reeling

The end of July was a blur. First I went on the rock climbing trip with the high school girls, then there was a week in which I worked alot and went to Birch Bay waterpark. The next week was CreationFest NW, and after that was a week in which I finally had a little time to breathe. There was alot of input in those 3 weeks, and alot of stuff that I'm still thinking through and processing. I'll try to post a little summary-with-pictures of both the Friction trip and Creation over the next week.

For now, I'll just say that I've been thinking alot about two different things over the past week or so. The first is the importance of being honest. I don't just mean the difference between truth and lie - I'm talking about being open, actually talking to someone about what's going on in your life. How can a friend step in, pray for you, and support you as you struggle with issues when they don't know the issues are there? They can't. It's important to have allies in this life - allies that know you well enough to be able to laugh with you during the good times, encourage you thorugh the tough ones, and let you know when you're just plain being foolish.

And that brings me to my next thought: the reality of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6: we don't fight against merely physical evil, but against spiritual forces of evil). I gotta admit, personally, I tend to ignore it or forget that it's going on. And when I do that, the battle is already half lost. I get discouraged when I find myself being lazy, struggling with sinful/unbelieving thoughts, or losing my patience with my family. I pull a Romans 7: I think to myself, I shouldn't have done/thought that. I don't want to be doing/thinking things like that. But I just keep doing it anyway! What a failure I am! But I'm more motivated to fight it when I realize that, along with my own part that I contribute to the sin, there is also something more sinister going on. Satan is there, actively trying to corrupt my relationship to the Father, and quite frankly that ticks me off. I must remember that Romans 7 is followed by Romans 8: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Satan may be actively and persuasively tempting me to fall into sin, but I don't have to give in: I can fight back, because I have the Holy Spirit in me.

There's a quick summary of what's been on my mind. That, and the bittersweet fact that I leave for school in less than a month. Bitter because I'm going to be moving 7 hours away from some really close friends, my family, free time, and the ocean... yet sweet because I'm moving into a HOUSE with friends I love, and launching into a fresh semester of knowledge that's just waiting to be learnt. Why can't Whitworth be in Anacortes? :)