The "R" Word

Relationship.
Stop screaming. Please.
That's right, A little bit of nothing presents...a post by me...Relationships.
But, before I tell you what I think; let's look at what our culture says.
"Get in a relationship now! Sure, you're 15 now, do you want to be a bachelor all your life?
Look at all those lonely girls and your own lonely self. A Relationship will solve all your problems,
you're life will be filled with rainbows and butterflies forever! Everyone else is doing it, why not?
What have you got to lose?"
My turn.
I'm 18, ignoring culture and I've never been in a relationship. Stop looking at me like that.
Also, I am very happy. No really, stop looking at me like that.
Shocking isn't it?
Not really. Actually, encouraging infatuation at an early age is one of America's biggest mistakes.
We've seen the attraction of it, but let's look at the consequences.
First of all, when a teenager gets infatuated (And they insist on calling it love) the whole family gets an
overdose of drama, not to mention a much larger phone bill. Being a teenager is in reality a very stressful time
for a youth. Their bodies are growing and changing and the teen starts to wonder where their place in life is.
This time should be spent having fun, spending lots of time with friends and time with Jesus Christ.
Not stressing and sweating about the "love of their life."
Teenagers are just too young to handle the responsibility, the commitment and the sacrifices of a deep, Godly relationship that they insist on hurling themselves into.
It's insane!
I know it's hard to avoid those feelings, it's our God given nature to see that person and like what we see.
But that's another thing that we have to give to God. When the time comes, and the right person that God has chosen
for us comes it's exciting. But you don't want to have to tell her about all the stuff that went on before you met.
I'm trying to step carefully here, but there's also a chance that the two young lovers might become parents before wedlock.

A lot of teens go through girlfriends and boyfriends like candy. "I'm tired of this one, on to the next! Because it's going to be so much better!"
Think about the lyrics in some of the songs you hear. They sing about how they can't wait for the one to come, then they sing about the butterflies of love; moving on to how painful the breakup was and how they'll never forgive the person because they made their lives miserable and it keeps going on and on and on.
What I'm trying to say is this:
Enjoy your youth. Don't try it, you're too young whether you think so or not. God loves you, and he has someone out there for you. Good things come to those who wait.

What is a purity ring? In my little bit of nothing opinion, here goes.
A purity ring is a promise. To me it says, "I promise that I will run from, and keep far away from
physical impurity (I won't sleep around)" It's a promise to God, and a promise to my parents and everyone else that I'm going to keep myself for my wife.I have been asked "Why not just make the promise and skip the ring?" Well, I want people
to know that I have made this promise and that I take it seriously. Seriously enough to wear this uncomfortable titanium steel band on my ring finger. I'm not going to talk about the birds and the bees, but we men have eyes that see, and bodies that
want. Given a situation, it would take a decent amount of self-control to resist temptation. This ring
won't protect me, but it will remind me that I need to protect myself, and ask God for protection.
T some, it might seem to be a little bit of nothing, but to me it's a deep and sincere promise.

That's passion

There is a passion within us that runs through our lives. This is a passion for something else that we cannot express or put into words. An emptiness that longs to be filled. A darkness that needs a light.
When we are absent from God's Love, Grace and Forgiveness we feel this passion.
It's the passion for God.
When I pray (Something I need to do more often) I often pray that I would want to want God.
This simply means that I don't feel like I want God, so I pray that I would want to want Him.
I think when our lives are going smooth we lay God aside because we don't want him at that moment.
We think we don't need him.
We could not be further from the truth; we must want God at all times. That's why I have to pray.
I have to pray for that passion to be inside again.
Trials are a good thing. It's good for us to be beaten down, sorrowful. Sometimes it's good to cry.
Because when we cry we cry out to someone, and that someone answers.
I've learned that God isn't always hasty.
When I pray for something, I want immediate answers. I want my problem to be fixed within the hour.
I close my eyes tight and I say; "Okay God, when I wake up in the morning I want all of this to be fine. Right?"
Well, it doesn't happen that way. We don't get immediate fixes unless God wants to work a miracle.
All trials and hard times come to an end for good.
So when we pray and ask for passion, we're really asking for a trial.
Whatever you do, don't ask for patience. I made that mistake and God made me a very patient person.
Let me tell you something...it drove me crazy. But it worked. I prayed for something, I got a trial and it worked.
I think God sees us praying and He says to himself; "Look at Alec down there, praying for patience. Well, if he needs to be patient he's going to need something to be patient about..." And so it starts.
The cool thing about Trusting God is that we know without a thought that he is Trustworthy. He knows me better than my mirror. He knows exactly what I need, when I need it and when I need it and how much of it I need.
When we think he's not there, that passion is growing. God doesn't just go, "Oh, okay, you want this fixed? Here ya go buddy! Have fun!" He sets out a journey for us, and then he guides us along it. When we ignore his way we fall, and he patiently helps us pick ourselves up. He sends us joy for strength, passion for energy and makes sure our focus is not on our own feet, but on him.
That's passion.

This is now

Before this time I was using this blog as a place for randomness and non-meaningful writings.
Time to take this a little more seriously.
I don't know how much is going to change around here, but it will change.
I am an 18 year old Christian young man who wishes to change the world but cannot.
So I'm starting this new chapter through my blog as a way to present a little bit of nothing.
Hopefully, I can somehow make clear the reality of God's Love, and how real it is.