Get Up 'N Go

I went to Nashville this weekend to visit a favorite friend. Actually, four of us went. We got back today just in time for me to make it to work. We were really cutting it tight with leaving at 6am on a 9 hour trip on a day when two of us had to be at work at 3pm. I literally got into town, hopped in my car, and drove right to work. I wish I could have showered or at least changed clothes, but alas, I work in radio and no one can see my pitiful state.

I'll be honest, the 18 hours on the road made for a very short weekend in Nashville, but the trip was worth it. In two short days I got lost three times, became re-acquainted with good old downtowon Nashville, had a man fly right over my head in an acrobat show, got a nasty blister on my right foot from my flop (had it been my left foot, I would have a blister from my flip). I worshiped under the same roof as Bob Herdman (former Audio Adrenaline member), had too much sweet tea, and met Princess Athena at the Parthenon (of Nashville, of course).

I guess it was a pretty adventurous weekend. It's good to know I still have some getup 'n go in me. Maybe there's still hope for the future.

The Story Life Is

Ever since I could counsciously decide to do so, I've been striving to live life deliberately---to be fully aware of my behavior and attitudes and to find ways to live not for myself, but for God and those around me. Lately, though, I feel like I've put my life on hold, like I'm waiting for something. Well, I haven't REALLY put it on hold, I'm still in school and I'm traveling as much as possible, I'm doing the things I like to do and I'm even being a bit adventurous. But in my head, I'm on hold.

I'm at that point in my life and I think I'm subconsciously (yet semiconsciously) waiting for the story to start. You know, the love story. The story of my life and love. The problem is, even once I find my love and have a family and what not, I have the feeling I'll still have this paused feeling in my brain, because in every stage of life I'll have difficulties. I'll always be waiting for the true story to start. Why my tendency to think that life will be perfect once I'm in love? I know full well it won't be.

So I woke up today, determined to live a storied life. To do what I love doing; that which makes me tick. No more waiting for the love story to start, this IS my story. You know what? Today has been no different than yesterday.

Life When It Changes

When I was ten, it seemed like nothing would ever change. I would stay that way forever: living at Mom and Dad's, surviving the intricacies of elementary school, bunking with my younger sister, and "helping" my dad with his latest project. After all, there had never been any dramatic changes in my life. There was the occasional addition of a sibling here and there, but nothing too major.

Then something major happened, I moved away to college. While it was a change I had been anticipating and was ready for, I ended up resenting it for how hard it was. But, like every change in life, I coped with it and it's now a normal part of my life.

My life is completely different now. Then again, there are some things that haven't changed. I'm still surviving the intricacies of school, bunking with my little sister (but not at Mom and Dad's), and every now and then my dad still reels me in to help him with his latest project.

Life today resembles my life yesterday, it's familiar yet it's completely different. Odd thing is, I look forward to more changes. I'm ready to graduate from college, to have a career or a family, to get on the mission field. I'm ready for a change. I just hope I don't resent it when it comes.

New Way To Be Human

New Way To Be Human

I'm currently reading New Way To Be Human, by singer/songwriter, record producer, musician, and writer Charlie Peacock. Mr. Peacock takes an honest look at what it means to be what he calls "a student follower of Jesus". His point: don't settle for the status quo form of Christianity.

One of the things he addresses and that has come to my attention lately is the doubt to faith issue (or vice versa). I was recently chatting with a friend of mine. She's in her mid-twenties and has never had a boyfriend before. To her delight, she recently met a wonderful man and they're now a couple. Of course this new relationship brings only the joy and bliss of being in love, right? Wrong, there are also frustrations and doubts. It was precicely these doubts and frustrations that had her wondering if this was really the man for her. This dilemma got her thinking how every time she makes a decision, she begins worrying and wondering if she made the wrong decision. She has doubts.

We humans are silly like that, we doubt everything--every decision, every statement, every belief. Yet we want to have the Hebrews 11:1 faith, being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don't see. We get so frustrated with ourselves when we don't have this kind of faith. But when we think about it, doubt is what makes believing an act of faith. Mr. Peacock says:

It's time for Christians to recover from the illusion of personal objectivity and the posture of unflinching certainty in every regard. These are untenable positions. What we can say and do is hold to the Word of God as objective and absolute while confessing that our reflections on the Word are, by their very nature, relative and subjective. This is honest orthodoxy.

T.S. Elliot says, "Doubt and uncertainty are merely a variety of belief." Faith that is always certain and all-knowing is not really faith at all. It takes subjectivity, doubt, and uncertainty to make faith eminent.

What do you think?