thankful

There are certain days in California when you have to go to the ocean. I'm not sure what separates these days from others, but there's something in the heat of the sun, the weariness of homework, the company of good amigos that inevitably leads you there. This past Friday was one of those days; it was the start of a good weekend.

First things first...my roommate went to a music festival and bought the new Jimmy Eat World album. If you are unaqainted with this record, please make the time to listen. amazingness.

On Saturday I met with a small group of guys I'm in. We're reading a book by Mike Erie, pastor of Rock Harbor, and it talked about how we always dwell on the things we don't have. At first it sounds obvious, in fact, we see this sort of behavior all the time; the American approach to happiness is bigger, more, faster. Contentment through this approach masquerades as something waiting for us just around the corner, but in reality is evasive and unattainable. But as I talked with my friends we realized that it goes much deeper than simply wanting more all the time. Our selfishness bleeds into everything we do; we start making decisions and doing things for other people for the sake of making ourselves feel better, more valuable, happy. We refuse to simply appreciate the present, but see every blessing as bringing us closer to that final goal; in reality we will never attain or achieve enough to satisfy our hunger. This is the lie we all believe.
This is the lie I want desperately to detach from.

I want to change the way I think. Every blessing in my life should be appreciated as exactly that, rather than as something leading to an even bigger, better blessing. It's so easy to take things for granted, to want more, to refuse to be thankful.

So with this in mind, I'm finding that there is plenty to be thankful for. This weekend alone, there's been so much good. Undeserved. But there all the same.

Highlight of the weekend? Without a doubt, spending time with her :)