Some time ago I finished reading The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. I was bored to tears with the first 40 pages of it, but plowed through to the end. As I read on the novel became more interesting but also more and more full of despair.
The narrator of the story, Jake Barnes, is American World War Veteran who works as a journalist in Paris. The novel is mostly about his interactions and travels with his American friends. Even when in the same town, they travel from restaurant to restaurant, eating, drinking coffee, and consuming some type of expensive alcohol.
Lady Brett Ashley is the hard-to-get love of Jake’s life. It’s a very twisted love he has for her—she flirts with Jake and expresses her “love” for him even while awaiting a divorce from her current husband so that she can marry another man, Mike Campbell, who spends most of the story drunk.
At the end of the work, having traveled with friends to Spain to watch the famous bullfighter Pedro Romero, Jake and Lady Brett find themselves together again. They have this conversation:
Jake says, “Some people have God.” “Quite a lot.”
Brett answers, “He never worked very well with me.”
Jake awkwardly changes the subject and says: “Should we have another Martini?”
The Sun Also Rises is all about the pursuits and values of Hemingway’s own life: women, wine, great food, music, parties, bullfights, traveling, cushy living arrangements. But the characters in this story are all miserable. God never “worked very well” with Lady Brett.
(The storyline is not just confined to this particular novel.) Despite all the pleasures Hemingway enjoyed in his own life, he, too, was depressed. And so 7 years after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, he shot himself.
He left behind a despairing note, which, edited of its expletive, reads: “Life is just one thing after another.”
Ernest Hemingway was one of the great minds of the 20th Century. Was he right? Is life just one thing after another?
And who are we? What on earth are we here for? Is life just one thing after another?
Now you don’t have to raise your hands on this, but how many of you believe this about life?
Or for those of you who don’t believe it, how many of you wonder sometimes?
And even if you don’t believe that life is just one thing after another… how many of you live as if that statement is true? How many of you, your life just feels like you’re running from one thing to the next? From waking up to a half-eaten breakfast because you were rushing out the door to catch the bus or a ride, to a long school day with class after class, to after-school extra-curricular activities, and from there back home to do homework, hang out on Facebook for a bit, and then go to sleep, only to get up the next day and start it all over again without a chance for so much as taking a breath and looking around you?
I want to all close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.
Now, instead of the picture I just painted, I want you to imagine…
…a space where people notice your name and say hi to you when you walk into the room.
…a space where you feel safe, comfortable, and loved.
…a space where you can be who you know you are, not who you think other people want you to be.
Imagine ... a place where you can learn about God and how to follow Jesus in your day-to-day life.
…a space where you can eat meals together with people, and ask about each others’ day, and know there will be someone there to listen.
Keep your eyes closed, because we’re just getting started with this. Imagine…
…a place where you know that you don’t have to put on a smiley face just to make people happy, if stuff is really bad in your life, because you can share that with them without it being awkward or uncomfortable.
…a place where miracles happen and stuff that you just can’t explain happens on a regular basis.
…a place where people share things with each other, especially when there are members of the community in need.
…a place where God brings more and more people, a place where people who aren’t Christians can come and just be blown away by how much love people have for each other.
…a place where you and everyone else is accepted, no matter who you are, how you dress, what you look like, what your interests are.
…a place where there is no favoritism, and where groups of friends don’t turn into exclusive cliques.
…a place where people forgive each other when they hurt each other.
…a place where people take care of each other, in moments of joy and sadness.
…a place where people pray for each other.
You can have that. You can have that here. Do you want that? I want that. Do you want that?
You can open your eyes now.
That, my friends, is what we call community. And that is what this 40 Days of Community thing is all about: Taking 40 Days together to imagine together, to explore together, to study together, and to practice together making this sort of community you just imagined a reality, at Truro Church, and in The Upper Room.
In fact, that kind of community has been a reality before, so we know it can be a reality for us today. Open your Bibles to Acts 2, verses 42 through 47. Last school year we spent a bunch of time on this passage on Sunday nights exploring this theme of community together. As you read this passage, note some things you think that made this community strong. This is about the early Church, just after Jesus had died and was resurrected and then appeared again to his disciples and went back to heaven.
So what made this community strong? What sorts of things did they do together?
Over the next 6 weeks we’re going to be looking at community together right here in Awakenings. We’ll be teaching from Scripture what God says about how to build community like this together, and what sorts of things a community that follows Jesus should be doing together. So please make sure to bring your Bibles when you come up. We’re not going to do this to find out what Rick Warren or what Saddleback Church says about community, but to find out what the Bible says about community, so make sure to have yours with you each week. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about this.
Our Small Groups (most of which meet Sunday afternoons before Youth Group) are going to be looking even more in-depth at this idea of community.
I also think that this community theme is where God is taking us right now as a Youth Group. Sure we’re doing this because the whole Church is and we want to do it together, but we said at the very first Youth Group this year that one of our Core Values—one of the things that matters most to us—is relationships. So that’s what we’re going to look at.
But I’m giving you fair warning. As great as a true community will be for you, it’s not just about you or how good it can be for you. It’s not just about what you can get from it. It’s about what you can give to it. Because a community can only be as loving as the individual people in that community. So this won’t be easy. And I’m not just saying that. Really building a community is hard work. Thankfully we have God to help us.
There are three things I want to tell you about community as we start this series that are very important for us all to understand if we are really going to try to make this kind of community here that we imagined.
1. Community doesn’t just happen—we have to try for it and work at it.
Everything that I described, everything that you imagined with your eyes closed, requires effort. We’ll look at this in more detail the next 6 weeks, but just about every time the Bible talks about community, it uses commands. Love one another. Care for one another. Serve one another. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
If you want this kind of community but just wait around for it, it will never happen. It requires all of us making an effort.
We talk in The Upper Room about community as having an Authentic Connection. It starts with being authentic, or real. If community doesn’t just happen and we all have to work for it, we have to start by being real, open, honest. Not putting on happy faces for each other when we’re not happy, or not saying something just because you think someone wants you to say it. Accepting people for who they really are, not for who we want them to be. Not feeling like you have to be a certain way or else people won’t like you.
2. Even though community is about other people, it starts with you.
If this is true, however, it means that you have to help make this culture, this community. If you want a place where you don’t have to put on a happy face if that’s not’s true, then don’t expect that from others. If you want a place where people genuinely care about how you’re doing, when you ask someone, “Hey, how’s it going?”, make sure you stick around long enough to find out how they’re really doing. If you want a place where people accept you for who you are, you have to accept others for who they are.
Look at I Thessalonians 5: 10-11? Another version says, “Jesus died for us so that we can live together with him…So encourage each other and give each other strength.” Encourage each other. Do you like to be encouraged? Make sure you’re doing that for other people. Do you need strength? Give strength to others when you can by being there for them.
Turn to Philippians 2:3-4, just a few pages to the left of Thessalonians.
Paul says here, it’s not just about you and what you want, but other what other people want. This has to start with an attitude change. Your attitude change. My attitude change. So community is about other people, but it starts with you.
3. Although building community can be difficult, we have God’s Holy Spirit to help us.
In fact, in Acts 2 that we were looking at, this community that was built, this love that was being shown to each other left and right, wasn’t the result of human beings trying really, really hard. They did have to try, but the only reason anything in that worked is that earlier in that chapter the Holy Spirit had just been poured out on them at Pentecost. Totally washed over all of them. It was God’s Holy Spirit that gave them the power and the strength and the courage to be a community.
And speaking of courage, as we seek to build this community, especially as we think about it during 40 Days of Community, let’s remember what God said to Joshua (1:9): “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
The end result of a healthy, loving community is very rewarding, and we were created for this kind of community, to be with others. We can’t live our lives on our own. It’s too hard. You all know this. But God has put us in this place, this community, that we can work together to build, so that in the end God is glorified.
Do you want that? I do. I definitely do.
Some Questions for Reflection:
1. Why is community important?
2. Where or when have you seen examples of true community?
3. What was your part in building that?
4. What can you yourself contribute to building The Upper Room and Truro Church as a community?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Saturday, July 14, 2007
After Thoughts and Pictures.
This is a picture of our group on the stage at Saddleback. And the tile in Becky's hands is this: Every group that came got to paint a tile that would later be put into a bigger picture. This is what it eventually looked like with everyone's tile.
Here are just some more pictures.
Anyway, my overall after thought is that this trip was the most fun I've ever had in my life. I could not have asked for a better group of people to hang out with for four days. It was so great to grow with them, learn with them, lead with them, swim with them, sit in the hot tub with them, ride in the van with them, make small fun of abram with them, eat with them, laugh with them, take pictures with them, ride in ferris wheels with them, make whirlpools with them, have fellowship with them, and be with them. [woah, that was pretty good considering the theme of the conference was "be..."]
Sitting here at my computer at home I relize how much I miss them terribly. I love all of you so much.
The conference was awesome. So Josh--if you're reading this--thank you for showing me the time of my life. I really appriciate all that you did to make that awesome conference so unbelievably fun!
I will now leave you with the tragic picture of Ian and Matt's plane taking off. It was sad as anything.
Friday, July 13, 2007
After thoughts after the end of the conference (Petty Officer Fitzgerald L. Reporting from the Onyx Bubble)
The conference was a week of total worship to someone whom is truly greater than any of us. I believe that I've been changed. The speakers whom talked really hit home on some of the stuff in my life.
I feel that when I go home, I'm gonna have a more open heart to my brother whom I disagree with all the time. I feel that I'm gonna respect my mother and fathers wishes more often, because they are doing what they believe is best for me and I already knew that, but I guess I realized I was going about it wrong after listening to the speakers.
Personally I think I've been given a great chance really, only so many teenagers got to experience the conference, and the fact that I was one of those few is awesome.
I feel that when I go home, I'm gonna have a more open heart to my brother whom I disagree with all the time. I feel that I'm gonna respect my mother and fathers wishes more often, because they are doing what they believe is best for me and I already knew that, but I guess I realized I was going about it wrong after listening to the speakers.
Personally I think I've been given a great chance really, only so many teenagers got to experience the conference, and the fact that I was one of those few is awesome.
Last day of the conference (Petty Officer Fitzgerald L. reporting from the Onyx bubble)
Well, I feel this is going to be AWESOME. Mainly because...it's the last day so it should be something memorable to keep our minds focused on. My guess is there is going to be singing first. Let's see if I'm right....
So...there's the ceremonial 3 minute countdown before the beginning of the session. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. It's fun to see people count down once the timer reaches 10 seconds.
Guess what... 1:30 left....minutes...yeah...fun! 1:15....................1:00 minutes......
And...ten..nine...eight...seven..six..five...four...three..two...one....time to go!
Singing time!
There were some awesome songs...and Jadon ended with a song called "Saved by Grace"
I thought that was an awesome song to end with!
So they are playing the student challenge. The trick was to guess how many inches of cheese you could get from a can of easy cheese.
It ended up being 1,161 inches.
I didn't realize there was that much cheese in those cans...?!
The last and final student challenge was awesome! Josh and Alison took a fully equipped computer....
Lcd screen, mouse, keyboard, and the computer itself.
No it was not a working computer.
It ended up flying 268 inches away from the top of the worship center where they dropped it from.
I have a feeling they are gonna have a ton of games today. They are having the 1st annual taco bell olympics for the second time this week. They take taco bell food and use them like discusses...(don't know how to spell it..)
So, it's been an awesome week,
I just hope we don't walk out of here and go back to the normal ritual of daily life. I hope that we can keep the "spiritual high" so to say.
I'm gonna try an online prayer.
Father, I would pray that we keep the spiritual high that you've given us through this conference, and that it would not just vanish....slowly like it has in the past. I would pray that if given the chance you can show us the path you've set for us. Make it more apparent so that we can follow your way as you've set it for us.
Worship is...to me - Reading the bible, singing, value...honor..keywords like that. Praise, grace, sacrifice, focus
To Christopher Taffala, Taffy for short. Worship is -
There is a church that meets 13 times a year, they eat dinner and then at 1 PM, the church opens the doors. The people are so excited that you have this mass of people at the door. Even though the church doesn't start until 2 PM these people
John whom wrote Revelations gave us a sneak peek of what Heaven is like.
Revelations chapter 4
After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven and the voice I had first heard came to me like a trumpet.
(Taffy) "When I read this it made me think either this person has a trumpet on his face...or two he speaks trumpet! You know how you can "choose" your body? It's almost like you could tell God, "I want my face to look like a saxophone."
At once I was in the spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven. One was seated on the throne and the one seated before the throne looked like Jasper and Carnelian stone. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne. Around that were 24 thrones and on the thrones sat 24 elders dressed in white clothes with gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and thunder. Burning before the throne were seven fiery torches which are the seven spirits of God.
I think that's a pretty awesome passage, but me saying its an awesome passage isn't enough. You have to read it and find the meaning. When they say something three times...it means its important. Notice above..the word throne is said six times. Now why would they say throne six times if they didn't want to stress that there is power greater than us?
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you brother's in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to god - this is your spiritual act of worship.
(Taffy) "When God says listen, come to me, worship me, everything that you have.
(Taff) Your spiritual life is not hobby.
(Taffy) God is not stamps, transformers collections...even though I like transformers..
(Taffy) Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty."
(Taffy) I am not going to do this because I want to honor God, you are saying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
(Taffy) THAT is worship!
(Taffy) The devil is not attacking those who go and party...he is attacking you..because your are making a difference. You are singing and worshiping and having fellowship. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty.
I believe that Taffy has some great key points. I agree with him saying that the Devil attacks those whom try to make a difference. I agree with him saying that spiritual life should not be a hobby. It should be more of a part of your life than your other activities if possible.
We are ending with communion and singing. What a nice way to end the week.
Petty Officer Fitzgerald L.
Transmission 21Z39-X End
Onyx Bubble Reporting
This message will self destruct in 30 seconds.
So...there's the ceremonial 3 minute countdown before the beginning of the session. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. It's fun to see people count down once the timer reaches 10 seconds.
Guess what... 1:30 left....minutes...yeah...fun! 1:15....................1:00 minutes......
And...ten..nine...eight...seven..six..five...four...three..two...one....time to go!
Singing time!
There were some awesome songs...and Jadon ended with a song called "Saved by Grace"
I thought that was an awesome song to end with!
So they are playing the student challenge. The trick was to guess how many inches of cheese you could get from a can of easy cheese.
It ended up being 1,161 inches.
I didn't realize there was that much cheese in those cans...?!
The last and final student challenge was awesome! Josh and Alison took a fully equipped computer....
Lcd screen, mouse, keyboard, and the computer itself.
No it was not a working computer.
It ended up flying 268 inches away from the top of the worship center where they dropped it from.
I have a feeling they are gonna have a ton of games today. They are having the 1st annual taco bell olympics for the second time this week. They take taco bell food and use them like discusses...(don't know how to spell it..)
So, it's been an awesome week,
I just hope we don't walk out of here and go back to the normal ritual of daily life. I hope that we can keep the "spiritual high" so to say.
I'm gonna try an online prayer.
Father, I would pray that we keep the spiritual high that you've given us through this conference, and that it would not just vanish....slowly like it has in the past. I would pray that if given the chance you can show us the path you've set for us. Make it more apparent so that we can follow your way as you've set it for us.
Worship is...to me - Reading the bible, singing, value...honor..keywords like that. Praise, grace, sacrifice, focus
To Christopher Taffala, Taffy for short. Worship is -
There is a church that meets 13 times a year, they eat dinner and then at 1 PM, the church opens the doors. The people are so excited that you have this mass of people at the door. Even though the church doesn't start until 2 PM these people
John whom wrote Revelations gave us a sneak peek of what Heaven is like.
Revelations chapter 4
After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven and the voice I had first heard came to me like a trumpet.
(Taffy) "When I read this it made me think either this person has a trumpet on his face...or two he speaks trumpet! You know how you can "choose" your body? It's almost like you could tell God, "I want my face to look like a saxophone."
At once I was in the spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven. One was seated on the throne and the one seated before the throne looked like Jasper and Carnelian stone. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne. Around that were 24 thrones and on the thrones sat 24 elders dressed in white clothes with gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and thunder. Burning before the throne were seven fiery torches which are the seven spirits of God.
I think that's a pretty awesome passage, but me saying its an awesome passage isn't enough. You have to read it and find the meaning. When they say something three times...it means its important. Notice above..the word throne is said six times. Now why would they say throne six times if they didn't want to stress that there is power greater than us?
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you brother's in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to god - this is your spiritual act of worship.
(Taffy) "When God says listen, come to me, worship me, everything that you have.
(Taff) Your spiritual life is not hobby.
(Taffy) God is not stamps, transformers collections...even though I like transformers..
(Taffy) Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty."
(Taffy) I am not going to do this because I want to honor God, you are saying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
(Taffy) THAT is worship!
(Taffy) The devil is not attacking those who go and party...he is attacking you..because your are making a difference. You are singing and worshiping and having fellowship. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty.
I believe that Taffy has some great key points. I agree with him saying that the Devil attacks those whom try to make a difference. I agree with him saying that spiritual life should not be a hobby. It should be more of a part of your life than your other activities if possible.
We are ending with communion and singing. What a nice way to end the week.
Petty Officer Fitzgerald L.
Transmission 21Z39-X End
Onyx Bubble Reporting
This message will self destruct in 30 seconds.
Still standing
Ok, I'm entering a new world, blogging. For any of you who know me I have trouble getting to my email, so here we go.
This has been an amazing week and its hard to believe its coming to an end today. It has been a great honor for me to be with our students and all of your awesome amazing sons and daughters. Its been guite a sight to sit in a room with over 700 teenagers who are all learning and loving God. I must admit the first night when we walked on saddleback campus, after I picked my chin off the ground, Its an amazing little city, i thought I must be nuts. We could hear the base pounding out in the dparking lot. I just got out the Advil and took some before I went. Its hard to hear yourself think let alone speak, you know when the base is so luod your heart jumps out of your skin. Yet as the night went on I was awed and inspired to see so many teenagers there jumping and singing their love songs to Jesus. I have been blessed and excited for our students and for my self. Its been great to see God alive and well in so many of our youth. They live in time when life comes at them fast and hard. We have all been challenged in the mist of it to slow down and be still. A good reminder to all of us!
I know the students have been blogging all week about the talks(that in itself is amazing to me) Technology is amazing. I mean the other day the Matt and Becky called their mom(hello Mary) on their computer and we could see her and she could see us. They gave her a tour of the campus. And yet they talked about how it is one more thing that can distract us from being still. Ok, Its time to go, our last session begins in a couple of minutes and I know someone will want to blog during the session. Again Thank-you for the opportunity to be with your awesome Kids!
R
This has been an amazing week and its hard to believe its coming to an end today. It has been a great honor for me to be with our students and all of your awesome amazing sons and daughters. Its been guite a sight to sit in a room with over 700 teenagers who are all learning and loving God. I must admit the first night when we walked on saddleback campus, after I picked my chin off the ground, Its an amazing little city, i thought I must be nuts. We could hear the base pounding out in the dparking lot. I just got out the Advil and took some before I went. Its hard to hear yourself think let alone speak, you know when the base is so luod your heart jumps out of your skin. Yet as the night went on I was awed and inspired to see so many teenagers there jumping and singing their love songs to Jesus. I have been blessed and excited for our students and for my self. Its been great to see God alive and well in so many of our youth. They live in time when life comes at them fast and hard. We have all been challenged in the mist of it to slow down and be still. A good reminder to all of us!
I know the students have been blogging all week about the talks(that in itself is amazing to me) Technology is amazing. I mean the other day the Matt and Becky called their mom(hello Mary) on their computer and we could see her and she could see us. They gave her a tour of the campus. And yet they talked about how it is one more thing that can distract us from being still. Ok, Its time to go, our last session begins in a couple of minutes and I know someone will want to blog during the session. Again Thank-you for the opportunity to be with your awesome Kids!
R
Thursday, July 12, 2007
PDYMC Day 3, General Session II (Night)
Persecution- Open Doors
Speaker: Zach Hunter
What is Persecution?
---The punishment of any group of people based on a disagreement of ethical views
_________________________________________________________________________________
Zach Hunter
-15 year-old abolitionist
-Began with a program called "Loose Change to Loose Chains"
-Drew inspiration from Proverbs 31: 8-9
-Talks at concerts, conferences, and TV shows
-"Normal dude"
__________________________________________________________________________________
Interview between Doug Fields and Zach Hunter
DOUG: What is an abolitionist?
ZACH: -"Anyone who fights against slavery or frees slaves"
DOUG: How do people become slaves?
ZACH: -Medical debt, kidnapping/deceit, trickery
DOUG: What are you doing about it?
ZACH: -Isaiah 1:17-Taking it seriously
-Seek justice and do something
-Loose Change to Loosen Chains
Passion is something Satan doesn't want us to experience.
Ex.: Electronics are like an anasthetic that makes us apathetic
We're not willing to spend time with God
DOUG: Has seeking justice in the slavery world strengthened your relationship with God?
ZACH: -Yes, but you can't make God love you more or less because of what you do for Him, or what you DON'T do. He loves you just the same.
God is our friend, Jesus is our brother
God loves, Jesus saves
We need to extend our circle of compassion, in an effort to make it more like God's circle of compassion (which is much bigger)
Womb is compassion
(Give a part of ourselves so that others can live)
DOUG: How does the money you raise actually help?
ZACH: -Fund-raising- goes to organizations that pay for lawyers, debt money, law enforcement
Did you feel God physically say YOU are supposed to free the slaves?
-Slow build, then BOOM
-Not just one incident
DOUG: How do you get your organization to appeal to non-Christians?
ZACH: -Still talks about God, but doesn't shove it down people's throats
1st Timothy 4:12
And then it all ended with a bang. :-)
Speaker: Zach Hunter
What is Persecution?
---The punishment of any group of people based on a disagreement of ethical views
_________________________________________________________________________________
Zach Hunter
-15 year-old abolitionist
-Began with a program called "Loose Change to Loose Chains"
-Drew inspiration from Proverbs 31: 8-9
-Talks at concerts, conferences, and TV shows
-"Normal dude"
__________________________________________________________________________________
Interview between Doug Fields and Zach Hunter
DOUG: What is an abolitionist?
ZACH: -"Anyone who fights against slavery or frees slaves"
DOUG: How do people become slaves?
ZACH: -Medical debt, kidnapping/deceit, trickery
DOUG: What are you doing about it?
ZACH: -Isaiah 1:17-Taking it seriously
-Seek justice and do something
-Loose Change to Loosen Chains
Passion is something Satan doesn't want us to experience.
Ex.: Electronics are like an anasthetic that makes us apathetic
We're not willing to spend time with God
DOUG: Has seeking justice in the slavery world strengthened your relationship with God?
ZACH: -Yes, but you can't make God love you more or less because of what you do for Him, or what you DON'T do. He loves you just the same.
God is our friend, Jesus is our brother
God loves, Jesus saves
We need to extend our circle of compassion, in an effort to make it more like God's circle of compassion (which is much bigger)
Womb is compassion
(Give a part of ourselves so that others can live)
DOUG: How does the money you raise actually help?
ZACH: -Fund-raising- goes to organizations that pay for lawyers, debt money, law enforcement
Did you feel God physically say YOU are supposed to free the slaves?
-Slow build, then BOOM
-Not just one incident
DOUG: How do you get your organization to appeal to non-Christians?
ZACH: -Still talks about God, but doesn't shove it down people's throats
1st Timothy 4:12
And then it all ended with a bang. :-)
Stop, Be Quiet and Make A Connection
We finished a debrief for our last talk and decided it would be a good idea to utilize what we have been taught these past few days.
STOP.
The first one Doug Feilds told us was to stop, Well that one's not hard for me to do, really i have problems starting and finishing something so stopping is like breathing to me. Taking a break from your daily life to just sit, well if you were my mom you'd be asking, "Well how is that different from your daily life Becky?" haha well i do do things, but one thing i know how to do well is sleeping. Asking me to do something before 12 pm in the summer is like asking me to give you my kidney. I'd do it, but i wouldn't be ashamed to tell you how uncomfortable the surgery was afterwards. Well now i' m just rumbling on on this one so i'll move on to the next step.
BE QUIET.
Quiet? whats that? i mean i've heard that command on many occasions, but i don't think i've ever grasped the concept. i mean i'm the youngest of five but at home, i could be louder then all my older brothers and sisters combined when i wanted attention. I mean thats how i got attention...it was usually negative attention, like "becky stop singing its a small world after all" which was usually followed by a "becky, stop humming to its a small world after all." But hey, i was getting the attention i wanted in the way i knew how to get it. Now as i was listening to Doug Field's talk i'm wondering, "How is God going to pay any attention to me if i just sit there and be quiet?"
MAKE A CONNECTION.
Now imagine the difficulty i had with this last step when i couldnt even sit still long enough without talking. When i'm not talking outloud i am definatly talking to myself in my head, commenting on something i see or thinking about how i forgot my room number so when i had to get my card reset for our room (because i had it in the same pocket as my cell..and sadly i've erased my debit card like that twice so you would've thought that i would have learned by now...but hey i'm a teenager right?) i had to go back twice to get the correct room number on it. As you can see, i ramble a lot on paper so you can only imagine how much is going on in my head at once...Talk about ADD..How in the world am i supposed to sit still and hear God's voice in my mind when i've got so much racket in my own brain. The still soft voice has a lot of competetion in my brain.. its like trying to hear a whisper at a rock concert next to a speaker...I don't know its possible.
I guess my goal for this week is to not talk in my head and then i know that i will be able to hear HIS voice. i think patience will also be key here since silence for 30 seconds to a normal person is like 30 years to me so i like to make any noice every few seconds, even if its just a cough or sniffle.
BECKY
LA CAPITANA DEL BLOGO
STOP.
The first one Doug Feilds told us was to stop, Well that one's not hard for me to do, really i have problems starting and finishing something so stopping is like breathing to me. Taking a break from your daily life to just sit, well if you were my mom you'd be asking, "Well how is that different from your daily life Becky?" haha well i do do things, but one thing i know how to do well is sleeping. Asking me to do something before 12 pm in the summer is like asking me to give you my kidney. I'd do it, but i wouldn't be ashamed to tell you how uncomfortable the surgery was afterwards. Well now i' m just rumbling on on this one so i'll move on to the next step.
BE QUIET.
Quiet? whats that? i mean i've heard that command on many occasions, but i don't think i've ever grasped the concept. i mean i'm the youngest of five but at home, i could be louder then all my older brothers and sisters combined when i wanted attention. I mean thats how i got attention...it was usually negative attention, like "becky stop singing its a small world after all" which was usually followed by a "becky, stop humming to its a small world after all." But hey, i was getting the attention i wanted in the way i knew how to get it. Now as i was listening to Doug Field's talk i'm wondering, "How is God going to pay any attention to me if i just sit there and be quiet?"
MAKE A CONNECTION.
Now imagine the difficulty i had with this last step when i couldnt even sit still long enough without talking. When i'm not talking outloud i am definatly talking to myself in my head, commenting on something i see or thinking about how i forgot my room number so when i had to get my card reset for our room (because i had it in the same pocket as my cell..and sadly i've erased my debit card like that twice so you would've thought that i would have learned by now...but hey i'm a teenager right?) i had to go back twice to get the correct room number on it. As you can see, i ramble a lot on paper so you can only imagine how much is going on in my head at once...Talk about ADD..How in the world am i supposed to sit still and hear God's voice in my mind when i've got so much racket in my own brain. The still soft voice has a lot of competetion in my brain.. its like trying to hear a whisper at a rock concert next to a speaker...I don't know its possible.
I guess my goal for this week is to not talk in my head and then i know that i will be able to hear HIS voice. i think patience will also be key here since silence for 30 seconds to a normal person is like 30 years to me so i like to make any noice every few seconds, even if its just a cough or sniffle.
BECKY
LA CAPITANA DEL BLOGO
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