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Life Events - January

I have been away from my blog for the better part of this month.  My writing has continued but it has remained in my personal journal as I process through decisions and major life choices.  During this time I have truly enjoyed releasing all of my emotions to the Lord through my writing.  For me when I pray by myself I tend to fall asleep,  but when I write my prayers it allows me to converse with the Lord.  Enough of my personal spewing...

What has happened in the past three weeks?

I came back to Tech, chilled for a few days, then got as people arrived for Passion I started to become social again.  This ment that I actually started hanging out with friends, not spending all of my time confined in my room working on computer issues, that I created.  Passion arrived and I loved every moment of those long tiring days.  Waking up at 8am and getting to sleep around 2am was not a healthy lifestyle but it only had to last for four days.


Once the Passion Conference concluded I knew that there was work to be done on the room but I was planning on doing most all of it myself.  I only expected to get rid of the drop ceiling and have a lot more space above my head.  Then when I called one of my roommates he came on back to Tech and we straight up demolished the room.  The drop ceiling was gone in a matter on minutes, and the current beds were demolished and construction of our new bed system was thrown up.  All of this happened within 36 hours.  We slept for a few hours and knocked out the entire project.  Now we have an amazing sleeping and living configuration that opened up so much space in our room.

After a short week of classes that was relatively uneventful, I went on the Second Annual Theta Xi Ski Retreat.  This was my second time and it was amazing because we all got away from an atmosphere dominated by school work and moved into recreation time.  Escaping to the mountains is one of my favorite things to do in the winter.  The time spent with brothers and friends is so helpful because we get to spend solid time with one another building relationships.  I kept a journal during the entire weekend highlighting conversations that I wanted to be able to recall many months and years down the road.

This video was made by a brother, it highlights the two best boarders on the trip.  I skiied and only showed up a few times during the night shots.

Also in the past week we have had Spring Rush which involves a lot of great time chilling with awesome guys.  Weather they be rushees or brothers we get to talk about our passions and how they line up with our time at Tech.  Rush always makes me recall why I joined Theta Xi and just how much my life has been changed since then.  Also it gets us talking about what we want for the future of the Fraternity.  Because as we pick people to be in the Associate Class we are ultimately picking the future members who will shape the Fraternity down the road.  I feel like we as a brotherhood fail to pray in unity to see our Fraternity be lead by the the Holy Spirit and the Fathers will for our house.  That is why during this upcoming semester I will be earnestly praying for unity in our pursuit to follow the Lord in all that we do!

This past Friday I attended the Anberlin concert at the Masquerade with Russ.  That was a lot of fun even though I did not know the bands very well.  I really enjoyed just watching and listening to the show, its one of those things to just stand and take it in.  Also I enjoy just watching how others interact with the music, the venue, the artists, and how people express themselves while taking in this art form.  Its a very cool perspective to shut down your emotion for a moment and look around at all of the other humans around you.


I will be attempting to do more of these updates that highlight some of my main life events.  This is an interesting way to keep track of my life and also be able to share the events with people who I don't get to see very often.  Most everyone that I talk to on a weekly basis know these events from my life but if I don't see you or talk with you face-to-face I just don't expose these parts of life.

All is Great in the Lord

Paul Shackelford

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