In the Bible, God guides people through stories. Stories is how He teaches people about themselves and Himself. He doesn’t get the children of Israel out of Egypt instantly. God drags it out, creates plagues, guides them through positive and negative turns, all to shape their faith. He does the same with Joseph, giving him a vision, then immediately letting him be thrown into a well by his brothers.

If we think we are going to grow in faith by sitting around at a Bible study, we are wrong. That stuff is fine, but without a story, without diving into something really difficult, something that requires us to look to God for support and wisdom and comfort, it will be more difficult to become a person of great faith.

- Donald Miller

These paragraphs provide momentarily relief to seeing teens/kids suffer from their parents decisions. His purpose is to have us turn to Himself, children or adults, oppressed or in ease .. [exhale]

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Vague Ambition

I've read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years several times and whenever I'm between books I like to come back and read a few chapters. I think I'm drawn to the authenticity of it, whether its pretty or not, and how it leads me to ask honest questions. I underlined this passage the first time I read it:

"I was watching the movie Star Wars recently and wondered what made that movie so good. Of course, there are a thousand reasons. But I also noticed that if I paused the DVD on any frame, I could point toward any major character and say exactly what that person wanted. No character had a vague ambition. It made me wonder if the reasons our lives seem so muddled is because we keep walking into scenes in which we, along with the people around us, have no clear idea what we want."

It reminds me of the passage in Romans where Paul urges "think of yourself with sober judgment". Soberly asking what you want out of your relationships, work and spiritual life quickly leads to being more intentional doesn't it? My friends Abby and Jon are great at this, at asking questions and being direct. I want more honest evaluation, more intentionality, vague ambition seems wasteful. Thanks for allowing the guest post.

scott

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