Ahh...Relaxation and Looking Forward

Well, I've officially been on break for a week now. It's been great. Really relaxing. How have I spent my time? Pretty much, as unproductive as possible. I think it's that first week "veg out." You know what I mean? It's been four straight months of racking my brains and reading thousands of pages of information. Now, I'm just enjoying doing nothing--watching movies and DVDs of the The OC, playing video games, and playing guitar.

Well, that weeks over. I think it's time to start being productive again. I've been working on a short story for the past couple of weeks. It's the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac told in four parts through four different characters views. There's a servant in the stable telling about preparations, Isaac talking about the trip to the mountain, Abraham recounting the sacrifice and God's intervention, and Sarah telling about the arrival home of her husband and son. I think the change in point of view does multiple things: it makes it an interesting take on the story and it opens up new emotions that readers might not think about when reading the account from the bible (especially those of Sarah and Isaac). My goal is to finish this story by the end of the break (January 17th).

To help with inspiration for the story, I've been reading. I started (and hope to soon finish) Donald Miller's new book (well re-release of an old book) Through Painted Deserts. I like reading his stories--even if they aren't that well written and they're just recounts of stuff that actually happened to him. It just makes me want to write about stuff. As soon as that is finished, I'm starting Stephen King's memoir/guide for young writers On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. My friend/faithful blog reader/community group leader John told me this is the book that made him want to be a writer, so I'm pretty excited to read it. Once these two are done, I have to start thinking about next semester by getting an early start on reading. I have to read Tom Jones by Henry Fielding for my 18th Century/Restoration Humor & Satire class. It's pretty long, so I'd better read it before the class begins.

I've been thinking about what I need to do for next year. You know--what you'd call New Year's Resolutions if you were into those cheesy holiday traditions. I figure this--I need to pay more attention to school than I did this semester. I had my worst grades of college this semester (which were still better than most people's mind you)--part new job, part too much extra-curricular activity, part too much social life, part being in harder classes. Nonetheless, I want to pay more attention to my studies, because I'll be applying to grad school next fall. My second goal for '06 is to read more of the Bible--I feel like I haven't read it enough (time wise) this year and haven't read enough of it (as in ground covered). I printed out a plan that Abel sent me, and I'm planning on reading the whole Bible next year. I think a plan will help me read more regularly. Also, reading on this plan will force me to cover stuff I wouldn't normally read--like Chronicles or most of the Minor Prophets. It seems like I get stuck in a Gospels, Psalms, Proverbs, and Epistles rut when I just read at random. That means that I'm missing out on a lot of important stuff. Also, my mother read the entire Bible in 2005 and plans on doing it again in order to go deeper this time through. It kind of inspired me to do the same. I read the it all in order for class Freshman year at JBU. I skimmed a lot and probably skipped some stuff, because it was homework. This time through, I wanted to take notes and journal as I go. It should be beneficial, and I expect God to surprise me several times this year.

Speaking of God and surprises, Passion is in 2 weeks. I'm really excited for this. It'll be a good time of bonding between us worship leaders through a week of worship and prayer. Also, it should be a great time of refueling and refreshment. Last year, it was so awesome to stand together with so many other Christians in one spot. It was great to raise one voice to God with 12,000 of my peers. I'm really excited to spend this whole week so focused on God's glory.

Also, I thought it would be cool to just leave some prayer requests on my blog every now and then. For now, please pray for my winter break: that it would be refreshing, that I wouldn't be too lazy, that I wouldn't give into temptations without my community group around to encourage me. Also, please pray for my thoughts about relationships. A lot of my friends are getting engaged, and it has caused me to dwell on my singleness alot. I don't want this to cause me to pursue anyone just so that I won't be lonely. Just pray that God would be my comfort and would grant me wisdom in dealing with girls (especially those that interest me) and assurance that I will find someone someday if that's what God wills should happen. Lastly, please pray for meaningful time with my family over the Christmas weekend. I don't see them often enough, and I don't want to waste these few days on arguments or time spent in meaningless interaction.

I'd also like to throw out a prayer request for me/some others. Let me preface this prayer request with this: I think reasonable alcohol consumption by people who are "of age" is an okay thing (according to the Bible). However, I think that some people I know are pushing the limit with this. It worries me. Mainly, I want to pray for God to convict them of this. I also want to pray for myself not to be judgemental and myself not to be decieved into the same temptation. I feel that the first of these is more likely to happen--me being judgemental against others. Honestly, I don't feel the second will be a problem--I set limits for myself and I don't really drink that often. However, I know that when we think something can't be a problem for us that we let our guard down and Satan moves in for the kill.

Well, if you're reading this and you're in town, give me a call to hang out over the break. If not, I'll see you mid-January. (By the way, go watch King Kong and Pride & Prejudice--they're both great movies.)