Behind the scenes @ the Lin residence

Something that I've noticed throughout this whole summer is that my mom is using every second trying to change me into tip-top shape for college, and its getting ANNOYING, as well as weirding me out. Almost like a Cinderella story, with every other statement starting with "Justin, can you do me a favor?", or "Clean your room", "Be less stubborn", "Do the laundry", "Go cook dinner", "Do your devotions", you know, stuff like that. We're having more of those sit-down talks of her lecturing and me listening of ten minutes or so. What's weird is that suddenly, and I do mean SUDDENLY (just this summer) she's become more "religious", for lack of better words. Not that she was ever non-religious, but she usually wouldn't exhibit her Christian-ness at home. Now that reality sets in that I'm going off to college, it seems as though she's over-exhibiting it. Some things are minor, some are more major. For example, she's suddenly using terminology such as "God-willing", "unbecomingly", and "quiet times", and generally quoting words of phrases that you know come only from the Bible and not part of everyday conversation. And not just that, there have been several occasions where the whole family would have this "prayer time", each person going in a circle praying aloud. You would think that I would enjoy this, that I would appreciate it, but actually the opposite is true. I'm more confused, and I am almost turned off by it, and it's hard to explain why. As I just mentioned, this is all so sudden. My mom has never taken charge like this before as the spiritual leader of the household, but suddenly now?? My walk with God, although turbulent with ups and downs, has been something I've worked on with the guidance of counselors and support from peers, but NEVER involved my parents. So when all this stuff comes up, I'm question why. And when my dad participates, it makes me uneasy because I don't view my dad positively.

According to my mom, I'm becoming stubborn like my dad, but I don't realize it. This observation is due to our both holding to our positions on a very trivial issue. I want one thing, she wants the opposite, but I'm not budging from my position. What she doesn't know is that I can easily give in and be okay about it, but I want appear to be adamant to my resolve. Besides, its about a trivial issue, so what's the big deal? She also says I lack people skills, which I used to be but not any more. This again comes from my interactions with my siblings, who can really really get on my nerves sometimes, and so I'm a little more cold to them when they are. *sigh* Question of the day (or month, depending when I next update): Is it possible to be your real self outside the house but put on a fake self at home with family??

UT orientation was pretty good. The campus is absolutely huge. My legs get tired from all the walking. I mean, when your college has street lights…you know its gonna be huge. Nothing like Rice. Haha, the whole time everyone was making fun of the Liberal Arts people.

"This just in. Employment of Liberal Arts graduates has experienced a 78% increase thanks to the grand openings of three new Super Walmarts".

And wow, half of the programs aimed to create this mindset of respecting everyone else's opinion or belief. It's scary that they had to take it to such an extent. I mean, the theatrical productions were composed of a video clip followed by a soliloquy given by the type of persons. Anglos, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, gays, bisexual, lesbian. I mean, really, shouldn't we all respectful and aware of all them? Just goes to show that we at Bellaire are pretty lucky students, that we can probably find all these people in the same classroom as us. WE won't have to undergo this "awareness program" UT designed.

The monologues were pretty good. They were supposed to clear up some negative stereotypes about everyone, and they did a pretty good job. I liked the monologue the Christian character made. He emphasized that we're not all extreme Bible thumping evangelists, he also explained the basic theology of Christianity, and said if he ever did try to share his belief, its because it was mutual and because he believes it as true. However, the one monologue that really made me uneasy was the lesbian one. First reason being that I, being a guy, know my head should stay out of the gutter. And while keeping my head clear, I'm listening to her speech, and suddenly I hear her say "Bet you wouldn't figure that I was a protestant. Just because I love women doesn't mean that I don't love Jesus", and immediately my brain kicked into overdrive. I think that statement did more harm than good. It implied that Christianity and homosexuality is compatible, and I don't think it is. I don't have the answer to whether gay Christians are truly Christian, nor do I have the answer to whether you're born that way or if it's a choice, but to me this issue is simple. God spells out in the Bible (old testament somewhere) that this is a sin, along with instances of them being frowned upon. When you start believing in Jesus as your savior, you desire to become just like Him (perfection), know Him, and love Him, and then you slowly begin to realize how much God despises sin. So I'm going to insert a quote from one of my Sunday school teachers: "It is so very hard to hate sin, and love God". We can't truly love God if we continue to purposely do things we know is wrong and hated by God.

So after the skit/play, each guy group hooked up with a girl group and we had a sort of inner/outer circle. The counselors would throw out a question regarding each issue and everyone would indicate whether they agree/disagree, and if they so choose, elaborate or comment. So when the gay issue came up, I commented about the danger in the statement the character made, other students followed with more comments, then one female student said that you don't have to believe in every part of a religion to be "devout", and she also said "The Bible has its contradictions". WHOA!!! Once she said that, I knew that if the counselors didn't jump in quick the room would have a mini civil war. Luckily they did, but it was pretty close, she almost opened one nasty can of worms.

Well, I potentially open up a can of worms every time I post, but fortunately I'm doing it in a controlled environment where chaos won't be leashed.

Camp Impact soon in 2 hours, from past experience I know that whatever expectations I have coming into it, God will have something 10 times better in store. I'm bringing pen/paper (something I wish I had done in years previous), and I'll post them if I see fit.

posted by Justin at 10:00 AM