Family Feud

The Red Sox rolled over the Indians Sunday night in their third straight win in as many games, completing a dramatic 3-1 come back in the ALCS. That set the stage for an unexpected but sure to be exciting World Series matchup. The Rockies are the hottest team in baseball right now, while the Red Sox have the most dominant pitcher in the majors and a dynamic lineup filled with clutch hitters. You may have been thinking to this point that the series is important because it crowns the 2007 mlb champion, but for the Beahm family it takes on different significance, as my dad is a Rockies fan and I am a Red Sox fan. We are not fans of our respective teams simply because we like cheering for them, but because of a greater connection. My dad is a fan because he grew up in Colorado, and went to college at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My mom also went to CU and her brother still lives outside Denver (however, I think she is secretly pulling for the Bo Sox). I am a fan because Gordon-Conwell is located right outside Boston, and I go to church in the city, so naturally I have become a die hard Red Sox fan as seems to be the norm up here. Starting Wednesday night, you can be sure that I will be tunned in, cheering on the Sox, because more than a championship is on the line... bragging rights are at stake too. But regardless of who wins, the Red Sox have one thing going for them that the Rockies don't, and that is the support of my niece Rachel.

half-way home

This week marks roughly the half-way point in my first semester at Gordon-Conwell, and in some ways it is hard to believe I've already been up here nearly 2 months, while in other respects it has started to feel natural to come back to this place. This past week has been huge in terms of getting connected on campus. I feel like I could have hit the ground running a little more when I came up here in September in terms of meeting peopple, but when you know your best friends are in another place, it can take some time and some breaking of pride to desire building new relationships. Nonetheless, over the past week the Lord has really given me a desire to build more relationships as well as the opportunities to do so. A few guys and I met for the first time last night in what we hope to be a weekly meeting where we encourage one another, pray for another, and check up on one another to make sure our studies in spiritual things have not sidetracked, or worn on our daily walk with the Lord. Also, this past Saturday I took a trip up to Stowe, Vermont with a few guys to eat, hike, and look at leaves. That trip was definitely the highlight of the semester for me. Apparently Stowe is one of the top 100 places to visit (I guess that makes it about 99 behind Boone), but it certainly did not dissapoint. Well, I'm off to eat and finish some homework before the Red Sox play tonight. I'm sure in my previous home, "the office" would take precidence over the playoffs tonight, but there's no contest up here.

Changes

These next few weeks are going to have a lot of changes. First off, on Saturday, the Swem family is returning to China. Having them home this summer has been a huge blessing. While Vera may for some reason have a propensity to spit up on me more than anyone else, I can say that having them home these past few months has really made my summer. I love spending time with them, especially Wendy Jane and Vera, and being around such a Godly marriage on a daily basis. The next change is that Lynn is moving to Charlotte on August 24th. She is moving to a townhouse with Katie Jo in the Dilwurth area of Charlotte. While I am not excited about living 13 hours away from Lynn, there is a redeeming quality about Charlotte, namely that there is a good airport with reasonably priced flights to Boston. This leads me to the next change in my life, that being that I am moving to South Hamilton, MA on September 1 to begin my MA in Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I only know a few people up there at the moment; however, I am excited that my long-time friend Jill Barlow is incredibly in three classes with me, and will be beginning the program at the same time. In light of these major changes occurring, I woke up the other night and the first thing my mind drifted towards was Jenny and Alex leaving on Saturday, and as it almost always has in the past, family leaving nearly brought me to tears. And, I know that tears will probably be shed on September 4th on move-in-day in a few weeks as well. So, as I approach these next few weeks of changes, I am reminded of something Alex told my mom about leaving others when he used to have to say goodbye to Jenny at the airport when they were engaged, and that is that God never intended us to have to say good-bye. God has set eternity in our hearts, it is part of who we are. So no wonder we feel such pain when we have to leave loved ones for a time. Yet, we can hope in Christ, not only that he does bring loved ones back together, but more assuredly, that he has conquered death, sin, and separation through the cross and restored man's opportunity to enjoy eternity with Him and those we love forever.

The Pursuit of...

For anyone who has seen the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith, consider for a moment replacing the word "happyness" with something important to you. For me, at various points in my life, this pursuit has included "the pursuit of graduation" (right now), "the pursuit of victory" as with a basketball game, and most importantly, "the pursuit of God." The point of this movie which struck me deepest was when Will Smith finds himself in deep poverty ($20 in his bank account), recently evicted from his home, in the middle of an unpaid internship, and the responsibility of raising a son. At this point, he and his son are sitting in a subway station in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, with only each other. The scene closes with Will Smith holding his sleeping son in the subway bathroom, baracading the locked door with his foot, and tears streaming down his face. His pursuit of happyness had brought him to this place. And it reminded me that often times those things which we pursue wholeheartedly, will often lead us to these kind of places, and it is in those places that we are faced with the reality of whether or not what we are pursuing is truly worth it. Unlike Smith, I think that my mindset likes to be focused on receiving only, as opposed to obedient risk-taking. It is easy for me to try to take the path of least resistence. And for a while, I thought that the path of least resistance meant the right path. But this is far from the truth I believe. Just look at the the life of Jesus. The life of His disciples. Resistance was the air that they breathed. But they knew the truth, and Jesus knew what must be accomplished. Resistance then can be used for good, because we are forced to trust in strength that may not be our own, but rather comes from Christ. The beauty too of facing resistance as we pursue what our goals, pursue our God-given calling/passions is that in this time we become truly thankful, and grateful. It is not the times that things come easy that we are most truly thankful it is when we put sweat, tears, prayer, and time in to something. What Will Smith had left in that subway bathroom was really nothing more than hope and his determination amidst an on-slaught of responsibility. He was faced with the choice to keep pressing on, keep hoping, keep fighting, keep loving, or give up his pursuit. As we press on, as we take the next step, as we set our eyes on the goal, we constantly have with us what has already been attained in Christ as stated in Philippians 3. Christ has been pouring in to us our entire lives through experiences, mentors, and relationships. And so as we can press on in our calling, and the pursuits which God has given us a desire for... but we should never forget where we come from, or what has been accomplished for us, and how he has been faithful. Sometimes we are freely given what we don't deserve. Other times, we have to fight, struggle, and obediently take risk. William Wallace said it this way, "Fight and you may die. Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now,would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!"

Burned to a cellular crisp

So, I am kind of bad with phones. That's an understatement. I kill phones somehow... regardless of what I am doing with it, what I am not doing with it, when I am awake, and now, even while I am sleeping.

The new phone every two years with verizon should be more like 2 months for me, because that's around the average life span of mine. Since April '05 I have gone through more phones than I can count. I broke the screen of one playing air soft at a friend's apartment. I got one wet in the river fly-fishing. I got another one wet mowing the yard in the rain. I left one in Boston when I went up to visit Gordon-Conwell in the Fall. But the most recent story of how I killed my phone happened this week, and tops them all for sure. My phone burned... while I was sleeping... on my dresser... from a candle lit next to it. I could hardly believe my eyes when I woke up. The good news is, it only melted in two, and I can still make calls using a headset. The moral of the stories are:

a. don't go to bed with a candle still burning
b. don't set your phone next to a burning candle
c. don't let me borrow your cell phone... ever.
d. I am that guy who keeps candles out of dormotories

So, after a lot of generosity from friends and family in letting me use their old phones the past couple years, and a couple way over priced phones I had to resort to getting, I have finally caught up to my 2 years with verizon. This weekend I am sticking it to the man, and getting my 'basically' free phone from them... finally.

Wolfpack or Tarheels

This is a video by Rhett and Link which Mark Valentine showed me last week. With my brother being a graduate of UNC, and preparing to begin a the graduate program at NC State in the Fall, I found this video not only hilarious, but also very relevant. Enjoy... and Chris, hopefully you can access this is China.

In my mind I'm gone to Gordon-Conwell

Yesterday, I opened up my Yahoo email, and had an email from Gordon-Conwell. I emailed them earlier in the day to see if they received my recommendation from my high school youth pastor. I assumed the email was regarding the recommendation, and that at the earliest, I might hear back from GC around Spring Break after they had some time to look over my application. To my surprise, in a very brief response, the GC Admissions office said, "Your file was actually reviewed yesterday and you have been accepted!" I couldn't believe it, I reread the email like 10 times before telling anyone else, because I was in complete shock. Anyways, after a yelp from Andrew, some affection from Jacob, and Brian looking up from the computer (which I took as him affirming me with congratulations)... I took a lap around the yard, and called my parents who were excited, as well as surprised at how soon I heard. Hearing from Gordon-Conwell has definitely been the highlight of the week, if not the semester, and while I am still going to finish my application for Wheaton Graduate School it is reassuring to have plans following graduation.