What is My Why?

A couple weeks ago at my church we talked on the topic of  rebuilding the parts of our life that are not up to par, and the pastor explained this by taking a deeper look of the book of Nehemiah.




Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding Jerusalem after they have been held in captivity for the longest time. In the second week of studying the book of Nehemiah, the pastor talked about how, while rebuilding the wall to Jerusalem, the Israelites reached the halfway point and got discourage about building the wall. He listed four reasons why they got discouraged found in Nehemiah 4:10-12.




Nehemiah 4:10-12 "Meanwhile, the people of Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is giving out and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.' Also our enemies said, 'Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put and end to the work.' Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, 'wherever you turn, they will attack us.'"




Four Reasons For Discouragement
Fatigued- no strength and looking for the easy way out
Can't see the Finish Line- so much to do that is seems like it will never get done
Fear- paralyzed of what could happen, stuck in a period of inactivity
Friends and Family- those who are suppose to be helping you are actually adding onto the problem




It is so easy to get discourage in what ever we are trying to do. That is when it is important to think about why you are doing what you are doing because your why is more important than the what. Without a why, it is easy to give up on your what. We all have those moments where we feeling like what we doing is not worth it, but if we have a strong enough why, especially if it is rooted in Biblical principals, than one is able to accomplish the what. A few verses later, it talked about the why for them to be building the wall.




Nehemiah 4:14 "After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughter, your wives and your homes."


The why that Nehemiah presented was one for the future of the Israelites so they can live in a place where their kids can grow up in the word of God. Where their families can be safe and practice their faith freely. That was there why.


This message spoke to me because I, against all odds, have been fighting for now three years to go to Dordt College, and after this message, I examined why did I choose Dordt in the first place, and why am I still willing to fight for the chance to attend for one semester more. So over the next few post, I am going to explain the difficulties I have faced with going to Dordt, as well as my why. I hope to encourage others who are going through a hard time to find their why and to keep pushing through.


Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being there through the easy parts of life, and through the struggles. Help me to base my whys in your word and in who you are, and give me strengths to accomplish the whats that follow the why's. Amen.

Faith is like Swing Dancing

School has started up again, as well as the clubs and activities, and I have to say one of my favorite clubs on campus is Swing Dance. I have always loved dancing ever since I was little, and it is just a fun time to hang out with my friends and get some much needed exercise.

One key thing to swing dance is that the boy leads the girl around the dance floor. The girl follows the guys movements as they dance. When there is a guy who can lead very well, and a girl who is good at following, their dance looks graceful. You have a guy who can't lead, or a girl who tries to take control, then you have a dance that is a fight between two people on what steps to do and what direction to go in.

This got me thinking about how our faith is similar to the roles in Swing Dance. We are all followers of Christ and his example, and we listen and obey to what his word says. When we follow him and let him lead, we can live a great life, a successful dance so to speak. But when we fight for control, or think we're the leader when we're not, the dance falls apart. We take the wrong steps, or we step on our toes, and trip over our own feet. In life, just as in swing dancing, when we follow our partner, we can create something beautiful.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being a partner who is patient and understanding. Help me to follow you in all that you do, and not to take control from you. Amen. 

God's Creation

There is many things going on in our lives that we don't take the time to stop and smell the roses. We are constantly looking at our phones or on any screen and we miss the beauty that is all around us. God created this whole Earth from the tiniest plant to the tallest mountain. So I encourage everyone who is reading this to go outside and spend time in the beauty God created, because it is amazing. That and if God can create everything we see and make it all beautiful, how much more beautiful are you.

And since you are staring at a screen, here are a few pictures to give you a glance of God's greatest creation. Enjoy!

Doing What We Don't Want To Do

We all have things in life that we don't want to do. For me it was getting my wisdom teeth out. It wasn't because I was scared of the surgery I just didn't want to have them taken out and be sore and in pain for the next couple of days. The thing is that the stuff that we don't want to deal with might actually hurt us later on in life. In talking with the doctor, if I had left my wisdom teeth in for a long period of time, it would cause more infections and would cause me to remove more than just the four wisdom teeth. So I am glad that I got them out now, so I don't have to deal with those problems later in life.

Now some of things that we are avoiding might not have to deal with getting wisdom teeth removed, but it could deal with, forgiving someone, or talking with someone you haven't talked to in a long time, or a number of other things that we are just putting off. It is better to get these things we are avoiding done sooner rather than later because you don't know how much trouble they are going to cause you later in life. It is a lot better to deal with it today while it is small and manageable, than deal with it later on when it is blown out of control and it is going to be more painful to fix it then. The Bible also talks about how we don't know what tomorrow brings, or if we will have a tomorrow, so it is important to get what needs to be done today done.

So take time today to pray and reflect on what needs to get done that you have been putting off and go out and get it done before it is too late.

Lessons Taken from the Movie "Baby Driver"

Note: Baby Driver is rated R and I don't typically watch rated R films or promote them unless there is much more to gain than is lost by watching the film. 

Spoiler Alert

One thing that stuck out to me during the movie is how easily people underestimated Baby. Several times through out the movie they doubted his ability to drive and preform because he was so detached and always listening to his music. they often thought that he was slow or that he wasn't pay attention, yet time and time again he proved himself to be one of the best getaway drivers there was. It was his music that was a strength to him, and not a weakness.

When thinking about this, how many people do we meet day to day that has a quality trait about them that may seem like a weakness. For example I have this friend at work who is really energetic and can get supper focused on one task and forget about everything else. Now when it comes to her work, it can be seen that she is slow because she focuses on one thing at a time and takes her time completing the tasks, yet she is the best one at selling rewards cards to people. That is because she takes her time with the guest and really explains the whole program to them that they are interested in getting a rewards card. What is perceived as a weakness at first glance is actually a strength and the managers love her for her ability to sell reward card.

The Bible also talks about God made every person just the way they are for a purpose. Each of these traits that we think are flaws, were actually designed by God for a specific purpose. Like my friend selling reward cards, or Baby listening to his music, they work to create them to be the best at that particular assignment. So before you write someone off because they have a different quality trait, get to know them and find out what they can do, and how they use that trait to their advantage. 

Lessons Taken from the Movie "Baby Driver"

Note: Baby Driver is rated R and I don't typically watch rated R films or promote them unless there is much more to gain than is lost by watching the film. 

So this week i just watch Baby Driver and I have to say that it was a fantastic movie. It is a high speed action movie with such a good and meaningful story behind it. I originally wanted to see it because of the editing, but once i did see it I saw that there was so much more to the movie with much bigger implications than just good editing. So over the next couple of posts, I am going to be talking and reflecting on Baby Driver and what I personally got from the movie. You may not always agree with my analysis, but it is interesting to think and talk about the movies that we see.

The first thing I want to talk about is the editing of the movie. Now I know not all my viewers know much about how a film is edited, but even knowing some of why the film was edited the way it was gives a deeper appreciation for the movie.

The reason why I wanted to watch the editing in the movie was because I had talked to the editor while I was in Vegas for a broadcasting convention. After listening and talking with the editor, I knew I had to see the movie. The thing that makes this movie unique is because it is all based of the soundtrack. Every gun shot, every cut, every step and movement that the character makes is to the beat of the music. While you are watching it it is hard to notice, but when you focus on how everything interacts with the beat, it is mind-blowing the precision of the editing of the movie.Watching something like that is inspiration to me to make my cutting so accurate with the music and it gives me something to strive for. It is a well edited movie. 

Our Own Way To Worship

One thing that we are told since we were children is that we each are unique. That even includes the way we worship. If we look around there are many different denominations of churches and it seems like there is always a competition on which one is the best. I grew up in many different denominations and in many different ways to worship. I went from worshiping all out, to a church that is way more reserved. The thing is too is that when we worship, we look around to see what other people are doing so we can blend in.

One thing I have noticed when I got to college is that it doesn't matter how you worship. Towards the end of the year there is a worship in the library, and because the library is so small there are people on both levels. This year me and my friends were on the second level, and when you glanced on the first floor, it was clear to see that everyone was worshiping in their own ways, and it isn't about trying to fit in, but having time to worship our savior.

This topic came up again a couple of weeks ago when we went back to my old church that my family went to when I was younger. My parents really got into the worship, yet I couldn't get completely into it.  Yet I can get into the music at my current church and my parents can't. It is not that one way is better than the other, it just that we worship in different ways, and that is totally fine. So next time you go to worship, don't worry about what the people around you are doing, but worship that way that you like to worship, for worship is between you and your savior, not the neighbor next to you.