I haven't written in a while due to the fact that I've been dealing with moving and searching madly for a job. In this economy it isn't surprising that I have yet to have found one, but it's coming... I just know it. The apartment we (my three roommates and I) have found is great and the location - simply excellent. Its literally minutes away from everything. All of this does little to squelch the feeling of anxiety that comes when I think of paying rent. That four letter word that strikes terror into the hearts of all responsible Americans at some point in time.
Rent.
I shudder.
Thankfully I've been responsible in saving money this summer and I'll make it. Barely.

Life is life though. Days come and go like they are silly re-runs of every Saturday I've lived - over and over again they play, and I spend copious amounts of time at Starbucks. Its not a bad life. Don't think I'm complaining. But it really isnt life. Not real life at least. Who gets to spend time at Starbucks nearly every day? Who needs to? Me. For two reasons. One, my roommate and good friend works there and two, free internet.

Because we have yet to establish an internet connection in our apartment, I find Starbucks most useful for feeding my two addictions. Coffee and Facebook. Ok, so I'm not that addicted to Facebook, but coffee is on my addiction list and I find the internet as an added bonus.

I will say though, coming to Starbucks so frequently has allowed me a few privileges. I know the employees by name, and they know me. I've become accustomed to people watching as I work on editing one of my books plus I write my online articles from there. And, I have come to enjoy the lovely compilation of background music Starbucks plays. Whether this is a bonus or not I havent decided.

I have a feeling I'll be writing more observations from my new Starbucks hangout spot. I cant chill here for long and not learn something...

This topic has been heavy on my heart and my mind recently. What is passion? Who has it? Why do we have it? What is the best way to use it? All of these questions have been resonating in my mind, mulling around and fermenting until tonight when they came out in an eruption of even deeper passion. How that works I'm not quite sure...

Our first thought when passion is mentioned is the romantic kind. I haven’t been thinking on that level, though I do believe it is important to be passionate about one’s spouse. The type of passion I’ve been dealing with is the everyday, this is what I love to do, see, hear, experience kind of passion. The type that ignites productivity and action.

I feel I personally have a lot of passions. I'm passionate about Christ first and foremost, but there are other passions I have like friends, family, writing, music, Biblical counseling, and reading to name a few. I feel as if I am daily taking up a cause for something in my life whether it is a passion or something that I find interesting. Just today I went around asking all of my friends for their opinions on a theological question just to get a better perspective on something. I was passionate about it!

I began to wonder if all people feel like this. Does everyone have things in their lives that make them excited beyond reason to the point of bursting? My initial conclusion was no. Not everyone is made to be passionate. But upon rethinking this (and, I believe, a little direction from the Lord) I began to see that maybe some aren’t naturally inclined to be passionate but that gives them no right not to be.

Just tonight I was on my way home from a friends house that is located out in the country. We had had a rainstorm earlier today and driving back my view consisted of a windshield dotted with raindrops, open, rain-covered fields, and the most beautiful, backlit clouds! I looked out over this scene with sheer amazement at a God who not only created wonderful, talented people, but a God who created with passion! God is the essence and creator of passion. He pretty much is the definition of it.

With this in mind, I began to think over that initial response of no. I knew I was wrong. People may not feel passionate about many things, or anything at all, but I feel that’s an incorrect interpretation of how God instructs us to live our lives. 1 Corinthians 10:31 talks of doing everything (everything) for Gods glory, Colossians 3:23 talks about doing your work heartily or with all your heart as unto the Lord. Paul’s life is a testimony of passion as is Christ’s life, death, and resurrection! The Bible showers us with examples of passionate people living out their faith in a radical way to the point of death. History then gives us even more examples. Lilias Trotter. Elizabeth & Jim Elliot. Gladys Aylward. Jonathan & Sarah Edwards. People not only passionate about Christ, but passionate about life.

I guess my entire point could be summed up in this: If you feel passionless, or lacking passion, become passionate about Christ and I believe He’ll enable you to become passionate about life! Christ is my sustainer and supplier of all things, and I believe He fuels my passion for life.
The only reason I can be so excited to write or to sing or to read is because my passion is first and foremost established with God and I want to do all things to His glory. In order to do that though, I feel there must be some passion involved.

Live passionately! Love passionately! Be passionate!

i had the pleasure of seeing Harry Potter VI last night with my mother. seeing as how i had just read the sixth book (for the second time) a week or so ago, i was surprised and slightly saddened by the exclusivity of the movie. dont get me wrong - i understand that you have to nip and tuck to make a 600+page book fit into a 2.5 hour movie, but there are some things that would have made the movie 100 times better had it been done as it was in the book. i'm sure i'm not the first nor the last to say such things about books and movies.

that got me thinking though. i love to read...i mean, were talking L-O-V-E, LOVE to read. i enjoy watching movies as well, though not at nearly the same capacity. should it surprise me that the movie (nearly every time) pales in comparison to the book? i dont think so. there is something to be said about the written word that cannot even dream of touching a movie reenactment. America, as well as the rest of the world for that matter, loves visually stimulating things and movies seem to bridge that gap. why take the time to read the book when a movie will be over in two hours?

this saddens me, for as much as i love to read, i love to write. could movies possibly put authors out of commission? probably not, because for every avid movie goer there is an avid reader sitting at home enjoying a good book. i'm thankful for this. i just wish our society lauded reading as much as it does movie watching. i think there would be an excess of good ideas and a much larger range of vocabulary to express them.

go read a book :)