The Life of a Squirrel

Why the crazy title you might ask? Today when I was jogging, I saw a squirrel high-tail it across the road, literally running for his life. Think about how often you see that – a squirrel running as fast as he can, but sometimes it’s just too late and thunk thunk thunk. Even if they are just running around in the grass – everytime they see a person, they usually dart up a tree, out of your way, for fear of life or who knows what. Can you imagine living your whole life in “fear” like that? Running as fast as you can just to get to the next point, but sometimes it’s just too late? Or seeing “someone” or a situation and just darting away as fast as you can? Yikes, I am glad I am not made to be a squirrel!

Though…sometimes I act like one. Life goes by so fast that it seems we just run from one edge of the road to another, without thinking about the dangers or what that could do to us. There is something to be said about slowing down, taking that deep breath, looking both ways, and then proceding to cross. Some of my most favorite passages in scripture are the descriptions of Jesus leaving the crowds to out by himself to pray or rest. Even Jesus had to! So why do I think I can just run like a squirrel all day and not take a break? I realize that when I “run” I bottle things up. I bottle up emotions, my spiritual life, and just my mentality towards life. I think I can do it all on my own. Yeah right! My God cares enough about me to give me a DAY of rest – not just a 1/2 day, but a FULL DAY! God surely was thinking when He created us b/c he knew if we were all squirrels, we would need a week of rest after going through what they do in a day!

Random thought: because Dan and I are unsure if we are going to have kids at all, we have looked at different verses in the Bible differently than most. We feel having kids should be a “calling” and one should not just have kids to just have them. And we know for sure God is not calling us to have them now! So, because of that, we have looked at the phrase “be fruitful and increase in number” in a different way just b/c we aren’t sure of our future. Yes you could view this as a misinterpretation of this phrase, and in reality it kind of is, but we feel we can still apply it to our lives. We decided that with being in youth ministry, that phrase means being fruitful and increasing in number with our youth group kids – more importantly, with regards to them accepting Christ. They are our kids. Yes it’s always good to grow in numbers, but at the same time, God doesn’t only care about numbers – he cares about hearts. So, we see our increasing in number as those making profession of faith. Those who have decided to live their life for Christ -that to us brings us PURE JOY and that’s being fruitful! We are just instruments in planting those seeds. It is God who waters them and makes them bloom. What a joy it is to see our kids grow in faith – just like a parent’s joy for their own children.

Well…enough of this random talking :). Katie and I are heading to The Big House in Ann Arbor to watch the Michigan vs. Massachusettes football game tomorrow! We are STOKED! It’s an annual tradition. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pics of our day when we return!