Swords and Sharks

Caution: what you are about to read may contain violent acts of comical aggression. The men of 400 L are trained professionals (not really) and we dont know what we are doing.

I don't know what has been going on with my roomates and myself lately, but we have become more open to the appreciation of destruction that seems to only exists in boys-ahem, I mean strapping, young men with rugged masculinity that can only be matched by people like Bear Grylls and Bill Nye the science guy. I blame Glee for this recent uprising in aggression.

I have a sword. Dont ask how or why I have one-just know that I do. I have recently been practicing with it. My main sparring partners have been my futon and my roomate Matt. Sad to say, I got carried away the other day and stabbed a hole in my futon (not Matt). The other night, Matt was holding paper and I would slice the paper to test the sharpness of the sword until I nearly missed Matt's finger. Oops.

My other roomate, Jesse has recently found this new game called "Sydney Shark". You play as a shark in Sydney (go figure) and your main mission is to destroy whatever you can. The more destruction-the more points. You can destroy everything from killer whales to airplanes (how a shark can manage to jump high enough out of the water to bring down a commercial airplane still puzzles me). The other day, I looked over at Jesse playing the game and he was sweating. Not just the "it's hot in here and my back is sweaty" kinda sweat but the beads of sweat dripping down your forehead kinda sweat. He was so concentrated on this game. Everytime he managed to bring down a blimp or airplane or a parachuter, we would know because he would emit high pitched screams until the item was completely destroyed. I have never seen my roomate enjoy something this much since hush puppies from Long John Silvers.

I sneak in Duns room in the morning usually ten minutes before his alarm goes off and I slap him until he wakes up. Call me a bad roomate-but I like to think of it as....ok, I'm just a bad roomate.

Two nights ago I threw a shoe at my roomate. I don't remember why. It just seemed like the right thing to do. In response, he locked himself in my room and started messing with my stuff. Immediately, I became territorial. I then proceeded to ram my door so I could get in. It worked. However, in the process of actually getting in I broke my lock and put a hole in my door because as soon as it flung open from me ramming it it ran into my piano and my piano went through it. Oops again.

With all this being said, we really do love each other. We have just been choosing to express that love differently lately. Hopefully this is a phase that my roomates and I are going through. Maybe once this season of 24 is over things will be different. But until then, be warned-the men of 400L are not trained and we have no idea what we're doing.

Run & Fly

Run & Fly
By Mark Samudre

I am in a place
where the water is alive.
With ripples being blown by a man
In white as bright as light can get.
This wind blows me to an oak tree I used to climb.
With roots stretched deep within the earth,
With height beyond what my eyes can see,
With branches that lift me up
From one
To the other.
I fly
Over greener valleys with no end.
The wind blowing a clearing
In the tall blades of grass.
I choose to run,
Racing with the pastel colors
Of petals of flowers that sing
A sweet, sweet song
As they scurry to keep
Up.
I run till the wind beckons me to fly again,
Carrying me
Towards the choir of people
Where believing has gotten us to
Where we are today.

I'm a naturalist. I feel most at peace and closest to God when I am in nature. I've just recently come to grips with this. So I've been attempting to take time out of my day to just sit outside and soak in as much of the nice weather as I can-which is a reason as to why nature has a continual part in the poem. Lately I've just been thinking about Heaven more. Thoughts like : "I wonder what it's like?" or "Do we get wings or not?" (I seriously think about that quite often) or "Am I truly excited to get there?"...It's kind of a freaky concept if you think about it. One moment you're here and then the next-you're in the eternal. Woah.

I began the (very) rough draft of this poem during my poetry class which was outside by the New River (very scenic in the springtime-I highly recommend going if you haven't yet). The whimsical-like setting in the poem is meant to serve as Heaven. The man in the beginning is God-and the wind he blows is Jesus. The wind is constantly with the character throughout the whole poem, carrying him, lifting him, guiding him. And eventually the speaker of the poem is brought to the angels, where he joins them and sings.

Haiti

Hello Friends!

I would like to share with you my desire to go to Haiti to help with earthquake relief efforts. I will be spending 10 days in a city called Melot with other missionaries. We will be building a house for families in need due to the devastation of the earthquake. There is so much hurt in Haiti and I would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to go there and do what I can to aid in the relief and to share the love and freedom that Christ has to offer even in the midst of such trials. But I cannot do this alone! I am writing to ask for prayer and support in going to Haiti.

The Lord has been gracious in helping me raise $400 but by the end of the expenses of the trip I will still need $2000 more in order to go to Haiti. Besides the basic costs of airfare, food, and lodging, the remainder of this money will go towards building supplies for the house. Please help me in my endeavor through prayer and financial support as you are able.

All you have to do is click the “Chip In” button on the right side of this screen to be taken to the Paypal site. Enter in your amount you would like to donate and then click update totals. If you do not have a Paypal account just click the "continue to checkout" hyperlink.

All money is due by June 1st. I know that is not much time but I am confident that the Lord is in control and I will continue to place my trust and hope in Jesus. Please be praying for the people of Haiti so that they can trade in a blanket of heaviness for a spirit of praise and please consider joining me in raising financial support.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
-Matthew 5:16

In Him,
Mark Samudre

Light Show

I'm in a poetry writing class this semester and it is possibly my favorite class I have ever taken here at Radford University. Every month or so we have to write a poem and share it to the class and then the class does a group peer evaluation on it. Here is one of my poems I have written recently and have shared with the class-hope you enjoy!

Light Show
By Mark Samudre

My eyes have painted the sky
The color of a ripened peach
With the pastel blue creeping in
Giving me time
To rehearse in my mind.
The sounds of crickets and geese
Serve as background music.
The fireflies are placed in the grass before me,
Waiting for the cue from the moon.
Our bare feet dangle off the top of my car,
Following the same percussive
rhythm, as they bang on the glass.

The twilight blue has settled in.
The geese gloat and crickets chirp.
The moon nods its ring-shaped head
And the light show begins.
The fireflies twinkle in the grass before us,
Like Christmas lights
Wrapped in bushes,
Harmonizing with the stars
In perfect timing.


At the end
The only two clapping
Are you
And I.

The Magic School Bus

Congratulations Human Biology lab-you have successfully convinced me that science is not the route I'm supposed to take in life. Good thing I'm an English major.

So I just got out of my human biology lab. Two hours of scribbling down numbers, measuring blood pressure, vital capacities, calculating standard errors, etc. All in all, it is everything I have tried to stay away from in my college career and have foolishly avoided it and now towards the end of my college adventure, I'm paying the toll.

It was during this painful lab (which not one single person in the class finished) that I came to a realization- I was perfectly content learning all the scientific facts and mechanics of life that we need to know from the Magic School Bus. Remember it? That show with a bus that spurted wings from its sides and rocket thruster things from its rear and could shrink, time travel, and journey to all the planets in the solar system in a matter of 25 minutes. Yep, sounds like my kinda ride. It sure beats my 21-speed mountain bike.

Lets be real, I would much rather be taking that class rather than human biology in college. Plus, their labs are much more...."hands on". Except maybe I wouldn't want to go on the trip to visit the dinosaurs-lizards bigger than myself scare me. Who knew children could retain so much knowledge from a red-headed eccentric teacher and a foot-tall lizard that has horns and could drive a bus? I wouldn't mind having them as teachers.

Ok...scratch that. This lizard scares me to.

Like A Lion

This semester at Radford University has been revitalizing.

For the first time here, I feel alive.

I am finally coming to grips with how big our God really is. He is moving in the New River Valley. He is the reason for this revival.

Cant you see it?

He is surely alive. He is living on the inside-roaring like a lion.

I cant be thankful enough to be a part of the awakening.

For the majority of this school year, I have been a part of a launch team working to start a church in the New River Valley- Valley Bible Church. Through the church, the Lord has taught me so many things. I am beginning to see the groundwork for transformation in this community and it's such a gratifying experience to be on the frontline.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to cultivate new relationships that seem to have been there for years while still strengthening old ones. Valley Bible Church has helped this place not just be school to me but rather home as well.

The Lord has instilled a desire to live missionally-loving the poor and broken to give beauty for ashes-to trade in a blanket of heaviness for a spirt of praise.

There is peace in the life that Jesus has to offer and for the first time here, I feel alive.

For He is living on the inside-roaring like a lion.

Spring Fever

Im currently sitting outside squinting my eyes so I can make out what is on this screen as I type it because the sun is so bright! The weather is 65 degrees and the wind is blowing at just the right speed-enough to give you some relief from the sun and enough to throw a frisbee straight. On my way over to my friend's house I saw two girls awkwardly tanning with barely anything on. Im also just starting to realize how many people have dogs around here-have all these dogs hibernated these past 3 months? The hollow thumps of a soccer ball going to and from people are the only sounds I hear right now. And free cone day at Ben & Jerry's is next Tuesday. But this all means one thing-Spring is finally here!!!

Winter has this lethargic and depressing factor about it, but this place sure does have some spring fever! Even though winter is where the technical end of the year happens, spring still has an element of closure to it. The school year is ending and if you're in high school prom is right around the corner.

Sun and funny shaped clouds seem to provide for a good mood no matter what.This good weather even had enough power to get the girl with a broken collar bone out here to toss a frisbee with me. Sling or no sling, you would have to be crazy to stay inside on a day like this!