Jesus Wept

  Perhaps of all the human emotions, sorrow is one that has baffled me the most.   I am not one to mourn/weep.  Thankfully my life has not been one which that would evoke much mourning.  But there are two events that stand out, that I think God has used to help bring me a better understanding of mourning and who He is. 

 I remember when I was eleven, my nephew Andrew who was nine months in the womb and due any day, suddenly died.  The shock to the whole family was devastating.  To see that baby who had left the world before he entered it.  To see my brother and sister-in-law mourn there child.  It was not mellow dramatic, it was not fake; it was real.  The pain of that baby sized gap in their lives.  As I watched everyone cry, I could not understand.  I was sad, but the tears did not come.  I think I tried to force them back.  I was afraid to cry.  I know, silly.  I did cry eventually.  When I went to the visitation and looked down at that little body that was so still, and heard the sounds of the house of mourning, it crept up into my heart, then into my throat, and there it was.  Almost as soon as it came, it was gone.

Last week while I was at work, my brother saw me and came over and we just chatted for a bit about stuff.  My two brothers and I work at the same company.  As my brother was about to leave he mentioned that they had arranged the visitation for Friday and the funeral for Saturday.  My heart skipped, funeral for who?  Then the words came out, “for who?” 

My brother looked surprised, “Little Ellianah.”  My cousin Ellianah had been struggling with a heart defect for the first three and half months of her little life.  My uncle’s posts on her Caring Bridge webpage were followed closely by hundreds of family and friends.   Her little face would appear almost daily on my Facebook newsfeed, with the latest news on her fight.  The Saturday before Palm Sunday she had had a close call that the Doctors said was miraculous she had lived through.  She was baptized on Palm Sunday, and went to heaven on Monday as they got her ready for an MRI.  The reason I did not know until that day, at work, was because of my disconnection with the Internet.  It was hard, but I knew that the hardest was ahead. 

For the rest of the week the weight of the news sat there on my heart, but I did not cry.  Our family headed down to the visitation on Good Friday.  And I finally got to see my cousin, and I wept. 

In the bible it says that Jesus wept.  This is really amazing.  God weeps.  Even with his big, “all things work together for good “ picture; he still weeps.  In C.S. Lewis’s book The Magicians Nephew, Digory (the main character) is asking Aslan to help get something to help his mother who is dying.  As he stands asking, he stares at the Lions feet, till in his despair he looks up into his face, and of all surprises, sees tears.  This is how we can feel about God, when we experience sorrow, he does not stand by with the blueprint and casually observe that if we just knew what was going on we wouldn’t need to bother soaking three boxes of Kleenex in an hour.  No, he comes and cries with us. 

Every Easter there is some new thing that God does to reveal himself and his glory to me.  This Easter was a hard but important lesson: “blessed is the house that mourns.”  God knows our pain, and also mourns.  To sing the glories of the God who wept, who felt pain, and who died for us, was just that more incredible on Sunday as we joined the heavenly chorus, Little Andrew and Eliannah included.  

Till we Finally Meet.

Rest in the Fathers Peace

Ellianah Sophia Bolduc

Born December 14, 2011 and departed April 2, 2012

Though I never got to meet you, you have impacted my life greatly. Your smile, your eyes, your little cheeks, and those tiny little hands. In your 3 1/2 months here with us you brought so many together in prayer and faith. I know that you are in perfect rest now, and look forward to meeting you in Eternal Glory.

Your Loving Cousin,

Chip

P.S. Please pray for my Aunt and Uncle (mom and dad) and my cousins (her sister's).

It is not so good to be King.

In my last post I started with a little bit of angst on the subject of politics. My comments on the subject were rather discouraging and I apologize. Most of the time my frustration with politics comes from people whose political views differ from mine. This is probably what makes some people love it and others hate it. I guess I have a love/hate relationship. Recently I had a small revelation on my politics problems. My frustration and discouragement would often become increased when I thought I knew that something was going to end badly because of all the people who didn't see the world like me. Then it occurred to me that the devil was talking in my ear.

"You have eaten the fruit Christian, and are god, being able to judge right and wrong. If you could only convince people to have more faith in this prince, or that prince, then the world wouldn't be so out of control."

Politics (is this really plural?) are great. I still get into them because I think that they are a tool the Lord gives us to help change people. The key is to be in the world but not of it. When we start using politics as a way for us to play god, the result is tyranny. Sadly, the current society seems to embrace the idea of political gods. Maybe we should outlaw political gods? hehe. So to counter our current society I will fight, discuss, and pray, but never be discouraged. The election is over, Jesus won.

Ok, ready for a laugh? I was recently inspired by Thousand Words to try my hand at poetry. I know very little about how one goes about writing such things, seems like inspiration is a key tool. I wonder if spur of the moment qualifies as inspiration?

It pulls us forward with constant ease and strength

Looking back we vaguely see time's path so long and bright

Some turn with timid spirits to enter the dark tunnel's uncertain length

Others march strongly onward, confident of this tunnel's ending light.

Hmm, well, I tried.

Chip

Grasping for the Wind

I figure it is time put something new up. My Ron Paul picture is fun, but political anything starts to get tiresome after too long. Ever get in heated political debates? I do all the time. It can leave you feeling exhausted, depressed, and frustrated. Us humans really have a stubborn edge I guess. It has been a good weekend. I have so much to be thankful for. I have gotten a job working at a factory that builds electronic components for John Deere tractors. Anyway, so since I work second shift at my job, I do not get done until 10:00 pm. That is sometimes nice, sometimes bad. Since I had to wake up by 3:00 am Saturday it was more a bad thing. WHY?? You ask, do you do something like that? Well because I had to take a long car ride (I did not drive) on nicely iced roads with some great people, to another pro life camp. It was great. More enthusiastic young people. And a less icy road home: this time I drove. Finally got to bed after 20 hours. Got to sleep in this morning, because I went to the late service at church. Enjoyed awesome worship of our most Awesome God. The pastor taught from Ecclesiastes 4:4 to the end. Ate some sushi with my brothers then went sledding. Maybe not the best order of events. But it was really fun, and we got some really good people pile ups, in sledding that is. Even went off of a sweet jump and got enough air so that I landed on my feet and ran. I guess in the end, it is the small things. This, coming from a guy who is 6' 4". It is just good to be alive and to work and play, to have joy in the fact that my life has purpose and is more than grasping for the wind.

Part of today's sermon text.

Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Chip

P.S. The maze is mine.

Here it is.

I cannot believe I forgot I had this. It is only my Facebook profile picture. This was taken this fall when Ron Paul spoke in Fargo. It was brief but fun.

The P Word.

Politics. Doesn't it just sound negative. Men and women in suits and ties waving and cheesing the public for their oh so precious votes. Blowing hot air at a rate that would make a jet engine jealous. It seems that most people are fed up with the play acting that is American politics. The media hype and smearing. It all becomes depressing. Then I remember the founding of this country. Men and women who longed to be released from the oppression of a government that did not know its limits. Many thought the british empire was the invincible power of the world. They believed that it was their job to make sure the world became "civilized." The problem with empires is they rarely fall apart from external forces. They spread themselves too thin and bite off more than they can chew. Anyway, so I have been getting politically involved. One of my main reasons has been being part of the prolife movement has shown me the need for strategy in dealing with issue of baby killing (abortion.) The other is the economy. Our dollar's value continues to drop and our debt reaches new records every day. Another issue is our national defense (tied very strongly to the economy.) We spend billions for years on end and see little or no progress. So here I am. I am going to give an endorsement to the candidate who I think has the background and ideas to change things for the better this go around. With years of experience as an OB GYN Doctor he went on to become a Congressman representing the state of Texas. In his years in the House, he gained the nik-name Dr. No, for his persistent disapproval of any measure that restricted personal freedoms, either fiscally or socially. A strong believer in the constitution, he took his oath to uphold it very seriously. While he is noted for his non interventionist foreign policy, he believes there is a time for war, but it should be approved by the congress, declared, fought, won, and finished. His prolife stance is also very solid. Quoting from the Declaration of Independence, he says, "Our Fore-Fathers believed in the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness, we cannot believe in the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness without believing in the right to life first." To find out more, visit http://www.ronpaul2012.com/.

Continued

The last post was left open for a sequel. With most of my summer summed up, I had to decide what a grownup is supposed to do.

I decided to enroll in college at a local school near by. This of course was preceded with the dreaded ACT test. It was not horrible. I scored a modest amount. Easily enough to attend the school. I also quit my job at Subway due to the distance between school and my job. I would be only making really half of what I earned after gas and taxes. Not to mention valuable time.

My first semester has been very interesting. With a 19 credit schedule, I have not been reemployed yet. I am taking Psychology, Speech, Writing, Computer Science, Biology, Biology Lab, and First Year Experience (basically a class that teaches you how to learn and survive in college.)

I have had some very interesting discussions at college. The thirst for knowledge creates great openings to share the gospel. Not that I have had any Acts 2 moments. But just the occasional conversation/argument on different issues.

This first semester does seem to have gone by very quickly. I am finishing up my classes and will be done with a majority by this time next week. With any luck I will end the year with my current straight A grades.

Now that I am 18 I am also getting more politically involved. It should be interesting. I will not put my faith in princes. That does not allow me to sit down and let things just go. God controls, but we are his tools. I want to see my country restored, and if that is God's will it will happen.

Another disjointed post.

Chip

Catching Up

It would be customary to start this post with a set of excuses for why my last post was around Easter. I am going to defy tradition and offer no excuse. I sincerely apologize to any of the select few who might ever check my blog. It is truly depressing to find nothing new. Presently I will try to fill in my rather large gap.

The picture above is not simply to fulfill a narcissistic desire. It was taken as a series of shots for my graduation. This was my first big summer event. I officially exited 12 years of wonderful home education on June 3rd. It was really a great and fun day, complete with a big party, tons of friends, food, and activities. The small lump that formed in my throat as I gave a impromptu speech (Roises never plan anything) let me know that it was a sad day also. Growing pains.

One thing we did plan this summer, was a big vacation. Big, as in two weeks of travel across the country. Starting from home, we set out first to Arizona to visit my sister, her husband and their little boy (my nephew). It was a fun hot time in Arizona.

From there we proceeded to California to visit my other sister and her husband. California is so beautiful along the ocean. We did quite a bit of stuff in California. One thing was touring an active submarine. It was really very interesting to see such a feat of engineering and to learn of all the inner workings.

From California we went to Utah to visit my Brother and his family. It was again a blast of a time. With swimming, hiking, picnics, and general play with the niece and nephews.

Last of all we went to Idaho to visit my other brother and his family. I really am blessed with such a cool family. Fun times ensued in Idaho as well. Overall it was an awesome trip. I suggest that if you have never been to the west of the country, you put time in your life for it. It has stunning scenery. True, the South West and Midwest are pretty blah, but even the blah is sometimes refreshing.

After vacation came Pro Life Camp. Last year I enjoyed going to camp. The only thing that can rival going to camp, is helping run a camp. I got to help deliver two sessions on Stem Cells and Eugenics. I had a blast. I know it really sounds weird. But it was so fun. I also got to do some drama. One night of camp I got to dress up as Bill Clinton and be all political and creepy. The truth is, it is a travesty that we need a pro life camp. It is the coolest thing however that teens care enough to stand up and join in the fight for life. That is probably the thing that made/makes the pro life camp so awesome. Dare I say, the vivacious teenagers ready to debate the issue, when so many would rather stay in the comfort zone and just not take a stand. If you ever get a chance to attend a pro life camp, I suggest you take the opportunity.

This is where I will conclude for tonight. The rest will be filled in shortly. For now I want to suggest you visit a site that I discovered the other day that really has some awesome pre natal development information, right here.

⁸ Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.^[a]
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

-Proverbs 31:8-9

Easter

It is the hinge on which Christianity turns. The crucial point, the peak, the climax. From the day Adam took the fruit from his wife Eve, God pronounced his plan of restoration. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. God knew who was responsible for what and he in his divine power pronounced judgment and promise.

Genesis 3:14-19

So the LORD God said to the serpent:
“ Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
¹⁶ To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“ Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.

¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.

¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,

And to dust you shall return.”

Okay so this really does not seem to carry any good promise for any of them, especially since

they had been living in paradise. Lets start with the one with the worst promise, the serpent.

He really does not seem to have a promising future. He is cursed more than any animal, he is

going to have to crawl on his belly where ever he goes, and he is not going to get on very well in a

future fight with the seed of the woman. He is going to get his head cracked. So he starts his

planning, but unlike God he does not think long term. Just in case you are wondering, the

serpent is Satan, aka the Devil, aka bad dude.

What is for the Woman. She is punished in an unusual way, she is going to have pain in

child birth. Her future seed will come with the cost of pain for many women. She is also listed

follower to her husband. She might want to take charge, but he shall rule over her.

Adam (the husband) is punished with the struggle to provide for his family. He will have to sweat

and toil to stay alive himself, and to keep his family alive. Lastly, we shall all return to the dust

from which we were taken. Did you notice that the serpent will be consuming dust as a regular

part of his new low cal cursed diet?

We now have an excellent idea of what we should expect to see if these prophesies are to be fulfilled. All through the bible we see it, right up to the climax.

The serpent never forgets that curse, and he lives in constant terror of having his skull done in. He fights it by direct attacks at the woman's seed. Cain kills Able, Pharaoh orders the Hebrew males killed, and in between is a whole line of different people being attacked tempted and killed, all the way up until Christ is born and Herod orders another mass male baby killing.

"And he shall bruise your heel." The seed of the woman is wounded.

Now in a beautiful preview we also notice evil getting its head crunched many times. Evil men have tent pegs driven into their heads, evil men have millstones dropped on their head, and the classic, David hits Goliath with a stone in the head, and then chops his head off.

This all leads to the climax. Christ being betrayed, beaten, and hung. Now Satan thinks he has won. He has finally pinned the sins of the world on the only perfect man who ever lived, the seed, and he is the Son of God, and Satan has him pinned on a tree. What could be better for Satan? Now he can rule the way he wanted to from the beginning, and God's curse didn't work because somehow he outsmarted God.

Satan overlooked an interesting and crucial point. Christ was killed on a tree on Golgotha (the place of the skull.) Somebody is having his skull finally crushed.

On Easter Christ rose from the dead, dealing the final blow to Satan. Christ has overcome satan and his tools, death and despair. He has gone through hell for those he loves and has come out a strong and victorious savior and king. The new adam has redeemed us from our first father's fall. And we, the victorious church and body of Christ (aka the seed of the Woman) will limp victoriously into the future.

This is why we can scream Alleluias to our world. This is truly good news.

1 Corinthians 15:21

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,⁴ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Spaceships and Robots= Nerd Heaven

Opening ceremonies for both VEX Robotics and BEST Robotics. Included awards to many different volunteers and teachers, speeches, a parade of contestant reps (including yours truly), Micky mouse, High Voltage dance team, and fireworks ending with confetti. Yes, it is Disney.
Team pic after the opening. Oh yeah, that is one awesome robotics team. The sun was bright.
That afternoon included a trip to the Kennedy Space Center. Probably one of the coolest places I have been. That is Endeavor sitting on its launch pad getting ready for its final mission to the International Space Station.

Here is the crawler used to move the shuttle from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.
The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is where they put all those massive rockets and space ships together. It is not the tallest building in the world, but it has most places beat for volume. You could fit 3 empire state buildings inside of there and you could place Yankee stadium on top and have an acre to spare. Hmm, maybe the Yankees should consider that. The cranes that are used for moving the Shuttle around this building have tolerances of 15,000ths of an inch.

In the foreground is mission control.
So you walk into this building and... gulp. Massiveness happens a lot at NASA I guess. Explains the money. This is me under the bottom end of the Saturn 5 Rocket. This rocket was used to get man to the moon.
Here is a different perspective of people walking along the rocket.
Here is some more perspective. Also remember that this thing is the most complex machine ever built, with over 2,000,000 systems that all have to work right. It is also made up of 91% explosive fuel, so a mistake is usually disastrous.
One more time. WOW!!
Here we are with a VEX Robotics team from Mexico. They could not really speak english and my spanish is not very good. Luckily Charlie lived in Bolivia for a year. So we got to know them a little and they wanted a picture, and so did I. Yes it was very warm.
I took this picture then promptly got into the competition and lost my camera, so I do not really have any visual evidence of what happened. Hopefully I will post some later, but for now I will tell you.

We entered the semi final rounds in pretty good condition, in 3rd place. Of course our score was set back to zero when we got to the semi finals, which was good since we had gotten low sigma on eggs. We moved from 2nd to first in the semi finals. We started the final round on top and were still on top in the second round by about 400 points, which is not actually a whole lot in this competition. Then the monitors went black and we watched the third round take place. Had we done better than the other team or had we lost our number one spot?

And so we waited and waited. Finally they announced the second place winner... it wasn't us. "In first place from Bison BEST, REACH Homeschool." OH, YEAH, we are number one in the country, for the robotic game Total Recall. We also won Most Robust Robot, Best CAD Design, and 3rd in most creative design. We placed 6th in the BEST competition which is also a spot worthy of respect.

The accomplishment of our team is pretty amazing and I am so proud of all the work everyone did to make number one a possible. The learning experience has been incredible and so has the amount of fun I have had. I am still trying to comprehend it all.

And being made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Hebrews 5:9

Chip

Watch It

Welcome to the REACH Robotics bus. We try to keep things moving.

Okay, so here I am in Florida after arriving yesterday evening off a 32 hour bus ride. Yeah, I am crazy. But so are 34 (or so) other people I rode with. It was not actually that bad. When you have a bunch of cool people to hang out with, no seat belts, a little leg room, snacks, and games it goes better and a little faster. Bus rides are not horrible just don't take them to often. Anyway, the weather here is in the 80s during the afternoon, and 60s at night, it is beautiful and green. I don't think I would want to live here, but it is lovely to visit. Disney is as big as ever, people seem to really get a kick out of the Micky Mouse dude. The parks are kept up immaculately and the flowers are incredible. Have you ever seen a magnolia blossom? They are huge and awesome.

Today we found out where the competition is and we had our Oral Presentation. It went very well and the venue for the competition (The ESPN Wide World of Sports) is pretty cool. It is on disney property, so it also is huge, beautiful, and a tourist trap.

Tomorrow I must be up early and so I will be saying good night soon. I just wanted to let you know that if you have any curiosity what it looks like or how the game works they will start live streaming tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Here is the link.

Good Night

P.S. I will post more pictures later.

REACH Robotics on the News

What to Do?

This blog has reached its 200th post mark. I am not an extensive writer, but I hope in the coming months to revamp my blog with some fresh material that will hopefully be more interesting and useful than the paragraphs of drivel that I seem to be constantly capable of producing in excess amounts. For example I will start giving titles that will be directly related to what is written. I am also going to be upping my reading intake, which should produce a plethora of interesting subjects for chewing on. I will try to keep these posts to at least one page of writing with helpful illustrations. I am also going to do my best to give reference material for my writing and images. The material will include art, philosophy, theology, science, and general geek subjects. Also please remember the Roise Art blog is dedicated to art alone produced by the Roise family, I am going to try to get some more people to put stuff on there.

Here is something useful for the time being regarding the phases of the moon. Most competent people are aware that the moon moves through phases as it passes from a new moon (invisible/shadowed by the earth) to a full moon (fully visible). Now when it is going from one to the other it is visible as what we call a "crescent" shape (related to the French word croissant, or crescent bun) then a gibbous (when the light part is bigger, and the crescent shape is the invisible part). Something useful to know is that when the moon is a crescent and its points are pointing to the left it is growing (waxing), if they are pointing to the right (it is waning, not whining. Though it might be whining because it has to go away again). This can also be used to know which direction you are facing if you are ever lost

Here is a trick question. Is the moon waxing or waning? Hint, This picture is taken through a telescope.

Chip

Bio Tech Trip

The view from the top of the North Dakota capitol building. Quite a view.

Now as I have mentioned in the previous posts, I am doing a really fun project/science experiment/science class at a local college. We are sequencing plant genes, specific plant genes. To sequence a gene simply means to identify what base pairs (what the code is) and what it's function is in the life of it's cell. Now it is a pretty long process, especially if you are doing it for the first time and have little or no knowledge about how to use the tools used for carrying it out.

Now this project also requires a fair amount of money. The money for this particular project comes from the hardworking taxpayers of ND. Thank you, I am learning. Well, in order to get the money, the government had to give it to us (after taking it from all of us). To make a long story short, they also gave us money, so we could travel to the capital and set up displays that showed how we were learning (using their/our money). An odd idea I think. "We will give you your money to learn, and money to come and tell us about how you are learning. So that we can give you more when the time comes." Now maybe things are thought out a little more than that, but it seems odd. Anyway, I do have a small amount of photos from the fun trip out to Bismark. I really learned a lot, and had a fun time. My co-learners are a great bunch to hang out with. And we had an awesome time at the water-park the night before our displays. I admit yet again that my picture taking is woefully incompetent

This is my small groups poster, on the plants we did. Geranium, Sweet Potato, and on called

Arabidopsis. Sadly the Geranium did not appear to work on this one. If you view it big, you can read our amazing poster.

Back to front. Dustin, Selah, and Abbi. This is one small group. There are four groups. That is their poster in the background.

Below is me standing right outside the Governor's office where we had most of our posters. I did see the Governor.

All in all an interesting and educational experience. I seem to have lots of those.

Life Forms

"You know the rummy thing about life Jeeves?"

"No Sir"

"Its that just when life is going along smoothly and everything is as good as... whatever, somethings

always got to come along and give it to you in the neck... still, there it is."

P.G. Wodehouse

Life Forms 101: Life, will give it to you in the neck.

Sometimes when life gives it to me in the neck, I laugh, and sometimes I even feel like crying.

But I rarely do cry, why? I am not really sure. Reaction, is one of the rules of the world.

So do you ever find yourself in the middle of a "life in the neck" situation, and discover that

that is when you really feel the life inside you, weather it is being squeezed out or let out?

Like sand being shifted, it takes something moving you to realize you are here.

I just got done reading a book. I know, exciting? You feel the life inside you now surging

forward longing to know, what was the book? It was actually a book about this, sort of, except

it was better written and much more exciting to read. So why are you reading this? The name of

the book is Manalive by G.K. Chesterton. If there is something that I was not at the beginning of last

year that I am at the genesis of this year, it is a G.K. Chesterton fan. He will take your high and

mighty view of human reason and face plant it in the mud. Sort of gives it to you in the neck.

The odd thing is, it is rather enjoyable. Now I have not done extensive excavations into his work,

but the two great books I dug up last year have really made me see the world different, in a good way.

The next life form, is biologic life forms. Well, all life forms are biologic, that is what bios

means. I simply mean that this form we are talking about is not the kind that gives it to you in

the neck, but the one that allows you to have a neck.

I have recently been taking a class and conducting an experiment at a local college with some fellow

homeschoolers (homeschoolers rock). We are attempting to successfully sequence a plant gene.

I think everyone should have a pretty good idea of what a gene is. The gene we are trying to find in

our plants is the one that starts the process for making energy. Like a match being struck and

starting a fire, this gene strikes a match called glycolysis, that starts making energy in the cell by

way of the mitochondria.

And that is the one sentence description of a book of the experiment. This experience so far

has opened my eyes even more to the complexity of life. And I am reminded how much control I

actually command over my own existence, because I can tell you now that replicating cells is not

something that shows up on my everyday list of things to do. Life is insane. It is cool.

for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Acts 17:28

Chip

P.S. I have also been reading Sherlock Holmes. Good stuff.

Waking Up

Another post, hopefully this one will be a little more interesting than the last. I went back and read that one and really was kind of disappointed in myself. My excuse is that my mind has been very occupied with robotics. The trouble is that you realize that your mind has been very occupied only after it becomes a little more open, it is kind of like waking up (slow and groggy). You look back on your messy room, your messy closet, wonder where your i-pod is (I finally found my i-pod today after it had been missing for a good month, HOORAY), you also read your last post, that was done in a state of half awake joy, and nearly fall asleep. I am starting to awake more fully and have had to learn to be patient, cleaning up, and just trying to get some order to my life. I just wish that learning patience wouldn't take so dog-on long. By the way, did I mention that I found my i-pod.

I suppose part of this non coma post should contain pictures. I like pictures, I am a very visual learner.

Okay, so yes, that is a robot, and yes it is our robot in CAD (computer assisted design). Sniff*pretty cool huh. Yeah I know, but engineers really dig this kind of stuff. Show them a statistic and they get all excited. Show them a diagram and they are liable to get sentimental and stuff. It is really pretty fun.

That leads to the next thing I want to discuss, and that is the amazing story of life. I mean really. Here you are in the midst of a plot that ranges from tragedy to comedy and you take it all so seriously. Not saying that is bad, it is good. The story would not have a point unless you had real reactions to real situations. We are real, our stories are real, they are crazy, they are funny, they are sad. One of my favorite past times is people watching, and it is really for that reason. I often look at people and forget that I am in the same classification as them, that I have my own story, and watching them is like watching bits and pieces of a whole bunch of stories walking around.

It is getting close to Christmas, I love Christmas. If you want a good story, Christmas has loads. Everything from Rudolf to Scrooge. Scrooge is so great. But the best has got to be the original story, complete with evil emperors, kings, heavenly hosts, and a little baby who is the son of God born of a virgin. See, God tells the best stories, and they are real.

I should post some more pictures. I know you may not be interested but I am going to post pictures from the local robotics competition. Oh, by the way, we placed fourth in the robotic competition at regionals, so we are advancing on to NATIONALS in Orlando, Florida.

I am sorry if I seem to be obsessed with robotics, but my life has consisted of little else for the past three months. Now I have four more months to look forward to.

Sorting gold balls that have been dumped. The defective ones get put in that cart and are taken back to the recall center by Leviathan (our robot).

Below: placing the cone in the pack and ship center.

Note: Being a driver on a robot team is like being the quarter back in football, lots of pressure, lots of glory. I am so proud of how our drivers handle it all.

Yeah that is the awesome REACH team, plus the two Bison BEST coordinators. See the REACH Rabbit, I got that job at regionals since our mascot guy was not able to come. It slow cooked me all day a regionals. Hey, but isn't it cute?

I hope that this post has had a little more variety than some and that I did not bore you. If you do not comprehend, this was, I admit, not a very well thought out post. I am still waking up.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Chip

Robots

The REACH Robotics Team. Right to left, top to bottom. Alan K. (game coordinator), Caleb W., yours truly, Carlie S. Caleb I., Jesse I., David M., Daniel U. (oral presentation mentor), Naomi W., Dustin W., Bailey C., Nancy R. (hub coordinator and national BEST secretary), Mikayla P., Tom U., Dave U., and Nik K. This was taken on kickoff day, when we found out what we would have to do.
BEST, Boosting Engineering Science and Technology. Puts on an annual robotics competition. They invent a game and set up the rules. The game involves a robot you must build using the hardware they provide you with. These materials include PVC pipes, plywood, nuts, bolts, screws, tape, and a variety of cool stuff. They also give you four motors, four servos, a brain (or programable receiver) and a controller (or transmitter). This years game involves a theme of industrial manufacturing and making sure that defective products are not shipped out. It is aptly named Total Recall. It is a challengingly complex game. This is why I will not attempt to describe it to you.

We along with 24 other teams participated in the local Bison BEST hub competition. The competition does not simply involve a robot and the game. You must provide an engineering notebook that includes what methods were used for designing and building the robot and also included, there must be a research paper that incorporates the game theme. Other optional things you can do, are the marketing presentation, where you basically sell your robot to a panel of judges, and the team exhibit, that is a booth dedicated to information about your team and robot. You are also judged on how you perform as a team, and if you have good team spirit, and good sportsmanship. So I was somehow elected to kind of head up the homeschool team I am a part of. It has been a huge honor.

We started before we even knew what the game would involve, by doing fundraising. Our main fundraising was to go to a local pizza factory to make pizzas. This took care of half of our funding the other half came from getting sponsors. The other things we did were to find out what teams we would need, and who would head up those teams.

After the kickoff for the competition, we knew what we had to do and worked the next six weeks to do it. Before we knew it, competition was here.

These were 2 very cool days. The first was the exhibit and oral presentation day. No robot competition. Day two they had the robot competition, it was totally awesome. Our robot performed its tasks the way we wanted it to, most of the time. We did have a couple rounds that hurt. The culminated in us taking home awards for Most Robust Robot, Spirit and Sportsmanship, Best Website (which you can visit here), Third in the BEST competition, and Second in Total Recall. It was a pretty great day. And all this means that it is not over, and we are now gearing up for competing at regionals down in Arkansas. God has really blessed me with this experience, it is some of the funnest times I have ever had. If you want to know more about the competition, just visit here.