1 year later....

If there were people that actually read my blog and are upset that I was AWOL for so long all I can say to you is "WHERE WAS YOUR BLOG?!" <---in a very apologetic tone.

If you could summarize life over the past year for me I would simply say:

"Different."

Yeah, it's different. No more class. No more H-dubs. No more professors that I never talked to anyways. No more roommates. No more bar crawls. No more campus crusade. No more..... MSU. The atmosphere of my life has transitioned from the green campus of MSU, to being surrounded by diverse people (primarily Japanese), offices, and cubicles during the day and downtown feel of Cincinnati, OH in the afternoons.

I have a cat. I have a studio apartment. I have a truck. I have furniture that I own. I have a job. I have a paycheck with that job. I have a frequent flyer number. I have rewards points on credit cards. I have too many computers. I have a mountain of student loans. I have dishes. I have drapes for my windows. I have business cards. I have a title. These are a hand full of things I didn't have 1 year ago.

I have STUFF.

How'd that happen? It's like college spat me out and some how stuff followed with it. It's a whole lot of responsibility that comes with moving away. Things that you don't think about when you are in college. I know some people think it's great to have independence and to move to a place by themselves, but really you have to be prepared to handle it.

Especially spending money. If you just spend money and you don't track what is happening to it, you'll never come to realize how ordering pizza every other day isn't the best way to utilize your resources.

I've come to learn that even though it's nice to be supporting yourself, it doesn't mean that you are living a life of purpose. Sometimes I think about how it would be nice to move to some place like South America and just live in the trees, hunting for food, and really just owning nothing. But then I think to myself about air conditioning and gummi worms, and then a life living in trees doesn't sound all that great. Makes me think of the movie fern gully. I bet that movie was written by environmentalists and Al Gore.

All these changes are almost sad to think about, but yet, I don't feel sad. I've felt that God has some how comforted my heart to be ok with moving away and starting a life in a different city having different responsibilities, a transition of His purpose in my life.

As my life is transitioning, I also feel that I must continue to press on with my faith. I'll explain.

I feel that in America, change is common. New jobs, schools, children, status quo, hobbies, vacations, houses, cities, towns, cars, movies, careers, technology, etc. Things change ALL THE TIME. I feel that when people are preparing for or are dealing with change, they kinda try to find a spot that's most comfortable for them and wait for things to settle down before they really press on with something else. But sometimes the things that are our secondary objectives will change and cause us to lose focus on our primary objective or purpose.

I am concerned about getting lost in all the "stuff" rather than being focused on what I have been created for, and what God has planned for my life. It's easy to think life is about TV's, cars, houses, and toys instead of caring for and having compassion on people.

My purpose is living among people.
It's interacting with people at work.
It's living with people at home.
It's loving my family.
It's spending time with my friends.
It's caring for those that are less fortunate.
It's helping strangers.

What my purpose is not for:
Me.

And the only way that can be accomplished is if I remain in the love Christ has for me.

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing." ~John 15:5