Point and Purpose

Point and purpose. Redundant use of the same idea, but a better use of slang and correct vocabulary. Plus, it sounds better because it appears to have a catchy/creative title.

So what's the point and purpose of this blog? That's always a great question for a blogger when he/she begins the whole process. I guess I could start by addressing the title, "Moving Backwards." For those of you who are familiar with the artist, Ben Rector, you will recognize this as one of his song titles. The line goes, "Standing still isn't easy, when the world's moving backwards." So what does this entail for me? Since coming to Vanderbilt, I have grown more in this 2 year period of time than I have throughout my whole junior/senior high school career. Spiritually, academically, pridefully, worldly, culturally, and whatever other -ly word you can add in there, I have probably grown in that area as well. I have come to find myself outside the context of Keota, Iowa. Don't get me wrong, I love Keota and all of the opportunities and experiences it has given me. However, I needed to branch from it.

The atmosphere that I have surrounded myself with at Vanderbilt has been amazing. One that involves an intense and very real commitment to Faith, and one that has become comfortable. For the most part, I have only moved forward with my life because everything has been new and exciting and comfortable. Comfortable--I have come to avoid that word and remove it from my life. Why? Because we are not supposed to be comfortable in this world. This world that IS "Moving Backwards" (ah-ha! using the title of the blog in a quotation is like hearing the title of a movie being used in the movie). So, removing myself from this comfortable atmosphere has been a challenge in itself. I don't mean removing myself as in disconnecting from friends or going secular. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what removing myself entails yet, but God is revealing bits and pieces of it to me as I go along. As I remove myself from the comforts of it, I find it difficult a lot of the time to be intentional with God and keep digging into the word. Be true to the Truth and Knowledge that I know and am continuing to learn. So that's where the song line comes into play--that even "standing still isn't easy, when the world's moving backwards."

So...what have I gotten from this so far? Mostly, that I have waaay too many thoughts in my mind that I need to organize before sitting down and writing. Secondly, that I don't really have any expectations to gain from this except to post what's going on--a sort of public journal. But, by public, I don't expect it to be any sort of famous blog or even have any followers. I really don't have any expectations of what it will develop into. I find that when you go into any situation, when you are lacking expectations, that is when you grow/learn/experience/gain the most. There is no disappointment--no moving backwards from what you expect or what is expected of you form the world.