the conviction of things not seen.

Not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar…

Last night at small group, we had an amazing discussion about faith.  We were studying Hebrews 11, and it seemed to fit with what a lot of us are going through right now.  A bunch of questions were brought up, like:

• How do you know what the “will of God” is?
• How do you tell the difference between wanting to do something, and being “told” to do it by God?
• At what point should you wait on God, and at what point should you pursue whatever opportunities you have in front of you?
• Is faith the part where you just keep doing what you’re doing (having faith that God will show you what to do next), or the part where you don’t settle for the prospects you’re offered (jobs, etc.) and wait for what you’re “supposed” to be doing?
• What do you do when God’s answer is silence?

Erik offered up the quote from Kierkegaard: “Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backwards.”  I love small group and all the amazing talks we have there, even if we don’t come out with a bunch of official answers.  I feel like as a group, it’s more about the journey anyway, and the fact that we’re asking the big questions — even if we can’t always answer them — means we’re pursuing wisdom together.

Here is the usual bag of miscellany:

• Some interesting quotes from Offbeat Bride that sort of echo my style as I continue to plan the wedding:
  — Quote 1: “when you assume that anyone enthusiastically planning a wedding is automatically a victim of outside forces, you’re asserting that women can’t think for themselves and are powerless against the lures of taffeta and tiaras.”
  — Quote 2: “I guess it comes down to this: Attention gives you the cheap high of other people’s energy focused at you … but authenticity gives you that deep, long-lasting satisfaction of knowing that you’re on the right path and you’re doing the right thing. While the quick high is more fun in the short run, the deep satisfaction is ultimately more filling.  ….  The pursuit of authenticity is thinking to yourself five years after the wedding, ‘I’m still living out my vows in this commitment … every single day.'”
• In Midnight Society-related news, I was recently featured on the Botetourt Paranormal Society’s web site.
• Rumor has it that there’s a Clueless 2 in the works.  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Do we have to say this again?  Stop picking trendy baby names.
• For people who always ask how to make a t-shirt quilt like mine, here’s a tutorial that’ll show you how to make one.
• For the people who loved the single people map, here’s another map of the seven deadly sins.  Fun!

Oh, and…

Happy birthday, R. Pats.  Preowwwwwwwwww.  I wonder what he’s doing for his birthday.  Oh, probably whatever he wants.