Simple Things And New Beginnings

New beginnings. Back in November, when God turned my life around after I tried to turn it away, I started a new journal and these were the first words I wrote: new beginnings. It wasn’t really anything new; it was a return to what had already been. But there’s a strange sort of parallelism between that time and this one. I finished another notebook on the morning before I left for Virginia Beach. And now once again I find these words in my mind… new beginnings. I’m in Virginia, by the way.

I’ve met a lot of new people, and I’ve reacquainted myself with a lot of people that I’ve previously only met in passing. They all ask me the same thing, and understandably. “So why are you here?” I don’t really tire of hearing it, because answering it reminds me of why I’m here. It reminds me of the work God is doing in my life, and how He is continuing that work by bringing me to Virginia Beach for these specific two weeks of my life. So why am I here? For the same reason I decided to take off school this semester: because I need to grow. Can I not grow at home in Georgia? Yes, but there are particular areas in which I believe it will serve me to be away from specific situations and distractions which might hinder that growth. Isn’t that kind of like running away from my problems? I don’t think so. I’m going back in two weeks, after all.

I hereby admit that I don’t know what the point of this post is. I guess it’s to answer some of the questions I’ve been asked, and to fill in those of you who have no idea where I’ve been and what I’m doing. I tell people my two practical goals while I’m here are to read a lot and to write a lot. Then they ask me what I’ve been reading, and what kind of writing I do. I rattle off the names of the nine or so books stacked up beside my bed, and I tell them that actually I haven’t done any writing yet, but I maintain a blog among other things. So I decided it was about time to write on the blog. But I’ve only been here for a few days, so maybe that’s a valid excuse.

I’ve been learning simple things, things that I already know but so easily forget. I read today in the gospel of Matthew how Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and then tempted by Satan. I was impressed anew by the all-encompassing ability of the Word of God to overcome temptation. “The only and guaranteed way to overcome overwhelming sin is to submerse myself in the Word of God which is applicable for all of life,” I wrote in my journal this morning. The other day I came across a verse in the book of Joel: “For strong is he who carries out His word” (Joel 2:11). This is true strength of faith: that I may carry out the Word of God by using its truths to fight and conquer temptations to sin.

Simple things and new beginnings. That’s what these two weeks are about. That’s what this semester is about. Do I miss everyone at home? Of course I do. But at the same time I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, because I am confident that this is where God wants me right now, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.