The Non-Negotiables

Lately my pastor has been talking about the importance of telling your story. We all have a story to tell, and when we take the time to really look at our stories, I think we would all find a similar theme: God's undying love working in the lives of humanity. It looks different in the life of every person, but He's there to be found if you search for him. All that to say, I thought perhaps it might be time to tell my story... I grew up with two parents who loved each other - as well as my sister and I - very deeply, who were both integrally involved in my upbringing, and who were able to provide for all of my needs during even the tightest and most strained seasons of our lives as a young family. Mom and Dad put Jenny and I through private education at our local church's school where we enjoyed the opportunity to have meaningful relationships with our teachers and with spiritual leaders. I always had someone to turn to, be it for help with my friendships, homework, or r...

They say that your character isn't made in the big moments of life - it's simply revealed in them. They say, rather, that your character is made in the little everyday, mundane, nothing moments: how do you treat your cat? What do you do in a minor ethical dilemma at the office? Who does your landlord say that you are? I don't have a cat, I'm still in school, and I live with my parents. Don't get me wrong - this is one hundred percent NOT a complaint! I've got a lot going on, and I am totally fulfilled, but this is a season of preparation and that means that a lot of the dreams and goals in life right now are like a plane in a holding pattern. I'm about to take off and soar into the unknown, but in the meantime, even the little everyday, mundane, nothing moments aren't what they'll be once I'm airborne. For now, my Life is in the Waiting. So who will I be in the waiting? Fearful?      Anxious?      Doubting?   ...

Wait wait wait!!! Don't run away - this is most definitely NOT one of my nerdy posts. Yes, it mentions organic chemistry, but I don't understand it enough to have any deep allegorical insights into the human condition after studying it. So you're safe. In fact, my lack of comprehension of this subject is what I want to talk about today. You see final exam weeks are about to start for university students everywhere, and, for me, this point in the semester is almost invariably marked by 1) hours of endless studying, 2) hours of guiltily procrastinating, and 3) hours of calculating what my GPA will be 'If I get ____ on the final'. Forgive me if I'm assuming too much here, but I think that's pretty much the way it goes for everyone. But maybe this next piece isn't the way everyone operates; maybe it's just me, although I doubt it. Inevitably, there are semesters that are just plain difficult. You have a lot of external commitments, or you've work...

Thinking about David today...You know, the man after God's own heart who managed to make every conceivable mistake under the sun, from lust to murder? Yeah him. What a guy! No really, I mean it. I heard someone talking about David today...about a time shortly after he messed up pretty badly. And since he was king, the punishment of the king became the punishment for his people. (side note for a second - that'll preach! Who am I responsible for? Who's looking up to me? My actions, public and private, affect those people! Word.) K sorry, back to the story: So poor, sinner, David is helplessly watching his people get ravished by a plague. He's shown remorse already, but justice is justice, and there's nothing he can do except pray that God gives him a way out before it hits Jerusalem. And sure enough, **queue God **, just in time the redemption comes! (who ever said that in the old testament God never showed mercy?!? False.) God sends a prophet to tell Dave the n...

Dear friend, It's been a while - I apologize. More than a few times over the past few months, I've started to write and one thing or another has stopped me from putting it up. You should see the list of partially-finished, unpublished posts I have going... I think there have been several things holding me back, but one of them is that I like for things to be made well, and every time I've started a post lately it just seems underdeveloped, incomplete, or just plain and lacking style. That being said, here's my disclaimer: I may be posting now, but that doesn't mean I've spent hours crafting this post. No, instead I decided that I might as well just write and leave the stylistic sentence structuring to someone more artistic than I. Don't get me wrong, I still like for things to be made well! A good Charles Dickens novel, for instance. That man knew how to write, and his stories were spun to perfection. Made well. Or my dad's Italian polenta and stew...

Maybe it's because Christmas is around the corner and one of my favourite movies is "White Christmas", but today I've been walking around school thinking of Bing Crosby singing to me... When you're worried and you can't sleep Just count your blessings instead of sheep And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings. I don't often have trouble sleeping (unless you count trouble waking up lately!), but the message is a good one just the same...not to mention how lovely it is to have Bing's smooth voice running through your head all day. I can be such a self-focused person - emphasizing my lack, comparing myself with others, counting my concerns and inadequacies like Scrooge counting his coins (since we're on a Christmas story allusion kick). What was up with Scrooge anyway? He was totally miserable counting his money, but isn't money a blessing? Maybe, like so much else, it depends on whether you notice it and how you view it... For ...

Today was one of those days where I didn't get quite as much done as I would have liked to, but I'm alright with that because I took some time to really settle some things and 'smell the roses' in my life, as my dad would say. The over-arching theme of my musing lately has been around the issue of contentment: I'm not content, I would be content if...(fill in the blank), I was content until...(again, fill in the blank), and Why has my mindset changed when the circumstances of my life haven't? This all came to a head over the weekend (oh the irony of wrestling with contentment on Thanksgiving weekend!), but felt wholly unsettled until I was driving home just now. Amazingly, the most simple way to explain the conclusion that I've come to is by telling you about a class I'm taking at school! I should add a small disclaimer here: There are two things that you should know about me. First, I'm the type of student who actually really loves school, and as ...