the online journal of jordan e.

Tis the Season
I don't care if the great melting of winter resurrects the odor and textures of last fall's dog poop. Because it is officially spring - outdoors the conditions are currently reaching 55 degrees. I just got back from a quick jaunt on the Lakewalk and realized that the weather is not only lovely, but so is the company. The guy repairing the lightposts tipped his hat at me. At least two dogs sniffed me. One overweight man going up a hill on his bicycle nearly suffered cardiac arrest and explained the first try of the year is always the toughest. I gave them all the thumbs up except for those two dogs who violated me. This change of seasons makes me so happy.

posted by Jordan @ 3:00 em

Simmer Down Now
I feel like it's finals week in college. You know that week filled with all-nighters, frantic studying, project finishing, bloodshot eyes and ratted hair? (Well the ratted hair goes for normal weeks, too...)
Talk about jammed pack. Last weekend I had to make up an eight hour VLI Intensive on the latter prophets that I missed, clean at work, do church stuff and attend part of a workshop. I led our small group on Monday then put together all of the song slides and other Good Friday projector material. Had a VLI final exam on Tuesday. Ran Good Friday errands and tried to complete my Good Friday art project on Wednesday. Tonight (Thursday) I'm leading a team of people to do Good Friday setup and have to have Jake and Diana's wedding invitation designs finished for them to see. Tomorrow is more setting up, mentoring time with Michael where I have to deliver a sermon to him (which is yet to be written) and then the two Good Friday services. I'm not sure, but I think the open, oozing sore on my eyelid is somehow correlated to stress. Either way, it looks great with purple eyeshadow.
In other news, Deb, one of the faithful ladies here at this company has informed me that Peeps are best eaten dried out and dunked in cheap champagne. Sounds like fine dining. And almost as delicious as beef jerky dunked in a steaming vat of cheez whiz.

posted by Jordan @ 11:18 fm

Hot Hottie McHottie

Right now I'm reading The Autiobiography of George Muller (the bearded stud pictured above). This guy's life was amazing. He went from a rebellious youth in Prussia to radical ministry in England by around age twenty. At this point he was already spending hours, whole nights and more hours in prayer and meditation. Through his intense prayer he felt he should not be paid a salary for ministry and spent the rest of his life petitioning God for his temporal needs and seeing those continually met. He and his wife would be down to pennies, they would pray earnestly for something to eat and suddenly someone would show up at their door with a ham. People would drop off clothes. His bills would be covered in the last minute by strangers who felt God prodding them to give. Over and over he saw God's faithfulness. But over and over he had to ask God for it. Makes me feel shabby. And rightfully so. I spend minutes in prayer everyday and most of it is filled with my daydreaming instead of conversation.
One of my friends just went off on a silent retreat to spend a few days alone in prayer and reading her Bible. That sounds very cool, but I can imagine starting out with a strong ten minutes of prayer and then deciding to doodle on the margins of 1 Peter, trim my cuticles and watch the shapes of shadows move, imagining they are forest creatures doing the macarena. I need some concentration and discipline. I want to feel like something is terribly wrong when a day has passed and I haven't come to God and asked him to meet my needs.

posted by Jordan @ 10:51 fm

original thueringer bratwurst


I was recently scouring the Internet for some German recipes and found a picture of the prized Thueringer bratwurst. Where I studied in Germany was the exact region where these knobs of meat flourish. Not only that, but they turned 600 years old last year. Tried and true, they are.
Anyway, seeing this reminded me of the many I ate from street-side grills in that year. Pounds. Yards. Piles of linkage. But at 1.60Euro each, it was managable. For your pocketbook, that is. You can only imagine what all of that barbequed pig flesh can do to your intestines.

posted by Jordan @ 1:51 em