So Kat says I should write a post.....so here it is.

I am in a blah state these days. I am thoroughly enjoying having some time off from work and school, and am spending some of that time painting kitchen cupboards and finally finishing the Narnia series, and tomorrow I will wash and wax my car. I am enjoying being able to spend some more time with friends, and am trying not to think about how I will have little time in the next 4 months for anyone that I care about. I am trying to enjoy each day as it comes and I am trying to take the opportunities that come my way and run with them.....whether I am tired the next morning or not.

I love Christmas. I love spending time with my family, playing games, reading, going to the Christmas eve service....LOVE IT. I went to the Bakerview candle light service at 10:00pm Christmas eve, and it was wonderful. I was reminded how well Mennonites harmonize and sing with gusto......yeah, they just don't sing like that at the Vineyard. They went through from Adam and Eve to the birth of Christ in a long reading, and ended with communion and everyone taking a candle, standing in a circle around the room, and singing Silent Night. It was 10pm at night! Only the people that wanted to be there were there....it was great.

I've been reminded lately that I need to continue to strive to be content in Christ. It is so easy around Christmas to think about material things and what you 'want', but it shouldn't be that way. When I compare last year (when I had a good paying job and I could buy the odd thing for myself) to this past fall (when I've been scrounging and saving and attempting to make rent), I am just as happy with nothing as I am when I have something. Maybe I am even happier when I have nothing. Things will never be enough, they are not what I really want at all! All I want for Christmas and New Years is a stronger relationship with God. A relationship so strong that I don't want anything else......or need anything else.

This is a goal that I am continually perturbed by, because it is not as simple as paying $30 and getting a swim pass....because then I'll use it to get fit. I can't pay money to motivate myself to get to know God. It's not simple, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't take bribes. (Its not like I have anything to offer anyway!) This next semester with 6 classes will be the perfect excuse for not having time to spend getting to know God. But that's not a good enough reason. There really has been no reason in the past except perhaps laziness, and a fear that He might actually choose to use me in his kingdom. Time? There's always time. I need to learn to be a better steward of the time that is given to me.