Off to Connecticut!

Well, I really haven't blogged on my classes helmet project. Unfortunately =/
In any case, I am headed off to Connecticut tomorrow with my 11th grade class to bless a family with a helmet which belonged to their deceased military father. Really is an amazing story of how God works in no accidents. I'll have to do the color by number later, but for now you'll have to appreciate a dot-to-dot :)

While I'm in Connecticut I will be blogging- but not here! Rather, I have set up a "weekend blog." This will be a blog specifically for this Connecticut trip; it'll be a place for pictures, stories, and tweets, among other things. Please feel free to go check it out: http://WWIIhelmet.blogspot.com/

I may be updating my twitter from time to time, but will most assuredly be updating the helmet trip's twitter page: http://twitter.com/WWIIhelmet

Hope you all have a great weekend! I leave early tomorrow, btw, and get back late Saturday.

Colin

Hey everyone! Come on by oasis from now until noon today and see the helmet my class has become somewhat famous for! Check my tweets and dennismansfield.com

Hey everyone please keep my sister in law Hannah in your prayers. Check twitter.com/colinmansfield for updates

Guys care about their weddings too!

So why is it that when it comes to weddings, it's assumed that girls are the only ones who care?

Guys, tell me if I'm alone here, but I have my own dreams for my wedding. Sure, they might have to do with screamo music, guns, and arm wrestling- but I have dreams nonetheless!

No, but for reals! I think it's a common misconception that girls spend more time thinking about their future weddings. It may be true, however, that girls spend more time thinking about a feasible wedding.

It's probably a good thing though, right? I'm pretty sure that if guys had their way the entire wedding might end up as a paintball match, food fight, or some kind of full-contact sport.

All in all then, I suppose, it's probably a good thing that society tells us weddings are a woman's job.

Driving, however, is a whole nother matter.

Colin

Proud to be an American...?

In case you didn't know, I'm a boy scout. I'm a part of Troop 61, and we meet every Mon. night at Westside Bible church in Meridian. I enjoy scouts, even if I get mocked by some of my friends at school about it ;)

Last Monday we had a guest speaker- a lady who had recently gotten her American citizenship after immigrating from Ireland when she was 16 with her family. Basically she just told us all the things she had to do to become an American citizen, what that means, etc. She even asked us a couple questions from the test.
(One of them was "Who is the head of the Supreme Court? What's his name?" I said Chief Justice Roberts when no one else could figure it out. Apparently not everyone heard about the blunder that made him famous.)

The thing that struck me most about this woman wasn't the process she had to go through to get her citizenship (although that was impressive.) Rather, I found her level of patriotism to the United States incredible! She spoke about our country as if it were heaven. In fact, before she was an American citizen she wouldn't touch an American flag out of respect, and because she felt that if she were to let it touch the ground, or defy it in any way, she would be disrespecting the entire country more so because she wasn't yet a citizen.

What hit me the most about this wasn't a sense of guilt, such as "I have so much to be thankful for, and am taking advantage of so much!" I know the freedoms this country gives me, and I am grateful for them. I do participate in being a citizen by staying informed politically, by following the laws even when I don't agree with them 100%, and by praying for America's leaders frequently. I don't, however, have a large degree of respect for the country itself. I see America as extremely corrupt, and getting worse everyday.
Like I said, this isn't to say I'm not glad I live in America, because I am. I'm no terrorist, I simply don't exactly know what it means to be patriotic. Is patriotism being thankful? Is it waving a flag around on the fourth of July? Is it saying the pledge of allegiance?

On that note, what about the pledge of allegiance? When I say it am I pledging to the ever-degrading American society? Or am I pledging to the ideals that America was founded upon? I'm honestly not sure. If the latter, I'll say it everyday, any day. If the former, I don't see much of a point.

What do you think?
Colin

Super bowlin it up today! What are your plans?