First of all, major apologies for the duration of my abrupt and unexplained absence. Life has been extremely busy between moving, opera, classes, midterms, etc. In other words, my life has been crazy booked.
Second off, an update.
- My family and I have successfully moved in to our new house in the city. It will definitely take some time getting used to, but luckily I've had the chance to spend some time there this past weekend for Fall Break. Even though it's not where I grew up, it IS where my family is, and that's what's important.
- The opera went very well and it was really cool to get to play with professional musicians. It really gave me a more mature perspective to music. Not only did I get to play with professional musicians in the opera, but there was also a touring musician that came through our town, and I got to play with him for a midweek service on campus. That was a really fantastic time and I'm beginning to take my music career a lot more seriously. Even if it doesn't become my career, music IS a part of who I am. Whether I continue playing in churches, with professional musicians, or just as a hobby, I'm excited to continue with it. This Just In: The band I play with for midweek service on campus has been invited to be the guest band at a weekend youth retreat! I'm pretty stoked!
- Midterms kind of suck. Just in case you didn't know, they suck.
- Fall break was awesome. I volunteered a lot, which I love doing!
- I'm going to the Dominican Republic in May. Still pretty stoked about that.
- God is good. (in case you forgot)
Anyways, I'm feeling pretty great today and the only thing that I really changed was that I woke up and said "God, today is yours". Then, I did the unbelievable for me - I surrendered. Instead of just mouthing words and going on with my day as usual. I totally surrendered my day to Christ. Already, it's feeling great and I've only been awake for like an hour!
I've done this kind of thing before and it's been an amazing experience; it's how I started this year journey. But, I hadn't done this in a while. Why is that? I'm not entirely sure. I know that we experience ups and downs in life and I can't completely tell you why they affect us so much. What I do know is that the reason that I was inspired to surrender this day to Christ is because of what a friend said to me last night.
My friend was talking about how they gave their day to Christ and EVERYTHING went right. In addition to a great and productive day, they experienced amazing growth. It's like giving their day to Christ moved everything together in just the right way so that their entire life began to re-center itself. Talking with them and realizing how excited they were reminded me of the experiences that I have had with the same kind of thing, and I realized how much I missed that feeling. I'm not 100% sure as to why I stopped doing it, but I'm definitely going to start working on getting back into this, and - with God's help - I know I can do it. I know that you can, too. "All" it takes is complete surrender. Trust those of us that have experienced it, it's worth it.
Best of luck in the real world and God bless,
-XTopher
"For I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength" Phil 4:13
"All things work together for the good of those who love Him" Rom 8:28
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord..." Jer 29:11
