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Faith, Life, and Lessons

Originally, I set up this blog to document my life on the Kivu Gap Year. However, I found the writing cathartic and decided to keep it going (very sporadically) in the hopes that others can glean some meaning from my thoughts and experiences.

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January 23, 2014

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I'm (officially) ENGAGED!

July 26, 2020

I had a phase of my life where I convinced myself that I would never get married or have children, that I wasn’t even meant to do that. I didn’t attach emotion to the declaration; it was almost the opposite. I took a starkly rational and utilitarian view of my life and decided that the time and emotional energy necessary to foster a family was simply too much, and my time was best used in other places. My ultimate goal was, and really still is, to glorify God by serving others in love, and I believed that I would be more “efficient” at this goal if I didn’t worry myself with the very taxing business of finding a mate and raising kids. The underlying assumption was that domestic affairs were always at odds with my ultimate purpose; they were indulgences in fleshly desires that should be avoided if they could (I was reading a lot of Paul, if you know what I’m sayin’). Over the course of about two years, I spoke with mentors and friends about my proposed singleton lifestyle and bega...

I'm Sick

August 20, 2016

Hi. I’m not really sure where to start, so I suppose I’ll just start with a Spark Notes™ version: This past April while I was studying for finals, I was lying out on the grass because I like to feel like I’m connected to the Earth. I got a bunch of bug bites on my back but wasn’t worried about it. A week later, I pulled what I thought was a scab off my back; I realized it was a tick whenever it started squirming in my fingers. I squished it and my own blood came out (unnecessary information, but I want you to feel the horror). Because I was flying out to Madrid the next day, I didn’t have time to worry about my little tag-along. However, once in Spain, I started getting bizarre leg spasms, backaches, headaches etc. I feared Lyme disease based on my Google searches, but it was super unproductive when I went to a doctor over there. I eventually convinced myself those were all symptoms of being in a new country with a new diet etc. Still, I got tested when I finally got back to Nash...

Looking Poverty in the Eyes

September 27, 2016

Those who know me well know that poverty and homelessness are issues that are very close to my heart. In fact, the concept of homelessness has plagued me since I can remember; it just doesn’t make sense from a childlike perception of the world. We have all these empty houses, but people are dying on the streets. That’s what I thought when I was 7, and I still hold those values to some extent (albeit hopefully in a more sophisticated and detailed analysis). The past few months especially, I’ve felt a dissonance in my spiritual life because of my lack of action on behalf of the poor. I don’t mean that in a “look how philanthropic I am” way at all because everyone is called to different issues, but in my personal life, I truly felt like a hypocrite to say that I follow Jesus while walking by those He would have ministered to. Obviously, I’m not Jesus, so I can’t possibly carry the weight of injustice and poverty on my shoulders. Still, I felt like I was allowing privilege and apathy to sh...