KitKat Christ Break

*YAWN AND STRETCH*
*Deep Breath*
Wow. Thanksgiving break was wonderful (and much needed). Not only did I get a break off of homework but really all of responsibilities in life. During the times that I wasn't helping or partaking in some family event, I sat around, watched Hallmark movies, built LEGOs, played video games, and slept. It was marvelous!

There was definitely homework that I could have gotten done and some tasks that I definitely should have done, but I'm very glad for the break that I got. I think it really helped me to reestablish focus and productivity now that I'm back to school.

But with waking up late in the day and lounging around for the rest of the day, came something I should have expected. I got out of my routine, and so I would find myself going days without really praying or reading the Bible like I had been. That's something that I did not want to take a break from.

Now, just like with the breather from homework, the "break" from Spiritual Disciplines (that's the prayer, bible-reading, worship, etc. stuff) has inspired me to jump back into it and I'm very motivated to do so, but the "damage" that was done on my "break" may definitely have outweighed the benefit of added motivation. The way I picture it is like climbing a mountain.

The harder I press into the mountains with my spikes, the more secure I am, and the more frequently I move my hands up or find a new foothold, the faster I move. In the same way, the harder I press into God's word and the more frequently I spend time with Him, my relationship with Christ grows stronger and more rapidly.

However, in mountain climbing there is a force that is constantly acting downward on the mountain climber: gravity. While this may be a slight stretch of reality, the way I picture it is if the climber stops climbing, that gravity begins to slowly pull them down. In other words, if s/he's not moving up, s/he's actually moving down. I don't know if you've heard it said, "If you're not growing, you're dying."

That's definitely how I felt this past week. I wasn't growing. I wasn't climbing. So, I felt myself slipping. I began to lose more ground in one week than I had gained in weeks of spiritual discipline. So, from my own experience, my advice is to not take a break from God. Keep digging in regardless of what your current situation is. But, this is just based off of what works for me. I know that not everyone is the same, and I'm curious to hear what you guys think of this.

What do you think about "taking a break" from Christ? How has it affected your relationship with Him? Have you ever done it? Does the motivation afterward outweigh the cost of the break?

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best of luck in the real world and God Bless,
-XTopher

#thankful

For all of you United Statesians, it's official. Google has changed their logo to a cornucopia filled with fall foods, Snapchat has a new filter featuring leaves and a turkey, the Macy's Parade has begun, and I smell rolls baking in the morning. It's Thanksgiving.

This is one of my favorite holidays because it's 100% focused on family and coming together. While Christmas is "The Most Wonderful Time of Year" (in my opinion), there are a lot of extra elements that go into the Christmas season like spending money on presents, the politics of separate holidays, Santa, and even Hallmark movies that can distract from the family focus of the holiday season. But Thanksgiving doesn't have those kinds of distractions (except for Black Friday, of course). This allows Thanksgiving's only focus to be on what it was originally intended to represent: being appreciative for the things around you.

It's so wonderful to be able to be surrounded by the people that you love while remembering all of the reasons that you love to be alive. It's really a great way to reset your heart and mind and put the focus back on what we have, rather than on what we don't. After the challenge that I was on this last week, I've really had a change of perspective. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out the post here.) It's not that I have more to be thankful for after I did that challenge. It's just that I realize how much more I have always had to be thankful for.

I can be thankful because of the amount of food I have to eat, for sure. As compared to those in poverty, I feast every single day, but especially on a food filled day like this. I can be thankful because, even though the home that I'm in isn't the home I'm used to, I still have a home to live in and family that loves me. I can be thankful for the amazing friends that I have and thankful that the friends I haven't seen in years are doing well. I have so much to be thankful for.

I want to encourage you guys to use today as an opportunity to remember all of the things that you're thankful for, but I always want to remind you to "be thankful in all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and to remember those that have less to be thankful for than we do.

Praying for you and hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Best of luck in the real world and God Bless!
-XTopher

The Adventures of Captain Christopher

Ever wish your life was an action adventure story like those of Indiana Jones or James Bond. I used to think that would be the coolest thing in the world. What if I just had some voice narrating everything I did in some dramatic and action-packed way? Like how awesome would that be?! As I've gotten older, though, I've discovered that it would probably be a terrible idea for my life to be made a radio show. Want to know why? Because this is what it would sound like:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you for tuning in to 102.3 KLMB "The Boss" (Not a real radio station) On tonight's episode of Lost in Life (not a real radio show), our hero is once again desperately trying to regain the rare and valuable Free-time-ium (not a real item). But with individuals such as Lord Stressage, Count Activities, and the Evil Dr. Homework (Not real people) hot on his trail, will our hero be able to make it to the the temple of serenity (Possibly a real place) in time? Find out NOW! *STATIC*

On second thought, maybe it would be a pick-me-up to hear Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones narrate my life in that kind of way. Maybe I wouldn't be nearly so stressed. Allow me to offer you some advice: learn to say "no". Learn to say "no" to activities you don't want to get involved in, but you're too nice to say so. Learn to say "no" to activities you want to get involved in but don't have time for. Learn to say "no" to yourself when you want to do something but have other things you need to be doing. Basically, just learn to say "no". It's not worth it to be so overworked. Trust me, I'm there. And now that I've signed my soul away to all of these organizations, I'm stuck wondering how I'm going to deal with it all.

We've all been here and we all have our ways of dealing with stress. Since I'm currently dealing with stress out the wazoo, I will fill you in on some of my ways for dealing with stress tomorrow!

Until then: 

Best of luck in the real world and God Bless,

-XTopher