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.
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