The Hidden Blessing of Job

I remember the first time I heard the term 'prosperity Gospel.' Honestly, I had no idea what it really meant, but it sounded good. After all, 'prosperity' is a good word, and so is 'Gospel,' so surely combining the two would be a good thing, right?

Wrong.

Now, I know what prosperity Gospel means, and I know that it's founded on the idea that with more faith, positive speech and tithing, one's material wealth will increase. It' essentially the belief that God's will is to financially bless His people, and frankly, when I read the Bible, I don't see this belief holding much of any validity.

I just finished up reading the book of Job. For those of you who don't know, Job was a guy in the Old Testament of the Bible who was considered to be the most righteous man on the earth. God saw him as this, and God knew that whatever happened to him, he wouldn't curse God's name. Then, the devil challenged this belief God had and struck Job with all of these plagues and terrible things, all of which God gave the devil permission to do, as long as he didn't kill Job. Job receives all of these plagues, but he never once curses God, even after his wife tells him to. He and his friends spend about 20 chapters discussing the 'why' of what's happening, but not once does Job curse his God.

Throughout the dialogue of Job and his friend's discussion, you get a glimpse into what Job's life looked like and how he lived. He lived a life of blessing, but even more than that, he really did live a life of righteousness. He fed and clothed the poor with his own sheep and food, he was a father to the fatherless and cared for widows, and he even made a covenant with his eyes to never look lustfully at another woman besides his wife. He truly lived righteously, but even yet, that did not stop the hard things from happening to him in his life.

It's hard to argue that anyone has ever lived as righteously as Job did but lost as much as Job lost. He lost all his sons and daughters, all of his livestock, all his servants and was even inflicted with lots of physical pain and sickness. He was truly tested, and that didn't look anything like 'prosperity Gospel.' It looked like the opposite. No matter how much faith, positive speech and tithing he participated in, he still was pushed to the limits here on earth. Blessings weren't given to him; they were taken away; however, I don't think anyone has ever been more blessed by God than how Job was treated.

God saw Job so righteous that God tested him to the most extreme of human circumstances in his day and time. God knew Job's heart so well that He knew that Job would not break. God knew where Job's treasure really was. He knew it wasn't in his stuff, wasn't in his family and wasn't in his health, but that his treasure was truly with God in Heaven. 

I can only pray that one day God sees me in the light that He saw Job- that He sees me as righteous enough to take everything I may hold dear to me away from me in order to prove that my heart really is with Him no matter what. That's my prayer.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Blessing doesn't always look like 'being blessed;' sometimes it looks like suffering.

The Seventh Day

​“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”​

This is the Biblical account of the seventh day of the world, and unlike the days before it, nothing was created, but everything was finished. The seventh day was a day of rest. 

I'm not sure if you've ever thought much about what God resting might look like, but think about it for a second. What does it look like for the Creator and Sustainer of the world to rest? Does He nap? Does He sit back, chill and watch His creation unfold? Maybe He people watches. I'm not sure, but I believe that there's something to be said for even the God of the universe taking a rest and a break from creation because He knows it's good and that He created it perfect, perfect to naturally, kind of "run itself," if you will.

I feel like God rested to show us that we all need rest sometimes and that the world will be just fine on its own without our input for a day. He made the seventh day a blessing and a break from all of the work, creating and business of the other six days of the week. The seventh day is a gift. 

God gave us rest and showed us rest when He didn't have to. He didn't have to take a break or show us how to take breaks. He could've kept working after He created Adam and Eve and put them to work strait away, but instead He blessed them with the command to be fruitful and multiply, while also giving them a day of rest and displaying the importance of rest by showing them that even the Creator of it all is humble enough to let the world spin and take a rest. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Taking rest is a symbol of humility.  

The Sixth Day

"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

"And God blessed them, And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.' And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."

This is the Biblical account of the sixth day of the world, and what a busy day it must've been. It's the day all gaps of the creation process were filled. It's the day that God finally populated with universe's first and best zoo. The sixth day of creation is why you and I are here and why you and I are surrounded by all we are surrounded by. 

The sixth day of the world was absolutely epic, and somehow, seems like it would've taken the most work. From creating every wild animal, every single bug and every piece of livestock to creating the human species, a lot went into day six; plus, day six would've been like God's Friday, and He work extra hard that day! I don't know about you, but for me, Fridays barely count as work days because the week is basically over. God didn't care though; He grinded it out all week, and then He finished just as strong, if not stronger than He started, with even more creativity and personal touch. 

I also think the sixth day of creation is amazing because of the way God seemed to have the whole world prepared just for what was coming into it: animals and people. He had already provided every piece of food, every piece of shelter and every piece of clothing that we and the rest of creation might need. He didn't create humans before He created provision for us, and He didn't create plants before He created sunlight. He knew what He was doing.

The sixth day of creation had to have been the longest day of creation; I feel like God definitely put in some over-time hours knowing He was going to be creating something in His image and knowing what all that was going to do. I'm glad He did it though. I'm so glad He made us and let us be a part of His story and that now, because He created us all those years ago, we get to live forever with Him in His New Creation. What could be better?

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God made a great place for us to live in; He would be a great zookeeper. 

The Fifth Day

"And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.' So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day."

This is the Biblical account of the fifth day of the world. This was the day that God filled the oceans, lakes, rivers and skies with all their living creatures. It was the day He filled the ocean's depths with all the mysterious creatures we barely know of and all the mysterious creatures that we don't know anything of. He made the creatures great and small, and He made some to live longer than other. He gave us birds to soar and fly throughout the heavens making traveling through the air appear seemingly effortless, while man still tries his hardest to build machines that can only scratch the surface of the elegance of flying.

It was on the fifth day that God decided to venture into the heights and depths of His creation and fill them with specific life that could only live there. He went to the deepest valleys of the ocean and left His fingerprints on sea creatures we've only just begun to discover, and He went to the highest of heights and filled the skies with birds of all kinds that seem to be able to fly to outer space if they wanted too, as they fly for hundreds upon hundreds of miles. 

God made the fifth day a special day because it was the day He told us that, "There is no place I do not know or have not been on my creation. I have covered it in my handiwork. You can go as deep as you want or as high as you want, but you cannot escape Me. I have created all and filled creation with all, and I know every height and depth of it." God truly knows this world better than we ever could. He has made it to be explored, and He's left a never-ending path of creatures for us to discover along the way. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God has truly left his fingerprints all over the earth, both at its highest and lowest points. 

The Fourth Day

"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in he expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day."

This is the Biblical account of the fourth day of the world. This is the day that God made the sun, the moon and the stars and the day that He hung them in the heavens. Like most days in the creation story, this day too has its questions and mysteries, but personally, this day has more questions and mysteries than others. 

It was on day one that God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. It was on day one that He gave the world something to break through the darkness; however, what was the light He gave on day one if didn't put the sun, moon or stars into place until day four? 

This was something that I noticed for the first time today as I was rereading the creation account. I didn't catch it at first, but then when I thought about it, I had to wonder why God would make more lights if the world already had light. Why would He need to create "two great light" if the world already had light enough for plants, vegetation and life to grow? 

I don't know the answer to this, and I'm not a theological expert, but I have a guess: What if the light from day one was simply God Himself? What if He was the one giving light to the world? I may be reading the creation account wrong, but I really do wonder why there's light on day one, enough light to have plants on day three and then two other 'great' lights are created on day four. It's just so cool to me in my head to think about God actually being all the light that's needed for the entire earth. It's like that picture we get in Revelation of the new Heaven when the world doesn't need the sun or the moon anymore because God will be the only light we'll need. I feel like Genesis was just a foreshadowing of what's to come in Eternity.

God made the sun, the moon and the stars because He knew we'd need them, but one day we won't. I'm pumped for that day.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God is and has always been the true Light of the world, even before the sun, moon and stars.

The Third Day

"And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

"And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.' And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day."

This is the Biblical account of the third day of the world. Land was formed, as mountains and hills jutted out of the ground, while valleys and prairies fell at their feet. Water rushed around the world filling river beds, lakes, seas and oceans, separating the salt water from the fresh water. The Creator who needs no land or water to walk on created land and water for us to walk on so we could walk with Him. 

The third day was the first day of life. Plants and vegetation sprouted out of the ground for the first time in preparation for what was to come next. Fruits, vegetables, seeds and plants took over the earth in preparation for the provision it would soon have to provide for all living creatures, and flowers and trees clothed it in matchless beauty. 

 An invisible Creator created the visible, and the Provider of all provided provision. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The third day was the first day of life, just as the third day was our first day of salvation. 

The Second Day

"And God said, '"Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."' And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day."

This is the Biblical account of the second day of the world's creation. This was the day that God made sky. He made the heavens. This is the day that there became a separation between sky and earth, the day that birds had a place to fly and the day that space and open skies became a reality.

The day that God made the Heavens must've been beautiful. It would've been the day that hosted the first sunrise and the first sunset, the day that made cloud watching possible and the day that gave way to the great expanse of sky that wraps around the entire world. He separated clouds from lakes and storms from oceans, all with the command of His voice. 

That was the second day.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The first sunrise and sunset must've been special; it was the beginning of the sky's worship toward the Heavens. 

The Builder

A good builder once constructed a beautiful house. He laid the foundation, built the walls and finished the roof all by himself. When he was finished, he looked at the house and saw that it was good. ​

Eventually, a storm came and hit that house. It knocked some of the shingles off and did some damage to the walls. The house was no longer what it was before, and the builder was grieved by what he saw. After all, he'd put so much work into it, but now the house was broken. It wasn't strong anymore. So, the builder tore down the house and started over. He rebuilt the house, fixed it and binded it up, making it stronger than before. Though the storm broke the house, the builder knocked it down, but after that, he fixed it. ​He made it better, and the house was stronger.

​“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”

-‭‭Hosea‬ ‭6:1‬ ‭

Just like the builder, God is in control. He may break us down, but He will also heal us. He may strike us down, but He is also the one Who will bind us up. ​He may discipline those He loves, but He will no doubt heal them all the more. 

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: You're the house; He's the builder. ​

The First Day

In the the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

This is the Biblical account of the first day. It was the beginning. It was on this day that the world was formed and creation begin, and its account is both mysterious and beautiful. It's an account that not only tells the story of creation itself, but it also tells the story of the creation that must happen in our lives if we want rebirth.

In the beginning, God created us, but we were without true form, void and full of darkness; however, the Spirit of God was still with us.

Then, one day, God performs a miracle in our lives and says, "Let there be Light," and He introduces us to His Son, Jesus. He calls His Son, the Light, good, and while there is still darkness, He separates that from us and gives us Day, and it's from that Day that we have our first day, our first day of Real Life and Real Creation in Him.

You're a creation, and you were formed by Him. He can and will speak Light into you. Live your first day.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Once there was chaos and darkness, but then He spoke order and Light.

Why We All Love Vintage

A while back, I was staying at my family's cabin in Colorado for a few days over the summer. It's an old cabin, built in the early 1900's with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. It has the smells of fresh aspen and mountain air, making it better than living inside of a candle. It's full of squeaky floorboards, absent of cell phone reception and hooked up with tons of old mountain memorabilia. Frankly, it's one of my favorite places to go "get away" from everything.

Another thing this cabin has is an old rotary telephone. I don't know if you've ever seen one of these before, but essentially, it's a phone with circular dial board that, in order to dial, you have to place your finger in each number's place and slide it around the circle until the number you want dialed hits the end of the circle. Now, these kinds of phones are pretty old (I say that not to offend anyone that's lived in the era of rotary telephones, but to state just how far technology has come). They're old enough, in fact, that I went through life without knowing how to use one, so when it came to using the rotary phone at this cabin, I was clueless. I just thought, like most phones now a days, you just had to press the button where the number was you wanted to dial, and it would work; that's not the case. Needless to say, the first time I tried to use the rotary phone, I sat there for several seconds wondering why the phone wasn't dialing, ringing or connecting me call. For the first time in my life, my parents knew how to use a piece of technology that I didn't know how to use. For the first time in my life, I became aware that something so old could seem so new.

Old things seeming new is an interesting phenomenon. It's 2016, and we're all obsessed with things from 1916. Our culture loves vintage, retro, throwback and old-school memorabilia. We're intrigued by the nostalgia, the uniqueness and, frankly, the awesomeness of things from days past. Whether it's record players, vintage clothing or typewriters, we all love things from the past, and a lot of the things we love from the past can teach us something in the present. 

Past things, no matter how old they are, tend to hold some sort of relevance today, and past things, no matter how old they are, can seem brand new to us when in all actuality, they're quite old. Just how old things seem new,  the Bible is the same way. It was written hundreds of years ago, yet still, somehow, it speaks newness to different people all over the world every day. Just like I was able to learn something new from a 50-year-old telephone, I'm able to learn from a thousand-year-old book. No wonder we all love vintage; we learn things from it.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't discount anyone or anything because of age or place in time. There are things to be learned from the past.

Listen: Lord Have Mercy

Much of the heart behind this blog is honesty. I like to be honest in everything I say, write and encourage. I like to be vulnerable and I like to be able to share hope, fellowship and struggles with others so they know they're not alone. With that, I want to leave you with this song. It's a song of vulnerability, and it's a song that's an honest, humble approach to receiving mercy. I hope it can mean as much to you as it has to me.

When I come to You in prayer, Lord have mercy
And when I wonder if You're there, Lord have mercy
When I cannot find the way, Lord Have Mercy
Should my heart my heart begin to stray, Lord Have Mercy

When I lay me down to sleep, Lord have mercy
And when the road ahead gets steep, Lord have mercy
When I falter, when I fail, Lord Have Mercy
May Your kindness still prevail, Lord Have Mercy  

When I see Your promises, Lord have mercy
Knowing well that I am blessed, Lord have mercy
Oh may I never cease to ask, Lord Have Mercy
Til' I breathe my very last, Lord Have Mercy

How great, how great is Your faithfulness, 
Oh Your faithfulness

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Lord, have mercy. We need it.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Life is made up of mountaintops, valleys, clear paths and tunnels. We all walk through the valley of the shadow of death sometimes, and we all see glory from the top of mountains other times. 

When you look at life this way, you begin to see it as an adventure, and just like most adventures, not everything goes right all of the time. You have to overcome obstacles, and you have to look for the light at the end of the tunnel to keep pressing on sometimes. It's that little light that gives hope. 

Keep pursuing the light at the end of your tunnel, no matter how far away it may seem. Press toward the light in life because it's the light that casts out darkness.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Resist the dark and pursue the light.  

The Truth Behind 'the Older Ya Get, the Faster Time Goes'

I never really believed it until now, but I think it's true; The older you get, the faster that time goes. The seasons change faster than ever before, with leaves falling off and then returning before I can even get used to the cold weather. 

When I was younger, time seemed to be ran by sloths. It went so slow! I remember how it seemed like an eternity just waiting for my birthday to roll around each year. Now, that's not the case. First it's another new year, then before I know it, it's another birthday, and I'm one year closer to 100. It's a phenomenon that I don't quite understand.  

The faster time goes by, the farther behind I feel. I don't feel caught up with where I'm supposed to be in life, and I definitely don't feel like I'm 24 years old. It's still 2008, and I'm still 17 in my mind. 

Where does time go? It seems like just the other day my biggest concern was graduating high school, and now my biggest concern is about how to prepare for a family. It's crazy. 

I really believe it's true though; I think time moves faster the older you get, not literally, but seemingly. I think time goes by faster the older you get because the older you get the more perspective you have on time and just how precious it is. The older you get, the more you realize the truth behind the idea that time is a person's most valuable thing.

As you ring in the New Year tonight, take a moment to reflect on just how crazy it is that another year has come and gone and just how fast it happened. If you feel like time is flying by, it's because it is and because you're beginning to realize just how precious life is. It's something to celebrate.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Time feels like it's flying by because it really is. 

Why Being Humbled is Like Being a Nobody

It's funny how small you feel when nobody knows who you are. ​

You may have experienced this feeling if you've traveled to another state or another country by yourself. Heck, you may have experienced it your first day of college walking into a classroom with no one you knew in it. It's this awkward, humbling feeling of, "wow, I'm literally a nobody."​

I experience this feeling the first time I moved out of state after college. I moved to Seattle, WA from Stillwater, Okla. In Stillwater, people knew me. I was a successful college student who knew a lot of people on campus, in church and in the community. I'd established a reputation, if you will. However, as soon as I moved to Seattle, I was a nobody. No one knew who I was, no one knew who 'Pistol Pete' was, and hardly anyone even knew where Oklahoma was. Talk about a humbling moment when your fun fact is, "I used to be Pistol Pete," and the person looks at you like you're crazy and asks who that even is. ​

It was even worse when I moved across the big pond. People thought the idea of anyone carrying a gun, much less a mascot, was a crazy idea. People had no idea who I was, where I was coming from and could hardly believe I'd never been to our nations capital because, "doesn't everyone have to go there?" There's nothing that makes you feel small like moving away from home. ​

Feeling small and moving away from home have their perks though. It's like you get a clean slate. People don't know you, so you kinda get to start over. I'm not talking about in a way that you should change who you are, but more along the lines of the opposite. You're in a place where you don't have to try to be someone you're not anymore. You're in a place where you can truly be you (hopefully you're already truly being you, but if you're not, it's a fresh start). 

There's also something about needing to be humbled. I think it's something we all need to experience- I sure did. I was up on my high horse thinking I was all that and a bag of cow chips when suddenly, I was no one. I needed that. I needed to be reminded that the world is big, I'm small, and I'm only here for a short period of time in a small place ​in a big world. 

Sometimes God humbles you Himself, and sometimes He has His creation do it for him. 

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: The world is big. You're small. Be humble. ​

4 Keys to Developing Discipline into the New Year

Waking up in the morning can be a chore. So can making your bed, exercising, cooking, reading and other things in life that, in the long run, are really good for you to do; however, these things take time and take effort, and they all have one thing in common; They require discipline.

Lately, I've struggled with taking the lazy train to life. I've slept in longer than I've wanted to, making getting to work on time stressful, I haven't exercised in who knows how long, and I can count the number of meals I've cooked for myself over the past month on one hand. Needless to say, I'm not happy with where my discipline level currently is, so to celebrate the New Year and New Year's resolutions, I've come up with a few keys to help myself get back to being the disciplined person I like to be. Maybe you'll find them helpful, as well.

1) Set a Schedule
In order to start practicing discipline in your daily routine, you have to set a schedule and start at the basics. Whether you're looking to eat healthier or start exercising regularly, it's important to set aside some times throughout your day to do these things. Even if it means just waking up 15 minutes earlier to make a fresh salad to take for lunch, rather than hitting up Taco Bell at noon, setting a schedule and planning a head is a key to start living a more disciplined lifestyle.

 2) See Discipline as a Means to Dreams
We all have goals, whether it's to complete an 'Iron Man' Triathlon or just to simply wake up by 8 a.m. every morning. Goals come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing all goals have in common is that they all require discipline. If you want to accomplish something, it's going to take effort, and odds are, it's not going to happen over night. View discipline as the helpful means to your dreams. Without it, it's unlikely those dreams will unfold, and you can bet that anyone who's doing what you one day dream of doing got there with lots of time, effort and discipline.

3) Start Small
Disciplining yourself isn't easy. If it was, it wouldn't be called discipline. If you're looking to start making improvements in your life that require discipline, start small. Don't set yourself up for 'failure' by promising to do a lot of life changing things all at once. Start with something basic, like exercising twice a week, and build up some victory confidence, and then move forward. It's easier to practice discipline with a winning attitude, rather than a losing once. Take the small victories and go from there!

4) Don't Be Too Hard on Yourself
Like all things in life, sometimes there's failure. Pursing discipline is no different. There are going to be days when things don't go according to plan and that the discipline you're chasing after turns into a touch of laziness. When that happens, don't let it get you down. No ones perfect, and we all need rest. If your pursuit of discipline takes a trip on the lazy train for a day, don't beat yourself up. Get back on track and pick up where you left off. Don't give up and don't ditching your discipline.

With the New Year approaching and everyone starting their New Year's resolutions, start a simple one for yourself; Look to live a more disciplined life in at least one area you want to improve on. For me, it's going to be getting my butt out of bed before the sun comes up. Will it happen over night? No, but that's what discipline is for. Good luck on all of your New Year's Resolutions, and feel free to share some below!

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Discipline is the means to dreams. 

The Normalization of Narcissism

If I went back in time 15 years and told someone that in just a few short years, 1 out of every 5 people on the entire planet would have a webpage dedicated to themselves, I wonder if they would believe me? 

Honestly, it still kind of blows my mind, but according to an article I was reading on IBT, Facebook has somewhere around 1.39 billion users. That's crazy! . . . especially when you compare it with the number of people in the world living without electricity or clean drinking water. It's mind blowing that so many people, myself included, basically have websites dedicated to ourselves. I'm not saying that these websites, Facebook pages or Instagram accounts are evil, but there's certainly something to be said for the world containing as many Facebook pages as there are people that have access to any form of electricity.

We've all created pages, essentially, dedicated to ourselves that keep our eyes glued down to ourselves, rather than up and looking at others. We take photos  and become good at storytelling, but bad at storyliving. We post those photos of ourselves and our experiences, and when we get a better photo, we post that one. We obsess over what will get us the most likes, and when we sit around with our friends, our phones are in hand, and sometimes the only conversation that happens consists of asking the question, "What should I caption this?" 

Yours truly is guilty first and foremost of all of this, which is why I'm asking the question, am I a part of the most narcissistic generation?

Narcissism is, at its core, loving oneself. It's self obsession and infatuation with, not just one's appearance, but one's self importance. Narcissism is the driving force behind my need to check social media, not to see what other people are up to, but to check to see how many 'likes,' comments or compliments I, personally, have received. Rarely am I checking because of what other people post, but I check it because I want to make sure other people have seen what I've posted. Essentially, I love myself, and I want to make sure other people do too. I've become so focused on making sure that the stories I'm telling on my social media accounts and blog are exciting that I've forgotten to focus on the exciting world and people around me. Pretty sad, huh?

Confession: Even writing this will fuel my narcissism. I'll post it on MY website, link it to MY Facebook and Twitter accounts and then I'll check on it every hour or so to make sure I'm getting good feedback on MY thoughts. Narcissism at it's finest, but even worse than that, all of what I just said, frankly, sounds normal. Narcissism has become normal.

The scary thing about all this is that there's this verse in the Bible that warns us about narcissism becoming normal in our culture. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be loves of self. . .  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

This scares me because it sounds just like me and just like a lot of my generation; however, at the heart of my generation, I don't believe we're aiming to be narcissists. I believe we're aiming to be good storylivers and good storytellers; it's just that often times, we get too caught up in telling our own stories, rather than listening to other people's stories. So, next time before you press the 'publish' button on your social media account or pull up your webpage to see how many 'likes' you've received, focus on something someone else has already published and what's being published right in front of you in real life. Don't pursue self-love, but instead pursue sacrifice.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't let narcissism become normal. 

'When It's Always Winter But Never Christmas'

It never fails, Oklahoma weather is confusing no matter the season. Christmas Day felt like a beautiful spring afternoon, and now it's two days after Christmas and, it finally looks and feels like Christmas.

It will probably feel like winter for at least two more months, with a few warm days mixed in here and there, making the cold months drag on. There's just something depressing ​about this. When it's cold outside with nothing to do, it's just kinda sad. The grass and trees lay dormant giving the landscape and 'dead look,' and the nights come super early. Basically, when it's just winter and the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays are over, the cold weather just kind of loses its appeal. 

The things I like about cold weather tend to revolve around the holidays, like most people. I enjoy the Christmas feeling, snow, fireplaces and flannels, but after New Years, I'm just kind of ready for it to be over and ready for spring. ​

Today is a prime example. There's a north wind of 30 mph, it's sleeting and it's 30 degrees outside. Every inch of me is ready for spring, but that's just not how things work; however there is that longing for spring. 

I'm not sure what I would do it I knew in my mind I had zero hope for warm weather ever again. If there was no hope for green grass, blue skies and baseball games, I think I'd go crazy. It's that little ounce of hope that keeps me going and keeps me bearing through the winter season because it is just that, a season. ​

I want to look at life more like this now too. I want to be able to look at it in a way that has hope for new seasons if I'm in the midst ​of a tough one. It won't always be winter, and life won't always be difficult. There are seasons and times for everything, and it's the hope of those new seasons that keeps us all going. 

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: "It's always winter, but never Christmas." ​

Why Nostalgia Hurts

Every time I go home, I get this really weird feeling. It's called nostalgia. ​

It's all over the walls in the pictures, it's in the home movies in the cabinets and its in every room in the memories. Honestly, I'm not a fan. 

Nostaligia kinda hurts. It can be full of people who have come and gone in your life, full of regret or what ifs and full of old memories that have come and gone. It's difficult to handle in big doses, and personally, can seem unhealthy at times. ​

For me, when I experience too much nostalgia, it physically makes me sick. It puts my stomach in knots and makes my mind race. It's like an adventure back to old relationships, friendships and family members that are no longer in my life making me wonder what happened to everyone and everything. People move on, in this life and the next, and it's just super weird to think about. I'm now old enough to mourn over things I used to be to young to mourn, and sometimes just seems to hit all at once. 

I'm not sure why nostalgia is a thing or what it's purpose is within the human emotional palet, but maybe it is for the whole mourning and learning from the past. It hurts, but it's good. I think it's good to be able to mourn and reflect on things past that maybe you were once too young to understand. Maybe it's good to have some nostalgia, even though I think it sucks sometimes. ​

Nostalgia can hurt, but it can also helps, and I'm thankful that when its hardest at home, I am at home with the people I love most. ​

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: Nostalgia, embrace it. ​

3 Ways to Avoid Awkward Family Holiday Experiences

The holiday season is a wonderful time of year, but it can also be . . . Awkward. 

That's right. There's just something about spending 3 or 4 hours with family members you only see once or twice a year. I realize I'm a day late on this, but after facing the awkwardness myself, I decided to come up with 3 ways to casually avoid the awkwardness that only holidays can bring. 

1) Don't be an adult.  

Literally, don't be an adult. Be almost a child. Not like in a way that craps your pants, but in a way that doesn't know awkward silences exist. Speak your mind, make dumb jokes and eat lots of dessert. As a kid, you wouldn't recognize the awkwardness of certain situations. You would only take every opportunity to have fun. Try it. Have fun with your family and don't be afraid to sit at the kids table. 

2) Respectfully decline conversations concerning salary, politics and what's in the casserole 

What can be worse than discussing you're current relationship status or when you're going to have kids? Politics, salaries and who made the not so tasty casserole. Avoid these conversation topics at all costs because they can often only go south. Instead, pick conversations that are extended but not limited to puppies, Star Wars (no spoilers) or the weather (excluding global warming). If you stick to these conversation topics, you can rest assured that the most awkward part of your family holiday experience will only be holding hands during the family prayer. 

3) Handshakes, not hugs

I don't care if your grandma is coming in hot with arms wide open and you haven't seen her in five years. This is strictly business. Shake her hand. You don't want to try to figure out who to give side hugs to, who to give full frontal hugs to or who to give bro hugs to. Stick with the handshakes. 

There you have it. If you follow these three steps, you'll be guaranteed to not have an awkward holiday. You may not seem human, you may get a lot of weird looks and no one will like you by the end of it, but you will have pushed the awkwardness off for another year. Cheers, and have a very merry, unawkward Christmas and New Year!

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't follow this list.  

The Day We Turned Jesus' Birthday Into Our Own

May 15th is a special day; it's my fiance's birthday. This year, I already have in mind what I'm going to do to celebrate with her. This year for her birthday, I'm going to take her fishing. She doesn't really like fishing all that much, but I think it will still be a good time. We can have some good conversation while we're waiting for the fish to bite, and I can give her some nice compliments and tell her how beautiful she always looks while we're sitting there. It should be a great time. . . for me. 

I like to fish, and in reality, if I were to really take her fishing for her birthday, she'd be pretty upset with me because:

1) she doesn't like to fish all that much
2) going fishing would be more for me than it would be for her
and
3) it's her birthday, not mine

When it comes to birthdays, it should always be more about celebrating the other person and doing what they want to do, rather than celebrating and treating their birthday like it's your own birthday. Birthdays should be times of selfless celebration of someone else. In my fiance and I's case, celebrating her birthday would look more like me taking her shopping, then out to a nice dinner followed by some spontaneous, adventurous activity. I would want to celebrate it in a way that was best for what she wanted, not what I want.

I feel like Christians, myself included, struggle with this same issue when it comes to celebrating Christmas, aka: Jesus' birthday. When it comes to celebrating Christmas, we try to turn it from His birthday into our own birthday just like Jesus turned water into wine. We easily become wrapped up in how we want to celebrate His birthday, more so than how He would want us to celebrate His birthday. It's so easy to take Christmas and turn it into our own party. We become obsessed with what we want, getting all our shopping done and what foods we're going to eat. None of these are bad things, but at the same time, they're things that become more about celebrating us than Him on His day. We become content with going to a service on Christmas Eve and saying a family prayer before the big meal, and then we're good to go. It bothers me just how much I've removed Christ from Christmas, as cliche as that sounds. 

When it comes to Christmas this year, I want to be able to slow down enough to put into practice the answer to the question: How would Jesus want want His birthday celebrated?

I think Jesus would want His birthday celebrated by us serving others, just as He came and served us. He came and "though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, by taking the form a a servent, being born in the likeness of man" (Phil. 2:6-7).

This Christmas, try to remember that you aren't celebrating your birthday; you're celebrating His. Try not to get wrapped up in how perfect you want everything, and instead get wrapped up in delighting to be a servant to those around you. 

Have a Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't be that guy that tries to turn someone else's party into your own.