Intentionality: Is That Even a Word?

Fellow Readers,

Hello again. I am going to try something different with this post. Instead of my usual rambling on about pointless stuff that most of y'all probably do not care about, I am just going to start with what I am calling, "the meat" of the post. After all, the meat is what I write these things for anyhow. I just like to fluff it up with a little anecdote or whatnot. I do feel like not all of those stories are completely pointless. But, I could understand how most of you would just get tired of reading them. I mean, sometimes I just go on, and on, and on, seemingly never ending, and I am sure that leaves you screaming in your mind, "JUST GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!" And I respect that. Which is why this time, I have decided not to babble.
So, with all of that being said, here we go.
When I was talking to my girlfriend (Yes, you read that correctly. I currently just started a relationship with someone. Things are going pretty well so far. Thanks for asking.) about things we both are struggling with, the common theme that kept coming up was intentionality. What do I mean by this? Well, I think as human beings, we need to be intentional in our actions and how we treat people. Let me unpack that even further. We often times have feelings about people (i.e. what they mean to us, or how they have impacted our lives, etc.) and we never tell them those feelings. A lot of times, we think they will always be around, and then by some horrific event (usually death) they are gone and we do not get the chance to tell them what they meant to us. I think (and this definitely applies to me here) a lot of the reasons why we do not tell people those things are because of how society has molded us. Guys, we are not supposed to share feelings like or else we will come off as a "sissy" or any other slur that means we are not manly. Why?? Wouldn't you want to know if you made an impact on someone's life? Wouldn't you want to know that someone loves you? Wouldn't you want to know that all of your effort you have been putting into a relationship with someone hasn't been for not? I know I would want to know those things. So, why don't we tell people those things when we are feeling them? I love this example from the book, Tuesdays With Morrie. It is a fantastic book. If you ever get the chance to read it, I highly encourage you to. Anyway, in the book, Morrie is dying from ALS. So, he decided he wanted to have a "living funeral." What he wanted was to have a funeral while he was still alive. His reasoning was because at funerals, often times every person that speaks about the late whomever, has nothing but delightful things to say. So, he wanted to have a "funeral" for him, that he could attend so he could hear all of the good things people had to say about him. I think that is an awesome idea! We too often wait until someone dies to talk about how much they impacted our lives and how much they meant to us. How much better would things be if we lived life with this living funeral concept? What if we didn't wait until someone was out of our lives to tell them how much we enjoyed having them in our lives? I just think that would be awesome.
Another way we can be intentional in our lives is in our conversations with people, especially when we are first meeting someone. I know I get caught asking the same questions every time I meet someone new, most likely not even listening for their answers, just waiting until I can get the last question on my list out, and then somehow end the conversation. That is not right. That is not respecting that person at all, nor is it showing them love. But, I do it so frequently. Another example is if I see somebody I know somewhere, but I do not really want to talk to them, so I kind of duck-and-cover, or go out of my way to hopefully not be seen by them so I don't have to talk to them. Granted, I am not saying you have to go up to every person you see that you know and strike up a conversation with them, but don't go out of your way to avoid them. Just keep going how you are going, and if they happen to stop you and want to talk (and you have the time to talk) then talk with them. Be polite. You don't know what could be going on in their lives, or how much they just want to talk to someone. You literally could make someone's day by just talking to them. It is that simple.
Being intentional in our relationships is such an easy concept, but can be so hard to grasp. Whether it is society telling us not to, or our minds, we spend a lot of time in our relationships not being purposeful. If someone has impacted your life, tell them. Tell the people you love that you love them. Strike up a conversation with someone, and actually care about their response. Listen to them.
As always, thank you all again for reading.
Signing off.

What Does Chevy Chase Have to Do with My Faith?

Fellow Readers,

Daylight savings time approaches! My excitement may elude some of you all, but I am stoked for more daylight. There is so much more time for activities (my little take on a well-known quote from the movie, Stepbrothers, for those of you who are fans of Will Ferrell, or John C. Riley, whatever floats your boat). I hope you all have been well (even though I have no idea who "you all" are. Nevertheless, why would I hope you all have not been doing well? I am not that self-centered, depending on who you ask I suppose, though). For all of my Tennessee Tech peeps, and any other Tennessee Board of Regents students, Spring Break is just about upon us. Who is excited for that? I know I am much looking forward to it. Anybody have any good plans? I believe I will be doing next to nothing all spring break, which compared to my semester so far...okay, that pretty much compares accordingly with the rest of my semester. I feel like I have not had a very tough workload all year (I am not trying to brag about it; it probably is more of my inability to devote really any emotional energy toward my current school work, resulting in this illusion of "no" school work. Do not fret though-especially you, mom, if you are reading-I do make sure I get my work done when it is do. I just find myself sort of coasting on through). In other news, which may be shocking to some of you (hopefully not too shocking), I have sort of, kind of, maybe have started seeing someone.*The sound of tears hitting the floor from the general female population* Let us not get ahead of ourselves, however, it has just been a couple of dates. I am enjoying it so far, though. It took a little time to dust off the good ole book of moves entitled, Andrew: Gentleman (should be called, Andrew: Full of Himself), but it is just like riding a bike-you never forget it. I am looking forward to discovering where this relationship can go.
After my previous post, 20 students, including myself, from our RUF group at Tech joined hundreds of other RUF-ers at RUF Winter Conference in Jasper, GA. It was a totally awesome weekend filled with fellowship and worship. The experience with Winter Conference, as well as within the small group I am leading, and also including just what I have experienced in my time being a part of RUF, has made me realize how important Community is (I am not referring to the NBC comedy series, Community). I have come to understand as a believer, we need community. We need a community of believers that know what struggles we face on a daily basis. We need people we can share our struggles with and can work through them together. We need a group of believers that put each other before themselves and will do anything to help each other when anyone is down. We need to love each other (for our purpose here, by  "each other" I am referring to the believers we talk with and share community with, but in the grand scheme of things, we need to love EVERYONE, believer or not, we are called to love). What I have gained from my small group: I have a group of guys, struggling with the same things I am, wanting to chase after God, and just guys whose company I just enjoy. Our relationships have grown so much since starting the small group. This may be hard to understand, but having that closeness with those guys, makes it easy to confess my sins and struggles. I want them to know how I think I have failed. Why? Why would I want these guys who seemingly like me and are friends with me, to know I suck? That is the beauty of Community: knowing that each person also sucks just as much as you, makes it easier to accept your "suckage" and figure out where to go next. I recently talked with someone who told me they do not know if they know what love is, or if they do, they do not really feel it. Well, I would say that having a community of believers surrounding you and sharing with you your doubts and struggles and sins, certainly is love. Loving someone is not doing anything you can to make them happy. No, love is doing and/or giving someone what they NEED. *Example: if I liked a girl and told my friend all about her and how much I like her, then he talks to that girl and asks her about me, and she tells him that I am an idiot and she would never date me, how would my friend show love to me? What would make me happy, of course, would be for him to encourage me to continue pursuing her and never telling me what she said. What would be loving me would be him saying, "Andrew, she thinks you are stupid. You do not have a chance with her. But, hey, I love you, man." We should not lie to each other to avoid heartache, but rather, we should be there to help each other THROUGH the heartache. That is love.* For any of those reading who feel like they are alone, or feel un-loved, I encourage you to get into a church somewhere. If you already do go to church somewhere, I encourage you to get more involved: join a small group or Bible study. Get with people who know what you are going through in your daily struggle to live a faithful life. How could all of our lives not be improved if we surround ourselves with people who love us? That is all I have for now folks. Thank you for reading.

Signing off.