True Love - For the Ladies

Reader’s Digest’s article “10 Tips for Finding True Love and Happiness” implies that true love is happiness. This article is for the ladies – how to find the man of your dreams. A few of the tips include: leaving the past in the past, getting out there (“ALWAYS go to parties”), go against the hype, take your time, etc. It okays moving in together before marriage and “passionate, amazing sex”.

For the ladies – Here is my response to Reader’s Digest (get ready):

Love. It captures hearts. It steals thoughts. It causes butterflies in your stomach and a smile on your face. I am intrigued by love. I ache for love. I want it.

Let me say it again: I WANT MY TRUE LOVE.

And I can have it.

But not it the way that Reader’s Digest suggests.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

I am amazed by God’s love – particularly that it is just. We are taught that love is based on feelings, that it doesn’t have to be logical, that it can go against authority if it is strong enough. We are taught, quite honestly, that love means sex, and you don’t really love him if you aren’t willing to give yourself away. (Remember that statement.) We want our hearts to be captured; we want our thoughts to linger on someone; we ache for those butterflies … We want to love, and we want to be loved.

But here’s the thing, ladies. We’re going about it all the wrong way. What if I told you that you already ARE loved? “Ya, ya, ya.. I know, I know. God loves me.” But that knowledge doesn’t satisfy anything, does it. Nope. That knowledge alone doesn’t satisfy anything.

DON’T STOP READING.

For all of you who don’t know Christ, that statement was true. For all of you who do, that statement probably caused a little bit of an angry feeling in your stomach. But listen -

YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE. 

Let me make sure we understand what God’s love means.

God’s love = the Gospel message.

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There is NOTHING we can do to deserve His love. Only when we are perfect do we deserve it.

But I said His love is just. How could His love be just if we don’t deserve it? If He loves us despite us not deserving it … well that is not justice at all.

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Romans 10:9-10 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

There is nothing we can do to be able to get to Heaven or to deserve His love. But when we accept (believe He is risen and confess Him as Lord of our life) the ONLY WAY to Heaven and to His love -the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross-, we are saved. We are justified by it. His love is just because Jesus paid for all of our sin. Just like someone behind you in the grocery store could pay for your groceries. God paid for your sin. And you never have to pay it again!

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the ultimate way that God show’s His love. He gives us freedom from sin! He gives us hope of a future in heaven with Him!

Okay, so remember what I said at the beginning? You don’t really love Him if you don’t give yourself away. That is true. But WAIT. I changed it here. The “H” is capital. Our greatest love isn’t another earthly man who sins as much as you. It is with the One who IS the Authority, who isn’t based on feelings, but gives them as a blessing. Who defies human logic, but is really the most logical answer of them all. This love is astounding to me. We show our love by first asking for forgiveness. We show our love by giving ourselves to Him. For forever.

And after we are saved by believing and confessing: He gives peace. He gives joy. He carries us. His grace is sufficient for us. He is constant. He never leaves us. He changes us to look more like him. He satisfies us.

Don’t get me wrong. Circumstances in life may still be hard. But He gives peace and joy and grace in the middle of that. He satisfies us despite what happens.

How amazing that this huge God can remain perfect and still rescue and care for little ol’ me! How amazing that I can be satisfied no matter what this life brings! This is greater than any man.

HERE’S THE THING, THOUGH. GOD DID GIVE US MEN. 

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LordGod made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Gen 2:4 – 3:24

Actually, He gave us to men. He gave us a desire to love them. He gave us the butterfly feeling. He created the smile. He wants us to find a suitable partner. But He also says:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

So ladies. I have that ache for a man, too. But I know that God has a perfect plan. One that will glorify Him and prosper me. Let’s say thank you to God’s just love by giving ourselves to Him. Let’s remain pure. There will be so much less hurt. There will be so much less pain. Because He gives us peace even in the hardest times. Let’s say thank you to God by loving a man that desires the same as us! A man who God, because He loves us, brings together with you by your love for Him. God models the love that is truest of all.

Text Response Week 9

The cartoon by Daryl Cagle on page 325 portrays the negative side of standardized testing. The cartoon has a man in human resources asking a student, “So, how has high school prepared you for this job?” The artist’s main point is that high school prepares a student for standardized testing, which is not helpful in the real world. (Argument! 325)

This argument is overlooking a major point.

High school students or recent high school graduates that work must find jobs that do not require a degree. This is obviously because they do not have a degree. Popular examples include an animal shelter worker, babysitting, car wash attendant, grocery store employee, lawn care, pizza delivery, fast food, retail, tutor, etc. The cartoonist’s argument seems to be saying that standardized testing is used too much because it does not give hands-on application. However, this does not matter. This is because first jobs usually do not require education at all. Thus, “standardized testing or not” is not an applicable question at this point. The fact is that it most likely will not have prepared them for the job because it is not necessary.

College is where hands-on matters. This is the time where students will be applying for jobs where schooling is absolutely necessary; jobs will be an application of degrees. If college were mostly focused on standardized testing, it would be a problem. Would you want a neurosurgeon working on your brain that has never performed an operation? Even if he had taken tests on how to do it? No. It is completely different. College is time for hands-on, specific learning.

Colleges already do this. Inside Higher Ed in Washington D.C., states that institutions are “emphasiz[ing] the importance of internships across all majors, and some even make the experience a requirement for graduation.” In fact, Robert Shindell, director of content and resource development at Intern Bridge (“the nation’s premier college recruiting consulting and research firm”), was quoted saying:

"Even academicians 100 years ago recognized that the classroom could not be the sole provider of experiences for students to help them transition to the world of work. There had to be something more. It's like we're coming full circle and coming back to what higher education is and should be. And that is an engagement of the whole student." -Shindell

High school is important for building a foundation of knowledge. One cannot apply information without having learned the information. Standardized testing is a way to make sure the students have learned the base information. Thus, standardized testing is beneficial.

College is important for learning more in depth and, in turn, being able to apply the information in real life.

This cartoon makes a great point – high school and standardized testing does not prepare a student for jobs that require a degree. However, at that age, most students will not be applying for jobs where amount of education will matter. Thus, this cartoon is irrelevant.

Crossfit, Insanity, and P90X

In the article, “Don’t Be Fooled by Crossfit, Insanity, orP90x”, Dr. Justin Lin encourages people to not use these programs. This is because the intensity can cause injury later on. He states that these workouts are beneficial and yield great results. However, they are extreme right away. Dr. Lin says, “Don’t be fooled by these insane and inane programs. They may only work for a short time but the price you pay later may be high. I’m going to leave these workouts for the athletes who are already training in this explosive manner and the military personnel.”  While injury may result from these workout problems, there are a few reasons that this does not mean you should quit them altogether.

First, injuries are seen in many types of programs. For example, injuries using exercise equipment have increased 45% between 2007 and 2010. The most common injury was reported being the treadmill. There are injuries in every form of exercise.

Second, the presence of injuries does not mean that everyone should quit that form of exercise altogether. For example, there are many injuries from running. So should running  be banned? While there are cases where people do need to quit, it is not a black or white issue. For example, my dad was born with a smaller and hand and foot. This means that his form of exercise must be modified. Running for him causes injury. But does that mean that every person should quit running? No!

Instead, one must be careful in how they exercise. Insanity and P90x are very clear that every person should go at their own pace. The programs are not pushing for every person to be at the same level and the same extremity. On one hand, injury is the person’s own fault. In fact, they could push it too hard even on a treadmill. On the other hand, I understand these are very extreme programs. There is the possibility of injury. In that case, take it at your own pace and take breaks. If the person does not know how to do that, it may be time to quit. However, that is not the program’s fault. I have done both Insanity and P90x, and both are clear that the first week will be tough; they are both clear that expectations should not be to do the work outs perfectly the first few weeks.

This is where the structure of the programs are beneficial. The workouts include a few successive weeks of the same videos, then a recovery week. The last half includes another set of more difficult workouts that are repeated until the end. The whole structure is set around the idea of improvement. Exercisers are not expected to do every workout at the beginning. However, they will improve by the end and see results.

The workouts are also well rounded. In general, it is important to complete exercise and activity in four different categories: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. First, endurance keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy. This is also called aerobic activity. Second, strength makes your muscles stronger. This is anaerobic training. It can also get your heart rate up. This is also called anaeurobic activity. Both anaerobic and aerobic are extremely important. Third, balance strengthens your core and helps prevent falls. Lastly, flexibility helps your muscles recover from your workouts. It also helps your body stay limber and healthy. All of these areas are important in exercise, and are seen in these programs. For example, P90x includes weight training and pushups and pullups, which are strength. It also includes cardio which is endurance. Yoga is strength, flexibility, and balance. In addition, it has the option for a day of stretching and a mandatory day for rest.

These programs are very well rounded and effective. Instead of quitting due to fear of injury, take it easy at the beginning and work your way up… Just like every other form of exercise!

I saw results and I know you can, too.

Note: I do realize some people physically cannot complete these extreme forms of exercise. The programs are clear that one must talk to there doctors first. I agree! I am merely pointing out that the range of people that have the ability to do this is larger than athletes already in great shape.

Jessica-Results.jpg

Society Is Dead: We Have Retreated into the iWorld

In “Society is Dead: We Have Retreated into the iWorld”, Andrew Sullivan discusses the negative aspects of technology - most of society has become isolated and narrow. Headphones allow people to get lost in their own music and enveloped in their own social media. They move without a care to who they are walking alongside or passing on the street. Sullivan says that “technology has given us a universe entirely for ourselves-where the serendipity of meeting a new stranger, hearing a piece of music we would never choose for ourselves or an opinion that might force us to change our mind about something are effectively banished” (Argument! 279). He encourages people to take out their headphones and enjoy the world.

           

Amen to that.

Technology has become a way to strip the world of vulnerability. This is because being vulnerable means leaving your heart open to attack. That is scary. So, we can combat the fear of being rejected, or the uncomfortable-ness of an “awkward silence” by whipping out the cell phone. It puts up a wall between the outside world, telling them that you are content with your inside circle of friends (whether it is true or not). Like Andrew Sullivan said, it allows people to “just tune in and tune out” (Argument! 279). Because of this, Sullivan encourages people to take out their ear buds, turn off their twitter, and enjoy the world.

But when you turn off your music, what are you going to find? You will find everyone still immersed in social media and technology, like Sullivan did. For you to be able to have a conversation and smile at someone on your bus, they have to be paying attention, too. In other words, Sullivan is implying that everyone must retreat from the iWorld in order for society to be revived.

This is not likely. It is a fantastic plea, and I believe it can be done to some extent. However, technology is continually advancing; it is becoming more and more difficult to not use social media. In fact, statistics from 2013 show that 91% of everyone on earth had a mobile phone, 56% of all people owning a smart phone. This shows how much Apple has even advanced since this article – everyone was using iPods. Now, you would see people surfing the web on their iPhones while listening to their music.

Instead of trying to fight the technology, let’s encourage it.

What if, instead of using technology to cover up vulnerability, we actually used it to take a chance and reach out to others? If the entire world is using social media, what better way to reach them?

A simple encouraging text could make someone’s day. After meeting someone at a social event, FaceBook them and let them know it was great to meet them. Instead of making social media a place to only follow people who have the same opinions, we could use it to let people know that they are cared for and they are seen – even when their headphones are in.

But wait – don’t people have headphones in to escape reality?

Yes, but usually the escape from reality is because they have been hurt, or they have a fear of being hurt.

I agree with Sullivan in that the ear buds need to come out for a little while. A person cannot meet others if they are only focused on their cell phone.

But then, once you have left the social setting, you can put your tunes back in and send that text. Of course, one must be careful with their words and who they send it to. I am not advocating for a society of “creepers”; I am advocating for a society who reaches out to others in person, and then follows up the relationships with social media and technology.

Use the iWorld to build relationships and reach out.

Do it.

I dare you.