Snapshot

What if we weren't ourselves? What if we were looking at our lives through a window?

What if we saw every decision we ever made, but saw the consequences and rewards making it would have after 5 weeks? 5 months... 5 years?

Better yet, what if we lived life as if this weren't the end? As if we were simply passing through, headed for another place? Wouldn't that make a difference in how we lived?

Think on it. And when you're done thinking, do something about it. Because I believe that it's true, that we only live here for a single snapshot in a movie that never ends. And how we live in this 3 second screen decides how we spend our eternity.

And that's too valuable to ignore.

The Satisfaction of a Brain Well Used

Today was one of those days that makes me feel like I'm really making something of myself. I spent most of my waking hours tending to my education. This involved writing papers, reading textbooks, solving problems, and the like. It was tiring. I worked hard. And now, at the tail end, it feels great. God made us with brains for a reason, so we can use them.

Use your brain. It's really rather satisfying, actually.

Pleasure or Responsibility... Or Both?

I used to be in the habit of writing a blog every night. Then life got busy and other things demanded my attention. Responsibilities and the like. And, as it often happens when we have responsibilities, the pleasures get forgotten. That's what happened. I had things to do, classes to take, papers to write, all the usuals of a busy life.

I'm still busy. But, in all my busyness, I realized that I like writing too much not to do it. Writing has slipped into my category of responsibility. I'm responsible to write to honor God, and I can't let that fall off the back of the wagon. It should be first and foremost.

It doesn't feel like a responsibility for me, though. 'Cause I love to write.

(Which makes me wonder... How much of what we find pleasure in, should we be doing for a bigger reason? Maybe honoring the Creator of the Universe. If that seems big enough?)

Renovated

I just completely renovated my blog. Renovation doesn't really seem like the appropriate word for a blog. When I think of renovation, I think of basements and big buildings, and construction equipment. But, I worked hard on my blog. So, I'm going to use the word renovation, and try not to cheat it of any of its  meaning.

Anyways, back on topic. Whenever I make something new, it's like the most exciting thing ever for me. Like my new background and banner. Exciting, right? I think so. And I'd like to try to share some of that exuberance with you. Imagine laughter. Starting as a quiet crease at the corners of the mouth. Then starting to bubble up out of a well of complete joy, untainted and unaffected. It bubbles for a short time, then begins to build. Now it's a full out peal, like the ringing of all the church bells in England on a Sunday morning. Tears are rolling down the face, and you can't help but start to smile, because true joy is stinking infectious.

Well. That's sorta how excited I am about this. I'm also smiling. And I hope you are too.

The Thrill of the Story

There is thrill in story. Someone famous (I don't quite remember who... But they were famous) said the words, "Only begin, and the mind grows heated." It's true. Start a story, and suddenly, the floodgates open. All it takes is the courage to write down a name. And then there's a sentence connected to the name. Suddenly, a paragraph pops up. Pretty soon, you've got a book.

Start a story. It's thrilling.

Books

One of the best things about winter is being trapped inside with a book.

 Books take you places you've always wanted to go but never been. They take you far away, to lands never heard of. They rouse your emotions and remind of all that is worth living for. They sidetrack you from what you're supposed to be doing, and prepare you to start afresh.

Get trapped with a book. I highly recommend it.

It Feels Great

You know that feeling when you get really excited about something? When you want to leap from your seat, and jump and dance and sing, no matter who is watching? Well. I'm feeling that right now. For a wide variety of reasons. And you should feel it sometime soon too, because it's wonderful. Let me see if I can help.

You. You are great. Yes, you. You were created by God for a purpose, and He loves you so much. No matter what you do, He will love you, and care for you, everywhere you go. And He will be your best friend. Just because He loves you.

You know how it feels when your dad gives you a huge hug? That's like how God's love feels. It feels great.

You know how it feels like when you come home from a long day of hard stuff, and your mom made you cookies? That's how God's love feels. It feels great.

 God loves you.

It's great.

Sometimes

Sometimes the best things in the world are the things that don't come easy. 

Sometimes the best relationships you have are the ones you wait for, or work through time and again.

Sometimes the people you love the most are the ones who you struggle with, get hurt by, and have to pray about again and again and again.

Sometimes, you don't want to do one thing in particular, and you want to give up on everything in common, and crawl into a hole for about a lifetime. But sometimes, when you go against those urges and stick it out, it pays off.

Actually, most of the time.

Expertise

I'm supposed to be writing about charm. I can't do that right now. I'm not thinking about charm. I'm thinking about expertise. About picking a something, and becoming an expert at it, no matter what it is.

Then, once you're an expert at something, you should operate there. For instance, a business full of people operating at top capacity in their realm of expertise will be exponentially more successful than a group of people thrown together helter-skelter, willy-nilly.

Become an expert at something.

Then, do it!

Just Write (Right?)

Sometimes you sit down to write, and nothing comes out. You stare at the screen, feeling like you just ran the trash cans out to the street 3 minutes after pickup. Disappointed. Defeated.

This is when all the best writers say to write something, regardless of what it is.

For instance, your trip to the grocery store yesterday, and your encounter with the cashier whose sole goal in life was to engage you in a tedious conversation about a sale on soap in aisle 5. 

The cloud you saw this morning, that looked suspiciously like the Uncle Willis you remember as a kid, beard and all.

About how last night, you went downstairs for a drink in the dark. On your way back, you mistook the coat rack for a 12 armed monster, and you sprinted up 22 stairs in 2.7 seconds. World record beaten, surely.

You see, it doesn't really matter how ready you are to write, or what you write about. It matters that you write. You'll find all sorts of database from your experiences. Go ahead. Write about them. We'll be entertained, and you'll be whetting your talent.

Try it. Write something. Write (right) now. 

(Pun intended.)