So I have been following the Inauguration Events pretty much all day, so I thought I would share a few thoughts about it.
First, no matter what political/religious/social/whatever other dumb label you want put on it, views that you hold, you have to admit that this day is nothing short of an incredible day in American History. Given other cultures in the world, it as an accomplishment in and of itself anytime that there is a peaceful transfer of power. This is the 44th time American has achieved that goal! To see someone other than a white male rise to lead the greatest nation on earth is an even greater accomplishment considering the context of racism and segregation of the nation. Alas, this is beating a dead horse as everyone already knows this, so I will not continue.
SIDE NOTE- As I am writing this, I am also watching the Inaugural Parade and there is a tumbling team marching and doing flips and what not. I just witnessed one of them break an ankle! It took the camera crew a minute to realize he was injured and cut away. HAHAHA (Had to throw that side note in because it made me laugh).
OK, back to the important stuff. I would also like to mention briefly the overall excitement that is evident on this day. It has been quite sometime since I have seen excitement like this from such a huge group of Americans! From the time the broadcast of the events has started, it has been nothing but shouts and cheers of excitement and a new found hope. (Whether it is a legitimate hope or a false hope remains to be seen). I think that President Obama's speach also seemed to be full of excitement. I don't know about you, but it seemed to give Americans a reason to be excited to be an American again. Something that, perhaps, has not been so evident in quite some time. Again, whether or not this excitement comes to fruition or not will only be known down the LONG road. I have my opinions about it and you have yours, and thats just peachy. Regardless, I think he gave us something to be excited about for now, and we should be grateful for that!
Anyway, I think I could go on for quite a while about things like the ridiculous job by the media of covering todays events (although I just discovered C-Span, and they are not talking over the events!!) or other things, but I will spare you!
God Bless you, Barack Obama! (Not a political statement... just well wishes... or is it??)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Break my heart with what breaks yours...
I never would have thought that this next blog would come to me over a double quarter pounder and some fries (unhealthy, I know, but I needed to get through the last 2 hours of the torture they call work at Radio Shack). Nevertheless, a lot more was going through my head than the taste of the food while I was filling my self with grease, preservatives, and God only knows what else McDonald's puts in their food.
"Break my heart with what breaks yours" is a phrase that I frequently hear when it comes to thinking like God. In fact, I have prayed it many times. But it's been a while since I can truly say that my heart has broken for someone else... until today at McDonald's. And I couldn't help but to think about God's heart breaking as well.
As I sat down, I noticed that a few tables down from me there was a dad with three young boys. I would say they ranged from age 2-7, give or take. I couldn't help but overhear some of their interactions. They were having such a good time! Laughing and having fun with dad. I had to smile to myself quite often during my meal. Luckily, I had chosen a seat facing the window as people would have questioned my sanity because of my frequent smiling without any outward reason to do so. Regardless, they were having a good time, and I couldn't help but notice it.
The end of this family's meal time is what really caught my attention. The oldest boy got up from the table and put his coat on. He looked toward the window and I heard him say, "There she is." Not sure what he was referring to, I looked out the window, and there was a mini van that pulled in and parked. A young woman got out and started toward the door. As I began to process this, I tried to come up with the best possible scenario in my head. I thought perhaps this was their mom and she had been working; so after work she was meeting her husband and kids at McDonalds. As I processed this theory, I also realized that it could, in fact, be a much different and unpleasant scenario, but I chose not to go along with that.
As she came into the restaurant I paid close attention to see if my hypothesis was correct. However, all of the signs pointed to something else. It became clear that the mother and father were no longer together and that the mom was coming to pick up the kids and the dad was going to leave empty handed. A sort of exchange of goods, if you will. That is an awful way to put it, but that is how I felt. This was the point that my heart began to break. I began to wonder why it had to end up this way for the family. I think what made it worse was that the mom and dad were very civil with each other, even to the extent of sharing a laugh together. I saw that laugh and the breif interaction and couldn't help but wish that that family had not been ripped apart by divorce. Again, it was the first time it quite some time that my heart has felt like that.
I began to think about how God intended marriage to be. This family portrait was far from what God had intended, if I understand scripture. Then I got to thinking about the worlds standards. By most standards, this was probably a pretty good divorce. The two were civil human beings while together with their kids, so it was probably a succesful divorce in the eyes of worldly standards. Is there a such thing as a succesful divorce though? I mean, God had such high standards for the sacrament of marriage, and for any of them to end is for them to miss out on the beauty of marriage as God intended it. These observations gave me such a sense of longing for the restoration that Christ has promised us. See, things, at one point were right, they were good. And the beauty of it all, is He is going to make it right again. That is the story of redemption. I wanted so badly to somehow make it right for this family, but all I could do was pray. But somehow, that didn't seem like enough.
By no means is this blog meant to condemn people who have experienced divorce, it is simply a reflection on a scenario that broke my heart, and, in turn a reflection on the hope of restoration that we have in Christ.
"Break my heart with what breaks yours" is a phrase that I frequently hear when it comes to thinking like God. In fact, I have prayed it many times. But it's been a while since I can truly say that my heart has broken for someone else... until today at McDonald's. And I couldn't help but to think about God's heart breaking as well.
As I sat down, I noticed that a few tables down from me there was a dad with three young boys. I would say they ranged from age 2-7, give or take. I couldn't help but overhear some of their interactions. They were having such a good time! Laughing and having fun with dad. I had to smile to myself quite often during my meal. Luckily, I had chosen a seat facing the window as people would have questioned my sanity because of my frequent smiling without any outward reason to do so. Regardless, they were having a good time, and I couldn't help but notice it.
The end of this family's meal time is what really caught my attention. The oldest boy got up from the table and put his coat on. He looked toward the window and I heard him say, "There she is." Not sure what he was referring to, I looked out the window, and there was a mini van that pulled in and parked. A young woman got out and started toward the door. As I began to process this, I tried to come up with the best possible scenario in my head. I thought perhaps this was their mom and she had been working; so after work she was meeting her husband and kids at McDonalds. As I processed this theory, I also realized that it could, in fact, be a much different and unpleasant scenario, but I chose not to go along with that.
As she came into the restaurant I paid close attention to see if my hypothesis was correct. However, all of the signs pointed to something else. It became clear that the mother and father were no longer together and that the mom was coming to pick up the kids and the dad was going to leave empty handed. A sort of exchange of goods, if you will. That is an awful way to put it, but that is how I felt. This was the point that my heart began to break. I began to wonder why it had to end up this way for the family. I think what made it worse was that the mom and dad were very civil with each other, even to the extent of sharing a laugh together. I saw that laugh and the breif interaction and couldn't help but wish that that family had not been ripped apart by divorce. Again, it was the first time it quite some time that my heart has felt like that.
I began to think about how God intended marriage to be. This family portrait was far from what God had intended, if I understand scripture. Then I got to thinking about the worlds standards. By most standards, this was probably a pretty good divorce. The two were civil human beings while together with their kids, so it was probably a succesful divorce in the eyes of worldly standards. Is there a such thing as a succesful divorce though? I mean, God had such high standards for the sacrament of marriage, and for any of them to end is for them to miss out on the beauty of marriage as God intended it. These observations gave me such a sense of longing for the restoration that Christ has promised us. See, things, at one point were right, they were good. And the beauty of it all, is He is going to make it right again. That is the story of redemption. I wanted so badly to somehow make it right for this family, but all I could do was pray. But somehow, that didn't seem like enough.
By no means is this blog meant to condemn people who have experienced divorce, it is simply a reflection on a scenario that broke my heart, and, in turn a reflection on the hope of restoration that we have in Christ.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sleep would be nice...
Night shift is good. You work 3 or 4 days in a row and then get 3 or 4 days off in a row. That part is good. But what is not good is that it throws my sleep schedule way off. On my nights off I can't go to sleep before 2:30. That normally wouldn't be so bad, just sleep in. However, the job doesn't pay enough, so I have to have to jobs. That means working the other job on the days I have "off." Which means I have to get up for work, but I can't go to sleep.
Not a very insightful blog, just some complaining and time-killing. Oh well... Goodnight, or maybe not, we shall see.
Not a very insightful blog, just some complaining and time-killing. Oh well... Goodnight, or maybe not, we shall see.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Being blind is not so bad...
Well, I believe I will try this blogging thing. It sounds like a great idea, because quite frankly, I have all kinds of thoughts go through my head. However, I never ponder on them for longer than it takes to for those thoughts to pass through my head (which is not long at all). Perhaps writing them here will fix that problem. Most of the thoughts are stupid and not even worth mentioning, but every now and again I may come across something that is noteworthy, in which case, I will try to post them here.
My first thoughts will be on my frustrations with planning for life. My co-worker and I were discussing this last night (there is plenty of time for conversation when you work night-shift at a residential treatment facility where all of the teenagers are asleep). Anyway, we began discussing how crazy it is that you are expected to make decisions about the rest of your life when you are a mere 18 years old. I am referring to decisions on college. If you go to college right out of high school, you are expected to make decisions about you education, career, and ultimately the path that your life will travel and you really haven't even experienced any life yet. It is a little absurd to require that of such a young, still wet behind the ears, person.
I am not mentioning this because I think that I chose the wrong path or because I wish I would have chosen something else. I am content with the path that I have taken. My frustrations come when I ponder what is next. A few nights ago, I sat in bed for two hours, when I should have been sleeping, just pondering that simple phrase: What is next? When I was younger (high school-ish, and even some in college), I had this crazy perception. I thought that I would graduate high school, go to college, get a Bachelors degree, start my career, and I would be well on my way in the Game of Life. However, now that I have done those things, I feel like there are many more steps. Unfortunately, the path is kinda dark and I can't really see where those next few steps are. I feel like I am walking blindly through life right now. I am so uneasy and anxious to take the next step, but I don't even know what the next step is!
I got a GPS for Christmas, and the thing is pretty cool. It will show me my location on the map and it will tell me where to go. But the thing that is cool to me is that you can drag the map along the route so you can see your whole trip and all of the turns that you will take throughout the course of your trip. You never have to guess or be in the dark about what is ahead. I kinda wish life was like that. I guess God is like my GPS (without Sue, the GPS voice, yelling at me to take a right turn in 2.9 miles). Unfortunately, God doesn't have the feature of scrolling through the route of your life. It sure would be nice. No more walking blindly through life. But then again, that is what is so awesome about a relationship with God. You don't have to know everything that lies ahead. No matter how frustrating it is, it is so comforting to know that no matter what turns are ahead and whether or not you can see them coming, He will be there to guide you through that turn. And if I make a wrong turn, just like the GPS, He still knows where I am because He is still right there with me, offering grace that I cannot comprehend and leading back to the path.
So, while I wish I could say I know what lies ahead, it's a beautiful mystery when you have the Creator of Life guiding you and walking with you along that same "Game of Life" that He created.
That was long...especially for my first post... oh well.
My first thoughts will be on my frustrations with planning for life. My co-worker and I were discussing this last night (there is plenty of time for conversation when you work night-shift at a residential treatment facility where all of the teenagers are asleep). Anyway, we began discussing how crazy it is that you are expected to make decisions about the rest of your life when you are a mere 18 years old. I am referring to decisions on college. If you go to college right out of high school, you are expected to make decisions about you education, career, and ultimately the path that your life will travel and you really haven't even experienced any life yet. It is a little absurd to require that of such a young, still wet behind the ears, person.
I am not mentioning this because I think that I chose the wrong path or because I wish I would have chosen something else. I am content with the path that I have taken. My frustrations come when I ponder what is next. A few nights ago, I sat in bed for two hours, when I should have been sleeping, just pondering that simple phrase: What is next? When I was younger (high school-ish, and even some in college), I had this crazy perception. I thought that I would graduate high school, go to college, get a Bachelors degree, start my career, and I would be well on my way in the Game of Life. However, now that I have done those things, I feel like there are many more steps. Unfortunately, the path is kinda dark and I can't really see where those next few steps are. I feel like I am walking blindly through life right now. I am so uneasy and anxious to take the next step, but I don't even know what the next step is!
I got a GPS for Christmas, and the thing is pretty cool. It will show me my location on the map and it will tell me where to go. But the thing that is cool to me is that you can drag the map along the route so you can see your whole trip and all of the turns that you will take throughout the course of your trip. You never have to guess or be in the dark about what is ahead. I kinda wish life was like that. I guess God is like my GPS (without Sue, the GPS voice, yelling at me to take a right turn in 2.9 miles). Unfortunately, God doesn't have the feature of scrolling through the route of your life. It sure would be nice. No more walking blindly through life. But then again, that is what is so awesome about a relationship with God. You don't have to know everything that lies ahead. No matter how frustrating it is, it is so comforting to know that no matter what turns are ahead and whether or not you can see them coming, He will be there to guide you through that turn. And if I make a wrong turn, just like the GPS, He still knows where I am because He is still right there with me, offering grace that I cannot comprehend and leading back to the path.
So, while I wish I could say I know what lies ahead, it's a beautiful mystery when you have the Creator of Life guiding you and walking with you along that same "Game of Life" that He created.
That was long...especially for my first post... oh well.
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