Character
My faith
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Character My faith |
Character
Life is More Than It Seems...
Life can be such an overwhelmingly complicated thing to understand. It is also one of the easiest things to figure out. We, for example, are human beings, trying our best to live life out to the fullest, seeking to accomplish certain goals with the time we have on this planet.
The measure of trying to deal with our dreams, our emotions, our goals, and many other aspects of life can be unimaginably frustrating. We can feel like we are flying high one moment, then grounded the next. Why is it this way? Why do we experience these things and emotions and react like we do?
We are all trying to find the perfect life. We want to buy the coolest gadgets, find the perfect soulmate, or land the dream job. Rarely do any of us shoot for the floor. We always want the moon and the stars, the best of the best, the most amazing. Regardless of whether we put conscious effort into it or not, it's where we always want to be.
"There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth." - Ecclesiastes 4:8
If someone were to give us all the money we'd ever make in our lives in one shot, it isn't just highly doubtful that we would ever consider the idea of investing it, it's almost a guarantee. When I am poor, I am one of the world's most brilliant economists. The problems begin when the green stuff gets all over my hands. My brain is suddenly the victim of a chemical reaction, and I go dumb. Huh? Oooh, money... and off I go.
To put it another way, we are always searching for more. Our man-made passions simply do not satisfy. And it drives us bonkers.
The Unavoidable and Unexplainable
Beyond all the doubts and questions we have about life, beyond our fears, our limitations, and accomplishments, is what we have quietly hoped for all our lives. The darkness of failure is decisively removed, and fear and evil find no rest there. We can find there the rest that will carry us through our hardest times and fill us with joy for the wonderful moments ahead.
"In his name the nations will put their hope." - Matthew 12:21
This wonderful place is not a location, though. It is a relationship. Despite all that you have heard and come to know in your lives, there is a supernatural aspect about life that cannot be dismissed. When we hear of people playing professional sports again after devastating injuries, accomplishing impossible academic dreams, or coming back to life after being dead, we experience an unavoidably real part of our lives.
What's that? You don't believe in a supernatural being that basically created the entire universe?
Okay. Let's consider the options.
"These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either." - Mark 16:13
Plan one: the earth, along with the rest of the universe, was created by a series of chemical bonds and reactions. When it was earth's turn, after being formed by collisions of masses and cooling down, eventually, life sprung up: first from bacteria to ooze, ooze to small forms of living matter, various species, and several billion years later, human beings. We're basically created by accident, heading rapidly in one direction, and we don't know where that is.
Plan one doesn't leave much room for hope or purpose. It basically says that our existence carries no real meaning, no real direction. What's the use of setting up morals if life is really so abstract? It may turn out to simply be an issue of what we interpret of our lives. Consequences mean barely anything if there's really nothing to say what's right and wrong.
We all think we can live life out our own way, but the problem is that thousands of years have passed by with people thinking different versions of this exact issue. Civilization after civilization has ignored the calling of something greater than itself, struggling to define who they are, ignoring who they really have been all along: people without a Savior.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
If you don't care about the really serious questions of life, feel free to stop reading. There's nothing forcing you to continue. If, however, this has made you wonder more about life, check out http://net-burst.net , and discover what you were always meant to know about life.
As for me, I follow the Christian faith. I have a belief in the risen Son of God, Who came to this earth to show us how to live life, and to pay the debt to God we could not repay ourselves, by shedding His blood on the cross and dying for our sins as the sacrificial Lamb. This offering served to pay the debt and bridge the gap between us and God, by establishing a covenant and relationship that could never be broken. His ressurection sealed His status as who He said He was, and what He had done for us. Today, His people serve Him, and seek to bring others to a saving relationship with God as well. Will you consider what God has to say to you?
It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Child
Life has really made me understand the significance of the above statement. No human being can live alone - we are all created to have relationships with each other. And the first place we all realize this is in our family - the first group of people we belong to. I am very fortunate to have been raised in the company of families that have loved me very much.
I am also blessed to have friends that have stuck by me through the years, as far back as high school (and one from elementary school at that)... people that have helped me have fun, loosen up, and sometimes, make sense of life with me.
Click here to find out more info about these wonderful folks who have impacted my life forever.
Love of a Lifetime, Love for a Lifetime
Wrapping up the first semester of my first year of college, I felt committed to sharing my life with someone special. I wanted to find someone to share love and companionship with. I felt lonely - not alone, but just like I really wanted to give my heart to a person and love them unconditionally. All the closed doors of relationships I had tried to open over the years led me down a hall to one door.
Behind that door was a wonderful jewel of a woman whom God ultimately allowed me to marry and spend my life with. Her beauty is matchless. Her heart is amazingly compassionate and caring. Her name is Holly.
Please click here to see the indescribably beautiful woman who has changed my life forever.
Transforming My Body... for LIFE
Until 1998 (but really, up until just last year), I had never really considered a physically active lifestyle as a significant priority to my life. I wasn't tremendously overweight, but I was definitely packing more insulation than necessary. I had occasionally indulged in a workout every now and then, but not with a serious interest like today.
I am convinced that proper nutrition and exercise are vital to a person's optimum performance in life. Obesity can present health problems. Nutrient deficiencies in diets can leave people feeling unbalanced at best, and at worst can affect your body in ways you never thought possible. While I'm not necessarily trying to scare anyone, the fact is that a properly calibrated exercise and nutrition regiment can seriously positively affect your life... in ways you never thought possible.
If you want to get in shape, don't feel you have the time to work out, or are just intimidated by the whole concept of re-thinking how to care for your body in this way, click here to see some of the things that I dealt with on my [continuing] quest.
Time - the Final Frontier
When I was a kid, my days in elementary school went by slowly. Summers stretched out beyond the horizon. It seemed like I was going to be a kid for a very, VERY long time. Then I grew up.
Quietly, and without warning, time crept up on me slowly: first guiding me into junior high school, slowly accustoming me to a faster pace. Then high school came, and the winds began to pick up even more - more homework, more hobbies, more preoccupations. Once that was done, the gloves came off. College blew by like a sports car on the autobahn. And now, here I am - having ushered in a new year already (April is in full swing as I write this).
I don't know what makes the years go by as fast as they do now. I do know one of the responsibilities I have is to enjoy every second that passes by, and to live my life to the fullest. Here's how I do it.