Dear Readers,

Due to feeling overwhelmed by the massive amount of time required to update all of my many websites and networks, The Wishing Tree has been closed down until further notice. I will be taking this time to focus my energy and time towards such endeavors as: furthering relationships with friends and family, preparing for marriage, and writing and performing music. I would still love to have you visit me online though! Visit me on facebook, twitter, and my personal music site – virb.com/benrothermel.

I love you all!

Ben

If I’m super worried about how I appear to other people (my identity as seen by them) and I do everything to project a certain person that I want to be, is this just being concerned about who I am or who others think I am?

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Matthew 23: 25-28

Am I choosing to follow after God on my own or am I just following my parents faith?

Do I really believe God loves me?

Do I really believe that God is in control of my future?

Is God really a loving Father?

The Lord will provide. Jehovah Jireh. Obedience in faith, courage, and bravery.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

- President Theodore Roosevelt

The battle keeps on going.

Reflecting on my artistic lifestyle…I think I tend to miss so much of my life trying to capture it. By winning it I’m losing it. I spend so much of my time trying to look at my life through the lens of an artist that I fail to see things as a normal human. Does that make any sense?

We have a new student lounge here at Visible School! Woohoo! It smells like paint fumes but perhaps it is the new best place to write songs? Songwriting is going well! I’m doing well in most of my classes and am working hard every day! Here is a short video of what I do when I’m not working on homework and music! Enjoy!

Hello dear blog and readers! How goest though lives? I’m terribly tired and dragging my butt through today. It’s grey and wet outside (a far cry from yesterday’s bright sunshine) and my mood is to match. Worship this morning was mediocre in feeling (not lacking in talent however).

Preparation for Ministry. This class is interesting but the first week of it was crazy! We had to write a 1000 word paper for the second class. I’m glad that it is done but it was no fun spending my labor day Monday writing that paper.

Ok, this randomosity must come to a positive point. I talked with Shannon Kropf (Worship Dept. Head) about the possibility of my being a worship leader and solo artist at the same time. She was very positive and encouraged me to do so! One of her main points was that musicians and worship leaders should not be two separate entities – instead they should be co-joined.  

Class is starting! Cheers!

Ben

PS. Today will end well!

Hello Everyone! How y’all doing out there? I’m sitting here in the empty school auditorium typing up this entry. It’s been a fun week full of homework assignments and writing and I am quite ready for the weekend to be here. A nice three day weekend full of homework and paper writing! Haha! So far only three classes stand between me and Friday night. Essential Theology (!!), Theory 1 (Yay!), and Fitness (Not yet sure…). 

I’m enjoying my songwriting classes and the constant fellowship I have here with fellow students! It’s so good to be around people that think the same! We all are so weird but at the same time have found a common collective in so being! Crazy, eh?

Quote of the week:

Hi Everybody!

I’m typing this on a break in my Worship History and Theology class. We just had Exam #3 and I believe it went quite well! I guessed on quite a few number of questions but I feel that it was an educated guess. Haha. So far I have a 95% grade in this class and I hope to keep it above a 90% so that I can get an A. 

I’m running out of food. My bread and Milk went bad the other day and I’ve basically been living on noodle type food for this week. I need to go shopping. 

Love it!

Ben

Dear Readers,

What an adventure! How did I find myself here in Memphis, TN all of the sudden? Things happen so quickly in my life! I’m happy about that and yet it left very little (yet ample) time to say goodbye to everyone dear to me back home. God did work in that party at BJ’s house where I got to see pretty much everyone I know so that was really cool! 

Right now it is Saturday and I’m on the tail end of my first week here at Visible School. It’s been a good week full of fun and crazy studying. We have only one class right now but it’s a three hour class that meets every day for two weeks. I believe that call it a “Blitz” class. This week we had three exams and one paper. It’s been intense but I’ve survived so far! 

I’m definitely a little homesick but more for the little things than the large things. I miss going out with Amber for coffee, playing music with Mike and Jeremy, and seeing everybody at Jeremy Kuebler’s house. I don’t miss the crazy loud barking dogs, the loud house, or working full time! Haha! 

I think the sickness of missing home will hurt me harder later on this semester. Things are still sinking in and I haven’t honestly had much time to contemplate what I’ve done. 

Well, tonight is an awesome concert in Memphis! Some folks from here at Visible will be performing and I am siked! There is one band that is hardcore and I’m definitely looking forward to some crazy moshing! Yes!

Until Then, Ever Yours,

Ben