Luke’s Notebook

1 Thessalonians 5

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

There is just so much to be thankful for. So much. Day-in and day-out. We live in such a great country. We have so many blessings. We have a God Who is just crazy about us.

Me, personally, I have so much to thank God for. It can almost be embarrassing to list just how good I have it. I have this incredible family, I have so many opportunities. Everyday life is so fun, and I have so much hope for the future.

What really, really bothers me is the fact that despite all of that, I can still find things to worry about, to complain about. Things that, in my mind, should be easier, should be clearer, should be more comfortable.

But there really is no reason to not have an ongoing “Thank You” to God, every single day, no matter what, in all circumstances.

One thing that just constantly amazes me about my mom is how she just lives that verse that I posted. She doesn’t TALK about it; she just DOES it! And what I’m realizing is that she is constantly choosing this. She is choosing joy, choosing thankfulness. It doesn’t mean that it’s always easy, but it’s even more remarkable when she does it anyway, when she does it despite her feelings.

I’ve been trying to do a lot lately when it comes to exercising and getting in good shape. And while I’ve known for a long time that I’m not going to accidentally get in good shape or accidentally get stronger, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that I’m not going to accidentally have a good attitude.

Just like I lift weights knowing that those muscles will grow, by exercising joy or thankfulness, I’m developing those muscles, as well. Those will grow. I’ll get used to being joyful and thankful in every situation.

Think what a powerful force we would be if we truly were joyful and thankful in everything! What could Satan do to hurt us? How could we be derailed? So many times, the things that will get me down is when I start to depend on other people or other circumstances to supply me with joy. If I could just shake off the self-consciousness, KNOWING that I have this amazing God who is crazy about me, and just simply focus on loving Him and pleasing Him, then how free I would be!

If you’re not relying on any outside source to make you happy, then you really are invulnerable! If God’s love is enough, then what could ever get you down? Then, anything good that happens is just a bonus, and the bad still isn’t enough to shake you, because you know — you just know — that you are treasured by God, and He loves you more than you can even comprehend. What an amazing truth!

I’m hungry. I want to just go inside the kitchen and eat something. Maybe some leftovers from the fridge, or maybe something from the cabinets. Popcorn, perhaps?

It would be really, really easy to just walk in there and munch on something. I’ve been kind of wrestling with the idea for the last little bit. Eat something, or just go to bed? Eat something? Go to bed?

This isn’t an uncommon dilemma. I’m sure a lot of people can relate! And it’s easy to give in any one given time, reasoning, “Well, whatever I eat this time isn’t going to make THAT big of a difference.”

I’m tempted to try to fool myself into thinking that food really doesn’t taste that great. “Naw, Luke, you don’t really want to eat those chocolate-chip cookies, do you?” That approach just doesn’t help too much, because the truth is I do want to eat them!

So instead of trying to convince myself that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to desire food, I’m trying to remind myself of the rewards I get for holding off.

The truth is, I would love to be able to eat everything I want and still be in good shape. But that just doesn’t happen! So I need to decide what I want more. It can’t be a food = bad approach, because that’s not the truth, and my self just won’t buy into that notion.

What tends to work for me is to look forward to something better, to have a REASON for this. It’s an investment, but I know that I will reap the rewards.

Just like so many things in life, it’s delayed gratification. It’s trusting that by passing up on the pleasure right in front of me, I’ll be so happy I did later on. And obviously this is not at all limited to food, but it’s a great example since it’s a constant struggle, and I think most everybody can relate to it.

The key is just to remember why I’m doing this. Because the truth is, it’s not fun to deny ourselves! It’s not fun to say “no” to our flesh. Sometimes it’ll throw a little tempter tantrum, or other times it will just kind of drag its feet. But we’re not DOING this because it’s fun; we’re doing it because we believe that we will be rewarded.

So yes, I’m pretty hungry. But this is just another perfect opportunity for me to choose to pass up on the immediate gratification, but to build towards something better. Plus, it’s just a really, really good habit to get into to keep our selves on a leash. I think it’s a great habit to get into, so I’m trying to make myself embrace these times where I actually have a distinct choice.

1 Corinthians 9:27

No, I beat my body and make it my slave…

It’s so easy to have it be the other way around, where we are constantly at the feet of our flesh, day and night, doing whatever we can to satisfy its every whim. But the tables need to be turned. The flesh needs to throw an apron on and get to work!

You know what I just love? Humor!

I’ve got to say, being in this family, in this environment, there is just so much fun, so much humor, so much joking around. The senses of humor, the wit, the cleverness — it’s really astonishing!

Countless inside jokes, so many “Remember when” moments — just all sorts of things that will just make you crack up! Some frightfully corny, others more intelligent, and some just completely out of left field.

Humor is such an interesting thing. It really doesn’t seem like it serves much of a practical purpose, but it sure is fun. It makes me just so thankful that God even invented humor. There’s just something about cracking up over seeing or hearing something funny.

What really amazes me is how pure humor can be. Lots of times, we’ll hear a dirty joke or a comedian who is pretty lewd or explicit. There might be humor in there, but… is it really worth it for all the other stuff you have to ingest?

But here, there’s just so many different levels of humor, so many sharp minds, and the most remarkable thing about it is we’re finding out you can enjoy this without compromising, without having to give in a little bit. It doesn’t have to be laced with sexual innuendos, profanity, or cynicism. And you don’t have to feel a little tainted afterwards, knowing you really shouldn’t have heard/said/read that.

I just love laughing, love irony, love thinking about inside jokes or quotes — which will sometimes just incite a little burst of laughter. There is just something about humor, about laughter. And what’s so cool is there are a bunch of other guys in the family who tend to see things from a similar angle.

I think, overall, we just tend to see humor in things. I think it takes a lighthearted personality. You have to be able to not take yourself too seriously, not take your feelings too seriously. And when you ca approach life in general with that lighthearted view, you can just see humor in things. It’s really, really fun.

I always look forward to when some of us guys get married, and we welcome different girls and their families into our lives, and get to share this stuff with them! The stories, the jokes, the adventures, the… there’s just so much! I just want to say to them, “Welcome to the club. Get ready for some fun times!”

So it’s just pretty neat to have so many brilliant minds, so many great senses of humor. Even little David is so funny to watch. You can see the wheels turning in his head when he starts to process a joke, or when he senses the irony in a certain situation.

All I can say is it’s fun. And I just thank God, first of all, for creating the entire concept of humor! I sure wouldn’t have thought of that! Secondly, I’m just so blessed to have a bunch of people to share that with.

Thank You, God, for humor!!

It’s funny how this works. Sometimes, I’ll be just totally out of ideas on what to write about, and other times it’s like I have just too many things I want to write at one time.

Oftentimes, I’ll try to start a list and save ideas of things to write about. While this is handy, I find that it takes a certain inspiration or push to actually finish something! I’ve had several half-written entries lately, but it’s like I just could never get a handle on what I was trying to say.

I have had one very distinct recurring theme in my head recently. It’s character. The past year or two, I have realized how priceless character is, and I have been working hard to build strong character in my life, in every aspect.

I’m not exactly sure why it has become so important to me, but it has. If there is one thing that people would say about me, I would hope it would be that I have good character. More than being a smart guy, a funny guy, a handsome guy, an athletic guy — I want, first and foremost, people to notice a guy with good character.

To me, having good character means two things primarily — integrity and hard work.

Integrity is huge to me. I want to be trustworthy. I want people to know that when I say something, it’s the truth. I want them to know that I’m not going to twist anything, that I’m not going to shade the truth in any way. I never want to cause them to wonder if they’re getting the full story from me.

The problem with an approach like this is then you can’t hide the fact that you’re sinful, that you’re imperfect, that you’re weak. But I think everybody in the world can relate to some insecurities, some shortcomings, some imperfection. We know that people are human and are prone to sin.

So instead of pretending that I’m perfect, I want to admit that I, too, am a sinner, and if it wasn’t for Jesus, then I’d be hopeless. I’m imperfect, but I want to be perfect. I’m not going to stop trying.

Being honest doesn’t mean being tactless, but I think we know it when we see it. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to walk up to a stranger and start talking about all the times you’ve messed up.

It is such an awful feeling if you just think you can’t quite trust somebody, or you just wonder if they’re being totally authentic with you. I wish I could just tell people, “Look, I’m imperfect. Please don’t pretend to be perfect if you’re not. Just be real!”

That’s what I have been focusing on a lot lately, to just be as real, as genuine as possible. Maybe it’s bland at times, but I want people to at least know that what they see is what they get, that I’m reliable and trustworthy. And of course, it’s my responsibility to actually BE reliable and trustworthy, to earn people’s respect.

Trusting someone’s character, to me, is a little more than simply trusting their honesty. It’s that, but it’s also just kind of knowing how they tick. You can usually give a pretty good guess on how a person is going to handle any given situation, just based on their character.

I don’t write about relationships much at all (which is kind of odd in itself, I realize), but if I can trust a girl’s character, then that’s just priceless to me. It has NEVER been about perfection — since we’ve all sinned and fallen short — but it’s about that character, about where you are now, where your heart is.

Secondly, I think having good character involves some sort of discipline or good work ethic. Some people, you just KNOW they’re hard workers, that they’ll give their all. It doesn’t mean they’re the smartest, the fastest, or the strongest, but you just know they’re going to work their hardest, wherever they are.

The best parallel I can think of for this is sports. See, I have started playing volleyball the past few weeks, on a team with a few aunts and uncles of mine. Now, while I tend to be pretty good at softball, I’m not nearly as experienced or smooth with volleyball. This means I make plenty of silly mistakes.

But what I want to be obvious is that, even if I’m just simply a poor volleyball player, I’m trying. I’m hustling, and I’m going to give it all I’ve got. If I’m bad, I’m bad; but at least people can know that I’m going to try my hardest.

In softball, an analogy is to just run out a ground ball. You hit an infield grounder, which is normally a sure out, but you sprint top speed anyway. You’re just giving it your all.

See, character has nothing to do with talent, smarts, or ability. So, as funny as it may sound, I would MUCH rather people say, “Boy, that Luke guy just isn’t very bright,” or “Gee, Luke just isn’t an athlete,” as opposed to them saying, “Luke is awesome, but he just doesn’t try!”

I may be nit-picking, but to me there is an enormous difference. It means using all of what God has given you. Sure, some people are going to naturally be smarter, stronger, more talented — whatever — but anybody can give it their all. And there is just a certain respect I have for somebody who is being genuine, who is trying. It’s funny how something like that can be much more impressive than a bunch of impressive credentials or a long list of accomplishments.

Well, it has been almost two months since we got the BlackBerries. I’ve been using my BlackBerry pretty much exclusively since I got it activated, with a couple of exceptions.

See, initially I had planned on using a Windows Mobile-based phone, like the HTC Mogul or the brand-new Touch Pro. In fact, after playing with a Mogul a few times at a couple different Sprint kiosks in the mall, I was ready to get one of those. So ready, in fact, that I actually bought one off of eBay, anticipating that I would sell my like-new BlackBerry and move to the Mogul.

On Tuesday night, I decided to activate my Mogul — that is, more my phone number to it — and try it out. I immediately found myself missing the BlackBerry, and by Wednesday afternoon, my BB Curve was back online, and my Mogul was headed back for eBay.

Honestly, I find myself kind of shocked to have sided with the BlackBerry. The last few months I was with Verizon, I had a Palm Treo 700wx, which runs Windows Mobile. I was sure that I would want to use something with WM. Besides, the BlackBerries just seemed… weird. The interface is different. The way they handle e-mail is different. The browser is different.

So what happened? Why did I ditch the Mogul so quickly?

Simply put, I just missed the BlackBerry! I missed most everything about it — its size, its ease of use, its keyboard, its applications, its functionality as a phone, the cohesiveness of everything.

The Mogul, I thought, was going to be the ideal phone for me. It runs Windows Mobile, and it has a nice touch screen, a large slide-out keyboard, and built-in wireless infrared, along with Bluetooth. It has everything! Almost.

In reality, the Mogul just couldn’t compare to the Curve. Ease of use, the Curve won hands-down, and I think the best way to explain why is to say this: The Mogul appears to be a miniature computer first, a cell phone second. While the idea of a pocket-sized computer is extremely appealing, the device just seems kind of sluggish overall. And the phone aspect of it just doesn’t seem that great.

The slide-out keyboard on the Mogul, which I thought was kind of cool and a very clever design, ended up being somewhat of a pain to use. The keyboard itself seems to work very well, but it’s that sliding that gets to be bothersome. Plus, the Mogul is not very easy to use one-handed when it’s open; you pretty much need to be holding it with both hands while the keyboard is out.

To its credit, the Mogul has built-in wireless, which is a nice plus. Also, it does a real good job of streaming audio and video from my desktop computer. I can actually watch live TV on there if I wanted to, and it looks very good!

Another huge selling point for the Mogul, or any Windows Mobile device, was the ability to be able to use my remote-control software in order to log in to any computer and control it remotely — on the Mogul itself!

This actually worked really, really well, and despite the small screen size, I think it could be practical, particularly in those times where I’m away from the house (and without my laptop), and somebody needs some quick remote help.

The third main advantage for the Mogul, as I could see it, was its auto-complete feature with text. Basically, when you’re typing, a little drop-down menu will appear that suggests different words. So if you typed “def,” it may suggest “definitely,” and it then saves you quite a few keystrokes when you select the word. Also, what was nice is the auto-complete would learn new words. So before long, it recognized “Arndt,” and would start to suggest it.

Back to the BlackBerry. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of a turnkey approach for gadgets or computers. I love to customize, to tweak, to extend whatever it is I’m using. So I came into the world of BlackBerry dreading that perceived loss of functionality or extensibility.

Well, what I have quickly learned is that sometimes it’s a good thing to have someone else do it for you. I’m amazed at just how well-done the BlackBerry is. Everything fuses together so well, and it really is the ultimate e-mail/messaging device!

In addition to e-mail and text-messaging, they have chat clients for AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and the BlackBerry Messenger, which is just a great little chat program for BB users. Also, there are MySpace and Facebook applications, which make accessing your account a lot easier.

On top of all of that, there are alerts for each of those programs, and you can customize what happens when, say, you receive an alert on Facebook, or if you have a message on Google Talk.

Also, the way the Curve handles e-mail is unique but very nice! Basically, instead of your device having to check e-mail every five or 10 minutes, the BlackBerry service will do the work for you, and will just send you the messages the instant they arrive. Pretty nice!

I’m not crazy about the way the Curve deals with streaming audio and video, though. For some reason, it’s just really bad at it; I can’t really use it to log in and watch TV. Not that that’s a big issue, really, but it is a really cool feature to have available.

So while the Curve isn’t perfect, I really am blown away by how well it works and by how much I just like it!! The BlackBerry Messenger program is becoming one of my favorites, because all of the guys in the family can chat live on it. In fact, yesterday, Jude, John, and I had a three-way chat going on, as we were trying to figure out some last-minute details on covering depositions. It’s perfect for times where you can’t just make a phone call.

I’m still really surprised in myself, that I’m so quickly giving up on the idea of the Mogul. But, honestly, this BlackBerry is just such a nice little device, so tightly-integrated and VERY wisely put together. I think I’m in love!

I’m getting back into the groove of working out at the YMCA. I’ve made it up there four times since returning from the trip. I really want to keep up a very heavy workout routine. I’ve come so close, and I don’t want to let up just yet.

Last year, all throughout 2007, I was working out pretty regularly. And after the 2007 softball season, I kept it up, doing a lot during the fall and winter. Well, when 2008 came, and it was time to play ball again, I had improved! I was stronger and faster! Maybe not tremendously faster, but I definitely had a lot more power.

So I figure, why not keep it up? If I was able to make those improvements from 2007 to 2008, why not make more from 2008 to 2009? And this time I want to get specific. I want to improve my throwing arm — both in strength and accuracy. I did pretty well in 2007, although my arm was hurting me most of the season. I must have done something to tweak it early on in the year, and then I just didn’t ever give it enough time to heal, as we were pretty much playing nonstop from April to October.

So I want to build up my arm. I don’t think weight-lifting will help much in this aspect, but more of just practicing what they call “long toss” — just basically playing catch with somebody from a distance. Eventually, your throwing muscles get stronger. So hopefully I’ll be able to capitalize on the nicer fall/winter days and go outside to toss the ball around with somebody.

Secondly, I want to continue to get faster. I’m pretty fast as it is, but every pit of speed helps, especially when playing in the outfield. The more ground you can cover, the better. And while I have never been a big fan of running, I’m thinking I might have to just… do it anyway. It definitely works.

Finally, I want to add more power, if I can. I think that will come pretty naturally, if I just continue to lift weights. It’s great to have more power, because then everything you hit is harder, and you’re likely to have more hits, more extra-base hits, and more home runs.

Tonight at the YMCA was the first time since my return that I actually did a lot of cardio work. I decided to take my BlackBerry out of my locker and bring it with me on the elliptical machine, to help pass the time. Well, I got some music playing on there, then started replying to some messages. I then took a picture and made a post on FamTeam Today. All this while burning calories! Before I knew it, my 30 minutes were up, and I had actually been productive!

As I was on there, tapping away on the BlackBerry, I just thought, “Now, this is cool.” I’m there, burning calories, but I’m also able to do a whole bunch of different things, which takes my mind off the exercising, and it makes the time just fly by!

Anybody who has spent a lot of time on a cross-trainer, treadmill, exercise bike or any such machine can probably relate to clock-watching, just waiting for your time to be up. So whenever you can find a way to pass the time, it’s a huge help! With the possibilities I have with this BlackBerry, and its portability and doubling as a music player, I’m really excited about how this can make the cardio work even more bearable!

One really interesting thing about being part of this family is the recognition you get. Wherever I go, whatever I do, there’s always a very good chance that somebody will say, “Hey… aren’t you an Arndt?” It’s actually pretty neat! And especially in the last few years, this can happen even away from home. While it’s much more likely to happen in this area, we’ll still get approached by people even while in Maine, New York, or wherever we happen to be. It really is fun!

So basically, you never know when or where you’re going to run into somebody who knows you, who knows the family. It can be while working out, while on a job, while getting a haircut, while… really, doing anything. While that’s really a neat thought, it also can be kind of scary to realize that wherever you are, chances are SOMEBODY is going to know who you are.

Now, honestly, realizing this has helped me tremendously in being consistent and in having integrity. I know if I become two-faced (or three-faced, or four-faced), eventually people are going to see the inconsistencies, and it’s not going to end well.

And as far as integrity goes, me realizing the fact that you never do know just who is watching at any given time, it makes me want to just be that much more careful about what I say, what I do.

In a sense, it’s that feeling you have when you know you’re on a surveillance camera, or a police officer is driving right behind you. You know you’re being watched, so you want to give off a good impression. You’re just a little more careful about what you do, what you say. It sort of instills a healthy fear in you.

It has been very good training for me. It just trains you to be the same to all people, to always be kind, joyful, loving. You never know when you’re being observed from afar. But just knowing that there is a good chance that somebody is watching me, it really spurs me to look beyond the feeling du jour and choose to be positive.

This might seem kind of phony, to have to be loving if you’re upset, or smile when you’re hurting, but I see it more like exercise. You’re developing those muscles of being joyful always, of being able to minimize your feelings for the sake of somebody else.

With this, I very much want to be a good representative of the family. I’m very, very proud to be an Arndt, to be a part of this team. So I want to make sure I do my part in keeping a solid reputation, and being worthy of that.

More, though, calling myself a Christian, there is a tremendous responsibility to set a good example, to be deserving of that title. If I claim to represent Jesus, then I sure had better actually live it out! What a shame it would be to say, “Yes, I’m a Christian. Follow me!” … and then promptly go and do something that is so clearly against what God has commanded. And when I DO fail, I should own up to it, instead of trying to reason that somehow this particular sin is okay and can coexist.

In the end, I am very thankful for this opportunity to have this very real-world reminder of people constantly recognizing me, or associating me with the family. It just drives me to set a good example, and it just helps so much, because in those times where I’m not really FEELING like being the friendliest person — you know, we all get tempted to be grouchy, to be less than positive — in those times especially, it just helps me make the choice to not fly off the handle, but to instead choose to practice being joyful, to practice looking beyond my feelings.

As everybody knows, it’s not always easy. My parents have been such a great example of this, and I’m constantly hearing from strangers, telling me how much they love my mom’s attitude, for example, or her constant joy. So this reminds me that it can be done. So much of it is just what I choose to do. Sometimes the choice is more difficult than other times, but in the end, it’s still my choice. And observing people like my parents over the last 20-plus years, I’m very encouraged because I know that it’s possible!

In talking about little kids, I’m sure many of us have heard all sorts of ways of describing their personalities. One that is familiar is just hearing somebody say, “Oh, he’s just a good kid.” It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what different people mean when they say that about somebody, but I think it generally begins with their character.

There’s something about a little guy who says “Please,” “Thank you,” or “Excuse me” that is just so endearing. There’s just something you can pick up from a little boy or little girl that just makes you think, “Wow, now that’s a good kid.”

A week ago today, we were in New York, ready to leave the house on Keuka Lake in order to begin our long drive back home. We woke up fairly early, in hopes of making the 850-mile trip in one day.

Around 7:00 in the morning, I went up to mom’s bedroom, where she was packing and getting the little guys’ stuff ready. I had already packed and loaded most of my stuff into the trailer, so I was giving Mom a hand.

Well, she asked me to wake David up and help him get dressed and ready to go. So I woke him up, tried to explain to him that it’s time to get ready to go, time to get dressed. Of course, he’s still half-asleep, and he’s just slowly coming to. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was a little upset with me waking him up early. I mean, he is only five years old.

So I was helping him get ready, and he was still in the process of getting his bearings. He was very cooperative, and then it came time to put his shoes on. He’s able to tie his shoelaces, but he’s not that great at it yet, and he was still not fully awake. So I was putting his shoes on, and then I went ahead and tied his shoelaces.

Right after I did that, sleepy David just said, “Thank you.” Totally unprompted. He just said thanks. And I thought then, “Wow, what a good kid.”

Since then, I have just been realizing more and more how much character these younger guys have. I mean, they are still 100 percent little boys, but the best way to describe them is, they’re just good kids.

David, Peter, Caleb — they just are fun to be with! They are very cute and very bright, and they also are just — there’s something about them. There’s an innocence, a wholesomeness. They’re respectful, they’re well-behaved, and they’re honest.

Again, they are still very much little kids, with their running and laughing and giggling, with the occasional minor tiff among them. But you can just tell, they love each other, they love the family, love their life, and they’re not afraid to be little kids.

David, the youngest chub, is just so entertaining. He has such an active imagination, and he LOVES to ask questions, no matter how random they may be. Just today, he was asking me if I’ve ever been stung by anything, and, if so, what. I told him I’ve been stung by bees and wasps, and he told me that a while ago he was stung by a sweat bee on the back of his leg.

David is also fun to watch because he’s at that age where he just… doesn’t quite GET a lot of things yet. Try as he might, his brain just isn’t there yet. So he’ll ask questions in ways that are nearly impossible to answer!

Peter, commonly known as “Turkey” in the family, is just always bouncing around the place — literally. He’s just a lightweight little guy, and he just kind of hops from one thing to another. He’s always up for chasing me around the house — or vice versa. And when we wrestle, he makes sure to let me win now and then.

Turkey is very, very sharp. What’s funny, though, is he’s pretty much the only person in the house who takes David seriously. So it’s a really entertaining dynamic to listen to a conversation between David and Peter, because David will say all sorts of illogical things, and Peter will spot those, yet… Peter isn’t quite wise enough yet to not take those things seriously. So then you have Peter trying to explain to David his fallacies, and it just goes completely over David’s head.

Caleb is… active! He is up for pretty much anything, anytime. He’s getting older and is very, very interested in sports and all, but he still loves to play around with Peter and David. In a word, Caleb is just goofy. He’ll laugh and giggle uncontrollably at times. He just dives into life (and most other things!) head-first.

I’m sure things won’t always be this way, but I am just so thankful that I’ve been able to hang around as long as I have, to really get to play a role in their life. Not everybody has this opportunity, and not everybody is able to develop a relationship with a sibling who’s 10 or 15 years younger than they are.

Since there’s a pretty large age gap between us — 13 years between Caleb and I down to 18 years between David and I — it’s very, very interesting to see them grow up from more of an adult’s perspective. And I just thank God that I’m still here right now, getting to SEE them grow up, getting to know their personalities as they develop. It’s impossible to guess just how they’ll grow up, but it’s great to see that already, even as young guys, they are such good kids, so fun to be with.

Man, it’s going to be exciting to see what the situation is like in five, 10, or 20 years!

You know, I don’t think the Devil is necessarily a real mastermind or has incredibly clever plans when it comes to trying to get at somebody. He has his same old bag of tricks, and he’ll use whatever he can to try to tear someone down, discourage them, or even get them to turn away from God altogether. He’ll try to tempt you, trick you, hurt you, distract you — whatever it takes — just so you stop invading his turf.

Well, I’m starting to think that, when all else fails — when you stand firm and aren’t going to compromise — he’ll just start slinging mud. He’ll start throwing rocks at you. Start trying to scare you. He’ll just throw everything but the kitchen sink at you, hoping that you’ll get thrown off your game, that you’ll question yourself, that you will defeat yourself.

Really, what else can he do? If you’re not going to take the bait, if you’re not going to stray from God, all He can do is attack you, and try to make you think you’re doing something wrong, that you’re missing something.

It’s like, if you’re winning a football game — it’s a blowout; I mean, you’re just obliterating them — and there are minutes left in the game. Well, the opposing team has no chance to win, unless they can get you to give up. Maybe if they tried hard enough, if they attacked you enough, you’d just give up and forfeit the game. Maybe, if they’re slick enough, they can convince you that the rules are like golf, where the lowest score wins.

I don’t think the Devil is real organized. His purpose is just to get you to stop loving God, to stop obeying God, to stop — just to stop! And if you’re not buying what he’s selling, then the only thing left is to just smear you and try to give you to throw in the towel, or, if nothing else, to get you sidetracked.

Well, thanks, but no thanks. I’m with God. I’ve signed on to this, and I’m committed. Not because it’s necessarily going to be the funnest, the easiest, or the most comfortable life, but because it’s the right thing to do.

I don’t get to put preconditions on my obedience to God, such as, “Well, sure, I’ll surrender to you, if…” No, I am just called to show up, and to follow my orders. The great thing is, though, in doing that, joy and peace are guaranteed to follow!

While I was driving around this afternoon, I realized that today is November 7th — one year exactly from the right knee surgery I underwent. The surgery was to remove a small piece of meniscus that I tore while playing softball a year earlier. I was having pain in my knee for the following year, and since it never went away, and got pretty severe at times, I finally had the doctor look at it in 2007. Long story short, the orthopedic surgeon recommended a surgery, so we went forward with it on November 7th, 2007.

In the weeks and months following the surgery, I remember seriously wondering what the end result would be. As recently as April 11th of this year, I wrote, in my super-secret journal (or diary, or whatever you want to call it):

Knee hurts, too. I just can kind of feel the piece of cartilage or cushion missing, I think. I can be wrong, but it just….. kinda seems that way. And of course, if that is true, that means it’s gone… forever. But God can heal it! He can make it whole again! I’m just kind of scared. It bothers me to have something permanently done for the rest of my life, like to realize I may ALWAYS have knee trouble. And I’m only 23. But God, Your will.

I guess I just don’t like the idea of things never being the same. But I guess we were never built to last forever, anyway. We’re always deteriorating, be it ever so slowly. It’s no surprise that this body isn’t going to last forever. But I guess that thought just bugs me, though, if my knee is never going to be perfect.

God, Your will.

I was seriously concerned about it. And even with speaking to the doctor, he was not very reassuring telling me that, well, perhaps my knee will just never be the same. That thought really bothered me, because I feel like I’m just too young to start falling apart!

Well, fast-forward seven months. Here we are, and, honestly, that knee is about as good as new, as far as I can tell. It’s been so long that I can’t even REMEMBER the last time I tweaked something and felt pain in my knee. In fact, the only knee making the news these days is my left knee, which I hurt… again, playing softball. I know, I know — I need to be a little more creative in my injuries. THAT knee, by the way, is doing pretty great, too. It’s not 100 percent yet, but it is definitely shrinking back to regular size. It has healed enough that, again, I don’t even think about it often.

There’s no real moral to the story, other than I am just so thankful that I have bounced back well from these different injuries, and just how healthy I’ve been as a whole. In time where I’ve been kind of feeling a little beat up, worrying about some things, it just serves as a real nice pick-me-up, a reminder that things aren’t always as bad as I fear they will be. Also, it gives me hope to know that worries that try to demand my full attention can be reduced to nothingness in a surprisingly short amount of time.

It’s embarrassing sometimes to look at my history and recount all the different “crises” I faced, and how concerned I was, how scary that problem looked, and then it… disappeared. Some faster than others, of course, but my point is you’d think I’d be smart enough by now to realize that I’ll probably make it through this worry, just like I did the previous hundreds. But… unfortunately, I conveniently forget about all of the times where disaster was avoided, and I think, “Oh, no. Here it comes.”

What is really comforting, though, is to remember that no matter how scattered my feelings can get, God is unchanging. His promises are still true, whether I’m scared or whether I’m confident. So I just need to remind myself to cling on to those always, and especially when I’m concerned.