Too Many Choices

I recently read a book called “Just Do Something”.  You can read a quick summary of it here, from the person who recommended it to me.  The book is about making decisions and seeking the will of God, specifically as it relates to finding a career and spouse.  While reading the book, I found myself losing another excuse for my current condition.  The reason, according to the book, there are so many people who don’t know what they want to do with their life or who aren’t married is not because of a lack of options, but it’s due to the fact that there are too many options.  21st century America is a buffet of opportunities.  With so many choices, we end up second guessing ourselves or grow discontent, wondering if there is something better around the corner.  As Christians, we hesitate making a choice for fear of it not being what God wanted us to pick.  “What if I don’t like my job or what if she is not the one?”, we think to ourselves.  What a frustrating way to live.  A word of advice: Just because it’s a buffet doesn’t mean you have to try everything.  It’s not that hard.  Pick something and stick with it.

Selfishness and Marriage

One thing that scares me about getting married (actually there are many things that scare me) is how I will bring my selfishness into it.  And not just me, but she will too.  Marriage is like bringing two captains onto one ship; both will want their way and neither will get it.  Along the way, both will get hurt and frustrated with the other.  Now, here is my solution to the dilemma: I won’t get married.  This way, no one will get hurt.  Sounds good, doesn’t it? Maybe even a noble and considerate act of sacrifice.  I wish it was that easy though.  As someone reminded me recently, we were made for community.  Our selfishness will affect everyone around us, not just the ones who live under our roof.  Therefore, the pain caused by our selfishness is not something that can be avoided.  Rather, selfishness is a sin that must be confronted head on.  Ironically, one of the hardest and best places to deal with selfishness is in marriage.  Here, your sin is shamefully exposed for what it really is and how damaging it can be.  But it is also here where you learn the depths of love and forgiveness in the face of sin.  Here, you are forced to rely on a power greater than your own, to do what is not natural to you, and to sit at the foot of Christ and see his selfless sacrifice on behalf of his bride.  “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her…”  All this to say that marriage has a way of making us more Christ-like.  Alright then, that’s one excuse down and 9 more to go.

Thoughts on Las Vegas

My favorite things about the trip:

1. Driving through Red Rock Canyon and climbing up the sides of mountains.

2. Playing cards with my brothers late into the night in our rooms.

3. Holding my niece, Maxine, at a restaurant and seeing her smile.

4. The scenery on our way to Hoover Dam.

5. The Las Vegas Blvd strip at night.

My least favorite parts of the trip.

1. Provocative and sensual images everywhere.

2. The dry, hot weather.

3. Everything was expensive.

4. Losing a hundred dollars in Black Jack (I’ve heard Las Vegas sometimes being referred to as Lost Wages, Nevada).

To be honest, I have no desire to go back.  It’s not a real family-friendly place.  Nor is it a christian-friendly place.  There was simply too much temptation around.  Maybe it’s just me.  Perhaps the big city just doesn’t fit my personality.  Next time my family takes a vacation, I may suggest we pack our tents and join the Greenwald’s in the Smoky Mountains.  That sounds more like my kind of place.

On Purity

I read an article on purity from Relevant Magazine the other day, and this paragraph convicted me so I thought I would share it with you.
“A heart of purity refuses to use people for personal gratification or gain; rather, it announces to the world that individual people are precious and valuable. Purity does not just see the beauty before it; it sees the beauty before it and recognizes it as God’s handiwork, something to be appreciated, valued and honored instead of being dominated in sexual conquest. It sees the person possessing such beauty as a precious son or daughter of the Most High King—a person valued, loved and watched over by God. Purity insists on treating others respectfully, with honor and humility in considering them more important than fleeting emotions, urges and desires. No matter if they are willing to give themselves away—we are still taking something that does not belong to us, and it is an act of selfishness to allow that other person to give to us that which belongs to someone else. Even if we are engaged to be married, insisting on purity is not only an act of obedience to God but a protest against the shallow, selfish, short-term marriages peddled by this world”.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/features-reviews/life/17168-the-purity-puzzle