Hey, guys. I know it’s been a long time since I last posted, and for that you have my deep, sincere, and profound apologies. This Christmas break has been kinda wild for me…sitting around all day at my computer…nothing pressing that I need to do…sleeping in until the afternoon…crazy stuff.

And then I realized, “OMG, I have to get my books and supplies for next semester!”

It’s only a week ’till school starts up again for me, guys. And I still don’t have any of my books. Or the special equipment kit for my Garde Manger (GAR mah-ZHAY) class. This, kids, is what we call procrastination.

I’m a HUGE procrastinator. I always leave everything ’till the last minute. Sometimes I don’t even do it at all (You’ve seen this. On the blog.). If anything can possibly be done later, I blow it off to go chill with my friends or play computer games. This is a problem most of the time.

We all procrastinate in at least SOME areas of our lives. School’s one of them, one that we all struggle with. As is POSTING ON THE BLOG. *ahem*. So what ares of your life do you procrastinate the most? Do you know of a way that we can not procrastinate? Does such a way even exist? Share your thoughts, whether they’re small and shallow or huge and deep.

Tonight we talked about the difference between patience and perserverence, and how they’re both good things. Patience is something we acquire as we mature; we’re not born with it. A little kid wants candy NOW, while an adult knows that it’s probably best to wait until after dinner. What are some ways we can grow in patience? What helps you to be patient? Share a story where being patient was hard, but you did it anyway. What were the rewards?

We had some really great worship tonight. We took the time normally used for the teaching and just continued worship with it. While longer worship times aren’t really my thing, this week was exceptionally awesome. I know some of you out there are more into worship than I am; what was your view on worship this week? How is longer worship better/worse/different? Would you have longer worship every week if you could?

The third week in Christian’s teaching series on character was about self-control. “What IS self control?” you may ask yourself. Well, self-control is the ability to choose what you’re going to do. Self-control is about not making the easy decision all the time. It’s not only about choosing not to do stuff you know will be harmful, but also about choosing TO do things you know will be beneficial. It’s choosing to finish that 5-page paper that’s due tomorrow instead of playing computer games.

Wow.

It’s not easy. Believe me, self-control is a battle I fight every day. Sometimes I win, and sometimes I lose. But as with all things, practice makes you better. Let me tell you a story to illustrate. Even though I’ve worked on self-control from a very early age, I’m still not as controlled as I’d like to be. Those of you who know me know that I’ve struggled with anger throughout my whole life. When I was younger, everything that ticked me off even a little would send me into a rage. I still feel those same emotions today, but I’ve learned ways to channel that anger into less destructive outlets and to allow myself to cool down. Even though anger still comes easily to me, I’m able to let it go much more easily than I would have been able to years ago. I hope that my story plus Christian’s teaching will help to show you that it isn’t impossible to gain self-control, and that it has a positive benefit.

What are some areas that you need to gain self-control in? Be honest and share some ways that you personally could grow in self-control.