In the Quiet

This life isn't perfect, but that goes without saying. We all have our trials and tribulations, but that doesn't make it any easier to know that everyone goes through them, does it? Thank goodness we have a God Who comforts us in our hardest moments, days, weeks, and months. Even years. Each challenging experience I've gone through, I think how can I survive this? But I do, every time. With the grace of God. With the amazing grace that He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ. I'd like to think that my hardships are over. Reality tells me this isn't so. And somehow, I don't want them to be over, because without hardships I couldn't strengthen my character, become a better person, and grow in Christ. That's what this life is about, I think. Drawing closer to Jesus and sharing in His passion in our own unique ways. Each amazing human being on this earth has his or her own cross to bear. How beautiful that is. It is mind boggling to me how Christ co...

Don't get me wrong. I love to shop. But last week, I felt like I didn't like it. When I realized why, the answer surprised and saddened me, and inspired this post. Shopping is great. You get to buy things that you need and sometimes things that you want. You trade money for the items that you have in your cart/basket. Simple, right? Most of the time. Unless you analyze your feelings like I do. I have been taking a Mass Media course at college, and let me tell you, it is changing my perspective big time. This is one of the precious few classes I have taken that are shaping me into a different person while  this process is something that I welcome and am incredibly grateful for. But what it is also doing is making me a little bit concerned, disgusted, and completely tired of the whole concept of what stores are about. I realize that stores are there to make money. That is the logical reason that they exist. They aren't there out of the goodness of their hearts to off...

As I walked into college this morning, I had this weird sort of moment where I felt like an outsider. Then I realized that I was just being observant. The hall was full of students. Tables and chairs were occupied. People were sitting together. Typical morning, right? Yes, sadly. A typical morning indeed. What was sad about it? You see, all these students were spending time together, and yet they so weren't. You guessed it. Media had successfully separated each person into his or her own little universe. Yes, this is typical. And no, I'm not going to turn this post into a rant on how we need to turn off our phones and close our laptops and talk to each other. That would be a revolutionary cause not to be undertaken overnight. A radical change would be necessary to make this happen. I don't think it's going to happen. Technology will always change the way that we communicate, but I can't help thinking of the movie Wall-E while considering this happening. I...