As you may or may not know, I am obsessed with everything Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien is in my mind one of the greatest literary geniuses of the 20th century, as a story teller he is on par with men like C.S. Lewis and William Shakespeare. He created the best literary journey of all time when he coined the phrase,"In a hole, in the ground, there lived a hobbit." These books have been a part of my life since I was a little boy, and I find these books to be a part of my day to day life, more so now then I ever thought possible.
As some of you may know, my goal is to be a missionary. Not a missionary in the typical sense of the word. Yes, I want to show people the love of God, but along with that, I want to live among different people and see what it means to be a part of their community. Life is not about what we make, it is not about what we do, its about how we love the ones around us and the adventures we can take with them, not about how comfortable we are. "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." I may not always have the nicest things but Tolkien taught me what it means to love the people around me above the things that I own. Maybe its cheesy, I'm okay with that though. I'd rather be the most cliche person in the world going on adventures than the most sophisticated, clever, and quite boring person ever.
It's difficult to thing about but I'm saying goodbye soon. I have been going to Boise Bible College for almost four years now. When I first moved here, that was an adventure in and of itself. I took that chance and left the people that meant the world to me to learn something new about myself and the world around me. "It's a dangerous business going out your door. You step onto the road, if you don't keep your feet there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." This world is a big place, you don't know who you are going to meet tomorrow or the next day, but get outside of your comfort zone and go see the world for what it has to offer. Go and see far away places, within the last couple of years that has included Boise, Germany, Mexico, Ohio, Indianapolis, and others. I have met people who now mean the world to me. I took a step out my door, and trust me, I have not kept my feet.
Finally one of my favorite quotes ever, "I am very fond of you, but you are only a little fellow in a wide world after all." Spoken by Gandalf to Bilbo at the end of the Hobbit, this perfectly describes what it means to be an adventurer. Yes, we are saying goodbye to parts of our life that have been with us for so long, and yes we are going on brand new adventures to worlds we have never known. But at the end of the day, we are still small people in a big world after all and that's okay.
As some of you may know, my goal is to be a missionary. Not a missionary in the typical sense of the word. Yes, I want to show people the love of God, but along with that, I want to live among different people and see what it means to be a part of their community. Life is not about what we make, it is not about what we do, its about how we love the ones around us and the adventures we can take with them, not about how comfortable we are. "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." I may not always have the nicest things but Tolkien taught me what it means to love the people around me above the things that I own. Maybe its cheesy, I'm okay with that though. I'd rather be the most cliche person in the world going on adventures than the most sophisticated, clever, and quite boring person ever. It's difficult to thing about but I'm saying goodbye soon. I have been going to Boise Bible College for almost four years now. When I first moved here, that was an adventure in and of itself. I took that chance and left the people that meant the world to me to learn something new about myself and the world around me. "It's a dangerous business going out your door. You step onto the road, if you don't keep your feet there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." This world is a big place, you don't know who you are going to meet tomorrow or the next day, but get outside of your comfort zone and go see the world for what it has to offer. Go and see far away places, within the last couple of years that has included Boise, Germany, Mexico, Ohio, Indianapolis, and others. I have met people who now mean the world to me. I took a step out my door, and trust me, I have not kept my feet.
"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide, all they have to decide is what to do with the time that is given them." Go on an adventure, read a book, do your taxes, but live your life. Enjoy the good times, the winter snowball fights, the summer walks, the fall's pumpkin patches, and the springs life. Bad things are going to happen, people will die, friends will fail, economies will tumble, and you will hurt. Nothing can minimize that, and I really don't think we are supposed to do that. Instead, we do what we can with what has been given to us, no matter how hard that might be. But we also enjoy the things that have been given to us.
Finally one of my favorite quotes ever, "I am very fond of you, but you are only a little fellow in a wide world after all." Spoken by Gandalf to Bilbo at the end of the Hobbit, this perfectly describes what it means to be an adventurer. Yes, we are saying goodbye to parts of our life that have been with us for so long, and yes we are going on brand new adventures to worlds we have never known. But at the end of the day, we are still small people in a big world after all and that's okay.
Maybe I am a little bit cheesy or maybe I oversimplify things. But I think that Tolkien was on to something when he wrote these words. Perhaps, all we need is a wizard to come and knock on our door to go on a brand new adventure. What's your adventure going to be?
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