Here I sit, pondering the huge "HOW?" as to how I ought to start this journal for any and all to see. I have always been told that when telling a story one should begin, naturally, at the beginning. Whereas with a journal one should compose whatever thoughts or feelings come to the surface. 
Now with a blog, being unsure of whether this will come out as a story or a journal, I am simply going to begin with some scribbles of thought and if we get lucky, the tidings may be of interest to the both of us.
In life we all have things we love to do. My guess is that each of us can name at least one thing in which we can lose all track of time because of the enjoyment we find partaking in that thing. All of us have passions for different things in life. One of us may lose himself with a fishing pole in hand while another may lose track of time within the pages of a good book. Someone may find pure enjoyment sitting solitary in front a sunrise while another may be invigorated surrounded by people and conversation abundent.
While there are many a thing that cause many of us to smile and many a thing in which we may lose ourselves, there too are the things we don't like. Someone may not like all the work required to spend a day fishing, while someone else may not like how long it takes to get through a book, whether it is good or not. Another may not appreciate rising early enough to see the sunrise, while someone else may not enjoy listening to so many around him. With everything in life, there are two ways to look at a situation.
As such, that is often how I looked at this blog. One of the reasons it was hard to begin was knowing the reason behind the beginning. While I know the obvious reasons for scribing my thoughts and journeys to come, it was difficult getting the motivation to commence this initiation into the technological journal world. You see, what comes in just a few weeks is the departure of all that is familiar for me and the arrival into my new world.
While this sounds more melancholy than intended, I do truly see the glass half-full in nearly all circumstances in life. In just 8 weeks, I will be embarking on a journey unknown to my feet. I will be living in a country different than my own and will be teaching in a school far away from many I love here in Minnesota. This blog has been created with the intention of bridging those in my life now with those in my life to come.
Now with a blog, being unsure of whether this will come out as a story or a journal, I am simply going to begin with some scribbles of thought and if we get lucky, the tidings may be of interest to the both of us.In life we all have things we love to do. My guess is that each of us can name at least one thing in which we can lose all track of time because of the enjoyment we find partaking in that thing. All of us have passions for different things in life. One of us may lose himself with a fishing pole in hand while another may lose track of time within the pages of a good book. Someone may find pure enjoyment sitting solitary in front a sunrise while another may be invigorated surrounded by people and conversation abundent.While there are many a thing that cause many of us to smile and many a thing in which we may lose ourselves, there too are the things we don't like. Someone may not like all the work required to spend a day fishing, while someone else may not like how long it takes to get through a book, whether it is good or not. Another may not appreciate rising early enough to see the sunrise, while someone else may not enjoy listening to so many around him. With everything in life, there are two ways to look at a situation.
As such, that is often how I looked at this blog. One of the reasons it was hard to begin was knowing the reason behind the beginning. While I know the obvious reasons for scribing my thoughts and journeys to come, it was difficult getting the motivation to commence this initiation into the technological journal world. You see, what comes in just a few weeks is the departure of all that is familiar for me and the arrival into my new world.
While this sounds more melancholy than intended, I do truly see the glass half-full in nearly all circumstances in life. In just 8 weeks, I will be embarking on a journey unknown to my feet. I will be living in a country different than my own and will be teaching in a school far away from many I love here in Minnesota. This blog has been created with the intention of bridging those in my life now with those in my life to come.
In all honesty, I am very excited about the ucoming 2 years in Mexico. Being immersed in a new culture, learning new ways of life, eating new foods, and traveling to see more of this world God created thrills me. It is part of who I am. When I mentioned earlier how we all have things we love in life, this teaching job in Mexico encompasses much of me. I thrive on meeting new people and am fascinated by the wealth of stories that reach my ears. Traveling and missions are great things for which I have been given much passion. But just as the things mentioned before, it comes with a flip side....goodbyes on the other end. Ugh, even saying the word makes me slightly cringe with the idea of actually having to follow through with the "Adios's" that will soon be happening. This is what has caused the hesitation in even beginning this blog....the dawning of this blog symbolizes the start of my new life and the end of this current comfortable life in Minnesota, right? And often I find myself not wanting to do something in order to help stall another step in life. This aspect of me comes out strongly in regards to farewells. I hardly thought about saying goodbye to people in college because I firstly was unsure of the "how" and secondly because I hope to see people again. And unfortunately or perhaps fortunately that is how I am feeling about the ta-ta to come in just a few weeks. 
As I think of this matter of delaying the inevetible even when I know it is going to happen and things could be better off if I just deal with them and continue, I have begun to ponder the possibility of treating my relationship with God the same way.
Though I know it is good to start off every day with God, it is not every day that it occurs. Though I know that it is good to lift up everything to Him in prayer, I still find myself worrying about tomorrow. Though I know that reading my Bible is important, its contents remains untouched for days at a time. Why is that? Why when I know so much do I allow so little to happen? What is it in me that postpones the leap of faith required to believe in God? There is no reason to wait, no reason to not do something because of fear of what is on the other side. And there is no benefit to knowing and not doing.
In the book of James we are urged to not only listen to the word of God, but do what it says. He goes on to say "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." (James 1:22-24) Though an obvious visual contradiction in those verses, it gravely is too often what I do. Rather than being half-hearted about my faith it is time that I be whole-hearted, focused on the doing and listening aspect. Instead of just knowing what I need to do, the words need to be put to action especially as I am Mexico bound. So here is the beginning of something new my friends...happy reading.
As I think of this matter of delaying the inevetible even when I know it is going to happen and things could be better off if I just deal with them and continue, I have begun to ponder the possibility of treating my relationship with God the same way.
Though I know it is good to start off every day with God, it is not every day that it occurs. Though I know that it is good to lift up everything to Him in prayer, I still find myself worrying about tomorrow. Though I know that reading my Bible is important, its contents remains untouched for days at a time. Why is that? Why when I know so much do I allow so little to happen? What is it in me that postpones the leap of faith required to believe in God? There is no reason to wait, no reason to not do something because of fear of what is on the other side. And there is no benefit to knowing and not doing.
In the book of James we are urged to not only listen to the word of God, but do what it says. He goes on to say "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." (James 1:22-24) Though an obvious visual contradiction in those verses, it gravely is too often what I do. Rather than being half-hearted about my faith it is time that I be whole-hearted, focused on the doing and listening aspect. Instead of just knowing what I need to do, the words need to be put to action especially as I am Mexico bound. So here is the beginning of something new my friends...happy reading.
1 comment:
we love you kiddo!
great blog!
be careful... in real life the fake stuff you water or feed actually grows and be consuming!
dad(and mom)
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