Storm

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
_____________

I love the book of Job. It asks (and answers) the classic question: “why do bad things happen to good people?”

I also love that we are also shown GOD in a different light than what we are used to.

One of the greatest things that Job (the person, not the book) says (my opinion of this changes depending on the mood I am in) is in 9:32-34.

"[GOD] is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34 someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.”

Job doesn’t know it, but he is DESPERATE for Jesus. Jesus is THE Arbitrator. GOD knows this, HE knows what we need… but what we need happens in GOD’s time… not ours (humanity needed Jesus for several years before HE came).

There is so much in Job, it is simply impossible to grasp all of it.

Some random thoughts:
a. Job is NOT on trial, he is never on trial. GOD has COMPLETE faith in Job from the beginning. The implications of this are mind blowing… I will let you think about that.
b. The suffering of Job was complete: he was NOT left alone, but his wife and closest friends enhanced his suffering.
c. GOD waited a very long time to answer Job… and the answer was not what Job wanted.
d. GOD is hilarious (see, in context, ch38:31, 41:5… just read all of ch38-ch42)
e. I love that GOD reveals HIMSELF in Storms so many times throughout the whole Bible… I see HIM in storms and I like it.

So The Question remains:
Why?

GOD’s answer:
Because I AM (translation: because I said so)

That’s it. That’s the only answer he gave Job, that’s the only answer he gave the Israelites (“Because I am the LORD your GOD who brought you out of Egypt”). And that answer is COMPLETE.

The same answer is for us as well… we might not like it, but with deeper faith comes more peace in that answer.

If someone wouldn’t mind enlightening me on the phrase: “patience of Job” I would appreciate it, I don’t feel he is patient in this book. I think people might say he is patient because he waits on GOD. He has no choice. Its pretty incredible the things people can do when they don’t have a choice in the matter (i.e. childbearing).


Our own Storm:

I am so glad that Heather will be here for this year and we wont have to do the distance thing again (that was horrible), but she will be full time into PT school (which she starts on Wednesday!). She is excited and ready for that. I am excited for her: PT school is truly a dream come true. It will also be pretty difficult and time consuming.

I am about to start my second year of this doctoral program at MSU. I don’t know how I feel about it. It will be more time consuming than last year: I will have more responsibilities, more research, and more writing projects.

The name Bland comes from 14th century England… it means Storm.

School

Not much to report on.

I have started teaching Anatomy. I have about 40 students or so and am lecturing 3 days a week from 12:40 - 2:30. I read a lot of slides... I mean, how can you lecture about anatomy without getting into much of the physiology (function)? The class is just supposed to be anatomy. "This is what this is and that is what that is." Oh, I say something dumb every once in a while so that I wont be too bored, but overall I am just trying to scramble to cover the material. Most class days I will need to cover two chapters in the text book. I think its way too much for a summer session, but that doesnt matter so much I guess. So far its been going fairly well.

Heather is doing great in her Microbiology class that she is taking at Lansing Community College. We ride in to school together everyday and that has been absolutely fantastic. We throw her bike in the back seat of my Protege so she can ride to MSU once her class is over. She really likes to ride her bike and this works out well for me so I dont have to leave school during the day. Its also nice not to drive two cars all the time.

Being away from Heather last year was hard. Very hard. The past month and a half has been beyond amazing. I really enjoy being around Heather... it is just so refreshing to be with her. Sometimes I just cannot help smiling. Its a great feeling...

We are still running 4-5 days a week. My running is not going very well, but I am still out there (I just cant figure out what is wrong with me, my legs lack spring, it takes a ton of effort to do anything. I will come around eventually). Running is phenomenal when its going well... and torture when its not going well. If I just run through this phase I really think it will pay off.

There just doenst seem to be a lot going on.

Be in the Arena.

Late Entry?

I have struggled literally for months about what to do with this blog. I believe I have thought about this blog at least once a week since March probably. I obviously have not had any consistency in writing whatsoever and the future does not look very promising either. I think for me the best case scenario would be to write here once ever few weeks to update you on whats going on in my life… and maybe I will try that again… but the storm of a newly married 2nd year doctoral student is about to hit and again this blog will take a serious back seat.

So where am I now? Well, I was married to the beautiful and wonderful Heather Hutson on May 17th, 2008. We were married at Camp Tahkodah on a bluff (called Indian slides, except there is not much sliding… its pretty much a 60ft drop) by my dad. It was perfect. We had a phenomenal time that day… everything was great. We loved being around friends and family.

We went to Estes Park, CO for our honeymoon. It was absolutely fantastic. We really enjoyed being able to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. On the last day Heather decided that she wanted to see some water falls that were just a few miles up a trail, so we outfitted ourselves with water and granola bars and a few extra layers because we didn’t know what the weather was going to be like. Through a series of events (deciding to go to my grandparents house and packing) we didn’t get started till about 2pm (at an altitude of about 8000’). We hiked about 3miles and got to the falls and took some pictures and then decided we wanted to check out the other falls a mile up or so. At about 9000’ there started to be snow on the trail and at about 9300’ there was 3’ of snow covering the trail. We only knew it was a trail because of the footprints from others who were there before us. The trail to the waterfall was covered with snow so we missed it, but we continued hiking to the lake at the top of the trail (Fern Lake). Unfortunately, by this time it was getting to be evening and we were not at the end of the trail yet. We decided that we needed to turn around about 6pm because we thought that it would not be great if we were on the trail after dark. We made it to Fern Lake at 5:58pm and took a few pictures then turned around and put the hammer down to get off the trail before dark. You need to know something about Heather… she doesn’t like to walk fast, she likes to take her time. She is physically fit, but her body just doesn’t move fast when walking, I would estimate her average walking speed is around 1.5mph… and going up and down stairs is even slower (she really doesn’t like stairs)! We needed to average 3mph for 4.5miles over rocky and uneven terrain at an altitude of 9500’ after already being on the trail for 4 hours and climbing 1500 vertical feet in order to make it back to the car before it was too dark to see (of course we didn’t bring flashlights). Heather was a beast! Without a word of complaint she threw down… sometimes having to jog to make good time! We averaged 3mph and made it back just when it was getting tough to see. I was so proud of Heather. We hiked just over 9miles that afternoon.

I understand that to some of you this is no big deal and to my younger brother this was a light day at best, but we were ill-equipped using running shoes as our protection from the snow and rocks and packed poorly in school backpacks. And not entirely physically prepared (having done zero hiking and nearly zero altitude acclimation) before our honeymoon. In addition we only thought we were going to go to the waterfall and back originally. So with this context, we were very proud at how we performed.

At Fern lake (6:00pm)

We are living in Perry, MI now in between Flint where Heather will be going to school and East Lansing where I am going to school. My research starts as soon as I can get participants and I will be teaching Anatomy the first of July. Heather is taking a microbiology course in Lansing to finish up her pre-requisites for PT school. She starts PT school at the end of August. It will be an interesting time for us. I know that we will grow through this storm, but I cant say that I am looking forward to it. I just need to have a better attitude about it.

First day of School for Heather
(our home in background)

Anyway, I have avoided work long enough and should get back to it. I will try to update you again sometime in the next month or so.

Catch up: woman, guns, running... can it get better?

Heather and I at Caney Creek (where I proposed)

You might be saying: "thats IT!? Its soo small... and where is the diamond!?" If you are, then you are wrong... its perfect. (and I had to zoom in this far otherwise you wouldnt be able to see it, haha!)

Rossi model 62a (actually this is a Taurus, because a Rossi picture is very rare)

Garmin Forerunner 305... phenomenal

Two months are gone and I have not written a single thing. I doubt people will check this, but maybe I can start up again and try to hold out as long as I can before things get too crazy.

Quick catch up. Last semester finished pretty good. It was nice to have a break. I officially asked Heather to marry me on Christmas day (she said yes). We will be married May 17, 2008 at Camp Tahkodah in AR. We are both pretty excited about it… it will be nice to be with Heather instead of a thousand miles apart. Being apart is really not as fun as you think it would be, its pretty terrible. The Bland Clan was together for the evening of Dec 21 and the morning of the 22 (we had Christmas and went to a Tigers game… see the LR Bland’s blog). I loved being with my family… its always refreshing to be with them. Heather and I spent Christmas at her folks house (we are already on the rotation) and really enjoyed that as well. While we were there I bought a gun from Heather’s dad (Jim). It’s a Rossi model 62a, pump-action, .22. Essentially it’s the same gun that my grandpa Cochran has (his is a Winchester, an antique, that you can’t buy for less than $400) and the same gun that I basically learned to shoot on. My idea is to teach my children to shoot on this gun as well… I figure if they can ride a bike or swim, then they can shoot (I am aiming for age 5, pun intended).

I am here at school and trying to get back into the swing of things before school gets going in a huge way. I am teaching a lab class which will be fun and quite challenging. I am also collecting data on children and that is going pretty well (it’s a $2.5 million grant that will last 4 years).

I actually ran this morning. For those who don’t know I have not been running for quite some time and that is tough on my mentally and physically (struggling with my identity a little bit, since for years all I did was run). An old friend (not old in age, but in time we have not seen each other) asked me last week if I was still running and I had to say no. I didn’t like that. So I need to change that. This morning it was 3 degrees… 3. I don’t know if I have run in colder weather than that. It was an interesting experience. My eyelashes had ice sickles on them when I was done… I loved it. I still enjoy running, I just need to make it a priority. Here is the irony: I am in exercise physiology… and I have not been exercising. I see this on a similar level to doctors smoking. I hate it.

Well nothing profound today, maybe that’s the best thing anyway. Here is my life. I will try to keep you up to date. I am sorry that I have not. May the LORD Bless you and Keep you. Be Strong and Courageous. Be in the Arena.