Rejoicing in Hardship

Trials are often times viewed as a bad thing. Many times we complain, asking, even begging at times, for God to take away these hardships. "What happened to the good times?" I don't need these trials to learn!" "I can learn without these hardships!"

"I want out!"


I have not met a single person who hasn't gone through a trial of some sort that they wanted out of. There is nothing wrong with wanting out of hardships. The problem comes when we insist on getting out of them. You see, Christ takes us through hardships because sometimes that's the only we are able to grow and develop. I know that is true for myself. I have been told a number of times that "If you want to grow, take the harder rout. Don't take the easy way out, embrace hardships and God will reveal Himself to you."

This is what Paul had to say about hardships...

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5

Paul, a man who had a life full of trials and suffering, said to "rejoice in our sufferings"! Wow! This man was shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, thrown in prison, all numerous times, and he still rejoices in his sufferings! You know why he was able to rejoice through everything he went through? I'll tell you in a few minutes...

Jesus, when he was in the garden, knowing what he was about to go through, said in his prayer to our Father in Heaven " not my will but Yours be done." Luke 22:42 Can you imagine? Jesus knew everything that He was about to go through! The beatings, the scourge's, the whippings, the cursings... He knew it all. Physical and psychological, not to mention that excruciatingly painful death on the cross. All this Jesus knew beforehand, and he still was willing to go through with it, to say "not my will, but Yours be done." to trust that God knew what was best. He did this out of love to save you and me, that we might have eternal life with Him! W.O.W. That is love!

That is the reason that Paul was able to go through his trials. Because he knew that God loved him, and would not let anything happen to him that would not be for his good. Paul's joy came from knowing that he had eternal life in Christ.

You see, Christ grows us though hardships. We just have to be mature enough to ask "How can I grow through this trial?", "How is God using this challenge to further my faith?". It is okay to ask God to remove hardship, but we can not demand it to be removed, and if the trial persists we need to take joy in that God is using that experience to draw us closer to Him.


Will you take the easy way out, or will you endure through hardship and grow in the Lord?



Just a few thoughts...


Thanks for reading!


Benjamin

Oh wow

So today a strange thing happened to me. The chair I was sitting in flipped forward onto me. Not backward like most chairs, but forward. I was sitting in a chair with wheels and I wanted to go across the room, without getting up. So I just started scooching forward across the floor. Halfway across the room my chair revolted by flipping forward and smashing me into the ground. Of course I had an audience when this happened.

Just one more day in the life of a violist.

The Laundry

Have you ever been to a laundry mat? Yes? Ok, have you ever been a little confused with operating the devices? Well… recently I had a rather embarrassing time at a laundry mat. It all started like this…

My siblings and I were attending a music camp, a quartet camp actually, and after the first week and a half I had to do some laundry. Turns out I wasn’t the only one needing to do laundry. I ended up going with my three siblings and 2 other friends. Once we got there we made short work of finding available washer machines and getting our stuff washed. Once everything was done being washed we turned to the dryers…

Let me just say that I know how to do laundry. Really I do. No joke. I’ve known how to do laundry for years and am fully capable in managing the art of laundry. Anyways… I was able to find a huge dryer available, so I quickly loaded it with my clothes. That done I began to look over the directions. I guess I took longer than most people to look over those directions cause as I was contemplating which setting to use a Spanish lady came up to me and began to explain everything to me, “You put your quarters in this little slot, then turn this handle and choose which cycle you want…” Let me stress the point that I was doing fine by myself! Oh, and she didn’t work there. She just wanted to help the poor college student who knew nothing about laundry!!

I politely thanked her for the help, and then began to insert my quarters. As I did this I heard the Spanish lady having an animated discussion in Spanish with the lady who was there with her. I discreetly glanced back at them and saw that she kept pointing at me. After a moment they both began to laugh hysterically. I was just about to walk outside when one of my friends, who saw the whole thing, asked if I needed any more help with my laundry. I gave him a dirty look but he only laughed along with my siblings and other friend.

I was pretty embarrassed. I mean who knows how many people that lady is going to tell about the guy who didn’t know how to do his own laundry! I went outside to get away from the laughter. After a few minutes I went back inside and tried to maintain some sense of dignity.

I had been in there for only a few minutes when my dryer stopped. Now it had only been about 20 minutes max, and I had put in 6 quarters, which should have given me 8 minutes a quarter. Obviously something must be wrong. I cautiously approached the dryer and tried to determine what the problem was. As a safety precaution I called my mom, just in case she had been through a similar experience and could offer me some advice.

As soon as I began talking to her my siblings and friends burst out laughing. They thought it was so funny that I would call my mom for help. Whatever. Since I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the dryer, and I was being laughed at once again, I went out side. I quickly filled my mom in on what had happened earlier with the Spanish lady. She laughed, not surprisingly, and told me I should ask them if they had any trouble with the dryer when they used it. Then I had to explain to her that if I ever wanted to be taken seriously I shouldn’t do ask them for help. Oh, and my ego wouldn’t allow me to do that anyway so she needed to come up with something else.

She promptly told me to suck it up. We ended our conversation and I stood there for a sec, trying to figure out what to do. I decided to ask the Spanish lady if she noticed anything wrong with the dryer. I went back inside, past all my laughing friends and siblings, and approached the lady. She said that it worked fine for her, and maybe I just needed to put more quarters in. Riiiiiiggghht… The problem was the door wouldn’t stay closed. After some tinkering I was able to fix the door and get the rest of the things dried. However, throughout that whole time those ladies, friends, and my siblings would periodically start laughing at my laundry skills.

Oh well… I guess it was kind of funny.

Chicago O'hare National Airport

I remember the first time I navigated an airport on my own without my parents. I was heading home with my brothers and sister after attending an awesome music camp in Indiana. My dad had hired us a ride to take us to Chicago international airport, the place we were flying out of.

That airport is definitely not the airport you want to be navigating the first time on your own. It feels like utter chaos. I had gotten 3 hours of sleep the last three nights there, including an all niter the last night since our ride left at 3'oclock am. I was completely wiped out. After unloading all our luggage and instruments, after arriving at the airport, we just stood inside the terminal taking in the scene. People were running here and there, trying to catch their flights, managers were trying to create some form of order... it was chaos. Almost reminded of home. Almost…

I took a deep breath and stepped up to the computer to get our tickets. I had gone over this, in detail, multiple times with my Dad, so I was confident that I wouldn’t have any problems. Riiiiiiggghht. I hit all the right buttons, entered in the correct information... and came up with nothing. The thing wouldn’t pull up our tickets! I rubbed my hands together nervously and tried again. Again I got nothing. After I yelled and gave the thing a couple good kicks I stepped back. It was then I noticed my siblings staring at me. Not wanting to worry them I flashed my charmers smile. No problem, apparently this computer was having problems, so I walked to another one and smiled thinking, "this system has nothing on me." I would live to regret those thoughts.

The second computer was no help. Neither was the third, or the one after that. No matter what computer I tried our tickets would not show up. They had vanished. Our plane was supposed to leave in an hour and a half and we couldn’t get our tickets. At this point I began to, shall we say, become slightly agitated? I mean, why shouldn’t I be nervous? I didn’t want to miss our flight, and what if our tickets had been stolen by terrorists or something?! I decided it was time to call home and get some advice from a smart guy named dad. After a few rings I heard a groggy voice mumble "hello?". I was like "hey dad! I can’t get our tickets! The computers won’t even pull up any of our information! What should I do?! Can you help me?! I can’t get our tickets!" I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something to that affect. When I ran out of things to say I listened for the instruction I knew was sure to come. After a brief pause my dad said, "Let me call you back." I was like "No dad! Wait!! You don’t understand!" but he had already hung up. I tried to think of why he would do that. It was then that I realized we were 3 hours ahead of them. It was really 3oclockAM back home. Dad was probably trying to wake himself up.

After a minute or two had passed he called me back. I went back to the computer and he walked me through a few things. Still came up with nothing. He told me to get in line for checking bags and talk to the person there. Ok. I hung up and we got in line. We barely beat the rush. There were about 30 people in front of us and another 30-40 got behind us.

Around this time I began to count how many bags we had. I turned and was astonished to see Daniel (my 14 year old brother) walking briskly away with an airport staff person. I was also surprised to see my twin, Brandon, running after them, leaving Ashley and me with most of the luggage. I couldn’t call them, since I was the only one with a cell phone, but I didn’t want to go after them and lose our place in line, and leaving Ashley wasn’t an option. I decided to wait in line and see how things played out.

When we finally got to the front I explained our problem to her and asked if she could help us out. She frowned at me and told me to try the computer right there at the counter. I tried and once again came up with nothing. Exasperated she came around and tried herself. Again nothing. By this time she was not a happy camper. She made it very clear that she wasn’t appreciating these difficulties. That made two of us. I tried to be as pleasant as possible but that didn’t help anything. Scowling she went back to her computer and had our information up in a few minutes. Once we got the tickets printed out I began to relax a little. Things were going to be ok. Not.

Next we had to check our bags. Between the 4 of us we had 4 bags to check, 6 carry on bags, and our instruments. As the lady began to weigh our bags I looked around apprehensively for Daniel and Brandon. There was no sign of them anywhere. I sighed and turned back to the lady. She was just finishing weighing the last bag, which happened to be both mine and Daniels. I looked at the scale and my eyes bugged out. 79 pounds! We were almost 30 pounds over weight! I almost panicked. It was going to cost another 50 dollars to take that bag home. There was one problem with that. I didn’t have any money. I was trying to figure out what to do when my dad called me. He wanted to know how things were going. I filled him in on the latest development and asked for some help. He was quite for the most part. Then he suggested we divide things from that bag into the others. Great plan. Except the only 2 bags that had extra room were with Brandon and Daniel.

I asked the lady where they might have gone, since Daniel had his cello. She directed me to oversize area and told me to take all our bags with me. Have you ever tried carrying, pushing, pulling 6 things of baggage? Let me tell you, it is no small cup of tea! I literally had to kick one bag in front of me while pulling a bag and carrying three others. Ashley wasn’t much better. After walking like this for a few yards I saw an airport manager sitting doing nothing, so I asked him if he would be so kind as to help my sister and I with our load. He said no!! I couldn’t believe it! I was quickly fraying at the edges. He was quick to offer to lead us to the right place. I was so upset at him. He was being plain lazy. What I really wanted to do was give him a good kick in the behind! Instead I followed him as he walked along leisurely.

Anyway we finally found Daniel and Brandon. They had just finished getting Daniels cello through the oversize crew. After chewing them out (mostly Daniel) for taking off without telling me what they were doing and where they were going, I filled them in on the bag situation. We tried to divide things among the other bags, but we didn’t take off that much weight at all.

At this time I said a silent prayer asking God for help. Things were just not going well. I kid you not, 2 seconds later a baggage guy steps up to me and say’s “You’re blessed, God is looking out for you.” Then he took the overweight bag and put it through without charging us. I have never been so grateful for anything in my life. God was definitely watching over us.

After that we went back to check the rest of our bags. Would you know the line had got even longer! Right then I had had enough. Without even hesitating I marched to the front of the line, to the same lady, and told her we were ready. Frowning, she opened her mouth, probably to say something about waiting in line, but I didn’t give her a chance. I gave her my no nonsense lady, I want to be anywhere but here, I’m exhausted, angry, and just want to go home look, then I again told her we were ready to check our bags. To her credit she didn’t say anything and quickly processed us. I thanked her, and we moved on. Thankfully we made it through security without any drama. That would have been too much.

Once we were seated on the plane I totally zonked out. I was exhausted but I had survived O’Hare National Airport. Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t fly through O’Hare your first time alone. Don’t over pack your bags, and go prepared to battle in the war zone that is the O’Hare National Airport.

Thunder and Lightning

A few days ago a pretty big storm hit our part of the country. Thunder, lightning, huge gusts of wind, and driving rain. Storms like these both frighten and intrigue me. I like to sit and watch the storm, always from my safe place in the house.

When I watch a storm I usually sit by the windows that overlook the city. Its great for watching storms move across the valley. Today though, I was content to sit by the dinning room windows typing away at my computer, occasionally observing the progress of the storm. Well the storm died down and I began to relax. We don't have storms like that everyday. Especially in the Northwest.

Well I was just about to send an email when out of nowhere it hit! This huge clap of thunder accompanied by a bolt of lighting so big that you could see it out from the windows on both sides of our house! Seriously, it could have been a rainbow, in that it totally circled our house! It was at least 3 feet from the window I was sitting at!

This sudden burst of electric and decibel awesomeness, (it could've been God paying a visit) scared me so bad that the breath was just about knocked out of me. No joke. I was also terrified into action. .0000000001 after it hit I dove to the floor, knocking over my chair in the process, and covered my head. I would have screamed but its hard to do that when you've got the wind knocked out of you.

When it hit I wasn't the only one scared. I think all of my family members jumped or screamed in fear. When I dove to the floor they thought I had been hit by the lightning. I was so scared I thought that too. After things calmed down a little I picked myself up off the floor and tried to get my breath back, and slow down my heart.

Lets just say that it took me a while before I could type on my computer.

Shaky kands make it too hard...

Dum-boy

Have you ever been to the magic kingdom? You know what I’m talking about. Endless rides, food, fun, games, Disney characters, oh yes… and Mickey Mouse. Disneyland is the place I’m talking about. The land of happiness, wear children and adults can spend a day (or many days) enjoying the multiple activities that are available to everyone.

Well… In my younger years my family lived in L.A. and we visited Disneyland quite a few times. Because we went when I was younger than 8, I always went on the “kid friendly” rides. You know them, “It’s a small world after all”, “Peter Pan”, “Star Wars”… and lets not forget “Dumbo”.

I haven’t been to Disneyland since I was 8, so I’ve pretty much forgot what all the rides were like. However I will never forget that infamous “Dumbo” ride! I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was 7 years old and my family had taken a trip to Disneyland for some fun. That was probably one of my most enjoyable times there. I went on “Thunder Mountain” and “Space Mountain” for the first time. Yes they scared the heck out of me but that’s ok. I went on those two coasters after my usual assortment of kid rides. After that I was ready to go on something more to my liking, to help me wind down.

As we walked in search of the right ride I spotted the “Dumbo” ride. As a 7 year old dumbo was the perfect ride to relax on. All you had to do was sit and decide whether you wanted to be up or down, or you could really style by going up AND down. Anyways, there was a pretty long line for that line, but I was determined to wait it out. After about fifteen minutes in line, and only moving a few feet, I began to get really bored. They should do a sideshow for all the people waiting in line or something like that. Well, you know how they have those fences that make the line, the metal ones? Well I decided to entertain myself by seeing if I could fit through the bars. Everybody knows that if you get your head through the rest of your body will follow. So, with that in mind I tried to stick my head through. I got it through on the first try! Oh yeah! Things were rolling! Feeling quite smug I continued my epic journey through the bars. That’s where things got a little dicey. For some reason the rest of my body wanted to stay on the other side of the bars! No problem, I would just pull my head back through and find something else to do. Riiiiiiggghht… I pulled but my head wouldn’t come back. I turned my head and pulled some more. Again it wouldn’t budge. About this time the line began to move (at a rapid pace I might add). Not wanting to be left behind I began to yell for my dad. Maybe scream is a better way to put it. As soon as dad got there though I began to calm down. It is common knowledge to all kids that dad can do anything. As dad stood there assessing the situation I could tell he was a little worried. He tried to pull my head through in many different ways but it just wouldn’t budge. All this time I was crying because my head was stuck and the line kept moving! It was bad enough to get my head stuck it was insult to watch all these different kids pass me and get on the ride ahead of me when they should’ve been behind me! After trying numerous times my dad began to look for someone from the park who could help. I was too traumatized to remember how they got me out. I think my dad was somehow able to do it. After all that drama there was absolutely NO WAY that I was going to miss the ride! Can you believe that I still had to wait in line?!?! All those people who were originally behind me were too selfish to let me back ahead of them. But I was a trooper. I had conquered the “dumbo line torture” and was not going to be defeated. To make matters even more trying it began to rain, and I’m not talking about a little drizzle. It was pouring! I was drenched even before I got on the ride. As soon as I got on my dumbo seat thing I tried to salvage my experience. It wasn’t meant to be. My dumboi was stuck on the lowest so I wasn’t able to go up. Instead I was forced to stay at ground level. At this turn of events I decided all in all that it wasn’t worth it.

Since then I've never been to disneyland and I've only ridden a ride once. You never know when and where disaster will strike. Especially in my life.

Runaway lawnmower!

Living in the country makes it so that there is plenty of lawn for everyone. This also means your screwed if you don't have a ride on lawnmower. I remember when we first moved from the city to the country. Once I saw the ride on mower I was quick to volunteer for lawnmower duty. After my Dad showed me the ropes I was good to go. There's nothing like driving a lawnmower at 3 mph when your 10 years old. Feelings of immense pride come over you as you mow, row by row, all afternoon. 10 year olds take these jobs seriously.

I remember once I decided I needed some company out there. After a while it gets boring so you have to come up with some sort of entertainment. Bored with the things I usually came up with, I invited my twin Brandon to ride with me. We had ourselves some real fun! Going around the yard at 2 mph (2 because of the added weight ), both squished on that little drivers seat... oh yeah. Good times! Well after a while of this Brandon got bored and decided to make things more interesting. He informed me that I needed to pop the clutch so he could change our speed. He obviously wanted a change of pace so I did it. As I clutched he threw it from 2nd gear to 6th! In the blink of an eye we went from 2 mph to 20! We went careening around the yard, both screaming at the top of our lungs, (me out of fear, Brandon out of pure delight). Once I recovered from the shock of it, I decided to get back control. I quickly went to clutch only to discover that it was stuck! At that moment Brandon yelled particularly loud. I looked up and was greeted with the sight of a huge tree stump right in our path. I yanked the steering wheel and, causing on side of the mower to become airborne, and we barely missed what probably would have been a tragic collision. At this point Brandon realized if he wanted to live he better had better help me stop the mower. I was finally able to clutch, but then Brandon couldn't change gears! I was just about to give the order to abandon ship when he finally was able to pop it into neutral and our ride ended.

We sat there for a minute or two, relishing the fact that we were alive and no major damage had been done. After making a quick recovery we decided we were done for the day. Brandon went inside while I parked the mower. Not wanting to ride the thing, I put it into neutral and pushed it. Now we parked the mower at the top of this decent sized slope. It was steeper than it looked. I had to push the mower a little ways down the hill to where we parked it. As I began to go down the hill I quickly came to the realization that I probably shouldn't push the mower down the hill. The mower had other plans though. As it picked up speed I put all I had into stopping it. I dug my feet in and held onto the back hoping that would work. Riiight. The mower shot down the hill dragging me along behind it. For some reason I thought I could stop it, even when I was being dragged spread eagle. The thought to let go didn't occur to me until I saw the tree. THEN I let go. I probably should have held on seeing as the mower completely missed the tree. I on the other hand crashed full force into it.

The mower probably planned it that way...