In the past couple of weeks I have been researching some of the old High Schools that I have attended and I have even gotten back into contact with some of the people that I knew of were friends with. I had some really great times in some of the High Schools that I grew up in and I was really interested in seeing just how much change has happened with some of the old friends that I used to have while growing up.
In coming into contact with many of my friends from the past (who have just been great people by the way - you know who you are), I have found a couple of things that have really surprised me.
1. I have been really surprised by just how many people I grew up with who are not Christian or religious in any way (this is not saying something negative about these people, it is just an observation). While growing up I was an atheist and when I was 24 years old I became a Christian and I was truly wondering if anyone might have some insight at to why. Geographically the schools are located in Japan, Texas, and North Carolina. I am very open to input and would love to receive some different perspectives about why this is.
2. I have also been surprised to find out that not too many people even remember who I am (I bet I got a bunch of laugh out loud's from that one). I am naturally a very introspective person so needless to say this got me to thinking about why only a few people would even remember me. I mean, come on, I grew up knowing 1,000's of people and hundreds I considered my friends; why would such a small amount even remember me? Is there something about my personality that has pushed people away or is there something about my personality that people found hard to develop a close relationship with? I have seen that the people that I have just gotten into contact with have developed great friendships with others that we went to school with, so what happened with me? Is this due to mistakes that I made in the past (I did make a few doozies in my time) or is this due to constantly moving around? I am asking for some input on this so that I can see if there is something that maybe I can change about myself to make myself more accessible to others so that I can develop some lifelong friendships.
I would just like to challenge everyone reading this to contemplate their own lives and look inside of themselves to see if they are living the kind of lives in which the people they are surrounded with will remember them in 10-20 years (learn from my mistakes), and if they are the kind of person that people will always remember, what will people always remember you for?
4 comments:
Chris, I have been doing the same thing, wondering what I will be remembered for. Being out of work has put me in a depression like I have never known. Knowing that I can't do a job that I love anymore has really done a number on my head. But I do know one thing, it doesn't really matter to me what the people on this earth think of me, it is what God thinks of me. I try to smile through all of this when I am in public but when I am home, I just keep praying. I think I have prayed more the past 6 months than I have my entire life which is good because I have opened my heart and my ears up to what God is trying to tell me. I show people that I am happy on the outside but on the inside I am hurting and that is where God is helping me. He has helped me realize who and what is important in my life. Thank you once again for some wonderful thoughts.
Chris I have been asking myself this same question... I was saved as a teenager. I have a family and I go to church every Sunday but if I died today I don't know if I would go to Heaven... I am so ashamed. I can't pray anymore. I know the bible says God loves me but unless I change I don't see how he could. I feel like I have an addiction. Not drugs or Alcohol but attention from the opposite sex. Still with all this attention I am unhappy and I always feel alone. I don't know how to stop. I hate having secrets and feeling this way. I feel numb inside.
Dear Anonymous,
I just want to assure you that you are not alone and I wanted to let you know that God does love you. i know that there are times in which we find it hard to believe because of the things in life that we do, but God loves us no matter what it is we have done... God's love for us is unconditional.
You are also not alone with the addiction that you are facing. There are literally millions and millions of people who are addicted to something. I have personally come away from (with God's guidance) drugs, alcohol and smoking (I smoked for 12 years).
Some tips that I have about overcoming addictions of ANY kind are:
1. Stay away from whatever it is you are addicted to! If it is cigarettes- stay away from cigarettes, if it is alcohol- stay away from bars and your friends that drink, if it is a certain man you are craving attention from- stay away from him.
2. Don't do the things that make you crave that addiction or stop what brings on the cravings. I used to smoke every time I drove somewhere, then I started to carry around a pencil to keep my hands busy.
3. Pray... pray like you never have before! God wants you to be close to Him and if you seek after Him hard enough, He will remove this from you.
4. Lean on your friends for support. The number one purpose of true friendships is to have people you can count on. Use them for the invaluable people that they are.
5. Seek counseling of some sort ( counselor/pastor/marriage counselor).
Remember that God really does love you and He wants you to overcome anything that separates you from Him. I remember one time when a friend of mine came to me about his addiction to pornography. He said that he was fighting his addiction but he didn't feel as if he was winning. I told my friend that as long as he kept fighting his addiction he was winning. The only time that my friend would stop winning is when he would stop fighting his addiction.
I will be praying for you. Please keep me updated and thank you so much for sharing with me.
Thank you so much for your prayers Chris. I will never give up. Last week was good. This week not as much but I try to start over everyday. Thank you.
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