Digging and Building

I've been attempting to read a book lately. Now, I realize that that statement either makes me sound illiterate or as if I don't read often but in fact neither of those options are correct. Clearly, I am not completely illiterate, since I am using that word, and I love to read. Granted, I don't get to read for pleasure very often now that I am busy with school but I am trying to read through a book. My goal is to have it read by Christmas; so far, it doesn't look as if that goal will be accomplished. Anyway, the book is Joshua Harris's most recent (that I know of) Dug Down Deep. He says that this book is about how he "learned to dig into truth and build [his] life on a real knowledge of God" (back cover). This is something I've really been striving to do. I really want to know God, to know about Him and to have a personal relationship with Him. In the first chapter, Joshua Harris touches on something that I've been observing more and more in the society around me. He talks about King Josiah and how "his generation was rushing past him, flooding down the easy paths of man-made religion, injustice, and immorality.
They didn't stop to look for a different path.
They didn't pause to consider where the easy path ended.
They didn't ask if there was a better way.
But Josiah stopped. He stood at the crossroads, and he looked. And then he asked for something that an entire generation had neglected, even completely forgotten. He asked for the ancient paths." (pg. 13). Harris then goes on to define what the ancient paths are in our present context. Not in our context as in how we can change them so that they fit more comfortably with our society, as we seem to do with so many biblical rules and laws, but in the context of Jesus Christ's coming. Harris says that "walking in the ancient paths still means relating to God on his terms. It still means receiving and obeying his self-revelation with humility and awe" (pg. 13).
I feel as if I am in a similar place as King Josiah, in my own little way. I feel that my generation is rushing by me. I'm just don't want them to take me with them. I want to be able to choose the ancient paths, but how? Is it simply a matter of reading my Bible everyday and praying a couple times a day? Or is it much more than that? How do I commit myself to the ancient paths but still be a relevant influence to the said rushing generation? I want to really be able to live out Colossians 4:5-6, which says "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be aways full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (NIV). I guess I need to do what Joshua Harris did, to "dig into truth and build my life on a real knowledge of God." Hopefully that will lead me to the ancient paths. And hopefully Joshua Harris will be able to nudge me on my way to that digging and building.

Goodbyes

I have decided that goodbyes and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship. Let me explain: I have worked at a summer camp for the last three months and yesterday we finished up completely.  Now, the camp that I work at is in another province from where I live and thus I will rarely get to see the people I spent the last three months getting close to. Yesterday was therefore a bittersweet day. I had to say goodbye to some of my best friends while also saying goodbye to some people I don't think I will ever actually miss. I hated saying goodbye to my close friends. I always started crying, and most of the time it wasn't just a couple tears leaking out of my eyes, it was full out sobbing. I'm not usually a cryer so that's not normal for me. We all promise that we are going to stay in touch, but once each of us become immersed in our lives at home and at school it's so hard to stay connected to people far away. It's like once we leave camp all our common ground falls away leaving a couple lone strangers trying to reach each other but it's just a bit too far. Why does that happen? Is it just me? Am I dysfunctional when it comes to normal social relationships? How come some people can never see each other yet remain best of friends? What makes it so impossible for me to stay close to people that are not physically close to me?
Even though goodbyes suck it does help me come to realize who I was actually close to. Who do I actually miss and who actually misses me. Who do I try to stay in contact with and who actually tries to stay in contact with me. Those are the people that I am truly close to and who I truly care about. The hard part is that I want to stay close to those people and I hate the thought that we may fall away from each other. Why is friendship so difficult? Shouldn't real friendship be able to last through goodbyes, no matter how long those goodbyes last? I guess I'll have to wait and see as this year progresses.

First Time Blogger

Well, this is my first time blogging ever. Since I've never done this before I don't really know what I'm doing. The purpose of this blog is really to get out some of the thoughts that have been floating around in my head. A lot of the time I have thoughts and ideas in my head but I don't have anything to do with them. I'm hoping this blog will help me to work through these thoughts and help me to come to know myself better. I've found that I really don't know me very well. I really want to be my own person but I found that I am so very shaped by the people around me. I want to come to know what I really think about things, I want to know MY opinion on subjects instead of always agreeing with someone else's opinion. I want to be a unique person with my own individual thoughts and ideas. I've found that when you are younger you are expected to simply agree with your elders opinions but once you hit a certain age you are magically supposed to have your own opinions. I want to have my own opinions but I want them to be based on a solid foundation. Simply accepting something because someone said it doesn't sit well with me. I want to be educated in my thoughts, opinions, and actions. I want this blog to help me really think and to allow me to express those thoughts.  Hopefully, that is what will happen.