Baking Cookies

I've had an intense weekend... two all-day college visits = mental overload and exhaustion. So when one of my best friends called me wanting to go to a movie today, I really REALLY didn't want to deal with anyone.

My self-imposed solitude was relaxing, but boredom was not far behind. I decided to do something that I don't normally do... I baked cookies. From scratch. Now, I usually don't have the patience to deal with baking. It is often long, arduous, and messy. But for some reason, the smell of baking cookies puts a smile on my face. It makes me think of family and the simpler things, like the smell of popcorn in a movie theater or apple cider at a family pumpkin patch. There is just something about that smell.



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 While baking them, I began to realize just how many cookies there were... and I didn't really want to eat them all... I'd much rather make them than eat them. As I watched the dough rise at the heat of the oven, I realized just how foolish I had been. In my solitude, I baked enough cookies to feed a large family.

I knew then that I wasn't meant to be alone at that moment. I called  up some of my best friends, including the one I had turned down earlier, and I invited them to eat cookies and just hang out. It was hard at first to get people here on a Saturday night at such short notice... but it was worth it.

God may ask us to act alone in tests of faith, but generally, He doesn't want us to be alone. We should have fellowship with others who will guide us, hold us up, and sometimes just make us laugh and have fun. And so, when you're down and tired or frustrated, think twice before settling into a self-pity party. Seek fellowship, first and foremost with God, then with others. God gives us people in our lives for a reason, and sometimes, we have to utilize them.

"Can you play?"

"Can you play?" It's been a long time since I've said that... or has it been? 6th? 7th grade? I forget. But I do remember that playing is exactly what we did every time. Board games, video games, park games, basket ball, hide-and-seek, tag... the list goes on. In other words, I lived a very average childhood. But looking back on that list, I wonder... what the heck happened?

When did the words "hang out" replace "play"? And what does that even mean? That we just chill out and talk? Originally, the concept seemed boring to me, but now I do it as if it's nothing. Why, yes, I would like to just sit and talk with you, you friend-like human being.

Please, don't get me wrong, I like talking with people, but I find myself desiring a more... constructive hang-out. A play-date, if you will. I mean, why don't we play anymore? Are we just lazy? Are those games just not fun anymore? Do we have to be a sports star to play a simple game?

Truth is, those games came from a much simpler time in our lives, when we didn't have to think about any sort of responsibility. We played just for the joy of it, because that's all there was to life.

We need a bit more joy in our lives. We need a few more play-dates. And joy doesn't come from watching "How I Met Your Mother" while eating a half pound candy bar. Joy comes in truely experiencing something that is both rewarding and self-less. We have to be in the moment; we have to smell the air and feel the bruises. We have to come home sweaty and covered in grass stains. We have to rekindle that family poker rivalry... because we WANT to. We have to just get out and play; to be a kid again...

Again, don't get me wrong. We shouldn't live life like this. We have responsibilities that are rather important. But if we don't just play every now and then, I fear we'll forget why we have those responsibilities in the first place: so we can experience joy to the fullest.

Remember how I started blogging?

This post has been very long overdue... I apologize to those who had been reading. As most of my little hobbies do, this one fell through the cracks rather quickly. But I now find myself at a place where I need to write, or I may just go postal.

A lot of "big things" come with being a senior in high school: college, money, majors, graduation, leadership, busy days and long nights... I can't wrap my mind around it all. I can't comprehend that I'll be 18 in just a few short months. I can't even imagine what my life will be like in a year. And that is terrifying.

All of this worry is getting to me, and I think I need to refocus on the day: on the little things. That is, after all, why I started a blog. Let God worry my future; let's just see what he can do with tomorrow first.

I hope to post more soon. Until then, mon amis.

~Bobissaur