Blog Yellek

You know when you have one of those days when you feel the world is against you even though you know that’s not true ? Sometimes when I get in one of those moods the more I thnk about it the worse it gets. You know what the truth is, that you have been saved by Jesus and loved by Him. You know that you have been called for a purpose and all things work together for good. You know that nothing can seperate you from the love of Christ. You know that you have been placed in this exact moment as a part of God’s plan for your life.
And yet
That’s not how you feel. You struggle to reach out and lay hold of the truths that you know but Satan is there every step of the way trying to drag you back into your depression. That’s when the Psalms begin to make a powerful sort of sense. That’s when the cries of the Psalmist in the depths of his despair resonate within you. That’s when a determination to praise God no matter what finds expression in the word of God.

After church this morning we all went over to the Paradise Hotel for lunch like we normally do and then sat around for half the afternoon talking. Sometime after lunch I found myself in the middle of a really bizarre conversation. You see I never realized that girls place great importance on the art of washing clothes. There was discussion of the right products for different types of clothing, which cycle to use, what to wash with what, different drying strategies for things like towels and sheets and on and on. I have to admit that I found myself a bit bewildered. You see I thought I was quite advanced for a guy in that I actually separate my whites and colors. To my mind I’ve never seen the reason for more than 1 cycle on a washing machine, all I figure you need is to dump some powder in, dump in the clothes and press start. You could do away with that dial thing and replace it with a single button.

It turns out that I was sadly mistaken in my belief. Then again there was so much discussion and different opinions that there is probably no exact right way to do it and I guess I’ll just go along with what my wife thinks if I ever get married. After all, how important can washing be ? It got me thinking, what things do guys find important that don’t matter to girls ? I thought I’d make a list but then I couldn’t think of enough things. Car and Computer specifications come to mind. Perhaps Big C and Princess CB can help me out ?

Some one sent me a link to photoshopped where there are some really cool images. Worth a look.

You just have to shake your head at this one: Imaginary Girlfriends from the internet (link removed, this was just too warped to link to). Please people, just deal with lonliness or pressure in more productive ways than living this sort of fantasy.

Everybody else is doing it so what the heck. Here is this week’s Friday Five:

If you…

1. …owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?

Definitely Indian food, I love cooking curry and making my own curry powders and Indian spices.

2. …owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?

Gadgets, lots of geek gadgets. MP3 Players, palm pilots, phones stuff like that

3. …wrote a book, what genre would it be?

Hmmmm, hard one. I read a lot of Science Fiction but if I were to write a book it would probably be non fiction on some Christian living topic.

4. …ran a school, what would you teach?

If I could I’d like to teach electronic music production except I don’t really know enough about it but if I could I would.

5. …recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?

Well I did record an album 2 weeks ago at Paradise Community Church (well me and a couple of hundred others including Guy Sebastian and Princess CB anyway). If I was to record an album by myself it would be Christian Trance. I should have a few tracks available for download in a couple of months or so, stay tuned.

Just had a look over at Purposeful Singleness where they published this about being faithful. Ouch, that hits home.

Looks like the people at the Fraunhofer Institute have figured out a way to make MP3’s do surround sound without breaking existing players (also at the BBC). I hear a new range of “must have” tech toys coming down the pipeline.

The dynamics and politics of inter gender and cross gender friendships in a group of largely single people are fascinating. The girls seem to have it all together, they understand each other, and care deeply. They share deeply of their feelings with each other and form some awesome bonds. They are great at keeping up relationships by taking the time to connect. As guys we seem to take longer to form lasting bonds, we find it harder to share our feelings, we are not as organized when it comes to running a social life and, to be honest, find it easier to connect with girls rather than other guys. So what happens ? The girls organize things and invite the guys. The guys find it easier to relate to the girls and form some really great friendships but they never share the sort of bond that girls develop together and don’t have a bond with other guys and so sometimes feel left out.

What’s the solution ?

I don’t really have the answers but here’s a few things I reckon:

1. Don’t be jealous of the girls. They have a special bond just as God intended and desiring that kind of relationship as a guy will only end in a sense of alienation and resentment. Cherish the friendships that girls have with one another.
2. Take some responsibility. God created men with leadership qualities and leadership includes authority, responsibility and accountability. Take a lead sometimes with social life, organize events, reply to SMS, be punctual, don’t let things be organized for you.
3. Make the effort. Because guys find it harder to form close same sex friendships it’s going to take some effort to make them happen. I can’t say I’m good at this last one but I’m trying.

I’m not sure how to end this post, I think it’s going to create some interesting discussion when my friends read it. I don’t yet know the answers, this is just where I’m at at the moment.

In answer to a question posed in Blog La La about men and barbequeues I submit the following Link. You will need Real Player but this is well worth a listen (download the basic version if you need it, it’s free but I suggest you read this link on how to install it).

I had Princess CB and Big C around to dinner last night, nothing special, we toasted stuff on muffins which ended up being rather special. As usual we decided to watch a movie and as usual most of the movies available were not chick flicks as we were at my place. Now here’s the problem. I’m a bloke, I like bloke movies and chick flicks but I tend to have a lot more bloke movies in my collection. Consequently when we are watching movies there is a very limited selection to choose from of movies that everyone will like. Consequently we usually end up watching movies that not everyone is totally thrilled about. The upside is that I enjoy spending time with my Christian sisters. I enjoy their unique take on life and the diversity that brings to the fellowship that our group of friends shares. I particularly enjoy the company of all of the royals (Princess CB, Queen S, Princesses C and J and Princess G), they are all great women of God.
Maybe we just need to schedule more time for the blokes to get together ? Hmm worth thinking about.