And there goes March. Yikes. I have a guest appearance coming up on http://www.blogger.com/this and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous. There is so much that I want to say, so much I want to share, as I'm quite certain my little (albeit long-running) blog doesn't appear regularly on many folks' blog-rolls. Its certainly fine by me, but with such a far-reaching blog as OSV, maybe this is the big break I'll need. Ha. /// One thing I owe a lot of credit to the Lord for is this: over the past few years, I have felt this desire for publicity and attention removed even further than, oh say, early college years. Obviously a lot of this was due to my increasing relationship with Jenny, but it was certainly structured by the Lord showing me that my words might mean more, and my actions taken a little more seriously, with a calm, well-thought-out, patient delivery. Juxtapose this with the hyper-loud-intensifying-BLAM type communication many people came to expect from me. Rest assured, those BLAM Communications skill-sets are still with me, but using them strategically is more important than letting them go unbridled. I have certainly been convinced of that recently. /// Which brings me to my conclusion. I hope to keep my thoughts organized but detailed within my guest appearance here in the next few weeks (?). But I can tell you this... what I do want to communicate, I hope that people are open to hear. The theme of many conversations with people in my immediate community here in Dallas over the past few years, is that my heart hurts sometimes for friends who don't have outlets for (new) community. I couldn't possibly imagine someone questioning my loyalty to the long-standing, foundational relationships in my life... the people who the Lord used to shape my spirit, my core faith, etc. My love for those people is life-long and cemented. I do know this, however: my local community has a very immediate reach into the decisions in my life. /// For a long time I fought extremely hard against the 'proximity' argument for community - insisting to myself and my friends that no matter how far the distance, our intimacy will NEVER change. I can say that it for the most part that is true, but you couldn't make an argument about keeping the exact same level of intimacy while living in different cities. I'm ridiculously blessed that the history and intensity of many of my closest friendships can overcome some of the proximity failings, but asking the Lord for wisdom and perspective, has been most frequently (chronologically speaking) been answered through friends with whom I can regularly see in person. Luckily, the importance and familiarity with my non-proximate friends remains. Its the best (as it can be) of both worlds. Lucky me.