Who? What? When? Where? Why? (But Rarely .Why)

I like people-- talking to people, listening to people, and but mostly loving people. 

I like stories-- writing them, telling them, but mostly listening to them.

I like questions-- answering them, writing them, but mostly asking them. 

This being said, a lot can happen when all three of these get together for a party.

When people gather to ask questions that involve story answers, time can stop for a moment. 

Time doesn't actually stop. It's more of a "I know what questions people are going to ask, so I don't even need to think about what I have to say" kind of time stopping. 

Sometimes it's better to tell a story once and for all. 

Well, over the past two weeks, I have experienced more of these experiences that I have in my entire life. 

Why? Because I got my hair cut.

Right?! The world must be ending. Pack your bags, grab what you can, load up the minivan with all your kids, pets and belongings. Someone with long hair cut it. I know, shocker. 

I've only been asked why a handful of times, but I would rather answer this question than be told why. 

I'll let you know the one thing that people with long hair don't tell you:

It becomes the number one thing that you are identified by. 

If you tell me about how "beautiful it was" or how "great it was" or how "much you loved it" you might not get the reaction you're expecting. It's nothing that I haven't heard before. I'm sorry. If you are looking to be original, you might have to try harder. 

You see, I know that I cut my hair. (It was my hair.) I know that it used to be long. (It still kind of is.) I know that I can't do as much. (Trust me, I've tried.) I know that it will take a while for them to get used to. (Even I am adjusting and it is my head.)

I didn't cut it because I "needed a change," because "it was far too much to handle," because it was near the new year and "new year, new me" happened. I understand that all these are plausible reasons, but not for me. 

I cut it because there is more to me than my hair. It isn't what I need(or honestly want) attached to my name. 

The number of times I've been called "Megan, you know, the one with long hair" or something like that far exceeds the number of times I've been called "Megan, the one that loves people" (heck, I'd be happy with most other titles). I don't want a title of something that changes with something as simple as a pair of scissors. You cant cut my heart out. You cant take my respect. You cant take my listening. But, you can take my hair.

Here, take it. 

The thing about change is that once you've given people something to identify you by, it can take them a long time to adapt even though they're not the one changing. 

Goodbye to the "girl with really long brown hair" and hello to the "girl that used to have really long brown hair."

When Two Worlds Collide

I like being comfortable. In fact, I would almost go as far as to say that I love being comfortable. This is a big deal for me, seeing as I don't use the word love for petty things like movies and books and other things. However, I feel as if I have grown to love being comfortable. 

     For months I have denied this even being a slight possibility. "I don't love this, I'm trying to get out there and live life on the edge." No. Just no. 

     There is not much worse than convincing myself that I'm somewhere that I'm are not. When I think that I am there, I simply stop pushing myself to get where I need to be. When I use this mindset, I fall short of what I am supposed to be doing. What good is it for the Kingdom if I am just going to sit in room filled my close friends and not those that have no one? Or even better yet: Why am I sitting in my room by myself when I could be in community with others? Isn't that kind of the point of a community; to go through life together and welcome other people in?

If you think about it, you wouldn't be in the community that you're in now if you wouldn't have joined it or been included. Why would we leave or avoid what we should be doing?

     For so long I have been content with just going through life and taking it as it is, but what is the purpose of wandering through life when I could be walking? Better yet… I could be walking with others just like me. So often I simply decide that it isn’t worth the effort to gather with others around me because it will wear me out when, in fact, it builds me up. I mean, most people don’t like walking outside in the dark but have very little problem with it when they are with others.

     Now, I know that I don’t like being in the dark alone, but I have grown to tolerate it. Isn’t that just as bad? I’m not for it, but I’m not doing anything to stop it. I have grown to be comfortable with it. I guess that that is one thing that comes with being a routine person. The question then becomes how I am going to change this. How am I going to stop being so comfortable with where I am? How am I, a scheduled and routine person, going to stretch my comfort zone and stop being comfortable all the time? 

     I’ve come up with but one answer: get rid of my comfort zone. Well, as much of it as I can. It sounds easy enough but it may just be one of the toughest things that I’ve done in quite a while. 

    I know that the picture that follows may be a little bit of a stretch, but it makes sense to me and it shows what I am trying to say. 

     If I want to stay in my little circle, I can do just that. I'm sure that I'll make some fun, try some new things, and maybe even bring some friends in to be comfortable with me, but that is not the point. That is not where I am going to reach out to others, build people up or even grow. My comfort zone is not where the magic happens. 

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

When we take the time to circle around those around us we grow. We learn. We thrive. We encourage. Take the time to circle around the people that are circled around your circle.

It's Up For the Sacrifice

     As you may be able to tell, this is the first post that I have done since the end of October. There is a reason for this, as I did not simply just "forget." Time allows for thinking, at least that is the case for me. In the past two weeks I have learned a lot about something that I guess I had never put too much thought into before: sacrificial love. It's a phrase that, in our community, is used quite often because we are all so diverse.

     Where I live, there are more guys than girls. This make sense since this is an engineering school, so it's not really a big deal. But, because we want to take the opportunities that we have to grow closer and include everyone, it means that we do a lot of things that may be out of someone's comfort zone at some point; they're sacrifices. Over the course of the past few weeks we have played board games, learned card tricks, played euchre, built forts, made friendship bracelets, went to a "geeky" card store, and even watched a variety of movies (some being action-packed, some being comedies, and even The Titanic).

     I'm sure that not all the guys wanted to spend a Saturday night sitting in a room watching a three hour and fifteen minute movie about a boat sinking and people losing their lives, but they did it because some of the girls wanted to see it. The same thing could be said about the day that we took a trip to town to buy some cards for a game that I didn't even know that people even played. It's something that I would have never done by myself, but I wouldn't trade those moments for anything else.

     It seems to me that there are a lot of things in life that appeal to one person and not others and that is why most things are considered meaningless. Well, the activities themselves are meaningless, but who you do them with and the time spent doing them is not. I would probably watch very few movies, play very few games, and go to very few stores if it wasn't for the people that I go through my days with. Especially not the sci-fi movies, the card games that require too much thought, and the stores that honestly intimidate me walking in.

    It is very clear throughout the scriptures that we are not to be alone. We are to build each other up and love each other in a way that shows His love, and I feel like Jesus had to do things that he probably wouldn't have done if it wasn't for the love behind it.

     So it looks like the rest of this year and hopefully longer I am going to do things not just for me, but also for others. It's not even hard or a "burden" to do so, it's actually fun and a good learning experience. It even helps bring people together for the things that really matter, like love and laughter and God. 

Hebrews 10:24-25- And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching

     Life is better when you go through it together: Stand in the sun together. Chill in the shade together. Stand in the rain together. Jump in the puddles together. Stand in the snow together. Warm up by a heater together. 

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

      It's only October, but already in the past week there has already been some snow. Most people like snow and get really excited when the first snow falls, but have you ever taken the time to think about those flakes that fall from the sky? Snowflakes. They're those little pieces of cold, fluffy, frozen water falling from the sky. It's kind of cool and all, snow. It isn't rain, or sleet, or freezing rain, or anything else. It's just snow.

Each piece of snow was formed individually, no two are alike. 

All snow falls from its highly placed position. 

Every flake of snow is delicate. If you step on it, its purpose and make-up changed. 

Snowflakes do not usually travel by themselves. Rarely, if ever, do you only see just a single snowflake. It usually tends to fall in the hundreds and thousands and so forth. It clumps together and falls as one. 

Snowflakes are cold and have an edge to them, but in the end they usually melt. 

     Now, you're probably wondering why I just listed off some qualities and facts of snowflakes, right? Well, look back up and instead of thinking that the facts are about snow, think that they are about people. They all work. 

Each [person] was formed individually, no two are alike.

All [people] fall from its highly placed position. 

Every [person] is delicate. If you step on it, its purpose and make-up changed. 

[People] do not usually travel by themselves. Rarely, if ever, do you only see just a single snowflake. It usually tends to fall in the hundreds and thousands and so forth. It clumps together and falls as one. 

[People] are cold and have an edge to them, but in the end they usually melt. 

      Wow, right? I feel like all of these can be taken in different ways, so I'll explain a little deeper.

Each person/piece of snow was formed individually, no two are alike.

    This one is probably pretty straight forward. No two snowflakes are exactly the same, nor are two people. Not even identical twins are exactly the same. Yes, appearance and even DNA can be the same, but they are not the same people and they are individuals. Therefore, because each person and each snowflake is formed individually, people are like snowflakes in this essence. 

All people/snow fall(s) from its highly placed position. 
     This is not as literal as the previous one. Snow literally does fall from its highly placed position up in the clouds while we, as humans, fall from a different highly place position. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings, and although there is no way we can "un-be" His children, we can mess up. Before we were even thought of we were loved and there is no way to undo that. It's that powerful. No matter how much we mess up, or how far we fall down from where He put us, we are His.

Every person/snowflake is delicate. If you step on it, its purpose and make-up changed. 
     Most of us have heard that snowflakes are delicate, and many of us have tried to capture one. How well does that work? It really doesn't and that is because snowflakes are delicate, just like people. If you crush them they are changed. For snow it's pretty simple, don't physically crush them. But, for people it's different. We are changed by physical, mental, and spiritual changes. All of these things make is who we are.

People/snowflakes do not usually travel by themselves. Rarely, if ever, do you only see just a single snowflake. It usually tends to fall in the hundreds and thousands and so forth. It clumps together and falls as one. 
     We are not meant to be alone. We rarely see someone completely alone, seeing as in order to see them we are there too. We are meant to serve God and love one another, and it would be pretty hard to love one another if we had never met another person.
We tend to help each other out. We pick each other up, we work together, and we fall together. It's just what we do.

People/snowflakes are cold and have an edge to them, but in the end they usually melt. 

     This is not something that is a fact, as much as it is an opinion. People, though kind and caring, can be cold. We put up a wall that blocks who we really are from the world and we tend to keep it to ourselves, thereby making us seem like we are cold. Along with making us seem cold, it makes us seem like we are on edge. But, like snow, most people "melt" in the end. This being said, the right conditions have to be there. Snow doesn't melt if it's 10º outside. 

     When I picture snow, I see it as clean and white. When I see it fall from the sky it has a shimmer in the way that dances from left to right. When I see snow, I can picture how much we can be compared to snow.
We can be made as white as snow.
As Christians we are to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16), and if something as little as snow can reflect light, why can't we?
Snow even dances from right to left as falling down from the clouds to the earth. What do we dance for?

     Sometimes we just need to take the time to look at all that He has created. Snowflakes are a lot more similar to people then I had previously thought. But I guess in some ways, maybe we are like God's snowflakes

Job 37:14 "Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders."

People, People Everywhere.....

     People. Now that's a fun topic.

     How about loving people? That's just as much fun. 

     I, personally, am picky about people. Don't get me wrong, I really like people in general, but I can only handle so much "people time." It's not because I don't like people, that's not it at all, it's that there are so many people that it is overwhelming.

     People are a commitment. And by commitment, I mean a huge commitment. I would rather get to know a few people and keep them around and talk to them, than to meet a whole group of people and only see them once or twice in the future. It's just a personal opinion and some people don't get it.

     This, however, does not mean that I am not willing to show love to those that I don't know. If this is how the world worked then there would be a lot more hurting people then there already are, and there are already too many. We are made to love and to share our love and it is a very apparent message throughout the scriptures. Love is not something that we, as humans, have created ourselves. Yes we have shifted and twisted what we view love as, but the true meaning still remains. 

     In 1 John 4, starting in verse seven and continuing to the end of the chapter in verse 21 it is made very clear that God is love and that we should love one another with His love. This doesn't mean that you have to reach out and sing a happy song to everyone that you meet, but a little kindness and respect goes a long way. The choice is yours and it's up to you on whether or not you want to extend the love that has been extended to you, to someone else. 

     

     This is not saying that the love was extended to you and not them, but a lot of people learn through trial and error and from their own mistakes. It is generally known that God loves us, but what does that mean if we are not willing to show the love? Sometimes it shows that those people are not worth it, or maybe even that this real love that I am talk of, doesn't exist. It's a losing situation then. 

     Maybe this is why I tend to limit the amount of people that I am usually with. I would never want to leave an impression upon anyone, stranger or not, that they were not worth my love. No matter what has been done, if He loves you, then you are worth it. Not only just for His love, but for everyone's including my own.

      Over the course of the last few months I have realized more and more about who I am as a person. This is a big deal not only because I thought that I knew who I was, but also because most days I feel like five people is considered a lot of people. My whole perspective has slowly been changed. Who knew that it would be so much fun to be nice to people? I clearly didn't otherwise I would have started sooner. 

     Too often we feel like if we haven't meet or don't know someone, we can't love them. What a lie! If this was the case, then because we were not actually born when Jesus walked the earth there would be no way that He could love us. I don't believe that one bit! Love is just a state of affection or devotion toward someone. It really can be as simple as holding a door for someone or stopping to talk to someone that looks like they need someone to talk to. 

"There is no sacrifice greater than that of time in the eyes of love."

1 John 4:7 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 

The Past: Shaping, Sharing and Learning

"Your past does not determine who you are today. Your past prepares you for who you are to become tomorrow" 

     I'm not sure where it was that I heard this, so I can't even give proper credit to whoever said it. However, I feel that this is very true and applicable in all of our lives. How often do we find ourselves dwelling on the past in attempts to prove that we are unworthy of what we have received in the present or even wondering how we ended up where we are? I hear it every week and practically every day. For some reason we, as humans, camp out in our past because we think that that is what defines who we are. Could we ever be more wrong?

    That past is usually defined as being a place in time that has gone by or "passed." However, we generally leave out the other part of the definition: no longer existing. Our past is only there in what we leave for the future and in our memories. It is there to remind us of who we once were and are no longer. It serves a purpose in shaping who we are now, not to hold us back from who we are becoming.

   Now, I'm not the kind of person who purposefully sets out to make new friends. It's one of those "I'm good where I am, with the people I'm with and I don't need to change it" kind of things. This is one of the things that I didn't necessarily want to change is college, I just wanted to work on it. This meant that instead of reserving myself as much as I usually would, I tried to be more open. Depending on the day, I'd say that I'm doing pretty well with this. This has been both an experiment of whether I can do this and a learning experience of how to deal with people. In this, I have met some people that I am comfortable enough to consider friends that I hope to keep far into the future. One night I was up late in a room with my friend when we started sharing stories. You see, I'm the kind of person who enjoys stories and learns from them.  

   Somewhere in the middle of high school stories and camp stories, we actually started sharing genuine stories. These weren't any old stories, these were stories of our past. My first thought was "why am I in this room talking about all my failures when I could just be talking about all my achievements?" It would have made my life sound flawless and picture-perfect, but that's not what my past is. My past, like so many others, is broken and messy and imperfect. I don't want to make it out to be anything that it isn't. 

     Like I mentioned before, many (many) people have imperfect and broken pasts. If not physically broken, they are probably mentally or spiritually broken. There are a couple problems with this:

1- Every broken person thinks that they are the only one. 

This is a trap. Don't give in! The joy about talking to other people about the past is that you can learn. You can learn of what they did, you can learn what not to do, and you can learn how to do better next time. It's really a great thing if you think about it. Imagine a world where no one shared any of their failures or mistakes with inventions or technology. There would so many repeats and duplicates that we wouldn't know what to do! Why don't we do that with our lives? It would make it easier to see what works and what doesn't, wouldn't it?

2- We cannot fix ourselves. 

I could tell you that you can, but that would be lying and I try to refrain from that. Speaking from experience, I can say that you can try as much as you want, and still not be able to patch up your own problems. The good news is that you don't have to do it by yourself!

     We serve a God that loves us despite all of our flaws. He already knows what we have seen and dealt with. He knows. The problem comes when we, as mere imperfect humans, think that we can handle everything by ourselves. It's kind of funny when you think about it: We, as humans, think that we can handle everything on our own. No wonder why we fall and mess up!

     In no way am I saying that I have this all figured out, I don't really think that I will ever have it 100% down. What I am saying is that I am slowly learning from my mistakes, kind of like I'm learning to talk to people. It's humorous how things start to come together..... 

    

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 

Time is Time, and a Precious Thing at That

What's the big deal with time?

     Have you ever just taken the time to realize just how amazing time is? I mean, time is one thing in this world that never changes. No matter how hard you try, time will not be altered by anything that we do. Sure, you can set the clock backwards to make the time seem longer but in reality, it is still the same amount of time. It took a wonderful Creator to create such a thing.

     When we are younger a whole year seems to take forever to go around, but once you grow a few years older you realize that time actually goes pretty fast.  I remember a time back in grade school when I literally cried on the last day of school not because I would miss school or my teachers, but because the way that I viewed it, fall was going to take an eternity to arrive. Less than three months later, my “eternity” had arrived.

     It isn’t just the fact that my views have changed, it is also the fact that I have now lived longer. I guess what I’m saying is that in the life of a seven-year-old, three months is over three percent of their life. Once you go through a few more years, say when you 17, three months is just over one percent of your life. The same amount of time is now not as “long” of time in your life as it once was.

     I can honestly say that, through the years, when someone said to “be careful because time flies” I didn’t believe them. I guess the first time that I realized this was this last summer; the summer of 2013. Looking back, it surprises me that I didn’t realize it sooner. Not during my Junior Prom or when I started Senior year or even when I was writing my farewell speech. What surprises me the most is that I didn’t even realize it after I graduated—I graduated.

What changed?

     It was this summer, around the second week in August, that I realized that I had been at camp for ten weeks. It felt like maybe four or at the most, six. There was no way that I had actually been gone for ten weeks! Well, there was a way; it was called “growing up.” I guess that at the time I just pushed it off as a “camp thing” and got over the fact that time flew.

     This last week I was sitting in the Student Center on campus when I realized that I had just been sitting in the same exact spot the week prior. When I realized this I literally thought “Wait. Was that last week or was that just a few minutes ago and my memory is going?” The answer is: No. My memory is not going. I just never took the time to think about time.

     Whether we decide to sit in our house all day or go and dance in the puddles that life has given us, time will continue to go. That’s its job. It doesn’t care if we whine and pout and tell it not to go too fast. It doesn’t care, it isn’t alive for you. Time is there every day. Every nap you take, every hour you sleep, every moment you share with your friends and every time you laugh, time is rolling.

What's left to do?

     It’s all up to you on how you spend your time. I can hear it now: “when I was younger, I had to listen to my parents and do what my parents told me to do.” Yes, you did. That was around 18 years of your life, but look at all that is ahead. After you’re out, it is an open opportunity to go out and live your life. Well live it, and live it to the fullest potential possible. Go out and do crazy things with friends, go on a road trip with your family, or finish that “bucket list” you started years ago!

     No matter what you do, do it whole heartedly. Approach it head on and don’t stop until you’re done with what you set out to accomplish. It’s your life, make the most out of what you were given. Maybe even help someone else out on the way.

Colossians 4:5

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most out of every opportunity.