Muddy Issues

Aaaahhh

It is sure nice to be home. No more assignments. No more in-dorm time. No more 8:20 Community Group. My favourite thing about going home was re-connecting with friends and family. It still is.

Home…SWEEEEEEEET…home.

Yet there was always something I hated about going home. It seemed that within a few days of my return, I would find myself embroiled in the same old habits I had worked hard to stop all year. It was like the mediocrity and naughtiness were waiting there under my bed to pounce as soon as I slept there.

When you come home from Bible School, your family expects that you have changed. Yet, they might also assume that you have not changed. They expect more but treat you the same. However, it is not their fault that your habits are back. You cannot blame them.

Your pastor hopes for great changes and welcomes you back, yet you might find church less than you remember and far from the high performance community that you soaked in for eight months. It is not his fault that your habits are back. You cannot blame your pastor.

Your friends, like you, will want to have fun the way you did in grade twelve. Yet, they have moved on, and they will be disillusioned that you have changed also. Reliving old times is called nostalgia. Only let yourself indulge in nostalgia for a couple hours. Otherwise you will encounter “immature old-age” because you are living in the “good-old-days.” It is not your friends fault that your habits are back. You cannot blame them.

You will find a familiar comfort from your old life. But you will have no doubt gone home with some new-years-resolutions for change. The first day home those resolutions are tested, and most often they are forgotten. Then we despair that we failed, and we wonder if there was any changes in our lives at Bible School.

So what is the problem?

It is simply that you are in a rut.

For you city folk that have tried to repress the memories of Eston mud, I will remind you of the properties of a rut. Ruts are deep impressions where a tire has gone before during a rain storm. When they dry, they are hard and crusty. The hardest thing is to drive on a road with a rut because if you fall into the rut, you can be stuck in it for miles.

Your old habits are actually old ruts. Even though you have been at school for eight months, the ruts have not changed because you have not ploughed over them. In the absence of new habits, the old habits come back with attitude.

So what can you do? Here are some brief thoughts.

1) Decide what you want to accomplish or be like this summer. What is the final product or lifestyle that you want? Putting a vision in front of you will help with the next step, and it will give you inspiration to get off the couch.
2) Decide what new habits will help you accomplish your goals and live the lifestyle you want. Probably your new lifestyle involves intimacy with God. Then the obvious habit is a regular time of prayer. Be specific, and decide where, when and how this prayer time will look, and what to do if you miss.
3) Grade over the old ruts. The old grooves are there because they have not been filled in yet. You need to make changes that will shake up your old routine. If your old habit was too much television, then make a change that will cut this out like joining an evening softball team. Or jogging and praying at the same time. You can defuse the most tempting moment by making yourself busy with something productive.

The first week home is critical. Many people mess up, get depressed, and give up. If you have fallen into the ruts, do not get down on yourself. Stop. Get real. Get out. And get going.