dear reader,

I have to be honest with you. I will not have the time to post full-length articles, much more to fix my template, for the next few months.

Because there's always some undone chore at home my parents would command me to do (like cooking dinnner and doing the dishes and vacuuming the whole house), and because having someone like my brother shoo me from the computer every 10 minutes is so not conducive for writing a post, it's only here at the library I can enjoy free and undisturbed moments of solitude in front of a monitor.

But an hour-long break is woefully insufficient for me to comb through the clutter in my mind for a noteworthy idea or two. And I still need to eat.

So, instead of rushing up here at the second floor of the library every day just to post, I've decided to record my thoughts in a more old-fashioned way: I'm keeping a journal.

Of course I am keenly aware of its corniness, mind you. But it works for me, really. Well, that's because I'm jotting down not just what happens to me in a schoolday's work. Nor every random thought I find particularly interesting.

I'm keeping a spiritual journal, as John Piper (my favorite author) advised his reader in "When I Don't Desire God." I jot down what I learn from Scripture and my devotional every morning. I also copy verses I come across with that bless me or convict me, so that I can remember them more easily.

I haven't written about this, but I told Paul and Lance about this precious realization that came to me at the start of the year -- that our quiet times with Him in His Word are tremendously important in our path to Christ-likeness.

It's been only recently that I had actually reserved a time in my daily routines to meet Him in prayer and in the study of Scripture. And, oh, what a fool I was to limit myself from the deep joy of communion with God every morning!

Psalm 1:1-2 rings so true: How blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the LORD, in whose Law he meditates day and night.

But anyway.

I'll still try my best to update now and then -- even though my posts won't make any sense. I know it's unfair on my part to shut up and not tell you about what's going on in my life. If I don't do anything about it, these long bouts of silence between you and me will evolve into a permanent separation of our ways.

And if ever that happens, when you meet me at SM North a few years from now, all you'll see is a familiar face from a forgotten past. You won't even remember my name. You'll just nod your head with a soft "Hi!" and turn your back from me.

Uggh, I shudder at the mere thought of it. I really don't want that to happen to our friendship. But, thank God, it's just a hypothetical scenario. And even if it does happen, God is still the God "who causes all things to work together for those who love Him" (Rom. 8:28), and you will still be my brothers and sisters in Him. And when we breathe our last, I know we'll see each other there. :-) Let us all trust Him with all our hearts.

your friend,
Jef