Slow Down

How often do you slow down? Just take 30 minutes in your busy life to just stop and reflect. It can do you a world of good. Last sumester I was in the busiest part of my life up to that point. I was either in school, basketball, doing homework, eating, or sleeping. I rarely had free time, did not get enough sleep, or had little time to just slow down and reflect. In result I found myself doing things that I normally wouldn't do, things that I knew weren't me. I became a more hurried and distracted.

Life can be so much more enjoyable if we have quiet time, reflections, or just time to sit and relax without focusing on anything. I try to wake up every morning and have a quiet time with God. It starts out my day so much better and I find myself enjoying my day more. I find myself acting more in a Christ-like manner and focusing on what's important in life. It helps me look at the big picture and rid myself of all the selfish thoughts that pervade my thoughts to often.

Reflections are another great thing to help you become a better person and enjoy life more because of it. This is usually best doing at the end of the day when you can sit back and reflect on the day. Reflect on the events of the day and how you acted. Think on how you could have acted in a better manner or improved your day. Think on how you could have focused on others more yourself. This will go a long way in realizing the true picture of yourself and how you can go about changing yourself.

Relaxing is another great thing to do. Pretty much every second of the day thoughts are going through are mind and millions of things are being processed through your brain. Doesn't it sound appealing to have a time to just relax your mental capacities and NOT think for once? Researchers say that memorization is so much easier when the brain has time to stop processing, essentially resting the brain. Sleep is one way for this but relaxation is also a good thing to practice.

Ah yes I have forgotten that is another very important aspect to improving your life and yourself. I think I heard somewhere that the Average American sleep for day is 7 Hours. If your an adult I think you need 8 or 9 hours of sleep and teens and kids even more. Sleep is vital for life and without it we are literaly handicapped. When we don't get sleep we are more grumpy, less likely to make good decisions, and basically we are not all the way there when we are sleepy. We are not placing ourself in the best possible situation to be the best that we can be. Sleep will help us become more Godly, better people, who make better decisions and get in less trouble/accidents. More Car Wrecks today are caused by exhaustion than any other reason. GET YOUR SLEEP!

Another more subtle aspect in my life that I have found that makes me less stressed and more joyful is music. Yes music, I enjoy many types of music but what I listen to most is Christian Rock. Now I know most people think that Christian Rock is pretty soft stuff compared to most mainstream music but I found it was just to much. Now you have to understand where I was at last sumester. My life was pure hectic/crazy/blow-my-mind-ness and when I got home I would plop down, do my homework and listen to music. I found myself attracted to softer music more and more often. My life was crazy enough did it have to be so also in my own house? No! I said and commited to listening to soothing soft music that settled me down instead of keeping me in an agitated, stressful state that I had been from school. Music really does affect your disposition and I think it plays a key role in atitude, thoughts, and actions. If you listen to harder music you are more likely to be high-strung and violent, and disruptfull.

Well I believe I could come up with a few more paragraphs and maybe a few more blog posts but I need to demonstrate what I said earlier and get my sleep so I'm gonna head to that soft, warm, happy place :) (my brain thinks a lot faster and more thoughts at night, why I need my sleep??)

09 Turkey, Tx Reflections

I had a lot of fun with friends at Turkey and I was really sad to once again say goodbye until next year. But even more important I learned and was reinvigorated about God. Multiple speakers spoke about addictions and it really spoke to my heart. The definition most people believe about addiction is just a small portion of what the definition is. Addiction for example could be addiction for cokes. Little things that we don’t really view as addictions. We hypothesized that God doesn’t judge addictions differently. He views “little” and “big” addictions the same. They are all sins. So we shouldn’t judge other people for their addictions. We shouldn’t be looking to criticize others about their addictions. Look in our own lives and I’m sure we can find multiple addictions if we really thought about it. Well anyways our main speaker was really enthusiastic and his message was powerful. He encouraged and strengthened my resolve to conquer all my addictions once and for all. We can’t do it alone (I know I’ve tried). We need God’s help if we ever are to succeed. That requires prayer, Bible reading, and asking him what his will is daily. If you fail again as I have so many times don’t be discouraged and give up. Don’t be ashamed and not talk to God. That would be the worst thing to do. Go to God in prayer and ask for forgiveness and for the strength to succeed in the future. But we can’t just rely on God to do it all. We can’t blame him when we fail. Who is making the decision? Whose fault is it really? God’s great gift to us is free will. We have to have the resolve to push through the hard times. The times when it is really a big temptation. When those times come upon us don’t be apathetic, do something about it. Fight back, go on the offensive! Get on your knees immediately, pray to God to deliver you. Ask for his guiding hand and for him to send Satan away. Another way to be on the offensive is to be wise in your actions. Don’t do something that you know will tempt you. Do things that are pleasing to the Lord. One area of our lives affects the others more than we could imagine. Be prepared for the Devil, don’t be delusional into thinking that once we ask God for strength then the temptation will magically disappear and we won’t be tempted anymore. Just remember that God cares for you. He loves you more than we can comprehend. He wants you to succeed! I pray for us all that we will fight off the demons that plague us and overcome our addictions. Once we do that our relationship with God will be greatly strengthened and will become much more unhindered. Thanks to all the speakers at Turkey for these thoughts I am echoing.

7/1/09 Prayer

God thank you for your tireless efforts to win our hearts you have exceeded with some I deemed impossible. Your wonders never cease to amaze. Please may my love to never fade for you God. Please help me be a light in the dark .Thank you for free reflective summer days. Please help me not to neglect you Lord. I need you so much; my life would be pointless without you. Only you know how black the world would be without you. Some try to claim that you’re not possible because of the blackness. But I know the truth that this world would be dark all over without you. Please help my writing to come from you God. Help me to write your ways, not mine. Amen!

Reflections on Genesis

The Devil was jealous from the beginning; he craved God's power and majesty. Noah must have been so awed by God's power during the flood; God must have seemed closer and more alive than ever at that moment. Imagine the solemn mood as everyone on the ark watched the floods cover everything they'd ever known. What a sense of fear God must have placed on their hearts The Devil was jealous from the beginning; he craved God's power and majesty. Noah must have been so awed by God's power during the flood; God must have seemed closer and more alive than ever at that moment. Imagine the solemn mood as everyone in the ark watched the floods cover everything they'd ever known. What a sense of fear God must have placed on their hearts and the desire to do good. I can only imagine.

Thoughts on Future

So much swirling in my head tonight I feel I just have to let some of it out. I'm just thinking about my future and career. I just got a very encouraging critique from a writer. I just imagine myself in another place and time. I wouldn't play sports and my focus would be on writing, reading, nerdy stuff like that. I think I would make a good nerd. I know I'm really smart but I struggle on how to use it everyday. I know I can come up with something brilliant in school but I'm too lazy. I struggle how to balance myself on reality and my mind. So many ideas and thoughts. Maybe that's what won't let me sleep, my brilliantness haha. I don't know if I want to be an engineer, when I grow up. I like math, but I don't know if I would like it enough to do everyday. I love reading and writing. I love to read anytime i can and I want to write. But I don't know how much I should focus on that because the sings point to the end of the world pretty soon. In another time and place. What could have been...I am coming to realize that writing as a side job, there won't be much time to write. What could have been...

Thanksgiving Prayer

Thank you so much for SE and the people in it for helping me come to the realization that, my problems are little compared to most teens. Thank you for giving me intelligence and a great family. Thank you for my sports skills and always loving and forgiving me. Thank you for My Dad's wisdom and understanding. Thank you for letting me go to Colorado. Thank you for helping me come to the realization that I need to spend more quiet time with you.

Wilderness Trek

Wilderness Trek really helped my relationship with God. But it's hard to keep that level of intimacy when you have a recurring sin and you won't stop. It hinders your developing relationship with God. It’s so hard but I know I just have buckle down, stop doing it. I have a secret fear, fear of going to college. Fear of when I have kids. Fear of being unprepared, inadequate, immature. I'm afraid that I'm not ready for all this Responsibility yet. I don't want it. I just want to live in my own little world of friends, basketball, reading and computer. I'm afraid of my time being taken up by responsibilities. I know it's all apart of growing up but growing up seems mundane, boring. Going to your job everyday that you probably don't like. Coming home, even then no time for yourself. I know God has some big plan for me when I grow up (as being a leader of some kind) and I welcome that. It's just all the things in between that I dread. I've read Rosenburg books about God coming soon, maybe even within my lifetime. I sort of look forward to that. I can't picture myself being old and dying normally (although I'm sure my thinking is not original. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I love Math but also English. I'm not sure I have the discipline and study skills to become an engineer like my Dad and I don't know if I'd enjoy it as much as being a Literature professor (or another English job.) I know for sure I want to write books. When I'm older, maybe when I retire. I know I'm selfish, I've always been selfish although I've gotten much better than when I was a little kid. I pray to God that he would help transform myself into a selfless person. I also want to read the Bible a lot more and make my relationship with Christ even better.