oh shoot.

today is july 7. raleigh gets back from california today! i'm really excited. glad to see her, share stories, laugh, cry maybe (but surely tears of joy), and get back in time for a 3 Amigo's party at the Tillman Ranch.

i've learned a lot from being at home alone here for the past 12 days. life stays busy for the most part. i think that these times of solitude are few and far between and highly unappreciated (especially by someone like Calli Edwards).

it's uncomfortable being alone. just me and God. now granite, i did a lot this past week and a half. spent time with friends, hiked, cooked, cleaned in circles, and learned to play the guitar a bit. doing all these things were great, enjoyable, fun. but at the end of this "alone" time there is one question that i have been left with, "how can i practically change my life so that i can be closer with God? to allow me to listen better and more frequently (like a habit that becomes natural)? that is easily interruptable by God? that today i am different than yesterday and tomorrow different than today in obedience ("Be holy as I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16, Lev 11:44)?

a friend of mine was telling me that the more she got to know God, the more separated she felt from this world. she followed by saying, "you'll begin to see that." i laugh now thinking of how true that is. but if we are striving for holiness that shouldn't be a secret. being holy is to be set apart--set apart to sin and impurity, and set apart to God (who is not of this world). NASB notes.

There is a Derek Webb song, "This World", and there is a line that says, "This world has nothing for me; this world has everything."

I know the truth of those words because of both learning the hard way and God's willingness to give me understanding. I believe with all my heart that God will show us that this world has nothing for us without us needing to find out on our own. I believe it. I've seen the fruit of it. Still seeing it.

Praise the Lord! So the one question that has turned into a series of questions, I am left to wrestle with, leaves me hoping to be ever-changed by the answers (like them or not) that are revealed in time.

BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST WE ARE SAVED. 1 Peter 1:19. Precious blood.