I want to finish my personal statement so that I can send in my med school apps early (it is rolling admissions). For some people, it probably takes months or weeks. I will have worked on it for approx. 2 weeks. I’ve been brainstorming about why I want to be a doctor, and I know why I want to be one. But I know it’s a different task to put it out all on paper as a concise, solid essay.
I’d appreciate the prayers guys and gals. And you can leave any prayer requests you have here (or email if more personal).
It’s weird how you start noticing the the things you didn’t notice before, and appreciating the things you overlooked before. As humans who need to adapt to situations, I think it is difficult to not take thing for granted. Even with effort, it is hard to not take things for granted.
The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember………..
Noah was a drunk Abraham was too old Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a liar Leah was ugly Joseph was abused Moses had a stuttering problem Gideon was afraid Samson had long hair and was a womanizer Rahab was a prostitute Jeremiah and Timothy were too young David had an affair and was a murderer Elijah was suicidal Isaiah preached naked Jonah ran from God Naomi was a widow Job went bankrupt John the Baptist ate bugs Peter denied Christ The Disciples fell asleep while praying Martha worried about everything The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once Zaccheus was too small Paul was too religious Timothy had an ulcer
…AND Lazarus was dead!
Now, no more excuses. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren’t the message, You are just the messenger
My mom loves music and has loved it since forever. She loves it when my sister and I send her music. My sister and I had a jam session day. Here is one song, and credits to such a great band Keane.
Multiple times, when I walked across the SAAC field, I saw these very young babies, holding the hands of a few daycare ladies. These babies were old enough to walk, but young enough to not be able to talk. Passing by, my eyes met with the eyes of a young Asian girl. It reminded me of my sister when she was a baby. A young, undeveloped mind and empty, black eyes. I also looked at the other babies walk in the cute way they do. Anything they did was cute.
What if I had a kid? What if I was a father? What kind of dad do I want to be? Who do I want to be? I look at my dad, my grandpa, other dads, and other male figures. I want to take everything that I admired about them and be a great dad. We cannot instantly change and automatically acquire fatherly and admirable traits when we get kids, but in life, we must work towards things. It requires time and it is progressive. I know that if I love God and love people that I will become more of this man and father.
On the other hand, a part of me doesn’t mind being single all my life. No worries about pleasing the wife and providing for the kids. There are pros and cons to being married and to being single. Don’t quote me on this. It can possibly be a temporary part of me, offset by what happened earlier this year.
As I sat in my chair at the Senior banquet and absorbed the stories of how God has been moving in my classmates, a thought hit me. It was necessary for me to go through what I did. After a relationship went awry, I could finally see how tiring, time consuming, and distracting the pursuit of a romantic relationship could be. It is evident that more of my gaze could be directed towards God and the body of Christ. And gradually I did. I went to almost every single FG and hangout. It’s interesting how in a group setting one doesn’t have to directly talk to someone to bond, simply being there plays a mysterious role in bonding. I went to love and be loved by these guys. I love these guys.
I wasn’t too emotional anymore in my faith. I knew Christ died for me on the cross and rose again, but as I was telling myself that in my head, there was no vibrant emotional sadness or joy evoked.
As I mentioned before, the friendship went awry and I was disappointed. I did not want anymore of the complexity and drama. Not desiring a relationship or a crush helped me a lot. I loved the people around me: I was loving on people I overlooked and was too busy for, and I was loving on people in a brotherly manner. I was experiencing a freedom. There was this delight in loving people in a Christlike manner.
Being a part of Volunteer Emory, I had to look into a topic for our “social justice dialogues” that take place in our Monday meetings. One group member suggested that I look at human trafficking, so I dived in. I was blown away by the presence of such ugliness. I could not imagine the pain and suffering that young boys and girls, teenagers, and even adults experience. I became disgusted at what lust could do. It was then I saw the purity of God and his ways. A greater desire for purity in my own life ensued.
As I was picking up truths here and there about life, love, injustices, and friends, I found myself being able to lose myself in worshiping God and relishing the time of praise. I mentioned before that no emotion could be evoked, but that changed when I started experiencing this freedom and love. God and his love for me became something realer.
It’s late at night and I’m typing this. I hope to be able to reflect and to better express myself; I think this will help me to chew on my thought food.
If you have been a single Christian man for any length of time at all you have read the verse in Proverbs 18:22 New Living Translation (NLT) 22 The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. When I first read this verse I thought it was saying that I should start a search for a wife. I think most men do. Since most of us are geared to be problem solvers, we start working out ways to become “He who finds a wife”. So I put out my ads on all the online Christian dating sites, flirted with every woman who said anything to me on Facebook, and figuratively had a blazing neon sign saying “If you want to be a wife, I am your man”. Unfortunately this did not work so well and so a couple of years ago I stopped and decided to do some research to find out why. This article is an attempt to share with you guys what is the biblical definition of the term “He who finds a wife” and some practical application of that definition.
What does “He who finds a wife” really mean?
The Hebrew word for finds is the word “Matsa” It means to happen upon, to come upon, to encounter, to fall in with. So in light of that you can better understand this verse if you read it this way. He who happens up, or stumbles upon, or happens to come upon a wife has found a treasure. It does not mean that you get the mission impossible team together for one last invasion of the feminine stronghold of available women to conquer the task of getting a wife. In fact, if you do this, you run the risk of not only making a huge mistake, but ending up with someone that was completely out of God’s plan for your life. Trust me I know and I did.
He who finds a wife must first find himself.
If you are going to find a wife along life’s journey then you need to really know who you are yourself. How will you be able to tell if a woman is meant to be your wife if you do not know if she will be that helpmate talked about in Genesis 2:18 New Living Translation (NLT) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” ? You will end up choose a wife based on criteria that comes more from the world’s standards or the standards you grew up with than what are God’s standards unless you know who you are personally. In my own life for instance, I am a shepherd of God’s people. There are certain things that go along with that calling that are just part of the job. To invite a woman into my life as a wife who would not be a good fit would be to invite disaster and many hurt people, including myself. The same is true for you. You need to know who you are and what type of woman will be that helpmate for you.
Tips for Christian men who desire God’s best in a wife.
Understand the role of attraction. When I was young and hormones raged in my body, all it took was a pretty face and all the curves in the right places and I was attracted. In fact we are bombarded with worldly images of what they say a man should look for. A Christian man needs to dig a little deeper. You need to know what is personally attractive to you beyond the initial physical response. I have found that this comes more from what type of women we grew up around than it does from what the world tells us is beautiful and attractive. You need to learn to discern the difference between what is so called “hot” and what makes your heart adore. When you find someone that when you look at them they cause your heart to adore them, then you are experiencing biblical attraction and not lust. I truly believe God wants us to have a wife we are attracted to in the right ways. When we go for “hot” rather than adore, it will eventually fade and all you will be left with is the fading outer shell that you are no longer attracted to.
Understand the role of gender. Feminine characteristics are different than masculine ones. The wife that God has for you is supposed to be your helpmate not your clone. Again this is why you need to know yourself so you can see those areas that you need a helper in. You are called by God to be the leader of the family. She is called to help and enable you to be the best leader you can be. A smart leader does not always have people around them that always have the same gifts and abilities. He sees the need for people that are not gifted the same. Be wise and choose a woman who is gifted different than you yet compliments who God has made you to be. Recognize that God’s best for you is to bring you a woman with feminine characteristics that compliment your masculine ones.
Understand the role of character. My grandmother had a saying that is so true. She used to say that “Beauty is skin deep but ugly goes clear to the bone.” Pay attention to the character of the ladies around you. Watch how they treat their fellow sisters in the Lord. Do they talk about people? Do they get jealous? Do they scheme and try to control? God has a lady for you that is a woman of character. If you don’t pay attention and only go for outward beauty you will be sorely disappointed later in life when the outward beauty has faded and the inward character is all that shows. Take a look at the older women in your church that glow with the love of Jesus, who have had happy marriages all their life. Find a woman who has that same inner glow although maybe in the rough, and be the man that makes that woman shine.
He who finds a wife does so as he is about his master’s business.
Finally gentlemen, get busy serving Jesus. Proverbs says that finding a wife shows that you have received favor from the Lord. It is a gift of grace. So instead of focusing on finding that wife, focus on pleasing your Lord. He will find you that wife in due season. Get busy serving Jesus, blessing His people, and being faithful in the things He has given you to do today. Remember the parable of the faithful steward. What little things He was faithful over showed the Master that He would be faithful over greater things. Nothing can be greater than being given a daughter of the King. So place your trust in God. Let Him be the one that causes your wife to come across your path and trust that He is big enough to cause you to recognize the event when it happens.
Like how the sunrise breaks the cold winter, silent night, I feel a new page of my life is being turned to. How else can I describe it, but as one being a resurrection-like awakening.
How am I supposed to live? That is a question I have been chewing on. The law of many countries carry the common trends of do not murder, steal, and so on. So has most of mankind throughout centuries. The laws point to the word. The word is the ultimate guide on how to live. The word gives light, knowledge, to people. It ultimately tells you what is good and what is not.
That is why I am thankful for the laws set by the governments. I am also thankful for the commandments in the word, even though I know I cannot fully follow these. What Pastor Josh said Friday has been like the striking of a chord, hitting all the strings, bringing together the small, separate hints life has been throwing at me. True freedom is in obeying Christ than in obeying the sinful desires of man.
I dive into an illustration. I view the physical intimacy in a marriage to be one that is respectful, and sacred. However, look at when man desires physical pleasure, and lusts. This simple desire can lead to many things that can lead to many more things: pornography, drugs, human trafficking, rape, stealing, killing, and so on. I have been reading about human trafficking as of late. People’s desire for sex has lead to the abduction of children and teenagers from their families and homes, the breaking in process by their new owners/traffickers by getting these young ones hooked on drugs, beating them, having men forcefully interlope with them, threatening them that they will kill their families, and so on. How messed up it can be.
People can live however they want, but I know that that is not right. And everything that is the opposite of that? Christ.
And how do I know that it is only in Christ I find this? The word.
Everything that God is is perfect. Just. Righteous. Loving. Faithful. And this is not an ordinary man-made God, like Zeus who has been characterized as one taking women from Earth whether they like it or not. This is a God who is everything pure. Why is this purity attractive? Because I know it is the way I am supposed to live.
If I am to follow this God, I should not do so half-heartedly. Through the word, he tells us do love him wholeheartedly. Love him wholeheartedly I will strive.
I jumped over the hurdle. It was strange. Throughout all the steps preceding the hurdle, the hurdle seemed to be one that would be nerve-racking. But in that moment I jumped, it was not so bad. In fact it was good.
I am done! Almost. Wow.
There are other hurdles that I will soon be jumped over. It’s strange. From a far, it seems impossible to reach, but as I get closer, it doesn’t seem impossible. In fact, it seems very possible. I’m done my thesis. The composite letter interview went well. I have summer housing. I’m meeting someone for a lab position inquiry this week. Yes, yes, yes!
Obedience to God > Self-gratification (Alot of times, we choose the latter over the former.)
St. Augustine: Love God, and do whatever you want (Implication: If you love God, you will desire to read and follow his word. You will love people. And so, everything else you do should be aligned with God’s heart.)
If you love the people, you will do what you can to encourage, and not stumble them.
Freedom is being free from sin, not self-autonomy.
Worship and sermon were great. Felt the greatest since forever. Freedom.
I realized the distraction I had in liking someone. Throughout this semester, without having that distraction, it’s been so different in comparison to last semester. FG is like a family to me, I want to be present. People’s presence makes a difference. Valuing the people that I didn’t notice before.
If someone that loves God and that I really find myself to connect with comes along, then who knows? But, I am okay with not having a girlfriend. I want to solidify myself more. I am okay if it takes years.
