I was dead tired but I made a video! Just a little update for all my peeps!
Grace and Peace!
I
"I Lived"
I am not an expert...on anything! Haha.
I do more listening than I do talking and that is the basis for most of my knowledge and experience. Sadly enough...
Hearing is great and listening is even better! When listening, however, becomes the substitute for action (therefore, experience) I have made a critical error.
I have spent the majority of my life listening, but very little of it talking or doing.
They say actions speak louder than words, but no one wants to point out the risks of action. Action always takes a measure of risk since you can never be 100% as to the results and/or success of your actions.
When I do speak, I want my teaching to be more than experiences I've taken from others! No, I want those experiences shared to be mingled (if not primarily) with that which I have lived!
As most people know, I am an avid OneRepublic listener! And one of their songs that continually moves me is "I Lived." Listen to it real quick!
I don't want to just hear these words. I want them to reflect my reality! I want to live life well and I want to be a catalyst in a broken world. I don't really know how to do that yet, but I'm going to start by testing the waters and going out and "doing."
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
I do more listening than I do talking and that is the basis for most of my knowledge and experience. Sadly enough...
Hearing is great and listening is even better! When listening, however, becomes the substitute for action (therefore, experience) I have made a critical error.
I have spent the majority of my life listening, but very little of it talking or doing.
They say actions speak louder than words, but no one wants to point out the risks of action. Action always takes a measure of risk since you can never be 100% as to the results and/or success of your actions.
When I do speak, I want my teaching to be more than experiences I've taken from others! No, I want those experiences shared to be mingled (if not primarily) with that which I have lived!
As most people know, I am an avid OneRepublic listener! And one of their songs that continually moves me is "I Lived." Listen to it real quick!
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
Love is Red
I think I'm beginning to understand why Love is associated with the color red. Many might say that it's because red is associated with passion and strong emotion, but I think it's because it is red that pours from our broken skin; that rushes through the inner most parts of our being. It is the color that takes life to our limbs and when the red flees our flesh...so do our souls.
It was red that cried for vengeance out the ground after Cain went on his merry way to continue in his hatred and depravity. It was red that cried out for our forgiveness as Christ gave Himself over to suffering and pain to be our payment.
No, love is red because it can be measured in how much blood you are willing to lose before leaving, and no great love is there than this: that a man should lay down his life for his friends.
Keep it Sacred
We hear a lot about "seperation of church and state", but we never talk about the seperation of church and sabbath. The two are often thought of in conjunction with one another, and though this is not necessarily a bad thing, we as humans often take it too far and begin to create rules, standards, and expectations that are not biblically founded and are sometimes harmful.
For me, Sabbath starts on Tuesday morning and ends on Wednesday night, It is the time in which I am able to get away, rest, seek God and holy community, and to worship God through the appreciation and love of His creation. Why?
I have a crazy job! I work 80 hour weeks taking care of 26 teenagers and encouraging them towards wholeness and quality of life. Basically, I am a 24 year old playing "big brother", youth pastor, and protector. INSANE!
Sadly, one aspect of my job is that I work Sundays and take kids to church. Now, don't get me wrong, I love taking my kids to church! I am, however, still working and having to give the majority of my attention to what they are doing rather than to the service, and I don't get to be involved in the community itself for a variety of reasons. When the service is over it's back to watching kids, giving meds, cooking dinner, stopping fights, etc. etc. etc.
My Sundays are 0% restful...
So how does one reconcile the need to keep sabbath with a "Christian" job that demands one's Sunday to be work? Does Sabbath have to be on a certain day of the week for it to count or for God to be pleased? Does Sabbath have to be taken somewhere between 6 pm on Friday and midnight on Sunday for it to be counted as Holy or Sacred? I think not. Perhaps the church has severly legalized Sabbath and, as a result, not kept it holy...
I maintain a constistent connection to Christian community. In fact, I am living in the midst of one! The aspect of Sabbath I am not getting on a daily basis is rest. That's what my "mid-week Sabbath" is all about right now: rest. I need rest, relaxation, and the chance to get away from home. Why? Because I don't go to work...I live there! I can't seperate home from work becasue they are one and the same. My life now revolves around the house of teens and young adults.
Therefore, my Sabbath is about adventure, escape, and being myself. It is a time to work on art projects, see movies, drink coffee, and to do all the things that I enjoy and make me...well, me!
Sabbath is sleeping in! It is going to book stores and local coffee shoppes, eating breakfast with friends, and playing flashlight tag or volleyball! Sabbath is rest and it is freedom. Sabbath is my chance to take care of myself rather than 26 teens, to seek God's presence and restoration, and to love myself as much as I am loving others.
Sabbath has become more than just a Sunday morning ritual. It is now a way of life and a means of survival.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
Where's the Time Gone?
Time...
I have none!
Well, I have some. I didn't expect to be working so many hours a week. Truthfully, I only expected to be working 40 (as do most who hear the words "full-time"), but when it came down to it I didn't complain about having to work twice the time. No, I only regretted that I didn't have more time for other things.
Yet I misuse the time I have!
When I was home I had so much time at my disposal. No I'm missing the time I had and often am too tired to use the time I have.
Being 24 is a bit of a sucker punch. I'm stuck between feeling old and young (yes, I know that I am still technically young) and these leads to conflicts within my soul.
What can I pursue? What SHOULD I pursue?!
Here are the things that I'm putting on the top of my list of priorities for when I'm off:
Prayer and Mediation - I can't serve or live a healthy life without this. This is first and foremost a priority for my Spiritual, emotional, and mental health.
Exercise - I plan on doing more physical training. While this is already increasing for me, I wish to make further effort to bring wholeness to myself in this manner. Physical training is a significant part of further mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I care little about being able to lift the most, and more about being able to use my body efficiently in time of crises.
Reading - How can I teach or grow in my own academia if I don't read?! This will be a bit more of challenge in the midst of my time crunch since reading takes a great deal of concentration and dedication.
Extra - This is where I begin to wrestle with myself. What belongs here?! I have my art projects, my ocarina, I enjoy writing, and I have a couple languages that I want to learn. I can't do everything though and I have to narrow it down to one of the following!
I am learning something very important a midst all of this. Time can not be regained, and no matter how much I may want a "do-over" I will never get it. Therefore, the worst thing I can do is waste more time mourning the past and the time that was lost. Instead I should see the time I have and make use of the present by learning from my mistakes and making the change now before I find myself at 42 rather than 24 and still wishing I had done all that I had listed above.
I have given a year of my time to pour into the lives of teens that don't necessarily care that I'm here or care about them. Time is a gift and it one that I give freely because I know that this is something worth giving my time towards. Yes, there are other things I wish I could do alongside the time spent watching the kids, but ultimately I know that 80 or so hours I spend with my teens is going to have a greater impact than the time I could be spending reading or spent on personal gain.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
I have none!
Well, I have some. I didn't expect to be working so many hours a week. Truthfully, I only expected to be working 40 (as do most who hear the words "full-time"), but when it came down to it I didn't complain about having to work twice the time. No, I only regretted that I didn't have more time for other things.
Yet I misuse the time I have!
When I was home I had so much time at my disposal. No I'm missing the time I had and often am too tired to use the time I have.
Being 24 is a bit of a sucker punch. I'm stuck between feeling old and young (yes, I know that I am still technically young) and these leads to conflicts within my soul.
What can I pursue? What SHOULD I pursue?!
Here are the things that I'm putting on the top of my list of priorities for when I'm off:
Prayer and Mediation - I can't serve or live a healthy life without this. This is first and foremost a priority for my Spiritual, emotional, and mental health.
Exercise - I plan on doing more physical training. While this is already increasing for me, I wish to make further effort to bring wholeness to myself in this manner. Physical training is a significant part of further mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I care little about being able to lift the most, and more about being able to use my body efficiently in time of crises.
Reading - How can I teach or grow in my own academia if I don't read?! This will be a bit more of challenge in the midst of my time crunch since reading takes a great deal of concentration and dedication.
Extra - This is where I begin to wrestle with myself. What belongs here?! I have my art projects, my ocarina, I enjoy writing, and I have a couple languages that I want to learn. I can't do everything though and I have to narrow it down to one of the following!
I am learning something very important a midst all of this. Time can not be regained, and no matter how much I may want a "do-over" I will never get it. Therefore, the worst thing I can do is waste more time mourning the past and the time that was lost. Instead I should see the time I have and make use of the present by learning from my mistakes and making the change now before I find myself at 42 rather than 24 and still wishing I had done all that I had listed above.
I have given a year of my time to pour into the lives of teens that don't necessarily care that I'm here or care about them. Time is a gift and it one that I give freely because I know that this is something worth giving my time towards. Yes, there are other things I wish I could do alongside the time spent watching the kids, but ultimately I know that 80 or so hours I spend with my teens is going to have a greater impact than the time I could be spending reading or spent on personal gain.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
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