Archive for November, 2004
11/30/2004
I am feeling: Alone
One thing I have had to get used to since I moved here to Salem is being alone. I have always lived with people, and for the short time that I did live on my own, I was always out with people that it really didn’t feel so solitary. The thing about being here is that I don’t have a huge reservoir of friends to entertain me (and entertain). I miss that. I miss the company of friends. I think it is really important. And one thing that I have gotten really bad at is keeping in touch with my friends that live somewhere else. I used to email a lot. Now I don’t. I used to talk on the phone on occasion. Not any more. I used to talk on msn a lot. Now I tend to “appear offline” because I am not in the mood for talking. I guess I have almost isolated myself. I have tucked my head inside my shell and it’s getting a little lonely in here. I think the hardest part about being alone right now for me, is not feeling close to the Lord. I have been going through a dry-spell lately. I haven’t felt intimate with Him in a while. I read the Scriptures, but somehow it often feels more like reading a text than reading a love letter. It has been a while since I have rested in His arms or cried for Him. I don’t like being alone. I need to go be with Him…
Longing for affection
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/29/2004
I am feeling: really excited!
Tonight I start my second quarter here at Oregon Theological Seminary. It seems like the time is just flying by here. The reason why tonight is so awesome for me is that I start GREEK! I have been wanting to learn Greek for sooooo long, and it sorta feels a tad bit overdue! I keep looking up to all these amazing professors I have, but the fact of the matter is, I can’t understand what they are saying half the time. It will be amazing to start to learn the language and dig a little deeper in my Bible study. I guess one thing I never think about is that the Bible we have is not really the Bible; it is a translation of the Bible. Whether we have the NIV, KJV, NASB, or any other English translation – it is a secondary source. I am just about ready to burst with excitement about learning Greek. I am sure it won’t be exciting having to memorize all those words, but it is just the means to a very rewarding end. I know it will be worth it!
Peace in Christ.
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/29/2004
I am feeling: Proud of myself 
Well, I finally did it! I have wanted to start my own website for years, and yesterday, I just decided to fork over the cash and get it done. I bought some space on the web, got some web building software, I even purchase my own domain name! So if you want to check the site out it is pretty simple – www.vinthomas.com – As soon as I get more stuff to put on it, I will. It is still sorta in a construction phase. But I hope you like it!
Check ‘er out and tell me what you think. I could use some suggestions (especially if you are web savvy!!).
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/28/2004
I am feeling: Curious
I bet one of the hardest thing for an immigrant coming to the states would be learning all of our little idioms. We have so many odd sayings that sometimes I don’t even know what they mean. Like “Bob’s your uncle” – I never understood what that was supposed to mean!? And where did the saying “in a pickle” come from? But can you imagine someone coming in and telling you that “something smelled fishy” and trying to understand it at face value. I bet a lot of immigrants are insulted a lot because of simple misunderstandings.
I remember one of the guys at a school I went to who was from Germany. He had his masters degree in English from a German school. This guy knew more about the English language than anyone who was at the school. He had only been in the states for weeks when we started to realize that when we had a question about grammar or spelling, Dan was the man to go to. But the funniest thing about the whole thing was when he would stop a conversation in the middle of a sentence because he didn’t get whatever expression was just used. We tried to teach him a few, like “all that and a bag of chips”. It was pretty funny when he would try to slip one in every now and again. I miss that guy.
Anyway, this was just a random thought and I had nothing better to do than write to you about it. So next time you are chatting with a tourist and he looks at you with a frieghtened look on his face, you might want to run over in your mind what you just said because he might not understand what you meant when you said you wanted to “pick his brain about something”!
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/26/2004
I am feeling: Fed-up
I’m sick of “waiting for my life to start”. I think a lot of people live this way. I seem to float through life doing mundane things in anticipation for the day comes when I will start to do wonderful things. I don’t know why I have that mentality. Maybe it is just a by-product of the whole “School Phase” in my life. There seems to be this unspoken understanding that I am not qualified to do anything of great consequence until I have a degree to hang on my wall. I am really sick of that attitude. It is a nasty one! I know that God is laughing (or mourning) over such a silly attitude. God has plans for us all; and those plans are not contingent upon our “qualifications”. God wants to use those “mundane things” and turn them into “wonderful things”. God can do that! He’s big enough. I have wasted enough time “waiting for my life to start”.
I think I have probably missed a lot of beautiful and wonderful moments because I was too busy trying to “qualify”.
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/23/2004
I am feeling: Elegant
A new habit I have been enjoying lately is listening to Classical music. I have been waking up pretty early for my new job, and I have found it to be nice and relaxing while I am getting ready for the day. Right now I am listening to “Violin Concerto No.1, in G minor, Op. 26 – II. Adagio” By Max Bruch. Is it ever a beautiful piece! I can’t imagine how much skill goes into writing a piece of this caliber! It is way beyond me. But at least I can enjoy it while I brush my teeth and eat my breakfast
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/22/2004
I am feeling: ???
People have asked me if I was Chinese before. But I’m totally not!
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/21/2004
I am feeling: Sleepy…
I almost killed my fish today. That seems to happen whenever I clean his tank. He went a little limp when I tossed him in the new water. But he’s floating around nice and good now…so I think he’s ok.
I go home in less than a month! I am pretty excited to visit my family! I really miss my nieces! So it will be fun to spend some time with them!
I finished my last final of the quarter on Thursday. That was a little stressful, but I think I should manage a decent mark. It is nice to have that weight off my shoulders. Although I still do have 2 major projects due by the end of the month :’( O well…it’s good for me to be studying lots!
I start my “behind the wheel training” on Monday! That should be scary and fun! I get to drive a 40 foot school bus! That’s looooooooooong! Seeing how I have a hard time driving a van, it should be an interesting time! 
Well I guess I’ve clocked in for the day, so I am gonna head to my bed and get me some sleep!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………..
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/19/2004
I am feeling: Optimistic
It is a new day, and there are some choices I need to make: How am I going to live this day? Am I going to allow it to float on by like the clouds, not noticing that it is moving along? Am I going to strive after the wind? Or will I take this day by its proverbial bull-horns and ride this puppy like there is no tomorrow. I hope it would be the latter; God knows I have wasted too many days on the former!
There are always choices. Our lives are not as cut and dry as we would like to think sometime. I hope the I can learn to chase my dreams with no regrets. I hope to live my life without fear of what’s ahead, but anticipation. There are choices I can make today, and everyday, that can alter the course of my life. “Carpe Diem” as they say in France! Take hold of your dreams!
“TIS ONLY IN THEIR DREAMS THAT MEN TRULY BE FREE,’TWAS ALWAYS THUS, AND ALWAYS THUS WILL BE.” -KEATING.
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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11/18/2004
I am feeling: like a cracker jack prize
Lately I have been really ambitious. That would be a good thing…except for the fact that my ambitions seem to change from one day to the next. You never know what you’ll get from me from one day to the next. Part of me wants to go to school for the next 8 years and finish with a doctorate, other parts want to just finish my masters here and teach at a little school somewhere small. Then there are completely random parts of me that want to start a band or join the FBI. Yeah…I know!? And I can always count on those long lost dreams coming back up every now and again about opening a coffee shop in a little trendy area of town.
I guess what it all boils down to is this: I have no clue what I am doing! But I have come to realize that that is ok. I am alright with not having a plan. I have never had a plan before…so it isn’t like I am out on a limb here for the first time. I live on the limb! One day to the next – you never know what you’re gonna get.
“Mans steps are ordained by the Lord,
How then can man understand his way?” Proverbs 20:24
That’s a little consolation for me. Call me crazy, but I find comfort in not knowing!
Vin
vin_thomas@msn.com
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