It's a Beautiful Day

Holy crap. I love those two words. Hmm.

It's good to be blogging again. I know I blogged early-early yesterday morning, but I feel as if I've lived a thousand lifetimes since then.
GOOD NEWS!!! I've put more thought to the whole "pursuing-a-girl" jazz. Umm, here it goes:

• I've started with prayer. Before I go to be at night, I pray. Before I get too far into my day, I pray. It's, uh, been interesting. My prayers have grown from "God, grant me the enabling to simply be a friend," to something much deeper and more intimate. I don't note this to build myself up and sound ultra-pious, but to let you know that I have grown. The depth to which God has grown me is a little too personal for a blog on the world wide web, but I have suddenly grown into a new relationship and understanding with God my Father. It's a relationship of sacrifice, because for all I know God may answer my prayer with a new direction, but it's a necessary step that must be taken.
• I've also learned a huge lesson in respect and self-control and patience. I know it's not fair for me to throw three of those into one like that, however they all just kind of came at me in one thought because I see how they are related. I'll try to divide and conquer so it's a little more easy to understand.
  When pursuing a girl and a lady and a woman of God, you have to understand before almost anything else that she is a person too, with her own story, her own friends, her own life, her own choices to make. The next step in that understanding is embracing respect for her story, her friends, her life, her choices. It then takes self-control and patience to constantly remind yourself NOT to monopolize and consume her time, and to respect how she chooses to interact with the above in her day-to-day.
• This leaves us with honesty. Honesty with yourself, honesty with her, honesty with God, honesty with your friends and her friends, and honesty with society at large. People aren't stupid, however they are prone to persuasion, and the more time and energy you invest in some one the more easily he or she will be persuaded to perceive care and concern on your part. If it is real, and genuine, then honesty will continue to carry the relationship on to wherever it leads. If it is misinterpreted and wrong, then honesty will steer the relationship to its next point in life. At either end of the spectrum, honesty is huge.

I don't know if you can get anything out of this, but it's just what I've come across and discovered in the past couple of days. Please don't be fooled into thinking that because I have discovered these joys that I am putting them into practice and "perfecting my craft" (it's an expression, not a statement of fact), almost the opposite; I would actually want to urge you to understand that my story has been one of struggle, one of sacrificing my pride and interests for the betterment of the relationship, and in their place I have chased after the elements mentioned above.
Having said all of this, there is a very obvious elephant in the room. If this post has lead you to the assuming question that perhaps I am speaking from recent, practical experience, then yes is your answer.

To change topics slightly, this should not be much longer, I am tired. I have not been sleeping as much as need be in the past few nights, and I think my contact lenses have been out of my eyes more than 8 hours once in the last 12 days. Tonight, I want to go to bed early, and sleep well.
I've noticed that with the steady decline in my sleep I've also seen a noticable increase in my agitation come daybreak, and a decrease in my performance in my academic, social, and physical endeavors (the day-to-day hustle and bustle) and I hope that by committing to more sleep tonight that I can awake refreshed and restrengthened for a new, beautiful day. That's what I strive for, and I think after all things are stripped away from today, I can say with honesty that it has been a beautiful day.

I've got the world on a string

The title has absolutely nothing to do with this blog.

I don't think it's by any accident that the Catholic Church places top dollar value on the Grace of Perseverance. Nor do I also think it's by any accident that Protestans believe that faith is a journey that we must persevere through.
Lately, my life has sucked. If you've paid any attention to my ramblings, rants, and moans from a few weeks prior you would know that. Add on classes, add on SGA, add on RA responsibilities not even connected to living in Gettys, add on my hope and search and desire to find a church with which I can live and work and grow, add on a social life, and well, life can get full pretty quick.
My life has been full, real full, these past few weeks, and all I've wanted and desired are strong relationships to keep me enthused about life. Last night I feel as if I hit rock stinking bottom. I completely slammed into the deepest pit of what I've been feeling.
And what did God do in response to sunkeness?
He picked me up. He picked me up and showed me that I should be proactive in my life and relationships and He set me on a course to find out deep relationships with others. I was reminded of the perseverance it takes to continue living life with faith. I was reminded that when times get tough and I need to lean on some one, I shouldn't expect others to run to me to offer their arm, hand, shoulder, whatever it is that I need. I was reminded that despite whatever wrongs I feel I've suffered under the neglect, oversight, absent-mindedness, or mistreatment from my friends, I am not perfect and I do neglect and forget and mistreat.