Ah, to be back in the good ol' state of Texas. Texas is great. So is Chick-fil-a and Charlie Landis (ok, the last one is just alright.) This past week I was back in the not-so-great Northwest for the last time. The family is moving! They're literally on the road right now as I type. Where to you ask? Well, none other than the good ol' state of Texas! But not to Lubbock where I am currently for my internship, but to Abiline just three hours south of me. It's about time our family got out of that dreaded place called Washington!
Now I know you're probably thinking, "How could this girl hate a place so much?" First off, I don't hate the Northwest, I strongly dislike it. Second off, I have valid reasons: 1) It rains. A lot. YEAR ROUND! 2) Washington and Oregon are titled two of the most godless states in America. Yesterday my dad told me that Portland, OR was ranked the number two city in the nation as most depressing just last year. Now how on earth does anybody determine what makes a city depressing? By the number of anti-depressant drugs prescribed, divorce rates, and suicide rates. Seattle, WA is known for it's rain...and suicide rates. The Northwest is a wet and spiritually-deprived place. You can literally feel the thick and heaviness of sin.
And it got to me when I was there last week. Spiritually, I felt like I took three steps back. Now, it was a stressful enough week with my brother's graduation, my grandma's funeral, packing up the rest of the house for the move, and a friend's wedding...all in the course of seven days. Not to mention, I was sick the latter half of the week. No fun. But worst of all, I felt so distant from God. I wish I could blame it all on the Northwest, which technically I could, but I suppose that wouldn't exactly be fair. But just being in that environment caused me to hold back, to leave everything in, to almost come to a complete halt.
While I was home...excuse me, in the Northwest (for it is no longer my home!)...I became lazy and was several days behind in my daily devotions. When I finally acknowledged my fault, I picked up that little devotional book that my mom gave me last December and came across these profound words:
"Let Me help you get through this day. There are many possible paths to travel between your getting up in the morning and your lying down at night. Stay alert to the many choice-points along the way, being continually aware of My Presence. You will get through this day one way or the other. One way is to moan and groan, stumbling along with shuffling feet. This will get you to the end of the day eventually, but there is a better way. You can choose to walk with Me along the path of Peace, leaning on Me as much as you need. There will still be difficulties along the way, but you can face them confidently in My strength. Thank Me for each problem you encounter, and watch to see how I transform trials into blessings."
I have been slowly, but surely reading my way trough John Ortberg's The Me I Want to Be. One of the chapters discusses about moving with the flow of the Spirit in which he says, "I don't want to wait for circumstances to change in order to live the way I was meant to live." I so easily fell into this trap. Being here in Lubbock and doing this internship has made me feel so alive and refreshed and full of the Holy Spirit, but instead of taking all of that with me as I ventured back to Washington for the last time, I left it behind, knowing that I would pick it all back up when I came back. I was barely getting through each day, feeling unproductive, and feeling absolutely miserable. From the moment I stepped foot into the Portland airport, I anxiously anticipated the day I would get to leave.
To piggy-back off of Ortberg's quote, the point I'm trying to make is this: we can't allow our circumstances to determine the way we live. Acts 17:28 says, "For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of you own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" If Christ is continually in us (which he is) and if we live in him, then our circumstances (or environments) shouldn't influence our living patterns (do as I say, not as I do.) I know that I obviously am not a prime example of this, but we all learn from our mistakes.
If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then he is in you right now and he will never leave or forsake you. Now go live for him.
No comments:
Post a Comment