Life Interrupted By Life

This last week you could say that my life was very much interrupted. Last Wednesday (May 11) I got word that my grandmother had passed away, and while it wasn't totally unexpected news to me it did come sooner than I had expected it to. I had been enjoying a much needed mini-vacation from all the work I had been doing earlier this year and this news changed the non-plans I had quite quickly. Instead of me sitting back and enjoying my time off and catching up on some video projects for church that had been pushed to the back burner I was forced to make a 20+ hour drive up to Pennsylvania with my brother and spend my days running around helping complete everything that was necessary for the funeral. 


Now it would be very easy for me to be quite angry and upset at all this because my plans had been interrupted and I was forced to put in much more work than I had been planning to this past weekend, but I'm not. I'm glad that my life was interrupted like this because it forced me to reevaluate the direction that my life is headed and the some of the choices that I am making in heading that direction. My life being interrupted was a very good thing in this case.

Rules

I've been reading Psalm 119 over the past few days (it's so long it warrants a two day reading in my opinion) and it occurred to me that the psalmist is quite joyed at the fact that God had given rules for him to obey; he is excited that there are rules! His attitude seemed very strange to me at first because I myself do not get excited about following rules usually; I certainly follow them, but I don't think to myself, "Woohoo! I get to follow rules! Yeah!" As I thought about it some though I realized that this should be my attitude.

Back and out of body

It has been a while since I actually posted something due to my being so incredibly busy; not because I had forgotten or lost interest in this project. 


Being really busy will do a lot of things to you, a lot of bad things. This last semester I have been working 2 jobs along with taking a full course load (4 courses + 1 independent study from last semester), which has left me little time for being me. When your entire life consists of moving from one task to the next you tend to lose touch with yourself and instead become like a robot who only completes tasks. So now that I've had time to relax a little it has been like having an out-of-body experience in a way: I will do something, find it enjoyable, and think to myself, "Wow, this is really fun! Did I like doing this before? Oh yeah, I did like doing this before, I remember now!" These sorts of experiences have been cool; they remind of all the unique gifts that God has blessed me with.

Things I Learned in Texas

This last week I got an opportunity to visit the great state of Texas. I've only been there once really and I'm already calling it great? Great. Anyway, I went to visit Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) where I am considering attending after I finish with USF this summer. I learned a few things about Texas, DTS, and myself during the trip.

Becoming

When I woke up today I was dreading all the work that I would have to do today. I was hoping to have nothing to do today and enjoy the day off, but instead ended up with a list of things that I needed to accomplish. As I was lying in bed, not wanting to get out because I knew that it would mean I actually had to start the day and be productive, I was wondering what  the point of doing all this work was. In a few years I won't care about the grades I got this semester or how much I accomplished at work, so why do I put so much effort into doing these things? Why not just take the day off? After all I did wake up tired today, I could use a day off.


Far be it from me though to possibly be able to justify such a stance towards work for very long. 

Love Story #1

So in honor of Valentine's Day I figured that I would write a little love story. Love is one of the greatest things that we can experience as humans and so I wanted to hopefully honor that by writing a little story. For now the title is Love Story #1, very creative I know. You will notice that it is very much written from the perspective of a man, and more specifically my own personal one. I didn't feel up to the task of providing the point of view of the woman and because of that I feel the story is incomplete in a way. So if someone feels up to the task of providing the woman's point of view that would be awesome. Actually that might be a good creative exercise now that I think about it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Valentine's Day Rant

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I've been thinking about how retailers make a big deal out of this holiday and why for some reason this holiday is such a big deal (for couples anyway) in our culture. Why is it that people feel the need to celebrate their love for each other on this one day? What is wrong with all the others days of the year? Are those other days not good enough or something?