So I have just spent the past week in California with my family. We started off in Cambria and ended up in LA and it has been quite the trip. Cambria is a small little retirement town with not much going on, but was one of the prettiest places I have ever been. LA is such the opposite. So much going on with so many people (rich people I must add). I would say I have enjoyed myself this past week- Running along the cliffs of Cambria and the strands of LA, visiting a wine vineyard... But one thing has really been bothering me- I haven't made time for a quiet time, a time to sit down and really dig in the word.
LA (and even Cambria and most of California) is so so so beautiful and if you have the money, it is paradise and "easy livin". The houses are unbelievable... and the people seem to be living in a dream world-- bike rides along the beach, sun tanned skin, beautiful clothes. But I started thinking about life in california and looking back on life in Raleigh, my roommates and my friends back at home who are growing daily with the Lord. Their lives are changing drastically everyday and I'm almost "stuck" in time here. That is what distractions seem to do to people--suck them into a life that will lead you nowhere.
So even though California is so beautiful and the people are so interesting, without time with the Lord, and without that growth, there is absolutely no fulfillment. It's all empty. Why would anybody want this life? I look back at my friends in Raleigh with envy. I want to be back home growing with them, serving the Lord with them, loving with them.
My prayer is that my month in Saranac Village would NOT be this way. I don't want another place away from home to distract me. I want to take the LORD with me. I want to learn that discipline and that balance of beauty & fulfillment and as I keep learning over and over,
True Joy comes from serving OTHERS and ultimately serving the Lord
