Lent (Like...from the dryer?)

Hahahahahahahaha - is what I'm thinking as I write this right now. I just had the most amazing "dumb blonde conversation with someone about Lent.

I'm not going to name them, because they would be very embarrassed. But I was on the phone earlier with them, and for some reason we got on the subject of Christian holidays. So, knowing that Lent started today, I asked them "Are you going to observe Lent?" They paused for a second, and then asked me in a completely serious tone: ''Like, from the dryer?" Insert really long laugh, making them feel like an idiot, and you have one really funny story. Anyways, that's my segway into my thoughts about Lent.

As many of you know, Lent is a part of a Christian's year when they chose to give up a certain aspect of their life that really isn't helping them, and most likely is harming them, in order to better focus on God. I gave up pizza one year, soda another, and video games more recently. Through all those years, it's really given me self-discipline that's lasted until this day. I gave up pizza and soda, because I was beginning to get unhealthy, making me feel like crap, therefore blaming God that I wasn't feeling like I should be all the time. I gave up video games because...well...you know what happens when a guy plays too many video games. People start to hate him, and he loses all contact with reality. Lame. By giving up those three things in the past, I've been able to become a better person.

THAT'S what Lent is all about. Kinda. Lent is supposed to focus your mind on God, and by giving up something that has gotten in your way, you can now have more room for God. God is supposed to take our whole lives. More like we're supposed to give Him our whole lives. Lent is an awesome chance to help out with that. Each year, focus on something that if getting in the way of God, and cut that out of your daily life. each time you think about that one thing, just tell God simply "thanks for taking this out of my life, so that I can focus on you more."

Now don't think it's going to be easy. If it's easy, then you cheated, and picked something that really didn't matter in the first place. The whole idea behind Lent is that you're making a sacrifice. You're sacrificing a worldly idea, possession, practice, what have you, to focus on the Eternal Father. What's going to matter in 200 years from now - soda or God?

You see, God is there for you through everything that's going on, so when you're in your weak moments during Lent, it's a GREAT opportunity to ask God to help you. We all become so dependent on ourselves that we miss the fact that God is the one who really matters, and when God is in the picture, then we are able to accomplish a lot more than when we're on our own. Simple, really.

So this Lent season (it's not too late to start!!) just give something that you see is in the way of you and God. Don't think of it right now, pray about it and God will show you something. You know it's the one thing you won't want to give up when all of the sudden, this happens:

"What's getting in the way of my relationship with God? Food, clothing? It's not shopping is it, God, please not shopping. It can't be shopping. I swear it doesn't get in the way. ANYTHING BUT SHOPPING!!!"

You need to give up shopping, if that's the case. Insert whatever thing in here that is eating at you, and you get my point. If it's something that you really don't want to give to God, then it's the one thing that you need to give up for Lent.

Just trust God with it!

Apple...LOL

I love Apple computers, and the company for that matter. It creates edgy things, appeals to the younger generation, and creates amazingly good products. With the introduction of the iPad, it shows us that we're just coming closer and closer to Star Trek reality.

Yes, I'm a Trek-y. Not hardcore go to conventions and spend all my money on silly outfits that the World finds weird and uncomfortable to look at, but if it's on TV, I'll probably stop what I'm going to catch an episode.

As a little kid I always thought that all those buttons and devices were pretty amazing. I would set up my mom's typewriter, find a few calculators around the house, borrow a couple old phones, and put them all on a desk in the family room in the back of the house and pretend that I was in charge of my own star-ship. Silly right? Well I didn't think so, I was a kid. So leave me alone!! (just kidding)

As technology progresses, everything in those star-ships are becoming a possibility, some slow, other fast, but they are arriving one by one. Take the iPad again for example: remember the captain signing off on certain orders on notebook-sized device? Enter iPad. It has iWork, Apple's word processing. spreadsheet, and presentation available for $10 each on the iPad through their app store.

Each time you go into the grocery store and DON'T have to open the door, it's like you're stepping through a door on the Enterprise, but without the cool "swoosh" sound effect. But nonetheless, they are there. Doctors have now started using needle-less injection instruments, and we can't forget the walkie-talkie cell phone, that, back in the early Star Trek days, would have been so futuristic people would have thought it was a fake plastic toy "communicator." Finally, you can even buy a voice-activated light switch that will turn your lights on and off on command, and even respond with a computer's voice.

I'm just waiting for apple to come out with the iCar (there are no rumors about this, I'm just saying it would be totally awesome). Think about it - a car that you could probably turn on and off, roll down the windows, turn on the heater or AC, and lock and unlock - all with your iPhone. crazy. What if they started branching into other things like household appliances?? Dream big, Apple, we're all waiting.

Well, all this to say that there are some pretty cool things out there today, and a lot we can do. I'm excited to see what the future has in store for us in 5 years. I'm actually going to make a list of things that I would like to see happen in 5 years, and I'll post it later. You should make one too. This isn't one of those "things I want to change about myself" lists, it's a FUN list. Just jot down a few cool tech-y things that you want to see in the next 5 years, and then look back on that list and see where it stands.

Number

Lots of people I talk to are telling me that the quality of things in America have started to suffer.


"People don't care much anymore."

"I'm not a special customer."

"All of the sudden, I'm just a purchase number."

And your point? Isn't that what we've always wanted? Over the years we have cried out for things to be faster. We have pushed for self chekout lines at stores, insist on using the drive through window even though we have enough time to go into the store, and we complain when our dry cleaning isn't ready in 5 hours.

America, this system that you have created is YOUR fault! If you wanted things to be all about you, then you needed to have given some thought about making everything more personalized. If you want someone to remember your name, you have to give them time. Let them talk to you, let them put facts to a face. If you just want to hurry through your day and get everything instantly, then you're going to have to put up with just being another number.

We created computers so that our lives would be faster. With computers, everything seemed better. But now look:

In the taco bell line, you're given an order number.

In the DMV office, you're given a waiting number.

When you shop online, you're given tons of different purchase and tracking numbers.

At universities, you're given a student ID number.

Banks give us routing and account numbers.

We all have different license numbers.


This number system isn't their fault, it's the fault of a society that has evolved a need for speed, literally. Keep this little fact in your mind: we say that humans aren't machines. Tu

Slowing down is hard to do, I know. But if you try is sometime, then you will probably find that, though your numbers will always be there due to the set up of our current system, the number itself won't matter so much anymore.

I go to a local coffee shop quite often. Most of the time, I'll stay and talk with the barista (no, it is NOT Starbucks) for at least a good 10-20 minutes. Seems like a lot of wasted time, right?

Time is only wasted on things that don't really matter. You have to chose what matters, then you will find that you've wasted no time at all.

Trust

There has been a lot on my mind recently. Lots of new developments in the area of "the future of my life" have been popping up all over the place, it's almost become overwhelming. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't know what one to choose and which ones to turn down!

This brings up a great point that everyone should be able to get from life. Trust is a huge deal when making life changing decisions. Why? Well because the future is unpredictable, we all know that. The only way that we can keep going is by putting trust in things. Trust in family and friends to remain by our sides, trust that the laws of nature will hold up (and hold us down to the earth), trust that when we choose to do something, it will turn out in a way that is close to what we expect, and most of all, trust in God to be faithful on His Word about being by our side 24/7.

I've had to put a lot of trust out there recently, as I still have no clue what I'm going to be doing after I graduate. Granted, I still have a year left after this semester is up, but for me and my personality, not knowing about huge events like this way in advance really gets to me.

I've had great conversations with God, with my parents, friends, co-workers, and employers about what I'm going to be doing. I'll spare you with all the details, because my main reason for writing this is because I wanted to share thoughts and verses about trust and about the future that my parents have shared with me.

The first verse that Mom gave to me is from Jeremiah 29:11-13. It reads

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

This verse is awesome, because it lets us know that God is in control of everything. When we don't know what tomorrow holds, He does. And the best part is that He does what's best for us (even though it may not seem like it). He won't make us do something that's destructive to ourselves, because He thinks "thoughts of peace and not evil." The part of the verse that really gets to me is when God tells us that when we call on Him, He will LISTEN!! When we seek after Him, we will FIND HIM!! I'm not saying that God is going to appear in physical form, we actually have to look. Enter the part of the verse about "seeking." If we just lay around waiting for God to show up, we're not going to know how He comes to us, because we're not looking for Him. But if we actively seek Him out, we will find the answers we want. Just keep in mind that not every answer will be instant, and not every answer will be exactly like we think it will be (most likely than not, it won't be).

The second verse Mom shared with me is from Proverbs 3:5.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Again, God is telling us that He will guide us down the path that is right for our lives. The great thing about scripture is God tells us the same things multiple times, but always in different ways. It's as if He knows that we won't get it the first time. The part of this verse I like is "not on your own understanding." Why? Here's the deal. God is and always will be. He knows everything about us, and knew everything about us before he created a drop of rain, a grain of sand, and a cell of a plant. He knows what's going to happen tomorrow. So by using this knowledge, it seems crazy and down right stupid to make decisions based on our own experiences alone. Yes, we will use what has happened to us to make choices, that's what the whole life experience is about. But we also have to lean on God, who knows infinitely everything about the Universe to help us see the things that we can't.

Now it's Dad's turn to help me out. He gave me 1 Corinthians 14:33

"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace....."

Wow! God is telling us right here that He doesn't want to confuse us. Why? Great question. Let me make an illustration about sheep and shepherds. We've all been through this before, but let's take a look at this relationship from a different angle. A shepherd guides his sheep to a certain place to graze, and certain place to drink water. What would happen if he confused his sheep by scattering them all over the place, took them to rocky soil, and made them drink salty water without warning? Those would be some very confused sheep. They wouldn't know if they could trust the shepherd anymore to lead them to the right places (granted, sheep aren't the smartest animals and we could get into a debate about sheep brain capacity, but just work with me here). The sheep would start leaving the flock to look for their own food, their own leadership, and their own paths to water. Those sheep wouldn't last long. It's the same way with God. He's not going to take us down some useless dead end road, and He's sure as not going to give us something that will harm us in any way. Though it may SEEM confusing at the time, we still have to remember that God does everything for a reason , and his reasons are good and sound, not horrible and confusing.

Through these verses, it's easy to trust God. I know that at times in your life you get discouraged, and want to just throw everything down the drain. Life will get like that, and that's just something we have to deal with. The main solution to conquering frustration is to be in constant prayer with God, and constant communication with Him through The Word. You're not in this World alone, though at times it may appear that way. Your friends and family may abandon you and you could possibly even be rejected by society. I'm not saying that's going to happen tomorrow, so don't get scared. But if that ever happens to you, or if you ever think that you can't get through something that's happening in your life, let me give you a verse of my own that I love and cherish. It's a classic, found in Philippines 4:13, but a never failing arm to lean on:

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me..."

Christ came and died so that we may live. He suffered through this World just like us. Yes, He was sinless, and yes He is one with God. But the most important part of this is that we can understand that Christ knows what it's like to cry, to hurt, to laugh, to live, to learn, and to die. We lean on Christ to get us a free ticket into heaven (which is a miracle in of itself), and we can also lean on Him to get us through this life and into the next. Just ask Christ for strength, and He'll give it to you in some (constructive) form or another.

Thank you for reading this extra long post. I just felt that it was definitely worth writing down, since it has got me through this seemingly hard time. If God can get the enslaved Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, he can most certainly find something for me to do after I finish my schooling at FPU. May God bless you, and may you learn to lean on Him everyday for everything.

Haiti

I feel the need to create an additional post today in honor of Haiti.

Haiti has been a broken country for a long time now - politically, religiously, and now geographically.

Even though it is said that 80% of Haitians professed some sort of Christian faith, still over half the population also professed that they practice Haitian Voodoo, a religion that spawns from African Voodoo, but is also mixed with Roman Catholicism. It centers around admonition of the dead, but incorporates other aspects such as a head god in charge of other smaller gods.

Haiti has had major issues with it's government in recent years. With the return of Aristide to the presidency in 2000, Haiti's politics turned downhill. Aristide's campaign was marked with accusations of corruption, and in 2004, Aristide was thrown from his seat in what is known as the 2004 Haiti Rebellion. Brought on by rumors of election fraud, various murders, and Aristide's demands that France pay Haiti $21 billion US dollars, brought great public unrest. The US intervened and brought Aristide out of Haiti, though they were accused by Aristide himself of kidnapping the unpopular president. The United Nations sent in a peacekeeping force that has remained in Haiti to this day.

And not many in our generation will be able to forget the devastating earthquake loacted right ouside the capital Port-au-Prince on January 12th. Thousands have died, bodies line the streets, and are piled in makeshift cemetaries. The living search the piles and piles of dead, trying to find loved ones. Others are desperately still searching the rubble in hopes to find those close to them still alive. Many nations have sent relief groups, but that doesn't even come close to helping mend the grief that the Haitian people are feeling.

So why does something like this happen to a country already broken? We cannot tell. there is no logical explaination. All we know is that God is out there, and God will help the people of Haiti. Knowing that God does everything for a reason is slightly comforting right now, but at the same time, we still have to ask the question why? Is it because they need to see the need of a savior? Is this a possible Sodom and Gomorah lesson for Haiti? We can't tell, because we can't see into the future.

There are many organizations that are in Haiti right now helping. Here are a few of them. Click on their names to be directed to their websites:

World Vision
Samaratin's Purse
Google
Help Haiti Now
NY Daily News (Lots of other Links to websites with information)

I don't care if you don't have lots of money to help out. A donation of 5 dollars feeds people in impoverished Africa for days at a time. Think now what $5 can do for those who just lost everything but the small scraps of torn clothing on their backs. I know donating to large organizations can seem unpersonalized, but does that matter? If we're really truely helping, do we NEED to get credit for everything we do? Do we NEED people to see us donating money?

Please pray and give what you can. Haiti needs us right now, and we need Haiti.

Worried Too Much

So Life is supposed to be fun. That's what they all tell us. Life is supposed to be long. They tell us that too. They also tell us that life is unexpected. It can end at any moment. So why are we worried? If life is supposed to be long, but we can die at any moment, not knowing what moment that is, then why do we worry? This baffles me.

I worry about losing those that I love. What I don't do, however, is worry about the day that I die. Why? Well for one thing, nothing left here on earth is going to matter after I die. That's probably the other reasons too.

I find it hilarious (in a sick sense) that people today worry so much about what they eat to the point that it kills them. The problem there isn't the food that they had eaten, it was the worry. Scientists are always coming out with breaking news about how something is no longer healthy for you. Most of those situations happen to old methods or products that were once generally thought healthy for you. For example: sweetener was supposed to help people lose weight. It took away all the "bad stuff" that real sugar contained. Now it is said to cause cancer. So basically, people have spent all this time making sure that they all use sweetener instead of real sugar, just to find out that they might have health problems because of it. More worry arises.

What I'm trying to get at is the fact that we as people worry woo much about how we live that they miss every opportunity to actually live.

You get it? Great.

I challenge everyone to scale back on their worry. Yes, you can still count calories if you're trying to live healthy. Yes, you can still fret every now and then over a big job promotion. But if the worry is starting to get in the way of friends, family, and most importantly, God, then I'm pretty sure it's time for you to give up on whatever it is you're worrying about and start to focus on life.

Family

I love the word family. It connects to feelings of belonging, love, connected-ness, care, and many many other good warm feelings.

But the best part? You have more than one family.

I have my family that I was born into. My mom's family and my dad's family. All together they make one great big support center of love, respect, advice, and concern. We do things like pray for each other, laugh, cry, learn, spend time at family reunions, birthday parties, christmas, and adventures in life lessons. We are there for the more personal situations. The deep, life altering decisions of careers, spouses, and choosing which path to take in life. They give me wisdom, they teach me things about life that I haven't yet been able to realize and discover for myself. They give me warnings. And most important of all, they are just there. There to listen, there to talk, there to love, there to live alongside of me.

Then I have my family of friends. We also laugh, learn, cry, and go through things together. This family of friends I can relate to on a different level, however. They are my age, they're going through the exact same things as I am, at the same times. My parents and grandparents have great, sound advice in hindsight view. However, my family of friends will help me see things in a different light than my parents. Why? Because they are part of my generation of thought. There is nothing wrong with my parent's thought, but there is the fact that they can't relate to my generation as well as I can.

Then there is the greatest family of them all. I'm part of a family of the dead and the living. At first, that sounded gruesome to me, just thinking about it. But let me explain. Since time began there was God, and God has a family. There are members of that family that lived thousands of years ago. There are members of that same family living today. Christ's family, God's family, will one day be united together in heaven, a new heaven, better than the one now. What's better than heaven? Just wait. I find it just awesome that I'm going to be able to talk to Joseph, to Moses, to Adam, to the prophets, to the original disciples. I find it amazing that I'll be able to sit at the same table as my Savior, and worship God in person, face to face. What an amazing opportunity to be part of a global family.

So there's family. Pure, honest family. No matter what kind of family situation you are in, there is always a family that you can belong to. You just have to find it. And really, it's not that hard.

As a closing thought: When I go home to my parent's and brother's house, I sleep better than anywhere else. Why? I feel safe, comfortable, and at HOME.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28