On the Road: Episode 2: Gas, Who Needs It?

To keep with the traditions of the Thornton clan, we decided to leave 4 hours later than desired. Why, you ask. Because the end of the universe is closer than you know, so don’t temp fate by lining the stars for an on time departure for the Thorntons. In all honesty there is little that could have been. Other than the tarping extravaganza, there was little to no reason to leave behind schedule. But they were able to say their teary good byes. I say it was all worth it…

The road was a traitorous one in the way that I past out 20 mins into the drive. Ben had to deal with Dave Matthews Repeating over and over for an hour and a half. Sucker. He later told me that he hated Dave Matthews. I think it was just punishment for leaving a total of 8 hours behind schedule.

We made it to Flag staff on Day 2. From his parent’s house to Flagstaff, it is a little over 500 miles. We filled up three times. That’s right, we are getting a whopping 6 miles to the gallon. It is a 30-gallon tank. This is going to be a long trip if we have to stop every 200 miles to put gas in the car. So decided that this would be a good time to try acidic compounds that may be combustible for a substitute for gas. Cause honestly; gas, who needs it?

That didn’t even come close to working but I did figure out what my next goal in life will be. Ben told me this story of when he was about 15 he ate the larger portion of a Family Sized bag of Cheetos and it turned his urine into a darker shade of orange. This intrigued me, so my goal is to consume as many Cheetos in the next 24 hours to see if the Cheeto urine is as amazing as it seems. You’ll have to tune in tomorrow for the greatness that is sure to be. Orange urine, who can resist? No one, no one can resist.


Peace Out

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On the Road: Episode 1: The Great Wait

Today was an eventful first day as we were 4 hours late for our departure. This is only because the truck that was purchased was a little on the small side. Ben and Jenni had to give a few things away, like a chair, fridge, and couch. Nothing too large (sarcasm). All and all it all fit. All of it. I like the word “all” today. I was supposed to meet up with Ben and Jen at the church around 2 o’clock in the p.m. They weren’t ready for me until 545. It took a little longer than anticipated. Luckily Rich Fieger came to my unsolicited rescue. I got to learn about Adobe Photoshop, and the fact that Rich’s father was the strongest man I have ever heard of. He saved a man’s life by pulling from the clutches of certain death…

Rich’s story.
This paralytic man was in a wheel chair, obviously, and the chair was headed down hill. Because he is paralyzed he can’t control the chair very well. The man was strapped into the chair and was careening down this hill. He was screaming in terror and the super hero of a father was in full flight. The father pondered for a quick second weighing his options, when he just stopped wondering and saved his life. This is the where he becomes the biggest super hero of all time. To save the man, who remember is careening; I mean moving really fast, down a hill. Did I mention that there was cross traffic at the bottom of said hill? No? There was cross traffic at the bottom of said hill. The father puts out his hand and grabs the man’s chair by the armrest and swings him onto the sidewalk where he ascertains the paralytic if he was ok. The paralytic was well and grateful.

Now I am an awesomely strong guy. Really I am, for a fat kid. But to pull a man’s weight and perpetual motion onto the sidewalk is quite astounding. I was impressed.

Back to my day. I was at the church and I call them and they are nowhere near being ready to leave. After dinner I met up with the Thorntons and we left on our adventure. The drive was dark and dull, but I marks the first of many a trip. This is going to be fun and I can’t wait to see what happens.

FYI. The music that I am currently listening to and enjoying is: John Mayer “Continuum”, Incubus “Morning View”, Stevie Wonder “The Definitive Collection”, and Trevor Davis “Seven Days”. I’m excited because I also have Mark Driscoll sermons on podcast. 9 hours of them. I am pretty sure I am developing a ministry man crush on the dude. You may see this crush turn to love over this trip.

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The Origin of Uhtang

Greek scholars have been pondering this question for centuries. One of the books in the Apocrypha suggests that the name Uhtang is derived from the root word of AWESOME. I think they are on to some thing. Let's look a the facts. One, Uht is my last name. Two, I'm awesome. Three, who doesn't love some tang drink. It too is awesome. Ergo, Uhtang is awesome. If you can't see that connection you are stupid. Believe me I am in a critical reasoning class.

Question: If Uhtang means Awesome, and I am awesome does that mean that everything I do is awesome?
Answer: Yes. They may be of various degrees of awesome, but they are still awesome.

Question: Can being me and being Uhtang make me the most awesome?
Answer: No one knows for sure, but I would argue that it is a strong possibility.

There are some concerns that I like myself too much. Let's face the truth here people, if you were me you like your self just as much as I like myself. Awesomeness doesn't come over night, though some times you get a spike of awesome in your dreams.

So to address the title of this blog, because Uht means awesome, which I am both (an Uht and Awesome), and tang is awesome, Uhtang is the essence of Awesome. There is no greater name than Uhtang. Never before, nor to come. The name will be past down to one offspring of my choosing. They need to show that they deserve the name Uhtang. If they can not be forth right with their awesomeness, the name will die and be no more.

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Trepidation, what a great word.

First I would like to give a hole by hole score sheet for Monday's disc golf game.

hole 1-par
hole 2-par
hole 3-par
hole 4-par
hole 5-par
hole 6-par
hole 7-1 over
hole 8-par
hole 9-par (Really close to a birdie)
hole 10-par
hole 11-par
hole 12-2 over
hole 13-1 over
hole 14-par
hole 15-1 over
hole 16-par
hole 17-1 over
hole 18-par

Now for the important stuff. I've been looking at a school in Oregon called Multnomah. With the life changes going on in my friend circle, I think now would be the best time to move away. I am thinking that I want to move, but I am making that feeling with "trepidation". I can't say enough how much I love the people here but I feel like God is allowing me to start to feel distant from the church, even though I work there, to prepare me to move on. That is the only thing I can think of for why I feel distant. I am there all the time, I pour myself into the ministries, I am focused on making them better, but it just seems that it might be time for me to move on. I love Cypress Church, but I realize there isn't much of a future for me there. I can't stay in one place forever cause that would render me useless for the Kingdom of God. In ministry, the life expectantcy is about 6 years in one place. I think that is by design. God wants those who are in ministry to go out and not become stagnant with where they are. Also He wants to use us where ever we are needed the most. So I am here to say that, Lord I am willing send me. It may be with great trepidation, but it is with obediance that I go.

Added at 12:15 am on Wed. Feb, 21st.
Note Of Clarification: I am not burnt out on Cypress Church. I still love being involved with the ministry. I have no intention of leaving the church for anything other moving away. I am not looking down at the ground sulking about the church. I love it. I am also not worried about where I am going to be in the next few years. I am just thinking out loud and looking for some advice for where I should go next. But thank you for some of your concered phone calls. I appreciate them.

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This One is Much Shorter (the real me, not ego me)

I am at a place now where I need to find my future and define my path for at least the next 5 years. I know I am not suppose to worry about tomorrow for today has enough troubles of its own. I just need guidance in what I am to do. In these past few weeks I have been getting more and more encouragement about my vocals than ever before. Which in its self isn't odd, but it is coming from people who I don't know or have any real connection with. This is cool, but i don't know how to react. I recently made a demo for my dad's church in order to get some playing time there, and I thought it wasn't very good. Marcy, the queen of encouragement (really), said the same. It was good, but it could be much better. In spite of that, I am receiving compliments about my vocals that I did a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what to say to people. I'm not sure what this all means and where it's coming from. I do know that it is happening when it needs to happen...

I have an opportunity to move to Portland for school after I finish my internship at Cypress Church. I am just not sure if that is something I want to do. I know I don't want to live in So Cal for the rest of my life. I know I don't want to be a missionary. I know God is calling me into ministry. I am a little confused about if I am to move away.

My need to move is this. My internship is done in August, then I need to complete school so that I can join the "full time" working world. My concern is that I will have waisted too much time between my internship and the work world. I want to be able to use my internship as a stepping stone, but am afraid that if I don't react immediately after, that I will have missed my window for effective use of that ministry time. I know that I want out of So Cal, but do I do it right now? Or do I wait? I really just want some advice from anyone who may be reading this. Let me know what you think.

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