Why I Changed My Last Name

Today, November 23, 2020, is the 1-year anniversary of Jessica and myself. Very sadly, due to the pandemic and our each being from different countries, we will be apart for this day, and we will instead have to spend this special time together over video. On this day, I would like to explain why Jess and I decided to combine our last names to become Kenneth and Jessica Mick-Evans.

The first reason is that Jess still wanted some express connection to her family. She and her twin sister, Elly, are the only children of her parents. I wanted to respect her wishes and preserve that family connection.

Secondly, in Genesis 2:24, there is a principle that a husband leaves his parents to be joined with his wife. I wanted to signify this transition in my life and my unity with my wife by changing my name.

Thirdly, and this ties in to the first reason, I wanted to respect both my parents and my new in-laws by having each of our names represented. I want to respect both my biological parents and my parents by marriage, in keeping with the principle of honoring my father and mother as expressed in Ephesians 6:2-3.

These reasons are our own personal choice, in agreement with each other, after long discussions together. We hope that the symbolism in our combination of our names will demonstrate to others our love for each other and our respective families. And I hope that in giving our reasons for our decision, you would be inspired and encouraged by the values we hold dear.

The Social Media Black-hole

Prior to my belated engagement announcement post, the last post on my blog was from October of 2017. I went an entire year without any new posting. Yes, I have been in graduate school, but there has been plenty of time in which I could have blogged. But, you see, in that time I’ve been active on Facebook. I’ve been active on Facebook for years, but I’ve gotten especially drawn in this year. I joined a group for Christian singles late last year, and that community has taken most of my energy for writing. Social media has become a black-hole for me.

And this is sad. I have had many adventures in Germany and Poland and Czech Republic which I could have written about. I could have written about milestones in my relationship with Jess. I could have written about theological questions I’m working through. I could have written about history, or written some new poems.

Instead, I’ve mostly been reacting on social media. And I’ve started to notice how it effects the way I think and act. There is a place for engaging on a social platform, but I found that I start reacting to what others do and say, and I am less proactive myself. I don’t formulate new ideas the same way. My posts become more about soliciting reactions rather than exploring a topic.

I hope that as I start writing more frequently, I can become more proactive in my thoughts and in my online presence once again. We’ll see how it plays out, I guess.

Big (and Belated) Announcement: I’m Engaged!

As is obvious if the history of my posts on here is looked at, I haven’t been active for a year on this blog. During that time, many exciting events have transpired. Of these, the most exciting is that I started up a relationship with Jessica Evans, an English classmate at my university in Germany. We started dating in January, made our relationship official over Valentine’s Day weekend, and, this September, I asked her to be my wife!

She was visiting my family in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and I took her up to the top of Mount Greylock to propose to her. My father proposed to my mother on the same mountain, and I wanted to continue the tradition. I then took her to dinner at Ye Old Forge Restaurant down in the valley.

Below are some pictures of us on Greylock, and of our engagement rings:

Remembering Albert Lindenschmid

On August 3, 2014, my grandfather, Albert Lindenschmid, passed away at age 95. This biography is written in honor of him.

Born on February 14, 1919, in Ennahofen, Baden-Würtemburg, Germany, Albert grew up with two brothers and a sister, Greta. He developed an interest in flying, and eventually joined a private flying club. After WWII broke out, Albert and his brothers were drafted into the military. Albert served in the Luftwaffe, the German air force, and during this time took a correspondence course in mechanics and learned to fly sailplanes. Both his brothers eventually died in battle, and thus, per German military policy, he was allowed to avoid the front lines. Instead, he worked as a mechanic, overseeing the maintenance of several planes. He attained the rank of corporal, but turned down a promotion to sergeant since most sergeants ended up on the front lines. He eventually was captured by American forces and held in a French prison camp until after the war.

Creation and Worship

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am working this summer at Jacob’s Pillow Dance. The school is in Becket, a small town which is set in the of magnificent, predominately deciduous forest. As a consequence, the almost hour-long drive down and back through the lush green of spring woods and vegetation has refreshed my realization of just how beautiful Berkshire County is. Well, a week or two ago, I was on break from the kitchen, and went out onto the back porch to eat lunch. My prayer life has been very weak for quite some time, so I decided to take some time to pray. As I was looking for things to verbally praise God for, when I just started looking around at the trees and other natural wonders around me. A chipmunk came onto the porch, so I directed my eyes to it. I basically just watched it and verbally in my head just praised God for what I was seeing. However, I then went from a state of prayer, which is an articulated talk with God, to just observing the movements of the chipmunk and consciously being aware of how it glorifies God. This second state I would not call prayer, as I was no longer mentally talking, but rather just observing and “being.” This state of simply observing and “being” while consciously reflecting everything back to God was quite wonderful, and I think it gives an inkling to what the new earth will be like, a constant state of worship. While the moment that I experienced was fleeting, it is one in which I am trying to live every second of my life, and fail at miserably. But I still manage to consciously reflect my actions back to God at least some of the time, and there have been several times at work when amidst the hustle and bustle I’ve been able to say “God, this is what I am supposed to do. You made to work the best that I can!”

Where Have I Been? Well, That is a Long Story…

Wow! This past week has been quite intense. First off, I got a summer job in the kitchen at Jacob’s Pillow Dance. If you are unfamiliar with Jacob’s Pillow, it is an internationally acclaimed dance school in Becket, Mass., and holds an annual festival in the summer. I have a full time schedule, so this week I’ve been trying to get adjusted to the schedule and become oriented with the layout of the kitchen and what my job entails. But, that is just the beginning of the excitement.

On Friday, June 1st, I graduated from Berkshire Community College! I now hold an Associates’ Degree in Liberal Arts, and plan to transfer to UMass Amherst. Victoria Kennedy, wife of late Senator Ted Kennedy, was the commencement speaker. I do not agree with most of her (and her late husband’s) politics and her stance on abortion, but it was still neat to have a major public figure give the speech.

But, even more exciting, was that today my brother Karl was baptized! He made a profession of faith months ago, but we waited until the weather was warmer to hold this ordinance. Another member of our church, Lila, also was baptized, as though she has proclaimed Christianity for years, she had no recollection or records of being baptized. In answer to a good conscience, she wanted to ensure that her profession was made public. It is very exciting for me to welcome my brother into the body of Christ, and see a fellow Christian confirm their faith and obey the Scriptural commandment to baptize.

An Interesting Incident Last Night

Well, I basically have posted all of my old material, so from now on all of my posts will be up to date. But now I want to relate to you a short story about a rather bizarre and in retrospect rather humorous incident last night. At around 1:40 last night, I suddenly started screaming for I don’t know what reason. I was only partially conscious and completely bewildered. At that same time, my brother leaped out of bed screaming. I was already imagining that the curtains in my room were filled with shadowy shapes closing in on me, and now that my brother was yelling too I was sure that “they” were coming to get us. My brother was now next to my bed screaming, and had knocked over our space heater (it has been off for weeks, so don’t worry about that). I was just laying there in bed disoriented, screaming as loud as I could. Our dad came in and asked what was wrong, and at that point we became fully conscious and had to explain that we had no idea. Apparently, what had happened was this: My brother was having a dream where he was being entangled by a plant, and felt it pinning his arm. At that moment, he heard me screaming and thought there must be something happening to me. He leaped out of bed still asleep, and only woke up after he knocked over our heater. I still have no idea what set me off, obviously there was some type of bad dream. The situation might never have happened except that both of us had a bad dream at the same time, which triggered this panic episode. In retrospect, it was quite funny, and I even thought so last night once I figured out what happened.

Crossroads

This is an old piece I did two years ago in English Comp I:

You walk up solid concrete stairs, your footsteps echoing in the small, concrete chamber. The heavy stairs are lifeless and dominating. Sunlight pours in from the small domed skylight, mixing with the artificial light of fluorescent bulbs. You continue upward, one hand sliding along a cold, metal railing covered in chipped black paint. At the top of the stairwell, you open a heavy door made of glass and some unknown metallic material, which is covered in blackish grey paint that reveals chips of blue beneath it.

Introduction to A New Covenant Look At… Series

   I’m not sure what my real purpose was for doing this A New Covenant Look at… Series. Basically, it is a collection of essays on various practical topics about Christian behavior. I guess my chief goal was just to jot down the results of my studies and research on paper in the hope that my fellow believers will be both challenged and inspired and as a result grow in their faith. As of this writing, I have only one essay done, but I plan for many more to follow. However, as I have no real time limit or deadline to meet as I write these essays, and there is no real limit to how many essays I write, there is no way for me to know how long this series will take. My motivation for this series is simply to look at specific topics about Christian living from a New Covenant perspective, and to include practical applications and behavior while not being legalistic.

The Dojo

Another old English assignment, from early October 2010:

A glass fronted building, one of many sections in a strip mall. “Okinawan Karate School” reads the sign in red letters over a dirty white background. Logos, schedules, and event notices are pasted and taped onto the large windows. In the leftmost window various wares of martial arts equipment and supplies are prominently displayed. Go through the door of metal and glass. The lounge floor is covered in wall-to-wall carpet. A large vending machine stands against the right wall, filled with energy drinks. One table is surrounded by chairs, while the other has sofas. In the far right corner is a white board displaying important dates and reminders. On the rear wall, a window looks out into the training area.