Some days I just don’t feel like writing. Sometimes it’s just that I don’t want to blog so I mess around with story writing. But there are those days I’m just tired of writing. Communicating. But then it’s a lack of communication. And then it all breaks down from there.. Sometimes you have to talk to your family in a loving manner even though you don’t feel like it. Sometimes you have to communicate with clients when you’re having a bad day.
How do you do it? Because I’m really bad at it… <_<
It’s the little things that move you towards heaven on the narrow road, or away. Maybe a little compromise there, a little bad music over here, a couple bad movies, etc. Or you read your Bible more often. You pray to God more. You grow like a plant, or you wilt. Sure, there is a point where you’ve fallen away or come to Christ. But I can’t tell where that is. If we would think of Christianity like a road, with a cross at some point along that road I believe that would be a better approach to living. We don’t suddenly become a big tree or die as a little sapling. It generally takes time. I see friends on both sides. Some seem to be slowly walking away, some walk towards.
Even the guy who’s saved out of a world where everyone does drugs, cuts, etc, his growth is slow. Yes there is a big change in his life, but he’s not suddenly a massive giant in the faith. And many of those guys can fall away over time. Don’t look at the big changes, look at the timeline. That’s where you will see fruit. Or not.
Sometimes it’s the days where you are the most exhausted or hurt that are the best. Or at least the most memorable…
Today I’m thankful for the little things in life. Because that’s what most of life is about. ^_^
I remember reading Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” And one thing he brought out was how you should write the angry letters. But don’t send them. I believe he said Theodore Roosevelt would write the letter, then put it in his desk. He would come back later and read it. Then he would put it back and finally would come back one more time and if he felt it appropriate would send it, but would normally throw it away..
Sometimes you have to grab your kid out of the street to save his life. Sometimes you have to tell your friend the hard truth about how you perceive him heading to hell. Sometimes people have to be church disciplined. Sometimes you have to spank your child, because you fear for his soul. Sometimes you have to give up the good things of life in order to encourage and minister to others. Sometimes you have to give money or time to widows and orphans. Sometimes you have to feel pain when God puts you through a trial.
The question is, do you do it all for the love of God and others? If not, you are nothing.
I had an interesting conversation with a muslim last Friday night while down at the 16th street mall. He explained to me that the reason he did things. I.e. Praying so many times per day with his face pointed towards the mid-east/why he practices Ramadan, etc. And he told me that he does it because he has to. Otherwise, he’s not a Muslim. Then I asked him if he only did it because he had to, or if he did it because he loved Allah. And he replied that it was because he had to. This is ultimately a fundamental difference between Christians and Muslims. Christians obey God’s law because they love God. Muslims do it because they have to. Also, one thing that interested me is that they are implying that they are saving themselves. When they do the so many things that they are required to do, they are basically saved. Yet, at the same time they say that God is sovereign. How does this work? They’re saving themselves through their works, while at the same time saying God is sovereign?
One thing that I appreciate about homeschooling/patriarchy/Christianity is that it tends to bring your family together. I’ve played lots of MMORPGs throughout the years and I get in long conversations with people. There’s been probably somewhere over 100 people I’ve talked to at some length. They tell me about how different they are from their family. They tell me about how they don’t quite hate their family, but they’re just nothing like them. They don’t understand them. They go home for the holidays and have nothing to talk about. And much of this is because they’ve been educated in a separate place. Their dad never really cared about them. They never saw him for that fact. Or maybe he was emotionally hurtful to them. Their mom sent them off to school and didn’t really want them around. They had nothing to bring them together. Christ wasn’t the center of their homes, although some of them called themselves Christians.
The thing is homeschooling and patriarchy get abused on the internet at times. And I just don’t think these people understand the real world. After talking to this small group of people, I know that if my dad and mom didn’t love me and we spent so much time together, and talked about life and me, I’d be the same as them.
Of course, the detractors always bring up the few bad examples, but every system of thought has people who misuse it and the children will end up the exact same as many of the people I’ve talked to. But that’s beside the point.
Love doesn’t come easy. As I look ahead on my life I know that it would be easier to not follow Christ. I know that it would be easier to not homeschool my children. And I realize that being a patriarch in my home is way more work than going to run my marathons every weekend or playing golf instead. But I don’t want to be the guy who goes to hell on flowery beds of ease while others fight to win the prize and sail through bloody seas, just because I didn’t want to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ~ Genesis 1:1
Seems like a fitting start to a new year.