Christian Living
Before you begin reading this any further, let me say this. You would do well to read it all carefully. Some of it may seem tedious. Some of it may just be plain boring to you, but I assure you that if you read it all the way through, especially if you are a Christian, this note will, or at least should, strongly encourage you in your life as a whole as well as your walk with Christ and your friends. It is pretty long, but I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I assure you that the purpose of this note is not to talk about myself. There is a specific purpose for this note that is pointed out at the end. It just took a lot of different information to get my point across correctly. I do not like to leave loose ends in my writing.
There are some things in life, at least from my experiences, of which I have indeed had a great many thus far, that are, for the lack of a better term, what some might call “mixed blessings”. Throughout my life, I have moved over twenty times (including Ft. Stewart, GA, Berlin, Germany, Ft. Lewis, WA, Lafayette, IN, Larue, OH, San Antonio, TX x 2, Ft. Benning, GA, Ft. Bliss (El Paso), TX, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Ft. Belvoir, VA, Kansas City, KS, Overland Park x 2, KS, Shawnee, KS x 2, Manhattan, KS x 4,…..) have had over fifty jobs (including being a Journeyman licensed Electrician, A Nationally Certified Personal Trainer, a licensed life insurance salesman and a licensed home mortgage person, a baker, a security guard, a fast food worker at over seven different fast food chains, a fast food shift manager, an overnight stockman, a golf course laborer, an At&t customer service representative,………...), have been to at least sixteen different schools since kindergarten, have traveled to many different countries (including Athens, Greece, The Bahamas, and many others), have traveled tens of thousands of miles inside the United States and have been to nearly every state in the continental United States, have been hiking in many different mountain ranges in many different states (including Colorado, Arkansas, Tennessee, Washington, Virginia, ………). I have met thousands upon thousands of different people of all different age groups, from many different cultures, in many different places. I have made and lost hundreds of friends over the years due to moving and what not. I have spent the night in jail. I have been in at least three major car accidents that I can remember. I have had nine different cars since 2002. I have been to two different Job Corps in two different states. I have taken well over 200,000 pills in my lifetime (over twenty different types of medication) thus far, all of which were prescribed. I was physically abused (at which one point she tried to drown me in the bathtub, but my older brother walked in) from about 8 months old to four years old or so. I have been in the mental hospital four times since the age of fifteen for homicidal/suicidal tendencies, all of which I was self admitted because I realized I needed help (I am bipolar(since age 14) and I have ADHD(since age 4)( I have, thanks to God, recently, about nine months ago, started taking a medication tht allows me to function almost completely normally (as normal as I can be ;) ) for the first time in my life. I have had to deal with more flashbacks and multiple personalities in my family then I will ever care to explain (starting around age 9). I have been to more doctors/psychiatrists/psychologists/counselors than I care to mention. I played twelve years of baseball, three years of basketball, three years of football, and one year of soccer. I have been both extremely skinny and extremely fat for many years each. I have been to at least ten different major league baseball stadiums across the country. I have been to countless pro and college basketball games. I have been to at least three or four different college football stadiums across the country. I have been to well over ten different amusement parks across the country. I have been to over ten major zoos across the country. I have been to all three Sea Worlds and both Universal Studios. I have been to Disney Land once and Disney World twice. THE LIST GOES ON AND ON AND ON. (ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND GOD ALONE (except for the night in jail obviously. Lol)).
As you can obviously see, based on the previous paragraph alone, I am much more than likely unlike most of the people that you will probably ever meet in terms of the amount of things that I have seen, heard, done, the lessons I have learned, and so on and so forth. I have, thanks to Almighty God, probably forgotten more things than I currently know.
Now I realize that the first paragraph was probably not very fun, and quite possibly very overwhelming and tedious to read through, as would be expected if I was reading it instead of writing it, and my point is this: No body, NOT A SINGLE PERSON, other than the members of my immediate family who were with me through most of these things and my wife Emily (because I have told her about a lot of this stuff), could possibly have even the slightest idea, based on how long they have known me and how much time they have taken to get to know the real me, that this first paragraph would actually be a loose ( and I do mean loose, and broad, and very general, not detailed) description of my life thus far, because, quite honestly, it is not something that I am just going to tell everybody about. Some of my friends have heard some of the things in the first paragraph, but I can honestly say that this is the first time that I have written all of those things out, and I will be honest, it is astonishing even to me now that I have seen some of these things written out.
The reason that I have written this note is because, over the last few years, I have become increasingly frustrated with the shallowness of people when it comes to social interaction and friendships. The vast majority of people that I meet these days, unless they too are a military brat (and even some of them as well) simply do not know what it takes, or what it truly means, to make a real, meaningful friendship last and flourish, or to even have one to begin with. Almost everyone that I meet these days thinks I am just some stupid 27 year old who knows nothing and has no life experience or wisdom to share, and I will be very honest, it is starting to become physically painful, as well as emotionally and mentally, and even spiritually, the more it happens and the longer I am alive.
You see, most people, and when I say most I mean pretty much all of them, that don’t know me very well, simply think that I am arrogant, stubborn, ignorant (the really sad part is that this includes my own family, who refuse to get to know me). Well, before I go any further let me just say that if you are one of those people, and you are not willing to open your mind and get to know the real me, then by all means do not waste your time reading any further, because quite obviously you are not mature enough to handle a real friendship, let alone even a real conversation with a grown up.
I want to be perfectly clear on one thing, and that is that I do not care what you think about me. I have spent the last eighteen or so years trying to get to a point where I know who I am and am comfortable with it (within reason, as there is always room for improvement in one area or another for us all as humans). I care only what God thinks of me and those who are closest to me, who know me best here on earth, and there are only a handful of them.
There are so incredibly many things that I want to say in this note, but for time’s sake, I will just pick a few and try to keep it short. (I will let you know though that this note is only about half over at this point)
To the glory of God the Father and to Him alone, I am however not just an extremely well rounded person with a ridiculous amount of life experience. I am also an intellectual. Regardless of what anyone thinks or says, the fact is that Trevor Ray Slone, born on March 25, 1983 in Ft. Stewart, GA, is far more intelligent than the average person. That is not arrogance, it is simply a fact based on my intelligence level compared with the national as well as the global average intelligence level. Now I would ask you to please keep reading, for as I stated previously, there is a valid point to this note, and it is not to talk about me, that is just part of the process.
Over the last nine months or so, since I have decided to stop hiding my intelligence, as I had been doing since the sixth grade, fifteen or so years ago, I have noticed a steady decline in my friendships. Now, contrary to what you who are reading this might think, this is not at all because of me. The only part I had in this decline was/is weeding out people who simply are not real friends. If you think I am wrong or that I am being untruthful, ask Aaron Stevens, or Teri Taylor, or Andrew Henness what kind of a friend they think I am. I assure you that they will agree with me.
Now this note is really not at all to “toot my own horn” or to simply lift myself up. That would clearly be a violation of everything that I strive so hard to live my life for. I am in no way claiming to be any better than anybody else. If you really, really knew me you would know that I would be the first to tell you that I am wholly and completely in great need of God’s sovereign grace, forgiveness, love, and everlasting mercy, for without Him I am truly WORTHLESS, and ONLY through Him am I worth anything at all.
What this note is about is this: I am trying to voice, in writing/typing, my recent extreme frustration. You have no idea, unless you truly do, and then I apologize and take this statement back, how much it hurts me to know that I have SO MUCH information, advice, knowledge about life, and wisdom that God has so graciously given to me over the last twenty seven years, but that so incredibly (next to no body at all) few people are willing to hear it because of whatever ridiculously foolish bias they may have, whether it be “he is still too young to give advice” or “he doesn’t even have a college degree. Why would I listen to him” or “he is just like everyone else. He is nothing special” or whatever else it may be. You see, one of the many life lessons that I have learned over the years is that just because you think something about someone, or really anything at all in life, does not mean that it is true. If you are not willing to take the time to get to know someone and are not willing to do what it takes to be a real friend, then don’t even bother getting out of bed in the morning, because truly and honestly you will only be a hindrance to yourself and society, and especially to the Christian community, if you claim to be a Christian that is. When I said at the beginning that some things in life are “mixed blessings,” I was referring to wisdom and intelligence. Intelligence is a wonderful thing, but if you have a lot of it, it is sometimes, oftentimes, very hard to deal with the people who are less intelligent. Intelligence is defined as the ability to understand, or the ability to adapt to new situations. So, if you have a high intelligence level, you cannot expect the average person to understand some, and quite often most, of what you are saying, because they simply do not have the capacity to do so. I assure you that if you meet someone, like myself, who is far more intelligent that the average person, and, based on your intelligence level (which you are born with), (if) you are in the average bracket, do not merely assume that they are wrong because they are not making sense. More than likely they are making perfect sense, just not to you because you don’t have the capacity to understand what it is that they are saying. It is not a bad thing if you have an average intelligence. It is just the way it is, if that is indeed the way it is. The Bible says that to those who are given little, little will be required of them. To those who are given much, much will be required of them. That includes intelligence. Be grateful that you are not going to be held to a higher standard like those of us who have been blessed with great intelligence. The people that I read books from, and myself, do not speak of their intelligence to make others feel inferior. It is simply part of our everyday life. It is a natural thing to us. It is like someone who is really tall. When they talk about how tall they are, they are not necessarily being arrogant and trying to make other people feel short (although some people are like that), they are simply stating something about part of their genetic makeup, part of who they are, part of their very essence if you will. PEOPLE WHO GET OFFENDED BY OTHER PEOPLES GIFTS ONLY DO SO BECAUSE OF SELFISHNESS AND INSECURITIES. We all have different gifts. Some of us are extremely intelligent. Some of us are really good at football. Some of us are really good at sewing. Some of us are really good at poetry. Some of us are really good at listening. Some of us are really good at a lot of things. Some of us are really good at only a few things. The point is, whatever you are good at, give it your all, as you should everything all the time, and use that gift(s) to glorify God Almighty. Wisdom is something that, if you have it, at least from my experience, you want to share. It is so very frustrating when you see somebody doing something, or going through something, or dealing with something, that you yourself have either been through in some way or have known someone who was gotten through it, and that you have so much good and meaningful advice on, but they simply will not listen.
This life is not a game people. Every day is vitally important to your eternal existence. If you are not willing to try your very hardest, and I do mean your VERY HARDEST, to be the very best, and I DO MEAN THE VERY BEST, person that you can be, and treat everyone, to the best of your ability, that you come in contact with as good as you possibly can (treat them exactly like you want to be treated), and do everything in your power to put others first and help someone, anyone, out whenever you can, to the best of your ability, and to do your absolute best at everything you do (do everything as unto the Lord), and, this is the most important one, to be COMPLETELY HONEST WITH YOURSELF about how hard you are trying, and should be trying, at all of the other things in this sentence, then why on earth do you get up in the morning. The only honest answer would be a selfish one.
No one is perfect (aside from Jesus), that much is obvious. That does not however give us an excuse to go about our everyday lives just “doin our thang” (as they say down south on the east coast) and living however we want to live. We are all, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, here on this earth for ONE SPECIFIC purpose, and that purpose is none other than to serve and worship God every second of every day in all that we say and do. IT IS TIME TO GET ON THE GRIND PEOPLE. IT IS TIME TO STOP SULKING BECAUSE YOU ARE IMPERFECT, OR BECAUSE YOU JUST “CAN’T DO IT,” OR BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT AS SMART AS YOU WANT TO BE, OR BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT AS PRETTY AS YOU WANT TO BE, OR BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT AS GOOD AT SPORTS AS YOU WANT TO BE, OR BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE A GREAT SINGING VOICE, OR WHATEVER ELSE IT MAY BE. IF YOU ARE NOT WHAT OR WHO YOU “WISH” YOU WERE (OR DO NOT POSESS THE QULITIES YOU WANT TO), THEN GUESS WHAT, THOSE THINGS ARE NOT PART OF YOUR PURPOSE AND THEY WERE NOT PART OF GOD’S PLAN WHEN HE CREATED YOU. STOP BEING SAD AND POUTING BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE, AND WHAT QUALITIES YOU DO NOT POSESS, AND WHO AND WHAT GOD HAS NOT MADE YOU AND START THANKING GOD FOR WHAT YOU DO HAVE AND WHAT QUALITIES YOU DO POSESS, AND WHO AND WHAT GOD HAS MADE YOU. EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS PLANET HAS POTENTIAL, WHATEVER (POSITIVE) AREA IT MAY BE IN. START TAPPING INTO THAT POTENTIAL AND START PRAYING THAT GOD WILL HELP YOU AND ALLOW YOU TO BEGIN TO USE THE GIFTS THAT YOU HAVE FOR THE GOOD OF THE KINGDOM AND FOR HIS HONOR AND FOR HIS GLORY.
I am done now. I hope that this note both makes you think and encourages you in your walk with Christ. There are two verses from the Bible that I would like to share with you, regarding my frustration that was mentioned in this note: Hebrews 13:2 says this in the HCSB translation (it is pretty much the same in the NIV and in the Greek text as well) – Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.
Now obviously I am not saying that I am an angel, and clearly that is not my point at all. This scripture is reminding us that we should be kind and courteous to everyone, because we never know who we might be communicating with. We, as humans, do not know everything about everybody, and we should NEVER be so foolish as to think or act as if we do. I would like to strongly encourage you who are reading this to make it a point to be much more aware of this. Be cautious of how you are treating other people, especially those whom you have just met or do not know much about. Do not merely assume something, anything, about someone just because you heard it from someone else or read it on someone’s Facebook or whatever. Make it a point to realize that the person with which you are communicating might very well have an awful lot that they can teach you. Do not however assume that just because someone tells you something that it is right, or that it even makes sense ultimately. The Bible talks many times about “not heeding unwise council”. We are NEVER to believe anything that is false, no matter how good it may sound. That is indeed though all the more reason to get to know people. If you are taking a trip to Georgia and you have never been there, and you do not know that your friend “so and so” grew up there, then you will not know that they have advice they can give you about the area. If you are thinking about going to school to become a middle school teacher, and you do not know that your friend “so and so” was a middle school teacher for five years before she switched jobs, then you will not know that she has advice about being a middle school teacher that she can give you. GET TO KNOW PEOPLE. TAKE THE TIME TO FORM REAL FRIENDSHIPS. You never know how much the person you are currently talking to might actually be able to teach you.
I would like to point one more thing out. ALL of the advice that I give, ALL THE TIME, I do my absolute best (however short I might fall from time to time) to heed that same advice myself.
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