wow, every time I come home from work I feel inspired! It sucks on those days when it wears off after a sleep and my mind "rationalizes" my way out of whatever my idea was.
I just finished "Blue Like Jazz" two nights ago. wow! I love the book, I was a little skeptical at first, I didn't want to get my hopes up because everyone was saying it was amazing. I found I have a different definition of amazing than most people, but in the case of this book, it actually did turn out to be amazing. Donald Miller writes it so well I think. As I was reading it I felt like I could relate so well; from the ways he processes his thoughts to the different things he thought were "cool" or got caught up in. Though it happens very rarely, I found myself actually laughing out loud at some of the things he writes, I found myself caught up in his humor and then being perfectly transitioned into a deep insight that felt very relevant to my faith. Everything that he's done and experienced and his undeniable emphasis on love and living your faith, not just preaching it struck a very strong chord in my heart..
"Andrew is the one who taught me that what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do." (pg.110)
I just want to experience the fullness that Miller writes about. I want my life to mean something, by that I mean I want to be a tool for the Living God. Someone willing to do whatever he asks, no matter how scary, no matter how hard.
Well, on that note, I read to chapter 11 in "Do Hard Things" today. Being a teenager and reading the stories of other teenagers defying the expectations placed upon our generation was extraordinarily inspiring. I so deeply want to help in this movement. I want to not only defy the low expectations that the establishment has placed upon me, but to also empower others around my age to do the same. we have so much untapped potential it's ridiculous! and nobody is going to know what we are capable of if we continue to sink to what people have come to expect of us. I think it's pathetic that I get dirty looks when I walk down the street just because I'm 19. I've done nothing wrong, so please stop judging me. Maybe if so many store owners didn't expect teens to shoplift there wouldn't be as many that do. It's been shown time and time again that if others have placed expectations on your head, either high expectations or low ones, people will generally rise or sink to those expectations. we've been set up to fail. I've thought this for a very long time and I'm very glad that I found this book. actually I got it from my grandparents, thanks grandma and grandpa! It's awesome to find that there is a Rebolution movement (rebolution is a word made up my Alex and Brett Harris (the authors) that basically means teens rebelling against low expectations). I know that I can't wait to finish this book and suggest both of these books to my friends and family.
It also helps to inspire me when the sun is out. Yesterday was an amazing day. I got off work and went to the Island in the middle of my town to read, pray, type and meditate. It was so beautiful I was energized on the gorgeousness of God's creation. I stayed there for almost 2 hours and decided to go to Ashley Plett's house. I drove over, woke her up, gave her some music, she gave me breakfast, and then we jumped into her pool. The refreshing cool of the water was heavenly against my skin. I love swimming. then i pulled the trampoline next to the pool and we had a blast until she had to go to work. I then went back into Portage, found Ashton, another good friend of mine, and went back to Ashley's pool with Slurpees and hot dogs and spent the day there until about 2:45, at which point we were both starting to burn and I had to get some sleep before work that night. I went to my grandma's house and had a wonderful chat with her and then went home and slept until it was time for work. I loved that day and I hope for many more like it this summer.
I've realized that what I get out of an experience largely depends on what I put into it and what I expect to get out of it. ya know, that's a lot like teenagers. maybe if adults would put more into the kids of today and expect them to succeed and help them succeed, then they would succeed! gah! now there's an idea! ;)
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