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| Wow, I can't believe it is 2007. In less than 2 months, I will be 20. I used to think that changes in age would bring dramatic changes in behavior. As if somehow, I'd wake up and suddenly be Miss Perfect. Unfortunately, I've discovered that this isn't going to happen. In fact, often the times that I learn the most are through mistakes & failures. Let me give a few examples from this past semester... 1. Teamwork. As part of my accounting class, I was required to complete a business simulation with 3 other people as a team project. In the beginning, I failed miserably. I was stressed out. I ordered people around. Yet, I learned from my mistakes. My group forgave me. We learned how to work as a team & we ended up doing well on the simulation. 2. Priorities. Unfortunately, I let my accounting project dominate my life for a while. After everything was over, I realized that I was living like academics was the most important thing in my life. Academics are very important, but relationships--with friends, family, & God--are more important. Last week, I took a vacation with my family. The entire time I focused on building my relationships with my family & I was happier than I've been in a long time. Next semester, I'm going to work harder on what's really important. 3. Forgiveness. I'm going to say stupid things. I'm going to do stupid things. It's inevitable that both of the previous statements will happen sometimes. I'm sorry to everyone who has been on the receiving end of my mistakes in the past. Please forgive me. This sounds silly, but in addition to seeking others' forgiveness, I've realized that I need to forgive myself. Only then can I grow in the future as I learn from my mistakes of the past. Unless there is a sudden Xanga renaissance, this will be my last Xanga entry. Good-bye everyone! | | |
| "It's a fear that keeps me wide awake
In the middle of the night
When the expectations are too great
And the bar gets raised too high
So I do the best with what I've got
And hope that no one knows
That I strain to see how high I can
Try to stand on these toes
Until I'm measured, but You know better
So, thank You, Jesus
Even when You see us just as we are
Fragile and frail and so far
From who we want to be
So, thank You, Jesus
Even when the pieces are broken and small
Dreams shatter and scatter like the wind
Thank You, even then
So I put aside the masquerade
And admit that I am not okay
Which may not be the thing to say
But I'm not ashamed to need You more each day
So, thank You, Jesus
Even when You see us just as we are
Fragile and frail and so far
From who we want to be
So, thank You, Jesus
Even when the pieces are broken and small
Dreams shatter and scatter like the wind
Thank You, even then
We raise the standard and try to reach You
But we'll never make it and we don't need to ..."
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| "Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This quote challenges me. I like to live in the world of "what might be." In the real world, I fail at my attempts to do what's right and say stupid things to people that I care about. Many times I don't reach out and take hold of opportunities because I am afraid that I'll fall short of perfection. Yet, as my friend told me recently, life's all about learning from mistakes and learning to forgive. In essence, it's all about grace. She's right. I have a lot to learn.
Your far-from-perfect friend,
Kelley
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| Last December, my family read through some of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. At the time, I remember thinking, Could it have been a coincidence that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies? What is the statistical probability that Jesus fulfilled them simply by chance?
Well, I just discovered that a mathematician actually calculated this scenario:
"In his book Science Speaks, mathematician and scientist Peter Stoner calculated the probability of one man fulfilling eight (just eight of hundreds) of those prophecies. He said, 'The chance that any man might have [...] fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10^17. [...] Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the [state] of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.' The stats speak for themselves" ~ Youthwalk (www.youthwalk.org)
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