The one and only, Don Miller

"But what we really need is God. What we really need is somebody who loves us so much we don't worry about death, about our hair thinning, about other drivers pulling in front of us on the road, about whether people are poor or rich, good-looking or ugly, about whether we feel lonely or about whether or not we are wearing clothes. We need this; we need this so we can love other people purely and not for selfish gain, we need this so we can see everybody as equals, we need this so our relationships can be sincere, we need this so we can stop kicking ourselves around, we need this so we can lose all self-awareness and find ourselves for the first time, not by realizing some dream, but by being told who we are by the only Being who has the authority to know, by that I mean the creator" (110). -Donald Miller aka Donny Millz from his book Searching For God Knows What

(Yes, I typed that whole thing) (and yes that is proper mla citation)(and yes I'm seeing him speak on Friday)(and yes its gonna be awesome!)(and yes I had to make these all in separate parentheses)(and yes hes really cool)(and yes you should read his books)

It's amazing to think of how many things we do out of the craving of acceptance of others, the need to feel the love and appreciation of others. Luckily, no matter how many times we fail, no matter how many times we fall, no matter how many times we stumble, God will always love us, will always accept us. We listen to others words, taking satisfaction and gratitude out of them, but we will never be satisfied without the quenching, satisfying nature of God's love for us. We need this, and without it, we are empty.

System Overload

It seems like I have been hearing alot of talk over the past couple of months about leaving Hinsdale and getting out of this system. Everytime I hear it, I can't help but agree. It always reminds me of this girl in my Consumer Economics class last year. On this particular day, the seniors in the class (I was a junior at the time) were going around saying their plans for the future. One guy was going into the Army, one was going to Wisconsin, but the one that struck me was a girl that was going to Vanderbilt. She planned to go to Vanderbilt for 4 years, graduate, and come right back home and start working for her dad. Then she was eventually going to take over the business.

I'm not trying to say that she had a bad plan for the future, but she had the entire rest of her life mapped out. She knew exactly what she was going to do and when it was going to happen, and it just seemed so systematic, like she was in a dryer going around and around and around. I just don't see the fun in that. She is going to be living essentially the same life her entire life. Where's the adventure in that? Where's the living part of life?

It seems like so many times we take for granted what we have and fail to see bigger and better things in our future. We are are comfortable with what we have, we feel satisfied and successful. We do not see the potential we have to really make a difference in the world.

Sometimes, when I think about my future, I get scared. I just don't know where God is going to take me and, at times, that is really scary to me. However, I know that no matter what I go through, God is going to be there by my side, through the ups and downs, the storms and the calms. While I am kind of a polar opposite of my consumer economic classmate, I know that I need not be afraid. I don't need to be afraid to fail. I don't need to be afraid to take a leap of faith into the unknown. I don't need to be afraid to face my fears, to conquer them. I don't need to be afraid to make less money or go to a worse college because I know that God will provide for me in ways that are more satisfying than any other thing imaginable. God's plan for me is perfect and whether I know where that plan is taking me or not, I know that God will always be with me, and that is the most comforting thing I can think of.

So while I'm not sure where my life is headed, I'm pretty sure it is out of this town, out of this system. Out of this place where it is so hard to believe that there are better things to life than what we already have. Out of this system where the extent of kids' dreams seem to be doing what their dads' already do, this broken system where you must go to a good school and make a lot of money to succed.

May we not not take what we have for granted, and may we not be afraid to see our true and great potential that we can reach with God always walking beside us.