Life a Weblog for Young Adults

Do you remember learning to ride your bike, that moment when your father finally took his hands off the seat and trusted you to pedal on your own? It was probably one of the proudest moments of your life until you looked down and realized the training wheels were also gone. I am certain you recall the pain you felt when you fell off your bike and onto the pavement. Something about the fall (and the bruise you had to show for it) made you angry about the choice you had made. The sense of pride was taken from you in a matter of seconds, and it was difficult to imagine what lured you to want to ride that bike in the first place.

In college I wrestled for the University of Kentucky. I remember during my freshman year I wanted to quit wrestling and hang up the shoes. I was tired of cutting weight and the classes were much harder than I had anticipated. Things were pretty tough at the time, and I wanted to bail out.

The mission was clear-cut—revitalize the Desire neighborhood through spiritual and community development. With their focus on youth, they provided safe recreational opportunities, tutoring, and Bible studies. In doing so, they became fathers to the fatherless. “We called our philosophy ‘incarnational ministry,’ so we lived in the community and became neighbors, integrating ourselves as much as possible into the fabric of the community,”

Some people preach that if you pray the right way, or if you pray enough, or you give enough money, God will give you what you want. Maybe we don’t buy this when we see it preached on TV, but when we’re faced with tragedy, we can’t help but entertain those thoughts. Here’s the only problem … how much is a life worth? If we could afford it, would it be worth the price of the whole mosaic? And would I really demand it from the One who did not spare His only Son so that we could all be a part of the mosaic in the first place?

Looking over my old journals, I saw a pattern I hadn’t noticed before. When things in my life are going well, the entries are few and far between. But when everything gets hard, the entries are right on top of each other.