So the year is over. Like, totally over. My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. Grades are in and goodbyes have been said. So there are just a few more things I want to write while I'm still on this side of the Atlantic.
Rockbridge was a fantastic way to end the year, and I am incredibly excited about leading the Olde Campus guys' small group next year with Wyatt (love that guy). Over the last year, I've been seeing more and more just how strong sin truly is in our lives and the extent to which it controls and guides us, and unfortunately not the other way around. A lot of the things I've seen and heard this past week (and year) really cement that. But that's why we have to fight back. Of course, that could be part of the problem. We view this struggle as something we have to do instead of something we get to do as a way of glorifying and worshiping God. After all, what higher praise can we give God except by battling against something he hates so intensely as sin? That fight is a privilege, and is ultimately the only way we can receive true freedom. Which brings us back to an ever-present theme in the minds and hearts of men (and women) everywhere: Braveheart. Our fight against sin is about more than just getting through the day - it's about brotherhood, strength, and purity. It's about the idea that there is something more sovereign than we could ever be, and that something desires our freedom even more than we do. I want to thank everyone who fought that good fight with me this year, and I can't wait to keep it going next year.
That brings me to my next subject. What happens this summer? We won't have nearly as many people to help us in our struggles. But that can't mean that we just stop. It's going to be tough and it's going to be lonely, but with the help of facebook, skype, and the Biblia, I believe we'll all make it three months relatively unscathed.
I'm so glad I got back into my journaling/note-taking after a month long hiatus in April. I still refuse to let it become a woe-is-me pity party, or a "look what happened to me today" kind of thing (the same attitude I take toward this blog), but it is a place where I can be completely honest with myself and really work through stuff in words, and not just vacant thoughts.
Now, I have a lot I want to read this summer and I'm sure I won't get to it all, but I will try, and I will keep all of you updated on what I'm reading and when. At the moment I'm re-reading Yann Martel's Life of Pi, which I highly recommend to everyone out there, and I'm going to actually start making progress on American Pastoral by Philip Roth, which I mentioned a few entries ago, perhaps on the plane.
Other than that, not a lot going on, not many more thoughts on serious subjects, so I'll start to close this out. I want to send out a few personal thanks to Seth, Jon, Dan, Joel, Wyatt, Matt, Will, and Joseph for being such tremendous brothers all in your own ways, and you know what those ways are (I hope - if not, ask). If I didn't mention you by name, get over it, it doesn't mean I don't love you.
And with that, I leave you. I will be updating this over the summer. Please keep in touch - that will be terribly important for me. Keep fighting, and don't be afraid to show your battle wounds sometimes.
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