just curious, if you don't mind me asking, but how is your relationship with God ?
That's really hard to define. I believe it's rather strong, but it could always be stronger. An outsider could look at me (family member even) and think that I'm not very connected as I'm not a big church goer... I go on occasion, but that's not how I experience God for myself. I know ultimately he'd have me there. I just find a lot of it boring and cannot get into tha praise songs much. I find sermons of more entertainment value as that's where you learn God's word tha most unless you read tha bible for yourself. Only problem with that is it makes things difficult at times for interpretation. There can be lots of interpretation. Every church/religion is different, you align yourself with a church that closely resembles your beliefs or what makes sense to you. In some ways I've been blessed to have grandparents as Sunday School teachers. Quite frequently I work my daily problems into them which in turn usually ends up in a religous discussion. It's kind of a two-fold effect. I get to spend QT with my aging grandparents and get to have them tell me how I should come to church.
In tha end, how I've always experienced God is through people. In fact, I believe it's tha Holy Spirit that gets inside/ calls to people and carries out God's work on Earth. Because we each have free will we can accept or decline God's offer OR in my case most recently, LISTEN. I know I've shared this testimony before, but I'll share it again because I actually saved it and it directly showcases yet another example of how God works in my life:
Brian Keenan
For whatever reason, I was thinking about this quote I have in my signature over at Avant tha other day. It reads "I get the most wonderful high when I know that I've just affected a person's life in a seriously positive way. To me, this is much better than any high and it NEVER goes away. I can always look back fondly on these memories and feel the satisfaction and pride just like it happened at that moment...it's overwhelming to me. So I'm always seeking it out." These words came from SJA and are very meaningful to me for a whole host of different reasons. In fact it's how I try and live my life day by day. There will always be times where you find yourself doing things you just don't want to do, or living life at such a pace where you are constantly trying to get 'ahead'. These are times where you say to yourself "Man, I can't wait for tha weekend". Yet you fail to realize it's 5 days away. So instead of wishing your life away, or *****ing about tomorrow I've always tried to heed Steve's advice and live in tha now and for my sake really try to remember things. Because in tha end, thats all you have memories and if you take tha time to smell, feel, taste and see you could be able to recall it as if it were yesterday. This is one of those stories.
A few years ago when I first started lifting at Bloomsburg, there was a guy there named Brian Keenan. He worked at tha Student Rec Center and often his shift would coincide with me and Kelby's lifting time which was 9-10 at night. Brian was one of those guys who people looked up too. Even if you thought it was uncool to look up to someone or admire someone of tha same sex in college, you could just tell by tha people he associated with that many thought tha same way. He was of different calibur all together. The girls knew this too and it was fun to sit back at times and watch them swoon, but he had a girl and a lot of times because of this he had tons of clout in playing matchmaker for friends. You can imagine how jealous guys would get too, but thats not where I'm going with this... So anyhow, I think I first met Brian that first semester as a freshman and we chatted here and there on occasion like most gym-goers do. At that time I could tell he seemed like I cool person but what was usually overlooked by him getting my name wrong. Every time he saw me it was always something different.... Jared, Jason, Johnathon etc. I guess there was a time where he saw me across campus, yelled out my name and rushed to catch up with me just to say "Hi" but I had already boarded tha shuttle bus and never even gave him tha time of day because I didn't know tha fool screaming "Jason" really meant "Jordan".
As time went on, so did our friendship. Because Kelby had a different schedule than I, there were times where I had to lift on my own and it was always nice to have Brian greet me at tha door. One day, after my workout, we were standing around bullshitting and I asked him if there was anyway I could get a T-Shirt like tha one they wore for work. I'm not quite sure why I asked since I knew it would be next to impossible but I liked how they had STAFF on tha back and it was tha only Student Rec shirts available. "Sorry buddy, you gotta work here" he replied. I figured as much and left it as that. Over tha next few semesters, if I'd see him and there wasn't anything to talk about, I'd tease him about those shirts. I'd come up with humorous ways in which I could possibly get one, just for a laugh. For example, asking him if he could hook me up with one of his female co-workers just so I could sleep with her, but instead of actually sleeping with her, I just wanted to take off her clothes. Then I'd hi-tail it out tha back door with shirt in hand. Brian would always end our conversation with "For you Jordan, I'll do what I can to get you one".
I never realized how much those words meant to me until his last semester at Bloom. Like me, he graduated in December instead of your typical spring graduation. This would have been my Junior year, and for me personally this was one of those 'hit you like a ton of bricks' moments where God revealed Himself to me. It was about a week or two before finals. Once again I was doing my usual routine, hitting tha gym up late at night. Brian asked me something like how late I was going to be here (meaning in Bloom) and when my last final was. I told him I was going to stay til Friday, tha last day possible. He kinda shook his head; I laughed and thought nothing more of it. Before you knew it that THURSDAY came in a blink of an eye. I really felt bad driving to tha gym that night. I knew it would probably be tha last time I saw Brian. You try to find tha right words to say yet somehow no matter how many times you play it out in your head, it never comes out tha way in which you want it too. After my workout we said our goodbyes. I thanked him for his friendship and as always, like I tell everyone, I told him it's been real. We shook hands and then I made my towards tha door as tha rest of tha staff including Brian turned off tha lights and shut everything down. I was just about ready to open tha door when Brian yelled "Jordan, wait man, I have something for you". I turned around and gave a smile as I saw saw him and tha three other girls rushing towards me. It was then that it happened. He said "It might not be tha best Christmas present to get this year but at least I hope it means something", and with those words, in front of everyone, he took off his shirt and gave it to me… I really didn't know what to say and to be honest tha next few seconds are nothing but a blur. I just remember tha four of us getting into cars and Brian without a shirt on, and it snowing outside. I thank God I made it home safe that night because I cried like a child all tha way to my apartment. I was dumb struck, and it was then that I knew God had his plans for me. Brian touched me as much as I touched him. "I get the most wonderful high when I know that I've just affected a person's life in a seriously positive way. To me, this is much better than any high and it NEVER goes away. I can always look back fondly on these memories and feel the satisfaction and pride just like it happened at that moment...it's overwhelming to me." It is something I will never forget.
You want more irony? Fast forward a few years… I work at tha gym where I train – Armstrong Fitness in Halifax and have my own staff shirt now
