Another running adventure...

On the same run that I was blogging about the other day (I don’t run that often, so I don’t really have more than one to blog about), I noticed something that reminded me of the natural peer dependence that is inherent in mankind. I was running on down the road, trying to stay awake, and I looked over at someone’s lawn. The grass looked like it had been mown that very day, and the smell of the freshly cut foliage confirmed my suspicions. The lines in the yard looked neat, and the edges had all been trimmed closely around the sidewalk and driveway. I thought to myself, someone must have taken initiative to mow that grass on this HOT day. And I must admit I was impressed by the diligence of the person who cut their grass without waiting for the cooler part of the afternoon.

All of these thought went through my head in the matter of about five seconds, and I then turned my gaze to the next man’s yard. This one was a little less well kept, but still looked rather neat. This man must have mown his lawn one or two days ago, I thought. I was not extremely impressed, but I still admired the neatness of his grass (I am obsessed with order, as anyone I know could tell you).

Nothing seemed extraordinary about this experience until I passed the next person’s yard. And the next one. And the next. The grass in each yard was successively higher and higher, with no yard breaking the pattern. I then realized what had not occurred to me before: each man was mowing his grass because his neighbor had mown!

Now, the motivation would be labeled in our world as “peer pressure” – but we’re going to go a little bit deeper than that.

What if each successive neighbor had realized by contrast that his yard was messy? In other words, what if one man mowed his lawn to start the cycle, and the next man saw how badly his grass needed to be mown just because it was adjacent to a clean-cut lawn? This reminded me of the important scriptural principle found in Proverbs 27:17.

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

As Christians, it is our duty to realize that we have a responsibility not only for our selves, but also for our brothers and sisters in Christ. By allowing God to shine through us, we can show others the parts of their lives that are not conformed to His word. By his grace and influence through us, those other Christians can possibly be changed and renewed in their minds.

Now, unlike the mowing metaphor, in our relationships within the Church of God we are expected to learn from and influence each other. This is a two-way relationship. We cannot ignore God’s work on us through the lives of others.

(Hey, I never said my analogies were perfect, did I?)

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

-Ecclesiastes 4:12

Question of the Week...

This is something that I thoughts I would try, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work :( . It will also be a test of how many people actually read my blog ;).

I'll post the question of the week and you can answer it in the comment section. Maybe you'll even be inspired to write your own blog post about it and link to it in the comment section. Either way, just let me know what you think about the question.

If you were told that you only had one year to live, would you make a conscious effort to live your life differently than you are living now? If yes, what changes would you try to make?

Five Changes for the Worse In the Past Year

Here it is, as promised...

Well, just as always, a lot of things have changed for the negative and need improving in my life. The first thing that I can think of is that I am not as neat and tidy as I used to be. Before school started about this time last year, I kept my room tidily organized. As the year passed, I seemed to care less and less about how neat my room was and began to get lazy, throwing books and papers everywhere when I would get caught up in my schoolwork. I am currently working on keeping my room neat, and I have been blessed with some family members who help remind me to keep tidy (thanks Sarah, Anna, and Mother!).

The second thing which has changed is my mindset on schoolwork. As I went through the last school year, I began to become a little more lenient on myself about what I needed to learn. I still had a hunger to learn and understand things like Chemistry, which is important to me, but I didn’t pay as much attention to other subjects. I viewed English and Physics classes as a means to a common end – a Bachelor’s degree – rather than as useful tools in my education. This change is frustrating, and I hope that I will be able to focus more on learning than performing in these classes.

The next thing that has changed for the worse was covered in my last blog post. I have oftentimes been focused on works – things like making good grades, making good impressions, reading the bible regularly, and serving in church – as being very important. I have come to this realization and am consciously trying to get rid of this mindset, but it is hard. This is one of the things that I don’t necessarily think about when I do, but is a subconscious thought process. I want things to be about how good I am and what I can do, rather than accepting God’s grace. This is a constant struggle.

Number four regards my treatment of others, especially my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have gotten to the point where I am very critical and judgmental of others. Most of the time, I tend to judge others in areas of personal conviction, rather than blatant sin. If I see someone doing something that would lead me astray or redirect my vision from Christ, I judge them and assume that they are doing something wrong. Before we moved to Colorado, I didn’t have a big problem with this, but now I am overly negative and concerned with the outward appearance of people’s actions rather than their works.

The last change in my life for the worse that immediately comes to mind is my neglect of my musical instruments. I have not set a good example over the last year for my younger sisters, who both play instruments. I have not regularly practiced any instrument except the piano. When I think of how many instruments I have the privilege of owning, I die a little bit inside. Not really, but you get my point ;)

Well, I have finally finished this post that I dreaded. I hate writing about myself, and of course my pride tells me that it’s not a good thing to publish an article about my shortcomings on the World Wide Web. But I think that it is a useful tool for all of my readers (not that there are really that many). It will help you all to know how you can pray for me. And I really want and need that prayer.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

My feet patted out a rhythm on the pavement as I ran down a hill in my neighborhood. The pattern was soothing, even mesmerizing.

Quite a contrast with the pain brought on by my physical exercise.

I continued running down the hill, the sound of my footsteps the only noise in my immediate vicinity. The sun felt hot as sweat dripped down my forehead. The rhythm of my footsteps continued to daze me, and my eyelids slowly began to close.

I was falling asleep! There, in the midst of pain and a great amount of physical work, I was getting sleepy!

I would never have thought this was possible until it happened to me. But it is, I know that now.

As I continued my run, I began to think about how this event was reminiscent of many things which have happened in my spiritual life. Before, I have tried so hard to do good works and always do the right thing that I have lost my focus on the most important goal in life: staying awake.

Paul, in 1st Corinthians 15:10, says this:

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

How true this is! No matter what efforts we make, we must realize that we are what we are "but by the grace of God." We must never fall asleep to the spiritual workings of God in our life.

Sometimes, just as what was hard work for me (running) mesmerized me, the works which we perform in an effort to win God's favor can hypnotize us and send us into a state of independence - thinking that it's not so hard to be good on our own, after all.

Some people trust in their good works to keep them out of trouble - to keep them from doing bad things. There is nothing wrong with doing good and kindhearted deeds, but trusting in them in any way is the wrong method of going about life. Whether we are trusting our deeds to save us, make us happier, or even keep us from sinning, we are trusting in the wrong thing. Just as I thought it would be impossible to fall asleep during a good, hard run (something that I still don't quite comprehend), we sometimes think that it would be difficult for one to sin while preoccupied with good works.

But it is, and we need to be aware of this danger.

Trust in God, for he is the most important thing we can know in this world.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,

(Philippians 3:8)


**Oops, I just realized that I never finished my "Changes Since This Time Last Year" post. I'll have to finish it later...**

Changes Since This Time Last Year

Anna tagged me to blog on this subject, so why not?

It seems like last year at this time was so far away (yet so close). So much has happened since then, but I have done so little. This year has been defined, not by my actions, but by the action of God in my life. These changes have happened so often that it has started to make me feel a little bit less independent and more dependent on my Lord. That's the first good thing which has happened in my life.

God brought me to a job on campus - a blessing in itself. Though there were battles to be fought along the way (including thinking I wouldn't be able to work there as I am not classified as a resident of Colorado), I feel like I have grown in responsibility and knowledge of how to work with others. Many of the people I work with are not Christians, and learning how to interact with and minister to them is the second great change which has taken place in my life.

As I began going to school, I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I had been praying for years that God would show me the direction He would like me to go; it seemed like this praying was fruitless. In my slightly OCD mind, I had compartmentalized possible career paths into three categories: Science, Medicine, or Law. I was struggling between these, but one day God reminded me of the career path which He had laid on my heart since I was five (literally). I had somehow lost the idea in the midst of all my efforts to choose for myself, but God gently reminded me that He wants me in the field of Dentistry. I can't say why, but for some reason that is where God has directed the road of my life. Deciding to pursue dentistry was the third great change which God has made in my life.

Though God showed me the career which He wants for me, He was also showing me at the same time that I had become too materialistic. I had placed a great deal of worth on worldly objects and aspirations. While things such as good grades, reading great literature, and becoming accomplished in music are important, they had become much too important in my life. God has, in His kind and gentle ways, slowly ushered me away from the bosom of commercialism and materialism. I definitely still have a very long way to go on this journey to the center of God's will, but He has somehow gotten me off to a good start. This is the fourth change that has taken place in my life for the better.

Since we moved to Colorado, God has been teaching me things that help me to make my faith my own. God has always used my parents as a catalyst in developing my faith, and this year has been no exception. Having long discussions and prayers about important theological concepts has helped me to understand the true nature of God. This greater understanding of God has helped me greatly, and is a part of every other change that I have listed above. God truly has been great to me (but that's not a change, is it?).

Well, I've spent a lot of time writing this far; I think I will wait until tomorrow to write the bad changes that have happened in my life. So expect tomorrow's blog to be much shorter :P .