Our Nation's Future

Is us, InterWebs. Not you and me, Webs, but the us in this picture >>>. Hahah, ok, but seriously, we're legit. Today we had a sand casting lab, and it was so fun[ish. I mean, it is a lab; let's not get carried away].

May I just say, InterWebs, that I love my major? WHO gets to do stuff like this? We get to simulate, program, machine, design workstations and systems, design fake wheel hubs (see pics) and so much more.

Trying to figure out how to get the mold out.

It didn't fare too well...

BUT the top half did  - we figured out a really great technique for preserving the sand mold.

 Chelsea pours the molten metal. She really digs this outfit.

Metal isn't actually supposed to flow out of the sides of our sand...

Lots of flash. Woops. Once we machine it it won't look too too bad.

Believe it or not, this wasn't the worst part in the class. Actually, the part itself doesn't look too bad - you can see the design!

Lest ye judge - just know sand casting is super ridiculous. It is not a sustainable process, it takes entirely too long, and a design with any amount of detail is pretty much guaranteed to come out looking like a blob. But as far as blobs go, I kind of like ours.

Ok, InterWebs. It's about bedtime. I was in the library until 4am a couple of nights ago. Are you so impressed by my incredible academic stamina? Before you are overwhelmed with awe, just know that staying in the library until 4am is NEVER called for...it is the result of procrastination. I swore this semester would be different... Here begins the stream of almost all-nighters. You know, when you are too good for an all-nighter, so you get at least 1.5 hours of sleep instead.

 By the way - not sleeping makes you hungry. Ravenous, even. My body is going to reject me at any moment...

-bRob

It's Lonely at the Top

^^^ Roll with it, InterWebs.

I just wanted to note that I think I may be the only single blogger on the face of the planet. So while everyone else is blogging about cute things like husbands and kisses and baby artwork and little girl pigtails, my blog is severely lacking in the adorable department.

I'm. Just. Saying.

<3,
bRob

 it isn't quite this bad

The Few

I am just curious:

If you remembered that God loves you at every moment in an unfathomable, as high as the heavens are from the earth (Ps 103) kind of way, how would your current situation differ?

Perhaps we wouldn't feel as lost or hurt or overwhelmed or insecure. Contentment might not seem so impossible. The inner peace we have as children of the LORD - it would more frequently pervade our anxieties and cares so that we were left with a calm, trusting faith in the Father who never stops pursuing us. 

The one coin, the one sheep, the prostitute, the leper, the sinner. You. 

In a world where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, He came for the few. The one's. The only's. He came for not everyone, but every one.

Imagine a Being so filled with passion and desire for you - with your faults, with your strengths, with your laugh, with your preferences, with your dreams, with your scars - that He will stop at nothing to make His love known to you.

If you opened your spiritually deaf and blind ears and eyes to His love, and tasted and saw and felt that the Lord is LOVE, how would your life change?

bRob wants to know.

Googly Eyes

Dear InterWebs -
I promised that you would be the first one to see my new goggles. Well, I lied. I had a  lunch date with old friends and they happened to see the new glasses. But Marcia took this sweet picture. We tried to make it as trendy as possible. Map in the background, hot tea in my beautiful tea cup. I thought about pulling out my macbook pro and holding it up in the picture. Oh wait - I don't have one of those. hah. hah. HAH. How hipster do you think I am?

Anyways, I really wish I'd been a love child of the late sixties so I could live up my teen years and twenties in the eighties. Big glasses, big hair, Michael Jackson, Wham (hah),Van Halen, boxy cars (ever seen a BMW from the 80's? ADORABLE), jean jackets, cute kicks. Aw man. Mom and Dad should have timed things a little better. And had me when they were, like, in grade school.

Instead I'm stuck in a generation of trendsters and jeggings. It's. Not. Fair.

To come soon: How to Spot a Freshman [from miles away]

-bRob

The Wrath of Khan

Pre-script: If you googled something Star Trek-y, like The Wrath of Khan, and landed on my page, you might be disappointed. Feel free to read anyways.

InterWebs - I've got to go for a run shortly, but I just ate lunch and am waiting [procrastinating] for a little bit. I ate a really good Philly cheese steak sub, and the conversation was great, but I do stink, permanently perhaps, of greasy onion rings and all things fried. Hah.

    Recently, I've been struggling. I'm back at school, and that means seeing old people and revisiting old situations, and sometimes it's hard. Really hard. And it hurts a lot. And I feel like the Lord's  putting me in place where I really don't have someone on whom I can lean...except for Him. And it's painful. I want someone to cuddle with on a Friday night, and friends to brunch with on Saturday morning. I want someone to call at night who cares about my day. Just...someone to be there. You know? I'm dealing with temptations, missing old friends and various people, dealing with loneliness and, at times, rejection.
  
    I was talking to my friend at lunch today, and I confided in her that, while I am glad the Lord is refining me, I feel like I've been here before. I've been crushed. I've been broken and hurting. It's all too familiar. And [Star Trek fans, if you've read this far, I'm truly proud of you!] this is a fairly common movie plot - a character is in some situation, but somehow, at some later point in time,  for some reason, the character  is in the exact same situation again.

Forgive  me, but the ONLY movie I could think of was The Wrath of Khan. I'm probably going to tick off a couple of Trekkies with my horrible explanation, but I think the basic idea is that the crew is pretty much out of luck and everyone's about to die and the ship's failing and blah blah blah pandemonium blah blah blah. The enemy [I think his  name is Khan? hah]  is super close to being victorious...WHEN...all of a sudden, Kirk hits a re-do button [it's some sort of time re-maker that re-somethings something - ok, I have no idea. I think it was called Genesis, but I won't offend anyone further by trying to explain it], and time rolls back to 10 (?) seconds earlier. And Kirk has this awesome chance to redeem himself and save his crew and redo everything, but correctly this time.

Perhaps a more fitting example would have been Disney's The Kid: the fight scene when that famous bald actor goes back into time to tell his childhood self how to fight or something. Whatever - I zone out at inspirational movies.Point is -- it's that moment where you get somewhere, and then you begin to realize you've seen this all before. And you get this sinking pit in your stomach...you've seen it all before and you never wanted to be back here.

    When I told my friend about how I don't want to be back "here", and it didn't go well last time, she reminded me of a simple truth: I'm different now. I've grown, spiritually. My relationship with the Lord has grown, however microscopically, just a bit stronger. And here's where the Star Trek analogy breaks down - I don't like to simply label the "last time" as a bad run. I don't want to believe I got it so wrong last time that God's thinkin', "Ok, clearly she doesn't get it. Re-do."
     Maybe this is a re-do. Maybe God is re-breaking me so I rely on Him well this time. But if I begin to think that the last trial was a waste and I messed it up, I'll forget the intentionality of each moment. One of the smartest and truest things I've ever heard: Everything that comes to us, good or bad, has passed through the hands of our Father. Perhaps I did mess up my last trial. This could be the Lord allowing me to redeem myself - which is SO merciful. Or maybe this trial is for refining me in completely new ways. I. Don't. Know. And I guess, in the end, the why isn't what's important.
      Though I'm feeling extraordinary deja vu,   I believe God is orchestrating my life with great intentionality. He has me in this trial for reasons beyond my understanding. The Lord has brought me to a similar place, but as a slightly different person. It is in His timing and His will I trust. If I truly believe Jeremiah 29:11, that He has plans to prosper me, then I know, whatever it is I'm going through, it's what I need. This trial is what I need.

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

However melodramatic this post may seem, we are meant to rejoice in our trials - not mope. My biggest prayer right now is that the Lord use this time to help me find true contentment in Him. Not in friends, boys, grades, sweet hot red cars, or high blogging stats Or whatever. Rather, contentment in Him, and Him alone. BAH! It feels too big, too hard. Finding sole contentment in God? But He who began His good work in me will continue it (Phil 1:6). Transformation of the soul is a divine process.
    
Today I am thankful for the promise of a future and hope found in God's word.
love,
bRob


5/22/11
Post Script - After consulting with a Star Trek expert [my dad]...this post is highly inaccurate. Whatevs.

We Do the Best with What We've Got

Oh InterWebs. I'm so pooped. And I've had enough cake in the past few days to last me a solid month. Here, I'll show you.





 Marcia and I made a cake for my friend.She recently accepted Christ, and since she's on the Jesus train - we wanted to go all out. And when you think Jesus, don't you think dinosaurs? Oh, I sure do. More eating is being done here than baking....>>









Here is the strawberry flavored cake in the awful smelly mold. My roommate got mad at me for stinking up the apartment. C'est la vie. My roommate also gets mad at me for being too loud. And for having too many alarms in the morning. But unless she wants to drive me to school, homegirl's gotta get her boot-ay up for the long bus ride.

TRex didn't like his cream cheese war paint. We do the best with what we've got.

Marcia likes to pretend she's FOB-by. Way to be stereotypical.

 I would make a great Stepford Wife.

Secrets don't make friends.

Marcia wants me to hang up my roommate's decorative whisk [??] and use my rats as cage dancers for the next rave I have over at my apartment. Oh, you are all invited.

Serious











Business.

 

     You know what? I've been thinking about my favorite type of people. Now - as Jesus commands - I love [or try to, rather] all my "neighbors." But there are certain people with whom I especially want to be friends, every single time. It is always the genuine, honest, passionate people.
     On passion: I LOVE people who love what they're doing. I don't care if you are cutting hair or getting your doctorate, but if you do it with integrity and passion, you have my respect and admiration. I would rather be friends with someone who could talk all day long about what they do, even if it's breeding iguanas, than be friends with an engineer or scientist or lawyer who just did the job and got the degree just because. I met so many "just because"-ers at my co-op. People become jaded. They settle. They keep a job they don't want because it comes with a car or because their spouses like the salary they make or because they simply never tried moving past their safety net. LOVE where you are and what you do. Especially if you know you're where God wants you. And then tell me about what you do. Passionate people warm my heart.
     On being genuine: People who are so real - I have a special love for those who are vulnerable and honest and open. As someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, I feel for the others that do. It's a blessing and it's a curse. Genuine, truly genuine people are sincere and honest - you do not doubt their integrity. But they tend to share and share, and it can leave them open to criticism. Are there ever people around you you want to protect from the world? I feel that way towards genuine people. True authenticity is beautiful and can be fragile. 
     On being honest: I think we're scared of honesty nowadays. We would rather sugar coat and spare feelings. And I do think honesty can be, at times, merciless. But honesty + mercy is beautiful. Sometimes, I'll even take honesty over mercy. People who are honest, who cut past the sugar coating and irrelevance, they get things done. They value truth. I love it. It isn't difficult to find out what an honest person really believes - no false modesty, pretenses, or games. Most of the time - honesty is what I want. All of the time - that is what I need.

This wasn't meant to sound like an eHarmony ad. I was just thinking about qualities I love and desire for my friends. And a lot of my friends are exactly these things. Today, I am thankful for the uplifting friendships with which the Lord has blessed me.

love,
bRob

Hold Someone's Hand.

It's a jungle out here.

Pictured here is the war zone that is my bed. On the far right corner you see my circuits book. I hate it. And yes, I hate it enough to use the word hate and make an angel lose her wings. HATE circuits. Other miscellanea: An eraser, a penny, a cute bear pen, Japanese rice crackers (gettin' in touch with my asian roots...my great-grandma's from Russia. It counts.) That is a CASIO calc, and is that...what?? Is that a zebra-striped snuggie? Yes. It is. Because if I wear a blanket, I couldn't move my arms. That simply won't do. On top of my fab snuggie is my planner (I know - it's the first time I've had one in, like, four years), my CIM notebook, and moving to the rear of the pic is a package from one sweet friend in Colorado, my study Bible, and the corner of my Jesus Journal. You will see that Compie 386 is currently downloading some Fountains of Wayne onto my iTunes.

Take a glimpse at my world. eat it up.

love,
bRob.

PS- Today I am thankful for that snuggie. Don't worry - I'll try and model it for you soon.

Where He at?

Dear InterWebs -
   I was going to postpone this post until tomorrow so you wouldn't guess that I'm sitting at home doing homework on a Friday night, but let's be quite honest, everyone who knows me is probably not surprised at what a nerd/introvert I am [yeah, I thought introvert sounded better than anti-social hermit, too].

I wanted to share something with you. I keep what I like to call a Jesus Journal. It started off as a place to write verses that really meant a lot to me. Now it's grown into a prayer journal as well. I don't think it's uncommon, especially if we are hurting, broken, or even simply feeling disconnected from it all, to wonder where God is. Going through my Jesus Journal(s), I found a few reminders:

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"...How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you." Isaiah 30:19
"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He that will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4
"...I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite?" Isaiah 57:15
"Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand." Psalm 73:23
"He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalm 91:4
"When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' Your love, O LORD, supported me." Psalm 94:18
"As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when He is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness." Ezekial 34:12
"The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf..." Deut 1:30
"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens." Psalm 68:19

And the verse I read just this morning, so quickly forgotten by this afternoon:
"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

Where, sweet child of God, is He now?
With you. 

Even if you don't want Him there, He is faithful when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13). 

Searching for you, fighting for you, drawing close to you.
Loving you. 

bRob

I am thankful that God fights for us, even when He's fighting us for us. Does that make sense?

IncrediNerd

Hey InterWebs. I know, I was barely out the door, and here I am again, knocking on your door begging you to listen to my stories. While I procrastinate.

I just wanted to share  a little piece of my life with you:  I was sitting in class yesterday listening to my adorable grad student teacher rattle on [she really is adorable - she did her final project on a simulation of the Bojangles here by the school because she hates that she has to wait so long on her cajun filet biscuit. HAH]. However, something started happening, setting off a chain of painful events.
   She is speaking, speaking, speaking WAIT...I don't understand. I missed something she said, I don't know what she means....and while I worry about that thing I don't understand, and as I rack my brain grapes trying to figure it out, I'm missing more and more of what she's saying. And then my chest starts to tighten [this really happens]...panic has set in. Breathing is becoming strained...my brain is short circuiting and my chest starts heaving. Suddenly, all these awful emotions start overwhelming me. I feel like I'm about to cry. It's all going to go downhill from here...I won't understand this one thing and before you know it I'll be completely lost and it will be like ST372 all over again. I withhold the tears and then move on to anger. What an awful teacher. How could she be so terrible. Can't breath, tears are welling up, I'm pouting....

OH! Wait, I get it now. I figured it out. So then I scurry ahead and keep working on my notes and the in-class assignment and peek over at the kid next to me to see if she's as far ahead as I am.

Oh. My. Goodness. Have you ever seen such a ridiculous nerd.

Today I am thankful for glasses! I love 'em. These are approximately what my new ones will look like. Nerdy and big, right? Mine will be more of a burgundy. Don't worry InterWebs, I'll show them to you as soon as they get here.




love,
bRob

Sweet Tea and Truth

Hey-o, InterWebs. I've started school now. It's crazy hectic, and I complain a lot, but, you know what, InterWebs? I kind of love it anyways.


     I'm at the point where I don't actually know what classes I'm taking anymore or what they're about - I just sign up for course numbers.  I'm kinda scared, because I have one homework assignment  for some class (called something) due the exact same day as the first class. Uh-oh. Guess who needs to start teaching herself whatever it is that class is about? bRob. Here's a picture of why I won't be able to feed my rats for the next year: The objects in this picture amount to a sum greater than $650. PERSONAL PIC of the day >



On a much less trivial, way awesome-r note, a sweet friend of mine gave her life to Christ this week! Hooooo-rah. This precious friend's life is going to change so much. It is my prayer that her Christian brothers and sisters will surround her and let her know what a big deal this really is.
    Perhaps you're wondering what I mean when I say, "gave her life to Christ." It sound like another hokey Bible Belt colloquialism, right? And that, in a way, is what it has become. Everyone has "given his/her life to Christ" once you've gone south of the Mason-Dixon line. You drink sweet tea and go to church and you believe in God.
"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder." James 2:19

  Believing in God ain't nothin' special. Lots of people do it. It's an intellectual fact to believe in God. It costs you nothing. Believing in God/Jesus will not save you, in and of itself. To truly receive salvation, you have to be a follower of Christ.  But who follows Christ? From the gospels, we see a group of men [and some women, too!] who were called to follow Jesus and earnestly sought His teachings. Many left their lives [jobs, families, hometowns] behind in order to study under the ultimate Rabbi. And God asks the same of you. There is a prevailing theme in the New Testament that one must die to his flesh before he can gain Christ.

[ Mark 8:34-35  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."]

You are flesh and sin, at your core. And one day, you'll find out how empty you are. You'll see the earth for the gross, broken place it is. And, hopefully, you'll recognize that God can bring you out of the broken mess (Psalm 103:4).  And you'll accept Jesus' atonement for your sins, and the Holy Spirit will  set up  camp inside of you.  And from that day forth, you and the Holy Spirit are going to team up to fight your flesh (Romans 8). For we die to ourselves and are resurrected as new creations (2 Cor 5:17).
      Followers of Christ accept a will that is far greater (pleasing and perfect) and far different  than that of their flesh.  Sometimes it hurts - not everyone will agree with your life or support you.You'll feel ostracized, at times. But Jesus did, too. He accepted rejection and the world's hatred because He loved you.
   So what greater honor than to live as He did? There is hope, you have purpose, and you are redeemed. You will one day leave these lusts behind for paradise.You are a child of truth, adopted by a Father who will never leave you ("He remains faithful, even when we are faithless.")  And if our God is for us, then who can ever stop us? He will shower you with His affection and blessings, so let the world wreak its havoc. You are in the hand of the God who conquered death.

Anyways - all of this - this long post- was my way of saying that my friend has done something phenomenal. . Angels are rejoicing, and God is so stoked that she has called Him father. And I hope you'll stop and pray and rejoice for her!

This verse amazed me this week: For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
(1 Cor 13:12)
 I am fully known. And one day I'll know Him clearly.

-bRob

PS - i slid in the ice and fell today. Twice. As someone tried to help me up from the first fall, I fell again and spilled tea in my hair.

PSS - today I am thankful for string cheese. It's the bombinist.

Job, Pride, and Blogging 101

We have all done this >>> Comparing Our Situations to Job  
A really amusing guest post at one of my favorite blogs, Stuff Christians Like, by Jon Acuff. I like to compare my trials to those Job encountered. But, as a good friend told me, "No one's life sucked as much as Job's." So now I got to Lamentations when I want to indulge my feelings of woe and heartbreak. hah.

I actually started a really long and completely different post today. But it didn't feel right. You know why? Because it was all about me. Pride is perhaps my greatest struggle. I want people to read my blog. I want people to laugh at my "witty" one - liners. I want more than 1 page view a day and I want a bazillion people to love reading my blog so much that they sit there and hit F5 repeatedly.But in the same breath I try and talk about God. If I really believe in glorifying God in all that I do ("So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor 10:31), then why am I seeking human approval ("Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.." Gal 1:10)? God gives us gifts, and He rejoices when we use them...for His glory! If I say something encouraging or funny or you enjoy reading this, InterWebs, then that is awesome. But if  what I'm seeking is human affirmation, then we've got a problem.

So from now on - I am trying to hold myself accountable. Less of me. More God. Not in the quantitative sense that for every post about silly things (my cat...) I post 5 inspirational Jesus posts, but just as a general attitude. God should radiate through all that I am. Man, I am so glad God promises to constantly transform us and work in us (Phil 1:6).

That being said, I want to be more consistent with this blog. Try and blog more regularly. To what avail? I am not quite sure yet. But I was reading blogging tips [I care about this blog, I do...despite the wonky html and lack of aesthetic appeal], and it says one of the number one tips is to blog consistently. I suppose common sense should have told me that, but, well, it didn't. So I will write more posts, I think. That and include personal pictures. Which is also another blogging tip I read. Here's your personal pic for the day:  



I dare you to caption this picture.







Today, I am thankful for the fact that God promises to continue working in me. I am so far from where I want to be, but as I pray, I know the Holy Spirit is transforming me [is it weird that sometimes when I pray I look down at my belly and think, "Holy Spirit, whatcha doin' in here?"].




"God loves you just for who you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way."
-JuneBug

love,
bRob

This is a fluke.

There's nothing pressing about which I needed to post [see that preposition placement? ftw.] I'm partially posting because I just want a new post without wonky html. Stupid thingie. I knew html at one point...sort of.

I actually really should go to bed, like, 2 hours ago. I need to get up waaaay early in order to: Sign my lease, move half of my junk in, go get my eyes checked out, get a new pair of glasses, drive back home, and pick out a perfume [...these burdens i bear]. I'm really excited about the glasses - I have broken more pairs than you have ever even seen in your life. I broke my recent pair in a bar fight. OR they fell off my face while I was "watching" a DVR'd episode of 30 Rock [ie I fell asleep on the couch] and then my laptop fell on top of them. {If I were to insert a song segment into this monologue, it would have to be Mike Posner's You Think You're Cooler than Me}.

The REAL reason I'm still up, dear InterWebs, is because my silly cat has decided she needs attention. She's a downstairs cat and I'm an upstairs sleeper, and she whined and whined to be let upstairs. But her kitty litter is downstairs...so I have to indulge her for a little while and then take her back downstairs so I don't face her sweet little surprises am Morgen.
She's really bossy - she climbed to the back of the couch and hits my head whenever I'm not paying her enough attention. Please gurrrl, there is only room for ONE diva in this house. And I think my little sister's got dibs.

I don't actually have a picture of my cat, Dorothy,
so I figured a pikcha of my rats would suffice. Not really, you say? Tough nougats. I have to be up [again] in a few hours for the drive to my new apartment, and i am not entertaining a cat photo shoot at this hour. On the left/underneath we have my sweet little [...if little means fat] rat Mariella. On top of her is McFly [After Sir Martie]. Mariella is clever and nosy, but not very adventurous. She does not like to be held and is very squirmy and clumsy, probably because she's so fat. McFly is extremely timid and is the best cage/playpen escape-r ever. He also bites sometimes. I have a scar on my chin to prove it.

My family has a dog named Toby (<<<), too, in case you were wondering. I don't really care for him, and he doesn't really care for me. I've tried playing nicely, but he poops a lot and grosses me out. The sad thing is, I would, in general, consider myself a [lazy] dog person before I would consider myself a cat person.


Yet here I am, at 1 am, depriving myself of sleep in order to entertain a cat.




I hope this isn't prophetic.

love,
bRob.

Not of it.

I've been feeling marginally melancholy today. I mean - I'm pretty emotionally unstable in general, so take that for what it's worth, but today just felt bizarre.

Before I move on to the meat of the post, today I am thankful for: Le banjo. What would folksy music be without it? Sufjan Stevens' version of Come Thou Fount is the best example of a great song made even better with the banjo. [To be honest though...I can't stand the banjo by itself. It's like garlic - you wouldn't eat it alone, but it makes a dish viel besser, ja? {I LOVE analogies.}]



Moving on: how disappointing is this world?

I don't really know what put me in a funk today. My family left our little vacation spot at the beach this morning, and maybe it was just me staring out the window and thinking thoughts [hah].I can't help but notice, after a sweet little hibernation at the beach, that going back to the "grind" [ does school count as the grind?] seems so bleak.
So then I think about that to which I look forward [I'm trying to avoid putting prepositions at the end of the sentence; worth it?]...all the possibilities this next semester brings. After a year away from good old State - seeing my best people again, throwing myself into school work (nerd), applying to grad school [kind of], wearing my new blazer and mustard wool skirt [...don't judge me], driving my new car >>>, the Flying Biscuit, Bible study with Beth Moore...so many exciting new things!

But, as with this vacation, the excitement always ends. These things, in and of themselves, mean so little in light of eternity. I'm always planning. Living for the future. And that's what excitement is, right? Anticipation of something to come? The future?

But what happens when the future gets here, and it isn't what was promised? What happens when "future" become a present that leaves you exhausted, disappointed, or heartbroken? Or what if your "future" was great, but now it's over? The future I'm so busy planning: getting my phD, finding the perfect chef/banjo-player/car fixer-upper/vacation planner/scientific genius Christian husband, traveling, career ladder climbing...what happens when I'm done? I'm married, traveled, doctorate-ed, etc?

What then?

We're left wanting more. Something else to hope for, plan on, dream about [prep placement = fail]. And it's like that, a constant stream of shallow hopes and desires that will leave you thirsty and desperate.

WHY? Because we weren't made to be filled by anything in this world. There is nothing and no one that can satisfy the constant desire and hunger you have. You were made for another world.

I could cry, I want others to recognize this truth so badly. You weren't created for earth and it will never be enough!

John 15:19
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

You have the choice to serve a God so much greater than this earth. Live for Him. Not for this.

The world is so disappointing sometimes.

But that is not the end. Thank the Lord this isn't home.

-brittany

"So inveterate is their appetite for heaven"
{CS Lewis}