"But you live to fight another day"

The Thing About Me
I always find myself thinking
Of the way things should play out
Imagination sees only what it wants
And memories jump in to taunt
You know there's a chance out of two
That it can play out a certain way for you
So you dream of your victory
And raise your arms triumphantly
You've acheived it all
But back to reality you fall
Even if you win, you still lose
But you live to fight another day
- Written by Denny Love

When I moved here I had this fantasy of how things were going to play out in Chicago. Nothing has turned out the way I thought it would - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Many things have turned out better than I could have dreamed; but I've faced struggles I could never have imagined. But I'm still here, I haven't given up, and I'm going to fight another day to be the man I want to be.

What a Change

I came to Chicago excited about the future and excited about the spiritual growth I'll experience.

Now I'm hoping to one day return to the spiritual level I was at when I got here.

It'll be a long climb back up...

Your Love oh LORD, Reaches to the Heavens

“When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”- Psalm 94:18-19

God's love is amazing. On my way to work today I was reflecting on how loving God is, even when we fall. If we throw ourselves down in to the pit of sin, God's still there beside us, offering His hand to help us back up.

His mercy is endless, His grace is abundant and His forgiveness is sincere. Wow.

A lot of questions...

Why walk when you can run?

Why survive when you can thrive?

Why have a small wedding when you can have a huge wedding?

Why be content with unhappiness or shortcomings?

Why give up when you know you can persevere?

Why give only half of your effort?

Why don't you improve yourself?

What is Love?

There are many different ways to categorize love. I'll focus this blog on one way to categorize love: selfish love and selfless love.

Selfish love is your love for something because it gives you pleasure, comfort or security. I love soft tacos. I love money (in a healthy way). I love having a steady job. These are all selfish loves, I would only give up something of lesser value to me for a soft taco, more money or a better job. I wouldn't pay more than five dollars for a taco; I wouldn't compromise my morals for more money and I wouldn't move away from loved ones for a better job.

Selfless love is something entirely different; selfless love means you lay down your pride and selfishness to do something for another person. You can witness selfless love is Christs' death, a friend going out of his way to help you or marriage on a day-to-day basis.

Marriage is a unique love; you are becoming one with another person. Your decisions no longer affect yourself, they affect you and the one you love. Your mistakes, your issues, your downfalls, your blessings, your gifts and the risks you take no longer affect just you - they also affect the one you love. You must be selfless to have a successful marriage. This is not to say that you must be a doormat or forfeit your desires, but now you must take into consideration what affect your dream-chasing is going to have on your love.

Please, share your thoughts with me.