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Work in Progress

I've sat down to write a blog post 6 or 8 times in the past month, but I can never complete a concept. There have been several themes woven throughout my summer, but I think I'm still learning and growing through them and so I don't have a complete ending for them yet. Just stories and the "moral" I'm drawing from the right now.

If you get detached from the vine, you will wither.
Yeah, I know. No duh. But it's really true. Being home with a random schedule makes it much harder to be consistent in spending time with God. Basically, I've failed at being consistent this summer. If the truth were to be known. The past few weeks, I've been trying harder to more consistently spend time with God. And in the past week, I've had several spiritual conversations with co-workers, which is not something that has naturally come up before.
Moral: If you are attached to the vine, He will shine through you clearly.

One step at a time.
This one has occurred before in my posts. Lots. I'm still working on it. What I thought I was supposed to do with my life hasn't exactly worked out like I thought it would. Probably because of the "I thought" part. But anyways. With only a year left before I graduate, I'm a little freaked out about figuring out what to do with my life, because I definitely don't want to waste it! But I have a weird sense of peace that I will know at the right time. I think I could easily get so worked up about figuring out what I could do that would count that I would never actually do anything that would count!
Moral: Little things can count. Relationships with people. A conversation here and there. It doesn't have to be big to have worth.

Learn to love the seemingly unloveable.
One of my new bosses at work was and sometimes still is seemingly unbearable. He yells at people for reasons that often don't merit yelling (boiling a $75 lobster that wasn't actually ordered probably did merit the yelling, but most of the other stuff doesn't). And other things, which I won't detail here. I couldn't even think about work without getting mad at him. There came a certain point where, for some reason, I wasn't mad at him anymore. The past few weeks, we've gotten along pretty well, and in learning a little about his past, I've realized that some of the brusqueness is probably just a reaction pain in his personal life.
I have a similar scenario with a fellow employee. He is always looking for affirmation and attention. Because I don't like getting lots of attention, that personality type really annoys me. However, after many hours of polishing silverware in the kitchen and chatting with him, I've realized that, more than anything, he needs people around him who will love and accept him. He's made some big mistakes, but he's trying to pull his life back together. If us Christians won't accept him, another crowd will, and the good steps he's taking will come to naught.
Moral: Consider what hidden things might be playing into someone's actions before you make a snap judgment about that person.

Humility is freeing.

My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer about two months ago, and had surgery over 4th of July weekend. Though there were a range of emotions that came with this news, it was mostly humbling. There was a certain element of completely unhealthy and irrational pride that came with my family's general physical health. This made me realize that cancer is not selective. We don't have as much control over these things as we might like to think.
Moral: Though this experience has been an exercise in trust and faith, it has been mostly, for me, an exercise in dealing with pride and learning to share and lean on other people.

What have you been being taught lately? Are you being taught something that isn't a complete concept yet?

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