Not that I don't want to actually write blog posts, but these do cover a decent deal of what I'm going through and are just as personal (or more personal) as the other posts. Here's another excerpt from an assignment I think you might enjoy:

The first story is about an encounter I had last Friday with Florence, the mat maker who works in front of our house:

Last Wednesday I trudged home angry and anxious because the notebook I’ve copiously copied notes into for the past month of school went missing. All sorts of disparaging thoughts flooded my mind and built an immensely overdone reaction to my loss, slowly infecting my posture, attitude, and outlook in everything. All I could think about was how hours of prep work and class notes gone would affect the giant Literature paper due in a week and my performance on midterms. These thoughts festered into a dramatic onslaught of depressing scenarios which suppressed any and all efforts to be pleasant. Pessimism reeked havoc on my spirit and plunged me into all around apathetic despair. I made no eye contact with anybody during my walk home and secluded myself at home through homework and expressionless actions. I was haunted by my poor reaction to something so trivial and how quickly it affected my relationships, bringing into question my desire and capability to serve cross culturally. Could I really love others, especially of another culture, if I am so easily shaken and unable to get past my love of self?
As the effect wore off, I began to forget about some of the questions that arose. While walking to school Friday I was jovially greeted by Florence, who I had spent about an hour learning how to make mats from the weekend prior. I was encouraged by our developing friendship and hoped it would continue, but something was different about her greeting. Her joy caught me off guard and immediately brought me back to my condition on Wednesday. Her recognition of me was uplifting and gave me the courage that despite my failures, God’s provision of grace was enough that I could fall in love with these people. Her smile was a miracle I desperately needed.
This experience illuminated a deep truth within me; a truth that Byant Myers notes in his chapter Poverty and the Poor. He uses Robert Chambers’ classifications of biases that development workers often have, one which I saw exemplified in my poor reaction to loosing my notebook: dominance. Chambers describes it as the desire all of us feel to be superior to others manifested through our tendency to derive our identity from things that we do or have, such as being able to read, write things down, and understand and express complex concepts efficiently and effectively. I realized that this comprises a major part of who I am and is the source of a lot of my security and identity, as is obvious after the representative object of good chunk of my worth disappeared resulting in me beginning to crumble; questioning my success as a student and even my professional aspirations. If I ever hope to work in development or alongside the poor, understanding and addressing this bias of dominance in my life is a must.

I was also reminded of Shane Claiborne’s emphasis on the importance of “seeing the squat houses and tent cities and hungry children,” proposing that it is only when we are present with the poor, as Jesus was, will we be transformed. He adds that the truth of the church identity is only found when the church lives close to those who suffer. By intentionally spending time learning how to make a mat with Florence I was establishing a relationship that would not only bless me, but allow me to experience God in a transformative manner. Had I not spent the time with her, her smile may not have been the same, and its miraculous effect on my attitude and outlook may never have happened. God, in all his goodness and foresight, knew what it would take to transform my lowly state, and used the willing investment of my time to learn how to make a mat to touch me when I needed it most. God took the seed I had planted and developed it to nourish and transform me; to give me life.