Day 2: The meaning of your blog title

The meaning of the title of my blog is very simple...

My name is MacKenzie which obviously shortens to Mack.

This blog documents my adventures.

Thusly, MackVentures seems to fit.

Start of a habit...

David Crowder in "Praise Habit" said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. He proved this by making the sunshine salute. This was basically a ridiculous gesture he did every time some one said hello to him. Basically in the end, he proved it took about 21 days to form a habit and at the end of him 30 days with the sunshine salute he couldn't help himself from doing it even when he no longer wanted to. Long story short, I need to make this a habit one way or another. Therefore, I'll be doing the 30 days of blogging challenge and hopefully after those 30 days I won't be able to stop blogging since it'll be so well embedded in my routine.

So here goes day 1:

Recent Picture and 15 facts

Fact 1: 

I absolutely love lacrosse and wish I could play every minute of everyday! Over the years since graduating, I've not been able to play until Fall '10. All I ever wanted was to be back on the turf throwing and playing around. Thankfully, God put all the pieces in place and through a ton of struggles and difficulties and coincidences/fate, I ended up at Adams State playing for Jason Lamb (the most incredible coach/man I have ever met). As I'm writing this we have one game left of the season, but we've lost all of our games up to this point. Most people would find this crushing or frustrating but I truly relish every minute I get to play and I love each game no matter what the score. I'm thankful each day that I had to go through some rough patches to be able to truly appreciate what I've been given.

Fact 2:

I drive a tiny little stick shift car and I love it to death. I never want to own an automatic again in my life.

Fact 3:

My friends consistently rank as my highest priority (behind lax). I would easily take a bullet for any of my closest friends and my life revolves around them and their happiness. I don't know if I could ever survive without the extremely close relationships I have made over the years no matter how fleeting or long lasting they were/are. 

Fact 4:

I am extremely afraid of pressure. Not emotional pressure like having to get good grades or playing well, but physical pressure. For example, in high school people would take empty water bottles and swish them up super tight and use the pressure inside to launch the cap off across the room. Watching people do this makes me cringe and writhe in my skin. I hate when people do things like that... especially with balloons and things that can/will explode. I don't know why this is.

Fact 5:

I'm extremely lazy when it comes to things I don't care about. I will work my ass off in the weight room, on the field and in classes that interest me, but when it comes to things like laundry, cooking, cleaning, uninteresting homework, meetings, etc. barely anything can make me stoked or motivated to do it. That said, I know my responsibilities and get my crap done when urgent/last minute.

Fact 6: 

I want to be a social worker or high school counselor. All I've ever wanted out of a career is something that I love and am talented/gifted at. I used to want to be a genetic engineer because I'm absolutely enthralled by biology and genetics in general. I think there is so much proof of intelligent design when you get into the nitty-gritty of biology and I could talk about tRNA, DNA, mRNA, and all that junk for days. The issue is that I would never be able to love my work. I could never survive cooped up in a lab with social awkward bio nerds like myself no matter how much I was getting paid. The thing that draws me to sociology is the fact that I thrive off relationships (see Fact 4) and I love interacting with other humans. It just so happens I'm kinda good at helping people and I've certainly been gifted with compassion and empathy. I don't care that I'll have to live on Ramen for the next 50 years because I won't get paid anything, as long as I'm happy and making others happy, I'll find a way to deal.

Fact 7:

I love tattoos. On me, on guys, on friends, on strangers, on anyone! I love seeing the things that people find important and meaningful enough to place in public forever. It's almost like seeing a quick snapshot of that person's life. People don't just put random things on their skin for life (okay, some do but they don't count). Tattoos are like a permanent name tag or label and I am so drawn in by how people define themselves and what's important to them.

Fact 8:

I have a little brother named Keaton who is currently 14. He looks like Justin Beiber and is a huge jock. He wrestles, plays football and merks at lax. I'm going to have to bat the ladies off with a bat very soon.

Fact 9:

I love New Orleans and want to go back so badly this summer. I can't though and it's really hard to accept. Oh well. I don't want to say much about it right now because it would take days to explain the extreme connection between myself and that city. I feel like there is some sort of gravity between my heart and the heart of the city. Some day I know I'll go back, I'm just sad I'm missing the opportunity.

Fact 10:

I love Kurt Vonnegut books and am about halfway done with his works. My favorites thus far are Cat's Cradle, Mother Night, Slapstick, and God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian. Each has it's own things to offer and I realize Kurt isn't for everyone. He's an exceptional author and I find his mindset and outlook endearingly depressive and pessimistic. He also dabbled in art near the end of his life. It wasn't very good. I will posses a KVJ tattoo by the end of my life. Promise.

Fact 11: 

I'm obsessed with LOST. It was an amazing show and I miss it all the time. The characters are wonderfully created and shaped. The plot is intriguing and give America some credit by not assuming everyone is brain dead and needs things spelled out for them step-by-step. I also will possess a LOST tattoo by the end of my life. Promise.

Fact 12:

Music is my lifeline. I can't live without it and I know how cliche that sounds. Too bad. I love it. I love listening to it, creating it, learning about it, all aspects of music are extremely beautiful to me and I hold musical experiences close to my heart. They define my greatest and worst memories and add flavor to any day.

Fact 13:

I hate heat. I can't take things out of ovens or put them in. I hate fire and lighters are terrifying. It's a miracle I can straighten my hair. I don't know why this is either.

Fact 14:

I will be living on my own for the first time this summer and I'm beyond excited about it. I can't wait to live alone and get some good solitude.

Fact 15: 

I'm a massive perfectionist and I can't stand when people don't use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling when they type. Even if it's on IM. I also hate when people use the wrong their/there/they're, than/then, and it's/its. With this said, I hate English classes as well.

Beatittudes

Blessed are the poor 

For theirs is the kingdom

Blessed are those who mourn 

For they will be comforted

And blessed are the meek 

For they will inherit the earth

And blessed are those who hunger and thirst 

For they will be filled

Blessed are the merciful 

For they will be shown mercy

Blessed are the pure in heart 

For they will see God Almighty

And blessed are the peacemakers 

For they will be called His children

And blessed are the persecuted 

For they will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven

The lyrics of Shawn McDonald's song "Hallelujah" are a direct echo of Jesus' words during his Sermon on the Mount. I love it. I think these verses perfectly encapsulate the core of Christianity. I think that's exactly what Jesus was looking to do. To tell people that they don't need to clamor for Earth's so called "riches" when it means they will lose their soul, integrity, and eventually their life. I think the other great thing about it is it shows that we don't need to improve ourselves to be blessed. We dont need to drive the best car, wear the best clothes, have the biggest house, be the highest in power, know the important people or anything like that. We just need to come as we are. 

The next big thing that's been on my mind is what it would look like the honestly live that that. To give away all possesions, to mourn for the things that hurt, to endure hardship brought on by others with patience and without resentment, to be hungry and thirst for righteousness (can imagine wanting righteousness as badly as you want Chipotle after a long day?), to be compassionate to those who don't deserve it, to stay away from all things corupt, to keep peace when enraged beyond belief, to be okay with being judged and ridiculed just for being you. How incredible would your life be? I can not even imagine. What would it be like to wake up each morning and commit whole heartedly to living in such a way? Can you imagine waking up and selling all the absurd clothes that you never wear? To let it slide when people dear to you attack you with words that hurt? And to think that for those small things you are promised a kingdom, to be comforted, the whole world, to be filled, shown mercy, see God, be called a child of THE God, and to have all of Heaven at your fingertips. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

If only we weren't so humanly flawed...... 

Politics

I was asked recently if I was a Democrat or Republican. Usually this is a pretty simple question to answer but considering I've been reading "The Irresistible Revolution" it wasn't. Let me just say that the ideas presented in this book are so hippie and radical. I surprise myself while reading this book because I find the ideas so invigorating and its like Shane Claiborne's words are breathing a whole new alien life into my day. I guess the best way to describe it would be it someone discovered a new sense to accompany sight, smell, taste, touch etc. It is an idea that is entirely incomprehensible at first but if it were ever to be tangible and experience it would seem so natural and obvious. 

That is what this book is like. No one would in their right mind would sell everything they own and go live with 10 other people in a house, and share all the money and possessions with no claim of anything being solely theirs. But when you hear Shane talk about time when him and his housemate threw thousands of dollars into Time Square, you can see it as a practical, feasible action.

But back to what I was saying... When asked my politic feelings I remembered something that Shane said in his book. He talked about whether your not to be loyal to your political leaders or your spiritual leader. He says that if we are to be patriotic then we are to support the war. But if we are to be Jesus-followers, then we should be standing in opposition screaming that that war is killing loads of innocent people. Many of which are our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether they are of American descent, or Arab descent (Let's remember that Iraq is in the same area that Christianity started. It is NOT an American invention).

I didn't know whether to say I don't care about politics (which would be a lie considering I felt very strongly about who I wanted to win the '08 election), whether to say I was a Democrat simply because that's how I would have voted had I been able to, or whether to say that I was Republican simply because I knew that was answer they were looking for.

In most cases I try to skirt any strict, controversial, opinion based sides when asked. I try to not show that I strongly agree with gay marriage in a legal sense. I do my best not to come right out and tell people that I would rather let women kill fetus' with the help of a doctor than let them do it themselves and potentially kill themselves. The reason for this is ultimately because I was raised in a community that was composed of people who all disagreed. 

If any of you went to LP you probably remember day in History classes where the class would go to different sides of the room depending on how they felt about a certain controversial issue. This was especially prevalent in Mr. Ewig's classes, mostly during election years. I remember how I would pick the popular side as an underclassmen just so I didn't have to be ridiculed by the class, even when I thought most of them were idiots. I then remember picking the side I actually stood for as I became older and the only thing I got from that was a trampled self-esteem after leaving class since I just had 3/4 of the class dissing on me and very deeply seeded beliefs.

I suppose not wanting to state a side aloud come from a horrible habit of avoiding all conflict at ALL costs. Whether that means lying, being sneaky,or anything else I normally wouldn't do. I simply HATE fighting. And the longer I live the more I see that most fighting comes from discussions regarding politics.

So when asked where I stand on the fine line between liberal and conservative I said who I would have voted for but that I simply find many things more meaningful than sitting arguing about whether our nation can handle a black president or whether Palin has enough foreign policy experience. I simply think that we should start thinking for ourselves. Don't stand by Bush just because you registered as a Republican. If you don't agree with the war and you voted for him that's just fine. There is nothing wrong with that. If you don't like that Obama is handing out bailouts because you don't think it's gonna do anything, then don't support it just because you like everything else about him. 

I suppose that goes the other way too. If you HATE Obama with a passion but totally agree with his opinion about gay rights, then give him props for it. You don't have to marry the guy, but don't hold a grudge just because McCain lost and you love him and Palin more than life itself. And if you hated Bush for everything he ever did, but agree that we needed the war in Iraq to stop terrorism in our own country, don't trash talk him at your Pro-Choice rallies.

People need to start standing up for what THEY think is right, not what a party line tells them is correct and even more importantly, if you say you are a Christian, I strongly think that you need to stand for whatever your allegiance with GOD says is right. If you truly believe that we are not to murder and that Jesus was a peace maker and if you REALLY believe that the peacemakers will be given peace then you need to stick to that, no matter how unpatriotic that makes you look. Just remember the fact the Jesus died for being unpatriotic. That was his crime. Treason. He said he was God in an empire who's citizen were forced to worship their Emperor, Caesar. 

I guess the whole point of this is that we need to put our allegiances in perspective. We need to be Christ followers BEFORE we are patriots. No matter how controversial that is. Plus if you're looking to steer clear of controversy, you're in the wrong religion bud.