A little lesson from Jesus

The other day I was reading in Mark for my quiet time. I read Mark 10:21 and something jumped off the page at me. The passage is talking about a rich young man who comes to Jesus and asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus gives him a list of commands to keep knowing that it was impossible for anyone to actually keep them all. The man says he's kept them all since he was young. At this point, "Jesus looked at him and loved him." This is the phrase that jumped out to me. Two things came to mind when I read this.

1. Jesus loves me the same way he loved that young man. He sees me every day and loves me. How often do I take this for granted? Do I rest in His love or do I forget what it feels like to be loved because I fill my time with the worries and anxieties of this life?

2. I should love people like Jesus did. I want to look at people and love them. Not for what I can get out of the relationship or for any other reason than Jesus loves me and tells me to love others.

Hopefully this encourages you as it did me. This Christmas season how can you love those around you? Remember the true reason for the season and the love that God showed us by sending his son Jesus to earth.

When I (fill in the blank) I feel God's pleasure.

You may have heard the quote by Eric Liddel that was made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire. He said "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." There are things in each of our lives that we were designed for. Things that make us feel like everything is right in the world and we are lifted above the concerns of our daily lives. For me, one of those things is soccer. I love soccer. I'll play soccer indoor, outdoor, by myself, it doesn't matter. For those of you who play soccer, you know what I'm talking about. When you hit that perfect shot and the ball is knuckling toward the goal so that you can read the logo on it and the goal keeper has no idea where it's going. Or you make that one move that leaves a defender tripping over themselves.

Another one for me is music. Playing the piano is one of the ways I relax and get away from it all. When I was studying engineering at Virginia Tech I would often go to the chapel on campus late at night and play the grand piano there. The whole chapel was made of concrete and marble so the music would just echo as I played. I'm convinced these retreats to my little sanctuary on campus are what eventually helped me make it through engineering school with some level of sanity. I remember when I was a kid I'd play my parent's upright piano in the dark. Like Eric Liddel said, I could feel God's pleasure. It's something I was designed to do. Whether I'm playing by myself or on a stage in front of a lot of people, I just love to play. I feel like God has gifted me with music and it's such a blessing to be able to enjoy that and to share it with other people.

So what is it for you? What are those things in your life that make it worth living. What is it that when you are doing it, all the cares of the day and worries about the future and everything else just drift away. Whatever it is, make time for it, enjoy it, share it with others.

Fall musings

It's fall. Fall means alot of things. Leaves changing colors and falling to the ground. Bonfires, corn mazes, hayrides, apple cider, football, halloween costume parties, crisp cool air, the promise of Thanksgiving and Christmas being just around the corner. This fall is a little different. This fall my brother is getting married! In fact, he's getting married in less than two weeks. I have the pleasure of being his co-best man(with my other brother). I've been the best man in one other wedding and have been a groomsman in numerous other weddings. This isn't like the other weddings I've been in though. This is my younger brother. The first of the four siblings to tie the knot. I'm super excited for him and his future bride. I'm definitely not losing a brother but rather gaining a sister.

Did I expect my YOUNGER brother to be getting hitched before I did? Well no. In fact, there's alot of things that haven't really worked out the way I would have figured they would have. I believe my plan went something like this.....go to college, get a good degree, fall in love, graduate, get married, land a dream job, have kids, and live happily ever after. Well, I went to college and got a good degree. I did graduate, and I did get a good job but definitely not my "dream" job. As you've probably figured out, the major "missing" part of my plan was the falling in love, getting married, having kids and living happily ever after. God had other plans. As I look back now I realize just how blessed my life has been and where God has me now. He has blessed me in so many ways and somehow I still find myself not trusting Him with everything in my life. I give Him 90% but then tell Him that the other 10% is under control and I think that my plan is better somehow than His plan. Well, I'm sure I'll talk more about my trust issues in future posts, but that's what's going on right now. Big wedding in another week and a half and I couldn't be happier for them!

My first Blog post......EVER!

What seems like a very normal Tuesday afternoon ended with a revelation. I DON'T HAVE A BLOG! I realize that it is 2009. I've been out of college for 5 years now. I live in the Washington DC area and I'm in my late 20's. How is it possible that I don't have a blog? I couldn't come up with a good answer so I decided to create one. Over the next days, months, years, hopefully you will find exactly what the title describes here. Random Thoughts and ideas that that I have through life. I kind of like this already. I'm not sure anyone will even follow this, but here goes nothing.