me me me

hello everyone, its pouring rain right now and I supposedly have class in 45 minutes. blacksburg weather is so gross in the winter. this is all supposed to turn to ice/snow by later today too, of course. anyways, a few corrections from the last post: stefanie is not in costa rica... she's in the dominican republic working as an art teacher at doulos discovery school in jarabacoa. she loves it there and is with awesome Godly people doing awesome things for the sake of the Kingdom, I am very encouraged by her and cannot wait to visit in march, also I am "turning over a new leaf" (as we've all been calling it) this semester and so are most of the other guys in the house. this has nothing to do with new years or any resolution because I think that new years resolutions are stupid. we all had a chance over break to look at how we had been living at the end last semester and honestly it was filth. We ate crappy food, none of us did anything active, and honestly we were all pretty negative towards each other and about life really. so yes, jackson and I are hitting the gym again, we are all trying to eat healthier, I'm actually not running... I freaking hate running in the cold so I'm swimming three days a week until it gets warm enough to run.

the change I am most excited about though, is loving one another better. I have been learning a lot about Love lately. all different types. affection, friendship, eros (or sexual love and attraction between the sexes.) I told the guys in my house at family dinner that I think the way I love people is directly related to my relationship with the Father and my selflessness. I am so selfish. I am obsessed with myself, college life seems to foster selfishness. what am I going to eat today, how am I feeling, worrying about my classes, my grades, I need time to myself. Me me me. when stef and I went to church together in kansas at vintage church, a guy named Tom Brawner (ex younglife staff from texas) spoke about selfishness and how it affects relationships. he made a profound argument: when we stop thinking about ourselves so much and spend time with God, we actually bring the Kingdom of Heaven into our relationships.(you can listen to the sermon here: http://vintagelawrence.com/getting-back-on-track-relationally/ ) libby ryder (my dear friend with lymphoma who I have mentioned before) shared this insight with me: we simply dont have the the time to hold back from loving people. through her experience with cancer she has learned that loving people is incredibly important and that life is incredibly fleeting, why would we ever hold back? Jesus says we are to love others the way we love ourselves, that's nuts. what if we thought of other people as much as we think about ourselves? what if we loved people without expectation of anything in return? That would be crazy, that would be bringing Heaven crashing into earth, that is where Jesus says life is found. so, may we at the willard house carry out our new vision, may we love each other as we love ourselves, and may we begin to break out of our selfish shells in order to live the life that God has planned for us.

grace and peace,
jc

ps : many of us will be headed to rockbridge alum springs this weekend for our regional prayer overnight, it should be awesome. also, we cant wait to see matt hypes, the only person we know who regularly reads this blog.. haha