Last weekend turned out to be phenomenal. I really enjoyed the time spent with family, and I feel a renewed vigor in my approach to life. Part of it has to do with the message at church on Sunday. I didn't expect it, but it turns out to be what I needed to hear. So, I've felt pretty aimless over the course of the last few months - wondering about what kind of purpose I have for living, what is there to do with every day. I've had trouble reconciling what is truly meaningful in life, and how to get to a point where what I do with my time - small things or big things - fit in. In the movie, I am Sam, there's several parts where Sam arranges mugs and sugar packets and cheese shakers at Starbucks and Pizza Hut. And he's really meticulous and caring about what he does, even though in the whole scope of things its such a little little thing, it doesn't matter to him - he carries out his tasks with such diligence and so full of meaning. And I realized, for me - school never mattered, work doesn't matter too much, because I just don't really care too much. I mean, if I fail a test or a class, oh well - not a big deal. If I get fired or something - that's ok, my identity and security doesn't come from my work. But along the way, I lose any sort of meaning for doing anything at all. And I kinda think that's what Solomon was getting at in Ecclesiastes - he laments the meaningless of everything in life - then he settles on the conclusion that it's the gift of God for a man to work hard, enjoy the fruit of his labor, eat, and enjoy life. And in all things - to fear and love God is most important. So I'm finding a lot of meaning now in the daily tasks. I got to sit down and truly consider my priorities in life - and recorded a list of goals - short term goals, one-year out goals, and lifelong goals. Things to shoot for, things to live for. And along the way, always keeping in primary focus the kingdom law - to love God and to love people. Several books I'm reading at the moment are Rich Dad, Poor Dad and a very obscure book by Wang Ming Dao (here's a story about him), originally written in Chinese and later translated to English. It's a great great book - very encouraging. I love seeing how God has worked in his church in China. ttyl