the 16th week

Jordan "Stupid Farmer" Bullard

Monday. I spent the morning in the Hilltop with Amanda Hoos, and then I went to The Anchor and worked on my Romans homework. When I got back, Kyle and I went to the library to work on our Gospel of Mark paper. We ate dinner in the dining hall, and then Klink and I studied for our Geology test tomorrow.

Tuesday. I went to The Anchor this morning instead of going to class. Jessie and I studied for our Geology test, ate lunch, and then took the test. I think I did well. I ate lunch with Ams and Mikaela, hung out in the Hilltop for a while, and then led Devos. I sucked balls. It happens. It was weird, because I knew the material and could articulate it well, but when it came to the presentation, I flopped. I was scatterbrained, unable to focus. “You’re too depressing when you preach,” Kyle said. I need to be more uplifting. Sometimes we have bad moments. It’s an assault on my pride, and it hurts. Maybe God is teaching me a lesson.

Wednesday. I picked up Faikham from her class at U.C.; “I made a bunch of new friends, and they’re music majors!” I visited Mandy at IT and spent the afternoon writing my Geology paper before going to dinner with Gambill. Deshay, Katie M., and I hung out for a while in the Hilltop. I spent the evening in the café with David, keeping Sarah G. and Julie B. company. Lots of people told me last night’s devo was amazing. My only question: How? One of the guys on my floor told me, “Your devo was my favorite from the whole year.” I couldn’t believe it: I was scatterbrained, disoriented, a fumbling fool. But the power in the presentation isn’t the presentation but God. I prayed that God would bless devos and speak through me. I expected the answer to be a well-crafted, polished, eloquent presentation. God answered my prayer, but He did so in His own way. There’s a lesson here indeed: I mustn’t trust in my own abilities. Rather, I must confess my abilities to be nothing, and rely not on myself but upon God using a foolish vessel like me.

Thursday. I picked up coffee for Mandy and me before Romans, and after Geology Mandy and I sat out on the Hill talking until 7:00 when Jobst and I went to The Anchor. Mandy will make some guy VERY happy one day, but that guy will not be me. She accidentally told me she loved me—nothing to read into—and it was hilarious.

Dad’s 47^th Birthday. After lunch at The Anchor I headed to Mom & Dad’s, and Aunt Teri and Ams joined the three of us for dinner at the Burger Trolley in Carlisle, and then we walked around a nearby park. I headed back to Cincinnati, and Julie B., Brock, Corie, Sarah G., David and I went to Highlands in Clifton to celebrate Julie’s birthday. My five shots didn’t hit me until I got home. My fortune cookie (they sell them in a jar) told me my charm would bring a special someone into my life. Buzzed, I ranted and raved about my thoughts on dating, and Julie told me, “More boys need to be like you.”

Saturday. I spent the afternoon packing up my room back home for the move into the Lehman House, and then I returned to C.C.U. Security unlocked the Oratorium for me, and I practiced tomorrow’s sermon—Musar: Fatherly Discipline—several times. Kyle and I went shopping for tomorrow’s dinner (steak and potatoes!) and then after dinner at The Anchor, Faikham and I went to Target, where I got two bedside tables for my room in the Lehman House. We will be there in a week! Faikham and I went dumpster diving, and I ripped my shorts. Kyle and I spent the evening working on his Gospel of Mark term paper.

Sunday. Stupid Farmer, Kyle and I went to Kyle’s church up past Dayton where I preached my sermon. They loved it, and they want me to come back soon. One woman told me, “You’d better become a preacher, because you’ve got a gift for it!” Another said, “I can hear some Baptist in you, some good Southern Baptist!” Kyle and I joined Rick for dinner at Wendy’s, where I toppled out of my chair to their applause of laughter. I hammered out my Gospel of Mark paper back at C.C.U. I went to the Hilltop patio and Mandy was there. She asked me if I liked her. I was shocked, said, “I used to.” She asked if I still did. I said No. And then she said, “Good.” 3^rd South had our steak dinner in the Hale Conference Center, and it was great. Bethany H. and I went to Meier’s.