Excerpts from 2021-2022 Beginning-of-the-Year Writing Samples

Jake Balken employing an apt simile to tell what it was like to start his 150cc motorcycle:

“When I started it for the first time, I was amazed at how amazing something could sound. It was like hearing God’s voice, but it was a motorcycle.”

Cedric Smith describing the crowd watching the Oroville Dam spillway when there was concern the dam would fail in February, 2017:

”Some kids were playing around, some were just sitting on fences, but the smart and very intelligent ones were selling lemonade.”

Katie Hamilton sharing a recent spiritual insight:

“He taught me that it is ok to be a Mary instead of a Martha. It is ok to just sit at the feet of Jesus and not feel guilty for not being busy with tasks for Him.”

Luke Selby giving a nuanced explanation of a special sort of surprise:

”Most surprises are comprised of two main progressions, an inhale and an exhale. The inhale is the height or climax, and it is the quintessentially brief moment of a surprise. The exhale is the resolution–the breakthrough when the person subject to the surprise becomes aware of what just happened. I say “most surprises” because of a special kind of surprise. These can take years to get a reaction, and the height and resolution happen at essentially the same time. These are my favorite kind of surprises. I’ll share my favorite example.”