Absence

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Or forgetful."

(I will be honest, that's how I always finish that line in my head.)

I'll spend forever wondering if you knew

I was enchanted to meet you

Nationals always requires a blog post, right? Right.

I'm sure I have to put up with a lot of sad things in my life. Forgetting my lunch when I have my heart set on what I have packed. Not being able to go home for a weekend. Not running into friends at school. Not getting to spend time with my family. Little things, big things, huge things.

But I have decided that the saddest thing I consistently have to put up with is how far away my best friends live. I have awesome friends here in Ohio. There are some really amazing people who do actually live within an hour of my house (or one of my houses) but there are just so many brilliant, funny, amazing, sweet and wonderful people who live too far out of range. It's incredibly hard to only see all of these people once a year or so. It gets worse/better every year as I just keep meeting more and more awesome people.

Having nationals two weeks or so before my finals has kind of made me confront my priorities. Despite being a little bit lazy I am also a little bit obsessive about grades, it's my competitive nature. But apart from needing good grades for scholarships I've had it pointed out in many Biblical lessons that I really have no reason to obsess about grades because there are so many more important things.

To that end for the most part I give my friends' crises precedence over homework, as long as I don't completely blow off homework irresponsibly. I also long ago decided that Nationals was more important than perfect attendance for many many reasons.

There is a bit of a hitch in this plan, though, and it is, in fact, even addressed in the material we covered at nationals this year.

"Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'
Matthew 22:37-40 (Yeah, I used NIV, I'm old school.)

I'm becoming somewhat accomplished at the loving your neighbor part. I love doing things for and with friends so much and have sacrificed a lot for close friends. However, as admirable as it is to put your friends first at all times, there is that other step that should be the first step.

But encouragingly, the (annoyingly few) times I've managed to make it my first step I do find that everything else falls into place much easier.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

A Long Expected Adventure

I had a bit of an unexpected journey today. I didn't go in search of any dragons but it was just as invigorating. Let me explain: it's been one of those awesome days where you just have to tell someone all about how awesome your day was. Unfortunately, you all are that someone.

Despite waking up with the usual feeling of "I'm either going to not go to school or take a nap later today" school went surprisingly well, involving (wonder of wonders) a successful group project, a postponed quiz, only 2 1/2 out of 4 classes and the best literature class I've been in yet. (Why? The teacher showed up late. The class kind of mutinied. He gave in. In a cheerful sort of way.) Besides that all of the usual suspect (and one unusual) showed up at our usual "hang out and plot world domination" spot (you know who you are) and I ran into an intriguing individual about campus who I've been meaning to meet for a while. (You also know who you are.) So school was awesome. And I just saw a car with a dragon on it go by. (I had a bottle of Mountain Dew. My attention span....)

Then I went home and Liz was cleaning the carpets so I decided it was a good excuse to go for a walk in the woods. And kind of got purposefully lost. I originally went looking for some birds who were making interesting noises. I never found the birds but I found unexplainably green trees, a flower garden in the middle of the woods, some very cool stonework and all of those other things that make getting lost in the woods worthwhile.

All of this is to say that at this point in the day, with writer's group to look forward to, can it really get any better?

Well the answer is yes, it can. On earth I'd never ask for more than this in an awesome day, in the middle of the school year this is as awesome as it gets and it's pretty great. But an exciting thing is to think about some, you know, really awesome days we have to look forward to in heaven. The nice thing is, this doesn't diminish the awesomeness of days here on earth. It kind of makes them better, just as the bad days on earth prepare you for things, maybe the good days on earth prepare us so we won't be overwhelmed with the awesomeness in heaven.

Who am I kidding? There's no comparison and that makes it even better!! But in the meantime I'll go back to enjoying the awesome days here in the most enthusiastic way possible.

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
-G.K. Chesteron