The Very Last Day: Real

Well here we are. Day 7. It's actually only an hour and 16 minutes into this day, but I'm not tired. I also have no idea what my 7th character trait is. I really had those 6 in mind, and I am struggling with #7. So, I will play the delay tactic for a while and tell you all that I got a care package from home today! It was so amazing...lots of candy. I was happy. :) Oh...and flinstones vitamins. I always wanted those but we always got the cheaper brand. I just had one and they were totally worth the wait. I can now die a happy man.

Okay....characteristic number 7. I have it. I actually had this one in mind before, I just forgot. Here goes...

REAL

Muahaha! This one is not self-explanatory which means you will have to read my post to find out what I mean. Wow. I am a sly one. :) However, I won't waste anymore of your time and we'll just get to the point. I have a lot of pet peeves. Getting wet. Loud noises. People touching me. Normal stuff like that. Those are probably my three worst ones that will bring out the worst in me. But the fourth is this. I hate fake people. Well...I don't hate them...cuz I'm not allowed to hate people. So...I greatly dislike that they are so fake. That's even too far. I don't know them, so I don't know if they are being fake. I hate the appearance of fakeness (not a word) in people. 

I'll help you understand this a little. Here at college we have singporation every Sunday night. It's a great hour of worship where about 1000 students come together for the sole purpose of worshipping Jesus. However, I often feel out of place, and here's why. This college is filled with emotional people. Now...I am extremely emotional in some senses, but not really in most. You can rarely find any emotion in me. Outside of my sister (after watching Marly and Me), I honestly don't remember the last time someone saw me cry. Ten years old maybe? No idea. I'm not proud of this. I just never cry. And when it comes to worship I'm not much different. I sing with all my heart, but outwardly, you wouldn't know. I'm not the type to raise my hands, clap, or really move anything but my lips. SOMETIMES I'll close my eyes. All around me are people weeping, lifting their hands, dancing, swaying back and forth, etc. I'll admit, this is a hard time for me because I'm trying really hard not to judge. But I sometimes wonder if this is really "real" to them at all, or if this is just a Sunday night fill up to get them through the week, and it's the only time they spend with Jesus. I fear this generation is so "emotionally" oriented, that we have forgotten the sweetness of being still, and knowing that He is God (Psalm 46:10). The time I feel closet to Jesus is by myself, quiet...just listening. I wish I had a "just listening" time every day, but sadly I'm not there yet. 

Sorry...that was a huge tangent. And I'm sure I didn't have to write all that for you to get the point. I'll give you two more quick examples though in case you missed it. First, drama-oriented people are NOT real. They live in their own little fake world blowing everything out of proportion. I'm sorry if you are one of these people. I'm not judging. I just feel bad for you. The last example is people who are hypocrites. I'm pretty sure everyone on this planet is a hypocrite to some extent. We act different around certain people (and that's not always a bad thing). But I'm looking for someone who knows who they are, and isn't ashamed of it. There aren't many people like that. But it's so refreshing when you do meet someone like that. They don't act differently around you "just because you are a boy". They don't pretend to be overly nice when with people they want to impress. They are just the same person all the time. The way I like to say it is "what you see is what you get." 

Now, I understand that there is room for being more timid around people you like, or just more awkward or whatever. But I'm talking about once you actually get to know the person. So there it is. In her praying, singing, speaking, and everything else...I want my wife to be real. No mask.

And so concludes my Top 7 Characteristics for a future wife. I do hope you know that there are so many many more...but that would have to be a yearly blog or something. :) So let's review. In my future wife I am looking for...

Modesty, Bible Addict, Traveler, Trustworthy, Submissive, Loving, and Real. The acronym would be 

"Start MLB" Hmmm....must be a sign it's time for baseball season. ;) So now the question arises...what if you could only have one of these? Well, for the answer to that question I would direct you to the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13. 

Hope you enjoyed this week of blogging, and thank you so much for all your wonderful comments!

James Knoop