"The Homeless Guy: Winners And Losers: This has got to stop. I'm not sure if this is a growing trend, or a trend that is just now coming to light because of the internet, but e..."
Just wanted to share this great post from a blog I discovered this evening. It's something that we should all keep in mind, whether we are discussing who we are voting for this November, which football team we think is best, or the things we believe to be true about God.
"If we could just keep this in mind when we discuss things, we would be much better off. We would be more open minded, willing to admit our mistakes, and from that we would grow, both intellectually, and in character."
Couldn't have put it better myself!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Rainy Friday
Today's been kind of a "blah" day. Last night on my way to class, my service engine light came on in my car, so for the better part of today it was in the shop, getting a new fuel pump. I'm thankful for my car, but since we bought it the beginning of August, we've taken it in for various reasons a total of 3 times. I'm starting to worry about the longevity of it.
It probably hasn't helped my emotional health that I've just been on my own most of the day at home, not really doing anything productive. That tends to bring me down. But something that definitely hasn't helped is watching the news through the course of the day. I know its standard fodder for the daily news, but for some reason the seemingly endless stream of violence, crime, injustice, etc. really got to me today. An estranged boyfriend/husband taking the life of his wife, her coworker, and himself, and attempting to kill his wife's friend, someone burying a helpless puppy alive, a man taking his own life after a car chase, the news catching it live.... It's sad that we watch these things and basically just go, "Oh great, look what happened today. Jeez." And then go about our days! We're desensitized to these things, and that's not okay.
It's probably not healthy to dwell too much on things like these, but when I sit and I think about all of the horrible things that we as humans commit every single day, it breaks my heart. We are one of the only species capable of maliciously, with forethought and premeditation, emotionally/physically/psychologically/etc. harming our fellows. Why are we so often filled with so much hate?
In all honesty, some days it just makes me want to throw up my hands and say, I'm Done. But that's not an option, especially not as a follower of Christ. No, I may not be able to save everyone, I may not be able to see justice for everyone, I may not even be able to influence many people's lives. But I can do the best I can in my small sphere of influence. I can treat those I see with kindness, love, and respect, I can be the best friend, daughter, student I can be, I can make my life mean something, even if I only put one ripple into the sea, its one more ripple than was there before. I just have to keep reminding myself that, otherwise it's not even worth waking up in the morning.
It probably hasn't helped my emotional health that I've just been on my own most of the day at home, not really doing anything productive. That tends to bring me down. But something that definitely hasn't helped is watching the news through the course of the day. I know its standard fodder for the daily news, but for some reason the seemingly endless stream of violence, crime, injustice, etc. really got to me today. An estranged boyfriend/husband taking the life of his wife, her coworker, and himself, and attempting to kill his wife's friend, someone burying a helpless puppy alive, a man taking his own life after a car chase, the news catching it live.... It's sad that we watch these things and basically just go, "Oh great, look what happened today. Jeez." And then go about our days! We're desensitized to these things, and that's not okay.
It's probably not healthy to dwell too much on things like these, but when I sit and I think about all of the horrible things that we as humans commit every single day, it breaks my heart. We are one of the only species capable of maliciously, with forethought and premeditation, emotionally/physically/psychologically/etc. harming our fellows. Why are we so often filled with so much hate?
In all honesty, some days it just makes me want to throw up my hands and say, I'm Done. But that's not an option, especially not as a follower of Christ. No, I may not be able to save everyone, I may not be able to see justice for everyone, I may not even be able to influence many people's lives. But I can do the best I can in my small sphere of influence. I can treat those I see with kindness, love, and respect, I can be the best friend, daughter, student I can be, I can make my life mean something, even if I only put one ripple into the sea, its one more ripple than was there before. I just have to keep reminding myself that, otherwise it's not even worth waking up in the morning.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Set a Fire Down in my Soul
Today was a good day. It feels like it's been an incredibly long time since I had a day that went as smoothly as today did. I even got an A on my first social work paper that was handed back to me, and I'd like to take that as a good sign... I've been rather nervous.
Today was also good in a different way. It made me think! Well I guess you could say that the seed was planted on Sunday night, when I was having some good, deep conversation with a couple of my good friends. We were talking about missions, and serving others, and about God's love for us and our call from Him for our lives. That vein of thought was continued today, when I had some time during my generalist practice class this morning, and my non profit seminar tonight, as well as at CFL Wesley.
I'm going to be completely honest - the last few weeks have been really hard for me, and I was really struggling with my faith and my passion. I realized that I've kind of been skimming the surface when it comes to my faith, and how I live it out, and that my passion for God and doing his work had kind of faded. It's one of those things that unless you stay on top of it you don't realize it's happened until it's already too late. I now have to go through the process of reconnecting and letting God re-spark that fire back in my heart. But I definitely think the match was lit today. In my non-profit class, P. J. Charles, the founder of Straight Street Ministries here in Orlando, spoke about his experience creating the ministry, and how his faith and passion for the Lord was the foundation of that. His talk got me thinking again about what I and my two friends discussed, about how so often we feel that we have to go some where different, somewhere exotic, to serve people in God's name. We raise thousands of dollars to get ourselves overseas for two weeks, when we could have sent the ministry we are "serving" that money directly and they could have put it to much more use!
In no way am I knocking overseas missions - they are extremely valuable, and I would like to go on one this summer, but it is important to remember that if we want to be servants, the best place to start is in our own back yard. For me, that is Central Florida. I don't have to go across the world to see the brokenness of our world, and I don't have to go across the world to see how God's love can heal some of that brokenness. I can be involved in City Life Club through Wesley, and put my all into loving on those kids who don't always get that love at home. I can help serve the homeless here in Orlando, rather than having to go to New Orleans to do it (although my trip to New Orleans I would not give up for the world!). I can donate to to non profits and ministries that seek justice for people, ministries like Florida Abolitionist who seek to end modern day slavery and human trafficking. And that barely scratches the surface of opportunities right here in my own hometown in which I can serve others and show the world His love.
Today and this past weekend definitely gave me some good perspective on my life, and the path that I'm on right now. It renewed my passion for Social Work and reminded me of why I chose this field in the first place. It reminded me that ultimately, everything I do on this earth is not for my glory, but for His, that those around me should be able to see His love through me always, not just when I shout it from the rooftops. Joyful servanthood should be a lifestyle, not a 10 day trip during the summer.
I'm incredibly thankful for these reminders, and I simply pray that God will give me the strength, guidance and courage to make the changes I need to make to live them out continuously.
<3
Today was also good in a different way. It made me think! Well I guess you could say that the seed was planted on Sunday night, when I was having some good, deep conversation with a couple of my good friends. We were talking about missions, and serving others, and about God's love for us and our call from Him for our lives. That vein of thought was continued today, when I had some time during my generalist practice class this morning, and my non profit seminar tonight, as well as at CFL Wesley.
I'm going to be completely honest - the last few weeks have been really hard for me, and I was really struggling with my faith and my passion. I realized that I've kind of been skimming the surface when it comes to my faith, and how I live it out, and that my passion for God and doing his work had kind of faded. It's one of those things that unless you stay on top of it you don't realize it's happened until it's already too late. I now have to go through the process of reconnecting and letting God re-spark that fire back in my heart. But I definitely think the match was lit today. In my non-profit class, P. J. Charles, the founder of Straight Street Ministries here in Orlando, spoke about his experience creating the ministry, and how his faith and passion for the Lord was the foundation of that. His talk got me thinking again about what I and my two friends discussed, about how so often we feel that we have to go some where different, somewhere exotic, to serve people in God's name. We raise thousands of dollars to get ourselves overseas for two weeks, when we could have sent the ministry we are "serving" that money directly and they could have put it to much more use!
In no way am I knocking overseas missions - they are extremely valuable, and I would like to go on one this summer, but it is important to remember that if we want to be servants, the best place to start is in our own back yard. For me, that is Central Florida. I don't have to go across the world to see the brokenness of our world, and I don't have to go across the world to see how God's love can heal some of that brokenness. I can be involved in City Life Club through Wesley, and put my all into loving on those kids who don't always get that love at home. I can help serve the homeless here in Orlando, rather than having to go to New Orleans to do it (although my trip to New Orleans I would not give up for the world!). I can donate to to non profits and ministries that seek justice for people, ministries like Florida Abolitionist who seek to end modern day slavery and human trafficking. And that barely scratches the surface of opportunities right here in my own hometown in which I can serve others and show the world His love.
Today and this past weekend definitely gave me some good perspective on my life, and the path that I'm on right now. It renewed my passion for Social Work and reminded me of why I chose this field in the first place. It reminded me that ultimately, everything I do on this earth is not for my glory, but for His, that those around me should be able to see His love through me always, not just when I shout it from the rooftops. Joyful servanthood should be a lifestyle, not a 10 day trip during the summer.
I'm incredibly thankful for these reminders, and I simply pray that God will give me the strength, guidance and courage to make the changes I need to make to live them out continuously.
<3
Monday, September 24, 2012
Back to Blogging
So, I used to blog a lot... like a whole lot. I used Tumblr, which I still have but don't really use anymore. It's got a lot of extra stuff besides just blogging, and I decided today that I want to get back to blogging, in a more simplified way.
I'm not planning on this being anything amazing, groundbreaking or super interesting. I just want somewhere to "think out loud" and process life. I'll probably share things that make me really happy, make me think, or upset me. I'm hoping to keep track of my road to social work (I'm in the School of Social Work BSW program at UCF right now), my experiences with CFL Wesley, and my efforts to live my life in a way that God's love for us shines through.
I'm still figuring out what that looks like for me. I'm planning on this next year, starting now, being a year of growth and change. I definitely know that my college years have already been full of those things, and I expect them to continue to push me to be the best me that I can be.
Stay tuned for more.
<3
I'm not planning on this being anything amazing, groundbreaking or super interesting. I just want somewhere to "think out loud" and process life. I'll probably share things that make me really happy, make me think, or upset me. I'm hoping to keep track of my road to social work (I'm in the School of Social Work BSW program at UCF right now), my experiences with CFL Wesley, and my efforts to live my life in a way that God's love for us shines through.
I'm still figuring out what that looks like for me. I'm planning on this next year, starting now, being a year of growth and change. I definitely know that my college years have already been full of those things, and I expect them to continue to push me to be the best me that I can be.
Stay tuned for more.
<3
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