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	<title>Thomas Umstattd Jr. &#187; Apathy</title>
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	<link>http://www.thomasumstattd.com</link>
	<description>An unusual perspective on religion, politics and life.</description>
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		<title>Looking Back on 24 Years&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/11/looking-back-on-24-years/</link>
		<comments>http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/11/looking-back-on-24-years/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:43:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adventure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thankfulness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.thomasumstattd.com/?p=953</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I turn 24. Please permit me to change pace a bit for a post and do some self reflection. Looking Old It seems surprise people when they learn I&#8217;m only 24. There are two ways to take this. Either that I look old or that I seem seem old for my age. Is this [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/04/photos-from-russia/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Photos from Russia'>Photos from Russia</a> <small>...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/04/what-i-learned-in-russia/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What I Learned in Russia'>What I Learned in Russia</a> <small>Russian is one of the hardest languages to learn in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/12/goodbye-2009/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Goodbye 2009'>Goodbye 2009</a> <small>It&#8217;s that time of year again. Time to look back...</small></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a class="google_buzz"  
href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/11/looking-back-on-24-years/&title=Looking+Back+on+24+Years&#8230;&srcURL=http://www.thomasumstattd.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img
src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/plugins/google-buzz-button-for-wordpress/images/google-buzz.png" alt="Google Buzz" /></a><p>Today I turn 24.</p>
<p>Please permit me to change pace a bit for a post and do some self reflection.</p>
<div id="attachment_956" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 560px"><img class="size-full wp-image-956" title="24-Years-Old" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/24-Years-Old.jpg" alt="24-Years-Old" width="550" height="387" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Here I am in an ancient Russian church tower</p></div>
<h2>Looking Old</h2>
<p>It seems surprise people when they learn I&#8217;m only 24. There are two ways to take this. Either that I look old or that I seem seem old for my age. Is this caused by sorrow, weight or wisdom? I don&#8217;t know. Probably a mixture.</p>
<p>Looking forward to my future I wonder if this will continue or if I will linger at an age.</p>
<div id="attachment_960" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 548px"><img class="size-full wp-image-960" title="image003" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/image003.jpg" alt="image003" width="538" height="211" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Thanks to Frank Ball for sending me this cartoon for my birthday <img src='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p></div>
<h2>Knowing Less</h2>
<p>I know now less than I thought I knew at 14. For instance, I thought I knew apologetics until yesterday when I preached on the UT campus. Most of the audience was hardened atheists with pre-prepared questions.</p>
<p>While on campus I saw an apologetisist presenting to probably 200 students who sat raptured by the eloquence of his words. He took anyone&#8217;s objection and gave a reasoned and winsome answer. He inspired me to know more than I do and helped me realize I know less than I think.</p>
<h2>Enjoying Life</h2>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-959 alignleft" title="Enjoying-The-Journey" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Enjoying-The-Journey1-225x300.jpg" alt="Enjoying-The-Journey" width="225" height="300" />My cousin <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Reinhart/836034">Tim</a> asked me one Christmas if I had &#8220;destination fever.&#8221; Am I so focused on the goal that I forget to enjoy the journey?</p>
<p>A strong goal focus may help my leadership ability but it can also make me a miserable person to be around, especially when I am in a focused state.</p>
<p>My clients have taught me that the best authors enjoy brainstorming, outlining, drafting, writing, editing and promotion. Every stage of the writing process has its own joy.</p>
<p>The authors who just want to &#8220;be published&#8221; are miserable and often never get published.</p>
<p>I want to be someone who enjoys each stage of life&#8217;s journey. I am optimistic about the future but I want to also be content with where I am now.</p>
<h2>Embracing Freedom</h2>
<p>As a self employed single man I have a great degree of freedom. This is a season to embrace! Not a season to squander  on worry or speculation.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-957" title="Enjoy-The-Journey" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Enjoy-The-Journey.jpg" alt="Enjoy-The-Journey" width="550" height="413" /></p>
<h2>Blogging</h2>
<p>Some of you have asked me why I don&#8217;t blog much anymore. I actually blog more than ever just not as much this site.</p>
<p>I write once a roughly week for the following sites:</p>
<ul>
<li><a title="Courtship" href="http://PracticalCourtship.com" target="_blank">Practical Courtship</a></li>
<li><a href="http://AuthorTechTips.com" target="_blank">Author Tech Tips</a></li>
</ul>
<p>You can get updates to these sites by, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/PracticalCourtship" target="_blank">RSS</a>, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2665083&amp;loc=en_US" target="_blank">email</a>, or <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/userpage.php?uid=183000861&amp;view=a" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Perhaps one of the best birthday gifts you could give me would be to subscribe and or comment on one of those sites. <a title="Courtship" href="http://practicalcourtship.com/" target="_blank">PracticalChourtship.com</a> has received an amazing number of comments and I love reading them.</p>
<h2>Repenting from Apathy</h2>
<p>Last Sunday we had a meeting at eHarmony where we repented of apathy. I realized that I had been apathetic about finishing my book. Other folks were repenting from political apathy. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/kristinepratt" target="_blank">Kristine</a>, <a title="Editorial Services" href="http://www.writtenworldcommunications.com/about.html" target="_blank">my editor</a>, and I have committed to finish editing Digital Cancer by the end of the year.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Beat-Box1.jpg"><img title="Beat-Box" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Beat-Box1.jpg" alt="Beat-Box" width="550" height="338" /></a></p>
<p>Please pray for us as we do this because it is a lot of discouraging work.</p>
<h2>Thanking God</h2>
<p>I am thankful for:</p>
<ul>
<li>My family. The older I get the more I come to understand what a precious gift each family member is.
<ul>
<li>A father who speaks identity.</li>
<li>A mother who loves unconditionally.</li>
<li>A sister who can dance, laugh and sing.</li>
<li>A brother with worlds in his head that can only been seen through visualizing his words.</li>
<li>A brother with a heart for people.</li>
<li>A brother with a heart for the Kingdom.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>A <a title="Chrsitian Author Websites" href="http://www.UmstattdMedia.com" target="_blank">job</a> that allows me to make enough to live on.</li>
<li>A community of believers who have a passion for Jesus. I get to storm the gates of hell every Monday with prayer ninjas.</li>
<li>My roomates: all three of them. They are each so different and so awesome. We have funny one liners every day. Any house named eHarmony has got to be a lot of fun <img src='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_962" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 560px"><img class="size-full wp-image-962" title="Grandpa" src="http://www.thomasumstattd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Grandpa.jpg" alt="Grandpa" width="550" height="413" /><p class="wp-caption-text">My grandfather, who passed away last year.</p></div>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/04/photos-from-russia/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Photos from Russia'>Photos from Russia</a> <small>...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/04/what-i-learned-in-russia/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What I Learned in Russia'>What I Learned in Russia</a> <small>Russian is one of the hardest languages to learn in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2009/12/goodbye-2009/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Goodbye 2009'>Goodbye 2009</a> <small>It&#8217;s that time of year again. Time to look back...</small></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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