Update past due!
Thanks Dave for the nudge!
I have been teaching during this first summer session and on my second day after the grades were turned in. I have a bit more energy, but am still battling an ear infection. I haven't felt particularly well, so have taken a couple of days and have done nothing...absolutely nothing. Today, I feel better, swelling has gone down and I actually fixed and ate breakfast. (I also cleaned the kitchen! Amazing!)
I don't have a whole lot to update. My friend, who is seemed like some sort of relationship was budding, and I are not communicating at all now. I broke contact with him a bit over a month or a month and a half. Every so often it gets hard and I miss the friendship, but it is a good thing. Really do not want to get into details, but that is one of the major thing right now.
That and I am preparing for my 3rd year review in February. I am frightened about that on several levels. So, it is safe to say that life is a bit dark for me at times. Other times, the sun comes out and I get glimpses of the Kingdom advancing. I live for those days!!! I understand now how important hope and a sense of future are to health and well-being. I have seen it again and again. Often times, depression comes when the sense of time is screwed up and the ability to grasp something beyond our selves is weak. That is why serving others can be a healthy thing. That is why maintaining a schedule is important. Most of all, it is important to have a sense of the present future in the Kingdom. Without that, we are adrift.
I have also been thinking about the work that suffering does in our lives. In Romans 5, Paul writes about suffering producing perseverance, perseverance character, character hope. I believe the persecuted church experiences more hope than the nonpersecuted church because they have had their expectations in God tested, fine tuned, and proved through suffering. Interesting, eh. I think we encounter a different kind of suffering, but we are numb to the lessons and growth to be had. Sorry, Rocky, but I have come to the opinion that it is not enough to tell people to "suck it up." While I think that is necessary, it is insufficient. I think it is necessary because we, in America, feel entitled to a life without hardship. It seeps undetected into our Christianity on many levels. We try to fix it so we can attain some level of peace. That is backwards to what Paul writes. I think recognizing what Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble." helps us to realize that "suck it up" is necessary, but then according to Paul, we need perseverance. That may sound like lots of "suck it up" for a long time. Not completely. To me, it questions on what/who are we hanging our expectations? Perseverance means not allowing your expectations to go southward, meaning we base our expectations on God, not what our life and relationships look like. God is the only one who sees the full picture and is the only one who is doing something about it. We must guard our expectations. We must! We must do that across time in order to see Him proved right, faithful, just, merciful, etc. When we see/experience that, then we see cracks in our shell of suffering and the sun comes through and hope warms our heart. That is what character is...consistency across time.
Anyway, these are some of the things I think about right now. That and friendship, getting physically well, publishing research, etc. Oh, BTW, I have been contemplating taking Ballroom Dancing for fun.
Unsure if this fully updates...at least, in the sense of the usual update...
I have been teaching during this first summer session and on my second day after the grades were turned in. I have a bit more energy, but am still battling an ear infection. I haven't felt particularly well, so have taken a couple of days and have done nothing...absolutely nothing. Today, I feel better, swelling has gone down and I actually fixed and ate breakfast. (I also cleaned the kitchen! Amazing!)
I don't have a whole lot to update. My friend, who is seemed like some sort of relationship was budding, and I are not communicating at all now. I broke contact with him a bit over a month or a month and a half. Every so often it gets hard and I miss the friendship, but it is a good thing. Really do not want to get into details, but that is one of the major thing right now.
That and I am preparing for my 3rd year review in February. I am frightened about that on several levels. So, it is safe to say that life is a bit dark for me at times. Other times, the sun comes out and I get glimpses of the Kingdom advancing. I live for those days!!! I understand now how important hope and a sense of future are to health and well-being. I have seen it again and again. Often times, depression comes when the sense of time is screwed up and the ability to grasp something beyond our selves is weak. That is why serving others can be a healthy thing. That is why maintaining a schedule is important. Most of all, it is important to have a sense of the present future in the Kingdom. Without that, we are adrift.
I have also been thinking about the work that suffering does in our lives. In Romans 5, Paul writes about suffering producing perseverance, perseverance character, character hope. I believe the persecuted church experiences more hope than the nonpersecuted church because they have had their expectations in God tested, fine tuned, and proved through suffering. Interesting, eh. I think we encounter a different kind of suffering, but we are numb to the lessons and growth to be had. Sorry, Rocky, but I have come to the opinion that it is not enough to tell people to "suck it up." While I think that is necessary, it is insufficient. I think it is necessary because we, in America, feel entitled to a life without hardship. It seeps undetected into our Christianity on many levels. We try to fix it so we can attain some level of peace. That is backwards to what Paul writes. I think recognizing what Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble." helps us to realize that "suck it up" is necessary, but then according to Paul, we need perseverance. That may sound like lots of "suck it up" for a long time. Not completely. To me, it questions on what/who are we hanging our expectations? Perseverance means not allowing your expectations to go southward, meaning we base our expectations on God, not what our life and relationships look like. God is the only one who sees the full picture and is the only one who is doing something about it. We must guard our expectations. We must! We must do that across time in order to see Him proved right, faithful, just, merciful, etc. When we see/experience that, then we see cracks in our shell of suffering and the sun comes through and hope warms our heart. That is what character is...consistency across time.
Anyway, these are some of the things I think about right now. That and friendship, getting physically well, publishing research, etc. Oh, BTW, I have been contemplating taking Ballroom Dancing for fun.
Unsure if this fully updates...at least, in the sense of the usual update...