So several months ago I wrote a post title "Journaling" . It has, as of late, been on my heart to return to this topic as I'm convinced now more than ever that it holds great potential for spiritual growth.
Life over the past
few months has been a blur. Our fall ministry semester is up and running, Abbie is cutting two new teeth, and God continues to show me new things about my beautiful wife. Lots of things demand my time and it's increasingly easy to give into the tyranny of the urgent. To pause and record my thoughts forces me to slow down. It forces me to listen to my self and hopefully my creator. Unlike blogging my journal is intensely personal. Most dear to me is the fact that it provides a clear window into what God has done in my past. I'm on my 6th volume in my journal each one roughly represents a year of my life. The ink on the pages allows me to see where God has moved how he as worked through even the hardest of situations and has proven himself to be ever faithful even when I was faithless.
Journaling grounds me when life seems crazy. This is an excerpt from the secular website The Art of Manliness...
"As each year passes, the pixels of our memories burn out and the haze sets in. By age 80, you’ll only remember the faintest outlines of the big things that happened to you. But the stuff that’s really interesting is often the little, seemingly mundane details of life. What was a man’s daily routine like in 2009? Of course, the whipper snappers will ask you about the big stuff too: “Where were you when you found out about the attacks on the World Trade Center?” and “What did you think about the election of Barack Obama?” Your journals will give them the answers they’ll be looking for and will bring you closer....It can bring you to your senses. Have you ever struggled with a choice, thought about it long and hard, made a decision, but then some time later started to regret it? Have you ever gotten into a rut from which you can’t seem to find a way out? A journal can aid you in these dilemmas. When you make a decision, you can write down all the reasons you have for coming to that conclusion. Then, after times passes, and you start doubting that choice, you can look back, remind yourself of why you made that decision in the first place, and feel reassured in pressing on. Or, it you’re in a depressed funk and don’t know how to extract yourself from it, you can look back through your journal to find the times when you were happiest. Old journal entries can help you rediscover the kind of changes you need to make to get your life back on track. Or you can look back at your journal and how you used to operate 5 years ago and think, “Damn! I never want to be that man again! What was I thinking?” A journal is basically a chance for your past self to lend counsel to your present self..."
Over all i'm thankful for this discipline it continues to point me back to Jesus as all good disciplines should. Yet the easy road is to ignore it and let this practice laps. Time and time again i find myself having to recommit to the practice. To pause and write down scripture that speaks to me, burning questions I have, or times when I know i'll need to revisit goals and promises. This blog post is a way that I'm actually reinforcing in myself the need to routinely examine my life and goals. So here's to another season of listening, pausing, and recording. I think i'll kick it off with a simple commitment to journal once a day for the next seven days. That might mean the blog is quiet. Fear not my heart will be busy writing.
It's interesting how a little sand, surf, tents, meat, and faith can make for a great weekend. Our trip to Jacksonville was great. Friday we showed up after a long drive to be rewarded with clear skies, a setting sun, and some of the bigger surf I've personally every paddled out into. That night we closed with some worship and woke with some prayer. Saturday was a full day leaving the beach only to eat and nurse sun burn. That night everyone dropped from exhaustion and retired for some great conversation. Sunday came and we celebrated the resurrection of Christ then paddled out one last time for a morning session before packing up and driving home. All over the weekend was great the glory of God displayed in both creation and word. Already looking forward to next year. Enjoy the video.
Heading to Jacksonville to surf the Mayport Poles. We'll be driving down tomorrow. Me and a bunch of guys camping, surfing, eating bubba burgers and worshiping Jesus. Promise some pics when I get back.
Laterz
I stand by it. One of the smartest financial decisions we've made has been to sell Lisa's car. What it cost us in car payment, insurance, oil changes, taxes, gas, tires, brakes, and all the other stuff that goes into owning an automobile has balanced out what my wife would bring home if she worked full time and we had to put Abbie in daycare. It does take some juggling and ride sharing but it has been well worth it. Here's an article along those lines...
"I’ll spare you the environmental lecture—Just imagine your life with out a car payment. Sounds pretty nice, right? Read on to see how you can make it a reality. Even better: you don’t have to wear spandex biking shorts.
Honestly assess the cost of a car.
Of course your ride really costs a lot more than the monthly payment automatically usurped from your checking account. AAA puts out a nifty little publication yearly (http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/200948913570.DrivingCosts2009.pdf), and has been doing so since 1950, that helps you assess the true value of a car, factoring in fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance—all of those things that seem to sneak up and empty out your savings account. (The average total cost per year is around $8,000).
If you are more digital than analog, try using this calculator, too: http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm
What most avid bikers and public transit commuters say, though, is that it is a quality-of-life issue more than a financial one—though the money saved doesn’t hurt. A heart-pumping bike ride or subway ride with a paper (minus the crushing rush hour commute in a dense place like New York) simply makes for a better start to the day than inhaling exhaust fumes from the car in front of you."
For the rest go here.
Tonight starts a small series at Impact (high school youth group) on the topic of forgiveness.
It's been on my heart since mid summer to address what biblical forgiveness looks like. For young people to walk that out now means that when they get older they are equipped to handle all the junk the world throws at them.
Tonight we'll be looking at what Biblical forgiveness looks like in the context of the body. What do you do when someone wrongs you? When your friend, brother, stranger crosses the line intentionally or with out knowing?
“if faith in itself justified one by its own virtue, then, seeing that it is always weak and imperfect, it would be only partly effectual and give us only a part of salvation.”
We're getting ready to host a Real World Parents seminar here at St. Andrews Sept 26. Periodically they release some good articles on the teenage world here's one of them as we head into homecoming season....
for the original link click hereTeen Drinking Follows Parents’ Habits
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has just released their annual back-to-school survey. Here’s the eye-opening stat from their press release:
Compared to teens who have not seen their parent(s) drunk, those who have are more than twice as likely to get drunk in a typical month, and three times likelier to use marijuana and smoke cigarettes.
That’s a terrible and wonderful stat—terrible, of course, because it means that teens with parents who regularly get drunk in front of them are much more likely to start practicing addictive and self-destructive habits sooner. It’s encouraging, though, because it also tells us that it really matters what our teen kids see us doing, how they see us living, what they see us valuing. We know from experience that kids often follow us in positive directions, as well, including our choices to walk in the path of Jesus.
Two other sobering statistics from the survey:
• 51 percent of 17-year olds have seen one or both of their parents drunk and 34 percent of 12- to 17-year olds have seen one or both of their parents drunk.
• Compared to teens who believe their father is against their drinking, teens who believe their father is okay with their drinking are two and a half times likelier to get drunk in a typical month. The survey found that five percent of 12- to 15-year old girls and nine percent of 12- to 15-year old boys say their fathers are okay with their drinking. Thirteen percent of 16- and 17-year old girls and 20 percent of 16- and 17-year old boys say their fathers are okay with their drinking.What choices will our kids see us making this week? What do they believe we are for and against?
Spent much of this morning in Ephesians 1:4 thinking through the responsibilities of the believer. Paul pushes the church to a greater understanding of the truth that we are in Christ chosen "before the foundation of the world" but the father. Stating that the Father has led the trinity through eternity past. However we are not chosen for some abstract reality but "to be holy and blameless". Holy being our duty to live lives worthy of the calling we have received. Our part to live in "moral purity" as the footnotes in my study bible explain. Blameless is our state that has been given to us before the judge of the world. This non optional dynamic of holiness and blamelessness is the challenge that i find myself living into this morning and the rest of my life.
So while pondering these things Abbie decides to chime in with a course of her new favorite word..Dada (her first word was Mama!) I caught the end of it on film. Enjoy...
