Fast Food

So, yesterday I found out something which I wasn't too excited about. According to the grades on Chuck White's website, I got a "U" in his class this semester. Problem. I'm done at SAU, but I need that class to get my degree. He told me in an e-mail I could finish up the readings his chart says I didn't complete, and that should raise my grade high enough to pass. So, this morning I'm reading Augustine's Enchiridion; I decided to take a break and write about some thoughts which have been floating around my head lately.

I often think it's easier to get fast food when I'm hungry. I can be sitting in my room and think, "I should go to Subway and get something to eat." Normally, however, the place I'm living has enough food for me to make a meal, even if it's a small one. Still, my thoughts materialise something like this: "Well, this isn't enough," or, "I don't feel like eating this right now," or, "This will take too long to make. Fast food is cheap, it sounds pretty tasty right now, and it won't take a half-hour to make."

There are some issues here. First, regarding the price, fast food is definitely cheap, but if I already have food in the house, is it not cheaper to eat what I have? I'll be saving money from my wallet immediately, and I will not be using gas from my car; I likely would be if I got fast food. Also, I'm not exactly a skinny guy. I can survive on small meals, and it will probably be better for me in the long run than stuffing myself full of McDonald's or even Subway, depending on how much I actually buy there. The food in my house right now, especially, is much better for me than fast food.

The second issue is this: many fast food chains try to make their products so they are as addicting as possible. Maybe some of you get that inexplicable desire for McDonald's cheeseburgers; you can't explain it, but you really want one, and no other food will quite do the trick. I know that feeling, at least. One of my friends (who may be reading this right now) once told me a story about when he was still a vegetarian. He went to McDonald's and ordered a cheeseburger without the burger. After eating it, he realised he couldn't even tell there wasn't meat in it, because it tasted exactly the same. Gross. It's obvious to most people that fast food chains are just trying to get people hooked on their food, but few people actually make the decision to forego fast food because of health reasons. This even relates back to money: fast food grabs my desires so well that I used to want it all the time, sometimes even letting food I already had go completely to waste, and I end up spending more and more money on it when I don't need to. Now I try to think of it this way: If the food is designed so I become even slightly addicted to it, wouldn't it be better for me to eat something else?

Third, fast food makes me lazy. I think, "Oh, driving a mile and grabbing a quick lunch at Subway will be faster than cooking the pasta in the cupboard." The moment I go through with it, I've given in to laziness, and am wasting the resources God has provided for me. I'm not pointing fingers at people who stop for fast food when they really don't have enough time to make a meal at home; I'm talking about myself, when I'm sitting at home and don't feel like making my own food. When I do this, I'm both hindering the growth of good habits in my life (patience, diligence, thriftiness, moderation) and engendering the growth of bad ones (impatience, sloth, wastefulness, excess).

In short, getting fast food may seem easier sometimes, but it's actually making life harder in the long run: it harms God's temple (my own body), it uses up more money than it appears to outwardly, and it harms my own spiritual and personal growth. I understand fast food can be helpful in certain situations, but making it a regular part of life is not a good idea.

Put differently, it's even more convicting to me: By choosing fast food when I don't need to, I'm deciding I want pleasure now and couldn't care less about the long-term consequences. Anyone reading this, whether you're a Christian or not, should be able to understand that this is not a healthy mindset. However, following Christ specifically calls for a lifestyle which is the polar opposite of this one, so I would hope my argument here would especially resonate with them. Unfortunately, I often find Christians actually care less about their bodies than the rest of the world; a very sad state of affairs, indeed. A case can be made that Christians should not focus their entire lives on the pursuit of health and wellness (and this is true), but a case cannot be made that Christians should not care for their bodies. I see people live out this mindset too often: "Well, I'm working for God's kingdom, so how I treat my body here doesn't matter in eternity." The first part is true enough, but who's to say God's kingdom isn't on earth right now? Maybe we should be setting an example with our lives. Just a thought.

Peace.

New house

So, I am finally finished at SAU. This has been an excellent few days so far. Once again, my van is in the shop (this time for minor repairs), but I've been keeping myself busy. I only have one piece of furniture left to bring to my new room in Lansing, and I've been working on getting my bookshelves organised and cleaning up the mess I brought back from my apartment in SAU. Today was a massive cleaning day in that regard. There's still work to be done, but I'm just happy I'm finally here. My new living situation feels so much better than living on campus. Here's why:

1. One of my roommates is excessively anal about keeping the place clean. My habits and personality are somewhat fluid, so I've been able to keep my room cleaner than usual and help keep the rest of the house clean.

2. This is a fairly permanent situation. It's the first time since I started college that all of my clothes, books, electronics, furniture, and other things I need/want are all in the same place, and aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

3. Now I live closer to everything I do. I live close to the church I lead worship at (I live with one of my pastors, in fact), I live close to (but not with) my family, I live close to all my friends in Lansing, I live close to food (which is nice), I live close to a lot of job opportunities (which I'm trying to take advantage of), and I live closer to my friends in Grand Rapids and Troy.

4. The house is generally pretty quiet. I can get all kinds of work done throughout the day and be relatively undisturbed the entire time. Our friends generally visit in small herds at night, so even on more social days, most of the day is quiet. I've been able to read, practice my guitar, and spend time with God more now that I'm here.

In short, this is probably my favorite place I've lived so far. I love it, and I'm blessed to be here.

Peace.

The future is now

So, I've officially finished my last assignment at SAU. I'm packing my stuff up, saying goodbye to friends, and getting ready to delete my FB account for good.

This is one of the weirdest feelings ever.

I was crying a little at the end of my last class today. I'm really sad about not seeing most of these people again on earth.

I think it's okay to be sad, though. I've spent a lot of my life covering up my emotions or badly expressing them. I'd like to just be sad right now: not despairing or hopeless, but sad about the friendships I will be losing.

This isn't to say I'm losing every friendship I have here at the Arb. Some of my relationships are just going to become more difficult, and I'm excited for it. In today's world, the internet and cell phones make relationships easier to create...but they also make us lazy. We're too used to easy relationships, and when relationships become hard, we have a hard time looking on the bright side of things. Relationships that go through hard times, however, are strengthened! This is also why I'm sad: I know several of my best friendships here are going to become much harder to keep up. However, it's also why I'm hopeful, because I know those friendships that last will endure for the rest of my life.

I guess I'm full of mixed emotions today...but that's okay.

Peace.

A new land

So, I was reading Oregon's Wikipedia page the other day. There was a stand-alone sentence which caught my eye:

"Today, Oregon's landscape varies from rain forest in the Coast Range to barren desert in the southeast, which still meets the technical definition of a frontier."

If you didn't catch what I caught in that sentence...I'm sorry we're not better friends.

Peace.

Another blog about the future

So, I've been thinking a lot this week about long-term goals. I know what I need to be doing right now: I'm finishing up my degree at SAU, I'm living in Lansing, I'm working with a church plant until I'm no longer needed there, and I'm taking two classes at LCC this spring. These things are nearly a guarantee, unless something crazy happens. I know God could send me in some direction I'm not expecting at any moment, so I'm trying to keep my main focus on what I need to do presently.

However, the Apostle Paul had long-term goals, so I believe I'm justified in thinking about that sort of thing, too.

I want to move out West somewhere after I'm done in Lansing. I fell in love with the western US after my trip this past summer, just like I knew I would. I sort of decided about a week ago that I particularly want to move out toward Portland, Oregon, where a family I know just moved and began some new ministry projects. Coincidentally, a couple nights ago I was talking to the father of this family, who I've been developing a very good relationship with since I was in high school, and he asked me if I wanted to help with his ministry. Of course, I said yes.

So, even just this week, God has been opening some interesting doors for me down the road. I know I need to be in Lansing for now, but now I'm considering the possibility of continuing my second bachelor's degree out in Oregon, if that opportunity was to actually become a reality. I don't know exactly what God has in store for the future, but so far it looks pretty sweet.

Peace.

A dream I had

So, two nights ago, while I was at Center Lake for their Follow the Star event, I had a very interesting dream. Very strange, really.

I was in a house, sort of our in the woods, but not quite in the middle of nowhere. I had been staying there for some amount of time, but now it was time to go. I had already packed up most of my belongings, but it was a much smaller amount than I actually own currently. No furniture, no car, no bicycle, no electronics at all, no library of books. I don't remember anything specific, but I'm pretty sure none of those things were there. I was trying to pack everything so I could carry it all in one trip, since my destination was a bit of a long walk, and I didn't want to have to make it twice. I was going to another house, or maybe a small town. I had packed almost everything I owned into my hiking backpack, but not quite everything. Even with so little, I remember thinking to myself, "Ah, if only I had fewer belongings...I should try to get rid of some of it." I don't remember what happened with my stuff exactly, but I set out on a grey gravel road toward my next destination. I had my backpack, at least. A light rain was falling.

I woke up later and immediately remembered the dream. I didn't think, "Wow, what a strange dream," like I normally would. I woke up and immediately thought, "Oh my...what does this mean?" During the dream, I felt like it had some kind of significance, and after waking up this feeling was even stronger. The more obvious meaning is it could reveal something of what God has in store for me in the future. Then again, it could just mean I've been playing too much Skyrim on my roommate's Xbox 360. Maybe there's some other significance I'm missing. I don't know, but I wanted to record this, if for nothing else but to remind me later that I don't need as many things as I own.

What are your thoughts? I'd really like to hear them, especially if someone out there can interpret dreams, haha.

Peace.

Greater Things

So, this Thanksgiving break has been pretty awesome for a few reasons, some of which most people would not quite interpret that way. My car broke down last Friday while I was trying to leave SAU for break, and it turns out the engine cradle is broke, which is normally a cause to buy a new car. *BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE.* First, this is so bad that I'm EXTREMELY fortunate that I didn't make it to the highway, which was only about a half-mile away. If the engine cradle would've broke while I was going 70mph down the interstate, I would most likely be dead. Second, I found out it's covered under a $2,000 recall warranty, meaning the dealership will fix it for free and possibly repair any other damages caused by the break...so my car will basically be in better shape than before it broke down, AND it won't cost me a dime. At least, that's how it's looking so far. Thank you, Jesus.

Since my car is in the shop for a while, my mom has been driving me around when I really need her to. This has given me some really nice times to just hang out with her and talk, and I've come to realise how much she really does for me without me realising it. Thank you, mom, and thanks again, Jesus.

Since it's break and I'm stuck at my house in Lansing, I've also had a lot of time to do schoolwork by myself, which has been nice. I've also been filling out job applications for when I'm done at SAU and officially move to Lansing. I'm praying I get a job with the Ingham County Parks Department, particularly at Hawk Island County Park or at Potter Park Zoo. I'd appreciate your prayers for that, as well.

Tonight I was reading out of John 14, specifically verses 12-17. This is the passage where Jesus says we can do greater things than He did now that He's in heaven...but actually, that's not quite right. Jesus says this: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do...." Note the key words in there: "whoever believes in me," and "will." If we really believe in Christ, He said Himself that we WILL do what He did, not just CAN do what He did. In fact, Jesus said we will do greater things than what He did...again, WILL DO, not CAN DO. Throughout these verses, Jesus makes a lot of emphatic, absolute statements which I often take for granted. I usually see things like this and say, "Oh, well, I can do those things, but God just isn't working that way through me right now," or, "You know, Jesus can do anything if I ask in His name, but that doesn't mean He necessarily will."

What a load of crap. Stronger words would better express how I feel about this. There are some HUGE promises in these verses that we just take advantage of and forget about. However, there are also a lot of conditional statements which we can pass over, too.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Notice the placement of the "if" and the "will" in there. It doesn't say, "You will love me if you keep my commandments," and this is very important. This really got to me.

Read through the whole passage here. Do it slowly, word by word, and take in what Jesus is saying in each sentence. Pray about each promise He makes. Ask God to open your heart to His leading.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither seems him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells in you and will be in you." Jesus, John 14:12-17

Peace.