Treasure

Although I haven't finished the book yet, I think this is one of the passages that I like the best from Radical by David Platt. He's talking about "radical abandonment to Jesus" and this is his picture of the man who bought the field.


A Call to Treasure

....[In Matthew 13] Jesus tells his disciples, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
 I love this picture. Imagine walking in a field and stumbling upon a treasure that is more valuable than anything else you could work for or find in this life. It is more valuable than all you have now or will ever have in the future.
 You look around and notice that no one else realizes the treasure is here, so you cover it up quickly and walk away, pretending you haven't seen anything. You go into town and begin to sell off all your possessions to have enough money to buy that field. The world thinks you're crazy. "What are you thinking?" your friends and family ask you.
You tell them, "I'm buying that field over there."
 They look at you in disbelief. "That's a ridiculous investment," they say. "Why are you giving away everything you have?"
 You respond, "I have a hunch," and you smile to yourself as you walk away.
 You smile because you know. You know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. So with joy- with joy!- you sell it all, abandon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything else for.
 This is the picture of Jesus in the gospel. He is something- someone- worth losing everything for. And if we walk away from the Jesus of the gospel, we walk away from eternal riches. The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the infinite treasure of knowing and experiencing him."

I love this illustration. I have found my treasure, my hope in Christ. I want to lose everything for Him, and I want my life to show just how much I love Him.

Quirks

These are just a few of my quirks. I have many more that I wanted to mention but forgot them as I was typing. I'll probably continually edit this post, adding more and more on.

1. I love to fold dark and red loads of laundry, but can't stand folding whites loads.
2. I don't like to live in a mess but hate to clean my room.
3. I like cleaning bathrooms (if they aren't too disastrously messy and gross!).
4. I love washing cars.
5. I love to sing at the top of my lungs but only if I'm sure there is no one around to hear me.
6. I like to write more than to read.
7. I like listening to alternative rock, Christian, and sixties music. I also enjoy specific country and/or folk bands.
8. I love to spend the night somewhere besides my own house but my bed is alllways best.
9. New discovery- I hate removing wallpaper.
10. I like school and love music but hate learning either.
11. I have always wanted three or four really big dogs.

Again

"The Beginning of the School Year"- coming soon to a theater near you!!!! Yayyy! Everybody clap and cheer and go crazy with joy. Line up for hours, waiting for the midnight premiere of "School Supplies". Maybe not. While many people dread that first day after summer break has sadly ended, I do indeed become excited.  It's not my favorite time of the year, but the new prospects excite me. (It's the middle of the school year when everything is no longer new when I really get annoyed with this whole idea of school.) I don't know if I am the only person to think of it this way, but the beginning of a school year is really like the beginning of a calendar year to me. I get excited and come up with all new ideas of how I will be this year. It's like New Year's resolutions. "THIS year, I will get up at precisely 6:00 a.m., take a shower, and enter the day refreshed and happy." "THIS year, I will keep up with my homework." "THIS YEAR I WILL NOT PROCRASTINATE AT ALL. NO PROCRASTINATION WHATSOEVER." Does anyone else think of it this way? Maybe I am a lonely soul with odd, confused thoughts regarding the new year of studies. My list of New School Year's resolutions this year include the following.
1-3. All three examples above.
4. Newly decorated room, new focus. I will create a healthy study environment in my new room and keep the entire room clean.
5. I will create a playlist of "study music" so I can concentrate better.
6. I will keep my books organized and in good condition.
7. I will create lists of what needs to be accomplished so I can monitor what has and has not been finished today.
8. I will spend less time on the computer and more on studying. Last year I made lower grades in a couple of subjects than what I could have if I had spent more time studying.
9. I will stay in touch with my friends, despite having a very busy weekly schedule.
10. I will start working on essays and other compositions ahead of time and write faithfully so I don't end up cramming at the deadline. The same goes for studying for tests and quizzes. 
These are the resolutions I can think of right now. It always grows, however. Every year, as soon as the books come in, I inhale the never-fail textbook scent and mentally start listing some more. Just four more weeks, and here we'll go again.

Hello

I have so much to say. Every time I want to write something down in my journal or tell someone an idea I have, I just can't get it out fast enough. I lose track of what I'm trying to say or what I've already said and I just can't spit it out. This blog is my replacement. I don't care if anyone ever follows me, or even if no one ever reads a word. I don't care if anyone ever answers the questions that I will ask. A line from the movie "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks came to mind every time I considered creating a blog. I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So goodnight, dear void. That is basically the attitude I come at this blog with. I have so much to say but I don't really care who hears it or not. Sometimes some people just have to get it out of their system. I have so many questions and observations to just write down. So to whoever reads or doesn't read this, this is me. This is what I think, how I feel, and how I'm going to live. These are my decisions, my turning points, my ideals. So here I am, and here I go.


Warning: I will blog like I journal. Write like crazy at first, saying everything that comes to mind. Then, slowly, the torrent of posts will turn into a drizzle, then just barely a sprinkle of posts in a year's time. You just watch.