So, now it’s time for my final thoughts on DTS. Should you/your
child do DTS? I think that I can say yes. Not because DTS, or YWAM can save you/your kid, but because DTS is a powerful tool that God is using to draw people
all over the world closer to Him. I think that it’s really important for a lot
of people about to head into college to take some time off, especially if
you’re trying to stick to your faith, because college will test faith more than
most things in the world. Had I not gone off to do a DTS, it’s very possible
that I could be walking away from the Lord now. For parents who are reading
this, I am also not saying that everyone will walk away during college. I’m
just saying that college will test their faith more than anything else they
have experienced most likely. Nurture that faith, and encourage them in it. As for you young padawans that are about to head off to college, think about what's important to you. If school is important for you, and you've got a direction, then it's really important that you find a fellowship immediately. I didn't plug into one
well, and my faith just couldn't handle it. If you aren't so sure of what you're going to do in college, but just plan on going to college because everyone else is, bad idea. Again, that's what I did, and that's not enough to motivate you to do your work. Take some time to develop your faith (maybe through a DTS), and find what you are called to do. I can definitely say that DTS changed my life for the better. I can't say that all of my problems are fixed, in fact I might have found more than when I went into DTS. But I'm not hopeless anymore, I've got God with me, and that's enough for me.
well, and my faith just couldn't handle it. If you aren't so sure of what you're going to do in college, but just plan on going to college because everyone else is, bad idea. Again, that's what I did, and that's not enough to motivate you to do your work. Take some time to develop your faith (maybe through a DTS), and find what you are called to do. I can definitely say that DTS changed my life for the better. I can't say that all of my problems are fixed, in fact I might have found more than when I went into DTS. But I'm not hopeless anymore, I've got God with me, and that's enough for me.
So, what am I doing now? Right now my vision is to travel
and have some adventures while I’m still young. People always say later, later there will have time. But there’s seriously no time better than the present. A
couple years now will not affect me too much in the future. I don’t think. I
hope not. What kind of sparked this idea for me was that I want to have stories
for my future (hopefully, I think) kids. (Which sparks another idea, will my
kids see this? If you are my child and you are reading this, Hello! This is for
you. They probably are so embarrassed and think I’m so weird. Oh well. Maybe
this will come off as quirky. What does that even mean? Oops, sorry, back to
the writing.) I don’t want to be a boring dad. Not that I think that there’s
such a thing, but I don’t want to be the first. Anyways, back to the actual
point of this paragraph I am currently volunteering at a YWAM base in NYC. I
was afraid coming home because I knew that my faith would be tested, and I
wasn’t sure if my faith would survive it. So here I am, putting myself in a
position where I can continue to pursue my young faith. I’m also learning some
guitar on my own with a guitar borrowed from one of the people who live on base. There are six of us that live on
base, and then the two leaders drive in on weekdays. I’m the only guy among
those that live on the base, and one of two people that doesn’t speak nor
understand Korean. Lunchtime means listening for words I know, and making up
weird conversations with the little context I have. Most of our time here is
spent in work duties, and intercession. Each of us also prepares lunch for one
day of the week, so keep the people of this base in prayer for this Thursday. I end up having a lot of time to myself, so it’s a lot of pondering, reading, thinking,
practicing guitar, and occasionally contemplating. My computer has been
crashing recently, so I thought that I had the warranty situation worked out,
but I didn’t get a call I was supposed to get on Thursday. Frustrating.
The future. I only have short-term plans right now, which
are tentative at that since a few factors are in play. My plan right now is to
do the School of Biblical Foundations Discipleship Training
School
Some of you might be thinking, “Well, that’s a great plan
for the next handful of months, but do you have any plans for afterwards?” I’m
glad you asked! Or were thinking! Or neither, in which case I’ll just get to
the point. I’ve been praying recently, and I think God wants me in a place
where he will show me a body of believers coming together into a family
setting, and really changing my view of what a family looks like. When I was
growing up, my family was a little distant in that my dad was always working on
the computer, my sister would be working on school, my other sister doing a
bunch of clubs, and my mom teaching piano. It just felt like our family was
kind of fragmented and so we wanted to enjoy the time we spent together.
Because of this we never were real with each other, and so I felt pretty
lonely. I had a lot of issues, and pain I was dealing with, but nobody to help
me. So I fled reality and sought comfort and success in gaming. I’m not saying
to gaming is evil, nor the work of the Devil. For me it became unhealthy, just
like shopping, eating, exercising, and even work can become unhealthy. Wow that
was a tangent and a half. To take it out, or to leave… that is the question.
Eh, leave it. Anyways, I need a group of people that I can be real with, find
role models, and see what it means to live a Godly life. Soooooo I would like
to staff at YWAM Maui. If that’s what God has in store for, then awesome. If
not, then awesome. He’s got something else brewing for me. But for now, I have
a daunting wall in front of me. I firmly believe that God wants me to do this
SBFM, which means that I need to raise $2500 in a little over two months. It’s
not a small feat, but I know that if this is God’s plan, he will be faithful. So,
in whatever way you could help me, I’d be extremely grateful. Because it’s not
just some trip, or school, or plane ticket that you’re investing in; you’re
investing in my life, and that’s something that I can only repay with gratitude
and more frequent blog posts that actually have pictures. Who knows, maybe my
thoughts/writing will become coherent as time goes on. We’ll just have to wait
and see.
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| Photo courtesy of Tim Freeman (Editing by me!) |
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