Saturday, November 22, 2008

Life.

When I first moved home, I thought that I would have a really hard time adjusting, and have to fight for a lot of stuff. But I had a really grace-full transition, I was welcomed with open arms by so many groups of people, and given homes in more than just my own, if that makes sense. I started working with the youth at church right away, so I had (have) an avenue to pour into people everything inside of me.

I have been home just over three months now, and this last week I have found myself struggling, really struggling. It seems that my fight is beginning now. I realized that my relationship with God has been severely lacking, apparently I thought I could live my life without Him, for a good part. Have I not learned better?

Everything seems to be finally hitting me, and it has not been easy. I have to initiate my relationship with God, I have to be the one to seek after him, to seek His presence daily. No one will do that for me, no one will hand that to me. The hardest part for me is no longer living in a community where we are all walking the same road, all understand each other so clearly. There was always someone to ask me how my relationship with God is going, always someone to offer to pray for me, always someone to encourage me, to challenge me. It was a two-way street, and this is the group of people I worked, lived, and played with.
I love the community I am in now, and am so grateful to everyone who has loved me, and who has become an intricate part of my heart, so please hear only what I am saying.
I just miss being around people who deeply understand me.

I know specifically that the Lord has me here, now, and I don't want to miss a minute of it, but how often am I worshiping the Lord in His splendor? I can do that anywhere, yet it lacks in my life lately.
There is a purpose for me being here, now, and I don't want to miss out, on any of that.

If you are reading this, I would love your prayers that I would have the discipline to stand firm in the love and all lessons I have learned in my time away and abroad.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Ponderings...

A few thoughts; not my own, exactly, but my heart is aligned...

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning


Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' ...