Tuesday, March 10, 2009

IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG

It has been too long -- far too long -- since my last post. In many
ways, I have been living out great adventures that have been really
good for my soul, and in other ways, I have been far too lazy and
neglecting the things that matter most to me. I have been so lazy
lately that I have felt like I have no time to write. I remember back
to my time at APU when I had barely four hours of sleep but still made
time to consider my thoughts about life and write them down. Here I
sit now, making time, but for a different reason. Freeing myself from
writing out of a sense of duty and purpose, I can now write out of
sheer pleasure in pursuit of the excellence that makes me feel alive.

So how do I capture the last few months? They have escaped my pen, or
rather my keyboard. The storyteller in me wants to write it all down,
record it, narrate it and fit it into a chapter in my life -- but the
thinker in me would rather leave these months blank, a mystery to
anyone caring to notice. The truth is that these have been a few of
the darkest months in my life, but I am blessed. I have never had so
much to worry about, but never have I worried less. Perhaps it is
ignorance, perhaps it is hope. Well whatever bliss this is, I am
blessed.

My work is easy, too easy. I am not challenged at all. The biggest
challenge I face is telling people they have to wait another 5 minutes
to use their fast pass, or deciding whether or not to hit the ride-
stop button because someone is floating their banana in the elevator
shaft. I was offered an interview to be a trainer... I am capable of
so much more and I hope they realize that. I have my eyes on so many
bigger things. I want to do great things, but I have no idea where to
start. I have no idea what I want to do. All the things that
interest me seem to require vast sums of money or years and years of
experience (which I have neither). I hate being confined, and I feel
in some ways that my life is a poorly constructed prison begging to be
sprung.

It has been too long since I have seen my family. It has been too
long since I have felt close kinship with a stranger. It has been too
long since I have been to church. It has been too long since I have
felt comfortable and assured. It has been far too long since I have
done anything worth remembering. It has been far too long since I
have felt a sense of purpose of my life, and it has been far too long
since I have thought about serving anyone but myself. Maybe though,
this time has simply been preparation time... time for me to prepare
my life for great purpose.

I am stuck on one question. If I could only answer that question, my
whole life would be answered. I would have no fear because I could
stop wondering about it and finally do it. The question is "where do
I start?" The idea that keeps me fascinated, however, is that by
answering that question, I will have taken all the mystery out of
life. "What I was born to do?" is perhaps a question better
considered in the end. If I could pick an answer now though, I would
say I was born to go on great adventures. It has been far too long
since I had an adventure.

Here I sit now, writing as I always love, trying to find a reason not
to beat myself up over the selfishness and the laziness I have
experienced these last few months. All my thoughts have revolved on
trying to get a better job, to boost myself up to somewhere new, to
find a career, and the funny thing is that I haven't spent more than
an hour tending to my heart, or cultivating my soul. The good news
is, the times: they are 'a changing.

Why am I committing myself to change? Simply put, it has been too long.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

ANYTHING

I'd give anything to be with you. You have my heart, and as much as I
wish you did not, I just don't think i'll ever get over you.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover.


-Mark Twain

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I AM ON MY WAY

Sometimes I hear a song, and its message sounds so much like my life, that I begin to wonder if it was written about me--as if moments of my life sat suspended in fancy picture frames on the song writer's desk.  Now obviously I don't really believe that, but I am still struck by the frequency at which songs that especially comment on the current and flow of my life occur.  Lately, I have been feeling very discouraged about so many things, and yet I still have hope.  


I am on my way,
I can go the distance,
I don't care how far,
somehow I'll be strong
I know every mile
will be worth my while
I would go most anywhere
to feel like I belong.

"Go the Distance" from Walt Disney Pictures' Hercules.
Lyrics by David Zippel.


I am on my way, and I can go the distance.  With God by my side, I will be strong.  For me, the difference is that I know where and to who I belong.  To God, my creator.  In many ways, it assures me that all these feelings of not belonging to this world are not supposed to surprise or discourage me, but remind me of the awesome power by which, and for who, I was made.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

I know that as a good 'ol Christian boy I ought to be rejoicing in my
trials and hardships, but at this moment comfort and joy are strangers
to me. It perplexes me that I feel differently than I want to, and
differently then I know I should. All my hardships boil down to money
right now, and what is money? "Sparrows..." my friends say to me with
a stroke of shortsighted genius--a reference to the birds of the
fields that God provides for. I know that I am so loved by God, and I
know he is by my side, but right now I am not comforted by that. What
a shame, too.

I want nothing more than to trust God. It has taken me time to
realize that I really do not trust God. I say I do, I want to, I
believe I should, and I want nothing more... but both God and I know
that by my actions I refuse to let go of my faith in what I can do.
With every breath I take, I hate this constant struggle to
relinquish. I know the right answers, I say the right prayers, and
while my heart is wrong I all the while picture God at my side smiling
because he knows what he has in store for me.

How do we "consider it pure joy" when every part of us just wants to
be free of all hardship. Then I realize the futility of such
thought. When is Life ever kind, easy, and hardship free? I suppose
it is these times of hardships that refine us and make us who we are,
but I wish I could be a little more joyful about it. I wish I was
stronger, I wish I was wiser, and I just wish I could fix everything
that is wrong with my life and this world... and then the perpetual
lightbulb of an idea suddenly ignites a brilliant light in the chaos
of my inner turmoil:

I have an "I" problem.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

THE RICHNESS OF YOUR GLORY

I think I am like most people, who put God into a little box where we
call on him whenever life gets a little hiccup or a distress becomes
too inconvenient to deal with alone. God is so much more than that,
and wants us to experience a richness of life that may not be easier,
but will certainly be fuller.

Tonight was the Christmas Eve service at church, and for the first
time ever we had the service at 11 pm. I was dreading it at first,
but then I found out some great friends whom I haven't seen in way too
long were coming and I got really excited. At Church, I recognized so
many family friends that it really made me very happy. For a family
christmas that almost didn't happen, this is sure turning out so far
to be a great Christmas (I feared I would be scheduled to work).

Tonight during the service I began thinking about why God goes so far
to reach out to us. We must be pretty special. Just looking around
at the world we discover an entire universe full of complex designs
and structures created by God for what appears to be one purpose:
life. Our very existence is as statistically probable as the chances
of gravity suddenly reversing on it's own accord. God created this
whole realm as an act of revelation of himself and his glory, and I
cannot help but notice the richness of it all. We are little more
than specks of dirt in time, and yet this universe exists solely as a
home for us.

God loves us very much indeed. It's all for his glory... and how rich
that glory is!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

CONSEQUENCE

Consequences, repercussions, outcomes--I am the kind of man who is
always careful about what he sows so that I may only reap the best
harvest. I am at a point where there are so many possible and
pressing choices that I am starting to wonder if I am going about it
all wrong. Maybe my time would be more fruitful if I made a choice
and then dealt with the consequences as it comes. Maybe that is just
as foolish.

I live my life so cautiously at times. It would be a lie for me to
deny that I am a calculative person; taking risks only when the
opportunity is destiny. I would say that this has not worked badly
for me, but I feel like something is missing.

Maybe I just need to dive deep. Make my choices and then stand by
them. What is this life, after all, if not a tiny finite moment
barely celebrated for but a moment? If I only live once (here) then
perhaps I should be a better steward of what God has blessed me with.


Whatever cost, whatever pain,
I'd like to think I'd follow you anywhere
Prepare this heart for whatever mission