Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

-Paulo Coelho

Which lessons in life are must-learn? Which are the biggest? I've heard love, friendships, and family are pretty important things. I agree, however, I don't think the biggest lessons have anything to do with the common uses of the above words.

Let's start with love. Well, for all of eternity humankind has tried to define this word. In fact, I typed "How many definitions of love are there?" in the Google search engine and in the first 10 of over 3 million results I found

A wikipedia entry.

Definitions for various cultures and types.

'The real definition of love' shows up three times, all linking to different definitions.

and various love is this, love is that.

Arg, what on earth!? So we haven't even come to at least a narrowed down definition of the understand of this word? After all these years? Exactly. Why? Because it's not just a word. I don't think today's "love" is very important to learn. Hell, I just looked it up and it gave me real love spells from some witchcraft book. Honestly now?

Proverbs 10:12 'Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.' So then, why is the use of today's 'love' wrong? That is impossible, if it were true love. Therefore, how many people walking God's green earth know true love? Not many. I say I don't believe in love. And that's the truth. I am referring to the love that is in the world. The love that does not cover up wrongs, but that is wrong. The love you see on magazine covers, hear in your radio, and see on bumper stickers. That kind is not real to me.

I think Love (with a big L) is an important 'life lesson'. But the real stuff. Not this 'I heart Joe Jonas' crap.

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Friendships. Hmm, now this is a hard one. It also goes back to the society's portrayal of this word. I don't think we have messed this one up as bad as other things, but it's still not the way maybe it should be. I think people become friends with each other based on who they are supposed to be friends with. If you are a math 'nerd', then you should hang out with other math 'nerds' no matter how good you are at basketball, or whatever. I know it's not the same everywhere, but look at a high school. There are clicks everywhere! Very few people dabble in each of them for the simple fact your just not supposed to. It's the principle of common acceptance. Normality. Society.

Proverbs 27:17 "As irons sharpen iron, so as man sharpens man". A friendship is a relationship entered by two people who become as close as they chose to be. I think the important lesson in friendship is to not to necessarily find persons who are like you and go for it, but to find someone that is good for you too. You are influence by the people around you. The most important lesson on friendship is to find a friend who will not drag you down. It's much deeper than finding a friend you can hang out with every weekend.

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That brings us to the last: Family. O boy. Now, this one is a little more understood by everyone. Not all family is blood family. Some people aren't as close to their parents as they are a friend. A family is a group of people sharing a deep connection and a solid bond. Whether that be physical, like blood, emotional, like past experiences and understanding, or spiritual, you can have as big a family as you want.

John 13:34-35 says "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to also love one another. By this, all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." The connection of the family-relationship between us and God is love. It says people will recognize us as His disciples and his children by the love we share with him. Sometimes, we mistake family for being solely the people who are connected through blood, marriage or adoption. However, you cannot tell me a homeless person who becomes life-long friends with someone has no family.

Love, friendship, and family go hand in hand with one another. So grab a hand and keep going. Life isn't over yet.

Today, I dusted off my Bible.

1 John 3:18-20 "Dear Children, let us not love with word or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set out hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

This verse made me so incredible happy and relieved! "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." Freaking sweet! That's what that is.


It's so hard to figure out what to do next. You have decisions upon decisions upon decisions. Some are quite small and some are rather unsettling with their size. But it tells us God is greater than our hearts. Even if we mess up, even if we end up doing something wrong, it says we can be at rest. I'm game with that! I mean yeah, it's not saying do what you want and don't worry about being punished...that's definitely the sad and all-to-wrong man's translation. But it's saying that we are human; when our hearts remind us we are wrong, listen to them but be at rest knowing it's a reminder, it's not condemning us to hell.

Do not love with word or tongue but with actions and in truth. I like that. To me, it goes back the ever so popular "I love you" phrase that we humans enjoy passing around as if it's a good wine. Stop worrying about being able to proclaim love! True love will be known through what you do because of it! A little earlier in verse 16 it says "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." Dude. That is love in every sense of the word. That blows our Webster definitions out of the water! God sent his Son for us!

I was given the awesome opportunity to spend the weekend with a group from OAFC (Ongoing Ambassadors For Christ). Saturday, I joined them while they went canvasing through the neighborhood surrounding Emmaus. We went door-to-door asking people to share their knowledge of Jesus. It was really neat to see so many people in this neighborhood who knew of him! However, it opened my eyes when I learned that a vast majority had not even heard of Emmaus....which is the huge building right smack dab in the middle of their neighborhood. It reminded me of something else; I, a Christian, could have a cross necklace on, a Bible in hand, and be placed in a room full of people, but no one would notice me if I just stood there. I would have to reach out, talk to them, interact with them. In the same way a church must reach out and interact. A church is not an establishment! It's a people! And this verse really helps me understand that we can show all of these people love and share with them the good news, without yanking them into the church building.

This verse spoke to me on both a personal level and as a member of a suffering congregation. I was reminded of the old saying "If it looks like a ____, smells like a ____, then it is a ____." Haha. I see it a reminder to be a Christian all around. Not just someone who shows up in church but someone who needs to work on the whole picture.



What did you get out of this verse?

Who the heck am I ?!?

I can give you statements of things I like, things I've done, people I talk to, etc. But can I really tell you who I am?

Tracey Pike, an amazing speaker/teacher on purity and Christian sex education, had all of the attendants at her lecture during awestruck make a list. On a half sheet of paper were ten blank lines that we were told to write down some qualities we would desire in a spouse. After a few minutes she had a handful of people share some and then proceeded to tell us he or she is out there. There is a spouse out there, set aside for us by God, that has all ten qualities we are looking for. You know what? She's right. How awesome is that? God, the insanely awesome, indescribable Lord set aside a guy just for me. But then she said this. "Now that you know what you spouse, be that person." Holy poop.

Be that person?

What? Now wait a minute...you're telling me I'm supposed to come up with the description of a 'perfect' (for lack of a better term) person, and then be them? I guess that's only fair, but IMPOSSIBLE.

Then I realized this: God, the insanely awesome, indescribable Lord set me aside for someone else. That's pretty rad.

So yeah. I do have to be that person. And that will help me a lot. I want to be the girl that is wrapped up in God, a boy must seek God to find me. I've heard that quote before and I love it. I'm not very good at the wrapping-up-in-God part but I'm working on it. I'm relearning Jesus right now. [[check out Matthew Paul Turner's Relearning Jesus]]. I'm taking a step back, (actually a whole lot of steps back) and starting over.

I move into my dorm in 29 days. I will have to make new friends, take new classes, learn the ways of a new town, find a new church...new new new new new! Everything will be new. Why not me?

I'm starting over. God and I had a meeting and I think it was decided it's a good idea. I don't care so much who I am. My name is a name. I'm sure there are plenty of other Christina's out there.

It's more about what I am.

I am a Christian.
God's little girl and proud of it.
I am a college student who doesn't party.
A girl who doesn't put out.
I am a sister, a daughter, a friend, and a sinner.
I am forgiven.
I am new, every single day.
I am blessed.

What do you want your life to be like ten years from now?

We've all heard this question before. Or at least something similar. I did some research (i.e. I Googled) and found that many answers to this question involve 5 topics.


Marriage
Many of the answers I stumbled across say they wish to be married in ten years. Is this the case of more young people answering said question than old? Or is it the case of people already being divorced and wanting to re-marry? Granite some were already married and noted that by saying "with my spouse doing this or that". But over all, people want to be committed to someone.

Offspring
It cracks me up when people are so specific. "I want 3 kids. Two boys, one girl. They all must have blue eyes and dark hair. And they better come out playing the piccolo!" Or what? You will sell your child? Nah. Be a little more opened minded here people. It's great to know whether or not you want kids, but at the same time, realize that it's going to be what God thinks will work for you.

Career
Very similar to the age-old question "What do you want to be when you grow up?". They start asking you this in pre-school and they never stop. So, naturally, humans tend to think they must constantly be considering the options of what they could be doing.

Health
How much do you want to lose? 10 pounds? 20 pounds? 42 pounds? Because it seems as if everybody and their step-brother want to lose something. What is it with this diet craze that acts like a bug zapper to people? "O my God! Fat-free fat cake! It's okay to eat, I'll take it!" Really now? Haha just have throw in a handful of self-control and a few dashes of motivation and you're good to go.

Finances
O don't we all 'need' more money? Or at least that's what is generally thought. We don't need more money, we want it. Plain and simple. Now don't get me wrong, I know there are people who need help financially, but I'm speaking for the general public who shops at the local store and purchases more than necessary. Basically, everyone I know, including myself. I don't think it's wrong to buy yourself a puzzle or another pair of sunglasses or whatever. But far too many of us, myself included, spends all our income on things we really don't need. When we could spend it on things that will last us that ten years. Or save it. That's a thought!



Now before anyone's pants get too tight please realize I'm not bagging on anyone. In fact, I started to answer this question myself today. I covered all of the above topics. My initial thought was as follows:

It would be nice to be married. I would love to have a family someday, so maybe there will be some kids in the picture. I will need a steady job of course, but I don't know what yet. Maybe a wedding planner. A teacher? I don't know. And I would love to be in a decent house. I don't need anything fancy, but something I can grow in. I will need money for that though...etc.

However, after a few minutes of sorting through various possibilites in my mind, I realized that it was useless. Sure all of my answers were general, therefore are pretty achievable, but I don't think I have evaluated my present life enough to even think about the distant future. Where am I at with the topics right now? Some of them sound easy to answer; Children-well let's see...I'm 19 years old, going to school, work 15 hours a week, single...NO WAY! But I can't just think about now, just like I can't solely think about ten years from now. It's about the whole picture.

Marriage- It's definitely a possability one day. Right now, no. But I'll work on figuring out who I am; keep growing in Christ. Do a lot of praying. Continue to meet new people. I have plenty of time. I don't need to set myself to a time-line.

Offspring-Well, that comes along with marriage for me. If I get married, then it will be taken into consideration. For now, I'll just continue to learn what I can. I love being with kids, so I know if I do become a mom, I won't be at a total loss.

Carreer-I'm going off to Muncie for my second year of college in 41 days. I have no clue what I want to do with my life, so I don't have a major picked. I will be a second year freshman. I get to start over and explore. I have time to decide that. Until I do, I will just experience as much as I can.

Health-I'm young and average. I am active and am on my feet often. I think I'm okay for now. If I feel the need to lose or gain weight, I will. But as long as I make the right decisions, I'm good. I am going to try and avoid the freshman 15 though.

Finances-Zero. That's my bank account right now. I actually decided yesterday I need to start over. I am not good with money..at all. But looking at the facts-going to college in a month, having a semi-faulty car, etc. I realized I need to make some changes. I need to get today's money straight before I worry about tomorrows.

Those are just my thoughts. I don't really worry too much about ten years from now. I focus more on just getting there.

What do you want your life to be like ten years from now?