down into Egypt; for there I will make thee a great nation; I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again." [Genesis 46:3]Stop trying to reason out your life and your spiritual existence, my friend. Stop over-thinking and over-analyzing. Stop pretending that God is uninterested and abandon your heart to the reality of it's desire - to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-4864219691657202022008-02-19T11:05:00.000-08:002008-02-19T11:15:19.300-08:00laughing when you aren't supposed to makes you laugh way harderToday I visited my sister at her classroom at VVMS to do a few read-aloud sessions with her classes. I was asked to read from a book called "Blood River" - a story about some Pilgrims just arriving in the New World. The first class went well. I read five pages and enjoyed it very much. The second class (the one I just finished) didn't go so well. I actually got the giggles and had to stop Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-39430185914763946132008-02-11T10:18:00.000-08:002008-02-11T10:21:31.410-08:00Do I Work Here?I stood at a self-checkout yesterday at Cub and practically burst out laughing. As I was mid-scan through my orange juice the thought came to me… what am I doing?? I’m actually voluntarily becoming my own cashier and bagger! What are all these employees here for if I’m doing their job? Soon my imagination ran wild. I saw wild, hurried customers unloading their own groceries from the semi Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-10931423656125626032008-02-10T20:55:00.000-08:002008-02-10T22:07:39.327-08:00He Is Everything I Ever Wanted.October of 2007 was a tough month. I use the word tough because it's vague, and the frustration that I felt was exactly that: vague, nameless and frustrating. Have you ever had your heart condemn you and you don't know why? It is a struggle I often face. My heart often condemns me and I have to figure out what the hell to do with it. 1 John 3:21 has been a frequent verse flying through my Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-66418941930196135792008-01-24T20:03:00.000-08:002008-01-24T20:23:49.433-08:00I AM.v12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."v13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" v14 God said to Moses, "Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-56414203974900715842008-01-23T19:02:00.000-08:002008-01-23T19:19:35.744-08:00leaves.I drove by a tree today... a tree that still had every single one of it's leaves. It was windy too, and none were blowing off. The dead, lifeless leaves were frozen to the tree and the tree didn't seem too eager to let go.I watched the tree as I drove by and said in my mind, "You better drop your leaves, my friend. This is the winter season, the wrong time to hang on so tightly to summer's brief Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-87145284299957338802008-01-21T21:32:00.000-08:002008-01-21T21:34:35.223-08:00mlkToday, in honor of MLK Day, my friend and I decided that we needed to celebrate. We were at Target and decided that every time we saw an African American, we would give each other a high-five. It was very celebratory.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-67714219637001079192008-01-20T17:15:00.001-08:002008-01-20T17:40:01.903-08:00black.Last week was a terrible week. I had a really good week followed by a really terrible week... and what was so terrible about it was that I simply gave up fighting. Tired. Weary. Sick of fighting, sick of feeling like I was always losing. Sick of the journey... sick of people hurting me and hating my capacity to desire to hurt others to make myself feel better. And so, I gave up fighting. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-68708467067201387872007-12-11T21:30:00.000-08:002007-12-11T21:52:36.467-08:00Back from the dead...? Or still dead.Hello faithful readers.It has been so long. The only reason I'm actually back here writing is because tonight I saw my cousin Beth (who immediately made me do the secret cousin handshake) who reminded me about my blog. "I have a blog?" I thought... "Well it seems I do..."I always convince myself that my blog is a place where I am candid and real. And then I go back into my dashboard and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-60910403122675559722007-09-20T21:59:00.001-07:002008-12-11T16:44:32.906-08:00Long time no post!On top of the Crosslake fire tower...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-67773640366791598892007-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:002007-08-22T21:15:12.806-07:00The Heavenly ManI just finished reading the book The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. I have never read a book like this before... it has completely changed what I think about suffering and Christianity. Lately (as I read the Bible and books like The Heavenly Man) I have seen more and more clearly that love and pain are intermingled... in fact, they flow so closely together that they are inseparable. What Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-82159364775484152252007-06-18T21:15:00.001-07:002008-12-11T16:44:33.330-08:00What the...Tonight as I drove home from Mindy's new apartment (which is soooo nice, by the way) I was nearing home when I looked to the side of the road and saw.... OHMYGOSH!.....AN ARMADILLO CHEWING ON A BRIGHT ORANGE STICK!!!!!..Or wait... no. No, I was wrong. It was actually.....A sand bag sitting on a knocked-down construction sign.Hmm.I didn't think we had many armadillo around here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-53593635562915089162007-06-10T20:19:00.000-07:002008-12-11T16:44:33.530-08:00Final Conclusions...As of this last Thursday (this was written a while ago just never finished!) I am no longer working for the YMCA... I am moving on to the next chapter of life, into a new position with a ministry in Robbinsdale. Anyway, I wanted to write about the things I have learned in the past year... working with 5 and 6-year-olds has sure been a fun and crazy ride! So, I have come to these 4 final Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-30826284274687630862007-05-21T07:27:00.000-07:002008-12-11T16:44:33.676-08:00the June bug.I dislike June bugs... probably more than any other insect. They bat against the windows, buzz towards any light, and in my case, fly in open car windows to lounge on my dashboard. I slammed on my breaks, put on my hazards and swiftly exited the car. There on my dashboard sat a fat, black, bumbling June bug with about as much intelligence as a grain of sand. My narrowed eyes watched it's Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-26817710432104133202007-04-30T20:12:00.000-07:002008-12-11T16:44:33.825-08:00A Letter...From My Heart...Dear Professor Ligocki,Well, it has been an interesting semester, to say the least. I wanted to drop you this letter to express my deep thanks for the way you made Ancient Philosophy just BURST alive for me. The way you talked about Empedocles made me want to leap into the air, grasp my hands to my heart and fall romantically into a pile of soft pillows.When I think back on the semester, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-56917588006293490902007-04-19T18:41:00.000-07:002008-12-11T16:44:34.064-08:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-76698273726712132782007-04-11T13:50:00.001-07:002007-04-11T13:50:04.121-07:00That Kid: Part III AddendumInstead of writing another paper like I should be doing, I decided to put an addendum onto my last That Kid posting. That Kid Part III: "End of the Semester Kid"End of the Semester Kid only comes out the last few weeks of the semester. It is the kid who has been in your class for the whole semester and you had no idea. Suddenly you see EOTSK leaving class a little early or coming in a little Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-80506915527429354502007-03-29T22:35:00.000-07:002007-03-29T22:37:29.403-07:00Grumble GrumbleI just got home (midnight) and since I was totally famished, I did something barbaric. I fried myself a huge panfull of bacon, then cooked a giant batch of pancakes in that same bacon grease. It was AMAZING but I kind of feel a heart attack coming onUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-30292421392073115582007-03-13T18:57:00.001-07:002007-03-13T18:57:12.850-07:00I love my job!I love getting paid to have fun... It's fun!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-43470858989095477422007-03-05T20:40:00.000-08:002007-03-05T20:44:30.818-08:00death.I am haunted by my past, and inspired by my future. I am traumatized by what has been, and full of hope for the things to come. I have tasted death, cloaked in darkness. And I have tasted life, wrapped in light. I have done things that have crucified my God, and yet have been redeemed by that very death. I have been given more than I could ever think to ask for, and have been seen as a son.IUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-42467502941247583392007-02-26T12:04:00.000-08:002007-02-28T01:12:20.856-08:00Ohhh!This was downtown today. How would you like to dig that sucker out??Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-89912189352869723402007-02-23T13:30:00.000-08:002008-12-11T16:44:34.366-08:00That Kid: Part III“On Dasher! on Dancer! on Prancer and Vixen! on Dropper girl! Surfer kid! Drawing Kid and Blitzen!”Come one, come all! Gather to hear the tales of a new semester, surrounded with creatures that elude even the most vivid imaginations… new species just discovered; thought by many to be non-existent. Feared by men – sought after by explorers - discovered by me……Welcome to That Kid: Part Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-37631008707266337722007-02-20T20:17:00.001-08:002007-02-20T20:17:47.557-08:00Concert!Today all of my kind. and 1st graders had their concert. It was fun and they sang VERY loudly (and with no melody really.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332889.post-53260360985750774882007-02-12T20:55:00.000-08:002008-12-11T16:44:34.625-08:00Bright FeetThis year I received one of the most unique and uselessly cool gifts ever. Bright Feet - slippers that look pretty normal, but each house a bright white LED light that illumines when the lights go down. "Perfect for checking up on the kids, night time errands, or midnight snacks" boasts the box. (Although I have not yet taken them out for a late-night errand, I did shine one the slippers into Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2