An Extra Helping of Love and Laughter

Hello! I've had one heck of a busy week, so I've not had much time for blogging! What follows may shock, amaze, scare, frighten, startle, concern, disorientate, bamboozle, discombobulate, or even maim. But since that's never happened before, like, ever, I'm assuming it will probably just entertain, interest, and maybe even provoke deeper thoughts, so I'm going to go ahead and write this post anyway. :D

This Thursday, I went to a place called "Thirsty Meeples." It's a boardgame cafe, a relatively new concept. It's a cafe with boardgames. What boardgames do they offer? Well, I'll list them!

 

...Actually, no; no, I will not.

It was fun, although apparently people aren't all that interested in playing Ricochet Robots at 10:30 at night. Shame, it's a wicked game.

I had my last Linear Algebra class this Friday. I'm honestly kind of glad it's over, despite the fact that it was probably my best class, because I was really starting to understand less and less of what the lecturer was writing on the board during lectures towards the end and having to greatly compensate for that knowledge gap when working homework problems.

...Huh?

                                   
 This week, my buddies and I have started jogging. Last week we started going to the gym every other day-ish, but this week we've gone jogging fairly regularly while also going to the gym every other day. It's been pretty intense at times, but it hasn't interfered with work so far, and it's important for college students to establish good habits this early in our lives, because the choices we make today will affect our realities in the future. If you want to use that, you don't have to quote me. :D

I say "jogs"...they're jogs to my friend. He's taller than I am. To me, they're sprints!!

After running for half an hour on the rainiest, windiest day I've ever seen, I was totally wiped out.

As a result of a desire to make good choices which will affect both me and my future family in the future (as opposed to, say, my future family in the PAST), I've been trying to get all my nutrients and eat healthy in general. I've cut back to two or three small burritos a week. I've also been avoiding the dining hall and going to Pret a Manger.

If you're from America, you won't have heard of Pret a Manger, but if you're from England, you know exactly what I'm talking about. American people, Pret a Manger is a cafe that sells slightly healthier food than a normal cafe, like "Eat.", but really the same sort of thing for the most part. Pret a Manger is almost literally on every street in England. It's probably true in London. But seriously, it is so ubiquitous that on Cornmarket Street, where most people get their food, there is a Pret a Manger on one end and, two minutes down the street, there is a Pret a Manger on the other end. It's insane!! But also convenient, so who am I to judge?

Of course, I don't actually think rockets are generally considered very nutritious.
I think England takes the old adage I just made up that "food is fuel for your body" a little too seriously...

Not very tasty-looking, not very tasty, but apparently "good for me," so I bought it.

Unfortunately, while I was able to build up some muscle, I wasn't able to burn off pretty much any fat through cardio. I was thwarted by my parents, who sent me a box of candy to share for Valentine's Day that I forgot to share. Instead, I ate an entire thing of peanut butter M&Ms. Ugh. I need help.

It's well-known that chocolate is my greatest weakness. And also my greatest strength.
Except for that last part.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, yes, I know it was on Friday. The Maths' Department decided to shame an entire university of nerds by letting us know early in the morning:

 All jokes aside, I don't mind Valentine's Day. I know my relationships are in God's hands, and that I'll get married as soon as it's the right time. Plus, I've seen how destructive poorly-founded, destructive relationships can be. If you're reading this blog post, please don't enter a relationship rashly. If you don't think there's any chance you'll end up marrying the person, then best case scenario involves it ending with tears and tubs of ice cream. Heed my warning.

That said, I did get three chocolate bars in an envelope. I don't know why or from whom, but I know I wasn't the only one.

I kind of thought it might have been a bomb...

At the same time, though, I also found in my pidge (kind of like a mailbox, located in the Porter's Lodge) a leaflet for a single's mixer at a pub. Needless to say, I did not attend. I'm like James Bond's bartenders in that I don't "stir." Although I guess bartenders have to be able to mix drinks. So never mind.

Speaking of bombs, I was a few minutes late to a tutorial on Thursday because the police cordoned off St. Giles Street to bring in the bomb squad and have them diffuse a bomb and I had to go around. But it's not that interesting to me, so here's a link if you want to learn more:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/13/suspicious-packages-found-army-career-offices

This week was Love Like This..., a series of ten talks over the course of five days held by OICCU (Oxford InterCollegiate Christian Union) that described itself as "[a] week of lunchtime and evening talks about Jesus." It discussed many interesting issues and questions. Because it's not about unanswered questions, it's about unquestioned answers...actually, that might have been something else.

I was only able to attend the talks about tolerance, identity, and the cross. But the one about identity was fantastic. The man discussed how everyone puts their identity in something, and that people are always trying to figure out who they are because they keep putting their identity in that which does not last. If you put your identity in money, you can never have enough of it, you get robbed, and the stock market crashes. If you put your identity in relationships, it's lost to time or to death. The man talked about how only God is worth putting our identity in, because He is unchanging, and the Bible spends a lot of time and words making we understood this, because it's important to be able to put your faith in something you know is built on firm foundations. 

In the town hall.

He said that everyone worships, including people who don't consider themselves religious. "Worship" in the traditional sense of the word is to measure your self-worth by something. Hence, measuring your self-worth by a golden statue is worshipping that idol, but measuring your self-worth by how good your reputation is with others is self-worship. The worship of anything other than God is idolatry, and can't fully satisfy us because we're meant to be in a relationship with God, who only gives. And He even gave His son to show how much He loves us. Because we are worth everything to Him.

It really got me thinking; am I spending too much time worrying about how I look, or that other people think I'm funny, or how fit I am, or if I'm doing well enough, or whether or not I'm in a romantic relationship? Of course I am. So I've really been trying to make sure that I constantly check myself, and ask myself "What I'm doing right now, is that for myself? Or is that for God?"

A number of people accepted Jesus into their lives this week, which is beyond awesome. If you're not a Christian, imagine if a friend was cured of AIDS. I'm extremely excited for them.

Well, that's all I have to say. I'll try to do another blog post mid-week so I don't have to write so much and you don't have to read so much! Thanks for reading to the end, and have a great week :)

From,

    John "the Guns" Khouri*

* Yeah, right :D