Dear Reader-
The first thing I should mention, I suppose, is that for me,
writing is therapy. I can process things so much more easily on paper (or on a
keyboard) than under any other circumstances.
My thoughts and stories that I will share here are simply snapshots of
my life- my experiences, musings, and any amusing or obscure happenings that
may occur (and trust me, they do).
So hello,
dear reader. I’m a soon-to-be college student and athlete living in the
wonderful Midwest. Well, that’s what my address says, anyway. In reality, my
heart resides in a variety of places- a third story bedroom in Granada, Spain;
a hammock under an Ecuadorian cacao tree; a stunning view from a mountainside
in the Rockies. That’s another thing you should realize about me: I love to
travel. If I could, I would be a wandering hitchhiker and backpack across
Europe or something equally freeing and impractical. However, that sort of lifestyle is not
conducive to making a livable salary, so I’m destined for some sort of a
career. Fortunately, God laid on my heart a plan is slightly more plausible.
But enough
on that for now.
You know,
you will never have an end of “firsts”.
Although “lasts” seem to have been my life theme for the past several
months (last high school prom, last day of class, last time to sit between my
friends before we walked across that stage to get our diplomas) there is never
an end to what we can learn if we simply raise our eyes from the ‘down and
dirty’, if you will, of daily life.
This week,
I, for one, experienced several “firsts”.
I witnessed my first thunderstorm in the mountains. I went to a pretty
intense Christian rap concert for the first time, and yesterday I ate my first
lunch at Taco Bell (I know, I know, my friends also questioned whether I was
truly American). Although these are small things, it got me considering what a blessing
it is that we are able to continually learn. Experience is the best teacher, so
they say, and I’ve never found that to be untrue.
The problem
with us, though, is that we never seem to learn from our experiences. How many
times do we see friends running headlong into one broken relationship after
another, for example? I think it has to do with our comfort zones. That’s
really something God has been laying on my heart lately. We always want so
badly to cling to what we know, to what’s familiar. Sometimes, though, what
we’re doing isn’t in our best interest. It’s hurting us, but still we hang on
so tightly. That’s when God steps in and softly tries to pry our fingers off of
whatever it is that we’re so attached to, offering to replace it with something
so much better.
So the
question I’ve been asking myself lately is this: what is it that I’ve grabbed
in my fist, and am unwilling to let slip through my fingers? God is waiting,
gently persuading us to give everything to him and let him provide for us
completely. And when we throw our hands up in complete defeat, God is right
there to grab our hand and lead us forward into whatever crazy-awesome plan he
has for us.
“Spirit, lead me where my trust is
without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me…”
-Oceans,
Hillsong United
Well. I
promise that all of my posts won’t be this deep and intense. In fact, I’m
pretty sure I will rarely have an entire afternoon to pour out my soul on my
keyboard as I did today, so never fear. But thanks for sticking with me.
I’ll be
back soon.
Yours truly,
Brooklyn
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