Luke's New Journal

Why browse Reddit, Facebook, or Google News or play Minecraft or watch movies when there are other things that I should be doing? Why do I have so much trouble sometimes sticking to my plan? What is the problem here? Mostly, it's procrastination. I have a project that needs to be done or housework or homework or anything that I'd rather not do right now but it's important to do, so my mind automatically wanders to try and escape doing it in the moment. Sometimes it's legitimate because I want to see if anyone has answered a question that I posted or reach out to someone about something important, but usually what should take one minute winds up taking fifteen. Sometimes there are things that come to mind and I think, "oh, I should post that thought online," and that gets me off track. Lastly, sometimes I feel like I "deserve" a break, so I just decide to heck with it, I'm going to play video games or browse the news because I just did x, y, and...

It's hard to see amazing band performances by other high schools around the country and not feel a little bit discouraged about my own group. When I see these "professional" high school groups perform, I start wondering what they would think of the high school groups in our area. I'm sure they would absolutely rip us to shreds. If one of those students had to move to our area, they most certainly wouldn't be interested in performing with us because of the complete disconnect between our two realities. But I also see myself as someone who could belong to both worlds. What's stopping me from going to a big city to lead a nationally recognized ensemble? If I really want those high-quality performance experiences, then that's where I need to go - at least that's what I start thinking when I get discouraged. However, I'm starting to understand that it's not all about making my group as good as those groups. If that were the goal, then it would be ...

By the time I turn 30, I want to get rid of my bad habits and replace them with better habits. One of those habits that I want to get rid of is spending too much time on Reddit and Facebook and then checking the news, especially while I'm at work. I am going to hold myself accountable for staying off of these distractions, even when it is well-meaning. After all, I can always post a question at any time of day, which means I can wait until I get home to post or check replies. So today, I'm not going to check any of those websites that usually get me caught up during the middle of the day.

I've had a problem with prayer. It undoubtedly declared itself during our stay in Seattle while Andrew was in the hospital, but it has been there all along in every other topic and problem and has been since. My problem with prayer is that God will do whatever He will do, and prayer doesn't change that. Now, someone will point out all of the great answers to prayer in the Bible and I am not going to argue with them: God has answered prayers in the past. But for all points and purposes, those prayers have all been about very large problems, like nations being destroyed or extreme droughts being ended. There are no prayers in the Bible like, "Lord, please give me a good night's sleep" that have been answered. So why do we bother to pray little prayers like that? My problem with prayer is that some people would argue, "Well, sometimes God answers 'No' and sometimes he answers 'Yes,' so we should always pray in case the answer might be yes when ...

I used to play a lot of video games on the computer. I would sit down for hours at a time and play. The problem was two-fold: first, I didn't really have any control over when I would start playing. The computer would sit in the living room and basically call my name and beckon me to play, and for the most part I would sit down pretty often and answer that call. Now I knew that this was a problem, and so I told myself that I needed to play less often, and then I set up some rules like 'only play after dinner' or 'only play after chores are done' or 'only play after going outside' or 'only play after practicing piano for an hour.' But because I was immature, I would ignore the rules that I set for myself, no matter how many times I tried or how much I prayed about it or how angry I got with myself over it. The second problem was that once I started playing, I never wanted to stop. Even on weekdays, I would sometimes sit down at 9:00 PM and then play u...

I tried to answer a question that I had asked myself this morning: What am I good at? The reason why I asked it is because I felt like maybe I wasn't in the right line of work. I felt like I just didn't have the passion for it like I used to. In fact, I feel like I lost the passion shortly after I started working six years ago. So I asked myself, what else am I good at? I figure that God gives us all talents, or at least the desire to be good at something, and whatever that is, that's what He wants us to do in life. Seeing as how my passion for teaching music feels diminished, I tried to think about other things that I might be good at or have a passion for. But no matter what else came to mind, my ability to play and understand music seemed to be my best attribute, followed by my desire to educate. Now there may be other ways to express my abilities, but at least I am sure of what they are, and that gives me some hope that I am following God's plan for my life. I s...

When the world gets too big, it helps to remember that Jesus is the sovereign king of heaven. He is there, ruling from heaven's throne, and no one can stand against him. When friends yell and argue at one another, when the world seems to be so divided, it helps to know that Jesus has not lost control, and that at some point he will fulfill his promise to return and rule over the Earth and its inhabitants. That may or may not be during our lifetime, but there is no need to fear the rapidly changing world or overwhelming circumstances. Have faith and trust in Jesus, who is faithful and true, and there is nothing to be feared. Live within the will of God and be blessed.