So, tonight I randomly decided to look at some of my old albums on Facebook (basically, I got really bored of the RHNY reunion). Anyway, despite Facebook's creepiness at times it is kind of a nice way to reminisce, at least for me, on "old times." Yes, I know I'm 19, which qualifies me as still being a kid, but oh well. Once I got over the "wow, I was so skinny my first 3 years of high school" shock, I noticed something...a few of the girls that I was "best friends" with my freshman year of high school removed their tags of pictures of us. Really? OK, I know, it's Facebook, and being friends with someone on Facebook is like shaking their hand, but honestly, just because we're not friends you have to un-tag yourself from pictures? It wasn't like we had a big fight, we just kind of drifted. But I digress...
For me, it was kind of fun to leave myself tagged in stupid pictures. Facebook has the function where on the right side of the screen it will show you old pictures of your friends, and my wonderful hallmates and I had endless hours of entertainment this past year laughing at each other and the "mirror pics" we used to take, and laughing at the pictures that were funny at the time but now just look dumb. Looking through the old pictures reminded me of various stages of my life. There are pictures that I look at and think "I was so uncomfortable with that group of people" and pictures that bring a smile to my face because I remember the late night sleepovers with some of the sweetest girls I've ever known. It's nice to kind of look back and remember how close you were with certain people. There's a magnet on my fridge at home that someone gave to my mom and it says "friends are the family you choose for yourself," and it's so true. I can look at all of those pictures and remember what distinctly drew me to that person in the picture with me. Even though we're not best friends anymore, some of the people I don't talk to, some I just keep their numbers in my phone for "just in case," and some I do try to catch up with every once in a while, and some I'm still good friends with, I know they were in my life for some specific purpose. Even though neither of us realized it, I needed them at one point and they needed me. I'm so grateful for every moment of my life, be it good, bad, or ugly, because it made me who I am.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Arrogance and Christianity
So this morning at church our preacher gave a very interesting sermon on arrogance and Christianity. He started out by turning to scripture, Matthew 20:20-28, where the mother of two of the disciples asks Jesus to have one of her sons sit at His right and the other at His left. Jesus asks if they can drink from the same cup He does and of course they answer "yes". This is the first display of arrogance in this scripture. The next one comes when the other 10 disciples get angry. Jesus quickly humbles them by gathering all 12 together and telling them that to be first, they must be slaves to others. To be served, you must serve. I know how silly this may seem, but I'm always struck with how wise Jesus is. The arrogance of the 2 disciples quickly passed to the other 10 by them standing there and thinking, "how dare they? We would never act that way," but in actuality, they're acting the exact same way. The pastor then asked us a question, "Are you, as a Christian, more arrogant now that you've found Jesus than you were before you knew Him?" Wow. In that question lies what I believe to be why so many people dislike Christianity.
As a college student, we are all guilty of the same type of arrogance as the 10 disciples. Someone asks a "dumb" question and we all think "I would never ask a question like that." But that's being arrogant. We're looking down on someone thinking we're better. As Christians we do this a lot. Because we know we will be redeemed for our sins, we feel it's OK to look at, and possibly point out, the sins of others. In reality, this is not OK. Jesus, the one person to ever walk the earth that was perfect and didn't sin, didn't judge us for our sins. How can we, as Christians, point out the sins of others when Jesus didn't even do that? Of course people would have a bad taste in their mouth about Christianity after witnessing behavior like that. Some of my friends refer to them as "the God Squad." They're the people who separate themselves from the kids who drink or party. We shouldn't separate ourselves, we should be with them. Jesus didn't spend all of His time with Christians; He spent His time with people who needed Him. We need to stop being so arrogant and realize that we're just like everyone else. Yes, our faith separates us from others because we believe, but we're all sinners, we're all God's children.
This leads me to my goal of this year: To stop being so arrogant. I'm no better than anyone else.
As a college student, we are all guilty of the same type of arrogance as the 10 disciples. Someone asks a "dumb" question and we all think "I would never ask a question like that." But that's being arrogant. We're looking down on someone thinking we're better. As Christians we do this a lot. Because we know we will be redeemed for our sins, we feel it's OK to look at, and possibly point out, the sins of others. In reality, this is not OK. Jesus, the one person to ever walk the earth that was perfect and didn't sin, didn't judge us for our sins. How can we, as Christians, point out the sins of others when Jesus didn't even do that? Of course people would have a bad taste in their mouth about Christianity after witnessing behavior like that. Some of my friends refer to them as "the God Squad." They're the people who separate themselves from the kids who drink or party. We shouldn't separate ourselves, we should be with them. Jesus didn't spend all of His time with Christians; He spent His time with people who needed Him. We need to stop being so arrogant and realize that we're just like everyone else. Yes, our faith separates us from others because we believe, but we're all sinners, we're all God's children.
This leads me to my goal of this year: To stop being so arrogant. I'm no better than anyone else.
Monday, July 11, 2011
3 Weeks
So, I'm basically the worst blogger ever...but who really reads this anyway?
I came home this summer so reluctant to leave Athens, and now I'm reluctant to leave Marietta. 3 weeks from today I'll be moving back to Athens, but it a different dorm, in a room alone, and on a hall alone for a week until my residents move in. Needless to say, I'm pretty scared. I'm excited an anxious to start this new adventure, and I can't wait to find out who my residents are. I'm very lucky that my friend Robin will be working in the same Residence Hall (that's the official word, I used dorm earlier and that's bad), and Nadgey will be across the courtyard. I don't handle change well, and this new school year will bring about a lot of change. It's funny really, me not handling change well, because does that mean I don't handle life well? Isn't that what life is, change? I'm also very anxious about Bobby leaving for PN. Hopefully he'll be able to squeeze in an Athens visit before he leaves.
Mostly, I CANNOT believe how quickly the summer flew by. It was great having Thomas, Courtney, and Robby here for 3 weeks. Having all 4 of us girls together is so much fun. The dynamic is much different now with the little ones, now Kristy and I are the only ones to stay up past 10. I love my sweet little nephew so much (but he won't be my only nephew for long, Jackie and Andrew are expecting a little boy in November!!!). It was so hard to see them off at the airport. They went to Germany and will be making a stop here for 48 hours before they head back to CA, so really the next time I see him will be Christmas and G's 90th. And of course it's been so great to spend so much time with Caroline. It's weird that I'll have 2 nephews and 1 niece...looks like the Rivard women might be outnumbered soon, yikes! Robby and Caroline are always the highlights of any day I get to see them. Watching them grow and become "real" people with "real" personalities is amazing. God never ceases to amaze me.
Just thinking about going back to Athens makes me anxious. Although, this is very different than last year, last year I was a wreck, this year it's bittersweet. I am SO excited to see my friends again. Classes...eh. Bobby keeps telling me to live in the moment and take it one day at a time. I know I shouldn't be anxious because God already has a plan for me and all I need to do is pray that I follow it, but I'm still anxious. My motto for now is Phil. 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
I came home this summer so reluctant to leave Athens, and now I'm reluctant to leave Marietta. 3 weeks from today I'll be moving back to Athens, but it a different dorm, in a room alone, and on a hall alone for a week until my residents move in. Needless to say, I'm pretty scared. I'm excited an anxious to start this new adventure, and I can't wait to find out who my residents are. I'm very lucky that my friend Robin will be working in the same Residence Hall (that's the official word, I used dorm earlier and that's bad), and Nadgey will be across the courtyard. I don't handle change well, and this new school year will bring about a lot of change. It's funny really, me not handling change well, because does that mean I don't handle life well? Isn't that what life is, change? I'm also very anxious about Bobby leaving for PN. Hopefully he'll be able to squeeze in an Athens visit before he leaves.
Mostly, I CANNOT believe how quickly the summer flew by. It was great having Thomas, Courtney, and Robby here for 3 weeks. Having all 4 of us girls together is so much fun. The dynamic is much different now with the little ones, now Kristy and I are the only ones to stay up past 10. I love my sweet little nephew so much (but he won't be my only nephew for long, Jackie and Andrew are expecting a little boy in November!!!). It was so hard to see them off at the airport. They went to Germany and will be making a stop here for 48 hours before they head back to CA, so really the next time I see him will be Christmas and G's 90th. And of course it's been so great to spend so much time with Caroline. It's weird that I'll have 2 nephews and 1 niece...looks like the Rivard women might be outnumbered soon, yikes! Robby and Caroline are always the highlights of any day I get to see them. Watching them grow and become "real" people with "real" personalities is amazing. God never ceases to amaze me.
Just thinking about going back to Athens makes me anxious. Although, this is very different than last year, last year I was a wreck, this year it's bittersweet. I am SO excited to see my friends again. Classes...eh. Bobby keeps telling me to live in the moment and take it one day at a time. I know I shouldn't be anxious because God already has a plan for me and all I need to do is pray that I follow it, but I'm still anxious. My motto for now is Phil. 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
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