TheOneCubed

Over an IM conversation the other evening:

Joel: anything new happening with your life?
Me: not really
Me: sadly enough
Joel:
Joel: that can be a good thing

It got me thinking do I so long for some grand exciting adventure that I can’t see the new things, the miracles that occur around me everyday? All through the night God chose to fill my lungs with breath. I awoke this morning when my alarm went off (ok 20 min later with the snooze bar O:-)). Each of these are tiny miracles that happened in my life just this morning. I have to reference back to a post I made in October:

I leave you with a bit of engouragement from an old friend David.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:11

May your day be filled with tiny miracles and blessings, things renewed as only God himself can.

You know those times when you just get in that mood? You know the one - often times referred to as “the funk”. It is that time in your life when things aren’t bad but things don’t appear great either. Seems like nothing really bad has happened but nothing really grand has happened either. It is this neutral ground when you feel like the best name to describe you is Switzerland.

Now every body goes through this but the worst part is when it appears that everything is going wonderfully well for everyone around you. For those folks who don’t have it so hot right now, your selfish nature can push them from the forefront of your mind.

You see the real nature of “the funk” is satisfaction, or the lack thereof. If we dig into the root of the funk it ultimately culminates to a point where we realize we aren’t satisfied with our life. We see what others have and focus on what we don’t have. By the accents in the previous sentence I hope you begin to realize the problem. The focus is on the things of this world. What we can see, measure, visually and physically ascertain. Even as I lay here writing this now I begin to see the folly.

For any of you out there reading this who are believers, I hope you already know the answer to my quandary. The reason I’m not satisfied is because I’m measuring by the wrong set of criteria. To use a quote (recently brought to my attention by the Vaunted Pleasures CD) by C.S. Lewis:

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

You see, I’m seeking satisfaction in a world for which I wasn’t made. Now does that mean we can’t be happy or have joy brought to our lives by the things of this world? No. What it does mean however, is that true satisfaction can only come from The One, the fount of life.

I leave you with a bit of engouragement from an old friend David.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:11

What a beautiful day! Waking up to 60°F outside is a wonderful thing. Drove into work with the windows down and the music blaring! As my friend Megan said to me this morning - something about approaching the fall of the year, just so refreshing.

It’s also a good thing to have a feeling of liberation. Even though chaos still surrounds, I feel so free, unchained from this world and the things that bind.

... that we might find pleasure in Him and not the world

Typically I keep this blog free of work experiences and typically I start blogs with “so”. This is not a typical entry.

As I mentioned yesterday, classes started this week and on top of it all I’ve been having trouble with my voice. I’ll wake up in the morning without one and can usually coax it out with the assistance of some Chai Tea (thank you Global Village). To add some more irons to the fire, this Saturday is the day that has been deemed “Place Out” day for E115. This means that from 9 AM until 4 PM students will be allowed to take a test that if they score an 80 or better on, they’ll receive full credit for the course, and never have to step foot in the classroom again.

This is usually all fine and dandy except that E115 is a prerequisite for several courses. Inevitably some poor, misguided student signs up for one of these courses and then the instructor threatens to kick them out because they don’t meet have the prereq. They usually then come running to me and attempt to sign up for the exam.

This year I decided to write my own Event Registration System cleverly title ERS. This was to help stem my woes. Well the system works great, but the woes still flow. For some reason, this year appears to be one where everyone and their cousin thinks they can place out of E115. Nearly 200 students will be taking the place out exam at 9 AM. Another 160 at 1 PM. Any who is responsible for all of the fun festivities?

You guessed it . . . me. The worst part about all of it, I almost lost my cool today. I was so irritated at students and parents (yes parents) bugging me I almost lit into someone hard core. Then thankfully I remember something my good buddy Mike had posted on his blog. “They will know we are Christians by our blog”. Now true, me yelling at someone has nothing to do with a blog, but it had everything to do with me representing Christ. Yeah, its ok to get frustrated and a little stressed but ultimately God’s in control. At that moment of near explosion I realized - They will know I’m a Christian by . . . who I am, what I say, how I react to a situation, etc. The list goes on forever. You see, if we are really pursuing Christ, should not everything identify us as a Christian?