2010 Year End Report

I have been away from blogging for so long I am starting to lose what few blogging tips I learned. Notice I posted on a Tuesday…when the experts say most blogs are read on Thursday. Also, everything I have written is slightly exaggerated to make things more interesting. Other than that, I rather like this post… hope you do too! – T

Dear Family and Friends (and anyone else who is crazy enough to be reading this),

I have neglected writing you these past long months. Henceforth and furthermore, I have decided to plague you with this lengthy example of my writing inability. Now, what do you want to know?

I’ll start with girls. In my estimation, the complete number of girlfriends I have had over the years can be expressed in a figure strongly resembling the letter O (O, as in odd – odd, as in Trent). But those aren’t the type of girls I was thinking about anyway. I was thinking of sisters (O.K. I wasn’t thinking of them, but I had to say something or you would think I was campaigning my eligibility.)

Since my family will possibly write more about them in a much boringer, traditional newsletter… I have decided to repeat them. My sisters are cute, cuddly, cutthroats. I do not exaggerate. I have simply used the throat the mascot for all the body parts they bruise on a daily basis. My sisters recently inspired two characters in a short story I am still working on. The name of the older sister is Seraphim. The name of the younger… (I think you can guess). Both these angelic forms protect the evil goddess of life, who does not truly represent my mother (although it would be more fun to say that she did). My older sisters, this includes Cimrey even though she is a whole six years younger than I am, made a pact with all of themselves to ignore me. I have no idea why. I mean I know why they are ignoring me, but I don’t see any practical reason for it.

I guess I will have to go into every delightful detail. First, I decided this last year of teenagerhood to make up for all the other years I missed. Since everyone in my home tries to be smart, stuffy, and/or snobbish (except for Mom and the younger ones); I took it upon myself to balance things out, besides, the younger ones should have a good solid example of immaturity. Things took their course and here are the results: I turned to comedy, the younger ones to violence. Secondly, which is also lastly, I discovered that comedy is a skill I have. I have been flattered on several occasions into believing I could be a professional comic. I placed first in a Toastmaster’s humorous speech competition at my local club and then beat all the clubs around here in an area competition to go on to Austin (where I was soundly defeated!). So I can make people laugh. My sisters are not impressed. In fact, they have even quit giving reasonable feedback to jokes I occasionally am foolish enough to believe are original creations. Now all they do is nod and say “Yes its great,” just so I won’t tell them a slightly altered version of the same joke five minutes later.

And now here I am sitting on the couch wearing an ugly green t-shirt a size too big with an equally too big long sleeve over top. This last article of fashion has been banned by Tierany (an older sister) because of its repulsive black and green check-like pattern. But I am quite satisfied to flaunt it in front of her! Other than that, I’m the president of my Toastmasters club for the next six months (Toastmasters is an organization devoted to training people in public speaking skills). I’m looking forward to muddling through my term. Everything else is still the same, except I wish I could take a course in writing. Nothing much has been started, and most everything has been postponed.

I must end this. Till my Birthday, Merry Christmas!

- Trent

Blog Move

I was going to wait for my birthday...

But I know you deserve the very best right now.

That's why I'm letting you in on a secret...

*whispering* I'm working on a new blog!

Why?

You'll just have to mosey on over thar and see for yurself!

Why?

Because I've awarded a movie (you can watch it at the new blog), I've uploaded a picture of myself that will start the tabloids talking, and in March I'm going to start a series on Calvinism!

Enter for your own enjoyment:

TrentWilliams.wordpress.com

(Note: I withhold the right to switch back to this blog at anytime. I am testing out Wordpress with hopes of switching over permanently.)

Skeptics (blown) Away! - Round 3

Round 3

Skeptic: God was trying to tell you something else…

Trent: This is the most reasonable objection. Ruling out demonic intermeddling, we are left with two possibilities:

1. Fleshly reasons obstructed God’s message leaving me with a distorted version. (Why would God allow his message to be distorted? Maybe… maybe not.)

or

2. I really was called to preach!

Honestly there are all sorts of possibilities, but the easiest to believe is #2.

(Editor's Note: Read the other posts in the series! Round 1 , Round 2)

Skeptics (blown) Away! - Round 2

Round 2

Skeptic: You just imagined it!

Trent: That’s strange, I imagined being called to a life that (at the time) I despised, twice.

(Editor's Note: One more in the series - coming next week! Read Round 1.)

Skeptics (blown) Away! - Round 1

Round 1

Skeptic: What if the devil fooled you into thinking you were called to preach?

Trent: I don't see how the devil would get any advantage out of this trickery. Last I checked Satan wasn't tricking people into studying their Bibles, it doesn't exactly further his evil causes.

(Editor's Note: Two more in the series! Check out Round 2.)

Bound 4 Life: Houston March

Trajectory Shift

What I am about to say is very, very serious: it, quite literally, will affect everything.

I’m talking about callings. I’m focusing on what God wants me to do with my life (I know that sounds somewhat cliché, I apologize for not coming up with a better way to say it). I believe that I have been called to a particular duty.

Preface

I want to be the first to say that I’ve always felt a little irritated when other young people said they were, “called to preach” or, “called to foreign missions” (this was not true of respectable adults or relatives). I’m not sure why this offended me, but I think I thought they were being holier-than-thou, as if the only thing in the world one could be called to was preaching or the mission field. I also thought it was all too simple. They had it easy. They knew what they were supposed to do, they also knew that I didn’t and were rubbing it in my face, at least that was my impression. Pride doesn’t always make sense.

I hope that I make this already overhyped announcement in a way that doesn’t offend you. I know God has a plan for you. You may be called to something boring like me, or it may be something grand like running for President. His ways are not our ways. Sometimes what we least except is what He wants. Also, God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Just because your calling is to the lost souls in Haiti, doesn’t mean you are more important, or more loved, or more worthy, than the clerk at Wal-Mart.

Beginning

I had the idea once after reading the autobiography of W.A. Criswell that I would make a good preacher. My sister immediately pointed out the searing truth that nothing could be further from the truth. If you have ever met me you already are laughing at the idea, it really is, from a human perspective, immensely absurd.

But…God’s ways are not mans ways.

Around that time I was nagged by the sense that God might be calling me to preach. I dislike nagging, so I pushed it off. The idea that God was calling me persisted.

Finally, I told God, “Sure, I’ll preach”.

That was easy, I thought, now I won’t be bugged by that.

Preach? Sure. Be a preacher? Now that was a different matter entirely. I mean really, the Bible commands us to preach the gospel. I know I’m supposed to do that anyway. I can agree to that.

Climax

Some stuff came up, as stuff will always do, and I forgot all about it, but God didn’t.

It’s one thing to agree to do something you were planning on or something you thought about doing – at the time you were thinking about doing it, it’s another to agree to someone else’s seemingly ludicrous plan.

I’ve been called to preach, and be a preacher.

I could try to question and define away till I get every iota of what God actually means by that, but I have a feeling it’s better if I don’t know. God will show me when I need to know.

I finally said to God: “I’ll do it”.

It’s already shifting my trajectory.

Where I’ll end up I don’t know, but who’ll be with me, ah… that’s for sure!

David Barton and I

Wow, what a scary facial expression (I think I was trying trying to smile...)! I'm glad David Barton didn't get a copy!

Patriot Academy, August 2009

Photo by: David Personius