Sick

So, on Tuesday I felt a scratchiness at the back of my throat and didn't pay it much attention. By Tuesday night, I had a full-on drip, fever, and headache, and when I woke up on Wednesday, I knew the day was shot. So Major Tylenol and I bunkered up in my room and waged war against the common cold with orange juice, oatmeal, and LOTS of water. After 11 hours of sleep last night, I'm feeling much better today and decided to give the Major leave as of about an hour ago. Hopefully I won't regret that in a few hours.

The one nice thing about being sick is that you appreciate the little things in life a lot more, like the ability to walk to class without getting winded. It's also slowed me down to take stock of my life at the moment, and to be honest, my priorities are seriously out of order. Too much leisure and not enough work getting done. Time to fix that.

Big Weekend

Class was canceled last Friday, so I used the extra time to head over to Vassar and catch up with my friends. A few of them kept mentioning a praise-and-worship night that might be happening that evening, and to be honest, I was hoping it wouldn't happen because I wanted to goof off and have fun while I was there. But it did happen, and I am super glad it did. It seems that worshipping God is going to be boring right up until you make up your mind to do it, and then the Holy Spirit kicks in and you find that you're enjoying yourself. It shouldn't be surprising--after all, worshipping God is our reason for existence!--and yet it usually is. So, consider yourself encouraged to praise the Lord.

My dad's 50th birthday was also just yesterday. I am living proof that your walk with God can (and probably will) drastically affect your child's walk with God; I know that the Bible contains everything we need to know about living for God, but my dad has always been a tangible plumbline. Thanks, Dad!

Reporting In

Not too much has been happening lately, but I'd rather consistently update with nothing than fall out of a still-forming habit. One professor in particular has been keeping me busy with multiple papers this week.

Speaking of work, one thing I've been thinking about a lot is procrastination. (Me and every other person with a pulse on this planet, I'm sure.) It was easy to do work this summer from 9-5 at my internship, but now that I'm back at school, it's far easier to put things off and just waste time. I believe it's because of accountability. At work, I was concerned about my supervisors or even a coworker catching me doing nothing productive, but no such check exists here. I talked to my dad about this, and he said that I just need to learn to make goals for myself and hold myself accountable to them. He also said that many people never master this, but it is the path to success.

I think the trick is remembering that God is always watching. You don't have to hold yourself accountable if you are aware that He will hold you accountable for everything you've ever done at the end of your life. The real trick then becomes to assign the proper weight to those consequences. People often have difficulty taking the hereafter seriously when the only experience we've had is life on this earth.

Anyway, food for thought. Time to get to work.

Time for a quick rant!

Sometimes trusting God is really, REALLY hard. I know I can't be the only one who feels like this. Sometimes, there's just this burning desire to have something NOW, and it might even be a good thing! But for whatever reason, it's not the right time or it will hurt your walk with God, so He denies it.

Whenever I feel like this, I often imagine what God must be thinking. I picture Him, looking at me with a mixture of sympathy, love, and wisdom. He says something along the lines of:

"I understand. I know that you want this, and I would love nothing more than to see you happy. But I can see further than you, and I know what this will lead to. Please, accept my judgment on this. Trust me. And I promise you that one day, you will look back on this moment, and see how much better everything turned out because you obeyed. And when that day comes, you will also gain an experience to draw on for encouragement the next time something like this comes up!"

Then, He gives me a fatherly hug, and says, "I love you. Hang tough, ok?"

Haha, alright. Feeling better now. :-)

"Pray and read your Bible!"

Before I went to college, one of the jokes my friends and I had was that whenever you were asked a question in Sunday school, the answer was always, "Pray and read your Bible!" What made it funny was that it was usually true. I've come to realize that it's actually a pretty good answer for anything pertaining to life.

What I'm driving at here is that if you aren't praying and reading your Bible on at least a daily basis, you are seriously missing out on a lot that God has to offer. I'm not saying that I consistently do, but when I do, life is easier to live for God, and that always leads to good things.

I'm writing about this because I am getting back into reading my Bible after a few weeks of not being consistent with it, and it feels good! Prayer is something I continue to struggle with. It isn't something that comes naturally to me, but I will keep trying.

On Vows and Vanity

I found some great Scriptures in Ecclesiastes this morning. Usually, when I think of that book of the Bible, I get depressed, given the author's overall tone. I, personally, am a big fan of life, so I don't appreciate how pessimistic the author's opinion of it seems. But as I read it, I realize that the author isn't belittling life, but pointing out the things within it that can cause us to belittle it ourselves.

Anyway, onto the Scriptures. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (linked in the sidebar) strikes a chord within me. I know it seems obvious, but it convicts me, as I know I have made specific promises to God in the past and broken them (e.g., "Lord, I promise that I will always/never do X."). We should take any vow that we make with God as seriously as life and death, because in Old Testament times, that's how serious it often was! I know that Jesus says that we are to let our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no," but at least for me, a vow can be a serious deterrent towards temptation. Still, I have learned that if you do make a vow, make certain you can fulfill it. Add a penalty that you KNOW you can pay if you fail to keep the main stipulation. This way, even if you fall, you are not in danger of breaching a contract with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 was interesting as well. I had to read it a few times before I got what it was saying, but eventually it clicked: if we are consumed with how we appear to others, we will spend our money and time on things we really don't need (or even want, in some cases). I'm not saying it's wrong to have nice things, but being wrapped up in having the best or the latest at all times is sure to end badly. At least, that's how I interpret it. I thought it was interesting that a vice that in some ways defines America was identified by Solomon thousands of years ago! Just proof that the Bible continues to be pertinent today.

Anyway, stuff to think about.