Summer's first lessons

I've only been away from Cincinnati for a few days, and already I'm learning some tough things.

Now I'm realizing one of the reasons I needed to have some time away from school this summer and it's not easy to swallow. For most of my life, but especially over the last two months, I've most clearly seen and experienced God in the people in my life. It has been through the support and love of the people I have been building relationships and living life with that God has taught me the most and most clearly shown me his love. This has been absolutely amazing and indescribably awesome, and will continue to happen out in California and forever, but at the same time, I know God is pushing and challenging me to seek him out in other places as well.

I've talked to a few people recently about making sure that we are "worshipping the root, not the fruit." I think at times over the past few months I have been guilty of worshipping the fruit, not giving credit where credit is due. It's really hard to not be around all of the people who have meant so much to me recently, and its even harder knowing I won't even see anyone for another three months, but I think that this needs to happen so that I can work to make sure I am seeking and experiencing God in other places. Definitely its fine and even healthy to have some way a person is being spiritually fed more than other ways, but I know I need to make sure my experiences and growth are not too dramatically out of balance.

Hopefully over the next few days I can focus and concentrate to work on all of this. So far, I haven't had very much luck. My undiagnosed case of relatively small but still definitely there-ADD has stopped me from being able to sit and focus on reading a book for any length of time. And I don't really know where the hours seem to disappear to here at home.

Will things get better or worse this weekend when I'm living in an apartment in LA with seven other guys?

It's not extremely fun to be learning tough lessons, but I do need to learn them, and it is exciting to already be feeling God working in me. Hopefully this is just the start of what the summer will bring.


Anyway, I'm off to Kennywood tomorrow with Ben and Patrick. It should be awesome. As long as I get a ride on the Phantom, I'll be set.

gooooodnight