DStilled

I AM DANIEL STILLWELL!

School’s fun and interesting here in my last semester but there’s SOOOOOOOOOOO much reading (thanks to Wisdom). I’m in 5 classes that meet ONCE a week! In one class called Flourishing (the psychology of living well) we have to do a project about changing our lives for the better and mine is praying. I’ve decided in order to be more like Jesus, I’m going to pray focused an hour a day. I’ve set up a 3 and a half month program to build up to it and I have to write a paper near the end. I started over a week ago. Ask me about it every now and then please.

I just went to the Fall Retreat held by Agape (Campus Crusade – side note, a friend of mine likes to call it Jihad for Jesus) this past weekend held at a Young Life campsite. There were like 91 of us from UVa to join a couple of hundred from other places. It was awesome! A lot of my NEW UVa PICTURES (#6) are from that. I did the Blob, zipline, got to meet a bunch of new people, spoke up at the bonfire, nearly broke people in football, and really really worshipped GOD!

I didn’t like “I Am Charlotte Simmons.” First of all, it’s SOO oversexed and over-cussed that I reek of vulgarity. Yes, it is the life of a girl with all these changes and how she reacts to them all. Yes, it involves all these extreme stereotypical characters and relatively predictable plot twists and how they can all coexist at the same prestigious university. But it wasn’t worth two weeks of my time pouring myself into reading the longest novel I’ve ever read. Crap seems like an appropriate word for me to use. There were times throughout the story where I saw some absolutely beautiful writing, fantastic imagery, and real-life emotions. There were times throughout the story where I saw glimpses of wisdom but NONE of them came to fruition. The only thing that might be considered wisdom was don’t get pushed around or made to feel inferior. Even that one’s borderline for me. Charlotte Simmons ISN’T wiser at the end of the novel and I actually grow to completely disrespect her in the end. Don’t waste your time unless you have to read it for a class called Wisdom, like me. The class is awesome and the basic premise is, “What if anything has humanity gained in wisdom after the sacred scriptures of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job?” So we are reading 11 BOOKS during the semester.

Some of you might have noticed that I put up a new link on the right side of my site. Helps Intl. is an organization designed to combat poverty on many levels at once so that the society as a whole and the individuals can thrive. On my way down to GT this summer I met a man named Richard (he’s the guy in the main picture) whose job in this organization was to show and disperse these ONIL stoves. He was a great guy and Helps structure was so impressive, well constructed, and employed that I hope some of you will find it in your hearts to give or serve in some way. That is my aim at putting any of these links up. If you are not giving or serving SOMEWHERE (WorldVision, IJM, DATA, etc), well, then you are wasting what God gave you. Find a place or ministry NOW!

Back at Last

It has been waaay too long but here I am at my computer actually updating this thing. I guess Sam wins for holding out the longest before a real update. Let me just start off with some basics.

I got back from GT on the 21st of July after having to wait a day because we missed out flight. This was a VERY annoying thing because it was out of our control (and they made us pay a LOT of money). A giant mudslide had taken out one of the main highways and we had to finagle our way through downtown-style traffic with school kids on one side and semis on the other. We still could have made the plane but because of red tape after 9/11 (of which today is) we were denied access.

I spent the next week with Amy as we had a mini road trip. I joined her family in Gaitlinburg, TN, for a couple of days and then she and I took off to see my Granny in Clarksville, TN. After that, we went back to Lex, only to keep going to Charlottesville, VA, the next day. We moved some of my furniture into my parents’ van and hauled it back to Lex the next day. I don’t think Amy was used to so much driving or simply “going” in such a short time period.

Back in Lex I tried to find a temp job. I searched high and low and the only thing I could find was (gasp!) Abercrombie and Fitch. I worked with Jason Matthews (as my boss!) in the back stock room. I just needed some money since I had none from the mission trip. I bought a pair of sweet jeans there for the “normal” price of $35 since I got a 50% discount.

On the 21st of August I picked up my UVa friend Kam after my last Immanuel service in a while and we drove to UVa. By the next day I moved in all my stuff and pretty much had a made up apartment. Because I’m only here this semester I found someone who went abroad this fall and we are sharing the same room. He’s even letting me use his stuff. So I’m in this huge apartment with my own large room and bathroom. The ceiling is like 30 ft high in the living room, full kitchen, parking, fireplace, and pool. All of this for less than I was paying at the HOP last year.

My new roommates are Andrew and Michael. Andrew likes beer pong and discussing interesting topics. Michael is more studious and the most avid athlete I’ve ever met. He’s not even 20 and he’s almost trained to compete in an Ironman triathlon. Today he biked 80 miles! When he’s bored, he goes running for like 2 hours. He’s got all the special gear and a self made professional road bike. The three of us want to go white water rafting soon but I’m not sure if that’ll come through.

I’m glad you are enjoying the new pictures I put up. One more in the GT section, a GT movie I made (you will want to right click and “save link as”), and another Lex pics. I’ll put some UVa pictures up and tell you all about school and fun times soon. MUCH sooner than last time.