Review

I know, a picture of a picture. It's weird, and I'm sorry. Yes, that is me, albeit roughly 25 years ago. This picture is on a fridge magnet that was in my grandmother's house until it was sold earlier this year, and on my fridge since then.

Anyway, while walking home from jumping through some hoops for this fall, I got to thinking about this picture, and my life since this picture.

The kid in this picture had his head impaled on a tent pole, went off to public school and made everything look easy, came in 2nd in the Math Olympiad in 4th grade, and won it in the 5th grade (yes, that is what it sounds like--a math competition that was school-wide, complete with a little plastic trophy). He skipped 6th grade, went to classes at both his middle school and Central Academy--which had classes for the ends of the spectrum, but not the middle--got picked on by the other nerds, met a boy named Pete, and got kicked out of Central due to laziness.

He utterly rejected God, went to high school, picking fights with groups of older kids, skated through classes, and met up with Pete again. He graduated from high school on his 17th birthday, ecstatic that he wouldn't have to go to that building again. A short time later, Pete gave him a Bible, even though he still rejected God.

He took a year off before starting at Iowa State. He made many poor decisions, and spent 5 years wasting time and money by not trying, eventually flunking out. However, the 5th year was the most important. That was the year he accepted Christ. After flunking out, he spent a year in Ames, and heard about an opportunity. He moved to Iowa City, went to community college for a year, then applied to (and got accepted to) the University of Iowa, where he'll start in the fall--assuming he jumps through all the necessary hoops (only a couple left).